November 1970. The large iron key, sent by registered post, fell heavily onto the sandstone roof of the Delhi Dharmshala. Ten hands darted to retrieve it. We passed it around respectfully, knowing that it was our passport into Vrindavan, Lord Krishna’s eternal abode, whose counterpart in this world lay only ninety miles to our south. Srila Prabhupada’s hand-written note that came with it told our small group to travel there and clean his quarters in the Radha-Damodara temple compound. The rooms had been vacant for over two years. He described them as two rooms—a kitchen and a bedroom-study separated by a veranda, and referred to these rooms as his eternal quarters in Vrindavan, where he had resided prior to coming to the West to introduce Krishna consciousness. With great eagerness we made arrangements for our first visit to Vrindavan.
The next day we followed our morning program: rise at 3:30, chant to Prabhupada; 4:00 am – heat water; 4:30 – bathe, cook for morning train to Mathura; 5:30 – tilok, chant Gurvastakam, Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Mahamantra; 6:00 – offer bhoga and puja – Vande Ham; 6:20 – Gayatri mantra; 7:00 – catch Agra Special to Mathura Junction; chant 16 rounds japa; 9:00 – arrive at Mathura; 9:15 – take tonga through lands touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and His associates; 9:50 – enter Vrindavan – fall on sacred ground and offer obeisances; 11:00 – visit Mandir Shyama ashrama and respect prasadam; 12:00 – chant; 2:30 – walk down cobbled streets in Raman Reti sheathed in shimmering white sands with silver slate where Krishna and Balarama play. There are peacocks and tamal trees; there are pastures of cows. The ground is fertile and green, and there is a haze over the sugar fields. Swans, herons, peacocks, cows, bulls, calves are all going to Vrindavan. The ground has changed hue. Everywhere there are temples and sugarcane fields. Go means land; go means senses; go means cows. All of the inhabitants of Vrindavan sing of Radha and Krishna’s glories; the constant sounds of ‘Jaya Radhe’ and Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare are going on twenty-four hours a day.
4:00 – We reach the holy temple of Radha-Damodara. This was where Srila Prabhupada compiled the first three volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam, and it is the temple housing the deities of Jiva Goswami (Sri Radha-Damodara), Krishna das Kaviraja and Bugarbha Goswami. It also houses the glorious Govardhan Sila that Krishna gave to Sanatana Goswami and which bears His footprint, a print of a calf hoof, and His staff. The transcendental grounds also house the Samadhi and Bhajan Kutir of Rupa Goswami, the Samadhis of Jiva Goswami and Krishna das Kaviraja Goswami, and many Pushpa Samadhis of great Vaishnavas of earlier times. We entered the temple gate into another dimension—one where we could feel the bliss and mercy of our entire lineage of Vaishnava acharyas beginning with Srila Prabhupada, our beloved Guru Maharaja. How had we been able to enter the realm of the Goswamis who in the perfectional stage of bhaktiyoga had mercifully spread love of Godhead through their writings and by their living example? I instinctively knew that I was here because of their kindness and because of Srila Prabhupada’s kindness. It was as simple as that.