Sri Uddhav Kunda and Sri Narad Kunda:
Tears of Afflicted Hearts

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Govardhan Parikrama, Sri Uddhav Kunda
29 October 2019, translated from Bengali

By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, we are doing the last day of our Sri Govardhan parikrama, and by the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma we have come to this very beautiful place, Uddhav Kunda. We will speak about this place and also there is another place nearby that we do not go to—Sri Uddhava Kyari (Nandagaon); we would like to speak about it also.

You must have heard about Uddhav Maharaj. He was a disciple of Krishna's friend Brihaspati. When Uddhav came to this place, he heard gopis speak about Krishna. Later, Uddhav told about it to the queens of Dvaraka.

So, Uddhav was the chief minister of Krishna and always stayed with Krishna, always gave Him advice, etc. One time, Krishna ordered Uddhav to go to Vrindavan and Uddhav came here. Krishna wanted Uddhav to see how much love and affection the younger and older gopis of Vrindavan have for Krishna. After Uddhav visited Vrindavan, he said, "I wish I could become some grass and live here in my next life!" Even now, having become that kind of grass (gulmalata) here, Uddhav Maharaj is here, longing to hear Krishna-katha...

Before Uddhav Maharaj left, Krishna gave him His prasadam clothes, so when Uddhav came to Vrindavan, he came there wearing Krishna's clothes. Seeing Uddhav coming, the gopis thought, "Perhaps, Krishna has come!" But when they came closer, they understood that it was not Krishna—it was Uddhav Maharaj... Seeing their disappointment, Uddhav Maharaj said, "I may not be Krishna, but I am Krishna's chief minister and close friend." Then, Uddhav Maharaj asked them, "How have you been keeping? Do you sometimes think about Krishna?" The gopis said, "What are you saying? Even when we try, we cannot forget Krishna!" Uddhav Maharaj said then, "But if you want to see Him, you can close your eyes, meditate, and you will see Him!" Hearing this, the gopis burst out laughing. They said, "Uddhav, your Master is mad, and you have become just as mad!" and then explained, "You say we must close our eyes to see Krishna? Wherever we look, we can only see Krishna there! We cannot see anything else. Wherever we cast our glance, we only see Krishna there. Actually, we do not want that. He has left us and gone away, we want to forget Him! Can you give us a mantra that we could chant to forget Him?" Hearing the gopis talk and seeing the gopis' love for Krishna, Uddhav Maharaj cried.

When Uddhav Maharaj came to Vrindavan, he also wanted to see Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda. He wanted to see how they were maintaining their lives without Krishna and to give them some consolation. So, having spoken to the gopis, Uddhav Maharaj went to look for the house of Nanda Maharaj. He could not find the house, so he asked somebody, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the house of Nanda Maharaj is?" The man replied to him, "Follow the current of water coming down from the Nandishwar Hill and will be able to get the darshan of Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda." Actually, that was not ordinary water. When Krishna left His parents, they began to cry so much that the tears from their eyes created a drain, a river. So, that drain water coming down from the Nandishwar Hill was no ordinary water—it was the tears of Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda Ma. When Uddhav realised this, he understood that he could not come before Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yasoda looking like their son. He walked away, sat in some place nearby and began to cry—his tears created a pond, and the name of that pond is Uddhav Kunda.

Not far from here there is another place called Narad Kunda. We do not go there because it is within a jungle, but we would like to say something about that place. Narad Muni sat there under a tree, overwhelmed by the separation mood,

অয়ি দীনদয়ার্দ্র নাথ হে
মথুরানাথ কদাবলোক্যসে ।
হৃদয়ং ত্বদলোককাতরং
দয়িত ভ্রাম্যতি কিং করোম্যহম্ ॥

ayi dina-dayardra natha he
mathura-natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

"O gentle-hearted Lord, ever-gracious upon the destitute, O Lord of Mathura, when shall I see You again? In Your absence my broken heart trembles. Beloved! what shall I do now?"

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 4.197)

"O Lord, when will I get Your darshan? I cannot endure it any longer."

One time, Krishna had a headache and told Narad Muni that His headache would go away if he could put the foot dust of devotees on His head. Narad Muni went to Sivaloka, Brahmaloka and many other places—wherever he went, nobody wanted to give their foot dust for Krishna. Finally, he came to the Vraja gopis. When Narad Muni asked them for their foot dust for Krishna, they did not give it a second thought. When Narad Muni approached Laksmi Devi before that, she said, "If I give my foot dust, I will be committing a sin! I will go to hell!" But the Vraja gopis thought, "Our Krishna is suffering, He has a headache! His happiness is above ours. Even if we get leprosy, even if our legs rot, even if we go to hell, we do not mind it as long as our Lord is well!" They gave their foot dust, and Narad Muni came back to Krishna.

Narad thought then, "We did not understand before what is true love for our Master. There is no parallel, no comparison to the kind of love and affection the Vraja gopis have! Sacrificing their own happiness, giving up their everything, leaving their respect, honour, they only run behind Krishna!" Thinking about this, Narad Muni began to cry and his tears created a pond. That pond is located inside a jungle and we cannot go there, but this is the glory of that Narad Kunda. The water of that pond is no ordinary water—it is actually the tears of Narad Muni.

I have forgotten to say one more thing. Krishna told Uddhav Maharaj, "Sivji Maharaj is not as dear to Me, Brahma is not as dear to Me, even I myself am not as dear to Me as you are, Uddhav." Later, He said, "Uddhav, go to Vrindavan and meet with the gopis—they love Me so much, they are such great devotees, go and give them the news about Me." Uddhav Maharaj came there to give news about Krishna, but when he saw the gopis, he became astonished and pained, "They love Krishna so much! I live next to Krishna, but I could not understand it."

Jay Sri Uddhav Maharaj ki jay.

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