Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 7 Chapter 14 Verses 30-33

sarāmsi — lakes; pushkara-ādīni — such as Pushkara; kshetrāni — sacred places (like Kurukshetra, Gayākshetra and Jagannātha Purī); arha — for worshipable, saintly persons; āśritāni — places of shelter; uta — celebrated; kurukshetram — a particular sacred place (dharma-kshetra); gaya-śirah — the place known as Gayā, where Gayāsura took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu; prayāgah — Allahabad, at the confluence of the two sacred rivers Ganges and Yamunā; pulaha-āśramah — the residence of Pulaha Muni; naimisham — the place known as Naimishāranya (near Lucknow); phālgunam — the place where the Phālgu River flows; setuh — Setubandha, where Lord Rāmacandra constructed a bridge between India and Lańkā; prabhāsah — Prabhāsakshetra; atha — as well as; kuśa-sthalī — Dvāravatī, or Dvārakā; vārānasī — Benares; madhu-purī — Mathurā; pampā — a place where there is a lake called Pampā; bindu-sarah — the place where Bindu-sarovara is situated; tathā — there; nārāyana-āśramah — known as Badarikāśrama; nandā — the place where the Nandā River flows; sītā-rāma — of Lord Rāmacandra and mother Sītā; āśrama-ādayah — places of shelter like Citrakūta; sarve — all (such places); kulācalāh — hilly tracts of land; rājan — O King; mahendra — known as Mahendra; malaya-ādayah — and others, like Malayācala; ete — all of them; punya-tamāh — extremely sacred; deśāh — places; hareh — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; arca-āśritāh — places where the Deity of Rādhā-Krishna is worshiped (such as big American cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and European cities like London and Paris, or wherever there are centers of Krishna consciousness); ca — as well as; ye — those which; etān deśān — all these countries; nisheveta — should worship or visit; śreyah-kāmah — one who desires auspiciousness; hi — indeed; abhīkshnaśah — again and again; dharmah — religious activities; hi — from which; atra — in these places; īhitah — performed; pumsām — of the persons; sahasra-adhi — more than a thousand times; phala-udayah — effective.

TRANSLATION

The sacred lakes like Pushkara and places where saintly persons live, like Kurukshetra, Gayā, Prayāga, Pulahāśrama, Naimishāranya, the banks of the Phālgu River, Setubandha, Prabhāsa, Dvārakā, Vārānasī, Mathurā, Pampā, Bindu-sarovara, Badarikāśrama [Nārāyanāśrama], the places where the Nandā River flows, the places where Lord Rāmacandra and mother Sītā took shelter, such as Citrakūta, and also the hilly tracts of land known as Mahendra and Malaya — all of these are to be considered most pious and sacred. Similarly, places outside India where there are centers of the Krishna consciousness movement and where Rādhā-Krishna Deities are worshiped must all be visited and worshiped by those who want to be spiritually advanced. One who intends to advance in spiritual life may visit all these places and perform ritualistic ceremonies to get results a thousand times better than the results of the same activities performed in any other place.

PURPORT

In these verses and in verse twenty-nine, stress is given to one point: harer arcāśritāś ca ye or harer arcā. In other words, any place where the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped by devotees is most significant. The Krishna consciousness movement is giving the population of the entire world a chance to take advantage of Krishna consciousness through the ISKCON centers, where one may perform Deity worship and chant the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra and in this way obtain results with effectiveness increased a thousand times. This constitutes the best welfare activity for human society. This was Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission as it was predicted by Him in the Caitanya-bhāgavata (Antya 4.126):

prithivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma

sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted the Hare Krishna movement, with installed Deities, to spread to every village and town in the world, so that everyone in the world might take advantage of this movement and become all-auspicious in spiritual life. Without spiritual life, nothing is auspicious. Moghāśā mogha-karmāno mogha jñānā vicetasah (Bg. 9.12). No one can become successful in fruitive activities or speculative knowledge without being Krishna conscious. As recommended in the śāstras, everyone should be very eagerly interested in taking part in the Krishna consciousness movement and understanding the value of spiritual life.

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