In 2019, His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami took us to the Sri Sri Radha Madana-Mohana Mandir in Vrndavana in anticipation of the trip to Jaipur during that year’s parikrama. It is here where a shipwrecked captain constructed a temple for the Madana-Mohana Deity in accordance with the advice he received from Sanatana Gosvami. Check out Maharaja’s full kirtan, lecture and tour below, along with a few photos, at the iconic Sri Sri Radha Madana-Mohana Mandir during Parikrama 2019. If you watch the whole video, you will see that an unexpected visitor decides to join the lecture at around 1:23:50!
Advaita Acarya first found the Madana-Mohana Deity in Vrndavana and placed the Deity in the care of a brahmana in Mathura. However, Sanatana Gosvami was not happy with the brahmana’s standard of worship. One night, the Deity appeared in both their dreams instructing them that He wished to go with Sanatana Gosvami. Sanatana Gosvami, being a renunciate, hung the Deity from a tree and fed Him wood-fired capatis but the Deity requested a little salt. Madana-Mohana wanted salt because there is not a moment when Krsna is not enjoying.
Krsna is the Supreme enjoyer. There is never a moment when He is not enjoying. He is never suffering – that is His eternal activity. This is also the activity of His eternal associates. Now, at this time, this seems completely inconceivable – to constantly be enjoying. It is an impossible thought – how can you be enjoying all the time?! Maybe we think that there would be some breaks in the middle, but not for Krsna. Krsna is enjoying during the breaks too! That is the nature of the spiritual world – everything is enjoyable. Everything is ecstatic, beyond our imagination! Every time we experience something, it continues to expand the experience more and more. So in this way, the living entity becomes very overwhelmed, overwhelmed by transcendental love and overwhelmed by attachment to Krsna. Just like Prabhupada said that his role was to increase the attachment for the devotees, Krsna is increasing our attachment to Him.
Madana-Mohana is the Deity that represents the first connection – He is the attractor of cupid. He is so attractive that He can even attract cupid! Cupid strikes everywhere, all across the universe. But Madana-Mohana is so attractive that He can take away the attraction to material love, material enjoyment, material pleasures. That is Madana-Mohana! We must see and pray to Him because we need that assistance. We need Him to take away our attraction to material desires because that poses as a problem to our spiritual life. Material desires, we think of all day. Material desires, they never go away! So we can appreciate Madana-Mohana very much here.