Bhagavatam tenth canto study 45 – 10.8.20-25 Krishna’s childhood activities fill Vraja ladies with anxiety and ecstasy

Krishnamurti Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 8, Text 20. Krishna shows the universal form.
But before that, till now, the incident of Krishna’s name giving ceremony is being talked about. How Gargacharya comes and names the child. And now after that incident is over, to indicate some transition, the camera moves backwards to show us the big picture.
So Shukadeva Goswami takes the camera, we could say, of the narrative into Krishna Leela. And Vyasadev, who is the compiler of the Bhagavatam, he brings the camera back so that we can understand who is speaking to whom and a transition is happening in the incident that is being depicted. It’s like if there is a drama, a multi-act drama, then there is a narrator who narrates what is happening.
And then the scene is set in the background and after a particular part of the play ends, then the curtains fall. And when the curtains fall, then the narrator comes forward, and the narrator says, now this has happened and now this is going to happen. And during that time, the scene is rearranged and then the curtains open once again.
So like that, one scene of Gargacharya’s visiting the Maharaj and naming children is over. The next scene is starting and the transition, Shukadeva Goswami is speaking over here. So, Shri Shukavacha Ittyatmanam Samadhisya Gargecha Swagruham Gathe Nandah Pramudhito Mene Atmanam Poornamashisham Ittyatmanam Samadhisya In this way, after giving instruction, Samadhisya, after instructing Nanda Maharaj, he departed.
Who departed? Gargacharya. Swagruham Gathe, he went to his own house. Gargamuni went to his house, which is Mathura.
Nanda Pramudhito Mene Atmanam Poornamashisham And Nanda considered himself very fortunate. Pramudhito Mene, in his mind, he was very very pleased, he was delighted and he considered that Atmanam Poornamashisham, he says, all my desires are fulfilled, what a wonderful child I have got. His child is as good as Narayana.
His child is going to protect everyone. It’s a ultimate dream come true. For parents to have a child itself is a dream, but a glorious child who will go on to do glorious things, that is a matter of even greater satisfaction.
So Nanda Maharaj’s joy knows no bounds. Atmanam Poornamashisham He feels thrilled, he is thrilled with joy. He feels all my desires are fulfilled, what more do I need? Now, Ittyatmanam Samadhisya In this way, by instructing about the soul, about the supreme soul, so it could also be said that Gargacharya, in this way, instructed about Krishna’s supreme position as the soul of all souls, as the Paramatma.
But that was all done indirectly, and the word again used, Atma, is also indirect. He doesn’t say Paramatma, he says Atma over here. So the word Atma can have different meanings.
One who pervades, that’s the meaning of Atma. So one who pervades the body is the small soul, one who pervades the universe is the great soul. Now, text 21 Kaalena Vajataalpena Gokule Ramakeshavau Janubhyam Sahapanibhyam Ringamana Vijar Vijarato Kaalena Vajataalpena Kaalena Vajataalpena As time passed, very quickly, after a little time had passed, Alpena, little bit time, Gokule Ramakeshavau So in Gokula, which is the place where they were all residing, Ram and Keshava, Janubhyam They started moving out on their knees.
They were still small children, and they had not yet started walking or running. They just started moving around on their knees. Sahapanibhyam And, they started moving around with the strength of their hands and their knees.
Growth is a state of moving from passivity to activity. A child, whose newborn is passive, at least physically, the child may cry and drink milk, but beyond that the child cannot physically move. But then when the child grows, the child starts moving.
So, in this, when a child starts taking the first, even the first motion, uses the hands and the legs and pulls himself around, for the child it’s adventure. So I was lying around, I’m moving now. And for the parents also it’s delightful.
Oh, our child has started moving. So it’s a significant landmark. Ringmanavraja Vijaratu Ringmanav So, they started moving around and Vijaratu, they started enjoying the childhood play.
So every phase of growth of children is a phase that brings joy to the parents. And that is conveyed here even through the language also which is so cheerful and uplifting. जानू भ्याम सा पानी भ्याम जानू and पानी The knees, the thighs, the leg and the hands.
So, he walked, he did not walk on the foot, but he walked on the knees and with the hands, pulling oneself by this way. So now, next verse is how they further grew. Further they moved about.
Text 22 ताव अंग्रि युग्मं अनुः अनुः कृष्य सरी पन्तव भोषप् प्रगोषरु चिरंवजकर दमेशु तन्ना धरुष्ट मनसाव अनुष्विष्ट लोकम् मुग्ध प्रभितवद उपेय तुरंति मातरो ताव अंग्रि युग्मं अनुः कृष्य So now, ताव means those two, those two children, that is Krishna and Balaram. अंग्रि युग्मं With their legs, they started dragging themselves on earth. सरिष्पुन्तव सरिष्पुन्तव means they were actually moving like snakes.
They really couldn’t walk. And the snakes dragged themselves along. Snakes roll along the ground.
So similarly, सरिष्पुन्तव They were just rolling along on the ground. गोष प्रगोषरु चिरंव And now, as children, they are decorated. So one of the decorations on them were their ankle bells.
And those ankle bells started producing a very sweet sound as they moved along. And the children are entertained by those sounds. Oh, what is the sweet sound that is coming? The parents are entertained to see the sweet sound.
Oh, my child is moving here and there. So Krishna was decorated. And everything about Krishna is so sweet that even His moving along the ground, practically crawling or rolling, that also produces sweet sound.
गोष प्रगोषरु चिरंव वजः कर्दमेशु Now, वजः कर्दमेशु In the ground of रजः, which is, now रजः is the place where cows are taken care of. So in the ground, often there is cow dung and there is cow urine. And Krishna and Balaram started playing in that.
वजः कर्दमेशु तन्नादरुष्टमनसावन्सुष्टलोकम् तन्नादरुष्टमनसावन्सुष्टलोकम् And hearing the sound of those ankle bells, रुष्टमनेशु मनसु Their minds became filled with great joy. And now what happened? And actually they went around. It is not just they themselves wore ankle bells.
In general, the culture at that time was everybody would wear ankle bells, even their mothers would wear ankle bells. Other women would also wear ankle bells. So now as they started moving, they started moving around and actually they wanted to go to their mothers because the mothers were the main fount of love for them.
And then when they would see some other ladies moving about and they would hear, now they are small children moving along the ground and if they see somebody moving, they may not be able to look up and recognize, who is it? So, oh, this is the sound of the ankle bells, oh, this must be my mother. Anusrushti lokam, they started going after that person and they would roll along the ground and they would roll up to them and then catch them by the cloth and pull them, pull their saree. And then she would turn and the lady would turn around and say, who is this child? And they would say, oh, this is not my mother.
Mugdh prabhitavad upeyatur anti matro matro. So when they say, oh, this is not my mother, who is this person? They would get scared and they would run away. They tried to roll back quickly and they would go to their mothers in that way.
So, now Krishna is God, he has all knowledge and he gives all knowledge to everyone. But in his pastimes, he is acting like a child who can’t even recognize his own mother. And he mistakes somebody else to be his mother and then he realizes his mistake and he becomes scared and runs back to his mother.
So this is the sweetness of Krishna by which when he wants to play a particular role, he plays it to perfection. And he wants his devotees to reciprocate love with him in a particular mood that he acts exactly in the way that is needed for that mood to be enhanced. So he just acts like an innocent child, innocent, ignorant child who doesn’t even know who his mother is.
So seeing Krishna getting confused, oh, this is not my mother, who is it? And Krishna running back, Yashoda, Rohini, they would all laugh to see the child’s antics and others would also laugh. So Krishna would bring joy to everyone by his very sweet dealings, by his childish mischievousness, the childish restlessness. He is not so much mischief, he is just simply restlessness.
So text 23, तन्मातरवु निजिसतवु गृहनाय स्नुवन्त्यवु पंकांग रागरुचिर उपग्रह्य दोर्भ्याम् तत्वास्तनम् प्रभ्वतोस्वमुखं निरीक्ष मुक्दस्मिताल् पदशनं यतु प्रमोधम् तन्मातरवु Now when they would run back to their mothers, both the mothers would pick up the children. निजिसुतवु गृहनाय They would pick them up with great affection and स्नुवन्त्यवु Naturally, for children, especially small infants, their bellies are very small and they can’t take a lot of food. We humans and older people can take food for several hours at one time.
But children, their bellies are very small. So they eat little and they need to be fed every few hours. Every two hours or something like that.
So here they would immediately पंकांग राग रुचिरा उपग्रह्य दोर्भ्याम् So they would offer them the milk, which was overflowing from their breasts. And as they would, their beautiful bodies, because they were rolling around in the ground, it would be covered with पंकांग राग रुचिरा उपग्रह्य दोर्भ्याम् They were covered with cow dung and cow urine. And this actually beautified them even more.
उपग्रह्य दोर्भ्याम् उपग्रह्य दोर्भ्याम् They picked him up by their arms. Although they were dirty for their mothers, they were beautiful. Affection for a mother is such that whatever be the condition of the child, the child is the object of great affection.
A mother is not afraid. My fashionable looks will be spoiled by this child who is so dirty. There are occasions when the child also needs to look attractive, the mother also needs to look attractive, and they need to be well-dressed and well-decorated.
But in the routine interactions, the child needs the mother, the mother is there for the child. So then immediately they would pick up the child, although the children, both of them would be very dirty, but still they would pick them up. And then they would offer them dattva, sthanam, they would offer their breasts.
And as they would drink, they would open their mouth to take the milk, and then the mothers would notice, oh, there, they would look inside their mouth, and you will see that, they would become, the children were smiling while they were drinking their milk, or after they had drunk the milk, they would be smiling, and thus, when they were smiling, their mouth would be open, and al-padashinam, small teeth would be seen, and yajatu pramodam, and seeing this, their mothers would become so joyful, oh, our child is healthy, our child is growing, now teeth are growing for him. For parents, it’s such a matter of great joy, even the smallest phase of growth of a child is a matter of joy for the parents, for the mother. Now, if a child develops teeth, now the child doesn’t understand, while drinking milk, wanting more and more milk, the child may bite the mother, mother’s breast with its teeth also.
So, although that bite is painful for the mother, but because the bite indicates the child is growing tooth now, and the child is healthy and is growing, and the child is strong, so, beyond the pain is the joy. So, actually our experience depends not just on what we are experiencing, but in what context we are experiencing. So, somebody biting us, if an insect bites us, it’s very painful.
But when a mother, while offering milk from her breast to a child, is bitten by the child, this is my child, and his tooth is growing, she feels joy because of that. So, in this way, on seeing their babies growing nicely, the mothers felt great joy, Pramodam. So, moda is joy, Pramodam is immense joy.
Text 24 Vatsairitastatubhav Anukrishyamanau Prekshantya Ujjhit Gruha Jaharshur Hassantyaha Yarya Angana Darshaniya In this way, the style which Krishna was performing was Kumara, Kumara Leela, his childhood pastimes, his babyhood pastimes, he was performing Angana Darshaniya, because all these pastimes were performed in the Angan, in the courtyard of the house. Krishna is not yet old enough to go outside the courtyard. So, these pastimes are visible and enjoyable only by those who are in the courtyard and who are seeing this Antar Raje in the inside of Vrindavan.
It’s not in the outside of Vrindavan, but inside. Tad abala pragruhit puchchai Tad abala All these ladies, they were enjoying these pastimes of Krishna in their houses, in the courtyard of their houses, but still inside their houses only, not outside. Pragruhit puchchai Now, sometimes what would happen is the babies just want to have fun, so there were cows moving around in the houses and in the courtyards and the children, this baby, this small kid, they would creep up to a calf and catch hold of the tail of a calf and the calf would get alarmed.
Hey, what is this? Who is catching my tail? And the calf would try to run away. Vatsair itastat ubhavanukrishyamanau Vatsair And the cows being alarmed, they would run here and there. Vatsair itastat ubhavanukrishyamanau And both Krishna and Balaram, they would get dragged here and there.
Anukrishyamanau Now, they wanted to hold on to the tail, but suddenly they find the tail started moving and it is moving rapidly. Now, they were scared. If they let go, what will happen to them? So, they would hold on and they would get dragged here and there.
Now, prekshantya On seeing all this, these mischievous activities of the child, ujjita gruham The ladies would just give up the child, their household activities. Yeharshur hasantya They would enjoy those activities and laugh. Just see how mischievous this child is.
Now, the ladies would all have duties at home. Cook this, clean this, take care of this. But the babies’ activities were so enjoyable, so mesmerizing, that they just put everything aside and enjoy those activities.
Now, of course, Krishna, they are not babies now. We could say, it depends on how we define the word baby. But they have grown up.
They are children now. They are moving around. So, now we wonder, won’t Krishna and Balarama get hurt by being dragged around by cows? No, the cows are small and the courtyard is kept as a safe place for the children.
Just as in our houses also, if we have a small child, then we will child-proof our house so that nothing harmful is there which the child may accidentally touch or hold or eat or whatever and get hurt. So, now we need child-proofing nowadays because there are so many technological gadgets and so many other things which may get damaged or which may damage a child. If there is electricity, child may do touch it and might get damaged, electrical wire or whatever.
But in a natural setting, inside the home, cows and cows are extremely gentle. So, cows, they may run and they run out of fear. They are not going to harm the child.
The cows could very well have, if they wanted to harm, if somebody is holding on to their tail, they could just, with their back legs, they could kick that child, kick them off. But they would not do that. They were innocent, harmless, just like the children were innocent and harmless.
And they were all playing. So, the mothers were very vigilant that the child should not have any injury. But they were not coming in the way of the children having some fun.
If we protect our children so much that the children feel throttled by that, children can’t play, children can’t have fun, then, actually, that is an incorrect way of protection. Protection doesn’t mean just protecting the lives of people. Protection also means protecting the life energy of people, protecting the joy of people, protecting that which brings joy to people.
So, protection means protection of the body, protection of the mind, protection of the soul, all around protection. Now, children have energy within them and they have to play. Now, sometimes while playing, the children might get a little scratched.
They might have a little rash here and there. Now, that’s just a part of growing up. And the mothers become super protective and they say, oh, my child should never get even a scratch.
Then, the child will, what will it do with all its energy? In childhood, children have so much energy and they want to play around, run around, and that has to be facilitated in a safe environment. So, because the cows were gentle and all the ladies were there nearby to watch, so although this might seem to be like an alarming thing for a baby to be dragged along, but in the courtyard, they took care that there were no rocks or thorns or pebbles, just soft mud everywhere. And that soft mud, even if a child is dragged along, even if a child falls, there is no injury to that child.
So, thus, the care of the children was taken by providing them facility to enjoy also, to have fun as children are meant to have. And all this was observed by the ladies inside. Now, this is text 25.
श्रुंग्य अग्णि दम्ष्ट्रि असिजल् दुजिकन् तकेभ्य क्रीडा पराव अतिचलव स्वसुतव निषेधुं ग्रुह्यानि कर्तुम अपियत्न तज्ञनन्यो शेकात आपतुरलं मनसो अनवस्थाम Now, now, of course, this does not mean everything was fun, you know, anxiety is a part of the job description of a mother because children are mischievous and children can get into so many dangers at any moment. So mothers are worried. Oh, this may happen to my child.
That may happen to my child. So श्रुंग्य अग्णि, sometimes the cows, they would have their horns and sometimes the horns might hurt the children. श्रुंग्य अग्णि, there is fire in every household, for cooking fire is required, दंच, ट्री, now, there are animals with sharp teeth, that is like dogs are there, there are monkeys are there, असी, now, असी can refer to a sword, but it can also refer to a knife, any sharp object.
जलविज़ कंट के भ्या There might be a water pond or a water body nearby, there might be birds who might have sharp tooth or sharp claws, कंट के भ्या, there may be thorns anywhere. So, although the mothers protected the children, there was always danger was there. And how much can you restrain the childhood energy of the children? क्रीडा पर अती चलव। Now, because they were very restless, अती चलव, not just restless, but very restless, क्रीडा पर आव। They were attached to playing, they were engaged to play, स्वसुतव निशेधुम् and they were so energetic, that they could not be stopped from playing.
And if sometimes they felt that they could not protect the child, and that would cause them great anxiety, गुर्वियानी करतुम अपियत्रत जनन्यू, गुर्वियानी करतुम अपियत्रत जनन्यू, and because of this anxiety, sometimes they just couldn’t do their household activities. They couldn’t do, करतुम अपियत्रत जनन्यू, So, they thought these are their children, so their household activities are sometimes stopped because they wanted to delight in the pranks of the children. But sometimes they stopped because, Oh, is this child going to get into trouble? What is this? They were in anxiety like that.
शेकात आतपुर अलम् मनसो अनवस्ताम् शेकात So, in this way, they were not able, while they were in anxiety, अनवस्ताम् They could not have peace of mind. आपतुर अलम् मनसो अनवस्ताम् So, actually their minds were disturbed, they were distressed because of anxiety. Now, normally, this anxiety is a sign of material attachment.
Of course, it’s not just material attachment. Because it is directed towards inner mother, to some extent this kind of anxiety is a matter of responsibility. But when this kind of anxiety is directed towards Krishna, it’s actually ecstasy.
Why? Because anything connected with Krishna is auspicious. Remembrance of Krishna, if it comes, it is auspicious. Now, if remembrance of Krishna comes in a joyful setting, that is like sweet nectar.
When it comes in an anxiety-filled setting, that is like bitter nectar. But either way, it is nectar. So, thus, as Krishna is growing up, the wonderful pastimes which Krishna has are described here by Suta Goswami.
Now, this time, because Krishna is still a small child, he doesn’t have many friends. He is not going outside the house so much. So, Krishna and Balarama, these two kids are each other’s friends.
And most of their pastimes are happening, almost all their pastimes are happening inside the house. And it is the gopis of the age of the mothers of Krishna, like Yashoda and Rohini. At that age, they are all enjoying these pastimes.
So, what happens hereafter, we will discuss in our future session. Thank you.