Krishnanandalahari- Yadhavabhyudhya of vedantadesika-chapter8 Venugaanam and Ras

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Rasakreeda -a description

Gopis, for a moment, were overwhelmed with pride that Krishna found them attractive and Krishna knowing this disappeared from their midst.Desika says He was near but they could not see Him.'aviprakarshE api thiraskariNyA klrpthAvrthim krshNam aneekshamANAh.' The Lord is always near but only we fail to see Him due to our ego born out of ignorance.

Not able to see Krishna the gopis became miserable and they began to sing about His gunas and actions.. This act of the gopis is described as the famous Gopikageetham in Srimadbhagavatham.Desika devotes only two slokas for this.

VileenachitthA vishamAshthra thApAth

vilApayanthyO vasuDHAm vilApaih

adhrSyaroopasya hareragAyan

guNAn charithrANi cha gopakanyAH

Miserable,struck with the arrows of Cupid, melting the very earth by lamentations, they started to sing about the gunas and actions of Hari who concealed Himself.

mukundha viSlEsha vimOhithAnAm

samSrooyamANAni muhuH vanAnthE

Sama praDHAni AthmavidhAm abhoovan

thrayyanthaganDHeeni vachAmsi thAsAm

The words of the songs of the gopis reverberated throughout the forest. Desika says that it carried the fragrance of the upanishads and provided peace to the enlightened souls. The upanishad declares 'rasO vai saH,' He is the essence of all sentiments attaining whom one enjoys bliss.So the words of gopis steeped in rasAnubhava were in reality the words of the upanishad.

The Lord appeared before them, which, Desika says, is the proof that He gives His darsan when he wants to grace the devotee after concealing Himself by mAya in order to ripen their devotion. The gopis were delighted beyond measure to see Krishna in front of them with a smile resembling a full blown lotus, wearing yellow garment on His blue form,which attracted even the god of love. This sloka by Desika is the reflection of that in Srimadbhagavatham, 'ThAsam Avirabhooth SouriH smayamAbna mukhAmbujaH, peethAmbaraDHara srgvee sAkshAth manmaThamanmaThaH.'

The gopis felt as though they got into another life on seeing Krishna.He was yOgaiH alakshyaH, not perceptible even by yoga,but to the gopis he was praNayAparADHee, erring lover and they attacked him by their glances like arrows flung from the bow-like brows. He, the eternal lover, pacified them by signs and glances individually without the knowledge of each other.

Then starts the rAsa, the dance of gopis and Krishna. Desika describes this in two slokas briefly and says Krishna joined hands with all of them taking many forms alternatively dancing. This is as described by Leelasuka in his KrishnakarNAmrtha in which he devoted eight slokas to describe the rasakreeda.The first sloka runs as follows.

'anganAm anganAm antharE madhavO

mAdhavam mAdhavam anthareNA anganA

itTham AkalpithE mandalE maDHyagah

sanjagou vENunA dhEvakeenandhanaH.' (KK.2.35)

In the circle consisting of Krishna alternately between each gopi Krishna stood in the middle playing flute.

Desika says that the Lord who removes the delusion (bhrama) of those who surrender to His feet made the gopis have bhrama, revolving in the dance. 'padhASrithAnAm bhramaSanthihEthuH priyAsahasram bhramayAMschakAra.'

He, who makes all beings move like puppets through His mAya, stood as an illustration of His own mAya by making the gopis dance as He wished.

SvamAyayA ghoorNayathO mahathyA

viSvAni bhoothAni vibhOrajasram

lambAlakAnam lalithasmithAnAm

lAbhAth svayam labhDhamanoratho abhooth

The circle of the rAsa dance by its fast movement looked like a wheel with no space in between.There was a shower of flowers from the heaven and the sound of instruments and celestial damsels danced on seeing the Rasakreeda. After dancing for a long time Krishna sat on the floor and the gopis fanned him by the branches having leaves and flowers and Desika says that Krishna shone like a blue mountain surrounded by peacocks.

Afterwards krishna entered the river Yamuna with them as though to get rid of the fatigue due to rAsakreeda. Desika describes this in a poetic manner.

mukhEna thasya dhvijarAjabhasa

thArAbhirAmENa thamopahena

premOdhaDHim varDHayathA priyANAm

samchikshipe thathra sarOjakAnthih

The face of Krishna was like the moon, beautiful with the stars, dispelling the darkness, with its dark eyes which removes the darkness of ignorance. Like the moon his face made the ocean of love of the gopis to rise and lotuses in the river closed as though with the lustre of his moon-like face.

Krishna and the gopis played spraying water on each other and eyes of the gopis, closing when krishna sprayed water on them, were like lotuses closing on the rise of moon , his face resembling the moon.The dark waters of Yamuna became white with the sandal pastes on their bodies and red with their vermilion on their foreheads looking like the Ganges and the Sona river alternatively.

The river Yamuna also attained her purusharTha by the union of Krishna like the gopis. The red lac on their feet , their eye-liner and their sandalpaste were washed off by the river as though out of jeolousy for their beauty but they shone even more beautiful without the decorations.

The water level rising due to the numerous gopis entering it made the lotuses immersed in water and it is imagined by Desika that they were ashamed of the beauty of the damsels and hid their faces in water.The red eyes of the gopis due to the play in water looked as though they were intoxicated with the love of Krishna.

prayApithE gopikayA kadhAchith

krishnAnanam keechakyanthra thOye

nimeelanOnmeelanathasthadheeyAn

nakthamdhivam thathkshaNadhrSyam Aseeth

The eyelids of Krishna were closing and opening alternatively when some gopi sprayed water on him and it was like the illustration of day and night. When his eyes were open it was like day for them and when they closed it was like the night.The day is when the world is awake and means that the Lord has opened is eyes. The night is when the world merges in Him when He is in His yoganidhra.

A gopi went behind Krishna and hugged him tightly so that the others could spray water on him. This incident is reversed by Desika in his Gopalavimsathi where he says that Krishna went behind a gopi and held her tight so that she could not escape and others sprayed water on her.At the end of the play in water the river Yamuna herself came with a dvine form and worshipped Krishna.The celestial damsels came and dressed him with divine garments.Desika describes Krishna as 'uttharantham sarithah pravAhath utthArakam pankamayAh payODHeH,' He who helps all out of the sinful sea of samsara,Himself came out of the water.

Then all of them returned to gokula and Desika briefly mentions the destruction of Arishtasura, who chased the cattle in the form of a bull and was killed by Krishna.Thus ends the Krishnaleela in Brindavan and the time has come for him to leave for Mathura.

End of Part 1