:Goloka

Goloka literally means "World of cows".{{cite book |year=2017 |author=Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda |title=Shreemad Bhagavad Gita: The Song Of Love |publisher=PublishDrive |isbn=9783940381705 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJ3JDwAAQBAJ}} The Sanskrit word go refers to "cow" and loka is translated as "realm."

Krishna is also known as Gaulokvihari (vihari means "a resident of") since he is a resident of Goloka and his consort Radha is called Radhika.{{Cite journal|last=King|first=Anna S.|date=2012|title=Krishna's Cows: ISKCON's Animal Theology and Practice|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0179|journal=Journal of Animal Ethics|volume=2|issue=2|pages=179–204|doi=10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0179|jstor=10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0179|issn=2156-5414}}

File:Radha krishna.jpg

A description of Goloka can be found in the Brahma Samhita, verse 5.29:

{{Blockquote|text=I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of devotees resembling goddesses of fortune.{{Cite web|title=Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.43|url=https://vedabase.io/en/library/bs/5/43/|access-date=2021-08-30|website=vedabase.io|language=en}}|title=Brahma Samhita|source=Verse 5.29}}

Sanatana Goswami, an author of a number of important works in the bhakti tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, states, "Sri Goloka is considered the ultimate destination of spiritual endeavour."Śrĩla Sanãtana Goswãmĩ, Śrĩ Bṛhad Bhãgavatãmṛta, Dig-darśinĩ commentary to Part Two (Śrĩ-goloka-mãhãtmya) 1.24 (tr. Gopiparanadhana Dasa, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, p. 39){{ISBN|0-89213-346-5}}

The Brahma Vaivarta Purana explicitly describes Goloka Vrindavan to be about 500 million yojanas (4 billion miles) above Vaikuntha loka and expands till 30 million yojanas (240 million miles). The depiction is similar to a verse found in Brahma Samhita verse 5.43.

Acharyas of Gaudiya Vaishnavaism explain it to be limitless. Both Vaikuntha and Goloka are considered to be Nitya Dhama (the eternal realm of existence) which are not prone to annihilation even after the whole cosmic dissolution. Krishna in his two-armed form eternally resides in the realm of Goloka and in his four-armed form, as Vishnu he eternally resides in the realm of Vaikuntha loka.

Mention of Goloka is also found in other Puranas, such as Skanda Purana and Markandeya Purana. In Brihad-bhagavatamrita, Sanatana Goswami explains that this verse is quoted from the Skanda Purana and is spoken by Krishna to Arjuna:

{{Blockquote|Evam bahu-vidhai rupais caramiha vasundharam brahmalokam ca kaunteya golokam ca sanatanam.

"I move about in many forms on earth, in Brahmaloka, and in eternal Goloka, O Kaunteya."{{cite book |title=Sri Brahma Samhita: with the commentary Dig-darsani-tika of Sri Jiva Gosvami |publisher=The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust |year=2008 |isbn=9789171497093 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvthBAAAQBAJ&q=eternal+goloka&pg=PP51}}}}

In the Markandeya Purana, Krishna declares,{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

{{Blockquote|Golokam ca parityajya lokanam trana-karanat kalau gauranga-rupena lila-lavanya-vigrahah.

"In the Kali-Yuga, I will leave Goloka and, to save the people of the world, I will become the handsome and playful Lord Gauranga."}}

According to Jiva Goswami, Goloka, also called Vrindavan, is the highest spiritual planet and can be further manifested into three abodes, called Mathura, Dvārakā and Gokul, according to the difference in the pastimes and associates of Krishna.{{Cite book|last=Francis Bryant|first=Edwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC&dq=The+six+sandarbhas+of+Jiva+Gosvami&pg=PA373|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-019-514891-6|location=United States of America|pages=382}} Based on Rupa Goswami's Laghubhagavatamrita, Jiva Goswami asserts that Goloka is the transcendental prototype of the earthly Vrindavan, where Krishna performed his lilas.{{Cite book |last=Holdrege |first=Barbara A. |title=Bhakti and embodiment: fashioning divine bodies and devotional bodies in Kṛṣṇa bhakti |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-67070-8 |series=Routledge Hindu studies series |location=London; New York |pages=33–34}}

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