buffet lunch -post 2

[Guest guest]

Post 3

 

Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

We now continue on the second buffet lunch of krishna. Second time, when his

friends wanted some thing to eat while grazing the cows, calves, in the forest,

krishNa sent them to get food from the nearby village where some brahmins were

conducting the yagnam. The brahmin priests refused the food. But their wives

gave the food as offering to the Supreme Lord krishNa for they had the great

deeds of child krishNa. Krishna blessed these ladies. Then these brahmins also

realised their mistake. That is described very nicely in sargam 23 of dhasama

skandham in srimadh bhagavatham. An approximate translation reads as follows:

The gOpaas said: 'raama, O raama, O mighty-armed one, O Krishna, destroyer of

the wicked, this hunger is troubling us, something should be done to appease

it.'

Sri sukar the maharshi said: Thus informed by the gOpaas, krishNa, the son of

dhEvaki, wishing to satisfy some brahmin wives devoted to Him spoke the

following. 'Please go to the sacrificial arena of the brahmins, who are now

performing a sacrifice named aangirasa, desiring heaven, as per vEdhic

injunction. Going there, dear gOpaas, ask for food, telling them that you've

been sent by my elder brother raamaa, and also in my name.'

With this order of krishNa, they, going there, asked as was told, petitioning

with folded hands, fallen down like sticks to the ground, before the brahmins.

'O earthly gods, all good to you. We have arrived here, you must understand, are

sent by raama, following the orders of krishna, please listen.

O finest knowers of the religion, raama and achyutha graze their cows not far

from here, and being hungry, they ask you to supply them with food. O

twice-born, if you have any faith, then please donate food. From the beginning

of a sacrifice until the end of sacrificing the animal, O lovers of the truth,

except for when it is a [sautraamani] sacrifice to Indhra, it is not an offense

to enjoy [or hand out] food.

Thus hearing the supplication of krishNa, they, in trivial pursuit, foolishly

thinking to know better with their ritualistic activities, did not take heed.

Though in essence,

* the place and time,

* the items used,

* the hymns,

* the rituals,

* the priests and the fire,

* the godly presiding priest,

* the performer of the sacrifice,

* the performance

* its dharmic result

all make up the directly visible of the absolute truth of him, krishNa, beyond

the senses, they saw Him in their borrowed intelligence as an ordinary person.

Sukar continued- O chastiser of the enemies, with them not even getting a "yes

or no" either, the gOpaas thus discouraged, returned back to inform krishna and

raama about it. Hearing that krishNa laughed, and addressed the gOpaas, to show

them the ways of the world: 'Communicate to the wives that I, together with

sankarshaNa, have arrived; they will give you all the desired food, as they with

their intelligence reside in affection with Me.'

Going then to the houses of these wives, the gOpaas bowed to them, saw them

sitting there nicely ornamented. With reverence to these chaste women of the

twice borns, the gOpaas said humbly: 'Salutations to you, O wives of the learned

ones, please hear our words. Not far from here, we roam with Krishna. He sent us

here. Tending the cows with the gopas and rama, he came a long way. KrishNa with

his companions are hungry, should be given food by you.'

When they heard this, they showed a lot of excitement that Krishna was nearby.

With their minds enchanted by His stories, they were always eager to see him.

Like rivers flowing towards the ocean, the four types of edibles [chewed,

sucked, licked and drunk] in all tastes, the food was brought, and given in

vessels to their all beloved. Though their husbands, brothers, sons and other

relatives didn't want to think about it, they directed themselves to krishNa.

Having heard and longed for him for so long, praised in the scriptures, that

krishNa was spotted by these ladies wandering with the gopas and His elder

brother in a grove, beautiful with blooming asOkaas near the yamunaa.

 

KrishNa was dressed like a dancer on a stage,

* With His dark complexion,

* golden garment,

* garland of forest flowers,

* peacock feather,

* colored minerals,

* sprigs of buds,

* with His hand over a friend's shoulder

* with the other twirling a lotus,

* smiling with His lotus face,

* His hair over His cheeks

* lilies behind His ears.

[dear bhakthaas, here do you get a picture of the thazhaigaLum thongalum of

periyaazhvaar after grazing krishNa returning home- with same one hand over the

shoulders of another gopa etc]

Sukhar said: Again and again, having heard of the glories of their dear most,

the gem to their ears in whom their minds were submerged, they embraced Him in

mind. Now brought within the sight of their open eyes, for a long time and they

gave up the inner distress that had resulted from their physical identification,

O sovereign of the people.

KrishNa spoke to these ladies, as the overseer of the vision of all creatures.

He spoke with a smile upon His face, understanding that they, getting there to

see Him in person, in that state had broken with all worldly expectations.

'You're most welcome O finest of grace, please sit down, what can I do for you;

what made you to come here and see Me! People of discrimination aware of what's

good for them, most certainly perform directly unto me, their dear most me, in

unrelenting devotional service, that is fully proper and without ulterior

motives'.

'What else indeed would be as dear as that object of love, of which the contact

engendered the dear of ones life force, intelligence, mind, relatives, body,

wife, children, wealth and so forth? Therefore go to the sacrificial arena where

your husbands, the different types of twice-born souls are, so that they,

together with you as householders, will be able to finish their sacrifices.'

The wives answered krishNa: 'You shouldn't speak so harshly this way, O Almighty

One, please be true to Your [scriptural] promise that having obtained the base

of Your lotus feet, shunning all relations, we may carry upon our hair, the

tulsi-garland kicked away by Your foot. Our husbands, fathers, sons and

brothers, other relatives and friends won't take us back and how indeed would

other people then respond? Therefore, for us, whose bodies have fallen at Your

feet, can there be any other destination O Chastiser of the Enemies; please

grant us that!'

KrishNa said: 'Your husbands will not be bad of jealousy. Nor will your fathers,

brothers, sons or other people be. Even the demigods will, on My word, regard

you favorably. Hearing, attending to me [the deity or the gathering of

devotees], meditating and singing about Me, you are of love for Me, not so much

with physical proximity, therefore return to your homes.'

Govinda <../glossary/g.html>, fed the gopas with that very same food in four

types, after which He took a share. And so did He in His pastimes with His

transcendental appearance plow along the human ways delighting with the cows,

the gopas and the gopees whom He pleased with His beauty, words and actions.

Dear bhakthaas, why just I gave the srimadh bhaagavatham as it is, the

description of krishna bulleted above which is most dear to me. I just want to

share that description with you all.

Further these two buffet lunches of krishna are only a poorva peedigai to what

we are going to have in third post. With that, this topic of buffet lunch will

be completed.

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.