English
As the lover reunited after long separation besmears the face of his beloved with orange coloured saffron, so he besmeared the face of the east with the most delightful orange rays which brushed away the sorrows of men (charshani). Krishna looked at the Moon, the lover of the Kumud flower, with unbroken disc, glowing like the face of Lakshmi, orange red like fresh saffron, and he looked at the forest illumined with the tender rays of the Moon and he indulged in song so sweet that it ravished the hearts of good-looking women. Listening to that passion-exciting song, the women of Vraja, with minds absorbed in Krishna rushed forth to where their lover was without taking notice of each other, their ear-rings moving violently about. Some left their houses while milking the cow. Some did not wait to see the boiling of the milk. Some did not take down boiled wheat from the oven. Some had been giving food to others, some had been giving milk to their own children. Some had been serving their hus- bands and some had been taking their own food. But they all left their work half finished. They gave up their household duties and, with clothes and ornaments all in disorder, they hurriedly went to Krishna, (Hearing the voice indicative of Sri Krishna, the Gopis be- came strongly inclined to Him, and they showed by their acts that then and there they had complete disinclination for works that had 298 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana the three Vargas, Dharma, Artha and Kama for their object. They left their half finished work and went over to Krishna straight. Sridhara.) Their husbands could not keep them back nor their fathers, broth- ers and friends. Their hearts had been completely charmed by Govinda. They did not turn back. (Obstacles cannot overcome those whose hearts are attracted by Krishna. Sridhara.) Some Gopis that had been inside their houses could not make their way out. Their thoughts had been already devoted to Krishna, and now with closed eyes, they held Him fast in their minds. With sins all removed by the acute pain of unbearable separa- tion from the dearest one, the Karmic effects of good works taken away by the absolute pleasure caused by the embraces of Krishna in meditation, with their bonds completely severed at that very mo- ment, those Gopis gave up their bodies composed of the Gunas, even though they united with Krishna as their paramour. (How could they give up their bodies composed of Gunas while they did not know Kr- ishna as Parama Atma, but knew him only as their paramour, a re- lation caused by the Gunas? "Even though they &c." A thing is not dependent for its properties upon what another thinks of it. Drink nectar without knowing it is so. The effects are there. There is an- other difficulty. The Gopis had their Prarabdha Karma, or Karma that brought about the present birth and its surroundings, and Prarab- dha is exhausted only after being worked out. So with the bonds of Prarabdha, how could they give up their body? "With their bonds completely severed at that very time." But Prarabdha cannot be ex- hausted without suffering and enjoyment. Where were the suffering and enjoyment in this case? "With sins all removed &c." The greatest suffering caused by separation removed all demerits and the greatest enjoyment caused by the embraces of Krishna removed the bonds of merits. Therefore when Parama Atma was attained by intense medi- tation, the suffering and enjoyment of the time completely eradicated Karma and the Gopis gave up their bodies composed of the Gunas. Sridhara.) Asked Raja Parikshit:— "O Muni, they knew Krishna as only one enjoyable and not as Brahma. The Gunas were mixed up in their understanding of Krishna. How could there then be a cessation of the flow of the Gunas?" Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 299 (Husbands, sons and others, even they themselves were Brahma in essence. But a devotion to them could not cause Moksha as they were not known as Brahma. How could union with Krishna cause Moksha, when he was not known as Brahma? Therefore this doubt. Sridhara.) Suka replied:— "O King, I have said before how Sisupala attained Siddhi even by bearing enmity to Hrishikesha (controller of the senses, Krishna.) What of those to whom Krishna is dear? (The purport is that Brahma- hood is eclipsed in the Jiva. But Krishna is controller of the senses. Brahma-hood is manifest in him. He does not require to be known. Sridhara). Bhagavan manifests himself for the Moksha of men though in reality, He is without end, without measure, void of all Gunas and their controller." (Krishna being a manifestation of Bhagavan, there is no comparison between Him and other embodied men. Sridhara.) "Bear any feeling constantly towards Hari, whether it be a feeling of love, anger, fear, affection, kinship or devotion and you become full of Him. Do not wonder at this. For Krishna is the Lord of all Lords of Yoga. All (even the lowest life forms) attain Mukti from him. When the women of Vraja drew near, Krishna addressed them thus:— "Welcome, ye great ones! What good can I do for you? Is it all safe in Vraja? Tell me the object of your coming here. The night is fearful and dangerous animals are treading round. Go back to Vraja. This is not a place for women. You have got your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands. They are seeking you. Do not cause pain to your friends. What more, you have now seen this forest adorned with flowers and illumined by the tender rays of the full moon, where the trees and their tender branches, gently moved by the breeze from the Yamuna, stand in all their beauty. Now go back, O virtuous girls, speedily to your homes and look after your husbands. The calves and your children are weeping. Go and let them have their drink. Or if you have come here, forced by your love for me, it is only meet and proper, for all people have their love for me. Devotion to husband is the one great religion for women. They are to seek the well being of their friends and to bring up their children. The hus- band may be wicked, old, diseased or poor. But those who wish for higher Lokas should not give up their husbands. The connection with 300 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana one not the husband is disreputable and unbecoming. You may bear love to me in other ways than by such a near approach. Therefore go back to your houses." "The Gopis were struck dumb for a time. They became overcome with sorrow. They had given up every thing for the sake of Krishna and they could ill bear to hear these unkind words. At last they broke forth:—’O Lord, it is not for Thee to utter these unkind words. We have given up all objects and sought Thy feet. O Thou difficult to be reached, do not forsake us but please think of us, even as the First Purusha thinks of those that seek Moksha. Thou speakest, O love, of our duties to husbands, sons, and friends as if thou wert a religious teacher, but thou art thyself the goal of those religious injunctions. So let them rest in thee. Thou art the greatest friend of all beings, for thou art verily their own self. What do they care for husbands or sons, sources of misery as they are, who are attached to thee, the constant source of happiness? "Therefore do thou show favor to us and permit us to serve Thee’ Moved by their piteous appeal, Krishna gave his company to the Gopis. Proud of that company, the Gopis deemed themselves supe- rior to all other women on the earth. To put down this loss of mental balance, caused by good fortune and this pride, Krishna suddenly dis- appeared from amongst them. The Gopis became disconsolate. Their hearts had been too much taken up by the gestures and movements of Krishna. So they imitated his deeds and even called themselves Krishna. They all sang loudly together and madly searched for Kr- ishna from forest to forest. They asked the trees if they had seen their lover. They enquired of the creepers, the earth and the deer. Fatigued at last, they again took to reproducing the deeds of Krishna. Some played the part of Pitana or some other Asura, some played the part of Krishna in connection with some of his manifold deeds. They again made enquiries from the plants. They then found out the foot- steps of Krishna marked by the divine symbols (flag, the lotus, the thunder-bolt and the goad). Tracing those steps a little further, they found they were mixed up with the footprints of a girl. The Gopis exclaimed:— "Surely this girl had made Arddhand (devout prayer for the Lord). Govinda left us that he might take her to a secret retreat. Sacred are Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 301 the dust particles of Govinda’s feet; even Brahma, Siva and Lakshmi hold them on their head for the extinction of sins. Look here we no longer see the foot marks of that girl. It seems Krishna carried her here on his back and his footprints are therefore deeply marked. Here He placed her down to pluck flowers and touched the earth with his toes only, for the steps are not fully marked. Surely he placed the girl on his lap here and adorned her hair with flowers’ And what of that girl? She deemed herself very fortunate that Krishna should shew particular attention to her. With this sense of superiority she spoke to Krishna. “I can not walk. Take me to where I like on thy back’ Krishna said, Get up on my back’ But when she would do so, Kr- ishna had already disappeared. The girl was loudly lamenting, when the other Gopis joined her. They heard her story and became very much surprised. (It is necessary to draw the special attention of the readers to the girl, who had made Aradhana of Hari. She is the Rad- hika of Narada Pancharatra and of later day Vaishnavism. Radhika means literally one who makes Radhana or Aradhana. But I shall not touch upon her in a study of the Bhagavata Purana.