Bhaulavana

Glories of Bhaulavana

According to the Ädi-varäha Puräëa, Bahulä is the best of all forests. Whoever
enters this forest attains Agniloka after death. In the Skanda Puräëa, Mathurä-
khaëòa, it is also stated, “Bahulä, the wife of Çré Hari always lives in this holy
forest. O king, this place is auspicious because Çré Viñëu and Lakñmé reside
here always. In Bahulävana there is Saìkarñaëa-kuëòa and Mäna-sarovara. By
seeing the forest of lotuses here one obtains pious results. Whoever takes a bath
here in the month of Caitra [March-April] is able to have darçana of Çré Hari with
Lakñmé.” (Ref- Bhakti Ratnakar by Pundrik Vidyanidhi)

Manasarovara: Once, when Çrématé Rädhikä was in Her sulky mood (mäna),
She hid Herself in a kuïja here. In separation from Her, Kåñëa became completely
distressed. With the help of the sakhés He was able to find Çrématé Rädhikä,
and with great difficulty He pacified Her mäna.

At Bahulavana there is the small Bahula temple with Deities of Krishna,

Yamaraja, and Bahula carved in the wall, on the bank of SankarsanaKunda. The
Padma Purana narrates the story of Bahula. Dharmaraja once took the form of a
lion and approached the cow named Bahula to eat her. Bahula asked that she
first be able to feed her calf some milk. She said that she would return. The lion
relented and the cow went off to feed her calf. When she got home, she told her
calf to drink milk to his full satisfaction, and told him about her promise to the
tiger. However, the calf insisted on going with her without drinking any milk. The
brähmaëa also prepared himself to go alone. He planned to leave the cow and
calf at home and give himself to the tiger as food. In the end, all three
approached the tiger, each willing to sacrifice himself. At that moment, Çré
Kåñëa Himself appeared there and the lion revealed his original form as
Dharmaraja. It is stated in the Mathuramahatmya by Rupa Gosvami that Bahula
became one of Krishna's wives because she displayed the good quality of
truthfulness.It is said that Lord Krishna would come here with Balarama and the
cowherd boys to tend the cows. Near the Bahula temple is the Banke Bihari
Temple. Jahnava devi, the wife of Lord Nityananda visited the kunda here. It is
especially auspicious to bath here in the month of Chaitra (March - April).
Bahulavana forest has a parikrama of 6 km (4 miles). Çré Rädhä-kuëòa lies
within Bahulävana. On Bahuläñöamé it is customary to take bath in Çré Rädhä-
kuëòa. Large numbers of people assemble to bathe here on that day.

From Sri Chaitanya Chartamrita:

When Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu wandered through the different forests, He
became overwhelmed by the natural beauty of this place. A charming and heart-
rending description of this is given in Çré Caitanya-caritämåta (Madhya-lélä,
Chapter 17.194 - 234) as follows:
herds of grazing cows saw Him pass and, immediately surrounding Him, began to
moo very loudly. Seeing the herds approach Him, the Lord was stunned with
ecstatic love. The cows then began to lick His body out of great affection.
Becoming pacified, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu began to caress the cows, and the
cows, being unable to give up His company, went with Him. It was only with
great difficulty that the cowherd men were able to keep the cows back. Then
when the Lord chanted, all the deer heard His sweet voice and approached Him.
When the does and bucks came and saw the Lord’s face, they began to lick His
body. Not being at all afraid of Him, they accompanied Him along the path.
Bumblebees and birds like the parrot and cuckoo all began to sing loudly on the
fifth note, and the peacocks began to dance in front of the Lord. Upon seeing Çré
Caitanya Mahäprabhu, the trees and creepers of Våndävana became jubilant.
Their twigs stood up, and they began to shed tears of ecstasy in the form of
honey. The tree branches and creepers, overloaded with fruits and flowers, fell
down at the lotus feet of the Lord and greeted Him with various presentations as
if they were friends. Thus all the moving and nonmoving living entities of
Våndävana became very jubilant to see the Lord. It was as if friends were made
happy by seeing another friend. Seeing their affection, the Lord was moved by
ecstatic love. He began to sport with them exactly as a friend sports with his
friends. Thus He voluntarily came under the control of His friends. Çré Caitanya
Mahäprabhu began to embrace each and every tree and creeper, and they
began to offer their fruits and flowers as if in meditation. The Lord’s body was
restless, and tears, trembling and jubilation were manifest. He said very loudly,
“Chant ‘Kåñëa!’ Chant ‘Kåñëa!’”
All moving and nonmoving creatures then began to vibrate the transcendental
sound of Hare Kåñëa, as if they were echoing the deep sound of Caitanya
Mahäprabhu. The Lord then clasped the necks of the deer and began to cry.
There was jubilation manifest in the bodies of the deer, and tears were in their
eyes. When a male and female parrot appeared on the branches of a tree, the
Lord saw them and wanted to hear them speak. Both parrots flew onto the hand
of the Lord and began to chant the transcendental qualities of Kåñëa, and the
Lord listened to them.
The male parrot sang, “The glorification of Lord Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, is beneficial to everyone in the universe. His beauty is victorious
over the gopés of Våndävana, and it subdues their patience. His pastimes
astound the goddess of fortune, and His bodily strength turns Govardhana Hill
into a small toy like a ball. His spotless qualities are unlimited, and His behavior
satisfies everyone. Lord Kåñëa is attractive to everyone. Oh, may our Lord
maintain the whole universe!”
After hearing this description of Lord Kåñëa from the male parrot, the female
parrot began to recite a description of Çrématé Rädhäräëé.
The female parrot said, “Çrématé Rädhäräëé’s affection, Her exquisite beauty
and good behavior, Her artistic dancing and chanting and Her poetic
compositions are all so attractive that they attract the mind of Kåñëa, who
attracts the mind of everyone in the universe.”
Thereafter the male parrot said, “Kåñëa is the enchanter of the mind of Cupid.”
He then began to recite another verse.
The male parrot then said, “My dear çäré [female parrot], Çré Kåñëa carries a
flute and enchants the hearts of all women throughout the universe. He is
specifically the enjoyer of the beautiful gopés, and He is the enchanter of Cupid
also. Let Him be glorified!”
Then the female parrot began to speak jokingly to the male parrot, and Çré
Caitanya Mahäprabhu was struck with wonderful ecstatic love to hear her speak.
The female parrot said, “When Lord Çré Kåñëa is with Rädhäräëé, He is the
enchanter of Cupid; otherwise, when He is alone, He Himself is enchanted by
erotic feelings even though He enchants the whole universe.”
Both parrots then flew onto a tree branch, and Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu began
to watch the dancing of the peacocks with curiosity.
When the Lord saw the bluish necks of the peacocks, His remembrance of Kåñëa
immediately awakened, and He fell to the ground in ecstatic love.
When the brähmaëa saw that Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was unconscious, he
and Balabhadra Bhaööäcärya took care of Him.
They hastily sprinkled water over the Lord’s body. Then they took up His outer
cloth and began to fan Him with it.
They then began to chant the holy name of Kåñëa into the Lord’s ear. When the
Lord regained consciousness, He began rolling on the ground.
When the Lord rolled on the ground, sharp thorns injured His body. Taking Him
on his lap, Balabhadra Bhaööäcärya pacified Him.
The mind of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu wandered in ecstatic love of Kåñëa. He
immediately stood up and said, “Chant! Chant!” Then He Himself began to
dance.
Being thus ordered by the Lord, both Balabhadra Bhaööäcärya and the
brähmaëa began to chant the holy name of Kåñëa. Then the Lord, dancing and
dancing, proceeded along the path.
The brähmaëa was astounded to see the symptoms of ecstatic love exhibited by
Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. He then became anxious to give the Lord protection.
Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu’s mind was absorbed in ecstatic love at Jagannätha
Puré, but when He passed along the road on the way to Våndävana, that love
increased a hundred times.
The Lord’s ecstatic love increased a thousand times when He visited Mathurä,
but it increased a hundred thousand times when He wandered in the forests of
Våndävana.
When Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was elsewhere, the very name of Våndävana
was sufficient to increase His ecstatic love. Now, when He was actually traveling
in the Våndävana forest, His mind was absorbed in great ecstatic love day and
night. He ate and bathed simply out of habit.
Thus I have written a description of the ecstatic love Lord Caitanya manifested in
one of the places He visited while walking through the twelve forests of
Våndävana. To describe what He experienced everywhere would be impossible.
Lord Ananta writes millions of books elaborately describing the transformations
of ecstatic love experienced by Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu in Våndävana.

Since Lord Ananta Himself cannot describe even a fragment of these pastimes, I
am simply pointing out the direction.

The whole world became merged in the inundation of the pastimes of Çré
Caitanya Mahäprabhu. One can swim in that water to the extent that he has the
strength.

Praying at the lotus feet of Çré Rüpa and Çré Raghunätha, always desiring their
mercy, I, Kåñëadäsa, narrate Çré Caitanya-caritämåta, following in their
footsteps.

RAL
This place is halfway between Chatikara and RadhaKunda. Sometimes the cows
would be brought here because there was nice grass for the cows. It is also said
that this was one of the first places that Srimati Radharani and Krishna met and
that they would meet here frequently. When Nanda Maharaja stayed at
Chatikara, King Vrishabhanu stayed at Vasanti and Radha and Krishna would
meet at this place.When the camp of Nanda Maharaja was at Chatikara, the
camp extended to RaI and Sasthighara, King Vrishabhanu stayed about 7 km
away in the village of Vasanti at this same time.

VASANTI
The next place to come to is Vasanti. It is also known as Vasoti or Basithi.
Vrishbhanu Maharaja made his camp here after leaving Raval. At the same time
Nanda Maharaja had his camp at Chatikara. Since both camps were so big they
were right next to each other. Raj Kadamba is a tree which has the impression of
Radharani crown in it. There is also Lalita Kunda and VasantKunda here.

MUKHARAI
Mukharai is the village of Radharani's maternal grandmother, Mukhara. There is
the Mukhara temple here on the bank of KrishnaKunda. The deities in this temple
are from left to right: Mukhara Devi, Srimati Radharani and Kirtida Devi
(Radharani's mother). There are some stones here called bhajan shilas that
Radharani (some say Krishna) is said to have played as musical instruments. The
Pujaris in this temple knows how to play them. The pujaris in this temple are very
friendly.