112 The Nectar of Devotion

to Him always.” The purport of this statement is that as soon as one
is fortunate enough to contact a pure devotee, he must be anxious
immediately to hear about Krsna, to learn about Krsna, or, in other
words, to become fully Krsna conscious.

Similarly, there is a statement about hearing and chanting the
maha-mantra: “It is said that saints have been able to hear the vi-
brating strings of the vind in the hands of Narada, who is always
singing the glories of Lord Krsna. Now this same sound vibration has
entered my ears, and I am always feeling the presence of the Supreme
Personality. Gradually I am becoming bereft of all attachment for
material enjoyment.”

Again, he has described Mathura-mandala: “I remember the Lord
standing by the banks of the Yamuna River, so beautiful amidst the
kadamba trees, where many birds are chirping in the gardens. And
these impressions are always giving me transcendental realization of
beauty and bliss.” This feeling about Mathura-mandala and Vrnda-
vana by Ripa Gosvami can actually be felt even by nondevotees. The
places in the eighty-four-square-mile district of Mathura are so beauti-
fully situated on the banks of the river Yamuna that anyone who
goes there will never want to return to this material world. These
statements by Ripa Gosvami are factually realized descriptions of
Mathura and Vrndavana. All these qualities prove that Mathura and
Vrndavana are situated transcendentally. Otherwise, there is no pos-
sibility of invoking our transcendental sentiments in these places.
Such transcendental feelings are aroused immediately and without
fail after one arrives in Mathura or Vrndavana.

In these statements about devotional service, sometimes it may
appear that the results have been overestimated; but actually there is
no overestimation. Some devotees, as is evidenced from revealed
scriptures, have had immediate results by such association, although
this is not possible for all. For example, the Kumaras immediately
became devotees simply by smelling the incense in the temple.
Bilvamangala Thakur simply heard about Krsna and then immediately
gave up his beautiful girl friend and started out for Mathura and
Vrndavana, where he became a perfect Vaisnava. So these statements
