Prem Sarovar

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Prem Sarovar / प्रेम सरोवर

This pond is situated on the road to Nand Gaon, one mile from Barsana. It is shaped like a boat and is so beautifully decorated on all sides with lush kadamb trees that it seems prem itself has manifested as a pond. This charming place, which attracts the hearts of the devotees, is where Radhika and Shri Krishna enjoy loving pastimes together. It is also where Prem-vaichittya manifested in Radhika.

Story

Once, Radha and Krishna, surrounded by Lalita and the other sakhis, were immersed in various kinds of loving pastimes when a bumblebee hovered around the beautiful lotus face of Radhika. Thinking Her face to be a lotus flower, the bee wanted to sit there and drink its nectar; and so it continued to hover around Her face. Radhaji became afraid and covered Her face with Her palms. She also tried to chase the bee away, but to no avail. Madhumangal saw Radhika's distress and chased the bumblebee far away with his stick. Upon his return, he announced, "I have chased madhusudan far away from here. He has gone and will not return." When Radhika heard Madhumangal's words, She at once thought that Madhusudan Krishna had gone away and had left Her, although She was sitting directly in Krishna's lap. She began to lament, deeply afflicted by separation from Him. She could not, at that instant, understand that madhusudan also means "bumblebee". She wept and repeatedly cried out, "Oh, Pran-nath, where have You gone? Oh, Lord of My life, where have You gone?" Upon seeing these amazing transcendental sentiments known as prem-vaichittya, in His beloved Radhika, Krishna also forgot that She was sitting on His lap. He too wept and cried, "O My beloved!" and They both fainted. The tears that flowed from Their eyes and the perspiration that poured from Their bodies created this pond. When the Sakhis saw Their condition, they too became senseless. Radhji's female parrot began to loudly chant Radha's name, and the male parrot began to loudly chant Shri Krishna's name. As They heard each other's name, Radha and Krishna regained external consciousness and gazed upon each other with great yearning.

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Gradually, the Sakhis also regained consciousness and in boundless bliss began to call out, "Jaya, jaya!" The poet Shri Madhuriji describes this pastime in a very charming way. After this incident, Shri Krishna thought to Himself, "Although I remain close by My beloved Radhika, I am unable to pacify the suffering She experiences in separation from Me. The heat of impending separation constantly scorches Her, and I see no means to console Her. When I am far away from Her, She constantly thinks of Me out of separation from Me. She becomes so absorbed in transcendental emotions that laughing, She talks to tamala trees, thinking them to be Me, and plays with Her Sakhis . And sometimes She displays mana. In contrast, when I am close by Her, She is overwhelmed by a feeling of separation from Me, and She becomes distressed and cries. In this condition, I am unable to console Her, even if I am right beside Her. "Thus, Radha can only be consoled when I am far away from Her. In this state of separation, Her fire of separation can be somewhat pacified upon having an internal transcendental vision (sphurti) of Me or beholding objects like the tamala tree that possess a lustre similar to My own. This is because She actually considers them to be Me, Her dear most beloved." Thinking in this way, Krishna secretly decided to leave for a distant place. This is the main reason why He left Vrindavan to go to Mathura and Dvarka. The transcendental sentiment that Radhika displays here is the topmost madan-bhava, which is found only in Her. It does not manifest even in Lalita and the other Sakhis . In this madan-bhava, feelings of separation (vipralambha) and meeting (sambhoga), as well as all other mutually opposed bhavas, are present simultaneously in an astonishing way. Prem-sarovar is a manifestation of Radha and Krishna's transcendental sentiments, as the following Brajbhasha poem explains. "Day and night, Prem-sarovar is always filled with prem, or divine love. Pyari Radhika keeps Her lotus feet there, and Syama desires to keep those lotus feet in the vision of His eyes. (In other words, Shyama worships this pond because Radhaji has placed Her feet in its waters)"
There is no doubt that by bathing in this pond, one attains prem for the Divine Couple Shri Radha-Krishna. Here one can take darsan of Lalita-Mohanji, a Ras Mandal, a place where They would swing (Jhula-sthal), the temple of Prem-bihariji and the sitting-places (baithakas) of Sri Vallabhacharya and Sri Vitthalanath. The village of Gajipura lies east of this pond. On the day of Bhadra-shukla-dvadasi (the fourth day from Radhastami) bhudhi-lila is performed here.