Yamuna River - an essential subject

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Yamunā, also known as Kalindi, along with the Ganges is the most holy and famous river of India. In all the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Yamunā Devi is always there enhancing the mood and sweetness of the pastime. Krishna would take His cows for grazing the sweet juicy grasses that grew along the banks of the Yamunā. Yamunā would supply water to Krishna’s calves and cows. Yamunā’s water was sweeter than the sweetest of all nectar, always at perfect temperature. Yamunā is always pure – whatever anyone puts in it – no one can contaminate Yamuna. What’s not Yamunā may be contaminated. But what’s Yamunā cannot be contaminated. So when we bathe in Yamunā, we are actually bathing in that essence, not in some sewage polluted river, but in the Yamunā which is the sweet, nectarine caranamrita of Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa and the Vrajavasis.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Yamuna River category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 12 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		After thus discussing with Vidura the transcendental name, fame, qualities, etc., on the bank of the Yamunā, Uddhava was overwhelmed with great affliction. He passed the night as if it were a moment, and thereafter he went away. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.4.27)



vanipedia.org 		All the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, being disturbed, began to search out Kṛṣṇa by following the impression of His footprints on the ground, and thus they moved hastily toward the bank of the Yamunā. Finally, by following the footprints marked with flag, bow and conchshell, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana arrived at the riverbank and saw that all the cows and boys were weeping to behold Kṛṣṇa enwrapped in the coils of the black serpent. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 16)



vanipedia.org 		As far as sanctity is concerned, the River Yamunā is more directly connected with Lord Kṛṣṇa than the Ganges. The Lord sanctified the River Yamunā from the beginning of His transcendental pastimes in the world. While His father Vasudeva was crossing the Yamunā with the baby Lord Kṛṣṇa for a safe place at Gokula on the other bank of the river from Mathurā, the Lord fell down in the river, and by the dust of His lotus feet the river at once became sanctified. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.19.6)



vanipedia.org 		Because of constant rain sent by the demigod Indra, the River Yamunā was filled with deep water, foaming about with fiercely whirling waves. But as the great Indian Ocean had formerly given way to Lord Rāmacandra by allowing Him to construct a bridge, the River Yamunā gave way to Vasudeva and allowed him to cross. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.3.50)



vanipedia.org 		Being a cowherd girl, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī regularly carries milk in a container and often goes to sell the milk on the other side of the Yamunā. To cross the river, She has to pay the boatman, and the spot where the boatman collects his fares is called the dāna-ghāṭi. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.173)



vanipedia.org 		Descriptions of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with His cowherd boys, His eating with them on the bank of the Yamunā, and Lord Brahma's prayers unto Him are all transcendental subject matters. Anyone who hears, recites or chants them surely gets all his spiritual desires fulfilled. Thus Kṛṣṇa's childhood pastimes, His sporting with Balarāma and the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana, were described. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 14)



vanipedia.org 		Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura remarks that after one adopts the renounced order and accepts the dress of either a sannyāsī or a bābājī, if he entertains the idea of sense gratification, especially in relationship with a woman, the only atonement is to commit suicide at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunā. Only by such atonement can his sinful life be purified. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 2.166)



vanipedia.org 		Both Nārada Muni and Sunīti, the mother of Dhruva Mahārāja, advised Dhruva Mahārāja to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now, Nārada Muni is especially giving him directions how this worship of the Supreme Person can very quickly fructify. He recommends that Dhruva Mahārāja go to the bank of the Yamunā, where there is a forest of the name Madhuvana, and begin his meditation and worship there. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.8.42)



vanipedia.org 		Many sages, including Śaṅkarācārya, have composed prayers in praise of the Ganges, and the land of India itself has become glorious because such rivers as the Ganges, Yamunā, Godāvarī, Kāverī, Kṛṣṇā and Narmadā flow there. Anyone living on the land adjacent to these rivers is naturally advanced in spiritual consciousness. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.17.1)



vanipedia.org 		My dear girls, you have committed a great offense by going naked in the river Yamunā. Because of this, the predominating deity of the Yamunā, Varuṇadeva, has become displeased with you. Please, therefore, just touch your foreheads with folded palms and bow down before the demigod Varuṇa in order to be excused from this offensive act. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 22)



vanipedia.org 		When Mother Yaśodā arrived, she wanted to enter the river Yamunā, and being checked, she fainted. Her friends, who were equally aggrieved, were shedding tears like torrents of rain or waves of the river, but in order to bring Mother Yaśodā to consciousness, they began to speak loudly about the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Mother Yaśodā remained still, as if dead, because her consciousness was concentrated on the face of Kṛṣṇa. (Kṛṣṇa Book, Chapter 16)



vanipedia.org 		When He saw the river Godāvarī, the Lord remembered the river Yamunā, and when He saw the forest on the banks of the river, He remembered Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.11)


Yamuna River - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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