Manasi-ganga

This lake is said to have been created from Krishna’s mind after He had killed the demon Vatsasura. Because the demon was in the form of a calf, and it is considered very sinful to kill a calf, the cowherd boys suggested Krishna could purify Himself by bathing in the River Ganges. Not wishing to leave Vrindavana, while at the same time satisfying His cowherd boyfriends, Krishna created the River Ganges from His own mind and manifested it here at Govardana Hill. He then took His bath much to the pleasure of His cowherd boyfriends. The word ‘manasi’ means ‘from the mind’ and ‘ganga’ means the ‘River Ganges’. Sometime later, when Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men heard descriptions about the glories of bathing in the Ganges, they wanted to go and take bath in that holy river. After much persuasion however, Krishna convinced the Vrajavasis that the River Ganges was manifested in Vrindavana and brought them here to Manasi-ganga. When Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men arrived there with Krishna, Ganga Mayi, the river goddess, suddenly appeared from the lake and standing before them, offered prayers to Krishna. Having seen mother Ganga with their own eyes, they were convinced that Manasi-ganga was nondifferent from the River Ganges, and they joyfully took their bath in the sacred lake. Manasi-ganga is also the site of some of Krishna’s celebrated boating pastimes known as nauka-vihara. Formerly Manasi-ganga was much larger and many boats used to ply from one side to the other. One day, the gopis arrived there with their milk products meant for sale in a local market on the other side of the lake. There were no boats available other than one very old boat, so the gopis enquired from the young boatman dressed in a cloak with a peacock feather in his hair, how much he would charge. After some haggling, the boatman agreed to accept some milk products as his fee. The gopis  boarded the boat and the boatman began rowing to the opposite shore. All of a sudden the boatman stopped rowing and lying back, informed the gopis that due to weakness, he was unable to go any further unless he was immediately fed with some of their milk products. At first the gopis refused to hand over any milk products until they reached the other side, but realizing they had no other option, fed a quantity of their milk sweets to the boatman.

After being fed, the boatman continued rowing for some time but again stopped, this time saying that after eating so many milk products, he would have to rest for some time. The boatman suggested that it would help if two gopis could massage his legs and another two could massage his arms. The gopis became very angry with the boatman, saying they would certainly take hold of his arms and legs, but instead throw him overboard into the lake. Seeing the angry mood of the gopis, the boatman again started rowing but after some time, suddenly pointed to a hole in the boat’s hull through which water was steadily leaking into the boat. The boatman informed the gopis that due to the heavy weight of all their milk products, the boat would surely sink unless they threw all their pots into the water. Fearing they may drown, the gopis immediately threw all their milk products overboard. The boatman then said that there was still too much weight in the boat and if they were to survive, the gopis would have to throw all their heavy jewelry overboard also. The gopis then removed all their jewelry and threw that into the water as well.

Suddenly dark clouds enveloped the whole sky as strong winds began to blow causing large waves to batter the boat. By this time the gopis were completely terrified, in order to assure them that the boat was sturdy enough to withstand the stormy conditions, the boatman demonstrated the strength of his boat by rocking it back and forth. As soon as the boatman started rocking the boat, in great fear that She might fall overboard, Radharani suddenly leapt forward and thrust Her arms around the boatman’s neck for safety. At that moment the storm subsided and the wind stopped blowing. As soon as Radharani touched the boatman, She immediately understood that the boatman was non-other than Her beloved Krishna. Seeing Radharani embracing the boatman, the gopis were surprised and enquired what on earth was She doing. Radharani then pulled the flute from under Krishna’s belt and held it up for all the gopis to see. The gopis then started laughing and clapping their hands in great delight. Krishna then took them on a boat-ride to see all the beautiful places around Manasi-ganga.

During His parikrama of Vraja Mandala, Lord Chaitanya also bathed in Manasi-ganga before entering the Harideva Mandira for darshana. There is a tradition amongst Vrajavasis and pilgrims in general, which has also been mentioned in Rupa Gosvami’s Mathuramahatmya, that those who are performing Govardhana parikrama should first bathe in Manasi-ganga and then take darshana of Lord Harideva, after which they start Govardhana parikrama. Then after finishing Govardhana parikrama, many pilgrims also take bath once again in Manasi-ganga.

-Adapted from Vraja Mandala Parikrama by Sri Rajasekhara Dasa Brahmachari.