Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Māna-garh is a very attractive place on top of Brahmācala- parvata. Śrīmatī Rādhikā displayed māna, or a sulky mood, here, but rasika Kṛṣṇa very skilfully broke it.
One day, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sent a message to Śrīmatī Rādhikā through Subala, who is one of His priya-narma-sakhās, and through Vṛndā- devī that They should meet at a certain time. Kṛṣṇa was on His way when He suddenly met Padmā, Candrāvalī’s friend. Padmā described Śrīmatī Candrāvalī ’s state of separation from Him and repeatedly requested Him to meet with her. Śrī Kṛṣṇa could not ignore her plea, and went to Candrāvalī’s kuñja for what He intended to be a short time. However, He became so absorbed in sweet talks and playful pastimes with Candrāvalī that He forgot everything else, and the time for the arranged meeting with Śrīmatī Rādhikā elapsed. Meanwhile, one of Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s well-trained female parrots (sārīs) arrived on a tree in the same kuñja. The parrot returned to Śrīmatī Rādhikā and told Her all the details of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Candrāvalī’s sweet conversations and playful pastimes. Rādhikā became deeply distressed and went into a māna that was very difficult to break. Within Her heart, She firmly resolved that She had no need for such an insolent Kṛṣṇa; so when Śrī Kṛṣṇa finally arrived, long after the appointed meeting time, Śrīmātijī turned Her face away from Him.
Seeing Her unwavering māna, Śrī Kṛṣṇa tried to appease Her through all kinds of means and tricks, but Her māna would not break. Becoming hopeless and feeling sad, Kṛṣṇa left that place. On the road He met Viśākhā, who advised Him to disguise Himself as a new sakhī playing a vīṇa. He went to Śrīmatī Rādhikā together with Viśākhā, who introduced this new sakhī as Śyāmā Sakhī. Viśākhā profusely praised Śyāmā Sakhī’s ability to play the vīṇa and sing, as well as all Her other skills. Śrīmatī Rādhikā seated this new sakhī next to Her with great honour and respect. Upon hearing Her exceptional singing, She became filled with delight and embraced Her. Śrīmatī Rādhikā recognised Her beloved merely by His touch; and as soon as She had done so, Her māna was broken. Surrounded by Her friends, She now became absorbed in beautiful pastimes with the beloved of Her life.
māna-mandira saṅjñāya namaste ratna-bhūmaye
Ādi-varāha Purāṇa
In Māna-garh, one can also have darśana of Māna Mandira, a swing, a rāsa-maṇḍala and Ratnākara-sarovara. Just near Māna- garh to the south is the village of Mānapurā, which reminds one of all these pastimes.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The word ‘mana’ means a kind of ‘jealous anger’ or ‘lovers pique’ experienced by a female lover towards her beloved, and ‘garh’ means a secluded room or a private place where one can sit in solitude. This place situated on top of the Brahmagiri Parvata is the spot where Shri Krishna, with great difficulty, was able to placate the ‘mana’ or jealous anger that was consuming Radharani. One day, Radha had arranged to meet Krishna and was waiting for Him, but He was extremely late. As Radha waited, Her pet parrot arrived and conveyed the news that Krishna was sitting in a distant grove with Chandravali, Radha’s main rival in attracting the love and affection of Krishna. Stung to the quick that Chandravali had managed to steal Krishna away from Her and was now loitering with Him in a secluded grove, Radharani became filled with indignation and in a jealous fit, ran away and hid Herself at this spot. After some time, Krishna arrived and was extremely sorry to see Radha in such a distressed condition. He tried everything to convince Her that He met Chandravali only by chance, and remained there because she was feeling unhappy, due to not having seen Him for such a long time. Regardless of Krishna’s various attempts to pacify Radha, She remained unmoved and hid Her face while refusing even to talk. Leaving that place in defeat, Krishna met with Vishakha who suggested a better way of pacifying Radharani. Vishakha then dressed Krishna in the garb of a gopi named Shyama-sakhi. Thus expertly disguised as a beautiful young gopi and holding a vina, Shyama-sakhi was then introduced to Radharani by Vishakha as one of their new friends who was able to sing very sweetly. Radharani was very happy to meet Shyama-sakhi and invited her to sing and play the vina.
As Shyama-sakhi sang a number of enchanting love songs, the sound of her voice enthralled Radha to such a degree, that Radha felt compelled to hold Shyama-sakhi in Her arms and embrace her. As Radharani put Her arms around Shyama-sakhi and felt the touch of her body, She immediately realized that it was non-other than Her beloved Krishna, and became so ecstatic at the realization, that Her mana completely disappeared. Radharani then remained there with Her beloved Krishna while enjoying transcendental loving exchanges. There is a shrine here called Mana Kutira, dedicated to the ‘mana-lila’ pastime that took place at this spot. Also located here is a ‘hindola’ also called a ‘jhula’, which is a large swing where the ‘divine couple’ enjoyed jhulana-lila’ or swing pastimes with the gopis. There is also a rasa-mandala that commemorates the rasa-dance that occurred here on what is also known as Managada peak (the mountain peak of the mana pastime). This spot was also situated within the Gahvaravana forest where it is said there was once a lake called Ratnakara-sarovara, which has now disappeared.
