CHANDRA-SAROVARA

After having spent the whole night engaged in rasa-dancing with the gopis, Krishna, while still wearing His special rasa-lila dress, came here to rest on the banks of Chandrasarovara The gopis also came there and began massaging Krishna’s limbs and also fanned Him in order to relieve His fatigue. It is said that as Radha-kunda is very dear to Radharani, so Chandra-sarovara is very dear to Chandravali, the gopi considered second only to Radharani in attracting Krishna’s love. This lake is also very dear to the moon-god Chandra, because at this place, due to experiencing transcendental ecstasy, he became momentarily stunned and ceased all external movement when he witnessed the rasa-dance between Radha and Krishna. This lake is famous all over Vraja because of the spring-time rasa-lila that took place near its shores. Even Lord Balarama became stunned when He also witnessed the extraordinary rasa-lila at Chandra-sarovara, while He stood on top of Govardhana Hill. The place from where Lord Balarama saw the rasa-lila became celebrated as Doka Dauji. The word ‘doka’ is a corrupted form of ‘dekna’ or ‘to look’.

Chandra-sarovara is the site of many other wonderful pastimes where Krishna and the gopis would regularly meet and engage in singing, dancing, playing sports, and drinking honey. The honey drinking pastimes known as madhupan-lila were very popular, not only with Krishna and Balarama, but with the gopis and the cowherd boys as well. The word ‘madhu’ means ‘honey’ and ‘pan’ means to ‘drink’. On the banks of this lake, Krishna often engaged in decorating Radharani by applying mascara and other cosmetics on Radha’s moonlike face, and decorating Her transcendental limbs with gem-encrusted ornaments and golden jewelry. Krishna would also comb Radha’s long black hair into braids and then decorate Her braids with sweet smelling forest flowers. There is a shrine here on the banks at Chandra-sarovara known as the Shringara Mandira that commemorates this particular pastime. The word ‘shringara’ means ‘dressing’ or ‘decorating’.

Surrounding this lake are a number of other shrines including the bhajana kutir and samadhi of the blind Vaishnava saint named Sura Dasa, who wrote two well known poetry books; Sura-sagar and Sura-padavali. There is also the baithaka or sitting place of Vallabha Bhatta and his son Vitthalanath. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami appointed Vitthalanatha as the head priest of Madhavendra Puri’s famous deity named Gopala that was later moved to Nathadwara in Rajasthan, and became well-known as Shri Nathaji. Shriman Vallabha Bhatta met Lord Chaitanya a number of times at Puri and Prayag where he had once lived, he later moved to Mathura with his sons and eventually founded the Vallabhacharya sampradaya.

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