Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-mandala-parikrama”:
This village is situated nine miles west of Mathurā and four miles east of Govardhana on the main road between these places. Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His sakhās obstructed the sakhīs’ way demanding tax from them. Therefore the name of the village is Aḍīṅga. The Hindi word aḍnā means “to obstruct”.
Here, in Killola-kuṇḍa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma relished joyful water-sports (jal-killola).
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
Situated to the north-west of Madhuri-kunda is the village of Aring which straddles the Mathura to Govardhana road. Besides its present name of Aring, this place has been known by various other names over the years including: Adin, Arin, Adinga and Arista. Most authorities believe that the ferocious bull demon Arishtasura was born here and lived on a nearby hillock known as ‘Arishta-tila’, which means ‘the hill of Arista’. There is an old fort situated on the hill which lies in the center of the village. The demon Arishtasura was a servant of King Kamsa and one day received orders from the king to find Krishna and kill Him immediately. Therefore, Arishtasura started to search for Krishna around Govardhana Hill and began to terrorize all the local inhabitants. Hearing that the Arishtasura demon was creating a fearful situation for the Vrajavasis, Krishna arrived on the spot and slew the great demon at the northern end of Govardhana Hill, at a place which became famous as Radha-kunda.
Because this village is so closely related with the demon Arishtasura, some scholars have ventured to say that this is the actual village of Arista-grama, also called Arita-grama, where Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came when He was searching the area for Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda. However, based on the statements found in the Bhakti-ratnakara, at the time of Lord Chaitanya’s visit, the village now known as Radha-kunda was then known as Arita-grama. In the Bhakti-ratnakara Raghava Pandita says, “See ahead the village named Arita.” Another verse states, “After visiting the other forests of Vrindavana, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came here and sat under this tamala tree. He asked the residents of Arita-grama where the two kundas were, but no one could answer.”
Regarding the old name of Adin, some scholars have said that this refers to the name of the sub-forest or ‘upavana’ of Vrindavana, in which this village is situated. Some think that the name of the village is connected to Krishna’s transcendental pastimes of dana-lila, or tax collection. In this regard it is said the word ‘adna’ means to ‘insist’, and it was here that Krishna insisted the gopis pay a tax on their milk products that they were taking to the local market. These pastimes of collecting tax from the gopis occurred in many different places around Vraja Mandala.
There are two famous kundas in the village where Krishna’s pastimes took place. The first kunda lies one kilometer south of the village and is known as Keli-kunda. The word ‘keli’ means ‘to play’ and also ‘to sport’. The second kunda is on the western fringe of the village and known as Kamala-kunda is famous for the beautiful pink lotus flowers that grow there in great abundance. Kamala-kunda, sometimes called Kilola-kunda by the locals, is a place where Radha and Krishna enjoyed sporting pastimes in the water. The word ‘kamala’ means ‘lotus flower’ and local people believe that when they see the pink lotus flowers blooming in the kunda, it is a sign that Radha and Krishna are enjoying their ‘aprakata-lila’, or hidden pastimes here at this place.
