10. Parikramā of Navadvīpa

10. Parikramā of Navadvīpa:

How to do it? Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that one of the symptoms of bhāva is to have affection for the places of the Lord’s pastimes. 

When a devotee performs parikramā of Śrī Navadvīpa dhāma he will inquire in the following way. “O residents of the Dhāma! Where is the birthplace of the dear most master of our life? By which direction did the kīrtana party of Mahāprabhu previously pass? Please tell me at which place Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to perform His forenoon pastimes with the cowherd boys?” 

The residents of Navadvīpa dhāma will reply, “This place where we are standing is Śrī Māyāpur. Directly in front of us on that high place surrounded by a tulasī grove is the very place of the most precious appearance of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Just see the villages of Gaṅgānāgara, Simuliya, Gagigarha, Majidha, and others. The incomparable saṅkīrtana party of Śrīman Mahāprabhu used to pass through these same villages.”

Hearing these sweet, prema-saturated talks from the mouths of the residents of Navadvīpa dhāma, the devotee’s body will thrill with horripilation, his heart will become overwhelmed with bliss, and tears will trickle from his eyes. In this way he performs parikramā of all the pastime places of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu within Śrī Navadvīpa dhāma. This is called tad vāsati sthale priti, affection for the places where the Lord performed His pastimes. (Jaiva Dharma)

Circumambulation of Navadvīpa is ancient practice begun almost at the time of Śrī Caitanya. The circumambulation of Śrī Navadvīpa dhama is not an antiquarian performance for showing respect to a great historical personality. Śrī Caitanya is Godhead Himself. Śrī Navadvīpa is the eternally transcendental divine realm. Śrī Caitanya, His realm, and His activities are eternal, and capable of being realized as such by devout pilgrims in their performance of the circumambulation of the spiritual sphere, by the grace of those perfectly pure souls who serve Śrī Caitanya in the spiritual realm. 

The performance of the circumambulation of Śrī Navadvīpa under the guidance of the sādhus is thus a purely spiritual function. The spiritual realm is realizable in and through the words of the sādhu. The spiritual realm cannot be seen by the mortal eye or touched by the hand of flesh. One must listen to the words of the sādhu with the conviction that the words themselves are identical with the object which they signify. True, the description of Śrī Navadvīpa dhāma in the literary works penned by devotees who describe the Absolute Truth, is bound to appear to the uninitiated as apparently opposed to the evidence of one’s senses. (Harmonist, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura) 

Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains how to properly do parikramā. “Blind with intoxication from drinking the nectar of Gaurāṅga-prema, when will I wander through Navadvīpa while singing, dancing, laughing, crying, running, rolling on the ground and falling down unconscious.”

“Wandering in Navadvīpa is the greatest opulence, the highest perfection, the essence of all regulative principles, the best form of worship, the most glorious and most sweet of all oceans of sweetness.” (Caitanya Sataka)