Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The Bhakti-ratnakara says, “On Chandrasena-parvata is pichalni-shila. At this place Krishna plays along with His friends. Sitting in a bending form they slid down the rock again and again.” Situated on the side of a hill is this natural rock slide that is used even today by the local children. Krishna and His friends used to come here for herding the cows and would enjoy many long hours playing on this slide. The word ‘pichalni’ means ‘sliding stone’ and ‘shila’ means a ‘stone’, or ‘rock’. The Bhakti-ratnakara says that the side of the hill on which the pichalni-shila is located is called Chandrasena Parvata, or Indrasena Parvata, or sometimes as Indranila Parvata. However, this hill is known locally as Pichal Pihari. The word ‘pichal’ refers to the ‘slide’ and ‘pihari’ means a ‘mountain’. Locals also refer to this rock slide as khisasini-shila, or pishalini-shila, which are both corruptions of the word pishalni-shila. The cowherd boys slide is located in the village of Kalavati. The word ‘kalavati’ means the ‘place of the dance’ and it was here where the gopis assembled and engaged in singing songs glorifying Krishna and dancing in circles with one-another. When Krishna heard the rhythmic jingling of the gopi’s ankle bells and the sweet sound of their singing, He came here to witness the wonderful dancing of the cowherd girls.
