The next city to visit was Vrindavan. After watching the Mahabharata series, I was very inspired and imbued with Krishna’s wisdom. And I dreamed of visiting his birthplace. And here I am. Krishna met us with thunder and rain and saw us off with rain.
Vrindavan is the holy land where Sri Radha and Sri Krishna along with the Sakhis perform spiritual sweet lilas. This abode is filled with the aromas of love of flora and fauna, the flow of love of the river Yamuna and birds chirping the name of Sri Radha-Krishna with love. The name ‘Vrindavan’ is derived from ‘Vrinda’, another name from basil (a sacred tulsi plant for Hindus) where Lord Krishna used to play and graze his cows with other cowherd boys and girls during his childhood and adolescence.
It was here that he conducted many of his lilas or games to enlighten people about his divinity. It was here that the great saints and yogis realised the ultimate, not by going through the rigours of hatha yoga but through bhakti-yoga or total surrender in love rather than submission, that the great saints became one with the supreme in the form of Lord Krishna and his divine better half Sri Radha. Legend has it that the whole place was once a tulasi grove. According to another tradition, it was named in honour of Vrinda Devi, one of Krishna’s friends. The great Mughal emperor of Mughal times, Akbar, was blindfolded and taken to the groves where he had a spiritual experience. As a result, he recognised the place as a holy land. Vrindavan, the most important city known as Braj.
