The Triumph of the Lord of Rukmini

The Third Sarga

The demon Trinavarta, a darling of the demons, took it upon himself to slay Krishna, after the inglorious defeat of Shakatasura. As if realising that the skies were the right place for him to get killed, Trinavarta appeared in the form of a whirlwind, carrying little Krishna high up in the air.

Just as a Maayavaadi often uses forceful arguments to stupefy those who possess the right knowledge, and puts forth false descriptions of the terms ‘niraakara’ and ‘nirguna’ (as formless and attributeless); the demon in the form of a whirlwind whipped up a duststorm confounding the people of Gokula. Creating darkness and noise, he quickly snatched the baby from amongst their midst.

Krishna did not prevent the evil Trinavarta from rising up in the air, as if he was well-aware that his (the demon’s) fall along with himself (Krishna’s) would surely shatter the demon to pieces.

The demon in the form of a whirlwind carrying Krishna began to heave as he found it increasingly difficult to bear the mounting weight of the baby. It seemed as if having swallowed a poison called Krishna, he was now drowning in the skies that appeared to him as a lake.

Trinavarta, carrying Krishna above his head, fell to the ground, seemingly as an outcome of his unrighteous desire to rise to the heavens. It is a lesson for one and all, to not entertain desires to acquire what’s not theirs.

However great its speed or force, how could the whirlwind hope to carry that Krishna, who holds the entire cosmos within his belly?

To punish Trinavarta for his vile act of raising dust to make people’s eyes burn and water, Krishna pressed his neck, causing his eyes to bulge out. For his wicked act of creating darkness to confound the people of Gokula, Krishna twisted his head. For the sin of making mother Yashoda fall to the ground in despair, Krishna had the demon come crashing to the ground. Yashoda had a cradle made for the infant. The cradle had a golden rope to rock it with, and strings of pearls hung above (like a mobile) to amuse the baby. Laying down Krishna in the cradle, Yashoda was granted the bliss of ‘saalokya moksha.’*

*the state of liberation in close quarters to the presence of God

When Yashoda rocked the cradle to and fro, the baby’s face framed by its lovely curls lit up. His feet adorned with golden anklets, tinkled, causing unending delight to both its wearer, and to the mother gazing at her blue-hued baby Krishna.

Yashoda, the beloved wife of Nanda, lovingly caressed the baby’s cheeks causing the baby to gurgle with delight. Then, holding the baby in a tight embrace she put him to her breast. Thus the days were spent in glee.

When Sriman Naarayana donned the avataara of Vaamana, he raised his foot to measure the skies. With the edge of the toenail of the big toe of his foot, he broke the unbreakable bramhanda (cosmic egg), as one would break a pot.

Bramha washed this foot with water from his kamandalu/*. This water became Bhaageerathi (the river Ganga), brought down to the earth by Bhageeratha.

*a small, oblong water pot

Apparently pleased with his big toe, Naarayana as baby Krishna, put it in his mouth and began to suck on it, as most babies do.

As the child grew up a little, his conversation with his mother went thus:

Yashoda: “Sleep, o my child! I can finish some tasks if you sleep” Krishna: “What’s the point in sleeping, mother?” Yashoda: “It will help you digest everything you have had.” Krishna: “What’s sleep, o mother?” Yashoda: “Shutting one’s eyes and surrendering to the lord in the form of ‘Pragnya’”

Then Krishna said, “Okay, so be it!” and ‘slept’ for a brief while and upon ‘waking’ announced that all that he had had was digested and demanded more milk from Yashoda. May such a Krishna protect his devotees!

Krishna: “O mother, why do you sing praises of Naarayana who lies on the coils of Shesha, whenever you rock my cradle?” Yashoda: “O child, I pray to the sleeping lord to grant you sound sleep.”

May this child Krishna, who said: “O mother, how can the lord hear your song/prayer if he’s ‘sleeping’? So you too know that the lord who grants me (his avataara) sleep, is sleepless” protect us!

When the doe-eyed milk-maids of Gokula swung the cradle with their hands, their bangles jingled, their bodies swayed, the black curls of their hair fell on their foreheads, their silk garments and garlands slipped, the petals of the jasmine strands that adorned their hair dropped down, their anklets tinkled and their earrings moved to and fro.

Krishna, the saviour of even the unenlightened, graces only those who serve him with unwavering attention, and not those who distractedly glance hither and thither. This seemed to be the message conveyed by the baby moving from one side to the other as the cradle swayed.

When Yashoda chided Krishna for eating mud, he opened his mouth wide to reveal the entire cosmos contained within his mouth. Poets have presented a new meaning to this… they say, Yashoda was smug that the child had been sated with her milk, and therefore Krishna revealed his omnipresence to let Yashoda know that there was no way that she could satisfy this being who held the fourteen worlds in his mouth.

Inside Krishna’s mouth, Yashoda saw not only the fourteen worlds but also herself, her house and her child. Through this vision, Krishna firmly established the fact that he was indeed the father of the universe.

With his various extraordinary feats, Krishna earned himself many names, such as, Poothanaghaataka, Shakataasurabhanjana, Trinavartanishoodhana and so on. It seemed like the child created these names for himself as if to display his displeasure at his father for not performing his naming ceremony!

In the course of time, Gargaacharya, the priest of the Yadavas, visited Nanda Gopa and named the divine children – Raama* and Krishna. The mere mention of the words ‘Raama, Krishna’ rid Gargaacharya of the sin of considering himself the ‘preceptor’ of the one who is the preceptor of the universe.

*Balaraama

Shri Krishna is known by innumerable names, such as, Padmanaabha, Naarayana and so on. Yet he was immensely pleased with the name ‘Krishna’ as it was proposed by Gargaacharya, who was dear to him. Is it not true that we are most happy with the name our loved ones use to address us?

The fortnight of the waning moon leading up to a new moon is called ‘Krishna-paksha’. True to his name, as if to display the similarity of his name to Krishna-paksha, Krishna destroyed the wicked ones, thereby reducing the glow of the moon-like faces of their wives.

Krishna ensures that the mere sight of him is enough for the noble ones to imprint on him. He is truly Krishna, the one who causes attraction!

Krishna experiences pleasure even as he imparts pleasure, yet he remains unaffected by it. It could be due to this or due to the fact that this was the incarnation of Vishnu’s hair, that he is called ‘Krishna’.

Like wildfire, Krishna destroys firmly entrenched evil ones. He appears like the fire seen at the time of dissolution of the world. This seems like another reason for him being named ‘Krishna’.

Like any other child, Krishna crawled on all fours – it was as though the love of the milkmaids and the sages had shackled his hands and feet.

After the dissolution of the world, Krishna having absorbed the entire cosmos in his belly, must have had a really huge stomach. Unwilling to display the small, delicate stomach that was now the child’s, he seemed to conceal it by crawling on all fours.

When little Krishna crawled on mud, his dark skin and the delightful curls that framed his face, bewitched those who beheld him. We cannot attempt to fathom the intensity of Yashoda’s penance that made the divine baby call her ‘amma’ and drink from her breast.

Krishna dispelled the false beliefs of those who didn’t know better. Displaying his prowess and beauty he eliminated the false notion of ‘Bramhan’ being attribute- less.

Showering prosperity on the cowherds of Gokula, he erased the myth of the world being illusory. His wonderful limbs disproved the theory of God being form-less. By accepting the worship of exalted beings like Bramha and others, he broke the claim of the individual soul being part of the universal soul, in other words, he showed the difference between paramaatma and the jeevas. To disprove the belief that the sky and the directions are separate entities, the child appeared naked (digambara, not sky-clad).

The sight of little Krishna covered in dust, moving around in the yards of the cowherds with his jingling anklets, made the celestial beings watching from the skies forget their consorts and even their very selves. May such a Krishna reside in my mind!

The tiger claw that adorned Krishna’s neck (believed to ward off the evil eye), his pearl necklace, glittering amulets, bangles and anklets, resplendent as the fire that would consume the wicked ones, seemed to light up the horizon itself. May such a Krishna reside in my mind forever!

The child enchanted everyone with his baby talk and his dark, curly hair. Walking around without clothes…his waist, bright as the sun, was visible to everyone. May I have the good fortune of meditating upon this beautiful child, forever!

Krishna went around the houses of the cowherdesses, drinking milk he stole from their pots. When Krishna granted them salvation, the ‘yogis’ forever absorbed in meditation, found it unfair, for had they not given up all desires in pursuit of salvation, and yet Krishna blessed the desire-filled gopis.

Krishna seems to have ‘stolen’ milk in order to justify his reward to the gopis and to mollify the yogis.

When one of the milkmaids spotted Krishna stealing milk from her house and drinking it, she was immensely pleased. But when she saw him feeding the leftover milk to a cat, her irritation knew no bounds. Who wouldn’t get angry that a mere cat was consuming such divine left-overs, worthy of consumption by Bramha and others?

Another day, another milkmaid caught Krishna stealing milk but what she witnessed left her dumbfounded… Krishna was holding a bell in one hand to silence it, he was drinking milk with another, beckoning his friends with one more and holding the pot of milk with yet another!

When Krishna stole a chunk of butter from a cowherdess’ house, she gave him a chase, as if to retrieve the butter. But as she ran behind him, the flowers adorning her hair fell and scattered on the footprints of Krishna, which was enough to grant her immeasurable grace.

If any cowherdess rebuked or threatened Krishna when he was caught stealing curd, he took away her merit (along with the curd). To those who looked on lovingly, he granted infinite merit.

When an affluent person is caught for his wrong-doing, he gets away scot-free by his affluence, and faces no consequences. Was that the reason for Krishna, the lord of the Goddess of wealth, to gain fame for his acts of thieving rather than censure? If a devotee ponders over Krishna’s acts of stealing, with devotion, he too will be absolved of the sin of any unintentional wrong-doing.

It is the way of the world that a thief bribes his way to silence and exoneration. I think Krishna, too, bribes those who think and speak of his ‘crimes’ by granting them salvation.

Krishna, so habituated to taking away the sins of his devotees, day and night, could not help but ‘steal’ milk and butter from the homes of the cowherds. It was merely the result of force of habit.

When a cowherdess caught Krishna in the act of stealing butter and asked him sternly as to why his hand was in the pot of butter, Krishna cheekily answered, “You are stone-hearted. This soft butter is better off with my soft-heart and therefore I’m taking it.” The cowherdess was unimpressed. When she displayed resentment, Krishna said, “I have come to grace you all, although I have nothing to gain from this exercise. Do not reject me!” Under the guise of showing his generosity, Krishna duped the simple-minded women of Gokula.

Chided by another cowherdess for calling himself soft and delicate whereas it was known that his mere kick reduced Shakataasura to pieces, Krishna replied, “My legs became firm and strong because of their contact with your firm breasts upon which you placed me as an infant to play with me. Rest assured my heart is soft as butter!” May such a Krishna grant me eloquence of speech.

When a gopi threatened to tie up Krishna to prevent him from stealing milk, Krishna enigmatically said that the milk fats would adhere to him and therefore the milk would not let go of him. It was because he was present within the milk, he said. May such a Krishna who won her over with this clever argument, grant me knowledge. The milkmaids assembled to complain to Yashoda about her son’s pranks looked lovely with their tinkling anklets, dainty waists and shiny cheeks lit up by their lustrous earrings.

One gopi said, “O Yashoda, your son comes home and breaks pots that contain milk. When I caught a glimpse of his pearly teeth and his side glance, it seemed like the milk was just a reflection of his glinting teeth and tantalising side glance. I could not be angry with him any longer.”

As the cowherdesses were busy complaining about Krishna to their friend, Yashoda, Krishna wanted to seize the opportunity to climb on to them to reach the pots which were otherwise out of his reach.

The cowherdesses warned him, “O Krishna, if you are this mischievous, people will not believe that you are the son of the dignified Nanda Gopa”. These words failed to deter Krishna and his increasing naughtiness became difficult for them to bear.

“Yashoda… when we tell Krishna not to drink the milk kept aside for offering to Lord Naarayana as naivedya, he tells us that he is God, like the Maayavaadis! Your son is no devotee of the lord….he is Naarayana himself!”

“Despite consuming milk, curd and butter from every cowherd’s house Krishna seemed unsatiated. Does he have a wolf in his stomach?” they asked.

“O dear Yashode, we have seen Krishna untethering the calves and freeing them. When we requested him not to, he laughingly said, ‘It’s my nature’ (to free souls from the bondage of samsaara)” they related.

“When I caught him moving a mortar*, I asked him why he was doing so? He quickly remarked that he would place it below the milk pot, and said…my smile was the milk, the pot being my face and the mortar placed below was my body! So quick was Krishna in patching up his misdeeds and winning me over”, sighed a gopi.

“Your Krishna touches the pot of milk with one hand and inspects it, he touches another with his foot and looks at it, all the while being aware of the arrival of the cowherdesses behind him! It is as if he has eyes everywhere!” exclaimed the gopis.

As if predicting the future incident of Krishna toppling the two tall trees as he went in between their trunks along the with the stone mortar that Yashoda had tied him to, the gopis declared… “Oh we dare not tie Krishna to a stone mortar, he will simply pull it! If we tie him to a pillar he may as well pull down the entire house along with the pillar!”

In reality, there’s no rope that can tie up Krishna, the bearer of the cosmos. He is unbounded and no one can bind him. If at all one attempts to tie him up with a rope, it will be like tying themselves up (as the jeevas lodged within the lord).

“Yashoda, your little Krishna drinks up hot freshly boiled milk in every house, yet his tender mouth shows no sign of becoming scalded. It is as if he holds an ocean of cool water in his mouth. When the pot of milk hung from the ceiling is out of his reach, your son pulls and places a stone mortar beneath it and climbs on to it. But on some occasions he makes himself tall enough to reach the pot without any help. Does he possess the eight powers* that enable him to become light, heavy, big, small, etc.?” wondered the gopis.

*ashta-siddhis

The gopis continued…“Yashoda your son troubles us greatly, yet no harsh words escape our lips and our hands don’t raise to spank him. He is truly the one who is in control (of the universe). When we place our pots of curd in darkness, Krishna spots them effortlessly with his eyes flashing. It seems like the sun and the moon themselves reside in his eyes!

An accomplished magician opens closed doors with his incantations. When the greatest magician of all effortlessly opened the doors of his father’s prison, is it plausible to confine such a one in a closed room? If we open our mouths to berate him, he opens his mouth to show us the entire cosmos and confound us!

If he’s tied to a tree, he nonchalantly uproots the tree itself. What can one possibly do to contain this juggernaut?” mused the gopis, leading us to believe that they were aware of Krishna revealing the universe in his mouth to Yashoda and the uprooting of the twin trees, in the future.

The gopis of Gokula, thus described the omniscient lord in various ways, but even as they were doing so, there appeared the doe-eyed wonderful child Krishna himself and the gopis stopped talking, mid-sentence.

Once, the lord of the universe, playing his role as a baby stuffed some mud in his mouth. Did the ever-contented lord do this to declare that it made no difference to him, whether he was offered this mud or butter and curd?

Krishna ate the mud right in front of the complaining cowherdesses as if to challenge them to report this to Yashoda.

The child Krishna, with mud in his mouth, opened it wide to reveal the entire cosmos to mother Yashoda. I feel that, overwhelmed by Earth’s offering of her self with utmost devotion, was the reason for Krishna to reveal this divine vision!

Reading this account of Krishna’s childhood and his pastimes as part of RugmineeshaVijaya composed by Vaadiraja Tirtha is bound to enchant its readers, offering new perspectives with every reading, and rid them of their troubles. Thus ends the third sarga of this poem.