A Glimpse into the Vrindavan Mood

Unfortunately the school is directly in the middle of the Govardhan city which means it is quite crowded and noisey. Externally not the ideal place for bhajan. In such an environment it is difficult to feel the Vrindavan mood. Fortunately I've had a couple experiences of it.

Yesterday, for the first time, I did manage to sneek away on a japa walk, I just started walking down the road until I got out of the city and then started walking down a small path through pastures and farm land. I saw calf tied up, he was very beautiful, he was a different breed than the normal Vrindavan cows, he was very short, kind of like a miniature cow. The full grown cows of this species are little more than waste high. He was mooing and looked lonely so I walked a little ways into the field. We quickly became friends. Cows are such loving creatures. After spending sometime with him I figured I should probably be on my way. He looked sad but it was getting late and I need to get back. After I made it back to the road and had walked a few yards an Elderly Vrajabasi lady passed me. Then all of sudden I heard the calf mooing over and over again he was so excited as soon as he caught sight of her. She was very loving call out "Ajao! Ajao!" which means "Come! Come!" the calf got so excited that he uprooted the little bush that he was tied to and ran up the steep embankment to get to her, and then together they started running down the road to meet his mother. It was one of those special sights that are unfortunately more and more rare these days. I felt privilidged to witness the love that they shared, it was an intimate glimpse into the mood of Vrindavan.

Today I took my first trip to visit one of the very sacred places of Radha and Krishna's pastimes in my stay thus far, just a hundred yards down the road from us is Dhana Gati, the place where Radha and Krishna perfrom their tax collection pastime. Then from there I walked another kilometer or so to a very secluded spot just at the base of Govardhan. I sat there under the shade of small tree amidst frolicking monkeys to chant japa. After I had chanted for some time an elderly Vrajabasi lady came just near to where I was sitting, she had a container of water and milk to bath a few Shilas that were on a small makeshift altar, as well as flower and incense to worship them with. The simple way in which she worshiped those Silas was so beautiful. You could see that she had been doing this for her entire life, and in her simple Vrajabasi way she loved Krishna. Again I felt so blessed to get a little glimpse into the special mood of the Vrajabasis.