Gupta Govardhan

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Caracas, Venezuela
23 September 2009

Question: We know that Goloka is above Vaikuntha—what is the position of Nabadwip in relation to Vaikuntha?

Nabadwip is Goloka Vrindavan. Nabadwip is not Vaikuntha. Narayan and Laksmi Devi live in Vaikuntha, and above Vaikuntha there is Vrindavan. Vaikuntha is aisvarya marga (a place of grandeur), and our own house, a place of eternal service mood, is Goloka Vrindavan.

One time, Krishna wanted to test gopis' love and affection and He became Narayan. All gopis began searching, "Where has Krishna gone? Where has Krishna gone?" but they could not find Him. But when Radharani came to Him, He was defeated—He immediately lost His two arms and said, "I cannot hide anything from Her." Seeing this, Radharani asked the gopis,

"Have you found Krishna?"

"No..." said the gopis.

"But I have found Him! He is over there!"

"That is not Krishna, it is Narayan!"

They saw Narayan, with four hands, looking beautiful, but they only paid dandavat to Him, they did not talk to Him—the gopis' love and affection is only for Krishna (who has two hands). But when Srimati Radharani came to that "Narayan," Krishna said, "I have to hide My two hands..."

Question: We know that Goloka Vrindavan is the highest plane, what is the position of Nabadwip then?

Nabadwip is hidden Vrindavan, and you know our temple in Nabadwip is gupta Govardhan. "Gupta Govardhan" means hidden Govardhan.

Nabadwip is nondifferent from Vrindavan, it is the same. Radha-Krishna lila took place in Vrindavan in Dvapar-yuga, and in Kali-yuga it is Nabadwip lila (Nabadwip means nine islands—Rudradwip, Antardwip, Madhyadwip, Simantadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, Koladwip). Krishna Himself performed His lila here in Nabadwip Dham.

Vrindavan lila is madhurya-lila (paramour pastimes), but Nabadwip lila is not like that. In Nabadwip, there are pastimes of union in separation (as Mahaprabhu showed when He was in Puri). In Vrindavan too, there is viraha, gopis' separation from Krishna, but in Nabadwip there is also audarya-lila—extensive preaching of Krishna consciousness.

At our hidden Govardhan temple there is also Govinda Kunda. Many years ago, when Srila Guru Maharaj came there, there was just a pond, but he said it was Govinda Kunda, and now you can see that it is has manifested as Govinda Kunda. There is Govinda Kunda in Vrindavan, Govardhan—when Madhavendra Puri was sitting at Govinda Kunda, Krishna Himself came to feed Him milk. That same Govinda Kunda is also manifested in Nabadwip, gupta Govardhan...

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