Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This is Śrī Parjanya Gopa’s place of worship, and is situated near Pāvana-sarovara towards the north-east. Previously, Parjanya Gopa had no sons, so he took initiation from Devarṣi Nārada in the Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa mantra. Giving up eating and drinking‚ he performed severe austerities at this place. Morning, noon and evening he bathed in this sarovara, worshipped the deity and chanted the mantra he had received from his holy master. After some time, he heard a divine voice from the sky: “O Parjanya, you will have five sons who will be endowed with all good qualities. Bhagavān Śrī Hari Himself will take birth as the son of Nanda, your middle son. He will destroy the demons and perform many kinds of pastimes.” This pond is also called Khunnāhāra-kuṇḍa because Parjanya performed austerities here. Khunnāhāra means “to give up grains and water”.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
Krishna used to herd His cows here and enjoy water sports in this lake with His boyfriends. This area near Nandishwara Parvata is known as Tagada-tirtha and is the place where Nanda Baba’s father, Parjanya Maharaja is said to have formerly lived. The Ksunnahara-kunda is the place where Parjanya performed austerities and underwent fasting in order to beget a worthy son. Shrila Narada Muni once appeared at Ksunnahara-kunda to bless Parjanya and initiated him into chanting the Lakshmi-Narayana mantra so he could achieve his desire for good progeny. He was bathing three times daily, chanting the mantra and fasting by going without food and water. The word ‘ksunnahara’ means to ‘give up eating and drinking’ which Parjanya did while performing penance at this place in order to achieve the mercy of the Lord. One day he heard a great voice reverberate in the sky saying. “O Parjanya, you will beget five highly qualified sons. From your third son whose name will be Nanda, the Supreme Lord Himself will appear and perform innumerable pastimes, while simultaneously relieving the burden of the world by killing all the demons.” Sometime later Parjanya moved his residence to Gokula due to the horsedemon Kesi terrorizing the area. In due course of time Parjanja Maharaja, through his wife Variyasi, begot five wonderful sons of whom Nanda was the most brilliant and who would later raise the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Shri Krishna as his own son. The other sons of Parjanya were: Upananda, Abhinanda, Sananda and Nandana.
