Srimati Radharani's hair lace

I arrived in Vrindavan on the 22nd of October - just in time to join the main festivals of the Kartik season: Govardhana Puja and Srila Prabhupada's disappearance.
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This year I decided to join the celebrations at the temple and not go out to Govardhana Hill. As every year, there was a nice class at the goshala on Krishna's wonderful lila of lifting Govardhana Hill, followed by the worship of Mother cow.

Later we took darshan of a beautifully arranged Govardhana Hill in the temple courtyard, made from all kinds of sweets - with little lakes, animals trees and flowers. It was a feast for the heart to absorb the mind in all those intricate details. By the invitation of senior devotees I could enter the closed off area and circumambulate the hill, thus receiving the benefit of doing Govardhana Parikrama.....!
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Vrindavan is the most appropriate place to be for Srila Prabhupada's disappearance. Leading up to this very day, every evening we could hear Prabhupada katha offered by his direct disciples, which is always most nectarean. The main celebration took place in the huge Krishna Hall, which   was beautifully decorated. Many disciples shared some memories, glorifications and anecdotes. Since each speaker received a very limited amount of time - five minutes - the talks were wonderfully concise and to the point, and thus enlivening to hear.

The entire afternoon I joined the kirtan in Srila Prabhupada's rooms, which led up to the evening artik performed exactly at the time when Srila Prabhupada left this mortal world - 7:20 pm. As every year, his room was a beautiful ocean of flowers, tastefully arranged - with love and devotion.
It was a festive day blissfully spent in Prabhupada-consciousness, which increased our gratitude, devotion and commitment to sacrificing this very lifetime to serve Srila Prabhupada' mission.......

Throughout my time in Vrindavan I had the mission of distributing my books. I joined HH Radhanath Swami's evening classes at the goshala and met the leaders of Govardhana Eco Village, who invited me to share their stall and offer the books. It was a great idea - especially around lunch time many devotees were passing the stalls on their way to prasadam. I had a blissful time, meeting many known and unknown faces and establishing connections with devotees from all around the world, while distributing all the 180 books I had arranged for.

In one morning class at the Krishna Balarama Mandir I heard a sweet detail in regards to the Damodara lila. As we know, Mother Yasoda tirelessly endeavored to bind Krishna. She did not give up, even though it was clear to everyone witnessing the episode that Krishna played a mysterious trick with her. No matter how many ropes she tied together - it was always two fingers short in tying up Krishna. She only succeeded when Srimati Radharani came and offered her hair lace to be tied to the rope. Then Mother Yasoda succeeded: Krishna allowed her to bind Him - by Radharani's mercy....
If we want to capture Krishna's merciful glance upon us, we need Srimati Radharani's blessings and mercy. She has to introduce us to Him....

On the 6th of November I flew off to Indore....

Your servant, Devaki dd