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KB 1970-2-10 / Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana
10 / Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana
Lord Balarama became very anxious to see His father and mother,
Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda. Therefore He started
for Vrndavana on a chariot with great enthusiasm.
The inhabitants of Vrndavana had been anxious to see Krsna and
Balarama for a very long time. When Lord Balarama returned to
Vrndavana, all the cowherd boys and the gopis had grown up; but
still, on His arrival, they all embraced Him, and Balarama
embraced them in reciprocation. After this He came before
Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda and offered His respectful obeisances
unto them. In response, mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja
offered their blessings unto Him. They addressed Him as
Jagadisvara, or the Lord of the universe who maintains everyone.
The reason for this was that both Krsna and Balarama maintain
all living entities, and yet Nanda and Yasoda were put into
such difficulties on account of Their absence. Feeling like
this, they embraced Balarama and, seating Him on their laps,
began their perpetual crying, wetting Balarama with their tears.
Lord Balarama then offered His respectful obeisances to the
elderly cowherd men and accepted the obeisances of the younger
cowherd men. Thus, according to their different ages and
relationships, Lord Balarama exchanged feelings of friendship
with them. He shook hands with those who were His equals in age
and friendship, and with loud laughing embraced each one of
them.
After being received by the cowherd men and boys, the gopis,
and King Nanda and Yasoda, Lord Balarama sat down, feeling
satisfied, and they all surrounded Him. First Lord Balarama
inquired from them about their welfare, and then, not
having seen Him for such a long time, they began to ask Him
different questions. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had
sacrificed everything for Krsna, simply being captivated by the
lotus eyes of the Lord. Because of their great desire to love
Krsna, they never desired anything like elevation to the
heavenly planets or merging into the effulgence of Brahman to
become one with the Absolute Truth. They were not even
interested in enjoying a life of opulence, but were satisfied
in living a simple life in the village as cowherd men. They
were always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and did not desire
any personal benefits, and they were all so much in love with
Him that in His absence their voices faltered when they began
to inquire from Balaramaji.
First Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi inquired, "My dear Balarama,
are our friends like Vasudeva and others in the family doing
well? Now You and Krsna are grown-up married men with children.
In the happiness of family life, do You sometimes remember Your
poor father and mother, Nanda Maharaja and Yasodadevi? It is
very good news that the most sinful King Kamsa has been killed
by You and that our friends like Vasudeva and the others who
had been harassed by him, have now been relieved. It is also
very good news that both You and Krsna defeated Jarasandha and
Kalayavana, who now is dead, and that You are now living in
a fortified residence in Dvaraka."
When the gopis arrived, Lord Balarama glanced over them with
loving eyes. Being overjoyed, the gopis, who had so long been
mortified on account of Krsna's and Balarama's absence, began
to ask about the welfare of the two brothers. They specifically
asked Balarama whether Krsna was enjoying His life surrounded
by the enlightened women of Dvaraka Puri. "Does He sometimes
remember His father Nanda and His mother Yasoda and the other
friends with whom He so intimately behaved while he was in
Vrndavana? Does Krsna have any plans to come here to see His
mother Yasoda and does He remember us gopis who are now
pitiably bereft of His company? Krsna might have forgotten us
in the midst of the cultured women of Dvaraka, but as far as we
are concerned, we are still remembering Him by collecting
flowers and sewing them into garlands. When He does not come,
however, we simply pass our time by crying. If only He would
come here and accept these garlands that we have made. Dear
Lord Balarama, descendant of Dasarha, You know that we would
give up everything for Krsna's friendship. Even in great
distress one cannot give up the connection of family members,
but although it might be impossible for others, we gave up our
fathers, mothers, sisters and relatives
without caring at all about our renunciation. Then, all of a
sudden, Krsna renounced us and went away. He broke off our
intimate relationship without any serious consideration and
left for a foreign country. But He was so clever and cunning
that He manufactured very nice words. He said, 'My dear gopis,
please do not worry. The service you have rendered Me is
impossible for Me to repay.' After all, we are women, so how
could we disbelieve Him? Now we can understand that His sweet
words were simply for cheating us."
Another gopi, protesting Krsna's absence from Vrndavana,
began to say: "My dear Balaramaji, we are of course
village girls, so Krsna could cheat us in that way, but what
about the women of Dvaraka? Don't think they are as foolish as
we are! We village women might be misled by Krsna, but the
women in the city of Dvaraka are very clever and intelligent.
Therefore I would be surprised if such city women could be
misled by Krsna and could believe His words."
Then another gopi began to speak. "My dear friend," she said, "
Krsna is very clever in using words. No one can compete with
Him in that art. He can manufacture such colorful words and
talk so sweetly that the heart of any woman would be misled.
Besides that, He has perfected the art of smiling very
attractively, and by seeing His smile women become mad after
Him and would give themselves to Him without any hesitation."
Another gopi, after hearing this, said, "My dear friends, what
is the use in talking about Krsna? If you are at all interested
in passing away time by talking, let us talk on some subject
other than Him. If cruel Krsna can pass His time without us,
why can't we pass our time without Krsna? Of course, Krsna is
passing His days very happily without us, but the difference
is that we cannot pass our days very happily without Him."
When the gopis were talking in this way, their feelings for
Krsna became more and more intensified, and they were
experiencing Krsna's smiling, Krsna's words of love, Krsna's
attractive features, Krsna's characteristics and Krsna's
embraces. By the force of their ecstatic feelings, it appeared
to them that Krsna was personally present and dancing before
them. Because of their sweet remembrance of Krsna, they could
not check their tears, and they began to cry without
consideration.
Lord Balarama could, of course, understand the ecstatic
feelings of the gopis, and therefore He wanted to pacify them.
He was expert in presenting an appeal, and thus, treating the
gopis very respectfully, He began to narrate the stories of
Krsna so tactfully that the gopis became satisfied. In order to
keep the gopis in Vrndavana satisfied, Lord Balarama stayed
there continually for two months, namely the months of Caitra (
March-April) and Vaisakha (April-May). For those two months He
kept Himself among the gopis, and He passed every night with
them in the forest of Vrndavana in order to satisfy their
desire for conjugal love. Thus Balarama also enjoyed the rasa
dance with the gopis during those two months. Since the season
was springtime, the breeze on the bank of the Yamuna was
blowing very mildly, carrying the aroma of different flowers,
especially of the flower known as kaumudi. Moonlight filled the
sky and spread everywhere, and thus the banks of the Yamuna
appeared to be very bright and pleasing, and Lord Balarama
enjoyed the company of the gopis there.
The demigod known as Varuna sent his daughter Varuni in the
form of liquid honey oozing from the hollows of the trees.
Because of this honey the whole forest became aromatic, and the
sweet aroma of the liquid honey, Varuni, captivated Balaramaji.
Balaramaji and all the gopis became very much attracted by the
taste of Varuni, and all of them drank it together. While
drinking this natural beverage, Varuni, all the gopis chanted
the glories of Lord Balarama, and Lord Balarama felt very happy,
as if He had become intoxicated by drinking that Varuni
beverage. His eyes rolled in a pleasing attitude. He was
decorated with long garlands of forest flowers, and the whole
situation appeared to be a great function of happiness because
of this transcendental bliss. Lord Balarama smiled beautifully,
and the drops of perspiration decorating His face appeared to
be soothing morning dew.
While Balarama was in that happy mood, He desired to enjoy the
company of the gopis in the water of the Yamuna. Therefore He
called Yamuna to come nearby. But Yamuna neglected the
order of Balaramaji, considering Him to be intoxicated. Lord
Balarama became very much displeased at Yamuna's neglecting
His order. He immediately wanted to scratch the land near the
river with His plowshare. Lord Balarama has two weapons, a plow
and a club, and He takes service from them when they are
required. This time He wanted to bring the Yamuna by force, and
He took the help of His plow. He wanted to punish Yamuna
because she did not come in obedience to His order. He
addressed Yamuna: "You wretched river! You did not care for
My order. Now I shall teach you a lesson! You did not come to
Me voluntarily. Now with the help of My plow I shall force you
to come. I shall divide you into hundreds of scattered streams!"
When Yamuna was threatened like this, she became greatly
afraid of the power of Balarama and immediately came in person,
falling at His lotus feet and praying thus: "My dear Balarama,
You are the most powerful personality, and You are pleasing to
everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot Your glorious, exalted
position, but now I have come to my senses, and I remember that
You hold all the planetary systems on Your head merely by Your
partial expansion of Sesa. You are the sustainer of the whole
universe. My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are full
of six opulences. Because I forgot Your omnipotence, I have
mistakenly disobeyed Your order, and thus I have become a great
offender. But, my dear Lord, please know that I am a
surrendered soul unto You. You are very much
affectionate to Your devotees. Therefore please excuse my
impudence and mistakes and, by Your causeless mercy, may You
now release me."
Upon displaying this submissive attitude, Yamuna was
forgiven, and when she came nearby, Lord Balarama wanted to
enjoy the pleasure of swimming within her water along with the
gopis in the same way an elephant enjoys himself along
with his many she-elephants. After a long time, when Lord
Balarama had enjoyed to His full satisfaction, He came out of
the water, and immediately a goddess of fortune offered Him a
nice blue garment and a valuable necklace made of gold. After
taking bath in the Yamuna, Lord Balarama, dressed in blue
garments and decorated with golden ornaments, looked very
attractive to everyone. Lord Balarama's complexion is white,
and when He was properly dressed He looked exactly like the
white elephant of King Indra in the heavenly planet. The Rver
Yamuna still has many small branches due to being scratched by
the plowshare of Lord Balarama. And all these branches of the
River Yamuna still glorify the omnipotency of Lord Balarama.
Lord Balarama and the gopis enjoyed transcendental pastimes
together every night for two months, and time passed away so
quickly that all those nights appeared to be only one night. In
the presence of Lord Balarama, all the gopis and
inhabitants of Vrndavana became as cheerful as they had been
before in the presence of both brothers, Lord Krsna and Lord
Balarama.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume,
Tenth Chapter, of Krsna, "Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana."
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KB 65: Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana
CHAPTER SIXTY–FIVE
Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana
Lord Balarama became very anxious to see His father and mother
in Vrndavana. Therefore, with great
enthusiasm He started on a chariot for Vrndavana.
The inhabitants of Vrndavana had been anxious to see Krsna and
Balarama for a very long time. When Lord Balarama returned to
Vrndavana, all the cowherd boys and the gopis had grown up; but
still, on His arrival, they all embraced Him, and Balarama
embraced them in reciprocation. After this He came before
Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda and offered His respectful obeisances
. In response, Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja
offered their blessings unto Him. They addressed Him as
Jagadisvara, or the Lord of the universe who maintains everyone.
The reason for this was that Krsna and Balarama maintain
all living entities. And yet Nanda and Yasoda were put into
such difficulties on account of Their absence. Feeling like
this, they embraced Balarama and, seating Him on their laps,
began their perpetual crying, wetting Balarama with their tears.
Lord Balarama then offered His respectful obeisances to the
elderly cowherd men and accepted the obeisances of the younger
cowherd men. Thus, according to their different ages and
relationships, Lord Balarama exchanged feelings of friendship
with them. He shook hands with those who were His equals in age
and friendship and with loud laughing embraced each one of
them.
After being received by the cowherd men and boys, the gopis,
and King Nanda and Yasoda, Lord Balarama sat down, feeling
satisfied, and they all surrounded Him. First Lord Balarama
inquired from them about their welfare, and then, since they
had not seen Him for such a long time, they began to ask Him
different questions. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had
sacrificed everything for Krsna, simply being captivated by the
lotus eyes of the Lord. Because of their great desire to love
Krsna, they never desired anything like elevation to the
heavenly planets or merging into the effulgence of Brahman to
become one with the Absolute Truth. They were not even
interested in enjoying a life of opulence, but were satisfied
in living a simple life in the village as cowherds. They
were always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and did not desire
any personal benefits, and they were all so much in love with
Him that in His absence their voices faltered when they began
to inquire from Balaramaji.
First Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi inquired, "My dear Balarama,
are our friends like Vasudeva and others in the family doing
well? Now You and Krsna are grown-up married men with children.
In the happiness of family life, do You sometimes remember Your
poor father and mother, Nanda Maharaja and Yasodadevi? It is
very good news that the most sinful King Kamsa has been killed
by You and that our friends like Vasudeva and the others who
had been harassed have now been relieved. It is also
very good news that You and Krsna defeated Jarasandha and
Kalayavana, who is now dead, and that You are now living in
a fortified residence in Dvaraka."
When the gopis arrived, Lord Balarama glanced over them with
loving eyes. Being overjoyed, the gopis, who had so long been
mortified on account of Krsna's and Balarama's absence, began
to ask about the welfare of the two brothers. They specifically
asked Balarama whether Krsna was enjoying His life surrounded
by the enlightened women of Dvaraka Puri. "Does He sometimes
remember His father Nanda and His Mother Yasoda and the other
friends with whom He so intimately behaved while in
Vrndavana? Does Krsna have any plans to come here to see His
mother, Yasoda, and does He remember us gopis, who are now
pitiably bereft of His company? Krsna may have forgotten us
in the midst of the cultured women of Dvaraka, but as far as we
are concerned, we still remember Him by collecting
flowers and sewing them into garlands. When He does not come,
however, we simply pass our time by crying. If only He would
come here and accept these garlands we have made. Dear
Lord Balarama, descendant of Dasarha, You know that we would
give up everything for Krsna's friendship. Even in great
distress one cannot give up the connection of family members,
but although it might be impossible for others, we gave up our
fathers, mothers, sisters and relatives. But then Krsna,
without caring a pinch for our renunciation, all of a
sudden renounced us and went away. He broke off our
intimate relationship without serious consideration and
left for a foreign country. But He was so clever and cunning
that He manufactured very nice words. He said, ‘My dear gopis,
please do not worry. The service you have rendered Me is
impossible for Me to repay.' After all, we are women, so how
could we disbelieve Him? Now we can understand that His sweet
words were simply for cheating us."
Protesting Krsna's absence from Vrndavana,
another gopi said, "My dear Balaramaji, we are of course
village girls, so Krsna could cheat us in that way, but what
about the women of Dvaraka? Don't think they are as foolish as
we are! We village women might be misled by Krsna, but the
women in the city of Dvaraka are very clever and intelligent.
Therefore I would be surprised if such city women could be
misled by Krsna and could believe His words."
Then another gopi began to speak. "My dear friend," she said, "
Krsna is very clever in using words. No one can compete with
Him in that art. He can manufacture such colorful words and
talk so sweetly that the heart of any woman would be misled.
Besides that, He has perfected the art of smiling very
attractively, and by seeing His smile women become mad after
Him and give themselves to Him without hesitation."
Another gopi, after hearing this, said, "My dear friends, what
is the use of talking about Krsna? If you are at all interested
in passing time by talking, let us talk on some subject
other than Him. If cruel Krsna can pass His time without us,
why can't we pass our time without Krsna? Of course, Krsna is
passing His days without us very
happily, but we cannot pass our days happily without Him."
When the gopis were talking in this way, their feelings for
Krsna became more and more intense, and they were
experiencing Krsna's smiling, Krsna's words of love, Krsna's
attractive features, Krsna's characteristics and Krsna's
embraces. By the force of their ecstatic feelings, it appeared
to them that Krsna was personally present and dancing before
them. Because of their sweet remembrance of Krsna, they could
not check their tears, and they cried without
consideration.
Lord Balarama, of course, could understand the ecstatic
feelings of the gopis, and therefore He wanted to pacify them.
He was expert in presenting an appeal, and thus, treating the
gopis very respectfully, He began to narrate the stories of
Krsna so tactfully that the gopis became satisfied. To
keep the gopis in Vrndavana satisfied, Lord Balarama stayed
there continuously for two months, namely the months of Caitra (
March–April) and Vaisakha (April–May). For those two months He
kept Himself among the gopis, and He passed every night with
them in the forest of Vrndavana to satisfy their
desire for conjugal love. Thus Balarama also enjoyed the rasa
dance with the gopis during those two months. Since the season
was springtime, the breeze on the bank of the Yamuna was
blowing very mildly, carrying the aroma of different flowers,
especially the flower known as kaumudi. Moonlight filled the
sky and spread everywhere, and thus the banks of the Yamuna
appeared very bright and pleasing, and Lord Balarama
enjoyed the company of the gopis there.
The demigod known as Varuna sent his daughter Varuni in the
form of liquid honey oozing from the hollows of the trees.
Because of this honey the whole forest became aromatic, and the
sweet aroma of the liquid honey, Varuni, captivated Balaramaji.
Balaramaji and all the gopis became very much attracted by the
taste of the Varuni, and all of them drank it together. While
drinking this natural beverage, all the gopis chanted
the glories of Lord Balarama, and Lord Balarama felt very happy,
as if He had become intoxicated by drinking that Varuni
beverage. His eyes rolled in a pleasing attitude. He was
decorated with long garlands of forest flowers, and the whole
situation appeared to be a great function of happiness because
of this transcendental bliss. Lord Balarama smiled beautifully,
and the drops of perspiration decorating His face appeared like
soothing morning dew.
While Balarama was in that happy mood, He desired to enjoy the
company of the gopis in the water of the Yamuna. Therefore He
called the Yamuna to come nearby. But the Yamuna neglected the
order of Balaramaji, considering Him intoxicated. Lord
Balarama became very much displeased at the Yamuna's neglecting
His order. He immediately wanted to scratch the land near the
river with His plowshare. Lord Balarama has two weapons, a plow
and a club, from which He takes service when they are
required. This time He wanted to bring the Yamuna by force, and
He took the help of His plow. He wanted to punish the Yamuna
because she did not come in obedience to His order. He
addressed the Yamuna, "You wretched river! You did not care for
My order. Now I shall teach you a lesson! You did not come to
Me voluntarily. Now with the help of My plow I shall force you
to come. I shall divide you into hundreds of scattered streams!"
When the Yamuna was threatened like this, she became greatly
afraid of the power of Balarama and immediately came in person,
falling at His lotus feet and praying thus: "My dear Balarama,
You are the most powerful personality, and You are pleasing to
everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot Your glorious, exalted
position, but now I have come to my senses, and I remember that
You hold all the planetary systems on Your head merely by Your
partial expansion Sesa. You are the sustainer of the whole
universe. My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are full
with six opulences. Because I forgot Your omnipotence, I have
mistakenly disobeyed Your order, and thus I have become a great
offender. But, my dear Lord, please know that I am a
soul surrendered unto You, who are very
affectionate to Your devotees. Therefore please excuse my
impudence and mistakes, and, by Your causeless mercy, may You
now release me."
Upon displaying this submissive attitude, the Yamuna was
forgiven, and when she came nearby, Lord Balarama enjoyed
the pleasure of swimming in her waters along with the
gopis in the same way that an elephant enjoys himself along
with his many she-elephants. After a long time, when Lord
Balarama had enjoyed to His full satisfaction, He came out of
the water, and immediately a goddess of fortune offered Him a
nice blue garment and a valuable necklace made of gold. After
bathing in the Yamuna, Lord Balarama, dressed in blue
garments and decorated with golden ornaments, looked very
attractive to everyone. Lord Balarama's complexion is white,
and when He was properly dressed He looked exactly like the
white elephant of King Indra in the heavenly planets. The river
Yamuna still has many small branches due to being scratched by
the plowshare of Lord Balarama. And all these branches of the
river Yamuna still glorify the omnipotence of Lord Balarama.
Lord Balarama and the gopis enjoyed transcendental pastimes
together every night for two months, and time passed so
quickly that all those nights appeared to be only one night. In
the presence of Lord Balarama, all the gopis and other
inhabitants of Vrndavana became as cheerful as they had been
before in the presence of both brothers, Lord Krsna and Lord
Balarama.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixty-fifth
Chapter of Krsna, "Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana."
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