Do those who live in Vrindavan live on the lap of Krishna?
So I heard that those who live in the they are living in the lap of Lord Krishna can you comment on this there are in this world certain places which are special so just as Krishna can manifest in a particular form and that is not just as when he descends from the spiritual but he can manifest as a deity also so like that the deity is also called as, usually called as archa vigraha in the Srivastava tradition it is also called as archa avatar so it is the worshipable descent, incarnation of the lord so like that there are various ways in which the lord manifests one is as the worshipable form so the sacred days say for example Janmashtami this is Krishna's transcendent potency manifesting through time the time on this day is spiritualised in the chaitanya chaitanya tantra in the 13th chapter he starts the description of Gaurapurna he starts with beautiful words he says I offer obeisances now normally you would think he will offer obeisances to lord chaitanya but he says I offer obeisances to that day on which lord chaitanya appeared so even that day is sacred so I offer obeisances to that day so like that there can be descent of Krishna in time and then that time becomes sanctified so like that there are places in this world also so the area of that place becomes sanctified because Krishna manifested over there so certainly Vrindavan is filled with tremendous spiritual potency and that spiritual potency can be tapped by those who have the fortune of living there so definitely Vrindavan is very poted at the same time that potency also has to be tapped properly that means spiritual advancement is not so much a matter of location as a matter of disposition where we are is not as important as where we are looking where our heart is directed so somebody can live in Vrindavan but if a person has materialistic consciousness then in Vrindavan also one can actually stay material entangled in fact one can become more material entangled because it's a very sacred place and if one does wrong activities there it can lead to karmic bondages it can lead to severe karmic reactions so the point is that particular location if we go there if we purify ourselves by going there it's very good but when we stay there habitually it's a normal human tendency that that with which we become familiar familiarity breeds content so often people tend to forget that this is a special place and I have come here for a special purpose and if that purpose is forgotten then often the spiritual advancement may not happen so much so there are many people who live in Vrindavan who are completely materialistic and because of them the spiritual potency of Vrindavan is often not so easily manifested and so when people go to Vrindavan yes there are spiritually vibrant places we can tap the spiritual potency but it is not so easy to maintain that consciousness constantly without the association of those who are striving to maintain that consciousness so the Bhagavatam says that janeshu abhigyeshu sareeva gokharah it says it says that those who go to a holy place and they think that the holiness of that place lies only in that place say for example they think it lies in the river of that place and they think the purpose of going to the holy place is to bathe in the river these are unintelligent people this is like a donkey so why a donkey they go to any place it doesn't make any difference so this is the donkeys in material consciousness body consciousness these people also have a very external consciousness the point is the holiness of the holy place we cannot perceive it ourselves we may just intellectually conceive it but if you are there for a long time then we will forget it so if we associate with holy people who are striving to remember their holy purpose and are striving to pursue their holy purpose then that is what helps us to spiritually benefit from the place of Vrindavan that's why it's important even if we go to Vrindavan we associate with devotees there and in the association of devotees we can spiritually experience the potency of Vrindavan and by Krishna's mercy by Srila Prabhupada's mercy that association of devotees is available for us not just in Vrindavan but is available in temples all over the world Srila Prabhupada would say my temple is in Vaikuntha what that means is that the same spiritual purpose of the spiritual abode of the Lord that is manifested wherever devotees congregate for glorifying the Lord so we need to always keep the purpose in mind so yes if somebody is very inspired to go to Vrindavan and somebody feels that by going to Vrindavan I can exclusively focus on spiritual life that aspiration is very good but whether the actualization will happen by going to Vrindavan that has to be carefully considered because even if we go to Vrindavan we need to have spiritual association and we should be able to keep the spiritual purpose in mind and it's not that Krishna's lap is limited only to a particular place a devotee can be in shelter of Krishna wherever that devotee is the Bhagavad Gita in 12.19 says that I want to serve your lotus feet by associating with those and living with those who are serving your lotus feet so that should be the primary focus so we can experience the shelter of Krishna we can be in the lap of Krishna if we are in the association of devotees who are seriously striving to love and serve Krishna and that can happen in Vrindavan that can happen in any other place where there is spiritual association of devotees Thank you.