This Rasili Braja Yatra is a heart-felt glorification of Sridhāma Vṛndāvana Dhāma, which incorporates all the mountains, forests, rivers, and pasture grounds of Braja.

Over a period of 5,000 years many of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lilastans have been forgotten and an honorific love and worship of the dhāma has been lost due to modern misconceptions. In order to counteract the effects of time, Śrī Ramesh Bābājī Mahārāj, after 60 years of research in Braja, has presented his realizations how to truly worship Braja presenting thousands of śruti-pramāṇas from the Bhāgavata and the saints of Braja. To grasp the greatness of Braja, its residents, boundaries, and method of worship is synonymous with understanding the Lord’s intimate lilas from a platform of tattva, not mass consensual speculation.

This book RasilI Braja Yatra(Nectarous Journey through Braja)part 1 of 2, is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of Braja to date, an in-depth safari including many hidden and lost places of the dhāma and will nourish those who are appreciators of the greater Śrī Vṛndāvana dhāma.

Śrī Ramesh Bābājī Mahārāj, on a mission to protect and preserve Braja, is the backbone of information for these 2 books, compiled and written by Muralika Sharma, a native born Bhāgavata-kathākar from Barṣāṇā. She will also become a future ‘mouth piece’ to Śrī Bābā Mahārāj’s messages to the world.

The Braja Rasili Yatra begins with an introduction, which covers 3 topics:

1) The modern influence and detractors of Braja: Irreligious Sophism
2) The importance in properly worshipping the cows in relation to Braja.
3) Proper Braja Upāsanā: the worship the dhāma and its residents with the utmost sensitivity.

Here is a brief overview of the contents of this book.

The modern influence and detractors of Braja: Irreligious Sophism

In the present times an attitude has arisen accepting Vṛndāvana to be only a city area, rejecting the śastra and statements of the previous ācāryas, that the greater Vṛndāvana is actually the mountains, forests, pastures, rivers, and ponds of Braja.

Each hill and every forest of Braja, Vṛndāvana, having witnessed the pastimes of the Lord, are enriched with the loving pastimes of Rādhā Madhava. However the divine form of Vṛndāvana has now become hidden, discriminations between pastimes have arisen, harming the spiritual growth of the society and its ability to worship the dhāma with this result; the lilastans of Rādhā Madhava are gradually disappearing.

However, a reverential mentality is required with these local detractors because each an every particle of Braja is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the objects of our worship.

Gau seva and collective prosperity:

Where there are cows, there is Braja! Kṛṣṇa Himself served the cows and one who protects the cow is a friend to Gopal. Protection of cows and Braja is the safeguard of country and the world at large.

In the age of Kali, we are killing them instead of offering protection and worship; however those who safeguard the cows are devotees of the Lord.

Protection and service to the cows can make a country’s economic growth flourish; it is in our interest to never the cows and protect them by all means, improving agricultural production.

In making this presentation for the welfare of people in general, prosperity of the country, and the entire world; exclusive devotion towards cows is a must.

Proper Braja Upāsanā:

Real worship of Braja is to see the Lord in every aspect of Braja. Firstly, to respect all the residents as various svarūpas(expanded forms) of the Supreme, all natural features as spiritual, and all activities within as direct arrangements of the Lord. With this basic understanding then we can properly approach the pastimes of the Lord.

With this foundation, the reader is now prepared to experience the hundreds of lilastans of the holy dhāma, a journey amidst ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ places, a ‘heart connection’ with the nitya-lilas of the Lord. These pastimes of rāsa range from chivalry, intrigue, fear, humor, and romance. Welcome to a nectarous journey through Braja!

In conclusion: True worship of the Lord is adoration without discrimination; to realize that the same Rādhārāṇī or Lord is everywhere, whether in Vṛndāvana or Barṣāṇā. A oneness of Lords can be perceived amidst unlimited variety; for one who sees all in the Supreme and the Supreme in all beings.