Bhagavatam tenth canto study 87 – 10.15.1-6 Krishna dedicates the beauty of Vrindavana is meant for Balarama

Thank you.
बभूवतुस्तो पशुपाल सम्मतो गाश्चरयंतो सक्षिविः समंपदैर। रिंदावनं पन्यं अतीव चक्रतुँ तस्च पवगंड़ वयहश्रितो रजे। So, when Krishna attained the age of Pauganda, that is between 16-20, Vyahashritau, in Vrindavan, बभूवतुस्तो पशुपाल सम्मतो गाश्चरयंतो सक्षिविः समंपदैर। He became a cowherd. Tau, not just he, but both of them, Krishna and Balarama, they would do their activities together. गाश्चरयंतो सक्षिविः समंपदैर। And they, गाश्चरयंतो, they started taking the cows for grazing to the forest.
सक्षिविः समंपदैर। Together with them, they started traveling in the forest of Vrindavan, and what happened? विन्दावनं पुण्यं अतीव चक्रतु। And as their footprints started marking the forest of Vrindavan, Vrindavan became supremely auspicious, it became supremely blessed. So, the Goswami here, time and time again, reminds us that Krishna, although he looks like an ordinary child, but is by no means an ordinary child. That he is the Supreme Lord, and thus when he does anything, it has immense significance.
So, when Krishna walks, normally we take so many steps every day, walking here, walking there, who cares? And what happens if we take some steps also? If it is wet soil that might create some footmarks, but that’s all. But when Krishna walks, his feet have distinctive marks, and those distinctive marks get impressed on the ground. And those footprints, you could say, they become like architectural monuments.
Yes, sometimes certain buildings are designated by the government as heritage buildings. And those buildings are not meant to be changed at all. Those places are meant to be preserved.
Similarly, Krishna’s footprints become like architectural monuments, and everyone preserves them, everyone protects them. Everyone, even the forest creatures, even the non-humans, they don’t step on Krishna’s footprints. They walk by them, because that site is so attractive.
They have so much love for Krishna, and they want to have visible, tangible reminders of Krishna’s presence in their midst. And seeing Krishna’s footprints is one such reminder. So, of course, even if the footprints somehow or the other get erased, but still the fact that his foot was placed on Vrindavan makes that place supremely auspicious, supremely potent.
Wherever the Lord goes, unless he goes by some miraculous means, usually, especially in Vrindavan, he does not use chariots. He’s not living in regal pomp as a king. He’s living in rustic simplicity with its endearing sweetness as a cowherd boy.
And thus, wherever he goes, he has with him abundant forestry greenery all around him. And he loves to play over there. And while playing, his footprints get marked and Raja gets supremely blessed.
That Lord plays his flute and when he plays his flute, he is surrounded by his cowherd boys. So, when Krishna glows into the flute, it’s not like a job for him. Sorry, he goes into the forest to graze the cows.
It’s not exactly like a job. Normally, when we conceive of the word job or work, we think, oh, this is burdensome. I would rather be doing something else, but I have to do this because I have to earn a livelihood.
However, with respect to Krishna, for him, his job is simply to have fun. And while having fun, the job gets done. So, when he goes to the forest with the cows, he’s taking the cows and as a cowherd, he has to make sure the cows don’t go here, there and everywhere.
But he uses his flute to attract the cows. Discipline can be maintained through chastisement and punishment and discipline can also be maintained through attraction and satisfaction. So, the cows love to hear the sound of Krishna’s flute and they also know that Krishna uses a particular note when he wants to call them.
So, on hearing that note, the cows come back immediately. And that’s for Krishna, going to the forest of Vrindavan, exploring that forest itself fun. For all children to explore some unknown place with a lot of pleasing, non-dangerous wildlife in it.
It’s an adventure and to have their own pets. The cows are like Krishna’s pets and so many pets. To have so many pets, to have the responsibility of taking care of them for children is fun.
Many times, children say in today’s world, dogs are far more common than cows. When a child is given a dog as a gift, a child feels privileged. Often children say, you know, I will take care of the dog.
I will do whatever it takes to take care, but I want a pet. So, to be with the pet is fun for the child. Similarly, for Krishna, to be with the cows in Vrindavan is fun.
And it’s not just he’s alone, he’s there with his friends. So, being with friends and hanging around with them, hanging out with them is also fun. And on top of that, Krishna gets his work done in a very scenic environment with very wonderful friends, with his pets, and while playing his favorite instrument, that is the flute.
So, thus, it is simply enjoyable for Krishna. There is no monotony. There is no, of course, there is no monotony also because the demons keep coming and making Krishna’s life adventurous.
But even without the demons coming, because Krishna is all attractive and his abode is filled with fresh richness. New flowers blossom, new fruits come. And thus, Krishna relishes his vocation as a Vaishya in the spiritual world, as well as when he manifests here in this world.
So, Gopas go with him and they love Krishna and they know Krishna is their hero. So, when they’re all going to forest, they’re chanting Krishna’s glories. So, Yashoda, Balaanvithaha, Balaanvithaha.
And with him is his closest friend, his brother, Balarama. So, they kept Puraskritya in front of him. So, in front of them, they would keep the cows, the animals.
Pashavyam, avishad and pashavyam, that which is needed for the animals, that what is needed, that they need a lot of green grass for nourishment. And Vrindavan is filled with that, rich with that. And then he desires to enjoy, to play over there to his heart content, heart’s content, viharato, viharanam is pastime, play, kama, as his heart desires, kama, so he plays.
And kusumakarambanam, and Vrindavan is beautiful, being kusumakaram, being filled with beautiful flowers, rich with flowers. So, such is the vision of Krishna in Vrindavan, delighting in its beauty, in his own sweet activity, in the company of those whom he loves to be with. So, in that forest, the description of Vrindavan’s forest is given, the previous verse said that kusumakaram, it is rich with flowers.
Now, it’s further described, tanmanju ghoshali, so in that forest, there was a sweet sound, ghosha, ali mrugadvijakulam, so there were bees and animals, ali is bees, mruga is animals, and dvija, are the birds, they are said to be twice born, they are first born inside their eggs, and then when they break free from their eggs, then they start becoming active. So, that is the second birth. So, dvijaakulam, so Vrindavan is filled with the sounds of all this pleasing wildlife.
Mahatmana prakhyapaya sarasvata mahatmanaha. So, mahatmana is the minds of great people. Now, the great people, compared to prakhyapaya, sarasvata prakhyapaya.
So, just as the minds of great people are clear and pure, and are flowing with pure, clear and pure thoughts, similarly, here it is said that the river was rich, flowing with, there was a lake over here. Now, the water, there are two different metaphors used in different contexts. A river is constantly flowing, and it’s flowing towards the ocean.
Similarly, a devotee’s consciousness constantly flows towards Krishna. There is a metaphor used by Queen Kunti, as well as by Kapil Dev, when describing exalted devotees. However, here the metaphor used is not so much of flow, as of calmness, serenity.
It says in a lake, the water is not flowing, the water is calm, serene. Similarly, for the great sages, whose mind has reached its destination, whose mind has become fixed in Krishna, So, Yamanacharya prays in the Stotra Ratna, My dear Lord, now that I have understood that I am your eternal servant, then my mind has become peaceful. My mind is wandering, should I do that, should I do that, should I do that? No, it has become fixed in you, O Lord.
And now my only aspiration is, When will I understand that I am, when will I realize and relish that I am your eternal servant, and there’s nothing I need apart from your service. I just need to relish your glories more and more, O Lord. That is what I aspire for now.
So, here it is said that, similarly, the lake was so serene, clear, pure, just like the minds of great souls are serene, clear, pure, being rested in the supreme spiritual reality. And enhancing that beauty, there was the wind. By the wind, the fragrance of a hundred petal lotus was spreading throughout the forest.
And when Krishna saw this, niriksharantam bhagavan manadadhe, seeing this beautiful sign, Krishna’s mind became filled with pleasure. So, in Vrindavan, everything exists to give pleasure to Krishna. Everything is arranged with sublime beauty, so that Krishna can relish.
And Krishna’s devotees can relish sweet pastimes with him, such is the sublime beauty of Vrindavan. Text 4 When the reddish buds of the Aruna, Aruna is like the sun, the sun has a reddish glow to it, pallavasriya. So, around the lake are many flowers and the buds are blossoming.
So, there are beautiful pallavas, that is, buds, then there is, there is beauties. So, the trees, the bushes, they are filled with flowers and fruits. And because of that, what happens as if those, they are bending down, bhare, by their burden, it appears as a padayos prushaj.
They are lowering themselves to offer, to touch Krishna’s lotus feet to get his blessings. So, the flowers and fruits are manifested on those trees, not just so that the vrijvasas can relish them, but so that the branches can also be lowered down and so that they can touch Krishna’s lotus feet. It described that when Vasudeva was crossing the Yamuna to deliver Krishna to Vrindavan, to Gokul at that time.
So, the Yamuna started rising more and more and the Yamuna rose because she wanted to touch Krishna’s lotus feet. And eventually, the Yamuna storm became so strong that Krishna slipped out of Vasudeva’s hands and fell into the ocean, fell into the river. And thus, Yamuna got her heart’s desire fulfilled that she could touch Krishna’s lotus feet, she could bathe Krishna’s body with her.
And then, as soon as that happened, then Yamuna subsided in her flow. Vasudeva had gone mad with anxiety on seeing Krishna slip away into the water, was immensely relieved and eventually found Krishna and picked him up and took him across. So, here it is said that similarly, the vegetation in Vrindavan, the grass naturally get to touch Krishna’s lotus feet, but the other vegetation does not get to touch.
So, they also long to touch. So, in this way, seeing them bending down, Krishna becomes happy. So, he starts smiling and he starts speaking to Balram.
So, Krishna himself is the Supreme Lord, but he’s having his Leela over here. And in his Leela, he plays his part to perfection, doing whatever is needed for enhancing the sweetness of the pastimes. So, all the flowers and all the shrubs and trees rich with their flowers and fruits are bending down, externally speaking, because of that burden of fruits and flowers, internally speaking, because the plants are also conscious beings and they’re also devotees of Krishna and they want to express their devotion by touching the feet of Krishna.
But Krishna doesn’t act as if he is God. So, he gives a sweet and different spin to what is happening. What does he say? So, he’s saying, addressing Balram as Devvara, as the best among the Lords, among the Gods.
You are worshipped even by the Amaras, by the immortals, the Devatas. So, you are the best of the Gods and you are worshipped even by the Gods. Your lotus feet, what is happening to them? Of the flowers and fruits.
So, the flowers and fruits that are there. They are offering all this to your lotus feet. So, they are offering their obeisances to you.
In this way, they are offering the presence, the fruits and flowers on them, they are offering as presence to you, along with their obeisances. And in this way, Shikha, with their head lowered down, whatever ignorance is there within them, they are seeking to destroy it. So, they want to remove the ignorance by which they acquired these tree bodies.
So, here Krishna is expressing his profound appreciation for Balram, where instead of claiming that he is God and all these trees are worshipping me, he is saying that actually they are all worshipping you, Balram, and they have got a tree body because of certain bad karma from the past. They are in ignorance from the past, but whatever ignorance they have, it is implied, Krishna doesn’t state that specifically they did some bad karma. He states that because of ignorance, because of the mode of ignorance, they have now got tree bodies.
So, they are seeking your blessings, Balram, by which they can be freed from these tree bodies. Krishna, as I mentioned, operates at various levels, functions at various levels. So, in Vrindavan, at one level, we can say that everything is transcendental, that even the plants and the shrubs, they are also transcendental, being permeated with love for Krishna.
But at the same time, while Krishna operates, descends to this world and operates in this world, he performs certain pastimes, which are meant to instruct us. And so, he may sometimes speak things which are at one level, relishable as part of the pastime, but which are also appreciable as valuable instructions. Sometimes when we look at the beauty of nature, we feel, oh, this is so peaceful, this is so attractive.
And yes, the being amidst nature can make us peaceful, can foster spiritual consciousness. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that most of the trees and plants that are trees, plants that are in nature, they’re actually subjected to the mode of ignorance. It is because of the souls doing some wrong activities in the past, that they have got these kind of bodies now.
So, we can appreciate the practical beauty of nature. At the same time, we also don’t have to become so captivated by the practical beauty that we become blind to the philosophical reality. We should become so attached to nature and natural scenery that we end up thinking about it at the time of death instead of Krishna and end up taking birth as some creature within the forest.
So, of course, none of these considerations apply to Krishna and Vrindavan because Vrindavan is transcendental. But here, playing the role that he’s playing, he speaks these words. Take six.
So he says that, now as I said, the bees were also humming as birds and were chirping and animals were also moving around. So now Krishna is giving us a devotional vision centered on the glorification of Balram of everything. So these bees are chanting your glories and your glories are such that they can actually transform any place into a holy place because your glories are themselves like a mobile holy place.
And he says that actually it may well be that, those who are reciting some humming over here, they must have been Purushanupatham, Adipurusha, the primal person, Bhajante. They must have worshipped you in the past. They must have been great sages.
They have made those who are the most intimate amongst the devotees. Now they have got your association and Now that they are in the forest with you, they have attained you. They do not want to give up your company.
So basically, Krishna saw when we go to the forest, sometimes bees may buzz around someone in the forest. And Krishna sees those bees like that around Balram. He gives a transcendental import to it all.
And he says, Krishna, Balram, these are all great devotees who have worshipped you in the past, who have chanted your glories in the past. Now that they have got your personal association, they are so delighted with that association that they do not want to lose it for even one moment. And thus, they are constantly with you.
And whatever they are humming, actually, that is, in their own way, they are singing your glories. Thus here, Balram enables, Krishna reveals his worshipful attitude towards Balram and is crediting everything attractive in Vrindavan as meant for his worship and his pleasure. Although Krishna is all attractive himself, for the reciprocation of love, Krishna is attributing the attractiveness and the worshipfulness, whatever is there, and seeing the sublime beauty of Vrindavan, that all is due to Balram.
Such are the sublime exchanges between Krishna and Balram, which will continue in our next session.