Sri Kaliya-damanavana, Vrindavana sub-forest
This forest lies north of Gocaranavana and contains many ancient kadamba trees. Among them is the keli-kadamba tree on which Sri Krishna climbed to a high branch, tied His yellow cloth around His waist and jumped into the Yamuna to subdue the Kaliya serpent. This is a keli-kadamba tree, and because Krishna performed a pastime (keli) here this particular tree is also known as Keli-kadamba. Adjacent to this keli-kadamba is the bhajana-kuti and samadhi of Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Nearby on the bank of Kaliya-daha is Srila Bilvamangala’s place of bhajana.
Sri Bilvamangala was a resident of a village on the bank of the Krishnabenva river in South India. In his youth, he became so attached to Cintamani, a beautiful prostitute, that he even went to meet her on the day of his father’s sraddha ceremony. With the help of a decayed corpse, he crossed the fearsome river that had overflowed its banks. Then after scaling a wall by grasping a black snake, thinking it to be a rope, he arrived at the prostitute’s house. The prostitute scolded him, saying, “If you had the same deep attachment for the lotus feet of Sri Krishna that you have for my bones, skin and body which is covered with foul smelling dirt, then your auspiciousness would be guaranteed.” When Bilvamangala heard this, he became detached from worldly existence and proceeded to Vrindavana. On the way‚ he met a young woman to whom he became attracted. Taking a sharp pin, he pierced his eyes and became blind. The playful rasika Krishna then bestowed His mercy upon Bilvamangala and brought him to Vrindavana, where he stayed for some time at Govardhana. There, he received a momentary darsana of his worshipful deities Sri Krishna and Sri Radhika. He then came to Vrindavana and resided near Kaliya- daha, where he performed bhajana. It is said that approximately seven hundred years later, he transmitted his transcendental power into Sri Vallabhacarya so he could establish his disciplic line (Pushtimarga). He performed his disappearance pastime here.
Post view 348 times
Leave a Reply