Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Sūrya-kuṇḍa is about four miles north of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Śrīmatī Rādhikā used to come here with Her sakhīs, especially on Sundays, on the pretext of performing worship of Mitradeva, or Sūryadeva (the Sungod). Śrī Kṛṣṇa also came here disguised as a priest, along with Madhumaṅgala, to perform the worship of Mitradeva with great merriment. Mitra, or “friend”, has two meanings: it refers to the Sungod and also to the best of friends, prāṇa-sakhā Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. (Jaṭilā understood mitra to mean the Sungod only. She could not comprehend the loving emotions of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala.)
This pastime is performed at midday, or in the third prahara of the day, after which Śrīmatījī returns to Jāvaṭa along with Her friends and mother-in-law Jaṭilā. Kṛṣṇa and Madhumaṅgala also return from here to the company of the sakhās in the valley of Govardhana. Kṛṣṇa’s friends would run to meet Him, as if He had been gone for only a moment and was just returning from some nearby place.
The kuñja where the pastime of Sūrya-pūjā took place is next to Sūrya-kuṇḍa. Since it is a place of loving enjoyment for Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala, it is also called Madana-raṇa-vāṭikā. There is also a beautiful temple of Sūryadeva here. Today, Sūrya-kuṇḍa is also called Choṭā Bharanā.
Śrī Madhusūdana Bābājī, who was a self-realised soul and a rasika Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, used to perform bhajana on the west bank of this pond. Vaiṣṇavas used to come to him from distant places to receive instruction on bhajana. The famous vaiṣṇava sarvabhauma Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja was a disciple of this great soul. He also performed bhajana here for a long time, before moving to Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma. His bhajana-kuṭī and samādhi are in Śrī Koladvīpa. Śrī Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura met the self-realised soul, Śrī Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī, who was to become his spiritual master in bhāgavata-paramparā, at Sūrya-kuṇḍa.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
In the Bhakti-ratnakara it says, ”Just see the temple of Suryadeva situated within the forest. In great happiness Radharani comes here with Her sakhis to worship the sun-god Surya. Shri Krishna Himself became the priest and enjoyed performing the puja. This deity of Suryadeva is very merciful and can give love of Krishna.” From Her youth, Radharani started worshiping Surya in order to get Krishna as Her husband. After Her betrothal to Abhimanyu, She was asked by Her mother-in-law Jatila, to continue the worship of Suryadeva in order to bring wealth and good fortune to Abhimanyu and his family.
Surya-kunda is one of the famous sites where the eight-fold daily pastimes between Radha and Krishna known as ashta-kaliya-lila takes place. Each morning after cooking Krishna’s breakfast in mother Yashoda’s kitchen at Nandagrama, Radha goes home to Yavata and gets ready to worship the sun-god at Surya-kunda. At 10.30 am, Radha leaves Yavata with Her girlfriends and follows the path towards Surya-kunda. Around the same time, while herding the cows in the pasturing grounds with the cowherd boys, Krishna slips away unseen to enjoy pastimes with Radharani. When it is time for Surya-puja, Krishna sometimes disguises Himself as a brahmana priest so that He can go to the sun-god temple and secretly meet with Radharani. Then along with His brahmana friend Madhumangala, who performs the regular puja at the sungod temple, they happily make their way to Surya-kunda.
One day the brahmana priest Madhumangala had not arrived at Surya-kunda to perform the puja. As it was late in the day, Jatila suddenly arrived there to take Radharani back home to Yavata, and demanded to know why there was such a delay in performing Surya-puja. Radharani replied that no brahmana was available and that Kundalata has gone to search for one. At that moment Kundalata returned with a brahmana saying, “Today I couldn’t find a brahmana anywhere in Vraja, even after a long search. Somehow I’ve found this disciple of Garga Muni from Mathura named Vishvasharma, who knows all the sciences. Even the scholars praise Him as the best of brahmacharis. I brought Him here with great difficulty. Please accept Him as the priest for Radha!” Jatila addressed the brahmana priest, “O best of the brahmanas, I feel blessed just by seeing You! Please, engage my daughter-in-law in worship. All my desires will then be fulfilled.” Radha whispered to Visakha, “O shakhi! Is this not Krishna disguised as a brahmana? If not, then why is My heart melting?” Vishakha whispered in Radha’s ear, “O doe-eyed girl! Krishna has so much love for you that He has come here disguised as the brahmana priest Vishvasharma.”
While initiating the puja, the brahmana Visvasharma asked Jatila, “What is the name of your daughter-in-law?” When Jatila said, “Radha”, the brahmana feigned great astonished and replied, “O! Is She that famous and most qualified girl, the jewel of good fortune, whose ideal chastity is known even in Mathura? You are certainly very fortunate to have such an illustrious daughter-in-law!” Then the brahmana said to Radhika, “You cannot perform the puja to the shining god (meaning: the sun or Madana-god of love) without accepting a priest (meaning: Krishna disguised as a priest). “Since I never touch women, You can just touch Me with this kusa-grass, while repeating the mantras after Me.” Radha said, “I accept You, Vishvasharma, whose dynasty bestows fortune on the world, and who is most pure and learned, as my priest.” (meaning: I accept you Krishna, whose name purifies the world, who is most learned in the arts of conjugal affairs and who gives joy to the world – as My lover). “I offer my obeisances to the sun-god who is the friend of the lotuses, who appeared before me, destroying the darkness with his splendor and who has a reddish hue in both the morning and evening.” (meaning: I offer myself to Krishna, who has the golden sign of Srivatsa on His chest, who destroys the affliction of lust, who is the friend of the lotus-like gopis, and who is most attractive).” Visvasharma said, “O beautiful girl, the worship of a sun-god has been properly executed. Now satisfy the deity by offering a handful of red flowers.”
Jatila felt very satisfied with the brahmana Visvasarma and prayed for a boon, “O best of brahmanas, please bless Radha’s husband, my son Abhimanyu, with millions of cows and a long life free from disease!” Visvasharma said, “So be it!” Suddenly arriving late for the puja, Krishna’s brahmana friend Madhumangala glanced at the sumptuous food offerings and said, “I will also recite some prayers to the sun-god.” Jatila interrupted him saying, “You fool! Friend of a debauchee! What are you doing here? This charming brahmana Vishvasharma will engage my daughter-in-law in Surya-puja every day from now on!” (This compilation was adapted from: Krishna-bhavanamrita, Lalita-madhava, Ujjvala-nilamani, and Govinda-lilamrita)
Surya-kunda is the place where Shrila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, spent a number of years performing bhajana on the banks of this sacred kunda. While he was staying here he worshiped the deities of Gaura-Nitai that became famous as ‘Sona Gauranga’ which are now being worshiped in Vrindavana near the Gopinatha Mandira. Another famous Babaji who lived at Surya-kunda was Madhusudana Dasa Babaji who gave babaji-diksha to Jagannatha Das Babaji. Madhusudana Dasa Babaji discovered the mukut-shila of Radharani on the bank of this sacred kunda and kept it in his ashrama where he worshiped it. The word ‘mukut’ means a type of ‘crown’ or ‘tiara’ which is sometimes worn by Radharani. The pastime behind this famous mukut-shila is that one day, Radharani came to take Her bath at the kunda and taking off her mukut placed it on a nearby rock, subsequently the rock melted due to ecstasy leaving the impression of Radha’s mukut upon it.
Besides the beautiful Surya-kunda, the places of interest are the Suryadeva Mandira managed by the Gaudiya Matha, where it is said the ancient Deity of the sun-god is presently being worshiped. One can also have darshana of the Radharan’s mukut-shila which is located in the nearby ashrama of Madhusudana Dasa Babaji.
