by Bibek Debroy
Shri-Shuka said, ‘The creator of the universe 73 praised the lord in this way. He bowed down at his feet and circumambulated him thrice. He then returned to his own desired abode. After granting Svayambhu permission, the illustrious one brought the original calves back to the sandy bank, where his friends were, just as they had been before. O king! He was the lord of their lives and in the inner cores of their atmans. Though they had been separated from him for an entire year, because of Krishna’s maya, they thought that it had only been half a kshana. Indeed, if the intelligence is confounded by his maya, what does one not forget in this world? He constantly confounds the entire universe and makes one forget one’s own self. The well-wishers welcomed Krishna and said, “You have returned quickly. We have not eaten a single morsel. It is best that we should eat together.” Hrishikesha laughed and, along with the boys, ate. When they were returning from the forest to Vraja, he showed them the python’s skin. His body was adorned with peacock feathers, flowers and many kinds of minerals from the forest. There was the great sound of flutes, whistles made out of leaves and horns, as if there was a festival. He called out to the calves and they chanted about his sacred deeds. In the midst of the festivities, enhancing the delight of the gopis, he entered the settlement of cowherds. Having gone to Vraja, the boys chanted, “This one, the son of Yashoda and Nanda, has killed a giant serpent today and has saved us.”’
The king asked, ‘O brahmana! How could there have been this love for Krishna? This is unprecedented. This kind of love doesn’t exist for one’s own son, not to speak of a person who is someone else’s son. Please speak about this.’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘O king! Among all creatures, one’s own self is loved the most. Everything else, children, wealth and other things are loved because they belong to one’s own self. O Indra among kings! Each embodied being loves his own respective self. Sons, wealth, homes and other things are loved because of the sense of ownership. O supreme among royals! For people who identify with the body, there is nothing that is loved as much as the body and everything else follows. If a person considers the body as “mine” and not as “me”, it will not be loved that much. Even when the body decays, the desire to be alive remains strong. Therefore, for all embodied beings, his own atman should be loved the most. All mobile and immobile objects in the universe are for that purpose alone. Know that Krishna is the atman who exists in the atmans of all embodied beings. For the welfare of the universe, he uses his maya and appears in the form of an embodied being. There are those who know all mobile and immobile objects in this world as Krishna. Everything is a form of the illustrious one and there is nothing other than him. For every object that exists, the existence depends on the cause. But the illustrious Krishna is the cause behind all causes. Therefore, there is nothing that is distinct from him. His lotus feet are like a boat. Murari 74 is auspicious and famous. He is the great destination. Those who resort to his feet cross over the ocean of samsara, as if it is a puddle, 75 and reach the supreme destination. At every step, they do not face any dangers. I have thus told you everything that you asked me about this. Hari did this when he was five years old, but it was not talked about until he was six years old. This was Murari’s conduct with his well-wishers, his meal on the pasture and his slaying of Agha. His form, superior to the manifest one, was thus extolled and praised by Aja. A man who hears about it, or chants it, obtains everything that he desires. This is the way those two 76 played as children. As children, this is the way they spent their time in Vraja. They played hide-and-seek, built bridges and leapt over them like monkeys.’
Chapter 10(15)
Shri-Shuka said, ‘Those two attained the age of pouganda in Vraja. 77 They were then approved as the tenders of animals. 78 Along with their friends, they herded cows and the marks of their feet made Vrindavana auspicious. On one occasion, along with Bala, Madhava was playing on his flute. He was surrounded by gopas who chanted about his fame. With the animals in front of him, he entered a blossoming forest, to sport there and to find pasture for the animals. It was full of beautiful sounds created by bees, animals and birds. There were pools of water, as clean as the minds of great people. There was a breeze that was fragrant with the scent of lotuses. On seeing this, the illustrious one’s mind turned to enjoying himself. He saw the beauty of the red and delicate foliage. The tops of the branches of trees were laden with flowers and fruits and seemed to bend down, wishing to touch his feet. Seeing this, the original being was delighted. He smiled and spoke to his elder brother.
‘The illustrious one said, “O supreme among gods! This is wonderful. Your lotus feet are worshipped by the immortals. On their own, the tops of the branches are bowing down at your feet and offering flowers and fruits to you. They will thus destroy the darkness that has led to their being born as trees. O one who is a tirtha 79 for all the worlds! The wind is singing about your fame. O original being! It is following you and worshipping you at every step. They are probably large numbers of sages who are prominent among your devotees. O unblemished one! Even though you have hidden yourself in the forest, you are their divinity and they are not abandoning you. O one who should be worshipped! The peacocks are rejoicing and are worshipping you. With loving glances, like gopis, the does are greeting you. With hymns, large numbers of cuckoos are welcoming your arrival in their homes. These residents of the forest are fortunate. Their nature is like that of virtuous people. The earth is fortunate today and so are the grass and plants, because they have touched your feet. The trees and creepers have been touched by your hands. You have cast compassionate glances towards the rivers, the mountains, the birds and the animals. You have embraced the gopis between your arms, a spot that is desired by Shri.”’
Shri-Shuka continued, ‘Krishna’s mind was delighted at the beauty of Vrindavana and with the animals. Near the mountain, 80 the animals grazed along the banks of the river and with his followers, he himself sported. Sometimes, wearing garlands, he sang along with Samkarshana, when the bees, intoxicated with the honey, buzzed. Sometimes, he imitated the joyous notes of the swans. Sometimes, he danced, mimicking the dancing of the peacocks and causing laughter. His voice rumbled like the deep thunder of the clouds. Sometimes, by name, he cheerfully called out to animals that had strayed far away. This brought pleasure to the minds of the cows and the cowherd boys. He imitated the tones of chakoras, krounchas, chakravakas, bharadvajas, peacocks and other creatures. 81 Sometimes, he seemed to be scared of tigers and lions. Sometimes, he would be exhausted from playing and like a gopa, would lie down, using a gopa’s lap as a pillow. When he had himself rested, he would tend to his elder brother by massaging his feet and doing other things. Sometimes, the cowherd boys sang and danced. They moved around, pretending to fight with each other. Holding each other’s hands, those two laughed and applauded these activities. Sometimes, he would be exhausted from the wrestling. He would make beds out of tender leaves and lie down near the roots of trees. Like a gopa, he would use another gopa’s lap as a pillow. Some massaged the great-souled one’s feet. Others, cleansed of all sin, fanned him with fans. O great king! Others gently sang delightful songs that were appropriate for the great-souled one, their minds filled with affection for him. His progress is mysterious and using his own maya, he was born as the son of a gopa and enacted out an appropriate kind of conduct. His tender feet had been attended to by Rama. However, like a villager, he enjoyed himself with other villagers. On some occasions, he acted like the lord.
‘There was a cowherd named Sridama and he was Rama and Keshava’s friend. Full of affection, he spoke to Subala, Stoka, Krishna and the other gopas. “O Rama! O mighty-armed one! O Rama! O Krishna! O destroyer of the wicked! Not very far from here, there is an extremely large forest and it is full of rows of palm trees. A large number of fruits have fallen down there and continue to fall down. However, those are all seized by the evil-souled Dhenuka. O Rama! O Krishna! He is an asura and has descended here in the form of a donkey. He is surrounded by many of his oth
er relatives, who are exactly like him in strength. O slayer of enemies! He has eaten humans. Therefore, humans are terrified of him. The large number of animals don’t go there either and the place is avoided by flocks of birds. There is fragrant fruit there and we have never tasted anything like that earlier. It is that fragrant scent that is spreading everywhere and it can be felt here too. O Krishna! Our minds are tempted because of that fragrance and there is a great desire. Give us those fruits. O Rama! If it so pleases you, let us go there.” Hearing the words of their well-wisher, those two wanted to bring pleasure to their well-wishers. Therefore, surrounded by the gopas, those two lords went to the forest of palm trees. Bala entered and started to shake the palm trees with his arms. Like a crazy elephant in his energy, he made the fruits fall down. The asura that was in the form of a donkey heard the sound of the fruits falling down. He rushed towards the spot, making the surface of the ground and the trees tremble. The powerful one met Bala and struck him on the chest with his two hind legs. Emitting sounds of braying, the deceitiful one then withdrew a bit. O king! The donkey approached again and stood there, with his face turned away. Standing on two legs, he angrily struck out with his hind legs towards Bala. He seized both of those hind legs in one hand. He whirled him around and hurled him on the top of a tree, so that he lost his life. Struck in this way, the large top of that huge palm tree trembled. It shattered and made another next to it tremble. That too broke and made an adjoining one tremble. So it went on. As a result of Bala’s playing, the palm tree was struck by the donkey’s dead body. All of them started to tremble, as if they had been struck by a gigantic storm. Since he is the illustrious Ananta, the lord of the universe, this is not extraordinary. O dear one! Like the warp and the woof of a piece of woven cloth, the entire universe is woven into him. There were other relatives of Dhenuka. With their relative having been killed, all of them angrily attacked Krishna and Rama. O king! As they descended, Krishna and Rama toyed with them. They seized them by their hind legs and flung them on the tops of the trees. The earth was resplendent, covered with heaps of fallen fruit, the tops of trees and the dead bodies of daityas. It resembled the sky, covered with clouds. The gods and the others heard about this extremely great deed. They showered down flowers, played on musical instruments and uttered words of praise. Thereafter, having lost their fear, humans ate the fruit of palm trees. With Dhenuka having been killed, animals grazed on the grass in that forest. The lotus-eyed Krishna’s account is one that is auspicious to hear. Praised and followed by the gopas, along with his elder brother, he returned to Vraja.