Understanding the mood and atmosphere of Goloka Vṛndāvana
How do people live in Goloka? How does it look? How does it feel? It’s probably not possible to describe it in words, but we can have some idea from a first-hand experience of Gopa Kumara.
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How do people live in Goloka? How does it look? How does it feel? It’s probably not possible to describe it in words, but we can have some idea from a first-hand experience we get in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, where Gopa Kumāra describes his impressions when he had just arrived there after his long journey.
Although Goloka is the most opulent place in the universe, with the sand made of small cintāmaṇi stones, the perception of the inhabitants is that it is just like a normal earthen village. Different from Vaikuṇṭha, where the inhabitants have four arms and look divine, the inhabitants of Goloka, although extraordinarily beautiful, behave just like normal human beings, with two arms and wear village clothes. This environment creates a very relaxed atmosphere that facilitates the intimate pastimes Krsna performs there.
It is not possible to treat God as one’s beloved when He shows four arms and presents Himself as the Supreme Lord. In Vaikuṇṭha, due to the amazing opulence present there, everyone behaves in a very official way, speaking perfect Sanskrit and following perfect etiquette. However, in Vṛndāvana, Krsna presents Himself as a simple cowherd boy, and all formalities are dropped. Devotees can thus fully display their affection for Him without any barriers. As mentioned in the Dāmodarāṣṭakam: “To the devotees who are attracted only to His majestic aspect of Narayana in Vaikuntha, the Lord herein reveals: “I am conquered and overwhelmed by pure loving devotion.”
Not only do the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana use village clothes, but they speak village language, Vrajavasi, a simplified and sweeter version of Sanskrit. Of course, being in full knowledge, the inhabitants also speak perfect Sanskrit (as Krsna and the Gopis do in many of their love quarrels and joking conversations), but the day-to-day language matches the intimate mood present there.
Somehow, the pastimes Krsna executes when He comes to the material world also somehow blend with the pastimes in the eternal Goloka, and thus the inhabitants feel separation from Krsna when he goes to Mathurā, just to see Him back when their ecstasy of separation reaches a climax. Sometimes a demon attacks and Krsna majestically defeats him, and so on. It appears that when Krsna appears in the material world, all the inhabitants of the spiritual Vṛndāvana imperceptibly come with Him and also witness the pastimes He executes here, without ever leaving the spiritual sky. As in many other pastimes organized by Krsna, how this can be possible remains a mystery.
It’s also mentioned that they have the freedom to come to the earthly Vṛndāvana (or to any other part of creation), which they occasionally do when there is some special mission, like in the case of Gopa Kumara coming to instruct the Mathurā Brahmana under the order of Srimati Radharani instead of accompanying Krsna to the forest on that particular day.
The same mood of separation manifests in different parts of the day. Since the Gopis stay with Krsna at night, the cowherd boys stay with Krsna during the day, and mother Yaśodā and the elderly Gopis stay with Krsna in the mornings and evenings, there is a constant ecstasy of meeting and separation. The emotions are so intense that it is not possible to understand if they are experiencing the greatest happiness or the greatest sorrow, which is a symptom of the pure love for Krsna, which inundates all inhabitants there.
Although time in Goloka is eternal, there is the rising and setting of the sun, as well as the passage of days, nights, and seasons, which creates the right environment for Krsna performing His different pastimes. All the inhabitants live in constant ecstasy, always thinking about Krsna and singing His glories. In this way, there is no real separation from Krsna, but the apparent separation at different times of the day constantly increases the love of the inhabitants.
This is the description given by Gopa Kumara:
“In the end, I fulfilled my long-cherished desire of arriving at Goloka, which was situated above all of those other worlds. As Govardhana, the Yamunā, and so on are situated within the Mathurā-mandala of this world, in the same way, they are all present there as well.
When I went to that Mathurapuri and saw that it was identical to the Mathurapuri of this world, I was struck with wonder and felt immense joy. But there I heard that Kamsa had imprisoned Devaki, Vasudeva, and his own father, Ugrasena, and had usurped the kingdom. Being stricken with fear of Kamsa’s demon-friends, the Yadavas could not live freely and happily.
They were constantly being tormented by Kamsa, so some fled to other lands, and some even took shelter of him and remained living there. Hearing all of this, I did not stop there. I bathed in Visranta-ghata and quickly proceeded to Sri Vṛndāvana.
Although demigods, kings, and even the eternal residents of Vaikuṇṭha could not go to that Goloka, I saw that the same customs practiced in the India of this world were prevalent there. Seeing how the sun rises there, how the residents there have the same forms, modes of behaviour, and speak the same language as the people of this world, I was thoroughly astonished and submerged in an ocean of divine bliss.
Within a moment, I saw people who appeared to be gopas wandering in the forest and elderly gopis picking flowers. The residents there were extraordinary – different from the residents of any of the other worlds I had previously visited. It seemed that someone had stolen their very hearts; they appeared to be very perturbed.”
“Time and again I questioned them with great humility, but they never answered me. Moving on, I came to a place where there were many cows. Looking around in all directions, I saw what appeared to be a palace, and it seemed to possess all varieties of sweetnesses. All around that palace were gopis singing songs as they churned yoghurt. Moving a little closer, I heard those sensational songs, as well as the tinkling of the gopis’ ornaments. Hearing this, I became unsteady in transcendental joy. Composing myself, I moved forward a bit, where I met an elderly man who was constantly chanting “Krsna, Krsna” with great eagerness and crying out of great love. With great effort and exercising all of my cleverness, I finally managed to get his attention and inquire from him.
With a choked-up voice, he said, “This is the palace of Sri Krsna’s father, the king of gopas, Sri Nandaraya.” Hearing these words, I felt the full impact of divine bliss and fainted. Instantly, that kind, elderly man brought me back to consciousness, and racing forward, I came to the entrance of the palace and sat down.
There I saw countless millions of wonders, the likes of which I had never seen or even heard of anywhere. Besides those who actually reside there, no one could possibly understand these wonders. O brahmana, I could not determine if the residents there were immersed in some colossal divine bliss or were overcome with some great sorrow.
Hearing the cowherd women’s mixture of singing and crying, I could not determine by my own intelligence if their singing was due to feeling immense joy or if they were experiencing the most extreme sadness. As I looked around at that world, I thought for an instant that “I am in the material world.” But reflecting upon what I had seen before, I realized that I was present in Goloka, which is situated above the fourteen material worlds, the eight material coverings, and all other spiritual realms.
After that, an elderly lady approached me, and after offering obeisances to her, I humbly asked, “Where is Sri Nanda-nandana enjoying pastimes today?”
The elderly woman said: “This morning, Sri Nanda-nandana, accompanied by Sri Balaramaji and His sakhas, has taken the cows and gone to the forest to enjoy pastimes. He is the very giver of life to we residents of Vraja, and now that the evening is approaching, He will be returning here any moment.”
“By the path near the Yamunā on which all of the residents of Vraja have now fixed their vision, and on which even the trees have turned their leaves with great eagerness to receive His darśana, Sri Krsna will definitely come.”
Sri Gopa-kumara said: O brahmana, hearing this, it was as if I was suddenly bathed in streams of the supreme nectar. Then I also fixed my vision exclusively on that path. Being filled with the supreme blissfulness, I became stunned, and my legs could not move. When, with great difficulty, I moved a little forward, from a distance I heard a very sweet sound.
I heard the enchanting vibration of Sri Krsna’s flute, which, being mixed with the mooing of cows and the singing of His divine pastimes, was making various extraordinary, transcendental melodies. That vibration is supremely attractive to the residents of Vraja.”
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