Bhagavatam tenth canto study 39 – 10.7.19-26 Krishna protects Yashoda before tackling Trinavarta

What happened thereafter, we’ll discuss in a future session. Thank you. This is the beginning stages of the past time of Trunavartam coming to abduct Krishna.
And here it begins by the previous verse stated how suddenly Yashodamai found Krishna to be very heavy. And now it is said, she kept him on the earth, placing him on the earth. She was astonished.
Why is my child suddenly feeling so heavy? Suppose we are carrying a suitcase and suppose some guest has come to meet us and we pick up their suitcase and we find it extremely heavy. What are you carrying in this? Stones? We may ask. Normally we have an expectation of how heavy something should be and something turns out to be much heavier.
We are surprised. Now if you are carrying the suitcase and it was light for some time and suddenly it becomes heavy, that’s even more surprising. So that’s what happens over here.
So Yashodamai is surprised. What has made this child suddenly so heavy? So when she is astonished like this, it appeared as if she was not able to know what was happening. She took the shelter of the Mahapurush, Narayana, Adadhyam.
And then, okay, I don’t know what is happening, but what I do know is that Lord Narayana is my shelter. So let me take shelter of him. And she started engaging herself in household affairs.
So this is a very instructive response. In life, sometimes strange things happen and we try to make sense of those things, but we have finite intelligence and we have finite energy. So if something doesn’t make sense, we just pray to Narayana, take shelter of Narayana, and we move on with life.
Sometimes people behave strangely. Now, sometimes if we have the opportunity, we sit down and talk with them, try to clarify things, understand where they are coming from, and that may help us to make sense of this strange behavior. But sometimes it may just not be within our resources to make sense of things which are happening in a strange way.
So then we simply take shelter of Narayana, take shelter of Krishna, and continue our work. Whatever we are doing, we have to go on with our life. We don’t have unlimited intelligence, and we don’t have unlimited time, unlimited energy to try to figure out every strange thing that happens in life.
So similarly, although she’s a stonist at the increased weight of Krishna, she just puts him aside and continues her work. But this is a part of Krishna’s plan to protect her from being troubled when Trunavartha will attack him. Now, text 20, दैत्यो नाम्ना त्रुणावर्तः कम्सभृत्य प्रणोधितः चक्रवात् स्वरूपेन जहारासीनम् अर्भकम् So, जहारासीनम् अर्भकम् Now, what was happening here? The Bhagavatam gives us the information from the perspective of the omnipotent, the omniscient narrator.
That means, Yashoda does not know what is happening, but Shukadeva Swami is explaining to Suta Goswami, to Pranishad Maharaj Suta Goswami and all the assembled sages, this narrative. And he’s telling it from the perspective of the omniscient narrator. Sometimes stories are told from one character’s perspective, sometimes from another character’s perspective, and sometimes from an overall perspective, where different times incidents are told from different person’s perspectives.
That’s what is happening here. So, Suta Goswami says, दहित्यो नाम्ना त्रुणावर्तः So, why was Krishna suddenly heavy? There is associate with it, the actions of a demonic being, त्रुणावर्तः. कम्स भृत्य प्रणोधितः.
He was a servant of Kamsa and प्रणोधितः. That means, he had been instructed by Kamsa. Kamsa had sent various demons to try to kill Krishna.
And here was one of them, that is, त्रुणावर्तः. He has कम्स भृत्य प्रणोधितः. चक्रवात् स्वरुपेण.
And these different demons come in different forms. This demon had come in the चक्रवात्, in the form of a storm, a whirlwind specifically. वात् is wind, चक्र is circle.
So, चक्रवात् is a wind that comes in the form of a circle, basically a whirlwind. Now, the whirlwind is used both in a literal and metaphorical sense. Whirlwind, literally we would say the wind that whirls.
It can refer to a column of air that moves round and round in a cylindrical or a funnel shape. That’s why, if you have seen the pictures of Krishna being taken by त्रुणावर्तः, so we see the demon is like a funnel. So, the upper part we see his face and his ferocious looks on the face.
The lower part basically we just see a wind. We see a pattern of funnel-like shape formed by the wind movement. So, he has come as a storm.
Now, the word whirlwind also has acquired a metaphorical sense, wherein it’s referred to a person who is superactive or a situation or process that is tumultuous. Now, it’s interesting, the Bible says, you sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. That means that the wrong that we do often, the consequences of that wrong are bigger than what we might have ordinarily anticipated.
So, he comes in the चक्रवात् स्वरुपेन जाहार आसीनम् अर्भकम् जाहार आसीनम्. He just came suddenly and swept away, अर्भकम्. This is a word that is used repeatedly in the 10th Canto to refer to Krishna, अर्भकम्, he was a child.
And what happens to this child? He is just, Mother Yashodaya has put him down in the ground. And he just comes and sweeps him away. Whirlwinds are of different kinds.
Whirlwinds come sometimes, there are two houses. One house may be knocked down by the whirlwind and the other house may stay completely safe. That is the way whirlwinds, whatever comes in the path of the whirlwind that is swept away, that is knocked down, that means with destruction, and everything else stays almost unaffected.
So, this whirlwind, which is actually a demon with conscious intention, this demon had come primarily to target Krishna. So, you forceful whirlwind comes, picks up Krishna and just goes, disappears. Text 21, गोकुलम् सर्वम् आव्रण्वन् मुष्णम् चक्षुम् सिरेनुभी ईरयं सुमाह घोर शब्देन पति शोधिषः गोकुलम् सर्वम् आव्रण्वन् All of Gokula became covered by what? मुष्णम् चक्षुम् सिरेनुभी रेनुभी Now, Vrindavan has nice soft dust all around it, but when the storm comes, all that dust rises up, and as the dust cloud was formed because of the sudden gust of wind that came along the way, that dust cloud started blotting out the vision, चक्षुम् सि, मुष्णम् The power of vision, चक्षुम् सि is the power of vision, मुष्णम्, मुषितह, मुषितह is a word used to refer to thieves who are stolen.
So the power of vision was stolen by the storm. The storm was overpowering and blinding. You couldn’t resist it and you couldn’t even see what was happening amidst the storm.
इरयन् समूहा घोर इरयन् The wind was just rushing by. सुमाहा घोर It was fierce and scary. शब्देन पदिशोधिशा The sound, it entered everywhere in all directions.
So if we are caught in the middle of the whirlwind, then it may appear as if the whirlwind is everywhere. Normally when we hear a sound, we try to turn in the direction of the sound. Where is the sound coming from? If somebody calls us, if we hear somebody falling down, some big bang, then we turn in the direction of the sound.
But if a sound is coming from all directions, then we just don’t know where to turn because that is something which is very uncommon. That is something which we just not experience. Suddenly the storm coming in all directions or the sound coming from all directions.
This is what happened in Gokula that actually the storm came in all directions and it left no opportunity for anyone to do anything. So the wind is there, the blinding dust cloud is there and also there was a huge stormy sound because when the wind comes, the wind disrupts objects, causes them to move. And sometimes when we are driving past in a car, if we keep the car windows open, then we hear the wind whistling through our ears.
So if a hurricane is much, much more powerful and it creates a huge sound. So now text 22, मुहूर्तम् अभवद् गोष्टम् रजसातम सावर्तम् सुतम् यशोधानापश्यत् तस्मिन् निस्तवतियतः So, मुहूर्तम् अभवद् गोष्टम्, गोष्टम् refers to the whole pasturing ground, the place of Vrindavan, the place of Gokul. मुहूर्तम् अभवद्, so for a moment, for a short brief period of time, the effect of Trnavart was there and then the stormy weather disappeared.
रजसातम् सावर्तम् So, it’s interesting, it could, रजसातम् सावर्तम् can refer to रजो गुण and तमो गुण, but here it refers to something else, it refers to तमस, refers to darkness and रजसातम् सावर्तम् refers to, like we have, रज is also the dust. So, by dust and darkness, for a moment everybody was overwhelmed and then suddenly सुतम् यशोधानापश्यत् and यशोधा, she couldn’t see her child. Normally, when we face, when suddenly some dangerous situation befalls us, we have a natural concern for ourselves, but we also have a concern for our loved ones and especially for a mother who knows that the child is, her infant child is dependent on her, the mother’s thoughts naturally go to the child and this sudden storm comes, she’s concerned, oh, where is my child? And she goes to see where the child is and horror of horrors, she sees that he’s not there at all.
सुतम् यशोधानापश्यत्, नापश्यत्, just couldn’t see this child. And तस्मिन् नस्तवतियतः, where she had put him, the child was not there. Now, sometimes children don’t stay where they are, they are mischievous, they are restless, they keep moving.
But at this stage, Krishna had not developed much of a moving ability, he used to move a little bit. Just a few months ago, the festival had been done when he was in Uttan, he just moved on his back. But here, so even if a child is moving, child is not at the place where we have kept him, and we look nearby.
But if we don’t see the child anywhere, then my God, what happened to the child? The child couldn’t have on his own moved and gone such a far distance, the child is invisible, has someone taken him away? That’s what happened to यशोधानापश्यत् कश्यनात्मानम् परम्चापिविमोहितः तुनावर्त निष्रुष्टाभि शर्काराभिर उपद्रितः नापश्यत् कश्यनात्मनी। Now, it was not just that Yashodamayi was not able to see Krishna, but actually nobody was able to see anyone there. In fact, people could never see themselves. Normally, if it’s very dark, we say that we put our hand in front of us and we can’t even see our hands.
Now, this side of darkness at night time is understandable, but this kind of darkness in the daytime is not that common. It happens in some exceptional situations. So, all this narration is meant to give us an indication that तुनावर्त was no ordinary storm.
It’s a fierce, blinding, deadly storm. It’s interesting, तुनावर्त was targeted and he just created a loud noise, created a blinding effect and people were alarmed. परम्चापिविमोहितः Everybody was extremely bewildered because they couldn’t see themselves, they couldn’t see anyone else.
So, the word परम् can refer to transcendental, but it can also refer to another. So, they couldn’t see आत्मान, परम्, they couldn’t see anyone, either themselves or anyone else. विमोहितः and thus they were bewildered.
तुनावर्तनिस्रिष्टभी So, why couldn’t they see? Because the dust and the sand that had been thrown up by तुनावर्त, शर्कराभिरुपद्रितः, everything was disturbed. When the storm came, it just overwhelmed everything. The meter of the verses changes in text 24 now.
As this overwhelming effect of तुनावर्त is there, the further description of the dangerous whirlwind that had come, इतिखर, very powerful, पवनचक्रपाम्शुवर्षे. पवनचक्र, very graphic usage, like whirlwind, literal translation you could do is पवनचक्र. So, the wind that goes in a circle.
पवनचक्र. And because of that वर्ष is shower. So, shower of dust and dust particles.
सूत पदविम् अबला विलक्ष. सूत पदविम्, the place of her son, where she, the place where she had kept her son. अबला, women are referred to as, in the Bhagavatam, sometimes by the word अबला.
So, it is used to convey the idea that women are the, relatively speaking, the weaker gender. And it’s conveyed not so much as put down to women. It’s put down more in the sense of conveying the powerlessness of someone and there is a bigger problem before us.
Actually, we can’t do much against the forces, forces far stronger than our own. So, even while describing how Govardhan protected the Vrajavasis, at that time, in a famous verse, the Gopis are referred to अबला. So, विलक्षमाता, so when she saw that her child was not at the place where he had been kept.
Now, the Bhagavatam in two verses describe the overall effect on Vrindavan and then of the whirlwind and then it comes back to the central character about whom it is all about. So, it is about Krishna and in this case, Krishna’s interaction with Yashoda. So, the Bhagavatam is narrating from the perspective of Vrindavan.
So, when she saw nothing is happening, विलक्षमाता, his mother could not see him because of being a mother, अती करुणम अनुस्मरन्त्य शोचद. So, अती करुणम, she became overwhelmed by pity, अनुस्मरन्त्य शोचद. And remembering her child, remembering, thinking of her son, what has happened to him, अचोचद, she became full of lamentation.
So, here is the alliteration over here with the अ sound, अती करुणम अनुस्मरन्त्य शोचद, भुविपतिताम्रत वत्सकाय थागवु, भुविपतिताम्रत वत्सकाय थागवु, and she fell down in agony, like, मृतवत्सकाय थागवु, when a cow discovers that her child is lost, her calf is lost, she just can’t bear it, and she becomes overwhelmed. Similarly, here, मृतवत्सकाय थागवु, she became overwhelmed, just couldn’t do anything, मृतवत्सकाय थागवु, such is the tragic situation in which she finds herself, and on finding herself in this way, what can she do? She is helpless, the child was there and the child is gone, and a storm is so much more powerful than her, that she can’t do anything about that storm. रुदितम् अनुनिशम्य तत्रगोप्यो, रुशन अनु तप्तधियो श्रुपूर्णमुक्यः, रुदु अनु पल्लभ्य नन्धसूनु, पवण उपारत् पाम्शुवरश्य वेगे। So, रुदितम्, she started crying pitifully, अनुनिशम्य, now on hearing her crying, naturally when there is a storm or some natural upheaval like this, everybody becomes concerned.
First they are concerned about themselves, then they are concerned about their loved ones, and they are concerned about everyone else. And especially if we hear someone crying in grief, naturally they are concerned. And Vrindavan, Gokul in this case, is like a close-knit town, and everybody knows everyone else over there.
They know Yashodamai, they can hear from her voice, they can know that although there is a blinding because of the whirlwind still, it’s going down now, and they can hear her voice, immediately they recognize this is अनुनिशम्य. So, when they heard her crying, Gopiyo, the other Gopi ladies, भुष्यम् अनु तप्त धियो अश्रुपूर्ण मुख्या। So, they also saw her crying, and they also realized, oh, Krishna has disappeared, they also started lamenting, they also started crying. Now, in this case, sometimes we may feel, what is this, do something practical, why are you crying like this? But in the face of a storm, where did a child has just disappeared, there is nothing practical that can be done, what to do? Looking at the child, the child has disappeared, so has the child been taken away by storm? If he has been taken away by the storm, swept away by the storm, more precisely, then where is he, how are we going to find him? So, normally, when something appears to be beyond our power to control or change, that is the time when we become hopeless, and that is the time when we just give up, just let go, and we actually become disheartened and start crying.
So, crying is often a symptom of helplessness in the face of overwhelming negativity. रूदुर अनुपलब्यनन्ध सूनुम् पवन उपारत् पाम्शुवर्ष्य वेगे रूदुर अनुपलब्यनन्ध सुनुम् So, when they all understood that Nanda’s child is not there, पवन उपारत् पाम्शुवर्ष्य वेगे So, as all this happened, while the whirlwind had now subsided, the whirlwind had been very forceful, but its force was now decreasing. तुनावर्त शान्त रयो वात्या रूप धरोहरन् कृष्णम् नभोगतो गन्तुम् नाशकनोद् भूरिभारे भृत तुनावर्त शान्त रयो So, now, तुनावर्त शान्त रयो So, that तुनावर्त दीमन, who had attacked Prandavan with great force, now became somewhat, the force of its attack became, it subsided.
शान्त रयो, some amount of peace returned. वात्या रूप धरोहरन् Now, the demon, तुनावर्त was a demon, and different demons have different powers. And based on a particular power, that a particular demon has, that becomes its defining identity, that becomes its name.
So, तुनावर्त was a demon, and it said over here, that he, वात्या रूप धरो, he had come in the form of a whirlwind. So, because that was his primary prowess, to assume the form of a whirlwind and sweep through and sweep away opponents. So, that was his name also.
So, he had his own bodily form and he also had, he could take on the form of a whirlwind. So, by taking on the form of a whirlwind, वात्या रूप धरोहरन्, he had abducted Krishna. कृष्णम् नभो गतो गन्तुम् He went high up into the sky.
नभो गतो गन्तुम् He went high, high up into the sky. His plan was to throw Krishna away from there. नाशक्नोद भूरिभार भृत् But suddenly he found that Krishna had become very heavy.
भूरिभार भृत् So, Krishna, now, he used the same trick to protect Yashoda and to destroy तुनावर्त. When he suddenly became very heavy, Yashoda put him down so that Yashoda would not be attacked by the तुनावर्त. She would not be swept away when तुनावर्त came.
But now Krishna used the same trick of suddenly increasing his weight to have that child, to have him being saved, to save himself from तुनावर्त, to crush तुनावर्त. So how that happened, we’ll discuss in our next session. Thank you.