Bhagavatam tenth canto study 61 – 10.11.1-9 Vrajavasis doubt Krishna’s supernatural power, but don’t disbelieve it

Srimad Bhagavatam, Pranto 10, Chapter 11, Text 1, Sri Sukhavacha, Gopananda Dayashrutva, Dhruvayopadatoram, Tatrajagmukuru Shristha, Nirghatebhayashankitaha, Sri Sukhadeva Swami is continuing the description, the childhood pastimes of Krishna, and Gopananda Dayashrutva, when Gopa, the various Gopas heard, when Ananda heard, Shrutva, they heard, what was it? Dhruvayopadatoram, Dhruvaya refers to the trees, Patatoram, when they fell on the earth, creating a huge sound, Tatrajagmukuru Shristha, on hearing this they rushed to that space, O Kuru Shristha, O Parikshit Maharaj, Nirghatebhayashankitaha, they were overwhelmed with fear, as if they had felt it was the falling of thunderbolts.
Normally, say in today’s world, if we hear the sound of a bomb exploding, we may hear some firecrackers exploding, especially if we live in a country or a culture where firecrackers are used for celebration. But beyond that, if something is far louder than a firecracker, and something is not what we commonly hear, then, especially if it is a loud threatening sound, we all feel fearful. Now if we understand it is a bomb, we will flee from it to hide and take cover.
But if it is just a one-time sound, and if it is not repeated, then we will rush there to find out what that sound is. If we know that, say parents are at their homes, doing some work at home, and they know their children are playing in the courtyard, and suddenly they hear a loud sound in the courtyard, they will go crazy, with fear, with alarm, and rush to find out what it is. Similarly, the previous chapter has described how the trees fell.
Krishna, by his tugging, dragged down the Yamala Arjun trees. And on hearing this sound, this narrative is continued in this chapter, the Gopas were alarmed, scared, they didn’t know what to do. And thus they rushed to the place to see what is happening.
When they saw, on the earth had fallen these trees. When they saw the sight that these had fallen down, they became confused, they became bewildered. They could not figure out, they could not know any cause.
Laksham patanakaranam They could not perceive what had made the trees fall down, what had exactly happened. We function in the world through the interaction of cause and effect. That’s why whenever we see something happening, we try to trace a cause for that, and by tracing the cause for that, we try to understand what is happening and why.
So, if we are not able to trace a cause, then we end up worrying. So then we become confused. If we see, if we come to a house and we see something has fallen down, we look around to see what could have caused that thing to fall down.
If we look around and see anything that is unusual that has occurred, then we look for an explanation. And normally, if a huge cupboard has fallen down, then we understand there must be some huge force which caused the fall down of the cupboard. But if we can’t figure it out, then we worry.
What exactly happened? Dadrishur, Yamala, Arjuna, these are huge trees and to have them falling down is nothing ordinary. It’s alarmingly extraordinary. So naturally they are worried and they are asking what made this happen.
They wanted to know what caused the patana, what caused the fall of these. So then ulukhalam vikarshantam dhamnabaddham chabalakam kasyedam kuta ashcharyam utpat itikataraha ulukhalam vikarshantam And now they did see that normally we like to see whenever anything unusual has happened, we want to see whatever is whatever is out of place, whether that can explain that big thing that is out of place. But in this case they couldn’t see anything which is really seriously out of place, so seriously out of place that they could use it to explain.
They did see that Krishna had dragged the ulukhalam and understanding that was fine dhamnabaddham chabalakam and he was still bound dhamna he was still bound to the rope kasyedam kuta ashcharyam How did this happen? utpat itikataraha such fearful incidents how are they happening? They started becoming apprehensive So they saw one thing which was out of place which was huge, that had dragged them there practically that was the trees falling down. Another thing they saw out of place was that Krishna had dragged the grinding motor but he could not have They considered that as a cause but they dismissed that as a cause. Now they turned around, is there anyone who can explain what has happened? So there were some kids over there cowherd boys were there, so they said bala uchur aneneti tiryagatam ulukhalam vikarshatam adhyagena purushavachakshmahi bala uchur aneneti the uvach is to speak it is used for singular, uchur is used for plural bala uchur, so the kids said aneneti by him tiryagatam ulukhalam he got the ulukhal to fall down and he dragged it along and vikarshatam adhyagena he went between the two trees and purushavachakshmahi and we saw that from the trees two very attractive people appeared purushavachakshmahi this is an astonishing thing to see Now in the gopas the small children say that they have seen themselves with their own eyes that after Krishna knocked down the trees, then two divine persons came and saw this with our own eyes what is the reaction of the vrajavasis, the elders na te tad uptam jagrahur na ghateti tasyatat balas chopatanam tarvo kechit sandik dachet saham so a natural reaction when the small children said that Krishna brought this tree down, these trees down a natural reaction could be disbelief among the gopas children often have overactive imagination and they also like to be the center of attention and this combination of wanting attention and having imagination can make one spin yarns tell stories which have a dubious basis in facts this is how often gossips also grow that when someone gossips that time essentially they are letting themselves get carried away by the desire for attention and they end up, there can be concoction or at least there can be exaggeration children of course are not exactly gossipers the word gossip often has a negative tendency to it within which we try to understand whether there is a proper way of doing things and there is not a proper way of doing things and sometimes we need to know about people, people’s background so that we can function better with them and that is not gossiping if our intention is to get some joy in knowing some salacious details about people then that is gossiping children have no kind of gossiping tendency like that children just have creative imaginations so a normal reaction would be skepticism and disbelief but here it is said that it is not disbelief but doubt so we could say if we have a spectrum on the top is complete conviction below that could be faith below that could be open minded open mindedness below that could be skepticism below that could be doubt, below that could be disbelief so we could have a continuum like that and within this continuum the idea that Krishna could bring down this huge tree would seem such a outrageous thing that people may just dismiss it offhand but they don’t dismiss it, there is no dismissal or disbelief there is a doubt and the doubt is because they all understand that actually Krishna is it is possible that he may do wonderful things because they remember Nanda Maharaj has been told by Gargamuni that this child is just like Narayan this child can have the same potency that Narayan can have and thus this child’s capacity because he is blessed by Narayan to have potency just like Narayan so it may be that this child could have done such things so there is a room for for possibility over there and thus it is described that the Brajwasis have doubts not outright disbelief or rejection so … … … … this brings us to the conclusion of this pastime this is the sixth text … when they saw that Krishna was actually dragging the was dragging the grinding motor while being still bound to it … … Nanda felt happy and he smiled and smiling he said that yes we’ll take this forward that okay this child is bound let me liberate him … … he freed Krishna so how Krishna was bound and how he was freed and how while being bound he freed those who were bound into tree bodies all that, that pastime concludes with Nanda Maharaj unbinding Krishna Bhagavatam 10 chapter 11 text 7 … … … … … so here the general attitude of the Brajwasis towards Krishna is being described … … … so when the Gopis inspired Krishna to do something they induced him either by flattering him oh he is a good dancer or by inducing him through example … this can be done better So, as I spoke, Aniruddhya.
Aniruddhya is dance. So, normally it is said that, the Supreme is like the puppet and we are like the puppet, Supreme is like the puppet master and we are like the puppets who are made to move here and there. However, the truth is that, it is not just a matter of the place or the action, it is a matter of the relative position within the interaction.
So, whereas the whole world is said to be controlled by Krishna, here Krishna is controlled by his devotees, by the gopis, whereas everyone is like a puppet and he is the puppeteer. Now, he becomes the puppet for his topmost devotees who are the puppeteers. Such is the incredible amazing level of the devotion of the Vrajavasis.
Utkāyati kochinmukdhas. Utkāyati. So, they cry, they sing.
Kochinmukdhas. Tadbasho dāru yantravat. So, bālavat and yantravat.
It’s interesting. First of all, it is said that he is God but he acted like a child, bālavat and then further it is said yantravat, dāru yantravat, as if he were a wooden instrument, as if he were a machine or a wooden doll. Yantra basically refers to something which is, which is a literal translation to machine but overall what it means is that which has no free will or no independent decision-making capacity.
It is controlled and fully malleable to someone else’s will or capacity. Such is, now Krishna at one level is a naughty child as was described previously how he would steal butter and he would be like a sweet delightful nuisance but it’s also described that he could be a very powerful influence in which he could be influenced by others. He could very well actually act in a way that would make others feel that they were controlling him and he would dance to their tune because he felt, because they felt that actually Krishna was a child and as a child he was letting them control him.
So, Krishna had this delightful combination of being both an enjoy, being enjoyable and being an enjoyer and not being an enjoyer or rather being a controller and not being a controller. Krishna had such a way of that those around him would feel differently at different times. In each of the situations they would feel louder that Krishna was such a nice child that if they tell him to dance, he would dance.
So, when there is love then the obedience of the beloved is delightful and even the disobedience of the beloved can also be delightful. So, here when it is said that that Krishna was controlled by them, the significance of this is that the point is made that actually Krishna was under, the emphasis is not that Krishna always obeyed them, the emphasis is that such was their love that they could even, even Krishna would do what they wanted him to do. udgāyati kvacidmukdhās, such was, as if he was deluded, as if he had no will, as if, just do whatever they were told him to do.
Text 8, vibharti kvacid agyām, agyam, taha, pithakom mānpādukham, bhāhu ká¹£epam ca gurute, smānāṁ ca prÄ«timāvaham, vibharti kvacidmukdhās, agyam taha, vibharti kvacid, agyam taha. Agyam taha means when you would be instructed to get something such as, say you tell Krishna please get the footwear of Nanda Maharaj or please get that small, a small desk, please get that small table, vibharti kvacid, he would touch it and he would stand there saying, oh I can’t move this, pithakom mānpādukham, pithak unmāna, the wooden seat and wooden measuring pot, something just like that should be there, vejpādukham, something which you are not able to carry, he would simply touch them and express his helplessness, something which he could carry, bhāhu ká¹£epam, so sometimes when you had to get something, he would try to bring them and before that just like wrestlers sometimes slap their thighs or their arms to highlight the muscles that they have and to show that they have the capacity to do whatever needs to be done, so bhāhu ká¹£epam ca kurute, so he would sometimes slap his thighs to indicate that he can could get these things, svānāṁ ca prÄ«timāvahan, svānāṁ ca prÄ«timāvahan and in this way to his loved ones, svānāṁ ca prÄ«timāvahan, he actually would bring great joy to them, prÄ«tim, the joy which he would bring to them had no parallels, so in every way Krishna acted like a lovable child, acting as a lovable child, he would do whatever it took to bring joy to his loved ones, prÄ«timāvahan, text 9, darshayam tadvidāṁ loka ātmano vá¹›tti-vaÅ›yatāṁ prajasyo vāhavaiḥ hará¹£am bhagavān bāl cheshtitaḥ, darshayam tadvidāṁ loka, darshayam tadvidāṁ loka, that in this way through exhibiting his pastimes to those who could understand those pastimes, he would display for the whole world to know that ātmano vá¹›tti-vaÅ›yatāṁ, that how he came under the control of his devotees, vá¹›tti-vaÅ›yatāṁ, vá¹›tti means those were his servants, so normally servants are the order carriers, but here Krishna became the order carrier of his order carriers, such is the extraordinary nature of the love of his utmost devotees, prajasyo vāhavaiḥ hará¹£am, in this way among the vá¹›jya-vāsis, hará¹£am, he brought great joy, bhagavān bāl cheshtitaḥ, by his activities, like those of a child who was trying to do many things, bhagavān bāl cheshtitaḥ, prajasyo vāhavaiḥ hará¹£am, earlier the word bālavat was used, that means Krishna is not actually a child, Krishna is the supreme being, but here he is bālavat, he is acting like a child, he is bhagavān, but here it is said bhagavān bāl cheshtitaḥ, so this contrast is brought out in a beautiful way, and although Krishna is bhagavān, he is acting like a child in order to reciprocate love with his devotees, his stress is on conveying that there is such love possible among him and his devotees that there is nothing that God cannot do, and although he is the supreme, he doesn’t take pride in being the supreme, but becomes the reciprocator of love with his devotees, even becoming subordinate to them, if that’s what is required for the reciprocation of love. So one such pastime of the fruit vendor will be described in the next verse, from the next verse onwards which we’ll discuss in our next session.