Bhagavatam tenth canto study 86 – 10.14.53-61 – Vrajavasis love their children as parts of Krishna and therefore love the Whole more

Bhagavatam 10.14.53 देहो पिमंता भागचेत तर्यसवनात्मवत्प्रियः यज्जिर्यत्यापिदेहेस्मिन् जीविताशाबलियसी देहो पिमंता भागचेत that if we consider the body, the possessiveness related with the body, when the body is the focus, तर्यसवनात्मवत्प्रियः, then normally the body is the object of affection. But if we understand that actually I am not the body, the body is mine, then the level of affection will not remain that much to the body.
And one way we can understand this differentiation between us and our body is by understanding that actually we at our core are, we as conscious beings who have our desires, we are different from us as souls who may have particular, that our body’s capacity to fulfill the desires may decrease and decline, but still we as souls remain the same. And understanding this difference can help us figure out that there is something beyond me in me, beyond the body in me, and thus we can take things forward toward gaining a higher understanding, toward gaining higher realization. So the point is, this whole analysis is going toward the explanation of why the Vajugopis loved Krishna more than their own children.
And here the idea is that first it said the self is what we are most attached to, and then the next point being made is that actually different people have different conceptions of what the self is. And based on our conception of the self, our attachments will be centered accordingly. If we consider the body to be our self, then the body will be most dear and everything related to the body will be secondarily dear.
But if you understand that we are the soul, then the soul will become the most dear and the body will become secondarily dear. And that same theme will be continued in the next verse. So now how do we understand that there is a soul beyond the body? One way to infer that is by seeing how our energy remains the same or our desire to do energetic activities remains the same, despite our body’s capacity to do those activities declining substantially.
And that point suggests that there is something within us beyond our body. tasmāt priyatamah svātmā sarveśyāma-pidehinām tadartham eva sakalam jagat etaccharācaram tasmāt priyatamah svātmā Therefore, it is for pleasing oneself, all living beings act. sarveśyāma-pidehinām tadartham eva sakalam jagat etaccharācaram that all living beings in the world act for that purpose of pleasing themselves.
Now the word self-centered has a negative connotation. To be self-centered means that we are not really, we don’t care for others at all. It’s not like that.
Here at least it’s more objective analysis that we care for ourselves first and then we care for others. kṛṣṇam enaṁ avehitvam ātmā nāma-khilātmanāṁ jagad-nitāya-sopyatra-dehīvābhāti-māyayā kṛṣṇam enaṁ avehitvam kṛṣṇam enaṁ. Now, so he’s basically evolving, helping us understand how, what is the most enlightened conception of the self.
So Kṛṣṇa is the self of all living beings. He’s the soul of all souls. kṛṣṇam enaṁ avehitvam jagad-nitāya-sopyatra when he has appeared in this world, dehīvābhāti-māyayā, through a divine illusion, when he appears in this world, that is simply for the welfare of all living beings.
So although he has appeared in this world, that doesn’t change the reality that he is the soul of all souls. Although Kṛṣṇa appears to be another embodied soul during his descent in this world, he is the soul, he still remains the soul of all souls without any material body. Now this is evolving the conception of the soul, conception of the self to explain how the Brajavasis’ love for Kṛṣṇa is greater than their love for their own children.
Takes 56, vastu-to-jāna-tā-matra, kṛṣṇam sthās-nucā-riṣṇu-ca bhagavad-rūpa-makhilam nānyadvastu-ihakvastu-ihakīñcana, vastu-to-jāna-tā-matra. So in this way to understand, to understand Kṛṣṇa in this way, kṛṣṇam sthās-nucā-riṣṇu-ca, in all the sthās-nucā-riṣṇu-ca was used here, in other words, sthās-nucā-riṣṇu-ca is used, that moving and non-moving things, bhagavad-rūpa-makhilam, that they see Kṛṣṇa in everything, nānyadvastu-ihakvastu-ihakīñcana, there is nothing else in truth. To see everything as Kṛṣṇa or to see the form of Kṛṣṇa in everything is not a holistic vision.
It is a vision coming out of affection on understanding the reality of how things are in the world, that how God is the being who underlies all being. He is the person who is the caretaker and the sustainer of all of existence. So after, this is a word similar to what has been talked about in the, say, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Chetan-charitām sthāvar-jaṅgam nād-dekhī nād-dekhī tāra-mūrtiḥ sarvatra-haini jo ishta-devas-pūrtiḥ. Now moving forward, text 57, 1057, sarveśyāma-prasthūnāṁ bhāvārtha-bhavati-sthitaḥ tasyāpi bhagavān kṛṣṇaḥ kim atadvastu-rūpyatām sarveśyāma-prasthūnāṁ So all objects, everything, in fact, sarveśyāma-prasthūnāṁ, in all things, bhāvārtha-bhavati-sthitaḥ that we understand that the uncaused cause of all causes is there. He exists, underlying, unifying everything.
kim atadvastu-rūpyatām and what exists separate from Him. So what does this mean? It means that basically the point being made over there is that there is the vision of spiritual enlightenment by which one sees Krishna present in everything, no matter where we are seeing, no matter where we are seeing, what we are seeing, we see Krishna everywhere. And the capacity to see Krishna everywhere is what defines the spiritually realized vision.
Now we will take this philosophical point to address the specific answer to the question, the answer to the specific question of Parikshit Maharaj. Before that we have a famous verse, text 58, samāśritāye pada-pallava-plavam mahat-padaṁ puṇyeṣo murāre bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ parampadaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ niteshāṁ samāśritāye pada-pallava-plavam that those who take shelter of your lotus feet, mahat-padaṁ puṇyeṣo murāre, that this is like the whole material existence, by taking shelter of that Lord who is puṇyeṣo murāre, who is auspicious, who is glorious, bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ parampadaṁ, what will happen is that padaṁ padaṁ that the whole vast material ocean that becomes reduced to a water in a calf’s footprint, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ niteshāṁ and they don’t return to this world. This verse is usually quoted to talk about how danger is always there in this world and danger can’t be avoided.
But in our context, what this verse means is that when we are attached to worldly things, then that attachment places us in the ocean of material existence and we are subjected to its turbulent waves, tossed and tumbled and drowned eventually, whereas attachment to Krishna and his service places us in the boat which not only takes us across the ocean but also shrinks the ocean to insignificance. And those who understand Krishna to be their Supreme Self, they won’t be attached to the body or other things, they’ll be attached to Krishna. That is the point which will be made subsequently from here.
So text 59 now, etatte sarvam ākhyātam, yat-pṛṣṭo aham ihatvaya, tat-kaumāre hari-kṛtaṁ, bhau-gaṇḍe parikīrtitam, etatte sarvam ākhyātam. In this way, all these activities of Krishna, I’ve described to you. yat-pṛṣṭo aham ihatvaya, I have described to you.
tat-kaumāre hari-kṛtaṁ. So what he did from his childhood times to his later childhood, bhau-gaṇḍe parikīrtitam, described. So now let’s, we’re coming to the conclusion of this chapter in two verses after this, but let’s retrace the reasoning which has been exhibited over here so that we will better understand what exactly is going on.
If you look back, Parikshit Maharaj’s question comes in text 49 and then so the answer starts from 50 and it goes on till 58. So if you look over the answer, to make a sense of it, for everyone their self is the most dear and then all other attachments come secondarily. For those who think of the body as the self, this is 52, then the body becomes their primary attachment and things related to the body become secondary attachments.
Then if you look at x53, if they understand that they are not the body but the soul, then the body becomes the secondary attachment, the soul, their conception of the self, when it agrees with, when it is grounded in spiritual understanding, then the soul becomes their primary attachment. And we all work for satisfying ourselves, that’s x54. And then he says that, x55, that it is Krishna who is the soul of all souls.
He is the supreme transcendental being, who is also immanent in all living beings, even when he is apparent in the outer world. And thus, those who understand him to be the self, what happens is, they see that he is existing everywhere and thus when they can see his manifestation, that wherever they see his manifestation, that becomes the supreme object of attachment for them. So if they recognize no reality apart from the supreme, then we could say that they would, if we say Krishna everywhere, if we say Krishna even in our children, then should we love our children as much as we love Krishna? Not exactly.
Why not? Because the point here is that we understand that Krishna has his, Krishna exists at various levels of manifestation. So there is Krishna himself and there are Krishna’s parts. And all of us are parts of Krishna.
The parts also have an integral relationship with the whole in the sense that they are eternally the parts, but they are eternally separated parts, who are connected primarily through consciousness. So when a soul is understanding, understands that among Krishna’s various levels of manifestations, it is his manifestation as the supreme, that is, the greatest. When Krishna manifested directly, and we could say Krishna manifests partially or indirectly.
So whatever is good in everyone comes from Krishna. At the same time, whatever is, that doesn’t mean they are Krishna. Rather Krishna is manifesting through them.
But when Krishna himself expanded as the cowherd boys, naturally, so they loved Krishna, they loved the Gopas as their children, but they loved him also as the parts of Krishna who had been entrusted under their care. And because of that, when the whole was accessible to them, why would they not love the whole more than the part? Why? Naturally they would. So if we find a drop of honey delicious, then if you have a cup of honey, that would be even more delicious.
Of course, we could say we as human beings have a finite capacity to eat honey, but the point remains that if we had the capacity to eat a lot of honey, then why would we not eat it? We would naturally. Similarly, here the point being made is that when we see everything as a manifestation of Krishna, but at different levels of manifestation, then a fuller manifestation of Krishna will naturally attract our heart and attention far, far more than a partial manifestation. And thus, what they’re saying here is, oh Krishna, you and your fullest manifestation.
When Krishna in his full manifestation was appearing as their children, so they naturally had immense incomparable love for their children. And to see anything as separate from him is illusion. Now that is the very definition of Maya.
To see anything as separate from Krishna is a sense of Maya. Then to see, they don’t see their children as separate from Krishna, naturally they love their children because they’re parts of Krishna. Of course, these parts have been specially entrusted under their care, so naturally that there is a, because of that connection and responsibility, there’ll be greater affection for their children.
But because they were fully conscious of Krishna, their affection was for Krishna and for everyone in relationship with Krishna as his parts. So they did not see the children separate from Krishna, they saw them as parts of Krishna. And they had affection for the parts and they had affection for the whole.
And because the whole is far more attractive than the part, so when Krishna’s parts, those children were with them, naturally the Gopas loved them, but the whole Krishna was there in the form of their children and actually their love for him was more. So it was enlightened spiritual vision based on understanding the self properly, that one can actually go beyond illusion. And then the 58th text is about how shelter of Krishna’s lotus feet takes us beyond illusion.
That can be a generic declaration of how taking shelter of Krishna frees us from danger, that how the Gopas, because the cowherd boys are always sheltered under Krishna, so they were protected from the attack of Aghasur and demons like him and even the attack in the form of trying to delude of Brahma. So the whole ocean of material existence filled with dangers and delusions became nothing for them, insignificant. And similarly it can become insignificant for us.
That can be one application of this verse. Another could be that if we are attached to something in the ocean, a drop in the ocean, if we are attached to the world then we are subjected to its worldly turbulence. But if you’re attached to the boat that will take us beyond the world, although that boat is manifesting in the world, just as Krishna descends to this world and manifests here, but still remains transcendental.
Then that boat can take us beyond this world. Such is this logic. Now text 16.
एतत् सुहरुद्भिष्चरितं मुरारे अघार्धनं शाडवल्जेमनंच यक्तेतरद्रूपं अजौर्व अभिष्टवं शुन्वन्गुणन् एतिनरो खिलार्थान। So here the point being made is, in this way Charitam Murari, the character of Lord Murari, along with his loved ones, Suhrudbhis, his close friends, अघार्धनं शाडवल्जेमनंच, so how he was delivered, how he delivered them from subduing the demon Agha, while they were in the forest, on the grass in the forest, taking lunch, यक्तेतरद्रूपं, यक्त इतरद्रूपं, so he also manifested these wonderful forms, अजौर्व अभिष्टवं, and अजौर्वुरु, the elaborate prayers of Ajya Brahmaji, अभिष्टवं, तव is praise, अभिष्टव is systematic or elaborate praise, उरु is also the same point, so basically these are verses which are summarizing what has been spoken, he has spoken, Krishna is taking lunch, Krishna is killing Aghasur, and he is manifesting his extraordinary Vishnu forms to Brahma, and शुरुण्वन्गृणनेतिनरो अखिलार्धान, that one who hears and relishes these, they will, अखिलार्धान, will get all desirable things, ultimately अखिलार्धान doesn’t necessarily mean that we will get all desirable things, now we are finite beings and the list of desirable things itself is infinite, so we cannot possibly get all desirable things, but what it can mean is that all desirable things originate and culminate in Krishna, and thus when we get Krishna, we, when we get love for Krishna, when we get absorption in Krishna, when we live in the presence of Krishna, then we get all desirable things, because it’s like, all desirable things are like drops of water, and Krishna is the ocean, when we get Krishna, we have got all the desirable drops of water automatically. Take 61, एवं विहारै कौमारै, कौमारं जहतुर्वजे, नीलायनै सेतु बंधे, मरकटोत् प्लवनादिभी, एवं विहारै कौमारै, in this way, the childhood pastimes of Krishna, कौमारं जहतुर्वजे, from the age of five onwards, have been described, नीलायनै सेतु बंधे, नीलायनै, so now, Krishna performed various pastimes, and in conclusion, some of those pastimes have been mentioned. So, killing demons is like a highlight.
Normally, say if, whenever we tell a story, it is like, while writing a story, the author needs to edit out the parts which the readers will skip. So, it is that, the most interesting parts of a person’s life are what we are interested in, for to speak of someone’s life, in our own lives. That, if somebody asks us to watch a video of everything that we did, for one day, the next day, we would soon get bored.
So, Krishna’s killing demons is like a sensational pastime, and that is actually described over here. But along with that, there are many other pastimes which Krishna performed. The primary thing that he was doing was play.
And as a part of his play, he would nonchalantly even kill demons. So, some of the pastimes that he performed are described in this concluding verse. नीलायनै, they ran around chasing each other.
से तु बन्दाई, they build bridges across the rivers. मर्कटुत्लवना, jump around like monkeys. In this way, that Lord who could at one moment delude the one who enlightens, who is the Lord of the Goddess of Wisdom, so that Lord played around like a child.
So, thus, we complete the Brahma Mahamohan Leela. And in our future sessions, we will discuss the killing of Dhenuka and will continue thereafter.