What Should I do in Vrindavana?
by Dhruva Maharaja dasa

“I want the maximum benefit while visiting Vrndavana. What activities should I perform? Should I a fast a lot, do daily parikrama, bathe in the Yamuna, visit specific temples or holy places, walk around Govardhana Hill, or bathe in Radha-kunda?”
These are natural inclinations devotees experience during their holy pilgrimage to Sri Vrndavana. We all want to capitalize on our good fortune, and utilize our time wisely.
To ascertain the best possible activities to perform, perhaps we can learn from our previous acaryas.
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, one of Sr Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s personal associates, once inquired from the Lord with a similar sentiment. The Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila narrates:
The Bhattacharya went to visit the temple of Lord Jagannatha, but before he reached the temple, he went to see Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When he met Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Bhattacharya fell down flat to offer Him respects. After offering various prayers to Him, he spoke of his previous bad disposition with great humility.
Then the Bhattacharya asked Caitanya Mahaprabhu, “Which item is most important in the execution of devotional service?”
The Lord replied that the most important item was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.

PURPORT
There are nine items to be executed in devotional service. These are enumerated in the following verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (7.5.23): Hearing the glories of the Lord, chanting, remembering, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering worship in the temple, offering prayers, becoming a servant of the Lord, becoming the Lord’s friend, and sarvatma-nivedana, offering oneself fully at the lotus feet of the Lord—these are the nine devotional processes.
In The Nectar of Devotion, these are expanded into sixty-four items. When Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya asked the Lord which item was most important, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately answered that the most important item is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. He then quoted the following verse from the Brihan-naradiya Purana (38.126) to confirm His statement.

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
 “‘In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.’”
PURPORT
Because the people of this age are so fallen, they can simply chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.  In this way they can rid themselves of the bodily conception of life and become eligible to engage in the Lord’s devotional service. One cannot engage in the devotional service of the Lord without being purified of all contamination. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (7.28):
 “Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.”
Sometimes people are surprised to see young men and women take so seriously to the Krsna consciousness movement. By giving up sinful activity—illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling—and strictly following the injunctions given by the spiritual master, they have become purified of all contamination. They can therefore fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord.
In this Age of Kali, hari-kirtana is very, very important. The importance of chanting the holy name of the Lord is stated in the following verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.3.51–52):
“The most important factor in this Age of Kali, which is an ocean of faults, is that one can be free from all contamination and become eligible to enter the kingdom of God simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. The self-realization that was achieved in the Satya millennium by meditation, in the Treta millennium by the performance of different sacrifices, and in the Dvapara millennium by worship of Lord Krsna can be achieved in the Age of Kali simply by chanting the holy names, Hare Krsna.”

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu very elaborately explained the harer nama verse of the Brihan-naradiya Purana, and Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was struck with wonder to hear His explanation.

Thus, our humble suggestion is that visitors increase their rounds while here in Vrndavana, or spend some extra time chanting with the twenty-four hour kirtan group in the Krsna-Balarama Mandir, or join the Hari Nama Sankirtana Party at 5pm in front of Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi. There is no other activity so auspicious. In the Skanda Purana it is said:
	"Whatever potency to award auspiciousness and destroy sin may be found in the performance of charity, penances, austerities, visiting holy tirthas, worshiping demigods, performing Rajasuya or Asvamedha sacrifices, or the attainment of knowledge related to the soul…that potency has been invested in the Holy Name of Sri Hari."