Krishnanandalahari-Yadhavabhyudhaya of vedantadesika-

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Krishna the cowherd.

 

Nandha sent Krishna and Balarama to tend the cattle Desika says,

ananya thanthrah svayamEva dhEvAn

padmAsanAdheen prajanayya rakshan

sa rakshakah seerabhrtha saha Aseeth

nEthA gavAm nandhaniyogavarthee.

 

The one who created the devas including Brahma and is their protector, obeyed the command of Nandha and became a cowherd along with Balarama.YasOdha worried over his tender feet becoming hurt with the stony path of the forest as Periazvar says, 'kudaiyum seruppum kodAdhE----kodiyEn en piLLaiyai pOkkinEn ellE pAvame' imagining himself as YasOdha.

 

Desika says that the vedas themselves became the cows when their protector became a cowherd. The cows being the personification of the vedas, the supreme Being, paramapurusha was their rakshaka.

 

gOpAyamAnE purushE parasmin gOroopathAm vEdhagirO bajanthyah

The sounds made by them when they touched his feet with their mouths echoed the words pronounced in samagana.

 

bhavyairasEvantha padham thadheeyam

sthObha prathicchandhanibhaih svasabdhaih

 

sthobha are the sabdhas like 'ha, uhA, u' that are uttered in samagana which resemble the sound made by the cows.

 

Krishna tied and released the cows as required signifying his power in binding and releasing jeevas.

 

The way Krishna showed his affection to the calves playing with him seem to teach the cows how to love their calves, 'vAthsalyasiksham iva vAsudhEvAth.'

Whenever the other cowherd boys felt hungry Krishna gave them curd rice, dhaDHyanna out of his hand which is described by Desika as madhuplutha, dripping with honey.The boys gave him delicius fruits they gathered in the forest and he ate them with relish after giving them first to Balarama. He ate the sesha of the sesha!

 

The Brindavana appeared as something that was never seen in any yuga, says Desika. being protected by Narayana with Sesha who is like His arm, that is, Krishna and Balarama, the brindhavana with its herds of cows, vyAprtha dhEnu brindham was true to its name.

 

The brindhavana was full of deep pools, abundant grass, shady and even in the hot summer it was cool for the cows and the cowherds.The cows never had any fear from disease,demons and wild animals. The gopas being under the care of Vasudeva, never experienced the natural calamities like athivrshti, flood and anAvrshti, draught etc and also any obstacles from other beings. so they enjoyed a prosperity not obtained in any other yuga 'apoorvayugAnubhoothi.'

 

Desika here alludes to an episode according to which the crown of Lord Vishnu was stolen by Bali and Garuda brought it back in KrishnAvathAra.

 

Garuda gave a crown to Krishna which , Desika says , rightly belonged to him being robbed from him while he was sleeping in his seshasayana by Bali.

The words describing the arrival of Garuda is much more enchanting than the story itself.

AghrAtha varthmAnam aranyabhAgEshu

AraNyakaih AsrithaDHEnubhAvaih

kEnApi thasyApahrtham kireetam

prathyAharan praukshatha pathrinAThah

 

 

Desika says that Garuda found Krishna by the cows which were smelling the path followed by him. Here the word 'AraNyakaih Asritha DHEnubhAvaih' means that the vedas which became the cows and Garuda being the personification of vedas, 'vedAthmA vihagEsvarah' found the Lord who is vedavedhya, known only from the vedas.

 

The yajnapathni upAkhyAna is mentioned briefly by Desika in one sloka. When the cowherd boys became hungry Krishna told them to go to the nearby yajnasAla and ask the rshis there for food, which was refused to them by the rshis who were learned in vedas but did not know the import of the vedas, the Lord Himself, whom all offerings in all yajnas go to and who had come as a cowherd.But their wives steeped in bhakthi obliged courting the anger of their husbands Due to the grace os the LOrd the rshis understood their mistake and praised their wives for their bhakthi.

 

Then Desika describes how Krishna was enjoying the company of the calves and vice versa. They are compared with saints filled with devotion, bhakthibharAvanamrAn as they imitated their behaviour.They closed their eyes, nimeelithAkshAn on being touched by him,and were drowsy being fondled by his hand and with their attention only on him., ananyAbhimukhAn. The calves went to the places where there is no grass because they were green with the hue of Krishna.On returning he himself fed them by taking them to their mothers as they were parisramsrAnthapadhAh, tired after roaming in the forest.

 

The scene in which Krishna is returning from the forest is described thus.Coming at a distance with the cows,he became the cause of brightening of the faces of the gopis with joy, ullAsa, as the rising sun causing the blossoming of lotuses. The word 'gObih' means also 'by rays ' and 'ullasa' is joy as well as blossoming. When he came playing his flute his lustre gave so much joy to the girls that it looked as though the whole world was enchanted by his peacock feathers.

 

How did the wmenfolk of the gokula enjoyed his presence is given in a beautiful sloka by Desika.

bAlam tharuNyah tharuNam cha bAlAh

tham avarjyantha samAnabhAvAh

thadhadhbhutham thasya vilOkanam vA

thasyaiva sarvArha rasAthmathA vA

 

He was loved by young women and by young girls alike as though he was of their age group.Desika says it is to be ascertained whether this wonder is due to his maya or his being the essence of everything, 'rasO vai sah.'

 

Further Desika says that both Balrama and Krishna were looked upon differently by different groups of people. They were sons to their parents, handsome young men to young women, ancient, puraANapurushas to the wise old men who knew about their avathararahasya.

 

Desika also mentions the marriage of Krishna to Nappinna in his young age by taming seven bulls. She is said to be the daughter of the sister of Nandhgopa and mentioned as sathya in Bhagavatham and her marriage with Krishna is mentioned only after that of Rukmini and sathyabhAma.She was supposed to be the incarnation of Neela devi as Rukmini was sreedevi and sathyabhama was bhoodevi.