Although some local scholars claim that the holy dhama of Vrindavana begins at Kotban and ends at Renikuta (Renuka Grama), this is incorrect and not supported by shastra pramana. The Garga Samhita has provided the exact dimensions of Vraja Mandala as being eighty-four kosa (168 miles), which is the distance between Sonha in the north and Batesar in the south. The Garga Samhita says, “The wise say that the most splendid transcendental land of Vraja Mandala is 21 yojanas in extent.”
This distance of twenty-one yojanas is equal to eighty-four kosas (Chaurasi-kosa) or one hundred and sixty-eight miles (4 kosas = 1 yojana & 1 yojana = 8 miles). The actual border of Vraja Mandala according to the Garga Samhita is approximately eighty-five miles north of Kotban at Sonitpura (Sonha). Therefore when travelling on the National Highway from Delhi, after passing through Ballabhgarh, the border of Vraja Mandala (Vrindavana dhama) starts near the village of Sikhri. The Adi-Varaha Purana also confirms the area of the holy dhama when it says, “Mathura Mandala covers an area of twenty yojanas from Yayavara to Saukri-vateshwara.”
Although twenty yojanas equals eighty kosas or one hundred and sixty miles, as these measurements in yojanas are approximations, it is very close to the size mentioned in the Garga Samhita as eighty-four kosas. The places mentioned are the same as those found in the Garga Samhita namely: Yayavara (Sonha) and Saukri-vateshwara (Batesara). Due to the diameter of Vraja being eighty-four kosa or chaurasi-kosa, the parikrama around the twelve sacred forests of Vraja is refered to as the ‘chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama’.
Another important point is that Vajranabha Maharaja had marked the northern boundary of the inner-core area of Vraja Mandala at Kambhi (Kambha), where he established a large stone pillar to mark the spot. All of Krishna’s pastime places are within the boundary established by Vajranabha and the Vraja Mandala Borderline-Parikrama travels around this particular boundary. Kambhi lies approximately twenty-two kilometers north of Kotban. The southern-most point on this borderline-parikrama is located at Baldeo in the south-east and Sonk in the south-west.
The distance from Kambhu to Baldeo is approximately seventy-seven kilometers (48 miles) which translates into twenty-four kosas or six yojanas. Therefore in both instances, Kotban does not in any way mark the border of Vraja Mandala (Vrindavana Dhama). The region of Vraja Mandala is mostly located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, with its western extremities west of Govardhana Hill located in Rajasthan and its northernmost extremities beyond Kotvan located in Haryana. This region which measures eighty-four kosas (168 miles) is very well demarcated culturally and considered by the inhabitants to be the sacred land of Krishna.
In this region the inhabitants known as Vrajavasis (Brijbasis) speak the local Hindi dialect closely related to Bhojpuri, known as Vrajabasha or Brijbasa, which is derived from the Sanskrit words ‘Vraja’ and ‘vasa’ (basha) meaning ‘speech’. The area of Vraja Mandala encompasses a number of major districts including: Mathura, Jalesar, Bharatpur, Agra, Hathras, Aligarh, Etah, Mainpuri and Farrukhabad. The major cities in the region include; Mathura, Agra, Jalesar, Bharatpur, Hathras, Dholpur, Aligarh, Etawah, Mainpuri, Etah, Kasganj, and Firozabad. There is a famous story that on one occasion Shrila Rupa Goswami had to travel to Agra for some official business which may have been for the purpose of registering land that was to be used for building the first of the Gaudiya Goswami temples.
Rupa was lamenting that he would have to leave the holy dhama, but Sanatana Goswami assured him that Agra was well inside the boundary of the holy dhama and that Agra was in fact one of the sacred upavanas or sub-forests of Vrindavana known as Agravana. The boundary of the holy dhama lies another thirty-five kilometers to the south of Agra at the place called Batesar (Bah) and therefore Agra is well within the circle of Vraja Mandala.
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