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2024-04-23, 6:43 PM |
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Chapter
2: Remembrance of
Lord Krishna
(1) S'uka said: 'The great devotee [Uddhava]
questioned by Vidura about what could be said regarding the dearest
one, reflected upon the Lord but couldn't reply immediately because he
was overwhelmed by emotion. (2)
He was someone who in his childhood being five years old, called by his
mother for breakfast, didn't like to have it because he was absorbed in
playing the servant [of Lord Krishna]. (3) How would such a servitude of Uddhava have
slackened in the course of time?
So when he was simply asked to tell about Him, everything of the Lord
His lotus feet popped up in his mind. (4) For a moment he fell completely silent
because of the nectar of the Lord His feet. Strong as he was and well
matured in the union of devotion, he became fully absorbed in the love
of its goodness. (5) Every part of his body showed the signs of
transcendental ecstasy and when tears filled his eyes because of
missing Him so much, Vidura
could see that he had reached the object of his greatest love. (6)
Slowly Uddhava returned from the world of the Lord to the
human world and wiping his tears away he spoke affectionately to Vidura
about all these recollections.'
(7) Uddhava said: 'What can I say about
our wellbeing now the sun of Krishna has set and the house of my family
has been swallowed by the great serpent of the past? (8)
How unfortunate is this world and especially the Yadu dynasty who
living together with the Lord did not recognize Him any more than the
fish recognize the moon. (9) His own
men the Sâtvatas were
audacious people with a good judgement of character who could
relax
with Him as the head of the family and thought of Him as the
one behind everything. (10) Even
though they were all overcome by
the illusion of the external
reality of God, as good as others who attach to illusions, the
intelligence
of the souls who are innerly of full surrender to the Lord will never go
astray
because
of
the
words
used
by
the
others. (11)
After having shown Himself to persons living
without penance and the fulfillment of ideals, He, withdrawing His form from public vision, next
took to the feat of His own
disappearance. (12) The form He
showed in the mortal world was perfectly suited for His pastimes that
demonstrated the power of His inner magic. It led to the discovery of
His wonders, His supreme opulence and the ultimate ornament of all
ornaments: His feet.
(13) All the [inhabitants of the] three worlds who
during King Yudhishthhira's Rajasûya-[royal] sacrifice witnessed
His all-attractive form were perplexed and thought
that the craftmanship of Brahmâ's universal creation had been
surpassed
with Him present in the mortal world. (14) Because of His smiles, playful nature
and glances the women of
Vraja became more and more attached to Him and followed Him with their
eyes so that they completely distracted sat down with their mind
in the
clouds without attending to their household duties. (15)
The Unborn One who still took
birth, the infinitely merciful Lord and ruler over the spiritual and
material realm appeared for
the sake of the devotees as the
Fortunate One, the Lord of the Opulences, as Bhagavân who accompanied by all His associates is as fire to all the others who, [like Kamsa]
living to their own material standards, constitute a plague.
(16) It
distresses me to see how He, being unborn, so amazingly, took His birth [in the prison] were Vasudeva
lived, how He in Vraja at home with Vasudeva, lived like He was
afraid of the enemy
[uncle Kamsa]
and how He, the unlimitedly powerful one, fled from Mathurâ city
[the capital where Krishna resided after defeating Kamsa]. (17)
My heart hurts when I think of what He said in worship of the
feet of His parents: 'Oh mother, oh father, in great fear of Kamsa we
failed in our service, please be pleased with us!' (18) How
can one forget Him once one has
the dust
of His lotus feet in the nose,
Him who by the mere
raising of His eyebrows dealt the death blow to the burden of the earth? (19)
Did your goodness not witness
with your own eyes how during Yudhishthhira's royal sacrificial
ceremony the king of
Cedi [S'is'upâla] despite of his jealousy of Krishna attained
perfection, the fulfillment most desired by all the
yogis who by dint of their yoga manage to tolerate separation
from Him? (20) And
certainly also others in human society have achieved His heavenly abode: they who as warriors saw Krishna's very pleasing
lotus-like face and eyes on the
battlefield that was purified by
Arjuna's arrows. (21)
He is none but the unique, grand Lord of the threefold reality by
whose independence supreme fortune is achieved and at whose feet
countless [kings full of] desires bow their helmets in worship with all
the paraphernalia under the direction of the eternal keepers of
societal order. (22) For that
reason we as servitors in His service are in pain oh Vidura, when we
see
how He before King Ugrasena expectantly sitting on his throne,
submitted Himself with the words: 'Oh my Lord, please see it this way'.
(23) To the shelter of whom
else should I take? Oh, who else would assure a greater mercy than He
who, despite
of the faithlessness of that she-devil [Pûtanâ] who in envy
poisoned her breast for nourishing Him to death, granted her the
position of
a mother? (24) I
think that they who as opponents are waging against the Lord of
the Threefoldness are great devotees because they in their
preoccupation of
fighting Him, could see Him coming forward on His carrier
[Garuda] with His cakra wheel. (25)
Born from the womb of
Devakî in the prison of the
king of Bhoja [Kamsa], the Supreme Lord being prayed for [by the Creator] appeared to bring welfare on earth. (26)
Thereafter He was brought up
in the cow pastures by His [foster] father
Nanda, where He out of fear for Kamsa, together with Baladeva
[Balarâma] resided [in secret] for eleven years the way one
covers a flame. (27)
Surrounded by cowherd boys
herding calves the Almighty roamed on the
banks of the Yamunâ through gardens that vibrated with the
chirping of the heavenly birds in their many trees. (28)
The alluring display of the
pastimes of His youth could
only be appreciated by the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of
Vrindâvana, where He,
looking like a lion cub, just
like other kids cried and laughed and
was struck with wonder. (29)
Tending the treasure of beautiful cows He as the source of
happiness enlivened the cowherd
boys by playing His flute. (30)
The great wizards engaged by the king of
Bhoja to assume any form they liked, were upon their approach in
the course of His pastimes killed by Him who acted just like a child playing with dolls. (31)
[To help the inhabitants of
Vrindâvana] being perplexed by the great trouble of drinking
poison [from the snake Kâliya in the water of the
Yamunâ], He subdued
the chief of the reptiles and after coming out of the water He caused
the cows to drink it, proving it natural again. (32) Desiring
the
proper
use
of
the
wealth
of
Nanda,
the
king
of the cowherds his opulence, He with the
help of the brahmins helped them to perform worship for the sake
of the cows and
the land [instead of Indra]. (33) Indra
angry
upon being insulted highly perturbed created a heavy downpour of rain
above Vraja. [The cowherds then were] protected by the merciful Lord
with His
pastime of [lifting] the hill [Govardhana,
that served as an] umbrella
oh
sober
Vidura. (34) One
autumn He, during a night
brightened by moonlight, devoted
Himself to singing songs to
enjoy the women, delighting in their midst as the face of the night its beauty in person.'
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