Holy Places in India: Nandagaon

Nandagaon

Sacred village of Nandagaon from a distance;

Nandagaon is the place of the palace of Nanda Maharaj. Nanda Maharaj was staying here in Nandagaon before moving to Gokula-Mahavan where Krishna-Balaram appeared. For about three years and four months they remained in Gokula and then because of the attack of so many demons they decided to move to more favorable places near Govardhan hill. In the forest of Vrindavan, they went to Chatikara and Kamyavan and some other places and ultimately came back to Nandagaon. It was here in Nandagaon that Krishna along with Lord Balaram were first given charge of herding the cows. This day of Krishna taking charge of the cows is celebrated to this day in Vrindavan as the festival of Gopashtami. There are many pastime places to be visited in Nandagaon such as Nanda Bhavan, Nanda Baithak, Pavan Sarovar, Yashoda Kunda, Charan Pahari, Hau-Bilau etc. Lord Shiva prayed to the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna to allow him to assist in His earthly pastimes in such a way that he can always have the feet of the Lord and His devotees upon His head. So by the blessings of Shri Krishna, Lord Shiva has appeared as the Nandishwar mountain in Nandagaon. It has five peaks representing the five heads of Shiva.

Lord Shiva in Nandagaon;

As Lord Brahma made himself available as a mountain in Barsana, to be the home of Shrimati Radharani, Lord Shiva has made himself available in the service of the Lord as a mountain in Nandagaon to be the home of Krishna and Balaram.

Nanda Bhavan;

On the top of this hill there is a beautiful temple called “Nanda Bhavan”, which is the palace of Nanda Maharaj where Krishna and Balaram lived with Yashoda Maharani, Rohinidevi and Nanda Maharaj.

Nandagaon;

Nandagaoun;

Yashoda and Rohini Matajis with their Kids;

It is at this place that in the presence of the Sakhas and the Gopas, Krishna and Balaram would play many beautiful games. On the altar one can have darshan of Nanda Maharaj on the right side, and then there is Krishna-Balaram and on the left is Yashodamayi. And there is also a beautiful deity of Shrimati Radharani, Subal and Shridama and other cowherd boyfriends of the Lord. Nanda Baithak is the place where Nanda Maharaj and the cowherd men would assemble and meet to discuss the welfare of Krishna and Balaram.

Nanda Baitak;

Near Nanda Bhavan there is a beautiful bathing place called Paavan Sarovar where Nanda Maharaj used to bring Lord Krishna and Balaramji for bathing. On the banks of Paavan Sarovar one can have darshan of the Bhajan Kutir of Shrila Sanatana Goswami where he used to perform his bhajan. Not far from Paavan Sarovar is a place called Moti Kund where Krishna grew his garden of multi colored fragrant pearls. Yashoda Kund is a pond situated south of Nanda Bhavan.

Yashoda Kund;

Mother Yashoda would personally come here with her maidservants to take her bath in this beautiful kund. Close to Yashoda Kund is a temple of Narsingha Deva. These deities of Narsingha Deva were given to Krishna for worshipping by Garga Muni. On the western bank of Yashoda kund is a place called Hau-Bilau. Here Krishna-Balaram used to play endlessly with Their cowherd boyfriends. Yashoda Mayi would come here in order to call Them home for dinner. But They would not respond so mother Yashoda would threaten Them that a hobgoblin called Hau-Bilau will come and eat Them. Hearing this, innocent Krishna-Balaram would run to take shelter of Yashoda Mayi and thus she would happily carry Them home for dinner. Murtis of Hau-Bilau are still present at this place. To the west of Nandagaon lies a hill called Caran Pahadi which is non-different from Lord Shiva. Here one can have the darshan of Krishna’s lotus feet. Once Krishna was playing His flute on the top of this hill. Hearing the tender and sweet sound of Krishna’s flute, Lord Shiva melted in ecstasy and impressions of Krishna’s foot prints were left on the head of Lord Shiva.

Prayer: at this place, in a very humble heart we should pray that every arrangement and every plan that we make in our own life should always be centered on serving and giving pleasure to Krishna and His devotees.

Nanda Baithak: the conference pavillion of Nanda Maharaj

Nanda Bhaitak;

Nanda Baithak is a place in Nandagaon where Nanda Maharaj would hold meetings and all the cowherd men would sit here together and discuss about the welfare of Krishna- Balaram.

Once at the Nanda Baithak, the cowherd men headed by Upananda began to chastise Nanda Maharaj that, “Krishna is no ordinary boy. He must be some sort of a great yogi or perhaps He is an incarnation of God or Demigod because after all how He killed Putana? How He killed the Tranavarta Demon? How He lifted the Govardhan Hill with the little finger of His left hand? How He crashed down the twin Arjuna trees? And yet Yashoda, your wife sometimes she threatens to hit Him with stick, sometimes she pulls Him by the ear, sometimes she chastises Him, sometimes she makes Him go to bed without food. This is no way to treat a great exalted personality.

Nanda Bhaitak;

So Nanda Maharaj with great amusement heard what they were saying and he said, “You do not understand what is this Krishna? You are saying He is incarnation of God, He is a great personality. But great personalities are judged by how they can control their senses. And this child Gopal, He eats all day long. He never stops eating, and if we do not give Him anything to eat, He will steal it. And if the Laddus are not sweet enough He becomes very angry. And great souls are not supposed to become angry. If there is not enough sugar in the sweet rice he becomes so angry, He begins to throw things and break pots. And great souls are supposed to be honest. We all know that anything that is lost in Vrindavan must be stolen by Krishna only. He steals butter, He steals yogurt. And then after He steals it, even when it’s in His hand. You ask Him, “Why did You do this?” He says,” No. No. I did not do it. Why you are blaming me. Someone else has done it.” And great souls are supposed to be fearless. When it is raining and there is lot of thunder, little Krishna runs to our bed at night and embraces mother Yashoda trembling in fear, and he doesn’t stop crying until mother Yashoda begins to shower Him again and again with kisses and kisses and kisses.” He said, “If these are the qualities of an exalted person, I see no reason to call Him exalted. Krishna is just my child. You do not understand.” And as he was speaking this he began to laugh. As he was thinking of the wonderful pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna, he laughed and laughed, and all the cowherd men as they pictured the beautiful form of little Gopal engaging in His wonderful mischievous activities they all began to laugh. And they laughed so hard that they fell to the ground, and tears were streaming from their eyes and they laughed and laughed until every limb of their bodies was aching because of laughing so hard. And somehow or other they laughed to the point where they just could not laugh any longer. And then they were just laying silently and then Nanda Maharaj again would start laughing and everyone else would start laughing and laughing and laughing, rolling in the sacred dust of Nandagaon, laughing at the beautiful pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna. So these wonderful pastimes took place at this place, Nanda Baithak.

We should know that all of these meetings that took place here were all for only one reason- how to give more and more pleasure to Krishna-Balaram. The cowherd men would come together to discuss, “How to best serve Krishna and Balaram?” They did not see Them as the “Supreme Lord”. They simply saw Them as two most charming beautiful and attractive brothers. They were completely dependent on their own arrangements for the protection, well being and happiness of Krishna-Balaram. Thus, this is a very, very special place. Here the cowherd men with exclusive devotion for the pleasure of Krishna and Balaram would plan out all of their wonderful, wonderful arrangements so that the whole Nandagaon is managed.

We should pray here in a very humble heart that every arrangement and every plan that we make in our own life is always centered on serving and giving pleasure to Krishna and His devotees.

Hau-Bilau- Even the Supreme Lord fears him

Haau Bilaau;

One day, Krishna and Balaram were playing in this place near Yashoda kund with Their friends, but it was time for them to come home to take Their lunch and mother Yashoda sent Rohini, “You go to get Krishna and Balaram”. Rohini came and she said, “Krishna, Balaram, please come home. Your lunch is waiting for You. Nanda Maharaj is also waiting for You.” But They were so busy playing, having so much fun with Their friends that They ignored mother Rohini. So she went and told Yashodamayi that They will not come. So Yashodamayi came and she began to very strictly order Krishna, “You come back”. But Krishna’s friends told Him “If You go we will not play with You tomorrow, because You will ruin our game if You go in the middle.” So Krishna, afraid of being banned from the play, continued playing, and mother Yashoda was pleading with Krishna and chastising Krishna. But Krishna and Balaram just kept playing.

And finally mother Yashoda was thinking, “What should I do? He will be hungry. I cannot allow Krishna and Balaram to be hungry. It is not good for Their health.” So she began to think. Then she got an idea. She said, “Krishna-Balaram, You better come right now, because the Hau-Bilau is coming”. Krishna and Balaram said, “What is Hau-Bilau?” She said, “He is coming. He is coming, lets go.” They again asked, “What is this ‘Hau-Bilau’?” Yashoda replied with a huff, “Hmm… ‘Hau-Bilau’ walks on four legs and has very, very fierce eyes and big, big mouth and sharp, sharp teeth and he eats little children, and he is coming”. Then Krishna-Balaram looked at her and said, “We do not believe in “Hau-Bilaus”. There is no such thing.” And then mother Yashoda, she looked behind Krishna and Balaram from where they were standing and she said, “Here he is, the “Hau-Bilau” has come ahhh!!!” And then with big eyes she started running away as fast as possible. And when Krishna and Balaram saw this they were afraid to even look back. They immediately let out and scream and said, “Mother wait for us.” They started running full speed ahead and mother Yashoda ran all the way back to Nanda Bhavan and Krishna and Balaram ran and ran as fast as they could. They were afraid to even look back, and then They came into the house, and Yashodamayi had nice prasad ready for Them and They sat next to Nanda Maharaj. And Krishna and Balaram were telling Nanda Maharaj, “You should have seen this Hau-Bilau. He had big fiery eyes, and long teeth and big mouth and fur all over him, but We escaped. Somehow or other We ran so fast, We got away.” and Nanda Maharaj was very happy. So in this way mother Yashoda with her loving parental affection performed so many pastimes for the pleasure of Krishna and Balaram. It is also said, that after mother Yashoda saw that this pastime worked very good, she made these Murtis of Hau-Bilau. And when Krishna and Balaram would be naughty, she would say, “Beware, I will take you to Hau-Bilau”. So they would become very nice. So, even the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna and Balaram fear Hau-Bilau! This is the sweetness of the Leela of Shri Vraja Dham.