Category Archives: Dwarka

Dwaraka – Lord Krishna’s Royal Home

Dwarka is the sacred city where Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, spent most of His time during His appearance on earth five thousand years ago. He performed wonderful pastimes there, including expanding into 16,108 forms and creating 16,108 palaces for His 16,108 queens. In Vrindavan, Lord Krishna lived as a simple cowherd boy, but in Dwarka He lived as a wealthy prince.

 

Dwarka means “gateway to the Supreme” or “city of gates.”

Srila Prabhupada writes: “The heavenly planets are more celebrated than the earth. But the earth has outshined the heavenly planets because of Dwarka, where Lord Sri Krishna ruled as king. Three places, namely Vrindavan, Mathura, and Dwarka, are more splendorous than the famous planets in the universe. These places are perpetually sanctified because whenever the Lord descends on earth He displays His transcendental activities particularly in these three places. They are perpetually the holy lands of the Lord, and the inhabitants still take advantage of the holy places, even though the Lord is now out of their sight.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.27, Purport)

Mood of Dwarka Yatra :

Radhanath Swami speaking about DwarkaNot a blade of grass can move without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One can approach a holy place of pilgrimage only by His mercy. The vibrations of a holy place are sanctified by Tapasya and the transcendental love exchanged between the Lord and his devotees.

In the days of yore, people who were determined to go on pilgrimage undertook long and arduous journeys. There were no automobiles or trains at the time and pilgrims on their way to Badrinath, Kedarnath or other holy places, would travel for weeks and months. They would walk all the way, begging for food. Sometimes, they would get nothing and they would fast.

Things have changed now. The pilgrimages are convenient and many facilities are available for the comfort of pilgrims. This is a manifestation of Krishna’s mercy towards his devotees who, in this day and age, are caught up in the everyday struggle of life.

But since purification cannot be done without Tapasya, He makes sure to send us a token of hardship

just to polish our consciousness while entering the holy place. So, if there are difficulties in the journey, understand that you have managed to attract Krishna’s attention and be grateful.

Take this yatra as an opportunity to advance spiritually. Don’t talk about anything but Krishna. This will make your heart receptive to the vibrations of the holy place. Constantly chant the holy names or discuss the glories of the Lord. Beyond that, one should speak only as much as is necessary. Take care not to indulge in small talk and gossip.

Do not talk about your life in the material world. Although such talk may appear mundane, it can leave you trapped in illusory miseries. At least during these few days, keep your mind engrossed only in the remembrance of Krishna.

It is very important to help each other on the yatra. In the mood of servant of the servant, we should go out of the way to help each other to derive the full benefit of the pilgrimage. Do not complain while undergoing austerities.

Instead of criticizing, simply accept the experiences as a process of purification through chanting of the holy name of Krishna and glorifying Him. Krishna, while talking about the process of liberation, said he who thanks the Lord when cast into suffering is the one eligible for salvation.

Krishna Married Sixteen Thousand QueensKrishna married 16,108 women!  How did he interact with them? How did they live their routine lives? It is natural for a seeker to wonder. The answers to these questions can strengthen the faith of those visiting Dwarka.

When Krishna was here, he was with each and every queen intimately. He was the perfect husband and companion, never letting his wives feel lonely even for a moment. In the morning, Krishna woke up at the crack of dawn as the ‘grihasta’, He would meditate, do pooja, give charity and then leave each of His 16,108 palaces to do His durty as Dwarkadish or the king of Dwarka. He would assist King Ugrasena and go to the Sudharma assembly house. The Srimad Bhagvatam explains how HE would leave in his 16,108 forms. But just before entering the Sudharma assembly house, all the forms would merge into one composite whole. This way he would rule the state of Dwarka. After court, when it was time to meet His queens, He would expand into 16,108 forms and go on to please his wives, who were his pure devotees, by reciprocating the love they showered on Him.

One may ask how it was possible for Krishna to live in 16,108 palaces simultaneously. Because for Krishna, anything is possible. He  is the Absolute Truth, he is the embodiment of Adhyatamik Shakti and inconceivable potencies. When Krishna descended on earth, his supremacy was evident, which  paved the way for the salvation of mankind through love and devotion. He is all attractive and we are drawn to Him by the inconceivable qualities He exhibits.

The original city of Dwarka, described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Mahäbhärata, and other Vedic scriptures, was a fort city surrounded by sea.  Today, a small island, “Bet Dwarka”- is all that remains to remind us of the glorious past. Pilgrims can visit this place too.

The present city of Dwarka is on the shore. It has a population of approximately 30,000, and a tourist population that fluctuates with the seasons. Even though it’s remote—on the west coast and a long way from major cities—many pilgrims make the endeavor to go there.

Dwarka is one of the most important places for devotees because it is one of the four prominent holy places in the cardinal directions of India: Dwarka (west), Puri (east), Rameswaram (south), and Badrinath (north).

The atmosphere in Dwarka is peaceful. The people are pious and don’t seem overly hassled. They happily go to the temple to see the Lord. We arrived in Dwarka at 6:30 in the morning, and although it was still dark, quite a few people were walking towards the main temple, that of Dwarkadhish, “the Lord of Dwarka,” the four-armed Deity of Krishna. By the blessings of Lord Krishna, the opulence of Dwarka survives. Although we don’t see fabulously rich people, the ordinary people live a comfortable life.

Dwarka is a pleasant town on the coast, with a nice strip of beach. The sea is calm there. The climate is moderate, not too hot in the summer or too cold in winter.

Windmills Bet Dwarka

The Main Temple Of Dwarkadhish

Dwarkadhish

Regal Worship :

Because Lord Krishna lived in Dwarka as a prince, He is worshiped there in that mood. The Dwarkadhish Deity is opulently dressed, and the symbols in His four hands (conch, club, disc, and lotus) are covered in silver. The brahmanas are colourfully dressed with solid red or yellow dhotis and with shirts made from flags that have flown over the temple. During the worship, the brahmanas beat drums and blow conch shells.

Within the compound of the Dwarkadhish temple, built in the sixteenth century, are many small shrines, including those of Lakshmi, Siva, Radhika, Balarama, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Jambavati, Satyabhama, and Purusottama Visnu.

Directly facing Dwarkadhish is the shrine of Devaki, Krishna’s mother. She’s looking at Krishna, and He’s looking at her.

Other Noteworthy Temples

The temple of Samudra Narayana sits where the Gomati River, one of the important holy rivers of India, reaches the sea in the town of Dwarka. Samudra Narayana is Krishna’s expansion as Lord Narayana lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean. This old temple is the only temple of Samudra Narayana across the world.


Samudra Narayana


Samudra Narayana Temple

Bet Dwarka

Thirty kilometers up the road from Dwarka is a village named Okha, which most people go to simply to take the pleasant twenty-minute boat ride to Bet Dwarka. Bet is the Gujarati word for “island.” On this island sits an old Dwarkadhisa temple. People here are proud of Bet Dwarka, even saying that it is the “Real Dwarka.”

Krishna Marries 16,108 queens – Amazing stories.

Marriage with Rukmini 

Excerpts from a talk by Radhanath Swami.

I would like to explain briefly about Lord Sri Krishna’s marriage to the Queens of Dwarka. As we were explaining at Gopi Talao, Lord Sri Krishna did not go to engage in warfare with Jarasandh rather he was willing to accept the reputation of coward as Ranchor, one who ran from the battle and also he was willing to let the demons think that he was defeated and killed by being burnt in the mountain. The great acharyas explain that He wanted to rush back to Dwarka for a very special reason. One day when he was in His Sudharma assembly house, a messenger came from the city of Vidarbha. It was a message from beautiful Queen of Bhismaka whose name was Rukmini. When she was very young, Narada muni came to the kingdom and with devotion he glorified the opulence of Sri Krishna. Upon hearing, her heart was awakened with his natural eternal love for Sri Krishna. Rukmini Devi is an expansion of Srimati Radharani. She is the Supreme Goddess of fortune and it is explained that Srimati Radharani expanded in the form of Rukmini to be always in the loving service of her beloved Sri Krishna, Sri Dwarkadish. So Sri Rukmini Devi upon hearing the glories of the Lord naturally fell in love with Krishna. Although we may not be of this tattva of the Goddess of fortune but it is a fact that every spirit soul, every jiva atma has dormant love within its heart for Krishna. And by hearing Krishna’s glories from a pure devotee of the Lord, the natural inclination to surrender to Krishna and love of Krishna is awakened. So Rukmini Devi fixed her mind on Krishna and vowed within her heart that she would accept no one as her husband except the son of Vasudev.

Meanwhile, king Bhishmaka was also favorable for Rukmini to marry Krishna, but her elder brother Rukhmi was a dear friend of Sishupal and as you know Shishupal was a worst enemy. Soon after his birth it was prophesized that Krishna would be the source of his death. Since then he was completely envious. In fact when Shishupal first began to speak, the first sound out of his mouth was like braying of an ass insulting Krishna and he never stopped his blasphemy throughout his life.

Anyways, Rukhmi wanted her sister Rukmini to marry Sishupal and as he was the eldest son, father and all the other brothers agreed. So the wedding date was set. Shishupal was maddened and infatuated with lust. Of course we should know that no materialistic demonic person like Shishupal can possibly perceive Rukmini as she was, but it was factually the Maya expansion of Rukmini which he was seeing. He could not perceive the true Rukmini. She was covered by curtain of maya illusion and we should know that nobody except Krishna can look upon Her, Goddess of fortune, totally on the motive of Divine love and only those who are pure servants of Krishna assisting Him in his loving affairs of Krishna can see how She is.

So Rukmini was in desperate condition and the messenger read this letter to Krishna and said that “Tomorrow morning I am scheduled to marry Sishupal, but my heart, my mind is always longing only for You. If anyone but You, my Lord Krishna, take my hand I would certainly commit suicide”. And She glorifies Krishna with so many beautiful loving prayers and she explains that my Lord if You so desire to save my life and give me your intimate mercy, which Brahma, Shiva and great sages are always longing for,then this is my plan. In my palace if You try to take me away You will have to fight with my family members. But just before the wedding ceremony in the morning, according to the family tradition, I must go to the temple of Ambika or Paravati and worship her. As I was coming out, Shishupal and all other kings assembled outside the temple. Te messenger had not returned and there was no sign of arrival of Krishna and only few minutes were remaining for the ceremony to begin. Meanwhile Krishna took his chariot driver, Daruka, and his horses and he rode for Vidarbha. And when Balaram heard the news, he also brought a large army of Yadavas and followed behind Krishna. When Maharaj Bhismaka heard that Lord Sri Krishna had come to attend the wonderful wedding between Rukmini and Shishupal he went to the city limits to greet Him and give Him wonderful accommodation. Meanwhile Rukmini went to the temple of Ambika. She bowed down before Mother Parvati and prayed “let all my austerities, all my tapasya and all my religious activities throughout my life culminate, my dear mother, in allowing Krishna to take me away from this place and accept my hand in marriage. And as she was leaving the temple Shishupal, along with  Jarasandha,Shalva and all other demonic friends from all over the world, was waiting for her anxiously. Rukmini was being escorted to the place of marriage ceremony and just before she approached Shishupal, Krishna came driving upon His chariot, took her hand and lifted her on to the chariot and started driving away. And when Shishupal and his friends saw, they were furious with anger and all attacked Krishna. But Krishna defeated all of them and they had to flee for their lives.

Meanwhile, armies of the others began to attack, Balaram along with His army was defeating all of them and Sri Krishna drove up with Rukmini. But Rukmini upon seeing Shishupal, Jarasandha, Salva and company defeated by Sri Krishna he made a vow that he would never return to my village (my kingdom) unless I kill Krishna. So with this vow, he went chasing Krishna and challenged Him and began to shoot arrows at Him. Krishna easily defeated and was about to kill him, but He saw that Rukmini, naturally loved her brother. She would be very disturbed in mind if she were to see her brother dead. So Krishna, he bound him, captured him and did something that was worse than death. For a kshatriya, to be humiliated is more painful that death itself. So he shaved Rukmi’s hair in certain way with patches of hair and patches of no hair all over the place in such a way that he looked very foolish and then with insulting words he let him loose. Rukhmi was very much upset, he was devastated. But meanwhile Krishna brought Rukmini back to Dwarka and there was a wonderful, wonderful marriage ceremony. This was the first Queen of Sri Krishna and the place where Rukmini’s palace was, is said to be just here on this island.

Marriage with Jambavati and Satyabhama 

“While Krishna was living happily with Rukmini in the beautiful city of Dwarka, one day a great king of the name Satrajit came to the city. Satrajit was the devotee of the Sun god Vivasavan, who gave him a beautiful jewel called the Shamantaka. Whoever wore this jewel would be free from diseases and danger and also it is

Jambavati

explained that when Satrajit came into Dwarka his body was effulgent and people thought he was the Sun god himself and they went and reported to Krishna that Vivasvan, the Sun god has come to meet you. Krishna said that he is Satrajit who has received the valuable Shamantaka jewel. Whoever owns the Shamantaka jewel, is able to receive one seventy pounds of pure solid gold every day from it.

So when Satrajit came before Krishna, Krishna knowing that this material opulence was actually a great burden. Attachment to material opulence, although in the beginning, is like pleasure but in the end it is like bitter poison. So for Satrajit’s own sake, Krishna said that he should give this jewel to Ugrasen, the king,as the best things are to be offered to the King. But Satrajit was too much attached to it and  said that he would keep it for himself.

Anyways one day Prasena,the brother of Satrajit took the jewel and wore around his neck and went in to the forest. There a lion killed his horses, him and took the jewel. As the lion was walking away with the jewel he came across Jambavan, that ancient associate of Lord Ramchandra, Riksharaj, who killed the lion and took the jewel into his cave. In the cave he gave the jewel to his little son. When Prasena did not come back, Satrajit began to spread rumors that because Krishna wanted this jewel he has done something to my brother and stole the jewel. Even though the people of Dwarka were such great celebrated personalities, they were victim to rumours. We can see how terrible gossip and rumours are !!! especially when they are done against great personalities. Even the inhabitants of Dwarka fell victim to it  and started suspecting Krishna. So, Krishna knowing that peoples love and appreciation for Him was the means of perfection for them, so he wanted to clear the defamy. So he took an entourage of His associates to the forest to search for the Shamantaka jewel and he found Prasena dead and he walked on further and saw the lion dead and he walked on further following the footprints in the cave and there he saw a little child playing with the Shamantaka jewel. As Krishna was about to take it away, nurse of the child began to cry “Jambavan!! Please come! Someone is going to steal the jewel from your baby. Jambavan came out charging and he challenged this thief to a fight and they began to beat each other. It was such a fight! Fighting continued day and night for twenty eight days without sleep.

Meanwhile after twelve days, the associates of Lord Sri Krishna considered that Krishna must be dead. They were waiting outside of the cave according to Krishna instructions and they went back to Dwarka and to explain to everyone that Krishna never came back. He went into a cave and never came out. So, you can imagine how much the inhabitants of Dwarka were lamenting the loss of their beloved Sri Krishna who was their life and their soul. After twenty eight days of the great fight, Jambavan realized that no one but the Supreme Personality of Godhead could stand up against me in battle. So You must be my beloved Ram Himself, You must be the Supreme Lord Narayana and then he surrendered at the feet of Sri Krishna. Krishna with His loving hand put it around the body of Jambavan and relived him of all the pain and anxiety. Jambavan was so grateful in ecstatic love to be in the darshan of Lord Sri Krishna that he offered Him the Shamantaka jewel as a gift. But he also offered his own beloved daughter who was a jewel amongst the women. This Shamantaka jewel was nothing compared to the jewel of this beautiful child that he raised. She was none other than the Goddess of fortune herself and her name was Jambavati. So Jambavan offered Krishna accept her hand in marriage. So Krishna brought her back to Dwarka and there was a beautiful wonderful wedding ceremony of the second wife of Sri Krishna.

When he returned, Satrajit felt very embarrassed that he was spreading all these rumours about Krishna which were untrue and he felt that he had committed a great offence. So in order to atone for his offence he offered his own daughter, Satyabhama, to Lord Sri Krishna and She became His third queen. ”

Marriage with Mitravinda , Kalindi, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and  Laxmana –

It is explained that there was a beautiful princess of the name Mitravinda and her brothers were dear friends of Duryodhana and she decided that she wanted Krishna and only Krishna to be her husband, upon hearing His glories. And Krishna knew this. She was praying form the core of her heart that Krishna takes her hand in marriage, but the brothers would not accept. Due to his association with Duryodhana they were against Krishna. They considered Him an enemy. So during her Swayamvara ceremony where great princes from all around the world they would come to win the hand of the daughter, Krishna just stole her away and brought her to Dwarka to become His queen.On another occasion, Krishna was visiting Hastinapur. He along with Arjuna went into the forest and came to the beautiful river Yamuna and they went to drink water to refresh themselves. Then from behind in the forest they saw a beautiful princess walking all alone. Krishna told Arjuna “Please ask this beautiful damsel who she is and why she is unescorted in the middle of this jungle.” So Arjuna went back to enquiry and she said, “My name is Kalindi and I am the daughter of Surya, the Sun God, my brother is Yamaraj, and I have been performing tapasya for many long years in my abode, Jamuna river, to get Krishna as my husband. He is the Supreme Lord, the master of the Universe and the object of all my affection and love. I will go on doing tapasya until Krishna accepts my hand in marriage. So Arjuna went back and explained this to Lord Krishna and Krishna took Kalindi and placed her on His chariot and brought her back to Dwarka and she became another wonderful Queen of Dwarkadish.

There was a swayamwara ceremony held by a king, Nagnajit and his daughter ,Satya, sometimes also called Naganajiti, she also fixed her heart for having Krishna as her husband. And Nagnajit also was very anxious that only Krishna be her husband. But as it was a custom in their tradition there had to be a swayamwara ceremony and the person who could defeat all the others only could have her hand in marriage. So he arranged this swayamwara in such a way that only Krishna could win. He found seven terrible, terrible violent bulls. They were so strong so much ferocious that no one could even approach them. And he challenged that to have his daughter Satya as your queen you must defeat all the seven bulls simultaneously. So many great princes, warriors and heroes came but their head and their limbs and their bones were broken to pieces when they approached the formidable bulls. Then Krishna came and spoke to king Nagnajit that “You know! amongst the Yadus, either you give us the Queen or we take them generally. We do not take part in all these challenges. Nagnajit said, “If You do this, You will easily defeat all these seven bulls then Your name will be glorified forever. So please” Krishna said “All right”. He approached the bulls and expanded Himself into seven forms simultaneously and when he expanded into seven forms, each form easily defeated the bull, tied it with ropes and then Krishna became one form again and began to pull all the bulls like child would pull a toy and they were just completely under his control. It is explained by the acharyas that why Krishna expanded into seven forms. He could have done it one form. But He wanted to prove to Satya that if you become My queen, although I already have many other queens you should know that you would never be lonely and I can expand Myself to be with all of you simultaneously. Then She became very satisfied and then there was a very wonderful, wonderful wedding ceremony. Krishna married Nagnijiti. King Nagnajit gave a beautiful dowry and They returned to Dwarka. There was also a beautiful princess of the name Bhadra. Bhadra was the daughter of some of Krishna’s cousins and they very much wanted Krishna to take her hand in marriage. And so with great devotion they requested and Krishna accepted Bhadra and the eighth queen was Laxmana. Krishna also stole her from the swayamwara ceremony and took her away to Dwarka. So these principal eight queens lived here in Byet Dwarka with Krishna in beautiful places which put to shame even the palace of Indra, the king of heavens.

Krishna Marries 16,100 princesses

There was a great asura of the name Bhaumasura, also named Narakasura and he had stolen the Umbrella of Varuna, he stole the earrings of the mother of the demigods, Aditi, and he had put devatas to shame. So they were requesting Sri Krishna to defeat this terrible demon and retrieve their royal property. So Krishna took his queen Satyabhama and asked her to join Him on His Garuda carrier, and from Dwarka they flew to the city of Bhaumasura which was a formidable city. It was surrounded round on all sides with huge big walls and loads of deep water and electric wires and there was also terrible demon of the name Mura with his sons and his armies who were protecting that city. So Krishna on Gaurda with His Sudarshan Chakra and His arrows he destroyed all the protected walls, he destroyed all the electric wirings, he crossed over the modes, at that time and defeated most of Bhaumasura’s armies. Mura approached angrily and he began to scream. He had five heads and as he screamed, that shrill filed all directions and he attacked Krishna and there was a wonderful fight. But ultimately Krishna severed all of his five heads with His chakra and Mura fell into the water. Then after battling and defeating all of Bhamasura’s armies, Bhaumasura came himself to fight.He was a great and powerful mystic. But ultimately by the great power of the Lord he severed his head with His chakra and killed Bhaumasura. The mother of Bhaumusura, the earth personified, approached Krishna and she gave Krishna the earrings to Krishna and the umbrella of Varuna and all other property of the demigods. There is an interesting story to Bhaumasura.

Bhaumasura was actually the son of Krishna. When Lord Varaha Dev appeared and lifted earth from water, he impregnated mother earth and Bhauma was the child. And he was a great devotee of the Lord and he was a very pious and perfect human being. But somehow or the other he fell into bad association and it is explained in all the scriptures that even great personalities, the power of association is so much that they can lose their intelligence. Therefore the most important principle for spiritual advancement “Mahatsevam dwaram………..sangi sangam” – SB 5.5.2 To associate with devotees and to avoid the association, intimate association of those who are too much materialistic. Ajamil was also a great devotee of the Lord, but by associating with low class people, he became a terrible sinner. In the same way, Bhaumasura due to bad association became a terrible, powerful demon. And Krishna personally wanted to kill His own family member just to show that His devotees are not people who simply take birth according to their blood relations with Him. Everything is based on our devotion. We find even today that there are many class goswamis who claim their position because of their birth. This is a Nityanand Vamsa, there is Advaita Vamsa who claim to be the descendants of these great personalities. And also many of the temples of Vrindavan and other places there are goswami class who are of same blood line of the original pujaris of these temples. But Krishna wants us to show that he cares nothing for your birth or relationship. He is concerned with your devotion, with the quality of your consciousness and even if he were His own son He would kill you if you are demonic. So Bhaumasura was killed and when Krishna was searching through his kingdom, He found that   there were 16100 queens, princesses that he had been captured during his battles, and they had been there as his kidnapped property for many years and they were helpless. And in their complete helplessness, from the core of their hearts they were meditating on Krishna, on the Supreme Personality of Godhead that only You can save us. And when Krishna released them they were all thinking within their heart that “Krishna! You are our life and soul. You are our only object of love and affection, You are our everything”.So even though they were silently praying this way, Krishna, the Lord within everyone’s heart could understand their thought and told them that I would take all of you to Dwarka and make you all my queens.  So Krishna arranged 16100 beautiful chariots, with a royal entourage for each and every one of them, marched into Dwarka together and there was a wonderful, wonderful wedding ceremony for all of them with Krishna. Krishna built 16100 palaces here in Dwarka and lived with all his queens and each one of His queen was thinking that Krishna was only with me.


Temple at Bet Dwaraka

Gopi Talav

About halfway to Bet Dvaraka and five kilometers off the main road is Gopi Talav, the pond where Krishna met with the gopis, His cowherd girlfriends from Vrindavana. This sacred spot is the source of gopi-candana, a clay that Krishna’s devotees use to decorate their foreheads.

“When Krishna came to Dwarka, the gopis of Vrindavan were very confused because in Vrindavan they were always getting some message from Mathura of what Krishna was doing and how he was doing and that was a solace of their life.Not only Him, but the whole dynasty of the Yadavas and the Vrishnis without saying anything to anyone they left Mathura and came to Dwarka.

So Krishna as supersoul in everyone’s heart could understand the feeling of the gopis and the place where you are sitting today is a very auspicious and holy place. It is described in the Garg Samhita and the Skanda Purana by Prahlad Maharaj as well as in the Padma purana the glories of this particular holy place. Krishna was feeling that the gopis were so much disorientated since he left Mathura and he was also feeling such a longing in his heart to be reunited with gopis. So he sent Udhava along with Yogamaya to Vrindavana. While the gopis were sleeping at night, he had them transferred to a beautiful palace which was just close to  here and when they woke up in the palace it was dark and the gopis they had never lived in a palace before. They were simple cowherd  girls  they did not know where they were and they were looking everywhere for a door to get out. But they could not find the dwar so they started caling “Dwar Kaha, Dwar Kaha”.where is the door? kaha means where? so that is how this place attained the name Dwarka. It was named by the gopis  and Alas!!! Krishna appeared to them and brought them to this area where there was a beautiful kund that was made by Maya danav. The gopis were so happy at seeing the beauty of this kund and Krishna came to be with them and the gopis said that we want a special kund better than this just for you. By Krishna’s divine arrangement, this kund was made and then Krishna and the gopis entered in this kund. They began bathing together and they had many wonderful water sports, splashing on one another and playing so many pleasurable and wonderful  leelas in the water together and it is described that the gopis decided that they wanted to bath Krishna personally while he was in the waters and previously  Brahma had put a Chanda –Gopichanda on Krishna which was permanent and when the gopis  bathed Him, that gopichandan  came out into the waters and sunk to the bottom, and since then it said that  the chandan of lake this in its raw natural form is decorated with a chakra- the disc , the gada- the club, the kamla -the lotus and the shanka- the counshell and when we go inside, the pandit will show us the raw  gopi chandana when we split it open and it is directly for here and unmixed these signs  of Vishnu are in each piece.

So for many days Krishna and the gopis they had wonderful pastimes here and in the evenings they would have the rasaleela on the banks of this Gopi Talao. Some people say that after Krishna left the planet that the gopis came here to drown themselves but there is no shastra, but we have seen that they have confirmed this. This is a common story that people tell. But according to the shastra, after Krishna killed Dantavakra in Mathura, he came into Vrindavan, (this is after the battle of Kurukshetra) and at that time he brought all of the residents of Vrindavana directly back to Goloka Vrindavan .But this is a very special holy place because this is the place where the gopis and Krnsa met to bath in this beautiful lake and this is place throughout the entire world from where gopi chandan comes from. Srila Prabhupada explains, all bonafide gopi chandan must come from this lake alone and people from Mathura and Varanasi come and collect in large number of buckets They dry it and mix it with other mud and then they sell it as gopi chandan

Glories of gopi chandan is explained in the Skanda Purana that by placing the mud of this lake, where Krishna and the gopis had their wonderful water leelas, upon one’s body is as good as bathing in the Ganges. It is as good as going to all holy places of pigrimage. You are all fortunate to be in this in very very extraordinary and mystical holy place. There is a beautiful Deity of Gopinath in the temple.

At the time of Krishna leela in Dwarka, Devaki approached Krishna one day and said although I gave you birth as mother I never had the wonderful fortune of seeing your bal-leela because you came when you were about 12 yrs old and mother Yashoda had the good fortune to see. I want to see that beautiful form of Yours as a little child stealing butter. So Krishna became a little child and he had a stick which is used for churning the butter and he was holding a rope which is used to frill that sick and Devaki was so much happy to see that form and Rukmini happened to see that form of bal- gopal of Vrindavan. So she approached Krishna and said “Please I want to worship you in that form. I have not seen such a beautiful all attractive form as that”. So Krishna manifested Himself as a Bal-gopala Murthi and Rukmini worshiped that deity in the most private confidential temple of her palace and after Sri Krishna left this world which we will describe tomorrow at Prabhasakshetra that Murti of Krishna came into his kund and for many many long, thousand of years was under this want and it went into the mud.

Now there was a great ship merchant who was bringing goods from Dwarka  to southern parts of India and in order to make his ship balanced he took large large blocks of gopi chandan from this kund and when he was going by Udupi, Madavacharya (this is seven hundred years ago) was sitting on the banks of the ocean doing meditation on Krishna.A storm came and the boat was about to sink and the captain of the boat saw Madvachrya there,  saw a sadhu, begged him for some blessings to save him and Madhava took his chadar and waved it, the storm stopped and then he directed it to come to the beach. The captain said “You have saved my entire fortune and you have saved my life. I will give you anything you want anything …or all of it”. He asked “where are you coming from?” and captain said “Dwarka”.  He continued, “Dwakra is the only place from where gopi chandan comes, do you have any gopi chandan?” The captain said,” Yes I have 2 big blocks of it. So give me that. So he brought out the 2 big block of chandan and the blocks cracked open. And in one block, there was deity of Udupi Krishna and one was the deity of Balaram .The deity of Balaram is installed just near the ocean and the deity of Udupi Krishna which is one of the most famous deities in the entire world was brought by Madvacharya. Nobody could lift it. So many men were trying to lift it but they couldnot lift it and Madva easily put it on his shoulders and walked in the town what is now called as Udupi.

The gopis having nice water sports every day bathing together and dancing together and singing together here and then sent back to Vrindavan. We know that the gopis were 24 hours a day united with Krishna and in this way the vraj gopis taught us that we are never separated  from Krishna as long as we remember Him. Lord Chaitanya who was Srimati Radharani, the queen of all gopis, who came to this world to teach us the sublime process of always remembering Krishna and chanting his Holy names- Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.


Gopi Talao 

Gopi Talao 

Rukmini Temple

About three kilometers outside Dvaraka, on the road to Bet Dvaraka, is the temple of Rukmini, Krishna’s chief queen. The architecture of the temple is beautiful, and the walls are decorated with paintings of the pastimes of Rukmini and Krishna. The temple is said to have been built in the twelfth century.


Rukmini Temple

Nageshwar Mahadev temple of Lord Shiva
It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas which are considered most  auspicious to worship and to have wonderful darshan. Long ago, there was a great devotee of Lord Shankar of the name Nagesh and he would make out of sand the Shiva lingas and worship at this beautiful place. But there was a very demonic person of the name Daraksura and he very much criticized and condemned Nagesh of his devotion to Lord Shiva and one day in great anger he came to kill. At that time Nagesh tired to defend himself but was helpless against this powerful asura and just then Lord Shiva came out of  this simple sand linga and personally appeared and destroyed the demon and saved his devotee. And he gave a benediction to Nagesh that he would manifest himself in a form of a linga in this very place and he would fulfill all of his heart desires, which of course is simply love and devotion to His Supreme Lord .So since that time this self manifested Shiva linga Nageshwar Mahadev is worshipped by great personalities. Vaisanava  naam yatha Sambhu. It is explained in Srimad Bhagavatam that the greatest of all literatures is the Srimad Bhagvatam, the greatest of all rivers is the Ganges and the greatest of all the Vaisanavas is Lord Shiva and the devotees know that in order to approach Lord Krishna it is essential to get the blessing of Lord Shiva. Just as in Vrindavan we find Maharaj Vrishabanu by worshiping Kameshvar Mahadev, it is explained  that Srimati Radharani was born as his daughter and Parjanya the grandfather of Lord Krishna in Nandagam, he also worshipped Lord Shiva and as a result Krishna became his grandson, the son of Nanda Maharaj. So the devotees in the mood of worship pray, to the greatest expansion of the Lord Narayana, that by the supreme glorious mercy he grant us the proper consciousness to engage in pure devotional service to Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Also in Vrindavan there is a Gopisvera Mahadev Mandir and all Brajvasis worship the divine form of Lord Shiva for the purpose of entering into the arena of loving devotional service to Krishna.

Nageshwar Mahadev Temple

Big Deity of Lord Shiva outside Nageshwar Mahadev Temple

Why Lord Krishna built City of Dwarka ?

After Kamsa sent so many asuras to Vrindavan in an attempt to kill Sri Krishna and Sri Balaram, they decided to invite them to Mathura  for a wrestling match with great demons Chanura and Mustika . At that time Krishna came to Mathura. He and Balaram killed Chanura and Mustika and then they killed Kamsa. After they killed Kamsa, Kamsa had 2 wives Asti and Prapti and they were the daughters of king Jarasandha who was a great demon of the Magad province. They went back to their father Jarasandh and they were grief stricken and their hearts were broken and they weepingly began to proclaim to their father that Kamsa was such a  noble pious righteous man, this Krishna such a rouge, he came and when our husband Kamsa was minding his own business  he was not aware Krishna jumped on him and killed him by all unfair means and we will not be satisfied until the death of our husband is avenged. So Jarasandha made a vow to destroy Krishna and destroy the entire yadu dynasty. He was a very powerful asura. So, he mobilised twenty three akshahouni division of soldiers comprising all demons from entire world to help him to conquer Krishna. As you know in the battle on Kurushetra, so many solider were killed but there were only eighteen akshahounis divisions of soldiers on both sides together. Jarasandha mobilised twenty three akshahouni divisions and they attacked Mathura and Krishna, and Krishna killed all of his army, deeply uprooted them destroyed everyone except Jarasandha. He allowed Jarasandha to escape and he again went to  mobilize all the demons from all over the world to come up with a huge army and again attacked Mathura. Krishna destroyed all his armies. He did this seventeen consecutive times. Now one may ask why Krishna killed his whole army but never would kill Jarasandha. The great acharyas explain that Krishna’s mission in this world is paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya duskritinam dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge. He comes for the purpose of protecting his devotees and annihilating, the miscreants, the demons. He knew that Jarasandha was such a popular and influential demon that he was getting demons form all over the world and bringing them right to Mathura so instead of Krishna travelling all over the world to kill all demons. He knew all he had to do was to kill them and let Jarasandha bring them. Whoever was left and kill them all and in this way the demons were coming right to his door.

There was a personality of the name Garga . One time it so happened that some of the members of the Yadu Dynasty ridiculed him and laughed at him. So he did tapasaya to Lord Shiva for a long time, many long years and he begged for a benediction that he would have child that would create great fear and anxiety in the Yadus. So with the benediction of Lord Shankar he begot from a woman from a yavana class, a sect most uncivilised section, of society.A son whose name was Kalayavan, who was a very powerful demon. And because he was from a Yavana untouchable class nobody liked to go close to him, very uncivilised. He mobilised a huge army of barbarians and Jarasandh arranged that one would attack from east and one would attack from west simultaneously. So Kalayavan  comes with his armies  from one side of Mathura and challenging Krishna to fight, and Krishna realized that while I am fighting with his armies, Jarasandh would come from other side, then the citizens of Mathura will be in a very  difficult  position.  It would be very uncomfortable for them. So He spoke with Balaram about this and He made a plan. While all the citizens of Mathura were sleeping, Krishna called for Visvakarma, the architect of the demigods, and told him to build a beautiful city within the sea. The city had a boundary wall around it which was 96 miles and Visvakarma may build such a wonderful, beautiful, incredible palace that nobody would have seen. There are beautiful, wide high way lanes which imported many beautiful flowers like parijata from the heavenly places. Beautiful palaces all bedecked with marble and all precious  jewels and gold and silver and they even brought the Sudharma the administrative parliament building of the heavenly planets of Indralok, they brought it down to be the capital of Dwarka. And after everything was beautifully constructed and all the 33 crores demigods all made contributions or gifts  to make Dwarka  beautiful. While all the inhabitant citizens of Mathura were sleeping, by the yogamaya potency Krishna transported everyone to Dwarka, so when they woke up in the morning they were living in this beautiful city in the middle of the ocean.

So Krishna was confident that this was a very fortified fort protected by the ocean itself and He could attempt to dealing with these demons. So when Kalyavana approached Krishna he just walked right by him and Krishna just walked very fast and he was threatening “You coward why don’t you stand and fight”. Krishna kept walking and he walked into a cave and Kalyavana was thinking what type of nonsense coward He is and now hiding in a cave. When he entered the cave he saw a body sleeping on the ground. He thought him to be Krishna, what an insult, I challenged him to fight and he went to sleep and so very hardly he kicked his body but he was not Krishna but a great king named Muchukunda, who immediately arose and looked at Kalyavana with great anger and form his eyes he burnt Kalyavana into ashes. Then Muchukunda told Krishna that he was not Krishna but a great king of the name Muchukunda who immediately arose and looked at Kalyavana with great anger and form his eyes he burnt Kalyavana  into ashes. Then Muchukunda told Krishna that he was a king who defended the demigods for many long years against the demons until Kartikeya the son of Shiva was born. At that time, they told me that they do not require you any more we will give you any bendiction for your seva he said the only benediction I wanted was to sleep. I haven’t slept for years and he was feared that if any other problem would take place, Indra and the demigods will wake him up so he said that I want a benediction that if any one who wakes me I will burn into ashes with my eyes. Krishna was so clever but Muchukunda was  His devotee and Krishna wanted to wake him to  send him back to Godhead  but if He woke him then Muchukunda would look at him and if He did not burn to ashes then it would have made the demigod liars and if He would have burnt to ashes then it  is not possible that He is Krishna. So He had to have somebody else to wake him up, somebody was to be burnt to ashes. Besides, Kaalayavana was a yavana and therefore it was below the dignity of Krishna to touch him with His own body or any of His weapons. So He arranged it so that Muchukunda could burn him with his glance and then He gave Muchukunda to ask for any benediction and he simply asked “Let me always remembering you with love and devotion and let me always be the servant of your devotees”.

Then Krishna went back to Mathura. and At that time, when Jarasandha attacked again,  Krishna just walked away and he started chasing after Him and this time Balaram was along with Him.Krishna Balaram were walking and Jarasandha was running as fast as he can with all of his armies, akshahounis divisions of soldiers but no matter how much they ran even with their chariots and elephants and with full speed Krishna and Balarama were walking they could not reach Him and Krishna walked into a big mountain and that mountain was 80 miles tall and at that time Jarasandha and his armies searched the entire mountain but they could not find Krishna but they knew that He had not escaped so they put fire all around the mountain and lit the entire mountain on fire knowing that nobody could escape, but Krishna and Balaram from the top of the mountain they leaped over the fire  80 miles down to the ground.

Sri Krishna Balaram Ki Jai. This mountain called mount pravarshan is even today in Gujarat state called as Raivata mountain. Meanwhile Jarasandha thought that they were dead and they had nice and wonderful celebrations that Krishna Balaram were finally dead. Because Krishna ran from front of Jarasandha he gave the name Ranchor. Ranchor literaly means the one who ran form the battle like a cowhard, but when Krishna ran from battle as Ranchor He is actually a demonstration of His opulence  aiswarya of renounciation. Krishna does not care of what people think of him in this regard.He is a renounciate. He allowed everyone to think that he is cowhard running way form battle  because he had a very special purpose. What was His purpose? He wanted to get to Dwarka very soon because He knew that Rukmini would soon meet Him to kidnap Her and if He fought this war with Jarasandha he might be late so he walked away, jumped over the fire and entered into Dwarka.