Book “Imlitalā Mahātmya”

Have you heard that, for the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇavas, among all the pastime places of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, Imlitalā is the most esoteric līlā-pīṭha, vital holy pastime place? And were you aware that Imlitalā is called “Siddhapīṭha,” a holy place of perfection, because it grants perfection not only to devotees but even to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself?

Although Imlitalā is Mahāprabhu’s own preferred place in Vraja and counted among Vṛndāvana’s prācīn-devālayas, or most prominent ancient places of worship, many devotees across the globe are still unaware of its excellence. We hope to please Śrī-Śrī Guru-Gaurāṅga by making the glories of Imlitalā widely available in English. Without a doubt, Imlitalā is one of the most esoteric holy places. In Imlitalā, in Dvāpara-yuga, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s supreme victory was celebrated with Her coronation as the Queen of Vṛndāvana. Thereafter, under the same imli tree, for the very first time, Kṛṣṇa attained the perfection of fulfilling His three internal desires – He became immersed in rādhā-mahābhāva-tadātmika-samādhī, or full empathic immersion in the devotional mood of Rādhā, and thus assumed the golden form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Also, at Imlitalā, He attained a deeper entry to Sevā-kuñja, the heart of Vṛndāvana.

Then, much later, in Kali-yuga, Nityānanda Prabhu foresaw Mahāprabhu’s arrival and prepared an āsana or sacred seat for Him here. When Mahāprabhu came to Vraja, He spent most of His time in seclusion under this imli tree, chanting Kṛṣṇa-nāma on the āsana lovingly prepared by Nityānanda Prabhu. On one unique occasion, our beloved golden Lord even again turned blackish here. Some say that relishing the Imlitalā pastimes was the internal reason for Mahāprabhu’s coming to Vṛndāvana. Under the very same imli tree, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī worshiped his beautiful Gaura-Nityānanda Deities. Imlitalā was so dear to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda that he once said:

This book, Imlitalā Mahātmyā, is now translated from the original Bengali book by Śrīla Bhakti Sāraṅga Gosvāmī Mahārāja. For those who don’t know the author, he was one of the stalwart disciples of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. When he was with his Gurudeva, he was still a householder, and his name was “Bhakti Sāraṅga Dāsa.” Śrī Bhakti Sāraṅga Prabhu served as the secretary of the Viśva Vaiṣṇava Rāja Sabhā (the World Vaiṣṇava Association, founded by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī) and as the director of the Gauḍīya magazine, established by Śrīla Prabhupāda. He was also in charge of the vraja-maṇḍala parikramā.

The Mahāprabhu Deity in the centre of the altar in Imlitalā was installed by Śrīla Prabhupāda and used to lead those parikramās. This is how this Deity came to Imlitalā. Śrīla Prabhupāda said about Śrī Bhakti Sāraṅga Prabhu:

(From the Introduction.)

This English edition comes with a commentary by Rādhamādhava Dāsa that expounds on the glories of Imlitalā with further insights from various sources. For example, can you imagine, that the already perfected Kṛṣṇa again becomes a sādhaka, and that too with great pleasure? All this will be revealed in this book. Here’s a sample:

(Chapt. 2.5)