Kusum Sarovar

This is one of the most beautiful and scenic places in the whole of Vraja. This lake is also known as Sumanah-sarovara and is one of the places where Radharani and the gopis would bathe and also pick lotus flowers to make garlands for Krishna. The word ‘kusuma’ means ‘lotus flowers’ and ‘sarovara’ means a ‘lake’. The word sumanah also refers to the particular type of lotus flowers that grew in this lake. It is said that one who bathes in Kusuma-sarovara becomes eligible to witness the ashta-kaliya-lila or eight-fold daily pastimes of Radha and Krishna. It is said that Narada Muni wanted to witness the rasa-lila in Vrindavana, so Vrinda Devi told him to bathe in Kusuma-sarovara, and after doing so; he achieved the body of a gopi and was able to enter the rasa-mandala to see the rasa dance. In the Vraja-riti-chintamani it says. “Simply by once bathing in this Kusuma-sarovara, Narada Muni attained a gopi form. This fact is directly confirmed
in the words of the enchanting Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In the year 1515, Lord
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also came here during His parikrama of Vraja and took His bath in the sacred sarovara.
The palatial monuments on the northern bank of the lake were built by jawahir Singh,
the king of Bharatapura in 1764, as a tribute to his great father Raja Suraj Mal, the most famous Jat warrior in Indian history. The main building is actually the samadhi of Suraja Mal and contains his ashes; the two buildings on either side are the samadhis of his two queens whose ashes are also entombed there. The ceilings are decorated with paintings from Krishna-lila as well as the heroic exploits of Suraj Mal. It is said that Ashtavakra Muni did penance here at Kusuma-sarovara while waiting for the appearance of Radha and Krishna. One day he had the darshana of the ‘divine couple’ enjoying pastimes on the banks of the lake and immediately gave up his body. His samadhi is said to be near the old Shiva temple on the western bank of the lake.

Kusuma-sarovara is on the right of the parikramä path, about one-and-a-half miles south-west of Çré Rädhä-kuëòa. A forest of flowers (kusuma) was here full of varieties of trees, creepers and flowers like belé, camelé, jühé, yüthé, mallikä and campaka. Çrématé Rädhikä used to come here on the pretext of picking flowers with Her girlfriends, but Her real intent was to meet rasika Çré Kåñëa, with whom She would have love-quarrels and sarcastic exchanges full of rasa. Kåñëa-bhävanämåta describes how one day Çrématé Rädhikä was picking flowers here with Her girlfriends when Kåñëa arrived, and the following exchange took place:
Kåñëa: Who is there?
Rädhä: Nobody.
Kåñëa: Tell Me honestly, who are You?
Rädhä: Nobody.
Kåñëa: You are speaking in a very crooked way.
Rädhä: And You speak in a very straight way, don’t You?
Kåñëa: I am asking You who You are.
Rädhä: Don’t You know?
Kåñëa: What are You doing?
Rädhä: Picking flowers to worship the Sungod.
Kåñëa: Have You received permission from anyone to do so?
Rädhä: There is no need of anyone’s permission.
Kåñëa: Aha, I have caught a thief today. I wondered who was stealing flowers every day and ruining this garden. Now I have caught You, and will punish You straight away.
Rädhä: Since when have You become the master of this flower garden? Have You ever planted a single flower here? Have You ever even watered one? On the contrary, You ruin this flower garden with Your hundreds and thousands of cows and Your boisterous, brazen friends. Indeed, since when have You become the protector of this garden?
Kåñëa: Do not defame a pious, righteous person like Me. Now I shall teach You a good lesson.
Rädhä (smiling): Aha-ha, You are a highly pious and righteous person, are You? You killed a woman right after Your birth; You lied to Your mother even in childhood; You stole butter from the houses of the neighbouring gopés; and when You became a little older, You stole the clothes of the young gopés. Only a few days ago You killed a calf. This is the extent of Your pious, saintly conduct.
Hearing the retort, Kåñëa scratched His head and looked towards clever Madhumaìgala, who advised Him, “One’s wellbeing lies in remaining quiet.” At this point, all the sakhés surrounded Çyämasundara and began to clap.

The following pastime also took place here. One morning, Çrématé Rädhikä and Her sakhés came to the bank of Kusumasarovara to pick belé, camelé, jühé, kanera, campaka and other flowers that bloomed here. Çrématé Rädhikä saw a tree with a branch full of flowers. Knowing that She was coming to Kusumasarovara to pick flowers, playful Kåñëa had climbed that very tree. Using all His weight, He pushed the branch down and remained hidden in the foliage so that Çrématéjé could not see Him. Rädhikä pulled down that branch with one hand, and was absorbed in picking its flowers with the other when suddenly Kåñëa shifted to another branch. The branch sprung up, lifting up Rädhikä with it and She cried out for help. Çré Kåñëa leapt out from the tree and caught hanging Çrématéjé in His arms. The sakhés began clapping and laughing loudly, but Çrématé Rädhikä, released Herself from Çré Kåñëa’s embrace and scolded Him harshly. Now the flower garden at Kusuma-sarovara has completely disappeared. In 1767 AD, Mahäräja Javähara Singh of Bharatapura looted the royal treasury of Delhi, and with that money built ornate stone ghäöas with steps down to the water’s edge. To the west of the sarovara is the cenotaph of Räjä Sürajamala flanked by the cenotaphs of his two queens. There is a temple of Uddhavajé here.

Text 3.8.6
rädhä-kuëòaà tasya jihvä
kapolau lalitä-saraù
gopäla-kuëòaù karëaç ca
karëäntaù kusumäkaraù

rädhä-kuëòam—Rädhä-kuëòa; tasya—its; jihvä—tongue; kapolau—cheeks; lalitä-saraù—Lalitä-kuëòa; gopäla-kuëòaù—Gopasla-kuëòa; karëaù—ears; ca—and; karëäntaù—within the ear; kusumäkaraù—Kusuma-sarovara.
…Rädhä-kuëòa its tongue, Lalitä-kuëòa its cheeks, Gopäla-kuëòa its ears, Kusuma-sarovara its inner ear…

This beautiful Kusum-sarovara is shining in the middle of Puspa- vana and anyone, who is fortunate enough to bathe in and worship her sacred waters, will attain the opportunity to see Radha-Krishna’s eternal eightfold pastimes (Asta-Kaliya-liia).
Kusum-sarovara is also known as Sumana lake.
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When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was on Vraja parikrama he first
went to Radha-kunda and then he came here to Kusum-sarovar. Next he
• •
went to Manasa Ganga and from there he started Govardhana parikrama. “From Radha-kupda, Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Sumanas Lake. When He saw Govardhana Hill from there, He was overwhelmed with joy. When the Lord saw Govardhana Hill, He immediately offered obeisances, falling down on the ground like a rod. He embraced one piece of rock from Govardhana Hill and became mad.”
(Gaitanya – caritamrita, Madhya-Lila 18. 15—16) Then Mahaprabhu went to Giri-Govardhana, the site of Krishna’s pas¬times, where He lost consciousness due to ecstatic love. Regaining con¬sciousness, He said, “O best of mountains! It seems You have become
reduced in the absence of Krsna. Oh, how wonderful! I see that You
# • • /
have the fragrance of Krishna’s body. Come, let Me embrace You and thus pacify My burning heart. Then I will go see if I can find My beloved life and soul.”
Speaking these words, Shri Caitanya stretched out His arms and rushed forward to embrace Govardhana. Sometimes He stood up, and sometimes He fell to the ground. He could not discriminate whether He was in a proper place or not. (Advaita prakasha 17)
Every day Radharam along with her sakhi’s come here to pick flowers for worshiping the sun god.
Once, while Radharam was picking flowers along with her friends, Krishna appeared on the scene and said: I
Krishna: “Who is picking our flowers?”
Radha said: “no one, but me?” 1
Krishna: “Who are you?
Radha: “Do you not know me? |
Krishna: “If I knew you I wouldn’t ask” i
Radha: “I do not care if you don’t know who I am, why don’t you leave this place.”
Krishna^ “I am the gardener, where shall I go?”
Radha: “If you are a male bee, then go to the female bee.”
Krsna: “You are the female bee”
• • •
Radha: “You appear to be an honest man and an ascetic. Yet you know the art of stealing a youth’s heart. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Krispa: “My dear lady, Maharaja Kandarpa (cupid) is the king of this forest; because he is pleased with me, he has delegated me all of his power. O, pretty lady, 1 am a brahmacari and an ascetic. It appears to me that you have come here simply to try and entice me with your beauty. But do not think I am alone here, in the jungle forest. My sakhas are always close by. So, please do not play any tricks with me and just behave like an honest person. Anyway, your bodily actions speak louder than words. You are trying to capture the Maharaja’s property; every limb of your body is just like a thief. So, don’t think that just because you are a lady you will be pardoned. I would be committing a great wrong if I pardoned you, when I take you before the Maharaja, you will be sentenced with various tortures and punishments. At that time all of your vanity will vanish. Without permission you have picked the flowers and I have no authority to pardon you. You are thinking that this is just an ordi¬nary forest and its king is not very powerful, because his kingdom is so small (only 32 square miles) but you will see because you have robbed this kingdom. You will be punished. With the different part of Your body You have stolen different things: the palms of Your hands and the soles of your feet have stolen the beauty of the petals of the lotus flowers: with Your gait You stole the baby elephants and swans; Your nails have stolen the mirrors; Your knees have stolen the golden balls; With your hips You stole the golden banana trees the upper part of Your waist stole the golden altar; Your navel has stolen the lake of nectar; Your chest the bed of Cupid, Your fingers stole the flowers of Cupid, which are the source of his power; Your teeth have stolen the pearl necklace and your eyes the deer and the Cakori bird. The veins of Your neck stole the conch and the veins of Your stomach have stolen the gentle waves of the Yamuna. You have stolen so many things, how can the king pardon you? The beauty and greatness of our kingdom is unique in the entire world. Today You have robbed everything, including our prestige”.
Kadha: O, Krishna, You are very clever. You are the greatest thief, now You are acting like a saint and calling others thief’s what can be said of you. When You stole the clothes of the gopi’s, Your char¬acter was apparent. Those poor naked gopi’s were standing before You with folded hands and You were simply enjoying the fun. There is no better example of Your honesty. Oh, Krshpa, there are many giris of marriageable age and You are a young prince, but nobody is will¬ing to give their daughter to You. There must be a good reason. It is highly probably that You arenot normal and no girl would like
to marry an abnormal man My dear Krishna, 1 fully understand that
it is not out of choice, but out of force You have become a brahmachari. Oh, Kfshna, You are in the habit of playing your flute, which has the power of attracting all the young girls.
Shameful! How dare You call yourself a brahmachari. In fact, it is
very wicked and sinful to call oneself a brahmachari and then tempt young girls. Now, do not come one step closer to me please! It is surprising, considering that You have not planted a single tree in the whole forest, that you can claim ownership. The entire forest has been destroyed by Your cows trampling here and there. Our sakhi, Vrindadevi, has taken great pain to keep this forest clean and tidy. Therefore we call it YYndavana, and it was presented to me as a gift by Her. This forest has grown up around the banks of Radha-kupda and it is my playground. There is a sign by the road, which says “ladies only”.
We are simply picking flowers to worship the Sun god, who are you to stop us, this place belongs to us. Oh, brahmachari, males are strict¬ly prohibited. How dare you set foot here! Off you go with your cowherd friends, and look after the cows!” i
Thereafter Radhamni threatened Krsna that she would call Lalita,
whom she said was very powerful. At this point Visakha intervened
and catching the corner of RadharapTs cloth and tying it to Krishna’s,
she informed Them it was time to move to Radha-kunda.
“Once Krishna caught a gopi picking flowers in YYndavana forest. He severely rebuked her for stealing His flowers, and threatened to pun¬ish her in cupid’s prison. At that moment her friend SyamU addressed Krishna in the following words: My dear Krishna, You are right. This girl is the culprit. She constantly picks Your flower blossoms, day and night. She is my friend, and she will do whatever I say, I give her to You. Take her hand. Take her home with You, and do whatever You like with her. (Ujjvala-nilamani 8)
Shri Radhika replied, “O impudent one! Every day we pick flowers to worship Mitra, who creates a grand festival for the eyes of every one in the world by destroying the darkness, who causes thr
Padminis (‘lotuses’or’the gopis’) to blossom up with the touch of His kara (‘rays’ or ‘hands’) and who fulfills all desires. Why are You need¬lessly angry?”
Krshna said: “O, Fair Faced One, If you worship Mitra (Sun god), I will not be angry, but how can I trust You, since women are always lying? If You are really picking flowers for the Sun god, then take an oath and I will forgive Your offenses. You will see My saintly behavior, even with flower thieves like You!”
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Sri Radhika said: “O, Krishna, we are very famous in Vraja for our thievery, and You are surely the greatest saint. Who will not con¬firm that? What is the use of repeating it without reason? Can Your qualifications, like truthfulness, simplicity, purity, absence of desire for other people’s property and so on be seen in anyone else in this world? (Krishna bhavanamrta 9. 16-18)
Please worship and serve this effulgent Radha-Krishna enjoying tran-scendental amorous pastimes together in this grove of Vimdavana, His complexion the color of sapphires and Hers the color of gold, He holding a splendid flute and She a long-stemmed toy lotus, He with a splendid peacock-feather crown and She with long splendid braids, He dressed in splendid yellow garments and She in splendid red gar¬ments.
Happily picking many kinds of flowers from the trees and vines, Radha and Krishna .praise the forest of Vrndavana. They bathe and sport in the lakes of Vimdavana forest and They play with the birds and other creatures there. Who would not serve this Vrndavana for- est, the supreme transcendental abode?
With Their soft flower-petal hands Shri Radha-Krishna carefully watered the trees and vines from the time of their first sprouting. They nour¬ished them and made them grow and, at the proper time, married each vine to an appropriate tree. When They saw new flowers beginning to blossom, They became delighted and spoke many playful joking words. Let us bow down and offer our respectful obeisances to these trees and vines of Vrndavana forest. (Vrndavana mahimamrta 2. 9-11)
It is said that at the time of Shrila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura there were some papditas, who opposed him in regard to the worship in the mood of parakiya. But by his deep scholarship and irrefutable logic he defeated them. On account of this, the papditas resolved to kill him. Shrila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura used to go out in the early morn¬ing before dawn to perform parikrama. They formulated a plan to kill him in some dense, dark grove.
While performing parikrama, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura came upon the grove, where the adversaries desired to kill him. But suddenly they looked and saw that he was no longer there. In his place, they saw a beautiful young Vrajavasi girl picking flowers along with two or three of her friends. The papditas inquired from the girl, “Dear Child! Just a moment ago a great devotee was approaching here. Where did he go? Did you happen to see him?” The girl replied, “I saw him, but I don’t know where he went.”
Seeing the astonishing beauty of the girl, her sidelong glancing, her graceful feminine ’manner, and gentle smiling, the pandits became captivated. All the impurity in their minds was vanquished and their hearts became soft. On being requested by the papditas to introduce herself the girl said, ‘T am a maidservant of Shrimati Radhika. She is presently at Her mother-in-law’s home at Yavata. She sent me to pick flowers.” Saying this, she disappeared, and in her place, they saw Shrila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura once again. The papditas fell at his feet and prayed for forgiveness. He forgave them all.
Even at the time of Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura there was such dense forest around Govardhana that the pilgrims were being attacked by bandits and tigers.
According to the authority of the Brahmavaivarta Purana, Astavakra Muni gave up his body here on the bank of Kusum-sarovar in the presence of Radha-Krishna and entered into Their eternal pastimes. This small Shiva-linga under this tree on the western bank marks where Astavakra Muni gave up his body.
Jawahir Singh erected the present structure in the latter part of the eighteenth century, after his Father’s death in 1764. The kupda is 460 feet square with pears running out 60 feet into the water. On the upper level are three tombs. The principal one, in honor of Suraj Mall, is 57 feet square with nice painting on its walls. The main tomb is flanked on either side by two smaller ones commemorating his two queens, Hansiya and Kishori. Unfortunately the place is not being maintained, now we can take darshana of Uddhava.

Just two miles from Radha Kund on the road to the town of Govardhan is Kusum Sarovar, “Flower Lake,” a 460-square-foot artificial lake, site of magnificent cenotaphs, chatras, and ghats. Scenes from Krishna’s Govardhan pastime are painted within the dome of the main cenotaph. It was at Kusum Sarovar that Radharani and other gopis picked flowers before going to Radha Kundto meet Krishna. According to Skanda Purana, Krishna’s beloved cousin Uddhava resides here in the form of grass. Behind the cenotaphs is a small temple containing the deity of Uddhava, dating from the time of Lord Krishna.
Near Kusum Sarovar is Naradaban, where Narada Muni practiced a special mantra to gain the audience of Radha and Krishna. After some time, Narada was informed by Vrinda Devi that this divine vision could not be seen in his present body. Vrinda Devi then took Narada to the northwestern ghat of Kusum Sarovar. Narada bathed there, and his body was transformed into that of a gopi. Thus Narada beheld Radha and Krishna.
After Narada had his darshan, Vrinda Devi took him to the southeastern ghat, where he bathed and regained his male form. Narada was cursed to roam eternally and not remain in any one place longer than it takes to milk a cow, but Lord Krishna suspended this curse to allow him to write the Bhakti Sutras. Krishna affirmed that since the holy dham does not exist within the three worlds, the curse does not apply there. A small temple to Narada Muni marks the spot where the sage wrote his glorious discourse on bhakti-yoga.