The Festival of Sri Nanda's son - 24th August'2000

[Guest guest]

Chapter Nine: Sri Brahma-vaivarta Purana

Sri Nanda-putrotsava

The Festival of Sri Nanda's son

 

1 Sri Narada said: After Vasudeva placed Lord Krsna in Yasoda's home in

Gokula, what did King Nanda do to celebrate the birth of a son?

2 What did Lord Krsna do there? How many years did the Lord stay there?

O master, please describe the Lord's childhood pastimes there.

3 How in the forest there did Lord Krsna keep the promise He made to

Radha in Goloka?

4 What was Vrndavana like? What was the rasa-dance circle like? Please

tell. O master, please describe the Lord's rasa dance and the water pastimes.

5 What austerities did Nanda, Yasoda, and Rohini perform? Before the

appearance of Lord Krsna, where did Lord Balarama rake birth?

6 This recounting of Lord Krsna's pastimes is nectar sweeter than any

other. Especially in the mouth of a poet, it brings new and sweet poetry at

every step.

7 Please describe the Lord's pastimes in the rasa-dance circle. A poet's

words are more glorious when he himself has seen the events he describes.

8 You are a direct incarnation of Lord Krsna Himself. Because You are

His incarnation, You are full of transcendental bliss. You are the guru of the

guru of the kings of the yogis.

9 You have described how You entered the feet of Lord Krsna, the master

of Goloka. Therefore You are a direct incarnation of Lord Krsna. You are Lord

Krsna.

10 Sri Narayana Rsi said: Brahma, Siva, Sesa, Ganesa, Kurma, Yamaraja,

Nara, Karttikeya, and I are nine incarnations of Lord Krsna.

11 Who can describe the glories of Lord Krsna, the master of Goloka? We

incarnations of Krsna cannot understand Him. How can the great philosophers

understand Him. How can the great philosophers understand Him?

12 O sage, Varaha, Vamana, Kalki, Buddha, Kapila, and Matsya are among His

primary incarnations. How many are His secondary incarnations?

13 The primary forms of the Lord are Nrsimha, Rama, and the splendid

master of Svetadvipa. The most perfect, full, most complete, original form of

the Supreme Lord is Sri Krsna, who resides in Goloka, the highest realm in the

spiritual sky.

14 In Vaikuntha He appears in many forms as four-armed Lord Narayana, the

beloved of Laksmi. In Goloka and Gokula He appears in His original form as

two-armed Lord Krsna, the beloved of Radha.

15 The yogi's meditate on His Brahman light, but the devotees meditate on

His lotus feet. How can there be a light without a source?

16 O brahmana, listen and I will describe the austerities of Nanda, Yasoda

and Rohini, austerities that enabled them to see Lord Krsna face to face.

17 In his previous birth Nanda was the ascetic Drona the best of the

Vasus, and saintly Yasoda was his ascetic wife Dhara.

18 In her previous birth Rohini was Kadru, the first mother of the snakes.

Listen and I will describe to you what they did in their previous birth.

19-20 O sage, in Bharata-varsa, on Mount Gandhamadana, near Gautama Muni's

asrama, in a secluded place by the Suprabha river, Drona and Dhara performed

austerities for ten thousand years so they might see Lord Krsna face to face.

21 When after this time they still could not see Lord Krsna, Drona and

Dhara decided to enter a lake of fire.

22-23 Then a disembodied voice, its speaker seeing that they wished to die,

said, "O best of the Vasus, in your next birth, on the earth, you will see Lord

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whom the yogis cannot see, whom the

philosophers cannot attain by their thinking, to whom Brahma and the demigods

bow down. He will become your son.

24 Hearing this, Drona and Dhara happily returned to their home. Taking

birth on the earth, they saw Lord Krsna face to face.

25 Thus I have described the activities of Nanda and Yasoda. Now please

hear the activities of Rohini when she was a demigoddesses.

26 O sage, one time, on the day most suitable to conceive a child, saintly

Aditi, the mother of the demigods sent a message of this to her husband,

Kasyapa Muni.

27 The beautiful goddess, carefully bathed and wearing jewel ornaments,

decorated and dressed herself very elaborately. In the mirror she carefully

examined her face,...

28 ...which was decorated with dots of musk and sindura, beautiful with

patra ornaments and jewel earrings,...

29 ...beautiful as an autumn moon, its autumn lotus eyes splendid with

mascara, its beautiful nose decorated with an elephant pearl, its mouth

gracefully curved in a smile,...

30 ...its teeth splendid like ripe pomegranate seeds, its beautiful always

smiling lips splendid like ripe bimba fruits,...

31 ...and its features so beautiful they charmed the hearts of the regal

sages.

32 After carefully examining her face in this way, the beautiful goddess,

wounded by Kamadeva's arrows, stayed at home, waiting for her husband to come

and looking for him on the path.

33 Then Aditi heard the news that Kasyapa was with Kadru, that he was

sweetly playing with her and resting on her breast.

34 Tortured with amorous desires, and her hopes to satisfy them now

destroyed, saintly Aditi became filled with anger when she heard this news.

Out of love for him she would not curse her husband, but she did curse Kadru.

35 She said: That sinful woman has no right to live in the world of the

demigods. She should leave Svargaloka and go far away to the womb of a human

being.

36 Hearing of this curse from a messenger, Kadru cursed Aditi. Kadru

said: Aditi should go to the womb of a human being, a womb in the world where

there is old age and death.

37 Then Kasyapa said to Kadru: O girl with the beautiful smile, when you

go to the human world, I will go with you.

38 Give up your fears. Be happy. You will see Lord Krsna face to face.

After speaking these words, Kasyapa went to Aditi's home.

39 Powerful Kasyapa fulfilled Aditi's desire, and as a result Indra, the

leader of the demigods was born.

40 In this way Aditi became Devaki, Kadru became Rohini, and Kasyapa

became Vasudeva, Lord Krsna's noble father.

41-43 O sage, what I have told you is very confidential. Now please hear the

birth story of Lord Balarama, who is limitless, immeasurable, thousand-headed

Lord Sesa. By Vasudeva's order, Rohini fled to Gokula to protect Balarama from

the danger of Kamsa.

44 By Lord Krsna's order goddess Maya (Parvati) took Devaki's eighth

pregnancy, placed it in Rohini's womb, placed the unborn child in Gokula, and

then returned to Mount Kailasa.

45-46 After some days in Nanda's house, Rohini gave birth to a gently smiling

son splendid as molten silver, a son who was the Personality of Godhead

Himself.

47 When Lord Balarama was born the demigods in Svargaloka sounded

conchshells, played dundubhis, anakas, murajas, and other musical instruments,

and called out "Victory!"

48 Jubilant Nanda gave many kinds of charity to the brahmanas. The

midwife cut the umbilical cord and bathed the infant boy.

49 The lavishly decorated gopis called out "All glories!" Then Nanda

celebrated a great for the birth of his foster son.

50 Then Yasoda happily gave charity to the gopis and brahmanis. She gave

them oil, sindura, and many other things.

51 O child, thus I have told the stories of Lord Balarama's birth, Nanda

and Yasoda's austerities and Rohini's activities.

52 Now please hear the beautiful story of the celebration for Nanda's son,

a story that brings happiness and liberation, a story that stops birth, death,

and old age.

53 Lord Krsna's auspicious pastimes are the life of the devotees. They

destroy all that is inauspicious and they bring devotional service to the Lord.

54 Vasudeva placed Lord Krsna in Nanda's home, and then happily took

Nanda's daughter to his own home.

55 O sage, I have already described her activities. Now please hear of

Lord Krsna's blissful and auspicious pastimes in Gokula.

56 After Vasudeva left for his own home, Nanda and Yasoda woke up in the

auspicious and glorious maternity room.

57 They gazed at their very handsome son glorious like a new monsoon

cloud, naked, resting on the ground and looking up at the ceiling,...

58 ...His face an autumn moon, His eyes dark lotus flowers, crying and

laughing, His transcendental form resting in the dust,...

59 ...and His two hands leaving impressions of a club and lotus in the

dust. Nanda and his wife gazed at Krsna, and Krsna gazed at them.

60 The midwife bathed the infant boy with cool water and cut the umbilical

cord. The gopis happily called out, "All glories!"

61 All the gopis and brahmanis, young and old, with large hips and the

breasts that moved as they ran, hurried to the maternity room.

62 All gave their blessings, happily gazed at the infant boy, placed Him

on their laps, and praised Him. Some stayed there.

63 Nanda bathed, put on clean garments, and with a happy heart performed

the rituals learned through the disciplic succession.

64 He fed the brahmanas, had them give their auspicious blessings, had the

musicians play on their instruments, and gave charity to the poets.

65 Then Nanda happily gave charity to the brahmanas. He respectfully gave

them diamonds, coral, and many precious jewels,...

66 ...seven mountains of grains, much gold and silver, a mountain of

wealth, many garments, a thousand beautiful cows,...

67 ...yoghurt, milk, rock candy, butter, ghee, honey, many candies, a

flood of laddus, many delicious modakas,...

68 ...land rich with many crops, horses fast as the wind, many betel nuts,

and much oil. After giving this charity Nanda became happy in his heart.

69 To protect the maternity room he engaged many gopis peaceful at heart

and many brahmanas expert at chanting Tantric mantras.

70 He had the brahmanas recite the Vedas, chant Lord Krsna's holy names,

and worship the demigods.

71 Many beautiful smiling brahmanis, young and old, and bringing their

children with them, came to Nanda's home. Nanda gave them jewels and many

other valuable things in charity.

72 Many smiling elderly gopis decorated with jewel ornaments hurried to

Nanda's home. He respectfully gave them fine garments, silver, and thousands of

cows.

73 Books in hand, many eloquent astrologers learned in the jyotir Veda

came to Nanda's home.

74 Nanda bowed to them and happily honoured them. All gazed at the

transcendental infant boy and gave their blessings.

75 After all was done, Nanda, the king of Vraja, had the astrologers

predict what good and evil lay in the future.

76 In Nanda's home the infant boys Krsna and Balarama sucked their

mother's breasts and grew as the waxing moon grows.

77 O sage, pleased at the ceremony for the infant boy, Yasoda and Rohini

happily gave in charity oil, sindura, and betel nuts to the women there.

78 After placing many blessings on the infant boy's head, the women

returned to their homes. Yasoda, Rohini, and Nanda, filled with happiness,

stayed in their home.