Sri Brhad Bhagatamrtam
by
Srila Sanatan Goswami
Part One,
Sri Bhagavata-kripa-nirdhara
(The Search For the Lord's Mercy)
Part Two,
Sri Goloka-mahatmya
(The Glory of Sri Goloka)
Part Two Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven Jagad-ananda (The Bliss of the Worlds)
1. Sri Sarupa said: O
brahmana, please consider all this and decide what is the goal
of life and the best way to attain it.
2 O best of Mathura brahmanas, by the grace of the goddess
you also may attain all that I have attained.
3 Know that what you have not attained you will attain. I
will see the Lord bestow His great mercy on you.
4 I have told you the most confidential secrets of the Lord,
His devotees, and myself.
5-7 Everything of the highest love for the Lord's lotus
feet, which I am embarrassed to reveal even in my own heart, and
which is so confidential I myself do not know of it directly, in
your presence has come from my mouth, for the Lord entered my
heart and forced it out.
8. By the symptoms you show I see that you have great faith,
which will bring you the greatest result.
9 This morning Queen Radhika instructed me: "O Sarupa, a
Mathura brahmana who is My devotee has come to My forest."
10 On My order quickly go there alone, enlighten him,
comfort him, and give him Krsna's mercy.
11 Following Her order, I happily came here from far away,
not caring for the happiness of Krsna's company.
12 Sri Pariksit said: Seeing that the wealth of spiritual
love had not yet appeared in the brahmana, Sarupa placed his
hand on the brahmana's head.
13 Then, by the mercy of that great soul, the brahmana could
see in his heart everything that Sarupa had seen.
14 Made successful by the very wonderful glory of
association with a great soul, the brahmana at once attained his
original spiritual form.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that by the great mercy of
the Lord one attains the association of a devotee. The value of
associating with a devotee is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam
3.7.19:
"By serving the feet of the spiritual master, one is
enabled to develop transcendental ecstasy in the service of the
Personality of Godhead, who is the unchangeable enemy of the
Madhu demon, and whose service vanquishes one's material
miseries."*
The Vasistha-sastra explains:
"One should always associate with devotees. Even if they do
not teach you directly, their conversations amongst themselves
will teach you. Association with wise devotees makes what was
empty full. It turns death into immortality. It turns calamity
into good fortune."
Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.12.12.) explains:
"My dear King Rahugana, unless one has the opportunity to
smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great
devotees, one cannot realise the Absolute Truth simply by
observing celibacy (brahmacarya), strictly following the rules
and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a
vanaprastha, accepting sannyasa, or undergoing severe penances
in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding
oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun.
There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth,
but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained
the mercy of a great devotee."*
The value of association with devotees is also explained in
Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.23.55, 3.25.25, 4.9.11, 4.24.57-58, 5.12.13,
5.13.21, 7.5.31, 10.51.53, 11.26.31-34, 11.12.1-2, 11.19.33-34,
3.13.4, 4.9.10, 4.9.12, 11.13.36, 5.5.2-3, 11.14.17, 11.2.55,
1.3.18, 11.2.29, 10.47.24, 4.22.39, 10.2.33, 10.87.29, 3.5.39,
11.17.39, and in Bhagavad-gita 7.28, 10.10, 13.18,,
18.54-55.
15 Now plunged, as Sarupa was, in the nectar ocean of great
love and tossed by the waves of many devotional ecstasies, the
brahmana cried out: "O Krsna! Krsna! Please show me He who is
the crown of youths!"
16 Taking a blade of grass in his teeth, he bowed down
before Sarupa and with plaintive words asked both him and the
moving and unmoving creatures there: "Where is Krsna? Have you
seen Him?"
17 Chanting Krsna's beautiful names, grasping his guru's
feet, plunged in an ocean of love and overcome by his guru's
affectionate glance, the brahmana wept.
18 At once overcome with great love, standing up, wandering
as a madman, and fainting unconscious, he fell on some thorny
karira bushes.
19 O mother, from far away came sweet, deep sounds of bamboo
flutes, horn bugles, tumburus, vinas and leaf flutes.
20 Awakened by the loud sounds, standing up and running
toward them, they saw Gopaladeva, splendid with handsome dark
limbs...
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the "they" here are
the guru and his disciple.
21 ...who enjoys limitless pastimes, who, so the cows could
drink the Yamuna's water, and so He could play with His friends,
with dancing limbs moving like the pastimes of a regal elephant,
gathered everyone together...
22 ...who was decorated with the ornaments of youth, who was
an ocean filled with waves of handsomeness, who filled with
bliss the eyes and hearts of the world, whose sweetness became
newer and newer at every moment...
23 ...whose handsome form had all transcendental virtues,
whose ears were decorated with kadamba-flower earrings, who wore
a peacock feather crown, whose conchshell neck was decorated
with a strand of pearls, who was splendid with a pair of yellow
silk garments...
24 ...whose broad chest was decorated with a great necklace
of gunja and with the Srivatsa home of the goddess of fortune,
who had a lion's waist, who was strong as hundreds of lions,
whose lotus feet were worshipped by the greatest
handsomeness...
25 ...who was handsome with garlands of kadamba flowers,
gunja, tulasi, peacock feathers, and pravala, and whose broad
hips were splendid with a sash of colourful flowers...
26 ...who was handsome with broad arms splendid with golden
armlets and bracelets, whose lotus fingers played the
bamboo-flute placed to His bimba-fruit lips...
27 ...whose waves of nectar flute-music never heard before
enchanted the people of the world, whose restless, playful lotus
eyes were decorated with pastimes of slightly crooked
glances...
28 ...the glory of the dancing of whose archer's bow
eyebrows filled the devotees with love, whose always-smiling
handsome lotus face attracted the hearts of the kings of the
sages...
29 ...the sesame-flower tip of whose nose was splendid with
an elephant-king pearl, who sometimes placed a splendid hand on
the black bumble-bees of His curling locks of hair decorated
with dust raised by the cows...
30 ...whose broad half-moon forehead was decorated with
Yamuna-mud tilaka, whose body was decorated with pictures and
designs drawn in different hill-mineral colours, who was an
ocean filled with waves of many blissful pastimes...
31 ...who sometimes assumed a graceful three-fold bending
posture, who, playing jokes on His flute, made His friends
laugh, who decorated the earth with His footprints...
32 ...and who was accompanied by His handsome and
fair-complexioned elder brother Balarama, whose age and
ornaments were like His, and by His dear friends, who were also
like Him.
33 Filled with wonderful bliss by seeing Him, they both fell
down offering dandavat obeisances, their peaceful composure
destroyed.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the "they" here are
the guru and his disciple.
34 Overcome with love for His dear devotees, and bewildered
with happiness, Krsna ran to them, fell on them, and embraced
them with His great, long arms.
35 His heart melting with mercy,, the Lord bathed them with
streams of tears of love. With both hands He pulled them up at
once. He made them peaceful.
36 Wiping tears and dust from their limbs, the merciful Lord
embraced them again and again. Sitting with them on the ground,
with the nectar of His words He pleased the brahmana.
37 The Supreme Lord said: O Janasarma, kindness of Mathura,
O saintly one, O moon rising from the ocean of the brahmana's
families, is everything well with you?
Note: The brahmana is here placed in his eternal position
as a cowherd boy, and the Lord addresses him by his name in the
spiritual world: Janasarma. From now on he is known as
Janasarma.
38 By seeing you, I and My friends have become happy. My
heart is drawn to your mercy. I always gaze at your path.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the words "I always
gaze at your path" mean that Krsna anxiously waits for them,
thinking "When will they come?"
39 By good fortune you remembered Me. By good fortune after
a long time now I can see you. I am your obedient servant.
Please stay here and enjoy as you wish.
40 Sri Pariksit said: Overcome with awe, love and bliss, he
could not reply. Janasarma could not even gaze on the
Lord.
41 His eyes and throat filled with tears, he placed the
Lord's lotus feet on his head and wept.
42 Not seeing any proper gift to give, Krsna, the crest
jewel of the generous, became agitated. Taking the ornaments
from His own body, He decorated the brahmana and made him look
like Sarupa.
43 In this way the Lord was merciful to the brahmana and
made him a personal friend, like Himself. Then Janasarma
attained his desires.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the Lord made him one
of His gopa friends. By attaining his original spiritual form,
the brahmana's desires were fulfilled. That the devotees desire
an attainment like this, and not material things, is described
in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.14.14, 11.20.34, 9.4.67, 10.16.37 and
10.83.41-43.
44 With a wonderful sound from His mouth, Krsna had the cows
drink water, and with a signal from His flute He called them
together.
45 After making the cows sit in comfortable places, He and
His elder brother played in the water with the two of them and
with His other friends.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that "the two of them" are
Sarupa and Janasarma.
46 Sometimes, as His friends splashed water, He defeated
them with splashes,, and sometimes the Lord who is expert at
playing enjoyed His own defeat.
47 Making delightful splashing sounds, and swimming
sometimes with and sometimes against Sri Yamuna's currents, He
enjoyed many wonderful pastimes.
48 Sometimes, submerging His body in the dark waters of the
Yamuna and placing His face in a forest of blue lotuses, playful
Krsna hid, unseen by anyone.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that Krsna's body was
hidden by the dark water and His face was unrecognisable among
the blue lotuses.
49 Searching, and not finding Him, His grief-stricken
friends wept terribly.
50 Laughing as He emerged from the forest of lotuses, happy
Krsna played with His friends, their eyes wide with a flood of
happiness.
51 He decorated them with waterflower garlands strung on
lotus stems and they also decorated Him. Then they emerged from
the water.
52 To enjoy lunch He had the gopas make many circles on the
broad shore of the Yamuna, and He placed His elder brother in
the middle.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that this is described in
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.12.1.
53 Wonderfully going here and there among them as if
playfully dancing, He enjoys serving them the many wonderful
foods they had brought from home.
54 Then He served them, as they wished, the fruits they
playfully gathered from the wonderful and splendid Vrndavana
trees, which always bear the fruits and flowers of every
season.
55-7 He served them mangoes, talas, bilvas, badaras,
amalakas, coconuts, panasas, grapes, bananas, nagarangas,
kariras, kharjuras, pomegranates, and other sweet, ripe fruits.
To please them, He took a little from each one. Sitting next to
each one, the infallible Lord both fed and ate.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that Krsna sat next to each
boy. Each boy thought that Krsna was sitting next to him
alone.
58-9 Tasting everything and deciding what was the most
delicious, each boy would respectfully offer it to Krsna,
praising it, and placing it with his own hand in Krsna's mouth.
Tasting the delicious food, joking, and making funny faces,
Krsna charmed them and made them laugh.
60-1 Drinking and giving them to drink many kinds of bitter
and sweet nectar drinks and Yamuna water in gourd cups, the Lord
who is expert at enjoying many kinds of happy pastimes pleased
all the gopas.
62 Then He chewed fragrant betelnuts mixed with camphor and
brought from home, and He also chewed betelnuts and betel leaves
found in the forest.
63-6 Then He took and distributed the wonderful garlands His
friends made of tulasi, malati, jati, mallika, kunda, kubjaka,
lavanga,, ketaki, jhinti, karavira, the two kinds of satapatri,
palasa, navamalli, odra, damanaka, kadamba, nipa, bakula, naga,
punnaga, campaka, kutaja, asoka, mandara, karnikara, asana,
arjuna, patala, priyaka, and many other flowers and their
leaves.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the two kinds of
yuthikas are the white and golden kind, and the two kinds of
karaviras and satapatris are the white and red kind.
67 Then He anointed His limbs with powder made from sandal,
aguru, musk, kunkuma, and other fragrant things brought from the
forest.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the boys crushed these
things with stones and made of the powder a paste with
water.
68-9 Then, in a beautiful forest grove scented with fragrant
flowers and pleasant with humming bees, on an excellent bed made
of new soft leaves and flowers, served by boys expert in combing
and decorating His hair, singing, massaging His lotus hands and
feet, reciting prayers, and fanning Him, and His soft pillow the
body of a dear friend named Sridama, He slept.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that this is described in
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.15.16 and 10.15.18.
70 With hundreds of different playlets and funny expressions
on His lotus face, He won over the discriminating audience of
His friends expert in comedy and made them happy. In this way He
and Balarama enjoyed many happy pastimes.
71 By sounding signals on His flute and horn making the cows
stand up and walk, He enjoyed pastimes near Govardhana
Hill.
72 Each boy eagerly claiming "I am first!" with wonderful
and colourful forest ornaments they decorated Him according to
His own wish.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami gives haritala tilaka, a peacock
feather crown, and a gunja necklace as examples of these forest
ornaments.
73 Then, placing the newcomer, the brahmana now named
Janasarma, in Sarupa's hand, Krsna, who gives happiness to
Vraja, enjoyed the pastime of entering the gopa village at
evening.
74 O you who by Lord Gopinatha's mercy have become a great
saint, reflecting on it please accept this answer to your
question.
Note: In this verse Maharaj Pariksit is speaking to his
mother.
75 Mother, please try with a great effort to go to Sri
Goloka, which is a deep ocean of the greatest transcendental
bliss. Simply by going there one is able to enjoy many sublimely
sweet and blissful pastimes with the Lord.
76 These pastimes are not always manifested to one who
simply goes to Mathura-mandala on the earth. However, they will
be manifested to one who is flooded with the mercy of a devotee
dear to the Lord. Therefore, O mother, please take the dust of
they who are dear to the Lord.
77 O mother, by describing Goloka, which brings eternal love
for the Lord's glorious lotus feet touched by the glory of the
kunkuma on the gopis' breasts, I have answered your sweet and
profound question and I have dispelled your doubts.
78 Far above Vaikuntha, Goloka is splendidly manifest. It is
attained only by a flood of love for the feet of the gopis'
handsome lover. It gives a great result beyond what one can
desire. It gives a treasure of spiritual love to they who
meditate on it.
79 Now please hear the words of the great sages describing
this, words that will please your heart.
80 "Above Svargaloka is Brahmaloka, where Brahma and the
sages reside. Also there is the abode of Lord Shiva and the
abode of the effulgent liberated souls.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that this and the following
texts are taken from Indra's prayers to Lord Krsna in the
Hari-vamsa. The statements of this verse are also confirmed in
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.5.42 and Bhagavad-gita 10.12 and
10.20.
81-2 "O Krsna, Your splendid realm of Vaikuntha is very
great, but far above it is Goloka, the splendid realm of the
cows, where the great souls go. Although we have all asked
Grandfather Brahma about it, none of us know any place above
Goloka.
83-5 "Svargaloka is the realm of virtuous person who are
peaceful and self-controlled and have performed pious deeds.
Brahmaloka is the realm of they who have performed spiritual
austerities. Goloka is far above them. O Krsna, O saintly one,
You personally stay in Goloka and protect everyone from all
calamities.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the word "brahmaloka"
here means Vaikunthaloka.
86 "O son of Kunti, in many different forms I wander in the
material world, in the spiritual world, and in the eternal realm
of Goloka."
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that this verse, quoted
from the Skanda Purana, is spoken by Lord Krsna to Arjuna.
87-8 Sri Janamejaya said: O best of the Vaishnavas, I had
heard these verses before, from Vaisampayana, but now that I
hear them from you a new understanding shines in my heart. Ah,
the glory of the devotees is very wonderful.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the verses referred to
here are the quotations from Hari-vamsa found in Texts
80-85.
89 Fearing that this description will now end, my heart has
become unhappy. Please give some more nectar, so it will be
happy.
90-1 O child, happy to hear the description of Goloka's
glories, with wonderful and sweet love your father sang from two
stories many verses that confirm these descriptions, beautiful
verses that are the essence of the Sruti and Smrti. I wander in
this material world and speak these verses. In this way I become
free from the unhappiness of separation from your father.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami explains that the two stories are
Brahma-samhita and the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which
are both quoted in the following verses.
92 "I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His
own realm, Goloka, with Radha, who resembles His own spiritual
figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency (hladini). Their
companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her
bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful
spiritual rasa."**
Note: This verse is Brahma-samhita 5.37.
93 "Below the planet named Goloka Vrndavana are the planets
known as Devi-dhama, Mahesa-dhama, and Hari-dhama. These are
opulent in different ways. They are managed by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the original Lord. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto Him."*
Note: This verse is Brahma-samhita 5.43.
94 "The damsels of Vrndavana, the gopis, are super goddesses
of fortune. The enjoyer in Vrndavana is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, Krsna. The trees there are all wish-fulfilling
trees, and the land is made of transcendental touchstone. The
water is all nectar, the talking is singing, the walking is
dancing, and the constant companion of Krsna is His flute. The
effulgence of transcendental bliss is experienced everywhere.
Therefore Vrndavana-dhama is the only relishable abode."**
Note: This verse is Brahma-samhita 5.44.
95 In Goloka numberless milk-cows always emit transcendental
oceans of milk. In Goloka is eternal existence of transcendental
time, who is ever present and without past or future and hence
is not subject to the quality of passing away even for the space
of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very
few self-realised souls in this world."**
Note: This verse is Brahma-samhita 5.56.
96 "Dear friends, just imagine how fortunate the land of
Vrndavana is were the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself is
present, always decorated with flower garlands, and engaged in
tending the cows along with His brother, Lord Balarama. He is
always accompanied by His cowherd boy friends, and He plays His
transcendental flute. The residents of Vrndavana are fortunate
to be able to constantly see the lotus feet of Krsna and
Balarama, which are worshipped by great demigods like Lord
Shiva, Lord Brahma, and the goddess of fortune."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.44.13.
97 "The gopis and cows of Vrndavana are so fortunate that
they have been able to supply their breast milk to You. Persons
who are engaged in performing great sacrifices cannot attain the
perfection of understanding You, but simply by devotional
service these innocent village women and cows are able to
satisfy You with their milk. You have drunk their milk to
satisfaction, yet You are never satisfied by those engaged in
performing sacrifices."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.31.
98 "How greatly fortunate are Nanda Maharaj, the cowherd
men, and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhumi! There is no
limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the
source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has
become their friend."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.32.
99 "My dear Lord, no one can actually appreciate the good
fortune of these residents of Vrndavana. We are all demigods,
controlling deities of the various senses of the living
entities, and we are proud of enjoying such privileges, but
actually there is no comparison between our position and the
position of these fortunate residents of Vrndavana because they
are actually relishing Your presence and enjoying Your
association by dint of their activities."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.33.
100 "My dear Lord, I am therefore not interested in either
material opulences or liberation. I am most humbly praying at
Your lotus feet for You to please give me any sort of birth
within this Vrndavana forest so that I may be able to be
favoured by the dust of the feet of some of the devotees of
Vrndavana. Even if I am given the chance to grow just as the
humble grass in this land, that will be a glorious birth for me.
But if I am not so fortunate to take birth within the forest of
Vrndavana, I beg to be allowed to take birth outside the
immediate area of Vrndavana so that when the devotees go out
they will walk over me. Even that would be a great fortune for
me. I am just aspiring for a birth in which I will be smeared by
the dust of the devotees' feet. I can see that everyone here is
simply full of Krsna consciousness. They do not know anything
but Mukunda. All the Vedas are indeed searching after the lotus
feet of Krsna."*
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.34.
101 "My Lord, sometimes I am puzzled as to how Your Lordship
will be able to repay, in gratitude, the devotional service of
these residents of Vrndavana. Although I know that You are the
supreme source of all benediction, I am puzzled to know how You
will be able to repay all the service that You are receiving
from these residents of Vrndavana. I think of how You are so
kind, so magnanimous, that even Putana,, who came to cheat You
by dressing herself as a very affectionate mother, was awarded
liberation and the actual post of a mother. And other demons
belonging to the same family, such as Aghasura and Bakasura,
were also favoured with liberation. Under the circumstances I am
puzzled. These residents of Vrndavana have given You everything:
their bodies, their minds, their love, their homes. Everything
is being utilised for Your purpose. So how will You be able to
repay their debt?"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.35.
102 "O Krsna, as long as people are not Your devotees their
desires are thieves, their homes are prisons, and their love for
others is a pair of shackles binding their feet."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.36.
103 "I can also understand that Your appearance as a small
cowherd boy, a child of the cowherd men, is not at all a
material activity. You are so much obliged by their affection
that You are here to enthuse them with more loving service by
Your transcendental presence. In Vrndavana there is no
distinction between material and spiritual because everything is
dedicated to Your loving service. My dear Lord, Your Vrndavana
pastimes are simply to enthuse Your devotees. If someone takes
Your Vrndavana pastimes to be material, he will be
misled."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.37.
104 "My dear Lord, I have nothing to say about people who
advertise that they have already realised God, or that by their
realisation they have themselves become God. But as far as I am
concerned, I admit frankly that for me it is not possible to
realise You by my body, mind, or speech. What can I say about
You, or how can I realise You by my senses?"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.38.
105 "My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Lord of all creation,
although I sometimes falsely think that I am the master of this
universe. I may be the master of this universe, but there are
innumerable universes, and there are innumerable Brahmas also
who preside over these universes. But actually You are the
master of them all. As the Supersoul in everyone's heart, You
know everything. Please, therefore, accept me as Your
surrendered servant. I hope that You will excuse me for
disturbing You in Your pastimes with Your friends and
calves."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.39.
106 "My dear Lord Krsna, Your very name suggests that You
are all-attractive. The attraction of the sun and moon are all
due to You. By the attraction of the sun You are beautifying the
very existence of the Yadu dynasty. With the attraction of the
moon You are enhancing the potency of the land, the demigods,
the brahmanas, the cows and the oceans. Because of Your supreme
attraction, demons like Kamsa and others are annihilated.
Therefore it is my deliberate conclusion that You are the only
worshipable Deity within the creation. Accept my humble
obeisances until the annihilation of the material world. As long
as there is sunshine within this material world, kindly accept
my humble obeisances."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.40.
107 "It is quite natural for these Vrndavana inhabitants to
thus receive a great personality like You. The herbs, creepers,
and plants are also so fortunate to touch Your lotus feet. And
by Your touching the twigs with Your hands, these small plants
are also made glorious. As for the hills and the rivers, they
are too now glorious because You are glancing at them. Above
all, the damsels of Vraja, the gopis, attracted by Your beauty,
are the most glorious, because You embrace them with Your strong
arms."*
Note: This verse is Srimad Bhagavatam 10.15.8.
108 "Dear friends, our Vrndavana is proclaiming the glories
of this entire earth because this planet is glorified by the
lotus footprints of the son of Devaki. Besides that, when
Govinda plays His flute, the peacocks immediately become mad.
When all the animals and trees and plants, either on the top of
Govardhana Hill or in the valley, see the dancing of the
peacock, they all stand still and listen to the transcendental
sound of the flute with great attention."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.10.
109 "Of all the devotees this Govardhana Hill is the best! O
my friends, this hill supplies Krsna and Balarama, along with
Their calves, cows, and cowherd friends, with all kinds of
necessities - water for drinking, very soft grass, caves,
fruits, flowers, and vegetables. In this way the hill offers
respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna
and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.18.
110 "The scorching heart of the autumn sunshine was
sometimes intolerable, and therefore the clouds in the sky
appeared in sympathy above Krsna and Balarama and Their boy
friends while They engaged in blowing their flutes. The clouds
served as a soothing umbrella over their heads just to make
friendship with Krsna."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.16.
111 "Even the river Yamuna, being desirous to embrace the
lotus feet of Krsna after hearing the transcendental vibration
of His flute, broke her fierce waves to flow very nicely with
lotus flowers in her hands, just to present flowers to Mukunda
with deep feeling."*
112 "Just by Krsna's association the trees, plants, and
other vegetation in the forest immediately became Krsna
conscious. A Krsna conscious person sacrifices everything for
Krsna. Although trees and plants are not very advanced in
consciousness, by the association of Krsna and His friends they
also become Krsna conscious. They want to deliver
everything-whatever they have-their fruits, flowers, and the
honey incessantly falling from their branches."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.35.9.
113 "I think that the drones that are buzzing all around You
must have been Your devotees in their past lives. They cannot
leave Your company because no one can be a better, more
affectionate master than You. You are the original and supreme
Personality of Godhead, and the drones are just trying to spread
Your glories by chanting every moment. I think some of them must
be great sages, devotees of Your Lordship, and they are
disguising themselves in the form of drones because they are
unable to give up Your company for even a moment."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.15.6.
114 "Krsna would play His flute, and together the sounds
became so sweet to hear that together the aquatics, the cranes,
swans, and ducks, and other birds were charmed. Instead of
swimming or flying they became stunned. They closed their eyes
and entered a trance of meditation in worship of Krsna."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.35.11.
115 "My dear mother, the birds, who are all looking at Krsna
playing on His flute, are sitting very attentively on the
branches and twigs of different trees. From their features it
appears that they have forgotten everything and are engaged only
in hearing Krsna's flute. This proves that they are not ordinary
birds. They are great sages and devotees, and just to hear
Krsna's flute they have appeared in Vrndavana forest as
birds."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.14.
116 "Blessed are all these foolish deer because they have
approached Maharaj Nanda's son, who is gorgeously dressed and is
playing on His flute. Indeed, both the doe and the bucks worship
the Lord with looks of love and affection."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.11.
117 "My dear friends, the cows are also charmed as soon as
they hear the transcendental sound of the flute of Krsna. It
sounds to them like the pouring of nectar, and they immediately
spread their long ears just to catch the liquid nectar of the
flute. As for the calves, they are seen with the nipples of
their mother pressed in their mouths, but they cannot suck the
milk. They remain struck with devotion, and tears glide down
their eyes, illustrating vividly how they are embracing Krsna
heart to heart."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.13.
118 "When Krsna plays His flute, all the cows and other
animals of Vrndavana, although engaged in eating, simply take a
morsel of food in their mouths and stop chewing. Their ears
raise up and they become stunned. They do not appear alive but
like painted animals. Krsna's flute-playing is so attractive
that even the animals become enchanted, and what to speak of
ourselves."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.35.5.
119 "The wanton aborigine girls also became fully satisfied
when they smeared their faces and breasts with the dust of
Vrndavana, which was reddish with the touch of Krsna's lotus
feet. The aborigine girls had very full breasts, and they were
also very lusty, but when their lovers felt their breasts they
were not very satisfied. When they came out into the midst of
the forest they saw that while Krsna was walking some of the
leaves and creepers of Vrndavana turned reddish from the kunkuma
powder which fell from His lotus feet. His lotus feet were held
by the gopis on their breasts, which were also smeared with
kunkuma powder, but when Krsna travelled in Vrndavana forest
with Balarama and His boy friends, the reddish powder fell on
the ground of the Vrndavana forest. So the lusty aborigine
girls, while looking toward Krsna playing on His flute, saw the
reddish kunkuma powder on the ground and immediately took it and
smeared it over their faces and breasts. In this way they became
fully satisfied, although they were not satisfied when their
lovers touched their breasts."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.17.
120 "Sometimes Krsna would go to a somewhat distant place to
see the beauty of the forest. Then all the other boys would run
to accompany Him, each one saying, 'I shall be the first to run
and touch Krsna! I shall touch Krsna first!' In this way they
enjoyed life by repeatedly touching Krsna,"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.12.6.
121 "In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with
Krsna, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jnanis
desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal
servitorship, and who for ordinary person is but another
ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results
of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in
this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one
explain their good fortune?"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.12.11.
122 "Yogis may undergo severe austerities and penances for
many births by practicing yama, niyama, asana, and yama,
none of which are easily performed. Yet in due course of time,
when these yogis attain the perfection of controlling the mind,
they will still be unable to taste even a particle of dust from
the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What then
can we describe about the great fortune of the inhabitants of
Vrajabhumi, Vrndavana, with whom the Supreme Personality of
Godhead personally lived and who saw the Lord face to
face."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.12.12.
123 "When Krsna would feel tired and fatigued, He would
sometimes take shelter of the root of a big tree, or the lap of
a cowherd boy, and lie down"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.15.16.
124 "When He would lie down with a boy or a root as His
pillow, some of the boys would come and massage His legs, and
some would fan His body with a fan made from leaves."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.15.17.
125 "Some of the more talented boys would sing in very sweet
voices to please Him."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.15.18.
126 "O learned brahmana, Mother Yasoda's breast milk was
sucked by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What past
auspicious activities did she and Nanda Maharaj perform to
achieve such perfection in ecstatic love?"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.8.46.
127 "Thereafter, O Maharaj Pariksit, best of the Bharatas,
when the Supreme Personality of Godhead became the son of Nanda
Maharaj and Yasoda, they maintained continuous, unswerving
devotional love in parental affection. And in their association
all the other inhabitants of Vrndavana, the gopas and gopis,
developed the culture of Krsna-bhakti."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.8.51.
128 "O Maharaj Pariksit, best of the Kurus, Nanda Maharaj
was very liberal and simple. He immediately took his son Krsna
on his lap as if Krsna had returned from death, and by formally
smelling his son's head, Nanda Maharaj undoubtedly enjoyed
transcendental bliss."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.6.43.
129 "Because of mother Yasoda's hard labour her whole body
became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were
falling from her hair. When child Krsna saw His mother thus
fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be
bound."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9.18.
130 "Neither Lord Brahma, nor Lord Shiva, nor even the
goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme
Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
deliverer from this material world, such mercy as was received
by mother Yasoda."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.9.20.
131-2 "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the
bestower of many benedictions, including liberation (kaivalya)
or oneness with the Brahman effulgence. For that Supreme
Personality of Godhead the gopis always felt material love, and
Krsna sucked their breasts with full satisfaction. Therefore,
because of their relationship as mother and son, although the
gopis were engaged in various family activities, one should
never think that they returned to this material world after
leaving their bodies."*
Note this verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.6.39-40.
133 "In the evening Krsna and Balarama, along with the boys
and cows, returned to Vrndavana playing their flutes. As They
approached the village, all the gopis became very joyous.
Throughout the day the gopis used to think of Krsna while He was
in the forest, and in His absence they were considering one
moment to be like twelve years."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.19.16.
134 "The gopis' mind and intelligence became absorbed in
thoughts of Krsna. They all imitated the activities of Krsna and
His speeches. Due to their heart and soul being completely given
to Krsna, they began to chant His glories, completely forgetting
their family interests."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.30.43.
135 "What austerities must the gopis have performed! With
their eyes they always drink the nectar of Lord Krsna's form,
which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equalled or
surpassed. That loveliness is the only abode of beauty, fame,
and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever-fresh, and extremely
rare."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.44.15.
136 "The gopis are so fortunate that they can see and think
of Krsna twenty four hours a day, beginning from their milking
the cows or husking the paddy, or churning the butter in the
morning. When engaged in gather fuel, riding on swings, taking
care of crying babies, cleaning their houses, and washing their
floors,, they are always absorbed in the thought of Krsna.*
There hearts full of love for Him and their throats stopped with
tears, they always sing of His glories."
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.44.15.
137 "My dear friends, we must accept the gopis' activities
to be the highest form of piety. Otherwise how could they have
achieved the opportunity of seeing Krsna both morning and
evening when He goes to the pasturing-ground with His cows and
cowherd boy friends and returns inn the evening? They frequently
see Him playing on His flute and smiling very
brilliantly."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.44.16.
138 "I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless
service even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with
Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, cutting off all
domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please
let your own glorious deeds be your compensation."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.32.22.
139 "My dear gentle friend Uddhava, please go immediately to
Vrndavana and try to pacify My father and mother, Nanda Maharaj
and Yasoda-devi, and the gopis. They are very much
grief-stricken, as if suffering from great ailments. Go and give
them a message. I hope their ailments will be partially
relieved."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.36.3.
140 "The gopis are always absorbed in thoughts of Me. They
have dedicated body, desire, life and soul to Me. I am anxious
not only for the gopis, but for anyone who sacrifices society,
friendship, love and personal comforts for Me. It is My duty to
protect such exalted devotees."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.46.4.
141 "The gopis are the most dear. They are always thinking
of Me in such a way that they remain overwhelmed and almost dead
in anxiety due to separation from Me."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.46.5.
142 "They are keeping alive simply by thinking that I am
returning to them very soon."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.46.6.
143 "When Akrura took Balarama and Myself to Mathura, the
gopis, their hearts full of love for Me, became overcome with
the pain of separation. They could not see happiness
anywhere."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.12.10.
144 "O gentle one, when I, their beloved, was with them in
Vrndavana, the gopis' nights passed as half a moment. Now,
without Me, they pass as a kalpa."
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.12.11.
145 "Their hearts tied to Me, the gopis were not aware even
of their own selves. They became like sages absorbed in
meditation and unaware of the world of material names and forms,
or like rivers that have entered the ocean."
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.12.12.
146 "Desiring Me as their paramour, and unaware of My true
nature, hundreds and thousands of gopis attained Me, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead."
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.12.13.
147 "Among all the living entities who have accepted the
human form of life, the gopis are super excellently successful
in their mission. Their thought is thoroughly absorbed in the
lotus feet of Krsna. Great sages and saintly persons are also
trying to be absorbed in meditation upon the lotus feet of
Krsna, who is Mukunda Himself, the giver of liberation,, but the
gopis, having lovingly accepted the Lord, are automatically
accustomed to this habit. They do not depend on any yogic
practice. The conclusion of that one who has attained the gopis'
condition of life does not have to take birth as Lord Brahma or
be born in a brahmana family or be initiated as a
brahmana."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.58.
148 "The gopis were not born of any highly cultured family.
They were born of cowherd men, and yet they developed the
highest love of Krsna. For self-realisation or God-realisation
there is no need to take birth in a high family. The only thing
needed is ecstatic development of love of God. In achieving
perfection in Krsna consciousness no other qualification is
required than to be constantly engaged in the loving service of
Krsna. Krsna is the supreme nectar, the reservoir of all
pleasure. The effect of taking up Krsna consciousness is just
like that of drinking nectar. With or without one's knowledge,
it will act."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.59.
149 "When Lord Sri Krsna was dancing with the gopis in the
rasa-lila, the gopis were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This
transcendental favour was never bestowed upon the goddess of
fortune or other consorts in the spiritual world. Indeed, never
was such a thing even imagined by the most beautiful girls in
the heavenly planets, whose bodily lustre and aroma resemble the
lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very
beautiful according to material estimation?"*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.60.
150 "The gopis of Vrndavana have given up the association of
their husbands, sons, and other family members, who are very
difficult to give up, and they have forsaken the path of
chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Krsna,
which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me be
fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers, or herbs in
Vrndavana, because the gopis trample them and bless them with
the dust of their lotus feet."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.61.
151 "When in the rasa dance the gopis embraced to their
breasts Lord Krsna's lotus feet, which are worshipped by Laksmi,
Brahma, the demigods whose every desire is fulfilled, and the
masters of yoga, they become free of all suffering."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.62.
152 "I constantly pray to be honoured by the dust of the
gopis' lotus feet. The gopis' chanting of the transcendental
pastimes of Lord Krsna has become celebrated all over the three
worlds."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.47.63.
153 "My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the
flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krsna's lips
independently and leave only a taste for us gopis, for whom that
nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the
bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on
whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore
her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her
body."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.9.
154 "Lord Sri Krsna is He who is known as Jana-nivasa, the
ultimate resort of all living entities, and who is also known as
Devaki-nandana or Yasoda-nandana, the son of Devaki and Yasoda.
He is the guide of the Yadu dynasty, and with His mighty arms He
kills everything inauspicious, as well as every man who is
impious. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious for
all living entities, moving and inert. His blissful smiling face
always increases the lusty desires of the gopis of Vrndavana.
May He be all glorious and happy."*
Note: This verse is Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.90.48.
155 Sri Janamejaya said: I have found the goal of life! I
have found the goal of life! O my lord, O my guru, you have
explained to me the confidential glory of Goloka!
156 Sri Jaimini said: O dear one, you have spoken the truth.
Anyone who with devotion hears, chants, or remembers this story,
attains that supreme abode.
157 Obeisances to unlimitedly merciful Lord Krsna, who is
the son of the gopas' king, who is the supreme guru, who gives
devotional service to the devotees, and who is very pleased by
their service.