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KB 1970-1-13 / The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma

13 / The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma

Sukadeva Gosvami was very much encouraged when Maharaja

Pariksit asked him why the cowherd boys did not discuss the

death of Aghasura until after one year had passed. He explained

thus: "My dear King, you are making the subject matter of the

transcendental pastimes of Krsna fresher by your

inquisitiveness."

It is said that it is the nature of a devotee to constantly

apply his mind, energy, words, ears, etc., in hearing and

chanting about Krsna. This is called Krsna consciousness, and

for one who is rapt in hearing and chanting Krsna, the

subject matter never becomes hackneyed or old. That is the

significance of transcendental subject matter in contrast to

material subject matter. Material subject matter becomes stale,

and one cannot hear a certain subject for a long time; he wants

change. But as far as transcendental subject matter is

concerned, it is called nityanavanavayamana.

This means that one can go on chanting and hearing about the

Lord and never feel tired but will remain fresh and eager to

hear more and more.

It is the duty of the spiritual master to disclose all

confidential subject matter to the inquisitive and sincere

disciple. Thus Sukadeva Gosvami began to explain why the

killing of Aghasura was not discussed until one year had passed.

Sukadeva Gosvami told the King, "Now hear of this secret with

attention. After saving His friends from the mouth of Aghasura

and after killing the demon, Lord Krsna brought His friends to

the bank of Yamuna and addressed them as follows: 'My dear

friends, just see how this spot is very nice for taking lunch

and playing on the soft sandy Yamuna bank. You can see how the

lotus flowers in the water are beautifully blown and how they

distribute their flavor all around. The chirping of the

birds along with cooing of the peacocks, surrounded by the

whispering of the leaves in the trees, combine and present

sound-vibrations that echo one another. And this just enriches

the beautiful scenery created by the trees here. Let us have

our lunch in this spot because it is already late and we are

feeling hungry. Let the calves remain near us, and let them

drink water from the Yamuna. While we engage in our lunch-

taking, the calves may engage in eating the soft grasses that

are in this spot.'"

On hearing this proposal from Krsna, all the boys became very

glad and said, "Certainly, let us all sit down here to take our

lunch." They then let loose the calves to eat the soft grass.

Sitting down on the ground and keeping Krsna in the center,

they began to open their different boxes brought from home.

Lord Sri Krsna was seated in the center of the circle, and all

the boys kept their faces toward Him. They ate and constantly

enjoyed seeing the Lord face to face. Krsna appeared to be the

whorl of a lotus flower, and the boys surrounding Him appeared

to be its different petals. The boys collected flowers, leaves

of flowers and barks of trees and placed

them under their different boxes, and thus they began

to eat their lunch, keeping company with Krsna. While taking

lunch, each boy began to manifest different kinds of relations

with Krsna, and they enjoyed each other's company with joking

words. While thus enjoying lunch with His

friends, Lord Krsna's flute was pushed within the belt of His

cloth, and His bugle and cane were pushed in

on the left-hand side of His cloth. He was

holding a lump of foodstuff prepared with yogurt, butter, rice

and pieces of fruit salad in His left palm, which could be seen

through His petal-like finger joints. The Supreme

Personality of Godhead, who accepts the results of all great

sacrifices, was laughing and joking, enjoying lunch with His

friends in Vrndavana. And thus the scene was being observed by

the demigods from heaven. As for the boys, they were simply

enjoying transcendental bliss in the company of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead.

At that time, the calves that were pasturing nearby entered

into the deep forest, allured by new grasses, and gradually

went out of sight. When the boys saw that the calves were not

nearby, they became afraid for their safety, and they

immediately cried out, "Krsna!" Krsna is the killer of fear

personified. Everyone is afraid of fear personified, but fear

personified is afraid of Krsna. By crying out the word "Krsna,"

the boys at once transcended the fearful situation. Out of His

great affection, Krsna did not want His friends to give up

their pleasing lunch engagement and go searching for the calves.

He therefore said, "My dear friends, you need not interrupt

your lunch. Go on enjoying. I am going personally where

the calves are." Thus Lord Krsna

immediately

started to search out the calves in the caves and bushes. He

searched in the mountain holes and in the forests, but nowhere

could He find them.

At the time when Aghasura was killed and the demigods were

looking on the incident with great surprise, Brahma, who was

born out of the lotus flower growing out of the navel of Visnu,

also came to see. He was surprised how a little boy like Krsna

could act so wonderfully. Although he was informed that the

little cowherd boy was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he

wanted to see more glorified pastimes of the Lord

, and thus he stole all the calves and cowherd boys and

took them to a different place. Lord Krsna, therefore, in spite

of searching for the calves, could not find them, and He even

lost His boy friends on the bank of the Yamuna where

they had been taking their lunch. In the form of a cowherd boy,

Lord Krsna was very little in comparison to Brahma, but because

He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could immediately

understand that all the calves and boys had been stolen by

Brahma. Krsna thought, "Brahma has taken away all the boys and

calves. How can I alone return to Vrndavana? The mothers will

be aggrieved!"

Therefore in order to satisfy the mothers of His friends as

well as to convince Brahma of the supremacy of the Personality

of Godhead, He immediately expanded Himself as the cowherd boys

and calves. In the Vedas it is said that the Supreme

Personality of Godhead expandes Himself in

so many living entities by His energy. Therefore it was not

very difficult for Him to expand Himself again into so many

boys and calves. He expanded Himself to become exactly like the

boys, who were of all different features, facial and bodily

construction, and who were different in their clothing and

ornaments and in their behavior and personal activities. In

other words, everyone has different tastes; being individual

soul, each person has entirely different activities and

behavior. Yet Krsna exactly expanded Himself into all the

different positions of the individual boys. He also became the

calves, who were also of different sizes, colors, activities,

etc. This was possible because everything is an expansion of

Krsna's energy. In the Visnu Purana it is said, parasya

brahmanah sakti. Whatever we actually see in the cosmic

manifestation -- be it matter or the activities of the living

entities -- is simply an expansion of the energies of the Lord,

as heat and light are the different expansions of fire.

Thus expanding Himself as the boys and calves in their

individual capacities, and surrounded by such expansions of

Himself, Krsna entered the village of Vrndavana. The residents

had no knowledge of what had happened. After entering the

village, Vrndavana, all the calves entered their respective

cowsheds, and the boys also went to their respective mothers

and homes.

The mothers of the boys heard the vibration of their flutes

before their entrance, and to receive them, they came out of

their homes and embraced them. And out of maternal affection,

milk was flowing from their breasts, and they allowed the boys

to drink it. However, their offering was not exactly to their

boys but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had

expanded Himself into such boys. This was another chance for

all the mothers of Vrndavana to feed the Supreme Personality of

Godhead with their own milk. Therefore Lord Krsna gave not

only Yasoda the chance of feeding Him, but this time He

gave the chance to all the elderly gopis.

All the boys began to deal with their mothers as usual, and the

mothers also, on the approach of evening, began to bathe their

respective children, decorate them with tilaka and ornaments

and give them necessary food after the day's labor. The cows

also, who were away in the pasturing ground, returned in

the evening and began to call their respective calves. The

calves immediately came to their mothers, and the mothers began

to lick the bodies of the calves. These relations between the

cows and the gopis with their calves and boys remained

unchanged, although actually the original calves and boys were

not there. Actually the cows' affection for their calves and

the elderly gopis' affection for the boys causelessly

increased. Their affection increased naturally, even though the

calves and boys were not their offspring. Although the cows and

elderly gopis of Vrndavana had greater affection for Krsna than

for their own offspring, after this incident, their affection

for their offspring increased exactly as it did

for Krsna. For one year continuoually, Krsna Himself expanded

as the calves and cowherd boys and was present in the pasturing

ground.

As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna's expansion is

situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul. Similarly

, instead of expanding Himself as the Supersoul, He

expanded Himself as a portion of calves and cowherd boys for

one continuous year.

One day, when Krsna, along with

Balarama, was maintaining the calves in the forest, They

saw some cows grazing on the top of Govardhana Hill. The cows

could see down into the valley where the calves were being

taken care of by the boys. Suddenly, on sighting their calves,

the cows began to run towards them. They leaped downhill with

joined front and rear legs. The cows were so melted with

affection for their calves that they did not care about the

rough path from the top of Govardhana Hill down to the

pasturing ground. They began to approach the calves with

their milk bags full of milk, and they raised their tails

upwards. When they were coming down the hill, their milk bags

were pouring milk on the ground out of intense maternal

affection for the calves, although they were not their own

calves. These cows had their own calves, and the calves that

were grazing beneath Govardhana Hill were larger; they were not

expected to drink milk directly from the milk bag but were

satisfied with the grass. Yet all the cows came immediately and

began to lick their bodies, and the calves also began to suck

milk from the milk bags. There appeared to be a great bondage

of affection between the cows and calves.

When the cows were running down from the top of Govardhana Hill,

the men who were taking care of them tried to stop them.

Elderly cows are taken care of by the men, and the calves are

taken care of by the boys; and as far as possible, the calves

are kept separate from the cows, so that the calves do not

drink all the available milk. Therefore the men who were taking

care of the cows on the top of Govardhana Hill tried to stop

them, but they failed. Baffled by their failure, they were

feeling ashamed and angry. They were very unhappy, but when

they came down and saw their children taking care of the calves,

they all of a sudden became very affectionate toward the

children. It was very astonishing. Although the men came down

disappointed, baffled and angry, as soon as they saw their own

children, their hearts melted with great affection. At once

their anger, dissatisfaction and unhappiness disappeared. They

began to show paternal love for the children, and with great

affection they lifted them in their arms and embraced them.

They began to smell their children's heads and enjoy their

company with great happiness. After embracing their children,

the men again took the cows back to the top of Govardhana Hill.

Along the way they began to think of their children, and

affectionate tears fell from their eyes.

When Balarama saw this extraordinary exchange of affection

between the cows and their calves and between the fathers and

their children -- when neither the calves nor the children

needed so much care -- He began to wonder why this

extraordinary thing happened. He was astonished to see all

the residents of Vrndavana so affectionate for their own

children, exactly as they had been for Krsna. Similarly, the

cows had grown affectionate for their calves -- as much as for

Krsna. Balarama therefore concluded that the extraordinary show

of affection was something mystical, either performed by the

demigods or by some powerful man. Otherwise, how could this

wonderful change take place? He concluded that this mystical

change must have been caused by Krsna, whom Balarama considered

His worshipable Personality of Godhead. He thought, "It was

arranged by Krsna, and even I could not check its mystic power."

Thus Balarama understood that all those boys and calves were

only expansions of Krsna.

Balarama inquired from Krsna about the actual situation. He

said, "My dear Krsna, in the beginning I thought that all these

cows, calves and cowherd boys were either great sages and

saintly persons or demigods, but at the present it appears that

they are actually Your expansions. They are all You; You

Yourself are playing as the calves and cows and boys. What is

the mystery of this situation? Where have those other calves

and cows and boys gone? And why are You expanding Yourself as

the cows, calves and boys? Will You kindly tell Me what is the

cause?" At the request of Balarama, Krsna briefly explained the

whole situation: how the calves and boys were stolen by

Brahma and how He was concealing the incident by expanding

Himself so people would not know that the original cows, calves,

and boys were missing.

While Krsna and Balarama were talking, Brahma returned after a

moment's interval (according to the duration of his life). We

have information of Lord Brahma's duration of life from the

Bhagavad-gita: 1,000 times the duration of the four ages, or 4,

300,000 x 1,000, comprise Brahma's twelve hours.

Similarly, one moment of Brahma is equal to one year of

our solar calculation. After one moment of Brahma's calculation,

Brahma came back to see the fun caused by his stealing the

boys and calves. But he was also afraid that he was playing

with fire. Krsna was his master, and he had played mischief for

fun by taking away His calves and boys. He was really anxious,

so he did not stay away very long; he came back after a moment (

of his calculation). He saw that all the boys, calves and

cows were playing with Krsna in the same way as when he had

come upon them, although he was confident that he had taken

them and made them lie down asleep under the spell of his

mystic power. Brahma began to think, "All the boys, calves and

cows were taken away by me, and I know they are still

sleeping. How is it that a similar batch of cows, boys and

calves are playing with Krsna? Is it that they are not

influenced by my mystic power? Have they been playing

continually for one year with Krsna?" Brahma tried to

understand who they were and how they were uninfluenced by his

mystic power, but he could not ascertain it. In other words, he

himself came under the spell of his own mystic power. The

influence of his mystic power appeared like snow in darkness or

the glow worm in daytime. During the night's darkness,

the glow worm can show some glittering power, and the snow

piled up on the top of a hill or on the ground can shine during

the daytime. But at night the snow has no silver glitter; nor

does the glow worm have any illuminating power during the

daytime. Similarly, when the small mystic power exhibited by

Brahma was before the mystic power of Krsna, it was just like

snow or the glow worm. When a man of

small mystic power wants to show potency in the presence of

greater mystic power, he diminishes his own influence; he does

not increase it. Even a great personality like Brahma,

when he wanted to show his mystic power before Krsna, became

ludicrous. Brahma was thus confused about his own mystic power.

In order to convince Brahma that all those cows, calves and

boys were not the original ones, the cows, calves, and boys who

were playing with Krsna transformed into Visnu forms. Actually,

the original ones were sleeping under the spell of Brahma's

mystic power, but the present ones, seen by Brahma, were all

immediate expansions of Krsna, or Visnu. Visnu is the expansion

of Krsna, so the Visnu forms appeared before Brahma. All the

Visnu forms were of bluish color and dressed in yellow garments;

all of Them had four hands decorated with club, disc, lotus

flower and conchshell. On Their heads were glittering golden

jeweled helmets; They were bedecked with

pearls and earrings, and garlanded with beautiful flowers. On

Their chests was the mark of srivatsa; Their arms were

decorated with armlets and other jewelry. Their necks were

smooth just like the conchshell, Their legs were

decorated with bells, Their waists decorated with golden bells,

and Their fingers decorated with jeweled rings. Brahma also saw

that upon the whole body of Lord Visnu, fresh tulasi buds

were thrown, beginning from His lotus feet up to the top of the

head. Another

significant feature of the Visnu forms was that all of Them

were looking transcendentally beautiful. Their smiling

resembled the moonshine, and Their glancing resembled the early

rising of the sun. Just by Their glancing They appeared

as the creators and maintainers of the modes of

ignorance and passion. Visnu represents the mode of goodness,

Brahma represents the mode of passion, and Lord Siva represents

the mode of ignorance. Therefore as maintainer of

everything in the cosmic manifestation, Visnu is also

creator and maintainer of Brahma and Lord Siva.

After this manifestation of Lord Visnu, Brahma saw that many

other Brahmas and Sivas and demigods and even insignificant

living entities down to the ants and very small straws --

movable and immovable living entities -- were dancing,

surrounding Lord Visnu. Their dancing was accompanied by

various kinds of music, and all of Them were worshiping Lord

Visnu. Brahma realized that all those Visnu forms were complete,

beginning from the anima perfection of becoming

small like an atom, up to becoming infinite like the cosmic

manifestation. All the mystic powers of Brahma, Siva, all the

demigods and the twenty-four elements of cosmic manifestation

were fully represented in the person of Visnu. By the influence

of Lord Visnu, all subordinate mystic powers were engaged in

His worship. He was being worshiped by time, space, cosmic

manifestation, reformation, desire, activity and the three

qualities of material nature. Lord Visnu, Brahma also realized,

is the reservoir of all truth, knowledge and bliss. He is the

combination of three transcendental features, namely eternity,

knowledge, and bliss, and He is the object of worship by the

followers of the Upanisads. Brahma realized that all the

different forms of cows, boys and calves transformed into Visnu

forms were not transformed by a mysticism of the type that a

yogi or a demigod can display by specific powers invested in

him. The cows, calves and boys transformed into Visnu murtis,

or Visnu forms were not displays of Visnu maya or Visnu energy,

but were Visnu Himself. The respective qualifications of Visnu

and Visnu maya are just like fire and heat. In the heat there

is the qualification of fire, namely warmth; and yet heat is

not fire. The manifestation of the Visnu forms of the boys,

cows and calves was not like the heat, but rather the fire --

they were all actually Visnu. Factually, the qualification of

Visnu is full truth, full knowledge and full bliss. Another

example can be given with material objects, which are reflected

in many, many forms. For example, the sun is reflected in many

waterpots, but the reflections of the sun in many pots are not

actually the sun. There is no actual heat and light from the

sun in the pot, although it appears as the sun. But the forms

which Krsna assumed were each and every one full Visnu. Satyam

means truth, jnanam, full knowledge, and ananda, full bliss.

Transcendental forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in

His person are so great that the impersonal followers of

the Upanisads cannot reach the platform of knowledge to

understand them. Particularly, the transcendental forms of the

Lord are beyond the reach of the impersonalists who can only

understand, through the studies of Upanisads, that the

Absolute Truth is not matter and that the Absolute Truth is not

materially restricted by limited potency. Lord Brahma

understood Krsna and His expansion into Visnu forms and could

understand that, due to the expansion of energy of

the Supreme Lord, everything movable and immovable within

the cosmic manifestation is existing.

When Brahma was thus standing baffled in his limited power and

conscious of his limited activities within the eleven senses,

he could at least realize that he was also a creation of the

material energy, just like a puppet. As a puppet has no

independent power to dance but dances according to the

direction of the puppet master, so the demigods and living

entities are all subordinate to the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. As it is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta, the only

master is Krsna, and all others are servants. The whole

world is under the waves of the material spell, and beings are

floating like straws in water. So their struggle for existence

is continuing. But as soon as one becomes conscious that he is

the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this

maya or illusory struggle for existence is immediately

stopped.

Lord Brahma, who has full control over the goddess of learning

and who is considered to be the best authority in Vedic

knowledge, was thus perplexed, being unable to understand the

extraordinary power manifested in the Supreme Personality of

Godhead. In the mundane world, even a personality like Brahma

is unable to understand the potential mystic power of the

Supreme Lord. Not only did Brahma fail to understand, but he

was perplexed even to see the display which was being

manifested by Krsna before him.

Krsna took compassion upon Brahma's inability to

see even how He was displaying the force of Visnu in

transforming Himself into cows and cowherd boys, and thus,

while fully manifesting the Visnu expansion, He suddenly

pulled His curtain of yogamaya over the scene. In the Bhagavad-

gita it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not

visible due to the curtain spread by yogamaya. That which

covers the reality is mahamaya, or the external energy,

which does not allow a conditioned soul to understand the

Supreme Personality of Godhead beyond the cosmic manifestation.

But the energy which partially manifests the Supreme

Personality of Godhead and partially does not allow one to see,

is called yogamaya. Brahma is not an ordinary conditioned soul.

He is far, far superior to all the demigods, and yet he

could not comprehend the display of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead; therefore Krsna willingly stopped manifesting any

further potency. The conditioned soul not only becomes

bewildered, but he is completely unable to understand. The

curtain of yogamaya was drawn so that Brahma would not become

more and more perplexed.

When Brahma was relieved from his perplexity, he appeared to

be awakened from an almost dead state, and he began to open

his eyes with great difficulty. Thus he could see the eternal

cosmic manifestation with common eyes. He saw all around him

the super-excellent view of Vrndavana -- full with

trees -- which is the source of life for all living entities.

He could appreciate the transcendental land of Vrndavana where

all the living entities are transcendental to ordinary nature.

In the forest of Vrndavana, even ferocious animals like tigers

and others live peacefully along with the deer and human being.

He could understand that, because of the presence of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead in Vrndavana, that place is

transcendental to all other places and that there is no

lust and greed there.

Brahma thus found Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

playing the part of a small cowherd boy; he saw that little

child with a lump of food in His left hand, searching out His

friends, cows and calves, just as He was actually doing

one year before, after their disappearance.

Immediately Brahma descended from his great swan carrier and

fell down before the Lord just like a golden stick. The word

used among the Vaisnavas for offering respect is dandavat. This

word means falling down like a stick; one should offer

respect to the superior Vaisnava by falling down straight, with

his body just like a stick. So Brahma fell down before the Lord

just like a stick to offer respect; and because the complexion

of Brahma is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick

lying down before Lord Krsna. All the four helmets on the heads

of Brahma touched the lotus feet of Krsna. Brahma, being very

joyful, began to shed tears, and he washed the lotus feet of

Krsna with his tears. Repeatedly he fell and rose as he

recalled the wonderful activities of the Lord. After repeating

obeisances for a long time, Brahma stood up and smeared his

hands over his eyes. Seeing the Lord before him, he, trembling,

began to offer prayers with great respect, humility and

attention.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirteenth Chapter

of Krsna, "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma."

 
 
KB 13: The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma
 
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
 
The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma
 
Sukadeva Gosvami was very much encouraged when Maharaja 
Pariksit asked him why the cowherd boys did not discuss the 
death of Aghasura until after one year had passed. He explained 
thus: "My dear King, you are making the subject matter of the 
transcendental pastimes of Krsna fresher by your 
inquisitiveness."
 
It is said that it is the nature of a devotee to constantly 
apply his mind, energy, words, ears, etc., in hearing and 
chanting about Krsna. This is called Krsna consciousness, and 
for one who is rapt in hearing and chanting about Krsna, the 
subject matter never becomes hackneyed or old. That is the 
significance of transcendental subject matter in contrast to 
material subject matter. Material subject matter becomes stale, 
and one cannot hear a certain subject for a long time; he wants 
change. But as far as transcendental subject matter is 
concerned, it is called nitya-nava-navayamana. 
This means that one can go on chanting and hearing about the 
Lord and never feel tired but remain fresh and eager to 
hear more and more.
 
It is the duty of the spiritual master to disclose all 
confidential subject matter to the inquisitive and sincere 
disciple. Thus Sukadeva Gosvami began to explain why the 
killing of Aghasura was not discussed until one year had passed.
 Sukadeva Gosvami told the King, "Now hear of this secret with 
attention. After saving His friends from the mouth of Aghasura 
and killing the demon, Lord Krsna brought His friends to 
the bank of the Yamuna and addressed them as follows: "My dear 
friends, just see how this spot is very nice for taking lunch 
and playing on the soft, sandy Yamuna bank. You can see how the 
lotus flowers in the water are beautifully blown and how they 
distribute their fragrance all around. The chirping of the 
birds along with the cooing of the peacocks, surrounded by the 
whispering of the leaves in the trees, combine and present 
sound vibrations that echo one another. And this just enriches 
the beautiful scenery created by the trees here. Let us have 
our lunch in this spot because it is already late and we are 
feeling hungry. Let the calves remain near us, and let them 
drink water from the Yamuna. While we engage in our lunch-
taking, the calves may engage in eating the soft grasses that 
are in this spot."
 
On hearing this proposal from Krsna, all the boys became very 
glad and said, "Certainly, let us all sit down here to take our 
lunch." They then let loose the calves to eat the soft grass. 
Sitting down on the ground and keeping Krsna in the center, 
they began to open their lunch boxes brought from home. 
Lord Sri Krsna was seated in the center of the circle, and all 
the boys kept their faces toward Him. They ate and constantly 
enjoyed seeing the Lord face to face. Krsna appeared to be the 
whorl of a lotus flower, and the boys surrounding Him appeared 
to be its different petals. The boys collected flowers, leaves 
of flowers and the bark of trees and placed their lunch on 
them, as well as in their boxes, and thus they began 
to eat their lunch, keeping company with Krsna. While taking 
lunch, each boy began to manifest different kinds of relations 
with Krsna, and they enjoyed each other's company with joking 
words. While Lord Krsna was thus enjoying lunch with His 
friends, His flute was pushed within the belt of His 
cloth on His right side, and His bugle and cane were pushed in 
on the left-hand side of His cloth. In His left palm He was 
holding a lump of food prepared with yogurt, butter, rice 
and pieces of fruit salad, which could be seen 
through His petallike finger-joints. The Supreme 
Personality of Godhead, who accepts the results of all great 
sacrifices, was laughing and joking, enjoying lunch with His 
friends in Vrndavana. And thus the scene was being observed by 
the demigods from heaven. As for the boys, they were simply 
enjoying transcendental bliss in the company of the Supreme 
Personality of Godhead.
 
At that time, the calves that were pasturing nearby entered 
into the deep forest, allured by new grasses, and gradually 
went out of sight. When the boys saw that the calves were not 
nearby, they became afraid for their safety, and they 
immediately cried out, "Krsna!" Krsna is the killer of fear 
personified. Everyone is afraid of fear personified, but fear 
personified is afraid of Krsna. By crying out the word "Krsna," 
the boys at once transcended the fearful situation. Out of His 
great affection, Krsna did not want His friends to give up 
their pleasing lunch engagement and go searching for the calves.
 He therefore said, "My dear friends, you need not interrupt 
your lunch. Go on enjoying. I am going personally to find 
the calves." Thus Lord Krsna, still carrying the lump of 
yogurt-and-rice preparation in His left hand, immediately 
started to search out the calves in the caves and bushes. He 
searched in the mountain holes and in the forests, but nowhere 
could He find them.
 
At the time when Aghasura was killed and the demigods were 
looking on the incident with great surprise, Brahma, who was 
born of the lotus flower growing out of the navel of Visnu, 
also came to see. He was surprised how a little boy like Krsna 
could act so wonderfully. Although he was informed that the 
little cowherd boy was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he 
wanted to see more of the Lord's glorious 
pastimes, and thus he stole all the calves and cowherd boys and 
took them to a different place. Lord Krsna, therefore, in spite 
of searching for the calves, could not find them, and He even 
lost His boyfriends on the bank of the Yamuna, where 
they had been taking their lunch. In the form of a cowherd boy, 
Lord Krsna was very little in comparison to Brahma, but because 
He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could immediately 
understand that all the calves and boys had been stolen by 
Brahma. Krsna thought, "Brahma has taken away all the boys and 
calves. How can I alone return to Vrndavana? The mothers will 
be aggrieved!"
 
Therefore in order to satisfy the mothers of His friends, as 
well as to convince Brahma of the supremacy of the Personality 
of Godhead, He immediately expanded Himself as the cowherd boys 
and calves. In the Vedas it is said that the Supreme 
Personality of Godhead has already expanded Himself into 
so many living entities by His energy. Therefore it was not 
very difficult for Him to expand Himself again into so many 
boys and calves. He expanded Himself to become exactly like the 
boys, who were of all different features and facial and bodily 
construction, and who were different in their clothing and 
ornaments and in their behavior and personal activities. In 
other words, although each boy, being an individual 
soul, had entirely different tastes, activities and 
behavior, Krsna exactly expanded Himself into all the 
different positions of the individual boys. He also became the 
calves, who were also of different sizes, colors, activities, 
etc. This was possible because everything is an expansion of 
Krsna's energy. In the Visnu Purana it is said, parasya 
brahmanah saktih. Whatever we actually see in the cosmic 
manifestation -- be it matter or the activities of the living 
entities -- is simply an expansion of the energies of the Lord, 
as heat and light are the different expansions of fire.
 
Thus expanding Himself as the boys and calves in their 
individual capacities, and surrounded by such expansions of 
Himself, Krsna entered the village of Vrndavana. The residents 
had no knowledge of what had happened. After entering the 
village of Vrndavana, all the calves entered their respective 
cowsheds, and the boys went to their respective mothers 
and homes.
 
The mothers of the boys heard the vibration of their flutes 
before their entrance, and to receive them, they came out of 
their homes and embraced them. And out of maternal affection, 
milk was flowing from their breasts, and they allowed the boys 
to drink it. However, their offering was not exactly to their 
boys but to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who had 
expanded Himself into such boys. This was a chance for 
all the mothers of Vrndavana to feed the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead with their own milk. Therefore not only did Lord 
Krsna give Yasoda the chance to feed Him, but this time He 
gave the chance to all the other elder gopis.
 
All the boys dealt with their mothers as usual, and the 
mothers also, on the approach of evening, bathed their 
respective children, decorated them with tilaka and ornaments 
and gave them necessary food after the day's labor. The cows 
also, who had been away in the pasturing ground, returned in 
the evening and called their respective calves. The 
calves immediately came to their mothers, and the mothers began 
to lick the bodies of the calves. These relations of the 
cows and the gopis with their calves and boys remained 
unchanged, although actually the original calves and boys were 
not there. Actually the cows' affection for their calves and 
the elder gopis' affection for their boys causelessly 
increased. Their affection increased naturally, even though the 
calves and boys were not their offspring. Although the cows and 
elder gopis of Vrndavana had greater affection for Krsna than 
for their own offspring, after this incident their affection 
for their offspring increased unlimitedly, exactly as it did 
for Krsna. For one year continuously, Krsna Himself expanded 
as the calves and cowherd boys and was present in the pasturing 
ground.
 
As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna's expansion is 
situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul. But in 
this case, instead of expanding Himself as the Supersoul, He 
expanded Himself as a portion of calves and cowherd boys for 
one continuous year.
 
One day, a few days before a year had passed, Krsna and 
Balarama were maintaining the calves in the forest when They 
saw some cows grazing on the top of Govardhana Hill. The cows 
could see down into the valley where the calves were being 
taken care of by the boys. Suddenly, on sighting the calves, 
the cows began to run toward them. They leaped downhill with 
joined front and rear legs. The cows were so melted with 
affection for the calves that they did not care about the 
rough path from the top of Govardhana Hill down to the 
pasturing ground. They approached the calves with 
their milk bags full of milk, and they raised their tails 
upwards. When they were coming down the hill, their milk bags 
were pouring milk on the ground out of intense maternal 
affection for the calves, although they were not their own 
calves. These cows had their own calves, and the calves that 
were grazing beneath Govardhana Hill were larger; they were not 
expected to drink milk directly from the milk bag but were 
satisfied with the grass. Yet all the cows came immediately and 
began to lick their bodies, and the calves also began to suck 
milk from the milk bags. There appeared to be a great bond 
of affection between the cows and calves.
 
When the cows were running down from the top of Govardhana Hill,
 the men who were taking care of them tried to stop them. 
Older cows are taken care of by the men, and the calves are 
taken care of by the boys; and as far as possible, the calves 
are kept separate from the cows, so that the calves do not 
drink all the available milk. Therefore the men who were taking 
care of the cows on the top of Govardhana Hill tried to stop 
them, but they failed. Baffled by their failure, they were 
feeling ashamed and angry. They were very unhappy, but when 
they came down and saw their children taking care of the calves,
 they all of a sudden became very affectionate toward the 
children. It was very astonishing. Although the men came down 
disappointed, baffled and angry, as soon as they saw their own 
children, their hearts melted with great affection. At once 
their anger, dissatisfaction and unhappiness disappeared. They 
began to show paternal love for the children, and with great 
affection they lifted them in their arms and embraced them. 
They began to smell their children's heads and enjoy their 
company with great happiness. After embracing their children, 
the men took the cows back to the top of Govardhana Hill. 
Along the way they began to think of their children, and 
affectionate tears fell from their eyes.
 
When Balarama saw this extraordinary exchange of affection 
between the cows and the calves and between the fathers and 
their children -- when neither the calves nor the children 
needed so much care -- He began to wonder why this 
extraordinary thing had happened. He was astonished to see all 
the residents of Vrndavana so affectionate to their own 
children, exactly as they had been to Krsna. Similarly, the 
cows had grown affectionate to the calves -- as much as to 
Krsna. Balarama therefore concluded that the extraordinary show 
of affection was something mystical, either performed by the 
demigods or by some powerful man. Otherwise, how could this 
wonderful change take place? He concluded that this mystical 
change must have been caused by Krsna, whom Balarama considered 
His worshipable Personality of Godhead. He thought, "It was 
arranged by Krsna, and even I could not check its mystic power."
 Thus Balarama understood that all those boys and calves were 
only expansions of Krsna.
 
Balarama inquired from Krsna about the actual situation. He 
said, "My dear Krsna, in the beginning I thought that all these 
calves and cowherd boys were either great sages and 
saintly persons or demigods, but at present it appears that 
they are actually Your expansions. They are all You; You 
Yourself are playing as the calves and boys. What is 
the mystery of this situation? Where have those other calves 
and boys gone? And why are You expanding Yourself as 
the calves and boys? Will You kindly tell Me what is the 
cause?" At the request of Balarama, Krsna briefly explained the 
whole situation: how the calves and boys had been stolen by 
Brahma and how Krsna was concealing the incident by expanding 
Himself so people would not know that the original 
calves and boys were missing.
 
While Krsna and Balarama were talking, Brahma returned after a 
moment's interval (according to the duration of his life). We 
have information of Lord Brahma's duration of life from the 
Bhagavad-gita: 1,000 times the duration of the four ages, or 
1,000 x 4,320,000 years, constitute Brahma's twelve hours. 
Similarly, one moment of Brahma's time is equal to one year of 
our solar calculation. After one moment of Brahma's calculation,
 Brahma came back to see the fun caused by his stealing the 
boys and calves. But he was also afraid that he was playing 
with fire. Krsna was his master, and he had played mischief for 
fun by taking away His calves and boys. He was really anxious, 
so he did not stay away very long; he came back after a moment (
by his calculation). He saw that all the boys and 
calves were playing with Krsna in the same way as when he had 
come upon them, although he was confident that he had taken 
them and made them lie down asleep under the spell of his 
mystic power. Brahma began to think, "All the boys and 
calves were taken away by me, and I know they are still 
sleeping. How is it that a similar batch of boys and 
calves is playing with Krsna? Is it that they are not 
influenced by my mystic power? Have they been playing 
continually for one year with Krsna?" Brahma tried to 
understand who they were and how they were uninfluenced by his 
mystic power, but he could not ascertain it. In other words, he 
himself came under the spell of his own mystic power. The 
influence of his mystic power appeared like snow in darkness or 
a glowworm in the daytime. During the night's darkness, 
the glowworm can show some glittering power, and the snow 
piled up on the top of a hill or on the ground can shine during 
the daytime. But at night the snow has no silver glitter, nor 
does the glowworm have any illuminating power during the 
daytime. Similarly, when the small mystic power exhibited by 
Brahma was before the mystic power of Krsna, it was just like 
snow at night or a glowworm during the day. When a man of 
small mystic power wants to show potency in the presence of 
greater mystic power, he diminishes his own influence; he does 
not increase it. Even such a great personality as Brahma, 
when he wanted to show his mystic power before Krsna, became 
ludicrous. Brahma was thus confused about his own mystic power.
 
In order to convince Brahma that all those calves and 
boys were not the original ones, the calves and boys who 
were playing with Krsna transformed into Visnu forms. Actually, 
the original ones were sleeping under the spell of Brahma's 
mystic power, but the present ones, seen by Brahma, were all 
immediate expansions of Krsna, or Visnu. Visnu is the expansion 
of Krsna, so the Visnu forms appeared before Brahma. All the 
Visnu forms were of bluish color and dressed in yellow garments;
 all of Them had four hands decorated with club, disc, lotus 
flower and conchshell. On Their heads were glittering golden 
helmets inlaid with jewels; They were bedecked with 
pearls and earrings and garlanded with beautiful flowers. On 
Their chests was the mark of Srivatsa, Their arms were 
decorated with armlets and other jewelry, and Their necks were 
just like conchshells. Their legs were 
decorated with bells, Their waists with golden belts, 
and Their fingers with jeweled rings. Brahma also saw 
that upon the whole body of each Lord Visnu, 
from the lotus feet up to the top of the 
head, fresh tulasi leaves and buds had been thrown. Another 
significant feature of the Visnu forms was that all of Them 
were looking transcendentally beautiful. Their smiling 
resembled the moonshine, and Their glancing resembled the early 
rising of the sun. Just by Their glancing They showed 
Themselves to be the creators and maintainers of the modes of 
ignorance and passion. Visnu represents the mode of goodness, 
Brahma represents the mode of passion, and Lord Siva represents 
the mode of ignorance. Therefore as the maintainer of 
everything in the cosmic manifestation, Visnu is also the 
creator and maintainer of Brahma and Lord Siva.
 
After this manifestation of Lord Visnu, Brahma saw that many 
other Brahmas and Sivas and demigods and even insignificant 
living entities down to the ants and very small straws -- 
all moving and nonmoving living entities -- were dancing, 
surrounding Lord Visnu. Their dancing was accompanied by 
various kinds of music, and all of them were worshiping Lord 
Visnu. Brahma realized that all those Visnu forms were 
complete in mystic power, from the anima perfection of 
becoming small like an atom up to becoming infinite like the 
cosmic manifestation. All the mystic powers of Brahma, Siva, 
all the demigods and the twenty-four elements of cosmic 
manifestation were fully represented in the person of Visnu. By 
the influence of Lord Visnu, all subordinate mystic powers were 
engaged in His worship. He was being worshiped by time, space, 
the cosmic manifestation, reformation, desire, activity and the 
three qualities of material nature. Lord Visnu, Brahma also 
realized, is the reservoir of all truth, knowledge and bliss. 
He is the combination of three transcendental features, namely 
eternity, knowledge and bliss, and He is the object of worship 
by the followers of the Upanisads
. 
 
Brahma realized that all the different forms of boys and calves 
transformed into Visnu forms were not transformed by a 
mysticism of the type that a yogi or a demigod can display by 
specific powers invested in him. The calves and boys 
transformed into visnu-murtis, or Visnu forms, were not 
displays of visnu-maya, or Visnu's energy, but were Visnu 
Himself. The respective qualifications of Visnu and visnu-maya 
are just like fire and heat. In the heat there is the 
qualification of fire, namely warmth; and yet heat is not fire. 
The manifestation of the Visnu forms of the boys and calves was 
not like the heat but was rather the fire -- they were all 
actually Visnu. Factually, the qualification of Visnu is full 
truth, full knowledge and full bliss. Another example can be 
given with material objects, which are reflected in many, many 
forms. For example, the sun is reflected in many waterpots, but 
the reflections of the sun in the many pots are not actually 
the sun. There is no actual heat or light from the suns in the 
pots, although they appear like the sun. But the forms which 
Krsna assumed were each and every one full Visnu. The specific 
word used in this connection is satya-jnananantananda. Satya 
means truth; jnana, full knowledge; ananta, unlimited; and 
ananda, full bliss.
 
The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead 
are so great that the impersonalistic followers of 
the Upanisads cannot reach the platform of knowledge to 
understand them. Especially the transcendental forms of the 
Lord are beyond the reach of the impersonalists, who can only 
understand, through studying the Upanisads, that the 
Absolute Truth is not matter, or is not 
materially restricted. From 
Krsna's expansion into Visnu forms
, Lord Brahma could understand by his 
limited potency that everything movable and immovable within 
the cosmic manifestation is existing due to the expansion of 
the energy of the Supreme Lord.
 
When Brahma was thus standing baffled in his limited power and 
conscious of his limited activities within the eleven senses, 
he could realize that he was also a creation of the 
material energy, just like a puppet. As a puppet has no 
independent power to dance but dances according to the 
direction of the puppet master, so the demigods and living 
entities are all subordinate to the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead. As it is stated in the Caitanya-caritamrta, the only 
master is Krsna, and all others are His servants. The whole 
world is under the waves of the material spell, and beings are 
floating like straws in water. So their struggle for existence 
is continuing. But as soon as one becomes conscious that he is 
the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this 
maya, or illusory struggle for existence, is immediately 
stopped.
 
Lord Brahma, who has full control over the goddess of learning 
and who is considered to be the best authority in Vedic 
knowledge, was thus perplexed, being unable to understand the 
extraordinary power manifested by the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead. In the mundane world, even a personality like Brahma 
is unable to understand the mystic power of the 
Supreme Lord. Not only did Brahma fail to understand, but he 
was perplexed even to see the display which was being 
manifested by Krsna before him.
 
Krsna took compassion upon Brahma because of his inability to 
see how Krsna was displaying the forms of Visnu and 
transforming Himself into calves and cowherd boys, and thus, 
while fully manifesting the Visnu expansions, He suddenly 
pulled His curtain of yogamaya over the scene. In the Bhagavad-
gita it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not 
visible due to the curtain spread by yogamaya. That which 
covers the reality is maha-maya, or the external energy, 
which does not allow a conditioned soul to understand the 
Supreme Personality of Godhead beyond the cosmic manifestation. 
But the energy which partially manifests the Supreme 
Personality of Godhead and partially does not allow one to see 
is called yogamaya. Brahma is not an ordinary conditioned soul. 
He is far, far superior to all the other demigods, and yet he 
could not comprehend the display of the Supreme Personality of 
Godhead; therefore Krsna willingly stopped manifesting any 
further potency. The conditioned soul not only becomes 
bewildered but is completely unable to understand. The 
curtain of yogamaya was drawn so that Brahma would not become 
more and more perplexed.
 
When Brahma was relieved from his perplexity, he appeared to 
awaken from an almost dead state, and he began to open 
his eyes with great difficulty. Thus he could see the external 
cosmic manifestation with common eyes. He saw all around him 
the superexcellent view of Vrndavana -- full with 
trees -- which is the source of life for all living entities. 
He could appreciate the transcendental land of Vrndavana, where 
all the living entities are transcendental to ordinary nature. 
In the forest of Vrndavana, even ferocious animals like tigers 
live peacefully along with the deer and human beings.
 He could understand that because of the presence of the 
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vrndavana is 
transcendental to all other places and is free of 
lust and greed.
 
Brahma thus found Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
 playing the part of a small cowherd boy; he saw that little 
child with a lump of food in His left hand, searching out His 
friends and calves, just as He had actually been doing 
one year before, after their disappearance.
 
Immediately Brahma descended from his great swan carrier and 
fell down before the Lord just like a golden stick. The word 
used among the Vaisnavas for offering respect is dandavat. This 
word means "falling down like a stick"; one should offer 
respect to the superior Vaisnava by falling down straight, with 
his body just like a stick. So Brahma fell down before the Lord 
just like a stick to offer respect; and because the complexion 
of Brahma is golden, he appeared to be like a golden stick 
lying down before Lord Krsna. All the four helmets on the heads 
of Brahma touched the lotus feet of Krsna. Brahma, being very 
joyful, began to shed tears, and he washed the lotus feet of 
Krsna with his tears. Repeatedly he fell and rose as he 
recalled the wonderful activities of the Lord. After repeating 
obeisances for a long time, Brahma stood up and smeared his 
hands over his eyes. Seeing the Lord before him, he, trembling, 
began to offer prayers with great respect, humility and 
attention.
 
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirteenth Chapter 
of Krsna, "The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahma."
 