{"id":177,"date":"2009-02-06T20:40:16","date_gmt":"2009-02-06T20:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=177"},"modified":"2013-10-08T20:42:01","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T20:42:01","slug":"we-are-servants-of-govardhana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/we-are-servants-of-govardhana\/","title":{"rendered":"We are servants of Govardhana"},"content":{"rendered":"

—–February 6, 2009—-We are servants of Govardhana—-<\/span><\/p>\n

In the beginning of January, I was fortunate to be able to visit the major
\nplaces in Vraja with an international group. Dina Bandhu Prabhu was kind
\nenough to take us to these places, explain the significance, and relate the
\npastimes corresponding with each location.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we were visiting Govardhana and Radha Kunda with the group I led the
\ntour since Govardhana is my real home and I have spent substantial time
\nthere.<\/span><\/p>\n

One realization I had during this pilgrimage is that everything is contained
\nwithin Vraja. That is, all the holy places are contained within Vraja
\nMandal. All holy places are expansions of the original places in Vraja. In
\nother words, there is no need to go anywhere else except Mayapur which is
\nnon-different from Vraja.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the original Badrinatha exists in Vraja, and the Badrinatha
\nthat people normally think of is an expansion of the Badrinatha in Vraja.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly the Ganges, Kedaranatha, all the sacred rivers, the Triveni, etc.
\nall are in Vraja.<\/span><\/p>\n

This realization is in line with our siddhanta concerning the residents of
\nVraja. The eternal residents of Vraja expand and populate the other
\nspiritual planets. Sridama the cowherd boy expands to serve Krishna as
\nGaruda in Vaikuntha.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow! I never have to leave Vraja. What a relief!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

Especially I am greatly attached to Govardhana. In fact while we were
\ntouring Vraja, I could not get Govardhana out of my mind. Even though I was
\nso happy to see the places of Radha and Krishna’s lilas, in my heart there
\nwas sadness that I wasn’t at Govardhana.<\/span><\/p>\n

The days that I did spend at Govardhana, were the happiest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two wonderful devotees, Navadvipa and Govinda Mohini assisted me there so
\nthat I was not hindered by any inconvenience. I pray that Krishna will bless
\nthem with Prema.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Govardhana, Krishna gave me a very powerful realization that I would like
\nto share. I understood that it was time for me to go beyond the enjoying
\nstage in relationship with Govardhana and do some substantial service for
\nHim directly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course I understood this point in relation to Prabhupada where he has
\nstated, that one should not try to enjoy the spiritual master, but to serve
\nhim.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another statement Prabhupada made was that we should not try to see Krishna
\nbut we should try and have Krishna see us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course I theoretically knew all this, but was usually applying it in
\nrelation to Srila Prabhupada and his mission, and had not really applied it
\nbefore in relation to Govardhana other than my daily service to my
\nGovardhana Silas.<\/span><\/p>\n

I could see that Govardhana was not going to be satisfied merely with the
\nSila service, but expected much more from me.<\/span><\/p>\n

To me it was obvious what Govardhana wanted. I thought over the verse from
\nthe Adi Purana: there is the following statement by Lord Krsna Himself,
\naddressed to Arjuna: “My dear Partha, one who claims to be My devotee is not
\nso. Only a person who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My
\ndevotee.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Govardhana wanted me to serve His devotees, especially the residents of the
\narea around Govardhana.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a long time, I was feeling an urge in my heart to help the residents of
\nGovardhana. There are many sages, many widows, many children, and people in
\ngeneral who need help. In the past, I gave donations, but now I knew that I
\nwould have to do something more substantial than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought of Rupa Raghunatha in Vrindavan (in charge of Food For Life
\nVrindavan) who is dedicated to helping the Vrajavasis. He has established a
\nschool, prasad distribution, educational programs, etc. This is what was
\nrequired here in Govardhan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Govardhana is a very popular pilgrimage place too. On Purnimas, Ekadasis,
\nDvadasis, and for the entire month of Kartika the parikrama path is so
\ncrowded that one can hardly move. But there is little opportunity for all
\nthese souls to come in contact with Srila Prabhupada.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would please Srila Prabhupada immensely if these pilgrims were able to
\ncome in contact with him through his books, and teachings.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I contacted Rupa and discussed my ideas with him. I am so impressed with
\nhis expertise and integrity, that I knew he and his organization should run
\nthe Govardhana project. The project would actually be one of the many done
\nby Food for Life Vrindavan. I trust him completely. Rupa was very
\nenthusiastic about the concept, and gave me all encouragement.<\/span><\/p>\n

If anyone reading this blog wants to help in some way, please contact me at
\nmy email address, bkgoswami@earthlink.net
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

================================================<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

—–February 6, 2009—-We are servants of Govardhana—- In the beginning of January, I was fortunate to be able to visit the major places in Vraja with an international group. Dina Bandhu Prabhu was kind enough to take us to these places, explain the significance, and relate the pastimes corresponding with each location. When we were read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[6,3082,13,35,14,36],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11941,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions\/11941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}