brihad bhagavatamrita 7

8/14/2019 Brihad Bhagavatamrita 7

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VII

Purna:The CompletePerfection

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TEXT 1[qParqi+aduvac

wTQa& SaPairvarSYa MaaTaSTaSYaaiTaRraedNaE" )b]a


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TEXT 2

Ta}aaNYabaeDak-a>aavaTSvYaMaaGaaTauMauR%" )v*Taae vedPauraaaJa& Pa[ePa[arPa[k-$=NaaeTaMa( ))

MahaNaaraYa


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PRA: The CompletePERFECTION/ 625

nigha-nija-mhtmya-bhara-prakaanoddhatam

mah-nryaa brahmpitara gurum tmana

sa-camatkram lokyadhvasta-dhairyo rudat kaam

tam Him; aprva unprecedented; da a condition; bh-

jam who assumed;preha for His beloved friends;praaya out of love; ktaram distressed; nigha hidden; nijaHis own; mhtmya-bhara of all the greatness;prakaanain revealing; uddhatam bold; mah-nryaam the origi-nal Nryaa; brahm Brahm;pitaram the father; gurum and spiritual master; tmana of himself; sa-camatkram with surprise; lokya seeing; dhvasta who had lost;dhairya his gravity; arudat he cried; kaam for a

moment.

Brahm found his own father and spiritual master, theoriginal Nryaa, in an unprecedented state, distressed

by love for His beloved devotees. Seeing the Lord thus boldly revealing His true greatness, normally hidden,Brahm was astonished. For a moment he too lost his grav-

ity and began to cry.

COMMENTARY:Brahm is not just the main engineer of universalcreation but also an intimate loving servant of the Supreme Lord,and that Supreme Lord Himself is not just the ultimate origin ofcreation but also the greatest loving servant of His devotees.Kas highest glories are not to be found in His pastime ofcreating the material world so that rebellious souls may indulgetheir perverted intentions.

Earlier in Kas pastimes, Brahm had visited Vraja-bhmiand discovered Kas true glories in the ecstatic relationshipsbetween Ka and His pure devotees. Now, in Dvrak, Brahmis being granted further realization: he is learning that Kas


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most wonderful qualities are His concern for His devotees andHis submission to their control. Realizing this, Brahm can now

more fully understand Kas identity as the original SupremeLord, Nryaa. Brahm was not ignorant of these matters be-fore, but seeing in such a helpless state his own progenitor, whohad taught him the Vedas, shocked Brahm into a deeper real-ization. When Brahm saw Ka in distress, he himself couldnot help but cry.

TEXT 5

Sa&STa>Ya YaadaTMaaNa& SvaSQYa& JaNaiYaTau& Pa[>aae" )oPaaYa& icNTaYaaMaaSa Pa[aPa caNaNTar& id ))

sastabhya yatnd tmnasvsthya janayitu prabho

upya cintaym saprpa cnantara hdi

sastabhya bringing under control;yatnt with some dif-ficulty; tmnam himself; svsthyam to normality;jana-

yitum to restore;prabho the Lord; upyam a means;cintaym sa he thought about;prpa he found; caand; anantaram soon after; hdi in his heart.

With difficulty, Brahm brought himself under controland started thinking of how to restore his Lord to normal.Soon an idea came into his heart.

TEXT 6

Ta}aEv >aGavTPaaeR dNTa& ivNaTaaSauTaMa( )oE" SaMbaeDYa YaeNa SabaeDaqk*==TYa Saae_vdTa( ))

tatraiva bhagavat-prverudanta vinat-sutam


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uccai sambodhya yatnenasabodh-ktya so vadat

tatra there; eva indeed; bhagavat of the Lord;prveat the side; rudantam crying; vinat-sutam Garua, the sonof Vinat; uccai in a loud voice; sambodhya addressing;

yatnena with some effort; sa-bodh-ktya getting his atten-tion; sa he; avadat said.

Crying at the Lords side was Garua, the son of Vinat.Garuas attention was hard to get, but after calling to himloudly for some time, Brahm succeeded. Brahm thenspoke.

TEXTS 78

[qb]aevacYaC^\qv*NdavNa& MaDYae rEvTaaid]SaMaud]Yaae" )[qMaNdYaXaaedaidPa[iTaMaal/x(k*==TaaNTarMa( ))

GaaeYaUQaESTaad*XaEYauR&- ricTa& ivk-MaR


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Raivata Mountain; samudrayo and the sea; rmat-nandaof rmn Nanda;yaod Yaod; di and others;pratim

with replicas; alakta adorned; antaram within; go-ythai with herds of cows; tdai similar; yuktamreplete; racitam built; vivakarma by Vivakarm; rjate is manifest; mthuram in the district of Mathur; sktdirectly; vndvanam the Vndvana; iva as if; gatamcome.

r Brahm said: There is another r Vndvana here, be-tween Raivata Hill and the sea. And Nanda, Yaod, andothers are present within it in replica images, with similarherds of cows. That Vndvana, constructed by Vivakarm,appears just like the Vndvana of Mathur come here toDvrak.

TEXT 9

Ta}aeMa& SaaGa]Ja& YaaQaavSQa& XaNaENaRYa )ke-vl&/ YaaTau Ta}aEza raeih


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find out that They are still in Dvrak-dhma, and Their devoteesshould not be allowed to spoil the illusion by following Them.

Rohi can come along, because she knows how to conduct her-self intelligently, and especially because she used to live in Vraja-bhmi and will therefore seem in place. The replica Vndvanawas constructed by Vivakarm, the architect of the demigods.But to duplicate the Vraja-vss was beyond his skill. He couldntmake copies of unique devotees like Nanda, Yaod, and theother senior cowherd people, r Rdhik and the other young

gops, or rdm and Kas other gopafriends. But he was ableto fashion static images of the Vraja-vss lifelike enough to fooleven Ka. In the overall impression created, Nava-vndvanawas practically indistinguishable from the original, down to thesmall details of plant and animal life.

TEXT 10

[qParqi+aduvacPa[YaaTSvSQaTaa& NaqTaae b]


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COMMENTARY:Garua was dexterous enough to move Kaand Balarma without waking Them, and clever enough to

understand that this scheme would break the trance of Kasbewilderment.

TEXT 11

SvSQaaNa& >aeiJare SaveR cTauvRe-


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skt directly; iva as if; avatihante they stood around;yatra where; tat His; gopa-gopik cowherd men and

women.

Upon arriving at Nava-vndvana, Garua and Balarmagently placed Ka on a bed. The gopas and gops of Nava-

vndvana stood around Him, as if they were Kas realcowherd men and women.

TEXTS 1314

oveNa SahaGaTYa devk==I Pau}avTSal/a )iKMaaaMaaa deVYa" PaavTaq c Saa ))

Taad*GdXaaGaTa& k*-Z


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Uddhava came there with Devak, who dearly loved herson, and also with Rukmi, Satyabhm, other queens,

and Padmvat. They simply couldnt leave Ka in such astate. So at Brahms request they hid themselves and took

up positions some distance away, from where they couldstill see Ka.

COMMENTARY:Some of the devotees hid themselves within thetrees, and others resorted to various other kinds of camouflage.

TEXTS 1516

NaardSTau k*==TaaGaSk-iMavaTMaaNaMaMaNYaTa )devaNaa& YaadvaNaa& c Sae_Gaa ku==TaUhl/aTa( ))

ivYaTYaNTaihRTaae >aUTva bd(Ek&- YaaeGaPak-Ma( )iNaivae >aGaveaMaaDauYaaRNau>avaYa Sa" ))

nradas tu ktgaskamivtmnam amanyata

devn ydavn casage gn na kuthalt

viyaty antarhito bhtvbaddhvaika yoga-paakam

nivio bhagavac-ce-mdhurynubhavya sa

nrada Nrada; tu but; kta having committed; gas-kam an offense; iva as if; tmnam himself; amanyata considered; devnm of the demigods;ydavnm ofthe Ydavas; ca and; sage in the company; agt na hedid not go; kuthalt out of curiosity; viyati in the sky;antarhita hidden; bhtv becoming; baddhv fixing;ekam one; yoga-paakam meditational sitting posture;nivia seated; bhagavat of the Personality of Godhead;


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ce of the activities; mdhurya the sweetness; anubha-vya in order to observe; sa he.

Nrada, however, thinking he had committed an offense,did not accompany the demigods and the Ydavas. Instead

with great curiosity he hid himself in the midst of the sky,fixing himself in a yoga sitting posture, to observe thesweetness of the Lords acts.

COMMENTARY:It was Nrada who had made Ka so unsettledby mentioning the present state of the Vraja-vss. Nrada there-fore thought himself an offender. In fact, however, he had notacted offensively, as Parkit Mahrja here indicates with theword iva(as if). Later in this chapter we shall hear Ka ex-plain why Nrada should not blame himself.

TEXT 17

Ga@aePair VYaaeMNa" iSQaTvaPa[TYa+aMaaTMaNa" )Pa+aa>YaaMaacr&X^aYaaMaNvvTaRTa Ta& Pa[>auMa( ))

garua copari vyomna

sthitvpratyakam tmanapakbhym cara chymanvavartata ta prabhum

garua Garua; ca and; upari above; vyomna inthe sky; sthitv stationed; apratyakam invisibly; tmana with his own;pakbhym wings; caran making; ch-ym shade; anvavartata followed; tam Him; prabhum his master.

Garua positioned himself even higher in the sky, invisibly following his master to provide shade with hiswings.


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TEXT 18

AQa k*-Z


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kahe kadamba-ml cabarhpa ca mrdhani

nava gujvatasa cakarayor nidadhe anai

kipram quickly; svasya His own; anu-jasya His youngerbrothers; api and; sammrjya wiping clean; vadana-ambujam the lotus faces; vastra of His garment; udara-antare in the waist; vam a flute; ga a buffalo horn;

vetre a stick; ca and; hastayo in His hands; kahearound the neck; kadamba-mlm a garland ofkadambaflowers; ca and; barha-pam a peacock-feather orna-ment; ca and; mrdhani on the head; navam new;guj-avatasam rings ofgujberries; ca and; karayo on the ears; nidadhe placed; anai gradually.

Balarma quickly cleaned His own lotus face and that ofHis younger brother. Then He gently placed a flute in the

waist of Kas dhot, a buffalo horn and stick in Kashands, a garland of kadamba flowers around His neck, apeacock-feather ornament on His head, and newly fash-ioned rings of guj berries on His ears.

TEXT 21

rciYaTva vNYaveXa& Tv*k-iLPaTavSTaui>a" )bl/aduTQaaPaYaNa( Da*Tvab]vqduTarSvrE" ))

racayitv vanya-veatva-kalpita-vastubhi

bald utthpayan dhtv-bravd uccatara-svarai

racayitv arranging; vanya of the forest; veam an out-fit; tva by Vivakarm; kalpita produced; vastubhiwith items; balt by physical effort; utthpayan raising Him;


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dhtv taking hold; bravt addressed; ucca-tara veryloud; svarai in a voice.

Thus having arranged a forest outfit for Ka with itemsmade by Vivakarm, Balarma with some effort liftedKa and then spoke to Him loudly.

COMMENTARY:While dressing Ka for the forest, Balarmaalso dressed Himself. The special items required were native to

Vraja and unavailable in Dvrak, but Vivakarm, who had athis disposal all the creative skills of the demigods, had madeconvincing substitutes for real kadambaflowers, gujberries,and so on.

TEXT 22

[qbl/dev ovac[qk*-Za]aTaitaaeita JaaGa*ih )PaXYaa vel/aiTa-aNTaa ivXaiNTa PaXavae vNaMa( ))

r-baladeva uvcar-ka ka bho bhrtar

uttihottiha jghi

paydya veltikrntvianti paavo vanam

r-baladeva uvca r Baladeva said; r-ka r Ka;ka Ka; bho O; bhrta dear brother; uttiha utti-ha get up, get up;jghi wake from sleep; paya justsee; adya now; vel the hour; atikrnt has passed;vianti are entering;paava the animals; vanam the

forest.

r Baladeva said: r Ka, Ka, My dear brother! Getup, get up! Wake up from Your sleep! Just see, it is nowgetting late. The cows are already entering the forest.


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TEXT 23

[qdaMaaa vYaSYaa iSQaTaa >avdPae+aYaa )eheNa iPaTaraE ik-i Xa-aE >aaizTau& TviYa ))

rdmdy vayasy casthit bhavad-apekay

snehena pitarau kicinna aktau bhitu tvayi

rdm-dy rdm and others; vayasy friends ofthe same age; ca and; sthit are standing; bhavat forYou; apekay with expectation; snehena due to affection;pitarau Your parents; kicit anything; na not; aktauare able; bhitum to say; tvayi to You.

rdm and Your other friends are here waiting for You.

And Your parents are so filled with love that they cannoteven speak to You.

COMMENTARY:Kas friends are responsible for the cows, sowhen the impatient cows started to go ahead the boys shouldhave followed them. But Balarma indicates that the boys weretoo attached to Ka to leave without Him. Kas mother and

father should have called Ka to get up out of bed and go afterthe cows, but Nanda and Yaod, according to Balarma, werealso distracted by ecstasy. In fact, however, Nanda, Yaod, thecowherd boys, and the other Nava-vndvana-vss were uncon-scious dolls, immobile and unable to say or do anything to re-spond to any attempts Ka might make to communicate withthem.

TEXT 24

PaXYaNTYaSTae Mau%aM>aaeJaiMaMaa GaaePYa" ParSParMa( )k-


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payantyas te mukhmbhojamim gopya parasparam

karkaritay kicidvadantyas tv hasanti hi

payantya watching; te Your; mukha-ambhojam lotusface; im these; gopya gops;parasparam among oneanother; kara-karitay whispering in the ears; kicitsomething; vadantya saying; tvm at You; hasantitheyare laughing; hi certainly.

These gops are watching Your lotus face and laughing atYou as they whisper something in one anothers ears.

COMMENTARY:The gopsmight be commenting to one anotherabout why Ka is still so tired this late in the morning. Theyknow that Ka must have been awake through most of the night

enjoying with His beloved, and they might be noticing signs ofthis on Kas lotus face.

TEXTS 2526

[qParqi+aduvacwTQa& Pa[JaLPaTaa>aq+a Sal/al/NaMa( )

AahUYaMaaNaae hSTaa>Yaa& caLYaMaaNaae ble/Na c ))

raMae


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vadan iva iveti drgudatihat sa-vismayam

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; ittham in this way;pra-jalpat freely talking; abhkam for some time; nmabhi by names; ca and; sa-llanam with caressing; hyam-na being called; hastbhym with the arms; clyamna being moved; balena by force; ca and; rmea byBalarma; utthpyamna being raised; asau He; sajm to full consciousness; iva as if; cirt after a long time;gata came back; vadan saying; iva iva iva, iva;iti thus; drk suddenly; udatihat He stood up; sa-vismayam with astonishment.

r Parkit said: In this way Balarma filled the scene withtalk. He called Ka by His various names, caressed Him,and dragged Him around in His arms until Ka finally

got up and came back to some sort of consciousness. Kauttered the words iva, iva! and suddenly stood up, alook of surprise on His face.

COMMENTARY:It was not easy to awaken Ka. Balarma triedkissing and embracing Him, calling Him by His names like Ka,Gopla, and Govinda, and coaxing Him tenderly. When all elsefailed, Balarma resorted to physical force, dragging Ka out of

bed. Ka finally woke up, but He was still a little bewildered,as implied by the word iva, which indicates that He seemed tocome back to normal consciousness.

TEXT 27

oNMaqLYa Nae}ak-Male/ SaMPaXYaNa( PairTaae >a*XaMa( )

SMaYaMaaNa" Paurae NaNd& d*a h]q


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unmlya opening; netra-kamale His lotus eyes; sampayan looking; parita around; bham quickly; smayamna

smiling; pura in front; nandam Nanda; dv see-ing; hra embarrassed; nanma He bowed down; tam to him.

Ka opened His lotus eyes, smiled, and quickly lookedaround. Seeing Nanda in front of Him, He felt embarrassedand bowed down to him.

COMMENTARY:Ka first laughed at Himself for having slept solong, but when He saw His father waiting for Him He feltashamed. He bowed down because He had been taught to al-ways offer respect to His father immediately after waking.

TEXT 28

Ab]vqTPaaRTaae vq+Ya YaXaaeda& c hSaNMauda )ehatadaNaNaNYaSTaiNaiNaRMaeze+a


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erly love. Vivakarms illusion seemed to be working effec-tively, at least while Ka was still a little bewildered.

TEXT 29

[q>aGavaNauvacA Pa[>aaTae >aae MaaTariSMaev +aaUPaa iNaiJaRTaa" Saui%Taa" Saura" ))


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madhu-purym ito gatvdu kasdayo hat

jarsandhdayo bhpnirjit sukhit sur

madhu-purym to Madhupur (Mathur); ita from here;gatv going; du wicked persons; kasa-dayaKasa and others; hat killed; jarsandha-daya Jar-sandha and others; bh-p kings; nirjit defeated; sukhi-t satisfied; sur the demigods.

I saw that I had gone from here to Madhupur. There I sawwicked men like Kasa slain, kings like Jarsandha van-quished, and the demigods satisfied.

COMMENTARY:Various deeds Ka performed in Mathur, likeHis killing of the demon Naraka, were meant specifically to

please the demigods.

TEXT 31

iNaiMaRTaaM>aaeiNaDaeSTaqre ark-a:Yaa MahaPaurq )NaaNYav*taaiNa XaKYaNTae_DauNaa k-QaiYaTau& JavaTa( ))

nirmitmbho-nidhes tredvrakkhy mah-pur

nnya-vttni akyantedhun kathayitu javt

nirmita constructed; ambha-nidhe of the ocean; treon the shore; dvrak-khy called Dvrak; mah-pura great city; na not; anya other; vttni occurrences;

akyante can be; adhun now; kathayitum described;javt because of haste.

A great city called Dvrak was built on the shore of theocean, and so many other things happened. But now thereisnt time enough to tell you about them all.


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TEXT 32

ANaeNa SvPanivganeNa dqgaeRaaVYa& Na MaNYaTae )

>avTaa cetadar


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bho O; rya respected brother; tat this; mah-caryam most wonderful matter; asambhvyam impossible; na man-

yate is not thought; bhavat by You; cet if; tad then;araye to the forest; gatv going; vakymi I shall ex-plain; vistart in detail.

Dear respected brother, if You dont think this wonderfulmatter impossible, Ill explain it to You in detail when Wego to the forest.

COMMENTARY:Baladeva might think that one could not see sucha complex dream in just a few minutes just before waking. Katherefore assures Him that this was a dream He really had. Laterin the morning, Ka says, when They have some time to sittogether, He will gladly describe it all.

TEXT 34

[qParqi+aduvacWv& SaM>aaZYa JaNaNaqMai>avN Sa SaadrMa( )vNa>aaeGYaePSaural/+Ya raeihajYaa ))

r-parkid uvcaeva sambhya jananm

abhivandya sa sdaramvana-bhogyepsur lakya

rohiyokto ty-abhijay

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; evam thus; sambhya speaking;jananm to His mother; abhivandya honoring;sa He; sa-daram reverentially; vana for the forest;bhogya of food; psu desirous; lakya being noticed;rohiy by Rohi; ukta addressed; ati-abhijay whowas very expert.

r Parkit said: After speaking in this way, Ka offeredHis mother proper respects. Then the very expert Rohi


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sensed that Ka wanted some food to take with Him tothe forest.

COMMENTARY: While in the forest, one generally eats suchsimple things as rice mixed with yogurt. By observing the wayKa moved His lotus hands and by other signs of His bodylanguage, Rohi, smart and practical, discerned that Ka wasthinking about such forest food. She quickly reasoned that sincethe artificial Mother Yaod could not provide Kas meal or

even say anything, Ka might become suspicious if He were toask food from Yaod and she failed to respond. To avoid thispotential disaster, Rohi moved into action before Ka couldsay anything about being hungry.

TEXT 35

[qraeihaae vTSa Tav MaaTaa Taid]aiDaKYaicNTaYaa )Tvdek-Pau}aa du"SQaev Tadl&/ bhuvaTaRYaa ))

r-rohiy uvcabho vatsa tava mtdya

tan-nidrdhikya-cintay

tvad-eka-putr dusthevatad ala bahu-vrtay

r-rohi uvca r Rohi said; bho O; vatsa child;tava Your; mt mother; adya today; tat this; nidr of sleeping; dhikya about the excess; cintaywithworry; tvat You; eka whose only; putr son; dusthill; iva as if; tat therefore; alam enough; bahu withmuch; vrtay talk.

r Rohi said: Dear child, Your mother has no other sonbut You. She was so worried today by Your extra sleepingthat now she feels a bit ill. So I think we have talked enough.


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TEXT 36

AGa]Taae iNa"Sa*Taa GaaSTv& GaaePaa&aNauSar d]uTaMa( )MaYaaePaSk*-TYa SaaeGYa& vNaMaDYae Pa[heZYaTae ))

agrato nist gs tvagop cnusara drutam

mayopasktya sad-bhogyavana-madhye praheyate

agrata ahead; nist have gone out; g the cows;tvam You; gop the cowherd boys; ca and; anusara go follow; drutam quickly; may by me; upasktyabeing prepared; sat nice; bhogyam refreshments; vana-madhye into the forest;praheyate will be sent.

The cows and the boys tending them have already goneahead. You should quickly follow them. I will preparesome nice refreshments for You and send them to You inthe forest.

TEXTS 3738

[qParqi+aduvacTaQaa vdNTaq=& SauiGDaa& raeihava Sa" )iSQaTa& k-rTale/ MaaTauNaRvNaqTa& XaNaEhRSaNa( ))

caEYaeRauJae ga*


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cauryeaiva samdyanija-jyeha samhvayan

aprpygre gav sagegata na bubhuje gh

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; tath thus; vadantmspoken; su-snigdhm very affectionate; rohim to Rohi;ca and; abhivdya offering respects; sa He; sthitamsituated; kara-tale in the hand; mtu of His mother; nava-ntam fresh butter; anai slowly; hasan smiling; caur-

yea as theft; eva even; samdya taking; nija His;jyeham to the older brother; samhvayan calling out;aprpya not reaching; agre ahead; gavm the cows;sage the company; gatam gone; na bubhuje He didnot eat; gh generous.

r Parkit said: Ka offered His respects to Rohi, who

had spoken to Him with such love. Then, with a smileon His face, like a thief He stealthily took from MotherYaods hand the butter she was holding. He then left to join His older brother, calling out His name. GenerousKa did not eat this butter before reaching the cows.

COMMENTARY:It seems from Kas cooperative response thatHe trusted Rohis word as much as Mother Yaods. He told

Rohi I bow down to your feet and offered her obeisances.Vivakarm knew that Ka loves fresh butter and that MotherYaod therefore often has some in her hand ready to give toHim. Vivakarm had fashioned his image of Yaod accordingly.While Ka was occupied with Rohi and Yaod, Balarma,thinking that Ka was back to normal, had already gone ahead.He also had a confidential reason for leaving Ka behind,

namely to leave Ka free to meet alone with the gops.

TEXT 39

>aaeGYa& MaaDYaaik=&= ca$u=Paa$=veNa SvMaaTaraE )SaMPa[aQYaR PaurTaae GaTva GaaePaq" SaM>aaZYa NaMaRi>a" ))


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bhogya mdhyhnika cu-pavena sva-mtarau

samprrthya purato gatvgop sambhya narmabhi

bhogyam food; mdhya-ahnikam for the midday; cu-pavena in a clever way; sva-mtarau His two mothers;samprrthya having requested; purata forth; gatv go-ing; gop the gops;sambhya engaging in conversation;narmabhi with joking words.

In expertly pleasing words, Ka had asked His twomothers to make lunch for Him. Then He had set off, andon the way He had met some of the gops and enjoyedsome joking talks.

COMMENTARY:Kas plaintive way of begging to be fed was

devised to give His mothers the greatest pleasure. All of Kasdealings in Vraja were meant to give pleasure to His devotees.

TEXT 40

NDaaNaae vea" )raiDak-aMaGa]Taae l/Ba SaNaMaRiSMaTaMab]vqTa( ))

rundhno veu-ndair gvartamn sahlibhi

rdhikm agrato labdhvsa-narma-smitam abravt

rundhna making stop; veu of His flute; ndaiwith the vibrations; g the cows; vartamnm who was

present; saha-libhi with Her girlfriends; rdhikm rRdhik; agrata ahead; labdhv finding; sa-narma withwitty comments; smitam and smiles; abravt He spoke.

As He continued walking, playing His flute to keep thecows from wandering off, He then came upon r Rdhik


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prptam obtained; bhaktam to Your devotee; ekkinamalone; ca and; mm Me; sambhase You speak; katham

why; na not; adya today; tat thus; kim with what;vtt busy; asi You are; mnin proud lady.

r Nanda-nandana said: O mistress of My soul, why dontYou speak to Me, Your devotee, whom Youve now met in asecret place? What are You so busy with, My proud lady?

TEXT 42

AParaDa& MaYaa ik&- Tae NaUNa& jaTaMahae TvYaa )SavRje_TaNaSvPanv*ta& TataNMaMaai%l/Ma( ))

apardha may ki tenna jtam aho tvay

sarva-je dyatana-svapna-vtta tat tan mamkhilam

apardham offense; may by Me; kim what; teagainstYou; nnam indeed; jtam known; aho oh; tvayby You; sarva-je O knower of everything; adyatana of to-day; svapna in the dream; vttam what happened; tattat various; mama My; akhilam all.

How did I offend You? O omniscient one, You must knoweverything that happened today in My dream.

COMMENTARY: There was no other evident reason for rmatRdhrs being angry at Him, so Ka concluded She musthave been upset because of His dream that morning. She must

have had the mystic power of knowing everything, past, present,and future, including what He had dreamed, what He had re-vealed to His mother about His dream, and what He was goingto say to r Rdh about it. Ka began presenting thesethoughts to rmat Rdhr, hoping to divert Her from Heranger. He was not put off by Her standing silent like a statue,


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because in the past His girlfriends in Vraja had acted like thismany times when the excessive ecstasy of love for Him had left

them stunned. They often reacted this way to His joking wordswhen shocked by the strength of His wit. And in His presentunusual mood He could easily imagine that r Rdh was refus-ing to speak to Him because She was angry.

TEXT 43

Tva& ivhaYaaNYaTaae GaTva ivvaha bhv" k*-Taa" )TaaSaa& i+aiTaPaPau}aq


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in a mans house, no respectable princes would ever marrythem. Only Ka could save them from a shame they could

otherwise end only by suicide, and only He could marry them all.

TEXT 44

ASTau TaaviddaNaq=& Tad( GaMYaTae TvrYaa vNae )SaNTaaezde Pa[daeze_ MaYaa Tv& MaaediYaZYaSae ))

astu tvad idn tadgamyate tvaray vane

santoa-de pradoe dyamay tva modayiyase

astu let that be; tvat as it may; idnm now; tat thus;gamyate I have to go; tvaray quickly; vane to the for-est; santoa-de O giver of satisfaction;pradoe at dusk;adya today; may with Me; tvam You; modayiyasewill enjoy.

Anyway, right now I have to go to the forest. Tonight atdusk, O bestower of satisfaction, You will enjoy with Me.

TEXT 45

[qParqi+aduvacwTQa& SaPauZPaiv+aePa& vdNa( d*a idXaae_i%l/a" )Taa& SacuMbNaMaail/&GYa GaaeGaaePaE" SaTaae_Ga]Ta" ))

r-parkid uvcaittha sa-pupa-vikepa

vadan dv dio khilt sa-cumbanam ligya

go-gopai sagato grata

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; ittham thus; sa with;pupa of flowers; vikepam a throw; vadan saying; dv


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looking; dia in the directions; akhil all; tm Her;sa-cumbanam with kisses; ligya embracing; go with

the cows; gopai and the cowherd boys; sagata to meet;agrata forward.

r Parkit continued: Having said this, Ka threw ahandful of flowers at r Rdh, looked all around, andthen embraced and kissed Her. He then went ahead tomeet the cows and cowherd boys.

TEXT 46

Ad*PaUv| v]JaveXaMauTa&MahaMaNaaej& Maurl/IrvaiNvTaMa( )

YadaNv>aUTeh>are


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Aail/Na& cuMbNaMaPYaDaavd(

DaTau| hir& bahuYauGa& Pa[SaaYaR ))vddh ca matt saha satyabhmay

kmasya vegd anukurvat muhuligana cumbanam apy adhvad

dhartu hari bhu-yuga prasrya

vddh the old lady (Padmvat); ca and; matt intoxi-

cated; saha-satyabhmay along with Satyabhm; kmasya of lust; vegt because of the force; anukurvat actingout; muhu repeatedly; liganam embracing; cumbanam kissing; api and; adhvat ran after; dhartum to catch;harim Ka; bhu-yugam her two arms;prasryaextending.

Even old Padmvat became intoxicated. Driven by lust,she as well as Satyabhm acted out embracing and kissingKa again and again and ran after Him, arms extended,to try to catch Him.

TEXT 49

Paura TadQaaRNau>avaidvaSaaEk-QaidaidTYaSauTaavl/MBYa )XaMa& SaMa& Pa[ajvraeveNa

bl/aik*-ZYaavraeDa Tae e ))

pur tad-arthnubhavd ivsaukathacid ditya-sutvalambya

ama sama prja-varoddhavenabald vikyvarurodha te dve

pur in earlier times; tat-artha in such matters; anubhavt because of being experienced; iva indeed; asau she;kathacit somehow; ditya-sut Klind, the daughter of


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the sun-god; avalambya resorting; amam to calmness; sa-mam along with;prja of wise persons; var the best;

uddhavena Uddhava; balt by force; vikya draggingback; avarurodha she stopped; te them; dve the two.

Klind, the daughter of the sun-god, had seen Ka likethis before. Being very intelligent, she somehow calmedherself down. She and Uddhava grabbed Satyabhm andPadmvat and dragged them back.

COMMENTARY:Queen Klind in Dvrak and the river Yamunin Vndvana are one and the same person. Thus she alone amongthe Dvrak queens had known Ka during His cowherdingdays. This is at least the external reason why Klind, in this situa-tion, was able to stay sober; but the fact is that she also had tostruggle to remain calm just to help Brahm carry out his plan fordispelling Kas bewilderment. Klind caught hold of Satya-

bhm, and Uddhava caught Padmvat.

TEXT 50

GaaeivNddevSTvNaucarYaNa( GaaGaTa" PaurSTaadudiDa& iNarq+Ya )

Ta& MaNYaMaaNaae YaMauNaa& Pa[MaaedaTa(Sa%qNa( ivharaYa SaMaaJauhav ))

govinda-devas tv anucrayan ggata purastd udadhi nirkya

ta manyamno yamun pramodtsakhn vihrya samjuhva

govinda-deva Govindadeva; tu but; anucrayan herd-ing; g His cows; gata went; purastt forward; uda-dhim the sea; nirkya seeing; tam that; manyamna thinking;yamunm the Yamun;pramodt with delight;sakhn His friends; vihrya for playing; samjuhvaHe called.


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Meanwhile Lord Govinda went ahead, tending His cows.When He saw the ocean before Him, He thought it was the

Yamun, and with delight He called His friends to comeplay in the river.

COMMENTARY: The scene now focuses again on Ka. The Ara-bian Sea rings Dvrak like a fortress moat, and its dark bluecolor made Ka think it was the river Yamun.

TEXT 51GaTaa" ku-}a vYaSYaa" SQa [qdaMaNa( Saubl/aJauRNa )SaveR >avNTaae DaavNTaae veGaeNaaYaaNTau hzRTa" ))

gat kutra vayasy sthardman subalrjuna

sarve bhavanto dhvantovegenyntu harata

gat gone; kutra where; vayasy O friends; sthaare you; rdman O rdm; subala O Subala; arjunaO Arjuna; sarve all; bhavanta you; dhvanta run-ning; vegena with haste; yntu please come; haratahappily.

My dear friends, where have you gone? O rdm, Subala,Arjuna! Happily come here, quickly!

TEXT 52

k*-Z


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kym in the K River;pyayitv making drink; g the cows; viharma let us play;yath-sukham as we

like; madhura gentle; amala clear; ta and cool; ambu water; vhinym who is carrying; avaghya submergingourselves; ca and.

We can let our cows drink water from this river Yamun,and we can play as much as we want, swimming in hergently flowing clear cool water.

TEXT 53

WvMaGa]e SarNa( Gaaei>arMbuDaeiNaRk-$&= GaTa" )Mahak-ael/Maal/ai>a" k-ael/ahl/vTaae_CYauTa" ))

evam agre saran gobhirambudher nikaa gata

mah-kallola-mlbhikolhala-vato cyuta

evam thus; agre further; saran going; gobhi with thecows; ambudhe to the sea; nikaam close; gata Hecame; mah-kallola of mighty waves; mlbhi by streams;kolhala-vata roaring; acyuta r Acyuta.

Thus Lord Acyuta went on further with the cows andneared the sea, where mighty roaring waves came oneafter another.

TEXT 54

SavRTaae vq+Ya Tataqre Pa[k-$=a& Sva& MahaPaurqMa( )

Aal/+Ya ik-iMad& Kvah& k-ae_hiMaTYaah iviSMaTa" ))sarvato vkya tat-tre

praka sv mah-purmlakya kim ida kvha

ko ham ity ha vismita


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sarvata all around; vkya looking; tat of it (the sea);tre on the shore;prakam visible; svm His own;

mah-purm great city; lakya noticing; kim what;idam this; kva where; aham I; ka who; aham I;iti thus; ha He said; vismita surprised.

When Ka looked around the seacoast, He noticed Hisown great city visible in the distance. Ka was surprisedand exclaimed, What is this? Where am I? Who am I?

COMMENTARY: Coming out of the forest and beholding moreclearly the vast water before Him, Ka saw the crashing wavesand to the side at a distance a huge city. Addressing no one inparticular, Ka reacted spontaneously with these questions:What is the ocean in front of Me? Is there such an ocean in Vraja-bhmi? Or am I somewhere else? But how can the son of NandaMahrja be somewhere else? Or am I someone else? If I am sup-

posed to be a great prince, then why am I so unsuitably dressed?

TEXT 55

wTYaev& SacMaTk-ar& MauhuJaRLPaNa( Maha


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COMMENTARY:Ka was hesitant to decide whether what Hewas seeing was real or not. His elder brother had to settle the

question for Him.

TEXT 56

[qbl/dev ovacAaTMaaNaMaNauSaNDaeih vEku-aae )

AvTaqaU>aarharaYa jaiPaTaae_MarE" ))r-baladeva uvca

tmnam anusandhehivaikuhevara mat-prabho

avatro si bh-bhra-hrya jpito marai

r-baladeva uvca r Baladeva said; tmnam Yourself;anusandhehi please consider; vaikuha-vara O Lord ofVaikuha; mat-prabho O My master; avatra descended;asi You have; bh-bhra the earths burden; hrya forremoving;jpita requested; amarai by the demigods.

r Baladeva said: O My master, Lord of Vaikuha, please

consider who You are. You were asked by the demigods todescend to remove the burden of the earth.

TEXT 57

duaNa( Sa&hr TaiC^aNa( Pa[iTaPaal/Ya SaMPa[iTa )

Yaj& PaETa*SvSaeYaSYa DaMaRraJaSYa SaNTaNau ))dun sahara tac-chin

pratiplaya sampratiyaja pait-svaseyasya

dharma-rjasya santanu


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dun wicked persons; sahara please destroy; tatother than them; in the remaining people;pratiplaya

please protect; samprati now; yajam the sacrifice;pait-svaseyasya of Your cousin; dharma-rjasya Dharmarja(Yudhihira); santanu please execute.

Now please destroy the wicked and protect everyone else. Your cousin Dharmarja, King Yudhihira, has under-taken a sacrifice. Please see to getting it performed.

COMMENTARY:Balarma here requests Ka to think of Himselfas the Lord of Vaikuha, and of Balarma as His aide, Anantaea. Even though Ka is indeed the son of Nanda Mahrja,He should now carry out the mission for which He and Balarmahave descended from Vaikuha. Of course They had actuallydescended from Goloka Vndvana, but Goloka and Vaikuhaare in many respects nondifferent. When Ka descends to this

world, He brings within Himself all of His personal expansions,including the Lord of Vaikuha; thus when He comes fromGoloka He is simultaneously coming from Vaikuha.

Kas main purpose for descending is to distribute the spe-cial kind of pure love found only at His own lotus feet, by playingHis pastimes in r Vndvana-dhma. Dvrak is not the suitableplace for this purpose. But if Ka turns His mind to this mainobjective, Balarma thinks, He is likely to become completely un-settled again. Therefore Balarma calls Ka Vaikuhevara in-stead of Golokevara, and tactfully points out that Kas currenttask is to relieve the earth of its burden by destroying evildoersand protecting law-abiding citizens. Most immediately, Yudhi-hira needs Kas support for the Rjasya-yaja. After achiev-ing these secondary aims, Balarma implies, Ka will be free toabsorb Himself in His first aim without impediments.

TEXT 58

Pa[iTaiTaSTvYaEvaSaaE c-vTas YauiDair" )ANauXaaLvaidduaNaa& ib>aeiTa vriv-MaaTa( ))


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pratihitas tvayaivsaucakravart yudhihira

anulvdi-dunbibheti vara-vikramt

pratihita established; tvay by You; eva indeed; asau he; cakravart as the emperor;yudhihiraYudhihira;anulva of lvas younger brother; di and other; du-nm villains; bibheti is afraid; vara-vikramt because oftheir exceptional strength.

You have established Yudhihira as emperor, but he is in-timidated by lvas younger brother and by other exceed-ingly powerful villains.

COMMENTARY:Yudhihira will not dare face the challenge ofstaging the Rjasya sacrifice unless Ka encourages Him, and

several opponents like King Anulva first need to be removed.

TEXT 59

Tata}a GaTva TaaNa( hNTau& YaTaSv Yadui>a" Sah )TavEv vErTaSTae ih Taavk-aNa( Paq@YaiNTa TaaNa( ))

tat tatra gatv tn hantuyatasva yadubhi saha

tavaiva vairatas te hitvakn payanti tn

tat therefore; tatra there; gatv going; tn them; han-tum to kill;yatasva please try;yadubhi saha togetherwith the Yadus; tava of You; eva alone; vairata because

of hatred; te they; hi indeed; tvakn Your devotees;payanti are persecuting; tn them.

Please, therefore, go to Yudhihira and with the help ofthe Yadus try to kill his enemies, who are persecuting Yourdevotees out of hatred for You.


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COMMENTARY:These words are aimed at inducing Ka to putaside the exalted sweet taste of intimate love and assume in-

stead the contrary mood of militant anger. To stir up Kas fury,Balarma suggests here that without the help of the Yadus Kamight be unfit to kill these enemies. These enemies are Kas,since Yudhihira does not consider anyone an enemy.

TEXT 60

[qParqi+aduvacWv& rSaaNTar& NaqTvaNauJa& SvSQaiYaTau& vc" )Yadu&- bl/raMaeaavaNTar& GaTa" ))

r-parkid uvcaeva rasntara ntv-

nuja svasthayitu vacayad ukta balarmearutv bhvntara gata

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; evam thus; rasa to anecstatic mood; antaram different; ntv being brought;anu-jam His younger brother; svasthayitum to bring to anormal state; vaca the words; yat which; uktam spo-ken; balarmea by Balarma; rutv hearing; bhva amood; antaram different; gata He obtained.

r Parkit said: Balarma spoke these words to changeHis younger brothers ecstatic mood and bring Him backto normal. Indeed, upon hearing what Balarma said,Ka did change His mood.

COMMENTARY: Before hearing these words, Ka was swim-ming in theprema-rasaof the most confidential loving dealings,but now He was in a heroic mood. Thus in the next verse Parkitwill refer to Him as Bhagavn.


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TEXT 61

JaGaad >aGavaNa( u-ae >a]aTa" XaaLvaNauJaadYa" )ke- Tae vrak-a hNTaVYaa GaTvEke-Na MaYaaDauNaa ))

jagda bhagavn kruddhobhrta lvnujdaya

ke te vark hantavygatvaikena maydhun

jagda said; bhagavn the Personality of Godhead; krud-dha becoming angry; bhrta O brother; lva-anu-jalvas younger brother; daya and the others; ke who;te they; vark useless creatures; hantavy fit to bekilled; gatv gone; ekena alone; may by Me; adhun now.

The Personality of Godhead grew angry and said, Brother,who are those useless creatures lvas younger brotherand those like him? I will go by Myself and kill them at once!

TEXT 62

>avaNa( Pa[TYaeTau SaTYa& Mae SaPa[iTajiMad& vc" )wTQa& Pa[SaSaTYaa MauGDa>aav& JahaE Pa[>au" ))

bhavn pratyetu satya mesa-pratijam ida vaca

ittha prasaga-sagatymugdha-bhva jahau prabhu

bhavn Your good self;pratyetu should believe; satyamtrue; me My; sa-pratijam with a promise; idam these;vaca words; ittham thus;prasaga of the current mo-ment; sagaty by the circumstances; mugdha-bhvamHisconfusion;jahau gave up;prabhu Lord Ka.


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Trust these words of Mine as true. They give My firmpromise. In this way the circumstances of the moment

made Lord Ka forget His confusion.

COMMENTARY:Kas bewilderment was in fact His completerapture in the highestprema-rasa, but for now He had to refrainfrom those ecstasies.

TEXT 63

PairTaae Mauhural/aeKYa [qMad(arvTaqrMa( )[qYaadveNd]MaaTMaaNa& Pa[TYai>ajaTava&STada ))

parito muhur lokyarmad-dvravatvaram

r-ydavendram tmna

pratyabhijtavs tad

parita around; muhu again; lokya looking; rmat divine; dvravat of Dvrak; varam the master; rdivine; ydava of the Yadus; indram the king; tmnam Himself;pratyabhijtavn He recognized again; tadthen.

Looking around again, Ka remembered that He was themaster of r Dvrak, the divine king of the Ydavas.

TEXT 64

Pa[aSaada>YaNTare Sau& SaSMaaraQa k-re iSQaTaaMa( )

v&Xaq=& SvSYaaGa]JaSYaaiPa vNYaveXa& c d*vaNa( ))prsdbhyantare supta

sasmrtha kare sthitmva svasygrajasypi

vanya-vea ca davn


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prsda the palace; abhyantare inside; suptam asleep;sasmra remembered; atha then; kare in His hand; sthi-

tm placed; vam a flute; svasya of His own; agra-jasya older brother; api also; vanya-veam the forestdress; ca and; davn He saw.

He remembered He had been sleeping inside the palace.Then He saw the flute in His hand, and Himself and Hisolder brother dressed like forest dwellers.

TEXT 65

PauYaaR bih"Pa[YaaaavYaNa( ))

pury bahi-prayenago-planam avekya ca

vismaya saaya cptojahsa hdi bhvayan

pury of the city; bahi outside;prayena with move-ment; go-planam the tending of the cows; avekya see-ing; ca and; vismayam surprise; saayam doubt; ca and; pta experiencing;jahsa He laughed; hdi in

His mind; bhvayan pondering.

Ka perceived He had gone out of the city to tend cows,and this filled Him with surprise and doubt. He laughed asHe pondered it.

COMMENTARY:Now aware of Himself as the prince of Dvrak,Ka had to reckon with the obvious facts that He and Balarmawere dressed like cowherd boys and had been tending cowsalong the shore of the ocean. He wondered why They were actinglike this and whether these things were actually happening orwere some sort of illusion. He laughed at His own inability tofigure this out and at His long lapse from normal consciousness.


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TEXT 66

TaTaae hl/Dar" iSMaTva TadqYadYaMa" )Sav| b]k*==Ta& TaSYaak-QaYataTSaheTauk-Ma( ))

tato haladhara smitvtadya-hdaya-gama

sarva brahma-kta tasy-kathayat tat sa-hetukam

tata then; haladhara Balarma; smitv smiling; tadya His (Kas); hdayam-gama understanding the heart;sarvam all; brahma by Brahm; ktam done; tasya toHim; akathayat He told; tat that; sa-hetukam along withthe reasons.

His brother Balarma understood what Ka was think-ing. Smiling, Balarma explained that this was all Brahmsarrangement and told Ka the reasons why it had beendone.

COMMENTARY:Having ascertained from Kas laughter thatKa had finally calmed down, Balarma was able to explainto Him how Brahm had planned this scheme to bring Him

back to normal and how Garua and the others had carried outthe plan.

TEXT 67

TaTaae h]q


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tata then; hra embarrassed; iva as if;jyeha ofHis elder brother; mukham at the face;payan looking; smi-

tam a smile; rita assuming; rmea by Balarma; ud-vartya being wiped clean; tatra there; abdhau in thesea; snpita bathed; dhli-dhsara covered with dust.

Ka then looked at His brothers face and smiled as ifembarrassed. And since Kas body was covered withdust, Balarma wiped Him clean and bathed Him in the sea.

COMMENTARY:As indicated by the word iva, Ka had no rea-son to be embarrassed. His behavior all along had been totallypraiseworthy. In Kas own words to Uddhava, jugups hrrakarmasu: Real modesty means being disgusted with improperacts. (Bhgavatam ..) If one has indulged in illicit acts,one should feel shame and condemn ones own wrong behavior.But Ka felt no shame; He simply looked at Balarma and

smiled.Balarma took care to wipe the dust off Ka, dust most

likely picked up while Ka was herding the cows in the manu-factured Vndvana or else earlier, while Ka was rolling aroundinside the palace in His uncontrollable ecstasy.

TEXT 68

TadaNaqMaev SaMPa[a& >aGavavk-aeivdMa( )Aaal/i+aTaSTaa+Ya| iNaJaPa[aSaadMaaGaTa" ))

tadnm eva samprptabhagavad-bhva-kovidam

ruhylakitas trkyanija-prsdam gata

tadnm eva at that very moment; samprptam who ar-rived; bhagavat of the Lord; bhva of the moods; kovidam the expert knower; ruhya mounting; alakita un-seen; trkyam Garua, the son of Trkya; nija-prsdamto His palace; gata went.


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mt His mother; ca and; devak Devak;putram herson; rbhi with blessings; abhinandya greeting; tam

Him; bhoga the meal; sampdanya for preparing; asya His; kla of the time; abhij well aware; drutamquickly; gat went.

Mother Devak greeted her son with blessings. Well awareof what time it was, she quickly went to prepare His meal.

COMMENTARY:Devaks excusing herself from the company of

Kas queens left Ka at liberty to discuss with them franklythe matter which is the essential message of this chapter thesupreme devotion of the young gops of Vraja. Ka felt toomuch filial reverence for His mother to talk about this openly inher presence. She knew that it was time to cook for Ka, andon a deeper level she also understood that now she ought totake her leave.

TEXT 71

STaM>aaNTairTaa" SaTYaae deVYaae_iTaNa( Pa[>auiPa[Yaa" )SaTYa>aaMaa Na Ta}aaGaataa& k*==Z


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TEXTS 7273

[qhirdaSa ovacv*NdavNae Yada JaaTaae ivJaYaae rEvTaaicRTae )Pa[>aaeSTadaTaNa& >aavMabuDa>a]aMak&-= ParMa( ))

k-MaPYaal/aeKYa devqi>a" Sah Ta}aEv dUrTa" )iSQaTaa iNal/IYa dubuRice PaavTaq %l/a ))

r-hari-dsa uvcavndvane yad jto

vijayo raivatrciteprabhos tadtana bhvam

abudha-bhrmaka param

kam apy lokya devbhi

saha tatraiva dratasthit nilya durbuddhirce padmvat khal

r-hari-dsa uvca r Haridsa Uddhava said; vndvane to Vndvana;yad when;jta occurred; vijaya theglorious excursion; raivata by the Raivata Hill; arcite served;

prabho of the Lord; tadtanam of that occasion; bhvam

the mood; abudha to the unintelligent; bhrmakam be-wildering; param only; kam api certain; lokya beingperceived; devbhi saha along with the queens; tatrathere; eva indeed; drata at a distance; sthit standing;nilya hidden; durbuddhi whose intelligence was bad; ce said;padmvat Padmvat; khal spiteful.

The Lords servant Uddhava replied: When You took Yourglorious excursion to Vndvana, which is embraced byRaivata Hill, Your special mood might have bewildered the

unintelligent, but your queens were able to perceive it.They therefore hid themselves, watching from a distance.Then the spiteful, weak-minded Padmvat addressed them.


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COMMENTARY:Uddhava is sometimes called Haridsa. ukadevaGosvm therefore says:

sarid-vana-giri-drorvkan kusumitn drumn

ka sasmrayan remehari-dso vrajaukasm

Seeing the rivers, forests, mountains, valleys, and flowering trees

of Vraja, Haridsa Uddhava enjoyed inspiring the inhabitants of Vndvana by reminding them of Lord Ka. (Bhgavatam..)

TEXTS 7475

devKYare PauaaMae_vre hNTa JaaMbvTYaadYaae_vra" ))

PaXYaTaediMaTaae_vaRk( ===SvMai>aMaaNa& ivMauTa )Aa>aqrq


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forth; svam your; abhimnam pride; vimucata aban-don; bhrm of the bhra nomads; hi indeed; dsyya

to become servants; tapasym penances; kuruta do;uttamm the greatest.

O Devak, devoid of pious credits! O unfortunate Rukmi!Wretched Satyabhm! Jmbavat and you other miserablewomen! Look here! From now on, you should give up yourpride and undergo the greatest penances to become ser-

vants of those bhra nomad women.

COMMENTARY:The queens of Dvrak may have won Kashand in marriage, but they should not think they have a strongerhold on His heart than the Vraja gops. The bhras are a de-graded class of nomads, whereas the cowherds of Nanda arerespectable twice-born vaiyas. But because Nandas communityis engaged in the same cowherding business as the outcaste no-mads, and also just out of spite, Padmvat calls Nandas gopasbhras. ukadeva Gosvm mentions the bhra tribe in the Sec-ond Canto ofrmad-Bhgavatam(..):

kirta-hndhra-pulinda-pukkabhra-kak yavan khadaya

ye nye ca pp yad-aprayray

udhyanti tasmai prabhaviave nama

Kirtas, Has, ndhras, Pulindas, Pukkaas, bhras, Kakas,Yavanas, members of the Khaa races, and even others addictedto sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees ofthe Lord, for He is the supreme power. I beg to offer my respect-ful obeisances unto Him.

TEXTS 7678

TauvRcae iNaXaMYaadaE devKYaae-Mai>ajYaa )SaMaSTaJaGadaDaar>avdaDaar>aUTaYaa ))


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AaYaRMa}a ik&- MaU%eR PaUvRJaNMaiNa YataPa" )

SaMa& [qvSaudeveNa MaYaak-air SauTaaYa TaTa( ))ATaae_YaMaavYaae" Pa[a" Pau}aTaa& vrder" )AiSMaNdYaXaaeda>Yaa& >ai-" SaMPa[aiQaRTaa iviDaMa( ))

tad-durvaco niamydaudevakyoktam abhijay

samasta-jagad-dhra-

bhavad-dhra-bhtay

caryam atra ki mrkheprva-janmani yat tapa

sama r-vasudevenamaykri sutya tat

ato yam vayo prptaputrat vara-devara

asmin nanda-yaodbhybhakti samprrthit vidhim

tat her; durvaca wicked words; niamya hearing; dau first; devaky by Devak; uktam was said; abhijay

intelligent; samasta entire; jagat of the universe; dhra who are the shelter; bhavat of You; dhra the shel-ter; bhtay being; caryam wonderful thing; atrahere; kim what; mrkhe O foolish woman;prva pre-vious; janmani in our life;yat because; tapa austerity;samam along with; r-vasudevena r Vasudeva; may by me; akri was done; sutya for a son; tat thus;ata for that reason; ayam He; vayo our;prptaobtained; putratm the position of the son; vara-da ofgivers of benedictions; vara the Lord; asmin for Him;nanda-yaodbhym by Nanda and Yaod; bhaktipure devotion; samprrthit prayed for; vidhim to LordBrahm.


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[Uddhava told Ka:] The wise Devak shelters You, whoshelter the entire world. When she heard those wicked

words, she said, Foolish woman, what is unusual here? rVasudeva and I, in our previous lives, underwent austeri-ties to get the Lord as our son, and therefore the Lord, the

bestower of all boons, accepted that role. But Nanda andYaod prayed to Lord Brahm for pure devotion.

COMMENTARY:r Ka surely has special affection for His par-

ents Vasudeva and Devak, as well as Nanda and Yaod. ButNanda and Yaod are more intimately connected with Ka.Vasudeva and Devak, in their previous lives as Sutap and Pni,strove to attain a parental relationship with God. When they fi-nally achieved the Supreme Lords audience, after strict austeri-ties for many years, they submitted to Him their desire, and theLord agreed to fulfill it. As the Lord later told Devak:

tad v parituo hamamun vapunaghe

tapas raddhay nityabhakty ca hdi bhvita

prdursa varada-ryuvayo kma-ditsay

vriyat vara ity uktemdo v vta suta

O sinless mother Devak, after twelve thousand celestial years,in which you constantly thought of Me within the core of yourheart with great faith, devotion, and austerity, I was very muchsatisfied with you. Since I am the best of all bestowers of bene-diction, I appeared in this same form as Ka to ask you to takefrom Me the benediction you desired. You then expressed yourdesire to have a son exactly like Me. (Bhgavatam..)

Ka is varada-vara, the best of those who give benedic-tions. By granting a single boon, He was able to bless Pni andSutap to become His parents not only once but three times. But


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/CHAPTER SEVEN676

to Nanda and Yaod, whose love for Him was even more pure,Ka bestowed a greater reward. In the rasaof parental love,

they enjoy the topmost perfection ofprema-bhakti, found onlywithin the realm of r Vndvana-dhma.

Nanda, in the role of the Vasu Droa, expressed the uncon-ditional purity of his love when he prayed to Brahm:

jtayor nau mah-devebhuvi vivevare harau

bhakti syt param lokoyayjo durgati taret

Please permit us to be born on the planet earth so that after ourappearance the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, thesupreme controller and master of all planets, will also appearand spread devotional service, the ultimate goal of life. Thusthose born in this material world may very easily be delivered

from miserable materialistic life by accepting devotional service.(Bhgavatam..) Nanda was concerned for the upliftmentof the unhappy conditioned souls. He wanted Ka to exhibitHis childhood pastimes so that the world would hear and recitethem and regain the taste of love of God.

TEXT 79

TaSYaETa-vYaRSYa Taad*XaeNa vreYaaMaiPa MaahaTMYa& Pa[aaE SaPairvark-aE ))

tasyaitad-bhakta-varyasyatdena varea tau

vbhym api mhtmyaprptau sa-parivrakau

tasya of him; etat this; bhakta-varyasya best of devotees;tdena such; varea by the blessing; tau they two(Nanda and Yaod); vbhym than the two of us; apieven more; mhtmyam greatness; prptau obtained; sa-

parivrakau along with their whole household.


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By the blessings of that foremost devotee of the Lord,Nanda and Yaod along with their whole household be-

came greater than us.

COMMENTARY:In Devaks opinion, Brahm had the power tomake Nanda and Yaod the best parents of the Lord becauseBrahm himself was the best of all the Lords devotees. In thewords of ukadeva Gosvm in the Second Canto of the Bhga-vatam(..), sa di-devo jagat paro guru: Brahm is the

first of gods, the supreme spiritual master of all the worlds.Devak indicates by her comparison of blessings that the Su-preme Lord so greatly empowers devotees engaged in His ser-vice that the benedictions they give can be even more effectivethan His own.

TEXT 80

Taa>Yaa& eh>areaavSTaYaaeYauR-a=e ih Mae iPa[Ya" ))

tbhy sneha-bharesyaplana tat-tad-hitam

ato syaitdo bhvas

tayor yukto hi me priya

tbhym their; sneha-bharea because of exceptionallove; asya of Him;planam the raising; tat-tat various;hitam the activities; ata therefore; asya His; etda such as this; bhva special mood; tayo toward them;yukta appropriate; hi indeed; me to me; priyapleasing.

Because of their exceptional love, they were allowed toraise the Lord as their child and cherish His many wonder-ful activities. Therefore His special attitude toward them isfitting, and very much pleasing to me.


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COMMENTARY:Nanda and Yaod deserved the best reciproca-tion from Ka. Had Ka not dealt with them in the most

intimate way, He would have been guilty of ingratitude.

TEXT 81

AQa [qiKMaaTa*RPau}aaid ivhaYa Sav|l/aek-YaaQaaRNaNaPae+aMaa


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y bhart-putrdi vihya sarvaloka-dvayrthn anapekam

rsdibhis tda-vibhramais tad-rtybhajas tatra tam enam rt

y who; bhart husbands; putra sons; di and so on;vihya abandoning; sarvam all; loka-dvaya of the twoworlds; arthn desirable things; anapekam disre-garding; rsa-dibhi by the rsadance and other pastimes;

tda such; vibhramai by their enchantments; tat-rty in that way; abhajan they worshiped; tatra there; tamenam Him; rt very much distressed.

[r Rukmi said:] Those women gave up everything their husbands, sons, and all else they had disregardingtheir own fortune in this world and the next. Enduring dis-tress, they worshiped the Lord in their own way, enchant-

ing Him in the rsa dance and other pastimes.

TEXT 83

ATaae ih Yaa Naae bhuSaaDaNaaetaMaE"SaaDYaSYa icNTYaSYa c >aavYaaGaTa" )

MahaPa[>aae" Pa[eMaivXaezPaail/i>a"SaTSaaDaNaDYaaNaPadTvMaaGaTaa" ))

ato hi y no bahu-sdhanottamaisdhyasya cintyasya ca bhva-yogata

mah-prabho prema-viea-plibhisat-sdhana-dhyna-padatvam gat

ata therefore; hi certainly;y who; na our; bahu many; sdhana by spiritual disciplines; uttamai excel-lent; sdhyasya who is achievable; cintyasya who can bemeditated upon; ca and; bhva with loving concentration;

yogata by fixing the mind; mah-prabho for the Su-


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/CHAPTER SEVEN680

preme Personality of Godhead; prema pure love; vieaexceptional;plibhi by those who maintain; sat-sdhana

advanced levels of practice; dhyna of meditation;padatvam the stage; gat they attained.

We can hope to achieve the Supreme Personality ofGodhead only by following many rigorous spiritual prac-tices, and we can meditate upon Him only by strictly train-ing the attention of our hearts. But those gops cherished

such exceptional love for Him that they easily attained thesuccess of the most advanced stages of meditation.

COMMENTARY:Other devotees can only hope to follow in thefootsteps of the Vndvana gops, and by the sincerest endeavorsmight begin to approach the perfection that for the gops wastheir natural birthright. For the most part, devotees can see Kaonly in their hearts, but the gops serve Him directly with all

their senses. Indeed, they permanently hold Kas attention. AsUddhava told the gops:

viyoginnm api paddhati vona yogino gantum api kamante

yad dhyeya-rpasya parasya pusoyya gat dhyeya-pada durpam

In your mood of separation, you have traversed a path onwhich even greatyogscannot go. You have made the SupremePerson the object of your meditation, though other seekers canfocus their attention on Him only with great travail.

TEXT 84

TaaSveTaSYa ih DaMaRk-MaRSauTaPaaE}aaGaark*==TYaaidzuVYaGa]a>Yaae_SMadQaadrE" PaiTaTaYaa Saevak-rq>Yaae_iDak-" )

Yau-ae >aavvrae Na MaTSarPad& caeah>aaG>Yaae >aveTa(Sa&agYaae_Qa c YaTPa[>aae" iPa[YaJaNaaDaqNaTvMaahaTMYak*==Ta( ))


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tsv etasya hi dharma-karma-suta-pautrgra-ktydiuvyagrbhyo smad athdarai patitay sev-karbhyo dhika

yukto bhva-varo na matsara-pada codvha-bhgbhyo bhavetsalghyo tha ca yat prabho priya-jandhnatva-mhtmya-kt

tsu for them; etasya His; hi indeed; dharma religiousduties; karma social obligations; suta children; pautragrandchildren; gra in the home; ktya engagements;diu in such things; vyagrbhya who are engrossed;

asmat than us; atha thus; darai with expressions ofreverence; patitay as being fallen; sev-karbhya whoare maidservants; adhika greater; yukta fitting; bhvalove; vara exceptional; na not; matsara of envy; padam a grounds; ca and; udvha marriage; bhgbhya whoenjoy; bhavet should be; salghya glorious; athathus; ca and;yat which;prabho of the Lord;priya-jana to His dear devotees; adhnatva His subservience; mht-

mya the greatness; kt creating.

It is befitting, therefore, that Ka loves them more than us, for we are obsessed with our religious duties, socialobligations, children, grandchildren, homes, householdaffairs, and so on. We are but His maidservants, worship-ing Him with reverence like fallen conditioned souls. We

married wives should not envy His exceptional love for thegops. Rather, we should always glorify that love, for itproves how very subservient He becomes to His beloveddevotees.

COMMENTARY:Speaking on behalf of all the queens, rmatRukmi, contrasting their own mode of serving Ka with thatof the gops, admits that the service of the queens is inferior.Because the queens consider Ka their husband, their ex-changes with Him are restricted by social rules. The queens arebound by concerns for various worldly and religious duties,whereas the gopshave no concern for anything but satisfyingKa. Thus the gopsserve Ka in such indescribably exquisite


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sports as the rsa dance, whereas the queens can render onlythe conventional services a faithful wife performs for her re-

spected husband.From the queens standpoint, only the gopsof Vraja possess

the purest type of love. Ka, accordingly, responds to thatunique love in unique ways. Sometimes He hides Himself out-side a corner of a gopshouse and attracts the gopsattention bymaking curious sounds. She quickly rises from bed and steals tothe door, careful not to awaken family members such as her

mother-in-law. And outside she meets Ka and pleases Himwith embraces and kisses. Even during the day, Ka is some-times busy in a grove selected for a secret meeting on the bankof the Yamun. While arranging a soft bed from leaves and flow-ers, He hears the sound of falling leaves, signaling that His be-loved has arrived. He turns His face toward the path outside thegrove, by which a gop, on the pretext of fetching water from theYamun, is coming to fulfill His desires. Sometimes at dusk sev-

eral gops become intoxicated by hearing Ka calling themwith the song of His flute. They run toward Him hastily, theirgarments, hair, and ornaments in disarray. But when they meetHim, He tries to turn them back with proud, deceptive wordsthat cast them into despair. After they helplessly beg Him tochange His mind, He acquiesces, giving up His pretense. Andwhen they realize that He was only joking with them, they be-

come filled with joy, grab hold of the end of His yellow dhot,and pull Him into a nearby secluded grove.

In such ways the gopsof Vraja enjoy the freedom of wor-shiping Ka as their paramour, whereas the queens of Dvrakadmit that they are limited to worshiping Him according to theprinciples of religious household life, subject to Vedic injunc-tions and social customs. Therefore, the queens declare, thequeens should never envy the gops, for a subordinate shouldnever envy a superior. Maidservants in a noble household, forexample, should not be jealous of the mistress they serve.

Rather than envy the Vraja gops, Kas wives in Dvrakadmire them as perfect exemplars of devotion. Kas love forthe gopsdeliberately shows to everyone the greatest feature of


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His transcendental personality His voluntary submission tothe control of His dearest devotees. Without daring to state it

openly, the queens nourish a hope to become like the gops. Thequeens minimize the value of their own devotion, blaming them-selves for being attached to mundane religious and social duties,although in truth the queens are free from any material attach-ment. Even if the queens are attached to their religious and so-cial obligations, that is not a fault but a virtue that enhances theirspecial love for Ka. When the queens speak as Rukmi does

here, they do so out of natural humility to express their admira-tion for the rare fortune of the gops.

TEXT 85

TaTaae_NYaai>a devqi>areTadevaNauMaaeidTaMa( )Saa}aaiJaTaq Par& MaaNaGaeh& TadSahaivXaTa( ))

tato nybhi ca devbhiretad evnumoditam

strjit para mna-geha tad-asahviat

tata then; anybhi by the other; ca and; devbhiqueens; etat this; eva indeed; anumoditam approved;

strjit Strjit; param only; mna-geham her cham-ber of anger; tat that; asah unable to tolerate; viatentered.

[Uddhava said:] The other queens all agreed. Only Satya-bhm, Strjit, unable to tolerate those words, enteredher chamber of anger.

TEXT 86

[qParqi+aduvac[qMaaePaqJaNaPa[a


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/CHAPTER SEVEN684

r-parkid uvcarmad-gop-jana-pra-

ntha sa-krodham diats samnyatm atra

mrkha-rja-sut drutam

r-parkit uvca r Parkit said; rmat blessed; gop-jana of the gops; pra-ntha the Lord of the life; sa-kro-dham angrily; diat ordered; s she; samnyatmshould be brought; atra here; mrkha foolish; rja ofthe king; sut the daughter; drutam quickly.

r Parkit said: The blessed Lord of the life of the gopsthen ordered angrily, Bring here at once that daughter ofthe foolish king!

COMMENTARY:In reference to Ka, the epithet rmnmeans

endowed with the wealth of supreme love or else possessingall beautiful splendor. He is the Lord of the life of the gops,headed by r Rdh; or, alternatively, they are the rulers of Hislife. Therefore when Satyabhm, the daughter of Satrjit, showeddispleasure at the glorification of the gops, Ka demanded shebe brought before Him for correction. And Ka angrily re-minded His devotees that this wifes father had been implicatedin the scandal over the Syamantaka jewel.

TEXT 87

[ea ivdGDaaSvi>aMaaNaSaeva=caTauYaRTaae NaNdiYaTau& Pa[v*taa )

GaaePaal/NaarqriTal/MPa$&= Ta&

>aTaaRrMaTYaNTaivdGDaTaa!yMa( ))reh vidagdhsv abhimna-sev-

cturyato nandayitu pravttgopla-nr-rati-lampaa ta

bhartram atyanta-vidagdhathyam


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reh best; vidagdhsu among women expert in the artsof amorous love; abhimna with jealous pride; sev in ser-

vice; cturyata by her skill; nandayitum to give pleasure;pravtt prepared; gopla-nr with the cowherd women;rati for intimate enjoyment; lampaam eager; tam toHim; bhartram her husband; atyanta completely; vi-dagdhat with knowledge of the arts of love; hyamendowed.

Satyabhm, most expert in the arts of amorous love, wasalways ready to skillfully serve her husband in the mood of

jealous pride, knowing Him also to be fully conversantwith the skills of love and eager to enjoy with the cowherdwomen.

TEXT 88

daSaq>YaSTaad*XaqMaaja& TaSYaak-


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a show of petulance because she knows what gives Ka plea-sure. Being at heart a great romantic, He enjoys affectionate

quarrels with His beloved queens. Calming the anger of Hiswives is one of His favorite diversions. And moreover He feelsgreat satisfaction in glorifying the gops of Vraja, includingCandrval and others. He is always eager to relish the sublimetaste of their love.

But why does Ka take pleasure in the ignoble sport ofstruggling to subdue the pride of quarrelsome women? Because

He is the topmost connoisseur of conjugal reciprocations. Sothese dealings give Him unequaled joy.

TEXT 89

STaM>ae_NTaDaaRPYa deh& Sv& iSQaTaa l/a>aYaaiNvTaa )Sa&l/+Ya Pa[>auaaveXaTa" Sfu-$=Ma( ))

stambhe ntardhpya deha svasthit lajj-bhaynvit

salakya prabhu proktsarambhveata sphuam

stambhe behind a pillar; antardhpya hiding; dehambody; svam her; sthit standing; lajj shame; bhay

and fear; anvit filled with; salakya being noticed;pra-bhu by her Lord;prokt addressed; sarambha ofanger; veata in the mood; sphuam clearly.

She hid herself behind a pillar and stood there, filled withshame and fear. Ka noticed her and, still angry, spoketo her in a clear voice.

COMMENTARY:Although Satyabhm hid herself so that Kacould not see her, He smelled her unique fragrance and noticedother subtle signs of her presence. Satyabhm often had fits ofjealousy, but now she feared that by showing her temper at anunsuitable moment she might have gone too far. The Supreme


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TEXT 93

STauvTaa b]


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mat Me; kat by seeing; eva merely; vigha verydeep; bhva of ecstasies; udayena by the rising; labdh

obtaining; vikal becoming distressed; vimoham con-fusion; na not; daihikam connected with their bodies; ki-cana anything; te they; na not; deham their bodies;vidu recognize; na not; ca and; tmnam them-selves; aho oh; kim what; anyat else.

Just by seeing Me they become so dazed and bewildered by

ecstasies from deep within that they fail to recognize theirown bodies and everything that has to do with their bod-ies, what to speak of the rest of the world.

COMMENTARY: As soon as the devotees of Vraja see Kasbeauty, theirprematransforms into intense ecstasies, manifest intheir bodies as trembling, perspiring, and other sttvikasymp-

toms. These devotees then enter a trance of bewilderment, los-ing external consciousness. In this state called vimoham, themost exceptional trance (viia moham), the Supreme Personreveals Himself in full, with His attributes and associates. Thisstate, therefore, lies far beyond the partial realization of the Truthattained by impersonalists in their ordinary samdhi, with itsartificial background of voidness.

The masculine pronoun te (they) here indicates all theVraja-vss, both male and female. Or else Ka is really talkingonly about His female devotees, the young gops, but avoidsusing the feminine pronoun tbecause in the present companyHe does not want to talk about them openly.

In either case, when the Vraja-vss see Him they forget theirown bodies and everything connected with them family, so-cial position, responsibilities, and so on. They forget whateverplans they may have had for success in this life and the next.Therefore, since the Vraja-vss, upon seeing Ka again, wouldlose all contact with reality, Ka sees no hope of restoringthem to health by returning. His going back to them would onlymake their condition worse.


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TEXT 96

d*e_iPa XaaMYaeNMaiYa Ta du"%&ivC^edicNTaaku==il/TaaTMaNaa& vE )

hzaRYa Taeza& i-YaTae iviDaYaaeRdu"%& Sa Saae qGau


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sa vai dhiy yoga-vipka-tvrayht-padma-koe sphurita tait-prabham

tirohita sahasaivopalakyabahi-sthita tad-avastha dadara

The form of the Lord, which was brilliant like lightning and onwhich Dhruva Mahrja, in his mature yogic process, was fullyabsorbed in meditation, all of a sudden disappeared. ThusDhruva was perturbed, and his meditation broke. But as soon as

he opened his eyes he saw the Supreme Personality of Godheadpersonally present, just as he had been seeing the Lord in hisheart.

The full vision of Kas beauty relished by the Vraja-vss isthe ultimate fruit of spiritual perfection. One might suggest,therefore, that if Ka were to present Himself once more be-fore the Vraja-vss their condition would certainly improve. Thismight be true, but to recover from the intense pain of separation

would take time. And the Vraja-vss, thinking Ka might leavethem again, might relapse into their trance of separation. There-fore Ka thinks that returning to them would only cast themdeeper into suffering.

The painful anxiety of separation from Ka puts the tmsof the Vraja-vss meaning their hearts, their bodies, and thevery essence of their being into turmoil. When a person has

not eaten for a long time, the vital elements of his body aredepleted, so that even after obtaining food he takes time to re-cover. He does not recover simply by having food placed beforehim. He has to eat, and in a manner that does not make himsicker. Then he has to wait for the nourishment to be distributedin his body. Similarly, Ka thinks, the Vraja-vss will notrecover just by seeing Me. They will have to enjoy pastimes withMe, and not only for a short time but as long as needed to fulfilltheir desires. I fear that this will prove impossible, since I havetoo many other things to take care of elsewhere. I am incapableof curing them.

Even if Kas concern were unfounded, if He were to treattheir disease of separation by returning to them they would


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remain susceptible to agitation, thinking He might leave themagain. Their anxiety, being an essential part of their very exist-

ence, cannot be cured even by His personal darana. As Kaindicates by the word vai, He knows this from His own experi-ence with the devotees of Vndvana, and so also do the devo-tees He is speaking to in Dvrak. As ukadeva Gosvm relatesin the rmad-Bhgavatam, in the last chapter of the TenthCanto (..), after Kas queens enjoyed water sports withKa the queens mourned:

kurari vilapasi tva vta-nidr na eesvapiti jagati rtrym varo gupta-bodha

vayam iva sakhi kaccid gha-nirbhinna-cetnalina-nayana-hsodra-llekitena

O kurar bird, at night you are lamenting. Somewhere in thisworld the Supreme Lord is asleep in a hidden place. But you are

wide awake, O friend, unable to fall asleep. Is it that you, like us,have had your heart pierced to the core by the munificent, play-ful smiling glances of the lotus-eyed Lord?

While speaking this verse, Kas queens were not actuallyseparated from Him. Thus they sayrtrym vara, referring tothe night as different from the present moment. In fact they werespeaking during the day, and had just finished playing with

Ka in the water. Introducing these sports, ukadeva had said:

cur mukundaika-dhiyogira unmatta-vaj jaam

cintayantyo ravindkatni me gadata u

The queens then became stunned in ecstatic trance, their mindsabsorbed in Ka alone. Thinking of their lotus-eyed Lord, theyspoke as if insane. Please hear their words from me as I relatethem. (Bhgavatam..) Thus the queens, whose only ob-ject of attention was Ka, were momentarily speechless intrance. When their thoughts of Ka impelled them to speak,


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they spoke slowly, as if recovering from mental imbalance. Fromtheir words it is evident that Kas queens were foreseeing the

pain of separation even while enjoying with Him. ukadevaGosvm chose to end his narration of the Tenth Canto on thisnote of especially intense sweetness (madhurea sampayet).

Ka may be the omniscient Supreme Lord and the mostexpert arranger of all things to satisfy His devotees, but thesevery special devotees, the devotees in Vraja, He feels unable tohelp. Tem(their) may again refer either to the Vraja-vss in

general or else only to the gops. His sentiments expressed in thisverse are befitting in either case.Any attempt to make the Vraja-vss happy will quickly make

everything go wrong, just as water thrown on an oil fire makesthe fire explode and go out of control. Thus Ka faces a di-lemma. On one hand, the Vraja-vss do not know how they cansurvive in separation from Ka, and on the other hand even ifHe stays with them a long time they will inevitably worry that at

any moment He might leave them again. As this most exquisiteagony ofviraha-bhvarises in their hearts, it will only worsentheir grief. Ka reasons that just as there is no way to removethe natural quality of heat that He imparted to the element fire atthe time of creation, there is no way that anyone, even He Him-self, could withdraw the ecstatic nature of the Vraja-vss, im-parted to them by His unique mercy.

This state of affairs is the greatest glory of the residents of Vraja. Of course, the devotees of Ka in Vraja feel specialecstasy when they join with Him directly in the spontaneouspastimes found nowhere else. Nonetheless, the special purelove born of separation from Him rises within them most of thetime. The Vraja-vss are the special recipients of superexcellentviraha-bhva, which is His greatest mercy (parama-mahattva)because it is filled with the highest special happiness, carried toits ultimate extreme. Although everyone in this world lives inseparation from Ka, only the Vraja-vss fully experienceviraha-bhva. Their special ecstasy of separation from Ka isobtained only by His special mercy, and only after very intimateassociation with Him.


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Ka feels very grateful for the transcendental love of Hisgopsand His other beloved devotees in Vndvana, so He can-

not bear to see the disastrous effects of their viraha-bhva. Hetherefore cannot return to live in Vndvana again, or even pay ashort visit.

TEXT 97

Ad*XYaMaaNae c MaiYa Pa[dq=

ivYaaeGaveivRk-l/a" k-daicTa( )Ma*Taa wvaeNMaadhTaa" k-daicd(

ivic}a>aav& MaDaur& >aJaNTae ))

adyamne ca mayi pradpta-viyoga-vahner vikal kadcit

mt ivonmda-hat kadcid

vicitra-bhva madhura bhajante

adyamne not being seen; ca and; mayi Me;pradpta inflamed; viyoga of separation; vahne due to the fire;vikal distraught; kadcit sometimes; mt dead; iva as if; unmda by insanity; hat afflicted; kadcitsometimes; vicitra wonderful; bhvam ecstasies; madhu-

ram sweet; bhajante they experience.

And when they cannot see Me they become so torn that thefire of separation leaves them sometimes as though deadand sometimes as though insane. Thus they partake of thenectar of wonderful ecstasies.

COMMENTARY:In this verse Ka defends Himself against theaccusation that He is ungrateful to have abandoned the residentsof Vraja. What the Vraja-vss feel because of Kas absence is aconcentrated agony similar to the burning heat of fire. They losecontrol of their wits and sometimes seem on the verge of death,showing no external signs of life. At other times they seem af-


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And even in His absence the Vraja-vss sometimes enjoy Hispresence on their own by picturing spiritual images of Him

within their minds. So Ka feels He cannot do anything tochange their situation and must remain an insolvent debtor, asHe previously described. He should not be called ungrateful,because the circumstances render Him helpless.

TEXT 99

ATa Wv MaYaa SvSYa iSQaiTaMaPYaiSQaTae" SaMaaMa( )d*a Na GaMYaTae Ta}a Xa*


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Vndvana suffer separation from Kasprakaamanifestation,they continue to enjoy forever the manifestation in which His

pastimes are aprakaa.Some subtle hints of this have already been spoken by

Ka: I can never fully repay these devotees, and so I am ut-terly indebted to them (Text ). Just by seeing Me they be-come so dazed and bewildered by ecstasies from deep within(Text ). And Whatever measures I take for their happiness willonly double their grief (Text ).

Elsewhere the evidence for Kas secretly returning toMathur-maala is more concrete. In rmad-Bhgavatam(..) the citizens of Dvrak mention Kas trips to Hastin-pura and Mathur-maala. And the ladies of Hastinpura, refer-ring to Kas perpetual presence in Mathur, speak in thepresent tense:

aho ala lghya-tama yado kulam

aho ala puya-tama madhor vanamyad ea pusm abha priya riya

sva-janman cakramaena ccati

Oh, how supremely glorified is the dynasty of King Yadu, andhow virtuous is the land of Mathur, where the supreme leaderof all living beings, the husband of the goddess of fortune, is

marking the land by His birth and His wanderings. (Bhgavatam..) The women of Mathur City also talk about Kas beingpresent still in Vraja:

puy bata vraja-bhuvo yad aya n-liga-gha pura-puruo vana-citra-mlya

g playan saha-bala kvaaya ca veuvikraycati giritra-ramrcitghri

How pious are the tracts of land in Vraja, for there the primevalPersonality of Godhead, disguising Himself with human traits,wanders about, enacting His many pastimes! Adorned with won-derfully variegated forest garlands, His feet worshiped by Lord


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iva and the goddess Ram, He vibrates His flute as He tends thecows in the company of Balarma. (Bhgavatam..) In the

Uttara-khaaofr Padma PuraLord iva relates to his wifean even more explicit account of Kas returning to Vraja andremaining there permanently. And in the second part of thisBhad-bhgavatmta, The Glories of Goloka, the conclusionwill demonstrate that Lord Ka always resides in Gokula.

Nevertheless, Ka has chosen not to divulge to r Satya-bhm and His other queens that He returned to Gokula. Hear-

ing about this would distress them, and He cannot tolerateseeing His devotees distressed.

TEXT 100

TaaSaaMa>aave PaUv| Mae vSaTaae MaQauraPaure )ivvahk-r


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TEXT 101

MadNaaPTYaa Tau iKMa


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armed opposition of Rukm and his friends, Ka took Rukmion His chariot from Kuina-pura to Dvrak, where He married

her. Ka here claims that He did what the moment demandedand was not pursuing the pleasure of His heart.

TEXT 103

ASYaa" SaNdXaRNaataaSaaMaaiDaKYaeNa SMa*Tae>aRvaTa( )MahaXaaek-aiTaRJaNak-aTParMaaku==l/TaaMaGaaMa( ))

asy sandarant tsmdhikyena smter bhavt

mah-okrti-janaktparamkulatm agm

asy of her (Rukmi); sandarant by the sight; tsm of them (the gops); dhikyena increased; smte of the

remembrance; bhavt because of the generation; mah-oka great sorrow; rti and distress;janakt which created;parama supreme; kulatm agitation; agm I experi-enced.

But the sight of Rukmi made Me think back on the gopsall the more. And the sorrow and distress this caused Me

made Me very much disturbed.COMMENTARY:Living in Dvrak, Ka had been trying to for-get His beloved gops, but Rukmis beauty resembled theirs,rekindling within Him the fire ofviraha-bhva.

TEXTS 104105

zae@XaaNaa& Saha


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ktyyani mah-myemah-yoginy adhvari

nanda-gopa-suta devipati me kuru te nama

iti mantra japantyas tpj cakru kumrik

Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship whilechanting the following mantra: O goddess Ktyyan, great po-

tency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power, mightycontroller of all, please make the son of Nanda Mahrja myhusband. I offer my obeisances unto you.

No one can match the gopsattractive sway over Ka, butKa accepted His queens as substitutes in His pastimes atDvrak. The principal queens of Dvrak are in fact direct ex-pansions of the principal gops.

TEXT 106

Ahae >aaiMaiNa JaaNaqih TataNMaMa MahaSau%Ma( )MaihMaaiPa Sa Maa& ihTva TaSQaaE Ta}aaeicTaaSPade ))

aho bhmini jnhitat tan mama mah-sukham

mahimpi sa m hitvtasthau tatrocitspade

aho ah; bhmini O willful woman;jnhi please under-stand; tat tat all of this; mama My; mah-sukham high-est pleasure; mahim greatness; api also; sa it; mm Me; hitv abandoning; tasthau stands; tatra there;

ucita suitable; spade in the location.

Ah, willful woman, please understand. All that I relished inVraja gave Me the highest pleasure. And though the gloryof those times has now abandoned Me, it still resides inthat most worthy place.


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COMMENTARY:By saying this, Ka admits that He is not ashappy in Dvrak as He was in Vndvana. He cannot feel fully

satisfied when separated from the gops.

TEXT 107

ic}aaiTaic}aE icrEivRharEr(AaNaNdPaaQaaeiDaTarMaGan" )

NaajaiSaz& rai}aidNaaiNa TaaiNaTataNMahaMaaehNal/aek-SaaTa( ))

citrti-citrai rucirair vihrairnanda-pthodhi-taraga-magna

njsia rtri-dinni tnitat-tan-mah-mohana-loka-sagt

citra charming; ati-citrai and more charming; ruciraiattractive; vihrai by the pastimes; nanda of ecstasy;

ptha-dhi of the ocean; taraga in the waves; magna submerged; na ajsiam I was not aware; rtri of thenights; dinni and days; tni them; tat-tat with each;mah-mohana all-enchanting; loka of the residents; sagt because of the association.

When submerged in the waves of that ocean of ecstasy,enjoying the ever-fresh charming pastimes of Vraja, I wasso attracted to each of the all-enchanting residents that Inever noticed the passing of the nights and days.

COMMENTARY:Kas Vndvana pastimes are citrti-citra, morecharming than any other attraction. They can attract the mindof everyone in the universe. Thus the time and place of thosepastimes are uniquely sacred. And the spiritual potency of thedevotees who take part in Kas sports in r Nanda-vraja isimpossible to measure, for those devotees enchant Lord KaHimself.


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TEXT 108

baLYa==I@ak-aETauke-NaEv Tae TaedETYa[ea MaairTaa" k-ail/Yaae_iPa )duae iNadRMYaaXau iNa"SaairTaae_SaaE

Paa


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trampled each of Kliyas many hoods, deprived him of his sov-ereignty in the lake of the Yamun, and sent him into exile. This

was mere childs play for Ka, and so too was lifting themassive Govardhana with His left hand. For young Ka noth-ing was ever fearful or laborious. He took delight in everythingHe did.

TEXT 109

Taad*KSaNTaaezaa

brihad bhagavatamrita 7

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