Yadhavabhyudhaya of VedanthaDesika

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Yadhavaabhyadhaya is the story of Krishnaavathaara retold by

VedantaDesika with a beautiful poetic flavor steeped in bhakthi.

Desika has written devotional hymns on all the archaavathaaras

the deities of all the vaishnavite shrines but none of the forms of

Lord Narayana seems to be so dear to him as His incarnation as

Krishna. Gopalavimsati, twenty verses in praise of Krishna is the

most exquisite work exuding charm and beauty. Yadhavaabhyudhaya is an

epic which seems to be an elongated version of Gopalavimsati as it

elaborates on the subtle references to the exploits of Krishna

therein but it is rich in poetic skill and intellectual excellence.

The most significant fact which points out to the link between the

two works is that the opening verse of both the works is the same.

The greatness of Yadhavaabhyudhaya can be understood by the fact that

the commentator of the work is none other than Appayya Dikshitha, the

well known exponent of Advaita Vedanta. In this page an endeavor

will be made to present this great work in such a way that all can

enjoy its richness and beauty, which has been made known only to

Sanskrit scholars so far.

 

 

First chapter - Prologue

 

Vedantadesika starts his epic with the mangalasloka

` 'vande brindavanacharam vallaveejanavallabham;

jayanteesambhavam dhaama vyjayantheevibhooshanam.'

This verse is rich in meaning and brings out fully the glory of

Krishna. It means, Salutations to Him, who was born on

Krishnaashtami, who used to inhabit the Brindavan, adorned with the

garland of forest flowers, self effulgent and loved by gopis. The

four adjectives given to the Lord, namely,

brindavanacharam, the one who roams around in Brindavan,

vallveejanavallabham, the beloved of the gopis,

jayantheesambhavam, born on the day of His avatar,

vyjayantheevibhooshanam, adorned by the forest flowers are

rich in meaning as they denote His vathsaltya, souseelya,soulbhya

and svamithva.

 

His Vaathsalya, love towards His dependents is indicated by

Brindhaavanacharam, which is like that of a cow towards its calf.

Brindha denotes His devotees, for whose protection, avanaaya, He

moves about, charathi. This dispels the fear in the heart of His

punishment for the wrong deeds one has committed, svaaparaadha bhaya

nivarthakam. Appayya dikshitha, in his commentary says that He, who

was dhandakaaranyachara, walked in the dhandaka forest for the

protection of the rishis became brindhaavanachara, for the protection

of the cows, in Krishnaavathaara true to His promise later,

` 'parithraanaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dushkrthaam,

dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya samhavaami yuge yuge',

I manifest myself in each epoch in order to protect the good

and to punish the wicked.' The cows represent the good who resort to

the Lord for their welfare. Sentiment, rasa, exhibited by this

epithet is adbhutha, wonder that the lord assumes the form of a

cowherd and showers His love to one and all, man, bird and beast. The

same vathsalya as He has shown towards Prahladha so that Hiranya

kasipyu could not harm even a hair on his body, towards Jatayu in

Ramaavathaara and towards all His dependents in Krishnaavathaara

which made Him even to wash and feed the horses during the

Mahabhaaratha war

 

Valavee jana vallabham, the beloved of the gopis, is the epithet

chosen for the purpose of indicating His Souseelyam, benevolence.

Souseelyam is defined as `mahathah mandhaihi saha neerandhra

samslesha svabhaavah, the close friendship shown by the great towards

the humble folk. This quality of the Lord dispels the fear that He is

beyond comprehension. Appayya dikshitha says that the fact that He

who enjoys the uninterrupted union with Mahakakshmi was also able to

enjoy the company of the simple cowherd girls is the proof of His

souseelya. The term Vallavijana is used to denote their nomad

existence as valla means movement. The sentiment expressed here

is sringara.

 

Desika uses the epithet Jayanthee sambhavam to denote the soulabhya

of the Lord, in taking birth in the yadhavakula, which removes the

fear that the Lord is unapproachable. Soulabhyam is labhdhum

susakathvam, easy accessibility. The significance of the word

jayanthee sambhava instead of Devakisambhava implies that the Lord

manifested Himself as Krishna and was not born, according to His

words `sambhavaami yuge yuge' and `yadha yadha hi dharmasya

glaanirbhavathi -------thadhaathmaanam srjamyaham.' Jayanthi also

means jayam thanothi, victorious in the vinaasa of dushkrtha,

indicative of virarasa. It is interesting to observe here that the

words jayanthi and janmaashtami are used only to mark

Krishnajayanthi, 'janmaashtami avathaara dhinasya jayantheethi

vyavahaarah' and all the others are mentioned as Ramanavami

Nrsimhajayanthi and so on.

 

Dhaamavyjayantheevibhooshanam relates to the svaamithva,

overlordship. Dhaama means the self effulgent nature and vyjayayanthi

which normally means garland of forest flowers also implies

bhoothathanmaathra adhishtaana devatha the divinity behind the

elements. The vanamaala here is the maya of the Lord which He

wears like a garland in His manifestations this indicates that

Krishna is the Parabrahman who is the cause of this universe created

out of His own Maya. The Paravasudeva is referred to by this epithet.

 

For a literary work there are four aspects that have to be specified

at the outset. First is the grantha the mention of the work itself.

Secondly the subject matter, vishaya,

Third is the adhikaari, to whom the work is intended, and

Lastly the phala or prayojana, the benefit that will accrue by

the study of the grantha. Here by the four adjectives given to the

Lord in the sloka refer to the above mentioned four requisites of a

kavya.

 

The grantha is Yadhavaabhyudhaya, the glory of Yadhava, Krishna. This

is indicated by brindhaavanacharam, the inhabitant of brindhaavan,

Krishna.

The vishaya is the story of Krishna denoted by

jayantheesambhavam, born on Janmaashtami.

Adhikaari is the one who has love for the Lord. This is shown

by the word vallavee jana vallabham.

Lastly the phala, fruit of hearing the story of the Lord is

Mokha, salvation which is implied by dhaama vyjayanthee vibhooshanam.

Knowing Him as Dhaama the Parabhrahman manifest in the garb of a

cowherd through His maya, vyjayanthee vibhooshanam, and one gets

emancipated.

 

The glory of the Lord is such that even the Vedas, which are the

primary source of knowledge about Him, are not able to do full

justice to His description. Desika portrays the Vedas as the bards

trying to sing about His merits and he says that when they start

extolling even one of His infinite auspicious attributes, they become

tired.

` 'Ekaika gunapraanthe sranthaah nigamavandhinah'

Then Desika expresses his humility by saying that under such

circumstances what those with limited intellect can expect to

accomplish, meaning himself. He goes on to reassure himself that the

subject is sourikatha, story of Krishna, which is like nectar that

will be relished even if it is told by a dull witted person. He

reaffirms his position by claiming that there could be nothing wrong

in following the footsteps of the great poets like Valmiki and

Vyasa.

 

Then Desika extols the kavithva saying that a kavi, poet, whose

creation is full of merits such as rasa, bhaava and alamkara is akin

to the creator, Brahma, in whom Sarasvathi revels. Rasa is the nine

kinds of sentiment, srngara etc. bhaava here means the accompanying

moods that go with each sentiment, called vibhaava, anubhaava and

sanchaaribhaava and alamkara is the figure of speech. Such poetry is

like goddess Sarasvathi expressive beautiful and well adorned with

ornaments. The poet who is endowed with all these skills is like

Brahma associated with Sarasvathi.

 

But should perfection be an essential characteristic in composing

poetry? No, says Desika. If a talented dancer makes a slip in her

performance a connoisseur will ignore it and will appreciate only the

overall effect. Similarly considering the vishayagourava, the merit

of the subject matter which is Bhagavatvishaya, story of the Lord,

even if there may be any fault, it can be excused.

 

So, says Desika, " I will now speak of the story of Krishna, which is

the nectar emerging out of the ocean of Vyasaveda, the Mahabharatha,

without any hesitancy. " What is implied here is that the most

enjoyable part of Mahabharatha is the story of Krishna.

Vyasaveda may also mean the Vedas, the essence of which is the Lord,

as Ramanuja says in the mangala sloka of Sribhaashya, sruthi sirasi

vidheepthe brahmani Srinivaase, the Lord forms the crown of the

Vedas. So the story of Krishna is the sarabhootha, essence of Vedas

as well as Mahabharatha which is later given by Vyasa as

Bhagavathapurana like extracting the butter out of the milk of

Mahabharatha.

 

Desika calls the story of Krishna vibhudhajeevaathu, the elixir for

vibhudha, devas as the incarnation took place on being entreated by

devas and the Bhoodevi. The word vibhudha also means men of wisdom of

whom the story of Krishna is the paramoushadham greatest antidote for

the ills of the samsara.

 

In this context it would be interesting to note the peculiar

circumstances which made Vyasa write the Bhagavatha purana. The

Dasamaskandha, tenth section of Bhagavathapurana contains the story

of Krishna, the subject matter of Yadhavaabhyudhaya. It seemed that

after Vyasa had finished Mahabharatha and other vedantic works he

became depressed for no reason. Narada came to him and told him that

his feeling of depression born out of dissatisfaction was due to the

fact that though he exhaustively wrote about dharma and Vedanta he

did not write about the exploits and the glory of Krishna and the

incarnations of the Lord which would inculcate bhakthi . Hence his

heart became dry and depressed. Then Narada told him the whole

Bhagavata as he had learnt from Brahma. This was the inducement for

Vyasa to write the Bhagavatha purana. That is why Desika calls it

vibhudhajeevaathu, the life-giving elixir.

 

Desika refers to the Lord as Vibhu, and Sreemaan. He is Vibhu, all

powerful, all pervading, Sreemaan associated with Sree, Lakshmi. The

significance of the two adjectives is given by the words eko

vusvamidham chithram ajeejanath. He is eka, one only. `Sadheva soumya

idham agra aaseeth, ekameva adhvitheeyam (Chandhogya Up.) Sat alone

existed in the beginning, one only without a second.' Hence Brahman,

Lord Narayana of Visistadavaita, was both the material and

instrumental cause of the Universe. Usually in creation as applied to

the worldly things like the creation of a pot the material cause, the

mud and the instrumental cause, the potter are different. But before

creation, says the Upanishad there was none else than the Brahman. So

Brahman is the upaadhaana karana, material cause and nimiththa

kaarana, instrumental cause. This is indicated by the words svayam

and svasmin.

 

The Lord created the world which Desika describes as chithram,

wonderful. He compares it to a painting; chithram which is created by

the Lord with the brush of His leela, playful and without effort, and

the paint He used was His krpa, infinite mercy. The

canvas was nothing but the Lord Himself, svasmin, in Him, created by

Himself, svayam. This is in accordance with the concept of sarira-

sariri bhava of Visishtadvaita. The world consisting of sentient and

insentient beings is the body of the Lord of which He is the soul.

Before creation the world exists in Him in subtle form and after

creation it assumes the gross form.

 

Now what is the purpose of creation?

To say that it is His leela would make Him a sadist who has

created the world full of sorrow and misery for His sport.} No, it is

not so, says Desika, because He has coloured it with His krpa. The

word leela only denotes that the creation was as effortless as a play

for Him. He not only created but also sustains the universe through

His acts of mercy. The duhkha is due to our karma but to protect us

by showing the path to emancipation is His act of mercy.

 

Then Desika traces the clan of yadhu in which the Lord took the

incarnation as Krishna.

The first of the clan was Chandra, the Moon.' Chandramaa manaso

jaathah, the Moon was born from the mind of the

Lord.'(Purushasuktham) Desika gives the reason as to why the Moon was

born out of His mind. The Moon came out as though he is the

personification of the prasaadha, grace of the Lord,

paripaaalayithavyeshu prasaadha iva, towards the people deserve to be

protected, His devotees because the moon is jagadhaahlaadhakara,

gives happiness to all

 

Budha, the adhidevatha of the planet Mercury was the son of Moon and

Pururavas was the son of Budha. Pururavas, says Desika, was the

living example of the efficacy of sathaam aahitha vahneenaam

stheyathaa, the power of aahithaagni the sacrificial fire, which

represents the acts of sacrifice, yajna because it gave him the power

of visiting svarga where he fell in love with Urvasi, the celestial

damsel and married her.

 

The lineage of Pururavas flourished in all directions of the earth by

the fame of his descendants like Ayus and Nahusha, who attained the

status of Indra through his merit. When Indra incurred brahmahaththi

dosha, the sin of killing a Brahmin by his slaying

Vrthraasura, who was the son of Thvashta, a Brahmin , he had to leave

the svarga and do penance. Then the devas put Nahusha in the place

of Indra since he has performed hundred asvamedha yagas, which makes

him qualified for the post of Indra but he incurred the displeasure

of Agasthya and was cursed by him to become a snake.

 

Yayathi was the son of Nahusha and had three sons and one of them was

Yadhu, who was a vadhaanya, very generous and austere and just.

Vasudeva, the father of Krishna was born in the clan of Yadhu.

Vasudeva was Kasyapa prajaapathi in his previous birth and was the

father of both devas and. asuras. His wives Surabhi and Adhithi were

born as Rohini and Devaki in next birth and married Vasudeva. When

Vasudeva was born the divine musical instruments, aanaka and

dhundhubhi sounded and hence he acquired the name AAnakadhundhubhi.

 

Vasudeva was the refuge of the good as Lord Vishnu is for the world,

the Sun is for light and the sea is for gems. This implies that he

was the sole resort of the good as the earth was burdened with

unrighteous kings for whose destruction the Lord descended in the

form of Krishna. Even though born of the royal family Vasudeva was

intent on attaining mukthi and was not interested in the worldly

possessions and became content with whatever came to him of its own

accord?

 

Vasudeva got married to Devaki, the cousin sister of Kamsa whom he

loved very much but hearing the aerial declaration that the eighth

son of Devaki will be his killer Kamsa put them both in prison.

 

In the meanwhile the devas were approached by Bhoodevi who

entreated them to relieve her of he burden of adharma perpetuated by

the unrighteous kings who oppressed her like giant mountains. Then

they all approached the Lord Narayana along with Brahma with

Bhoodevi in front and started praying to Him.

 

The devas praised the Lord thus.

 

He is thrivedimadhya dheeptha, shines on the three vedas because He

is vedavedya, known through the Vedas. Here it would be interesting

to compare the words of Thyagaraja in his kriti `saamajavaragamana'

on Krishna. He calls Him `vedasiromaathrja

sapthaswara naadhaachaladheepa,' He shines as the light on the

mountain of naadha, made up of the seven notes, sapthasvara which

were born out of the head of vedas, that is pranava.

 

He is thridhaama, having three abodes, namely, Vaikunta which is His

paramapadha, supreme abode, the milky ocean and the surya mandala,

disc of the Sun, He is described in the upanishat as

Suryamandalamadhya varthi.

 

He has five weapons, panchahethayah, shankha, charka gadha ,sharnga

and khadga, the Conch, Disc, Mace, Bow and Sword respectively.

 

He is baahyaanthara havirbhuja, takes the external offering in the

yajna and also internal in the form of the self which is offered in

devotion and He as varadha, bestows His grace.

 

His power is independent ananyaadheenamahima and unlimited whereas

that of other gods are in His control paraadheenavaibhava and hence

limited. Devas beseech Him to protect them as He is

dhayaadheenavihara overwhelmed with mercy as shown by His acts like

killing Ravana. In this sloka the poetic skill is shown in the choice

of the epithets ananyaadheena svaadheena and dhayadheena.

 

The Lord is the ocean of mercy, dhayaambhudhi in which His gunas,

jnana bala aisvarya ,,shakthi , tejas and virya are the ratnas, gems

and the waves are His vyuhas and vibhavas. The six attributes,

knowledge, might, sovereignty, power, glory and valiance are called

bhagas and hence the name bhagavan. The vyuhas are His

manifestations as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradhyumna and Anirudhdha

and the vibhavas are His incarnations. These are metaphorically

described as the waves while the gunas are the precious gems which

are said to be in the ocean.

 

The glory of the Lord cannot be ascertained from the Vedas

even ,because they are His creation and they are compared to the

travellers who even after travelling from morning till evening are

unable to reach the destination ,namely to describe Him as such.

 

He puts on different costumes and comes down as incarnations like an

actor and He acts according to the role He assumes. This amuses the

wise who see Him act like a subordinate, a supplicant and obedient

son to His own children and dependents. He is the one who apportions

the result of karma to the individuals and it is all His leela which

waters the seeds of karma so that it brings forth the sprouts of

results, karmaphala. Desika says that this is true with all beings,

brahmaadhisthambaparyantham, from the four-faced Brahma down to the

blade of grass as everything is His creation only.

 

He shines in the hearts of the pure in His full splendour and like

the Chintamani fulfils all their wishes. Chintamani is a precious gem

which is supposed to grant all wishes of the possessor.

 

To those who have become fatigued by traveling in the desert of

samsara the devotion of the Lord serves as a welcome river, flowing

with the nectar of His mercy, in which they plunge and enjoy its

coolness.

 

He is the boat that helps those who are caught in the whirlpool of

sin to cross

over to the other side.

 

He is unparalleled, limitless, and the cause of the universe, Himself

uncaused. He is denoted by Pranava, the essence of Vedas and the raft

of rescue from the sea of samsara. Those who seek refuge in Him

alone depend only on Him for their redemption and do not adopt any

other means except devotion to Him like the chathaka bird which live

on rain drops alone. Not seeking any other source of water.

 

Like the sun that wakes up from sleep the Lord wakes up the jivas

from the sleep of ignorance. Hence, the devas entreated Him to dispel

their calamity like the sun destroys the darkness because Kamsa and

others have risen like comets to create disturbances in the world.

 

Thus entreated by the devas Bhagavan appeared before them out of

mercy. Desika here gives a beautiful description of the Lord.

 

The devas saw Him reclined on the couch of Adisesha, like a rain-

bearing cloud, dark in hue , on a white cloud of autumn. Adisesha is

supposed to be white in color and sitting on him the lord presented

a picture of a dark cloud on the top of a white cloud, which is a

rare occurrence. This simile is an indication of the wonder the devas

experienced on seeing the Lord before them.

 

The lord was accompanied by Sridevi with lotus in her hand implying

His aisvarya, the mastery over the universe. The epithet Lakshmipathi

denotes the supreme power combined with mercy of the Lord.

 

He was adorned with ornaments which were sukumara, slender and not

heavy, sukhasparsa, soft of touch on His body and not rough, like

sweet smelling flowers, suganshibhih prasoonaih iva, and well suited

to His gunas, the infinitely auspicious qualities. His form is the

garden of His gunas and the ornaments were like the flowers in

the garden. Desika expresses his love for the Lord in imagining the

ornaments on His body to be tender like flowers. An ardent devotee

treats the archa or idol of the Lord as real and cannot bear to see

even the stalks of the flowers hurting Him. And arranges the

ornaments on the idol in such a way as not to hurt Him

 

Every part of His body vying each other in beauty excelled that of

His ornaments and stole the hearts of all beings. The ornaments were

beautified by Him and not vice versa. The weapons He was wielding,

namely the disc , bow, mace etc. were proclaiming His

natural qualities like valor, power and so on and seemed to forecast

the victory of the devas. With His form created by Himself, He shone

like a sapphire rising out of the sea of His own splendor.

 

Along with the Lord came Garuda, who is the embodiment of Vedas,

srutiroopa, and covered with the fragrance of the feet of the Lord,

being His carrier, signifying the impending war with the asuras. The

veda calls Garuda `suparno asi garutman trivrth the

sirah' meaning that Garuda with powerful wings has veda as his head.

 

The Lord thus presented a picture of a Sun who never sets, a Moon who

never wanes and an ocean of nectar which has no bounds to devas. He

was shining in His glory which excelled the Sun, was source of joy in

His cool mercy, which never diminishes and He was like everlasting

nectar to the devas in showering His grace. By

seeing Him thus the eyes of the devas became fruitful and the Lord

reassured them with His abhayahasta, showing His hand in a gesture of

protection and by His smile that destroys evil by the mere sight of

it. The abhayakara and the mandasmita were reassuring enough for them

that their prayer is answered even before He began to speak.

 

Appeal to the lord

The devas started to tell the Lord that rakshasas who were

extinguished previously by Him like moths by the fire, have come back

to earth in the form of kshathriyas and the earth is suffering by

their misdeeds and if the Lord does not intervene the earth will be

submerged into the sea, not being able to bear their weight.

The idea here is that the wicked are burden to the earth. They

entreated Him thus: ˜This earth which has you, who is full of with

mercy, as its helmsman, should not be allowed to go under.

 

Desika provides a beautiful metaphor by referring to the Lord

as the central jewel of the girdle of the earth. The devas claimed

that the earth deserves the protection of the Lord from the

oppression of the wicked kshathriyas . The earth is surrounded by the

ocean like a girdle of the Bhoodevi and the Lord shining in the

middle of the ocean like a sapphire is like its central gem. Further

the devas said that He should free the earth from the burden of these

wicked kings and make her shine as the crest jewel of

Aadhisesha, meaning that the earth should be made light as a

crest jewel for Sesha who supports it on his head.

 

Desika, the bhaktha, here comes out with beautiful expression.

He makes the devas say ˜Prabhodhasubhagaih smeraih prasannaih

sheethalaischa nah

kataakshaih plaavaya kshipram krpakodhanvadhoormibhih,

They pray to him to direct His merciful glances towards them.

The glances of the Lord are, Prabhodha subhaga, attractive, He just

being awakened from His yoganidra, smera,

accompanied with His charming smile, prasaana, pleasing,

sheethala ,cooling with love and they are like the waves of the sea

of His mercy, krpakodhanavadhoormibhih. Imagining the Lord thus is

enough to send a devotee to ecstasy. With these words devas concluded

their entreaty asking the Lord to forgive them for their impudence in

informing Him the reason of their approaching Him as though He did

not know everything being the antharyami, indweller of all.

 

Then Bhoodevi bowed down to Him, who has vowed to protect His

dependents, along with the devas and informed Him of her plight.

Desika describes her as being beautiful like the Maya of the Lord.The

earth assuming the form of an exemplary damsel,

vanithaarathnarupini, of slender waist and large eyes ,

thanumadhyaa visaalaakshi , is compared by Desika to the enchanting

Maya of the Lord. The whole Universe constituted of the five elements

is the product of Prakrthi, otherwise known as the Maya of the Lord.

 

Desika's poetic skill is seen in his further description of

Bhoodevi. She was sporting beautiful hair, the natural scent of which

attracted the bees that hover on her head presenting a spectacle of

her being covered with an umbrella made of peacock feathers. The

tears of joy on seeing her Lord formed the beads of pearls that adorn

her chest. Her left shoulder throbbed as though desiring the embrace

of her Lord which was welcomed by her as a good sign. Desika uses the

word Dhakshinaa for the Bhoodevi to imply that

she is knowledgeable about the meaning of signs and employs

the word dhakshinaadhitharam , the one other than the right to

denote left arm thus enhancing the poetic beauty.

 

The Lord replied to them in a voice that echoed the sound of

His Paanchajanya. He reassured them by saying that those who follow

His command will never come to harm. [Vide: Bhagavatgita-6-40- ˜ na

hi kalyanakrth kaschith dhurgathim thaatha gachchathi.] The Lord then

promised that He will descend to earth as an incarnation to lessen

the burden of the earth by destroying the evil kshathriyas and will

establish dharma and He asked them to take birth as kings to

partake the result of His deeds. So saying the Lord awaited the

right time to enter the garba of Devaki to be born as Krishna. Thus

the one in whom the entire world resided came to reside in Devaki.

 

 

chapter-2 The eve of incarnation

Devaki appeared divine because she carried the krishnarasayana,

the elixir which is sidhdha and sidhdhanishevitha, resorted to by the

sages being sure of effect.

Devaki ate the mud, symbolic of the earth, during her

pregnancy as if she is showing buy her action, naatitham, that the

one who has devoured the whole earth is inside her,

'bhukthaa puraa yene vasundharaa saa sa visvabhoktha

mamagarbhabhoothah,' says Desika.

She dreamt that she was lying on Adhisesha and traveled on

Garuda.Utthamur swami explains this as

`'devakigarbhagantham bhagavanthamprthak paricharithum anishtvaa

seshaadhayah devakeesthathvaveshenaiva paricharantheeva.'

It looked as though Adhisesha and others carried devaki along

with the Lord in order to

do service to Him. She walked slowly as if not to burden the earth

with the weight of Him who is visvaguru, the mighty Lord who has the

entire universe in Him. He is vidvaguru or jagatguru as He was going

to impart the Gita to the world and also the greater than the

greatest, mahatho mahiyaan. The word `guru ` contains a pun to mean

preceptor as well as big.

 

Description of the night of Krishnavathaara

Then starts the description of the night of Krishnavathaara.

The appearance of the dusk, sandhya, seemed to denote the advent of

the Lord. Sandhya, personified as a damsel, a is compared to the form

of the Lord, murdhvishah murthih dhvitheeyaa, on account of the

attire of golden hue, suvarnapithaambharavaasinee, and hiding the

Sun with the brilliance of own light, svadhaamasamchaadhtha

suryamurthih. The Sun sinking in the ocean seemed to seek some

support avalambhana, by his rays stretched out. He looked like a

lotus plucked from the pond of the sky by sandhya and the crest jewel

of a serpent plunging into the ocean afraid of Garuda in the form of

sandhya. The richness of poetic imagination of Desika is

illustrated by these words.

 

At the setting of the Sun, the day being ashtami 8th day of

krishnapaksha, dark fortnight, no moon appeared and darkness spread

everywhere. Stars looked like a garland of pearls to adorn the Lord

on His avathaara prepared by His servant, the Kala, Time. Later when

the moon rose the eastern direction looked like Devaki.

Thamafprasangena vimuchyamaana gourprabhaa. The paleness of her is

the white light, gouraprabhaa of the moon who has risen from darkness

as she is going to be freed from her sorrow, thamafprasangena

vimuchyamaana. The Moon being the first forefather of the Yadhuvamsa,

looked like a purohitha, priest coming after bath from the ocean to

do the samskara, the rites for the newborn.

 

The darkness that first came was like the haalaahala, the

terrible poison which came out of the milky ocean, namely the eastern

direction indicative of the subsequent emergence of Lakshmi, the good

fortune of Yadhuvamsa. Desika says later in describing Krishna that

Lakshmi was always with the Lord which ever avathara he took because

She is inseparable as the sloka goes

`Raaghavathve bhavathseetharukminee Krishna janamani

anyeshuchaavathaareshu vishnoreshaa anapaayini.'

It is said that even in Vamanaavathaara Lakshmi was in His

chest to hide whom the Lord covered His chest with deerskin lest He

could not take away the aisvarya of Bali if he gets the glance of

Lakshmi, lakshmikataaksha.

 

Then the auspicious time for the avathaara drew near. The wicked

people like Kamsa were sleeping and the good were awake like Devaki

and Vasudeva.Vadfyagosha of divine instruments could be heard

everywhere. The lamps in the house of Kamsa became extinct for no

reason and so did the anguish in the minds of devotees. Ashtami was

chosen by the Lord for his avathaara as the eighth child and the next

day Navami was going to be the day of the avathara of Yogamaaya.

Hence, as Desika puts it, ashtami became prathama and navami,

dvitheeya. Krishna appeared at vrishabha lagna when the five planets,

Chandra, angaraka, bhudha guru and sani were in exalted position.

Desika describes His manifesting Himself as Devaki the eastern

direction produced the Lord , the moon implying that He was not born

in the usual way but as He says in the Gita `sambhavaami

aathmamaayayaa' He only made Himself manifest as the moon coming out

in the East.

 

 

chapter-3 The birth of krishna

At the time of the birth of Krishna the whole world seemed to

be happy. The directions looked bright devoid of darkness as though

the day is born. This implies that the manifestation of the Lord

dispelled the darkness in the mind caused by ragadvesha and the

hearts of the good became filled with the joy arising out of the

understanding of the truth about the manifestation. Among the usual

paraphernalia that is described in the puranas and ithihasas when

some divine or extraordinary event happens, such as the apsars

dancing the trumpets sounding the kinnaras singing in the devaloka,

there was cool breeze blowing from the quarters and the clouds

thundered which was like the jayagosha by the devas. Here we see the

poetic skill of Desika who says that all the anxieties in the minds

of all the people joined together like rivers and fell into the mind

of Kamsa, who was the only one agitated to the utmost. Andal

addresses the Lord as 'kamsan vayittril neruppenne ninra nedumaalE',

the one who stood like fire in the stomach of Kamsa.

 

Vasudeva became free from his shackles.'Rnaadhiva devakipathih

amuchyatha srnkalathah' says Desika, comparing the release from

srnkala to that from debt. In fact the word 'rna' could mean debt as

well as prarabdhakarma as the saying goes 'rnaanubandhasaarena

pasupatni suthaalayaa,' ones acquisition of wealth, son and property

is according to prarabdhakarma. Desika asks, 'what is so wonderful

about this in front of one who removes the shackles of all bondage?'

 

Devaki was having Krishna on her lap and shone like a golden mountain

which had a peak of indraneelamani,sapphire. Vasudeva saw Him, who

had the color of the sea, carrying sanka, conch, chakra the disc,

gada,the mace and ambuja, a lotus. Vasudeva prayed to Him to hide His

divine form lest Kamsa will come to know His true identity. He

praised the Lord as the embodiment of the Veda, who had come to be

born as his son due to his prayers in the previous birth. At the same

time he was worried about His safety and begs Him to disguise

Himself. That is the maya of the Lord!

 

Then the Lord instructed Vasudeva to take Him to Gokula and leave Him

there and bring the female child born to Yasodha to Mathura. Vasudeva

took the infant, which the Lord changed Himself into, as requested

and the prison gate opened and the guards were fast asleep. When he

approached the street the quarters became lighter due to the luster

of the body of Krishna. Garuda circled around to ward off the evil

forces and Adisesha followed spreading his hoods as an umbrella to

protect from the rain.

'sruthimayo vihagah parithah prabhum vyacharadhaasu

vidhoothanisaacharah; anujagaama cha bhoodharapannagahsphuta

phanamanidheepaganodvahah.'

Garuda is sruthimaya , the personification of vedas, as

Yamunacharya calls him 'vedhaathmaa vihagesvarah,' and the Sesha is

referred to as Bhoodharapannaga, who followed giving light by the

gems on his thousand hoods as though thinking that the Lord needed

some light as He had contracted His own tejas. The significance of

the word Bhoodharapannaga by Desika is that the Krishnavathara was

for the

purpose of lightening the burden of the earth which will also lighten

the burden on the head of Sesha who is bhoodhara, bearer of the earth.

 

Vasudeva carried Krishna as though on the gurudavahana and reached

river Yamnna, directed by the moonlight. The land near Yamuna seemed

to welcome Vasudeva by its cool breeze to remove the fatigue and the

buzzing of the bees, serving as the welcome song.

 

The description of Yamauna when Vasudeva approached the river with

Krishna brings the poetic fervour of Desika. He says that it looked

as though the river is bemoaning the plight of the Lord which made

Him take the guise of a mortal, feigning

weakness, 'kuhakadhainyam.' The lilies, 'asithaneeraja' were closing

its eyes, petals, as the morning was approaching and the lotuses had

not yet started to bloom and the chakravaka couple, a kind of birds

which become blind in the night were wailing , not being able to see

one another. All this seemed to indicate the mental anguish of

Yamuna, savithuh sutha, the daughter of the Sun.'

Nimishithaasithaneerajalochanaa mukulithaabjamukhee

savithussuthaa;lulithadheenarathaangayugasvanaa kuhakadhainyam

asochatheeva prabhoh.'

 

The river throwing its waves here and there looked as though,

Yamuna, without knowing that all is the leela of the Lord, was

throwing up her arms in distress, fearing Kamsa. Yamuna gave way to

Vasudeva, looking high in the east and almost dry in the west. It

makes the kavi wonder whether she wanted to ascend the vishnupada or

was going to the Kalinda Mountain, her father's abode. Thus vasudva

crossed the river as if it was jananasindhu, sea of birth, which he

would cross obtaining the Lord as his offspring.

 

At the time of the birth of Krishna the whole world seemed to be

happy. The directions looked bright devoid of darkness as though the

day is born. This implies that the manifestation of the Lord

dispelled the darkness in the mind caused by ragadvesha and the

hearts of the good became filled with the joy arising out of the

understanding of the truth about the manifestation. Among the usual

paraphernalia that is described in the puranas and ithihasas when

some divine or extraordinary event happens, such as the apsars

dancing the trumpets sounding the kinnaras singing in the devaloka,

there was cool breeze blowing from the quarters and the clouds

thundered which was like the jayagosha by the devas.

 

Vasudeva entered Gokula where, says Desika, 'svasutham agryam

asooyatha rohini,' which implies that he saw his son Balarama also.

There he placed Krishna near the sleeping Yasodha and took the female

child near her to Mathura. Knowing that the eighth child was born,

Kamsa came and took the infant by her legs to strike her on the

rock when she kicked herself free and rose up to the sky and warned

kamsa about the birth of Krishna. Her speech is described by Desika

thus: 'patu gabheeram udhaaram anaakulam hitham avistharam arthyam

aviplavam.' It was patu, sharp and pungent,

gabheeram,resonant,udhaaram, distinct, anaakulam, poised, hitham,

well wishing, due to her karuna the goddess Durga as she was to be

known later, wanted to warn him not to court destruction. It was also

avistharam, brief, arthyam, meaningful and aviplavam

unmistakeable.

 

She said that she was aseshasuraasuramohinee, the deluder of all

devas and asuras, being the Maya of the Lord, the destroyer of

madhukaitabha, the maya that veils the real nature of the Lord,

yavanikaa. Then she warned him that his destroyer is in the house of

Nanda, 'Vasathi nandagrhe vibudhadhvishaam dhamayithaa vasudeva

samudbhavah thava naasayitha.' In the Bhagavatha the Yogamaya does

not divulge the whereabouts of Krishna but Desika boldly makes her

give the address of Krishna perhaps to make it clear to Kamsa that he

cannot harm Krishna even if he finds Him.

 

Then the scene changes and in Gokula yasodha and other regains

consciousness from the swoon-like sleep induced by the maya of the

Lord and Yasodha found a male child next to her. Desika describes the

Lord as the one who is aagamabhooshana, ornament to the vedas, who is

enquired into by the sages even now without finding His real nature,

became the ornament of the gopas due to destiny of His own making.

 

After Krishna came to Gokula there was no death of calves and the

cows were contented and gave plenty of milk as Andal

said, 'vaangakkudam niraikkum vallal perum pasukkal.' The person had

no fear from robbers and from disease and Desika says that the life

in Gokula resembled that in Krthayuga.

 

Nanda celebrated the birth of Krishna elaborately. 'Adhichakaara

vadhaanyamaneh sriyam vyadhitha kalpathroranukalpathaam ajanayaccha

sutha prasavotsave mahathi megha vikatthana modhathaam.' That is,

Nanda appropriated the glory of

chitamani, the wish-giving gem, by his generosity, which made the

kalpataru lose its importance and he outshined the rain giving clouds

by his shower of gifts. This made the people of Gokula,says Desika,

look down on the Indraloka. The news of the celebratiobns in Gokula

pacified the minds of Devaki and Vasudeva who were separated from

Krishna, the puraanapurusha, who had come to them through the penance

of earlier life.' putram prasooyathapasaa purusham puranam kaalam

chiram vidhivasaath kila viprakarshou.'

 

The two boys, Balarama and Krishna grew up in Gokula like the Moon in

sukla paksha creating happiness not only to the inhabitants but also

to devas who were eagerly waiting for the destruction of Kamsa and

others.

 

! CHAPTER-4 Infant Krishna

Kamsa having heard about the birth of Krishna became

overwhelmed with fear and anger and decided to send evil forces to

kill him. Poothana, who has power of maya, was sent by him to gokula

and she entered while everyone was asleep, taking the form of

Yasodha, and started breastfeeding Krishna who sucked her life along

with milk In Bhagavatha we find detailed description of the Poothana

episode which mentions her killing newborn babies everywhere and

assuming the form of a high born woman which impressed everyone in

Gokula including Rohini and she is said to have offered her poisonous

breast to Krishna. But in the work of Desika the devotional element

reigns supreme rather than the narrative details.

 

Hearing the shouts of Poothana and the crying of Krishna

Yasodha came running and grasped Krishna, 'sasambhramaavegamupethya

bheethaathamagrheeth durgraham aagammaanaam.' He is durgraha not

easily graspable even by aagamaas, ie.vedas and Yasodha grasped Him

so easily. Nanda also came there and was relieved to see that no harm

was done to the child. Poothana fell down dead assuming her real form

and the the gopas cut her large body into pieces and threw them at

the outskirts of the city to be eaten by carnivorous animals. Then

they put on Krishna, the goptha,the protector of all, an ornament, to

ward off the evil effects of the planets, consisting of the

miniatures of Panchaayudha of Narayana, namely sudarsana, the disc,

paanchajanya, the conch, saarnga, the bow,koumodhaki, the mace and

nandhaki, the sword, which in tamil is called aimpadaithaali

 

Desika while describimg the Poothana episode says, 'Sthanyena

krishnah saha poothanaayaah praanaan papau lupthapunarbhvaayaah.'

Krishna drank her life along with milk as a result of which she

attained the state of immortality, lupthapunarbhava. It itself is a

wonder, that to one who gave poison, the Lord repaid with the

purushaarthapradhaana, that is moksha, which is attainable only

through bhakthi.

Yet there is another wonder mentioned by Desika,'yadhadbutham

bhaavayathaam janaanaam sthanandhayathvam na punarbabhoova.' Those

who contemplate on Krishna sucking the breast of Poothana never again

lapse back into the state of shanadhyaithva, suckling infant. That is

they are not born again. Appayya dikshitha commenting on this says

that it is against thatkrathunyaya, the principle called thatkrathu ,

mentioned in the aaranyaka portion of the vedas that by thinking of

something one becomes that. This is further elaborated in a later

chapter which we shall see when we come to it.

 

One more leela of Krishna as an infant is described by

Desika. Once Yasodha placed him near a cart and he started crying

and His feet hit the cart and the mountainous cart fell into pieces

with a great sound. The sakatasura who came to kill Krishna was

destroyed. Bhagavatha does not mention sakatasura but simply desribes

the cart overladen with food toppling over when Krishna kicked at it

and Yasodha and others hazened there hearing the great sound and did

not believe the words of the children that Krishna did it. But in

Yadhvaabhyudhaya and Narayaneeyam we find Sakatasura mentioned and in

Narayaneeyam the poet describes how even the dust of the sakatasura

in the form of cartwheel was not to be found and ascribes it to the

effect of the sarirasambandha of the Lord. Desika says that Yasodha

touched the lotus like foot of Krishna to see whether it was hurt.

BalaKrishna

 

Next Desika presents the picture of crawling Krishna. When krishna

crawled on the floor the dust covered his body all over. Desika says

that the earth goddess tried to embraced him under the pretext of

covering his body with dust. 'prAyO dharithree parishasvajE tham

sApathrapA sAndhrarajacchalEna.'

The joy of Nanda knew no bounds on seeing the face of Krishna which

was nirvyAja mandhasmitha dharsaneeyam, delightful to behold with his

spontaneous smile. When he lisped and pronounced the name of his

mother partly he was acclaimed by all.Everyone was pleased with his

attempt to speak which was fascinating, says Desika, because the

Lord who created all the worlds and gave them name and form, is here

praised by the people in Gokula for uttering his mother's name

partially. The upanishad says that after creating the world of beings

Brahman willed to enter them with their soul to give them name and

form.'anEna jeevEna AthmanA anupravisya nAmrupE vyAkaravANi.' (Chan.6-

3-2)

 

Then Krishna started to speak with clarity and his pronunciation had

the scent of veda, says Desika.' varNasvarAdhivyavasAyabhoomnA

sikshAvidhAm sikshaNam agryam Aseeth.' It was as though he was

teaching the gopis who tried to make him speak through his

pronunciation of letters and the intonation etc. which resembled that

of the vedas.

Next we have the delightful picture of Krishna trying to

stand. 'thameeshadhutthAya nileenabhArAth samprekshya

dhanthAnkurachAruhAsam;sanAthaneem dhrshtim ananya dhrshtih sAnandham

AlOkatha nandha pathnee.'He tries to stand a little but keeps falling

off and he smiles sweetly showing his budding teeth.Yasodha ho had no

eyes for any thing else, was looking at him, who is the eye of all,

with joy.

Here it would be interesting to see how Periazvar enjoys Krishna

having his first teeth.' kOla narumpavaLa senthuvar vAyinidai komaLa

veLLimuLai pOl sila pallilaga,' in his mouth, red like coral, there

are a few teeth showing like tender shoots of silver.

Yasodha teaches Krishna to walk and Desika enjoys the scene thus:

Yasodha took hold of his hands and made him walk and he keeps falling

now and then pretending that he could not walk more than few steps so

that his mother will pick him up and tries again. Who is he! The one

who measured the threeworlds with three steps and now manifest as a

child in order to protect the world.'padhaisthribhihkrAntha

jagaththrayam tham bhavyAsA bhAvina bAlabhAvam.'

Soon Krishna was walking all around marking the earth with his

footprints as though to put his seal on earth to drive away the

wicked.Next comes the scene where Krishna dances to the tune of the

gopis.

Dancing Krishna

Perhaps the scene opens as the gopis are churning the milk and

Krishna comes there and begs for butter and they tell him to dance if

he wants butter and this is described by Desika as follows:

ya Esha lOkathrayasuthradhArah

paryAyapASthrANi charAcharANi

AnarthayathyadhbhuthacheshtithOasou

nanarthakhElannavaneethakAngkshee

He who is the director of the three worlds causing the movable and

immovable beings enact their role in turn, with His wonderful act,

danced playfully (in front of the gopis) desirous of getting butter.

This Desika names as Navaneetha natyam in his Gopalavimsathi.

AavirbhvathyanibhrthaabharaNam purasthaath

aakunchithaikacharaNam nibhrthaanyapaadham

DHadhnaa nimanTha mukhareNanibaddhathaalam

naatTHasya nandhabhavane navaneethnaatyam

which means,

'Let the vision of Krishna dancing in the house of Nanda, His

ornaments sounding as He dances, with one foot steady and the other

bent , His navaneethnaatya, dance for butter,to the thala of the

churning of milk, appear in front of me'

 

In gokula, keeping close to the churning pot desiring butter, the

body of Krishna is splattered with drops of curd. Desika is reminded

of the form of the Lord splattered with drops of nectar, or milk

while churning the milky ocean.

 

The same idea is expressed by Kulasekhara in Mukundamala where he

says,

 

ksheerasaagaratharangaseekaraasaarathaarakrtha charumoorthaye

bhogibhogasayaneeyasaayine maadhavaaya madhvidvishe namah.

 

Salutations to Madhava ,the killer of Madhu, reclining on the bed of

adisesha, His body charming splattered with the drops from the waves

of the milky ocean, looking as though He is covered with stars.