the miraculous. 57
ous groups of the brahmins of Vrindaban. During the morning and afternoon, five
groups of thirty-one brahmins came to be honored by Maharaj-ji: ritual priests,
scholars of the Bhagavata Parana, secular scholars and teachers, pilgrim guides, and
the men and boys who would be performing the rasa lila. Each spoke briefly about
the place and its significance.
These ceremonies all took place under a large tent that covered the site of
Radha’s and Krishna’s trysts, right behind Krishna’s ghat. On the rear wall of the
tent was a large painted hanging that had been created especially for the occasion.
It depicted Radha and her companions under a tree, looking at a large bhramara at
Radha’s feet (see figure 5).
After all the brahmins had spoken, Maharaj-ji asked one of his followers to speak.
Just as she finished her invocation, a large black insect, about two inches long and
looking very much like the bhramara in the painting, flew into the tent from the di-
rection of the river and landed on the ground in front of her. Astounded, those
devotees who were close enough to see rose to their feet, exclaiming, “Jai ho!” and
“Jai Sri Radhe!” The visitor danced on the ground and flew up to dance in the air,
alighting two or three more times. After less than a minute, it flew off again in the
direction from which it had first come. Maharaj-ji spoke, saying that the divine spirit
can take any form, and for those who could see with devotion and love, it was
Krishna’s presence that had become visible. He declared that a beautiful bower
should be created to commemorate this manifestation.
Among the devotees who had gathered in Jaisingh Ghera for the astayama lila,
the general reaction that evening and the next day was happiness (but not complete
acceptance) that a real miracle had occurred. A wonderful, unusual event, yes—the
appearance of this bhramara with such perfect timing—but to fully absorb and ac-
cept that this was a manifestation of divinity was difficult. Trying to help his fol-
lowers absorb what had happened, Maharaj-ji told the devotees that four factors
contributed to this miracle: first, this was the site of the original bhramara’s ap-
pearance; second, the deity was summoned by the devotion of the people gathered
there; third, this was the site of the eternal astayama lila; and fourth, the day of the
bhramara’s appearance had been spent in concentrated spiritual activity by the 155
brahmins, which had compelled it to appear.
At 3:36a.m.on November 2, the astayama lila began in the great hall, watched
by a packed house of about fifteen hundred enthusiastic devotees of Krishna. At
6:00a.m.on November 3, the second lila began. Since this was a day in the lunar rit-
ual calendar that is considered to be a time when any action taken would not decay,
Maharaj-ji decided to consecrate the site of the bower that evening. An octagonal