Krishna- yadhavabhyudhaya-story of Krishna by Vedantadesika

[Guest guest]

Yadhavaabhyadhaya is the story of Krishnaavathaara

retold by VedantaDesika with a beautiful poetic flavour steeped in

bhakthi. Desika has written devotional hymns on all the

archaavathaaras the deities of all the vaishnavite shrines but none

of the forms of Lord Narayana seems to be so dear to him as His

incarnation as Krishna. Gopalavimsati, twenty verses in praise of

Krishna is the most exquisite work exuding charm and beauty.

 

Yadhavaabhyudhaya is an epic which seems to be an

elongated version of Gopalavimsati as it elaborates on the subtle

references to the exploits of Krishna therein but it is rich in

poetic skill and intellectual excellence. The most significant fact

which points out to the link between the two works is that the

opening verse of both the works is the same. The greatness of

Yadhavaabhyudhaya can be understood by the fact that the commentator

of the work is none other than Appayya Dikshitha, the well known

exponent of Advaita Vedanta.

Vedantadesika starts his epic with the mangalasloka ‘vande

brindavanacharam vallaveejanavallabham; jayanteesambhavam dhaama

vyjayantheevibhooshanam.’ This verse is rich in meaning and brings

out fully the glory of Krishna. It means, ‘Salutations to Him, who

was born on Krishnaashtami, who used to inhabit the Brindavan,

adorned with the garland of forest flowers, self effulgent and loved

by gopis. The four adjectives given to the Lord, namely,

brindavanacharam, the one who roams around in Brindavan,

vallveejanavallabham, the beloved of the gopis, jayantheesambhavam,

born on the day of His avatar, vyjayantheevibhooshanam, adorned by

the forest flowers are rich in meaning as they denote His vathsaltya,

souseelya,soulbhya and svamithva.

 

His Vaathsalya, love towards His dependents is indicated by

Brindhaavanacharam , which is like that of a cow towards its calf.

Brindha denotes His devotees, for whose protection, avanaaya, He

moves about, charathi. This dispels the fear in the heart of His

punishment for the wrong deeds one has committed, svaaparaadha bhaya

nivarthakam. Appayya dikshitha, in his commentary says that He, who

was dhandakaaranyachara, walked in the dhandaka forest for the

protection of the rshis became brindhaavanachara, for the protection

of the cows, in Krishnaavathaara true to His promise

later, ‘parithraanaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrthaam,

dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya samhavaami yuge yuge’, I manifest Myself

in each epoch in order to protect the good and to punish the

wicked.’

 

The cows represent the good who resort to the Lord for

their welfare. Sentiment, rasa, exhibited by this epithet is

adbhutha, wonder that the lord assumes the form of a cowherd and

showers His love to one and all, man, bird and beast. The same

vathsalya as He has shown towards Prahladha so that Hiranya kasipyu

could not harm even a hair on his body, towards Jatayu in

Ramaavathaara and towards all His dependents in Krishnaavathaara

which made Him even to wash and feed the horses during the

Mahabhaaratha war.

 

Valavee jana vallabham, the beloved of the gopis, is the

epithet chosen for the purpose of indicating His Souseelyam,

benevolence. Souseelyam is defined as ‘mahathah mandhaihi saha

neerandhra samslesha svabhaavah, the close friendship shown by the

great towards the humble folk. This quality of the Lord dispels the

fear that He is beyond comprehension. Appayya dikshitha says that

the fact that He who enjoys the uninterrupted union with Mahakakshmi

was also able to enjoy the company of the simple cowherd girls is the

proof of His souseelya. The term Vallavijana is used to denote their

nomad existence as valla means movement. The sentiment expressed here

is sringara.

 

Desika uses the epithet Jayanthee sambhavam to denote the

soulabhya of the Lord, in taking birth in the yadhavakula, which

removes the fear that the Lord is unapproachable. Soulabhyam is

labhdhum susakathvam, easy accessibility. The significance of the

word jayanthee sambhava instead of Devakisambhava implies that the

Lord manifested Himself as Krishna and was not born, according to His

words ‘sambhavaami yuge yuge’ and ‘yadha yadha hi dharmasya

glaanirbhavathi -------thadhaathmaanam srjamyaham.’ Jayanthi also

means jayam thanothi, victorious in the vinaasa of dushkrtha,

indicative of virarasa. It is interesting to observe here that the

words jayanthi and janmaashtami are used only to mark

Krishnajayanthi, janmaashtami avathaara dhinasya jayantheethi

vyavahaarah and all the others are mentioned as Ramanavami ,

Nrsimhajayanthi and so on.

 

Dhaamavyjayantheevibhooshanam relates to the svaamithva,

overlordship.. Dhaama means the self effulgent nature and

vyjayayanthi which normally means garland of forest flowers also

implies bhoothathanmaathra adhishtaana devatha the divinity behind

the elements. The vanamaala here is the maya of the Lord which He

wears like a garland in His manifestations This indicates that

Krishna is the Parabrahman who is the cause of this universe created

out of His own Maya. The Paravasudeva is referred to by this epithet.

 

For a literary work there are four aspects that have to be

specified at the outset. First is the grantha the mention of the work

itself. Secondly the subject matter, vishaya, third is he adhikaari ,

to whom the work is intended and lastly the phala or prayojana, the

benefit that will accrue by the study of the grantha. Here by the

four adjectives given to the Lord in the sloka refer to the above

mentined four requisites of a kavya.

 

The grantha is Yadhavaabhyudhaya, the glory of Yadhava,

Krishna. This is indicated by brindhaavanacharam, the inhabitant of

brindhaavan, Krishna. The vishaya is the story of Krishna denoted by

jayantheesambhavam, born on Janmaashtami. Adhikaari is the one who

has love for the Lord. This is shown by the word vallavee jana

vallabham. Lastly the phala, fruit of hearing the story of the Lord

is Moksha, salvation which is implied by dhaama vyjayanthee

vibhooshanam. Knowing Him as Dhaama the Parabhrahman manifest in the

garb of a cowherd through His maya, vyjayanthee vibhooshanam, one

gets emancipated