Yesterday I told you about the great devotee Swami Haridas who sung this song and Krishna appeared. The place where he was is called Nidivan, a famous garden in Vrindavan. If you go there, you can imagine how Vrindavan looked like 500 years ago. This is the only place which is left and kept in the same natural way. They did not build any buildings inside or cut down the trees. Outside a lot of development is going on but they kept this place in this way.
Nidhivan is a center of love and the pilgrims who come there have the belief that Krishna still appears there in the night. The saying is, that not any human being is allowed to go into this garden in the night. They say thousands of monkeys live in this garden but in the night they also leave the garden and find another place to sleep. The plants and trees which you see in the garden are the Gopis who love Krishna and in daytime they are in the form of trees but in the night they become the Gopis and dance with Krishna the Ras, the dance of love.
I remember one incident. When I was a child, maybe eleven or twelve years old, I went to primary school and one day we went to school in the morning but after one hour they sent all children home and closed the school for the day. Everywhere in the town there was the rumour that someone had stayed in Nidhivan overnight. Everybody wanted to see this man and gathered there. He was a young Sadhu, probably 35 years old. He had crossed the fence in the evening or night and in the morning, when the priest opened the gate, this man was lying behind it. The priest was shocked. I also went there and saw that the man was lying there, sometimes opened his eyes but did not talk to anyone. Most of the times he just lay there with closed eyes and tears running down his cheeks. People called doctors who came and checked everything but he was physically fully fine, his blood pressure and heartbeat fully normal. He just did not talk with anyone, did not drink or eat anything, and did not really look at anybody. Three days he survived like this, somebody brought him to the Ashram where he lived, but after three days he died.
You know I do not believe in miracles and I do not want to make any conclusion which would encourage you to believe and trust blindly in this kind of stories. But I have seen this and I only want to say that whatever he has experienced in there, whatever he has seen, I believe today that the man was so much in love with Krishna that he did not want any other influence in his life, just wanted to live in this energy and devotion which is why he decided to leave his body. Still nobody stays in there in the night but when you go there in daytime, it is an amazingly beautiful and peaceful atmosphere in which you can feel the love and peace of this place. Whenever someone comes to Vrindavan to visit, I encourage them to see this garden. But be careful with the monkeys, they like to steal glasses.
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The holy River Yamuna – stinking Water, no Fish and dead Cows – 6 Apr 12
Vrindavan Population Doubting ISKCON because of Acquisition of Land – 23 Feb 11
Polluted Water of the Yamuna in Vrindavan not Treatable anymore – 5 Feb 11
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Water of Yamuna Entering Vrindavan – 26 Aug 10
Pilgrimage Day in Vrindavan – Distribution of Potatoes and Tattoes on the Street – 29 Oct 09
What a wonderful story. So hard to comment on. I will definitely go to this garden when I visit your Ashram.Namaste
I went to this place! The monkeys backed me into a corner. Scary!
Same experience, but the men wanting to guide me through the garden cornered me first!
Oh wow Swami Ji, that must have been quite scary for those to witness the man. I wonder what it would have been like.
I read in our newspaper that in the last days thieves broke into Nidhivan. They entered in the night and stole a lot of things including money, clothes and jewelery which was all there in the temple. And you see they were not dead. On the contrary, they succeeded to run away and now the police is searching them. So there is not any miracle, as i already said in this article, it was that Sadhu’s love and devotion to Krishna that made him enter and finally led to his death.
What a bizarre story… We will never know exactly why this man did what he did or why he died. If you don’t believe in miracles, then one will certainly never happen to you!
I can attest to the monkey situation– had my glasses stolen by a monkey the other day! But I got them back with the help of a human and a biscuit. 🙂
A garden has always somethin charming and enchanting. It gives you silence and peace, you can walk and let your feeling and thoughts flow and enjoy the beautiful gifts of nature. Everyone should have a little garden 🙂