Bhagavatam tenth canto study 85 – 10.14.43-52 – Unravelling the mystery of the Vrajavasis disproportionate love for Krishna

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 14, Text 43 Although one year had passed in between, for the Gopās and the cows, Krishna was the Lord of their life, Prāṇeśva.
Chāntarātmanah. He had gone out of their sight. They had been taken away by Brahmāji.
So, they had been separated from Krishna for one full year. But, Krishna māyā hathā rājan. But because Krishna’s māyā had acted under influence of Krishna’s māyā, what happened was, O King! Śukadeva Swami is speaking to Parīkṣit Mahārāja over here.
Sanārdham me nire arbha kaha. They thought that it was just a sanārdha, just a moment within which Krishna had gone and Krishna had come back. Arbha kaha, the boys thought.
This is a clue to the answer to the question that Parīkṣit Mahārāja had raised, that after killing Ghāsura, the Vrajagopās told the other Vrajābhāsis about Krishna’s heroic activity one year after the pastime. Generally, if we see something sensational, suppose we have gone to watch a sports match and say there is no live telecast, so others can’t know. And if we see somebody doing something sensational, maybe hit a sensational shot, take a sensational catch, then naturally we will want to immediately after coming back, tell others, you know what I saw? You know what this person did? And now that’s just a spectator sport.
But if, say, we ourselves had been in danger, suppose not just a spectacular action that somebody did that we saw in a sports match, but suppose we were in the middle of the road and didn’t notice that a truck was charging down towards us and somebody made a spectacular dive and not only just pulled us away from that drive, but actually just pushed the truck back. That was something spectacular that happened and that saved us. Then naturally we would want to immediately tell others about it.
So why would the Vrajagopās not tell about this to their loved ones, tell about Krishna saving them to their loved ones for one full year? So here the answer is given that it was because Krishna had created his illusory energy in such a way, not created, had expanded his illusory energy in such a way that the Vrajagopās felt as if it was Krishna that just a moment had passed when actually a full year had passed. So here we see a good example of the relativity of time being demonstrated. And this relativity of time conveys the idea that whatever happens, it doesn’t just happen the way we perceive at first glance.
There is a lot going on in terms of how space, time and life all interact. So how Krishna uses even the flow of time for his service to enhance this pastimes is demonstrated over here. So what was one year for the Vrajagopās, for the rest of the Vrajavasis turned out to be less than a moment.
They were eating their lunch and Krishna said, oh, I’ll go and find the cows. And Krishna was gone for one year and they were also gone because they were hidden in a cave. But Krishna arranged that they were back where they were, forgetting everything that happened in between.
And then Krishna came back. So, kṣaṇārdhaṁ me nirairbhakaḥ kṣaṇārdhaṁ Text 44 now. kim kim na viṣmarantiḥ māyāmohita-cetasah yanmohitaṁ jagat sarvam abhikṣaṁ viṣmatātmakam kim kim na viṣmarantiḥ So, whenever there’s a good storyteller, there is always a balance between narration and exposition.
Narration is where what happened in the story is told. Exposition is where what that means. How is the story relevant to us is told.
So, here it said that, okay, the Vṛchagopās were in māyā, but is it astonishing that actually everyone is in māyā? kim kim na viṣmarantiḥ Now, what all indeed is not that people don’t forget, when māyāmohita-cetasah, when their consciousness is covered by illusion, yanmohitaṁ jagat sarvam, indeed, people can forget the whole world and under the influence of illusion, māyā, people cannot forget the whole world, they can even forget themselves. viṣmatātmakam It’s like if somebody becomes addicted by a particular desire, then they don’t care about the consequences of their indulgence. They are so hooked to the idea of consuming that product, indulging in that product, that they lose their morality, they lose their common sense, they lose their health considerations, everything.
So, they forget the world and they forget themselves. They forget who they are at a spiritual level and even at a functional level. At a spiritual level means that when we start pursuing worldly desires, we forget who we are spiritually.
But along with that, even functionally, say a person may be a law-abiding police person, but say if they become addicted to alcohol, they might beat up someone in order to get alcohol or another spell of alcohol. So, they forget their functional identity also, what to speak of their fundamental identity. So, if everybody can be put under illusion, then why not the Gopas? Now, of course, the kind of illusion the Gopas have gone into is entirely different in the sense that they are such elevated souls that they are part of Krishna’s Leela and their illusion is not because they had any desire to enjoy separate from Krishna.
It is just they are part of Krishna’s plan, by which Krishna furthers his own plan, despite Brahma’s, you could say, ill-considered idea of trying to test Krishna. So, here is the exposition that there is nothing astounding about the Gopas being deluded because everyone in the world is deluded, they forget the world and they forget themselves also. Text 45 now.
उचुष्च सुर्धम् सुध क्रिष्णम् स्वागतम् ते अतिरम् हसा नई को अप्य अभोजी कवल एहितह सादु भुज्यताम् उचुष्च सुर्ध क्रिष्णम् His friend said, O Krishna, स्वागतम् ते अतिरम् हसा How quickly you have come back, O Krishna, welcome back. नै को अप्य अभोजी कवल We haven’t even completed eating one morsel of food in your absence. एहितह सादु भुज्यताम् So rejoin us and let’s continue eating our food.
So what was told in principle, that hardly half a moment had passed, that is told through their actions. So if somebody rings the bell while we are eating food and one of us says, I’ll go and look at the door. And then we just put our spoon in the plate and we’re about to put enough food and we’re about to chew it.
And by that time they come back. That was quick. How did you come back so fast? So like that, the Vrajagopas are saying that was quick.
O Krishna, so now that you’re back, let’s all enjoy the food together. So there was an apparent interruption, but actually, from Gopas perspective, it is a very short-lived interruption. So just as somebody after opening the door, during a meal comes back instantaneously and says, it’s quick.
So like that, they say, this is your quick, Krishna. Let’s continue now. And text 46.
Now on hearing this, Krishna smiled gently. Sometimes if people are profoundly ignorant, then their ignorance can also be amusing. And Krishna is thinking, so much has happened and these Vrajagopas are not even aware of the ABC of all that has happened.
So then he started taking lunch with them. And after they finished the lunch, Darshayam Charma Jagaram. Darshayam, Krishna pointed to them, Charma Jagaram.
Dajigar, the python, Alhasur. Charma is his skin. Navartat Vanad Vrajam.
As they were returning back along the path after completing their journey through the forest. So they had gone to herd the cows. And after herding the cows, now they were back.
So while they were on the way back, they saw this beautiful place where Krishna had dealt with Alhasur and his skin lay over there. So it had become like a plaything. So Krishna pointed out the plaything to them.
Just see how it is. Like sometimes gardens may have pythons or other things through which kids can move and have some dangerous fun. So like that Krishna pointed, hey, here is a good interesting place to have fun over.
So text 47. Now the beauty of Krishna is described as he enters the goshtham, pravivesha, as he enters the cowherd pastures. So Barha Prasuna.
Barha is, of course, the peacock feather. Barhaavatam samasitam buddhasundarangam. So Barha.
So there is, he is wearing a peacock feather and then Prasuna. He has vanadhatu. He has flowers decorating his body as well as forest minerals which act as various colourful objects.
They are also decorating his body with chitrit. Chitrit. They are artfully decorated angaha on his body.
Pradamvenudala. So he is having a beautiful venu made from a, a flute made from a bamboo tree. Dalashrungaravotsavadhyah.
This buffalo horn, that is also being blown. Vatsangrunaanugagitapamitakirtir. And along with the cows, they are calling out and singing.
What? They are calling out to the cows. Come on, let’s go. Punyakirtir.
Pavitrakirtir. They are singing the auspicious glories of Krishna. And Gopidrukotsava.
And Gopidrukotsava. It’s a beautiful word. So Drukotsava is festival for the eyes.
So for the Gopis, when they saw their beloved child coming back, that was like a festival and they were delighted on seeing it. Gopidrukotsava. Gitapavitrakirtir.
So this is now a joyful reunion after the action is over. After the whole, after the dramatic pastime has now come to an end. A joyful reunion.
Because the mothers naturally love their child. And the mother is long, when can we be back with our child? With our children. So when they see Krishna, they all become delighted.
So at one level, we will see later this point being described that the Gopis were delighted to see Krishna, but they were more delighted to see Krishna than they were to see their own children back. Which was their extraordinary love for Krishna. Adhyānena Mahāvyālō.
Yaśodānandasūnuna. Hato vītvā vayam ca smān. Iti bālāvraje jagahū.
Adhyānena Mahāvyālō. So then they told Krishna that Adhyānena. Today you know, they told about Krishna to their family members.
Today, Adhyānena by him, by Krishna, Mahāvyālō. Sometimes when children want to tell a story, they can be quite excessive. You know, there’s a big snake.
And Krishna killed that. Children are naughty and sweet. And when they dramatize something, their dramatization has its own appeal.
So, in their own sweet appealing way they are telling. What does Krishna do? Yaśodānandasūnuna. The son of Yaśodānanda.
Hato vītvā vayam ca smān. So he killed that snake and he saved all of us, avitā. All of us have been saved, vayam ca smān.
Bhāvati bālāvraje jagahū. They sang for all the bhajivasis. So here there’s a thread of continuity.
The vraja-gopās are also poetic and artistic in their own ways. So they sing and speak Krishna’s glories. And in this way, what are they singing about? Just like if we like to sing.
Now there are some songs which are familiar and which we like to sing. And sometimes there’s a new tune, new song that we hear. Then we want to sing that.
So the gopās would compose sweet songs glorifying Krishna’s pastimes. And here, now that Krishna had killed a big, big demon in the form of a snake, they started glorifying Krishna for that, singing songs. So the previous verse said they were singing songs.
But amidst their singing songs, they were also telling what Krishna had done, the latest news, what Krishna had done. And thus they were glorifying the Lord who had saved their lives and who was dearer to them than their own lives. Text 49.
śrī rājo vāca brahmaṇ parod bhavet kṛṣṇa yān prema-kathambhavet yo bhūt-pūrvam pūrva-stokta-kesu sva-svodbhaveshva-pikathyatām So please, now here Parīśit Mahārāja asks a question. Oh, please tell me. brahmaṇ parod bhavet kṛṣṇa Krishna is the para-udbhava of brahmana.
Krishna is born to someone else. yān prema-kathambhavet Then how is it that the Brajwasi had so much love for Krishna? yo bhūt-pūrva-stokta-kesu That they didn’t feel such love even for their own children, what they had not felt. sva-udbhaveshva-pikathyatām So para-udbhava and sva-udbhava, these two words.
Para-udbhava means born to someone else. Udbhava is born. Para is another.
Sva-udbhava, so born to oneself. How could they have more love for someone who was born to someone else than to someone who was born to them? So we see through this question how Parishad Maharaj is focusing on the theme of love and loving absorption in Krishna. How is it that we all have attachments to our loved ones and those attachments are understandable at one level.
But we need to surely rise beyond these attachments and go towards transcendence. And the way we do that is by recognizing that Krishna is the attractive principle in everything that attracts us. So whatever makes our loved ones lovable, it is Krishna who is present within them.
It is Krishna who makes them lovable. So let’s move on now. How to see how Parishad Maharaj’s question will be answered by Shukadeva Swami? Shishukavacha Sarvesham api bhutanaam Nrupasvatmavi svatmayiva vallabhaha Itare apatyavitadyas apatyavitadyas tadvallabhateyvahi So sarvesham api bhutanaam For all living beings, ok, nrupa, svatmayiva vallabhaha one’s own self is the most attractive.
Itare apatya vittadhyas and then others such as apatya, one’s children, one’s wealth and other such things, adhya, tad valla batya evahi, after that they become dear to us. So Parikshit Maharaj’s question is being answered here by first giving a philosophical context that normally how does our hierarchy of love go? That first we care for ourselves and then we care for others. Now is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.
That’s just the way life is. Now of course when we love someone deeply, say a mother may risk her own life to save the life of her child and that indicates her special affection which is no doubt important. So that is the way nature has endowed the mother with some special love by which she can actually do something extraordinary, that is put her child above herself and tirelessly take care of her child.
Without that kind of love one cannot go through all the challenges that are inevitably involved there when one tries to care for another life form who is utterly dependent on us. So the normal hierarchy of affection is that first we care for ourselves and then we care for others depending on how close they are to us, how dear they are to us and whenever that hierarchy is apparently inverted there is some reason for that. Again we could say natural reason or a personal reason but just because there can be some exceptional inversions that doesn’t mean the hierarchy itself is not true.
So this is the starting of the answer. Now let’s look at text 51. तद्राजीन्रयथास्नेह स्वस्वकात्मनिदेहिनाम् नतथा ममतालंभी पुत्रवित्ग्रहादिशू तद्राजीन्रयथास्नेह स्वस्वकात्मनिदेहिनाम् Therefore O King, O King of Kings, यथास्नेह, I just said there is affection, स्वस्वकात्मनिदेहिनाम् I just said the soul has attraction to oneself and one’s own body, देहिनाम् नतथा ममतालंभी That kind of पुत्रवित्ग्रहादिशू, that kind of affection is not there for other things, for one’s children, one’s wealth and one’s home.
So because of this inside, because of this hierarchy of affection, one doesn’t love one’s possessions as one loves oneself. There’s an order of priority in that. And text 52, देहात्मवादिनाम् पुम्साम् अपिराजन्यसत्तम यथाधेह प्रियतमस् तथानय अनुयेचतम् देहात्मवादिनाम् पुम्साम् So देहात्मवादिनाम् so that means those who say that the body is the self, those who are in the bodily conception of life, पुम्साम् people, अपिराजन्यसत्तम राजन्यसत्तम Again, previous verse he had said that राजेन्द्र, now it’s राजन्यसत्तम, you are the best among those who are devoted, सत्तम, so यथाधेह प्रियतमस् that just as the body is most dear, तथानय अनुयेचतम् So he’s taking the hierarchy further out and just as the body is dear to us, but things related with the body are not as dear for those who are in the bodily conception of life.
So the idea is based on what we conceive of as our self, if you consider the body as the self, then the self becomes the center of our affection and everything else comes after that. So this way, we will continue the reasoning that will answer this significant question. And what is the answer is, we’ll discuss in a future talk.
Thank you.