Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Chatravana is situated on the Mathurā–Delhī highway approxi- mately twenty miles north-west of Mathurā and four miles south- west of Paya-gaon. Its present name is Chātā. In the north-east corner of this village lies Sūrya-kuṇḍa, and in its south-west is Candra-kuṇḍa, on whose bank a temple of Dāūjī is situated. Here, Śrīdāma and the other sakhās seated Śrī Kṛṣṇa on a throne and declared Him the exalted king (chatra-pati) of Vraja. They thus performed a wonderful unprecedented pastime here.
Śrī Balarāma sat on Kṛṣṇa’s left side, and began executing the duties of minister of state. Śrīdāma held an umbrella over Kṛṣṇa’s head; Arjuna fanned Him with a cāmara; Madumaṅgala sat in front of Kṛṣṇa and acted as court jester; Subala offered Him betel-nuts; and Subāhu, Viśāla and some other sakhās assumed the roles of subjects. Through Madhumaṅgala, Chatra-pati Mahārāja Kṛṣṇa proclaimed throughout the land, “Mahārāja Chatra-pati Nandakumāra is the sole emperor here. No one else has claim to any authority. Daily the gopīs destroy this garden; therefore, they should all be punished.” In this way, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His friends sported in this playful way. In memory of this pastime, this village is named Chatravana, or Chātā.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “O Shrinivasa, see before us Chatravana. At this place the son of Nanda became king.” Chhatravana is mentioned in the Vraja-bhakti-vilas as being one of the upavanas (sub-forests) of Vrindavana Dhama. While playing at Chhatravana, Krishna, with the help of His cowherd boyfriends like Madhumangala and Subala, declared Himself as the ‘King of the Forests’ and ordered that no one could pick flowers without His permission. Meanwhile, some of the gopis were out picking flowers when they heard the news that some usurper had declared Himself the ruler over the kingdom reigned over by their own queen Srimati Radharani.
When the sakhis heard that Krishna had been crowned as the ‘chatra-pati’ or ‘king of Vraja’ by the cowherd boys at Chhatravana, they informed Lalita Devi who became furious. The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “Lalita Devi became very, very angry and said, “Who is that person who claims authority over Radhika’s kingdom? We will immediately retaliate against this impostor.” The gopis then ran to inform Radharani, who had earlier been crowned ‘Umraya’, or ‘Queen of Vraja’ by none other than Purnamasi, after she was personally ordered to do so by Lord Brahma. At the suggestion of Her friends, Radharani demanded that the usurper be brought before Her to be punished. After receiving the queen’s order, Lalita and the other gopis prepared for battle by arming themselves with flower-stick weapons specially made by Vrinda Devi.
Unaware of what was about to happen, the cowherd boys Madhumangala, Subala, Arjuna, Bhringa, Kokila, and Lavanga, were out picking flowers in the fields near Chhatravana when they were suddenly surprised to see thousands of gopis descend upon them from all directions. Subala and the others managed to escape but Madhumangala was immediately arrested and his hands bound behind his back with a flower garland. He was then marched off by the gopis who brought him before their queen for punishment. On seeing Krishna’s friend Madhumangala brought before Her, Radharani repeatedly chided him for declaring a usurper as the ‘king of Vrindavana’ and told him that the real authority over this kingdom was now going to punish him. Bowing his head in submission Madhumangala said, “Give me such a punishment that my belly should be filled”. Hearing Madhumangala’s reply, Radharani said, “Release this useless brahmana who is simply interested in filling his stomach and let him run to his king.” On being released and with his hands still bound-up, Madhumangala ran off to tell Krishna what had happened.
Meanwhile Krishna was sitting on His throne acting just like an arrogant king while surrounded by His doting and submissive subjects in the form of the cowherd boys. Madhumangala arrived there in a sorry condition with his hands still bound behind him. Madhumangala then told Krishna. “Just see, this is the result I get by declaring You as the king.” The real authority in these forests is the great and noble queen named Radharani, who has unlimited power and no one can dare stand against Her supreme authority. That same Cupid, who steals the composure of the world, trembles at the mere movement of Her lotus eyes. My only advice is that You must bow to Her authority, surrender Yourself completely, and take shelter of Her lotus feet.”
Hearing the sound advice of Madhumangala, His brahmana friend, Krishna untied his hands while saying He was extremely sorry that Madhumangala had to suffer such humiliation. Madhumangala told Krishna that it doesn’t matter that he was insulted; his only interest was in serving Krishna and caring for His welfare. He then took Krishna’s hand and led Him to the village of Umraya where the beautiful Queen Radharani was sitting with Her courtiers. Upon seeing Her beloved Krishna arrive in utter submission before Her royal assembly, Radharani immediately became shy and somewhat restless and wanted to remove Her royal robes, but the sakhis forbade Her to do so.
When Krishna saw His beloved Radharani in the dress of a queen, He became ecstatic and showed symptoms of being unsteady and restless. Madhumangala was thrilled to see Krishna respond to Radha’s presence in such a way and led Him foreword to stand near to Her. Madhumangala then arranged for Radha and Krishna to sit down next to each other on the throne and then turning to Radharani he said. “You may now take this servant of Yours and show Your authority over Him and He will present You with a gift of His jewel-like embrace, please accept it with care.” Hearing these wonderful words of Madhumangala, the gopis were extremely happy and Lalita stepped forward and put a tasty laddu in Madhamangala’s mouth. Madhumangala then told Lalita and the gopis, “You did wrong in binding me up, but if you can feed me with a hundred thousand laddus like this one, you can easily be freed from your offence.” All those assembled became ecstatic upon seeing Queen Radharani sitting in the loving embrace of Krishna. The ‘divine lovers’ Radha and Krishna then entered a nearby forest grove where They were served by Their faithful companions.
