Description

There’s more to this world than meets the eye. This would certainly be true for a holy place called Mathura-mandala or Vraja,situated 90 miles east of Indian capital New Delhi. This is the place where Lord Krsna appeared 5000 years ago and performed His uncommon pastimes. This place holds special importance to the followers of Vedic religion and millions flock to this region every year.

India’s spiritual culture degraded under foreign subjugation and also in post-independence era due to the government’s apathy. This neglect was visible in India’s temples and holy places. Once vibrant and flourishing, these places became dilapidated and dirty. After India’s independence, the government declared the factories and malls to be India’s new temples and synagogues. Western materialism replaced the age old traditional values.

This state of affairs is evident as one lands in this north Indian district. One is greeted by potholed streets, meandering pigs and overflowing drains. But beneath this chaos, under this filthy covering lies the true spiritual form of this transcendental abode. This can be attested by any one who visits this place. There is something here which captures the heart and mind of the visitor and invokes some inexplicable feelings. This explains why it is on international tourism radar even though there is nothing spectacular here, in an external, superficial sense.

Vedic scriptures tell us that true form of such holy places where the Supreme Lord appears can only be seen by self-realized souls.Until we come to that platform, we can take the clue from such great souls. This book is an endeavour in this direction and it presents excerpts of a dialogue which took place 500 years ago between some great devotees namely, Srila Raghava goswami, Srila Srinivas Acharya and Srila Narottama dasa Thakura. This dialogue appears in the 5th wave of the famous book, Bhakti-ratnakara,authored by Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakura. This important book is an encyclopedia of vaisnava lore in post-Chaitanya period.