॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Tuesday, 4 April 2023 - X a.08 - Sage Garga gives the two boys the names Balarama and Krishna. The childhood pranks of Sri Krishna begin to amuse and astonish Yashoda.
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गर्गः पुरोहितो राजन् यदूनां सुमहातपाः । व्रजं जगाम नन्दस्य वसुदेवप्रचोदितः ॥
T: Sage Garga, of immense Tapas power, was the Purohit of Vasudeva of the Yadus At the request of Vasudeva, he now arrived at Vraja to visit King Nanda of Vraja.
After his sincere worship of this Guru, Nanda requested him to conduct the naming ceremony for Rohini's child and his own child. Garga was famous for his mastery of Jyotisha, the science of understanding Time and predicting future events. He said that as he was famous and well known as Vasudeva's Purohit, and also since everyone knew that Nanda and Vasudeva were very close friends, Garga was reluctant to conduct the naming ceremony as it would arouse suspicion about who this new born child was. It would give rise to a murderous intent in Kamsa who all along had misgivings about Vasudeva and Devaki's eighth child, apparently llbeing born a girl. He would now conclude that Yashoda's child was indeed Devaki's eighth, a boy born to destroy Kamsa.
Nanda however begged the great sage to conduct the naming ceremony at least in utter secrecy in the cattle shed so nobody would connect him and Vasudeva with this event. Sage Garga was very glad to comply.
He gave the name Rohineya, Rama, Balabhadra and Sankarshana to the child born to Rohini. Rama because he was the source of everyone's delight, Balabhadra because he would turn out to be mighty and protect everyone, and Sankarshana because he had brought Rohini Vasudeva and Yashoda Nanda's families even closer.
आसन् वर्णास्त्रयो ह्यस्य गृह्णतोऽनुयुगं तनूः । शुक्लो रक्तस्तथा पीत इदानीं कृष्णतां गतः ॥
प्रागयं वसुदेवस्य क्वचिज्जातस्तवात्मजः । वासुदेव इति श्रीमानभिज्ञाः सम्प्रचक्षते ॥
बहूनि सन्ति नामानि रूपाणि च सुतस्य ते । गुणकर्मानुरूपाणि तान्यहं वेद नो जनाः ॥
T: "And, oh King Nanda, this child of yours and Yashoda's is no ordinary child. I can see he was born in different hues before, white in Satya Yuga, red in the next, yellow again, and now he is born dusky and dark-coloured कृष्ण! KRISHNA! He was indeed, at some point in time before, the son of Vasudeva (remember we believe in rebirth). In fact he will acquire the name as Vaasudeva (वासुदेव) (even though in this blog I use the spelling Vasudeva, sorry!). This child is simply remarkable and will become famous by his deeds with many many names. His forms that will be remembered will also be many. "
T: "And, oh King Nanda, this child of yours and Yashoda's is no ordinary child. I can see he was born in different hues before, white in Satya Yuga, red in the next, yellow again, and now he is born dusky and dark-coloured कृष्ण! KRISHNA! He was indeed, at some point in time before, the son of Vasudeva (remember we believe in rebirth). In fact he will acquire the name as Vaasudeva (वासुदेव) (even though in this blog I use the spelling Vasudeva, sorry!). This child is simply remarkable and will become famous by his deeds with many many names. His forms that will be remembered will also be many. "
Note: In Sanskrit, the word Vasudeva (which should be spelt correctly as Vaasudeva) means both the son of Vasudeva and the Lord of all creation, i.e. Bhagavan!
य एतस्मिन् महाभागाः प्रीतिं कुर्वन्ति मानवाः । नारयोऽभिभवन्त्येतान् विष्णुपक्षानिवासुराः ॥
तस्मान्नन्दात्मजोऽयं ते नारायणसमो गुणैः । श्रिया कीर्त्यानुभावेन गोपायस्व समाहितः ॥
तस्मान्नन्दात्मजोऽयं ते नारायणसमो गुणैः । श्रिया कीर्त्यानुभावेन गोपायस्व समाहितः ॥
T: " King Nanda! This child has come to end the suffering of the downtrodden. Those who develop a love for this boy will indeed be fortunate as they will be protected as much as the devotees of Bhagavan VISHNU who will always be protected from attacks of Asuras! Thus, King Nanda, this child of yours is like Bhagavan Narayana Himself in all qualities! This child is replete with goodness, beauty, prosperity and all virtues. Please protect him very well indeed!"
Nanda was overjoyed to hear all this as Sage Garga took his leave.
***
The two boys were crawling all over Gokula soon. Sage Shuka begins to describe their pranks and the unending delight that they gave to all the Gopis. The women would simply not be able to take their eyes off these two. Especially Sri Krishna was more than a handful.
तन्मातरौ निजसुतौ घृणया स्नुवन्त्यौ पङ्काङ्गरागरुचिरावुपगुह्य दोर्भ्याम् ।
दत्त्वा स्तनं प्रपिबतोः स्म मुखं निरीक्ष्य मुग्धस्मिताल्पदशनं ययतुः प्रमोदम् ॥
T: The two mothers, Rohini and Yashoda, swept the two little boys into their arms the moment the infants returned home full of dust from crawling all around, and breastfed them, feeling ecstatic just feasting their eyes on the two boys whose mouths had started sporting little teeth.
***
Soon the boys even took baby steps. They used to gather around other boys and roam the village like daredevils, not caring about anything. They would go and play with calves, holding their tails. The boys would wander near areas where wild animals were sighted. They were unafraid of being mauled by bulls and cows, or dogs with prominent canines.
***
वत्सान् मुञ्चन् क्वचिदसमये क्रोशसञ्जातहासः स्तेयं स्वाद्वत्त्यथ दधि पयः कल्पितैः स्तेययोगैः ।
मर्कान् भोक्ष्यन् विभजति स चेन्नात्ति भाण्डं भिन्नत्ति द्रव्यालाभे स गृहकुपितो यात्युपक्रोश्य तोकान् ॥
T: Yashoda started getting frequent visits from the Gopis with feigned irritation, full of complaints.
"This boy Krishna is unbearable! He lets the calves free at odd times. He simply laughs when we scold him! You should see how he steals and eats butter and curd. He is a master thief and devises new ways to loot them. He even feeds monkeys these things gleefully. If he doesn't get butter and curd and milk, he breaks the pots. If we show anger, he retorts in anger, and pinches our children before running away!"
'Yashoda, he already leads a gang of boys. Willy nilly, he finds his way to all the goodies he wants. We cannot hide them from him. He has devised new ways to scale up to the milk, curd and butter pots we hang high thinking they are beyond his reach. He expertly makes holes in these pots. It seems he can see even in the dark, it must be by the light of the sparkling gems you have put on him as ornaments. Or he hides some divine light in himself."
And so on and so forth.
इत्थं स्त्रीभिः सभयनयनश्रीमुखालोकिनीभिः । व्याख्यातार्था प्रहसितमुखी न ह्युपालब्धुमैच्छत् ॥
T: Thus complained to by all the Gopi women, who were all the time seeing how baby Krishna was standing by with an appearance of being very scared of their complaints and the likely punishment to follow, Yashoda could only surmise what he was up to, smile with delight at her own child, with no intention yet of punishing him.
***
Once, when the boys were at play, Balarama saw Krishna eat mud. He rushed to Yashoda and reported the matter. Yashoda caught hold of baby Krishna and asked sternly,
कस्मान्मृदमदान्तात्मन् भवान् भक्षितवान् रहः । वदन्ति तावका ह्येते कुमारास्तेऽग्रजोऽप्ययम् ॥
T: "What, Krishna, what are these boys and your elder brother Rama saying!? Did you eat mud going to some corner?"
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
नाहं भक्षितवानम्ब सर्वे मिथ्याभिशंसिनः । यदि सत्यगिरस्तर्हि समक्षं पश्य मे मुखम् ॥
T: Krishna said, "NO! Mother! They are telling all lies! If it is indeed true, check and see my mouth yourself!"
Yashoda immediately forced open his mouth and took a peek. What did she see?
यद्येवं तर्हि व्यादेहीत्युक्तः स भगवान् हरिः । व्यादत्ताव्याहतैश्वर्यः क्रीडामनुजबालकः ॥
सा तत्र ददृशे विश्वं जगत्स्थास्नु च खं दिशः । साद्रिद्वीपाब्धिभूगोलं स वाय्वग्नीन्दुतारकम् ॥
ज्योतिश्चक्रं जलं तेजो नभस्वान् वियदेव च । वैकारिकाणीन्द्रियाणि मनो मात्रा गुणास्त्रयः ॥
एतद्विचित्रं सह जीवकालस्वभावकर्माशयलिङ्गभेदम् ।
सूनोस्तनौ वीक्ष्य विदारितास्ये व्रजं सहात्मानमवाप शङ्काम् ॥
किं स्वप्न एतदुत देवमाया किं वा मदीयो बत बुद्धिमोहः ।
अथो अमुष्यैव ममार्भकस्य यः कश्चनौत्पत्तिक आत्मयोगः ॥
इत्थं विदिततत्त्वायां गोपिकायां स ईश्वरः । वैष्णवीं व्यतनोन्मायां पुत्रस्नेहमयीं विभुः ॥
सा तत्र ददृशे विश्वं जगत्स्थास्नु च खं दिशः । साद्रिद्वीपाब्धिभूगोलं स वाय्वग्नीन्दुतारकम् ॥
ज्योतिश्चक्रं जलं तेजो नभस्वान् वियदेव च । वैकारिकाणीन्द्रियाणि मनो मात्रा गुणास्त्रयः ॥
एतद्विचित्रं सह जीवकालस्वभावकर्माशयलिङ्गभेदम् ।
सूनोस्तनौ वीक्ष्य विदारितास्ये व्रजं सहात्मानमवाप शङ्काम् ॥
किं स्वप्न एतदुत देवमाया किं वा मदीयो बत बुद्धिमोहः ।
अथो अमुष्यैव ममार्भकस्य यः कश्चनौत्पत्तिक आत्मयोगः ॥
इत्थं विदिततत्त्वायां गोपिकायां स ईश्वरः । वैष्णवीं व्यतनोन्मायां पुत्रस्नेहमयीं विभुः ॥
T: When Yashoda looked into his mouth, Bhagavan Sri Hari, full of divine glory, revealed what only He could, although He had come for His Leela or sport in the form of a human boy. Yashoda saw then the whole cosmos, including the skies in all directions, mountains, islands, oceans, even Bhugola or globe of this planet, winds, fire, the stars too! She saw the cosmic elements including the celestial brilliance of all. She even saw the astral aspects of the mind, the senses, the three Gunas and so on! How could she see all this within the mouth of her own child, in flesh and blood a mere human!? Her own Vraja child, born to her like all other children? The wonder of wonders!
That very instant, Bhagavan, here called Ishwara, shielded Yashoda fully from his own divinity by the veil of Vishnu Maya. At once, Yashoda was back to her world of Gokula, children, husband, cattle and Gopis. She told herself, " this is all my own fantasy! Perhaps this child does indeed have some special power, inherited from his past Yogic practices. That's all."
***
Listening to these stories fascinated Parikshit. He marvelled at Bhagavan's Leela and the lucky ones who experienced it in Gokula. What good fortune of Yashoda and Nanda! Sage Shuka explained that indeed, the two had been in a former birth Drona and Dharadevi, who were a devout couple and secured a boon from Lord Brahma after their prayers that they would get to have a close and continual contact with Bhagavan which would foster in them unstinting divine love and finally liberate them.
ततो भक्तिर्भगवति पुत्रीभूते जनार्दने । दम्पत्योर्नितरामासीद्गोपगोपीषु भारत ॥
T: "So, King Parikshit, in this birth they were Yashoda and Nanda. They had the utmost love for their own child, Bhagavan born as Krishna. Their unbroken adoration and love for Krishna was their path to liberation. Don't forget it was all Bhagavan's Leela that Balarama and Sri Krishna had incarnated in Gokula!"
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
