Mauritius-born SWAMI VISHWANANDA is the founder of the Bhakti Marga movement. He tells KRITI ARORA that more than being a geographical place, Vrindavan is a state of mind where Krishna is your best friend



Why is Vrindavan so special?



■Vrindavan is not what you see from the outside. It symbolises intense devotion and love.We visit here because of that. People are constantly praying here.



This is true of many other places of pilgrimage including Our Lady of Lourdes or the Vatican, is it not?



■ Divine presence is everywhere. However,Vrindavan is where the perfect Krishna lila is still going on, even though it is not visible to the naked eye.Those who are sensitive and can feel Krishna’s presence will see that his lila continues to happen. It is the eternal presence.The energy there is palpable; it is so uplifting; it is a question of faith.There may be chaos all around, but we can still feel that special energy. It is beyond the grasp of the mind. Each temple in Vrindavan reflects a different bhav or emotion. In the Banke Bihari temple, Krishna is in a joyful mood.In Radha Raman — we see a very naughty Krishna.Each temple deity has its own style.



In Banke Bihari, Krishna is a people’s deity. India has many holy cities.Vrindavan is a place where you can feel bhakti, love for Krishna. There are many other cities where you can feel this love for Krishna.You can feel this in Jaipur and in Tirupati also.■When Krishna ‘disappeared’, people made different kinds of murtis to honour Krishna’s memory.These were worshipped in different parts of the city. During the Mughal invasion,many temples were destroyed.Some of the deities including Shyam Sunder and Radha Raman were hidden in Vrindavan, but bigger deities such as Madan Mohan and Banke Bihari were sent to Jaipur. When calm returned, the only deity that returned to Vrindavan was Banke Bihari.Everything was destroyed and no one knew where the deities had been hidden.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Goswamis to dig in different places where the deities had been hidden. Later, Mirabai came to Vrindavan and helped in reviving the holy city.■Well, if the government truly wanted to do something for the Yamuna, they would have done so by now — by restoring Yamuna’s flow. Up north, a great deal of the water of the Yamuna is diverted at the Hathikund barrage; as a result, the flow of the river gets affected.We need to educate the people to not throw plastic in the river. Last month, Mata Amritanandamayi gave Rs 60 crore to restore the ghats of the Yamuna.The Japanese government has also given $210 million for revival of the Yamuna.■ Local people see things in a different way.They don’t mind.The outside is not important for them.The temple is under the Goswamis.If it was under the government, there would be different rules.Common people come to say ‘hello’ to Banke Bihari.Their relationship with him is different; they see him as a small child.Vrindavan is a beacon of devotion and faith.People are looking for something to hold on to and their faith has held them in good stead from one generation to the next.■ People believe that only their chosen form of god is the best. If they were not so possessive and if they had greater clarity, they would transcend their own institutions. People fight because they think they know better than anybody else.There is no respect, no harmony for what others believe or think. The natural world should go hand-in-hand with the spiritual world. Mahavtar Babaji talked about how Vrindavan was full of forests. These forests have been destroyed; there is hardly any green cover left. Perhaps we should now call Vrindavan ‘Buildingvan.’Everybody is competing to make their building bigger and to make more money.People use knowledge to justify what they want. If they have tamasic quality, they will use it in a tamasic way, if they are sattvic, they will use knowledge in a sattvic way. Divine love is reflected in simple people.They are not bothered about externalities.■ In Krishna Lila, Krishna destroys all barriers between people and God. He is closest to his devotees and means everything to them. It’s not just gopis and gopalas who are in a relationship with Krishna. He calls on everyone to have a relationship with him. He is not limited. You can love him as a child, girlfriend or boyfriend, for only he can take on so many forms. Other deities don’t have these aspects — you cannot dance with Shiva. Krishana Lila is establishing a personal relationship with him. Krishna is everyone’s sakha, friend.