Bhagavatam tenth canto study 88 – 10.15.7-12 Krishna-Balarama make all living beings in Vrindavana fortunate

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Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.

Lecture Summary

In Canto 10, Chapter 15 of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Krishna joyfully glorifies Balarama while grazing cows in the enchanting forest of Vrindavan, highlighting the deep harmony between nature and the divine children.

Highlights from Krishna’s Pastimes in Vrindavan

• Glorifying Balarama: While exploring the vibrant forest, Krishna humbly attributes all the breathtaking beauty of Vrindavan to Balarama, noting how the environment naturally honors his presence.
• Welcoming Nature: The residents of the forest—including dancing peacocks, affectionate female deer mirroring the devotion of the Gopis, and singing cuckoos—greet Krishna and Balarama as cherished, venerable guests.
• The Touch of Grace: Krishna highlights how the very earth, grasses, creepers, rivers, and mountains are instantly sanctified and blessed simply by his lotus feet, fingernails, and compassionate glances.
• Playful Imitation: Absorbed in childhood (pauganda) pastimes, Krishna and his cowherd companions delightfully imitate the humming of intoxicated bees, the calls of cuckoos and parrots, and the dancing of peacocks.
• The Expert Cowherd: Even while deeply engrossed in playful fun, Krishna remains effortlessly alert, using a deep, thunderous yet loving voice to call back any wandering cows without needing discipline or force.

Key Takeaways

• The Call Back to Shelter: Just as straying cows are immediately drawn back by the sweet sound of Krishna’s voice, devotees distracted by worldly pleasures can return to their spiritual path by listening to Krishna’s messages in the Gita and Bhagavatam.
• The Ultimate Protector: Krishna is Gopala, the ultimate protector who ensures that no soul under His shelter gets permanently lost, guiding everyone safely back to His eternal abode.

Full Transcription

Thank you. Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 15, entitled The Killing of Dhenuka, Vyasa Demon, Text 7. So here Krishna is speaking, and he is speaking glorifying Balram.
Krishna, along with the Gopas, are in the forest of Vrindavan, where they have come for grazing the cows. And on seeing the beauty of Vrindavan, Krishna is attributing that all this beauty is meant for Balramji. nityanti amishikhina idya mudha harinya So, nityanti shikhina.
Shikhina is the peacocks. They are dancing to worship you. You are the worshipable Lord, seeing whom they have become so delighted, they are dancing in joy.
harinya kurvanti gopya ivate priyamikshanena And kurvanti, this glances, this female deer, harinya, they are glancing at you with sweet affection, just as the Gopis do. At this stage, Krishna and Balram are small children. They are in the Pauganda age.
At the same time, they are so attractive that naturally the Gopis in Vrindavan are attracted towards them. And being attracted towards them, they glance at Krishna with great joy. And in this glancing at Krishna with great joy, priyamikshanena, priyamikshanena, such is the loving glance.
suktaishya koki lagana grihama gataya So, that loving glance which the Gopis cast towards Krishna and Balram, because they are so attractive. Similarly, that is used as a reference point here to say that the female deer are also similarly glancing at Balram with great affection. And not only that, suktai, the Vedic prayers, koki lagana and the cuckoos are singing.
Now when the cuckoos are singing, actually Balram, Krishna is saying that, Ramji, they are singing their songs. And actually, their songs are Vedic mantras which are being sung for your pleasure, to honor your presence. That agataya, that you have come in their presence.
And just as when any great person comes, there are different cultures, different ways in which they are honored. As in today’s world, if one country’s head of state visits another country, then there is a royal guard of honor, which is wanted, which is displayed for the perusal and pleasure of the king, of the visiting head of state. And similarly, here we see that actually, well, now in the traditional culture, when some guests would come, some venerable guests would come often, mantras would be chanted to welcome that person.
And especially, this applies to the divine. Just like when Jagannath goes on his ratha, rathaarudha gacchan pati bhudeva patali, sthuvan pradhar bhavan pati badham, aakarana sadaya, dayasindhu bandhu kalam jagatam. So, in the Jagannath Ashtakam, it is said that when Jagannath starts going out on his cart, at that time there are many brahmanas who march along with the cart and they offer prayers to praise him.
And by hearing such praises, he becomes very pleased and he offers his benedictions. suktaishchikokilagana gruham agatayam gruham agatayam Seeing this, you have come over there. dhanyavanaukasaiyanehasatam nisargaha So, they are, the way they are all welcoming you, it befits the way a venerable guest is welcomed by other, by cultured hosts.
So, this forest is the home of all these residents, of the bees, of the trees, of the cuckoos, of the peacocks, of the deer, and all of them are welcoming you, O Krishna, because you are their beloved guest who has come to them now. Now, Krishna goes on further describing the beauty of Vrindavan and appreciating Balram. dhanyeyamadhyadharanitranavirudhastvat padasprushodrumlatah karajabhimrishta nadyoadrayavkhagamrgasadyavalokair gopyoantarenabhujayorapiyatspruhasthini dhanyeyam Indeed, this earth is fortunate now.
adhyadharanitranavirudhastvatpada That, with her grasses and bushes, tvatpadasprushod That, while your lotus feet, they are being touched, drumlatah There are trees, there are creepers, karajah So, now, while you are walking along, you are not only touching your feet to the earth with the grasses and bushes, but there are also trees and creepers, and you are touching them with your hands, with your fingernails. karajabhimrishta karaja So, kara is hands, and jo is that which is born from the hands. So, karaja refers to the fingernails that appear from the hands.
So, just by touching them with you, they are all becoming benedicted, dhanya, they are fortunate to get this touch. nadhyoadhrayakagamrgasada sadayavalokainadhyoadhraya So, nadhyo refers to the rivers, and adhraya, adhri, refers to the mountains, kaga. So, all the paraphernalia that is in nature, that is all worshipping you.
That’s what Krishna is saying. The rivers, the mountains, the birds, the animals, sadayavalokair sadayavalokair So, now, what has happened? They are all blessed, not just by your presence, but also by your glance. Krishna, Balram, when they go into the forest, normally when we go into any new place, we glance to see how good it is, what all is there in that place.
So, Vrindavan is such a beautiful place, that when Krishna glances at it, when Balram glances at it, their glance is filled with such mercy and potency, that when they are pleased by what they see, then all those places become even more enriched by their blessings. So, Krishna is saying, Balram, by your glance, you have blessed all these places. And most of all, whom have you blessed? Gopyo antarena bhujayor api yath spruhashri So, gopyo antarena, that just as in your arms, when you embrace the gopis, fulfilling their deepest desires of being loved by you, that is a favor.
So, you are favoring all these residents of Vrindavan, but the greatest favor that you offer is to the gopis, when you embrace them. And that favor is sought even by spruhashri yath spruhashri that this is the desire even of Shri, the goddess of fortune, that she also desires to be embraced by you. So, it’s interesting here that while Krishna is performing his pauganda leela, there is awareness of his kaishora leela, that of his conjugal pastimes.
Krishna himself is exhibiting that awareness and he is talking about it openly to Balram, the other gopis also present. So, he is talking about that rasa also. So, Krishna always remains God.
And in the Anand Vrindavan Champu, it is described that Krishna is the source of all the manifestations of the divine. Similarly, the various forms that Krishna manifests in Goloka Vrindavan, among them Krishna’s kaishora rupa is the original form. And from that kaishora rupa, other forms manifest.
So, the other forms already, because they manifest from the kaishora, that kaishora bhaav can also manifest in Krishna whenever he wants. So, although at this point, Krishna and Balram have not performed any pastimes with the gopis, but because of that, these relationships with their devotees are eternal and the gopis are the utmost devotees. And there is a natural conjugal attraction between the gopis and Krishna.
And our Acharya explained that Balram also has his gopis. He says Krishna has his gopis. And here, that madhurya rasa is being hinted at, is pointed to while describing the beauty of the forest of Vrindavan.
So, while it is being referred to, there is still no direct reference to the gopis, Radharani or others being present in Vrindavan. Because Krishna, the purva bhava, the initial attraction, which will lead to the craving and the meeting, that while Krishna has descended on the earthly pastimes here, that has not happened. When that happens, thereafter, the madhurya rasa leela will start.
But here, the madhurya rasa is pointed to by, or is used as a reference point for describing the fortune of various people. The fortune of various residents of Vrindavan and especially the gopis of Vrindavan. So, now the Bhagavatam narrative moves on.
After reporting Krishna’s words, Shukadeva Goswami now speaks. So, of course, Shukadeva Goswami is speaking everything, the whole narrative. But when within the narrative, there is a conversation, that is attributed to the speakers.
When simply the narration is going on, at that time, that is described without any attribution. That means it’s understood, it is attributed to Shukadeva Goswami. But when there is some flow that is going on, when there is some significant marker to be pointed out, at that time it is said, she shook her watch.
It’s like when we are hearing a class. At that time, if the pastime is being described, the pastime may be so engrossing that we get absorbed in the pastime. We are aware in the background of who is speaking the pastime, but it’s the pastime that absorbs us.
At the same time, when there is some point to be made, some lesson to be learned from the pastime, at that time, we may ourselves become aware, oh, actually this pastime is being spoken by this speaker. So, similarly, there are marker verses in the Bhagavatam, which signify a particular shift in the narrative, or a particular transition within the story that is being told. Those are marked with Shri Shukavacha.
So, what did Shukadeva Swami say? evam vrindavanam srimat krishna-pritamanah pashun re me sancarayan adre saridrodhasu sanugam evam vrindavanam srimat vrindavanam srimat is blessed, vrindavanam is blessed, blessed by beauty, enriched with beauty. krishna-pritamanah pashun And Krishna was very pleased on seeing the beauty of Vrindavan. So, pashun re me, along with animals, he took pleasure.
Sancarayan, he, as he was grazing the cows, he took pleasure, and adre, they went near the mountains. saridrodhasu sanugam So, the mountain was in the vicinity, there was a river, and they were on the banks of the river, and there, there was abandoned green cover, greenery, grass was there, and while the cows were grazing, Krishna was delighting in his own pastimes with the Gopas. Krishna was pritamanah, he was very pleased with what was happening.
That was his response to see the beauty of Vrindavan, and within the beauty of Vrindavan, he attributed it all to, to, to Balram, that it is all meant for Balram, that is his disarming sweetness and humility and love for Balram, and he was himself satisfied with the beauty of Vrindavan, and he continued his pastimes. So, now, he described, further, the sweet beauty of Vrindavan is being described. So, it’s a set of verses, 10 to 12, which are brought together, in Bhaisla Prabhupada, because they have one theme.
Let’s look at them one by one. So, now, at that time, as Krishna was in the forest of Vrindavan, sometimes they started singing. So, now, when would they start singing? At specific times.
When the bees would hum. The bees themselves, in Vrindavan, they were mad with ecstasy. They began singing and Krishna started imitating their singing.
So, Madan, Halishwa, Anuvratai, Madana, they are so intoxicated. Halishwa, that is the bees, they started singing. Anuvratai.
And then Krishna, along with his companions, Upagiyamane. So, Upagiyamane means that Krishna, they were singing and Krishna was singing along with his friends. He is imitating them.
Charitaha. So, they were all delighting in the forest of Vrindavan, as the sweetness of Vrindavan was permeating their entire being. So, Krishna and Balaram and some of his cowherd friends, when the bees would sing, they were intoxicated with honey and then imitating them, some of the cowherds would sing.
While other cowherds, they were delighting in singing the beautiful pastimes of Krishna. And thus, they were all having a rich, fun-filled time. Anujalpati Jalpantam Kalavakeshu Kamkachet Kachitsavalgu Kujantam Anukujati Kokilam Anukujati Kokilam Now, what happened is that the cuckoos were also singing, the parrots would sing, the swans would have their voices, sounds, and Krishna would imitate all of them.
And Sanatana Goswami explains that Krishna would, in his fun-filled nature, say that actually, they were all doing their natural duty. They were just singing according to their nature, but Krishna would say that, Oh, this bird doesn’t know how to sing, this bird doesn’t know how to dance, I’ll show you how it is done. And when he would do it, the imitation would be so endearing, so sweet, that they’d all be very pleased by it.
And so, children like to have fun. And simple sweet fun here is described. They would not just sing the sounds of the parrots, but also, they would also imitate dancing of the peacocks.
Now, human beings can’t dance like peacocks. But when they try to, that itself has its charm, that itself has its sweetness. So, his cowherd boys would laugh because of that.
Now, while doing all this, while having this fun, it was not that Krishna was neglectful of the cows. He knew that he was there to take care of the cows and does, Megha Gambhiraya Vacha, Namabhir Durgaan Pashun, Kochid Ahavayati Preetya, Go Gopal Manogyaya So, in a voice as deep and rumbling as that of thunder, Megha Gambhiraya Vacha, Namabhir Durgaan Pashun If any of the animals, any of the cows had gone, had strayed far away, Durgaan, then immediately, Kochid Ahavayati Preetya, with love, with affection, he would call them back, Go Gopal Manogyaya. And his voice was such that, that voice itself, this love-filled sweet voice with which he would call, it would capture the minds of both the cowherd boys and the cows.
To the cows which would wander away, just on hearing their names being called by Krishna, they would promptly come back. So, the nature of Vrindavan is, it’s as mentioned, all for the pleasure of Krishna. And here, Krishna is, it is described how he has that sweet pleasure, that he is doing his work of cowherding and if a cow goes off, he immediately calls them back.
But he doesn’t have to run after the cow with a stick to beat them, to discipline them. He doesn’t have to be filled with worry, Oh, when this cow go away, when that cow go away. He is alert, while at the same time relaxed.
He is relaxing with his friends, doing playful things, just imitating the games of the, imitating the ways of the animals and the birds, while also keeping an eye on the cows. Normally, when the cows are grazing, they may just be caught in the food, eating of the food. Oh, this grass is nice, this grass is nice, this grass is nice.
Now, there may be grass everywhere, but sometimes the allure of succulent grass may take the cows away from, away from where Krishna is, and immediately Krishna calls them back. So, grazing is natural for the cows, but the cows don’t have to graze far away from Krishna. They can graze near him.
Similarly for us, when we are in this world, striving to serve Krishna and go closer to Him, sometimes the succulent grasses of this world, the various pleasures of this world, not all the pleasures of the world are sinful or anti-devotional, but if we get involved in those pleasures, one by one, one step, one step, one step, and we will be going further and further away from Krishna. At that time, if we hear the voice of Krishna, that means, if we hear Krishna’s message spoken in the Gita, hear Krishna’s Leela spoken in the Bhagavatam, hear Krishna’s Mahima from His devotees, then that is the sound which, with its sweetness, will call us back. So, just as the cows might stray away, but come back when Krishna was called, when Krishna called them, similarly, if we stray away, Krishna’s voice spoken to us, addressing us through various different means, will draw us back to Him.
Krishna is Gopala, He is the ultimate protector of the cows. He won’t let even a single cow from His herd get lost. He is an expert cowherd.
He is a loving cowherd. And we all are like cows. And if we stay in His shelter, He will herd us back home, back to His eternal abode.
Thank you. We’ll continue in our future sessions.