Goloka also known as Gauloka, Goloka Vrindavana, RadhaKrishnaloka or Gokula, is the eternal supreme abode of Lord Krishna and Radha. In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna is especially portrayed as the highest person who resides in Goloka. According to Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Krishna is the highest supreme lord and eternal one whose loka is above all. It is said that Goloka never vanishes and remains eternal like the Lord himself. Goloka is spread across a diameter of 3 crore yojanas; here, Lord Sri Krishna resides in his teenage form with all gop and gopies. Vaikunta is just south of Goloka and 5 crore yojanas away from it; here, four-handed Lord Narayana resides with his wife Godess Lakshmi. Shiva loka is situated to the north of Goloka; here, Lord Shiva resides with his consort and devotees. Both Vaikunta and Shiva loka are 1 crore yojanas in diameter. However, some texts point to the possibility that Vaikunta and Goloka are in fact equal in diameter. All the VaikuntaGoloka is mentioned in Vaishnavite schools such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Swaminarayan Sampraday, Pranami, Vallabha, Nimbarka Sampradaya, and in scriptures such as Pancharatra, Garga Samhita, Brahma Samhita, Brahma vaivarta, Devi Bhagvat puran in which Sri Krishna is depicted as the para Brahman who is the male form of Devi Bhagavati and the master of Goloka.
Etymology
Goloka means World of cows or Krishna's heaven The Sanskritwordgo refers to "cow" and "loka" is translated to as "realm" and not "planet". Lord Krishna is also known as Gaulokvihari since he is a resident of Goloka and his consort Radha is called Radhika. The Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Mumbai has two murtis dedicated to this particular form of the gods.
Description
A description of Goloka can be found in the Brahma Samhita on verse 5.29, "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." 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." Among all the eighteen puranas, The Brahma Vaivarta Purana explicitly describes Goloka Vrindavan to be about 500 million yojanas above Vaikuntha loka and expands till 30 million yojanas. The depiction is similar with a verse found in brahma samhita 5.43. Acharyas of Gaudiya Vaishnavaism explains it to be limitless. Both Vaikuntha and Goloka are considered to be Nitya Dhama which are not prone to annihilation even after the whole cosmic dissolution. Lord Krishna in his two-armed form eternally reside in the realm of Goloka and in his four-armed form, as Lord Vishnu he eternally resides in the realm of Vaikuntha loka.
All the Vaikuntha planets are said to be like petals of a lotus flower, and the principal part of that lotus, called Krsnaloka or Goloka Vrndāvana, is the center of all the Vaikunthas. Thus the expansions of Krsna in various forms, as well as His various abodes on the spiritual planets in the spiritual sky, are unlimited. Krsnaloka is divided into three different portions: Gokula, Mathurā and Dvārakā. As stated in Brahma-samhitā, all the Vaikuntha planets in the spiritual sky emanate from the predominating Deity of Krsnaloka, Goloka Vrndāvana, known as Bhagavan.
