Where to Live—Radha Kunda or Vrindavana

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Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

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By the blessings of Sri Guru and Radha and Krishna, some extremely fortunate Gaudiya Vaisnavas can choose to live either in Radha-kunda or Vrindavana.”

This post will cite the teachings of the Gaudiya Vaisnava purvacharyas to answer the question: “Which is the best place to live and practice Radha-Krishna bhakti bhajana to attain life’s perfection of Krishna prema seva—Radha Kunda or Vrindavana?”

To start, I hope we all agree that a Gaudiya Vaisnava is one who accepts and follows the teachings of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavana who received all their knowledge directly from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, confirms this point: “To follow Caitanya Mahaprabhu means to follow the six Goswamis, because these six Goswamis were directly instructed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu to spread this [Krishna consciousness] movement.” (folio 730105ND.BOM)

Not only Srila Prabhupada, but all Gaudiya Vaisnava Gurus teach their disciples to follow the six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, and especially learn and adhere to the teachings of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswamis because they described all the details of rasa, prema and the practices of raganuga bhakti to attain Radha Govinda Yugala in the groves of Vrindavana.

“Our [Gaudiya Vaisnava] goal is to become fully Krishna conscious. And to attain this goal, we follow the six original gosvamis.” (Srila Prabhupada: folio BTG Array5 1974)

Sri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja ends each chapter of Chaitanya-caritamrita, by praying, “My only hope and aspiration is the lotus feet of Sri Rupa Goswami and Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami:
sri rupa raghunatha pade vara asha.”

Sri Narottama Dasa Thakura prays, “When will I understand the love of Radha and Krishna by eagerly following in the footsteps of Sri Rupa Gosvami and Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami:
rupa raghunatha pade, hoibe akuti
kabe hama bujhabo, se jugala piriti?”
Although Srila Prabhupada and our Gaudiya Vaisnava purvacharyas encourage everyone to follow the Goswamis, most devotees today don’t study, know or follow their actual teachings, or even those of Srila Prabhupada for that matter.

Unfortunately, Kali prabhava is far reaching, deep and pervasive—in everyone’s palm disguising himself with the name “Mobile”! Thus no one has any time or desire to go deep, below the surface to discover what the Goswamis actually taught, and what did Srila Prabhupada REALLY SAY.

During my last 43 years of practicing Krishna consciousness, I have heard hundreds of devotees, old and new, saying thousands of things that Srila Prabhupada never, never said, thought or even dreamt of saying. Such is the plight of ignorance among the masses—blind following the blind.

The Srutis confirm: “Caught in the grip of ignorance, self-proclaimed experts consider themselves learned authorities. They wander about this world be fooled, like the blind leading the blind.” (Katha Upanishad 1.2.5):
avidyāyām antare vartamānāḥ
svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍitam manya mānāḥ
jaṅghan yamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā
andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ

So now we will quote the Six Goswamis and Srila Prabhupada to prove that Sri Radha Kunda is the best place to live in for practicing Krishna consciousness and attaining the coveted goal of Radha-Krishna’s prema seva. 

Sri Rupa Gosvami said:
1. “Mathura is superior to Vaikuntha because Bhagavan Sri Krishna appeared there. Better than Mathura, however, is the forest of Vrindavana where Sri Krishna performs His rasa lila. Better than Vrindavana is Govardhana Hill. And better than Govardhana is Radha-kunda because it is overflowing with prema amrita. Therefore, anyone who is intelligent will live at Radha-kunda!” (Upadeshamrita v. 9)

2. “Anyone who is fortunate will take shelter and live at Radha-kunda.” (Upadeshamrita v. 10)

Raghunatha Dasa Goswami said:
3. The delightful forest of Vṛndāvana, the nectarean arena of the Rāsa-dance, and the beautiful Govardhana Hill, what to speak of other places, are not equal to even a single particle of one of the atoms of Śrī Rādhā kuṇḍa. I take shelter of that divine lake, which is dearer to Mukunda than His own life breath. (Vraja Vilasa Stava 53)

4. “O restless-eyed Radhika! Your lake of Radha-kunda is the eternal home of You and Your beloved. Here only I will live and here only I will stay! (Vilapa Kusumanjali 98).

5. O sakhi Sri Rupa Manjari! Please arrange that I can always stay at Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa! (Stavavali, IV.3)

Srila Prabhupada:
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given much stress to Rādhā-kuṇḍa, so who would give up Rādhā-kuṇḍa and try to reside elsewhere? No person with transcendental intelligence would do so. (Upadeshamrita v. 9 pur.)

“One should live at Rādhā-kuṇḍa, take shelter of the confidential serving maids [the manjaris] of Śrī Rādhā, and under their direction engage constantly in Radharani’s service.” (Upadeshamrita v. 11 pur.)

“If one is thus constantly engaged during his lifetime, after giving up the body he will return back to Godhead to serve Śrī Rādhā in the same way as he contemplated during his life on the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa.

Srila Prabhupada continues, “The conclusion is that to live on the banks of the Rādhā-kuṇḍa and to bathe there daily constitute the highest perfection of devotional service. Thus there is no limit to the glory of Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa. (Upadeshamrita v. 11 pur.)

It is very very sad to see that most devotees, however, because of various social, financial, educational, or personal comfort considerations, ignore all the teachings above and choose to live in Vrindavana.

Now I hope everyone will clearly understand that for Gaudiya Vaisnavas, Radha-kunda is the best place to live and serve Radha-Krishna in order to attain the perfection of human life.
Radha-kunda vasa ki jai! Six Goswamis ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!