An Introduction to Vraja

The land where the cows, cowherd men, cowherd boys and cowherd girls wander is known as Vraja. In this transcendental land Krishna performs His eternal pastimes with Srimati Radharani and other cowherd friends. This is the place where there is nothing but an endless ocean of love of Krishna and which is desired even by the demigods.

Srimad-Bhagavatam, an ancient purana gives the description of Vraja as follows:

punya bata vraja-bhuvo yad ayam nri-linga

gudhah puraana-purusho vana-citra-maalyah

gaah paalayan saha-balah kvanayamsh ca venum

vikridayaancati giritra-ramaarcitaanghrih

“How pious are the tracts of land in Vraja, for there the primeval Personality of Godhead, disguising Himself with human traits, wanders about, enacting His many pastimes! Adorned with wonderfully variegated forest garlands, He whose feet are worshiped by Lord Shiva and goddess Rama vibrates His flute as He tends the cows in the company of Balarama.” (SB 10.44.13)

When Krishna was on this Earth He bathe the dust of Vraja with His lotus feet and made it more worshipable.

Of the four kinds of reciprocation of loving service -- dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya -- madhurya is considered the fullest. But the conjugal relationship is further divided into two varieties, namely svakiya and parakiya. Svakiya is the relationship with Krishna as a formally married husband, and parakiya is the relationship with Krishna as a paramour. Expert analysts have decided that the transcendental ecstasy of the parakiya mellow is better because it is more enthusiastic. This phase of conjugal love is found in those who have surrendered to the Lord in intense love, knowing well that such illicit love with a paramour is not morally approved in society. The risks involved in such love of Godhead make this emotion superior to the relationship in which such risk is not involved. The validity of such risk, however, is possible only in the transcendental realm. Svakiya and parakiya conjugal love of Godhead have no existence in the material world, and parakiya is not exhibited anywhere in Vaikuntha, but only in the portion of Goloka Vrindavana known as Vraja.

Some devotees think that Krishna is eternally the enjoyer in Goloka Vrindavana but only sometimes comes to the platform of Vraja to enjoy parakiya-rasa. The six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, however, have explained that Krishna's pastimes in Vraja are eternal, like His other activities in Goloka Vrindavana. Vraja is a confidential part of Goloka Vrindavana. Krishna exhibited His Vraja pastimes on the surface of this world, and similar pastimes are eternally exhibited in Vraja in Goloka Vrindavana, where parakiya-rasa is ever existent.

Out of all the pastimes Krishna performed, His childhood pastimes are most charming and admirable. If anyone wants to enjoy these pastimes of the Lord, then he has to follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vraja like Nanda, Upananda and other parental inhabitants. A child may insist on having something and cry like anything to get it, disturbing the whole neighborhood, and then immediately after achieving the desired thing, he laughs. Such crying and laughing is enjoyable to the parents and elderly members of the family, so the Lord would simultaneously cry and laugh in this way and merge His devotee-parents in the humor of transcendental pleasure. These incidents are enjoyable only by the residents of Vraja like Nanda Maharaja, and not by the impersonalist worshipers of Brahman or Paramatma. Sometimes when attacked in the forest by demons, Krishna would appear struck with wonder, but He looked on them like the cub of a lion and killed them. His childhood companions would also be struck with wonder, and when they came back home they would narrate the story to their parents, and everyone would appreciate the qualities of their Krishna. Child Krishna did not belong only to His parents, Nanda and Yashoda; He was the son of all the elderly inhabitants of Vrindavana and the friend of all contemporary boys and girls. Everyone loved Krishna. He was the life and soul of everyone, including the animals, the cows and the calves. And Krishna’s business is only to please the inhabitants of Vraja. He has no other business. And the only business of the residents of Vrindavana is to please Krishna.

It is said by Sri Rupa Gosvami, “When one is actually liberated from material contamination, he can always remember an eternal devotee in Vrindavana in order to love Krishna in the same capacity. And developing such an aptitude, one will always live in Vrindavana, even within his mind.” The purport is that if it is possible one should go and physically be present at Vrajabhumi, Vrindavana, and be engaged always in the service of the Lord, following the devotees in Vraja-dhama, the spiritual realm of Vraja. If it is not possible, however, to be physically present at Vrindavana, one can meditate anywhere upon living in that situation. Wherever he may be, one must always think about life in Vraja-dhama and about following in the footsteps of a particular devotee in the service of the Lord.