18. No Ratha-yäträ in Vrndāvana
18. No Ratha-yäträ in Vrndāvana:
"The residents of Vrajabhūmi don't appreciate your royal garments and Your kingly form. They cannot leave Vrajabhūmi and they are dying when they cannot see You Krsna. Now tell Me what will happen to the residents of Vrajabhūmi if You won't go there? So pull Him to Vrajabhūmi now! O Krsna, You are the life of Vrajabhūmi! You are the most invaluable asset of Vrajaraja Nanda Mahārāja! Be merciful, Krşņa! Come to Vrajabhūmi and let the residents get back their lives! They are dying. Please make Your lotus feet appear there in Vrajabhūmi!" Mahaprabhu sings this song and pulls the ratha. Taking Jagannatha, Who is Śyāmasundara, to Vrajabhūmi. This is Ratha-yātrā.
Therefore there is no Ratha-yātrā in Vrndāvana because Ratha-yātrā means taking Krşņa from Kurukşetra to Vṛndāvana. Krsna is always in Vrndāvana. So why should there be Ratha-yatră there? And the heart of a Vaisnava, especially a gaura-priya-jana-a dear devotee of Gauranga-that is Vrndāvana.)
So let there be Ratha-yātrā everyday. Therefore Prabhupāda said if you want to, do Ratha-yātrā any day; If you can, do it every day... Drag Krsna to Vrndāvana-that means to your heart-everyday. And those who don't understand, they criticize, "Why do the ISKCON devotees perform Ratha- yäträ any day? They don't follow the scriptures that have a fixed date for Ratha-yatra." They don't know so they criticize. When one understands, then where is the room for criticism? He'll say, "Yes, let them do every day. Every day drag Krsna to Vrndāvana to your heart...
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