Å›yÄma-rÅ«pera vÄsa-sthÄna Å›reṣṭha mÄna' kÄya?
'purÄ« madhu-purÄ« varÄ' — kahe upÄdhyÄya

 Å›yÄma-rÅ«pera - of the supreme form, ÅšyÄmasundara; vÄsa-sthÄna - residence; Å›reṣṭha - the supreme; mÄna' - you accept; kÄya - which; purÄ« - the city; madhu-purÄ« - MathurÄ; varÄ - best; kahe - said; upÄdhyÄya - Raghupati UpÄdhyÄya.


Text

“Of all Kṛṣṇa’s abodes, which do you think is the best?â€

Purport

Raghupati UpÄdhyÄya said, “Madhu-purÄ«, or MathurÄ-dhÄma, is certainly the best.â€

Lord Kṛṣṇa has many forms, as stated in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.33): advaitam acyutam anÄdim ananta-rÅ«pam. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu asked Raghupati UpÄdhyÄya which form was the best of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s millions of forms, and he immediately replied that the supreme form was the ÅšyÄmasundara form. In that form, Kṛṣṇa stands curved in three places and holds His flute. The ÅšyÄmasundara form is also described in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.38):

premÄñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
 santaḥ sadaiva há¹›dayeá¹£u vilokayanti
yaá¹ Å›yÄmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarÅ«paá¹
 govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi

“I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of ÅšyÄmasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee.â€

Those who are filled with ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa always see the form of ÅšyÄmasundara within their hearts. Raghupati UpÄdhyÄya confirms that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has many incarnations — NÄrÄyaṇa, Ná¹›siá¹ha, VarÄha and others — but Kṛṣṇa is distinguished as the supermost. According to ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (1.3.28), kṛṣṇas tu bhagavÄn svayam: “Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.†Kṛṣṇa means ÅšyÄmasundara, who plays His flute in Vá¹›ndÄvana. Of all forms, this form is the best of all. Kṛṣṇa lives sometimes in MathurÄ and sometimes in DvÄrakÄ, but MathurÄ is considered the better place. This is also confirmed by RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« in his UpadeÅ›Ämá¹›ta (9): vaikuṇṭhÄj janito varÄ madhu-purÄ«. “Madhu-purÄ«, or MathurÄ, is far superior to the Vaikuṇṭhalokas in the spiritual world.â€