Appearance Day of Sri Radha-kunda

Appearance Day of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa

Tridaṇḍisvāmī Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
[Respected Readers,
In honor of the divine appearance day of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, please receive the following explanation of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa from Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja’s Vraja Maṇḍala Parikramā Book:]

Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa is within Bahulāvana, and for this reason there is a custom to take bath in Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa on the day of Bahulāṣṭamī. A huge assembly of people take bath in Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa on that day.

The Padma Purāṇa states:

yathā rādhā priyā viṣṇos tasyāḥ kuṇḍaṁ priyaṁ tathā
sarva-gopīṣu saivaikā viṣṇor atyanta-vallabhā
“Among all the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhājī is most dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being His principal prāṇa-vallabhā. Similarly, Rādhājī’s dear kuṇḍa is also very dear to Him.”

The Varāha Purāṇa declares:

sarva-pāpa-haras-tīrthaṁ namas te hari-mukti-daḥ
namaḥ kaivalya-nāthāya rādhā-kṛṣṇābhidhāyine
“O Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa! O Śrī Kṛṣṇa-kuṇḍa! You destroy all sins and award one-pointed prema. I bow down to you again and again.” The purāṇas are filled with innumerable descriptions of the glories of these two kuṇḍas.

In Vraja-vilāsa-stava (text 53), Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī prays:

śrī-vṛndāvipinaṁ suramyam api tac chrīmān sa govardhanaḥ
sā rāsa-sthalikāpy alaṁ rasamayī kiṁ tāvad anyat sthalam
yasyāpy aṁśa-lavena nārhati manāk sāmyaṁ vā mukundasya tat
prāṇebhyo ‘py adhika-priyeva dayitaṁ tat kuṇḍam evāśraye

“Not even Śrī Vṛndāvana, which is supremely delightful because of places like the rasa-filled rāsa-sthalī, or Śrīmān Govardhana, which is the arena of the nectarian rasa where the most confidential amorous pastimes (keli-krīḍā) of the Divine Couple take place, are equal to even a shadow of a particle of the glories of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, what to speak of other pastime-places within Vraja Maṇḍala. I take shelter of this Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which is more dear to Śrī Mukunda than His own life.”

Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa lies in a village named Ariṭa-gāon, about three miles north-east of Govardhana and fourteen miles from Mathurā and Vṛndāvana. Ariṣṭāsura was a servant of Kaṁsa who assumed the form of a bull and attacked Kṛṣṇa with the aim of killing Him. However, Kṛṣṇa killed him instead at this place.

At Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala perform Their midday (mādhyāhnika) līlā-vilāsa. Here They perform a variety of amorous pastimes freely and without any obstruction. This is not possible anywhere else. Therefore, Rādhā-kuṇḍa is considered to be the topmost place of bhajana, superior even to Nandagāon, Barṣāṇā, Vṛndāvana and Govardhana.

This most confidential place, surcharged with paramount bhāvas, was revealed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself, who is endowed with the bhāva (sentiment) and kānti (lustre) of Śrī Rādhā. Previously, Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī and Śrī Bhūgarbha Gosvāmī also came to Vraja, where they revealed various pastime-places of Kṛṣṇa; but they did not reveal this confidential place, which was manifested by Śrī Gaurasundara Himself, who is Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa killed Ariṣṭāsura during the day. That same night, He met with His beloved Śrī Rādhikā and the other sakhīs here. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was very eager to embrace Śrīmatī Rādhikā, but as soon as He reached out towards Her, She stepped back. Jokingly, She said, “Today, You have killed a bull, which belongs to the cow family. You have therefore committed the sin of killing a cow. Please don’t touch My pure body.”

Kṛṣṇa smilingly answered, “Priyatame! It was a demon that I killed, who had deceitfully assumed the form of a bull; so how can sin even touch Me?”

Śrīmatījī insisted, “Whatever he was, he had assumed the form of a bull when You killed him. Hence, the sin of killing a cow has definitely touched You.” The sakhīs supported Her statements.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa asked how He could atone for this sin. Smilingly, Śrīmatījī answered, “The only atonement is to take bath in all the tīrthas of the entire Earth planet.” Hearing this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa created an extensive kuṇḍa simply by striking His heel on the ground. He then summoned all the tīrthas of the entire planet to it. Uncountable tīrthas immediately came before Kṛṣṇa in their personified forms. Kṛṣṇa asked them to enter the kuṇḍa in the form of water. In a moment, the kuṇḍa filled with pure, sacred water. Śrī Kṛṣṇa took bath in that kuṇḍa and again tried to touch Śrīmatījī.

But Śrīmatī Rādhikā now wanted to manifest a kuṇḍa full of water that was larger and more exquisite than Kṛṣṇa’s, in response to Her Priyatama’s bragging. She and Her sakhīs therefore stubbornly dug out a very attractive kuṇḍa nearby with their bracelets. However, not so much as a drop of water appeared in it. Kṛṣṇa joked that they could take water from His kuṇḍa, but Śrīmatījī along with Her innumerable sakhīs prepared themselves to bring water from Mānasī Gaṅgā in clay pots.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa signaled to the tīrthas that they should insist that Śrīmatījī and Her sakhīs fill up their kuṇḍa by taking water from His kuṇḍa. The tīrthas personified pleased Śrīmatī Rādhikā by offering Her and the sakhīs many prayers. Śrīmatī Rādhikā then gave them permission to enter Her kuṇḍa. Immediately, the current of water that had flowed into Kṛṣṇa-kuṇḍa also filled Rādhā-kuṇḍa. With great pleasure, Śrī Kṛṣṇa bathed and performed water sports (jala-vihāra) with Śrīmatī Rādhikā and the sakhīs in this dear kuṇḍa.

These two kuṇḍas manifested at midnight on Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī (the eighth day of the dark moon) in the month of Kārtika. Hundreds and thousands of people therefore bathe here at midnight on this day known as Bahulāṣṭamī.

The Padma Purāṇa states:

govardhana-girau ramye rādhā-kuṇḍaṁ priyaṁ hareḥ
kārtike bahulāṣṭamyāṁ tatra snātvā hareḥ priyaḥ
naro bhakto bhaved vitatsthasya tasya pratoṣaṇam
“Radiantly beautiful Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill. Faithful persons who bathe here on Kṛṣṇāṣṭamī in the Kārtika month receive prema-bhakti filled with the sevā of Śrī Rādhā-Kuñjabihārī Śrī Hari.”

The Padma Purāṇa also states:

dīpotsave kārtike ca rādhā-kuṇḍe yudhiṣṭhira
dṛśyate sakalaṁ viśvaṁ bhṛtyair viṣṇu-parāyaṇaiḥ
“On the day of Dīpāvalī in the month of Kārtika, the ekāntika (one-pointed) bhaktas of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa can see the entire universe and the complete Vraja Maṇḍala in Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa.”

Outside Mahāprabhu’s baiṭhaka (sitting-place)

Some time later, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa had left for Dvārakā, both kuṇḍas disappeared. While manifesting the pastime-places of Vraja, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s great-grandson, Mahārāja Vajranābha, again restored these two kuṇḍas under the guidance of Śāṇḍilya and other ṛṣis. Five thousand years later, however, they had again disappeared. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to this place, He inquired from the local people about Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa, but they could provide Him with no information.

Instead, they told Him about the two fields named Kālī Khet and Gaurī Khet that lay before them, which contained a little water. Mahāprabhu respectfully addressed Kālī Khet as Śyāma-kuṇḍa and Gaurī Khet as Rādhā-kuṇḍa and offered them His praṇāma. Then, as He bathed in them, He became overwhelmed. Losing all patience, He cried out, “Hā Rādhe! Hā Kṛṣṇa!,” and fainted. The place where He sat down is now called Tamāla Talā. It is also called Mahāprabhu’s baiṭhaka (sitting-place).

After the disappearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī came from Jagannātha Purī and performed bhajana at Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Once, the Mughal emperor Akbar was making his way along this path with his vast army. The entire army along with elephants, horses and camels were very thirsty. Akbar asked Dāsa Gosvāmī, “Is there any big pond nearby?” Dāsa Gosvāmī motioned to him to take water from Kālī Khet and Gaurī Khet. The emperor thought, “This water is not even sufficient for a single elephant. How will it quench the thirst of my entire army?”

However, on the repeated requests of Dāsa Gosvāmī, Emperor Akbar encouraged his men to drink. To his utter amazement, the entire army together with horses, elephants and camels drank to their full satisfaction, and yet the water in these ponds did not reduce even slightly. The emperor’s astonishment knew no bounds.

After performing bhajana here for some time, the thought of restoring these two kuṇḍas entered Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s mind. However, when he remembered the transcendental glories of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa, he began to reproach himself for thinking this. Just then, a wealthy person arrived at that place from Badarikāśrama, looking for that supreme renunciate Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī. He offered his daṇḍavat-praṇāmas (prostrated obeisances) at the feet of Gosvāmījī and said, “I am returning from a pilgrimage to Badarikāśrama.

Bhagavān Śrī Badrī-Nārāyaṇa has sent me to you. On His order I am offering to cover all the expenses required to restore these two kuṇḍas to their beautiful forms. Kindly accept my offer.” Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī became overjoyed. At first he rejected the offer, but he later relented, knowing it to be the desire of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. He thus began the work of re-constructing the two kuṇḍas.

Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa easily manifested in the shape of an elegant quadrangle. The construction work on Śyāma-kuṇḍa then began, with the idea of giving it a quadrangular shape also. To achieve this, some trees on its bank needed to be cut down. That night, while Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī was performing bhajana, he dozed off for a short time. In his dream, he saw five persons standing in front of him. “We are the five Pāṇḍavas,” they said. “In the form of trees, we worship Yugala-Kiśora here, so please don’t cut us down. Rather, let the shape of the kuṇḍa be crooked.”

For this reason, Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī did not have the trees cut down and instead allowed the kuṇḍa’s shape to be crooked, just like Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s shape. He only deepened the kuṇḍa and had its ghāṭas well repaired. Both kuṇḍas still have these shapes today, and only a few repairs have occasionally been carried out.

Śrī Girirāja Govardhana stretches out from north to south and has the shape of a peacock. His tail in the south is called Pūcharī, and his two eyes on his face in the north are called Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śrī Śyāma-kuṇḍa.

In Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura describes Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śrī Śyāma-kuṇḍa in a very delightful and charming way: Although Brajendranandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the source of all incarnations, is the origin of everything and is yet Himself without any origin, is akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti (the personification of all nectarean mellows) and is sarva-śaktimān (the source of all śaktis), He is subservient to the prema of mahābhāva-svarūpā Śrīmatī Rādhikā, the topmost of all of Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds.

He always establishes the glories of His priyatamā Śrī Kiśorījī as superior to His own. Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa are non-different from the svarūpa of Śrī Rādhā and Śyāmasundara, but Kṛṣṇa Himself nonetheless gives more fame to Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

Kuñjas of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa:

• Northern part: The kuñja of Śrī Lalitā-devī, Lalitānandada, which is shaped like a golden, eight-petalled lotus.
• North-east: Viśākhānandada, the bejewelled kuñja of Viśākhā Sakhī, which is shaped like a sixteen-petalled lotus.
• East: Citrānandada, the kuñja of Citrā Sakhī, which displays an amazing variety of forms and colours.
• South-east: The kuñja of Indulekhā Sakhī, Indulekhānandada. It is shaped like an eight-petalled lotus and is made of diamonds.
• South: The kuñja of Campakalatā Sakhī, Campakalatānandada Kuñja, which is shaped like a golden lotus.
• South-west: The lotus-shaped kuñja of Raṅgadevī, Raṅgadevī-sukhadā, which is inlaid with blue sapphires.
• West: Tuṅgavidyānandada is the kuñja of Tuṅgavidyā Sakhī. This kuñja is shaped like a lotus made of red rubies.
• North-west: Anandada or Sudevī-sukhadā Kuñja, the lotus-shaped kuñja of Sudevījī, which is inlaid with emeralds.
• Center: Anaṅgamañjarī-ānandada Kuñja, shaped like a sixteen-petalled lotus inlaid with moonstones. This kuñja is also known as Svānandasukhadā Kuñja, and is the kuñja of Anaṅga Mañjarī. It is connected with the bank by a bridge made of moonstones.

Kuñjas of Śrī Śyāma-kuṇḍa:

• North-western area: A delightful place made of diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones where Śrīmatī Rādhikā daily takes bath.
• North of this place: Subalānandada Kuñja, the kuñja that Subala Sakhā has offered to Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa perform resting pastimes (śayana-vihāra) here.
• Northern part: The kuñja of Madhumangalajī, Madhumangalānandada, which is inlaid with white jewels. He has offered this kuñja to Lalitājī. Here Śrī Yugala-Kiśora enjoy all kinds of joking and laughing.
• North-east: Ujjvala Sakhā’s Ujjvalānandada Kuñja is made of red jewels, and he has given it to Viśākhā Sakhī.
• East: Arjuna Sakhā’s Arjunānandada Kuñja, which is made of blue sapphires. He has offered this kuñja to Citrā Sakhī.
• South-east: Gandharvānandada Kuñja displays a variety of colours and forms, and belongs to Gandharva Sakhā. He has offered it to Indulekhā Sakhī.
• South: Vidagdhānandada Kuñja belonging to Vidagdha Sakhā, which is made of green emeralds. He has given this kuñja to Campakalatā. Here Yugala-Kiśora play the game of chaupāḍa.
• South-west: Bhṛṅga Sakhā’s Bhṛṅgānandada Kuñja lies here, and he has given this kuñja to Raṅgadevī.
• West: Dakṣaśānandānanda Kuñja is made of a variety of jewels. Kokila Sakhā’s Kokilānandada Kuñja is also in the west. He has given this kuñja to Sudevī.
• Meeting place (saṅgama): At the saṅgama of the two kuṇḍas is a platform made of many kinds of jewels. This place is also called the Yogapīṭha of Kṛṣṇa-līlā.

To the south of Śrī-kuṇḍa are jeweled swings hanging from the branches of campaka trees. Swings inlaid with precious stones hang from the branches of kadamba trees to the east. To the west, swings made of jewels hang from the branches of mango trees, and to the north jewelled swings hang from the branches of bakula trees. Rasika Śrī Kṛṣṇa plays on these swings with Śrīmatī Rādhikā and the other sakhīs.

Surrounding both Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa are kalpataru trees of mango, jackfruit, kadamba, bakula and so forth, which are laden with an abundance of flowers and fruits. The bases of these trees are held by platforms of various precious stones. All seasons are eternally serving Śrī Yugala under the guidance of the spring season. Vṛndā-devī makes all the arrangements in a variety of ways for the sevā of the Divine Couple. The cuckoos coo and the peacocks dance and make the sweet ke-kā sound.

Blue and red lotuses and various kinds of ketakī flowers frolic on the waves of the śrī kuṇḍas while intoxicated, buzzing bees hover above. Royal swans, cakravākas and cranes play in the water with their consorts, making sweet sounds. Different kinds of birds recite love poetry on the branches of the trees, thus giving pleasure to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala. Deer and does roam about in the attractive kuñjas nearby. Except for Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s most intimate girlfriends, no one can enter this forest.