Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Śrī Lālā Bābū was a famous and wealthy landlord of East Bengal. He used to go for walks a little distance from his mansion on the other side of the river, along its elegant bank. Once, as he was walking, he heard a boatman remark, “O brother, the day is over. Go across.” Hearing the boatman’s words, he became immersed in contemplation. He crossed the river by boat and returned home. The next day, during his walk, he heard the voice of a washerman addressing his wife, “The day is over; go and burn the vāsanā.” (Washermen burn banana plants and prepare a kind of alkali for washing clothes. In Bengali, the bark of the banana plant is called vāsanā. But, vāsanā also means “desire” or “passion”.) Lālā Bābū took this remark to mean, “The day is over; the days of your life are also over. Quickly burn your lusty desires.” The statements of the boatman and the washerman left a deep impression on him. He abandoned his grandiose life and his family and came to Vṛndāvana, where he began performing bhajana. Bhakta Lālā Bābū installed the deity of Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra in 1810 AD in this magnificent stone temple.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This beautiful and ornate temple was built in the year 1810 by the wealthy Bengali landowner from Calcutta named Krishna Chandra Sinha, who later became famous in Vrindavana as Lala Babu. One day while resting at home he heard the ominous words, ‘it is time to wake-up’, spoken to him by one of his family members. Lala Babu got a sudden jolt after hearing these prophetic words and believed it to be an omen and an important spiritual instruction. Having spent his whole life in the lap of maya surrounded by all the worldly attachments of family life, Lala Babu believed the ominous words to be a spiritual wake-up call and the Lord’s special mercy upon him. Lala Babu decided to renounce all worldly matters and immediately left home for Vrindavana, where he lived the life of a renounced vairagi-baba. He utilized his immense wealth in building temples and securing various plots of land on which important Vaishnava tirthas stood. He also arranged for the construction of the sandstone ghatas around Radha-kunda.
