Krishnakarnamrtham-slokas 6 to 10

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6. mandham mandham maDhuraninadhaiH

veNum aapoorayantham

brndham brndhaavanabhuvi gavaam

chaarayantham charantham

Chandhobhage Sathamakhamukha

Dhvamsinaam dhaanavaanaam

Hanthaaram tham kaThaya rasane

Gopakanyaabhujangam

 

Oh my tongue,rasane. speak about Krishna , kaThaya, the lover of gopis, gopakanyaabhujangaH, who slowly, mandham mandham, fills the flute, venum aapoorayantham, with sweet sounds, madhuraninadhaiH , who makes the herd of cows, gavaam brindham, graze in Brindavan, brindhaavanabhuvi chaarayantham who Himself moves among the Vedas, charantham Chandhobhaage, and destroys the asuras, dhaanavaanaam hanthaaram who are the enemies of Indra and devas, SathamakhaDhavamsinaam.

 

Krishna was playing the flute sending out melodious and soft music and he was looking after the cows which graze in Brindavan. He himself is one who moves among the Vedas, says Leelasuka, as the Lord is known only through the Vedas. Besides he is the destroyer of the foes of Indra. Leelasuka tells his tongue to talk about him and nothing else.

 

Indra is know as Sathamakha because by performing 100 AsvameDha sacrifice one could attain the status of Indra. Makha means sacrifice.

 

The implication here is that the Lord Narayana , who is vedavedhya , known through the Vedas and the slayer of the asuras who torment the devas is seen here as a common cowherd tending the cows, and playing the flute, the music from which delights the whole world and he is also posing as the lover of gopis , who treat him as such not knowing His parathva.

 

7.veneemoole virachitha GhanaSyaamapicChaavachoodo

vidhyullekhaavalayitha iva snigDha peethaambareNa

maam aalingan marakatha maNisthambha gambheerabaahuH

svapne dhrshtaH tharuNathulaseebhooshaNaH neelameGhaH

 

 

Krishna was seen embracing me, maam aalingan in my dream, wearing a garland of tender tulsi leaves, tharuNathulaseebhooshaNaH, decorated with peacock feathers dark as a cloud, ghanaSyaama mayoorapicCHachoodaH on his head veneemoole, looking like a rain-bearing cloud surrounded by lightning, vidhyullekhaavalayitha iva with his yellow silk garment around his body, snigDhapeethaambareNa, with his mighty arms like a pillar made of emerald, marakathamaNisthambha gambheerabaahuH.

 

Leelasuka describes Krishna as he appeared in his dream .He says that Krishna came and embraced him with his majestic arms which resembled pillars of emerald. He was like a dark cloud surrounded by lightening with his yellow garment, the peethambara, He was wearing the thulasee garland and was adorned with peacock feather on his head. By this Leealsuka presents to us a delightful portrait of Krishna.

 

8.krshNe hrthvaa vasananichayam koolakunjaaDhirooDe

mugDhaa kaachith muhuH anunayanaiH kim nu ithi vyaaharanthee

sabhroobangam sadharahasitham sathrapam saanuraagam

ChaayaaSoureH karathalagathaani ambaraaNi aachakarsha

 

When Krishna took away the garments, hrthvaa vasananichayam, of the gopis and ascended the tree on the bank of the river, koolakunjaaDhirooDe, a girl, kaachith mugdhaa, saying "what is this," kim ithi, coaxing him again and again with sweet words, anunayanaiH muhuH vyaaharanthee, with crooked eyebrows, sabhroobangam, smiling, sadharahasitham, with shyness, sathrapam, and love, saanuraagam, dragged the clothes, ambaraaNi aachakarsha, seen in the hands, karathalagathaani, of the shadow of Krishna, ChaayaaSoureH the water.

 

The word mugDhaa is used to denote the cowherd maiden which means that she was beautiful and innocent, as all the gopis were.

 

Krishna took away the clothes from the bank of river yamuna when the gopis were bathing and ascended the tree nearby. The gopis became bashful and could not come out. Then they entreated Krishna to return the clothes. Among them one girl tried to coax him with sweet words . her eye brows were crooked out of consternation and she was filled with shame of her state and at the same time could not help smiling at the prank of the young Krishna whom she could not help loving for all his doings. She saw the shadow of Krishna in the water and tried to drag the clothes from his hand.

 

Desika in his Yadhavabhyudhaya describes vasthrapaharana thus:

 

 

niSAthyayE snAna samudhyathAnAm

nikshiptham AbheerakumArikANAm

koolAdhupAdhAya dhukoolajAlam

kundhADHirooDO mumudhE mukundhah

 

When the young cowherd girls went to the river Yamuna in the early morning to take bath and left their garments made of white silk on the bank, Krishna took them from there and climbed the kundha tree with delight.

 

The clothes represent the coverings that obscure the Lord from us. They are several such as caste, learning, clan, form, wealth, body consciousness , sex consciousness etc. Each of these cause separatist attitude and prevent the perception of Lord in everything. The vasthrapaharana denotes the act of the Lord who takes away all these from the devotees so that he can shower His grace. He says in Gita, `vaasaamsi jeerNaani yaThaa vihaaya navaani grHnaathi naroparaaNi taThaa sareeraaNi vihaaya jeerNaani anyaani samyaathi navaani dhehee,'(BG-2-22) meaning , as man discards his old clothes and wears new ones so also the self discards old body and takes new. This will continue as long as we identify ourselves with the body. So to cast off the body consciousness and the other veils that separate us from the Lord is the only way to moksha. Krishna made the gopis forget their body consciousness by coming out of the river and entreat him with folded hands. He smiled at them as though saying that they could not possibly hide anything from Him who is their inner self.

 

There is nothing obscene in this as Krishna was barely ten and also considering the fact that the story was told by Suka who was a born brahmajnani, the one to whom it was told was Parikshith, who has reconciled to end his life by engaging his mind on the Lord, and the audience consisted of the sages. There is no possibility of any base instincts being present in anyone's mind. As it is said that one who meditates on Krishna being breastfed by Poothana will never attain the state of an infant again, and who thinks of him as bound to the mortar will never be bound by karma, so also to contemplate on this vasthrapaharaNa episode one will get rid of his carnal instincts.

 

9.api janushi parasmin aatthapuNyo bhaveyam

thatabhuvi yamunaayaah thaadhrSo vamsanaaLaH

anubhavathi ya eshaH Sreemath aabheerasoonoH

aDharamaNi sameepanyaasaDhanyaam avasThaam

 

Will I become through acquired merit, aatthapuNyaH bhaveyam, in my next birth , parasmin janushi, a flute on the bank of Yamuna, thatabhuvi yamunaayaah, like this one, eshaa, which experiences, anubhavathi, the highest status, Dhanyaam avasThaam, of being placed near the gemlike lips, aDharamaNi sameepanyaasa, of Krishna, the son of Nandagopa, aabheerasoonoH.

 

Leelasuka expresses his wish that he should in his next birth be the flute on the lips of Krishna by becoming a bamboo on the bank of Yamuna and enjoy the same exalted status as this flute which is placed near the lips of Krishna.

 

10.ayi parichinu chethaH prathaH ambhojanethram

kabarakalitha chanchath picChadhaamaabhiraamam

valabhidh upalaneelam vallavee bhaagaDheyam

nikhila nigamavallee moolakandham mukundham

 

 

Oh mind, think of Mukundha, continuously who has eyes like the lotus in early morning, who is wearing the moving peacock feather, who is blue like the sapphire, and is the good fortune of the gopis, and who is the root of the creeper that is the Vedas.

 

Leelasuka implores his mind to be engaged in the thought of Krishna always. The form that should come to the mind is described by him. Krishna has eyes like praatharambhoja, a lotus that has opened its petals in the morning as his eyes are half closed when he is playing the flute. He looks enchanting wearing the peacock feathers, picchaabhiraamam on his hair, kabarakalitha, that is moving in the breeze, chanchath. His body is blue like the sapphire, valbhidhupalaneelam. And he is the good fortune, bhaagaDheya, of the gopis, who enjoy his company. Yet he is not a mere cowherd as he appears to be but in reality He is the Supreme Lord from whom the veads originated and hence Leeasuka calls him the root of the creeper called the Vedas, nigamavallee moolakandha.

 

The word used for sapphire, is valabhidh upala neelam. Valabhidh is one of the names Indra and upala means a stone. Neela upala means blue stone or sapphire.