Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Once, at Gāṅṭholī, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala were seated on a throne, intoxicated in rāsa-vilāsa and playing Holī. Śrī Lalitā quietly tied the corners of Their cloths in a knot (gāṅṭha) so when They stood up, They were tied together. All the sakhīs laughed to see this. On account of this confidential pastime, this place is called Gāṅṭholī. It is situated on the Govardhana–Ḍīg highway.
Sometimes, to bestow His d arśan a to His devotees, Śrī Nāthajī used to come to this village on the pretext of escaping the hands of the barbarians. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to Govardhana, He had a strong desire to have darśana of Śrī Nātha Gopālajī. At the same time, the priests feared an attack by the invaders so they brought Śrī Nāthajī to Gāṅṭholī for three days. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never climbed on Govardhana Hill because He considered him to be the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This is why His followers, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, do not climb on Govardhana Hill to have darśana of Śrī Nāthajī. Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana never set foot on Govardhana. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to know that Gopālajī was present in the village of Gāṅṭholī, He stayed here for three days, circumabulated Him, chanted prayers, and danced and performed ecstatic saṅkīrtana before Gopālajī.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The name of this village has been derived from the word ‘gantha’ which means ‘knot’ and refers to this being the place where the ‘knot’ was tied. One day, Radha and Krishna accompanied by the gopis, came here to play holi, by throwing red colored powder (gulala) on each other. During the course of the festivities, Radha and Krishna sat down together on a nicely decorated throne prepared by the gopis. While Radha and Krishna were engaged in talking together, Lalita-sakhi, Radha’s close friend, sneaked up behind the throne and secretly tied the corner of Radha’s saree to Krishna’s dhoti. This tying together of a girl’s saree and a boy’s dhoti is always done at the time of a marriage ceremony, signifying the union of oneness between husband and wife. When the holi festivities came to an end and it was time for Radha and Krishna to take Their bath at Gulala-kunda, when They stood up, to their surprise they found that Their clothes were tied together. At that moment, all the gopis suddenly started laughing and clapping their hands in great happiness at seeing the ‘divine couple’ tied together, as if They had just been married.
Lord Chaitanya Visits Ganthuli Grama
While on His parikrama around Vraja Mandala, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arrived at Govardhana Hill, but refused to climb the sacred hill to visit the Gopala Temple situated on hilltop. This was because according to Lord Chaitanya’s spiritual vision, Govardhana Hill was non-different from Lord Krishna Himself, and therefore He refused to place His feet on the hill. Even though the Vedic scriptures confirm that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was an incarnation of Lord Krishna, He appeared in the form of an ordinary human being and behaved just like any other humble Vaishnava devotee of Lord Krishna. During His life-time, Lord Chaitanya strictly observed all the rules and regulations of sadhana-bhakti and set the highest standards of devotional behavior for all future generations of devotees to follow. Even to this day, the followers of Lord Chaitanya who are known as Gaudiya Vaishnavas, do not step on Govardhana Hill, remembering Lord Chaitanya’s own example.
While performing parikrama of Govardhana Hill, Lord Chaitanya had darshana of Lord Harideva where He danced in ecstasy for hours. After leaving the temple of Harideva, He began to think about Lord Gopala, the Deity discovered by Shrila Madhavendra Puri, the celebrated guru of His own guru, Shrila Ishvara Puri. Lord Chaitanya began lamenting that because the temple of Lord Gopala was on top of Govardhana Hill, He would never be able to have darshana of the Deity, as He had decided not to set His foot on the sacred hill. The next day, continuing with His parikrama, Lord Chaitanya arrived at Govinda-kunda where He took His bath. At that moment, news arrived that the Deity of Lord Gopala had been moved to the village of Ganthuli Grama for safety; because a rumor had spread that there was going to be an imminent attack by a rampaging horde of Mohammedan soldiers out on a looting spree. Upon hearing this incredible news, Lord Chaitanya felt great ecstasy and immediately left for Ganthuli Grama to have darshana of Lord Gopala. After arriving at Ganthuli and seeing the extraordinary beauty of Lord Gopala, Lord Chaitanya entered into a state of transcendental bliss and while incessantly chanting the holy names of the Lord, He began dancing in great ecstasy. The Deity of Lord Gopala remained at Ganthuli Grama for three days and Lord Chaitanya also remained there, totally immersed in the mood of ecstatic love.
According to the Chaitanya-charitamrita, the threat of an attack by the Mohammedan soldiers was a transcendental trick performed by Lord Gopala, as a pretext for giving darshana to Lord Chaitanya at Ganthuli. It has also been said by others, that Lord Gopala actually desired to have darshana of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of divine love and the embodiment of ‘Radha-bhava’. This celebrated Deity of Shrila Madhavendra Puri was very famous for His many extraordinary pastimes and there are innumerable stories where the Deity interacted directly with His devotees. A few years after giving darshana to Lord Chaitanya, Lord Gopala made a similar arrangement when He gave darshana to Lord Chaitanya’s most senior disciples, Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis at Mathura, where the Deity had been taken for safety on the pretext of another imminent attack by Mohammedan soldiers. Some years later all the Deities of the Gaudiya Goswamis were moved to Rajasthan for safety during the despotic rule of the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb the Deity of Lord Gopala was moved to Nathadwara under the patronage of the king of Udaipura. The Deity is still residing there even today and is presently known as Lord Shri Nathaji.
The tradition amongst Gaudiya Vaishnavas of not setting foot on Govardhana Hill has been adhered to by all Gaudiya acharyas including the Six Goswamis. It was only on the direct order of Lord Gopala that Shrila Madhavandra Puri stepped on the sacred hill, because Lord Gopala wanted to be installed on the top of Govardhana Hill and asked Madhavendra to install Him there and also build a temple. This means that the pujaris serving the Deity had to climb Govardhana Hill every day to perform the seva-puja. Therefore, a large govardhana-shila was installed at the base of the sacred hill at Jetipura which is known as the dandavata-shila. The pujaris of Lord Gopala would circumambulate this shila seven times while paying dandavata-pranams and it is said that this was equal to performing dandavata-parikrama around the entire Govardhana Hill, by performing this particular ritual the pujaris would free themselves from any aparadha incurred while climbing Govardhana Hill.
