SpiritualNew Vrajamandala, the main center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Spain, is located near Brihuega, in the province of Guadalajara. Founded in 1979, New Vrajamandala serves people seeking a meaningful change in their lives, offering an alternative based on the principles of bhakti-yoga—the yoga of love, surrender, and service—as taught by the Founder-Acharya of the Society, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Following the ideal of “simple living and high thinking,” the community cultivates a lifestyle that harmonizes spiritual practice with rural life. Today, it has around sixty residents. Alongside Spaniards, people from various countries of Europe, Latin America, and Asia also live there.
In order to present an alternative model of life, the Society receives visitors from all over the world throughout the year, with a high season between May and August.
Another time when the community welcomes large numbers of visitors is during the festivals of Balarama Purnima, Krishna Janmastami, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja, and Radhastami, which take place according to the lunar calendar between August and September. These are celebrations of reunion and joy, with hours of kirtan, dance, theatrical performances, visits to the goshala, the Deities’ swan procession, and, aŌer a fast, the enjoyment of a sumptuous feast of prasadam, spiritual food offered to God with love and devotion.
Sharing meals is a key aspect of community life, as lactovegetarian dishes are prepared daily and offered with love and devotion to Krishna. AŌer the offering, everyone partakes of the spiritual food. With grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, sugar, and rice, countless traditional Indian dishes are prepared, such as sabji, chapati, dal, halava, lassi, puri, kitchari, chutney, kachori, laddu, among many others. Those who taste these preparations experience a great variety of flavors, textures, and aromas, living unique and transcendental moments.
The secret of what is known as “Hare Krishna Cuisine” is the love of the cooks. They prepare the dishes in a meditative state, with the intention of pleasing the Supreme Lord, because when Krishna is satisfied, everyone can experience true satisfaction when siƫng down to eat —or rather, to honor— prasadam.
The vegetables and other ingredients used for cooking come largely from the garden and fields cultivated by the residents and devotees themselves. The gardening team prepares the soil, sows, waters, harvests, removes weeds, and collects seeds, among other tasks. Especially in spring and summer, much help is needed, and sometimes volunteers —visitors who offer hours of work in exchange for lodging and food— collaborate. Thanks to them, large amounts and varieties of vegetables and flowers are obtained. In addition, cereals such as oats are cultivated extensively, as well as fodder for the cows.
The Rupa Goshala is a fundamental pillar of the community. It currently has five oxen, eight cows, one heifer, and one calf. Seven of these cows are milked every morning, and some also in the aŌernoon. Altogether they produce enough milk to maintain the eight liters offered daily to the Deities. It is also sufficient for preparing delicious mangala-sweets, sweets made from milk, such as rasagullas, barfi, and sandesh. The rest of the milk is used for the community’s consumption.
Sometimes visitors feel tempted and ask to buy this fresh milk, which is not sold outside; in such cases, they receive a little milk and, in return, leave a monetary donation to help with the care of the cows. The goshala is managed by Damodara Priya Devi Dasi and Dina Sharana Dasa, a couple dedicated to this service since 2017. They are also assisted by Pushpa-gopal Devi Dasi, a dear friend of the cows who, whenever she is present, puts on her boots and work clothes and offers herself to the service with great willingness and enthusiasm. New Vrajamandala seeks to be a worthy replica of the original Vrajamandala, the sacred region encompassing the surroundings of Vrindavan in India. There Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, carried out many of His enchanting childhood and youthful pastimes more than five thousand years ago. Krishna and His elder brother, Balarama, oŌen cared for the cows or played with Their cowherd friends in the forests of Vraja. For this reason, the term “Vrajamandala” is deeply significant. According to the Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.9.28), the term vrajan literally means “the cowherds,” and is directly related to the adventures of Krishna, His friends, and His herds, especially when They went out to graze on the green hills and meadows of the region.
Vraja also symbolizes a realm of divine love and purity, where relationships with Krishna are completely spontaneous, full of unconditional love, and free from all material motivation. In this sense, vraja is also a state of consciousness, in which the soul connects with God through pure devotion. On the other hand, the Sanskrit word mandala is usually translated as “circle.” When joined as vrajamandala, it means the “circle” or the complete region of Vraja, which includes all the sacred places connected with the pastimes of Lord Krishna. Therefore, it is not only a physical space but also a realm imbued with love, devotion, and transcendental memories associated with Him. There the connection with Krishna is not mediated by formal rituals, but by spontaneous and selfless love, like that of the cowherd boys, the gopas, and the cowherd girls, the gopis. For them, Krishna is their friend, their protector, and their beloved. He is the center of their lives and the source of supreme happiness.
New Vrajamandala seeks to offer an atmosphere that allows one to fully concentrate on cultivating one’s spiritual consciousness, developing a sustainable lifestyle in harmony with nature and favorable both for society and the environment. Under the moto “simple living and high thinking,” the community enjoys a natural and simple life that helps keep the mind always fixed on Krishna. New Vrajamandala strives to shape its atmosphere in such a way that everything invites one to think of God. The spiritual center of the community is the temple of RadhaGovindachandra, located in the main building. There the presiding Deities are worshiped: Radha-Govindachandra, Gaura-Nitai, Giri Govardhana, and Laksmi-Nrisimhadeva. They are the true proprietors of New Vrajamandala, and all community life revolves around these forms of God, manifested according to Their different incarnations and pastimes. They are worshiped daily by the community’s devotees through activities such as arati, japa, kirtan, darshan, study of the scriptures, prasadam, and service.
Darshan consists of visiting the temple room to behold the Deities, who are dressed and adorned each day with great care and detail.
Arati is a ceremony of worship held several times a day, in which incense, a ghee lamp, water, a handkerchief, and flowers are offered, accompanied by the sound of the conch shell.
These ceremonies are complemented by kirtan, congregational chanting, especially the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. This same mantra is also recited individually, called japa, meditating with a rosary of 108 wooden beads.
In addition, every day there are readings and classes where sacred scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the Chaitanya-charitamrita are studied. These were translated and commented on by the Founder-Acharya and eminent spiritual master of the Society, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Ultimately, the devotees consider all their activities as service to Krishna. But the most important aspect of a devotee’s life is to remember Krishna in all circumstances through the chanting of the
maha-mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
The devotees accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is how the Vedic scriptures describe Him. He is the source of all creation, the supreme controller, the shelter of all souls, and the protector of the cows, including those of Rupa Goshala.
In the Bhagavad-gita (10.8) Krishna declares that He is the source of all spiritual and material worlds, and that everything emanates from Him.
Although Krishna comes to this world in a form that appears human, He remains the Supreme Person, full and eternal, in a blissful transcendental form. Yet, by His causeless mercy, He is accessible to those who approach Him with love and devotion.
Krishna is the source of the “magic” of Rupa Goshala, where we live through stories as peculiar as they are wonderful. The accounts described latter did not happen by mere chance or coincidence. They happened—and continue to happen to this day—because Krishna, besides being God, is a cowherd.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.8.16) it is stated: “To increase the transcendental joy of the cowherd men of Gokula, this child will always act auspiciously for you. And only by His grace will you overcome all difficulties.” In this way Krishna’s advent on Earth is announced, highlighting His compassion and His special bond with the cows.
More than five thousand years ago, Mother Earth was weary, saddened, and wounded by the mistreatment she was receiving from evil rulers. She then decided to ask for help: she assumed the form of a cow and pleaded with God to come and relieve her suffering. She became a cow because Krishna’s foremost occupation and concern is to give comfort to the cows.
While Mother Earth was raising her prayers, Krishna was in His spiritual planet. Yet He heard her supplications and immediately offered her His protection. He decided that, besides destroying the demons in order to save the Earth, He would reestablish the principles of dharma which teach people how we are meant to live. These had to be taught again, for over time that knowledge seemed to have been lost. And since He Himself was going to descend, He thought that He could also do so accompanied by His friends and in this way enjoy many of His transcendental adventures on Earth.
Thus Krishna and His friends appeared on Earth. He lived His childhood as a cowherd boy, with His family of cowherds, together with His mother Yasoda, His father Nanda Maharaja, and all the residents of Vrindavan.
Krishna is so wonderful that we cannot comprehend His greatness; not even the residents of Vrindavan themselves could do so. That is why I have composed The Cowherd Boy of Vrindavan, a simple narration based on a story told in the Tenth Canto of the SrimadBhagavatam, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead is presented in the figure of a cowherd boy.