Rolling in the Sacred Dust

by | Jul 20, 2025 | Advanced, Already Familiar with KC | 0 comments

It was two o’clock in the morning. My airplane from Frankfurt had arrived in Delhi one hour late. Would my taxi still be waiting? Going through customs was quick, so I rushed out through the main gate and saw a man motioning toward me. He recognized Prabhupada’s white elephant! Within minutes, we were on our way to Sri Vrindavana Dhama

Five thousand years ago, when Akrura traveled from Mathura to Vrindavana, he felt unqualified to see the Lord, even though he brimmed with devotion to Krishna. He was also sure that his sinful reactions would be erased after offering obeisances to Him. Akrura even saw an auspicious omen—a deer passing on his right. Immersed in thoughts of Krishna, he reached the outskirts of Vrindavana and saw the Lord’s footprints. Akrura was overwhelmed with ecstasy—his hairs stood on end, and tears bulged from his eyes. He leaped down from the chariot and rolled in the sand, grabbing those sacred footprints. This, Srila Prabhupada said, is an exemplary way to enter the holy Dhama. We, the aspiring devotees, ought to follow Akrura’s example: to constantly think of Krishna, cast off all material identification and prestige, and humbly roll in the sacred sand.

Eventually, my taxi entered the Vraja area, soaring at one hundred kilometers per hour. Jumping out at that speed to roll in the dust would be dangerous. Besides, the only visible dust was a leftover mixture of cement from a nearby building site. I had to change my strategy. In my mind, I sprang into thick sand marked by Krishna’s footprints and rolled frantically. Outwardly, I shouted, “Jaya Krishna Balaram! Jaya Radha Shyamasundar!” The driver reciprocated, “Jaya Shri Krishna!” When the car stopped, I got out and bowed my head to a small heap of dirt between the pavement and the concrete sidewalk. Vrindavana dhuli, ki jaya!

Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakura describes how Vrindavana cannot be understood by conditioned souls. Mundane eyes cannot perceive that its cow pastures and forests are completely spiritual. He wrote this when the area was still an utter wilderness, with few inhabited zones. Today, Vrindavana has modernized, and much of the village idyll has vanished. Numerous tourists swarm in daily. Sadly, with them comes a worldly coarseness that covers the authentic spiritual atmosphere. Perhaps the very embodiment of matter crusting over spirit is the gigantic statue of Maa Vaishno Devi, the supreme goddess of material energy. It towers above the tallest trees and looms imposingly at the entrance to Vrindavana.

Still, Vrindavana remains a sacred place. It radiates great transcendental energy. It is pure and spiritual, being Krishna’s eternal home. It has been further sanctified by the lives of devotees like Rupa, Sanatana, Jiva, and the other Gosvamis and pure souls who revived its forgotten glory, established the worship of Radha and Krishna, and authored texts to guide future generations in understanding the deep tenets of bhakti.

Before coming to the West to spread Krishna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada lived in Vrindavana. A man once asked him why he had chosen such a decrepit place to retire. On the surface, one sees pigs lounging in open sewers, monkeys stealing pilgrims’ glasses, and abandoned cows obstructing traffic. These are, Srila Prabhupada said, the perceptions of those who lack spiritual understanding. They come to Vrindavana as tourists and see only its outer shell, missing the richness of its spiritual majesty.

The earthly Vrindavana is the very same place where Krishna walked five thousand years ago. The Srimad Bhagavatam describes two sites still present today—Govardhana Hill and the Yamuna River. Krishna Himself lifted Govardhana and used it as an umbrella to protect the residents of Vrindavana from a cataclysmic rainfall sent by the bewildered demigod Indra. He also sported with His cowherd girlfriends in the waters of the Yamuna. These very places, touched by Krishna’s lotus feet, can still be seen and touched by travelers who visit Vrindavana.

This is, in itself, a paradox. Krishna played in pristine grazing lands, drank the cleanest water, breathed pure air, and ate the finest food. He did this until the end of His pastimes, after which He moved to another universe to repeat them. Once He left, the land of Vrindavana took on a life of its own, slowly transforming into the average Kali-yuga Indian urban district we see today.

Krishna’s pastimes occur on two levels. One is called aprakata, or unmanifest. These eternal pastimes happen in the spiritual world and are hidden from the eyes of ordinary materialists by a veil of material energy. Only rare, realized souls can see and participate in them. The other level is prakata, or manifest. These are Krishna’s pastimes as they occur in the material world, limited by time. Once they conclude, they resume in another universe. Vishvanath Cakravarti explains that in the prakata-lila, Krishna leaves Vrindavana to go to Mathura under the pretext of killing King Kamsa. Though He promises to return soon, He never comes back, which plunges the residents of Vrindavana into an ocean of sorrow—vipralambha, or separation. This feeling is considered the highest form of spiritual realization. In contrast, in the aprakata-lila, Krishna goes to Mathura, defeats Kamsa, returns a hero, and continues enjoying life with the residents of Vrindavana. Another distinction is that in the prakata realm, Krishna is seen as a child and vanquisher of demons. In aprakata, He remains eternally sixteen, and there are no demons.

Srila Prabhupada wrote that a spiritually perfected devotee is, after death, transferred to the material realm where the prakata-lila is taking place. There, the devotee is trained to serve Krishna in suitable ways. When ready, the devotee is promoted to the eternal spiritual realm, the aprakata-lila. However, Srila Prabhupada concludes that for a sincere devotee, there is no real difference between the two, as such a devotee is constantly absorbed in Krishna’s service.

It is said that anyone who enters the 220 km² area of Vrindavana will never want to return to material life. The Dhama’s beauty and spiritual radiance create feelings more attractive than anything worldly. Scriptures extol Vrindavana’s greatness: simply living there grants eternal happiness; bathing anywhere within its boundaries absolves one of all sins; just seeing Vrindavana destroys accumulated karma. Even walking there is spiritually potent—each step is as admirable as performing a grand fire sacrifice (ashvamedha yajna). Even mentally declaring, “I will go to Vrindavana one day,” is a pledge that ensures eventual liberation. Not only living, but also dying in Vrindavana is supremely auspicious. Anyone who dies there becomes eligible for liberation. Still, the scriptures also state that without Krishna’s sanction, no one can remain in Vrindavana even for a moment. One needs permission—and this license comes in the form of sincere devotion to Krishna. 

Srila Prabhupada emphasized focusing the mind on Krishna. In this way, spiritual realization will come quickly. Indulging in sexual activity in Vrindavana is the gravest offense. It is a behavior fit for pigs and monkeys. These beings feel no shame in fulfilling base desires. Humans who cannot control such urges are advised to leave Vrindavana, as it is better to avoid offense altogether. Srila Prabhupada explains that many of the pigs and monkeys seen in Vrindavana were once human beings who indulged in lust without restraint. As a result, they took animal births to exhaust their cravings—although they will be liberated after this life.

To truly attain Vrindavana, one must renounce all material concepts of life. The heart must first be cleansed of desires for bodily pleasure, improved rebirth, and speculative knowledge. Intellectual pursuits not aimed at transcendence are merely self-gratification on a mental level. One must understand the philosophical foundation of bhakti, or devotional service. Initially, there should be appreciation for topics related to Krishna. Simultaneously, all material motives must be given up. In this purified state, a devotee should engage in chanting and remembering Krishna’s name, activities, and glories. At the same time, one should seek the guidance of an advanced devotee. This is the essence of all devotional instructions. Simply by living in Vrindavana, one’s devotion intensifies, and the desire to be with Krishna increases—because everything there reminds one of Radha and Krishna. Srila Prabhupada said that whatever devotional service is performed in Vrindavana yields a manifold effect. One percent of service becomes one hundredfold. The same applies to offenses.

The great spiritual teacher Rupa Gosvami advises everyone to go to the earthly Vrindavana and meditate on an eternal associate of Krishna who serves Him in the spiritual realm. This practice trains the mind to remain in Vrindavana—even if one’s body is elsewhere. In the early years of his Western preaching, Srila Prabhupada remarked that though he sat in New York, in truth, he was always in Vrindavana.

Chanting the maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—is both the means and the goal of spiritual practice. As the quality and quantity of chanting improve, one realizes the mantra itself contains everything needed for spiritual perfection. Similarly, an initial visit to Vrindavana may ignite one’s devotional resolve, which in turn increases one’s desire to meditate on the Dhama. At the final stage, the mind thinks of nothing but Vrindavana. One who dies in such consciousness becomes eligible to enter the eternal pastimes meditated upon throughout life.

Vrindavana is the land where Krishna walked barefoot—unlike His form in Vaikuntha, where He wears slippers. Walking barefoot, Krishna left the sacred symbols of His soles imprinted upon the earth. Because of this, the entire planet became sanctified. Who, then, would not want to go to Vrindavana and roll in its dust?