Radha Kunda

Glories of Radha Kunda     Appearance of Radha Kunda in the Material World
Lord Chaitanya Rediscovers Radha and Syama Kundas
Raghunatha dasa Goswami Excavates Radha and Syama Kundas
Bathing at the Kundas     Goswami Temples at Radha Kunda
Ma Janava's Sitting Place     Raghunatha dasa Goswami's Samadhi
Krishna dasa Kaviraja's Bhajan Kutira     Panca Pandava Ghat
Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur's Bhajan Kutira      The Sangam
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Sitting Place     Giriraja Maharaja Mandir and Caran Cinha

Lord Chaitanya Rediscovers Radha Kunda

After having displayed His transcendental pastimes on earth for one hundred and twenty five years, Krishna returned to the spiritual world bringing the Dvapara-yuga to an end. The dark age of Kali-yuga then began and after a period of almost fifty centuries, Krishna again appeared on earth but this time in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, also known as the Golden Avatar due to His golden-like complexion.  

During Krishna’s appearance He spoke the Bhagavad-gita on the battle at Kurukshetra, but as time went by no-one could properly understand or even follow Krishna’s instructions. Therefore the Lord came again as Sri Chaitanya to show the world how to perfectly follow those instructions. The Lord appeared this time as a sannyasi in the renounced order of spiritual life. One of the reasons for His coming was to introduce the yuga-dharma, or religious practice for this present age of Kali, the congregational chanting of the Lords holy names, also known as the maha-mantra, or the great chant of deliverance.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Another reason for Lord Chaitanya’s appearance was to re-discover the lost holy places in Vrndavana, where Lord Krishna had performed His transcendental pastimes five thousand years earlier. In the year 1515, on the auspicious occasion of Kartika Purnima, Lord Chaitanya arrived on pilgrimage in the holy land of Vrndavana. Accompanied by His companions, Balabhadra and the Sanodiya brahmana, the Lord visited all the sacred forests connected with Lord Krishna’s pastimes.       

One day while on parikrama around Govardhana Hill, Lord Chaitanya arrived at a small village then known as Aritagram. The Lord inquired from the local people where the sacred lakes of Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda were situated, but no one knew. Over the many centuries the two sacred kundas were practically forgotten and somehow had become renamed as gauri meaning golden (the complexion of Radharani), and kari meaning blackish (the complexion of Krishna). These two kundas had been turned into paddy fields by the local farmers.

On the outskirts of the village Lord Chaitanya sat in deep contemplation underneath a beautiful tamala tree. As the Lord sat there His glance. Fell across the two nearby paddy fields that were fed by underground springs. By His divine spiritual power, the Lord could understand that these two paddy fields were non-other than Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda. In great ecstasy the Lord suddenly ran into the middle of the paddy fields and in whatever water was available there, took His bath, much to the astonishment of the onlooking villagers. Lord Chaitanya then took clay from the sacred kundas and applied Vaisnava tilaka marks to His transcendental body. The Lord then danced in great ecstasy around the two kundas while chanting the holy names of Radha and Krishna. After fully satisfying Himself Lord Chaitanya offered His obeisances to the sacred kundas and continued His parikrama of the holy land of Vraja.

After completing His pilgrimage to Vrndavana where He rediscovered many important holy places, Lord Chaitanya began His return journey to Puri. On the way, the Lord stopped at Allahabad, where he met Rupa Gosvami and instructed him in the science of devotional service for ten consecutive days. The Lord then ordered Rupa Gosvami to proceed to Vrndavana and excavate all the lost holy places as well as write books on the science of devotional service (bhakti-yoga). Some years later Rupa Gosvami wrote one of his most famous books, Sri Upadesamrta, which mentions the glories of Radha-kunda

After leaving Allahabad, Lord Chaitanya next visited Varanasi (Kasi), where He met Rupa’s elder brother Sanatana Gosvami. The Lord also gave elaborate instructions on the science of devotion to Sanatana. The Lord then ordered him to join his brother Rupa in Vrndavana, where they should both write books elaborating on the Lord’s instructions, excavate the lost holy places of Krishna’s pastimes, and establish Deity worship.

top of page