Before the Gaudiya Vaishnavas such as Srila Rupa Goswami , Srila Ragganatha das Goswami , Srila Jiva Goswami , and Srila Sanatana Goswami , and other devotees of Mahaprabhu , came to Vrindavana , little was known of the specific details of Krishna’s pastimes , and the exact locations of where they took place , over the years although Vrndavana was known to some Vaisnavas it was quite remote and covered by trees and nature .
It is historically accurate that before the arrival of Srila Rupa Goswami and the other Goswami’s that Mahāprabhu empowered, Vrindavana, although eternally trancendental had been hidden by nature.
While Vrindavan’s geographical location was deeply revered in sacred texts like the Srimad Bhagavatam, centuries of political shifts and the passage of time had left the physical landscape largely forgotten, except to the few staunch devotees.
So , before Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, and the other Gaudiya Vaishnava Goswamis arrived in Vrindavan in the early 16th century (around 1517), Vrindavan had largely lapsed into a wilderness where specific sacred pastime locations (lila-sthalis) were being forgotten and overgrown. Following centuries of political upheaval and destructive invasions—including rampages by rulers like Babar—the ancient forest of Vrindavan was reduced to a neglected region, and sites like Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda were seen merely as ordinary puddles. Acting on the direct instructions of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa and Sanatana Goswami came to Vrindavan specifically to excavate and uncover Lord Krishna’s lost pastime places, establish major temples, and lay down the foundational philosophical and devotional literature of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Through their empowerment by Mahāprabhu and through their eternal spiritual realization ,and by them referencing historical texts like the Srimad-Bhagavatam, along with writing their own Smriti trancendental texts and commentaries , everything carried out in the mood of pure services to Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu, alongside their personal intense devotional practice (bhajana) They together mapped out and brought back to light sacred sites such as Seva Kunj, Radha-kunda . Various groves associated with Radha and Krishna and many other places were brought to the spiritual attention of the world . This was Mahāprabhu’s desire to show the true glory and eternal spiritual potency of Vrndavana Dharma and bring you the attention of the world Srimati Radharani and the residents of thd topmost spiritual plane.
Currently there are so many pilgrims who visit all the these trancendental sites and become purified by entering the Holy lands where Krishna eternally resides .Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his ISKCON movement has brought millions of pilgrims over the years to Vrindavan , such is the magnificent preaching of Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami, who built ISKCON Krishna Balarama temple there .
