Five Things Not Found In Vrindavana

“Accompanied by the cowherd boys and Balarama, Krishna brought forward the cows and played on His flute through the forest of Vrindavana, which was full of flowers, vegetables, and pasturing grass. The Vrindavana forest was as sanctified as the clear mind of a devotee and was full of bees, flowers and fruits. There were chirping birds and clear water lakes with waters that could relieve one of all fatigues. Sweet flavored breezes blew always, refreshing the mind and body.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 15)

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The separation between the material and spiritual worlds is subtle. The determination in residence is made from desire alone. You can do all the penance you want. Make sure to follow every pious activity mentioned in the book of importance. Be nice to people. Study hard. Don’t be jealous or greedy. Still, unless the desire to associate with God the person is there, the change in residence will not take place.

The desire to please and serve the Supreme Lord is enough to make the entire atmosphere pleasing. The Sanskrit word for the spiritual realm is Vaikuntha. This means a place free of anxieties. There are different planets in Vaikuntha, with one of them being Krishnaloka. This is also known as Vrindavana.

Vrindavana is found in the material world as well. The difference is that the physical and mental are the same in the spiritual world, while in the manifest world the physical may show something different in that sacred land. In the Vrindavana of Vaikuntha many things from modern life are absent. And the enjoyment is still out of this world.

1. Skyscrapers

In an urban area there isn’t much room to expand. It’s not like you can suddenly build out a large park or farmland. The only way to go is up. That’s where the skyscraper comes in handy. You can have a building with over one hundred floors, each containing several offices. This way so many people can work or live inside of a single establishment.

These tall buildings make up what is known as a skyline. Goloka Vrindavana doesn’t have such tall buildings. Instead, the people are happy in simple dwellings. The roofs are accessible, and everyone is beyond pleased to have a birds-eye view of Shri Krishna, the proprietor of the land. When He walks home from a day of tending to the calves, the people are enraptured. The branches on the trees are high enough for the parrots and other birds to take the same delight.

2. Motor cars

I can live far away from where I work. I don’t have to purchase a house nearby, especially if the real estate is not to my liking. I can make the long journey each day due to motor cars. The trip doesn’t take that long, and I can listen to my favorite radio shows while adjusting the climate to my preference. There are other cars, though, which cause trouble sometimes.

Motor cars are absent in the spiritual world. The people are happy to travel by foot. If they need to transport cargo, there is the bullock cart. Horses and cows are enough to keep people happy. The Supreme Lord travels barefoot. His soft soles are not hurt by the ground at all. Rather, even the grass in Vrindavana consists of liberated souls, living entities who became completely sinless and beyond through desiring to serve God the person.

3. Smartphones

It’s a Friday night. I’ve had a tough week of work. I’ve plopped myself on the couch and started to binge watch a television show I used to watch as a child thirty years ago. This is great. I don’t even have to lift the remote. The app on the television automatically plays the episodes in sequence.

I’m getting a little hungry, though. No problem. I just pick up my smartphone that is next to me. Within thirty minutes there is someone at the front door with a pizza. I don’t even have to reach for my wallet. Everything is paid for through the phone.

This is a glimpse into modern life. The smartphone is almost a necessity, something you can’t live without. It’s like carrying a powerful computer with you. In the spiritual world there are no smartphones. People are blissful beyond belief without needing any sort of technological gadget. They take pleasure in serving Krishna and seeing Him. Who could phone them that would give more pleasure? What program is superior to the sight of the all-attractive one? The food is taken with consciousness of that darling child of Nanda and Yashoda, thus automatically providing the best taste.

4. Twenty-four hour stores

Most delivery places close at a certain hour. Plus, I’m out of certain essentials for the home. No need to worry. I can get in the car and go to a store that is open twenty-four hours a day. At night there are less shoppers, too. How can people live without these stores?

In the spiritual world the living conditions are very simple. Vrindavana is a rural area. It has so many cows, each of which is special. The cow is a wish-fulfilling one, kama-dhenu. You can ask it for anything, and what you desire will manifest in a second. Still, the people only want bhakti, or devotion. In fact, they are so pure of heart that they don’t even think in terms of religion and irreligion, devotion and non-devotion. They seek only the pleasure of Shyamasundara, the beautiful one with a dark complexion, like that of a raincloud.

5. Endless distractions to devotional service

Maya is illusion. A single illusory object does the trick, but in the material world there is comprehensiveness. There are millions of objects of attachment that have nothing to do with spiritual life. The wise person can implement the practice of yukta-vairagya to spiritualize these objects, but in the higher understanding all that is needed is the proper consciousness.

Goloka Vrindavana has yogamaya, which is the energy controlled by God for the benefit of His devotees. Illusion is absent, since whatever the living entities do, their consciousness of Krishna remains. This shows the power of love and devotion to God. If you have it, then you can live without practically anything that you are attached to at present. Not only can you go without, but you experience a level of happiness never before known.

In Closing:

To live without smartphone how?

Need to check latest news now.

 

With motor car at high speeds to travel,

Arrive on time, lest my work unravel.

 

Absent in Vrindavana these things and more,

Best supplier is Krishna, no need for a store.

 

Going without, feeling bliss beyond belief,

Life in Vaikuntha free of anxiety and grief.