Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This is the place of Ādi-badrī-nārāyaṇa. Once, Nanda and the other gopas and gopīs wanted to go to Badrī-nārāyaṇa in the Himālayas. Understanding this to be their heartfelt desire, Śrī Kṛṣṇa brought them here for darśana of Ādi-badrī. Ādi-badrī is the source of even Badrī-viśāla in the Himālayas. The pilgrim can have darśana of Badrī-nārāyaṇa, Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, Kuvera, Nārada Ṛṣi, Uddhavajī and others here. (Indra sent apsarās to break the austerities of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, but Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi manifested the beautiful celestial damsel Urvaśī from his left thigh, and shattered the pride of Indra.) Just as Alakānandā and Tapta-kuṇḍa are situated in Badrī in the Himālayas, they are also present here. In Badrī the water of Tapta-kuṇḍa is hot, but here the water of Tapta-kuṇḍa is cool.
A little further on from Ādi-badrī, on top of the hill, is the divine darśana of Būḍhe-badrī, Gandhamādana Hill, Tapovana and so on. This very attractive place is surrounded by lush, green mountain-ranges. This is the place of worship of many sages and also of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. The natural scenery of this place resembles that of Badrī-nārāyaṇa. Below the hills of Ādi-badrī is the village of Ālīpura, inhabited by people of the meva caste.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The word ‘budhe’ means ‘old’ as well as ‘original’ and therefore the name ‘Budhebadri’ means ‘Old Badri’, or ‘original Badri’. This place is accepted by a number of Gaudiya scholars to be the original Badrinatha where Krishna brought His father Nanda Baba for darshana. This is further confirmed in the Bhakti-ratnakara when, after visiting Pramodana, Raghava Pandita led Shrinivasa Acharya and Narottama Dasa northwards to this place while informing them that this was Adi-Badri, the ancient shrine of Lord Badri-Narayana and the place where Krishna brought His father Nanda Maharaja to have darshana of Badrinatha Dhama. There is an old temple here of Lord Budhe-Badrinatha containing the Deity of Badri-Narayana and nearby is Alakananda-kunda. The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “See here the most merciful Adi Badri-Narayana. He is served in a most unique way by fragrant stones on this enchanting mountain within the forest. Krishna removed the lamentation of Nanda Maharaja and the other cowherd men by bringing them here for darshana of Narayana.”
It is interesting to note that Raghava Pandita and his companions did not go to Adi-Badrinatha near Alipura, neither did they visit Kedarnatha, but went directly from Pramoda to Budhe-Badri and then after visiting Kadamba-khandi, they went to Kamyavana via Ghat and Indroli. Some researchers have concluded that the route taken by Raghava Pandita Goswami in this part of Vraja must be the same route taken by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as they were more or less attempting to retrace Mahaprabhu’s footsteps. The shrine of Adi-Badrinatha near Alipur was discovered by Narayana Bhatta who also discovered the Adi-Kedaranatha shrine.
