Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.4.22

yatra nārāyaṇo devo

naraś ca bhagavān ṛṣiḥ

mṛdu tīvraḿ tapo dīrghaḿ

tepāte loka-bhāvanau

SYNONYMS

yatra — where; nārāyaṇaḥ — the Personality of Godhead; devaḥ — by incarnation; naraḥ — human being; ca — also; bhagavān — the Lord; ṛṣiḥ — great sage; mṛdu — amiable to everyone; tīvram — severe; tapaḥ — penance; dīrgham — very long; tepāte — performing; loka-bhāvanau — welfare of all living entities.

TRANSLATION

There in Badarikāśrama the Personality of Godhead, in His incarnation as the sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa, has been undergoing great penance since time immemorial for the welfare of all amiable living entities.

PURPORT

Badarikāśrama in the Himalayas, the abode of the Nara-Nārāyaṇa sages, is a great place of pilgrimage for the Hindus. Even up to the present, hundreds and thousands of pious Hindus go to pay respects to the incarnation of Godhead Nara-Nārāyaṇa. It appears that even five thousand years ago this holy place was being visited by such a holy being as Uddhava, and even at that time the place was known to be very, very old. This particular pilgrimage site is very difficult to visit for ordinary men because of its difficult situation in the Himalayas in a place which is covered by ice almost all year. A few months during the summer season people can visit this place at great personal inconvenience. There are four dhāmas, or kingdoms of God, which represent the planets of the spiritual sky, which consists of the brahmajyoti and the Vaikuṇṭhas. These are Badarikāśrama, Rameśvara, Jagannātha Purī and Dvārakā. Faithful Hindus still visit all these holy places for perfection of spiritual realization, following in the footsteps of devotees like Uddhava.

<<< >>>

Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness