……….more details…Banshi vat..7……….

Details about the divine Banshivat : as provided by the owner-pujaris of this divine place.

“Brindavan so van nahi, Nandgaon so gaon
Banshivat so vat nahin, Shree Krishn naam so naam”.

‘Gopika shat kati bhi Raas leela vibhu sith
Banshi Rav sama keerm Banshivat namo stute”.

“Brindavane vate banshi, praoage maoarath:
Gayanya akshay khyat, kalpastu Purushottume||
Nishkumbh: khal lankaya, eategha panch gha vat:
Eaitesu vat mulesu, sada nivsati makhav”|

Shree Krishn Played His flute often under this Vat. Banshi means the flute;

Vat means the Banyan tree.
Banshivat is the spot where the Divine couple spent a lot of time.

ShreeKrishn played the Maha Raas here on the Sharad Purnima night.
Even Shivji from Mount Kailash came here on this very spot to witness this leela of Thakurjee. Being a male He first had to take the form of a gopi from Shree Yamunajee. As He entered the place, Krishn recognized Him instantly – hence gave Him the name of Gopeshwar. The story continues how Radha became angry; she accused Krishn of calling a new gopi by the name of Gopeshwar, which means – the Lord of gopis. All these years He had never ever called Radha by this name. Then Shyam had to explain the details to Her. “This is no ordinary gopi. He is Lord Shiv and He has come all the way to see the Maharaas leela with a pure and sattvik gopi bhao.
This is the spot where many famous leelas of Radha and Shyam along with the gopis took place.

 A small temple of Gopeshwar is also on one corner of the main court, inside the Banshivat.
Another reason for being famous is Shree Krishn’s victory over Kaam Dev at this spot.

This place has been founded by the Acharya of Nimbark sampradaya-Shri Nivasachary;

for the good of devotees.
After him Sri Sri Bhatt Dev served this place, and did bhajan for many years; also wrote a book named ‘Yugal Shatak’. Because of this; the mention of this place is in every Nimbark book. He is believed to have painted the Pichvai also, which shows the Raas leela, and is hung behind the Charan.
Earlier to this the Deities were worshipped here in this small temple, which were replaced by the seva of the charan. The idolsare now shifted to the larger temple in the same compound of BAnshivat, which was built by King Oyal (from Lucknow) in the 1900’s.

“Jai Brindavan Jai Yamuna,
Jai Banshi Vat, Jai Pulina”.

Banshivat is important for the Godiyas also. When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Brindavan, He first came to Banshivat. He served this place; before departure from Vrindavan he handed over this place to his disciples Madhu Pandit Goswami and Parmanand Goswami.
Once when Madhu Pandit was sweeping this place, he saw a flute in root of this tree. When he dug deeper the Deity Radha Gopinath appeared from here. Unfortunately during the reign of Aurangzeb this Deity had to be shifted to Jaipur for safety.
Parmanand Goswami served here and established Radha Ras Bihari here.
Since then many famous devotees have come here to continue their sadhana.

Cont…

Shyama