So a few years ago, I went to Vrndavana during the month of Kartika and it happened to be so that just as I was there, Deena Bandhu was not well. So Deena Bandhu is Mr Parikrama and all these parikramas were booked and many people were registered for them and they had no one to go. So I became Deena Bandhu! For 3 days I was Deena Bandhu! And now dear devotees, we're going to this place where they have finger burning hot halava in the winter and really cooling melons in the summer! We're going to the place where Krsna, where Krsna resided for a long time. So I went to many fun places and one of these places, as we approached it, it was absolutely effulgent! The effulgence seemed to just come up from the earth; I could see that there was just light emanating from this place- it was not of this earth! Then we came to that place...Kokilavana. Kokilavana is that famous place (I'm trying to make it even more famous!) where Srimati Radharani lived in Yavat- that is the place where She lived in the house of her in-laws...So Radharani had to live there with Jatila (Radharani's mother-in-law) and Kutila (Radharani's sister-in-law)....a very difficult situation! They were just..."where are you going? what are you doing? your duty is this...your duty is that...."One day, in the forest- not too far away- there was amazing singing of the kokilas- kokilas are the cuckoos. These kokilas, they were singing in such a way that everyone was just amazed! They never heard the birds sing like that! Everyone was just listening! And it's said that at that time, even Jatila was completely charmed, and she told Radharani and Her girlfriends that they should go there and listen to thes kokilas, "are you hearing it? You girls should go there and hear the singing of these cuckoos."
So we went there to that place. And on the way, we walked from Yavat to Kokila and had a harinam and it was getting more and more ecstatic on the way. And by the time we came there to this Kokilavana, there's a temple there and we had an ecstatic kirtan there. And then we got into this tune, and this tune stayed with us for a long time. Even when we went back on the bus, for one and half hours we sang this tune non-stop! And we came back to the temple and we were still singing this tune! And therefore I am now bringing Kokilavana to you....!
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(Excerpt from Home prog in Durban- 06 October 2009)
