Vraja is the source of the entire creation. The Vraja Bhumi that appears to be in the state of Uttar Pradesh in Mathura, India, is not the real identity of the land. This piece of land existed before creation, disappeared by the will of the Lord, appeared by the will of the Lord and will exist even after the disappearance of the phenomenal world or the land mass which is outside the land of Vraja. This is how one needs to understand Vraja although activities in this exuberant land may appear to be just like that of the ephemeral world outside Vraja.
The beings that move around in Vraja are not ordinary. They exist as a representation of the people of the ephemeral world who go to the land of Vraja consciously or unconsciously for religious or spiritual merit. The Vrajavasis or the original inhabitants of Vraja shoulder the anarthas (unwanted elements in one’s consciousness) of visitors who pay a visit to Vraja from the ephemeral world. Thus the Vrajavasis are most worshipable. The Vrajavasis are especially loved by the Supreme Lord and hence they should be never offended. Offending Vrajavasis tantamounts to disrespecting the Supreme Lord Himself. The monkeys in Vraja represent the nature of a jeeva that gets swayed by emotions. The monkeys jump from one roof to another just like the mind switches from one thing to another without any control. The dogs of Vraja represent the fickleness present in individuals where there is no focus on God and breeds on waste or even that which is harmful for the soul. The rats in Vraja represent the meanness present in man which hides under many facades and veils and causes devastation in one’s own life and others. The pigs in Vraja represent the voracious nature of the human appetite, loathsome and ever willing to use the tongue and genitals without any moderation.
However these animals in Vraja are still worshipable because they eat from the soil of Vraja which is called “Raj” or mud particles. The “raj” of Vraja is the most valued possession of the residents of Vraja. When the Supreme Lord had expanded into a million forms of His friends, cattle and buffaloes at the time of Lord Brahma’s thievery of the friends of the Lord, He had roamed around the entire 252 sq. Kms land and licked the entire land in the form of cattle and buffaloes.
A person who rolls on the soil of Vraja, rolls on the millions of spiritual worlds that each grain of mud in Vraja is said to encompass. Every true sadhaka considers the soil of Vraja as most valuable. Vraja is where the entire process of creation began and Vraja is the place where the doorway to the infinite will open. The Sadhaka who is committed to the service of the Divine couple makes Vraja his home especially after his material life is finished. When a person in the material world empties his mind and “chitta” at the feet of Sriman Mahaprabhu and prays earnestly to devote his life at the feet of Srimati Radhika, depending on the intensity of his sadhana, the doors of Vraja will automatically open. Vraja Dhama has two forms, one is the Vraja Dhama which is known as Vrindavana which is madhurya dhama or the Land of sweetness and secondly it has the form of Nabadwipa in Bengal, the birth place of Sriman Mahaprabhu. Nabadwipa or Mayapura is called “Audarya Dhama” or the land of mercy where one’s faults are not looked at by the Dhama Devata (guardians of the Land) and the jeeva purifies himself from all faults before making his way to the Madhurya Dhama which is Vraja Vrindavana. A living entity who commits several “aparadhas” (faults) against the Dhama or its people will be thrown out of Vraja by the Lord’s arrangement. Thus sadhakas know Nabadwipa as Sadhaka Bhumi and Vrindavana as siddha Bhumi (Land of perfection). Nobody can attain perfection or attain one’s spiritual form by remaining outside of Vrindavana. There may be sadhakas who may come many times to Vraja with the greed of attaining perfection and carry Vraja in their heart and perform Bhajana outside Vraja. This is also recommended as a Sadhana process in Gaudiya Vaishnavism. However perfection in Sadhana can only be attained when both the body and mind of the Sadhaka is in Vraja and continues to remain so till the Sadhaka leaves his body for the eternal abode. The work called “Vrindavana Mahimamrita” by Srila Prabodhananda Saraswatipada bears testimony to the previous statement.
Charan Pahari 