Krishnakarnamrtham-slokas43 to 50

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43.agre dheerghatharo ayam arjunatharuH

thasyaagratho varthmanee

saa ghosham samupaithi thath parisare

dheSe kalindhaathmajaa

thasyaastheera thamaalakaananathale

chakram gavaan chaarayan

gopaH kreedathi dharSayishyathi

sakhe panThaanam avyaahatham

 

 

This is the tall Arjuna tree in front, my friend, the road in front of it reaches the habitation of cowherds. The river Yamuna flows near that place and in the forest of thamala trees on its banks a cowherd is tending the cows and playing. He will show the path to immortality.

 

Leelasuka guides the seeker of moksha by this sloka telling him to resort to Krishna.

 

"You see in front, agre, of you" ,says Leelasuka , "this arjuna tree (a kind of tree) and you take the path that is seen in front, thasya agratho varthmanee, and it will take you to the village of cowherds, saa ghoshaam samupaithi.." Leelasuka gives the landmarks for the same by saying that the river Yamuna flows nearby, thath parisare dheSe kalindhaathmajaa, and there is a forest of thamala trees thmaalakaanana, on its banks, thasyaah theere. Then he says " there you will see cowherd tending the cows, gavaan charaayan and playing, kreedathi. He is the one you seek because he will show you, dharSayishyathi, the path, panThaanam avyaahatham, to immortality."

 

 

Here the word arjunatharuH may mean Arjuna and the sloka has reference to Geethopadhesa. This jagatguru who appears like a cowherd is going to show the whole world the mokahamarga, may be the implication. The path from the banks of yamuna to the battle field of kurujkshethra is the path of Krishna who came to Arjuna out of infinite mercy for mankind and taught the Gita.

 

As Leelasuka said earlier , `upanishad arTham ulookhale badDham,'(Sloka 28) the Brahman of the Upanishads has taken the form of a cowherd in order to milk the wild cows (aaranYakas as the Upanishads are called meaning belonging to the forest) of the Upanishads.

`sarvopanishadhio gaavo dhogDhaa gopaalananadhanaH.'

 

44. goDhooliDhoosaritha komalagopavesham

gopaalabaalakaSathaiH anugamyamaanam

saayanthane prathigrham paSubanDhanaarTham

gacchantham achyuthaSiSum pranathosmi nithyam

 

I offer my salutations everyday, nithyam, to the child Krishna, achyutha Sisum, whose pretty form as a cowherd, komalagopavesham, is covered with the dust from the feet of the cows, goDhooli Dhoosaritham, who is followed by hundreds of other cowherd boys, gopaalabaalakaSathaiH, and who goes to every house, prathigrham gacchantham, in the evening, saayamthane, to tie the cows back, paSubanDhanaarTham.

 

Leelasuka further visualizes the actions of Krishna as a cowherd. He goes to the forest taking the cows to graze and brings them back in the evening along with his friends the other cowherd boys. He ties the cows in the respective houses in the evening and his body is covered with dust from the feet of the cows. What could be prettier, asks Leelasuka, than the dusty form of the Lord that shows His infinite mercy in coming down to earth to protect all beings man, bird and beast, donning a costume of a common cowherd and acting the part thoroughly.

 

45.niDhim laavaNyaanaam nikhilajagadhaaScharya nilayam

nijaavaasam bhaasaam niravaDhika niSSreyasarasam

suDhaaDhaaraasaaram sukrthaparipaakam mrgadhrSaam

prapdhye maangalyam praThamam aDhidhaivam krthaDhiyaam

 

I surrender to the Supreme Lord, who is the treasure house of beauty, the source of wonder for the whole world, the resort of all luminance, boundless joy of immortality, (that is Brahman ), the flowing essence of nectar, the result of the merits acquired in past lives of the deer-eyed damsels and the auspiciousness of the wise.

 

Krishna is the niDhi, treasure house of all loveliness, laavaNya. This itself can create wonder for all the worlds. But Leelasuka gives more reasons for this wonderment.

1. He is the nikhila jagath aaScharya nilaya, the source of wonder for all the worlds, because, he is the abode of luminance as the Upanishad says, `thamreva bhaantham anubhaathi sarvam thasya bhaasaa sarvamidham vibhaathi,' that is, all luminous bodies like the Sun and the Moon shine after Him who is self luminous and by whose light all

others get their luminance.

2.He is the infinite joy of immortality, niravaDhika niSSreyasaya rasam because He is Brahman, the existence, knowledge and bliss, sacchidhaanandha.

3. He is the essence of nectarine flow, suDhaaDhaaraasaara, as everything connected with him is nectar , akhilam maDhuram, because He is the Brahman of the Upanishads which declares `raso vai saH.'

4. The supreme self, that is Krishna is enjoyed by the pure-hearted damsels, gopis, mrgadhrSaam, due to the merit earned in their previous lives, sukrthaparipaaka

 

5. He is the embodiment of auspiciousness, , maangalyam, for the evolved, krthaDhiyaam.

6.He is the first cause and the Supreme Lord, praThamam aDhidaiva.

 

46.aathaamrapaaNikamalapraNayaprathodham

aalolahaaramaNikundalahemasoothram

aaviSramaambugaNam ambudhaneelam avyaath

aadhyam DhananjayaraThaabharaNam maho naH

 

May the primal light, aadhyam mahaH, that is dark like a cloud, ambudhaneelam that is the ornament of the chariot of Arjuna, DhananjayaraThaabhaarana, whose lotus-like red hand, aathaamrapaaNikamala, is holding the whip, praNayaprathodha, who is adorned with necklace, haara, earrings maNikundala, and girdle of gold, hemasoothra, which are moving, aalola, and whose body is covered with sweat, aaviSramaambugana, protect, avyaath, us.

 

Leelasuka gives a description of Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna, PaarthasaraThi. He is holding the whip in his hand which is red like a lotus. He is adorned with ornaments on his chest, waist and ears which are moving when he drives the chariot. His body is covered with sweat. His form is dark like the rain-bearing cloud but luminous. He adorns the chariot of Arjuna sitting in front.

 

47.nakhaniyamitha kandoon paandavasyandanaaSvaan

anudhinam abhishinchan anjalisThaiH payobhiH

avathu vithathagaathraH thoThra nishtyoothamouliH

dhasanavidhrtharaSmiH dhevakeepuNyaraaSiH

 

 

May Krishna , with his body exposed ,vithathagaathraH, the horsewhip, thothra, in his headgear, nishtyoothamouliH, and the reins, , between his teeth, dhaaSanavidhrtharaSmiH, bathing, abhishinchan, the horses of the chariot of Arjuna, paandavasyandhanaaSvaan, with water from his cupped hands, anjalisThaiH payobhiH, daily, anudhinam, and scratching them with his nails, nakhaniyathakandoon, protect us.

 

The picture of Parthasarathy is continued in this sloka. He gives bath to the horses himself everyday by washing their bodies with water in his cupped hands. He also scratches them with his nails to relieve the itch. While doing this he has inserted the horsewhip on his headgear and has the reins between his teeth. His body is open as he is in water.

 

This shows the soulabhya and vathsalya of the Lord. It is one thing to accept the function of a charioteer but it is quite another to do all the other work himself, which a charioteer will normally do, like bathing the horses etc., which he could have asked anyone else to do. But the Lord, as Desika has said, not only puts on a role for the sake of His devotees but acts the part in perfection, to prove that he will do anything for His devotees who resort to Him with faith and love. It also showed his vatsalya which extends to all beings, man, bird and beast. This was seen in Ramavathara, in Rama doing the samskara for Jatayu and befriending the monkeys etc, but in Krishnavathara, this love for dumb creatures is exemplary. He loved and was loved by the cows and other creatures in Brindavan and the horse in kurukshethra.

 

48. vrajayuvathisahaaye youvanollaasi kaaye

sakalaSubhavilaase kundhamandhaarahaase

nivasathu mamachittham thathpdhaayatthavrttham

munisarasijabhaanounandhagopaalasoonou

 

Let my mind, mama chittham, full of thoughts on His feet, thathpadhaayatthavrttham, stay, nivasathu, in the son of Nanda,, nandasoonou, who is the companion of gopis, vrajayuvathisahaaye, has beautiful young form, youvanollaasi kaaye, abode of auspiciousness, sakalaSubhavilaase, has a smile like the kundha and mandhaara flowers , kundhamandhaarahaase, and the sun to the lotuses called sages, munisarasijabhaanou.

 

Leelasuka prays that his mind should be engrossed in Krishna, with always thinking about his feet. He visualizes Krishna surrounded by gopis and having wonderfully young beautiful form, with his smile blossoming like the kundha and mandhara flowers. He is the abode of all things auspicious, kalyaananidhi and he is like the sun to the lotuses , that is, the sages because his form appearing in the lotus of their heart causes the rising of the sun of knowledge. `theshaam aadhithyavath jnaanam prakaaSayathi ththparam.'-(BG.5-13)

 

 

49.aranyaaneem aardhra smitha madhura bimbaaDhara suDhaa

saaraNyaasankraanthaiH sapadhi madhayan veNuninadhaiH

DharaNyaa saanandhothpulakam upagoodaanghrikamalah

SaraNnaam aadhyaH sa jayathu Sareeree madhurimaa

 

May He be victorious, sa jayathu who enchants, madhayan, the Brindhavan, aranyaaneem, with his loving smile, aardhrasmitha, and the nectarine flow from his lips like bimba fruit, maDhurabimbaaDhara suDhaasaaraNyaa combined, sankraanthaiH with the sweet music from his flute, veNununadhaiH, whose lotus like feet, anghrikamala, are embraced with joy and horripilation, saanandhothpulakam upagoodaiH, by the goddess earth, Dharanyaa, and who is the embodiment of sweetness, sareeree maDhurimaa, and the prime refuge, aadhyaH sarraNyaanaam, of all.

 

Leelasuka continues the picture of Krishna in Brindhavan. He whole forest is enchanted with his smile and music. His feet walking on the ground are fondled by the bhoodevi, who feels happy and excited.

 

50. vidhagDhagopaalavilaasineenaam

sambhogachihnaankitha sarvagaathram

pavithram aamnaayagiram agamyam

brahma prapadhye navaneetha choram

 

I surrender to the Brahman, who is pure and beyond the comprehension of the Vedas,(yet) who is here has his body marked by his play with the gopis who had their sins burnt because of it, and who acted as a butter thief.

 

Leelasuka while hinting in the previous two slokas that Krishna as seen playing the flute and with the gopis in Brindavan is in fact the Brahman, by the words, muniarasijabhaanuH and aadhyaH SaraNyaanaam, here explicitly calls him as Brahman. Thus His stealing the butter and playing with the gopis are elevated to the state of brahmanishtaa. Leelasuka says that the gopis by playing with Krishna had all their sins burnt and were purified. As already made out in the earlier slokas to think of Krishna as gopivallabha removes our kaama because the union of the gopis with Krishna is the ultimate stage of devotion, bahkthyaaH paraa kaashTaa.

 

Leelsuka refers to Krishna, who is Brahman as navaneethachora, one who stole butter. Besides the fact that to think of him as a chora kills all dishonesty in our mind, the act of stealing butter has a deeper significance.

The butter is the heart of the devotees and he comes stealthily and steals it without the owner being conscious of it. This is true because devotion never arises out of will, saying to oneself that "I am going to be a devotee from now on." It just happens by the divine will. As the upanishat says , `yamaivesha vrNuthe thena labhyathe,' He is attained by one whom He chooses. Sometimes He steals even the heart of those who do not love Him by a swift turn of events because they have done such good deeds in their previous lives.