Krishnakarnamrtham-sloka26

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26.Kadhaavaa kaalindhee kuvalayadhala SyaamalatharaaH

Kataakshaa lakshyanthe kimapi karuNaa veechi nichithaaH

Kadhaavaa kandharpaprathibhata jataachandhra SiSiraaH

Kimapi anthasthosham dhadhathi muralee kelininadhaaH

 

When will the glances of Krishna, darker than the blue lotuses in the river Yamuna, sending out the waves of indescribable mercy, be seen by me? When will the sound of His flute , cooler than the rays of the moon on the matted hair of Siva give me pleasure?

 

This is a beautiful sloka describing the yearning of the devotee for the kataaksha and the venunadha of the Lord. The glances of Krishna are sending out waves of mercy, karuNaaveechinichithaaH, and the poet says that they are indescribable in their showering of mercy and more beautiful than the blue lotuses in the river Yamuna. The eyes of Krishna are like red lotuses but the pupils of the eyes are dark blue in colour resembling the blue lotuses. The blue lotuses that are found in the river Yamuna are even darker than usual because of the dark colour of the water of Yamuna. Krishna's glances are even darker like rain-bearing clouds, owing to perhaps their quality of showering mercy. So it is indescribable. The kuvalaya flowers are moving constantly with the waves of the river. Similarly the eyes of Krishna are moving with the waves of mercy among his devotees. The word kataaksha is derived as katanthi aksheeniyeshu the. The verb kat , to show ,to display. Hence the glances of the Lord are kataaksha that show mercy. Katanthi, viviDha rasaan varshanthi, aksheeni , dhrshtayah, yeshu the , is how the word is explained by the commentators. The glance showers all sentiments besides mercy, or communicative of His grace.

 

The second thing yearned by the devotee is the sound of music from the flute of Krishna. It is cooling the love –stricken heart of the devotees with madhurabhakthi, and create inner joy. The reason for this is that it is cool like the rays of the moon on the matted locks of Siva. There is a beautiful explanation for the extraordinary coolness of the moon on the head of Siva. Lord Siva bears the river Ganges on his head which is under the shadow of his matted locks and hence cooler than elsewhere. The moon on his head is being continuously bated by that water and hence the extraordinary coolness of his rays. Here the idea in combining the sight of the glance and the hearing of the music of the flute is that the former is giving solace by perception which is quite understanadable but the latter, though distant, creates happiness inside in the same manner. This is similar to the solace obtained by mere chanting of His name which is equally effective as the darsan.