Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-mandala-parikrama”:
This is a place of the Divine Couple Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s playful pastimes (vihāra). Here Śrīmatī Rādhikā tested Kṛṣṇa’s dancing skills.
priya ko nacvan sikhavat rādhā pyārī!
mān-gumān lakuṭ lie ṭhāḍhī
manthargati jab hi, ḍarpat kuñj-bihārī
Vihāra-kuṇḍa lies here. This is where Kṛṣṇa and His cowherd boy friends performed water-sports and had the cows drink its pure and sweet water. Nearby is a very attractive grove of kadamba trees, in which one can see the imprints of the Lord’s lotus feet under a small canopy.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
There used to be a beautiful forest of kadamba trees here known as kadamba-khandi but it has now disappeared. The word ‘vihara’ means ‘amorous pastimes’ and ‘vana’ means ‘forest’, or in other words the ‘forest of amorous pastimes’. When Krishna was living at Nandagrama, He would sometimes come to this forest of sweet smelling kadamba trees along with Radharani and the gopis to enjoy rasa-lila, the ‘dance of love’. On those occasions, hundreds of gopis would congregate here on the full-moon night and Krishna would by dint of His internal potency, expand Himself into unlimited forms to dance with each gopi. Consequently, each gopi thought that she was the most fortunate girl in the world and believed that Krishna was dancing only with her. There are also two other small forests known by the name Viharavana in other parts of Vraja. Krishna used to bring His cows here for grazing on the fresh grass and also enjoyed fun and games with His cowherd boyfriends. At Viharavana, there is also the Vihara-kunda that was created by Krishna when He pushed His flute into the ground to quench the thirst of the cowherd boys and the cows. On a rock nearby to the kunda, one can see what local people believe are Krishna’s lotus footprints. This particular charana-chinha shrine is very famous in this area.
