About
The charming forest of Bahulāvana is full of beauty. According to the Skanda Purāṇa (Mathurā-khaṇḍa), Śrī Hari’s sakhī Bahulā resides here – bahulā śrīhareḥ patnī tatra tiṣṭhati sarvadā. This place is now called Bāṭī.
Location
It lies seven miles west of Mathurā, between Rādhākuṇḍa and Vṛndāvana.
Pastimes
Saṅkarṣaṇa-kuṇḍa and Māna-sarovara are two kuṇḍas in Bahulāvana. Once, when Śrīmatī Rādhikā was in Her sulky mood (māna), She hid Herself in a kunja here. In separation from Her, Kṛṣṇa became completely distressed. With the help of the sakhīs He was able to find Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and with great difficulty He pacified Her māna.
Tiger’s Heart Transformed
It is popularly believed that any desire of a person who takes bath here will be fulfilled. In the temple on the bank of Saṅkarṣaṇa-kuṇḍa are deities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a tiger, a cow, its calf and a brāhmaṇa. According to local lore, a cow named Bahulā was once drinking water from this pond when a fierce tiger attacked and caught her. She assured the tiger that she would return to be eaten after she had first gone to the house of her master, a brāhmaṇa, and fed milk to her hungry calf. When she got home, she told her calf to drink milk to his full satisfaction, and told him about her promise to the tiger. However, the calf insisted on going with her without drinking any milk. The brāhmaṇa also prepared himself to go alone. He planned to leave the cow and calf at home and give himself to the tiger as food. In the end, all three approached the tiger, each willing to sacrifice himself. At that moment, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself appeared there, and the tiger underwent a change of heart. By the mercy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the brāhmaṇa returned home safely with his cow and calf.
Mahaprabhu in Bahulavan
Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa lies within Bahulāvana. On Bahulāṣṭamī it is customary to take bath in Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Large numbers of people assemble to bathe here on that day.
When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wandered through the different forests, He became overwhelmed by the natural beauty of this place. A charming and heart-rending description of this is given in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā, Chapter 17) as follows: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered Bahulāvana, the beautiful cows grazing there surrounded Him. They stopped eating the grass and, overflowing with prema, began to bellow and lick His body. Seeing the affectionate motherly mood of the cows, Mahāprabhu became completely absorbed in ecstatic waves of prema. When He regained some external consciousness, He began caressing the cows and they did not want to leave Him. It was with great difficulty that the cowherd folk forced them onwards.
Again Śrī Mahāprabhu became absorbed in transcendental emotions. Weeping He called out, “Kothāya kṛṣṇa, kothāya kṛṣṇa? – Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa?” Herds of deer and does gathered and fearlessly licked Mahāprabhu’s limbs with affection. Parrots, cuckoos and bees began singing in the fifth note, and peacocks danced before Him. Completely jubilant, the trees and creepers covered themselves in buds, new leaves and flowers. With their arm-like branches and twigs, they lovingly offered their flowers and fruits at the lotus feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.
Seeing the ecstatic emotions of the moving and non-moving entities of Vṛndāvana, Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s absorption in transcendental ecstasy intensified. He loudly cried, “Chant ‘Kṛṣṇa’ chant ‘Kṛṣṇa’!” and all of those moving and non-moving entities echoed His words. Sometimes Mahāprabhu, crying piteously, clasped hold of the necks of the deer and does who gazed at His lotus face with love-filled glances and tear-filled eyes.
Śuka-Sārī Samvād
A little further on, Śrīman Mahāprabhu saw a female and male parrot (sārī and śuka) sitting opposite each other on two branches of a tree, lovingly quarreling about the glories of the Divine Couple, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
Śuka: My Kṛṣṇa is Madana-mohana, the enchanter of Cupid’s mind.
Sārī: Yes, He is – as long as my Rādhā is at His left side. Otherwise, He is only Madan (Cupid).
Śuka: My Kṛṣṇa lifted Girirāja on His finger.
Sārī: Because my Rādhā transmitted power into Him; otherwise, how could He have done so?
Śuka: My Kṛṣṇa is the life of the whole universe.
Sārī: My Rādhā is the life of that life.
Śuka: My Kṛṣṇa’s head is beautifully decorated with a peacock feather.
Sārī: Only because my Rādhā’s name is marked on that feather.
Śuka: The peacock-feather on my Kṛṣṇa’s head leans to the left.
Sārī: Because it wants to bow down to my Rādhā’s feet.
Śuka: My Kṛṣṇa is the moon.
Sārī: My Rādhā is the trap that captures that moon.
Śuka: There is no need to quarrel uselessly. Let us glorify the Youthful Couple together.
Sārī: I happily agree to this.
This loving quarrel between the śuka and sārī is also described in Govinda-līlāmṛta. Here, the male parrot says (13.29):
“May our Lord Jagamohana, whose unparalleled beauty
plunders the wealth of patience of an innumerable multitude
of women, whose world-famous glory astounds even Lakṣmī-
devī, whose strength turns the majestic Govardhana mountain
into a child’s toy, who has unlimited qualities, whose simple
disposition entertains everyone, and whose glory substantiates
the welfare of the entire universe, protect the entire world.”
Hearing this, the female parrot replies (Govinda-līlāmṛta 13.30):
“Śuka, Śrī Rādhikā’s divine love, beauty, dancing, excellent
calmness, expertise in music, wealth of good qualities, and
poetic compositions, or in other words, Her erudition, are all
so attractive that She steals away the heart of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who
enchants the mind of the entire universe.”
The male parrot then says (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhyalīlā 17.214):
“Dear sārī, all glories to Śrī Madana-mohana, the enchanter of
Cupid, who carries a flute. He steals the heart of all the women
in the entire universe, and enjoys with the gopīs.”
After hearing the parrots’ loving quarrel, Śrīman Mahāprabhu watched the dance of the peacocks. Seeing their bluish necks He remembered Kṛṣṇa and became so overwhelmed in ecstatic love that He fell down on the earth in a faint. His companions somehow brought Him back to consciousness, and He continued His parikramā of Vraja.
Śaknā-gaon
This village is situated one mile from the village of Bāṭī. Here, one can take darśana of Balabhadra-kuṇḍa and Dāūjī Temple.
Toṣa-gaon
The gopa Toṣa, an expert dancer, lived in this village. He taught Śrī Kṛṣṇa how to dance expertly too, by which Kṛṣṇa became extremely satisfied (santoṣa). Tarasa-kuṇḍa lies here. Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, the cows and cowherd boys would feel most satisfied when they drank the water of this kuṇḍa. This village is therefore called Toṣa-gaon.
Jakhina-grāma
This village lies two miles from Toṣa-gaon. Its previous name was Dakṣiṇa-grāma. While Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s leftist mood, vāmyabhāva, is renowned and is most pleasing to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, each and every transcendental sentiment of every heroine exists in Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Therefore, under certain special circumstances, Kiśorījī pleases Śrī Kṛṣṇa by manifesting the bhāvas of a right-wing heroine (dakṣiṇa nāyikā). This village is thus also called Dakṣiṇa-grāma.
It is also known as Jakṣiṇa or Jakhina-grāma, because Dāūjī once killed a yakṣiṇī (A yakṣiṇī is a female yakṣa, a ghostly follower of the demigod Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods) here who was obstructing Kṛṣṇa’s playful pastimes. Balabhadra-kuṇḍa lies here, and one can take darśana of the deities Baladeva and Revatī.
Vihāravana
This is a place of the Divine Couple Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s playful pastimes (vihāra). Here Śrīmatī Rādhikā tested Kṛṣṇa’s dancing skills.
priya ko nacvan sikhavat rādhā pyārī!
mān-gumān lakuṭ lie ṭhāḍhī
manthargati jab hi, ḍarpat kuñj-bihārī
“Rādhā-pyārī is holding a stick of pride and anger (mān-gumān) and is teaching Her beloved Kuñja-bihārī to dance. But if, while Rādhā-pyārī is instructing Him, He makes a mistake in a swift movement of the dance, the sharp glances shooting from Pyārījī’s eyes punish Him.”
Vihāra-kuṇḍa lies here. This is where Kṛṣṇa and His cowherd boy friends performed water-sports and had the cows drink its pure and sweet water. Nearby is a very attractive grove of kadamba trees, in which one can see the imprints of the Lord’s lotus feet under a small canopy.
Basauntī and Rāla-grāma
Basauntī currently goes by the name of Basatī, and Rāla by the name of Rāra-grāma. When Nanda Bābā left Gokula-Mahāvana with his family and moved to Chaṭṭīkarā, his friend Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja resided in Basauntī-grāma. This place received the name Basauntī because he resided (bāsa karnā) here. Nearby is Rāla-grāma, where Śrīmatījī performed Her childhood pastimes (bālya-līlā). In Her youth She performed some pastimes (paugaṇḍalīlās) in Basauntī. Varsānā, Jāvaṭa and Rādhā-kuṇḍa are places of Her teenage pastimes (kiśora-līlās). However, the place of Her highest and most perfect playful pastimes (līlā-vilāsa) is Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa.
Nearby are Balabhadra-kuṇḍa, a temple of Balabhadra and a grove of kadamba trees.
Aḍīṅga
This village is situated nine miles west of Mathurā and four miles east of Govardhana on the main road between these places. Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His sakhās obstructed the sakhīs’ way demanding tax from them. Therefore the name of the village is Aḍīṅga. The Hindi word aḍnā means “to obstruct”.
Here, in Killola-kuṇḍa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma relished joyful water-sports (jal-killola).
Mādhurī-kuṇḍa
Two miles south-east of Aḍīṅga is Mādhurī-kuṇḍa, the charming place of Rādhā’s dear sakhī Mādhurī. It is also the place where the poet Mādhurī dāsajī performed his bhajana.
Mayūra-grāma
This place is situated two miles south-west of Bahulāvana. After seeing the dancing of the peacocks (mayūra) here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa started dancing with great pleasure in the midst of His beloved gopīs. The peacocks very happily gave one of their beautiful multi-coloured feathers as an offering to Kṛṣṇa, which He placed on His head. Mayūra-kuṇḍa is a place of darśana here.
Chaknā-grāma
This village is situated near Mayūra-grāma. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and the sakhās were out tending the cows, the gopīs here fed them buttermilk (chāch) to the boys’ full satisfaction.
