Vraja/Braj

Vraja is an old Sanskrit word that is now used to denote “Braj,” or the Braj region. Vraja/Braj/Brij presently denotes a particular geographical area in and around Mathura that is related to the childhood activities of Krishna (Skt. Kṛṣṇa), the most popular incarnation (avatar) of Lord Vishnu (Skt.Viṣṇu)—so important, in fact, that some of his most influential devotees consider that he is “God himself” (bhagavān svayam), as the Bhāgavata Purāṇa declares. The word vraja is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root dhātu (vraj), which means “go, walk, proceed,” implying “motion and movement.” In its early forms it can be used to designate areas where cows graze, but it may also refer to a cow pen or cattle shed. More broadly, it has to do with the culture of a semi-nomadic pastoral encampment. The modern-day term Braj, building on these meanings, denotes a conceptual as well as a geographic entity—the former related to the childhood of Krishna, the latter to the area on the banks of the River Yamuna where he is considered to have spent his childhood and youth. The language associated with this region is Brajbhasha [Skt.Brajbhāṣā], which came to have an almost canonical weight—along with Persian and Sanskrit—in Mughal times; for that reason, along with others, it came to be well known far beyond the geographical area of Braj itself. By no means is every usage of Brajbhasha to be associated with Krishna, although his imprint is often to be felt. Over the long course of time, then, we have, on the one hand, a sedimentation and localization of the term vraja (its geographical usage), and, on the other, an expansion of the term (its conceptual breadth and linguistic weight). Acknowledgement: Dr. John Stratton Hawley helped edit this article.