Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Bijavārī lies one-and-a-half miles south-east of Nandagaon and one mile south of Khāyaro.
When Akrūra came to take the two brothers, Śrī Rāma and Kṛṣṇa to Mathurā, They ascended his chariot here. The gopīs, being so distressed from their impending separation from Kṛṣṇa, cried out, “O Prāṇanātha!” and fell to the ground unconscious. At that time, it appeared as if lightening bolts (vidyuta-puñja) were striking the ground. The corrupted form of the word vidyuta-puñja is bijavārī.
Akrūra left Bijavārī with the two brothers, and travelling through Pisāī, Sahāra, Jainta and other villages, reached Akrūra- ghāṭa. There he bathed before finally arriving in Mathurā. Akrūra- sthāna, where you can see Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s footprint on a rock, lies between Bijavārī and Nandagaon.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “This is Vidyudvari-grama also called Vijoari. Whose heart will not melt by hearing the description of this place? When Akrura came to Vraja the word spread around that he came to take away Rama and Krishna. In ecstatic love he spent the night in the house of Nanda Maharaja. The next morning, Akrura along with Nanda and the others set out for Mathura and Vraja became void due to the departure of Rama and Krishna.”
When Akrura was taking Krishna and Balarama away from Nandagrama in his chariot, the gopis assembled at this place in great sorrow. Due to the thought of losing their beloved Krishna and Balarama, the gopis were feeling so devastated that they were sobbing piteously. Suddenly, due to the intensity of those feelings of separation, they all fell to the ground unconscious as if they had been struck by a lightning bolt. The word ‘vidyut’ means ‘lightning bolt’ and after this particular pastime that occurred here, the village became celebrated as ‘Vidyudvari’, meaning the place of the ‘lightning bolt’. The name of the village later changed to Bijoari and then to Vijowli, which are both corrupted forms of the Sanskrit Vidyudvari.
The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “What can I say? Only those who saw the scene can understand. All the damsels of Vraja came running to see Krishna with tears flowing like rivers from their eyes. Seeing that scene even wood and stone melted. No one could describe this even with millions of mouths. As Krishna sat on the chariot, His beloved gopis were overwhelmed and surrounded the chariot. They surrendered their eyes to the lotus face of Krishna and, as they cried out, ‘O Lord of my life!’ they fell unconscious. Just as lightning bolts strike the ground, so the gopis similarly fell to the ground. Everyone then came to know how the bolt of lightning [vijuri] hits the ground, therefore this place is known as Vijoari.”
In the north of the village on the road from Nandagaon one can see Nena-kunda. The kunda was created from the torrent of tears that flooded from the eyes (nena) of the gopis due to their feelings of acute separation from their beloved Krishna. The Hindi word ‘nena’ means ‘eyes’. This kunda is also known as Vichora-kunda, the word ‘vichora’ is a corrupt form of the word ‘viccheda’, which means ‘intense separation’. Located just next to the kunda one can see the Nena-Bihari Mandira.
