Chapter Eleven
Nanda and Yaçodå’s Love for K®ß√a
Next, in Sanåtana Gosvåmî’s heart, feelings of våtsalya-bhåva
begin to come, and he begins quoting
verses describing that
sentiment:
nanda˙ kim akarod bråhman
çreya eva mahodayam
yaçodå vå mahå-bhågå
papau yasyå˙ stanaμ hari˙
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.8.46); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.126)
[Çrî Parîkßit Mahåråja asked:] My dear bråhma√a,
which supremely
auspicious sådhana did Nanda perform, and
which austerities did
the supremely fortunate Yaçodå undergo to
have her breast-milk
drunk by Çrî Hari?
Once, after K®ß√a had eaten some soil,
Mother Yaçodå forced
Him to open His mouth, and when He did,
she saw the entire
creation therein. Seeing so many universes
with so many Çivas
and Viß√us, she thought, “What is this?”
When K®ß√a revealed
His universal form (viçva-rüpa) to Arjuna,
Arjuna thought “He is
Bhagavån!” and with folded hands began
offering prayers, but
Yaçodå didn’t do this. Trembling, she
thought, “Has a ghost possessed
me? Has someone cast a spell on my child?
Is this the illusory
energy of the demigods, or what? What has
happened to my
child?” Rubbing her eyes in astonishment,
she looked again and
111
then it had all disappeared. She thought, “Whose
illusory energy
was this? How did it happen?” She didn’t
consider that “He is the
Supreme Lord!” She continued to see Him
only as a small child.
Being very frightened, she took K®ß√a to
the family priest and
told him, “I saw something very
astonishing within my child’s
mouth. Someone must have cast a spell upon
Him! Please rid
Him of this curse.” The family priest
said, “Don’t be afraid, we
will immediately make Him all right. You
bring some gold, some
cloth and some cow dung, and bring some
cows to give in charity
to the bråhma√as.” After she had brought
all of these things, the
priest chanted the appropriate mantras and
Mother Yaçodå’s mind
was set at ease.
In this verse Parîkßit Mahåråja says, “Considering
K®ß√a to be
his son, Nanda Båbå loves Him so much; he
takes K®ß√a on his
shoulders saying, ‘My dear son, my dear
son!’ and for this reason
he is mahodaya. But greater than him is
Mother Yaçodå, who is
mahå-bhågå – the most fortunate! Although
Hari steals away the
hearts of everyone in the entire universe
and is the nurturer of
all, she takes Him on her lap and feeds
Him breast-milk! What
auspicious activities did they perform in
their previous lives to
receive such benedictions?”
Now Sanåtana Gosvåmî will begin describing
the good fortune
of Yaçodå and Nanda Båbå so that their mood
of service will
begin to arise within us. By hearing the
descriptions of these pastimes,
all the contamination within one’s heart
will be eradicated,
and feelings of spontaneous love for K®ß√a
will be permanently
established there. If we hear these types
of descriptions during the
day and then meditate on them during the
night, then that is
called smara√a, and from that eventually samådhi
will come, so
is there any greater sådhana than this?
When he was hearing the
Bhågavatam from Çukadeva Gosvåmî, Parîkßit
Mahåråja only
continued listening and hardly spoke at
all. Therefore this sådhana
112 Bhakti-rasåyana
is also sådhya, the final result. By
hearing hari-kathå one’s heart
will be completely purified, whereas by
practising any other limb
of vaidhî-bhakti it won’t happen as
quickly.
The Universal Form is an aspect of the
Supreme Lord’s great
divine opulence (aiçvarya), but upon
seeing it, not even a trace of
aiçvarya-bhåva arose in Yaçodå. Instead
her prema for K®ß√a only
increased, and continuing to see Him
merely as a small child, she
bathed Him in cow dung and cow urine for
auspiciousness.
Bhagavån is the personification of
auspiciousness, yet to bring
auspiciousness to Him, she sang some mantras
and gave charity
to the bråhma√as! Sanåtana Gosvåmî says
here in his commentary
that if one hears these descriptions of
Yaçodå endeavouring
to bring auspiciousness to K®ß√a, then
very soon that same auspiciousness
will come to that person. And if a sådhaka
hears these
descriptions with love and deeply
meditates on them, then his
tendencies towards aiçvarya-bhåva will be
blocked and he will be
able to feel pure våtsalya-bhåva.
Therefore any trace of aiçvaryabhåva
was covered by Yogamåyå, and Yaçodå was
able to taste
mådhurya-bhåva (where a devotee never
considers K®ß√a to be
Bhagavån Himself, but merely their dear
friend, son or lover).
Being wonderstruck, Parîkßit Mahåråja is
saying, “Aho! Yaçodå
possesses even more good fortune than
Nanda! Nanda is certainly
fortunate – that is true; but Yaçodå is
even more so because she
was actually able to bind K®ß√a, whereas
Nanda could only later
untie Him.”
In this verse Parîkßit Mahåråja addresses
Çukadeva Gosvåmî
as bråhma√a, and Sanåtana Gosvåmî says in
his commentary
that Çukadeva Gosvåmî is the direct
embodiment of Parabrahma.
Generally a devotee is not referred to in
this way, but he has done
it because here brahma means he who is
speaking such a high
level of hari-kathå that it increases the prema
in others. The jîva
is part and parcel of Parabrahma, but when
he takes shelter of
Chapter Eleven 113
Parabrahma, then he experiences prema as a
part of the whole.
Because Çukadeva Gosvåmî increases that prema,
he has been
referred to here as the direct embodiment
of Parabrahma.
Parîkßit Mahåråja is asking, “Which
auspicious activities did
Nanda and Yaçodå perform to receive K®ß√a
as their son?” What
activities did Prahlåda Mahåråja perform
to receive such bhakti
for Bhagavån? By unknowingly fasting and
staying awake all
night on N®siμha-caturdaçî, in his next
life, while remaining in
his mother’s womb, he heard the science of
the Supreme Lord
from Nårada for sixty thousand years, and
after taking birth he
became the great devotee Prahlåda
Mahåråja. By keeping company
with the spiritual master and the Vaiß√avas
one becomes
like that. For us also: if we observe
Janmå߆amî, Gaura-pür√imå
or N®siμha-caturdaçî by fasting and
hearing hari-kathå all day
and serving the spiritual master and the
Vaiß√avas with great
enthusiasm and love – even if it is not
for sixty thousand years or
even sixty years, but only for sixty
months or even sixty days –
then that is sådhana.
In the lives of all great devotees such as
Rüpa and Sanåtana this
enthusiastic spirit can be seen. But being
wonderstruck and feeling
that it is impossible to perform such
activities in this world
that would bestow upon one the benediction
of having K®ß√a as
their son, Parîkßit Mahåråja is asking
this question. He was completely
astonished at the elevated våtsalya-prema that
Yaçodå and
Nanda possessed for K®ß√a. Bhagavån has
had many parents, but
neither Vasudeva and Devakî, nor Daçaratha
and Kauçalyå, nor
Kaçyapa and Aditi possessed such a
beautiful sentiment towards
Him as did Yaçodå and Nanda. Vasudeva and
Devakî were
unable to taste the rasa of K®ß√a’s
pastimes; immediately after
K®ß√a’s birth Vasudeva took Him to Gokula,
and there His pastimes
began. On the first morning, Yaçodå was
awakened by the
sound of K®ß√a crying, and then an
immensely blissful festival
114 Bhakti-rasåyana
was held. The news of K®ß√a’s birth spread
in all directions, and
people came from all over to see Him. The
residents of Gokula
tasted the rasa of K®ß√a’s childhood
pastimes, but Vasudeva and
Devakî were unable to taste even a little
of it.
In their previous lives, Nanda was the
Vasu demigod Dro√a
and Yaçodå was his wife Dharå, and for the
purpose of obtaining
a very beautiful son they performed very
severe austerities. After
some time, Brahmå appeared before them and
said, “You may
ask any boon from me.” They said, “Just as
parents love a son, we
want to have love like that towards
Bhagavån.” Brahmå said, “So
it shall be.” Sanåtana Gosvåmî also says
that Vasudeva and Devakî
in their previous lives were Kaçyapa and
Aditi, and they performed
austerities until Bhagavån Himself
appeared before them
and said, “What do you desire?” They
replied, “We desire a son
like You.” Bhagavån said, “There is no one
like Me, so I Myself
will become your son.”
Bhagavån gave that boon Himself, and
before this Brahmå
had given that boon. But if Brahmå did not
have våtsalya-prema
himself, then how could he possibly give
it? The answer is that
Bhagavån protects the words of His
devotees, but also, because
Brahmå knows past, present and future, he
knew that Bhagavån
would soon be taking birth in Gokula and
performing childhood
pastimes, so he gave his boon to Dro√a and
Dharå, and Bhagavån
fulfilled his words and later came as
their son.
Were Dro√a and Dharå ordinary jîvas? No,
they were plenary
portions of Nanda and Yaçodå who, for the
purpose of showing
the people of this world what type of sådhana
is necessary to completely
overpower Bhagavån, performed severe
austerities to
receive the boon of having Bhagavån as
their son. Both Bhagavån
and His devotees can give boons, but the
devotee’s boon will certainly
be more powerful and more filled with rasa.
Therefore
Bhagavån fulfilled the boon given to Dro√a
and Dharå, and in
Chapter Eleven 115
their next lives they appeared in their
original forms as Nanda
and Yaçodå and received K®ß√a as their
son.
In comparison to the boons given by
Bhagavån Himself, the
boon given by the devotee will be superior
and bestow a higher
taste. If Råmacandra has taken a vow and
Hanumån has also taken
a vow, then if their vows conflict, whose
vow will be triumphant?
Once, seeing the offences of some man,
Råmacandra told him,
“Tomorrow morning I shall come and
certainly kill you.” So who
could possibly save him? There was no one
who could save him.
Later that day, as Nårada was walking
along, he came across this
man, and seeing his face, said, “My
friend, what is wrong? Why
does your face appear withered in despair?”
The man said, “Råmacandra has vowed that
tomorrow He will
certainly kill me.” Grasping Nårada’s
feet, he cried, “O my Lord,
please protect me!”
Nårada said, “Me? I am not able to save
you, but you can do
one thing: go and grasp the feet of
Hanumån, and don’t let go!
Don’t tell him the reason you have grasped
his feet, but just beg
him to make a vow to always protect you.
Then afterwards you
may reveal to him the specific nature of
your dilemma.”
So this man approached Hanumån, and
falling on the ground,
grasped his feet and cried out, “O Prabhu!
Please protect me,
please protect me!”
Hanumån said, “Hey! What do you want? Let
go of my feet!”
“No Prabhu, I will never let go! Only when
you vow to always
protect me will I let go!”
“All right, all right, I will always
protect you, so what is it?”
“Råmacandra has vowed that before the sun
rises tomorrow
morning He will certainly kill me.”
“Oh, I see! So who told you to do this?
You must have met
some intelligent man… or do you have a guru?”
116 Bhakti-rasåyana
“It was Nårada.”
This is Nårada’s nature, sometimes
creating a quarrel between
Bhagavån and His servants. So when the
morning came, Hanumån
told the man, “Just stand behind me, and
everything will be all
right.” Seeing that Råma was coming,
Hanumån picked up His
club and assumed a fighting posture.
Fixing an arrow to His bow,
Råma said, “Now I will kill this offender.”
Hanumån replied, “My Lord, if You desire
to kill him, it
will only be over my dead body! I have
vowed to always protect
him.” Then Råma retracted His vow, and
honoured the vow of
Hanumån. Amongst all of His qualities, Bhagavån’s
special
affection for His devotees is the supreme
quality. Therefore He
fulfilled the boon that Brahmå had given
to Dro√a and Dharå.
We are more interested in taking shelter
of Bhagavån’s topmost
loving (parama-premî ) devotees. It is a
special characteristic
of those of us in the Gau∂îya sampradåya that
we don’t actually
take shelter of K®ß√a. Even though He is
the one who possesses
all çakti, who is the unlimited ocean of rasa,
who is supremely
merciful, who is especially affectionate
to His devotees, who is
beginningless and who is the cause of all
causes, who is it that we
take shelter of ? Çrîmatî Rådhikå – and if
we don’t directly take
shelter of Her, then we take shelter of
Lalitå or Viçåkhå and
aspire to become the dåsî of the dåsî of
the dåsî of Rådhikå. We
should always consider ourselves to be the
devotee of the devotee
of the devotee, and then K®ß√a will be
more pleased with us. He
has said, “One who says that he is My
devotee is not really My
devotee. But he who says that he is the
devotee of My devotee is
more dear to Me.”
Next comes this verse:
Chapter Eleven 117
tato bhaktir bhagavati
putrî-bhüte janårdane
dampatyor nitaråm åsîd
gopa-gopîßu bhårata
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.8.51); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.127)
[Çrî Çukadeva Gosvåmî replied:] O Bharata,
for fulfilling the
promise of His dear devotee Brahmå, Çrî
K®ß√a, the Supreme
Lord Himself and the destroyer of evil,
appeared as the son of
Nanda and Yaçodå. In comparison to all of
the other gopas and
gopîs, this couple possessed the most love
for Him.
In this verse Çukadeva Gosvåmî addresses
Parîkßit Mahåråja as
bhårata. The ordinary meaning is that
Parîkßit Mahåråja was the
leader of his dynasty after the great war
at Kurukßetra, but the
word bhårata can also be interpreted like
this: bhå can mean
bhavati, and rata can mean rati. So since
the actual meaning is he
who has special rati or prema for the feet
of Bhagavån, just see the
respect Çukadeva Gosvåmî is giving him!
This verse says that in
Vraja there were a great many couples of gopas
and gopîs who had
offspring, and all of these couples had våtsalya-prema
for K®ß√a.
Desiring to taste their parental love, K®ß√a
expanded into the
cowherd boys and became their son for one
year during which
time He tasted that våtsalya-rasa, and so
also did all of the parents
as they nurtured Him. But amongst all of
these couples, Yaçodå
and Nanda still had stronger feelings of våtsalya
for Him than
anyone. The other couples loved K®ß√a even
more than their own
sons, and only when He expanded into their
sons during the pastime
of bewildering Lord Brahmå did they show
equal affection
to their own sons.
He also expanded into the calves so that
the cows could taste
våtsalya-rasa, and of course He was also
the son of Devakî and
Vasudeva. But as described in the previous
verse, no one experienced
the ecstasy which Yaçodå did as K®ß√a
drank from her
118 Bhakti-rasåyana
breasts. Devakî could have only
experienced this for a few seconds,
because immediately after K®ß√a took birth
He was taken
to Gokula. At that time milk came to her
breasts, and K®ß√a was
a small baby of a suitable age to drink
her milk, but He was taken
away. When K®ß√a first appeared to them in
the jail, with folded
hands they had offered prayers; but later,
when K®ß√a returned
to Mathurå and freed them, K®ß√a covered
their aiçvarya-bhåva
by His Yogamåyå. He sat on Devakî’s lap
and cried “Mother,
Mother!”, but at that time she could not
feed Him breast milk.
Eleven years had elapsed, and the
opportunity to breast-feed
K®ß√a had long passed.
So this verse says that this dampatî, this
couple Yaçodå and
Nanda, were superior to all the other
couples of gopas and gopîs
in Vraja. They experienced innumerable
wonderful sentiments of
parental love, but very few of them have actually
been described
in Çrîmad-Bhågavatam. The pastime where
Dåmodara was
bound by Yaçodå is described, and it also
describes the time when
K®ß√a was very small He got up from Yaçodå’s
lap and began to
crawl towards the door. But hearing some
jingling sound, He
turned around wondering where that sound
was coming from,
and was astonished to find that it was the
jingling of His own
ankle-bells. Then at once Yaçodå caught
Him and placed Him
back on her lap. Devakî never experienced
any of this, and no
other gopî in Vraja ever experienced so
many feelings of våtsalya.
The Bhågavatam has described only a few of
these pastimes, but
Yaçodå felt countless millions of
wonderful sentiments, such as
when K®ß√a played and when He drank her
breast-milk. And to
understand her elevated sentiments for K®ß√a
is very difficult.
When Uddhava visited V®ndåvana, he saw
Nanda and Yaçodå.
Nanda was weeping bitterly, and Uddhava
could not understand
why he was crying. Even right up until the
very end of his stay
in Vraja he did not fully understand why
Nanda was crying so
Chapter Eleven 119
bitterly. Uddhava thought, “K®ß√a is
Parabrahma, He cannot
really be anyone’s son! So towards Him,
Nanda has such feelings?
Is this some kind of illusion, or what? I
know full well that K®ß√a
is Bhagavån, so how can I be attached to
the idea that He is
my friend?” Uddhava could only feel aiçvarya-bhåva
towards
Bhagavån, so seeing this bhåva in Nanda
Båbå, he couldn’t
understand it. This is how he felt coming
before the great mountain
of Nanda Båbå’s mådhurya-bhåva. When we
look at a onestorey
building, our head can be held level
looking straight ahead.
But when we look up at a seven-storey
building, then we must tilt
our head back slightly. And when we look
up at a high mountain,
we must tilt our heads back to the point
where if we are wearing
a hat, it will fall off. So looking up at
the towering mountain of
Nanda Båbå’s mådhurya-bhåva, it was as if
Uddhava’s hat of
aiçvarya-bhåva fell off ! Being so
intelligent, a scholar and a disciple
of B®haspati, still Uddhava couldn’t
understand, “Why is he
crying like this? This is certainly a
matter of great good fortune,
that K®ß√a has appeared in his home! Okay,
so K®ß√a told me
that I should give His parents some
consolation. But what will
I say? Will I say, ‘Nanda Båbå, you are so
fortunate! If there is
any person in this entire universe who is
fortunate, it is you!
Please cry more and more! It is said that
if even one tear is shed
for Bhagavån, then one’s life has become
completely successful!’
Devotees pray for the day when upon
hearing descriptions of
Bhagavån’s pastimes, taking His name, and
seeing the places
where He has performed His pastimes, they
will shed tears and
their voices will become so choked that
they won’t even be able
to pronounce His name properly! And here I
see Nanda Båbå
crying, and how is he crying? Very
bitterly, like he will never
stop!”
It is said that if someone sheds a tear
out of love for Bhagavån,
then their life will automatically become
successful and they will
120 Bhakti-rasåyana
become the purifier of the three worlds.
In one place Uddhava
has said:
vande nanda-vraja-strî√åμ
påda-re√um abhîkß√aça˙
yåsåμ hari-kathodgîtaμ
punåti bhuvana-trayam
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.47.63)
I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust
from the feet of the
women of Nanda Mahåråja’s cowherd village.
When they loudly
sing the glories of Çrî K®ß√a, the
vibration purifies the three
worlds.
Why does their kathå purify the three
worlds? The tearful,
deeply emotional songs which they sang to
one another became
verses in the Tenth Canto of Çrîmad-Bhågavatam,
and the scriptures
say that when one attains the darçana of
such a great personality
who is crying in this way, one’s life
becomes successful.
But do we ever cry while describing K®ß√a’s
pastimes or while
chanting His name? So tell me, then – how
fortunate is Nanda
Båbå to be crying, considering K®ß√a to be
his son?
So Uddhava was thinking, “Will I say, ‘Nanda
Mahåråja, you
are most fortunate, so please cry more and
more because by
receiving your darçana today my life has
become successful’? That
will be like adding ghee to the fire! But
if I say, ‘Nanda Mahåråja,
please don’t cry, be peaceful’, then that
will be opposed to what
is said in the scriptures.” This was
Uddhava’s curious predicament,
and it was as if he were trapped. “If I
tell him not to cry,
it will be opposed to the words of the
scriptures and I will be
punished, and if I tell him to cry more, I
will not be consoling
him as K®ß√a asked me to. Should I tell
him to stop crying, or to
cry even more?” He was unable to reach a
decision, so in the end
he mixed them both by saying, “Nanda
Mahåråja, you are the
most fortunate person, but please don’t
cry.” In this way he was
Chapter Eleven 121
perplexed because K®ß√a had instructed him
to console His
parents.
Sitting nearby was another fortunate soul,
Yaçodå. Her tears
had long dried up; the poor woman could
not even shed tears.
Her eyes were sunken in and she appeared
like a skeleton. In one
sense she died on the day Akrüra took K®ß√a
to Mathurå, and
later she sent a message to K®ß√a, “I don’t
even have the qualification
to call You ‘my son’. Now, having gone to
Mathurå, You
have accepted Devakî as Your mother and
Vasudeva Mahåråja as
Your father. For eleven years here, You
were our very lives. As
Your dhåtrî – the one who raised You – I
held You in my lap and
protected You, and did everything one
could expect from a
dhåtrî. Koels lay their eggs in the nest
of a crow, and then the
crow sits on the eggs until they hatch.
When they have hatched,
then the mother koel returns and takes the
chicks to her own nest
and raises them there, and the crow just
remains gazing in their
direction. Our situation is exactly like
that.”
Then K®ß√a sent this message back to
Yaçodå with Uddhava:
“Because you have used the word dhåtrî to
describe yourself,
Baladeva and I should give up our lives at
once! I am sustaining
My life solely to see you again; otherwise
I would die today. We
will certainly be returning to you soon,
because besides you we
don’t know any other mother. Therefore,
Mother, please do one
thing: Father will be crying, the cows and
calves will be crying,
the plants which I planted will be drying
up, and the calves which
we used to take out to graze will no
longer be taken out and will
begin dying. Please look after them a
little; they will even give up
eating out of separation from Me.” Seeing
and hearing all of this,
Uddhava was wonderstruck. Yaçodå was
unable to speak; she
could only softly stammer. The affection
of Yaçodå for K®ß√a, her
våtsalya-prema, was unlimited, like a
fathomless ocean. Uddhava
was not able to give her any consolation.
Our gosvåmîs have not
122 Bhakti-rasåyana
described much of this våtsalya-bhåva,
because there are very few
who are actually qualified to hear it.
Therefore they have kept it
hidden.
The word janårdane comes in this verse,
and two meanings
have been given for it. The one who
destroys whatever is opposed
to devotion and establishes bhakti is
called Janårdana, and ardana
can also mean a prayer. Therefore it can
refer to Dro√a and
Dharå, who prayed to Brahmå for receiving
that Janårdana as
their son, whose prayers were completely
fulfilled, and who
tasted the highest degree of våtsalya-bhåva.
Nanda and Yaçodå’s
bhåva is higher than the våtsalya-bhåva of
all the other gopas and
gopîs in Vraja, and this is the purport of
this verse.
Chapter Eleven 123
Chapter Twelve
Mother Yaçodå’s Bhakti is Indescribable
Dro√a and Dharå’s receiving Brahmå’s boon of having parental
love for K®ß√a is similar to K®ß√a’s
receiving the boon from Lord
Çiva of having Såmba as His son. At that
time in Dvårakå, K®ß√a
performed austerities for instructing
people that by worshipping
Çiva, material wealth can be obtained. In
reality no one can
be K®ß√a’s son – Pradyumna, Aniruddha,
Såmba – they are all
Bhagavån’s plenary portions, but they
appeared in the forms of
His sons. Yaçodå and Nanda Båbå are the
eternal parents of
K®ß√a, but for showing that some
austerities are necessary to
attain love for K®ß√a, the boon was given
to Dro√a and
Dharå. All of the Vaiku√†ha incarnations
are plenary portions of
Nåråya√a, and in a similar way, Dro√a and
Dharå, Vasudeva and
Devakî, Daçaratha and Kauçalyå, and
Kaçyapa and Aditi are all
expansions of Nanda and Yaçodå. Still,
amongst all of the eternal
associates of Bhagavån, the eternal
associates of K®ß√a are the
best.
nanda˙ sva-putram ådåya
proßyågatam udåra-dhî˙
mürdhny avaghråya paramaμ
mudaμ lebhe kurüdvaha
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.6.43); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.128)
125
When magnanimous Nanda returned from
Mathurå, he took his
own son Çrî K®ß√a on his lap and
experienced immense pleasure
by repeatedly smelling His head.
Previously Nanda Båbå was very detached
from worldly life,
but after K®ß√a was “born”, he became
spellbound in attachment
for Him. Before K®ß√a’s birth, Nanda Båbå
never had any need
to go to Kaμsa’s kingdom. But after His
birth some money was
necessary for His sustenance, and for this
reason Nanda went to
Mathurå. There he spoke to Vasudeva, who
told him, “Please,
you must return to Gokula quickly! The
demons will now create
a disturbance in all directions! Kaμsa is
determined to see that all
children born within the last ten days are
killed. Therefore please
return quickly!” As Nanda was returning to
Gokula, he saw the
massive corpse of Pütanå beside the road,
and being frightened
for K®ß√a’s welfare, he hurried home.
Arriving there and seeing that K®ß√a was
all right, it was as
if his very life had returned to his body.
His previous feelings
of detachment could not remain. Taking K®ß√a
on his lap,
magnanimous Nanda Mahåråja time and again
smelled his son’s
head, saying, “Bhagavån has saved You from
great danger!” Then
he heard from his brother Upananda and
others how the råkßasî
Pütanå took K®ß√a on her lap and forcibly
put her breast in His
mouth. She had applied poison to her
breast, so how could K®ß√a
possibly have been saved? Next she flew up
into the sky because
K®ß√a had latched onto her and would not
let go, and she was
thinking that if she could fly to where Kaμsa
was, Kaμsa could
separate K®ß√a from her. She thought that
in one minute only she
could arrive there, but instead K®ß√a
sucked her breast with such
force that He not only drank her poisoned
breast-milk, but
sucked out her very life. Hearing how K®ß√a
was saved from the
hands of death, Nanda’s tears soaked K®ß√a’s
body.
In this verse are the words sva-putra,
which mean that K®ß√a
126 Bhakti-rasåyana
was Nanda’s own son, and also the word proßyågata,
which means
that Nanda was not the actual father of
K®ß√a, but the one who
nurtured Him. Most people consider that
Nanda Mahåråja was
K®ß√a’s proßyågata, and that His real
parents were Vasudeva and
Devakî. Vasudeva brought K®ß√a to Gokula,
and there Nanda
raised Him. But Nanda Båbå trusted what he
saw with his own
eyes – that K®ß√a had taken birth from the
womb of Yaçodå in
his own home. There was no doubt in his
mind, but Vasudeva
also had no doubt that K®ß√a was his son.
But if K®ß√a had taken
birth in Nanda’s home, then how could He
have had loving
affairs with the girls there, who are the
daughters of Nanda’s
brothers, and therefore would have been
K®ß√a’s cousins? How
would this be possible? The gopîs are
actually His hlådinî-çakti,
but He first appeared in Mathurå to
prevent the people of this
world from saying, “Oh, He is performing
the råsa dance with
His own cousins!” So it is said that K®ß√a
is really the son of
Vasudeva, but this verse refers to K®ß√a
as Nanda’s sva-putra, his
own son. What could be greater evidence
than this? Nanda˙ svaputram
ådåya proßyågata udåra-dhî˙ – with
natural, simplehearted
feelings of great fatherly affection,
Nanda took his own
son on his lap and nurtured Him. Here, the
meaning of proßyågata
is “nurtured”.
After the killing of Kaμsa, Nanda remained
waiting in his
Mathurå residence and was feeling very
unhappy. He was thinking,
“More than twenty-four hours have passed
since Kaμsa
was killed, and still neither Vasudeva nor
anyone else such as
Ugrasena or Akrüra has brought me any
news. K®ß√a and Balaråma
themselves have also not come; because
they are mere children
that is alright, but why haven’t any of
the others come? I have
heard that people are saying that they are
actually the sons of
Vasudeva.” Because no one went to him with
any news, Nanda
Båbå was crying in solitude, thinking, “What
will I do? Should
Chapter Twelve 127
I go to Vasudeva’s palace to meet him, or
what should I do?”
Soon after dark, K®ß√a and Baladeva came
alone to him. They
saw that their father was very sad, with
his head hanging down in
his hands. Sitting on his lap and lifting
up his father’s chin, K®ß√a
said, “Father, why are you sitting like
this, alone and silent?”
Looking at Baladeva, Nanda said, “My son,
why haven’t you
come earlier?”
Baladeva replied, “Father, a very strange
thing is happening!
Many people are saying that we are
actually the sons of Vasudeva,
but I don’t accept this. Even if we are
the sons of Vasudeva, we
don’t know any other father besides you!
If for any reason a mother
and father renounce a son, then those who
raise him are really his
mother and father. There are many
different kinds of fathers: the
one who begets you, the one who raises
you, the king, the spiritual
master, the father-in-law and the family
priest. But amongst
them, the best is he who raises and
protects you, and therefore
I am your son only, and I don’t know any
other father besides
you. I don’t want to remain here in
Mathurå for even one more
second; I want to immediately accompany
you and K®ß√a back to
Vraja!”
Nanda Båbå said, “My son, don’t speak like
this! Hearing this,
my younger brother Vasudeva will die, and
Devakî will also die!”
Nanda Båbå said this because he knew that
they really would
die, and therefore he is more magnanimous
than Vasudeva and
Devakî, who didn’t care as much about the
Vrajavåsîs’ feelings
while K®ß√a stayed with them in Mathurå.
He said to Baladeva,
“Six of their sons were killed, and only
with great difficulty were
they able to save both of you. If you hadn’t
been brought to
Gokula, you would have also been slain.
Therefore we are forever
indebted to Vasudeva, so you remain here!
I will take K®ß√a and
return to Gokula.”
Baladeva replied, “I will not be without
K®ß√a for even one
128 Bhakti-rasåyana
second! I consider you to be my only
father, and K®ß√a to be my
only brother!”
Then Nanda Båbå looked at K®ß√a, because
in His childhood
K®ß√a had given Nanda so much good advice.
He asked Him,
“What should I do?”
K®ß√a replied, “Father, may I speak?”
“Yes, please.”
“In My opinion it would not be auspicious
for Baladeva
Prabhu to go to Vraja, leaving Vasudeva
and Mother Devakî in
such a difficult situation. And if I go,
then he must go also.
Therefore if you will give us permission,
we will stay here for a
few days, and then later we will both
return together.” What He
was saying was having some influence on
Nanda Båbå, but Nanda
could only remain silent. K®ß√a continued,
“I am prepared to
go with you now, but then everyone will
say, ‘Nanda Båbå is
very cruel! Even after all of Vasudeva and
Devakî’s children died,
he took both K®ß√a and Balaråma away from
them and returned
to Gokula, leaving them to die also!’ So
please don’t do this.
Kaμsa has now been killed, and we just
need a few more days to
complete our work here by killing all the
remaining demons. You
please return home.”
Concerning this point, Çrîla Viçvanåtha
Cakravartî ˇhåkura
says that a person will stay with whomever
he receives the most
affection from, whoever they are. Each and
every jîva, even a dog,
is hungry for love. It is true that K®ß√a
could not receive the
prema of Vraja anywhere else. He was not
able to obtain even a
fraction of the love that Yaçodå and Nanda
had given Him
in either Mathurå or Dvårakå, and the prema
that the gopîs had
for Him was so pure that He could not find
anything like it
anywhere else in the entire universe. So
giving up that love, He
went to Mathurå? Viçvanåtha Cakravartî ˇhåkura
says, “We don’t
have any faith in that. People may say
that He left Vraja and went
Chapter Twelve 129
to Mathurå, but that can’t be so! He
remained in Vraja in an
unmanifest form. No one could see Him, but
He was there.
“When Akrüra took K®ß√a and Baladeva on
the oxcart to
Mathurå, it was actually their expansions
in the mode of aiçvarya
as the sons of Devakî and Rohi√î that went
to Mathurå. They
remained in Vraja in their original forms,
but no one knew of it.
How was this possible? By the Yogamåyå potency,
which makes
the impossible possible.” Therefore K®ß√a
always remains in
V®ndåvana; this is the special conception
given by our gosvåmîs.
If K®ß√a was ever able to actually leave
Vraja, then it would mean
that the residents there didn’t love Him
the most and that K®ß√a
didn’t love them the most, and neither of
these ideas are possible.
Therefore He never leaves V®ndåvana.
What happened next? K®ß√a began living in
Mathurå, and
all of the members of the Yadu dynasty
returned. Due to fear of
Kaμsa’s atrocities they had fled, but
after Kaμsa’s death they
returned to Mathurå and began living there
again with great happiness.
Meanwhile, Astî and Pråptî, the daughters
of Jaråsandha
who had married Kaμsa, approached their
father bewailing,
“Your son-in-law was faultless! They threw
him on the ground
and killed him even though he did not
fight back!” Becoming
very angry, Jaråsandha attacked Mathurå
seventeen times with
very large armies. K®ß√a was thinking, “Should
I return to Vraja
now?” But He was unable to go, because
Vasudeva saw that K®ß√a
had not been properly educated; He knew
only how to take cows
out for grazing. So first he wanted to
give K®ß√a the saμskåra of
the sacred thread, and for this he called
Gargåcårya to his home.
Everyone, whether local or from distant
places, was invited
to the ceremony, but Vrajavåsîs like Nanda
and his brother
Upananda were intentionally not invited.
Taking advice from
senior members of the dynasty like Uddhava
and Akrüra,
Vasudeva and Devakî had decided before in
the assembly of
130 Bhakti-rasåyana
Ugrasena that, “If the residents of Vraja
are invited here for the
ceremony, then the bhåva of Vraja will be
stimulated inside
K®ß√a and He will certainly desire to
return to Vraja with them.
If that bhåva awakens inside Him, none of
us will be able to
check it, and therefore it is better not
to invite them.” For the
ceremony, K®ß√a had His head shaved,
leaving only a çikhå.
Wearing wooden sandals and taking a staff,
He assumed the full
dress of a brahmacårî. Then Gargamuni gave
Him the gåyatrîmantra
and the sacred thread, and putting the
cloth for begging
alms around His neck, said, “My dear son,
now beg some alms.”
Previously, in Vraja, Yaçodå had told K®ß√a,
“When You
receive the sacred thread, we will fill
Your begging cloth with
jewels.” Now K®ß√a remembered that
occasion, and in that great
assembly He anxiously started looking in
all directions, “Where
is My mother?” At the ceremony, Devakî was
fully decorated in
her best attire, sitting in the front to give
K®ß√a alms. And K®ß√a
was anxiously looking around, “Where is My
mother? Where is
My mother?” But not seeing her, acute
remembrance of Yaçodå
came to Him, and He thought, “My mother,
somewhere in
Nanda-bhavana, will be standing alone by
the door. Sometimes
she will be looking inside the house, and
sometimes she will be
looking outside. She will be crying, not
knowing where I am and
wondering, ‘What is my son doing at this
moment?’ And here
I am, accepting this sacred thread amidst
a joyous celebration.”
Crying out, “Mother! Mother!” K®ß√a fell
to the ground, unconscious.
All of the excitement of the occasion and
the giving and
taking of alms immediately stopped, and
everyone ran to K®ß√a
and lifted Him up. Witnessing this
spectacle, the members of the
Yadu dynasty said, “Just see how strong
His attachment is to
Vraja! He should be sent far away for His
education! He should
be sent to Ujjain, and there He can start strictly
following His
vows and the instructions of His spiritual
master. He will stay
Chapter Twelve 131
there as long as the guru sees fit, and
then upon returning here,
His nature will have changed, and He will
understand that He is
really the son of Vasudeva.” So they sent
Him there.
Somehow the Vrajavåsîs came to know of all
this and said,
“Considering Him to be their own son, they
have given Him the
sacred thread? Forcibly they have made Him
a kßatriya through
the sacred thread ceremony? And they have
cruelly sent Him to
Ujjain to receive His education from Såndîpani
Muni? Wearing
horizontal markings on his forehead,
Såndîpani Muni is an
impersonalist worshipper of Ça∫kara! Why
have they sent K®ß√a
to him?” Yogamåyå had made the arrangement
that K®ß√a be
sent to Såndîpani, because if He had been
sent to a Vaiß√ava, the
Vaiß√ava would have recognised Him.
Therefore He was sent to
a devotee of Çiva who would not recognise
Him, and His identity
would not be revealed. K®ß√a was sent to Ujjain, and in sixty-four
days He learned sixty-four arts.
When K®ß√a returned from there, He sent
Uddhava to Vraja.
After speaking with Uddhava, one of the gopîs
began speaking to
a bee, considering it to also be a
messenger from K®ß√a:
api bata madhu-puryåm årya-putro ’dhunåste
smarati sa pit®-gehån saumya bandhüμç ca
gopån
kvacid api sa kathå na˙ ki∫karî√åμ g®√îte
bhujam aguru-sugandhaμ mürdhny adhåsyat
kadå nu
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.47.21)
Now that K®ß√a has completed His studies
at the åçrama of
Såndîpani, will He be coming here?
Certainly He won’t be able
to stay in Mathurå! Is He on the road
coming here right now? He
told Me over two months ago that He will
be returning ‘the day
after tomorrow’, but still He has not
come. Does He ever remember
us at any time? Does He remember us as
those who string
wonderful flower garlands for Him? Does He
remember, ‘Oh,
the gopîs’ beauty defeats that of even the
most beautiful women
132 Bhakti-rasåyana
in the world!’? Does He ever remember us
in that way? Or does
He remember us even in a derogatory
manner? ‘Oh, yes, those
gopîs are foolish girls who work with milk
products and don’t
know anything.’ When He hears a song or
sees some dancing,
does He remember us and the sentiments we
shared, the love of
His insignificant dåsîs? When will He
return and make us fearless
by placing His aguru-scented hands on our
heads, and putting
His long arms around our necks as He did
during the råsa-lîlå ?”
Similarly, Nanda Båbå and all the
residents of Vraja had
extremely strong feelings for K®ß√a from
His very childhood,
and although He didn’t send them any news
from Mathurå or
Dvårakå, in the end, when it was the
appropriate time for süryapüjå
at Kurukßetra after the war there, without
being called,
Nanda Båbå, Yaçodå, the gopîs and all the
residents of Vraja went
there and at last met Him again.
In the verse we are discussing, it says sva-putram.
The word sva,
meaning “one’s own”, is used because
otherwise the word putra
could mean that K®ß√a was the adopted son
of Nanda. So this
verse says, “Taking his own son” – not
taking the son of Vasudeva
– “he repeatedly embraced and kissed Him.”
And because of
his great affection for K®ß√a, Nanda
experienced paramam, that
supreme spiritual ecstasy which even
Vasudeva never felt. Or
another meaning of paramaμ mudam can be
that Nanda felt that
ecstasy which even Mahå-Lakßmî, who is
worshipful to all devotees,
could not attain.
Udåra-dhî˙ – Nanda Båbå was very generous
and magnanimous.
On the day of K®ß√a’s birth festival, he
gave cows, jewels,
cloth and everything he had in charity to
the bråhma√as. Udåra
can also mean greatly intelligent. If he
hadn’t been highly intelligent,
he wouldn’t have asked Brahmå only for the
boon of having
that most elevated våtsalya-prema for
Bhagavån. He didn’t ask for
an ordinary son, nor did he even ask to
have Bhagavån as his son,
Chapter Twelve 133
but he asked only for bhagavad-bhakti.
This is the proper yearning
– begging for bhakti, for prema. The åcåryas
in our sampradåya
don’t consider that obtaining K®ß√a is the
ultimate objective;
they consider that obtaining k®ß√a-prema is
the ultimate objective.
Especially the k®ß√a-prema of the
Vrajavåsîs, and within
that, especially the prema of the gopîs.
And within that, the prema
of Rådhå has been emphasised – to have prema
for K®ß√a as Rådhåvallabha.
Nanda begged only for bhagavad-bhakti, not
for having a son.
Vasudeva prayed, “We desire a son like You”
but Nanda prayed,
“We desire to have våtsalya-prema for You.”
When Brahmå had
offered the boon to Dro√a and Dharå, Dro√a
said, “Please first
ask my wife what she desires.” Dharå
replied, “When Parabrahma
Himself takes birth in this world and
performs His wonderful
human-like pastimes, we desire to have
great devotion for Him.”
Both a mother and father will love their
son, but the mother
will love him more. The mother actually nurtures
the child, while
the father provides all the necessities
such as clothing and food.
If during the night the father’s sleep is
broken by the child’s
crying for even one moment, he may desire
to even put the child
outside of the house! But the mother will
stay awake all night
if necessary feeding the child milk,
comforting him and lulling
him back to sleep. The mother is ready to
face any hardship, and
therefore she looks after the child in a
way that is not possible for
the father.
Nanda once went to Mathurå to meet with
Vasudeva concerning
the taxes which had to be given to Kaμsa,
and one full day
elapsed before he returned to Vraja. But
Yaçodå couldn’t tolerate
being away from K®ß√a for even one moment,
and therefore
Yaçodå’s affection for K®ß√a was greater
than that of Nanda.
When Uddhava visited Vraja, Nanda Båbå was
able to converse
134 Bhakti-rasåyana
with him a little, but Yaçodå could not.
She couldn’t possibly
have spoken in her condition; she was
simply lying on the ground
nearby and bitterly weeping.
When Brahmå stole the cowherd boys and
calves, K®ß√a
assumed all of their forms for one year
and drank the milk of the
motherly gopîs and cows. Describing the
glories of those motherly
gopîs and cows is very difficult, so what
to speak of describing
the glories of Yaçodå? With great prema she
fed K®ß√a milk for
the entire time He was residing in
V®ndåvana, and her glories are
unlimited and unfathomable. If someone
attains even a small
particle of bhakti for K®ß√a, then they
feel that their lives have
become completely fulfilled. So what to
speak of Yaçodå? I don’t
know if we even have the courage to
attempt to describe her
bhakti.
After K®ß√a left V®ndåvana for Mathurå,
Mother Yaçodå
stopped doing all housework. The kitchen
remained unclean, all
the pots were upside-down and there were
cobwebs everywhere.
Who would she cook for? When K®ß√a was
present, with great
delight she would cook for Him, but she
felt that with K®ß√a
gone there was no one to cook for. She
began displaying the characteristics
of someone who is approaching old age, and
on one
very hot afternoon, when she was feeling
particularly unhappy,
remembrance of so many of K®ß√a’s
childhood pastimes began
coming to her, and she was at once
submerged in bhåva. Inside
the house were K®ß√a’s clothing and many
of His toys, like toy
cows and tiny bamboo flutes. She collected
all of these in a cloth
sack and leaving the house, began to walk
away. Then one of her
friends who lived nearby approached her
and said, “Sakhî, where
are you going?” Seeing that she was going
somewhere, others
gathered around her and asked, “Mother,
where are you going?”
Previously she was unable to even speak;
whenever she would
Chapter Twelve 135
desire to speak, she would just become
choked up with emotion
and could only cry. But now she said, “I
am going to wherever
my Kanhaiyå is.”
“What? Where is your Kanhaiyå? This is
Nandagråma, and He
is in Mathurå! It is an extremely hot
afternoon, the hot sun is
bearing down, and the ground will
certainly burn your feet, so
how will you go anywhere?”
“I cannot live without Him.”
“So going to Mathurå, then what will you
do?”
“I will go there, and arriving in the
reception room, I will say,
‘I desire to meet Queen Devakî.’ And if
someone brings me to
Devakî, then I will fall at her feet and
say, ‘I will become your
maidservant birth after birth. I will
serve your child – He is not
my child – and I will cook for you both. I
will become your
maidservant for all time. Please keep me
in your palace, where
I will eat only your remnants and always
serve you. That is all
I desire.’” Saying that, she became
overwhelmed with emotion
and fell down right there; she had that
much love for the Lord as
her son!
The Vraja devotees have the highest level
of love for K®ß√a.
Their love never comes and goes as the
love in this world does;
they are all eternal associates of K®ß√a,
and their prema is like a
fathomless ocean. On rainy days, even
though the rivers swell and
flow even stronger towards the ocean, the
ocean itself never
swells. And on dry days it never
diminishes; so for the fathomless
ocean, swelling and diminishing never
occurs. It is the same with
the love of these devotees, and Nanda and
Yaçodå’s prema for
K®ß√a is always taking new and variegated
forms.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swami jis great Devotees , Philosophic
Scholars, Purebhakti dot com for
the collection)
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