There is a beautiful peaceful village in Braj Mandala named Gokula. One can sit there and gaze upon the pleasing vista of the sacred Yamuna as it serenely flows across the wide plain, while hearing the subtle rustle of the neem and pippal leaves caressed by the soft breezes. Even the numerous birds in their cheerful songs seem to glorify this idyllic abode where the Supreme Lord sported as Nandalal, the loving child of Maharaj Nanda, the king of the gwall (cowherdmen).

When Gopal Krishna reached the age of six, He then joined with His friends the gopas to daily wander throughout the enchanting pastures of Gokula, the land of limitless cows, and thus enjoyed His sweet lila of protecting His beloved cows and calves. The indellible touch of His delicate footprints has saturated beautiful Gokula's magical groves with His ever-fresh ecstatic chidhood pastimes.

When His bhaktas come here to mine the immense spiritual wealth of Krishna-lila herein revealed, they are graced with deep feelings of peace and happiness, as was also our recent experience while visiting this enchanting village with over one hundred devotees led by Dinabandhu prabhu. For over an hour, he treated us to his brilliant retelling of the Gokula lila, keeping us all enthralled with his uniquely detailed and humorous narration, as he magically brought us right back into the very heart of this sweetest lila, leaving us all totally blissed out.

While soaking up all this enlivening nectar, I felt immensely blessed to be allowed such a deeply enjoyable glimpse into the sacred saga of our Sweet Lord's childhood pastimes.

Who would know that God can frolic in such simple and sublime sports to enjoy the most personal dealings saturated with His purest love? To know that such a beautiful loving God has walked upon these eternally sanctified places opens up a whole new world of delight and hope. Such revelations offer us the greatest solace to asuage our fragile lives' finality, by awakening in our hearts the aspiration to escape this world's dualities by accepting the Lord's calling us to regain His perfect loving service.

The sure happiness, manorama, of hearing Krishna-lila is His invitation, the harbinger of His supreme sweetness. Such glorious lila-katha, the authentic renditions of Sri Krishna's loving dealings, is the best place to direct our wandering hearts and minds, towards our spiritual rejuvenation.

In the introduction to his Krsna Book, Srila Prabhupada states:"...if persons who are trying to be liberated hear about the pastimes of Krishna...then their path of liberation becomes very clear". By the great mercy of Lord Manohara, the Captor of the purified mind, we can incrimentaly discover the lasting satisfaction, prasanatma, therein found. And we can thus choose to be here now with Krishna, in the safe shelter of His remembrance, which alone can satisfy all our best desires and our eternal need for love and happiness. Jai Sri Krishna!