Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 22.132

nāma-sańkīrtanaḿ śrīman-

mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ

SYNONYMS

nāma-sańkīrtanam — chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra; śrīman-mathurā-maṇḍale — in Mathurā, where Kṛṣṇa specifically performs His pastimes; sthitiḥ — residence.

TRANSLATION

"'One should congregationally chant the holy name of the Lord and reside in Vṛndāvana.'

PURPORT

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung:

śrī gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, yeba jāne cintāmaṇi,

tāra haya vrajabhūmi vāsa

"One who understands the transcendental nature of Navadvīpa and its surrounding area, where Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu enacted His pastimes, resides always in Vṛndāvana." Similarly, living in Jagannātha Purī is as good as living in Vṛndāvana. The conclusion is that Navadvīpa-dhāma, Jagannātha Purī-dhāma and Vṛndāvana-dhāma are identical.

However, if one goes to Mathurā-maṇḍala-bhūmi for sense gratification or to make a livelihood, he commits an offense and is condemned. Whoever does so must be penalized in the next life by becoming a hog or a monkey in Vṛndāvana-dhāma. After taking on such a body, the offender is liberated in the next life. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura remarks that residing in Vṛndāvana with a view to enjoy sense gratification surely leads a so-called devotee to a lower species.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness