Yadhavbhyudhaya -chapter9

May 4, 2007

Story of Krishna-Part2

chapter9-The Arrival of Akrura

The state of kamsa, on hearing from Narada that the Lord Narayana, who is superior to devas and asuras, having been born as Krishna and growing in Gokula, is described by Desika as vyaThayA peethavishOpamO abhavath.

He became like one who has drunk poison. Thinking how Krishna had destroyed all the asuras sent by him and also hearing about the episode of govarddhanOddhAraNam ,Kamsa started planning what to do next.Desika says,

ithi viprathisAra vihvalaH

svayam utthApitha mrthyuchOdhithaH

prathihanthum iyEsha chakriNam

Salabho dheeptham iva ASu SukshaNim

He resented his inability to do what was required with respect to the rise of Krishna, became intent on a plan to destroy Krishna because he was forced by fate as his end was nearing.Here Desiks refers to krishna as chakree, one who wields the disc, meaning He is Sreemannarayana Himself.So the act of Kamsa is compared to that of a moth attacking the burning fire.

Kamsa tossed his head with a resolve and he looked like the sun at the end of the day. Fear, anger and surprise all mingled together in his heart and he felt as though his life was hanging on a thread.

Then he called Akrura, and told him to go to Gokula and bring Krishna and Balarama to Mathura along with Nanda and others.He told Akrura that he should bring Krishna and Balarama by hook or crook and in order to ward off any suspicion as to is real intention, he said that Nanda and others should also be brought under the pretext of paying their tribute to the king. Desika says that these words of Kamsa was like raising a sword to kill himself, 'svavadhopAttha krpANikopamAm vAcham udheerya.'

Even before this order can be executed he wanted to try once more to dsetroy Krishna and sent Kesi to Brindavan for the purpose. Kesi took the form of a mighty horse. Desika devotes 13 slokas to describe the fearful appearance of Kesi as a horse to show that he was much more frightful thatn any of the demons sent by Kamsa earlier.His teeth were like vajrayi udha, hoofs were blasting the earth, with his foaming mouth resembling the ocean,his tail raising dust like smoke and spittibng fire. He managed to press down the earth with his weight which caused much effort even for Adisesha to lift it up again and his neighing was thunderous and deafening.

Seeing such an animal enough to defeat even a lion the gopas in brindavan were frightened and Krishna gave out a laugh loud enough to quell the pride of the asura and to reassure the gopas 'avamathya thurangadhAnavam Samayan gOpagaNasya sAdhvasam prajhAsa hariH.' Then Krishna inserted his arm deep into the mouth of the horse and broken him into two halves as though cut by a knife into two equal parts. Then the gokula became sanAtha with the yadhunAtha.

In the meanwhile Akrura started from Mathura as per the command of Kamsa which was agreeable to him because it gave him an opportunity to see Krishna.The thoughts that ran in the mind of Akrura on his way to Brindavan is described beautifully by Desika.

The Brindavan was compared by Akrura to the place of Upanishads, as the Supreme Purusha described in the upanishads resided there and he looked forward to see Him and attain the supreme bliss.The place , he thought was purified by the dust of the feet of Krishna, which are the remedy for the woes of samsara.

He considered Krishna as the elixir that gives incomparable joy, which destroys all sins of those who come to Him and it was enjoyed ever by the Sridevi and Bhoodevi.He wished that Krishna will put His divine foot on his head and bless him.

Krishna's face would be like the moon , thought Akrura, the rays of nectar from which, together with his speech with the fragrance of the vedas, removes the fever of samsara.He wondered whethe rkrishna would speak to him when he surrenders himsej lf. At the same time he had trepidation thinking that whether he will get the darsan of Him whom even the yogis try to see with much effort and penance.He yearned for the glance of Krishna which would n be like the waves of the ocean of nectar.

He felt gratified that inspite of his serving a wicked man like Kamsa he had the good fortune to see Krishna by which all his sins would be washed off. Even if Krishna would not shower His grace on him , Aj krura thought that His darsan itself is enough and there is now wish for anything else.

He expressed his hope that Krishna and Balarama will agree to come to Mathura and adorn the city as he wished.He wondered at the good fortune og the residents of mathura who were going to see Krishna and Balarama from where they were.

Akrura wished that people like him who had charmadhrk, physical eye and not divine eye to know the gory of the Lord, would also see the exploits of Krishna if He would come to Mathura and destroy Kamsa. Desika says 'ramayA kshamayA cha mAdhavaH ramamANaH prathigamya thAm pureem, returning to Mathura, because that is where He belonged , and enjoy with Sri and Bhoodevi,' meaning that He would become the king.He explicitly mentions this in the next sloka.

avaruddha bhujAntharaH Sriya

vidhaDHAno vasuDhAkaragraham

abhishEkam ul pEyivAn asou

kimu nAthO bhavitha kulasya naH

" Would He who has made His chest the abode of Lakshmi,and who grasps the hand of Bhoodevi agree to have coronation and to become the Lord of our clan?" Grasping the hand of Bhoodevi means to become the king.

But immediately Akrura became afraid of the harm that Kamsa would do to Krishna, m nevertheless assuring himself that Krishna would surely kill Kamsa because nothing is impossible to the glorious.'na hidhurAsadhamachinthyathEjasaH.'

Thinking thus Akrura reached Brindavan and alighted from his chariot still riding on the chariot of his wishes, manoratha which had his satthvaguNa as the sArathi.Honoured by Nadnda and others,he looked for Krishna here and there and saw hHIm coming with the cows after KesivaDha.

Then follows the description of Krishna as seen by Akrura.

chapter9 continued-Akrura sees Krishna

Krishna was returning after killing Kesi, behind the cows, with a jumping gait,gavAm anuplavam, and Akrura saw Garuda flying overhead warding off the heat of the Sun for Krishna.Garuda perhaps wanted to do service to Krishna and the Lord being in the form of gopala he could not serve as a vehicle and so served as the umbrella, thus taking the place of Adhisesha who was born as Balarama. This is the idea implied in the description of Desika, who further explicitly refers to the parathva of Krishna by saying 'gathim aprathighAthAdhvayinAm.' Krishna is none else that Narayana who is the goal to be attained by those proceeding along the path devoid of obstacles, meaning the archirAdhimArga,'gathim aprathighAdhvayyinAm.'

Narada was seen behind the clouds singing the glory of the Lord by samagana and the cows smelling the feet of Krishna seemed to be the vedas themselves . Krishna was wearing a garment of the colour of the rising Sun and shining with the hue of Thamala flower.

To Akrura, Krishna decorated with peacock-feather appeared as the Lord Himself adorned with Lakshmi and kousthubha, who can be seen only by those with vedic perception, devoid of misconceptions.He was equal to the Sun and the Moon in lustre and comparable only to Himself as there is no one like Him, samahAneH upamEyam AthmanA. He is ever new to the vedas which sing His praise.

Akrura considered those cowherd boys who sang and danced with Krishna as yogis and the cows and calves were the vedas and their angas.Seeing him thus Akrura was overwhelmed with devotion and started praising Him

"I have fallen at your feet tormented by the demons of my sins and bound by the three gunas like ropes .(guna also meaning rope) Please take me up.You with your limitless glory are the helmsman in the sea of sin and rescues those who surrender to your feet.You are the rajahamsa that enter the manasa lake of the pure hearts of yogis."

Desika, speaking through the words of Akrura,says,

athirOdhi asou nidhih SruthEH

animEshavratha dhESinee dhrsOH

thanuthE thanureeSa thAvakee

smaraNam vissmaraNam cha dhuSSakam

The meaning of the sloka is as follows:

The Lord is hidden by the vedas like a treasure and hence could not be contemplated. Now that He is visible and has become the object of the eyes that fail to wink, he cannot be forgotten again. Hence there could be neither smarana, remembering nor vismarana, loss of memory.This is one of the many slokas illustrating the chamatkara, the skill of poetry of Desika.

Another beautiful sloka that is full of devotional fervour comes next.

vyapadhiSya mukundha dhEvakeem

viharanthyA vasudhEvamandhirE

janithOsi nijAnukampayA

jagathee rakshaNajAgarookadheeH

"You have made Devaki as a pretext to manifest yourself and she is in reality your mercy only, which alone is the cause of your incarnation because you are intent to protect the world."

Akrura further continues as follows:

"Those who experience the joy of seeing your form on earth, do not want even the attainment of moksha and those who understand your play on this world, unlike the ego-centric ones who are obsessed with the notion of "i" and "mine,' never return to this world again"

This is as Krishna says in the Gita, 'janmakarma cha mE dhivyam Evam yO vEtthi thatthvathaH; thyakthvA dhEham punarjanama naithi mAmEthi pAndava,(BG-4-9) one who knows my divine birth and my actions as they are , never are they reborn but attain me after leving their bodies.'

" The sins are destroyed by You like the darkness by the Sun and like the Moon you make the hearts of the yogis blossom like the lilies."

Next Desika reiterates the statement made by him earlier in the first chapter that the vedas themselves are not able to describe the glory of the Lord, through the speech of Akrura.(Ibid.1-2)

mahimArNavavarnanOdhyathAh

parimAthum guNamEkam akshamAH

thrapayEva bajanthi aseemani

thvayi vAchamyamatham anuSravAH

"The vedas trying to narrate the sea of your glory,unable to finish describing even one attribute fully, became silent as though ashamed."

Then Akrura started informing Krishna about the purpose of his visit.

thava viSvavidhO vadhAmi kim

jagadhEkAdhipathEH dhiSAmi kim

krpaNaH paripoorNasampadhaH

kamivAmsSam paripoorayAmyaham

This sloka means that to one who knows everything that happens in the world there is nothing to inform, there is nothing to show to one who is the Lord of the Universe and to the one who has all, there is nothing to give.Still he felt he had to carry his orders and told Krishna that it is time for him to return to Mathura and destroy the enemies. Kamsa, he said ,is plotting for his own destruction and is going to die.Thus to Krishna who enquired after the welfare of Mathura and its inhabitants Akrura informed of the intention of Kamsa to call him and Balarama to Mathura.Then the gopas including nanda started for Mathura obeying the orders of Kamsa and Akrura took Krishna and Balaarama in his chariot and started towards Mathura.

Next comes the description of the state of gopis grieved over the departure of Krishna.

Chapter9 continued- Krishna's departure to Mathura and the grief of the gopis

Krishna and Balarama started for Mathura and seeing that the gopis ran behind the chariot sounding like the kururi birds lamenting on the departure of Krishna,with dishevelled hair and garments, saying that they will sp tophim even if they have to fall in front of the chariot.

They became angry with Akrura for taking Krishna away from them, as though lcking their eyes fom them, and said that he did not desrve to be called Akrura ,not cruel while he is really krura.As the most cruel rakshasas deceive the world disguised as good ones Akrura came in a suave form and deceived them.

The Lord , they said ,uplifted the earth from the sea in His incarnation as the boar, Varaha, and wondered whether He would now extricate them from the sea of grief.

Krishna used to say to them, 'ahamasmi,thave thvamEva va mamadhrshtih, I am yours and you are my eyes,' and now did not seem to care for them and they did not understand how could Krishna forasake them, who, like creepers around the tree, wound themselves around His feet, who is their master enslaving them by His quaities. He is like the milky ocean , which was the abode of both nectar and poison.they called him kuhaka, a cheat,who made their faces blossom with his sweet words on the banks of Yamuna showing his love which was not true.

They accuse him of giving up Gokula, being attracted by the richness of Mathura and envy the good fortune of Mathura and its inhabitants.They were sure that Krishna was not going to be true to the women of Mathura since he never thought twice about leaving the gopis with whom he played since his childhood. Nevertheless Krishna , they said, would enchant them by his speech which was even sweeter that the music from his flute, and they will become mad about him.'yuvathee ayam indhukAnthyEth nagare nandhakumarachandhramAH, this moon, Krishna, would melt the hearts of the city women, like the moonstone.'

The reason for this was even the mind-stone manassila, of the gopis were melted by his moonlike smile. ( manassila means mind like sti one and also a kind of redstone found on the mountains. cf.'manssilAyAsthilako gandapArsvwe niveSithah,'-VR-sundarakanda, where Sita tell Hanuman to remind Rama about his putting the redmark of the manssila on her forehead as a sign of Hanuman meeting Sita.)

But Krishna would not be moved by the city -women as he was not, by the gopis as otherwise he would not have left them because the moon melts the moonstone and not viceversa.So they entertained some hope that he may return to Gokula and give joy to their eyes and ears ut again they became desperate thinking that he might be attracted by the refined beauty, speech and behaviour of the city-women 'maThuraouramatthakASinee maDHurAlApam,' and may forget them.

In the meanwhile the chariot went out of their eyesight and hearing. The gopis wondered that they were still alive even after Krishna who was like their life breath had gone away.

Here, Desika says that even this was the mercy of the Lord.

svaguNAnubhavEna subhruvAm

bhavabhogochithapuNya samchayam

virhavyaTHayA thu theevrayA

vrjinAmbhODHim aSoshayath parabhuh.

Their joy ue to union with Krishna was the fruitof all their puNya and the sorrow due to separation was the fruit of their all the sins. Hence both the puNya and pApa being spent they attained mukthi.In srimadbhagavatham the Lord says that He takes away everything fri om those whom He wanted to show His grace.When they pine for Him He makes them attain eternal union with Him, which is beyond the realm of body, mind and inrellect.

The chapter ends with brief account of Akrura having entered the waters of Yamuna, seeing Krishna and Balarama as the Lord and the Adhisesha. Having had the darsan of the Lord on his bed of adhisesha he came out and agin saw Krishna and Balrama on the chariot and narrated his experience to them.

Then they crossed Yamuna,which looked agitated with the thought that Krishna would never return and with its black hue looked like the sky itself melted, and reached Mathura.

End of chapter 9 of yadhavabhyudhaya.