"O King, I have said before how Sisupala attained Siddhi even by bearing
enmity to Hrishikesha (controller of the senses, Krishna.) What of those
to whom Krishna is dear? (The purport is that Brahma-hood is eclipsed in
the Jiva. But Krishna is controller of the senses. Brahma-hood is
manifest in him. He does not require to be known. _Sridhara_). Bhagavan
manifests himself for the Moksha of men though in reality, He is without
end, without measure, void of all Gunas and their controller." (Krishna
being a manifestation of Bhagavan, there is no comparison between Him
and other embodied men. _Sridhara_.)
"Bear any feeling _constantly_ towards Hari, whether it be a feeling of
love, anger, fear, affection, kinship or devotion and you become full of
Him. Do not wonder at this. For Krishna is the Lord of all Lords of
Yoga. All (even the lowest life forms) attain Mukti from him. When the
women of Vraja drew near, Krishna addressed them thus: --
"'Welcome, ye great ones! What good can I do for you? Is it all safe in
Vraja? Tell me the object of your coming here. The night is fearful and
dangerous animals are treading round. Go back to Vraja. This is not a
place for women. You have got your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers, and
husbands. They are seeking you. Do not cause pain to your friends. What
more, you have now seen this forest adorned with flowers and illumined
by the tender rays of the full moon, where the trees and their tender
branches, gently moved by the breeze from the Yamuna, stand in all their
beauty. Now go back, O virtuous girls, speedily to your homes and look
after your husbands. The calves and your children are weeping. Go and
let them have their drink. Or if you have come here, forced by your love
for me, it is only meet and proper, for all people have their love for
me. Devotion to husband is the one great religion for women. They are to
seek the well being of their friends and to bring up their children. The
husband may be wicked, old, diseased or poor. But those who wish for
higher Lokas should not give up their husbands. The connection with one
not the husband is disreputable and unbecoming. You may bear love to me
in other ways than by such a near approach. Therefore go back to your
houses.'"
"The Gopis were struck dumb for a time. They became overcome with
sorrow. They had given up every thing for the sake of Krishna and they
could ill bear to hear these unkind words. At last they broke forth: --
'O Lord, it is not for Thee to utter these unkind words. We have given
up all objects and sought Thy feet. O Thou difficult to be reached, do
not forsake us but please think of us, even as the First Purusha thinks
of those that seek Moksha. Thou speakest, O love, of our duties to
husbands, sons, and friends as if thou wert a religious teacher, but
thou art thyself the goal of those religious injunctions. So let them
rest in thee. Thou art the greatest friend of all beings, for thou art
verily their own self. What do they care for husbands or sons, sources
of misery as they are, who are attached to thee, the constant source of
happiness?
"'Therefore do thou show favor to us and permit us to serve Thee.' Moved
by their piteous appeal, Krishna gave his company to the Gopis. Proud of
that company, the Gopis deemed themselves superior to all other women on
the earth. To put down this loss of mental balance, caused by good
fortune and this pride, Krishna suddenly disappeared from amongst them.
The Gopis became disconsolate. Their hearts had been too much taken up
by the gestures and movements of Krishna. So they imitated his deeds and
even called themselves Krishna. They all sang loudly together and madly
searched for Krishna from forest to forest. They asked the trees if they
had seen their lover. They enquired of the creepers, the earth and the
deer. Fatigued at last, they again took to reproducing the deeds of
Krishna. Some played the part of Putana or some other Asura, some played
the part of Krishna in connection with some of his manifold deeds. They
again made enquiries from the plants. They then found out the footsteps
of Krishna marked by the divine symbols (flag, the lotus, the
thunder-bolt and the goad). Tracing those steps a little further, they
found they were mixed up with the footprints of a girl. The Gopis
exclaimed: --
"'Surely this girl had made _Aradhana_ (devout prayer for the Lord).
Govinda left us that he might take her to a secret retreat. Sacred are
the dust particles of Govinda's feet; even Brahma, Siva and Lakshmi hold
them on their head for the extinction of sins. Look here we no longer
see the foot marks of that girl. It seems Krishna carried her here on
his back and his footprints are therefore deeply marked. Here He placed
her down to pluck flowers and touched the earth with his toes only, for
the steps are not fully marked. Surely he placed the girl on his lap
here and adorned her hair with flowers.' And what of that girl? She
deemed herself very fortunate that Krishna should shew particular
attention to her. With this sense of superiority she spoke to Krishna.
'I can not walk. Take me to where I like on thy back.' Krishna said,
'Get up on my back.' But when she would do so, Krishna had already
disappeared. The girl was loudly lamenting, when the other Gopis joined
her. They heard her story and became very much surprised. (It is
necessary to draw the special attention of the readers to the girl, who
had made Aradhana of Hari. She is the Radhika of Narada Pancharatra and
of later day Vaishnavism. Radhika means literally one who makes Radhana
or Aradhana. But I shall not touch upon her in a study of the Bhagavata
Purana. The study of this Purana is incomplete without a study of
Chaitanya's teachings. And if I succeed in taking up those teachings, I
shall consider the lofty ideal of Radhika).
"The Gopis all returned to the forest and searched for Krishna as long
as there was moonlight. They gave up their search when it was dark. With
thoughts all directed to Krishna, with conversations all about Him, with
gestures and movements all after Him, with songs all about His deeds,
the Gopis, all full of Krishna, they did not think of their homes. They
went to the banks of the Yamuna, and all sang in a chorus about Krishna,
ardently praying for his return. (I shall not touch with my profane hand
the songs of the Gopis. They are far too sacred for any rendering into
English and they baffle any attempt to do so. Sweet as nectar, the
melody of those songs is inseparable from their very essence, and he
would be murdering Bhagavata who would attempt to translate those songs.
For the continuity of our study it is only necessary to translate the
fourth sloka.)
"'Thou art not surely the son of Yasoda. Thou art the inmost seer of all
things. Implored by Brahma thou hast appeared, O friend, in the line of
the Satvats, for the protection of the Universe.' While the Gopis were
thus bewailing in melodious tunes, Krishna appeared with a smiling face.
They formed a circle round Him and were so pleased to see Him that they
reached the very limit of their joy. The Gopis spread out their outer
garments as a seat for Sri Krishna, on the river bank. When Krishna sat
down, they addressed him thus: --
"'Some seek those only that seek them; some do the contrary, (_i.e._
seek those even who do not seek them), others seek neither those that
seek them nor those that do not seek them. Please tell us, what is all
this.'
"Said Sri Krishna: -- 'Those that seek each other are guided in their
efforts by selfishness. There is neither friendship nor virtue in that
mutuality. It is all for a selfish end. (Even the beasts seek mutual
good. _Sridhara_. And do not the Utilitarians and the evolutionists do
so)? Those that seek the unseeking are either kind-hearted men or they
are guided by affection like the parents. It is pure virtue in the
former case and friendship in the latter.
"'Those that do not seek the people that seek them and far less those
that do not seek them fall under one of the following four classes: --
"'(1) Those that seek pleasure in self (and not in the outside world),
(2) those that are satiated, (3) the ungrateful and (4) the treacherous.
But I do not belong to any of these classes, I do not seek those that
seek me in order to make them seek me continually and constantly. For
when a poor man gains wealth and then loses it, he becomes so full of
that loss that no other thought can enter his mind (_i.e._ to help the
continuity and constancy of the devotional feeling, I do not show open
favor to a devotee. This is an act of supreme kindness and friendship).
You have given up for my sake all worldly concerns, the Vedas and even
your own relations. I seek you from behind, being out of sight.
Therefore you ought rightly to be angry with me. Even with the life of a
God, I cannot make any return for your devotion to me, for you have
burst asunder the ever fresh chains of home life, in order to seek me.
So let your own goodness be the only recompense for your devotion.'"