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KB 1970-2-35 / Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes
35 / Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes
After returning from the spiritual kingdom, which he was able
to visit personally along with Krsna, Arjuna was very much
astonished. He thought to himself that although he was only an
ordinary living entity, by the grace of Krsna it had been
possible for him to see personally the spiritual world. Not
only had he seen the spiritual world, but he had also
personally seen the original Maha-Visnu, the cause of the
material creation. It is said that Krsna never goes out of
Vrndavana. Vrndavanam parityajya na padam ekam gacchati.
Krsna is supreme in Mathura, He is more supreme in Dvaraka,
and He is most supreme in Vrndavana. Krsna's pastimes in
Dvaraka are displayed by His Vasudeva portion, yet there is no
difference between the Vasudeva portion manifested in Mathura
and Dvaraka and the original manifestation of Krsna at
Vrndavana. In the beginning of this book we have discussed
that when Krsna appears, all His incarnations, plenary
portions and portions of the plenary portions come with Him.
Thus some of His different pastimes are manifested not by the
original Krsna Himself but by His different portions and
plenary portions of incarnation. Arjuna was therefore puzzled
about how Krsna went to see the Karanarnavasayi Visnu in the
spiritual world. This is fully discussed in the commentaries
of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur.
It is understood from the speech of Maha-Visnu that
He was very anxious to see Krsna. It may be said, however,
that since Maha-Visnu took away the brahmana's sons, He
certainly must have gone to Dvaraka to do so.
Therefore, why did He not see Krsna there? A possible answer
is that Krsna cannot be seen
even by the Maha-Visnu who is lying in the Causal Ocean of the
spiritual world, unless Krsna gives His permission. Thus Maha-
Visnu took away the brahmana's sons one after another just
after their births so that Krsna would come personally to
retrieve them, and then Maha-Visnu would be
able to see Him there. If that is so, the next question is
this: Why would Maha-Visnu come to Dvaraka personally if He
were not able to see Krsna? Why did He not send some of His
associates to take away the sons of the brahmana? A possible
answer is that it is very difficult to put any of the citizens
of Dvaraka into trouble in the presence of Krsna. Therefore,
it was not possible for any of Maha-Visnu's associates
to take away the brahmana's sons, and thus He personally came
to take them.
Another question may also be raised: The Lord is known as
brahmanya-deva, the worshipable Deity of the brahmanas, so why
was He inclined to put a brahmana into such a terrible
condition of lamentation over one son after another until the
ninth son was taken away? The answer is that Lord Maha-Visnu
was so anxious to see Krsna that He did not hesitate even to
give trouble to a brahmana. Although giving trouble to a
brahmana is a forbidden act, Lord Visnu was prepared to do
anything in order to see Krsna -- He was so anxious to see Him.
After losing each of his sons, the brahmana would come to the
gate of the palace and accuse the King of not being able to
give the brahmanas protection and of thus being unfit to sit
on the royal throne. It was Maha-Visnu's plan that the
brahmana would accuse the ksatriyas and Krsna, and Krsna would
be obliged to come see Him to take back the brahmana's sons.
Still another question may be raised: If Maha-Visnu cannot see
Krsna, then how was Krsna obliged to come before Him after all
to take back the sons of the brahmana? The answer is that Lord
Krsna went to see Lord Maha-Visnu not exactly to take away the
sons of the brahmana but only for Arjuna's sake. His
friendship with Arjuna was so intimate that when Arjuna
prepared himself to die by entering the fire, Krsna wanted to
give him complete protection. Arjuna, however, would not
desist from entering the fire unless the sons of the brahmana
were brought back. Therefore Krsna promised him, "I will
bring back the brahmana's sons. Do not try to commit suicide."
If Lord Krsna were going to see Lord Visnu only to reclaim the
sons of the brahmana, then He would not have waited until the
ninth son was taken. But when the ninth son was taken away by
Lord Maha-Visnu and Arjuna was therefore ready to enter
the fire because his promise was going to prove false, that
serious situation made Lord Krsna decide to go with Arjuna to
see Maha-Visnu. It is said that Arjuna is an empowered
incarnation of Nara-Narayana. He is even sometimes called Nara-
Narayana. The Nara-Narayana incarnation is also one of Lord
Visnu's plenary expansions. Therefore, when Krsna and Arjuna
went to see Lord Visnu, it is to be understood that Arjuna
visited in His Nara-Narayana capacity, just as Krsna, when He
displayed His pastimes in Dvaraka, acted in His Vasudeva
capacity.
After visiting the spiritual world, Arjuna concluded that
whatever opulence anyone can show within the material or
spiritual worlds is all a gift of Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna is
manifested in various forms, as visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva,
or, in other words, as samsa and vibhinnamsa. Visnu-tattva is
known as samsa, and jiva-tattva is known as vibhinnamsa. He
can, therefore, display Himself by His different
transcendental pastimes, either in the portion of samsa
or vibhinnamsa, as He likes, but still He remains the
original Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The concluding portion of Krsna's pastimes is found in the
Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and
in this chapter Sukadeva Gosvami wanted to explain how Krsna
lived happily at Dvaraka with all opulences. Krsna's opulence
of strength has already been displayed in His different
pastimes, and now it will be shown how His residence at
Dvaraka displayed His opulences of wealth and beauty. In this
material world, which is only a perverted reflection
of the spiritual world, the opulences of wealth
and beauty are considered to be the highest
of all opulences. Therefore, while
Krsna stayed on this planet as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, His opulences of wealth and beauty had no comparison
within the three worlds. Krsna enjoyed sixteen thousand
beautiful wives, and it is most significant that He lived at
Dvaraka as the only husband of these hundreds and thousands of
beautiful women. It is specifically stated in this
connection that He was the only husband of sixteen thousand
wives. It is, of course, not unheard of in the history of the
world that a powerful king would keep many hundreds of queens,
but although such a king might be the only husband of so many
wives, he could not enjoy all of them at one time. Krsna,
however, enjoyed all of His sixteen thousand wives
simultaneously.
Although it may be said that yogis also can expand their
bodies into many forms, the yogis' expansion and Lord Krsna's
expansion are not one and the same. Krsna is therefore
sometimes called yogesvara, the master of all yogis. In the
Vedic literature we find that the yogi Saubhari Muni expanded
himself into eight. But that expansion was like a television
expansion. The television image is manifested in millions of
expansions, but those expansions cannot act differently; they
are simply reflections of the original and can only act
exactly as the original does. Krsna's expansion is not
material like the expansion of the television or the yogi.
When Narada visited the different palaces of Krsna, he saw
that Krsna, in His different expansions, was variously engaged
in each and every palace of the queens.
It is also said that Krsna lived at Dvaraka as the husband of
the goddess of fortune. Queen Rukmini is the goddess of
fortune, and all the other queens are her expansions. So Krsna,
the chief of the Vrsni dynasty, enjoyed with the goddess of
fortune in full opulence. The queens of Krsna are described as
permanently youthful and beautiful. Although Krsna had
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, neither Krsna nor His
queens looked older than sixteen or twenty years of age. The
young queens were so beautiful that when they moved they
appeared like lightning moving in the sky. They were always
dressed with excellent ornaments and garments and were always
engaged in sportive activities like dancing, singing or
playing ball on the roofs of the palaces. The dancing and
tennis playing of girls in the material world appear to be
perverted reflections of the original pastimes of the original
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and His wives.
The roads and streets of the city of Dvaraka were always
crowded with elephants, horses, chariots and infantry soldiers.
When elephants are engaged in service, they are given liquor
to drink, and it is said that the elephants in Dvaraka were
given so much liquor that they would sprinkle a great quantity
of it on the road and still would walk on the streets
intoxicated. The infantry soldiers passing on the streets were
profusely decorated with golden ornaments, and horses and
golden chariots plied along the streets. In all directions of
Dvaraka City, wherever one would turn his eyes he would find
green parks and gardens, and each of them was filled with
trees and plants laden with fruits and flowers. Because there
were so many nice trees of fruits and flowers, all the sweetly
chirping birds and buzzing bumblebees joined together to make
sweet vibrations. The city of Dvaraka thus fully displayed all
opulences. The heroes in the dynasty of Yadu used to think
themselves the most fortunate residents of the city, and
actually they enjoyed all transcendental facilities.
All the sixteen thousand palaces of Krsna's queens were
situated in this beautiful city of Dvaraka, and Lord Krsna,
the supreme eternal enjoyer of all these facilities, expanded
Himself into sixteen thousand forms and simultaneously engaged
in different family affairs in those sixteen thousand palaces.
In each and every one of the palaces there were nicely
decorated gardens and lakes. The crystal-clear water of the
lakes contained many blooming lotus flowers of different
colors like blue, yellow, white and red, and the saffron
powder from the lotus flowers was blown all around by the
breeze. All the lakes were full of beautiful swans, ducks and
cranes, crying occasionally with melodious sounds. Lord Sri
Krsna sometimes entered those lakes, or sometimes the rivers,
with His wives and enjoyed swimming pastimes with them in full
jubilation. Sometimes the wives of Lord Krsna, who were all
goddesses of fortune, would embrace the Lord in the midst of
the water while swimming or taking bath, and the red
vermilion of kunkuma decorating the beauty of their
breasts would adorn the chest of the Lord with a reddish color.
The impersonalists would not dare believe that in the
spiritual world there are such varieties of enjoyment, but in
order to demonstrate the factual, ever-blissful enjoyment in
the spiritual world, Lord Krsna descended on this planet and
showed that the spiritual world is not devoid of such
pleasurable facilities of life. The only difference is that in
the spiritual world such facilities are eternal, never-ending
occurrences, whereas in the material world they are simply
impermanent perverted reflections. When Lord Krsna was engaged
in such enjoyment, the Gandharvas and professional musicians
would glorify Him with melodious musical concerts, accompanied
by mrdangas, drums, kettledrums,
stringed instruments and brass bugles, and the whole
atmosphere would change into a greatly festive celebration. In
a festive mood, the wives of the Lord would sometimes sprinkle
water on the Lord's body with a syringe-like instrument,
and the Lord would similarly wet the bodies of the queens.
When Krsna and the queens engaged themselves in these pastimes,
it seemed as if the heavenly king, Yaksaraja, were engaged in
such pastimes with his many wives. (Yaksaraja is also known as
Kuvera and is considered to be the treasurer of the heavenly
kingdom.) When the wives of Lord Krsna thus became wet, their
breasts and thighs would increase in beauty a thousand times,
and their long hair would fall down to decorate those parts of
their bodies. The beautiful flowers which were placed in their
hair would fall, and the queens, being seemingly harassed by
the Lord's throwing water at them, would approach Him on the
plea of snatching the syringe-like instrument, and this
attempt would create a situation wherein the Lord could
embrace them as they willingly approached Him. Upon being
embraced, the wives of the Lord would feel on their mouths a
clear indication of conjugal love, and this would create an
atmosphere of spiritual bliss. When the garland on the neck of
the Lord then touched the breasts of the queens, their whole
bodies became covered with saffron yellow. Being engaged in
their celestial pastimes, the queens forgot themselves, and
their loosened hair appeared like the beautiful waves of a
river. When the queens sprinkled water on the body of Krsna or
He sprinkled water on the bodies of the queens, the whole
situation appeared just like an elephant enjoying in a
lake with many she-elephants.
After enjoying fully amongst themselves, the queens and Lord
Krsna would come out of the water, and
their wet garments, which were very valuable, would be given
up by them to be taken away by the professional singers and
dancers. These singers and dancers had no other means of
subsistence than the rewards of valuable garments and
ornaments left by the queens and kings on such occasions. The
whole system of society was so well planned that all the
members of society in their different positions as brahmanas,
ksatriyas, vaisyas, and sudras had no difficulty in earning
their livelihood. There was no competition among the divisions
of society. The original conception of the caste system was so
planned that one group of men engaged in a particular type of
occupation would not compete with another group of men engaged
in a different occupation.
In this way, Lord Krsna used to enjoy the company of His
sixteen thousand wives. Devotees of the Lord who want
to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the mellow of
conjugal love are elevated to the position of becoming wives
of Krsna, and Krsna also keeps them always attached to Him by
His kind behavior. Krsna's behavior with His wives, His
movements, His talking with them, His smiling, His embracing,
and similar other activities just like a
loving husband kept them always very much attached to Him.
That is the highest perfection of life. If someone remains
always attached to Krsna, it is to be understood that he is
liberated, and his life is successful. With any devotee who
loves Krsna with his heart and soul, Krsna reciprocates in
such a way that the devotee caannot remain unattached to
Him. The reciprocal dealings of Krsna and His devotees are so
attractive that a devotee cannot think of any subject matter
other than Krsna.
For all the queens, Krsna only was their worshipable
objective. They were always absorbed in thought of Krsna, the
lotus-eyed and beautifully blackish Personality of Godhead.
Sometimes, in thought of Krsna, they remained silent, and in
great ecstasy of bhava and anubhava they sometimes spoke as if
in delirium. Sometimes, even in the presence of Lord Krsna,
they vividly described the pastimes they had enjoyed in the
lake or in the river with Him. Some of such talk may be
described here.
One of the queens said to the bird kurari, "My dear kurari
, now it is very late at night. Everyone is sleeping. The
whole world is now calm and peaceful. At this time, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead is sleeping, although His
knowledge is undisturbed by any circumstance. Then why are
you not sleeping? Why are you lamenting like this throughout
the whole night? My dear friend, is it that you are also
attracted by the lotus eyes of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and by His sweet smiling and attractive words, exactly
as I am? Do those dealings of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead pinch your heart as they do mine?
"Hello cakravaki. Why have you closed your eyes? Are you
searching after your husband, who might have gone to foreign
countries? Why are you lamenting so pitiably? Alas, it appears
that you are very much aggrieved. Or is it a fact that you are
also willing to become an eternal servitor of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead? I think that you are anxious to put a
garland on the lotus feet of the Lord and then place it on
your hair.
"O my dear ocean, why are you roaring all day and night? Don't
you like to sleep? I think you have been attacked by insomnia,
or, if I am not wrong, my dear Syamasundara has tactfully
taken away your gravity and power of forbearance which are
your natural qualifications. Is it a fact that for this reason
you are suffering from insomnia like me? Yes, I admit that
there is no remedy for this disease.
"My dear moon-god, I think you have been attacked by a
severe type of tuberculosis. For this reason, you are becoming
thinner and thinner day by day. O my lord, you are now so weak
that your thin rays cannot dissipate the darkness of night. Or
is it a fact that, just as I have, you also have been
stunned by the mysteriously sweet words of my Lord
Syamasundara? Is it a fact that it is because of this severe
anxiety that you are so grave?
"O breeze from the Himalayas, what have I done to you that
you are so intent on teasing me by awakening my lust to meet
Krsna? Do you not know that I have already been injured by
the crooked policy of the Personality of Godhead? My dear
Himalayan breeze, please know that I have already been
stricken. There is no need to injure me more and more.
"My dear beautiful cloud, the color of your beautiful body
exactly resembles my dearmost Syamasundara's bodily hue
. I think, therefore, that you are
very dear to my Lord, the chief of the dynasty of the Yadus,
and because you are so dear to Him, you are, exactly as
I am, absorbed in meditation. I can appreciate
that your heart is full of anxiety for Syamasundara. You
appear to be excessively eager to see Him, and I see that for
this reason only, there are drops of tears gliding down
from your eyes, just as there are from mine. My dear black
cloud, we must admit frankly that to establish an intimate
relationship with Syamasundara means to purchase unnecessary
anxieties while we are otherwise comfortable at home."
Generally the cuckoo sounds its cooing vibration at the end of
night or early in the morning. When the queens heard the
cooing of the cuckoo at the end of night, they said, "Dear
cuckoo, your voice is very sweet. As soon as you vibrate your
sweet voice, we immediately remember Syamasundara because your
voice exactly resembles His. We must frankly admit that your
voice is imbued with nectar, and it is so invigorating that it
is competent to bring back life to those who are almost dead
in separation from their dearmost friend. So we are very much
obliged to you. Please let us know how we can welcome you or
how we can do something for you."
The queens continued talking like that, and they addressed the
mountain as follows: "Dear mountain, you are very generous. By
your gravitation only, the whole crust of this earth is
properly maintained, and because you are discharging your
duties very faithfully, you do not know how to move. Because
you are so grave, you do not move hither and thither, nor do
you say anything. Rather, you always appear to be in a
thoughtful mood. It may be that you are always thinking of a
very grave and important subject matter, but we can guess very
clearly what you are thinking of. We are sure that you are
thinking of placing the lotus feet of Syamasundara on your
raised peaks, as we want to place His lotus feet on our raised
breasts.
"Dear dry rivers, we know that because this is the summer
season, all your beds are dry and you have no water. Because
all your water has now been dried up, you are no longer
beautified by blooming lotus flowers. At the present moment,
you appear to be very lean and thin, so we can understand that
your position is exactly like ours. We have lost everything
due to being separated from Syamasundara, and we no longer
hear His pleasing words. Our hearts no longer work properly,
and therefore we also have become very lean and thin. We think,
therefore, that you are just like us. You have turned lean
and thin because you are not getting any water from your
husband, the ocean, through the clouds." The example given
herewith by the queens is very appropriate. The river beds
become dry when the ocean no longer supplies water through the
clouds. The ocean is supposed to be the husband of the river
and therefore is supposed to support her. Unless a woman is
supported by her husband with the necessities of life, she
also becomes as dry as a dry river.
One queen addressed a swan as follows. "My dear swan, please
come here, come here. You are welcome. Please sit down and
take some milk. My dear swan, can you tell me if you have any
message from Syamasundara? I take you to be a messenger from
Him. If you have any such news, please tell me. Our
Syamasundara is always very independent. He never comes under
the control of anyone. We have all failed to control Him, and
therefore we ask you, is He keeping Himself well? I may inform
you that Syamasundara is very fickle. His friendship is always
temporary; it breaks even by slight agitation. But would you
kindly explain why He is so unkind to me? Formerly He said
that I alone am His dearmost wife. Does He remember this
assurance? Anyway, you are welcome. Please sit down. But I
cannot accept your entreaty to go to Syamasundara. When He
does not care for me, why should I be mad after Him? I am very
sorry to let you know that you have become the messenger of a
poor-hearted soul. You are asking me to go to Him, but I am
not going. What is that? You talk of His coming to me? Does He
desire to come here to fulfill my long expectation for Him?
All right. You can bring Him here. But don't bring with Him
His most beloved goddess of fortune. Do you think that He
cannot be separated from the goddess of fortune even for a
moment? Could He not come here alone, without Laksmi? His
behavior is very displeasing. Does it mean that without Laksmi,
Syamasundara cannot be happy? Can't He be happy with any
other wife? Does it mean that the goddess of fortune has the
ocean of love for Him, and none of us can compare to her?"
All the wives of Lord Krsna were completely absorbed in
thought of Him. Krsna is known as yogesvara, the master of all
yogis, and all the wives of Krsna at Dvaraka used to keep this
yogesvara within their hearts. Instead of trying to be master
of all yogic mystic powers, it is better if one simply keeps
the supreme yogesvara, Krsna, within his heart. Thus one's
life can become perfect, and one can very easily be
transferred to the kingdom of God. It is to be understood that
all the queens of Krsna who lived with Him at Dvaraka were in
their previous lives very greatly exalted devotees who wanted
to establish a relationship with Krsna in conjugal love. Thus
they were given the chance to become His wives and enjoy a
constant loving relationship with Him. Ultimately, they were
all transferred to the Vaikuntha planets.
The Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is never
impersonal. All the Vedic literatures glorify the
transcendental performance of His various personal activities
and pastimes. It is said that in the Vedas and in the Ramayana,
only the activities of the Lord are described. Everywhere in
the Vedic literature, His glories are sung. As soon as soft-
hearted people such as women hear those transcendental
pastimes of Lord Krsna, they immediately become attracted to
Him. Soft-hearted women and girls are therefore very easily
drawn to the Krsna consciousness movement. One who is thus
drawn to the Krsna consciousness movement and tries to keep
himself in constant touch with such consciousness certainly
gets the supreme salvation, going back to Krsna at Goloka
Vrndavana. If simply by developing Krsna consciousness one can
be transferred to the spiritual world, one can simply imagine
how blissful and blessed were the queens of Lord Krsna, who
talked with Him personally and who saw Lord Krsna eye to eye.
No one can properly describe the fortune of the wives of Lord
Krsna. They took care of Him personally by rendering various
transcendental services like bathing Him, feeding Him,
pleasing Him and serving Him. Thus no one's austerities can
compare to the service of the queens at Dvaraka.
Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Pariksit that for self-
realization the austerities and penances performed by the
queens at Dvaraka have no comparison. The objective of self-
realization is one: Krsna. Therefore, although the dealings of
the queens with Krsna appear just like ordinary dealings
between husband and wife, the principal point to be observed
is the queens' attachment for Krsna. The entire process of
austerity and penance is meant to detach one from the material
world and to enhance one's attachment to Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Krsna is the shelter of all persons
advancing in self-realization. As an ideal householder, He
lived with His wives and performed the Vedic rituals just to
show less intelligent persons that the Supreme Lord is never
impersonal. Krsna lived with wives and children in all
opulence, exactly like an ordinary conditioned soul, just to
exemplify to those souls who are actually conditioned that
one may enter into the circle of family life as long
as Krsna is the center. For example, the members of the
Yadu dynasty lived in the family of Krsna, and Krsna was the
center of all their activities.
Renunciation is not as important as enhancing one's attachment
to Krsna. The Krsna consciousness movement is especially meant
for this purpose. We are preaching on the principle that it
does not matter whether a man is a sannyasi or grhastha
. One simply has to increase his attachment for
Krsna, and then his life is successful. Following in the
footsteps of Lord Sri Krsna, one can live with his family
members or within the society or nation, not for the purpose
of indulging in sense gratification but to realize Krsna by
advancing in attachment for Him. There are four principles of
elevation from conditional life to the life of liberation,
which are technically known as dharma, artha, kama and moksa (
religion, economic development, sense gratification and
liberation). If one lives a family life following in the
footsteps of Lord Krsna's family members, one can achieve all
four of these principles of success simultaneously by making
Krsna the center of all activities.
It is already known to us that Krsna had 16,108 wives. All
these wives were exalted liberated souls, and among them Queen
Rukmini was the chief. After Rukmini there were seven other
principal wives, and the names of the sons of these eight
principal queens have already been mentioned. Besides
these eight queens, Lord Krsna had ten sons by each of
the other queens. Thus all together Krsna's children
numbered 16,108 times ten. One should not be astonished to
hear that Krsna had so many sons. One should always remember
that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that He
has unlimited potencies. He claims all living entities as His
sons, so even if he had sixteen million sons attached
to Him personally, there would be no cause for astonishment.
Among Krsna's greatly powerful sons, eighteen sons were maha-
rathas. The maha-rathas could fight alone against many
thousands of soldiers, charioteers, cavalry and elephants.
The reputations of these eighteen sons are very widespread
and are described in almost all the Vedic literatures. The
eighteen maha-ratha sons are listed as Pradyumna, Aniruddha,
Diptiman, Bhanu, Samba, Madhu, Brhadbhanu, Citrabhanu, Vrka,
Aruna, Puskara, Vedabahu, Srutadeva, Sunandana, Citrabahu,
Virupa, Kavi and Nyagrodha. Of these eighteen maha-ratha sons
of Krsna, Pradyumna is considered to be the foremost.
Pradyumna happened to be the eldest son of Queen Rukmini, and
he inherited all the qualities of his great father, Lord Krsna.
He married the daughter of his maternal uncle, Rukmi, and
Aniruddha, the son of Pradyumna, was born from that
marriage. Aniruddha was so powerful that he could fight
against ten thousand elephants. He married the granddaughter
of Rukmi, the brother of his grandmother, Rukmini. Because the
relationship between these cousins was distant, such a
marriage was not uncommon. Aniruddha's son was Vajra. When the
whole Yadu dynasty was destroyed by the curse of a
brahmana, only Vajra survived. Vajra had one son, whose name
was Pratibahu. The son of Pratibahu was named Subahu, the son
of Subahu was named Santasena, and the son of Santasena was
Satasena.
It is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that all the members of the
Yadu dynasty had many children. Just as Krsna had many sons,
grandsons and great-grandsons, so each one of the kings named
herewith also had similar family extensions. Not only did all
of them have many children, but all were extraordinarily rich
and opulent. None of them were weak or short-lived, and above
all, all the members of the Yadu dynasty were staunch devotees
of the brahminical culture. It is the duty of the ksatriya
kings to maintain the brahminical culture and to protect the
qualified brahmanas, and all these kings discharged their
duties very rightly. The members of the Yadu dynasty were so
numerous that it would be very difficult to describe them all
even if one had a duration of life of many thousands of years.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Pariksit that he had
heard from reliable sources that simply to teach the children
of the Yadu dynasty, there were as many as 38,800,000 tutors
or acaryas. If so many teachers were needed to educate their
children, one can simply imagine how vast was the number of
family members. As for their military strength, it is said
that King Ugrasena alone had ten quadrillion soldiers as
personal bodyguards.
Before the advent of Lord Krsna within this universe, there
were many battles between the demons and the demigods. Many
demons died in the fighting, and they all were given the
chance to take birth in high royal families on this earth.
Because of their royal exalted posts, all these demons became
very much puffed up, and their only business was to harass
their subjects. Lord Krsna appeared on this planet just at the
end of Dvapara-yuga in order to annihilate all these demoniac
kings. As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, paritranaya
sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam: The Lord comes to
protect the devotees and to annihilate the miscreants. Some
of the demigods were also asked to appear on this earth to
assist in the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krsna. When
Krsna appeared, He came in the association of His eternal
servitors, but the demigods also were requested to
come down to assist Him, and thus all of them took their
births in the Yadu dynasty. The Yadu dynasty had 101 clans in
different parts of the country. All the members of these
different clans respected Lord Krsna in a manner befitting His
divine position, and all of them were His devotees heart and
soul. Thus all the members of the Yadu dynasty were very
opulent, happy and prosperous, and they had no anxieties.
Because of their implicit faith in and devotion to Lord Krsna,
they were never defeated by any other kings. Their love of
Krsna was so intense that in their regular activities -- in
sitting, sleeping, traveling, talking, sporting, cleansing and
bathing -- they were simply absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and
paid no attention to bodily necessities. That is the symptom
of a pure devotee of Lord Krsna. Just as when a man is fully
absorbed in some particular thought, he sometimes forgets his
other bodily activities, so the members of the Yadu dynasty
acted automatically for their bodily necessities, but their
actual attention was always fixed on Krsna. Their bodily
activities were performed mechanically, but their minds were
always absorbed in Krsna consciousness.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of
the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam by pointing out five
particular excellences of Lord Krsna. The first excellence is
that before Lord Krsna's appearance in the Yadu family, the
River Ganges was known as the purest of all things; even
impure things could be purified simply by touching the water
of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water
was due to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Visnu. But
when Lord Krsna, the Supreme Visnu, appeared in the family of
the Yadu dynasty, He traveled personally throughout the
kingdom of the Yadus, and by His intimate association with the
Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only became very famous but
also became more effective in purifying others than the water
of the Ganges.
The next excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance was that
although apparently He gave protection to the
devotees and annihilated the demons, both the devotees and the
demons achieved the same result. Lord Krsna is the bestower of
five kinds of liberation, of which sayujya-mukti, or the
liberation of becoming one with the Supreme, was given to the
demons like Kamsa, whereas the gopis were given the chance to
associate with Him personally. The gopis kept their
individuality to enjoy the company of Lord Krsna, but Kamsa
was accepted into His impersonal brahmajyoti. In other
words, both the demons and the gopis were spiritually
liberated, but because the demons were enemies and the gopis
were friends, the demons were killed and the gopis were
protected.
The third excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance was that the
goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by demigods like Lord
Brahma, Indra and Candra, remained always engaged in the
service of the Lord, even though the Lord gave more preference
to the gopis. Laksmiji, the goddess of fortune, tried her best
to be on an equal level with the gopis, but she was not
successful. Nevertheless, she remained faithful to Krsna,
although generally she does not remain at one place
even if worshiped by demigods like Lord Brahma.
The fourth excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance concerns the
glories of His name. It is stated in the Vedic literature that
by chanting the different names of Lord Visnu a thousand times,
one may be bestowed with the same benefits as by thrice
chanting the holy name of Lord Rama. And by chanting the holy
name of Lord Krsna only once, one receives the same benefit.
In other words, of all the holy names of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, including Visnu and Rama, the holy
name of Krsna is the most powerful. The Vedic literature
therefore specifically stresses the chanting of the holy name
of Krsna: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya
introduced this chanting of the holy name of Krsna in this age,
thus making liberation more easily obtainable than in
other ages. In other words, Lord Krsna is more excellent than
His other incarnations, although all of them are equally the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The fifth excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance is that He
established the most excellent of all religious principles by
His one statement in the Bhagavad-gita that simply by
surrendering unto Him, one can discharge all the principles of
religious rites. In the Vedic literature there are twenty
kinds of religious principles mentioned, and each of them is
described in different sastras. But Lord Krsna is so kind to
the fallen conditioned souls of this age that He personally
appeared and asked everyone to give up all kinds of religious
rites and simply surrender unto Him. It is said that this age
of Kali is three-fourths devoid of religious principles.
Hardly one fourth of the principles of religion are still
observed in this age. But by the mercy of Lord Krsna,
this vacancy of Kali-yuga has not only been completely
filled, but the religious process has been made so easy that
simply by rendering transcendental loving service unto Lord
Krsna by chanting His holy names, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare, one can achieve the highest result of religion, namely,
being transferred to the highest planet within the spiritual
world, Goloka Vrndavana. One can thus
immediately estimate the benefit of Lord Krsna's appearance
and can understand that His giving relief to the
people of the world by His appearance was not at all
extraordinary.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami thus concludes his description of the
superexalted position of Lord Krsna by glorifying Him in the
following way: "O Lord Krsna, all glories unto You. You are
present in everyone's heart as Paramatma. Therefore You are
known as Jananivasa, one who lives in everyone's heart." As
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-
dese 'rjuna tisthati: The Supreme Lord in His
Paramatma feature lives within everyone's heart. This does
not mean, however, that Krsna has no separate existence as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Mayavadi philosophers
accept the all-pervading feature of Parabrahman, but
when Parabrahman, or the Supreme Lord, appears, they
think that He appears under the control of material nature.
Because Lord Krsna appeared as the son of Devaki, the Mayavadi
philosophers accept Krsna to be an ordinary living entity who
takes birth within this material world. Therefore Sukadeva
Gosvami warns them that devaki-janma-vada, which means that
although Krsna is famous as the son of Devaki, actually He is
the Supersoul or the all-pervading Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The devotees, however, take this word devaki-janma-
vada in a different way. The devotees understand that actually
Krsna was the son of mother Yasoda. Although Krsna first of
all appeared as the son of Devaki, He immediately transferred
Himself to the lap of mother Yasoda, and His childhood
pastimes were blissfully enjoyed by mother Yasoda and Nanda
Maharaja. This fact was also admitted by Vasudeva himself when
he met Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda at Kuruksetra. He admitted
that Krsna and Balarama were actually the sons of mother
Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. Vasudeva and Devaki were only Their
official father and mother. Their actual father and mother
were Nanda and Yasoda. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami addressed
Lord Krsna as devaki-janma-vada.
Sukadeva Gosvami then glorifies the Lord as one who is honored
by the yadu-vara-parisat, the assembly house of the Yadu
dynasty, and as the killer of different kinds of demons. Krsna,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could have killed all the
demons by employing His different material energies, but He
wanted to kill them personally in order to give them salvation.
There was no need of Krsna's coming to this material world to
kill the demons. Simply by His willing, many hundreds and
thousands of demons could have been killed without His
personal endeavor. But actually He descended for His pure
devotees, to play as a child with mother Yasoda and Nanda
Maharaja and to give pleasure to the inhabitants of Dvaraka.
By killing the demons and by giving protection to the devotees,
Lord Krsna established the real religious principle, which is
simply love of God. By following the factual religious
principles of love of God, even the living entities known as
sthira-cara were also delivered of all material contamination
and were transferred to the spiritual kingdom. Sthira means
the trees and plants, which cannot move, and cara means the
moving animals, specifically the cows. When Krsna was present,
He delivered all the trees, monkeys and other plants and
animals who happened to see Him and serve Him both in
Vrndavana and in Dvaraka.
Lord Krsna is especially glorified for His giving pleasure to
the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka. Sukadeva Gosvami
glorifies Lord Krsna for His enchanting smile, by which He
enchanted not only the gopis at Vrndavana but also the queens
at Dvaraka. The exact word used in this connection is
vardhayan kamadevam. In Vrndavana as the boy
friend of many gopis and in Dvaraka as the husband of many
queens, Krsna increased their lusty desires to enjoy with Him.
For God realization or self-realization, one generally has to
undergo severe austerities and penances for many, many
thousands of years, and then it may be possible to realize God.
But the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka, simply by enhancing
their lusty desires to enjoy Krsna as their boy friend
or husband, received the highest type of salvation.
This behavior of Lord Krsna with the gopis and queens is
unique in the history of self-realization. Usually people
understand that for self-realization one has to go to the
forest or to the mountains and undergo severe austerities and
penances. But the gopis and the queens, simply by being
attached to Krsna in conjugal love and enjoying His company in
a so-called sensuous life full of luxury and opulence,
achieved the highest salvation, which is impossible to be
achieved even by great sages and saintly persons. Similarly,
demons such as Kamsa, Dantavakra, Sisupala, etc.
, also got the highest benefit of being
transferred to the spiritual world.
In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Vyasadeva offered
his respectful obeisances to the Supreme Truth, Vasudeva,
Krsna. After that he taught his son, Sukadeva Gosvami, to
preach Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is in this connection that
Sukadeva Gosvami glorifies the Lord as jayati.
Following in the footsteps of Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva
Gosvami and all the acaryas in disciplic succession, the whole
population of the world should glorify Lord Krsna, and for
their best interest they should take to this Krsna
consciousness movement. The process is easy and helpful. It is
simply to chant the mahamantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare. Lord Caitanya has therefore recommended that one should
be callous to the material ups and downs. Material life is
temporary, and so the ups and downs of life may come and go.
When they come, one should be as tolerant as a tree and as
humble and meek as the straw in the street, but certainly he
must engage himself in Krsna consciousness by chanting Hare
Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, the Supersoul of
all living entities, out of His causeless mercy comes down and
manifests His different transcendental pastimes in different
incarnations. Hearing the attractive pastimes of Lord Krsna's
different incarnations is a chance for liberation for the
conditioned soul, and the most fascinating and pleasing
activities of Lord Krsna Himself are still more attractive
because Lord Krsna personally is all-attractive.
Following in the holy footsteps of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, we
have tried to present this book Krsna for being read and
heard by the conditioned souls of this age. By hearing the
pastimes of Lord Krsna, one is sure and certain to get
salvation and be transferred back home, back to Godhead. It is
recommended by Sukadeva Gosvami that as we hear the
transcendental pastimes and activities of the Lord, we
gradually cut the knots of material contamination. Therefore,
regardless of what one is, if one wants the association of
Lord Krsna in the transcendental kingdom of God for eternity
in blissful existence, one must hear about the pastimes of
Lord Krsna and chant the mahamantra, Hare Krsna, Hare
Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare.
The transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead Krsna are so powerful that simply by hearing,
reading and memorizing this book Krsna, one is sure to be
transferred to the spiritual world, which is ordinarily very
difficult to achieve. The description of the pastimes of Lord
Krsna is so attractive that automatically it
gives us an impetus to study repeatedly, and the more we study
the pastimes of the Lord, the more we become attached to Him.
This very attachment to Krsna makes one eligible to be
transferred to His abode, Goloka Vrndavana. As we have learned
from the previous chapter, to cross over the material world is
to cross over the stringent laws of material nature. The
stringent laws of material nature cannot check the progress of
one who is attracted by the spiritual nature. This is
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself:
although the stringent laws of material nature are
very difficult to overcome, if anyone surrenders unto the
Lord, he can very easily cross over nescience. There is,
however, no influence of material nature in the spiritual
world. As we have learned from the Second Canto of Srimad-
Bhagavatam, the ruling power of the demigods and the influence
of material nature are conspicuous by their absence in the
spiritual world.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has therefore advised Maharaja Pariksit
in the beginning of the Second Canto that every conditioned
soul should engage himself in hearing and chanting the
transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami
also informed King Pariksit that previously many other kings
and emperors went to the jungle to prosecute severe
austerities and penances in order to go back home, back to
Godhead. In India, it is still a practice that many advanced
transcendentalists give up their family lives and go to
Vrndavana to live there alone and completely engage in hearing
and chanting of the holy pastimes of the Lord. This system is
recommended in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the six Gosvamis of
Vrndavana followed it, but at the present moment many karmis
and pseudo-devotees have overcrowded the holy place of
Vrndavana just to imitate this process recommended by Sukadeva
Gosvami. It is said that many kings and emperors formerly went
to the forest for this purpose, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakur Gosvami Maharaja does not recommend that one
take up this solitary life in Vrndavana prematurely.
One who goes prematurely to Vrndavana to live in
pursuance of the instructions of Sukadeva Gosvami again falls
a victim to maya, even while residing in Vrndavana. To check
such unauthorized residence in Vrndavana, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur has sung a nice song in this
connection, the purport of which is as follows: "My dear mind,
why are you so proud of being a Vaisnava? Your solitary
worship and chanting of the holy name of the Lord are based on
a desire for cheap popularity, and therefore your chanting of
the holy name is only a pretension. Such an ambition for a
cheap reputation can be compared to the stool of a hog because
such popularity is another extension of the influence of maya."
One may go to Vrndavana for cheap popularity, and instead of
being absorbed in Krsna consciousness, one may always think of
money and women, which are simply temporary sources of
happiness. It is better that one engage whatever money and
women he may have in his possession in the service of the Lord
because sense enjoyment is not for the conditioned soul.
The master of the senses is Hrsikesa, Lord Krsna. Therefore,
the senses should always be engaged in His service. As for
material reputation, there were many demons like Ravana who
wanted to go against the laws of material nature, but they all
failed. One should therefore not take to the demoniac activity
of claiming to be a Vaisnava just for false prestige, without
performing service to the Lord. But when one engages oneself
in the devotional service of the Lord, automatically the
Vaisnava reputation comes to him. There is no need to be
envious of the devotees who are engaged in preaching the
glories of the Lord. We have practical experience of being
advised by the so-called babajis in Vrndavana that there is no
need to preach and that it is better to live in Vrndavana in a
solitary place and chant the holy name. Such babajis do not
know that if one is engaged in preaching work or in glorifying
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the good reputation of a
preacher automatically follows one. One should not, therefore,
prematurely give up the honest life of a householder to lead a
life of debauchery in Vrndavana. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami's
recommendation to leave home and go to the forest in search of
Krsna is not for immature persons. Maharaja Pariksit was
mature. Even in his householder life, or from the very
beginning of his life, he worshiped Lord Krsna's murti. In his
childhood he worshiped the Deity of Lord Krsna, and later,
although he was a householder, he was always detached, and
therefore when he got the notice of his death, he immediately
gave up all connection with household life and sat down on the
bank of the Ganges to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam in the
association of devotees.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninetieth Chapter
of Krsna, "Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes."
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KB 90: Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes
CHAPTER NINETY
Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes
After returning from the spiritual kingdom, which he was able
to visit personally with Krsna, Arjuna was very much
astonished. He thought to himself that although he was only an
ordinary living entity, by the grace of Krsna it had been
possible for him to see the spiritual world. Not
only had he seen the spiritual world, but he had also
personally seen the original Maha-Visnu, the cause of the
material creation. It is said that Krsna never goes out of
Vrndavana: vrndavanam parityajya padam ekam na gacchati.
Krsna is supreme in Mathura, He is more supreme in Dvaraka,
and He is most supreme in Vrndavana. Krsna's pastimes in
Dvaraka are displayed by His Vasudeva portion, yet there is no
difference between the Vasudeva portion manifested in Mathura
and Dvaraka and the original manifestation of Krsna in
Vrndavana. In the beginning of this book we have discussed
that when Krsna appears, all His incarnations, plenary
portions and portions of the plenary portions come with Him.
Thus some of His different pastimes are manifested not by the
original Krsna Himself but by His expansions
.
Why Arjuna was puzzled by Krsna's going to see Karanarnavasayi
Visnu in the spiritual world is fully discussed in the
commentaries of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, as
follows. It is understood from the speech of Maha-Visnu that
He was very eager to see Krsna. It may be said, however,
that since Maha-Visnu took away the brahmana's sons, He
must certainly have gone to Dvaraka to do so.
Therefore, why did He not see Krsna there? A possible answer
is that unless Krsna gives His permission, He cannot be seen
even by Maha-Visnu, lying in the Causal Ocean of the
spiritual world. Thus Maha-
Visnu took away the brahmana's sons one after another just
after their births so that Krsna would come personally to the
Casual Ocean to retrieve them, and then Maha-Visnu would be
able to see Him there. If that is so, the next question is
this: Why would Maha-Visnu come to Dvaraka personally if He
were not able to see Krsna? Why did He not send some of His
associates to take away the sons of the brahmana? A possible
answer is that it is very difficult to put any of the citizens
of Dvaraka into trouble in the presence of Krsna. Therefore,
because it was not possible for any of Maha-Visnu's associates
to take away the brahmana's sons, He personally came
to take them.
Another question may also be raised: The Lord is known as
brahmanya-deva, the worshipable Deity of the brahmanas, so why
was He inclined to put a brahmana into such a terrible
condition of lamentation over one son after another until the
tenth son was taken away? The answer is that Lord Maha-Visnu
was so eager to see Krsna that He did not hesitate even to
give trouble to a brahmana. Although giving trouble to a
brahmana is a forbidden act, Lord Visnu was prepared to do
anything in order to see Krsna -- He was so eager to see Him.
After losing each of his sons, the brahmana would come to the
gate of the palace and accuse the King of not being able to
give the brahmanas protection and of thus being unfit to sit
on the royal throne. It was Maha-Visnu's plan that the
brahmana would accuse the ksatriyas and Krsna, and Krsna would
be obliged to come see Him to take back the brahmana's sons.
Still another question may be raised: If Maha-Visnu cannot see
Krsna, then how was Krsna obliged to come before Him after all
to take back the sons of the brahmana? The answer is that Lord
Krsna went to see Lord Maha-Visnu not exactly to take back the
sons of the brahmana but only for Arjuna's sake. His
friendship with Arjuna was so intimate that when Arjuna
prepared himself to die by entering a fire, Krsna wanted to
give him complete protection. Arjuna, however, would not
desist from entering the fire unless the sons of the brahmana
were brought back. Therefore Krsna promised him, "I shall
bring back the brahmana's sons. Do not try to commit suicide."
If Lord Krsna were going to see Lord Visnu only to reclaim the
sons of the brahmana, then He would not have waited until the
tenth son was taken. But when the tenth son was taken away by
Lord Maha-Visnu, and when Arjuna was therefore ready to enter
the fire because his promise was going to prove false, that
serious situation made Lord Krsna decide to go with Arjuna to
see Maha-Visnu. It is said that Arjuna is an empowered
incarnation of Nara-Narayana. He is even sometimes called Nara-
Narayana. The Nara-Narayana incarnation is one of Lord
Visnu's plenary expansions. Therefore, when Krsna and Arjuna
went to see Lord Visnu, it is to be understood that Arjuna
visited in His Nara-Narayana capacity, just as Krsna, when He
displayed His pastimes in Dvaraka, acted in His Vasudeva
capacity.
After visiting the spiritual world, Arjuna concluded that
whatever opulence anyone can show within the material or
spiritual worlds is all a gift of Lord Krsna. Lord Krsna is
manifested in various forms, as visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva,
or, in other words, as svamsa and vibhinnamsa. Visnu-tattva is
known as svamsa, and jiva-tattva is known as vibhinnamsa. He
can, therefore, display Himself by His different
transcendental pastimes, in the portion of either
svamsa or vibhinnamsa, as He likes, but still He remains the
original Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The concluding portion of Krsna's pastimes is found in the
Ninetieth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and
in this chapter Sukadeva Gosvami wanted to explain how Krsna
lived happily at Dvaraka with all opulences. Krsna's opulence
of strength has already been displayed in His different
pastimes, and now it will be shown how His residence at
Dvaraka displayed His opulences of wealth and beauty. In this
material world the opulences of wealth
and beauty are considered the highest of all
opulences, yet they are only a perverted reflection
of these opulences in the spiritual world. Therefore, while
Krsna stayed on this planet as the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, His opulences of wealth and beauty had no comparison
within the three worlds. Krsna enjoyed sixteen thousand
beautiful wives, and it is most significant that He lived at
Dvaraka as the only husband of these thousands of
beautiful women. This is specifically stated --
that He was the only husband of sixteen thousand
wives. It is of course not unheard of in the history of the
world that a powerful king would keep many hundreds of queens,
but although such a king might be the only husband of so many
wives, he could not enjoy all of them at one time. Lord Krsna,
however, enjoyed all of His sixteen thousand wives
simultaneously.
Although it may be said that yogis also can expand their
bodies into many forms, the yogi's expansion and Lord Krsna's
expansion are not the same. Krsna is therefore
sometimes called Yogesvara, the master of all yogis. In the
Vedic literature we find that the yogi Saubhari Muni expanded
himself into eight. But that expansion was like a television
expansion. The television image is manifested in millions of
expansions, but those expansions cannot act differently; they
are simply reflections of the original and can only act
exactly as the original does. Krsna's expansion is not
material, like the expansion of the television or the yogi.
When Narada visited the different palaces of Krsna, he saw
that Krsna, in His different expansions, was variously engaged
in each and every palace of the queens.
It is also said that Krsna lived in Dvaraka as the husband of
the goddess of fortune. Queen Rukmini is the goddess of
fortune, and all the other queens are her expansions. So Krsna,
the chief of the Vrsni dynasty, enjoyed with the goddess of
fortune in full opulence. The queens of Krsna are described as
permanently youthful and beautiful. Although Krsna had
grandchildren and great-grandchildren, neither Krsna nor His
queens looked older than sixteen or twenty years of age. The
young queens were so beautiful that when they moved they
appeared like lightning moving in the sky. They were always
dressed with excellent ornaments and garments and were always
engaged in sportive activities like dancing, singing or
playing ball on the roofs of the palaces. The dancing and
tennis playing of girls in the material world are
perverted reflections of the original pastimes of the original
Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and His wives.
The roads and streets of the city of Dvaraka were always
crowded with elephants, horses, chariots and infantry soldiers.
When elephants are engaged in service, they are given liquor
to drink, and it is said that the elephants in Dvaraka were
given so much liquor that they would sprinkle a great quantity
of it on the road and still walk on the streets
intoxicated. The infantry soldiers passing on the streets were
profusely decorated with golden ornaments, and horses and
golden chariots plied along the streets. In all directions of
Dvaraka City, wherever one would turn his eyes he would find
green parks and gardens, each of them filled with
trees and plants laden with fruits and flowers. Because there
were so many nice trees of fruits and flowers, all the sweetly
chirping birds and buzzing bumblebees joined together to make
sweet vibrations. The city of Dvaraka thus fully displayed all
opulences. The heroes in the dynasty of Yadu used to think
themselves the most fortunate residents of the city, and
actually they enjoyed all transcendental facilities.
All the sixteen thousand palaces of Krsna's queens were
situated in this beautiful city of Dvaraka, and Lord Krsna,
the supreme eternal enjoyer of all these facilities, expanded
Himself into sixteen thousand forms and simultaneously engaged
in different family affairs in those sixteen thousand palaces.
In each and every one of the palaces there were nicely
decorated gardens and lakes. The crystal-clear water of the
lakes contained many blooming lotus flowers of different
colors, like blue, yellow, white and red, and the saffron
powder from the lotus flowers was blown all around by the
breeze. All the lakes were full of beautiful swans, ducks and
cranes, crying occasionally with melodious sounds. Lord Sri
Krsna sometimes entered those lakes or the rivers
with His wives and enjoyed swimming pastimes with them in full
jubilation. Sometimes the wives of Lord Krsna, who were all
goddesses of fortune, would embrace the Lord in the midst of
the water while swimming or taking a bath, and the red
vermilion of kunkuma decorating their beautiful
breasts would adorn the chest of the Lord with a reddish color.
The impersonalists would not dare believe that in the
spiritual world there are such varieties of enjoyment, but in
order to demonstrate the factual, ever-blissful enjoyment in
the spiritual world, Lord Krsna descended to this planet and
showed that the spiritual world is not devoid of such
pleasurable facilities of life. The only difference is that in
the spiritual world such facilities are eternal, never-ending
occurrences, whereas in the material world they are simply
impermanent perverted reflections. When Lord Krsna was engaged
in such enjoyment, the Gandharvas and professional musicians
would glorify Him with melodious musical concerts, accompanied
by kettledrums, mrdangas and other drums, along with
stringed instruments and brass bugles, and the whole
atmosphere would change into a greatly festive celebration. In
a festive mood, the wives of the Lord would sometimes sprinkle
water on the His body with a syringelike instrument,
and the Lord would similarly wet the bodies of the queens.
When Krsna and the queens engaged themselves in these pastimes,
it seemed as if the heavenly king Yaksaraja were engaged in
pastimes with his many wives. (Yaksaraja is also known as
Kuvera and is considered the treasurer of the heavenly
kingdom.) When the wives of Lord Krsna thus became wet, their
breasts and thighs would increase in beauty a thousand times,
and their long hair would fall down to decorate those parts of
their bodies. The beautiful flowers placed in their
hair would fall, and the queens, seemingly harassed by
the Lord's throwing water at them, would approach Him on the
plea of snatching the syringelike instrument. This
attempt would create a situation wherein the Lord could
embrace them as they willingly approached Him. Upon being
embraced, the wives of the Lord would feel on their mouths a
clear indication of conjugal love, and this would create an
atmosphere of spiritual bliss. When the garland on the neck of
the Lord then touched the breasts of the queens, their whole
bodies became covered with saffron yellow. Being engaged in
their celestial pastimes, the queens forgot themselves, and
their loosened hair appeared like beautiful waves of a
river. When the queens sprinkled water on the body of Krsna or
He sprinkled water on the bodies of the queens, the whole
situation appeared just like that of an elephant enjoying in a
lake with many she-elephants.
After enjoying fully amongst themselves, the queens and Lord
Krsna would come out of the water, and they would give up
their wet garments, which were very valuable,
to be taken away by the professional singers and
dancers. These singers and dancers had no means of
subsistence other than the rewards of valuable garments and
ornaments left by the queens and kings on such occasions. The
whole system of society was so well planned that all the
members of society in their different positions as brahmanas,
ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras had no difficulty in earning
their livelihood. There was no competition among the divisions
of society. The original conception of the caste system was so
planned that one group of men engaged in a particular type of
occupation would not compete with another group of men engaged
in a different occupation.
In this way, Lord Krsna used to enjoy the company of His
sixteen thousand wives. Some devotees of the Lord who want
to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the mellow of
conjugal love are elevated to the position of becoming wives
of Krsna, and Krsna keeps them always attached to Him by
His kind behavior. Krsna's behavior with His wives -- His
movements, His talking with them, His smiling, His embracing
and similar other activities, which are just like those of a
loving husband -- kept them always very much attached to Him.
That is the highest perfection of life. If someone remains
always attached to Krsna, it is to be understood that he is
liberated, and his life is successful. With any devotee who
loves Krsna with his heart and soul, Krsna reciprocates in
such a way that the devotee cannot but remain attached to
Him. The reciprocal dealings of Krsna and His devotees are so
attractive that a devotee cannot think of any subject matter
other than Krsna.
For all the queens, Krsna was their only worshipable
object. They were always absorbed in thought of Krsna, the
lotus-eyed and beautifully blackish Personality of Godhead.
Sometimes, in thought of Krsna, they remained silent, and in
great ecstasy of bhava and anubhava they sometimes spoke as if
in delirium. Sometimes, even in the presence of Lord Krsna,
they vividly described the pastimes they had enjoyed in the
lake or river with Him. Some of such talk is
described here.
The queens said, "Dear kurari
bird, now it is very late at night. Everyone is sleeping. The
whole world is now calm and peaceful. At this time, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead is sleeping, although His
knowledge is undisturbed by any circumstances. Then why are
you not sleeping? Why are you lamenting like this throughout
the whole night? Dear friend, is it that you are also
attracted by the lotus eyes of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and by His sweet smiling and attractive words, exactly
as we are? Do those dealings of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead pinch your heart as they do ours?
"Hello, cakravaki. Why have you closed your eyes? Are you
searching after your husband, who may have gone to foreign
countries? Why are you lamenting so pitiably? Alas, it appears
that you are very much aggrieved. Or is it a fact that you
also are willing to become an eternal servitor of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead? We think that you are anxious to put a
garland on the lotus feet of the Lord and then place it on
your hair.
"O dear ocean, why are you roaring all day and night? Don't
you like to sleep? We think you have been attacked by insomnia,
or, if we are not wrong, our dear Syamasundara has tactfully
taken away your gravity and power of forbearance, which are
your natural qualifications. Is it a fact that for this reason
you are suffering from insomnia like us? Yes, we admit that
there is no remedy for this disease.
"Dear moon god, we think you have been attacked by a
severe type of tuberculosis. For this reason, you are becoming
thinner and thinner day by day. O lord, you are now so weak
that your thin rays cannot dissipate the darkness of night. Or
is it a fact that, just like us, you have been
stunned by the mysteriously sweet words of our Lord
Syamasundara? Is it a fact that it is because of this severe
anxiety that you are so grave?
"O breeze from the Himalayas, what have we done to you that
you are so intent on teasing us by awakening our lust to meet
Krsna? Do you not know that we have already been injured by
the crooked policy of the Personality of Godhead? Dear
Himalayan breeze, please know that we have already been
stricken. There is no need to injure us more and more.
"Dear beautiful cloud, the color of your beautiful body
exactly resembles the bodily hue of
our dearmost Syamasundara. We think, therefore, that you are
very dear to our Lord, the chief of the dynasty of the Yadus,
and because you are so dear to Him, you are absorbed
in meditation, exactly as we are. We can appreciate
that your heart is full of anxiety for Syamasundara. You
appear excessively eager to see Him, and we see that for
this reason only, drops of tears are gliding down
from your eyes, just as they are from ours. Dear black
cloud, we must admit frankly that to establish an intimate
relationship with Syamasundara means to purchase unnecessary
anxieties while we are otherwise comfortable at home."
Generally the cuckoo sounds its cooing vibration at the end of
night or early in the morning. When the queens heard the
cooing of the cuckoo at the end of night, they said, "Dear
cuckoo, your voice is very sweet. As soon as you vibrate your
sweet voice, we immediately remember Syamasundara because your
voice exactly resembles His. We must frankly admit that your
voice is imbued with nectar, and it is so invigorating that it
is competent to bring back life to those who are almost dead
in separation from their dearmost friend. So we are very much
obliged to you. Please let us know how we can welcome you or
how we can do something for you."
The queens continued talking like that, and they addressed the
mountain as follows: "Dear mountain, you are very generous. By
your gravity only, the whole crust of this earth is
properly maintained, although because you are discharging your
duties very faithfully, you do not know how to move. Because
you are so grave, you do not move hither and thither, nor do
you say anything. Rather, you always appear in a
thoughtful mood. It may be that you are always thinking of a
very grave and important subject matter, but we can guess very
clearly what you are thinking of. We are sure that you are
thinking of placing the lotus feet of Syamasundara on your
raised peaks, as we want to place His lotus feet on our raised
breasts.
"Dear dry rivers, we know that because this is the summer
season, all your beds are dry, and you have no water. Because
all your water has now been dried up, you are no longer
beautified by blooming lotus flowers. At the present moment,
you appear very lean and thin, so we can understand that
your position is exactly like ours. We have lost everything
due to being separated from Syamasundara, and we no longer
hear His pleasing words. Our hearts no longer work properly,
and therefore we also have become very lean and thin. We think,
therefore, that you are just like us. You have turned lean
and thin because you are not getting any water from your
husband, the ocean, through the clouds." The example given
herewith by the queens is very appropriate. The riverbeds
become dry when the ocean no longer supplies water through the
clouds. The ocean is supposed to be the husband of the river
and therefore is supposed to support her. Unless a woman is
supported by her husband with the necessities of life, she
also becomes as dry as a dry river.
One queen addressed a swan as follows: "My dear swan, please
come here, come here. You are welcome. Please sit down and
take some milk. My dear swan, can you tell me if you have any
message from Syamasundara? I take you to be a messenger from
Him. If you have any such news, please tell me. Our
Syamasundara is always very independent. He never comes under
the control of anyone. We have all failed to control Him, and
therefore we ask you, Is He keeping Himself well? I may inform
you that Syamasundara is very fickle. His friendship is always
temporary; it breaks even by slight agitation. But would you
kindly explain why He is so unkind to me? Formerly He said
that I alone am His dearmost wife. Does He remember this
assurance? Anyway, you are welcome. Please sit down. But I
cannot accept your entreaty to go to Syamasundara. When He
does not care for me, why should I be mad after Him? I am very
sorry to let you know that you have become the messenger of a
poor-hearted soul. You are asking me to go to Him, but I am
not going. What is that? You talk of His coming to me? Does He
desire to come here to fulfill my long expectation for Him?
All right. You may bring Him here. But don't bring with Him
His most beloved goddess of fortune. Do you think that He
cannot be separated from the goddess of fortune even for a
moment? Could He not come here alone, without Laksmi? His
behavior is very displeasing. Does it mean that without Laksmi,
Syamasundara cannot be happy? Can't He be happy with any
other wife? Does it mean that the goddess of fortune has the
ocean of love for Him and none of us can compare to her?"
All the wives of Lord Krsna were completely absorbed in
thought of Him. Krsna is known as Yogesvara, the master of all
yogis, and all the wives of Krsna at Dvaraka used to keep this
Yogesvara within their hearts. Instead of trying to be master
of all yogic mystic powers, it is better if one simply keeps
the supreme Yogesvara, Krsna, within his heart. Thus one's
life can become perfect, and one can very easily be
transferred to the kingdom of God. It is to be understood that
all the queens of Krsna who lived with Him at Dvaraka were in
their previous lives very greatly exalted devotees who wanted
to establish a relationship with Krsna in conjugal love. Thus
they were given the chance to become His wives and enjoy a
constant loving relationship with Him. Ultimately, they were
all transferred to the Vaikuntha planets.
The Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is never
impersonal. All the Vedic scriptures glorify the
transcendental performance of His various personal activities
and pastimes. It is said that in the Vedas and in the Ramayana,
only the activities of the Lord are described. Everywhere in
the Vedic literature, His glories are sung. As soon as soft-
hearted people such as women hear those transcendental
pastimes of Lord Krsna, they immediately become attracted to
Him. Soft-hearted women and girls are therefore very easily
drawn to the Krsna consciousness movement. One who is thus
drawn to the Krsna consciousness movement and tries to keep
himself in constant touch with such consciousness certainly
gets the supreme salvation, going back to Krsna in Goloka
Vrndavana. If simply by developing Krsna consciousness one can
be transferred to the spiritual world, one can simply imagine
how blissful and blessed were the queens of Lord Krsna, who
talked with Him personally and saw Lord Krsna face to face.
No one can properly describe the fortune of the wives of Lord
Krsna. They took care of Him personally by rendering various
transcendental services like bathing Him, feeding Him,
pleasing Him and serving Him. Thus no one's austerities can
compare to the service of the queens at Dvaraka.
Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Pariksit that for self-
realization the austerities and penances performed by the
queens at Dvaraka have no comparison. The objective of self-
realization is one: Krsna. Therefore, although the dealings of
the queens with Krsna appear just like ordinary dealings
between husband and wife, the principal point to be observed
is the queens' attachment for Krsna. The entire process of
austerity and penance is meant to detach one from the material
world and enhance one's attachment to Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Krsna is the shelter of all persons
advancing in self-realization. As an ideal householder, He
lived with His wives and performed the Vedic rituals just to
show less intelligent persons that the Supreme Lord is never
impersonal. Krsna lived with wives and children in all
opulence, exactly like an ordinary conditioned soul, just to
teach those souls who are actually conditioned that
they must enter into the family circle of Krsna,
where He is the center. For example, the members of the
Yadu dynasty lived in the family of Krsna, and Krsna was the
center of all their activities.
Renunciation is not as important as enhancing one's attachment
to Krsna. The Krsna consciousness movement is especially meant
for this purpose. We are preaching the principle that it
does not matter whether a man is a sannyasi or grhastha (
householder). One simply has to increase his attachment for
Krsna, and then his life is successful. Following in the
footsteps of Lord Sri Krsna, one can live with his family
members or within the society or nation, not for the purpose
of indulging in sense gratification but to realize Krsna by
advancing in attachment for Him. There are four principles of
elevation from conditioned life to the life of liberation,
which are technically known as dharma, artha, kama and moksa (
religion, economic development, sense gratification and
liberation). If one lives a family life following in the
footsteps of Lord Krsna's family members, one can achieve all
four of these principles of success simultaneously by making
Krsna the center of all activities.
It is already known to us that Krsna had 16,108 wives. All
these wives were exalted liberated souls, and among them Queen
Rukmini was the chief. After Rukmini there were seven other
principal wives, and the names of the sons of these eight
principal queens have already been mentioned. Besides the sons
born of these eight queens, Lord Krsna had ten sons by each of
the other queens. Thus altogether Krsna's sons
numbered 16,108 times ten. One should not be astonished to
hear that Krsna had so many sons. One should always remember
that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that He
has unlimited potencies. He claims all living entities as His
sons, so the fact that He had 161,080 sons attached
to Him personally should be no cause for astonishment.
Among Krsna's greatly powerful sons, eighteen sons were maha-
rathas. The maha-rathas could fight alone against many
thousands of foot soldiers, charioteers, cavalry and elephants.
The reputations of these eighteen sons are very widespread
and are described in almost all the Vedic scriptures. The
eighteen maha-ratha sons are listed as Pradyumna, Aniruddha,
Diptiman, Bhanu, Samba, Madhu, Brhadbhanu, Citrabhanu, Vrka,
Aruna, Puskara, Vedabahu, Srutadeva, Sunandana, Citrabahu,
Virupa, Kavi and Nyagrodha. Of these eighteen maha-ratha sons
of Krsna, Pradyumna is considered the foremost.
Pradyumna happened to be the eldest son of Queen Rukmini, and
he inherited all the qualities of his great father, Lord Krsna.
He married the daughter of his maternal uncle, Rukmi, and
from that marriage Aniruddha was born
. Aniruddha was so powerful that he could fight
against ten thousand elephants. He married the granddaughter
of Rukmi, the brother of his grandmother Rukmini. Because the
relationship between these cousins was distant, such a
marriage was not uncommon. Aniruddha's son was Vajra. When the
whole Yadu dynasty was destroyed by the curse of some
brahmanas, only Vajra survived. Vajra had one son, whose name
was Pratibahu. The son of Pratibahu was named Subahu, the son
of Subahu was named Santasena, and the son of Santasena was
Satasena.
It is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that all the members of the
Yadu dynasty had many children. Just as Krsna had many sons,
grandsons and great-grandsons, each one of the kings named
herewith also had similar family extensions. Not only did all
of them have many children, but all were extraordinarily rich
and opulent. None of them were weak or short-lived, and above
all, all the members of the Yadu dynasty were staunch devotees
of the brahminical culture. It is the duty of the ksatriya
kings to maintain the brahminical culture and protect the
qualified brahmanas, and all these kings discharged their
duties rightly. The members of the Yadu dynasty were so
numerous that it would be very difficult to describe them all,
even if one had a duration of life of many thousands of years.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami informed Maharaja Pariksit that he had
heard from reliable sources that simply to teach the children
of the Yadu dynasty there were as many as 38,800,000 tutors,
or acaryas. If so many teachers were needed to educate their
children, one can simply imagine how vast was the number of
family members. As for their military strength, it is said
that King Ugrasena alone had ten quadrillion soldiers as
personal bodyguards.
Before the advent of Lord Krsna within this universe, there
were many battles between the demons and the demigods. Many
demons died in the fighting, and they all were given the
chance to take birth in high royal families on this earth.
Because of their royal exalted posts, all these demons became
very much puffed up, and their only business was to harass
their subjects. Lord Krsna appeared on this planet just at the
end of Dvapara-yuga to annihilate all these demoniac
kings. As it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, paritranaya
sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam: [Bg. 4.8] "The Lord comes to
protect the devotees and annihilate the miscreants." Some
of the demigods were asked to appear on this earth to
assist in the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krsna. When
Krsna appeared, He came in the association of His eternal
servitors, but some of the demigods also were requested to
come down to assist Him, and thus they took their
births in the Yadu dynasty. The Yadu dynasty had 101 clans in
different parts of the country. All the members of these
different clans respected Lord Krsna in a manner befitting His
divine position, and all of them were His devotees heart and
soul. Thus all the members of the Yadu dynasty were very
opulent, happy and prosperous, and they had no anxieties.
Because of their implicit faith in and devotion to Lord Krsna,
they were never defeated by any other kings. Their love for
Krsna was so intense that in their regular activities -- in
sitting, sleeping, traveling, talking, sporting, cleansing,
bathing -- they were simply absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and
paid no attention to bodily necessities. That is the symptom
of a pure devotee of Lord Krsna. Just as when a man is fully
absorbed in some particular thought he sometimes forgets his
other bodily activities, the members of the Yadu dynasty
acted automatically for their bodily necessities, but their
actual attention was always fixed on Krsna. Their bodily
activities were performed mechanically, but their minds were
always absorbed in Krsna consciousness.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has concluded the Ninetieth Chapter of
the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam by pointing out five
particular excellences of Lord Krsna. The first excellence is
that before Lord Krsna's appearance in the Yadu family, the
river Ganges was known as the purest of all things; even
impure things could be purified simply by touching the water
of the Ganges. This superexcellent power of the Ganges water
was due to its having emanated from the toe of Lord Visnu. But
when Lord Krsna, the Supreme Visnu, appeared in the family of
the Yadu dynasty, He traveled personally throughout the
kingdom of the Yadus, and by His intimate association with the
Yadu dynasty, the whole family not only became very famous but
also became more effective in purifying others than the water
of the Ganges.
The next excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance was that
although He apparently gave protection to the
devotees and annihilated the demons, both the devotees and the
demons achieved the same result. Lord Krsna is the bestower of
five kinds of liberation, of which sayujya-mukti, or the
liberation of becoming one with the Supreme, was given to
demons like Kamsa, whereas the gopis were given the chance to
associate with Him personally. The gopis kept their
individuality to enjoy the company of Lord Krsna, but Kamsa
was accepted into His impersonal brahma-jyoti. In other
words, both the demons and the gopis were spiritually
liberated, but because the demons were enemies and the gopis
were friends, the demons were killed and the gopis
protected.
The third excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance was that the
goddess of fortune, who is worshiped by demigods like Lord
Brahma, Indra and Candra, remained always engaged in the
service of the Lord, even though the Lord gave more preference
to the gopis. Laksmiji, the goddess of fortune, tried her best
to be on an equal level with the gopis, but she was not
successful. Nevertheless, she remained faithful to Krsna,
although she generally does not remain in one place
even if worshiped by demigods like Lord Brahma.
The fourth excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance concerns the
glories of His name. It is stated in the Vedic literature that
by chanting the different names of Lord Visnu a thousand times,
one may be bestowed with the same benefits as by thrice
chanting the holy name of Lord Rama. And by chanting the holy
name of Lord Krsna only once, one receives the same benefit.
In other words, of all the holy names of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, including Visnu and Rama, the holy
name of Krsna is the most powerful. The Vedic literature
therefore specifically stresses the chanting of the holy name
of Krsna: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare /
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya
introduced this chanting of the holy name of Krsna in this age,
thus making liberation much more easily obtainable than in
other ages. In other words, Lord Krsna is more excellent than
His incarnations, although all of them are equally the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The fifth excellence of Lord Krsna's appearance is that He
established the most excellent of all religious principles by
His one statement in the Bhagavad-gita that simply by
surrendering unto Him one can discharge all the principles of
religious rites. In the Vedic literature there are twenty
kinds of religious principles mentioned, and each of them is
described in different sastras. But Lord Krsna is so kind to
the fallen, conditioned souls of this age that He personally
appeared and asked everyone to give up all kinds of religious
rites and simply surrender unto Him. It is said that this Age
of Kali is three-fourths devoid of religious principles.
Hardly one fourth of the principles of religion are still
observed in this age. But by the mercy of Lord Krsna, not only
has this void of Kali-yuga been completely
filled, but the religious process has been made so easy that
simply by rendering transcendental loving service unto Lord
Krsna by chanting His holy names, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare, one can achieve the highest result of religion, namely,
being transferred to the highest planet within the spiritual
world, Goloka Vrndavana. Considering all this, one can
immediately appreciate the benefit of Lord Krsna's appearance
on the earth and understand that His giving relief to the
people of the world by His appearance was not at all
extraordinary.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami thus concludes his description of the
superexalted position of Lord Krsna by glorifying Him in the
following way: "O Lord Krsna, all glories unto You. You are
present in everyone's heart as Paramatma. Therefore You are
known as Jananivasa, one who lives in everyone's heart." As
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-
dese 'rjuna tisthati: [Bg. 18.61] "The Supreme Lord in His
Paramatma feature lives within everyone's heart." This does
not mean, however, that Krsna has no separate existence as the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Mayavadi philosophers
accept the all-pervading feature of Para-brahman, but
when Para-brahman, or the Supreme Lord, appears, they
think that He appears under the control of material nature.
Because Lord Krsna appeared as the son of Devaki, the Mayavadi
philosophers accept Krsna to be an ordinary living entity who
takes birth within this material world. Therefore Sukadeva
Gosvami warns them: devaki-janma-vada, which means that
although Krsna is famous as the son of Devaki, actually He is
the Supersoul, or the all-pervading Supreme Personality of
Godhead. The devotees, however, take this word devaki-janma-
vada in a different way. The devotees understand that actually
Krsna was the son of Mother Yasoda. Although Krsna first
appeared as the son of Devaki, He immediately transferred
Himself to the lap of Mother Yasoda, and His childhood
pastimes were blissfully enjoyed by Mother Yasoda and Nanda
Maharaja. This fact was admitted by Vasudeva himself when
he met Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda at Kuruksetra. He admitted
that Krsna and Balarama were actually the sons of Mother
Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja. Vasudeva and Devaki were only Their
official father and mother. Their actual father and mother
were Nanda and Yasoda. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami describes
Lord Krsna as devaki-janma-vada.
Sukadeva Gosvami then glorifies the Lord as one who is honored
by the yadu-vara-parisat, the assembly house of the Yadu
dynasty, and as the killer of different kinds of demons. Krsna,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, could have killed all the
demons by employing His different material energies, but He
wanted to kill them personally, to give them salvation.
There was no need of Krsna's coming to this material world to
kill the demons; simply by His willing, many hundreds and
thousands of demons could have been killed without His
personal endeavor. But actually He descended for His pure
devotees, to play as a child with Mother Yasoda and Nanda
Maharaja and to give pleasure to the inhabitants of Dvaraka.
By killing the demons and giving protection to the devotees,
Lord Krsna established the real religious principle, which is
simply love of God. By following the factual religious
principle of love of God, even the living entities known as
sthira-cara were also delivered of all material contamination
and transferred to the spiritual kingdom. Sthira means
the trees and plants, which cannot move, and cara means the
moving animals, especially the cows. When Krsna was present,
He delivered all the trees, monkeys and other plants and
animals who happened to see Him and serve Him, both in
Vrndavana and in Dvaraka.
Lord Krsna is especially glorified for giving pleasure to
the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka. Sukadeva Gosvami
glorifies Lord Krsna for His enchanting smile, by which He
enchanted not only the gopis of Vrndavana but also the queens
of Dvaraka. The exact words used in this connection are
vardhayan kama-devam. In Vrndavana, as the boyfriend
of many gopis, and in Dvaraka, as the husband of many
queens, Krsna increased their lusty desires to enjoy with Him.
For God realization or self-realization, one generally has to
undergo severe austerities and penances for many, many
thousands of years, and then it may be possible to realize God.
But the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka, simply by enhancing
their lusty desires to enjoy Krsna as their boyfriend
or husband, received the highest type of salvation.
This behavior of Lord Krsna with the gopis and queens is
unique in the history of self-realization. Usually people
understand that for self-realization one has to go to the
forest or mountains and undergo severe austerities and
penances. But the gopis and the queens, simply by being
attached to Krsna in conjugal love and enjoying His company in
a so-called sensuous life full of luxury and opulence,
achieved the highest salvation, which is impossible to achieve
even for great sages and saintly persons. Similarly,
demons such as Kamsa, Dantavakra and Sisupala, who all treated
Krsna as an enemy, also got the highest benefit of being
transferred to the spiritual world.
In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Vyasadeva offered
his respectful obeisances to the Supreme Truth, Vasudeva,
Krsna. After that he taught his son, Sukadeva Gosvami, to
preach Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is in this connection that
Sukadeva Gosvami glorifies the Lord with the word jayati.
Following in the footsteps of Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva
Gosvami and all the acaryas in disciplic succession, the whole
population of the world should glorify Lord Krsna, and for
their best interest they should take to this Krsna
consciousness movement. The process is easy and helpful. It is
simply to chant the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare. Lord Caitanya has therefore recommended that one
be callous to the material ups and downs. Material life is
temporary, and so the ups and downs of life may come and go.
When they come, one should be as tolerant as a tree and as
humble and meek as the straw in the street, but certainly he
must engage himself in Krsna consciousness by chanting Hare
Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, the Supersoul of
all living entities, out of His causeless mercy comes down and
manifests His different transcendental pastimes in different
incarnations. Hearing the attractive pastimes of Lord Krsna's
different incarnations is a chance for liberation for the
conditioned soul, and the most fascinating and pleasing
activities of Lord Krsna Himself are still more attractive
because Lord Krsna personally is all-attractive.
Following in the holy footsteps of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, we
have tried to present this book, Krsna, for being read and
heard by the conditioned souls of this age. By hearing the
pastimes of Lord Krsna, one is sure and certain to get
salvation and be transferred back home, back to Godhead. It is
stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that as we hear the
transcendental pastimes of the Lord, we
gradually cut the knots of material contamination. Therefore,
regardless of what one is, if one wants the association of
Lord Krsna in the transcendental kingdom of God for eternity
in blissful existence, one must hear about the pastimes of
Lord Krsna and chant the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna, Hare
Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare.
The transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Krsna, are so powerful that simply by hearing,
reading and memorizing this book, Krsna, one is sure to be
transferred to the spiritual world, which is ordinarily very
difficult to achieve. The description of the pastimes of Lord
Krsna is so attractive that it automatically
gives us an impetus to study repeatedly, and the more we study
the pastimes of the Lord, the more we become attached to Him.
This very attachment to Krsna makes one eligible to be
transferred to His abode, Goloka Vrndavana. As we have learned
from the previous chapter, to cross over the material world is
to cross over the stringent laws of material nature. The
stringent laws of material nature cannot check the progress of
one who is attracted by the spiritual nature. This is
confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself: "
Although the stringent laws of material nature are very
difficult to overcome, one who surrenders unto the Lord
can very easily cross over nescience." There is no
influence of material nature in the spiritual world. As we
have learned from the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the
ruling power of the demigods and the influence of material
nature are conspicuous by their absence in the spiritual world.
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami has therefore advised Maharaja Pariksit
in the beginning of the Second Canto that every conditioned
soul should engage himself in hearing and chanting the
transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami
also informed King Pariksit that previously many other kings
and emperors went to the jungle to prosecute severe
austerities and penances in order to go back home, back to
Godhead. In India it is still a practice that many advanced
transcendentalists give up their family lives and go to
Vrndavana to live there alone and completely engage in hearing
and chanting the holy pastimes of the Lord. This system is
recommended in Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the Six Gosvamis of
Vrndavana followed it, but at the present moment many karmis
and pseudo devotees have overcrowded the holy place of
Vrndavana just to imitate this process recommended by Sukadeva
Gosvami. It is said that many kings and emperors formerly went
to the forest for this purpose, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura does not recommend that one
take up this solitary life in Vrndavana prematurely.
One who prematurely goes to Vrndavana to live in
pursuance of the instructions of Sukadeva Gosvami again falls
victim to maya, even while residing in Vrndavana. To check
such unauthorized residence in Vrndavana, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura has sung a nice song in this
connection, the purport of which is as follows: "My dear mind,
why are you so proud of being a Vaisnava? Your solitary
chanting of the holy name of the Lord is based on
a desire for cheap popularity, and therefore your chanting
is only a pretension. Such an ambition for a
cheap reputation may be compared to the stool of a hog because
such popularity is another extension of the influence of maya."
One may go to Vrndavana for cheap popularity, and instead of
being absorbed in Krsna consciousness, one may always think of
money and women, which are simply temporary sources of
happiness. It is better that one engage whatever money and
women he may have in his possession in the service of the Lord
because sense enjoyment is not for the conditioned soul.
The master of the senses is Hrsikesa, Lord Krsna. Therefore,
the senses should always be engaged in His service. As for
material reputation, there were many demons like Ravana who
wanted to go against the laws of material nature, but they all
failed. One should therefore not take to the demoniac activity
of claiming to be a Vaisnava just for false prestige, without
performing service to the Lord. But when one engages oneself
in the devotional service of the Lord, automatically the
Vaisnava reputation comes to him. There is no need to be
envious of the devotees who are engaged in preaching the
glories of the Lord. We have practical experience of being
advised by the so-called babajis in Vrndavana that there is no
need to preach and that it is better to live in Vrndavana in a
solitary place and chant the holy name. Such babajis do not
know that if one is engaged in preaching, or in glorifying
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the good reputation of a
preacher automatically follows one. One should not, therefore,
prematurely give up the honest life of a householder to lead a
life of debauchery in Vrndavana. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami's
recommendation to leave home and go to the forest in search of
Krsna is not for immature persons. Maharaja Pariksit was
mature. Even in his householder life, or from the very
beginning of his life, he worshiped Lord Krsna's murti. In his
childhood he worshiped the Deity of Lord Krsna, and later,
although he was a householder, he was always detached, and
therefore when he got the notice of his death, he immediately
gave up all connection with household life and sat down on the
bank of the Ganges to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam in the
association of devotees.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Ninetieth Chapter
of Krsna, "Summary Description of Lord Krsna's Pastimes."
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