Gokula is the settlement of the gopas (cowherds) and gopīs, the cowherd families led by Nanda. It lies near the river Yamunā, in the wider region of Vraja, which includes Vṛndāvana and the land around it. Vasudeva brought the infant Kṛshṇa here on the night of his birth, and Kṛshṇa spent his earliest childhood years here. Gokula is a sacred place because it is the scene of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s bāla-līlā (childhood pastimes): the killing of Pūtanā, the Dāmodara Līlā, the freeing of Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva, and the daily life of Nanda’s household that the Bhāgavata describes with love.

Nature and setting

Gokula is a gopa settlement, a community of cattle-herding families living in a forested, pastoral land. The name means “community of cows”: go is cow and kula is family or community. All of life in Gokula turns around cows, calves, pastures and the rhythm of herding. Nanda was its leader, a wealthy and respected gopa householder, and his house was the centre of the community’s social and religious life.

The twin arjuna trees stood in Nanda’s courtyard. Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva, the sons of Kubera, had been placed there as trees by Nārada’s śāpa (curse), and the trees were a landmark of the household. The gośālā (cowshed) was the place of Garga Muni’s secret nāmakaraṇa (naming ceremony). The butter-pots, the churning place and the open courtyard all belong to the story of Kṛshṇa’s infancy and early childhood. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells of these in the 10th Skanda, Chapters 5–10.

Rohiṇī’s refuge

When Kaṃsa began to persecute the Yādava clan after the ākāśavāṇī (the voice from the sky), the wives of Vasudeva, except Devakī, fled to safe places. Rohiṇī took refuge in Gokula, under the protection of Nanda. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa agrees. In the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa tells Yogamāyā, “Go to Nanda’s Gokula. Vasudeva’s wife Rohiṇī is living there in safety.”

In Gokula Rohiṇī received the foetus of Balarāma, which had been moved to her, and she gave birth to him there. So Gokula was the first place of preparation for the avatāra, before Kṛshṇa himself arrived. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the 10th Skanda, Chapter 2.

Kṛshṇa arrives in Gokula

On the night of Kṛshṇa’s birth in Mathurā, Vasudeva carried the infant across the Yamunā. The waters of the river parted and touched the feet of the child as he was carried. Vasudeva reached Nanda’s settlement in Gokula while all the people slept under the influence of Yogamāyā. He laid the infant Kṛshṇa beside the sleeping Yaśodā, took up the newborn girl (Yogamāyā) and went back to Mathurā before anyone woke.

In the morning the gopas woke and found that Yaśodā had given birth to a son. The jananotsava (birth celebration) followed, with musicians, dancers, gifts to the brāhmaṇas and generous feeding of the community. Gokula rejoiced at the arrival of the one who would be known simply as Nanda’s son. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the 10th Skanda, Chapters 3–5.

Childhood līlās of Gokula

The main childhood deeds of Kṛshṇa happened in Gokula and the land close to it. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells them in the 10th Skanda, Chapters 6–10.

Pūtanā Vadha. The rākshasī Pūtanā came to Gokula disguised as a beautiful woman and tried to poison the infant Kṛshṇa with her breast. Kṛshṇa drew out her life-breath and gave her liberation.
Śakaṭāsura Vadha. An asura hidden in a cart was killed by the infant Kṛshṇa’s kick.
Tṛṇāvarta Vadha. An asura in the form of a whirlwind carried Kṛshṇa into the sky and was killed by the weight of the child.
Dāmodara Līlā. Yaśodā caught Kṛshṇa stealing butter and tried to bind him to a mortar. Kṛshṇa dragged the mortar, uprooted the twin arjuna trees, and freed Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva.
Garga Muni’s nāmakaraṇa. It was done in secret at night in the gośālā, where the children received their sacred names.

Departure to Vṛndāvana

As Kṛshṇa grew from infant to toddler to young boy, strange and frightening events piled up: asuras arriving in Gokula, the twin trees falling, and troubles in Nanda’s household. The elder gopa Upānanda advised the community to move, because the place had become too dangerous, and he proposed the forest of Vṛndāvana. The community agreed, and the gopas and gopīs moved their households and cattle to Vṛndāvana. The Gokula years gave way to the Vṛndāvana years. Gokula remains the sacred ground of Kṛshṇa’s earliest years, where he took his first breaths on this earth. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the 10th Skanda, Chapter 11.

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 2–11
Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 2 and 7