Pīlī Pokhar: Darśana Through the Ears and the Līlā Known Only to the Sakhīs
• Why the Pond Is Yellow: After darśana and ārati at Śrījī’s temple, Rādhārānī’s birthplace and vilāsa-bhūmi, Gurudeva speaks in Hindi at Pīlī Pokhar. Mother Yaśodā, accepting Rādhā as her daughter-in-law in Nandagaon, put mehandī and turmeric on Her hands; shy of what people would say, Rādhā washed them here and the pond turned yellow.
• Vajranābha and Living in Vraja: Kṛṣṇa’s great-grandson Vajranābha restored the places of Rādhā-Govinda’s līlā with ponds, temples and kuṇḍas. Vraja’s glory cannot be understood by coming for darśana, taking prasāda and getting back on the bus; one must stay, go with saints and hear the kathā of each place.
• Darśana Through the Ears: Material eyes see only material things, such as whether the water is clean or has bacteria. As Bhaktisiddhānta Prabhupāda says, the dhāma is seen through the ears: Bhagavān and bhakti enter the heart through hearing, purify it, and only then can the dhāma be seen; even otherwise some sukṛti is gained.
• The Sakhīs’ Villages: Nearby are Ūñcāgaon, Lalitā’s vilāsa-bhūmi, Kamaī-Karahalā, and Chiksaulī, Citrā’s village, near Sāṅkarī-khor. Yogamāyā made all the sakhīs take birth near Rādhā, for they nourish the līlā, which only they may enter (rādhā-kṛṣṇera līlā ei ati gūḍhatara).
• The Frog and the Bee: A frog sits on the lotus and only dirties it, while bees come from far away to taste its fragrance and nectar. The capacity for rasa comes from saṁskāras of past births, the mercy of saints and the jīva’s subtle potential, which develops in satsaṅga, as kṛṣṇa-prema awakens in a heart purified by hearing (nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema).
• Why Kṛṣṇa Sent Uddhava: Kṛṣṇa sent Uddhava to console His parents and the gopīs (gacchoddhava vrajaṁ saumya), but the real reason was to reveal the gopīs’ prema to the world, which a resident of Mathurā could not otherwise understand. Seeing it, Uddhava praised them in six ślokas and offered repeated praṇāma.
• Uddhava’s Return and Tapasyā: Thinking that Kṛṣṇa was now in Mathurā, Uddhava returned there; after Kṛṣṇa’s disappearance he came back to Uddhava-kuṇḍa and performed severe tapasyā. Yet, as his Gurudeva taught, Uddhava has still not attained the gopīs’ bhāva, since in the form of Uddhava he lacks that potential.
• Nearby Places of Līlā: Altā-pahāḍ, Deha-kuṇḍa and Sunaharī village, where Rādhā gave Her necklace to Śiva in order to meet Her beloved, are close by; Gurudeva recalls visiting them with his Gurudeva, which large groups can no longer manage.
• Comfort, Fitness and Bhajana: With free rooms and prasāda the devotees have no tension. He jokes about devotees left behind at the bus: neither too thin, or the wind blows you away, nor too fat, or you cannot dance; work hard, eat moderately and run in the morning, and bhajana will go well.
Gurudeva closes with the jaya to Rādhārānī and invites the devotees to sing a bhajana.