Triveni

Prayag Raja is the chief amongst all holy places in India although Sri Vrindavana Dhama is beyond the concept of holy places and qualifies as the home or body of the divine couple Sri Sri Radha Krishna. In Prayag Raj the three holiest of rivers meet namely Sri Ganga, Sri Yamuna and Sri Saraswati. Sri Saraswati is not visible to the naked eye in the current times yet she is very much present in her subtle nature and people who are endowed with divine vision are able to take Her Darshana even today.

Now one who is on the path of Sadhana should be aware of the aspects of the spiritual energies that are present on earth and take full advantage of them so that their sadhana is furthered and one is able to unite in service of their beloved Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krishna. The river Ganga represents the Samvit or the knowledge aspect of Krishna. Ganges flows from the foot-thumb of the Lord and it is said that a disciple always washes the toe-thumb of the Guru and drinks the water extracted thus so that disciple’s intelligence is thoroughly activated. Thus the toe-thumb of Sriman Mahaprabhu represents the source of Knowledge which is represented symbolically by Srimati Ganga Devi. It is also a well-known anecdote of Lord Mahaprabhu that the battle of Sanskrit knowledge was fought at the banks of Ganga Devi. Lord Mahaprabhu defeated Dig-Vijayi, the great Keshava Kashmiri who is believed to be the incarnation of Sri Nimbarkacarya who is the founder of the Nimbarki Sampradaya. Later as a sanyasi Mahaprabhu defeated Sri Prakashanand Saraswati who later became Prabodhananda, in an ashram on the banks of Ganga Devi while at Kashi. Thus Srimati Ganga Devi is considered to be the mother of knowledge.

The clandestine pastimes of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radhika flourished on the banks of Yamuna Devi. The six Goswamis of Vrindavana lost their heart falling in love with the Divine couple on the banks of Sri Yamuna. Yamuna Devi represents the pinnacle of Prema Rasa. She has within her bosom untold tales of Krishna Leela in all the four rasas. These sweet lores are even sung today in the major temples of Braja Bhumi. When Sriman Mahaprabhu became a sanyasi and had drunk deep the nectar of Prema, maddened by the intoxication caused by Prema He adored Sri Giriraja and Sri Yamunaji while at Vrindavana. Thus Sri Yamuna represents Prema alone.

Sri Vyasa Muni composed the Srimad Bhagavatham on the banks of the then visible Sri Saraswati river which is the confluence of Bhava/Prema and Gyana. The product which is the Srimad Bhagavatham has tales of Sriman Narayana and Lord Krishna which is soaked in both Gyana and Prema. The Aspect of Bhakti itself is the confluence of Gyana Vairagya and Prema. Bhakti Devi when in full manifestation reveals all these three aspects. Even if one aspect is missing, Bhakti is considered to be incomplete. There cannot be nectar unless Gyana and Prema along with Vairagya exist together. Vairagya is the aspect of renunciation caused by one’s selfless service to the Lord when the Bhakti creeper starts maturing. Only when Vairagya thus attains maturity it produces Gyana or deep inner realization and experience. Gyana is the exposure of consciousness of how the cosmic forces intermingle and expose the play of the Lord. When Gyana further matures, Bhava and Prema appear or pure appreciation of the Lord and Lords creation. This is the state when the entire cosmic creation manifests as the divine dance of the Lord and the Gopikas of Sri Vrindavana Dhama.