Chapter 35
The Ananda Krishna Gives
Rama
transformed the world into a realm of righteousness,
through his varied activities and example. During the
great Horse Sacrifice that he performed, all the sages
and scholars of ritual who had assembled, honoured him as
a great upholder of tradition and culture. His compassion
and softness of heart are beyond description; no words
can convey their depth and extent. He placed the dying
eagle - Jatayu,
a bird, which no one will ordinarily honour - on his lap
(see
RRV2-3b); he
wiped with his own flowing hair, the dust that had
enveloped it; when it breathed its last, he performed the
obsequies, even as a son does when his father dies! (see
also
Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter
3: Krishna is
the Source of all Incarnations (verse 22))
His very appearance
cast a charm on all who saw him. Love, Beauty and Virtue
emanated from him and spread to all around him. He
treated the Vanaras (monkey-tribals) with as much
affection as he had towards his brothers,
Bharatha,
Lakshmana
and
Satrughna.
Rama was the full
manifestation of Righteousness or Dharma. The sages
extolled him, saying that Dharma Itself had taken that
human form! There is no need to dilate and speak of a
thousand details. For all householders, Rama is the
Ideal. His advent was for restoring spiritual values and
saving the world from moral disaster. How affectionately
he moved with his brothers! Everything was ready for his
coronation; but, at the last minute, when he was exiled
and had to go to the forests, the populace of Ayodhya
wailed in uncontrollable anguish; but, Rama moved out of
the City and Kingdom, with as much joy and equanimity as
he had, when he moved towards the throne for the
coronation! What greater example is needed than this, for
the Sthithaprajna (the person whose consciousness is calm
and beyond all agitations)?
He felt that the
plighted word was worth the sacrifice of even life. He
suffered, with perfect equanimity, grievous hardships, in
order to preserve the plighted word of his father. His
sincere persistence in carrying out the promise made by
his father is an inspiration and an example to every son
of man.
Sita, too, insisted on
accompanying her husband to the forest, since the true
wife can keep alive only in the company of the husband;
she had never before exposed herself to sun and rain; but
she spent her days in the terror-striking forest, as in
duty bound, and in unsullied joy.
"He who is born with
you, is more worthy of affection, than she who joined you
later", that was the view of Lakshmana, when he joined
his brother Rama, leaving his wife, Urmila, in Ayodhya
itself.
Bharatha could not but
obey Rama's wish; he came back to the Capital with a
heavy heart, since Rama declined to come and enthrone
himself. Bharatha created an artificial 'forest' for
himself (that is to say, he led an ascetic's life, out of
inner compulsion, since he felt he must live like his
exiled brother).
Consider the difference
between Dasaratha, the father and Rama, the son; they are
as different as earth and sky! To please his wife, to
make her happy and contented, the father was prepared to
bear the utmost agony; finally, he even sent his dear son
as an exile to the jungle! The son sent his wife into the
jungle, as an exile, in order to respect the opinion of a
commoner in his empire! Think of the different ways in
which the two carried out their duties to the people,
over whom they ruled. Dasaratha was overwhelmed by the
illusion that he was the physical body; Rama was moved by
the realisation that he was the Atma.
Ah! The virtues and
excellences of Rama, I am incapable of describing to you,
O King! What greater task and mission in life can a man
have, than the contemplation of that Supreme Person? To
save oneself from downfall, the only exercise needed is:
listening to the glorious narrative of the lives of
Avatars. When you do so, all sin is washed away", said
Suka. [Sukadeva Gosvami, Supreme son
of Vyâsadeva, see Srimad
Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 19: The appearance of
Sukadeva Gosvami]
At this, Parikshith was
delighted; his face flushed with excitement. He said,
"Master! While your account of the life and activities,
the virtues and charm of Rama - the embodiment of Dharma
- is bestowing on me such great Ananda, I wonder how much
greater would be the Ananda I can derive when you
describe the career of Krishna! He is dark blue beauty
personified. How sweet must be the account of Krishna's
child-hood pranks, his boyish adventures, his Divine
Leelas, His Divine prattle! I pray that I may be kept
immersed in the thought and contemplation of the might
and majesty, the charm and beauty, of Krishna Himself,
during the days that I still have to live. I pray that I
may be saved from the cycle of birth and death,
thereby".
The
Ananda Krishna Gives
Hearing this prayer,
Suka said, "0 King, truly, the Leelas
of Krishna are, as you said, amazing, wondrous; but, yet,
sweet and meaningful. They are not tainted by the desire
to show off the Divine Nature. The common man is drawn by
external pomp, and apparent motives. So, he judges the
Leelas as common and even low. The inner meaning and
purpose are not easily patent to all. But, the Lord can
never engage Himself in purposeless and paltry
activities. His advent is for the uplifting of the world
from the morass of wickedness and unrighteousness, for
fulfilling the needs of those devoted to Him, for the
re-establishment of Right and Morality and for the
revival of the Vedas; He has to take into account the
merit acquired by each in previous lives and shower His
Grace accordingly; He makes Himself available through the
grant of boons; His Leelas or Divine activities are so
shaped that they suit the time, the person, the
aspiration and the compassion which cause each shower of
Grace. Therefore, who can comprehend correctly and
interpret aright these Leelas?
"The amazing Leelas of
Hari
are known to
Hari alone", it is said. He can be interpreted by Him
alone, not by another. One observation however, can
be made with confidence. The Manifest Incarnations of God
will not engage themselves in the least, for their own
sake or for the sake of fulfilling any personal likes!
All activity is for the good of the world! Though without
Them, the world cannot exist and survive, They move and
act as if the world has nothing to do with them. In every
word and deed of Theirs, one can observe the underlying
current of total renunciation. For Them who hold the
worlds in the palm of Their hands what can the world give
or withhold? They can shape it as they like.
Fools, persons without
faith, persons who deny God, persons caught in the coils
of ignorance, those who do not learn anything-these may
see the Leela's of God as self-centred and even motivated
by delusion, like the actions of ordinary mortals. But,
genuine Bhakthas
will cherish them as significant and sustaining examples
of Grace. How can Thath be grasped by those who are
engrossed in Thwam?
King! the actions of
Rama, Emperor of Kosala, and of Krishna are, you should
remember, wide apart. When the wicked and cruel enemies
of righteousness were about to overwhelm the good,
Krishna and Balarama, the two brothers were born, the one
black and the other white (as a head of hair, both black
and white), and by their acts that transcended the
comprehension of man, astounded the world. (see also
S'rîmad
Bhâgavatam,
Canto 1, Chapter 3: Krishna is the Source of all
Incarnations (verse 23))
The Leelas of Krishna
are beyond the comprehension of any one, however,
scholarly or wise. His movement, his walk, his talk, his
smile, his laughter, his gesture, his speech, his song,
each is charming with a unique artistry.
It all looked so
peculiar, so extra-ordinary. Very often, it resembled
lawlessness and sheer mischief. While walking in the
eastern direction, his attention was fixed in the western
direction! He conversed through His eyes; the flash of
His eyes spoke out His plans and intentions. He did not
care for human limitations and disciplines. He did not
recognise the distinction between new and old
acquaintances; He treated both alike. He did not respect
kinship or yield to the demands of convention.
Wherever He went, He
created some strange mischief or other. Like a typhoon
sweeping over the land, He left behind in every home that
He visited a series of upheavals, quarrels, wailings and
tears!
There was no need to
invite Him ceremoniously into any house; He would enter,
uninvited, unannounced. Every house belonged to Him; He
would get in and take whatever He desired from wherever
it was hidden, and eat them to His heart's
content.
He was everyone's
dearest kinsman, fastest comrade. So, He could take
anything from any house with impunity. But, He was not
content with that. He took away much more than His own
need, for, He gave away large quantities to His
companions too. And, they were quite a large number! The
owners might bewail the loss, and condemn the theft, but,
He did not care; He gave the things away as if they were
His own! No one could hinder His sport; no one could go
against His word. If any dared oppose or threaten, the
sufferings that will be heaped on his head were
indescribable!
But, the truth must be
told. The smallest act of His was saturated with supreme
sweetness. Even the sufferings He inflicted on those He
wanted to punish were sweet. So, no one felt the least
anger towards Him. Instead, they yearned to meet Him more
often, to play with Him longer, to talk with Him and stay
with Him as much as possible. Whatever His pranks and
practical jokes, the victims never felt annoyed at
Him.
The reason was: the
Prema, the undercurrent of Love, that motivated all His
words and acts. The cow-herd maids rushed towards Him
with sticks to beat Him off, but, when they neared Him
and cast their looks at Him, their hearts were filled
with Prema, and they came away, with a prayer on their
tongues. Whatever He did, appeared as Divine sport,
Leela.
And the manner of His
speech! It was so pleasing and so clever, it was mostly
intended to mislead! He put sand into His mouth, before
all His companions; but, when His mother took Him to ask
for it, He denied it and put out His tongue to prove His
denial! He rendered true statements false and false
statements, true! He went daily to Vrishabhendrapura, the
village where Radha lived. Many people saw Him on the
road, while going and returning. But yet, when His mother
accosted Him and challenged Him, saying, "Why are you
trekking every day such long distances? Have you no
comrades here, in this place itself, to play with?" He
replied, "I do not know that road at all!" He caused
confusion in every home, created factions between
mothers-in-law and the daughters-in-law, set them one
against the other, and enjoyed the fun. He was seldom
stationary in one place, from dawn when He rose from bed
till the hour when He went to sleep. This little bundle
of mischief roamed from house to house, without
rest.
In spite of all this,
the villagers could not bear His absence, even for an
instant! If He did not put in His appearance any day the
milkmaids watched for His visit, peeping at the road
through the windows or looking into the distance from the
terrace. Such was the charm of the Divine Love that
Krishna showered on them and the Love that the people had
towards Him. His pranks were so heart-warming; they were
so inspiring and meaningful.
(See
also Srimad
Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter
6:
The Killing of the Demoness
Pûtanâ)
The blue Boy was the
Master of subterfuge and diplomacy. He saw through every
artifice, however cleverly camouflaged. When the ogress
Puthana approached Him as Mother to feed Him at her
breast, He pretended to be taken in, by that stratagem;
He sucked her life out and felled her to the ground. Many
an Asura
came near Him to destroy Him, Some assuming the familiar
forms of the cowherds and milkmaids of the village; but,
He discovered their identity and despatched them to the
City of Death. One Asura took the form of a calf, and
moved among the calves and cows which Krishna was
tending, awaiting an opportunity to kill Him! But, the
three year-old Divine infant saw through the device; He
caught him by the tail, raised him, swung him one round
and beat him on the ground, so that he breathed his
last.
Such strength and skill
were quite out of proportion with that Infant Form. But,
He demonstrated His Divinity in a million ways, in order
to convert and convince men. He taught every one, whether
they were elders, women, or crooks, or His own kinsmen
and well-wishers. He advised them into good ways. He
entangled some of them in dilemmas. His maternal uncle,
Kamsa, was drunk with imperial power and heroic audacity.
He caught him by the tuft of hair, pulled him down from
the throne, fisted him to death, and dragged the body
along the main thoroughfare right down to the bank of the
Yamuna! The entire population of the City of Mathura saw
in every act of His, a wondrous mixture of the amazing,
the astounding, the sweet, the charming, the enticing,
the beautiful and the simple.
While yet an infant, He
ended the lives of Puthana, Thrnavartha, and Sakatasura;
He was then, a tiny thief in search of butter in every
home! When His mother tied Him to a wooden mortar; He
dragged it behind Him, and with it, He pulled down two
giant trees, growing together. He curbed the conceit and
fury of the serpent Kalinga, which poisoned the waters of
the Yamuna and made them disastrous for men and cattle.
When His mother attempted to tie Him up with a rope round
His waist, He revealed to her His Universal Form, the
Form in which the entire Universe was found to be but a
part of Him. The parents and the people of Gokula were
wonder-struck at the remarkable experience of His
Divinity. Through His yawn, He showed them the macrocosm
and the microcosm, both!
He showed His dear
cowherd comrades His Paradise, which knew no grief or
loss (Vaikunta). He persuaded Nanda to stop the usual
Puja for Indra and to offer worship to the Govardhana
Hill, instead. When the Rain-God Indra, stung by this
neglect, poured terrible rains on the Village, Krishna
held aloft on his little finger, the Govardhana Hill
inviting the entire village to take shelter under
it!
He raised the cowherd
boys and maids into ecstatic moods, by means of His
playful pranks and His melodious music on the Flute. To
interpret this as low and sensuous is a sign of
foolishness.
When Krishna danced in
the moonlight [see also SB
10-33],
with the maids, each maid having a concrete Krishna by
her side, it is interpreted by low minded persons as
laxity of morals and as a vulgar pastime. There is no
basis for such inference at all. Krishna was only five or
six years old when these miraculous incidents took place;
how then call the experience be con- demned as
lascivious? The Lord has no attributes or qualities. The
Rasa Kreeda, as this, incident is called, is but a means
of rendering the Gopis worthy of Grace, an example of
Devotion and the fruit of Devotion, Dedication. The Lord
was showering on them the Grace they had earned by their
meritorious acts. It was a boon, a
blessing.
When that super-human
Divine Manifestation is taken to be merely human,
lasciviousness and thievishness may be attributed; but,
consider, which human can achieve even an iota of what He
did? He saved the world from the harassment of such
monstrous evil-doers as Pralamba, Dhenuka, Kesi,
Banasura, Arishta, Mushtika, Kuvalayapida, Kamsa, Naraka,
Poundraka, Dwividha, Jarasandha, Dantavakra, Sambara,
Kambhoja, Kuru, Matsya, Kaikaya and many such powerful
heroes. Can it be said that all this is within the
capacity of a mere man?
In this unique Avatar,
every act is an amazing miracle. Even when angry, He
could not but evince His overflowing Prema. In Love His
compassion flowed unhindered. Through His Darsan, Sparsan
and Sambhashana, one could earn Liberation. He granted
Immortality to those who reminded themselves of His Name.
The cowherds among whom He lived and moved tasted the
nectar of ecstasy whenever they witnessed His deeds or
remembered them.
O King! The Bhagavatha
is not merely the narrative of the Lord's story, in the
background of Mathurâ, Brindavan, Gokula, the banks
of the Yamunâ, Nanda-Yasodâ,
Vasudeva-Devakî, and others. Bhagavatha includes
the stories of all the incarnations of Bhagavân or
the Lord. All incarnations were the manifestations of the
selfsame Gopala, Krishna, from Goloka or Vaikunta. The
story of each is but the story of Vâsudeva,
emerging from Him and merging in Him. That Divine Power
is the sustaining factor for all incarnations as well as
all living beings.
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