Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-mandala-parikrama”:
Basauntī currently goes by the name of Basatī. When Nanda Bābā left Gokula-Mahāvana with his family and moved to Chaṭṭīkarā, his friend Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja resided in Basauntī-grāma. This place received the name Basauntī because he resided (bāsa karnā) here. Nearby is Rāla-grāma, where Śrīmatījī performed Her childhood pastimes (bālya-līlā). In Her youth She performed some pastimes (paugaṇḍa- līlās) in Basauntī. Varsānā, Jāvaṭa and Rādhā-kuṇḍa are places of Her teenage pastimes (kiśora-līlās). However, the place of Her highest and most perfect playful pastimes (līlā-vilāsa) is Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa.
Nearby are Balabhadra-kuṇḍa, a temple of Balabhadra and a grove of kadamba trees.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
During the great exodus from Mahavana, when Nanda Maharaja and all the cowherd men left due to the fear of so many demons, Radharani’s father Vrishabhanu Maharaja and all the residents from Raval also left for the safety of Vrindavana. When Vrishabhanu Maharaja reached this most beautiful and enchanting place, he is said to have spoken the words ‘vasati sthapana’ which means ‘we will reside here’ According to the Sanskrit dictionary the word ‘vasati’ means ‘staying or dwelling’. In the Bhakti-ratnakara it says, “O Shrinivasa, look at this Vasati Grama before us! Here King Vrishabhanu resided”.
It is said that Radharani spent the remainder of Her ‘kaumari-lila’, or childhood pastimes at Vasati. When Her pauganda-lila or girlhood pastimes began, it is said that Radharani stayed with Her fraternal relatives at nearby Ral. During this period when Krishna defeated the Kaliya Nag and saved the Vrajavasis from the forest fire, Radharani first became acutely aware of Krishna’s incredible beauty and this ignited the flame of desire within Her heart. Radharani later moved with Her family to Varsana where Her kaishora-lila, or pastimes of youth-hood took place. It was not until reaching Varsana that Her transcendental loving relationship with Krishna in the mellow of parakiya-bhava began to flourish.
In the village there used to be an ancient raja-kadamba tree with the imprint of Radha’s mukut, or crown on its trunk, but this famous tree disappeared some years ago. One can see the sacred Vasanta-kunda where Radha and Krishna enjoyed Thier ‘vernal’ or ‘springpastimes’ known as ‘Vasanta-lila’. The first day of spring is known as Vasanta-panchami and there are many festivals held in all the temples around Vraja to celebrate the spring season pastimes of Radha and Krishna. Because Vasanta-lila pastimes were celebrated at this village, locals Vrajavasis say that the village’s name of Vasati – is derived from the word Vasanti, or spring-time, which later became Vasati, and then Basanti as it is presently known today.
