Vrindavan – simply writing or speaking the name of dhama has a purifying effect on our consciousness.  Recently I read a very unique talk by Srila Prabhupada where he spoke about the right understanding of being in Vrindavan and what did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teach us by His own example. How do we properly understand where is Vrindavan. Here it goes-

Hari Sauri: Prabhupada pointed out that Lord Caitanya could have remained at home as a big devotee but didn’t. He went out all over India to spread the holy names, and He instructed His followers to spread it all over the world. Prabhupada spoke strongly against the mood of many of the bābājīs in Vrindavan that one should never leave the place. And as he spoke I couldn’t help but be reminded of Nitaī dāsa’s recent criticism’s of ISKCON and Prabhupāda’s refutation of them.

“Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma [Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya 4.126]. ‘All over the world, as many towns and villages are there, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be . . .’ “Not that ‘We are big, big gosvāmīs and bābājīs. We do not go out of Vrindavan.’ Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma. And they have become very big Vaiṣṇava: ‘No, I don’t go beyond the limits of Vrindavan.’ “What is this nonsense? Did Caitanya Mahāprabhu say like that, that ‘You do not go beyond the limits?‘ A devotee, wherever he is, that is Vrindavan. That is Vrindavan tīrtha.

“A pure devotee can make any hell a tīrtha, a holy place. That is devotee. Tīrthī kurvanti tīrthāni [SB 1.13.10]. That was Bhagīratha. Gaṅgā was hesitating that ‘I shall go to the material world. “All sinful men will take bathing, and I’ll be overloaded with sin. Then how I shall get out of this accumulation of sins?’ So Bhagīratha said, ‘My mother, don’t hesitate. When a holy man will take bath in your water, then all the sins he will assimilate.’ Then she agreed.

So if we become holy man, actually, then immune. There is no difference. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. “These are bogus, that ‘I do not go out of Vṛndāvana.’ They are making Vrindavan limited. Vrindavan is not limited. Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, wherever there is a Rādhā Kṛṣṇa temple, that is Vrindavan. “Caitanya Mahāprabhu, once only He went to Vrindavan. Does it mean He was not in Vrindavan?

So this is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mission, that preaching must go on in hell and heaven. “We should be very much expert and follow the instruction of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the simple instructions. Mukunda mādhava yādava hari bolena bolo re vadana bori. Simply chant the holy names of Lord, mukunda mādhava yādava. “This is Caitanya. Rise early in the morning. You go and preach, and work hard, day and night, and that is Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s . . . This song indicates.”

Prabhupada sat back and with a sideways tip of his head brought the short darśana to close. “Thank you.”

As the devotees dispersed, Surendra hung back to express his appreciation of Prabhupada comments. “As you rightly said that these Vaiṣṇavas, they want to become maṭha deśas, they want to become like kings. They don’t want to leave their empire and go out, working hard like you and spreading the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Prabhupada was happy that he had caught his mood. “Yes. That is our mission.”

“That is the right attitude,” Surendra continued. “Even if there is one bhakta, that is Vrindavan.”

Telling him that a bhakta creates Vrindavan, Prabhupada concluded,

“Kṛṣṇa says, ‘I do not stay in Vaikuṇṭha.’ Nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu [Padma Purāṇa]—’Neither I stay at the core of the heart of the yogis.’ Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad bhaktāḥ—’When My pure devotee chants the glories of My . . . I immediately stay there. I immediately stay.’

“It’s not that He is packed up in some place. He’s all pervading. Therefore His name is Vāsudeva. Īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam. He’s everywhere. Electricity is everywhere. Only one who knows how to take the electricity . . .

“So Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s preaching and teaching, their effect you have to follow. Then our life will be successful. We don’t manufacture ideas. That is not wanted.”

—Hari Sauri

[22. Biographies and Glorification of Śrīla Prabhupāda / A Transcendental Diary Volume 5 – Hari Sauri dāsa / Volume Five]

After reading the above discussion multiple times I contemplated whether I wish to continue to remain an enjoyer of dhama or should aspire to become a servant of dhama. Should I always think of myself going to Vrindavan or should I preach, as per the desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada, and make the glory and mercy of Vrindavan available to more souls. My miserly heart needs to expand. And who knows, by the mercy of Sri Guru and Gauranga, in some lifetime Sri Vrindavan dhama may appear in my dry heart also.