Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
The word nidhu means sūrata-krīḍā, “amorous pastimes”. Govinda-līlāmṛta and other such literature give beautiful descriptions of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s amorous pastimes in Nidhuvana. These books indicate that because in the keli-kuñjas of Nidhuvana the playful, amorous night (niśa) pastimes take place; so the pastime of sleeping (śayana-vilāsa) at the end of the night (niśānta) also takes place here. Seeing dawn approaching, Vṛndā-devī becomes alarmed and orders the male and female parrots, peacocks, cuckoos, bumblebees and so forth to make their sweet humming and other sounds to wake up Kiśora and Kiśorī. The rāgānuga bhaktas, and especially the eminent rūpānuga rasika bhaktas, relish this niśānta-līlā in their hearts while chanting the holy names of the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura gives an elegant description of this pastime in his Svapna-vilāsa.
Once, at the end of the night, while the Divine Couple Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa were sleeping in a keli-kuñja of Nidhuvana, Śrī Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī had an amazing dream. Upon waking, She woke Her Prāṇa-vallabha and said, “Beloved, I just had an amazing dream. In that dream I saw an incomparable river, just like the Yamunā. Along that river I saw a supremely charming bank, just like a bank of the Yamunā. On that bank, which resembled a grove in Vṛndāvana, I saw a wonderful golden-complexioned young man singing and dancing very beautifully. Being absorbed in an internal mood, He was carried away in dancing to the rhythm of the mṛdaṅga and kartālas. That golden youth was crying and uttering
‘O Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa!’ and sometimes He would utter, ‘O Rādhā, O Rādhā, where are You?’ Sometimes He rolled on the ground, and sometimes He became unconscious. He freely distributed these sentiments of His to the living entities of the entire universe, from a blade of grass to Lord Brahmā.
“My beloved, upon seeing Him, I began to think, ‘Who is this golden-complexioned youth? Am I that golden youth who is constantly crying and uttering “O Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa”? And is the golden-complexioned youth crying out in a loud voice “O Rādhā, O Rādhā, where are You?” no one else but You, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the most beloved of My life?’ ”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “O My beloved, at different times I have given You darśana of Nārāyaṇa and some of My other forms, yet You were never astonished. Who this golden-complexioned youth is who is bewildering Your mind I cannot say.” Speaking in this way, He began to smile.
Rādhikā replied, “Prāṇa-vallabha, now I understand that this golden form is no one but You. No one other than You is able to infatuate Me in this way.” Kṛṣṇa then showed Śrī Rādhikā Her dream in His Kaustubha jewel, just as She had seen it. Śrīmatī Rādhikā said, “In Your childhood, the all-knowing Garga Ṛṣi informed Nanda Bābā that in the beginning of the forthcoming Kali-yuga, his son will appear as the golden-complexioned Gaurāṅga. A prediction by Garga Ṛṣi can never be false. Therefore, My dream must be true, and the golden youth I saw in the dream must, in fact, be You.”
Hearing this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “Prāṇeśvarī, I will assume Your golden complexion and the sentiments of Your inner heart to appear in the form of Gaurāṅga. I will thus personally relish Your nectarean bhāvas. At the same time, I will preach rāga-mārga bhakti through the chanting of the holy name of Hari. In fact, I will appear in the form of the most merciful Gaurāṅga just to distribute divine love for Me, which is rarely attained. You will also appear on earth with Me as My associate.” Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa thus gave an indication in this pastime of the future appearance of Śrī Gaura.
In Nidhuvana‚ Śrīmatī Rādhikā, decorated in regal apparel, sat on a royal throne in a kuñja. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, dressed as a police officer, protected the entrance of the kuñja and the area within it. This pastime is called rāī-rāja-līlā. The poets in the Gauḍīya line have given delightful descriptions of this pastime.
Viśākhā-kuṇḍa lies in Nidhuvana, just as Lalitā-kuṇḍa lies in Sevā-kuñja. Śrī Rādhā-bihārījī manifested this kuṇḍa of sweet, delicious water with His flute to relieve the thirst of His beloved sakhī Viśākhā as well as that of the other sakhīs. Later, the famous Svāmī Haridāsa, who was very skilled in devotional music, found the deity of Śrī Bāṅke-bihārī in this same Viśākhā-kuṇḍa.
Svāmī Haridāsajī used to please Śrī Bihārījī by sweetly singing devotional songs he had personally composed as he played the vīṇā. While singing, he would become so absorbed that he would forget his body and mind. The famous Baijubāvara and Tānsena were his disciples. Upon hearing about Svāmī Haridāsa’s glories from the mouth of Tānsena, who was the jewel among Emperor Akbara’s ministers, Akbara himself desired to relish the nectar of Haridāsa’s musical talent. But Svāmī Haridāsa had firmly resolved not to entertain anyone but his deity.
Therefore one day Emperor Akbara disguised himself as an ordinary man and, along with Tānsena, came to Svāmī Haridāsa’s hut in Nidhuvana. Tānsena, who also was very expert in music, had purposely brought his vīṇā along and now began to sing a sweet song. His singing enchanted Akbara. Svāmī Haridāsa then took the vīṇā from the hands of Tānsena and began to sing the same song, pointing out the errors that Tānsena had made in singing it. Svāmī Haridāsa’s singing was so sweet and attractive that even the deer, birds and other animals of the forest came to that spot, where they listened silently. Emperor Akbara’s amazement knew no bounds. He was so pleased that he immediately wanted to present something to Svāmī Haridāsa, but the wise Tānsena indicated to the emperor not to do so as it would alter Haridāsa’s mood. The samādhi of this great personality is still present in Nidhuvana.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The sacred grove of Nidhuvana is one of the twelve small upavanas, or sub-forests of Vrindavana, it is also considered to be a part of the greater Seva Kunja and the place where many transcendental pastimes including rasa-lila took place. It was here at Nidhuvana, just prior to the rasa-dance, that Krishna disappeared from the gopis while taking only Radharani with Him. The word ‘nidhu’ means ‘amorous pastimes’ and ‘vana’ in this regard means ‘small forest’. The pastimes at Nidhuvana are similar to the pastimes at Nikunjavana (Seva Kunja), and there is also a rasa-mandala commemorating the rasa-lila which took place here. One can also see the Rang Mahal Mandira where Krishna would decorate Radha with various cosmetics and where, after the rasa-dance was over, the ‘divine lovers’ Radha and Krishna would spend the remainder of the night night embraced in each other’s arms. Located near near Rang Mahal Mandira is Vishakha-kunda that was created by Krishna for Vishakha-sakhi and the gopis to quench their thirst. There is also the Radharani Mandira, dedicated to the pastime when Radharani stole Krishna’s flute. One can also see the samadhi of Swami Haridasa who was a contemporary of Shrila Jiva Goswami, and was famous for composing devotional songs and singing bhajans. He was the guru of the famous Indian classical singer and musician named Tansen. One can also see what is believed to be the appearance place of the Deity named Banke-Bihari that is said to have been discovered here by Swami Haridasa. Although this Deity has become well known, Banke-bihari is not one of the sixteen important Vraja-vigrahas established by Vajranabha Maharaja.
