कुरुक्षेत्रं गयशिरः प्रयागः पुलहाश्रमः ॥३०॥
नैमिषं फाल्गुनं सेतुः प्रभासोऽथ कुशस्थली ।
वाराणसी मधुपुरी पम्पा बिन्दुसरस्तथा ॥३१॥
नारायणाश्रमो नन्दा सीतारामाश्रमादयः ।
सर्वे कुलाचला राजन्महेन्द्रमलयादयः ॥३२॥
एते पुण्यतमा देशा हरेरर्चाश्रिताश्च ये ।
एतान्देशान् निषेवेत श्रेयस्कामो ह्यभीक्ष्णशः ।
धर्मो ह्यत्रेहितः पुंसां सहस्राधिफलोदयः ॥३३॥
sarÄá¹si puá¹£karÄdÄ«ni
ká¹£etrÄṇy arhÄÅ›ritÄny uta
kurukṣetraṠgaya-śiraḥ
prayÄgaḥ pulahÄÅ›ramaḥ
naimiá¹£aá¹ phÄlgunaá¹ setuḥ
prabhÄso 'tha kuÅ›a-sthalÄ«
vÄrÄṇasÄ« madhu-purÄ«
pampÄ bindu-saras tathÄ
nÄrÄyaṇÄÅ›ramo nandÄ
sÄ«tÄ-rÄmÄÅ›ramÄdayaḥ
sarve kulÄcalÄ rÄjan
mahendra-malayÄdayaḥ
ete puṇyatamÄ deÅ›Ä
harer arcÄÅ›ritÄÅ› ca ye
etÄn deÅ›Än niá¹£eveta
Å›reyas-kÄmo hy abhÄ«kṣṇaÅ›aḥ
dharmo hy atrehitaḥ puá¹sÄá¹
sahasrÄdhi-phalodayaḥ
sarÄá¹si - lakes; puá¹£kara-ÄdÄ«ni - such as Puá¹£kara; ká¹£etrÄṇi - sacred places (like Kuruká¹£etra, GayÄká¹£etra and JagannÄtha PurÄ«); arha - for worshipable, saintly persons; ÄÅ›ritÄni - places of shelter; uta - celebrated; kuruká¹£etram - a particular sacred place (dharma-ká¹£etra); gaya-Å›iraḥ - the place known as GayÄ, where GayÄsura took shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu; prayÄgaḥ - Allahabad, at the confluence of the two sacred rivers Ganges and YamunÄ; pulaha-ÄÅ›ramaḥ - the residence of Pulaha Muni; naimiá¹£am - the place known as Naimiá¹£Äraṇya (near Lucknow); phÄlgunam - the place where the PhÄlgu River flows; setuḥ - Setubandha, where Lord RÄmacandra constructed a bridge between India and Laá¹…kÄ; prabhÄsaḥ - PrabhÄsaká¹£etra; atha - as well as; kuÅ›a-sthalÄ« - DvÄravatÄ«, or DvÄrakÄ; vÄrÄṇasÄ« - Benares; madhu-purÄ« - MathurÄ; pampÄ - a place where there is a lake called PampÄ; bindu-saraḥ - the place where Bindu-sarovara is situated; tathÄ - there; nÄrÄyaṇa-ÄÅ›ramaḥ - known as BadarikÄÅ›rama; nandÄ - the place where the NandÄ River flows; sÄ«tÄ-rÄma - of Lord RÄmacandra and mother SÄ«tÄ; ÄÅ›rama-Ädayaḥ - places of shelter like CitrakÅ«á¹a; sarve - all (such places); kulÄcalÄḥ - hilly tracts of land; rÄjan - O King; mahendra - known as Mahendra; malaya-Ädayaḥ - and others, like MalayÄcala; ete - all of them; puṇya-tamÄḥ - extremely sacred; deÅ›Äḥ - places; hareḥ - of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; arca-ÄÅ›ritÄḥ - places where the Deity of RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness); ca - as well as; ye - those which; etÄn deÅ›Än - all these countries; niá¹£eveta - should worship or visit; Å›reyaḥ-kÄmaḥ - one who desires auspiciousness; hi - indeed; abhÄ«kṣṇaÅ›aḥ - again and again; dharmaḥ - religious activities; hi - from which; atra - in these places; Ä«hitaḥ - performed; puá¹sÄm - of the persons; sahasra-adhi - more than a thousand times; phala-udayaḥ - effective.
The sacred lakes like Puá¹£kara and places where saintly persons live, like Kuruká¹£etra, GayÄ, PrayÄga, PulahÄÅ›rama, Naimiá¹£Äraṇya, the banks of the PhÄlgu River, Setubandha, PrabhÄsa, DvÄrakÄ, VÄrÄṇasÄ«, MathurÄ, PampÄ, Bindu-sarovara, BadarikÄÅ›rama [NÄrÄyaṇÄÅ›rama], the places where the NandÄ River flows, the places where Lord RÄmacandra and mother SÄ«tÄ took shelter, such as CitrakÅ«á¹a, 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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and where RÄdhÄ-Kṛṣṇa 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.
In these verses and in verse twenty-nine, stress is given to one point: harer arcÄÅ›ritÄÅ› ca ye or harer arcÄ. In other words, any place where the Deity of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshiped by devotees is most significant. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving the population of the entire world a chance to take advantage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness through the ISKCON centers, where one may perform Deity worship and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra and in this way obtain results with effectiveness increased a thousand times. This constitutes the best welfare activity for human society. This was ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s mission as it was predicted by Him in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata (Antya 4.126):
pá¹›thivÄ«te Äche yata nagarÄdi-grÄma
sarvatra pracÄra haibe mora nÄma
ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu wanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa 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. MoghÄÅ›Ä mogha-karmÄṇo mogha-jñÄnÄ vicetasaḥ (Bg. 9.12). No one can become successful in fruitive activities or speculative knowledge without being Kṛṣṇa conscious. As recommended in the Å›Ästras, everyone should be very eagerly interested in taking part in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and understanding the value of spiritual life.
