Very good answer for the Movies like PK and OMG

  if you want the essence of the drama , watch it from  21st Min on-wards ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Go337zrkA

"Tota Gopinath" at jaganath Puri

i (Vithoba) can stand for you or i can Sit(Tota Gopinath) for you , you tell me my Dear Devotee , whatever you wish , i will do " ~ Krishn

we all know vithoba is standing for his loving devotee pundrik maharaj @ pandharpur , today will see how he is sitting to accept a seva from his Gadadhar...

Sri Tota Gopinath is exquisitely beautiful self-manifested Deity of Lord Sri Krishna. Sri Tota Gopinath is also a most unique Deity because He is the only Krishn Deity in the world “sitting down” and playing His flute. tough he was not this sitting posture before !! will read this later in this narration that how the merciful lord changed his standing posture 
Tota Gopinath has such a charismatic bewitching quality that draws one to His darshan over and over again. At 7am during darshanv time, upon request, the pujari can show a small golden streak on Gopinath’s right knee where Mahaprabhu entered the Lord.

APPEARANCE OF SRI TOTA GOPINATH
Gopinath temple is situated in Sri Ksetra Jagannath Puri Dham in an area named "Yamesvar Tota". When Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyas, He stayed at Jagannath Puri Dham for 18 years. Sri Gadadhar Pandit also came with Mahaprabhu. Most of Mahaprabhu’s other associates in Navadvip remained in Bengal; they came to Puri only once in a year, for the four months of the rainy season, to attend the Lord Jagannath Rathayatr and to see Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But Gadadhar Pandit couldn’t bear to be separated from the Lord, and the Lord couldn’t bear to be separated from Him. So He was permitted to stay with Mahaprabhu in Puri. Gadadhar Pandit resided here at Sri Tota Gopinatha Temple Location . While residing here in this peaceful garden of trees and creepers, Gadadhar Pandit recited Srimad-Bhagavatam every afternoon. Mahaprabhu attended regularly and heard recount the stories of Dhruva Maharaj and Prahlad Maharaj 100 times.
One day here, Sri Caitanyadev experienced immense separation from Lord Krishna. Crying out, “Where is My Prananath,” Gauranga started digging the earth to search of His Lord. Feeling the carved stone mukuta of a murti below the ground, Gaurahari declared, “Gadai (Gadadhar), I have found a most precious treasure here. Would you like to accept it?” Noticing the head of a murti emerging from the sand, Gadadhara helped Gauranga uncover a most beautiful Deity of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.
Mahaprabhu named the Deity, Gopinath and because He appeared in this garden called Tota in Oriya the devotees called Him," Tota Gopinatha". Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave the responsibility of Sri Tota Gopinatha’s service to His most dear Gadadhar Pandit, and also awarded Him ksetra-sannyasa.
Sri Tota Gopinatha Deity is very beautiful. Sri Vrindavan Das Thakur describes Sri Tota Gopinatha’s beauty in his Sri Caitanya-Bhagavat as follows:

gadadhara bhavane mohana Gopinatha
achene, ye hena nanda-kumara saksat
apane Caitanya tare kariyachena kole
ati pasandi-o se vigraha dekhe bhule
dekhi sri-murali mukha angera bhangima
nityananda ananda asura nahi sima
(Sri Caitanya-Bhagavat Antya 7.114)

“In the house of Gadadhar there is most attractive Gopinath. This Deity looks exactly like son of Nanda Himself is sitting there. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself had held Him in His lap. Even most atheistic person will be changed to see this Deity. By seeing the posture of the body and face with flute Lord Nityanand sheds tears of bliss limitlessly.”

WHY SRI TOTA GOPINATHA IS SITTING DOWN?
The Deity of Sri Tota Gopinath was previously in standing form and was being worshiped by Sri Gadadhara Pandit. But after the departure of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadai (Gadadhar) felt devastated. His body got bent over from intense agony of separation from his beloved Gaur hari. Although he was only 47 years old, Gadadhara became lean and thin like an old man. Incapable of lifting his arms, Gadai could neither dress Tota Gopinatha nor offer Him candan and flower garlands. Gadadhar thought it best to engage another pujari in worshiping the Lord. In a dream that night, Tota Gopinath appeared and said:
“Why do you want to engage another pujari in My seva? I only want you to serve Me.”
Gadadhara replied, “O Prananath! Due to my condition, I can no longer stand up and serve You properly.”
Lord Gopinatha said, “No, I insist that you alone serve Me. If you are finding difficulty, then from tomorrow I will become shorter.”Next morning when Gadadhar entered the Deity room to serve Gopinath, he saw an amazing sight. The most merciful Lord had sat down in order to receive service from his hands.
After the Disappearance of Sri Gadadhara Pandit, another devotee by name Mamu Thakur took care of Sri Tota Gopinath Deities. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to call him Mama, which is Bengali for uncle; in Orissa, "uncle" is Mamu. Thus he was known as Mamu Thakur among the people.Do not forget to visit this temple and beloved Tota Gopinath if you visit Jagannath Puri

Q: What happens after we die ? 

Ans: life after death is very interesting question and always generate lots  of curiosity  and reflects as a  basic symptoms for the person embarking on the path the self realization , the answer of this question is elaborated in Garud  puran as well as shrimad bhagvatam and Brahmasamhita, i will  try to summarized it as short as possible ,

we , A human body is divided in to two sub bodies

1) Material Body 2) subtle body

1) Material Body is comprised of 5 Elements

 Air , water , Either, fire ,Earth

2) Subtle Body is comprised of  three elements

      Mind , Intelligence and False-ego

     so if we do the dissection of self , we looks like this  

Now when we die ,we lose our Material Body and initiate our traveling with the subtle-body !

so Mr.Human is separated in  two bodies , a)  Mr. Material b) Mr. Subtle  

after the death ! Mr Human  is left on the planet , and will get  burned or buried and his or her picture is   hang  on the wall with Rs 20 Garland :) , while   Mr.Subtle is ready to go to Airport  to catch a flights based on his  Karma and Kama( Deeds and Desire) ! these both plays an  important roles for our next body  , so its very much important to purify our desire ( KAMA) and execute our karma , the Ideal process is recommended by Krishna in Geeta is called Bhakti Yoga or Devotional Services ,

Now as per Geeta  Text 14.18 , our destination is categorised based on three  mode (sato,Rajo,Tamo)

"Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the abominable mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds."

as krishna mentioned above ,  there are  14 regions of material world  ,  divided as  :  6 Upward , 7 Downward , 1 Bhulok ( Earth)

6 Upward: Bhuvrlok,  SwargLok , Maharlok , Janlok, Tapalok, Satyalok or Brahmalok

7 Downward: Atal Lok , Vital Lok, Sutal Lok ,Talatal, Mahatal, Rasatal, Patal

depends on the Lok you belong ,you  will get a  body , sometimes you destined to get the  same Lok where you die but with the Lower Body , then in that case you will be  sent in the training camp to get use to that kind of body  , for example you destined to be pig !! so you have to get train to eat stools , and that training place is called Narak where Yam Dut will give you a hands on training :) , Details on this part is explain in "Garud Puran"

As krishna said in Geeta 8;16

"From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti never takes birth again"

The entire Material Universe , doesn't matter how comfortable or opulent  or attractive it appears  , they are not even close to what is in Spirituals world ,as Material world is  not excused from Birth and death ..   these planets are perishable so their citizens too.. ( Including the Topmost Living being in Material world , Bharm Dev )

Above is the rough sketch of the person who destined to travel in material universe and force to take repetitions of birth and death based on Kama and Karma , there are other elite platinum passengers at the airport who enjoy the VIP lounge facility and has a Special Flights :), Those are no one but the devotee of the Lord and  waiting to catch a flight for Krishna Lok  , because Krishna said in Geeta 15.6

  "That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity.        Those who reach it never return to this material world."

1. If I know goal is krsna and firmly believes it too but due to my commitments towards family not able to do proper devotional service to lord then how come my goal will be achieved? 2. Suppose till I m alive and my responsibility are not fulfilled n I keep on struggling to fulfill my family needs as per the material world ... what will be the best way to achieve my goal?

Question :

1. If I know goal is krsna and firmly believes it too but due to my commitments towards family not able to do proper devotional service to lord then how come my goal will be achieved?

2. Suppose till I m alive and my responsibility are not fulfilled n I keep on struggling to fulfill my family needs as per the material world ... what will be the best way to achieve my goal?

Answer: 

There are two Kind of Family life.

A. GrahMedhi  , B.Grahstha

 Grhamedhi:
 he has made his center of life is  wife and family. The grhamedhis, live only for the benefit of the family members, extended or centralized,

      They have many subject matters for hearing—political, scientific, social, economic and so on—but due to a poor fund of knowledge, they set aside the question of the ultimate miseries of life, namely miseries of birth, death, old age and disease.
      Grhamedhis, being illusion by the material nature, forget everything about self-realization. This person wants to remain in this material world. His activity is to enjoy material benefits by performing religious rituals for economic development and thereby ultimately satisfy the senses. He does not want anything more
      Just like a bull  tied with the rope and  a fixed   wood, and it  is going round & Round ,  same way  grhamedhi   has fixed up his center, the wife and children, and going round throughout the whole life , wasted his entire life and dies .    Such a person works very hard throughout his life to become very rich and eat very nicely and drink. By giving some charity for pious activity he can go to a higher planetary atmosphere in the heavenly planets in his next life, but he does not want to stop the repetition of birth and death ,
   said by Prahlada Maharaja : [Srimad-Bhagavatam  7.5.30] they prefer to chew the already chewed. Again and again they experience the material pangs, even if they are rich and prosperous, but they do not want to give up this kind of life.

 Grhastha:  

The grhastha is , who lives together with wife and children but has no blind attachment for them , They understand the Goal of life , He lives transcendentally according to the regulative principle for realizing the ultimate truth. They  works to find the ultimate solution to the problems of life that is to go back home, back to Godhead, and thus, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita (8.16), the miseries of material existence—birth, death, old age and disease—are removed.

  He prefers to live in family life rather than as a mendicant or sannyasi, but his chief aim is that of relevant inquiries to achieve self-realization . The grhastha  is as good as the life of a sannyasi, 

He is responsible for  the Deliverance of those Souls ( Wife , Childeren ) who came at his shelter for this lifetime, its his duty to make sure when his wife and kids leaves their body , will get libration , The duty of Wife is also very important in this ,a qualified wife is an assistant in every respect for advancement in spiritual activities.

  To  practice the devotional service or becaming krishna counsious , we dont need to go to forest or sitting 12 hours in front of  Alter , Krishna conscious is all about adapting a Devotional life style ,few simple steps can change your normal life in Krishna conscious life

1.      Cleanliness : make sure your house and the area where you live is nice an Clean.

2.       Diet  :  family member should eat Satvik  , homemade and healthy Food , one must offer food first to Thakurji before we eat it , this way you are having  karma free diet .

3.      Start and End  you Day with Chanting or Puja , Reading Satvik books , rather then  TV , Ajjtak or NDTC , FaceBook or whats app

4.      Follow Four regulative principle , and Chant Maha mantra ( very important).

5.      once in a week , sit with your kids and teach them Geeta and bhagvatam in terms of Story , and take them to Krishna temples.

6.       Above 5 steps  is not stopping us to loving your wife or kids ,having fun with your friends ,  buying them toys or going out on vacation but whatever we do we should know the limits and  that  should not overrules our above 5  basic points ,

Gradually Devotional lifestyle benefit your entire family, you would not need to do any special effort to make them devote , they automatically became a Devotee

i am sure these process is easy to follow and you wont lose anything !!we can be  grahstha and attain krishna , there are many great grahastha who attain krishna without going to forest or sacrificing their household life .

|| Significance of Geeta and Shreemad Bhgvatam ||

Death is  the most uncertain,unexpected moment for every living being for this world ! We have taken birth so we will die !! our ancient knowledge explains the importance of  dying in more details then the importance of living of life ,

The Geeta is a teaching  , given to Arjun at the battle field , teach us  about the art of Living , the song of geeta is around 45 min   ! divided in 18 chapters and contains 701 Slokas in total ,

The Shreemad Bhagvatam : is a knowledge given to the King Parixit who was at the death bed , teach us  about the art of Dying  , The Bhagvatam was spoken for 7 Days !  divided in to  18 cantos  and contains 18000 Slokas in total !!

Why there is a huge gap in the volume of both the literature ? 
because one is focused on  Life vs other on  Death ! whichever has more importance  comparatively  got the  higher weight-age !!

why Sanatan Dharma has put more weight-age on life after death?

There are two phases of our existence , so called Life and so called Death ? Everyone of us , suffer in the process of changing state (life to death and vice verse ) of our existences ,there are tons of suffering we experience from the point when we come to this  body and when we (soul) depart out of it , every time when we take a birth or die ,we will  traumatically experience suffering in the form of "Happiness or Sadness ",''Pass or Fail", "Good or Bad" ,"Love or Hate"' "Right or Wrong", "True or False ", "Ethical or unethical" "Man or Woman", successful or Loser","satisfied or Unsatisfied"etc etc , Depends on the sankalp and Vikalp of our mind , we experienced these suffering.

So the game or the Aim of every player is to come out of  this state changing process , and situated in to the eternal existence and experience which can never be exhausted  .  

    so the intelligence which can stop the process of these changing state is called "self Realization" ! the literature which has a knowledge and applied process with an exalted examples is called shreemad Bhagvatam !
   Just as the Ganga is considered the best among the rivers, Krishna – the most exalted among all deities and Lord Shiva as the best among the devotees of Krishna, similarly the Bhagavatam is considered the best among all the Puranas. It is the natural commentary of the Vedanta Sutra since it is written by the author, Vyasdev himself..

so what is a importance of geeta  ? 
for Example:to get qualified to play at national level , you need to be qualify at the state level  ,same way to get eligible to understand and digest the teaching of Shreemad Bhagvatam , we need to get qualify by following the footstep of Bhagvat Geeta,

Shree Krishn devide Geeta in to three categories in below sequence
1) Karma Yoga 2) Dhyan/Gyan Yog and 3) Bhakti Yog,if our Karm is appropriate, we are entitled for Gyan and Bhakti, In Geeta he explain in details about Krma and Gyan but the surrender and bhakti is been elaborated much in Shreemad Bhavatam . 

|| Vrindavan Yatra ||

Vrindavan ~ A Place where love is First !

This image reveals the significance of this place , A place where Krishna became Sevak of the Devotion or Love ,a Person who is a aim of entire universe , became a slave of the people who carries unmotivational ,unconditional  love for him !!

Yatra to Vrindavan is always blissful ,specially when its been performed during the time of Diwali and Kartik , its hard to bound in to the worlds.

Before Starting to be your guide on this tour ,let me explain the Drop of the ocean in the glorification of the place where you are planning to visit ,

The great saints had described  that " Vrindavan is  not easy to attain" , because Vrindavan is the only place where "Jagannath became Kanha ", " badrinath became Lallla ", and  "Dwarikadhish became chor ", 

there is a difference in all of these names, in their characteristics, so in  their reciprocation , Vraj Devotion is an  epitome of the devotional service , if you have  attain Vrindavan bhakti that means you have attain Krishna , 

Krishna can give Mukti very easily but he is very reluctant to give Bhakti , because   Bhakti  can make him dance as puppet whoever have it !!  ( Aisi preet badhi vrindavan , Gopiyan Naach nachao , Sabse Unchiii Prem Sagai ) , 

                                      But that   same Bhakti can easily attain if the person attain vrindavan ,the question how ? 

Krishna came as Ram , but he never eat Ayodya Mitti , Krishna Came in diffrent form like  Vraha,NArsimh,Vaman..etc, but he never eat a soil of any palces , Vrindavan is the only place where he find a way or the reason to do so  , it could be as baby krishna or cow or calf.. ,because this soil has a touch of the feet of his dearest devotees and lovers like shree radhika ji , just to understand the significance of the Vraj Mitti , please find some of the quote from Shreemad Bahgvatam,

-The great personality like brahma ask the boon to became a Soil in this vrindavan ,so Krishna and his great devotes can keep their feet on his head ,

-The Great personality like Udhhav ask a boon to became a "lata"(leaves ad plants)  in  Kusum Sarovar so the Great Gopies can give their divine touch.

-When someone complimented  the great saint  Kabir Das that your devotion and love is unmatchable  ,   in reply to that , shree KAbir Das ji said " Kabira KAbira Kya karein , Ja yamuna Ke teer , Ek ek Gopi Prem mai ..Beh gaye  Koti KAbir "

Many Great Saint has said " Vrindavan is a State to attain if not possible as a Place to Attain  "so its possible to attain Vraj Bhakti remotely  , Its possible to see Thakurji by the method of  devotion , Its possible that Thakurji Manifested  , But Vraj Dhuli and VRajvasi is very rare to attain , when you going to Vrindavan ,do not think that because of your punya karma you able to goto this place , punya phal se  Bhagvatam , Vriindavan or Vraj dhuli nahi milti,, This fortune has accumulated because you have knowingly or unknowingly serve his devotees , it could be by your Mind , Speech or Karma,  so again please don't cover your self too much during your visit  , try to get dusty as much as possible !! 

 Above Image : Lord Brahma asking a boon to became a Vraj dust , so Krishna ,his friends can keep their feet on his head , 

1.Travelling to Vrindavan :

 The nearest Railways Station is Mathura , where  all Major Trains Stops , and the Nearest Airport is Delhi , From Delhi its takes around 4 hours(depends on Traffic) 

Train: please make sure you have correct information of the trains and required bookings,

Taxi : its always recommend to book a Cab from the hotel where you are staying in Vrindavan,  from airport its hard to find a Cab who can drop you at the Vrindavan,

2. Accommodations at Vrindavan :

  Though there are many Hotels and Dharmashala at Vrindavan ,  MVT guest House , Bhakti Dham , Dehnuka are most preferable ,in Citi there is hotel name The Majesty which is also the decent one,

we have few more recommendation , please find it  below ,

http://www.iskconvrindavan.com/index.php?r=page/view&id=15

Note: if you going during Kartik or Diwali, Please book it well in advance to avoid any last moment chaos

3 . Breakfast , Lunch and Dinner

  

Breakfast & Snacks :

-For the Breakfast , would recommend to eat the Maha which you can buy  inside the  KRishna Balram Temple(Iskcon) where the Fresh and best  Rasgulla , Cake ,etc ( around 2o to 40Rs) is available just after the Shringar Arrati at 7:30 a.m besides Bookstore , around 8:00 to 8:30 a.m you can get fresh Pizza , Samosa, Sandwitch etc at the snack bar ( right in front of Prabhupad Samadhi) ,  

-You can eat  @ Brajwasi as well , it is located  between  Iskcon Vrindavan to Bankebihari mandir road .

-Evening Time you can eat most famous Allu tikki and LAssi @ just outs side of Banke bihari ji Mandir

 Lunch and Dinner :

 -if you need a Swatch , Sundar , Home made type of lunch or dinner  Thali  then please visit  "Dhanuka   Ashram ", Its right behind Iskcon Temple ( on Parikrama Marg) , only the drawback is you need to buy a Coupon in advance to be on safer side , as on the busy Days they are over sold !!

- If you like to eat different Cousin , Please visit Iskcon Govindas ,  Iskcon MVT ( high end , Hygienic  & most recommended for international Items) MVT is just behind the Iskcon Guest house .

Place to Visit

Vrindavan Yatra could perform by two kind of Devotees ,

1.  you are going to vrindavan to practice devotion  or during kartik or Vraj mandal Parikrama.

2.  you  just want to visit some places as you have limited time .

will focus more on option 2. as first category of devotees knows everything for their planning  and there is a book for them to give a details for each place and significance

Though there are many temples and many important places which is hard to cover in one or two days tour , in this article will cover only those temple which need to be cover at least once ! 

for the timing of the temples , please visit  Links   http://www.mathuravrindavan.net/templetimings.htm

A.      Vrindavan : 1 day

B.     Govardhan: 1 Day

C.     Nandgaun & mathura :1 Day

D.    Gokul & Barsana : 1 Day

A.Vrindavan:

 Morning : Start  Yatra From  Krishna Balram Temple ( ISkcon) , have a Darshan and complete your breakfast , just after that you can proceed to Banke bijari ji MAndir ,and from there Visit Gopeshwar Mahadev, Radharamn Mandir and back to lohi bajar if you want to do some shopping , finish the shopping , do your lunch and go back to the hotel and take rest ! ( lohi bazar is closed from 1:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m)

Radha Raman Temple : This is one the most important Mandir in Vrindavan, Thakur ji Shree Radha raman is self manifested from the Shalgram Shila for Shree Gopal Bhatt Goswami, you can find the  small documentary in below link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgBIm3WxsE#t=1847

Besides Radha raman temple , there is a Samadhi of Gopal Bhatt Goswami ji, for whome Radha raman ji Menifested from Shali gram , Radha raman pragat Sthali as well as Gopal Bhatt Goswami ji's Samadhi is there

Gopal Bhatt Goswami and their samadhi 


Radha raman Pragat Sthali

Gopeshwar Mahadev Temple :Without having darshan of gopeshwar mahadev , you cannot  entr in Vrindavan :) , Most important Temple in Vindavan , specially if you visit this temple during evening time around 7:30pm , because this is the time Gopeshwar became Gopi and you can see him in Gopi Dress ( dress like a Lady) , there is story behind this form of Lord Shiva please find it below .

http://mathuravisit.com/vrindavan/gopesvara-mahadeva-temple.html

Evening : Make sure you start Sharp at 4 p.m ,get a Cycle Riksha and ask him to take you to

 Radha Damodar : When you go to this temple , please do parikrama and in the parikrama you will find the  great  Samadhi’s   ( include Great Saints and Most importantly Rupa Goswami ( if you could not find ,please ask someone ) make sure you visit and get the blessing without forget 

this temple is very important as prabhupad stayed here and the same Rup Goswami ,who was the first disciple of Gaur hari appeared and ask him to preach the message of krishna in west !!

-please check out prabhupad room as well !!

-Govardhan Sheela with a foot print of Krishna and his flute: Rup Goswmi used to do govardhan parikrama every day , when he got old Krishna fell sorry about him and ask him to stop the parikrama but in replied Rup goswami said “ Krishan to do parikrama is my wow and I will do it till I live” so just to make it more convenient for him ,Krishna got a Govadhan shila and place his feet and Flute , and give it to Rup Goswami, that shila darshan you can do it in that temple, some people says the real shila has been shifted to Jaipur which  can be found in Radha Gobinddeb temple

RAdha Shamsunder: another great temple  of the great saint Shaymananad prabhu

Nidhi van : A place where Bankebihari ji appeared, A place where shree Haridas ji samadi is and if you can re-visit Banke bihari ji and RAdha raman it would be great , there are other places in vrindavan but if would  be hectic to complete in one days , so limit your self and focus on what you visit !!

Note : if you going on Kartik Purninma , Please visit those temple between 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m ,amazing experience , and Most importantly join Mahaprabhu procession which happened once in a year and that is only on Kartik Purnima

B.Govardhan :

Govardhan is most important place for the devotees and Devotion , you can do the govardhan parikrama by walk or hiring a bicycle or in a CAR( Please don't honk :)) , would request you to do this parikrama with any of the known person who has done this before and could explain  the significance of all the major  place ,else you will miss tons of items , Most importantly , where you start the parikrama that is the place you have to end your prakrama and you start by the dandvat and you end by the  dandvat!

the Major places you have to visit in Govardhan Parikrama

- Kusum Sarovar

- Manasi Ganga

- Puchari ka Lauta(also known as Lauta baba  , if you dont stop by then your yatra is not finish)

- Govardhan Mukh

-RAdha kund and Shyam Kund (Most important Part in Entire Vraj Mandal),

  please visit sanatan goswami samadhi which is at the bank of radha kund (without forget)

Radh Kund 

Kusum Sarovar

Manasi Ganga

C. Nand Gau & Mathura :

Mathura has three major place ,1. Dwarika Dish temple 2.Vishram Ghat , 3. Janmabhumi

 if you want to eat something  , then please Visit "Shakar" its a Methai shop right by the main gate , there is also Brajwasi Outlet and its a good place to eat,

 you can get any local guide to explain some details , please fix the Rate before you hire then to avoid chaos later

 D. Gokul & Barsana :

 both will be done in one day , you can get any local guide to explain some details , please fix the Rate before you hire then to avoid chaos later

 Links for  Vrindavan  : these are some information of Vrindavan Devotion , if you have time you can view or Read the story behind them ,it will give some more information ,  will keep adding this section 

1.  Six Goswami ji: The Six Goswamis uncover many purportedly ancient and sacred areas of land in     Vrindavan , Under the Guidance of Shree Chaintanya mahaprabhu they uncover the Vrindavan and the Top most method of Devotion , they are the one whose teaching and method of devotion is been followed all over the world , Little explanation as below 

 http://www.dharmakshetra.com/articles2/six%20goswamis%20of%20vrindavan.htm

2. History and Story about Radha Raman Temple and their Kitchen :A deity which is been self manifested for Gopal Bhatt Goswami , one of the Six Goswami

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgBIm3WxsE#t=1847

3.Pandit Jasraj  : Biharat Rang Lal Girdhar Ke : 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H8nrTbuXdkM
  

Please chant as many times as possible during your visit

|| Ekadashi Vrat ||

Meaning:

Ekadashi in Sanskrit means eleven. ‘Eka’ means “one” and ‘dasi’  means “ten”. we have 10 senses , which includes 5 gyan indriya and 5 karma indriya and the 11th one is Mind , this way we have eleven senses ,Ekadasi has given a highest  importance in  comparison of   other fasting ,  because other fasting is been observe by controlling any one of  eleven senses but in  ekadashi  , we need to control all of the eleven senses including Mind and focusing them to worshiping Lord Narayan , so as per the scripture the benefit and importance of fasting on ekadashi is unmatchable .

Scriptural Background :

During the era of Sat Yuga  , Murdhanav, the son of Nadijang, was a demon of immense strength. Through undertaking penance Murdhanav pleased Bhramaji such that he was granted a very much desired blessing from Bhramaji that prevented other Devs from being able to destroy him .  Devs were unable to withstand the battles and seek the shelter of Lord Narayan.

The Lord also demonstrated His divine leela, sports, and showed that He too was unable to endure the strength and power of the demons. After the battle, as if He had become totally exhausted, Lord Narayan went to the forest of BadriKashram and entered the cave called Sheevati . Murdhanav had followed the Lord, and entered the cave. At this  by lord's own  wish, from His 'eleven sense' a fast and fierce light emerged. From this lustre, a woman with divine weapons was born. At this time the demon Murdhanav became immensely attracted to the beautiful woman and said   "Oh you of outstanding beauty, I'm also unparalleled in looks age and power. I wish to marry you!" The Devi in reply to this said, "I have a vow. He who defeats me in a fight becomes my husband. To have me, you need to conquer me in a duel . The angry Devi killed Mudhanav by decapitating him with a sword.

 Lord Narayan granted a name Ekadashi to this divine  energy as she appeared from the 11 senses of the lord himself .  Lord Narayan became very pleased with Ekadashi and said, 'Oh destroyer of sins, by your birth today in all three worlds there is great happiness, so ask for a wish from me.' Seeing the Lord extremely delighted, Ekadashi said to the Lord, "If you are truly pleased with me, then I pray for all humans whom observe my vow, that all their wishes, in this world and the world above this one, are fulfilled. And he who fasts on my special day will become free of all sins and will attain   Moksha (ultimate salvation), and throughout their life in this world, will remain happy. Those who because of illness are unable to fast, observe the vow by doing Farahar, will also achieve the above. And oh my Lord, in all three worlds, all four yugas, all twelve months of the years may my vows will be spread". 

 this prayer, pleased the Lord and He replied, "Devi, I shall grant you this very precious wish. From this day forward (from Magsar [month] shudh ekadashi) he who with my worship obeys your vow, shall also have their wishes fulfilled. If the observer of the vow is seeking salvation, then he shall achieve this. If he is seeking pleasures on this world and above this world, also achieve. 

Method of Fasting : Ekadashi fasting is unmatchable but very easy to execute ,

1.       For many people Fasting on ekadashi is like a Changing Diet :) , but that's not the way of fasting , Fasting for Ekadashi starts from the Sunrise on the day of Ekadashi till the Sunrise on the next day (Dwadashi), as we mention this is the day you restrict your senses from the gratification , try to control them by detachment of martial object and engage them completely in practicing the devotional service , as it mention in shreemad bhagvatam , we can pick any one of nine devotional service (as per our liking ) and try to worship lord vishnu . try to hear  , chant his name and fame as much as you can , there are many different ways you can engage all of your senses on today's day .

2.       Many devotee observe the fasting as Nirjala (without Water) , if you cannot observe  Nirjala that's completely fine , you can do it as we mention in step 3, but try to observe Bhima Ekadashi or Pandav Ekadashi as Nirajala , this will comes once in a  year , According to the Markandeya Purana and the Vishnu Purana, the day of Ekadashi is itself a form of Vishnu. The vrata observed on this day is said to wash away all sin. One who completes the vrata of Nirjala Ekadashi is mentioned to gain the favour of Vishnu, who grants him happiness, prosperity and forgiveness for sins. The devotee is described to receive the merit gained by the observance of all 24 ekadshis in the year.

3.      one must strictly avoid eating Grains and Rice  on Ekadashi. you can Eat once in a Day ,   we have mention some of the recipe web link for delicious cooking but again its not about changing the diet , its more about focusing on worshiping lord hari by controlling your 11 senses .

http://www.recipe.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php?q=f&f=%2F10_-_Ekadasi

http://food.krishna.com/category/recipe-categories/ekadasi

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/ekadasi_recipes_cookbook.htm