Nand Ghat
Nand Ghat is situated two miles south of Gopi Ghat and one mile south-east of Akshayavat.
Story
Once, Maharaj Nand performed an Ekadashi-vrat and took his bath here on Dvadashi night. This was an inauspicious time to bathe, and therefore the servants of Varun captured him and brought him before their master. News of Maharaja Nand's disappearance in the Yamuna so distressed the Brajvasis that, upon seeing their crying, Shri Krishna and Balram went to Varunlok to look for him. When Varundev saw Krishna before him, he offered prayers to Krishna and glorified Him. He then presented Him with gifts of various ornaments made of pearls, jewels and precious stones. He begged Krishna to forgive him for arresting Nand Baba. When Shri Krishna returned with His father, they met again with the Brajvasis at this place.
Story-2
Once, in a discussion on the scriptures, Jiv Goswami defeated a digvijayi pandit, a scholar who is victorious in debate all over the world. This scholar had wanted to edit the writings of Shri Rup Goswami, but the young Jiv Goswami was unable to tolerate this and defeated him at the Yamuna in Vrindavan. The scholar then approached Shri Rup Goswami to find out who this boy was, greatly praising the boy's erudition. With great humility, Shri Rup Goswami said, "He is my brother's son as well as my disciple." Understanding that Jiv had debated with the scholar, Shri Rup Goswami addressed Jiv as soon as the scholar had gone: "Jiv, could you not even tolerate an event as insignificant as this? Since you desire prestige, please leave this place at once." Dejected upon hearing the harsh disciplinary words of Shri Rup Goswami, Jiv Goswami left Vrindavan for Nand-ghat. There, on the bank of the Yamuna, in a dense and desolate forest, he lived in a crocodile hole. He maintained his life here somehow or other with great difficulty. Feeling intense separation from his Gurudev, sometimes he would drink flour mixed with water, and sometimes he would just fast. His body gradually dried up and became very thin. At that time, on the pretext of performing parikrama of Braj, Shri Sanatan Goswami came to Nand-ghat. He heard from the mouths of the Brajvasis the abundant glories of the young Bengali sadhu and his severe austerities. He went to Jiv Goswami, consoled him, and took him back to Vrindavan. Shri Sanatan Goswami then went alone to meet with Rup Goswami, leaving Jiv in his bhajan-kuti. At that time, Shri Rup Goswami was speaking to a group of Vaisnavas about bestowing mercy upon the Jivs. Midway through this discussion, Shri Sanatan Goswami asked, "You are instructing others to show mercy to the Jivs, but why are you not showing mercy to Jiv himself?" Shri Rup Goswami understood the hidden meaning behind the enigmatic words of his elder brother and spiritual master, and called for Shri Jiv. He saw to it that Jiv received medical care and engaged him in his service once again. It was while he was living at Nand-ghat that Shri Jiv Goswami composed his famous work known as the Sad-sandarbhas. Even today, the place where Jiv Goswami lived is known as Jiv Goswami's cave.
Bhaiya (Bhaya-Gaon)
Seeing the servants of Varun, Shri Nand Maharaj became fearful (bhaya-bhita). In memory of this, Vajranabh named this village Bhaya-gaon. This village lies close to Nand Ghat.
Gangrali
Gangrali is situated two miles south and slightly east of Chirghat. It also lies two miles north of Bhaya-gaon.
Vatsavan (Basai-Gaon)
Vatsavan lies four miles south-west of Nand-ghat. Because Brahma stole the cows and cowherd boys here, it is known as Vatsavan or Bachchhavan. The names of this place derive from the words vatsa and bachhda, which both mean "calf". The present name of the village is Basai-gaon. Places of darshan here are the temple of Shri Vatsa-bihariji, the place of Gvala Mandali, Gvala-kund, Haribol-tirth and Shri Vallabhacharya's sitting-place (baithaka).
Story
Once, while Shri Krishna and the cowherd boys were grazing the calves on the bank of the Yamuna the calves came to this forest. Krishna and the sakhas played all kinds of games in the soft sand of the Yamuna. Four-headed Brahma had been astonished to see Aghasur's soul enter Krishna's lotus feet and become liberated. Desiring to see more of Bhagvan Shri Krishna's sweet pastimes, he stole the calves when they entered this forest and hid them in a cave.
Krishna and the cowherd boys became filled with anxiety upon noticing that the calves were nowhere to be seen. Leaving the sakhas here, Krishna went out alone to search for the calves. Unable to find them, He returned to the bank of the Yamuna where He had left his sakhas. In Krishna's absence, Brahma had also hidden away the sakhas. Shri Krishna is all-powerful and full in the six opulences [3] and He therefore understood Brahma's actions. Personally assuming forms identical to His calves and cowherd boys, including their sticks, clothes, flutes, horns and so forth, He continued His pastimes as before. This went on for one year. Even Baldev could not understand the mystery of what had occurred. Finally, after one year, Baldev, who had observed some extraordinary occurrence, was able to understand that Krishna had expanded Himself as the cows and cowherd boys and was performing a pastime. At that same time, Brahma was amazed to see that the same calves and cowherd boys that he had put to sleep in a cave were now performing pastimes with Krishna just like before. He was completely astonished. Shri Krishna then removed Yogmaya's curtain of bewilderment. When Brahma realized the supreme godliness (bhagvatta) of Shri Krishna and saw His astounding activities, he offered prostrated obeisances at His lotus feet and began to recite prayers and glorify Him.[4]
“O Lord, You are fit to receive the worship of the entire universe. 0 son of the king of cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your gunja earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn, a flute, and a morsel of grain mixed with yoghurt in Your hand, You are most attractive. Your lotus feet are very soft. I offer my prayers unto You.” Brahma prayed to take birth in Braj-Gokul and to bathe in its dust.