Similarly the Acaryas, they predicted that the holy names of the Lord would be chanted in every town and every village throughout the world. Bhakti Vinod Thakur envisioned devotees from all over the world gathered together with their Indian brothers and sisters chanting the holy names and dancing in Mayapur. Today we see yet another wonderful confirmation of Bhakti Vinod Thakur’s vision. Why have our acaryas given so much stress on the holiness of Mayapur?
rädhä kåñëa-praëaya-vikåtir ahladini-çaktir asmat
The Supreme Lord is one. But for the purpose of loving pastimes, that one Lord has become two. Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. Now Radha and Krishna have again become one in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna with the loving sentiments and the golden complexion of Srimati Radharani. Rupa Goswami offered the following prayer to Lord Caitanya:
namo mahä-vadänyäya kåñëa-prema-pradäya te
kåñëäya kåñëa-caitanya- nämne gaura-tviñe namaù
The Lord incarnates in many forms according to the revealed scriptures of the world. But of all incarnations, including Rama and Krishna, the most munificent is Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, because He is coming to give what no other incarnation has come to give. The highest experiences of spiritual love, without considerations of their past, without consideration of their particular status or where they may be from. He is giving it simply for the price of one’s sincere faith.
Once in a day of Brahma, that means once in over 8 billion years the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in His original form as Krishna along with His abode. He performs various pastimes in order to attract everyone’s heart back to His eternal abode. Vrindavan is called Madhurya dham, because of the nature of sweetness of those pastimes. The cowherd boys, Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda Mayi everyone loved Krishna and have wonderful loving pastimes with Him.
On this particular day of Kartik, day of Diwali, Lord performed Damodar Lila to show the whole world that He is conquered and is subordinate to the love of His devotees. That love is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence and is simply based on Krishna’s all attractive nature.
The greatest acaryas have proclaimed that of all religions there is no comparison to the purity of the surrender and the Love of the gopis. And of the gopis the origin of all spiritual love is Srimati Radharani. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna in that mood of Sri Radha, to distribute her love, to distribute the rasas and the happiness of Vrindavan to everyone.
When Krishna appeared, Sri Vrindavan dham was only accessible to only a very rare few. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu opened up the gates to invite and welcome everyone into the pastimes of Vrindavan. That took place here in Sri Navadwip. Therefore our Vaishnava scriptures and Acaryas declare that Navadwip and Vrindavan are absolutely non-different. They are one. In the age of Kali Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates who are all descendents of Goloka Vrindavan they performed the lila of Vrindavan. As Vrindavan is Madhurya Dham, the place of highest spiritual sweetness Navadip is Audarya dham, where that sweet pastimes are opened for everyone. The most magnanimous, the most accessible and the most rich with loving occasions, of all holy places in this universe is Sri Navadwip dham.
– Radhanath Swami
