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BY: SUN STAFF
Sri Radha-kunda: The transcendental waters of Sri Radha Kunda Jun 08, 2014 — CANADA (SUN) — A serial presentation of the holy places mentioned in the Jaiva Dharma of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur - Part 111.
The glories of Sri Radha-kunda are so inconceivable that we could never adequately summarize them. They have been sung by many great Acaryas in our Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya, most recently by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, such as this English translation of a Vaisnava song (BTG, April 1960):
Equally to Govinda Gopinath and Madanmohan. Shyamkunda Radhakunda hilly Goverdhan Kalindi Jamuna river and forest Mahaban. Although the material on Radhakunda is so great in volume that it would make this chapter of the Jaiva Dharma Glossary series inordinately long, we can't refrain from including a great deal of it. Whoever bathes in Radha Kunda and Shyama Kunda gets the glorified results of performing Rajasuya ashwamedha yajna. Raghava Pandita sang the glories of Radha Kunda, and in the Mathura Kunda it is stated that if any person offers a lake to Radha Kunda in the month of Kartik, then as a devotee of Visnu he will be able to visualise the entire universe. In his purport to Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu by Sri Rupa Goswami, Srila Prabhupada writes: "In the Uttrakhanda of the Padmapuranam, such reciprocation of highest transcendental mellows is affirmed by eulogising the place called by the name Radhakunda where the Lord Krishna and Radharani exhibited Their reciprocal fullness. Radhakunda is therefore as much dear to Sri Krishna as Srimati Radharani. In Dwarka Rukmini is mentioned as the topmost queen of the Lord and similarly in Vrindaban Radharani is the topmost of the Gopis." (Back to Godhead, April 5, 1960) In Nomenclature of the Absolute, published in Sree Sajjanatoshani, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati writes: "Another holy spot is Radhakunda is a tank where Shri Krishna got rid of the sin He had incurred by killing a cow named Aristanemi. He killed Aristotelianism or the rationalistic process of reasoning of this imperfect world. When Krishna wanted to join hands with Radhika, Aristanemi came forward to disturb Him, because Radhika was thought by many people to be the wife of a milkman named Abhimanyu. This Aristanemi was the incarnation of mundane knowledge, and Krishna killed him, for that act He expiated by taking a dip in the Radhakunda. This kunda is the mental speculation of Radha. The eternal land of our abode should be Radhakunda. By the border of Radhakunda we should have our groves. There are millions of groves on the banks of Radhakunda." In his Mathura-mandala Parikrama exposition, Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakur explains that one can live in Radha-kunda only by the Grace of Shrila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami: "O Shrinivasa, know for certain that only by the grace of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami can one live at Radha-kunda. Raghunatha's service to Radha-kunda, the govardhana-shila, and the gunja-mala is very famous. See the trees and creepers surrounding the most enchanting Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda which are connected together." We will address the Radha Kunda pastimes of the Six Goswamis and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's associates in segments to come.
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