Krishnakarnamrtham-slokas 20 and 21

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20. kalakvaNithakankaNam karanirudDha peethaambaram

klamaprasrthapunthalam galithabarhabhoosham vibhoh

punah prasrthichaapalam praNayineebhujaayanthritham

mamasphurathu maanase madanakeliSayyotThitham

 

In this sloka Leelasuka imagines Krishna rising from his bed. As a form of madhura bhakthi the Lord is portrayed as a lover and rises from bed where he was in the company of his consort.

 

His bracelet, kankaNam, sounds sweetly, kalakvanitha, he clutches his peethambara, the yellow silk garment with one hand, karanirudDha peethaambaram his hair dishevelled, klamaprasrtha kunthalam his peacock feather placed as an ornament on his head, displaced, galithabarha bhooshaNam desiring to come out, prasrthichaapalam he is stopped, bujaniruddha, by his consort, praNayee.. Leelasuka says " the Lord such portrayed may shine in my mind, mamasphurathu maanase."

 

This sloka resembles the idea expressed in Thiruppavai of Andal, in which she calls Krishna to come out of his bed and bless them. She beseeches Nappinna, the consort of Krishna not to stop him from coming out because of her love. `Itthanai aagilum pirivaattRakillayyaal thatthuvam anRu,' meaning, "if you cannot bear to be separated from Krishna even now (when the day has dawned) it is not fair. Nappinnai is also considered as Lakshmi herself by the devotees and this line is explained with a great devotional fervour by the commentators.

 

Here also the commentators express the same sentiments as in Thiruppavai as a whole, where Andal is waking up everyone and finally Krishna drawing their attention to the daybreak, denoted by the bugle sound of the cowherds and the sound of churning of the curd.

 

 

21. sthokasthoka nirudDhyamaana mrdhulaprasyandhimanhasmitham

premodhbhedhanirargalaprasrmarapravyaktharomodhgamam

Srothum Srothramanoharam vrajavaDhooleelaamiThojalpitham

miThyaasvaapam upaasmahe bhagavathah kreedaanimeeladhrSah

 

 

Let us meditate on the fake sleep of Krishna, miThyaasvaapam, who has closed his eyes playfully, kreedaanimeeladhrSah, with his lips trembling in uncontrollable smile, on hearing the sweet conversations of the gopis who seeing him exchange teasing words, vrajavaDhooleelaamiThojalpitham and his whole body displaying the excitement with love for them.

 

Krishna sees the gopis coming towards him and feigns sleep. But his body shows his excitement on seeing them due to his love for them. They start conversing among themselves referring to his exploits teasingly which makes him smile. But he tries to control it yet it becomes perceptible slowly. Leelasuka contemplates on this delightful picture of Krishna pretending to sleep.

 

The devotees long to see the Lord open His eyes slowly and look at them. Andal says , `chengaN sirucchiridhE emmEl vizhiyaavO,' entreating Krishna to slowly open his eyes and look at them. The sight of the Lord sleeping is a great joy . Hence the Lord as Ranganatha and Padmanabha is very dear to His devotees. When He looks at us with half-closed eyes, He will only see the devotion and not our faults as when He opens His eyes fully.

 

The sleep of the Lord is always feigned as the world will collapse if He really close His eyes. He is incessantly acting in order to protect the world and His sleep is only yoganidra. Krishna says in Bhagavatgita, `uthseedheyurime lokaah na kuryaam karma cheth aham,'(BG-3-24 ), meaning that if He does not act always the worlds will cease to exist. This is the idea expressed here which shows that the devotees in all places and all ages think alike.