It was announced that a pilgrimage to Brindavan would be held between 13th and 21st of September, 2008. Having heard so much about this great place from our Guru Maharaj on various different occasions, I immediately registered for the tour. I booked my train tickets and was on board the train.

Let me take you along with me, as I experience the divine bliss of the Yatra….

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   DAY - 2  (Tuesday, Sep 16)
 

After a good night’s sleep, this morning, all the devotees had their bath at the holy Yamuna river and had their breakfast with coffee. Then we started for Barsana.

Barsana is the birth place of Radha Rani, the very incarnation of Prema Bhakti. About 35 km from Vrindavan, this place is located amidst lush greenery and in an environ vibrant with Bhakti.

The entire travel to Barsana held us awe-struck with stunning natural beauty, marked by greenery, strange birds and riverbeds. We reached Barsana Dham at around 11 am. Although one could view the palace of Radha Rani from far away, a hillock had to be climbed to reach it. The view of the palace in the background of the forests was indeed panoramic. Those who could not climb used the services of dollies. The sound ‘Radhe Radhe’ echoed all through the steps and the shrine. The joy felt while making first footstep inside the holy shrine dispelled the entire pain of climbing the hillock.

The devotees entered the shrine with great joy and had the blissful darshan of of Radha Mayya, singing and dancing the ‘Madhura Nama’ (Divine Name) ‘RADHE RADHE SHYAM MILADHE’ all through.

Sri Balaji Bhagavata explained the greatness of ‘Radhe Prem’ laying emphasis on the ‘Viraha Bhava’ (the feeling of separation) quoting amply from Ashtapadi (‘Gita Govindam’). ‘But for the grace of Radha Mayya, Prema Bhakti is simply impossible’, he stressed. The Bhagavatas sang a few Kirtans on Radha Devi which finally culminated into the divine ‘Radhe Radhe’ Namavali. All the devotees enjoyed it singing and dancing , forming small circles. That was when a life-size portrait of our Guru Maharaj was brought into the hall and placed facing Radha Rani. The very sight of it took the assembly into an ecstatic state as the real presence of Him could be felt by one and all. The devotees formed a circle around our Guru Maharaj and went circumambulating with the ‘Radhe Radhe’ Nama.

The architectural beauty of the palace is a ‘must cherish and relish’ for everyone at least once in their lifetime. From the top of the hillock, one could catch a beautiful view of the Vrindavan Dham. Indeed a feast to the eyes and soul!

If our whole experience is to be summarized into a single sentence, all of us had experienced nothing except the thoughts of Radha Rani and Guru Maharaj.

After a short while, the entourage set off to Nandagaon. Nandagaon is the place where the young Krishna spent the prime of His childhood, after they vacated from Gokul Dham.

By the time we reached Nandagaon, the temple was closed. Nevertheless, a young Goswami took us to the temple and helped us have the darshan of ‘Thakurji’ at Nandagaon along with Radha Rani, Yasoda Mayya, Nanda Baba, Balram and two the Lord’s two friends, Sridhama and Madhumangal.

Bhagavan had spent about six years of His childhood in this very place. Goswamiji beautifully portrayed the greatness of Nandagaon with wonderful anecdotes from Garga Samhita and Srimad Bhagavatam which was translated into Tamil language by Sri Balaji Bhagavata for the benefit of our group. The devotees had a great darshan of Thakurji and left for their base at Vrindavan.

Though there was a delay in partaking lunch, there was not even a slightest botheration amongst our entire Satsang troupe, which depicted their utmost longing for such a spiritual retreat.

Resting for a while we set off by walk, chanting mahamantra to the land in Vrindavan which is marked for a ‘Patasala’ construction with Sri Swamiji’s blessings. All the satsang members chanted Mahamantra with a wholehearted prayer of an early upcoming of the much cherished and awaited Dham at Vrindavan.

We then proceeded to Prema Madhuri Kunj where the actual marriage of the Divine Couple Radha Devi and Krishna is said to have taken place. This temple is graced by His Holiness Sri Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj.

Brahmasri Mantramurthi Bhagavata who takes care of the temple gave a wonderful lecture on the greatness of Vrindavan Dham and the Grace of the Guru. The deity (‘Utsava Murthy’) there was once worshipped by the great Saint Sri Narayana Theertha. A Sanyasi with profound Krishna Bhakti, Sri Narayana Thirtha Swamy reveled in Bhakti for Lord Krishna . His beautiful set of songs entitled Krishna Lila Tharangam is popular among vocalists, Bhaktas and Bhagavatas.

We were also fortunate to witness the dolotsav to the presiding deities - Vamsidharan, Radha and Jaganmohan.

All of us returned to our camp location and had a great dinner. We called it a day, eagerly waiting for the next day to dawn….

The sun was setting and the first day of the Yatra was coming to a close. All of us had a great dinner Prasad and retired for the day.