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Preface
mahim§, when rendered in English becomes “The Glories of New Vraja-dh§ma.” i originally conceived of it meant to guide devotees visiting the holy places of New iskCOn’s rural community in Hungary. inception and would now likely require a small handcart for eager pilgrims to be able to transport it from one pastime place to another! ¼r¦ V¥nd§vana-dh§ma. dh§mas erature are R¡pa Gosv§m¦’s and Bhaktivinoda çh§kura’s Both of these books establish the sanctity of the dh§mas they depict — V¥nd§vana and Navadv¦pa respectively — by citing Pur§£ic praise of the dh§mas themselves as well as the pastime places within their boundaries. is an unordered compendium of scriptural refer m§h§tmya chronicles the Lord’s pastimes and the places at which they occurred by following the sequence in which pilgrims visit those places as they circumambulate the çh§kura Bhaktivinoda
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also recounts the personal spiritual reflections he gleans from cir m§h§tmya that he calls ers derive from these two types of m§h§tmyas is the same. They act as practical guidebooks to the dh§ma, and at the same time they aid pilgrims in immersing their thoughts in the Lord’s glories. For that dh§ma can also derive transcendental benefit by circumambulating the holy places in their minds as they meditate on both the Lord’s pastimes and the dh§ma’s is a m§h§tmya in the style of in that it includes an account of my own personal of New Vraja-dh§ma and the reali in New Vraja-dh§ma — more commonly known to the people of Hungary as k¥¢£a Valley — i sometimes reflect on similar devotional aspirations. This personal approach is primarily an attempt describe the not as a passive observer but as a participant who shares his adventure with the reader. cially intended to be shared with the residents of and visitors to New Those readers who are not a part of that particular audience may rightly question what New Vraja-dh§ma is and how its glorification can be relevant to persons who live outside Hungary or who may never visit. it appears on earth. The inspiration to establish New Vraja-dh§ma a.C. Bhaktivedanta §c§rya of the international Society
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established New V¥nd§vana and envisioned it to be a self-sufficient as a place of pilgrimage in the West. New Vraja-dh§ma is therefore our humble attempt to fulfil the desire of His Divine Grace that such places of pilgrimage be established throughout the world. in the introduction to this book and in the essay entitled “The of the spiritual principles that make it a holy place. i cannot overstate how important it is for the reader to carefully go through these parts of the book in order to clearly understand the spiritual foundations upon which New Vraja-dh§ma and rest.
What benefit will those who do not visit New Vraja-dh§ma gain from reading this book? The answer is threefold. compiling — from the and other §c§ryas opportunity to delve deeply into k¥¢£a’s pastimes in Bhauma and Goloka V¥nd§vana and better get to know the Supreme Lord and His loving associates. occasionally the sequence of New Vraja-dh§ma’s differ in-depth guide for pilgrims to use in visiting the pastime places of ¼r¦ k¥¢£a’s original earthly abode. testifies to the greatness of ¼r¦la Prabhup§da’s achievement in spreading the potency of V¥nd§vana throughout the world. and about the actual route of New Vraja-dh§ma.
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meant to imply that k¥¢£a manifests His eternal pastimes here in the Rather it means that the pastime places in New Vraja-dh§ma correspond to the original places in Bhauma V¥nd§vana or Goloka V¥nd§vana. ence between the pastime places in both dh§mas, it was sometimes necessary to refer to the pastimes associated with those places in a way that may make it sound as if they happened in New Vraja-dh§ma. “At this place R§dh§ and k¥¢£a enact Their r§sa dance” should be couple enact Their eternal r§sa dance. The place called R§sa-sthal¦ in New Vraja-dh§ma commemorates that original place.” to emphasise the importance of New Vraja-dh§ma and its stature as a spiritual reasoning and supporting scriptural evidence for employing this convention in the introduction and the essay on that follow this preface.
Another literary device found in this book — as well as in other books describing the holy dh§ma — is that i sometimes speak about New Vraja-dh§ma as if i were directly seeing the unmanifest ( themselves. i qualify such statements here to avoid causing misunderstandings that might blur the line between the manifest and unmanifest features of the dh§ma, merging them in a way that could be taken as contrary to authorised dh§ma, authors weave between manifest
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the realm or the pastimes k¥¢£a is relishing there to seem as if they are part of the world visible to conditioned souls. But devotees well versed in the principles of will have no difficulty following these transitions between the manifest and find them confusing.
Our great §c§ryas overwhelming bliss they feel at seeing the and the on the fully realised platform of our great §c§ryas, authors may be making a conscious endeavour to emphasise the divinity that underlies the features of the dh§ma that conditioned souls are able to perceive. in writing poetic inspiration would sometimes impel me to describe the features of the dh§ma not in terms of what i was seeing with my eyes — for i cannot see that which is unmanifest — but in terms of the counter-whole as i have heard about it from scripture and as i contemplate it in relation realisation of the unmanifest dh§ma in the way of the great
ama is the traditional way of visiting V¥nd§vana. When k¥¢£a sent Uddhava to Nandagr§ma with mes specific route and pointed out places to note along the journey. Thus Uddhava relished by travelling from Mathur§ first month of His two-month stay touring through Vraja’s twelve for the help of a guide and followed the established route of His time.
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has evolved into what is currently called mile dh§ma, the longest version of which takes almost two months to of devotees relish walking barefoot from place to place on iskCOn’s and absorbed in hearing about k¥¢£a and chanting His names. go on the Hungarian y§tr§ visit selected places of New Vraja-dh§ma over dh§ma is further developed and with devotees may go on at any time they want and thus relish the nectar of hearing k¥¢£a’s pastimes and serving His seeks to serve those devotees keen who are neither residents of nor pilgrims to one dh§ma work gives them the chance to visit k¥¢£a’s holy dh§ma in their minds and thus bring the atmosphere of V¥nd§vana to wherever they reside. circumambulating the dh§ma is a means of offering respect. it Many major places within the dh§ma — Var¢§£§ amongst them — have their own routes. As far Vraja-dh§ma. There is never a dearth of transcendental diversion for the devout pilgrim! paths
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and other secondary pastime places have been mapped out but not yet developed. These places — like the construction of a magnificent new temple for R§dh§-¼y§masundara — remain part of future plans to develop New Vraja-dh§ma.
Let me now describe the book’s structure. which is actually a compilation of multiple i dh§ma, others only of places especially dear to me. in the course of describing my there were times at which deep philosophical topics or lengthy pastimes came up that became essays that are now appendices at the end of each volume. i request my reader not to neglect these appendices — nor the end are sometimes wont to do. They comprise roughly one third of the book’s total content and are instrumental in bringing the reader to a balanced understanding of its message. Designated stanzas in the in addition to the of are dedicated to directly glorifying R§dh§ as i chant the G§yatr¦ mantras and the and from my direct service to Them on the altar. This last section of the book mantras as well as the Hare k¥¢£a in this way the book has three parts: R§dh§-¼y§masundara. the
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book’s format will enable you to relish the topic all the more.
From the outset i wanted to be well illustrated to give windows into k¥¢£a’s pastimes and to contribute to the overall purpose of the work — to increase the reader’s attachment to the Lord. i hope this has been achieved to your satisfaction. in pictures of k¥¢£a or by repeatedly hearing descriptions of k¥¢£a increases unlimitedly.”
To assist you in navigating through the unfamiliar names of pastime places and the variances in the locations of these places in New map or maps of the area it describes. with a ninth volume solely dedicated to maps of the various holy with short descriptions of each pastime place. Devotees can take this map book with them to follow the routes in both dh§mas and have a reminder of k¥¢£a’s activities there. is meant to serve as a companion for devotees who want to take full advantage of the presence of V¥nd§vana in otees anywhere in the world to worship their local Deities with devotion and recognise the Vaiku£±ha nature of those Deities’ abodes. it is my hope as the author that this work will serve these my own access to the dh§ma will be possible only by the good wishes of the Vai¢£avas. to consider that in its essence this book praises the same dh§ma and very near and dear to them. it is in this way that our journey around
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New Vraja-dh§ma through the pages of this book is synonymous with our own inner journey back to Godhead.
The journey through is a long one. The book spans over five thousand pages and took five years to write. Therein i have tried my best to portray the truths of V¥nd§vana as they are recorded in scriptures and narrated by perfect devotees like ¼r¦la to make mistakes. if my readers find mistakes within the pages of this bles or thorns that prick their feet while on of the
Hare k¥¢£a. ¼ivar§ma Swami New Vraja-dh§ma
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