Appearance of Navadvipa-dhama
Lord Siva replied, “O Pārvati, please hear the reason for Navadvipa’s appearance, as described in the Ananta-samhita and as I have heard from the mouth of Lord Nārāyaṇa.
“As a bee plays in a lotus, Kṛṣṇa was enjoying with Virajā in the pleasant forest groves of Vṛndāvana. Moon-faced, doe-eyed Radhika heard this news from one sakhi and hastily ran to find Krsna. Seeing that Rādhā was coming. Kṛṣṇa suddenly disappeared, and Virajā became a river. Rādhā again heard that Krsna was enjoying with Virajā, but when She arrived there She could not find them. Absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā began to think.
“She gathered Her sakhis together between the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. She created there a beautiful place, decorated with creepers and trees and filled with male and female bumble bees. Deer and buck were happily enjoying as they wandered about, and the whole area was filled with the fragrance of jasmine, mallikā, and mālatī flowers. That transcendental abode was adorned with tulasi forests and decorated with various groves. On Radha’s order, the Ganges and Yamunā, with their pleasant water and banks, acted as a moat to protect the garden. Cupid himself, along with springtime, eternally reside there, and the birds constantly sing the auspicious name of Kṛṣṇa.
“Radha, dressed in a colorful cloth, then began to play a beautiful melody on a flute in order to attract Kṛṣṇa. Attracted by that melody, Kṛṣṇa appeared in that enchanting place. Radha, the attractor of Kṛṣṇa’s mind, seeing that Kṛṣṇa had come, held His hand and experienced ecstatic delight. Then Kṛṣṇa, understanding Radha’s mood, spoke in a voice choked with love.
“O lovely-faced Radha, You are My very life. There is no one more dear to Me than You. Therefore I will never leave You. Just for Me You have created this wonderful place. Staying with You, I will transform this place, filling it with new sakhis and groves. The devotees will glorify this place as New Vṛndavana (Nava Vṛndāvana). As this place is like an island, or dvipa, the wise will call it Navadvipa. By My order, all the holy places will reside here. Because You have created this place for My pleasure, I will live here eternally.
“Those people who come here and worship Us will certainly obtain our eternal service in the mood of the sakhis. O dear Radha, like Vrndāvana, this place is extremely pure. If anyone comes here just once, he will obtain the results of going to all sacred places. He will quickly attain devotional service, which satisfies Us.”
Lord Siva continued, “O most fortunate Parvati, saying this, Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Radha, merged with Radha’s body and began to reside there eternally. Seeing that sat-cit-ananda form-outwardly of a fair complexion but inwardly Krsna Himself, Lalită gave up her beautiful form for the service of Gauranga. She took on a male form to suitably receive the affection of Gauranga. Seeing that Lalita had taken such a form. Visakha and all the other sakhis also suddenly took on male forms.
“At that time the tumultuous vibration of Jaya Gaurahari!’ filled the four directions. From that time the devotees call this form of Kṛṣṇa, Gaurahari. As Radha is Gauri (fair) and Kṛṣṇa is Hari, when They combine in one form. They are called Gaurahari. Since then, the lotus-eyed, flute-playing, threefold bending form of Krsna and the lotus-eyed form of Radhikādevi remained there combined in one form.
“O Parvati, in blissful Vṛndāvana, Rādhā stays by the left side of Kṛṣṇa and always pleases Him. Similarly, in Navadvipa Kṛṣṇa takes Rādhārāṇī in His heart and bestows bliss upon Her. Just as in Vṛndāvana the sakhis headed by Lalită serve Rādhā and Krsna in their own forms, in Navadvīpa also the sakhis always joyfully serve Gaurahari as His devotees. Radha and Krsna are Gaura, and Vṛndāvana is Navadvīpa. That low person who differentiates between Vṛndāvana and Navadvīpa or between Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Gauranga will be pierced by my arrows and experience pain in the worst hells until the time of the universal devastation.
“O Parvati, I have described to you the reason for the appearance of Navadvipa. When heard by mankind, this narration removes all sins and bestows devotional service. Whoever rises early in the morning and with devotion to Gaura recites or hears this story of Navadvipa’s creation will certainly attain Gauranga.
“Even now the devotees, but not the faithless, can see the sat-cid-ananda form of Lord Gauranga in Navadvipa. Previously, in the rāsa dance at Vṛndāvana, I saw Krsna, the Lord of the rāsa dance and attractor of Cupid, appear as Gauranga. That same Lord, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, appears in Navadvīpa in every kalpa and gives pure devotional service to the living entities.
“O Parvati, these secret topics that I have told you should never be revealed to the foolish nondevotees. Give it to the pure-minded devotee. Please tell me now, what else do you wish to hear?”
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Pramana-Khanda, Chapter 2)
Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, gauḍa maṇḍala bhūmi, yeba jane cintāmaṇi tara hoy vrajabhūme vāsa. Anyone who understands gauḍa maṇḍala bhūmi in Bengal—this Navadvīpa, Navadvīpa-candra, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu – if anyone understands the spiritual value of this land, he lives in Vrajabhūmi, in Vṛndāvana. There is no difference between Vṛndāvana and this Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi. That is the verdict of the śāstra.
(740302 – Lecture CC Adi 07.02 – Mayapur)
The city of Navadvīpa is situated on the eastern bank of the Ganges. For a long time it was the capital of the Sena kings. At present the place formerly known as Navadvīpa consists of a number of villages with various names. The place now known as Śrī Māyāpur is the site wherein the residences of Jagannātha Miśra, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, Śrī Advaita Ācārya, and Murāri Gupta were formerly situated. Due to the change in the course of the Ganges, most of the Navadvīpa area of Lord Caitanya’s time has been submerged. Therefore most of the inhabitants were forced to shift to nearby places. The modern city of Navadvīpa is situated at the place known during the time of Lord Caitanya as Kuliyā, or Pāhāḍapura, but in the eighteenth century Navadvīpa was situated on the island of Kuliyādaha or Kālīya-daha. In the seventeenth century, however, Navadvīpa was situated at the places now known as Nidayā, Śaṅkarapura, and Rudrapāḍā. Previous to that and up to the sixteenth century the Navadvīpa of Lord Caitanya’s time extended throughout the places now known as Śrī Māyāpur, Ballāl-dīghi, Vāmana-pukura, Śrī Nāthapura, Bhārui-ḍāṅgā, Simuliyā, Rudrapāḍā, Tāraṇavāsa, Kariyāṭī, and Rāma-jīvanapura. The present day village of Vāmana-pukura was then known as Belpukura, but when this ancient village of Belpukura was shifted to Meghāra-caḍā at the end of the seventeenth century it became known as Vāmana-pukura. Rāmacandrapura, Kākaḍera Māṭha, Śrī Rāmapura, Bāblā Āḍi, and other places were on the western side of the Ganges. Some of these places were part of Koladvīpa, and some were part of Modadrumadvīpa. Although some places like Cināḍāṅgā and Pāhāḍapura are now lost, places like Tegharira Kola, Kola Āmāda, and Kuliyā-gañja of present day Navadvīpa still display evidence of ancient Koladvīpa. Vidyānagara, Jannagara, Māmgāchi, Kovlā, etc., on the western side of the Ganges, are supposed to be suburbs of ancient Navadvīpa. Various unreasonable arguments regarding the location of ancient Navadvīpa began even before the time of Lord Caitanya and have presently taken a terrible shape due to various reasons. These baseless arguments have not and will not ever be successful. Under the order of perfect devotees like Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī it has again been indisputably established that a short distance from the samādhi of Chand Kazi is the site of Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīdevī’s house (the Lord’s birthplace) at Śrī Māyāpur Yogapīṭha. All impartial historical and spiritual evidence enriched with reason and argument indisputably conclude that the area surrounding present day Māyāpur is the site of ancient Navadvīpa.
In the twelfth wave of Bhakti-ratnākara it is written: “It is specifically stated in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa that all of the Lord’s abodes are situated within Nadia. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa (2.3.6-7) states: ‘Please hear about the nine islands of Bhārata-varṣa known as Indradvīpa, Kaśeru, Tāmraparṇa, Gabhastimān, Nāgadvīpa, Saumya, Gāndharva, Vāruṇa, and the ninth, Navadvīpa, which is situated near the ocean in the midst of the other eight islands. Navadvīpa extends 1,000 yojanas from north to south.’ “In his commentary on these two verses, Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī writes: ‘In these verses the word sāgara-saṁvṛta means “near the ocean.” Since the name of the ninth island is not separately mentioned, it is obvious that the ninth island is Navadvīpa.’
“In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (18) it is said: ‘All glories to the most wonderful abode of Navadvīpa, which those in full knowledge of rasa call Vṛndāvana, which people of knowledge call Goloka, which others call Śvetadvīpa, and still others call Paravyoma, the spiritual sky.’ “Navadvīpa is famous throughout the universe as the place where the nine types of devotional service, beginning with hearing, shine brilliantly. The nine varieties of devotional service are enumerated by Prahlāda Mahārāja in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (7.5.23-24) as follows: ‘Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.’
“Although Śrī Navadvīpa consists of nine separate islands, they remain one. Throughout Satya, Tretā, and Dvāpara yugas, up through the beginning of Kali-yuga, the name of Navadvīpa was never lost; but as Kali-yuga progresses, the name of Navadvīpa will be nearly forgotten. Some persons, however, will realize the abode of Navadvīpa. By Kṛṣṇa’s will, Vajranābha established many villages in Vraja and named them according to the pastimes that were performed there, yet as time passed many of those places were forgotten or renamed. In the same way, the villages of Navadvīpa were manifested and named according to the pastimes performed there by the Lord and His devotees, yet some of them were forgotten and some were renamed. The name of Navadvīpa, however, remained. Simply by hearing the word dvīpa, one’s miseries are diminished. There are nine dvīpas on the eastern and western sides of the Ganges. Antardvīpa, Sīmantadvīpa, Godrumadvīpa, and Śrī Madhyadvīpa are situated east of the Ganges, while Koladvīpa, Ṛtudvīpa, Jahnudvīpa, Modadrumadvīpa, and Rudradvīpa are situated west of the Ganges. Beloved devotees of the Lord headed by Śiva and Pārvatī eternally reside in the abode of Navadvīpa.”
Tridaṇḍi Gosvāmī Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has written in his Navadvīpa-śataka (1-2): “Through the nine processes of devotional service, beginning with hearing, remembering, and worshiping, we adore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is absorbed in the mood of Rādhārāṇī, who is resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, who in Navadvīpa is always engaged in kīrtana with associates playing mṛdaṅgas and karatālas, who is eternally worshipable by all living entities, who is the destroyer of the contamination of the age of Kali, and who is the bestower of happiness to His devotees. We adore Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma, which is manifested by the Lord’s internal potency, which bestows supreme happiness, which the Chāndogya Upaniṣad glorifies as Para-Brahmapura, which is glorified by the smṛtis as Vaikuṇṭha, the abode of Viṣṇu, which is called Śvetadvīpa by some great souls, and which is known as Vṛndāvana by the rare devotees conversant with transcendental mellows.”
(Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Ādi-khaṇḍa 1.7 Commentary)