Remembrance of the Vrindaban pastimes

[Guest guest]

On 20 Jan 2000, Vidura Priya wrote:

> Regarding Krishna's wearing shoes, I remembered a pastime. Once Mother

YazOdA

> asked Krishna to put on shoes when He takes His 900,000 cows in the forest,

to

> protect Him from thorns and small rocks on the path.

This perpetual anxiety of Krishna's mother is also a perennial concern

for several of our Gaudiya vaishnava poets, who describe how she daily

instructs Balarama to watch out for His younger brother carefully, since

Krishna isn't yet so strong or experienced as Balarama. Of course, Krishna

sometimes likes to beat His chest to show that He indeed has sufficient

strength, but this doesn't pacify Yashoda, who tells Baladeva to remember to

keep Krishna always in between Him and the other boys, so that Krishna doesn't

get off-task, as small children so often do. She doesn't want Him to stray

from the path and hurt His little, pink, lotus-petal feet. Nor could she ever

contain her grief were He to wander off and get lost while chasing a calf in

the marshes. So just imagine what she must have felt when one day the local

children all came running in and reported that Krishna was tightly wrapped

within the coils of Kaliya-naga down at the Yamuna!

With apprehensions such as these, every long, long day drags on and on

and on and on and on and on, for the residents of Vrindavan, as they wait for

Krishna to return from His go-caran lila. They all constantly worry about His

welfare in this way, eagerly looking for any signs of Him as the afternoon

wears on. Mata Yashoda even sends some of the taller gopis (who might be able

to see farther) up to the roof of Nandagram's palace, as lookouts, so that

they might immediately report to her as soon as one of them spots a cloud of

"go-dhuli" (cow dust) off in the distance. When that happens, all of

Vrindavan is at once electrified with the excitement of Krishna's immanent

return, and full of love, they all begin preparations to greet Him and offer

Sandhya-arati.

 

MDd