Brahmā’s Prayers to Lord Kṛṣṇa

TRANSLATION

The cows had given birth to new calves, but while coming down from Govardhana Hill, the cows, because of increased affection for the older calves, allowed the older calves to drink milk from their milk bags and then began licking the calves’ bodies in anxiety, as if wanting to swallow them.

COMMENTARY

Although the cows had given birth to new calves, they had more affection for the older calves. Thus they came down from Govardhana Hill to feed the older calves the milk pouring from their udders (svaudhasaṁ payaḥ). In great anxiety they repeatedly licked the calves’ bodies as if wanting to swallow them.

 

|| 10.13.32 ||

gopās tad-rodhanāyāsa-maughya-lajjoru-manyunā

durgādhva-kṛcchrato ’bhyetya go-vatsair dadṛśuḥ sutān

TRANSLATION

The cowherd men, having been unable to check the cows from going to their calves, felt simultaneously ashamed and angry. They crossed the rough road with great difficulty, but when they came down and saw their own sons, they were overwhelmed by great affection.

COMMENTARY

The cowherd men tried to stop the cows with sticks, but failing to check the cows, they felt simultaneously ashamed and angry. With great difficulty they ran down the rough path, but when they saw their sons with the calves they too were overwhelmed with affection.

 

|| 10.13.33 ||

tad-īkṣaṇotprema-rasāplutāśayā jātānurāgā gata-manyavo ’rbhakān

uduhya dorbhiḥ parirabhya mūrdhani ghrāṇair avāpuḥ paramāṁ mudaṁ te

TRANSLATION

At that time, all the thoughts of the cowherd men merged in the mellow of paternal love, which was aroused by the sight of their sons. Experiencing a great attraction, their anger completely disappearing, they lifted their sons, embraced them in their arms and enjoyed the highest pleasure by smelling their sons’ heads.

COMMENTARY

Oh ignorant men! Why were the cows drawn towards their calves? The elders wanted to scold the cows, but by glancing at their children, they became filled with parental love, vātsalya-prema. Experiencing the fifth stage of prema (anurāgāḥ) the cowherd men relished intense attraction and pleasure, and thus completely forgot their anger.

 

|| 10.13.34 ||

tataḥ pravayaso gopās tokāśleṣa-sunirvṛtāḥ

kṛcchrāc chanair apagatās tad-anusmṛty-udaśravaḥ

TRANSLATION

Thereafter the elderly cowherd men, having obtained great feeling from embracing their sons, gradually and with great difficulty and reluctance ceased embracing them and returned to the forest. But as the men remembered their sons, tears began to roll down from their eyes.

COMMENTARY

With great difficulty (kṛcchrāc) the elderly cowherd men (pravayaso) stopped embracing (apagatā) their children and returned to the forest. As the men remembered their sons, tears flowed from their eyes (uda śrava).

 

|| 10.13.35 ||

vrajasya rāmaḥ premardher vīkṣyautkaṇṭhyam anukṣaṇam

mukta-staneṣv apatyeṣv apy ahetu-vid acintayat

TRANSLATION

Because of an increase of affection, the cows had constant attachment even to those calves that were grown up and had stopped sucking milk from their mothers. When Baladeva saw this attachment, He was unable to understand the reason for it, and thus He began to consider as follows.

 

COMMENTARY

Because of an increase of prema the cows had great attachment (utkaṇṭhyam) even to those calves that were grown up and had stopped sucking milk from their mothers. Seeing this inexplicable (ahetuvit) situation, Baladeva began to think. From the day after the bewilderment of Brahmā, all the cows would ignore their newly born calves at the time of milking and feed their calves, which had stopped taking milk from their udders. Why did Balarāma realize this now, after seeing it for so many days, and why didn’t the other cowherd men even notice this? It was because they were all covered by yogamāyā from the day of the brahma-vimohana-līlā. Therefore, even though they saw the strange behavior of the cows, Baladeva, the gopīs and the gopas did not think to investigate it.

 

Baladeva is the elder brother of the cause of the universe, and His dear friend, so Kṛṣṇa should not have deceived Him. Though Kṛṣṇa should have revealed everything to Baladeva before this, He did not because He did not want Balarāma to suffer any separation from Śrīdāmā and His other friends for the period of a year. Kṛṣṇa Himself did not suffer from any separation because He was close to them in an expanded form that searched for their calves. Balarāma did not appear in any expanded form during this pastime. Then, after a year passed, when the Lord desired, yogamāyā gradually withdrew her cover from Balarāma. It was done gradually so that Baladeva could take the viewpoint of the devotee, and also to immerse Him in the ocean of the Lord’s power.

 

|| 10.13.36 ||

kim etad adbhutam iva vāsudeve ’khilātmani

vrajasya sātmanas tokeṣv apūrvaṁ prema vardhate

TRANSLATION

What is this wonderful phenomenon? The affection of all the inhabitants of Vraja, including Me, toward these boys and calves is increasing as never before, just like our affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supersoul of all living entities.

COMMENTARY

As yogamāyā relaxed the first part of her influence, Balarāma thought about the wonders He was seeing: “It astonishes Me how the mothers have the same love for their sons as they previously had for Kṛṣṇa?” It was also amazing how Balarāma himself was experiencing the same love He feels for Kṛṣṇa upon seeing those boys.

 

|| 10.13.37 ||

keyaṁ vā kuta āyātā daivī vā nāry utāsurī

prāyo māyāstu me bhartur nānyā me ’pi vimohinī

TRANSLATION

Who is this mystic power, and where has she come from? Is she a demigod or a demoness? She must be the illusory energy of My master, Lord Kṛṣṇa, for who else can bewilder Me?

COMMENTARY

As yogamāyā removed the second part of her influence, Balarāma thought for a moment about this, and invoked His power of omniscience to understand the cause of His surprise. Balarāma considered: “It is definitely a display of mystic power or māyā. But what kind of māyā and who caused it? Is it the daivī-māyā of the demigods like Brahmā appearing as boys and calves to test their ability to attract us to them? Are these boys not really Śrīdāmā and others? Is it nāri-māyā created by the some sages, who are testing their knowledge by assuming the forms of the boys and calves? Is it some rākṣasī-māyā employed by the demons like Kaṁsa, who failing to kill us by their strength, have resorted to some trick to kill us by disguising themselves as the boys and calves?”

 

As the third portion of yogamāyā dissolved, Balarāma again considered: “The mystical change must have been caused by the yogamāyā potency of my master Kṛṣṇa. Though other potencies cannot bewilder Me, even I cannot check the power of Kṛṣṇa’s yogamāyā, which is filled with pure knowledge. On the other hand, the mahāmāyā of My expansion Mahā-Viṣṇu, who creates the mahat-tattva, easily bewilders Brahmā and all others.”

 

|| 10.13.38 ||

iti sañcintya dāśārho vatsān sa-vayasān api

sarvān ācaṣṭa vaikuṇṭhaṁ cakṣuṣā vayunena saḥ

TRANSLATION

Thinking in this way, Lord Balarāma was able to see, with the eye of transcendental knowledge, that all these calves and Kṛṣṇa’s friends were expansions of the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENTARY

Thinking thus, Balarāma tried to understand it by the eye of transcendental knowledge (vayunena cakṣuṣā). By Kṛṣṇa’s will the fourth portion of yogamāyā departed, and Balarāma was able to see that all the boys and calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental form.

 

|| 10.13.39 ||

naite sureśā ṛṣayo na caite

tvam eva bhāsīśa bhid-āśraye ’pi

sarvaṁ pṛthak tvaṁ nigamāt kathaṁ vadety
uktena vṛttaṁ prabhuṇā balo ’vait

TRANSLATION

Lord Baladeva said, “O supreme controller! These boys are not great demigods, as I previously thought. Nor are these calves great sages like Nārada. Now I can see that You alone are manifesting Yourself in all varieties of difference. Although one, You are existing in the different forms of the calves and boys. Please briefly explain this to Me.” Having thus been requested by Lord Baladeva, Kṛṣṇa explained the whole situation, and Baladeva understood it.

COMMENTARY

Balarāma continued His thoughts: “Now, why did Kṛṣṇa become the calves and boys? Where has He hidden the real boys and calves? Because even after prolonged meditation one cannot perceive this matter, it should be understood that the cause is not mahāmāyā, but rather yogamāyā, Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental spiritual power. Kṛṣṇa’s yogamāyā has such great power that even His personal expansions such as Nārāyaṇa, though omniscient and omnipresent, do not have any inherent understanding of this power.” Mahāviṣṇu’s stealing the sons of the Dvārakā brāhmaṇa is the proof given in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, chapter eighty-nine.

 

Thus Balarāma could understand all of this only after looking at Kṛṣṇa. With this intent the verse is spoken. Balarāma said, “It is not possible that the demigods, sages or the demons became the boys. Actually I see that all these boys and calves are You. Although one, please tell me why You are existing in the different forms of the calves and boys?” Upon inquiring from Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma understood everything about the brahma-vimohana-līlā.

 

|| 10.13.40 ||

tāvad etyātmabhūr ātma- mānena truṭy-anehasā

purovad ābdaṁ krīḍantaṁ dadṛśe sa-kalaṁ harim

TRANSLATION

When Lord Brahmā returned after a moment of time had passed (according to his own measurement), he saw that although by human measurement a complete year had passed, Lord Kṛṣṇa, after all that time, was engaged just as before in playing with the boys and calves, who were His expansions.

COMMENTARY

After describing the bewilderment of the Vraja gopas and gopīs, the bewilderment of Brahmā is described. Due to fear, Brahmā, who is called ātma bhū (born directly from Hari), returned after one moment, even though one year of human time had elapsed. After all that time, Brahmā saw that Kṛṣṇa was playing with the boys and calves, who were actually His expansions. Baladeva, however, as in the previous year, was absent due to being kept home by his mother to perform auspicious rites on His birthday.

 

|| 10.13.41 ||

yāvanto gokule bālāḥ sa-vatsāḥ sarva eva hi

māyāśaye śayānā me nādyāpi punar utthitāḥ

TRANSLATION

Lord Brahmā thought: Whatever boys and calves there were in Gokula, I have kept them sleeping on the bed of my mystic potency, and to this very day they have not yet risen again.

 

|| 10.13.42 ||

ita ete ’tra kutratyā man-māyā-mohitetare

tāvanta eva tatrābdaṁ krīḍanto viṣṇunā samam

TRANSLATION

A similar number of boys and calves have been playing with Kṛṣṇa for one whole year, yet they are different from the ones illusioned by my mystic potency. Who are they? Where did they come from?

COMMENTARY

The doubts that arose in Brahmā after seeing this are described in two verses (41-42). Lord Brahmā thought: “Where have all these boys and calves come from? Are these the ones bewildered by my māyā? Or are they different boys and calves brought by Kṛṣṇa?”

 

Brahmā pointed with his forefinger as he thought, “Just a short distance from here the boys and calves are playing with Kṛṣṇa in the forest of Gokula. They are different from the ones I put to sleep by my mystic power. Where did these come from and who are they?”

 

|| 10.13.43 ||

evam eteṣu bhedeṣu ciraṁ dhyātvā sa ātma-bhūḥ

satyāḥ ke katare neti jñātuṁ neṣṭe kathañcana

TRANSLATION

Thus Lord Brahmā, thinking and thinking for a long time, tried to distinguish between those two sets of boys, who were each separately existing. He tried to understand who was real and who was not real, but he couldn’t understand at all.

COMMENTARY

In this way Brahmā was thinking and investigating for a long time. “Of the two groups, those bewildered by me and those playing here with Kṛṣṇa, which group is real and which is false? Are the sleeping ones bewildered by me the real ones or are they something created by Kṛṣṇa? Or are the ones playing in the distance the real ones or something created by Kṛṣṇa? Or are both merely creations of Kṛṣṇa? After I go to the cave and see that the boys and calves are still there, does Kṛṣṇa remove them and bring them here so that I come here and see them, and does Kṛṣṇa then take them from here and put them back in the cave? Whatever the case may be, I see two different groups in two different places at the same time. Thus I am confused.”

 

After meditating for some time, Brahmā thought, “I will use my power of omniscience to understand this.” But even then, after a long time in samādhi, Brahmā was still doubtful: “Of the two groups situated in two places, which is the real (satyāḥ) group created by the Lord, and which is the false one created by Māyādevī? I cannot understand at all.”

 

|| 10.13.44 ||

evaṁ sammohayan viṣṇuṁ vimohaṁ viśva-mohanam

svayaiva māyayājo ’pi svayam eva vimohitaḥ

TRANSLATION

Thus because Lord Brahmā wanted to mystify the all-pervading Lord Kṛṣṇa, who can never be mystified, but who, on the contrary, mystifies the entire universe, he himself was put into bewilderment by his own mystic power.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes how Brahmā fell into the whirlpool of bewilderment. Though Brahmā tried to mystify (sammohayan) Kṛṣṇa by stealing the boys and calves, he, though unborn (ajaḥ), was bewildered by using his energy (svayā māyayā) against the Lord. Brahmā was not bewildered by his own energy, which is the external meaning of the words svayā māyayā.

 

Vimohitaḥ here indicates that Brahmā was bewildered in a special way (vi:visesena mohitaḥ). The reason for this extreme bewilderment was Brahmā’s great offense in attempting to use his powers to mystify the Lord. One should not think that Brahmā was bewildered by his own māyā, because māyā does not have the power to bewilder its shelter. A later verse gives an example to illustrate this.

 

|| 10.13.45 ||

tamyāṁ tamovan naihāraṁ khadyotārcir ivāhani

mahatītara-māyaiśyaṁ nihanty ātmani yuñjataḥ

TRANSLATION

As the darkness of snow on a dark night and the light of a glowworm in the light of day have no value, the mystic power of an inferior person who tries to use it against a person of great power is unable to accomplish anything; instead, the power of that inferior person is diminished.

COMMENTARY

No type of mystic power can cover Kṛṣṇa, who is the controller of mahāmāyā. Rather, such an attempt shows the insignificance of the person displaying his mystic power before the Lord. This verse cites two examples to show this.

 

In the dense darkness of night, the darkness produced by snow has no meaning. Similarly, Brahmā’s māyā could not cover the Lord, but rather Brahmā became insignificant in the presence of Kṛṣṇa’s mystic power.

 

As the example of snow only attributes a little causality to Brahmā, another more satisfying example is given. A firefly appears very important at night, but in the daytime its glow has no value. Similarly, Brahmā can show his power in some places, but his power became condemned when he tried to spread it over the Lord. When one tries to defeat a superior power, one’s own inferior power becomes destroyed.

 

|| 10.13.46 ||

tāvat sarve vatsa-pālāḥ paśyato ’jasya tat-kṣaṇāt

vyadṛśyanta ghana-śyāmāḥ pīta-kauśeya-vāsasaḥ

TRANSLATION

Then, while Lord Brahmā looked on, all the calves and the boys tending them immediately appeared to have complexions the color of bluish rainclouds and to be dressed in yellow silken garments.

 

COMMENTARY

(Verses 46-48) While Brahmā was contemplating these matters, he saw all the calves and cowherd boys (vatsa pālāḥ), but they gave no heed to him. They said, “O Brahmā, the unborn (aja) one, resident of Satyaloka. Verily (satya), you are a goat! [The word aja also means goat.] You create the universe by your intelligence. Now you want to bewilder us with your māyā. You have no idea at all who we are. Now we will show you! Look! Though we are all the calves grazing on Vṛndāvana’s grass, and all the cowherd boys herding those calves,our real form is only one form.”

 

Being endowed with spiritual vision, Brahmā was able to see (vyadṛśyantah) that all the calves and cowherd boys had immediately transformed into viṣṇu-mūrtis with four arms, having bluish complexions and wearing yellow garments. All the boys’ chests were marked with the line of Laksmī (śrīvatsa). They had armbands (angada) on their upper arms, and Kaustubha jewels (ratna) on their necks. Their hands were ornamented with golden bracelets and their feet with bangles.

 

|| 10.13.47-48 ||

catur-bhujāḥ śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-rājīva-pāṇayaḥ

kirīṭinaḥ kuṇḍalino hāriṇo vana-mālinaḥ

śrīvatsāṅgada-do-ratna-kambu-kaṅkaṇa-pāṇayaḥ

nūpuraiḥ kaṭakair bhātāḥ kaṭi-sūtrāṅgulīyakaiḥ

TRANSLATION

All those personalities had four arms, holding conchshell, disc, mace and lotus flower in Their hands. They wore helmets on Their heads, earrings on Their ears and garlands of forest flowers around Their necks. On the upper portion of the right side of Their chests was the emblem of the goddess of fortune. Furthermore, They wore armlets on Their arms, the Kaustubha gem around Their necks, which were marked with three lines like a conchshell, and bracelets on Their wrists. With bangles on Their ankles, ornaments on Their feet, and sacred belts around Their waists, They all appeared very beautiful.

 

|| 10.13.49 ||

āṅghri-mastakam āpūrṇās tulasī-nava-dāmabhiḥ

komalaiḥ sarva-gātreṣu bhūri-puṇyavad-arpitaiḥ

TRANSLATION

Every part of Their bodies, from Their feet to the top of Their heads, was fully decorated with fresh, tender garlands of tulasī leaves offered by devotees engaged in worshiping the Lord by the greatest pious activities, namely hearing and chanting.

COMMENTARY

The phrase bhūri puṇyavad arpitaiḥ means “worshiping the Supreme Lord by hearing, chanting and remembering.”

 

|| 10.13.50 ||

candrikā-viśada-smeraiḥ sāruṇāpāṅga-vīkṣitaiḥ

svakārthānām iva rajaḥ-sattvābhyāṁ sraṣṭṛ-pālakāḥ

TRANSLATION

Those Viṣṇu forms, by Their pure smiling, which resembled the increasing light of the moon, and by the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes, created and protected the desires of Their own devotees, as if by the modes of passion and goodness.

COMMENTARY

The brightness of the smiles of those Viṣṇu forms made the moon light lament. With the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes they created and maintained the desires of their devotees. The phrase (raja-sattvābhyāṁ) means the Viṣṇu forms distributed mercy with the reddish (rajas) tint of their lotus eyes and the white (sattva) of their smiles.

 

|| 10.13.51 ||

ātmādi-stamba-paryantair mūrtimadbhiś carācaraiḥ

nṛtya-gītādy-anekārhaiḥ pṛthak pṛthag upāsitāḥ

TRANSLATION

All beings, both moving and nonmoving, from the four-headed Lord Brahmā down to the most insignificant living entity, had taken forms and were differently worshiping those viṣṇu-mūrtis, according to their respective capacities, with various means of worship, such as dancing and singing.

COMMENTARY

Brahmā saw that all beings from the four-headed Brahmā down to the grass were worshiping those viṣṇu-mūrtis with various means of worship, such as singing and dancing.

 

|| 10.13.52 ||

aṇimādyair mahimabhir ajādyābhir vibhūtibhiḥ

catur-viṁśatibhis tattvaiḥ parītā mahad-ādibhiḥ

TRANSLATION

All the viṣṇu-mūrtis were surrounded by the opulences, headed by aṇimā-siddhi; by the mystic potencies, headed by Ajā; and by the twenty-four elements for the creation of the material world, headed by the mahat-tattva.

COMMENTARY

All the viṣṇu-mūrtis were surrounded by opulences, headed by the eight mystic siddhis, and by the twenty four elements of creation starting with the mahat-tattva. In this enumeration of the twenty four elements, a distinction is made between mahat-tattva, which is the twenty-third element, and sutra-tattva (a state where the three modes are slightly manifested), which becomes the twenty third element instead of mahat-tattva. Tattvaiḥ means causes for creation of the material world.

 

|| 10.13.53 ||

kāla-svabhāva-saṁskāra-kāma-karma-guṇādibhiḥ

sva-mahi-dhvasta-mahibhir mūrtimadbhir upāsitāḥ

TRANSLATION

Then Lord Brahmā saw that kāla (the time factor), svabhāva (one’s own nature by association), saṁskāra (reformation), kāma (desire), karma (fruitive activity) and the guṇas (the three modes of material nature), their own independence being completely subordinate to the potency of the Lord, had all taken forms and were also worshiping those viṣṇu-mūrtis.

COMMENTARY

The viṣṇu-mūrtis were being worshiped by time (kāla) and its assistants: one’s own nature (svabhāva), reformation (saṁskāra), desire (kāma), fruitive activity (karma) and the three modes of material nature (guṇas). Their own independence, however, was completely subordinate to the potency of the Lord (sva mahi dhvasta mahibhiḥ). Time sets the three modes of nature in motion. Svabhāva is one’s natural state formed by associating with the three modes of material nature. Saṁskāra is that which brings remembrance or revelation.

 

|| 10.13.54 ||

satya-jñānānantānanda-mātraika-rāsa-mūrtayaḥ

aspṛṣṭa-bhūri-māhātmyā api hy upaniṣad-dṛśām

TRANSLATION

The viṣṇu-mūrtis all had eternal, unlimited forms, full of knowledge and bliss and existing beyond the influence of time. Their great glory was not even to be touched by the jñānīs engaged in studying the Upaniṣads.

COMMENTARY

One should not think that all these forms were just a creation of the Lord’s illusory energy. The boys and calves were all transformed into viṣṇu-mūrtis or Viṣṇu forms made of infinite truth, infinite knowledge and infinite bliss. Or the meaning can be: the calves and boys were the personification of the Vedic statement: satyaṁ jñānam ānandaṁ brahmeti, ānandaṁ brahmano rūpam, “Brahman is the Absolute Truth and complete bliss. Brahman is the form of bliss.” (Taittireya Upaniṣad 2.1.3)

 

One may object that Vedāntists never say that Brahman has many forms and variations. But this verse states that the followers of the Upaniṣads (upaniṣad dṛṣām), however, cannot understand the varieties manifested by Brahman due to their lack of devotion, nor can they even touch the glory of these viṣṇu-mūrtis. This proves that Brahman and Paramātmā can actually be understood only through devotion as confirmed by Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.14.21): bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ, “I am obtainable only by devotion.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.55): bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ, “I am known as I am only by devotion.”

 

The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.2.3) says:

 

na caksusa pasyati rupam asya yam evaiṣa vṛṇute

tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām

 

“The Lord’s form cannot be seen by material eyes. The Lord is attainable by one whom the Lord favors. To such a person He manifests His own form.”

 

In the Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad (3.8), the Supreme is described as āditya-varnam tamasah parastāt, “He whose self-manifest form is luminous like the sun and transcendental to the darkness of ignorance.” Ananda-mātram ajaraṁ purāṇam ekam santaṁ bahudhā dṛṣyamānam: “The Supreme is blissful, with no tinge of un-happiness. Although He is the oldest, He never ages, and although one, He is experienced in different forms.” (Brhad-āranyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.19) The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.40.7) states: bahu-mūrty-eka-mūrtikam, “You are the one Supreme Lord manifesting in multiple forms.”

 

Sarve nityāh śāśvatāś ca dehās tasya parātmanaḥ: “All the forms of that Supreme Person are eternal.” (Mahā-varāha Purāṇa)

 

Thus there are many statements in the Śruti and Smṛti revealing that Brahman definitely has transcendental form and qualities, which are visible to the eye of devotion by the mercy of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

 

|| 10.13.55 ||

evaṁ sakṛd dadarśājaḥ para-brahmātmano ’khilān

yasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti sa-carācaram

TRANSLATION

Thus Lord Brahmā saw the Supreme Brahman, by whose energy this entire universe, with its moving and nonmoving living beings, is manifested. He also saw at the same time all the calves and boys as the Lord’s expansions.

COMMENTARY

Yasya refers to the Supreme Brahman.

 

|| 10.13.56 ||

tato ’tikutukodvṛtya-stimitaikādaśendriyaḥ

tad-dhāmnābhūd ajas tūṣṇīṁ pūr-devy-antīva putrikā

TRANSLATION

Then, by the power of the effulgence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis, Lord Brahmā, his eleven senses jolted by astonishment and stunned by transcendental bliss, became silent, just like a child’s clay doll in the presence of the village deity.

COMMENTARY

By the influence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis, Brahmā’s eleven senses became jolted by astonishment and stunned by transcendental bliss. The word uddhṛta is sometimes substituted for udvṛtya. Overwhelmed by the effulgence of those viṣṇu-mūrtis, Brahmā fell silent and could not do or say anything, just like a child’s clay doll in the presence of the village deity.

 

|| 10.13.57 ||

itīreśe ’tarkye nija-mahimani sva-pramitike

paratrājāto ’tan-nirāsana-mukha-brahmaka-mitau

anīśe ’pi draṣṭuṁ kim idam iti vā muhyati sati

cacchādājo jñātvā sapadi paramo ’jā-javanikām

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Brahman is beyond mental speculation, He is self-manifest, existing in His own bliss, and He is beyond the material energy. He is known by the crest jewels of the Vedas by refutation of irrelevant knowledge. Thus in relation to that Supreme Brahman, the Personality of Godhead, whose glory had been shown by the manifestation of all the four-armed forms of Viṣṇu, Lord Brahmā, the lord of Sarasvatī, was mystified. “What is this?” he thought, and then he was not even able to see. Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding Brahmā’s position, then at once removed the curtain of His yogamāyā.

COMMENTARY

Seeing that Brahmā could not realize whatever sweet glory He had shown him, and that Brahmā was not qualified to view any more of His endless unprecedented glories, Kṛṣṇa didn’t show any more of His opulences. Even though Brahmā was highly learned and also the husband of the goddess of learning Sarasvatī, he said, “Oh, what an amazing thing I have seen.” Then being mystified, he could no longer see those forms. Seeing this and knowing Brahmā’s qualification to understand His powers, Kṛṣṇa immediately withdrew the curtain of yogamāyā (ajā javanikām) to make them disappear.

 

In other words, by the agency of yogamāyā, Kṛṣṇa covered the cowherd boys, the calves grazing on grass and Himself looking for the calves. Then Kṛṣṇa showed new forms of the same produced from Himself, each having four arms. Then He made that yogamāyā disappear. Yogamāyā is the potency by which Kṛṣṇa is sometimes manifest and sometimes not manifest. Mahāmāyā, on the other hand, is the potency which covers the actual reality and displays something unreal. Therefore, in this verse the word ajā refers to yogamāyā.

 

What was the source of Brahmā’s bewilderment? Brahmā was mystified by seeing Kṛṣṇa’s opulence (nija mahimani). How is Lord Kṛṣṇa described in this verse? Kṛṣṇa is beyond logic (atarkye), self-manifest and blissful (sva-pramitike). If Kṛṣṇa does not personally reveal Himself, there is absolutely no means, not even by scriptural knowledge, to realize Him. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is beyond logic or argument. He is also beyond the material energy (paratra ajātah).

 

Kṛṣṇa is known (mitau) by the crest jewels of the Vedas, who define Brahman in terms of negation. The phrase atan-nirāsana means rejecting that which is irrelevant. The word atat means “that which is not a fact.” In the Brhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (5.8.8), Brahman is described as asthūlam anaṇv ahrasvam adīrgham, “that which is not large and not small, not short and not long.” In other words, Brahman is defined in terms of negation by saying neti neti, “It is not this, it is not that.” By that form Brahmā was bewildered.

 

|| 10.13.58 ||

tato ’rvāk pratilabdhākṣaḥ kaḥ paretavad utthitaḥ

kṛcchrād unmīlya vai dṛṣṭīr ācaṣṭedaṁ sahātmanā

TRANSLATION

Lord Brahmā’s external consciousness then revived, and he stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw the universe, along with himself.

COMMENTARY

Brahmā returned to external consciousness and stood up, just like a dead man coming back to life. Opening his eyes, Brahmā saw this universe (idaṁ) as the object of his possessiveness along with himself. Or Brahmā saw the object of his false identity as the creator of the universe.

 

|| 10.13.59 ||

sapady evābhitaḥ paśyan diśo ’paśyat puraḥ-sthitam

vṛndāvanaṁ janājīvya-drumākīrṇaṁ samā-priyam

TRANSLATION

Then, looking in all directions, Lord Brahmā immediately saw Vṛndāvana before him, filled with trees, which were the means of livelihood for the inhabitants and which were equally pleasing in all seasons.

COMMENTARY

Then Kṛṣṇa showed Brahmā the wealth of His sweetness. Brahmā immediately saw Vṛndāvana before him. It was filled with trees, which were nourishing all the living entities, and equally pleasing in all seasons.

 

|| 10.13.60 ||

yatra naisarga-durvairāḥ sahāsan nṛ-mṛgādayaḥ

mitrāṇīvājitāvāsa-druta-ruṭ-tarṣakādikam

TRANSLATION

Vṛndāvana is the transcendental abode of the Lord, where there is no hunger, anger or thirst. Though naturally inimical, both human beings and fierce animals live there together in transcendental friendship.

COMMENTARY

This verse further describes the sweetness of Vṛndāvana, wherein tigers and men, though naturally inimical (naisarga durvairāḥ), live together as friends. Because Vṛndāvana is Kṛṣṇa’s residence (ajita avāsa) anger, greed and other undesirable things (anarthas) have gone from there (drutaḥ).

 

|| 10.13.61 ||

tatrodvahat paśupa-vaṁśa-śiśutva-nāṭyaṁ

brahmādvayaṁ param anantam agādha-bodham

vatsān sakhīn iva purā parito vicinvad

ekaṁ sa-pāṇi-kavalaṁ parameṣṭhy acaṣṭa

TRANSLATION

Then Lord Brahmā saw the Absolute Truth—who is one without a second, who possesses full knowledge and who is unlimited—assuming the role of a child in a family of cowherd men and standing all alone, just as before, with a morsel of food in His hand, searching everywhere for the calves and His cowherd friends.

COMMENTARY

Covering up the four handed viṣṇu-mūrti forms generated from His own form by yogamāyā, Kṛṣṇa showed Brahmā His original form described in the Śrutis as akhaṇḍa advitīya brahmā. There (tatra) in Vṛndāvana, Brahmā (parameṣṭhi) saw (acaṣṭa) Kṛṣṇa. What did Kṛṣṇa look like? Concealing His majesty, Kṛṣṇa played as a cowherd boy standing with some food in His hand while loitering with His calves and boyfriends. Brahmā did not see Kṛṣṇa as catur-bhuja Nārāyaṇa; he simply saw an innocent boy. Yet he understood that Kṛṣṇa was the master of the whole creation. Brahmā thought, “Here is the Lord of the universe. I am simply His insignificant servant.”

 

Kṛṣṇa is addressed as advaya (without a second) because all the forms that Brahmā had seen until he became stunned had now been covered up by yogamāyā. Because Kṛṣṇa is the root cause of all the other forms, He is called Supreme (paraṁ). Kṛṣṇa is called ananta, unlimited, because He possesses powers thousands of times greater than what He showed to Brahmā. Kṛṣṇa is called agādha bodham, possessing unlimited knowledge, because not only Brahmā but even Baladeva and other expansions find it difficult to understand Him.

 

Because Kṛṣṇa was performing like an actor (nātyam), He was searching here and there for the calves and boys. One year before, Brahmā, under illusion, took that to be the actual fact. But now after seeing the calves grazing on the grass in the pasture and the boys taking lunch on the river bank, and no longer seeing the illusory boys created by māyā that he had stolen, Brahmā became free from his illusion. He understood that Kṛṣṇa’s looking for the calves and boys again was some act of Kṛṣṇa for bewildering him.

 

Thus in the first verse of the next chapter containing Brahmā’s prayers, there is no mention of Kṛṣṇa searching for the calves and boys. Because of yogamāyā’s covering the four handed forms coming from Himself, Kṛṣṇa is described in this verse as (ekam) alone, all by Himself. Kṛṣṇa performs unlimited pastimes to please His pure devotees; therefore here He appeared sweetly with a lump of yogurt rice in His hand. For less qualified persons kṛṣṇa shows His formless aspect. Then yogamāyā covers the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental form, qualities, pastimes, abode and associates, and leaves only the revelation of Kṛṣṇa’s formless feature. Though there is an extreme difference in the realization of Brahman and Bhagavān, there is no contradiction in the scriptures describing these features of the one Absolute Truth.

 

Some will claim that the phrase śiśutva-nāṭyam, means “putting on the dress of a cowherd boy,” therefore, the cowherd boy form is not the eternal form (svarūpa) of Brahman, but simply a temporary form that illustrates the Lord’s power to bewilder a living entity such as Brahmā. Furthermore, the Lord only accepted the form of a cowherd boy as a convenient object of praise for Brahmā to offer his prayers as described in Chapter Fourteen verse one: naumīdya te ’bhra-vapuṣe, “I praise the most worshipable one, who has a body the color of a dark rain cloud.”

 

But this is not in agreement with Śrīdhara Swāmi’s opinion, because the subject of prayers should never be an unreal thing. Indeed, the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa holding a lump of yogurt rice in His hand exists eternally.

 

|| 10.13.62 ||

dṛṣṭvā tvareṇa nija-dhoraṇato ’vatīrya

pṛthvyāṁ vapuḥ kanaka-daṇḍam ivābhipātya

spṛṣṭvā catur-mukuṭa-koṭibhir aṅghri-yugmaṁ

natvā mud-aśru-sujalair akṛtābhiṣekam

TRANSLATION

After seeing this, Lord Brahmā hastily got down from his swan carrier, fell down like a golden rod and touched the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa with the tips of the four crowns on his heads. Offering his obeisances, he bathed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with the water of his tears of joy.

COMMENTARY

When Lord Brahmā understood that the Absolute Truth, Parabrahman, the root cause of everything, was standing before him in His human form as a cowherd boy of Vraja, he quickly jumped off the back of his swan carrier (nija dhoraṇtah) and fell to the earth. There is a famous saying that demigods never touch the earth. Brahmā’s breaking this rule indicates that he gave up his prestige as a demigod. Because Brahmā’s four heads were facing in four directions, to touch the Lord’s feet, he had to fall on the ground and raise himself again and again. He bathed Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet (akrta abhiṣekam) with a profuse outpouring of tears. The prefix “su” in the word sujalaiḥ, which means water, indicates that Brahmā’s tears were purified. Therefore, Brahmā’s crying was a form of bhakty-anubhāva, a transformation of transcendental ecstatic love.

 

|| 10.13.63 ||

utthāyotthāya kṛṣṇasya cirasya pādayoḥ patan

āste mahitvaṁ prāg-dṛṣṭaṁ smṛtvā smṛtvā punaḥ punaḥ

TRANSLATION

Rising and falling again and again at the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa for a long time, Lord Brahmā remembered over and over the Lord’s greatness he had just seen.

COMMENTARY

After paying obeisances many times, Brahmā remained on the ground at Kṛṣṇa’s feet for a long time due to being overwhelmed by intense bliss. This verse is in the present tense because Śukadeva was directly experiencing the pastime.

 

|| 10.13.64 ||

śanair athotthāya vimṛjya locane mukundam udvīkṣya vinamra-kandharaḥ

kṛtāñjaliḥ praśrayavān samāhitaḥ sa-vepathur gadgadayailatelayā

TRANSLATION

Then, rising very gradually and wiping his two eyes, Lord Brahmā looked up at Mukunda. Lord Brahmā, his head bent low, his mind concentrated and his body trembling, very humbly began, with faltering words, to offer praises to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENTARY

This verse mentions that Brahmā saw the Lord with only two eyes, because all eight of his eyes were brimming with tears. The word locane indicates that with his two hands Brahmā wiped the two eyes on each of his four faces. Brahmā praised Lord Kṛṣṇa with a choked up voice. The word ailata in the phrase gadgadayailatelaya comes from aitta which means to praise. “La” has been added to the word aitta to imitate the sound of Brahmā’s choked voice. The word gadgadaya means faltering voice.

 

Thus ends the commentary on the Thirteenth Chapter of the Tenth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

|| 10.14.1 ||

śrī-brahmovāca

naumīḍya te ’bhra-vapuṣe taḍid-ambarāya

guñjāvataṁsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhāya

vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇu-

lakṣma-śriye mṛdu-pade paśupāṅgajāya