sadagopan.org

4. Smt. Jayashree Muralidharan forassemblingthee-book NedumtheruSri.MukundSrinivasan 3. Smt.Krishnapriyaforherinvalu 2. SrinrusimhasEvarasikan,Sri.V. 1. Our sincere thanksto: source document www.stephen-knapp.com fortheircontributionofimagestothise-book. andthewebsiteswww.glimpseofkrishna.comVaradarajan and Sow.R.Chitralekha, Sri.Ananth hosting thistitleinhiswebsite. e-bookseriesforeditingandgraciously sundarasimham-ahobilavalli Padmanabhan,Smt.Sumithra able contribution incompilingthe SaThakOpan svAmi,Editor-in-chiefof

, Sri.SridharLakshminarasimhan, sadagopan.org

3 5 19 83 93 22 27 53 57 62 72 85 114 103 109 122 129

C O N T E N T S T E N T S C O N Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

Introduction1 - Part I Story of Krishna Story of Krishna - Part II

sadagopan.org

nigamanam 191 Story ofKrishna-PartIII Story ofKrishna-PartIIContinued Chapter 24 Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Chapter 19 Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Chapter 16 C ONTES(Contd..) 160 155 148 139 185 177 173 169 165 153

sadagopan.org aras - the deities ty, which has been ual excellence. The

jam, M.A, Ph.D, Siromani in Sanskrit by the fact that the commentator ich seems to be an elongated version ich seems to be an elongated all the archaavatha Dikshitha, the well known exponent of of the forms of Lord Narayana seems of the forms of Lord Narayana to the link between the two works is ion as Krishna. Gopalavimsati, twenty ion as Krishna. Gopalavimsati, hnaavathaara retold by VedantaDesika

1 ic skill and intellect e works is the same. The greatness its richness and beau ïI> most exquisite work exuding charm and most exquisite work exuding F×G ïImte ramanujay nm> ïImte ramanujay ïImte ingmaNtmhadeizkay nm> nm> ïImte ingmaNtmhadeizkay

that the opening verse of both th of Gopalavimsati as it elaborates on the subtle references to the exploits of of exploits the to references subtle the on elaborates it as Gopalavimsati of in poet Krishna therein but it is rich out most significant fact which points great this of Yadhavaabhyudhaya can be understood present to made be will endeavor than Appayya of the work is none other an page this In Vedanta. Advaita all can enjoy way that work in such a made known only to Sanskrit scholars so far. -Dr.Saroja Ramanu Yadhavaabhyudhaya is the story of Kris Yadhavaabhyudhaya is the story in bhakthi. flavor steeped poetic with a beautiful hymns on Desika has written devotional His incarnat to be so dear to him as is the verses in praise of Krishna beauty. Yadhavaabhyudhaya is an epic wh but none - of all the vaishnavite shrines sadagopan.org

Malayappa swAmyinKaNNan ThirukO 2 lam -TirupathiBrahmotsavam

3 sadagopan.org

vedaNtacayRvyaeRme siÚdÄam!sdaùid, kivtaikRkisMhay klya[gu[zailne ïIman! ve»qnawayR ve»qnawayR ïIman! ïImteve»qezay vedaNtguéve nm>. vedaNtguéve ïImteve»qezay 4

kivtaikRkkesrI sadagopan.org Brindhaavanacharam, ory of Krishna. It means,

1 1 1 charathi. This dispels the fear in the ishnaashtami, who used to inhabit the ishnaashtami, who used to his commentary says that He, who was his

r the protection of the cows, in r the protection of the

5 g deeds one has committed, svaaparaadha s calf. Brindha denotes His devotees, for s calf. Brindha ROLOGUE ROLOGUE ROLOGUE HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER P P P C C C jayantheevibhooshanam" jayantheevibhooshanam" g and brings out fully the gl ic with the mangalasloka: adorned by the forest flowers are rich in meaning as adorned by the forest flowers born on the day of His avatar, the beloved of the gopis, the one who roams around in Brindavan, roams around in Brindavan, who the one , love towards His dependents is indicated by Vaathsalya which is like that of a cow towards it which is like that of whose protection, avanaaya, He moves about, heart of His punishment for the wron bhaya nivarthakam. Appayya dikshitha, in dhandakaaranyachara, walked in the dhandaka forest for the protection of the fo rishis became brindhaavanachara, Krishnaavathaara true to His promise later, they denote His vathsaltya, souseelya, svamithva. soulbhya and His Vedantadesika starts his ep jayantheesambhavam, vyjayantheevibhooshanam, "vande brindavanacharam vallaveejanavallabham; "vande brindavanacharam vallaveejanavallabham; vyjayanteesambhavam dhaama This verse is rich in meanin Salutations was born on Kr to Him, who Brindavan, adorned with the garland of forestloved by flowers, self effulgent and namely, to the Lord, given gopis. The four adjectives brindavanacharam, vallveejanavallabham,

sadagopan.org means jayamthanothi, victoriousinthe dharmasya glaanirbhavathi ----- born, accordingtoHis words" sambhava impliesthattheLordmanife The significanceof thewordjaya Soulabhyamis is unapproachable. Lord, intakingbirththeyadhavakula, Desika uses theepithet Desika uses is sringara. valla meansmovement.These His souseelya.Theterm Vallavijanaisus abletoenjoythecompanyofth was also whoenjoystheuninterrupted unionwiththat thefactHe Mahakakshmi Lord dispels the fear that Heis beyond friendship shownby thegr " purpose ofindicatingHis Valavee janavallabham made Himeventowashandfeedth allHisdependentsinKrishnaavathaarawhich andtowards in Ramaavathaara that Hiranya kasipyucouldnot harmev and beast.Thesamevathsalyaas formofacowherdandshowersHislovetooneall,man,bird assumes the Sentiment, rasa,exhibitedbythisepithetisadbhutha,wonderthatthelord The cowsrepresent thegoodwhoreso the wicked." "I manifest myself in each dharma samsthaapanaarthaaya epoch in or "parithraanaaya saadhoonaam mahathah mandhaihisahaneer , the beloved of the gopis,is , thebelovedof Jayanthee sambhavam Souseelyam eat towardsthehumblefolk.Thisqualityof vinaasaaya chadushkrthaam, samhavaami yugeyuge" samhavaami --thadhaathmaanam srjamyaham. --thadhaathmaanam sambhavaami yuge " and andhra samsleshasvabhaavah labhdhum susakathvam e horses duringtheMahabhaarathawar , benevolence. Souseelyamisdefinedas 6 He has shown towards Prahladha so He hasshowntowardsPrahladhaso comprehension. Appayyadikshithasays der toprotectthegoodandpunish nthee sambhavainsteadofDevaki whichremoves thefe sted HimselfasKrishnaandwasnot body, towards Jatayu en ahaironhisbody,towardsJatayu ed to denote their nomad existence as ed todenotetheirnomadexistence e simple cowherd girls is the proof of e simplecowherdgirlsistheproof rt totheLordfortheirwelfare. vinaasa ofdushkrtha, indicativeof ntiment expressedhere to denotethe to theepithetchosenfor , easy accessibility. accessibility. , easy soulabhya ar thattheLord yadha hi "

", the close ", the Jayanthi also ofthe sadagopan.org , overlordship. accrue by the study ofaccrue svaamithva ted by jayantheesambhavam, ted by jayantheesambhavam, e Lord. This is shown by the e Lord. This is shown by and vyjayayanthi which normally which normally and vyjayayanthi is referred to by this epithet. is referred to by this m, the inhabitant of brindhaavan, , the glory of Yadhava, Krishna. This . The vanamaala here is the maya of the cause of this universe created out created this universe the cause of ishnajayanthi, janmaashtami avathaara janmaashtami ishnajayanthi, e here that the words jayanthi and and jayanthi that the words e here 7 implies bhootha thanmaathra adhishtaana thanmaathra adhishtaana implies bhootha relates to the relates to the - the benefit that will - the benefit that , fruit of hearing the story of the Lord is Moksha, Moksha, , fruit of hearing the story of the Lord is Yadhavaabhyudhaya prayojana is is the story of Krishna deno - the subject matter, - the mention of the work itself. - the mention of the work or is the one who has love for th the phala vishaya grantha phala vishaya and adhikaari - to whom the work is intended, grantha the grantha. is indicated by brindhaavanachara Krishna. born on Janmaashtami. Adhikaari word vallavee jana vallabham. 4. the 1. The 2. the 3. the 2. The 3. 4. Lastly 1. the Here by the four adjectives given to the Lord in the sloka refer to the above sloka refer to Lord in the the to given four adjectives the Here by of a kavya. mentioned four requisites janmaashtami Kr only to mark are used all the others are mentioned and vyavahaarah dhinasya jayantheethi as Ramanavami, Nrsimhajayanthi so on. and Dhaama vyjayanthee vibhooshanam the self effulgent nature Dhaama means of forest flowers also means garland behind the elements devatha the divinity this indicates ke a garland in His manifestations the Lord which He wears li who is that Krishna is the Parabrahman Paravasudevaof His own Maya. The the at four aspects that have to be specified For a literary work there are outset. virarasa. It is interesting to observ It is interesting virarasa. sadagopan.org says Desika. If a talenteddancer If a says Desika. But shouldperfection beanessential withSarasvathi. associated with ornaments.Thepoetwhoisendowed Such poetry islikegoddess Sarasvathi, expressive, beautiful and well adorned in whomSarasvathirevels. of meritssuchasrasa, Then Desikaextolsthekavithvasayingth Vyasa. nothing wronginfollowingthefootstep witted person.Hereaffirmshisposition Krishna, whichislikenectarthatwillbe He goesontoreassurehi what thosewithlimitedintellectcanex Then Desikaexpresseshis "Ekaika gunapraanthesranthaahnigamavandhinah" auspicious attributes,theybecometired. merits andhesaysthatwhentheyst description. DesikaportraystheVedas source ofknowledgeaboutHim,areno The glory of the Lord is such that even the Vedas, which are the primary 3. 2. 1. emancipated. gets vibhooshanam,andone vyjayanthee through Hismaya, Him asDhaamatheParabhrahmanmani salvation whichisimpliedbydhaam alamkara haava andsanchaaribhaava sentiment, calledvibhaava,anub bhaava Rasa istheninekinds ofsentiment,srngaraetc. heremeanstheaccompanying moodsthat gowitheach isthefigure ofspeech. bhaava and alamkara is akin to the creator, Brahma, tothecreator,Brahma, andalamkaraisakin bhaava humility bysaying thatunder suchcircumstances mself thatthesubjectis characteristic incomposingpoetry? No, 8 makes aslipinher performancea art extollingeven oneofHisinfinite s ofthegreatpoetslikeValmikiand as thebardstryingtosingaboutHis pect toaccomplish,meaninghimself! a vyjayanthee vibhooshanam. Knowing a vyjayantheevibhooshanam.Knowing relishedevenif itistoldbyadull at akavi,poet,whose creationisfull byclaiming thattherecouldbe t abletodofulljusticeHis with alltheseskillsislikeBrahma fest in the garb of a cowherd sourikatha , storyof sadagopan.org , essence of , essence of , the Lord forms the sarabhootha , the elixir for vibhudha, for vibhudha, , the elixir if there may be any fault, it can be any if there may be nuja says in the mangala slokanuja says in the mangala of a as he had learnt from Brahma. This a as he had learnt from Brahma. This the Bhagavatha purana. That is why story of Krishna, which is the nectar is the nectar which story of Krishna, men of wisdom of whom the story of men of wisdom of whom the on. Narada came to him and told him antidote for the ills of the samsara. antidote for the ills of the samsara. iate only the overall effect. Similarly effect. Similarly the overall iate only ed Mahabharatha and other vedantic e story of Krishna, the subject matter e story of Krishna, matter the subject eda, the Mahabharatha, without anyeda, the Mahabharatha, of dissatisfaction was due to the fact tter out of the milk of Mahabharatha. tter out of the milk of Mahabharatha. g to note the peculiar circumstances circumstances peculiar g to note the t dharma and Vedanta he did not write his heart became dry and depressed. ishna and the incarnations of the Lord ha purana. The Dasamaskandha, tenth ha purana. The Dasamaskandha, on being entreated by devas andon being entreated by devas the 9 Vyasaveda may also mean the Vedas, theVyasaveda may vibhudhajeevaathu ied here is that the most enjoyable part of that the most enjoyable ied here is sruthi sirasi vidheepthe Srinivaase brahmani Krishna is the paramoushadham greatest Krishna is the paramoushadham interestin In this context it would be Bhoodevi. The word vibhudha also means Bhoodevi. The word vibhudha which made Vyasa write the Bhagavat section of Bhagavathapurana contains th works he became depressed for no reas crown of the Vedas. So the story of Krishna is the Vedas. So the crown of the whichVedas as well as Mahabharatha is later given by Vyasa as Bhagavathapurana the bu like extracting Desika calls the story of Krishna tookdevas, as the incarnation place of Yadhavaabhyudhaya. It seemed that after Vyasa had finish that his feeling of depression born out wrote abou that though he exhaustively about the exploits and the glory of Kr which would inculcate bhakthi. Hence Bhagavat Narada told him the whole Then was the inducement for Vyasa to write essence of which is the Lord, as Rama the Lord, as is which essence of Sribhaashya, hesitancy." What is impl hesitancy." What the story of Krishna. is Mahabharatha excused. So, says Desika, "I will now speak of the Vyasav of of the ocean emerging out is matter which the subject merit of the the vishayagourava, considering Bhagavatvishaya, story even of the Lord, connoisseur will ignore it and will apprec will ignore connoisseur sadagopan.org to emancipationisHis actofmercy. mercy. Theduhkhais duetoour karma Him. Henotonlycreatedbutalsosust The wordleelaonlydenote Desika, be says sport. No,itisnotso, miseryforHisHim asadistwhohascreatedtheworld full ofsorrowand Now whatisthepurpose ofcreation? To the grossform. creation theworldexistsinHimsubt insentient beingsis thebodyof bhavaofVisishtadvaita. sarira-sariri Him, createdbyHimself, krpa, infinitemercy.Thecanvas brush ofHisleela,playfulandwithout compares ittoapainting; chithramwhichis created bytheLordwith The Lordcreated theworldwhich Desika instrumental cause.Thisisindicatedbythewords Brahman isthe creation, saystheUpanishadtherewas noneelse thantheBrahman. So mud andtheinstrumentalcause,th applied totheworldlythings the materialandinstrumentalcauseof without asecond."HenceBrahman,Lord adhvitheeyam is eka,oneonly. " two adjectivesisgivenbythewords with all pervading,Sreemaanassociated Desika refers to the Lord as Vibhu, andDesika callsitvibhudhajeev Sreemaan. He is Vibhu, all powerful, " ( Chandhogya Up upaadhaana karana Sadheva soumyaidhamag svayam s that the creation was as effortless as a play for s thatthecreationwasaseffortless a play aathu, thelife-givingelixir. likethecreationofapo .) " was nothingbuttheLordHimself, . This is in accordance with the concept of . Thisisinaccordancewiththeconceptof Sat , material causeandnimiththakaarana , material eko vusvamidham chithramajeejanath eko vusvamidham 10 cause HehascoloureditwithHis krpa. alone existedinthebeginning,oneonly Lord ofwhichHeisthesoul.Before The worldconsisting e potteraredifferent.Butbefore effort, andthepaintHeusedwasHis ains theuniversethroughHisactsof but toprotectusby Sree, Lakshmi. Thesignificanceofthe le formandaftercreationitassumes Narayana of Visistadavaita, was both was ofVisistadavaita, Narayana the Universe.Usuallyincreationas describes aschithram,wonderful.He say that it is His leela would make saythatitisHisleelawouldmake svayam t thematerial cause,the ra aaseeth,ekameva and showingthepath ofsentientand svasmin svasmin . . He , in , in , sadagopan.org , n of Moon and , who attained the Chandramaa manaso Chandramaa manaso took the incarnation as incarnation took the Nahusha s, says Desika, was the living s born in the clan of Yadhu. though he is the personification the personification though he is his previous birth and was the protected, His devotees because protected, His Mercury was the so ason as to why the Moon was born ason as to why had to leave and do the svarga his slaying Vrthraasura, who was ial fire, which represents the acts the acts represents which ial fire, and , the Moon. " in all directions of the earth by the the by in all directions of the earth e celestial damsel and married her. e celestial damsel and married e displeasure of Agasthya and was His wives Surabhi and Adhithi were When Indra incurred brahmahaththi , gives happiness to all. Ayus 11 sathaam aahitha vahneenaam stheyathaa sathaam aahitha vahneenaam Chandra dha yagas, which makes him qualified for the in next birth and married Vasudeva. When in next birth and married Vasudeva. When Devaki , grace Lord, paripaaalayithavyeshu of the prasaadha and jagadhaahlaadhakara , who was a vadhaanya, very generous and austere and just. was the son of Budha. Pururava ". The Moon was born from the mind of the Lord. was born from the ". The Moon prasaadha was the son of Nahusha and had three sons and one of them was the son of Nahusha and had three sons and one , the adhidevathaplanet of the Yadhu , towards the people deserve to be , towards people deserve the Pururavas of the efficacy example of sacrific the power of aahithaagni the status merit. of Indra through his th the son of Thvashta, a Brahmin, he incurred Indra since he has of in the place put Nahusha devas Then the penance. he but performed hundred asvame Indra of post a snake. cursed by him to become Yayathi was Vasudeva was Kasyapa prajaapathi in father of both devas and. asuras. born as Rohini Budha gave him the power of visiting svarga it of sacrifice, yajna because th where he fell in love with Urvasi, dosha, the sin of killing a Brahmin by Vasudeva, the father of Krishna wa the moon is like fame of his descendants Vasudeva was born the divine musical instruments, aanaka and jaathah Desika gives the re (Purushasuktham). The Moon came out as out of His mind. of the iva 4. 2. 3. of Pururavas flourished The lineage 1. clan was The first of the

Krishna. Krishna. of yadhu in which the Lord in which the of yadhu traces the clan Desika Then sadagopan.org The devaspraisedtheLordthus: Him. alongwithBrahmaandBh Narayana who oppressedherlikegiantmountains. to relieveherofburdenadharm In themeanwhiledevaswereapproached byBhoodeviwhoentreatedthem eighth sonofDevakiwillbehiski Kamsa whomhelovedvery gotmarriedtoDevaki,thecousinsisterof ownaccord.Vasudeva to himofits an interested intheworldlypossessions mukthiandwasnot intentonattaining the royalfamilyVasudevawas theLorddescendedinfo destruction the goodasearthwasburdened is forlight andthesea isforgems. This Vasudeva was the refuge of the good as Lord Vishnu is for the world, the Sun

. Hehasfiveweapons,panchahethay 3. 2. He is 1. He is disc of the Sun, He is desc and khadga, theConch, Disc,Ma and khadga, varthi Suryamandalamadhya paramapadha, supremeabode,the that ispranava. were the sevennotes,sapthasvarawhich dheepa, Krishna. HecallsHim" compare thewordsofThyagarajainhis kriti" is vedavedya,knownthroughtheVedas. AAnakadhundhubhi. dhundhubhi sounde thrivedimadhya dheeptha,shinesonthrivedimadhya thethree vedasbecauseHe thridhaama " He shines as the light on the mountain of naadha, made up of , havingthreeabodes,namely,Vaikuntawhich isHis much buthearingtheaeri d andhenceheac vedasiromaathrja sapthaswaranaadhaachala vedasiromaathrja ller Kamsaputthembothinprison. . 12 ce, BowandSwordrespectively. a perpetuatedbyth d becamecontentwithwhatevercame implies that he was the sole resort of impliesthathewasthesoleresortof oodevi in front and started praying to to oodevi infrontandstartedpraying withunrighteouskingsforwhose ThentheyallapproachedtheLord rm ofKrishna.Eventhoughborn milky ocean ah, shankha, charka ah, shankha, ribed intheupanishadas Hereit wouldbeinteresting to bornoutoftheheadvedas, and the al declarationthatthe saamajavaragamana quired thename e unrighteouskings gadha,sharnga surya mandala " on , sadagopan.org and hence dhayaadheena dhayaadheena offering in the the in offering i in which His gunas, ll splendour and like the His acts like killing Ravana. like killing His acts it is all His leela which waters the g till reach evening are unable to He is the one who apportions the ate, a supplicant and obedient son as. The six attributes, knowledge, as. The six attributes, knowledge, of the self which is offered in is offered in self which of the is shown in the choice of the the choice of the is shown in dhayaambhudh and valiancebhagas and are called s and virya are the ratnas, gems and s and virya are the ratnas, , takes the external , takes , from the four-faced Brahma down to 13 hing is His creation only. aadheena and dhayadheena. aadheena and ananyaadheena mahima andananyaadheena whereas unlimited ts of the pure in His fu baahyaanthara havirbhuja baahyaanthara overwhelmed with mercy as shown by mercy overwhelmed with paraadheena vaibhava are in His control paraadheena vaibhava gods that of other yajna and also internalyajna and form in the devotion and grace. He as varadha, bestows His them as He is beseech Him to protect limited. Devas vihara In this sloka the poetic skill In this sloka epithets ananyaadheena, sv epithets ananyaadheena, jnana, bala, aisvarya, teja shakthi, the waves are His vyuhas and vibhav glory might, sovereignty, power, Thehence the name bhagavan. vyuhas are His manifestations as Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradhyumna and Anirudhdha and the vibhavas metaphorically described as the waves are are His incarnations. These the ocean. which are said to be in gems are the precious while the gunas are compared to the travelers they creation and are His because they mornin who even after traveling from Him as such. the destination, namely to describe to the role He assumes. This amuses the actor and He acts according Him act like a subordin wise who see to His own children and dependents. result of karma to the individuals and of results, seeds of karma so that it brings forth the sprouts karmaphala. Desika says that this is true with all beings, brahmaadhisthambaparyantham the blade of grass as everyt 5. His power is independent 4. He is 4. He 9. He shines in the hear 6. mercy, The Lord is the ocean of 7. from the Vedas even, The glory of the Lord cannot be ascertained an like incarnations as down comes and costumes different on puts 8. He

sadagopan.org touch onHisbodyand notrough, ornaments which weresukumara supreme power combinedwith mercy aisvarya, themasteryoveruniverse The lordwasaccompaniedbySrideviwi the wonderdevasexperienced onseeingthe Lord before them. cloud,whichisa rareoccu top ofawhite color andsittingonhimthelordpres dark inhue,onawhitecloudofautumn The devassawHimreclinedon Desika heregivesabeautifuldescriptionoftheLord. Thus entreated bythe appearedbeforethemoutofmercy. devasBhagavan 13. Like thesun thatwakes upfromsl 12. He isunparalleled, limitless,an He istheboatthathelpsthose who 11. 10. To thosewhohavebecomefatigu Chintamani fulfilsalltheirwishes.Ch have risenlikecomets tocreate calamity likethesundestroys the sleep ofignorance. Hence, thedevasentreated Himtodispeltheir Notseekinganyothersourceofwater. drops alone. means except devotion to Him like the chathaka bird whichof rescuefromthesea live on rain uncaused. Heisdenoted byPranava,theessenceof Vedasandtheraft totheotherside. cross over coolness. with the river,flowing devotionoftheLordservesasawelcome samsara the nectar of His grantallwishesofthepossessor. supposed to mercy, in which they plunge and enjoy its depend onlyonHimfo r theirredemptionand thecouchofAdisesha,li , slenderandnotheavy, samsara.Those whose suganshibhih likesweetsmelling flowers, suganshibhih 14 disturbances intheworld. disturbances the darknessbecauseKamsaandothers ented apictureofdarkcloudonthe . Theepithet Lakshmipathidenotesthe d thecause oftheuniverse,Himself . Adisesha is supposed tobewhitein . Adiseshaissupposed of the Lord. He was adorned with of theLord.Hewasadorned eep theLordwakesupjivas from rrence. Thissimileisanindicationof th lotus in her hand implying His th lotusinherhandimplying are caughtinthe whirlpool ofsinto ed bytravelinginthedesertof intamani isapreciousgemwhich do notadoptanyother ke a rain-bearingcloud, ek refuge in Himalone sukhasparsa , soft of , softof sadagopan.org

nts were like the nts were see even the stalks of the the stalks see even naments on the idol in such a way as naments on the her in beauty excelled that of His that of His beauty excelled her in the Moon who never wanes the Moon who never beings. The ornaments were beautified s gunas and the orname s gunas 15 real and cannot bear to real and cannot , and well suited to Hiswell suited , and auspicious the infinitely gunas, The Sun who never sets and The Sun who never prasoonaih iva qualities. His form is the garden of Hi the garden of His form is qualities. his love for the Lord in imagining the his love for the garden. Desika expresses flowers in the the treats devotee ardent An flowers. like tender be to body His on ornaments the Lord as archa or idol of flowers hurting Him. And arranges the or flowers hurting not to hurt Him Every part of His body vying each ot ornaments and stole the hearts of all sadagopan.org D D earth issurrounded by theocean like the protectionof Lordfromtheoppr jewel ofthe girdleofthe earth. The metaphor by abeautiful Desika provides as itshelmsman,shouldnotbeallowed togounder." They entreatedHimthus:˜T bear their weight.The ideahereisthat does notintervenethe earthwill besubm of kshathriyasandtheearthissufferi previously by Him like moths by the fire, totelltheLordth The devasstarted have come back to earth in the form The Lordthuspresented apictureof veda ashishead. asi garutmantrivrththesirah signifying theimpendingwarwithth and coveredwiththe fragranceof thefeet of theLord,beingHiscarrier, whois Along withtheLordcameGaruda, Himself, Heshonelikeasapphirerising outoftheseaHisownsplendor. Hisformcreatedby seemed toforecastthevictoryofdevas.With mace etc.wereproclaiming Hisnaturalqualitieslikevalor,powerandsoon by Himandnotviceversa.Theweapons prayer isansweredevenbe werere andthemandasmita abhayakara protection andbyHissmilethatdestroys evil by theLord reassuredthemwithHisabhayahast mere sightHis grace. Byseeing Himthus theeyes of it. The never diminishesandHewaslikeeverla His glorywhichexcelledtheSun,wassour wanes andanoceanof nectarwhichhasno D EVAS EVAS EVAS

APPEAL APPEAL APPEAL

TO TO TO

THE THE THE

LORD LORD LORD fore Hebegantospeak.

his earthwhichhasyou,wh " meaningthat Garudawithpowerful wingshas e asuras.ThevedacallsGaruda" 16 a Sunwhonever sets devas claimed thattheearthdeserves devas claimed a girdleofthe Bhoodevi andtheLord ofthedevas becamefruitfulandthe sting nectartothedevasinshowering ng bytheir misdeedsandiftheLord He waswielding,namelythedisc,bow, the embodiment of Vedas, srutiroopa, theembodimentofVedas,srutiroopa, at rakshasas who were extinguished whowere at rakshasas referringtotheLordascentral thewicked areburdentotheearth. ession ofthewicked kshathriyas. The assuring enoughforthemthattheir erged intothesea,notbeingableto a, showingHishandinagestureof bounds to devas. He was shining in boundstodevas.Hewasshiningin ce ofjoyinHis o isfullofwithmercy, , aMoonwhonever cool mercy,which suparno sadagopan.org

, pleasing, em. The glances of em. The glances of prasaana expression. He makes the like the waves of the sea of His of His like the waves of the sea a sapphire gem. its central is like free the earth from the burden of burden the earth from free the e as the crest jewel of Aadhisesha, e as the crest light as a crest jewel for Sesha who light as a crest ul glances towards th 17 . Imagining the Lord thus is enough to send send to enough is thus Lord the Imagining . , attractive, He just being awakened from His , attractive, He just asannaih sheethalaischa nah comes out with beautiful devAs pray to SrIman nArAyaNa! devAs pray to SrIman nArAyaNa! (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) , accompanied with His charming smile, Prabhodha subhaga Prabhodha smera , cooling with love and they are krpakodhanavadhoormibhih yoganidra, the Lord are, the Lord are, sheethala mercy, should that He the devas said Further shin and make her kings these wicked the earth should be made meaning that devas say: "Prabhodhasubhagaih smeraih pr kataakshaih plaavaya kshipram krpakodhanvadhoormibhih," They pray to him to direct His mercif shining in the middle of the ocean like of the ocean in the middle shining supports it his head. on Desika, the bhaktha, here sadagopan.org sporting beautifulhair,thenaturalsc skillisseeninhisfurtherdescriptionofBhoodevi.ShewasDesika’s poetic of Prakrthi,otherwiseknown the Lord.ThewholeUniverseconstitutedoffive elements istheproduct thanumadhyaa visaalaakshi exemplary damsel, being beautiful likethe MayaoftheLo along withthedevasandinformedHimof Then Bhoodevi boweddowntoHim,who antharyami, indweller ofall. their approachingHimasthoughHe the Lordtoforgivethemfortheirimpudence ininformingHimthereasonof Withthesewords a devoteetoecstasy. time toenterthegarba ofDevaki tobe kings topartakethe resultofHisdeed evil kshathriyasandwillestablishdharma to earthasanincarnationlessenth dhurgathim thaathagachchathi." -" Bhagavatgita-6-40 come toharm.[Vide: He reassuredthembysayingthat The Lordreplied tothem inavoice that enhancing thepoeticbeauty. dhakshinaadhitharam ofsignsandemploystheword is knowledgeableaboutthemeaning thewordDhaksh good sign.Desikauses as thoughdesiringtheembrace ofher formed thebeadsofpearlsthatadorn umbrella madeofpeacockfeathers.Th hover on herheadpresenting aspec the entireworldresided ca vanithaarathnarupini, ofslender waistandlargeeyes, , theoneotherthanrigh , is compared by Desika to the enchanting Maya of me toresideinDevaki. as theMayaofLord. ] The Lord then promised that He will descend those whofollow Hiscommandwillnever 18 e burden oftheearthby destroyingthe ent ofwhichattrac inaa for the Bhoodevi to imply that she inaa fortheBhoodevitoimplythatshe rd. Theearth assumingtheformofan echoed the sound of His Paanchajanya. echoedthesoundofHisPaanchajanya. s. SosayingtheLord awaitedtheright her chest.Herleftshoulderthrobbed tacle ofherbeingcoveredwith an Lord whichwaswelcomedbyherasa born asKrishna.Th has vowedtoprotectHisdependents, devas concluded their entreaty asking devas concludedtheirentreatyasking did notknow everything being the e tears ofjoyonseeingherLord and Heasked themtotakebirthas herplight.Desika na hikalyanakrthkaschith t todenoteleftarmthus ted thebeesthat us theone inwhom describesheras sadagopan.org murdhvishah a, the elixir which along with the Lord in

haraa saa sa visvabhoktha e sages being sure of effect. e sages being

2 2 2 h, during her pregnancy as if she is as if h, during her pregnancy sha and traveled on Garuda. Utthamursha and traveled on Garuda. of Krishnavathaara. The appearance of the advent of the Lord. Sandhya, the advent of the e one who has devoured the whole earth e one who has devoured the mighty Lord who has the entire universe

ied the krishnarasayan INCARNATION INCARNATION INCARNATION 19

prthak paricharithum anishtvaa prthak paricharithum anishtvaa OF OF OF

HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER ared to the form of the Lord, ared to the form henaiva paricharantheeva." C C C EVE EVE EVE RISHNAVATHAARA RISHNAVATHAARA RISHNAVATHAARA

K K K HE HE HE T T T OF OF OF

says Desika. anishevitha, resorted to by th NIGHT NIGHT NIGHT

"bhukthaa puraa yene vasund THE THE THE

OF OF OF

ESCRIPTION ESCRIPTION ESCRIPTION D Then starts the description of the night mamagarbhabhoothah," mamagarbhabhoothah," on Adhise She dreamt that she was lying swami explains this as: "devakigarbhagantham bhagavantham with seshaadhayah devakeesthathvaves earth the burden to not if as slowly walked It looked as though Adhisesha and others carried devaki She Him. to service do to order of Him who is visvaguru, the the weight in Him. He is vidvaguru or jagatguru as He was going to impart the Gita to the world and also the greater than the greatest, mahatho mahiyaan. The word 'guru' contains a pun to mean preceptor as well as big. to denote the dusk, sandhya, seemed personified as a damsel, is comp Devaki appeared divine because she carr divine because Devaki appeared is sidhdha and sidhdh is sidhdha and of the eart Devaki ate the mud, symbolic that th showing by her action, naatitham, is inside her,

D D sadagopan.org Then the auspicioustime for theavath the aisvaryaofBaliif hegetsthe Hischest withd whom, theLordcovered wasinHischest,tohide Lakshmi It issaidthateveninVamanaavathaara anyeshuchaavathaareshu "Raaghavathve bhavathseethar whichever avatharaHetookbecauseSh laterindescribingKrishna Desika says subsequent emergenceofLakshmi, came outofthemilkyocean,namelyth The darknessthatfirstcamewasliketh theritesfornewborn. samskara, looked likeapurohitha,priestcoming vimuchyamaana from darknessassheisgoing tobefreedfromhersorrow,thamahprasangena paleness ofheristhewhitelight, looked likeDevaki, His servant,theKala,Time.Laterwhen looked likeagarlandofpearlstoador dark fortnight,At thesettingof Sun, nowords. moon appearedsandhya. Therichnessofpoeticimaginat oc the into plunging aserpent of jewel anddarknessspread looked likealotuspluckedfrom thepo seemed toseeksomesupport light, vaasinee, suvarnapithaambhara murthih dhvitheeyaa svadhaamasam chaadhthasuryamurthih. . TheMoonbeing thefirst fo Thamahprasangena vimuchyamaanagourprabhaa , onaccountoftheattiregoldenhue, vishnoreshaa anapaayini." thedaybeingashtami-8t ukminee Krishna janamani andhidingtheSun withthebrillianceof own avalambhana, glance ofLakshmi,lakshmikataaksha. gouraprabhaa n theLordonHisavathaarapreparedby 20 nd ofthe sky bysandhyaandthecrest after bath from the ocean to do the afterbathfromtheoceantodo aara drewnear.The wicked peoplelike e isinseparableastheslokagoes: that LakshmiwasalwayswiththeLord the moonrose, theeasterndirection the good fortune of Yadhuvamsa. the goodfortuneofYadhuvamsa. e haalaahala,thete ean afraidofGarudaintheform of e easterndirectionindicativeofthe ion of Desika is illustrated bythese ion ofDesikaisillustrated eerskin lest He could not take away eerskin lestHecouldnottake by his rays stretched out. He The Sunsinking intheocean refather oftheYadhuvamsa, ofthemoonwhohas risen h day-ofkrishnapaksha, everywhere. Stars rrible poisonwhich . The sadagopan.org He only made Himself made Himself He only the day of the avathara the day of the reason and so did the reason and so anguish in the the five planets, Chandra, angaraka, the five planets, like the eastern direction produced direction produced like the eastern s not born in the usual way but as He s not born in the usual way by the Lord for his avathaara as the by the Lord for re awake like Devaki and Vasudeva. like Devaki re awake ted position. His Desika describes

came prathama and navami, dvitheeya. 21 day Navamiwas going to be "sambhavaami aathmamaayayaa" was chosen Ashtami minds of devotees. the next eighth child and of Yogamaaya. putsHence, as Desika it, ashtami be Kamsa were sleeping and the good we and the good were sleeping Kamsa Vadhyagoshain The lamps everywhere. be heard divine instruments of could for no became extinct the house of Kamsa Krishna appeared at vrishabha lagna when manifesting Himself as Devakiputra was bhudha, guru and sani were in exal bhudha, guru and sani were thatthe Lord, the moon, implying He wa says in the Gita out in the East. manifest as the moon coming sadagopan.org carrying sanka,conch, chakrathedisc,gada,maceand ambuja,alotus. peak ofindraneelamani, sapphire.VasudevasawHim,whohad thecolor ofthesea, Devaki washavingKrishnaonher lapandshone like a golden mountainwhich hada about thisinfrontofonewhoremo and propertyisaccordingtoprarabdhakar goes In fact the word ' srnkalathah" Vasudeva becamefree fromhisshackles of Kamsa. vayittril neruppenneninranedumaalE was theonlyoneagitatedtout of allthepeoplejoinedtoge Here we seethepoeticskillofDesikawho thatalltheanxietiesinminds says was likethejayagosha by thedevas. thecloudsthunderedwhich quarters and the kinnaras singinginthedevaloka,th extraordinary eventhappens,suchasthe paraphernalia thatisdescribedinthepu the understandingoftruthabout ragadvesha andtheheartsofgoodbe that themanifestationofth directions lookedbrightdevoidofdarkne At thetimeofbirthKrishnath " rnaanubandhasaarena pasupatnisuthaalayaa says Desika, comparing therelease saysDesika,comparing rna ' couldmeandebtaswell ther like rivers and fell into the mind of Kamsa, who e Lord dispelled thedarkne e Lorddispelled T T T HE HE HE C

C

C

BIRTH BIRTH BIRTH ves theshacklesofallbondage?' HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER ", the onewhostoodlikefireinthestomach ", the most. Andal addresses theLordas" Andaladdresses most.

22 OF OF OF

e wholeworld seemed

ss as though thedayisborn.Thisimplies ss asthough ranas and ithihasas when some divine or ranas andithihasaswhensomedivineor ere was cool breeze blowing from the ere wascoolbreezeblowingfromthe apsaras dancing,the trumpets sounding, apsaras dancing,thetrumpetssounding, . ma. Desikaasks,"whatissowonderful

came filled with the joy arising out of came filledwiththejoyarisingoutof the manifestation. Among the usual usual manifestation.Amongthe the KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA "Rnaadhiva devakipathih amuchyatha "Rnaadhiva devakipathih 3 3 3

", from srnkala to that from debt. from srnkalatothatdebt. onesacquisitionofwealth,son

prarabdhakarma prarabdhakarma

ss inthemindcausedby to be happy. The tobehappy.The as the saying as the kamsan sadagopan.org Bhoodhara The divine form seen by Vasudeva seen by Vasudeva referred to as on his thousand hoods as though on his thousand hoods as though lightening the burden of the earth lightening the burden land near Yamuna seemed to welcomeland acharadhaasu vidhoothanisaacharah; t as He had contracted His own tejas. the gurudavahana and reached river ion of vedas, as Yamunacharya calls him calls him ion of vedas, as Yamunacharya uta phanamanidheepaganodvahah." uta phanamanidheepaganodvahah." 23 o had come to be born as to be o had come the female child born to requested and the prison took the infant, which the took the infant, which the were fast asleep. When he were fast asleep. When ", and the Sesha is is the maya of the Lord! is the maya of , who followed giving light by the gems , who followed giving light by vedhaathmaa vihagesvarah

Vasudeva prayed to Him to hide His divine form lest Kamsa Kamsa lest form divine His hide to Him to prayed Vasudeva Lord as He praised the true identity. to know His will come wh the Veda, of the embodiment his son due to his prayers in the previous birth. At the birth. in the previous his prayers his son due to and begs Him was worried about His safety same time he Gokula to Him to disguise That Himself. take to Vasudeva instructed Lord the Then there and bring and leave Him Yasodha to Mathura. Vasudeva as Lord changed Himself into, gate opened and the guards and the guards gate opened The significance of the word Bhoodharapannaga by Desika is that the the that around is circled Garuda Krishna. Desika of body due to lighter became quarters approached the street the by the of lustre the and Adisesha followed to ward off the evil forces to protect from the rain. spreading his hoods as an umbrella "sruthimayo prabhum vy vihagah parithah Bhoodharapannaga word anujagaama cha bhoodharapannagahsph the of personificat Garuda is sruthimaya , the significance The Krishnavathara was for the purpose of which will also lighten the burden on the head of Sesha who is bhoodhara, bhoodhara, is who " Sesha of head pannaga the on thinking that the Lord needed some ligh burden the lighten also will which bearer of the earth. Vasudeva carried Krishna as though on Yamnna, directed by the moonlight. The Vasudeva by its cool breeze to remove the fatigue and the buzzing of the bees, serving as the welcome song. sadagopan.org 2. 1. arthyamaviplavam". avistharam described byDesikathus: rose uptotheskyandwarnedkamsaabou infant byherlegsto strikeheronth Mathura. Knowingthatth Krishna nearthesleepingYasodhaand rohini "svasuthamVasudeva enteredGokulawhere,saysDesika, agryam asooyatha which hewouldcrossobtaining crossedtheriveras abode. Thusvasudeva ascend thevishnupadaorwasgoingto inthewest.Itmakes almost dry fearing Kamsa.gavewaytoVa Yamuna knowing thatallistheleelaofLord, wasthrowingupherarmsindistress, The riverthrowingitswave kuhak lulithadheenarathaangayugasvanaa "Nimishithaasithaneerajalochanaa mukulithaabjamukheesavithussuthaa; of theSun. seemed toindicatetheme blind inthe night werewailing,notbe yet startedtobloomandth its eyes,petals,asthemorning was feigning weakness, ' is bemoaningtheplight oftheLordwhic brings the poetic fervour of Desika. He says that it looked as though the riverThe description ofYamunawhenVasudeva approachedtheriverwithKrishna gabheeram patu, ", whichimpliesthathesawhis so sharp andpungent, sharp , resonant, kuhakadhainyam savithuh sutha ntal anguishofYamuna,savithuh e eighth child wasborn, s hereandthere lookedasthough,Yamuna,without e chakravakacouple,akind "patu gabheeramudhaaramanaakulamhitham the Lordashisoffspring. Itwas: '. Thelilies, ' e rockwhen shekick 24 approaching andthelotuseshadnot h made Him take the guise of a mortal, h madeHimtaketheguiseofamortal, adhainyam asochatheevaprabhoh." ing ableto seeoneanother.Allthis sudeva, lookinghigh intheeastand theKalindaMountain,herfather's kavi wonderwhethershewanted to t thebirthofKrishna.Herspeechis took thefemalech if itwasjananasindhu,seaofbirth, n Balaramaalso.Thereheplaced asithaneeraja Kamsa came andtookthe Kamsa came of birds which become ofbirdswhichbecome ed herself free and ild nearher to , thedaughter ' were closing sadagopan.org Adhichakaara In the Bhagavatha the madhukaitabha, the maya robbers and from disease and "vaangakkudam niraikkum vallal death of calves and the cows were death of calves and the cows who is enquired into by the sages rhaps to make it clear to Kamsa that rhaps to make it clear to Kamsa bouts of Krishna but Desika boldly bouts of Krishna but Desika mohinee, the deluder of all devas and mohinee, the deluder of all sodha and othersconsciousness regain e maya of the Lord and Yasodha found "Vasathi nandagrhe vibudhadhvishaam "Vasathi nandagrhe vibudhadhvishaam re, became the ornament of the gopas 25 of Krishna elaborately. " m not to court destruction.m not to court la resembled that in Krthayuga. of milk as Andal said, the Lord, the destroyer of of the Lord, yavanikaa. Then she warned him that his his him that warned she of the Lord, yavanikaa. Then even if he finds Him. Him. he finds even if , brief, , poised, , poised, , distinct, , distinct, unmistakeable. , meaningful and , meaningful and , well wishing. Due to her karuna the, well wishing. Durga as goddess she was to be known later, wanted to warn hi known later, wanted anaakulam hitham avistharam udhaaram arthyam aviplavam

4. 5. 6. suraasuraShe said that she was asesha asuras, being the Maya of 3. 7. 8. that veils the real nature Nanda, house of destroyer is in the dhamayithaa vasudeva samudbhavah thava naasayitha". a male child next to her. Desika describes the Lord as the one who is is who one the as Lord the the wherea Yogamaya does not divulge describes of Krishna pe makes her give the address Desika harm Krishna he cannot her. to next ya and in Gokula, changes scene Then the child by th from the swoon-like sleep induced male a aagamabhooshana, ornament to the vedas, even now without finding His real natu even now without finding due to destiny of His own making. After Krishna came to Gokula there was no contented and gave plenty perum pasukkal". The person had no fear from Desika says that the life in Goku Nanda celebrated the birth Nanda celebrated sadagopan.org were eagerlywaitingforthede paksha creatinghappiness not only to grew andKrishna The twoboys,Balarama chiram vidhivasaathkilaviprakarshou." puranamkaalam purusham "putram praooyathapasaa whohadcometothemthroughthe puraanapurusha, wereseparatedfromKrishna,the the mindsofDevakiandVasudevawho look down on theclouds Indraloka. by hiswhich madethekalpataruloseitsimport The shower news of of gifts. theappropriated thegloryofchintamani, celebrations This made megh mahathi prasavotsave in the Gokula people pacified sutha kalpathroranukalpathaamajanayaccha vadhaanyamaneh sriyamvyadhitha of Gokula, says Desika, The divinecowherds -BalarAmaandSrIKrishNaingOkulam (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) a vikatthanamodhathaam. struction ofKamsaandothers. 26 the wish-giving gem, by his generosity, the wish-givinggem,byhisgenerosity, the inhabitantsbutalsotodevaswho ance and he outshined the rain giving ance andheoutshinedtheraingiving up in Gokula liketheMoonin sukla penance ofearlierlife. ". Thatis,Nanda

sadagopan.org The Joy of Nandagopa! The Joy of

4 4 4 y and His pronunciation had the scent of

pis who tried to make Him speak through pis who tried to make Him 27 sApathrapA sAndhrarajacchalEna" HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER Chan.6-3-2) " ( BALAKRISHNA BALAKRISHNA BALAKRISHNA C C C anEna jeevEna AthmanA lisped and pronounced the in Gokula for uttering His his body all over. Desika says that the earth goddess Desika says that the earth body all over. his nirvyAja mandhasmitha nirvyAja mandhasmitha His attempt to speak which His attempt to speak which varNasvarAdhivyavas AyabhoomnA sikshAvidhAm sikshaNam ". , delightful to behold with His behold , delightful to Next Desika presents the picture of crawling Krishna. When krishna crawled on krishna crawled When Krishna. of crawling the picture Next Desika presents dust covered the floor the tried to embrace him under the pretext of covering his body with dust. pretext of covering under the tried to embrace him tham "prAyO dharithree parishasvajE

The joy of Nanda knew no bounds on seeing the face of of on seeing the face Nanda knew no bounds The joy of Krishna which was dharsaneeyam spontaneous smile. When He He was acclaimed by all. name of His mother partly Everyone was pleased with was fascinating, says Desika, because the Lord who and gave them name and form, is created all the worlds here praised by the people mother's name partially. " form. and The upanishad says that after creating the world of name beings Brahman willed to enter them with their soul to them give anupravisya nAmrupE vyAkaravANi Then Krishna started to speak with clarit veda, says Desika. " agryam Aseeth It was as though He was teaching the go sadagopan.org Next we have the delightful picture of Krishna trying to stand. Next wehavethedelightfulpictureofKrishnatryingtostand. the vedas. His pronunciationoflettersandtheinto The Onewhomeasured thethree 28 nation etc. which resembled that of nation etc.whichresembled thatof Worlds, manifestsas aChild

sadagopan.org the three worlds the three daiveLLimuLai pOl komaLa sila es for any thing else, was looking at else, es for any thing sika enjoys the scene thus: Yasodhasika enjoys the scene thus: e are a few teeth showing like tender showing like tender e are a few teeth lk and he keeps falling now and then now and lk and he keeps falling nanarthakhElannavan eethakAngkshee nanarthakhElannavan eethakAngkshee than few steps so that his mother will than few steps so that his mother sAnandham AlOkatha nandha pathnee" nandha pathnee" AlOkatha sAnandham child in order to protect the world. child in order to protect the rlds causing the movable and immovable rlds samprekshya hanthAnkurachAruhAsam; hanthAnkurachAruhAsam; samprekshya rayam tham bhavyAsA bhAvina bhAvina tham bhavyAsA rayam 29 ! The one who measured drive away the wicked. Next comes the drive away the wicked. Next h paryAyapASthrANi charAcharANi the tune of the gopis.

kOla narumpavaLa senthuvar vAyini kOla narumpavaLa " in his mouth, red like coral, ther red like " in his mouth, DANCING KRISHNA KRISHNA DANCING shoots of silver. Yasodha teaches to walk and De Krishna him wa and made took hold of his hands more not walk that he could pretending as a with three steps and now manifest pick him up and tries again. Who is He pick him up and tries again. Who jagathth "padhaisthribhihkrAntha Perhaps the scene opens as the gopis are churning the milk and Krishna comes and milk as the gopis are churning the opens Perhaps the scene there and begs for butter and butter and e if he wants they tell him to danc this is described by Desika as follows: ya Esha lOkathrayasuthradhA ra Him, who is the eye of all, with joy." the eye Him, who is his Periazvar enjoys Krishna having be interesting to see how Here it would first teeth. " pallilaga bAlabhAvam." the earth with his footprints as around marking Soon Krishna was walking all to seal on earth though to put his scene where Krishna dances to hacheshtithOasou Anarthayathyadhbhut He who is the director of the three wo off and He smiles sweetly showing a little but keeps falling "He tries to stand Yasodha who had no ey His budding teeth. sanAthaneem dhrshtim ananya dhrshtih ananya dhrshtih dhrshtim sanAthaneem "thameeshadhutthAya nileenabhArAth DANCING KRISHNA KRISHNA DANCING DANCING KRISHNA KRISHNA DANCING sadagopan.org Navaneetha natyaminhisGopalavimsathi. front ofthegopis)desirousge beings enact theirroleinturn,with navaneetha nAtyam - SrImaTamdOlaiKaNNan 30 His wonderful act, danced playfully (in His wonderful act,dancedplayfully(in tting butter.ThisDesikanamesas

sadagopan.org thala of the churning of milk, appear thala of the churning . Desika is reminded of the form of of form the of reminded is Desika . He can get only milk there and not He can get only milk there and ar, or milk while churning the milky ar, or milk while churning gracefully, with His mouth smelling of ng pot desiring butter, the body ofng pot desiring butter, the a dancing in the house of Nanda, His a dancing in the e drops from of the milky the waves chane thaskarachaathuree DHureeNam one foot steady and the other bent, His one foot steady described by Leelasuka also thus: described by 31 khara in Mukundamala where he says, khara in Mukundamala where ra thaarakrtha charumoorthaye araNam komalathaandavam kumaaram ane navaneethnaatyam ane navaneethnaatyam Krishna is splattered with drops of curd Krishna is splattered with ocean. Kulase is expressed by The same idea nayanaakuhanaasru asrayetTHaah ch the vision of Krishn 'Let which means, dance for butter, to thenavaneethnaatya, in front of me' the churni In gokula, keeping close to of nect the Lord splattered with drops ksheerasaagarathara ngaseekaraasaa madhvidvishe namah. maadhavaaya bhogibhogasayaneeya saayine "Salutations adisesha, killer of Madhu, reclining on the bed of to Madhava, the with th His body charming splattered is covered with stars". ocean, looking as though He The dance of Krishna desiring butter is Vadhane navaneethagandDHava aham va Seek the foot of the boy who is dancing foremost of cheats, His eyes (on to be the Him speech showing butter, His of false tears. being told off) full came ocean and the milky The devotees imagine that the reason the Lord left milky ocean to gokula is because being Aavirbhvathyanibhrt haabharaNam purasthaath purasthaath haabharaNam Aavirbhvathyanibhrt Nam nibhrthaanyapaadham aakunchithaikachara aalam mukhareNanibaddhath DHadhnaa nimanTha naatTHasya nandhabhav ornaments sounding as He dances, with ornaments sounding sadagopan.org KRISHNA THEBUTTER THIEF KRISHNA THEBUTTER THIEF nirbhugna gAthrOnibhrtham sayAnah hrasyan mukundhonavaneethachouryAth with separatelytobringoutitsbeauty. " Perhaps thisscenewasinthemindof butter. KRISHNA THEBUTTER THIEF AdAdhu asangAdhuvAAkannA (Courtesy: www.stephen-knapp.com) The ButterThief!

", whichisabeautifulso 32 Oothukkaduvenkatakaviwhenhesang ng and should be dealt ng andshouldbedealt

sadagopan.org s and hence begged s and hence begged sujAtharEkhAthmaka om his hands when he ran om his hands rathnaisthadhA kousthubha kousthubha rathnaisthadhA herself to those hands, which herself to those hands, which rt of veda taught in the forest is is forest the in taught veda of rt schief or other like stealing butter, grains and what the girl saw hunter ely filled with precious gems. Desika ely filled with precious the Lord is the giver of the fruit of the Lord is the giver of the r offerings. Then she filled his hands has done some punya to acquire that his body contracted out of fear from his body contracted tie him to the mortar to keep him out ts and approached the hunter girl who girl hunter ts and approached the he himself desired aranyakaphala, the he himself desired aranyakaphala, t this fearful posture of Krishna will t this fearful the one who gives Moksha, as well as as well as Moksha, gives who the one were trembling with fear and he was were trembling 33 und of his ornament und sign of conch and disc ( grains were falling off fr grains ) She thought that she should give ) She thought that she should ". fear. His limbs bhoga, here enacting and here that knowledge, namely moksha word aranyaka. pun on the forest fruits. There is days those in custom the is as fruits the buy to grains of handful a carried He and being a child, all the the gopis. Desika calls him Mukundha, the gopis. Desika out by the so found afraid of being noise!them not to make To think abou fears. remove all our forest frui Once Krishna wished for the of grains.was selling them with handful Desika says, the one who gives Aranyakaphala wanted Aranyakaphala. The pa and called Aranyaka, that is, upanishads few only There were towards the vendor. sankachakram nijAni nissabdhadhaSAm yayAche nijAni nissabdhadhaSAm bAlavibhooshaNAni baddhAnjalim butter and was hiding with Krishna stole was his hand marked with the was his hand marked with with fruits and her basket was immediat is of course more desirable to the Lord than the fruits as He expects only the the only expects He as fruits the than Lord the to desirable more course of is heart of the devotee more than the othe refers to him as kreedAsisu, one who appeared as a child by his leela. The gems were not in any way inferior to Kousthubha, " nirvisEshaih in some mi Krishna was frequently engaged and such deeds it was not milking time, and other when the calves even freeing mother wanted to suffering once his long of mischief. Desika says that the mortar sadagopan.org AtthapuNyE". it," totieKrishna thatYasodhawanted good fortune nireekshya nirviNNaDHiyOjananyAh apyapoorNam dhAmAkhilam samhitham Aneetham agrEnijabanDHanArTHam two inches short, saysthat him tothemortar.Bhagavatha Then comesthedescriptionofdifficu Kubera from theircurse. also servingthepurposeof punyaphala of the mortar was to have th banDHum iyEsha Desika uses a pun on the word banDHu by saying that she wished to tie him dhvayangulOnam who istherelativeofgood, his further deed,namelythefreeing ofthe sonsof baala cheshtitham . 34 e contactofthebodyLordand whateverropeshetried itwasfound lty Yasodhawasexperiencingintying sathAm banDHuh ulookhalE kuthrachith . The . The

sadagopan.org pes short earlier. pes short earlier. joyed by the devotees devotees joyed by the of shame on its failure. of shame in vedanta is that whatever hirAdhya savreedam AraNya t any effort on their part. Desika t any effort on their part. om you try to find, is bound to the om you try to find, is bound Then krishna took pity on her and Then krishna ntain this nyaya and hence the word fatigued in wandering in the forest of forest fatigued in wandering in the pposite. This is illustrated by Desika being bound, get freedom from their being bound, joined together were not enough due to not enough due were joined together 35 in this state of being bound to the mortar will be d to the mortar was en d to the mortar stories of the forest out thapasvinee thathkrathu neet further says, " further says, kaTHAsu thasTHou". The rule called thatthkrathu one thinks on so he becomes. In the case of Krishna, whatever leela of Bhagavn of, the result is just the o one thinks of Krishna as saying, those who think thathkrathu nyaya The expression. bondage. And he says that with a poetic went and hid itself in the Aranyakas are the upanishads which co Aranyaka is used as a pun to denote forest. freed from the bondage of karma withou of karma the bondage freed from variously. Leelasuka says, varamimam upadhEsam AdhriyaDHvam khinnAh chAra nigamavanEshu nithAntha vichinutha bhavnEshu vallaveenAm nibaddham upanishadharTHam ulookhalE you"Listen to this best advice, who are wh upanishads vedas! The Brahman of the the milkmaids". mortar here in the house of Desika himself refers to Krishna as Brahmakishora, Brahman ina child form of in Gopalavimsathi. Those who think of the Lord

his maya his mother became desperate. his maya his made himselfthe ro he made small enough to be tied while Krishna boun The sight of sankOcha shakthyA sa babhoova vanDHyah shakthyA sa sankOcha when even that all the ropes On seeing sadagopan.org BRINDHAVANASANCHAREE BRINDHAVANASANCHAREE Gokula toBrindvan. tothemigrationofresidents Almost immediatelyDesikaswitches Narada. ThatisthekarunaaofLord. tofree bound tothemortarinorder of Brahma,bothwhom As hetooktheformofalion-mantoprovewordsPrahladaandboon andhenceIwillfulfill also adevotee) "The devarshi Narada is dear to me and these thatthathaa saadhayishyaami are the sons of Kubera (who is dhanaddhaathmajou priyathamahyadhimou devarshirme The twoyakshas boweddowntoKrishnaandwenttheirway: has cometofulfillhispromisetheya says thatKrishnathoughtthesage by thesageNaradatobecometreesgo trees. ThetwosonsofKubera, NalakoobaraandManigreevawhowerecursed stopped bythetwin treesandwhen dr anditwas themortarplayfully Kubera fromtheircurse.Krishnadragged Desika says that Krishna madethewoods Desika says feigning fear.ThenDesika the protector ofthewholeuniverse, heisnowpretendingtobeacowherd boy miThyAgOpa his hand.Whatadelightfulpicture oftheleela theLord!Desikacallshim and Krishnaisseencryingsmudging Gopalavimsathi thus.Yasodhaisgrasping he looked likeanelephant boundto The eyesof Krishnawerefullof tears BRINDHAVANASANCHAREE , the pseudo cowherd inGo pseudocowherd , the describesverybriefly the were His devotees,now heallowed Himself tobe yadhgeetham thanmahaathmanaa yadhgeetham

what hasbeen promisedbyNarada." 36 and that amused the onlookers because theonlookersbecause and thatamused palavimsathi becausebeing kshas andhence heenacted thisscene. agged further by him it uprooted the agged furtherbyhimituprootedthe t backtheiroriginalform.Bhagavatha its post. Desikadescribesthisin itspost. Krishnainherhandandthreatenshim the twins and to prove the words of the twinsandtoprovewordsof Narada is dear to him and the time isdeartohimandthetime Narada the eyeliner appliedtohiseyeswith fertile bymerewill.There isnothing release ofthe sons of (Bh.10-10-25) visvagoptha , sadagopan.org

", ) by the the caring for the the and made brindavanam a nd was soft with them devoid of nd was soft with this vratha as the worship of Devi hEmanthE praTHamE mAsi hEmanthE is sathAm gOptha., protector of the is sathAm gOptha., the cowherd girls and stealing their girls and stealing their the cowherd place of habitation. place a such find to ed become like a moon to the cowherds, cowherds, the to moon a like become earth, abounding in fruits flowers and in fruits flowers abounding earth, ghts the whole universe with his will at with his will whole universe the ghts ke rising waves of theke rising waves sea made the Gokula and relished , because he is the one who created the the who created he is the one , because dhivatthilum pasu nirai mEyppu uvatthi dhivatthilum pasu nirai mEyppu 37 Avartha and BakAsura very briefly and gO-pAlanam

moon, the lord of all the herbs, who deli the herbs, who lord of all moon, the of creation. Now he has the beginning are the cows chandhrah, whose wealth gODHanavamsa sake of the cows. He for the fertile land his glances which were li good and by like the youth of the Brindavanam look wasgrass. The grass sweet and the grou and the stones or thorns bounty of the kalpaka vrksha by their trees outdid were thrill gopas fruits and flowers. The NammAzvar " says in his thiruvaimozi came to the Lord left the vaikunta and sloka: following with Krishna, reciting the young gopis wishing the union to be surprised with this, says Desika with to be surprised Desika mentions the killing of Thrn cattle more than residing in Vaikunta. cattle more than residing in proceeds to describe the pavai nonbu of clothes by Krishna. Bhagavtha mentions Kathyayani in the month of margasira ( sadagopan.org GOPIVASHTR of bodieswillgoon.When thesoulsu newone.Butuntil takes a old bodyand just asonecastsoff theoldclothesand jeerNAni -thaTHA sarirANIvihAya create thedesireinthem.Hesays inGita"vAsAmsijeerNAniyaTHAvihAya-- themmukthi after already willedtogive whenthey becomequalifiedformukthi.TheLordhasdhEhAthmabuddhi only and pray toWhen they requested him him to give back with theirgarmentshemadethemcomeout folded moksha sin andgives hands.kundhah. Sokundha-mukundha This was to make them cast off their mukthi, sangamam impliesmukthi, asthewo batheinKris the oldvasanasand kundha treeandwith Mukundha.Thekooladhukoolasangamamdenotesleaving there waskundhamukundhasa sangamam, thegarments,dhukoola,had Utthamur swamicommentsonthissloka, them from thereandclimbedth take bathandlefttheirgarmentsmade When theyoungcowherd girl kundhADHirooDO mumudhEmukundhah koolAdhupAdhAya dhukoolajAlam nikshiptham AbheerakumArikANAm niSAthyayE snAnasamudhyathAnAm pathimmEkuruthEnamah. nandhgOpasutham dEvi kArthyAyaani mahAmAyEmahAyOginyaDheesvari GOPIVASHTR GOPIVASHTR mukthim dhadhAthiithimukundhah A A A PAHARA PAHARA PAHARA . N N N A A A

s wenttotheriveryamuna intheearlymorning to sangamam meansthatLord destroysallthe the ngamam, thecontactwith branchofthe anYANi samyAthi navAnidhEhee anYANisamyAthi rrenders theLordgives anewawareness rd Mukundhameans 38 hnanubhava andthekundhamukundha of whitesilkonthebank,Krishnatook of there istotalsurrender thischanging put onnewonesthesoul the castsoff saying thatfirstitwaskooladhukoola their present life and only wanted to their presentlifeandonlywantedto the contactwithth e kundha treewithdelight. . Kum, sin, dhyathi, destroys ithi . Kum,sin,dhyathi,destroysithi the onewho gives e bank and then " meaning sadagopan.org

e cattle the young e cattle ajya for gopis. His vilAsas, actions, ajya for gopis. This is the significance behind the significance behind is the This was the exclusive area of the gopis area of the gopis was the exclusive on his body, the sunlight playing on st after tending th garments which have undergone change change undergone which have garments eventive measure for the non-entry of for the non-entry eventive measure due to their lack of understanding.due to their lack 39 KrishNa becomes the capital of AnandasaamrAjya for gOpis gOpis KrishNa becomes the capital of AnandasaamrAjya for girls of Gokula felt as though they were attacked by a fourfold army of cupid. cupid. of army fourfold a by attacked were they though as felt Gokula of girls The chathurangasena of a king, namely, ratha, gaja, thuraga padhAthi, in this the dust case was the sound of the flute, from the fore Krishna returned When under the pretext of giving back their giving back their pretext of under the on account of kundhamukundha sambandha. sambandha. of kundhamukundha on account episode of gopivasthrApahaharaNam. the capital of Anandha samr Krishna became was the His lustre, kAnthi army protecting the kingdom. were like the his sport was like a pr protecting wall, that the premebhakthi others. This means be penetrated by others and could not sadagopan.org Lakshmikataksham. will notbepossible to takeawaythe commentator, becausehedidnotwantLaks Vamana hecoveredhischestwith heart of the Lord in whichever form hehis chesttoappeardark.Theimplicatio appears. That is why when he came asThe darkhueof thepeacockfeathers ma and notonworldlythings. maya intobelieving that hewas him mortalbecausetheirdesirewastowards auspicious results.Butthegopisareble but forthosewhohaveconqueredthemaya those whodonothavetheknowledgeof auspicious happenings forthosewho medita girls byhisfluteplayingand mOhanavamsika mugDHAnganA usestwoadjectivestodescribeKrishna, delighted.Desika and was thepeacockfeathersthatadornedhiscrownagainand Yasodha touched the handofmagicianstoeffectillusion). created amagicaleffectoflove ontheothers (peacockfeathersarefoundin Krishna shonelikeamountainofsapphirewiththepeacockfeathersandthey Krishna adornedwithpeacockfeathers. even fromhisGopalavimsathiandhere Desika seemstobeenthralledwithth and thecowstookshelterinhi Krishna resembledatreeby the Godoflove. of themstoletheheartgopisand his bodyatsunsetandthegarlandoffo his peacockfeatherslook m asintheshadowofatree. , the one who enchants enchants onewho the , maneeshiNAm mAngalika maneeshiNAm 40 ssed even if they were deluded by his ssed eveniftheyweredeludedbyhis possessions ofBalioncehegetsthe possessions upper garment (angavastra), says one upper garment(angavastra),says e peacockfeathers,whichisobvious rest flowershewas they felt as though being attacked by they feltasthoughbeingattacked n here is that Lakshmi abidesin the n hereisthatLakshmi dedicates fourslokastodescribe dedicates his realnatureasthesupremeself de alsothegoldenhuedLakshmiin te on him. That is his maya deludes hmi tolookatBaliasotherwiseit andknowhimasheis,itfetches ing likegreenbranches the beautifulcowherd , onewho effects wearing. Each one sadagopan.org

e message sent out ed to reply to th see even in Gopalavimsathi in sloka 15. see even in flute is conversing with the bracelets. is conversing with the bracelets. flute sound with their bracelets keeping time keeping sound with their bracelets 41 sapphire with the peacock feathers Krishna shone like a mountain of Krishna shone like a

by the glances of the gopis. This idea we by the glances Desika says that the gopis are making to the music and it looks as though the Krishna came playing his flute which seem Krishna came playing his flute sadagopan.org oss the river as Yamuna as in spate. river Yamuna.Butshe wasnotabletocrosstheriverasYamuna asin Once Krishna toldagopitotake food another storytoillustratethis. untarnished thischildshouldlive. brahmachariandthere istruthinhimandifhismastery he isatrue mamaiS avyAhatham mayi thishTathi In MahabharathaKrishnasays life ofParikshithwhowasborncharre Krishna bysportingwiththegopiswhichis that Desikaasserts At thisjuncture immersed intheirlove. notfind but uthpakshma some support, censure, in ordertoescapebeing immersedinthesea,andlookeduptoget on thesandhillmadeofbashfulness, intheseaof waves ofdesiretorise The faceofKrishna waslikethemoon uthpakshmaNAm uthkalikApluthAnAm hasthAvalambO nababhoovathAsAm rAgOdhaDHou krishnamukhEndhununnE AsrithAnAm apathrapAsaikatham beautiful sloka. mindof Desika describesthestateof towardshimthroughhisraga. created raga,attachment music. There isrAgAbDHi pun in the word callsKrishna, andNarada.Desika something notknowneventoThumburu raga AbheeranAtyam, thedanceofco Krishna wasalsodancingwhileheca , theseaofmusicandheseemed

"yadhi mE brahmacharyam syAth sathyam cha "yadhi mEbrahmacharyamsyAth And Parikshith camebacktolife varyam thEmnajeevathubAlakah", love, rAgAbDHi. Thegopistriedtoascend love, rAgAbDHi. 42 d by the apandavAsthra of Asvatthama. ofAsvatthama. d bytheapandavAsthra there was no brahmacharyabhanga to therewasnobrahmacharyabhangato for Vyasa who was at the other side of wasattheothersideof for Vyasawho meaning bothattachmentandtune.He apathrapAsaikatha, due to the fear of duetothefearof apathrapAsaikatha, me playing theflute, adancecalled , krishnamukhEndhu, thatcausedthe ing any,hasthAvalamba,weredeeply wherd. Desika says themusicwas wherd. Desikasays the gopis who looked at Krishna bya thegopiswholookedatKrishna proved in the incident of saving the to attract thewholeworldbyhis to attract . There is There that if sadagopan.org ", of their bodies bodies their of , or experiencing the joy of union the joy of union , or experiencing ole world is the sarira of the Lord of the ole world is the sarira s is for the others and not for Him. Him. and not for others s is for the nithya upavasi. She expressed her nithya upavasi. Krishna said about Krishna said Himself. Vyasa ng the bliss with the Lord. The sages ugh The meditation or jnanamarga. use just then he ate the whole food food he ate the whole use just then answer would be that Krishna was only nner self of all and the experience of of nner self of all and the experience taining Him is the bliss. Rasa, Anandha taining Him is the bliss. d where all the jivas are around Him rasas, namely, dAsya, sakhya, vAtsalya, river parted and she went to the other river parted and s nithya upavasi the river will part. This the river will part. s nithya upavasi the rasakreeda. RAsa is also termed as ain there was flood and she could not go flood ain there was 43 rience through His maya. rience through rasO vai sah: rasam hOvAyamlabDhva Anandhee bhavathi rasO vai sah: rasam hOvAyamlabDhva doubt to Vyasa anddoubt to Vyasa also told him what the function jeevanmukthas being both of them explained that the Self is neither did not touch pure The real "I" which is the their real Self. doer nor the enjoyer. Lord is the i What does this mean? The Krishna, do not touch Him who is the self. world of the and the experiences experience the supreme self, all being the to have the expe He appears There are two ways to mukthi, rasAsvadha thro with the Lord and brahmajnana, upanishad says, " and termed himself a brought by her self. The wh the body does not touch the madhura and shantha. To those who criticize the rasaleela the side and gave the food to Vyasa. But ag toldback. Then Vyasa her that if he wa was reallytime the girl perplexed beca Brahman or Narayana the rasa and at is and Brahman are synonymous terms. The rasakreeda signifies the jivas enjoyi see the leela of the Lord in the worl hand. So the whole world is the brindavan and the leela of the Lord holding His is sustaining and annihilating in creating five vaishnava the collection of all the 10 when he was in Brindavan and where does eroticism figure? Parikshit Krishna toldKrishna a nithya Krishna was pray that if her to the river brahmachari in explicit faith but she had her own doubts the gopi had part. Probably should as heKrishna and did told her and the sadagopan.org The whole ofBhagavatha isconsidered will revelin hisownreflections. The LordofLakshmienjoyedthecompan y ofthecowherddamselsasachild svaprathibimba vibhramah. Srimadbhagavatha says, the witnessself,isnowpl The onewho istheindwellerof thegopi yO anthascharathisoaDHyaks gOpeenAm thathpatheenAmcha sarvEshAmEvadhEhinAm Shuka replied, playwiththewivesofothers.Andwho incarnatedfordharmasamsthapanato himself was ignorantonthisaspectand KrishNa -theIndwellerofall -playinginphysicalform

(Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) aying inphysicalform. rEmE ramESOvrajasundareebhih yaTHAarbakah rEmE hah kreedanEna ihadhEhabhavah 44 asked Shuka how it is justified for one asked Shuka howitisjustifiedforone s andtheirhusbandsallbeings to bethesariraof Lordandthe

sadagopan.org , bhakthyAh

to the chapter.) never felt the absence of of the absence never felt g Brahma and is their protector, is the Purusha. (This explanation is is the Purusha. (This explanation athi, who raised the same question, athi, who raised the same mentions that the brahmacharya of mentions that rivrajaka the one to brahmajnani and everything is His sariraand He was "abrhmachryam bibhidhE thadheeyam" 45 bhagavtha and those who listened were to tend the cattle Desika says, It is the height of devotion and not of physical physical of not and devotion of height the is It

avatha the husbands that ' embracing oneself. oneself. svasariraparishvanga' embracing KRISHNA THE COWHERD THE KRISHNA Nandha sent Krishna and Balarama ananya thanthrah svayamEva dhEvAn padmAsanAdheen prajanayya rakshan saha Aseeth sa rakshakah seerabhrtha nEthA gavAm nandhaniyogavarthee the devas includin who created The one obeyed the command of Nandha and became a cowherd along with Balarama. embracing His own sarira. He quotes the PAdhmOttharakAnda from tells Parv PadmapuraNa where Lord Siva that it is like ' Vedantadesika in his yadhavabhyudhaya is a pa related the story who The one parA kAshTA na sringArasya.parA kAshTA desire. It is said in Bhag were their yogasariras the nights of rasakreeda because their wives during their duty. As the re at home doing their bhogasariras we with Krishna while gopis saw kin only love for their kith and only Krishna everywhere their reciprocated. for the same reason it was increased, and affected, Krishna was not in any way and Appayya dikshita, exponent of advaita, writing commentary on a leading is because this work says that this whom it is parama told is Parikshit, and He alone rshis. All jivas are women it would help the chapter on rasakrida because instead of giving it in given here a when we come Rasakreed understanding and enjoying five adhyayas describingfive adhyayas rasakreeda It is prANasThAna. are the KRISHNA THE COWHERD THE KRISHNA KRISHNA THE COWHERD THE KRISHNA sadagopan.org sthObha prathicchandhanibha ihsvasabdhaih bhavyairasEvantha padham thadheeyam echoed thewordspronouncedin samagana. The soundsmadebythemwhen they gOroopathAmvEdhagirObajanthyah gOpAyamAnE purushEparasmin Supreme Being, paramapuru became a cowherd. Thecows beingth thatthevedasthemselves Desika says piLLaiyai pOkkinEnellE pAvame the forest says," as Periazvar YasOdha worriedoverhistender feetbe The vedasbecamecowswhenth (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) sha wastheirrakshaka. sha " imagininghimselfas YasOdha. kudaiyum seruppum kodAdhE----kodiyEn en seruppumkodAdhE----kodiyEn kudaiyum 46 eir Protector becameacowherd became the cows when their protector became thecowswhentheirprotector touched hisfeetwiththeirmouths e personification of the vedas, the e personificationofthevedas, the coming hurtwiththestonypathof

sadagopan.org ". " in samagana which in samagana apoorvayugAnubhoothi scribed by Desika as madhuplutha,scribed by Desika Sesha who is like His arm, that is, Sesha who is like His arm, calamities like athivrshti, flood and calamities like athivrshti, flood the calves playing with him seem to with him the calves playing says at was never seen in any yuga, vAthsalyasiksham ivavAthsalyasiksham vAsudhEvAth ping in his seshasayana by Bali. The ping in his stacles from other beings. so they hungry Krishna gave them curd rice, hungry Krishna th its herds of cows, vyAprtha dhEnu Desika says, rightly belonged to him delicious fruits they gathered in the delicious fruits they gathered quired, signifying his power in binding his quired, signifying ing to which the crown of Lord Vishnu are much more enchanting than the abundant grass, shady and even in the abundant grass, shady and even als. the care of The gopas being under u' that are uttered u' that r giving them first to Balarama. He ate He ate r giving them first to Balarama. d the cowherds. The cows never had any never had The cows d the cowherds. 47 ined in any other yuga " ined in any other love their calves, " love their calves, being robbed from him while he was slee resemble the sound made by the cows. by the cows. the sound made resemble released the cows as re Krishna tied and Desika here alludes to an episode accord was stolen by Bali and Garuda brought it back in KrishnAvathAra. Garuda gave a crown to Krishna which, words describing the arrival of Garuda story itself. AghrAtha varthmAnam aranyabhAgEshu sthobha are the sabdhas like 'ha, uhA, like 'ha, are the sabdhas sthobha and releasing jeevas. and releasing jeevas. to his affection showed way Krishna The teach the cows how to teach the cows with by Narayana Desika. being protected wi Krishna and Balarama, the brindhavana brindham was true to its name. pools, deep The brindhavana was full of cows an hot summer it was cool for the wild anim fear from disease, demons and natural the Vasudeva, never experienced anAvrshti, draught etc and also any ob the sesha of the sesha! something th The Brindavana appeared as enjoyed a prosperity not obta Whenever the other cowherd boys felt the other Whenever de is his hand which of dhaDHyanna out gave him dripping with honey. The boys relish afte forest and he ate them with sadagopan.org lotuses. Theword'gObih' meansalso'b faces ofthegopiswith joy,ullAsa,as withthecows,he Coming atadistance isreturning fromtheforestis Krishna sceneinwhich describedthus. The the forest. their mothersastheywere parisramsr with thehueofKrishna.Onreturninghe The calves wenttotheplaces wherether fondled by hishandandwiththeira eyes, nimeelithAkshAnonbeing touchedbyhim,andwere drowsybeing bhakthibharAvanamrAn astheyimitatedtheirbehavior.Theyclosed vice versa. Theyarecomparedwithsaintsfilleddevotion, Then DesikadescribeshowKrishnawasen wivesfortheirbhakthi. praisedtheir mistake and their husbandsDuetothegraceof cowherd. Buttheir wivessteepedin bh Lord Himself,whomallofferingsina rshis whowerelearnedin yajnasAla andaskthershisthereforfo hungryKrishn the cowherdboysbecame The yajnapathni upAkhyAnaismentionedbr knownonlyfromthevedas. vedavedhya, personification ofvedas,' beingthe means thatthevedaswhichbecamecowsandGaruda path followedbyhim. Herethe word Desika says that GarudaprathyAharan praukshathapathrinAThah found KrishnakEnApi thasyApahrthamkireetam by the cows which AsrithaDHEnubhAvaih AraNyakaih were smelling the vedas butdidnotknowtheimportofvedas, vedAthmA vihagEsvarah' vedAthmA vihagEsvarah' 48 ttention only onhim. ananyAbhimukhAn. the risingsuncausing theblossomingof ll yajnasgotoandwhohadcomeasa became thecause ofbrightening of the the Lordthe rshis understoodtheir AnthapadhAh, tiredafterroamingin od, whichwasrefusedtothembythe 'AraNyakaih AsrithaDHEnubhAvaih 'AraNyakaih e isnograssbecausetheywere green himselffedthembytakingto y rays'and'ullasa' is joyaswell akthi obligedcourtingtheangerof joying thecompanyofcalvesand a told them to go to the nearby a toldthemtogothenearby iefly by Desikainonesloka.When

found theLordwhois ' sadagopan.org e his lustre gave soe his lustre the much joy to ole world was enchanted by his peacock by his peacock was enchanted ole world 49 Krishna was enjoying the company of the calves of the Krishna was enjoying the company How did the womenfolk of the gokula enjoyed his presence is given in a enjoyed his presence gokula How did the womenfolk of the by Desika. beautiful sloka bAlam tharuNyah tharuNam cha bAlAh blossoming. his flut came playing When he girls that it looked as though the wh though the it looked as girls that feathers. sadagopan.org KALIYAMARDANA KALIYAMARDANA KALIYAMARDANA KALIYAMARDANA the Garudahimself.Then Kaliya rosewi Krishnajumping in withangerand wenttothesea outoffearonseeing like themilkyoceanandallthesnakesmountain into exceptkaliya left theplace jumpedinto thepoolofwaterlikemanthraand blossomed.Krishna thepoison.Attouch of vapours of kAshTamAthram, abarebranch becaus poison ofKaliya.Heclimbedonakadh Yamuna. Hesawthatthepartof Once KrishnawasawayfromBalaramaan relating theepisodeofkAliya. After abriefmention ofthekilling maya orhisbeingtheessence ofeverything, age group. Desika says it is to beascertained whether this wonder is due to his He was loved by young women and by young girls alike as though he was of their vA thasyaiva sarvArharasAthmathA thadhadhbhutham thasyavilOkanamvA samAnabhAvAh tham avarjyantha bhoodevi. NeeladeviasR be theincarnationof mentioned onlyafterthatofRukmini and mentionedassathyainBhagavat taming seven bulls. She is said toDesika alsomentionsthemarriageofKr be the daughter of the sister of Nandhgopa old menwhoknewabouttheiravathararahasya. handsome youngmentowomen,an differentlyFurther DesikasaysthatbothBalr by different groups of people. They were sons to their parents, KALIYAMARDANA KALIYAMARDANA

ukmini was sreedevi and sathyabhama was andsathyabhamawas ukmini wassreedevi 50 and sathyabhAma. She was supposed to Shewassupposed and sathyabhAma. ham andhermarriagewithKrishnaham is amba treeonthebankwhichremained th afierceformand entwined thebody the feetof Krishnathetreesprouted ama andKrishnawerelookedupon river there was made blackwith theriver therewasmade ishna toNappinna inhisyoungageby Denuka and Pralamba Desika starts DenukaandPralambaDesikastarts e theleaves wereburntwiththe d went to a hitherto unseen spot on d wenttoahithertounseenspoton cient, puraANapurushas tothewise cient, puraANapurushas 'rasO vaisah' . sadagopan.org on his black hood. black his on Yamuna served as eelAhathiksharit ha ha eelAhathiksharit as Ananthain to indicate a describing this is beautiful, being beautiful, being a describing this is ful dance of Krishna and Kaliya also oods of Kaliya it reminded of His oods of Kaliya it reminded red eyes of Kaliya the five senses, climbs over them and the five senses, climbs over ion of these words is when the that relented and gave him reprieve. Devas r the Lord, the senses like KAliya are KAliya are r the Lord, the senses like which looked like his footrest made ofwhich looked like his footrest und of the waves of nger his wives came out and entreated KAliyanarthana, was performed on the KAliyanarthana, was performed 51 leelApathncharaNal " while being grasped by Rahu. while being grasped by Rahu. s. Desika refers to Him for the dance of the Lord. for the dance of the Lord. etc. " ruby with the blue sapphire studded with jumped on one of his hoods. on one of his jumped him aside and who pushed of Krishna of Kaliya thus: on the hood describes Krishna Desika mukundhah sadhyO mahaneelamayeem padha peeteem sapadhmarAgAmiva kAliyapannagasyakrAman phaNAn bhAnurivbhabhAsE grasthOdhithO of Kaliya Krishna stepping on the hood the play of Mridhanga. He looked as though he is everywhere like the the like Krishna shone like the sun rising When Krishna started on the h dancing everywhere is of His devoteessubduing the five indhriyas extricating the poison of the he implicat sensual desires. The underlying though as looked He Mridhanga. of play the moon reflected in the wave praised him along with his wives. The slok alliteration like yamaka, full of mind, instead the sway of of being under expressed their joy on seeing the wonder subdued and leave the mind in peace. This can be done only when the Lord Lord the when only done be can This peace. in mind the leave the love fo dances with the ecstasy of and subdued takes possession of the mind. the The dance of Krishna on KAliya, and the so head of Kaliya as the stage that there is no antha, end When Kaliya could not endure it any lo at which Krishna Krishna to show mercy hAlAhal nijaphaNe sadagopan.org mercy ofthe Lordtothosewho surrendertoHim. sea thus thethat KAliyareached theplacewhere Lordhas hisyoganidra,namelythe Lord has givenhad theonlymeritthat place forcontact ofthebodyKrishnabecame KAliya in poisonofKAliyaandbecausethe Yamunawasfreedofthe Lord.Thus the His own abode.Garuda willnotharmhimashisheadsar Such isKAliya wasgivenrefugebyKrishnawho the

kAliya mardanam-Malaya she sprung from the feetoftheLord. sprungfromthe she 52 even moreglorifiedthanthegangawho e stamped with thesignoffeet e stampedwith sent himtotheseaasuringthat ppa svAmi-Thirupathi

Desika says

sadagopan.org 'vichithrasamyOdhay enjoying the shower of the shower enjoying the luster of his sword,

strong wind, nor was they burnt by by strong wind, nor was they burnt 5 5 5 , at advanced after the spring was not at advanced after the spring in the form of Krishna, and grazed in the form of Krishna, and e of patala flowers and jasmine in full and jasmine in full flowers e of patala SEASONS SEASONS SEASONS s his bow and the storks flying above

by Krishna as were the cattle. So for by Krishna as were the cattle. music that flowed from the flute of of flute flowed from the music that y to Yamuna and its forests. The cattle y to Yamuna and its forests. the forest gave enough shade for the gave enough shade the forest ajana was done by them with lightning. ason reminds one of Kalidasa. The rows sheka was performed by the rain-bearing

.

OF OF OF

53 ow the virahathapa of the damsels who are pravAtha HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C ADVENT ADVENT ADVENT sika calls the varsharthu as:

HE HE HE Cupid, the lightning was like because of rainy season. Desika, because they were Desika, because they were T T T krthAvasEkA iva krshnageethaih The summer, bringing ripe mangoes, fragranc The summer, bringing and to pay its respects to Krishna as though it has come bloom, seemed Balarama. trees in it was summer the Even though by the cattle, growing dense as though Krishna, by the trees uprooted Neither was protected because they were forest fire the summer th both the gopas and the cattle

in any way unwelcome due to their proximit in any way unwelcome due to The description of Desika of the rainy se never felt the heat, says never felt dark clouds nectar from the KrishnamEgha, happily. Then came the rainy season. De a mEchakAngee mEghAviLA mAdhavayOgavELA. ' The mountains were like kings whose abhi clouds serving as the pots and their neer army of of clouds were the rainbow wa conch, the was his the thunder were like his flag. This picture is to sh separated from their lovers sadagopan.org removed thecloudsthatco flooded. Then bythe will of Krishnath The gopaslivedinthe cavesof theGo clouds. soudhAmanee, and the mridhanga,talavadh intheformoflightning, gentle dance,performedbythedamsels prabhavO rasah ofsentim king to betherasaraja, Cupid, rathipriya,isportrayedastheda rathipriyasyEva natasyarangah babhou navAnAm prabhavOrasAnam soudhamaneesambhrth achArulAsyAh mrdhangaDHeerasthan ithOvihAyAh The nextsloka isevenmorebeautiful. sky Thecloudsarereferred to as pure inandoutthey stayed and thesaradrthuadvanced.Theclouds The arrayofclouds,thatlookedlike and goingtothefreshlyrich. lotuses, iscomparedtothepeoplewho The bees leaving theflowersin thehills doubts uncleared. white clouds seemedtohimlike half-b comparison areinkeepingwith hisphilos In describingtheadventofautumnDe Lord.) hands thatcoveredhiseyes.(Sunandthe ', the primeamongtherasas.Hi ', the vered thesunandmoon in the path of stars, sathpaTham in thepathofstars, 'navAnAm ents whichisherereferredtoas'navAnAm charAcharEshu Ahitha jeevanAh 54 the yoganidraofLord, disappeared aked aspirantswhostaggerwiththeir leave thosewhohavelosttheirriches ophical erudity.Theskywithblack and vardhana mountain gara is supposed nata,here.Sringaraissupposed ncer, sika turns poetic andhisobjectsof turnspoetic sika e rains stopped.Desika says that he e rainsstopped.Desikasaysthat were white like thepiousmanwhois and goingtothoseintheplainslike ya is provided by the thunder of the moon aresaidtobetheeyesof the s dance was lasya, a kind of akindof s dancewaslasya, as thoughremovingthe when theland was , , thesource that isthe sadagopan.org These . Sathpathah ood and other things other things ood and receive the hospitality of the the hospitality receive votees. All the adjectives also apply also votees. All the adjectives ying the sin by its purity, because it it its purity, because ying the sin by ared to the time of creation because vratha during the rainy season when vratha during the Manasa lake where they go in the they where the Manasa lake a of the Lord when the whole world the whole a of the Lord when r Lakshmi who wishes to come to her her to come to wishes who Lakshmi r Yamuna which was easy to enter, clear clear which was easy to enter, Yamuna flocked the sky, meaning that the to ts. The word yAmuneeya refers to shrinking and the marks made by the shrinking and ees. Their minds are also easy to enter to enter minds are also easy ees. Their on and all the acts of dharma can begin 55 sweet-natured, peaceful and removessweet-natured, peaceful and the grhasTha, who gives f who grhasTha, o stays in the path of good in the path of o stays advent of sard rthu. Here the swans, hamsagaNa, hamsagaNa, rthu. Here the swans, advent of sard

of life to all, similar to a hospitable all, similar to to of life rainy season, indicate the rainy season, who come back to imply the sannysis to all who come to him, and wh come to him, to all who by the swans that traits are denoted back to the land from swans which come after their chathurmasya householders place. they stay in one sukhAvagAhyaih athushyath sutharAm apEthapankaih svAdhOttharaih Sourih payObhih prasannaSeethaih anaghaih svabhakthachitthaih iva yAmuneeyaih waters of Krishna was pleased with the of destro capable of mud, sweet, cool and of his devot reminded him of the minds clear of any impurities, for the good, though by their good sin of others minds of de Yamunacharya who guides the of the devotees, directly. to him, who is the foremost The water of the river was gradually looked like the steps fo receding waves abode of lotuses. The rainy season was like the yoganidr merges in Him and the saradrthu is comp seas no activity takes place in the rainy only in the autumn. sloka is very beautiful. The following avyAsangam jalaDHisayanAth utTHithasya AthmaDHAmnah sadagopan.org Thiruppavai pasuram divine motherisimplied bythis. Here itisinteresting torememberthe andsecureHisgr due topoorvakarma for Hisfirst glanceistopleadforthe preferred ittothelotusinherhand. Lord arealwaysfilledwiththefr else and she putdownthelo will receive Hisfirstglancebefore Lakshmi sahavasuDHayAdDHArayAmAsapadmA pAdhAmbOjam nithyApoorva SruthiparimaLamnyasthaleelAravindhA pathyuh puNyam praTHamanayanaspandhithamprApthukAmA Mountain instead. it andthemworshippingtheGovardhana deals withKrishnaarguingthemoutof Then the gopasstartedth give beautifulexplanation. glance tofall onthemasKrishnaopenshiseyesslowlyforwhichtheacharyas

along withBhoodevicaughtho along

' angaNmAjnAklatthu inking abouttheIndrapu tus inherhandtodoso.Thelotus-likefeet ofthe 56 The reasonforheran agrance ofthevedasandhence she ace forthem.Thepurushakaraofthe ld ofthefeet oftheLord

devotees beforeHe eyes comeintocontactwithanything ', where Andalpraysforthefirst ja andthenextchapter d Bhoodevitowait sees theirfaults

so thatthey sadagopan.org

m ubhayathah chyavathE jushathE 6 6 6 it abounds in chithraslokas; the slokas it abounds in chithraslokas; wise men like you". What is meant here do Indra pooja, Krishna approached him him do Indra pooja, Krishna approached because in the next verse he says, the next because in

ing something new but only what has been only what has been something new but ing syllable repeated etc which are made into syllable repeated 57 - you have already learnt this through the you - " HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C CHITHRASARGA CHITHRASARGA CHITHRASARGA CHITHRASARGA CHITHRASARGA CHITHRASARGA means birds in general like parrot etc.) I am with in which Desika makes Krishna speak like a humble boy in which Desika makes Krishna

'athiyajEtha nijAm yadhi dhEvathA nigamadhrshtam idham nikhilEna vah nigamadhrshtam idham nikhilEna chithrabandhas. Krishna advises to worship Govardhana preparing to When Nandha with gopas was and said thus: vidhithavAniva vijnApayAmyaham srnutha mE SakunEriva bhaAshitham prTHukabuddhiraham prTHuchEthasah SikshayE na hi prabhavathO bhavathO This is a delightful sloka is it though as words my towards his elders. hear and everything know I though as speak "I says, He from a parrot. (Sakuni here meagre intellect and I cannot advise great not tell by the word parrot is that he is already taught to him by his elders " with alliteration containing one or more with alliteration This chapter is called chithrasarga because called chithrasarga because This chapter is vedas. What is it?

sadagopan.org means buddhi.theword Dhishanaatheetha thAtha thEjasvithAthathE suDHarE asminvasuDHarE DHishaNAtheetha DHishaNa lOkaneeyASthu lOkanee contemplate onthismatter.Theslok Krishna praisesNandhaasbeingwise whereas Indra is'gOthrbith,'destroyerofmountains andisfaraway. isthegOthra, mountain, saysKrishna willconquerhim withhisploughasweapon.This Balarama and attacks, Krishna reassuresNandhathatifIndra So Krishna said,thismountainshouldbe girisathah Gireesa (Siva)beinggreaterthanhu best. It is even more praiseworthy than It meansthatthismounta half andtwoinUtthrArDha,secondrepeated. This slokacontainsyamakachathushtaya giriSathOpakrthOpi maheebhrthah giriSathOnnathimAna DHikah bahumathO apiayamananyaDHrthihsathAm bahumathO manujAdhaDhathEDHrthim alone thecattleflourish. Indra. Theverynameofthemountain vegeta grassandother and alsoprovides Narayana andtheGovardhanaMountain both andincurssin.Allth ifoneleaveshisownGodandwors api agham', , as'ofGiriSa,'and'hundredhills.' ) means wiser than Brhaspathi (DhishaNA), second meanswiserthanBrhaspathi (DhishaNA), ings mountainsandthelike lOkaneeya in givejoytoallandex meanslOkaneethiand a isrichwithalliteration. 58 worshippedasLordNarayanaHimself. even theHimalayas m, twowordsinthepoorvArDha, first as Govardhana showsthatthroughit as Govardhana protector ofthecattle andisnear, r thanBrhaspathiandaskshimto gets angryonhispoojabeingstopped tion forpeopleandthecattle not ndreds of hills.(Punontheword ndreds of is thecauseofrainforgokulam hip anotherheisabandonedby tolled bythegoodas are the manifestations of are themanifestations which givesjoyto lOkanee DHishaNA denotes

sadagopan.org , it , support of the earth while of the earth , support abhrAnthamiha athiSayya delightful with the groups of bees delightful with the groups nging to those of dental class. There as with various bandhachithras, the bandhachithras, the as with various athinandhanam sAlougham niSamaya abets, (6-79 to92) and slokas with the vasudDHara 59 '. "Ohin this mountain Prosperous one, found in the following slokas: found in the following giving different meaning.

'thathama, agamE aleenaghanam Sayya iha vi rAji d in a pattern to form gomuthrikad in a pattern etc., all bandha ruruchArairachrchar uh , see. Split up as of two alphabets: niSAmaya slokas aning the mountain. mountain. meaning the the best land means Dvayakshara EkakriyAnvithaslOkA vrtthih EkakriyAnvithaslOkA b The whole sloka made up charucheeree ruchA rOchee ro ruchoro ruchirAcharah (6-78) chirOccharochiracha The two alphabets are adhanthya, not belo are other slokas with only dental alph same akshara in each padha such as

b The same sloka split up differently abhrAnthamathiSayyEvirAjitha thamAgamE ha athi nandhanam (6-77) sAlougham niSAmayAleenaghanam The verb is virAjithathamA agamE Aleenaghanam perception. The mountains are called are called The mountains perception. suDHara are many chithra slok After this there are portraye letters of which of sala trees, which are extending beyond groups gives the meaning 'see the are hanging'. in them the clouds, the sky and When split in another way as athinandhanam sAlOgham niSAmaya where the the birds rest, see waterfalls hovering around the trees" of them extolling the glory of Govardhana.of them extolling of words is The skilful construction sadagopan.org purpose istodothe worshipofLordHa aremore said andthere There aresomanywonders (chithram)in ArADhyathAm harirasouprthiveedhrAthmA (6-108) nigaman krthyam vibhoh chithrAyuthAni suvachAnipunasthaTHApi aklishtachithram idhamathramanAgivauktham In theendofchithr bhAthAyAyA yAythAbhAsAyayagegEyAyaAsA(6-99) mAyAbhAsA sAbhAyAmayAsoothAyayathAsooya The lasttype iscalledsarvathObadhramwhichgoes likethis; yAnayAnayAnayAna yAnayA yAnayAnayAnayAna prathilOma ofthesame, nayAnayAnayAnaya nayAna nayAnayAnayAnaya Other similarslokasare, For thisslokatherearefour differe nAnAnAnAnAnAnAnA nAnA nAnAnAnAnAnAnAnA Only onealphabet usedthroughout: b lAlilOlAlileelAlO hAhAhoohoohahEhahi (6-95) dhadhadhAdhidhah dhoodhadheem Rururooruriraroram EkAkahara slokas nAnAnAnAnAnAnAnA eeyam ananyabhakthaih asarga Desika says, asarga Desikasays, yAnayAnaya (6-97) than tenthousandyet to nAnAnAnAnAnA (6-96) nayAnayAna (6-98) 60 nt meanings given by commentators. nt meaningsgivenbycommentators. thismountain.Only a littlehas been ri intheformof mountainwith be seen. But the main beseen.Butthe sadagopan.org t since the main purpose of the work is purpose of the work is t since the main

61 ri he has mentioned only a few. ri he has mentioned

glory of the Lord Ha to describe the At this moment the aged gopas mountain which looked male form in the saw a Himself,like the Lord too seeing it of Krishna, and Nandha a split image their prayers were answered. thought that all By this sloka Desika hints that he is capable of writing much more more much writing of capable is he that hints Desika sloka thoughts. giving up all other devotion, unswerving this By than whatchithraslokas is given bu here sadagopan.org the seaandthrownby the villageofgopaswithtumultousnois Indra sentthesamvarthakacloudswhich prAyunktha ghOshAbhimukhamsaghOshAn maruthbhujEna thvarithammaruthvAn peethOdhaDHeen vAriDharAyuDHoghAn pradheepithAn kOpahuthASabhoomnA Desika describestherain giving outrainheavyenoughtomakeall whichhavethepowerof groupofcloudscalledsamvarthaka the Indra commanded mean-mindedness. 'krathAnabhijnEshukimAnrSamsyam' toharmthemproving that andintended because hehasbeenpropitiais ungrateful him,and decided to send torrents ofIndra became rain furiousonfinding thegopa to flood the gokula. Desika says that he also becametheiracharya,thus worshipping himself byhimself. Byinstructing them onworshipof Govardhana,he other thanKrishnahimselfandhealso The gopasworshippedthedevatha thatappearedinthemountainwhowasnone Indra's anger the armofwind. GOVARDHANODDHARANAM GOVARDHANODDHARANAM GOVARDHANODDHARANAM GOVARDHANODDHARANAM GOVARDHANODDHARANAM GOVARDHANODDHARANAM thatfollowedthus: washisdelightfulleela. C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER 62 the seasmergeduringtimeofdeluge. that thosewhoareungratefulshowtheir

ted till then by the gopas and forgot all ted tillthenbythegopasandforgotall looked likeweapons,advancingtowards s worshippingthemountaininsteadof e, burnt in the fire of anger, dipped in joinedthemintheworship,thus 7 7 7

.

sadagopan.org ough hidden by the ough hidden by ing that of the Sun.The Sun.The ing that of the destroying them with eyes like destroying them sky in order to hunt the gopas like a hunt the gopas like a sky in order to the clouds as th the clouds as The sky that looked like a sea with the dance. Thus it was the music ofthe dance. Thus it was the e torrential rain and the stormy wind e torrential rain and the stormy es of clouds, veechigaNAvakeerNam, es of clouds, ightened when Krishna pacified them pacified ightened when Krishna e of the cloud with his bow and bow and his cloud with e of the he wished to show the gopas that the like a owl afraid of the lustre of the like a owl afraid big serpents, pushed by the forceful g and thunder, presented a picture of a picture presented g and thunder, g in the darkness was spread by Indra 63 'ambhasya pAre, bhuvansya maDhye nAkasya 'ambhasya pAre, bhuvansya ' (UtthamurVaikunta, Milky ocean on Swami) is described as ASvasayAmasa karENa Sourih', reassuring hand. He did

trees in the shore of the ocean called the the ocean of trees in the shore sayshunter. Desika that he was hiding of the Lord are, three abodes prshTE ithi sTHAnathrayam form of archavathara.Adhisesha and on earth in the The sound of the vrshti m gambheera garjApatahapraNAdha geetham prArabDHAjhanjhAnil a nAdha thath thatidhbhirApAdhith a thANdavam Aseeth kAlasya sangeetham apoorvam the drum, th The tumultuous thunder was was the music and the supplied lightning deluge, never experienced before. The net of clouds woven with lightnin The clouds, with thoudands of lightnin with thoudands The clouds, Indra himself mounted on the vehicl on the himself mounted Indra exceed His three abodes, in all Lord, which shines due to his mrgayEcchA, desire for hunt. vajrAyuDHa advancing with the view of vajrAyuDHa advancing thousand fire. as being hidden behind Indra is described bheemapayOdhanakram, frightening whal wind. All this made the gopas agitated and fr with his abhayamudra ' not stop the rain at the outset because filled with waves of rain which fell like sadagopan.org UPLIFTING OFTHEGOVARDHANA UPLIFTING UPLIFTING OFTHEGOVARDHANA UPLIFTING which waslikeasecond Meru,asplayfully lightofGokula,placedon Krishna, the nAgO nalasthambamivaujjahAra navaprarooDam nihithaikahasthah gOvarDHanam gOpakulapradheepah sa leelayamErumivadhvitheeyam why hedidnotresorttoarmsfightIndra. mountain whichthey worshippedwillprotectthemfromanycalamity.Thatwas UPLIFTING OFTHEGOVARDHANA UPLIFTING Krishna liftedthemountainbyone (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) 64 e handonthemountain andliftedit,

hand playfullylikeanumbrella anelephantwouldlift analagrass.

sadagopan.org ' it ' it .' lf the arrogance of of lf the arrogance mbled the hoods of Srimadbhagavatham. 'padangal palavumudai pAmbaraiyan 'ratnormikArasmi SalAkamanthah verses says that the hand of Krishna Krishna of hand the that says verses colour of Sesha, his arm resembled the colour of Sesha, evidence also in evidence also ' as the fingers rese 65 verted, and quelled ha 'thadangai viralaindhum malara vaitthu supported by the staff of His arm. hand playfully like an umbrella." an umbrella." like hand playfully the mountain is described thus: the mountain is described thus: 'abugnarakthAnguli panjaram' and the rays of hathrAkamiva bAlakah' like AdhiSEsha holding the earth. The whiteness of of whiteness The earth. AdhiSEsha holding the like hand opened wide, hand looked like a huge chathra, umbrella, words of Periazvar- Let us also enjoy the the rings on His fingers forming the rods In srimadbhagavatha lifting of the krthvaa govardhanAchalam 'Ithyukthvaa ekena hasthena dhadhAra leelayA krishnah cc one by "Krishna lifted the mountain by 10 Periazvar describing this incident earth. the adhisesha holding looked like padarbhoomiyai thAnga kidappavan pol the sesha with his Desika further describes the hand thus: His hands red like lotus were like the umbrella, base of the opened resembling the hoods. the fingers whole Krishna not Here we should note that only held the mountain with his is there it, for which hand but inverted Indra by his act. Indra by his act. The hand of Krishna looked on the sandalpaste applied by Nappinna aDHO mukhAvasTHitha mErukalpam SaraNyagopah samuthkhAya Sailam sathvaram oorDHvaudhanchayath moolam SamithArDhachakrE mahEndhram garvam uprooted the swiftly the gopas, of and mountain the refuge Krishna who was in Meru the like down upside it turned sadagopan.org " His lotus-likehand,witharmas The Lordupturnedthemountain ' kappAga edutthumaninedunthoLkA seppAdudaiya thirumAlavanthanse babhuh svaSAkhAgraTHithAgra pAdhaih mountain. Here Desikagivesaquaintdescriptio surely willlifttheearth. younger brotherisabletobearthemo The gopaswereinadvertently uttering cattle wereabletohavetheirfill. filled withearthbythepowerofLo the groundunderneathth counter weaponofthevajarayudhaIn The mountainlitbythefireabove(lig not withlittlefinger. that Krishnaindeedupturnedthemounta the rain.Sothereisampl this isnotpossibleas theycouldnot comfortably inthecavesas the beingsofgokulawerenotstan hollows orcavesofthemountain alongwi 'yathopajosham visathagirigarthamsagodhanaah' of dramaticelement. Moreoverin BhagavathaitselfKrishnatells not withHislittlefinger,whichmusthavebeenthemodificationforsake these show withoutdoubtth pearl stringsroundtheumbrella, aninedum thoLkAmbAga ". Thestreamsofwaterfalli e evidenceapartfromthe ere was no hollow ground, says Desika, butitwas ere wasnohollowground,saysDesika, intheirhouses.Unlessth at theLordheldmoun kavitthu nthAmarai kaiviralaindhinaiyum mbAga kodutthu kavitthamalai. mbAga kodutthu 'parandhizi theLLaruvimuthuvadam' have climbed upthe 66 untain, kshamADhara, the elder brother untain, kshamADhara,the the supportingstickofumbrella, the truthbyremarkingthatwhen n of the sages doing thapas in the n ofthesagesdoing ding underthemountainbutlived htning) looked likethe prathyasthra, dra. When the mountain was uprooted dra. Whenthemountainwasuprooted rd andgrassgrewtheresothat the th thecattleetc.andlivethere.So in and He held it with one hand and ' holding itwithHisfivefingersof meaning, enterintothese azvar andDesikasukthis ng aroundlookedlikethe e mountain wasupturned tain withHis handand top which wasunder . All sadagopan.org leaves were also leaves were also ctives qualifying ' the Lord who wears the - In the case of the mountain idea is elaborated by Desika who idea is elaborated by Desika rsana, the saithya,sharpness is due mountain cows were slopes and the abhootha, abundana nce of DHArA, purity than even the sudarsana on sudarsana purity than even the oked as though the oked as though the Lord. the adje life was going on as usual under the on as usual under was going life Krishna the sages who were doing and rsana by means of pun on the words. 67 - The mountain was with pra+ apthAram, loud noise of the was with pra+ apthAram, loud noise of the - The mountain - purity common to both because they were held by the - purity common to both because they were held by ilangAzikkai endhai edutttha malai ilangAzikkai endhai edutttha prabhootha DHArA prathipanna saithyam the saithya, coolness is due to pr flow of water. With respect to Suda to prabhootha, numerous, DHArA, edges. prApthAram Waterfalls. Sudarsana has got prAptha, spokes, Aram. pavithratha

1. 2. 3. prabhootha DHArA prathipanna Saithyam prabhootha DHArA prathipanna adhbuthAnAm prApthAram adhri prabhuh sudharsanAth aDHikAm anaisheeth pavithrathAm pANisarojayOgAth The mountain attained pavithratha, more lotus-like hand of by the being borne doing thapas. the inverted Krishna showed the grass on Thus grazing with their heads lifted. mountain as in Gokula. Periazvar says, ' The same mountain. discus was holding the says, Govardhana are also applicable to Suda thapODhanaih sAkam aDHah Sirobhih aDHah Sirobhih sAkam thapODhanaih mukundhe krthinO krthAbhimukhyAh iva thathrathapah prvrttha vrkshAh down looking at were upside The trees side down, unconscious of that fact, of that down, unconscious were also upside branches thapas on their contemplation and it lo engrossed in their sadagopan.org

azindhitrila vaditrila'. describes thestate of theLordthus: whether hewashurt bystandingthere solongholding themountain. Periazvar put themountain backinitsplace. Krishna onhiswhite elephant, Airavatha. did notdestroyhim.Hebecameafraid thecloudsun andstopped was ashamed therefor seven humble Indraandstood hiswill,hedidnotdosoinorderto Krishna couldhavedispersedthecloudsat The raincontinuedforsevendaysand enjoyed thecompanyofKrishna The gopisontheotherhand seen allhischildhoodexploits. youth. They,beingsimple-minded,though whileac Himselfasaboy, has disguised capable ofholdingthemountainwithoutre holiday resort.ThegopasconsideredKrishnaasapowerfulhumanbeing The gopasenjoyedtheirstayintheca the extraordinaryfeaturethatgaveit hand oftheLordmountaingot Indra cutofftheirwingswithhisvajra. supposed to fear vajra of Indra because when they had wings once upon a time So Krishna madethemountainexcel ev

GOVINDAPATTABHISHEKAM GOVINDAPATTABHISHEKAM GOVINDAPATTABHISHEKAM weapons such as vajra, thrAyatha, protected. weapons suchasvajra,thrAyatha, isderived Indra.the wordpavithra than theSudarsanaasitprotected lotus-likehands oftheLordbutmountainhadonemorespecialmerit wishedthattherain will never stop because they without interruption.

68 His friendstouchedhislimbstosee superiority overeventhe Sudarsana. 'kodiyEru senthamaraiviralgal kolamum kolamum 'kodiyEru senthamaraiviralgal derstanding themerc en the Sudarsana. The Mountainsen theSudarsana. are power toprotectfromvajrawhichis t thatheisasarvashakthimAnhaving seven nightasnonstop.Eventhough Butonaccountofbeingheldbythe ves ofthemountainasthoughata Krishnaonseeing him thussubdued, thinking ofhis of alizing thattheLordofuniverse days at the endofwhich Devendra the days at as pavibhyah,vajrebhyah,fromthe ting like an extraordinarily strong strong ting likeanextraordinarily the gopas from the vajrayudha of thevajrayudhaof the gopasfrom fense and came to andcame fense y ofKrishnawho sadagopan.org deluded (into thinking that I am ined in tact and the fingers did not did not and the fingers tact ined in namEgha - dark, rainnamEgha - dark, bearing, cloud) he is Upendra (vamana). Brahma sent he is Upendra (vamana). Brahma untain (gOthra), the more than ten than untain (gOthra), the more as Govinda. Keeping the Kamadhenuas Govinda. Keeping the in dra (because he cut off the wings ofdra (because he cut off the lf made me repent. Now that I have 69 bhoove bhoove

attabhisheka by Indra. attabhisheka Lord! Through your leela you made me

nATha thvayAnarmavihArabh Aja vimohitho viprathisArithascha san akimchanah thvAm aham ASrithah kshipthApakArO na bahishkriyArhah Oh Kamadhenu for the abisheka of Krishna of abisheka Kamadhenu for the front, Indra spoke to Krishna: greater than you) and later you yourse Indra approached realising that Krishna come to you in helpless state banishing my sinful thought you should not discard me. krthAparAdhEshvapi sanukampam kshemamkaram kshEthra vivEchakanam viSvOpakArADHvaraba ddhadheeksham vEdhyam param vedhavidho vidhusthvAm mountains), became powerless. is the Govindap The next scene Even the red lacquer on his fingers rema his fingers on lacquer red Even the show any sign of fatigue. Desika says, Desika says, sign of fatigue. show any Ekathra samrakshathi krshnamEghe kulAni gavAm gOthreNa chaikEna niyukthaih bhidha aSEsha gothrougha mOghathamaih ba meghAyuthaih mo one with was protecting the cattle In thousand clouds sent by gOthrabidh, When the dark cloud-like KrishnaWhen the dark (krish sadagopan.org the mountainforso long. Thedevaganga herofhis cameandIndrainformed celestial Ganges asthoughwishing to protecting thecattleandwishesto The Kamadhenucame fromthegoloka, and earthisoneofthem.) the earthasVaraha.(The He furthersaidthenameGovindahasbe sTHAne gavamindrathayaabhishikthum abhisheka ofKrishnaasGovinda. whoprotecte Then IndratoldKrishna Me butIdo notdwellinthem."} byMe,in The entireworldispervaded nachahamthEshvavasTHithah hinA; mathsTHAnisarvabhoothAni, and everythingisinHim" world throughyour It is not a wonder that you lifted th (indifferent). kinds ofpeople,namely worlds exceptyou.Thewordthrilokeeca Though you as arediguisingyourself gOpAyamAnadhapi nathvadhanyah gOpAyithum pArayathithrilOkeem are allyourleela. We areallinertlikemachinesactivatedby has takenavowintheyajnaof beneficiarytowards wrongdoers, toth It is known by those well versed in thevedasthatyouaremerciful even svarupa viSEsha bhaktha word goinSanskrithas mayA thatham idham sarvam jagadhavyakthamoort thathamidhamsarvamjagadhavyakthamoort mayA protecting thewholeword. (devotee), e mountain becauseyousustainthewhole and 'icchami samrakshitha gOvrajamthvam 'icchami samrakshitha 70 remove thefatigueof Krishnawhoheld a cowherd,whocanprotectthethree ose whoknowthetruth aboutyouand my unmanifestform;Allbeings dwellin '. do abhisheka.Indrathoughtofthe en givenalreadyastheLordretrieved d the gokula that he wanted to do d thegokulathathewantedtodo n also be construed to meanthethree n alsobeconstruedto vigraha viSEsha.{Heisineverything you and to start the rainandstopit youandtostartthe he said,pleasedwithKrishnafor dhvEshya many meaningsbesidescow (enemy)and ' (BG.9-4). udhAseena

sadagopan.org

fied by it falling from the body of fied by it falling says that was blessed to do Indra ook leave of Krishna and returned to ook leave of Krishna water of the celestial Ganges and the the and Ganges celestial the water of

71 gOvindhA - MannArgudi rAjagOpalan gOvindhA - MannArgudi (Courtesy: Srimathi. Sumithra Varadarajan)

Govindapattabhisheka. t After that Indra was sancti and the earth milk of Kamadhenu Krishna, which appeared to Indra to burden already, the be relieved of its was given the name Then Krishna Krishna incarnated. purpose for which was His own and Desika Govinda which his realm. wish to do abhisheka to Krishna do abhisheka wish to with the abhisheka the Indra performed sadagopan.org thAmraparNee nadhee yathra chabhooriSah kvachit mahArAja dhravidEshu kalou khalubhavishyanthinAraynaparAyaNAh Mahanadhi flow. west duringkaliyuga,inthelandswher will saidthatthere itis In Bhagavatha land ofmukthas,released The Thamraparni isdescribedasmukthApaga to thegodoflove. wandered around,strewingflowers allarou The malaymArutham,southerlywind,whic the festivalofKama. The champak flowers withtheirredtipsshonelike theflames ofthelampsfor wishes toconquertheworld. whohasthebowca blessings toManmatha, The cuckoos,withtheirshrillnoteof the godoflove,Manmathawasnotfarbehind. young it inthecompanyof gentle Thewindwassoftand timeinBrindavan It wasspring Advent oftheSpring season SPRING SEASON AND RASAKREEDA ANDRASAKREEDA SEASON SPRING SPRING SEASON AND RASAKREEDA ANDRASAKREEDA SEASON SPRING SPRING SEASON AND RASAKREEDA ANDRASAKREEDA SEASON SPRING soulslikeNammazvar. damsels and Balarama. Spring is the time of love and krthamAlApayasvinee C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER 72 be great bhakthas in the southand inthe be greatbhakthasinthe

e therivers Thamraparni,Karveriand Panchama svara, seemed to give their nd, liketheelephant withrutbelonging lled pundra and arrows offlowersand lled pundraandarrows h rose from the river Thamraparni, h rosefromtheriverThamraparni, , thesourceofpearls.Itisalso 8 8 8

andKrishnaenjoyed

sadagopan.org hant cubs played hant cubs ngalarathi for Manmatha. E subhrAthrthAm kEsaridhanthi E subhrAthrthAm kEsaridhanthi rose from them it looked like the the like looked it them from rose amraparni, emerges like an elephant ich is like the moon to the chakora nd everywhere reachng the land of reachng the land of nd everywhere d lion cubs and elep e flowers fell from trees and did trees and e flowers fell from e delightful scene to Balarama and scene to Balarama e delightful found in the land of Thamraparni and Thamraparni the land of found in re singing as though pleased with the phere of bhakthi in the scene of of the scene in phere of bhakthi ene Krishna started playing the flute as ene Krishna started playing the flute lour and its blue flowers (indraneela) lour 73 to the land of Mahanadhi. to the land of born of same mother drinking the milk of the she- the of milk the drinking mother same of born sika describes this as, eeze seemed to do the ma . simheeva SAsthanyavidhO bhajanth simheeva SAsthanyavidhO

Kaveri and great devotees belong Kaveri and great from Th wind coming southerly the Hence arou in the river roamed after dipping Brindavan.This denotes the atmost rasakreeda. flowers in the river implies coolness and carrying The wind rising from its dip thus pleasing to the senses. in its wake denotes the fragrance and flowers the bees sat on the When orange in stretching. The karnikara flowers, and bowstring of Kama bending br colour, shaking with the th entered the forest, When Krishna th for him. Krishna showed abhisheka of Kubera. to the garden compared the forest enmity an natural All animals shed their kAvEree cha mahApuNya pratheechee mahApuNya cha kAvEree cha Mahanadhee were and acharyas the azvars Most of happily together as though lion: ' pOthAh' Krishna said that the forest deities we of the body of Balarma wh white colour chakora birds were said to thrivebirds. (The legendary only on moonlight.) lotuses and it looked like Balarama The river Yamunaa was fanning with her with his blue garment with its white co Then inspired by the beauty of the sc though calling the gopis. De though calling the gopis. sadagopan.org Rasakreeda. Then startsthedescriptionofvenuganaandarrivalgopisfor convey hislovetothegopis. He put the flutebibmbAdharE soochithachittharAgE. on his closed lipsnyavESayath kungmalithEsaleelam as thoughpragrhya vENumprathipannadhoothyam to send it as aprAyasthadhAhvAnavi dhouniyOkthum messenger to (Courtesy: Sri.Lakshminarasimhan Sridhar) (SrI KrishNaatHembargala, Karnataka) KrishNa playsHisflute 74

sadagopan.org tion of worldly love-sport.tion of worldly qualities is to be contemplated only only be contemplated to is qualities them Krishna appeared as the moon as the moon appeared them Krishna e real Self of all and who gives each in his hand because the sound of the the his hand because in costume of a cowherd and it is not due costume of a cowherd and it ial damsels who took the incarnation of ial damsels who took the incarnation for carnal pleasures. janma of the The Dharma. Desika further says that this Desika further says that this Dharma.

n of Devaki. So the whole thing was a thing was a n of Devaki. So the whole be the rasakreeda, Desika explains the be the rasakreeda, 75 and waxing, and loki the god of love who has given in order to dispel any no in order to dispel THE SIGNIFICANCE THE SIGNIFICANCE THE SIGNIFICANCE - - - RASAKREEDA

who never undergoes waning who never undergoes sugarcane and took flute up his bow of them. the arrows of the cupid for flute was like he starts to descri Here even before purity of it significance and He says, surAnganAbhih samayE DhrthAyAm svEnEva gopAkrthibhoomikyAm akarmavaSyasyathadhAseeth vibhOh archAphalasparSanamAthr leelA celest the The gopis were suppose to be on the Lord put the while cowherd girls as the so to karma that He was born drama and it was notto the due desire thecelestial damsels as gopis was fruit of their worship. madhAnDhyam na khalu amushya pramadha na kuthsanam thath thath abheeshTa dhAthuH na Dharma samsThApana bADha ganDHaH SuddhAnuchinthyA hi SubhasyaleelA Krishna did not play with gopis because He was attracted by them. This was no who is th misconduct part of Him on the there was not even a trace of one the fruit of their desire. And hence establishing deviation from His role of leela of Bhagavan who has all the auspicious through pure mind as that of the yogis. The gopis came and surroundedThe gopis To Krishna. RASAKREEDA RASAKREEDA sadagopan.org

enjoyed His presenceintheir heart. Krishna doingthingstopleasethem experienced bothinsideandoutside. Krishna gavethemflowerspickedby as: joy experienced bythe gopisin thecomp Above allitshouldberemembered that never missedtheirwivesfromside their husbands andhence their lovefor bodies itoccupies.Moreoverthegopi husbandsandit the gopisbutalsotheir child plays withhisownreflection.Krishn inBhagavatha Suka saystoparikshith understood bytheuninitiated. with parA-bhakthi,whichisdifferent the puredevotion,simplegopisandwivesofrshiswereblessed vAthsalya oftheLordthatwhileeven omen saintseven in kaliyugatoprove toanaught.We worldly dharmacomes The greatest dharmaisthedevotionto yadhbhakthyA pundareekAksham Dh ’Esha mEsarvaDHarmANAm As BhishmasaidtoYudhishtiraininstructinghimaboutdharma, path beingtheLordHimselfwhotaught be condemnedbecause they followed the the pathof theworldly dharmaandeven The conduct of the gopis, says Desika is to be viewed thus: They have forsaken

'abhinna bAhyAntharamaikarasyAth anyOnyasaganDhamApuH.' AmOdham armO aDHikathamOmathah; sthavairarchEth naraH sadhA' 76 this. Itisthesoulabhya,souSeelyaand The bAhyaorexternaljoywasdueto had theexample ofMeeraandotherwp that Krishnaplayedwiththegopisasa Him and their happiness was equally happinesswas equally Himandtheir the Lord, weighed against which all the Lord,weighedagainstwhichallthe the s saw Krishna everywhereandalsoin s sawKrishna and theinternaljoyisbecausethey detachmentthroughGitalateron. the rshishavetostrugglehardget Krishna was only ten at that time. TheKrishna wasonlytenatthattime. disobeyed theireldersbutitis notto any of Krishna is described by Desiks any ofKrishnaisdescribedbyDesiks from para-bhakthi as it is wrongly a wastheLordwhois insidenot only their husbandsonlygrew.Theyalso wastheplayofSelfwith and such is the mAya of the Lord. highest dharma,theirguideinthat

sadagopan.org He is 'aviprakarshE api thiraskariNyA'aviprakarshE om one enjoys bliss. So the words of with pride that Krishna found them them found that Krishna with pride ' The Lord is always near but only we near but only ' The Lord is always the gopis is described as the famous the gopis is described as the me miserable and they began to sing reverberated throughout the forest. reverberated ppeared from their midst. Desika saysppeared from of Cupid, melting the very earth by of Cupid, melting the very out the gunas and actions Hari who of out the gunas 77 reality the words of the upanishad.

could not see Him. not see could A DESCRIPTION A DESCRIPTION A DESCRIPTION - - - RASAKREEDA RASAKREEDA lamentations, to sing ab they started concealed Himself. mukundha viSlEsha vimOhithAnAm samSrooyamANAni muhuH vanAnthE Sama praDHAni AthmavidhAm abhoovan thAsAm thrayyanthaganDHeeni vachAmsi The words of the songs of the gopis Desika says that it carried the fragrance and provided of the upanishads declares 'rasO vai saH' The Upanishad souls. the enlightened peace to of all sentiments attaining wh the essence gopis steeped in rasAnubhava were in this. twoslokas for Desika devotes only thApAth VileenachitthA vishamAshthra vilApayanthyOvilApaih vasuDHAm adhrSyaroopasya hareragAyan guNAn charithrANi cha gopakanyAH struck with the arrows Miserable, attractive Krishna knowing this disa and they but He was near Gopis, for a moment, were overwhelmed were overwhelmed for a moment, Gopis, klrpthAvrthim krshNam aneekshamANAh. klrpthAvrthim out of ignorance. due to our ego born fail to see Him Krishna the gopis beca Not able to see This act of about His gunas and actions.. Gopikageetham in Srimadbhagavatham. RASAKREEDA RASAKREEDA RASAKREEDA RASAKREEDA sadagopan.org surrender toHisfeet madethegopisha that theLordwhoremove Desika says in themiddle playingflute. In thecircle consistingofKrishnaalternately between each gopiKrishnastood dhEvakeenandhanaH.' (KK.2.35) sanjagou vENunA itTham AkalpithEmandalEmaDHyagah mAdhavamanthareNAanganA mAdhavam 'anganAm anganAmantharEmadhavO rasakreeda. Thefirstslokarunsasfollows. KrishnakarNAmrtha inwhichhedevo forms alternativelydancing.Thisisas described joined two slokasbrieflyandsaysKrishna Then startstherAsa,dance of gopis individuallywith bysigns andglances Leelasukaarrows flungfromthe bow-likebrows. He praNayAparADHee yOgaiH alakshyaH, inThe gopis his felt as though they gotpeethAmbaraDHara srgveesAkshA into another life on seeing Krishna.'ThAsam AvirabhoothSouriH He was This slokabyDesikaisthereflecti of love. lotus, wearingyellow garmentonHisbl measure toseeKrishnainfrontofthem mAya inordertoripentheirdevotion.Thegopisweredelightedbeyond His darsanwhenhewantstograceth The Lord appeared before them, which, Desika says, is the proof that He gives , erringlover andtheyattackedhimbytheirglanceslike not perceptibleevenbyyoga smayamAbna mukhAmbujaH, smayamAbna out theknowledgeofeachother. on ofthatinSrimadbhagavatham, th manmaThamanmaThaH.' th manmaThamanmaThaH.' 78 e devoteeafterconcealing Himselfby ue form,whichattractedeventhegod s thedelusion(bhrama) ofthosewho ve bhrama,revolving in thedance. ted eightslokastodescribethe withasmileresemblingfullblown and Krishna.Desika , theeternal lover,pacifiedthem by hands with all of them taking many , buttothegopishewas describes thisin sadagopan.org

the gopis fanned him of flowers from the heaven and the priyAsahasram bhramayAMschakAra.' bhramayAMschakAra.' priyAsahasram els danced on seeing the Rasakreeda. els danced on seeing t on the floor and ers and Desika says that Krishna shone mAtma with jeevAtmAs mAtma with jeevAtmAs 79 king the gopis dance as He wished. dance as He wished. king the gopis move like puppets through His mAya, stood His mAya, puppets through move like as an (Courtesy:www.stephen-knapp.com) (Courtesy:www.stephen-knapp.com) The dance of the para

He, who makes all beings makes all beings He, who illustration of His own mAya by ma SvamAyayA ghoorNayathO mahathyA viSvAni bhoothAni vibhOrajasram lambAlakAnam lalithasmithAnAm no with wheel a labhDhamanoratho abhooth lAbhAth svayam like looked movement fast its by dance rAsa the of circle The was a shower There space in between. sound of instruments and celestial dams sa long time Krishna After dancing for a having leaves and flow by the branches 'padhASrithAnAm bhramaSanthihEthuH bhramaSanthihEthuH 'padhASrithAnAm sadagopan.org krishnAnanam keechakyanthra thOye prayApithE gopikayA kadhAchith looked asthoughtheywereintoxic and hidtheirfacesinwater.Theredeyes it is imagined by Desika that they were ashamed ofdue tothenumerousgopisenteringit the beauty of the damsels they shone evenmorebeautifulwithoutthedecoration were washedoffbytheriverasthoughoutofjeolousyfortheirbeautybut the gopis. Theredlacontheirfeet, attainedherpurusharThabytheunionofKrishnalike The riverYamunaalso alternatively. vermilion ontheirforeheadslooking became white withthesandalpastes the riseofmoon,hisfaceresembling whenkrishnasprayedwater gopis, closing Krishna andthegopisplayedsprayingwateroneach other and eyesof the face. withthe lustreofhismoon-like river closedasthough moon hisfacemadetheoceanoflove darkness, withitsdarkeyeswhichremo The faceofKrishnawaslikethemoon,be samchikshipe thathrasarOjakAnthih premOdhaDHim varDHayathApriyANAm thArAbhirAmENa thamopahena mukhEna thasyadhvijarAjabhasa of thefatigueduetorAsakreeda.Desika Afterwards Krishnaentered like abluemountain surrounded bypeacocks. surrounded the river Yamunawiththem ated withtheloveofKrishna. 80 made the lotuses immersed inwater and made thelotusesimmersed the moon. The dark waters of Yamuna the moon.ThedarkwatersofYamuna their eye-liner andtheir sandalpaste ves thedarknessofig like theGanges andtheSona river describesthisinapoeticmanner. on their bodies and red with their on theirbodiesandredwith thegopis toriseandlotusesinthe ofthegopisduetoplayinwater on them,werelike autiful with the stars, dispelling the autiful withthestars,dispelling s. Thewater levelrising asthoughtogetrid lotuses closingon norance. Like the Like norance. sadagopan.org

of the sinful sea of END OF PART 1 END OF PART 1 r on her. At the end of the play in in play the of end the At her. on r - - 'uttharantham sarithah pravAhath merges in Him when He is in His His in is He when Him in merges with a divine form and worshipped opening alternatively when some gopi opening alternatively him tightly so that the others could him tightly so that the others rsed by Desika in his Gopalavimsathi Gopalavimsathi his in Desika by rsed and when they closed it was like the the like was it closed they when and illustration of day and night. When his illustration of the cattle in the form of a bull and a bull and the cattle in the form of

81 ,' He who helps all out ,' He who helps went behind a gopi and held her tight so thatwent behind a gopi and held she e world is awake and means that the Lord has opened has opened and means that the Lord e world is awake STORY OF KRISHNA STORY OF KRISHNA

nimeelanOnmeelanathasthadheeyAn nimeelanOnmeelanathasthadheeyAn thathkshaNadhrSyamnakthamdhivam Aseeth and were closing of Krishna The eyelids sprayed water on him and it was like the sprayed water is when th night. The day world when the is night is eyes. The eyes were open it was like day for them eyes were open yoganidhra. and hugged A gopi went behind Krishna is reve spray water on him. This incident where he says that Krishna sprayed wate could not escape and others came water the river Yamuna herself came and dressed him with divineKrishna. The celestial damsels garments.Desika Krishna as describes utthArakam pankamayAh payODHeH samsara, of the water. Himself came out the to gokula and Desika briefly mentions of them returned Then all who chased destruction of Arishtasura, was killed by Krishna. Thus ends the Krishnaleela in Brindavan the time has and was killed by Krishna. Thus ends come for him to leave for Mathura. sadagopan.org

82

83 sadagopan.org

(Courtesy: Sow.R. Chitralekha) KrishNa karNamrutham 84

sadagopan.org t and he felt as krishna as chakree, . Himself. So the act of act of So the Himself.

KRURA KRURA KRURA 9 9 9

A A A others. He told Akrura that he should others. He told Akrura rada that the Lord Narayana, who is Lord rada that the go to Gokula and bring Krishna and OF OF born as Krishna and growing in Gokula, is OF crook and in order to ward off any . Thinking how Krishna had destroyed all Krishna had destroyed how . Thinking

to destroy Krishna because he was to destroy Krishna because 85

HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER RRIVAL RRIVAL RRIVAL started planning what to do next. Desika says, to do started planning what C C C A A A moth attacking the burning fire. ing He is Sreeman narayana ing He is Sreeman HE HE HE T T T vyaThayA abhavath peethavishOpamO hanging on a thread. red with respect to the rise of red with respect to the rise requi to do what was his inability

resented ithi viprathisAra vihvalaH svayam utthApitha mrthyuchOdhithaH prathihanthum iyEsha chakriNam iva ASu SukshaNim Salabho dheeptham Balarama to Mathura along with Nanda and bring Krishna and Balarama by hook or The state of kamsa, on hearing from Na The state of Then he called Akrura, and told him to superior to and devas asuras, been having described by Desika as poison like one who has drunk He became of and also hearing about the episode the asuras sent by him govarddhanOddhAraNam, Kamsa He on a plan Krishna, became intent Here Desika refers to was nearing. end fate as his forced by one who wields the disc, mean Kamsa is compared to that of a like the sun at the end of the Kamsa tossed his head with a resolve and he looked day. Fear, anger and surprise all mingled together in his hear life was though his

sadagopan.org and hisneighingdeafening. wasthunderous with his weight which caused much effort evenraising dustlikesmokeandspittingfi for Adisesha to lift it up again blasting theearth,withhisfoaming byKamsaearlier.Hist demons sent Kesi asahorsetoshowthathewas slokas devotes13 mighty horse.Desika for Krishna andsentKesitoBrindavan Even before thisordercan udheerya vAcham krpANikopamAm these wordsofKamsawaslikera brought underthepretextofpayingtheir suspicion astoisrealintention, hesa (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) be executedhewantedto keshikasura vadam 'svavadhopAttha ising aswordtokillhimself,'svavadhopAttha ' re. Hemanagedtopr 86 id thatNandaandothersshouldalsobe eeth werelikevajrayudha,hoofs mouth resemblingtheocean,histail much morefrightfulthananyofthe to describethefearfulappearanceof to the purpose.Kesitookformofa tribute to the king. Desika says that tribute totheking.Desikasays try oncemoretodestroy ess downtheearth

sadagopan.org glance of Krishna command of Kamsa e horse and broken e horse and broken . to the place of Upanishads, as the to the place of Upanishads, ishna will put His divine foot on his foot on his ishna will put His divine At the same time he had trepidation ishads resided there and he looked ishads resided there and he Akrura on his way to Brindavan is Akrura on his way to Brindavan ve him an opportunity to see Krishna.ve him an opportunity to see loud enough to quell the pride of the pride of the to quell the enough loud that gives incomparable joy, which that gives incomparable joy, eme bliss. The place, he thought was was he thought eme bliss. The place, Him and it was enjoyed ever by the Him and it was enjoyed ever n gOpagaNasya sAdhvasam prajhAsa , thought Akrura, the rays of nectar He yearned for the He yearned for the He wondered whether krishna would krishna whether He wondered to the mouth of th to the mouth 87 yadhunAtha with the sanAtha which would be like the waves of the ocean of nectar. the ocean which would be like the waves of

asura and to reassure the gopas 'avamathya thurangadhAnavam Samaya hariH.' in deep his arm Krishna inserted Then he surrenders himself. speak to him when try whom even the yogis get the darshan of Him thinking that whether he will and penance. effort to see with much Seeing such an animal enough to defeat even a lion the gopas in brindavan were were brindavan in gopas the lion a even defeat to enough animal an such Seeing gave out a laugh and Krishna frightened from which, together with his speech with the fragrance of the from which, together with his speech with the vedas, removes the fever of samsara. a knife into two equal parts. Then the as though cut by a knife into two halves him into two gokula became from Mathura as per the started In the meanwhile Akrura it ga because which was agreeable to him the for the mind of The thoughts that ran in remedy the by Desika. described beautifully are which Krishna, by Akrura The Brindavan was compared of feet the in the upan Supreme Purusha described of dust the and attainforward to see Him the supr by purified woes of samsara. the elixir He considered Krishna as come to who destroys all sins of those Sridevi and Bhoodevi. He wished that Kr head and bless him. the moon be like Krishna's face would sadagopan.org Thinking thus Akrurareached andalightedfromhis chariot still Brindavan achinthyathEjasaH.' to theglorious. because nothingisimpossible himsel Krishna, mneverthelessassuring But immediatelyAkrurabecameafraid clan?" Grasping thehandofBhood hand of Bhoodevi“Would HewhohasmadeHischestthe agree tokimu nAthObhavitha kulasyanaH have coronationabhishEkam ulpEyivAnasou and to become vasuDhAkaragraham vidhaDHAno the Lord bhujAntharaHSriya avaruddha of our in thenextsloka. Bhoodevi, meaningthatHewould become to Mathura,becausethatiswhere thAmpureem' chamAdhavaHramamANaHprathigamya kshamayA if He woulddivine eyetoknowthegloryofLord Akrura come wished that people like him to who had Mathura were. they where toseeKrishnaandBalaramafrom whoweregoing the residentsofmathura an Mathura andadornthecityashewished He expressed hishopethat Krishna itself isenough andthereisnowwishfor anythingelse. if KrishnawouldnotshowerHisgraceon the goodfortune toseeKris He feltgratified thatinspiteofhis hna bywhichallhissins wouldbewashedoff.Even evi means tobecometheking. evi means d destroy Kamsa. Desika says says Desika d destroyKamsa. serving awickedmanlikeKamsahehad 88 He belonged,andenjoywithSri f thatKrishnawouldsurelykillKamsa wouldalsoseetheexploits ofKrishna and Balaramawillagreetocome abode of Lakshmi, and whograspsthe abode ofLakshmi,and of the harm that Kamsa would do to theharmthatKamsawoulddo to of . Hewonderedatthegoodfortuneof him, Akrura thought that His darsan him,AkrurathoughtthatHisdarsan the king. Heexplicitly mentionsthis charmadhrk, 'nahi dhurAsadham physical eyeandnot , returning 'ramayA 'ramayA sadagopan.org les, meaning the gathim aprathighAthA

ur of the rising Sun and shining with ur of the rising Sun and shining ubha, who can be seen only by those devoid of obstac flying overhead warding off the heat off the warding flying overhead wanted to do service to Krishna and wanted to do service to Krishna behind the cows, with a jumping gait, the cows, behind who sang and danced with Krishna as hers, he looked for Krishna here and here and for Krishna looked hers, he acock-feather appeared as the Lord vedas and their angas. Seeing him thus him vedas and their angas. Seeing e place of Adhisesha who was born as e place of Adhisesha who was he could not serve as a vehicle and so he could not serve as a vehicle the description of Desika, who furtherthe description of Desika, hna seemed to be the vedas themselves. hna seemed to be the vedas 89 manoratha which had his satthvaguNa as his satthvaguNa which had manoratha He is ever new to the vedas which sing His He is ever new to . Krishna as seen by Akrura. Krishna as seen the cows after KesivaDha. the cows after thva of Krishna by saying ' saying by Krishna of thva

id of misconceptions. He was equal to the Sun and

'. Krishna is none else that Narayana who is the goal to be attained attained be to goal the is who Narayana that else none is Krishna '. AKRURA SEES KRISHNA of the description follows Then Krishna was returning after killing Kesi, Krishna was returning the sArathi. Honoured by Nanda and ot by Nanda and Honoured the sArathi. Him coming with there and saw gavAm anuplavam, and Akrura saw Garuda perhaps of the Sun for Krishna. Garuda gopala form of the Lord being in the dhvayinAm the path by those proceeding along praise. boys Akrura considered those cowherd Akrura was overwhelmed with devotion and started praising Him. riding on the chariot of his wishes, of his wishes, the chariot riding on served as the umbrella, thus taking th served as the umbrella, thus yogis and the cows and calves were the Balarama. This is the idea implied in Balarama. This is the idea explicitly refers to the para archirAdhi mArga,'gathim aprathighAdhvayyinAm'. singing the glory of the Lord by samagana clouds Narada was seen behind the of Kris and the cows smelling the feet of the colo Krishna was wearing a garment the hue of Thamala flower. To Akrura, Krishna decorated with pe Himself adorned with Lakshmi and kousth Him, like one no is there as Himself with vedic perception, devo to only comparable and lustre in Moon the samahAneH upamEyam AthmanA AKRURA SEES KRISHNA AKRURA SEES KRISHNA sadagopan.org Akrura furthercontinues asfollows: intent toprotecttheworld." your mercyonly,whichaloneis thecaus "You havemadeDevakiasapretexttomanifestyourselfandsheisinreality jagathee rakshaNajA janithOsi nijAnukampayA viharanthyA vasudhEvamandhirE mukundhadhEvakeem vyapadhiSya Another beautifulslokathatisfull slokas illustratingthechamatkara,skillofpoetryDesika. norvismarana;loss remembering smarana, that failtowink,hecannotbeforgo contemplated. NowthatHeisvisiblean The Lordishiddenbythevedaslike The meaningoftheslokaisasfollows: smaraNam vissmaraNamchadhuSSakam thanuthE thanureeSathAvakee dhESineedhrsOH animEshavratha athirOdhi asounidhihSruthEH says, throughthewordsofAkrura, Desika, speaking of thepureheartsyogis." who surrendertoyourfeet.You arethe arethehelmsm with yourlimitlessglory the threegunaslikeropes.(gunaalsomeaningrope)Pleasetakemeup.You "I have fallen at your feet tormented by the demons of my sins and bound by garookadheeH of devotionalfervourcomesnext. tten again.Hencetherecouldbeneither 90 a treasure andhencecouldnotbe atreasure n and rescuesthose an intheseaofsinand d hasbecometheobject ofthe eyes e of your incarnation because you are e ofyourincarnationbecauseyou are rajahamsa that enter the manasa lake rajahamsa thatenterthemanasalake ofmemory.Thisisonethe many sadagopan.org ur play on this world, world, this on play ur ur glory, unable to finish describing describing finish to unable glory, ur de by him earlier in the first chapter de by him earlier your form on earth, do not want on earth, do your form even to describe the glory of the Lord, of the to describe the glory ssed with the notion of 'I' and 'mine', notion of 'I' and 'mine', ssed with the e darkness by the Sun and like the Moon like the and by the Sun e darkness 91 mAmEthi pAndava,------(BG-4-9) mAmEthi pAndava,------a about the purpose of his visit. am yO vEtthi thatthvathaH; am yO vEtthi thatthvathaH; s blossom like the lilies." birth and my actions as they are, never are they birth and my actions as they leaving their bodies." leaving their bodies." and those who understand yo who understand and those of moksha the attainment thava viSvavidhO vadhAmi kim jagadhEkAdhipathEH dhiSAmi kim krpaNaH paripoorNasampadhaH kamivAmsSam paripoorayAmyaham "Those who experience the joy of seeing the joy of seeing who experience "Those "One who knows my divine attain me after reborn but You like th "The sins are destroyed by silent as though ashamed." became fully, attribute even one Then Akrura started informing Krishn unlike the ego-centric ones who are obse ones who unlike the ego-centric this world again"never return to says in the Gita, This is as Krishna mE dhivyam Ev'janmakarma cha thyakthvA punarjanama naithi dhEham yogi you make the hearts of the statement ma Next Desika reiterates the are not able that the vedas themselves (Ibid.1-2) Akrura. through the speech of mahimArNavavarnanOdhyathAh parimAthum guNamEkam akshamAH thrapayEva bajanthi aseemani thvayi vAchamyamatham anuSravAH "The vedas trying to narrate the sea of yo sadagopan.org of Krishna. Next comesthedescriptionofstat Mathura. in hischariotandstartedtowards Mathura obeyingtheordersofKamsaan call himandBalaramatoMathura.Then Akrurain of Mathuraanditsinhabitants destruction andisgoingto theenemies.Kamsa, destroy Mathura and he hadtocarryhisordersandtoldKrishna the Universeandtoonewhohasall,thereisnothinggive.Stillhefelt there isnothingtoinform,noth This slokameansthattoonewhoknows everything thathappens in theworld die. Thus to Krishna wh 92

thegopasincludin e of gopis grieved over the departure e ofgopisgrievedoverthedeparture ing to show to one who is the Lord of ing toshowonewhoistheLordof d AkruratookKrishnaandBalaarama formed of the intention of Kamsa to formed oftheintentionKamsato that itistimeforhimtoreturn he said, is plotting for his own o enquiredafterthewelfare g Nandastartedfor sadagopan.org

moons and shining motionless, attracted ng said that good days meritorious deeds and that and that meritorious deeds

10 10 10 THE END OF KAMSA THE END OF KAMSA of Mathura and seeing those people of Mathura and Kamsa who to give the clothes refused sa combined, sensory experience and sa combined, sensory experience overcome by Krishna and Balrama while from the balconies of the mansions were from the balconies of the mansions as ten thousands of and Krishna made her back straight and back straight and Krishna made her

e garland maker and graced him and the ere the bows were kept, which was deep which was deep were kept, ere the bows 93 well as body became HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C n thousands of cupids, they were as fragrant as ten were n thousands of cupids, they ined the fruit of all their ined the fruit ence of the people who saw them by 15 slokas. saw them ence of the people who nths of chaithra and visakha coming together, the two me to her house. ENTRY INTO MATHURA AND ENTRY INTO MATHURA AND THE END OF KAMSA ENTRY INTO MATHURA AND their eyes have fulfilled their purpose. their purpose. have fulfilled their eyes Desika describes the experi They felt as though the mo adbutha ra sentiments, veera rasa and joined together. renunciation beauty was enoughhighway by their lotus feet; their The two purified the royal divinity by their simplicity. to melt even stones, hiding their was that of te Their beauty as graceful thousands of spring seasons, as mind their as suns. looking The ladies like ten thousand pictures painted like them runni followed who by the two youths and the people have started for them. the washer man of Desika briefly mentions he was carrying for the king and he was they accepted the garlands given by th unguents hunchback girl who gave them him to co she requested Then they entered into the building wh Krishna and Balarama entered the city entered the city Krishna and Balarama have atta thought that they

sadagopan.org ' thatKamsawaslikeacluste Desika says himandwaspleasedthat his Krishna saw their beauty,attireandornaments.Ka Krishna sawbeautifulwomenandthekings time. the peopleofMathurawhoneverhad su meaning referstotheinfini eternal and alsosomethingwhich wa means a realisedsoul.Anidhampoorvam The commonpeoplefelta jo ivaanvabhooth,' apavrktha anidhampoorvamAhlAdham 'thadhAlokAlAbhEnasAmAjikajanasthadhA; Desika says personification ofdhanurveda. When theyenteredtheha wrestlers. plucked thetusksofelephantasth andKrishnaatta advanced towardsthem There theelephantKuvalayapeetamwhic where thebowswere keptandcameto Then BalaramaandKrishnakilledthegu as thebigmansionsofMa mindsoftheirenemiesbrokewithitaswell thatthe it. Thesoundwassoloud reminiscent ofhispreviousincarnationhe mightylike thenetherregionsofMahabali like that of Lord Siva and li thamasAmiva sanghAtham samAharam iva EnasAm' samAharamiva sanghAtham thamasAmiva thura whichcrumbled. te joy of a released soul andthesecondappliesto te joyofareleasedsoul ll thepeople assembled y neverexperiencedso far . Krishnasawabowwhich wasbig and 94 ke the vajra of Indra and as though andasthough thevajraofIndra ke s notexperienced before. Thefirst msa wasseatedon r ofdarknessandan ough itwas theirweapon againstthe ards whoattackedthemintheplace theentranceof thewrestlers-hall. mission was going to be accomplished. beaccomplished. goingto mission was cked it and overpowereditandthey cked itand that which hasnobeginningthatis h wasfiercelikethegodofdeath took it and broke it trying to string took itandbroketryingtostring ch experienceofjoybeforethat all lookinglikecelestialbeings with . there sawthemasthe and itwaslikethatof a highthroneand assembly ofsins, sadagopan.org he destroyed the ed on the hoods of kaliya. Balaramaed on the hoods of kaliya. rly ramanuja refers to both Krishna, the exploits of Krishna like killing of Krishna like killing the exploits him Krishna leaped to where Kamsa Chanoora and Mushtika came to fight Chanoora and and their battle cry seemed like that seemed like that battle cry and their shoulders, the sound of which struck of which shoulders, the sound Krishna was none other than the Lord Krishna was none other than set against these seasoned wrestlers, set against these ether they might win and thoughtether they might that lling Ravana and Indrajit. Rama denotes lling s, as they, (Rama and Ramanuja) have d Ramanuja, lowered the earth by the d Ramanuja, lowered the earth 95 hna killed ChAnoora as gaganAbhOgam Ayatham; gapAtham nipathithou gapAtham rAmarAmAnujAbhyAm thou ravaNEndrajithou iva rAmarAmAnujAbhyAm thou na namayAmasathuh prthveem done in their previous incarnation by ki Balaramaa as well as Raghurama and simila the brother of Rama and Lakshmana. After defeating the others who attacked was like Garuda flying skyward from the earth. 'garuthmAn iva bhoobhAghAth Desika says, Rama an They, Balarama and Krishna, weight of the mountain like wrestler kamsamancham apadhvArAth udhaplavatha kESavah.' of jackals compared with the roar of the with the roar compared of jackals and Balarama lions of Yaduvamsa, wrestlers known two well Krishna. Then people were upset that and the those youths who were unfamiliar with them who had soft limbs, were with warfare, that others they wondered wh Poothana and proved be would it happens that if who killed Madhu and Kaitabha. talk challengedKrishna smiled hearing their the wrestler ChAnoora who his advanced towards him by clapping Kris followers of Kamsa. terror in the as he danc demon Madhu and as playfully one, Mushtika. also killed the other The wrestlers challenged the brothers the brothers challenged The wrestlers who were like two mountains. like two who were time having heard about At the same sadagopan.org KRISHNA MEETSHIS PARENTS KRISHNA KRISHNA MEETSHIS PARENTS KRISHNA Desika refersto Krishna assAth Krishna knowingHim as theSupreme Being. Vasudeva endowedwithinsi Devaki,who we parents, Vasudevaand After destroyingtheKamsaandothers discrimination bygraceofGod jiva isimprisonedby itsownignorancecausing sensualdesiresand mahamoha, the ignoranceandhence the d theybecomeugra, meansthesenseorgansan inflamedbyword sEna the comparisonofUgrasenawithin di which isontherightpath.Appayya subduesthegreatdelusi discrimination, imprisoned byKamsawhenheusur Madhusudhana, killedhisuncleandreleas vimochayath.' viveka ivavrtthasThamugrasEnam madhusooDhanah; mAthulam 'mahAmOham ivAkramya inhi Desika describesthekamsavadha broke hischestandkilledhim. length. HesaysthatKrishnapulledKamsa evilforcesandtheirdestructionatoriented andhedoesnotdwelluponthe byjuston kamsavadha Desika describes gate. enters theabodeofhisenemytokillhi ithiprasiddhih' amArgENapravEshtavyam praviSadbhih Appayya dishithacommentingonitsays Desika sayshewent byunusualpath, KRISHNA MEETSHIS PARENTS KRISHNA ght duetothegraceofth frees itfrom thedelusion.

s ownwayasthevedanthacharya thus: 96 apadhvAra, by leapingintotheskyand apadhvAra, by kshitha givesbeautifulexplanationfor m he should not go through the normal m heshouldnotgothroughthenormal ped thekingdom,likeviveka, vathAm pathi.Sa re movedtotearsonseeingthem. on, mahamoha andreleasesthesoul on, mahamoha dividual self, jiva. He says that the dividual self,jiva.Hesaysthat e sloka.Hisworkismainlybhakthi- Krishna and Balarama went to their name Ugrasena.Itfollowsthatthe by hishair andwhen hefell down he ed Ugrasena,thefatherofKamsa, 'vaDHArTham Sathrugrham e Lord started praising e Lordstartedpraising That is, when one thvatham means sadagopan.org palappalavE (1.49), "Oh lord in the first chapter, ch play of His but He is the same. ch play of hing clearly, that is, induces clear clear hing clearly, that is, induces the wick and your mercy is the ghee your mercy is the the wick and in Vaikunta, Radha or Neela in gokula in Vaikunta, ishna is none other than Narayana Narayana than none other ishna is mansion of are in Nanda or when You the lotus, Brahma originated and the the lotus, Brahma originated thram which was told by the Lord by the Lord which was told thram are ananyAdhAram, self supporting yet 97 -do not differ) even when Your place of -do not differ) even when t in the Nammazvar Pasuram, ' tha dheevyan prthagviDhaih' . Desika hmself has said ." and the Master of all but no one rules over Him, no one rules over and the Master of all but na bhidhyasE

Himself. So the word means that Kr means that So the word Himself. pancharathram, calledpancharathram, than Vaishnava Himself. the and Vasudeva by Lord the of praise the relating in ecstasy into goes Desika in Mathura. glory of Krishna Vasudeva said: Lord Vishnu, the unoriginated,"You are the of the who is the only subject vedas, fromwhich sports whose navel, sages learn that You from the veda of all but has no one superior, the Lord AdhAram, supports everything, anayESvaram isvaram ananyADhipathim pathim grace is which your "You are the lamp of everyt by which it burns bright showing (ignorance)" perception destroying darkness dEvakee dhanujasThooNA dhivuyam DHAma vrajAngaNam bhidhyasE rASibhEdhairna ramA rADHAdhayScha ithi "You are the same, ( AbharaNam pErum palppalavE' 'natavath bhoomikabhEdhaih nA shown is it Here stage." the on actor an like costumes different with shine You that the settings and co-actors differ in ea manifestation differ such as, Devaki or the pillar in the house of Hiranyakasipu, or the courtyard of the Vaikunta. Your consorts differ, Lakshmi etc." This reflects the idea set ou sadagopan.org nistharanthi achirAth santhah ASrithAh mAruthinyAyam mahathA thvadpadhEnaiva by YourMaya. them. FromBrahmadownwardsallareyour "Though You arethe controller ofall You pithAmahamukhAih puthreemamaputhrOasi mAyayA niyanthA sarvabhoothAnAmni says, pithrumathAmkreedA' puthraih kshudhrAn--- 'namyasya namathah th The nextslokaisalso (Courtesy:www.glimpseofkrishna.com) Lord Vishnu,theunoriginated e reflectionof thesloka49offirstchapter, yanthavyairniyamy asE asE yanthavyairniyamy dhustharam bhavasAgaram dhustharam bhavasAgaram 98 children and You appear as my son childrenandYouappearasmyson allow Yourself tobecontrolledby , Vasudeva , Vasudeva

sadagopan.org are the examples ribedas the here cross the ocean of samsara of samsara cross the ocean al identity. He replied fittingly to s who know the real identity of the s who know the real identity destroying the wicked by the tip of of vasudeva only as the praise of the as Vishnupadha, that is Akasa, called as Vishnupadha, that is Akasa, of Rama while returning anguleeyaka h and that is desc h and that is value is to be esteemed and not by an and not by an is to be esteemed value e illusion if considering Krishna as an e illusion if considering Krishna s able to cross the ocean by resorting s able to cross rship of Govardhana , Vasudeva that he, beseeched Him of Brahma hiding the cattle and the of Brahma hiding the cattle Dikshitha explains thavatpadhena (the Dikshitha explains without knowing its merit. That is, the praise he had uttered so far were like like uttered so far were had praise he man have conquered the power to cross to man have conquered the power kramavathara sky with His covered the numan and not the cause of crossing the and not the cause of crossing numan 99 ng the way of Hanuman." way of Hanuman." ng the of Rama. So too the wise So too of Rama. ignorant man who does not know its real worth. Krishna, hearing this, treated the speech His re never showed and son by the father power of His feet. power of His feet. was only to instill confidence in But Utthamur swami that the anguleeyaka says of Ha in the words Seetha the mind of thvatpadha word ocean. He explains the Thrivi His as such because the Lord in that hanu foot. But it is common belief the carrying the ocean because he was him the power. of Seetha gave the choodamani the Lord Thus extolling the glory of back into th vasudeva should not revert not a great to kill Kamsa and others was that episodes Lord could not escape. (The said further gopas and Indra getting at the wo angry He fact.) this of capable of is Krishna who achievement for he said all the Hence, His fingernails. praising the invaluable gem one who is praise of only the person who knows the of Vasudeva at rest. put the mind the yogi even ordinary human being which power of) Your feet by taking it to mean the anguleeyaka of Rama which which Rama of anguleeyaka the mean to it taking by the feet to the power of feet Your of His feet. Appayya with the power of) power with devotion and fait Hanuman carried "The great men cross the ocean of samsara, the ocean of men cross "The great to cross over, is difficult which by followi of your feet the power The implication here is that Hanuman wa The implication sadagopan.org HNA IN MATHURA THUS HNA INMATHURA DESCRIBESKRIS DESIKA HNA IN MATHURA THUS INMATHURA HNA DESCRIBESKRIS DESIKA being acowherdinto hisroyalsignalia Desika continuesthe thread Krishna thecowherd.) the crownbroughttohimbyGaruda like cast offallhispreviousadornments prowess andglorymadeMathuraequivalent on thethronebutacceptedstatus Krishna, thoughrequestedbytheelders and gavejoytohisdependents. off his work of creation and came to him. His speeches whohasleft rise up.TheBrahminswhoresortedhimwerelikeBrahmahimself were pleasing and true Krishna madetheclanofyadhavasrise reflection ofhimselfashamsavathara. His facelike lotusflankedonbothsi by hisbody, theroyalumbrellaheldover Then Desikadescribesthattheornaments onKrishnawhich werebeautified reality (Adhisesha) one belongingtosomeoneelse Sesha, thekireetais the Krishna andhenceretained hisstateas says thatwhen he bowed yo Krishna wasbehavingasanobedient two armsetc. was commonbecauseRavanaand Krthavee humanwithfour he wasanextraordinary But thecommonpeopledidnotunderstood withfourarmsashe Krishna appeared HNA IN MATHURA THUS INMATHURA HNA DESCRIBESKRIS DESIKA sesha ofthewearer down toBalaramathelattershoneascrownof about the transformation ofallthatwashiswhile aboutthetransformation whoistheseshi)andal 100 des withthechamaraslookedlike was whenhemanifestedfirstinprison. peacock feathers butwaswearingonly unger brothertoBa in glorylike themoonmakeslilies ofcrownedprince.Krishnawithhis to become the king, put only Ugrasena to becometheking,putonlyUgrasena by sayingthatthefour vedaswhich himwaslikethelotusfromhisnavel. while inBrindavan. (Vide-chapter-4- Sesha.Withthepunonword arms.Perhapsinthepuranicageit rya weredescribed histrueidentity to his divine abode, Vaikunta. He , beinganornament(seshameans

so Balarama is sesha in seshain is so Balarama

larama andDesika andthoughtthat with morethan sadagopan.org ka. Not only that but they took the they took the only that but ka. Not ly anumana, one of the valid means of ly anumana, one of the valid his feet which were like lotuses his feet which to Krishna by Indra and Krishnato Krishna by made d filled the court with good and wise. d filled the court with good kika kesari, describes the counsel of the counsel kika kesari, describes hra is given science of to the whole Ugrasena the the land. sovereign of counsel of Ugrasena, says Desika. The use he was the king. Ugrasena with the with use he was the king. Ugrasena , became his four royal horses, named, horses, named, his four royal , became 101 , human and material resources, , the plan of action, hrah tharka iva Anayah kshE dhandathAm yayou , removal of obstacles and e contact with his lips. e contact with , apportioning of proper time and place, , success. dhESa kAla vibhAgah vinipAthapratheekArah karmaNAm ArambhOpAyah purushadhrav yasampatthih kAryasiddhi 3. 4. 2. 5. 1. sugreeva,sainya, valaha and meghapushpa foot rest and supported form of his His flute attained its original those held by Lakshmi. with comparable only th and enjoyed form of conch well kingdom according to dharmasasthra. All the the reigned of Krishna help out an supporters of Kamsa were thrown made kings Krishna by conquering all the served him earlier in the form of cows the form of him earlier in served Desika refers to the episode of bringing back the dead son of his guru guru his of son dead the back bringing of episode the to refers Desika of Krishna. vasa the gurukula denoting briefly very Sandheepani called sudharma was given The royal hall beca Ugrasena the head of the counsel, Desika, proving the kavithAr himself as Ugrasena thus: mAnasamrakshakah mant thasya means on It was like tharka. Tharka here tharka sast cognition, though the name verbal inference, comparison and perception, ascertaining a truth by testimony. Anumana has five limbs and so was the angapanchakasampatt vipa hyA five limbs of the counsel are: sadagopan.org argument. causes vipalshadhanda,refutationofth cognition, namely,anumana,inferenceis This iscompared totharkawhichalso the enemy. Manthra or counsel doneinthis manner tyranny ofKamsa. Thus Krishnaupheldtheyadhuvamsaon 1. First is . Nexttheabsenceof vyapthiwhen 4. Thirdlyitisarguedthat'thisso'. 3. 2. Secondly a be established suchas 'wherever thereissmokefire.' the vyaptiorinvariableconnect infer from smokecomingoutofamo vipaksha is nofire thereisnosmokeasinalake.Thisthefourthlimb. of inference, that is, fire), absent must be shown such as where there the caseofakitchen' . Finallytheconclusionthatmountainhasfire. vyapthi sapaksha thatisinvariableconcom or a similar instancemust orasimilar 102 has fivelimbs.Here

e opponenttheremustbefivesteps of referred to. Toarriveatanumanathat will be vipakshadhanda, punishment to punishmentto will bevipakshadhanda, ce againwhichsufferedduetothe the sadhya,majorterm(theobject ion between fireandsmokehasto untain thatthemountainhasfire, itance. Whenonewantsto be quoted such as. 'As in be quotedsuchas.'Asin thevalidmeansof sadagopan.org .

, the night , by Kalayavana, who noted that he city e city of his ancestors as 'nAmnaivamAdhuryavathee

our as all the people and things our as all the people and 11 11 11 BUILDING OF DVARAKA BUILDING OF DVARAKA BUILDING OF DVARAKA

Krishna who went inside the cave Krishna who went inside odes are described in more detailed odes are described in more ed to construct a city which would be would be ed to construct a city which ham it is mentioned as Madhura only. ham it is mentioned as Madhura ly make s a fleeting mention to it. ly make s a fleeting mention Here it should be be should it Here attacked eighteen times and Mathura nifested there and his presence in the in the nifested there and his presence who acquired their weapons, the disc, who acquired him and as Rama left Ayodhya. But the him and ees. But the city lost its mAdhurya,

'samApthakAryAm iva sathra SAlAm'

r the power of theGarga but he sage was Mathura who were constantly troubledMathura who were constantly by 103 Mathura was besieged 'ahamsapadhmAm iva vAhineem' HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER 'veethEndhuthArAmiva vAsathEyeem' and the C C C e new city and Desika compares it poetically to a tively. Krishna did not kill jarasandha because he was because tively. Krishna did not kill jarasandha madhura only in a name, been called Madhurain modern times might have in RASANDHA AND RASANDHA RASANDHA AND RASANDHA RASANDHA AND RASANDHA . It became divested of its glam its of divested became It . BATTLE WITH JA BATTLE WITH BATTLE WITH JA BATTLE WITH BATTLE WITH JA BATTLE WITH Jarasandha, the father- in- law of Kamsa, in- law father- Jarasandha, the was defeated by Krishnawas defeated and Balarama, Mathura. invincible and decided to leave

destined to be killed by Bhima. Then Then Bhima. by killed chakra and the plough respec be to destined Krishna wish kings, the attacks from enemy city retained its glory because Krishna ma permanent for the devot city became was created by Garga maharshi out of spite for yadhavas who insulted him. was created by Garga maharshi to respect fo Krishna did not kill him due when he chased destroyed by Muchukunda These epis where Muchukunda was sleeping. of of the people consideration Then in which is known as Mathura bhagavat ancient times because in Srimad and says that Krishna left th so it mentions also Desika the earth conquered by Parasurama left sweetness and remained as thadhAseeth' there were transported to th river devoid of swans and lotuses, bereft of moon and the stars, place of yajna after the rituals are over, manner in Srimad bhagavatha but Desika on manner in Srimad bhagavatha sadagopan.org the east, The army,whichwasstrong,satthvAdhikA satthvAdhikA dheerivasAthva sTHiram padhamprApthumiyEshasenA prthyangmukheem paddhathim AdhdhAnA prAcheem anadhrthyanivAsabhoomim his armyelaborately. butDesikadescribesthetrav Visvakarma in a singleSrimad bhagavathamsaysthatKrishna night by His yoga maya after creating it in a moment through was incomparableand Krishnamadea city devas.The ofBrahma andother bytheorder architect constructed acity resembling thelandofdevas andin Krishna calledthekingofseaand the Lordwithfoldedhands the risingwaves,seaseemedtoo theseasubdued bythatofthearmyasthough accepteddefeatandby bythedescription of Desika surfaces two forceswerepreparingtofight meansriveraswellan army. (vAhinee comingtojoinitbut an agitated asthoughfearingthatitwasno river, vAhinee meanswestaswell'uns (apoorva the horsesgallopinglike wavesan The mightyarmyresembled sThirampadham. salvation, toattain prathyang, meaningprathyagAthma andpr followed fromtimeimmemorial, satthvADhika this totheintellect, permanent residence,sTHirampadham.Desika,thevedanthacharya,compares prAchee , leave the inferior path ofworldlinesswhichisprAchee,, leavetheinferiorpath , andwenttowardsthewest, DHee who returnedtoHisreside ofthedevoteeswhich a seabyitselephantsroaminglikethecrocodiles, thAnAm (Yad.11.15) 104 ffer arghya with itshandsandwelcome ffer arghyawith ll peoplefromMathura enterthenew thesea.Thesoundofwaveswas een before') and the seaitselfwaseen before')andthe oceeds towardsthepathofself, transported all in Mathura to Dvaraka transported allinMathuratoDvaraka that island Visvakarma, the celestial thecelestial thatislandVisvakarma, d thusitwasapoorvalikethesea commanded him to provide an island island himtoprovidean commanded each other.Thepoetic fervor of army). Andhence it looked asthough , leftitsresidence, el totheseashorebyKrishna with prathyang nce afteralongtime. filled withsatthvaguna, nivAsabhoomi , wishing for a , wishingfora , in , in sadagopan.org

, locusts, SalabhAH sky, thought that one is is that one sky, thought and were six in number. They They and were six in number. , drought, ions were giving their smell to smell to their ions were giving is full of pun, using same adjectives eethis six external and internal afflictions. man. The intellect became firmly became man. The intellect aning that the mansions were so high. aning that the seen only by men of renunciation was es admiring the beauty of Dvaraka and rior to Vaikunta.rior to devas seeing The the kama, krodha, madha lobha, moha, and t for the enjoyment of the god of love. god of of the the enjoyment t for 105 yadvAmsinAm vA'. eethibhH oormibhih anAvrshti

were given pranaprathishta. n city, Amaravathin city, in the , parrots (these cause damage by eating the crops.) the crops.) by eating , parrots (these cause damage msels in human form. , excess of rains, , rats, SukA athvrshti DESCRIPTION OF DVARAKA DESCRIPTION the reflection of the other. the reflection Desika gives a luxurious description the city at length. of The fragrance emitted out of the mans The fragrance ow the sea and their city on that came near, me the celestial chariots painted on The devas stood immobile like city. Desika sayscity. Desika that it was even supe its inhabitants as though they The residents were not affected by the were not affected The residents pumsAm 'na shadbhirAsan vyasanAni The external difficulties to life are called are called difficulties to life The external are: mooshakAH etc., by are caused afflictions The internal mathsarya, enemies of the internal established in the Lord without any disciplines like yoga. fi like a beautiful forest The city was the Lord who could be of The presence enjoyed by the royal da The verse comparing the city to the forest for both, with different meanings. pravALachithreekrthajAlakashreeH sAlAvrthA sambhrtha pathrajAlA DESCRIPTION OF DVARAKA DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION OF DVARAKA DESCRIPTION sadagopan.org were in On thepartofcity,itabounds vihAravanya babhou smarasyEva parishkrthA bhadhramrgAdhibhiryA Prayaga andprabhasa arethedharma was likethecombination thus Dvaraka hence special.)There wasprabhAsagreatluminancedue tothe piousmen, and fulfillment ofdesireandtheword pray expectations ofusually donewith meaning-Yagas are aspecial added gives persons beingprayaga (thewordpra yaga donebythedetached Having manylotusponds, pushkara,the by thegemsonmansions. appeared moreluminousbeingreflected aslime.Thesun means nectaraswell 'soudhaih' isderivedfromsudhA,which naveenairiva nirbabhAse' newly built. clean andwhite-washedlooked mansions. Thatis,theywerealways and showerthenectar onthetall appeared topiercetheorb ofthemoon The flagsweresohighthatthey birds. otheranimalsand mrga denotes sAla meansthetreesandpathrajAla,leav On thepart oftheforest, mrga vehicles, . chithreekrtha pathrajala 'soudhaih nithyam'soudhaih . Ithas , welldecoratedandsurroundedwithwalls, bhadra pravALa The word , auspiciousness and inhabitedbyelephants, and , auspiciousness , means sprouts, jAlakaistheflower-bud, , meanssprouts, kshethras, placesof piety. 106 aga meanstheyagadonewithoutitand pravALa, es. bhadhra is a kind of elephant and es. bhadhraisakindofelephantand of allthesacredplaces. Pushkara, corals, dvAraka gopurA jalaka, windows which sAla andhas sadagopan.org ', d her with the tip e moon and the sun e moon and the Revatha went to Brahmaloka with can see and hear with twice as much much hear with twice as can see and worn by the sea. Thus the whole city city whole the Thus sea. the by worn h several yugas were lapsed on earth h several yugas were lapsed on . Desika, makes a comparison saying,. Desika, makes on only th the sky glory than even Adhisesha with his glory than even Adhisesha d Balarama shortene 9th skandha of Bhagavatha during the the mount meru and excelled even that the mount meru and excelled gems of which Krishna was the central was the central which Krishna of gems shushmathee chandradhivAkarabhyAmshushmathee predominantly praiseworthy feature was 107 of all the worlds. of all the worlds. necklace like a gem Dvaraka was gem and qualities but the had so many shining and Balarama of krishna the presence thrilOkee chak 'sathyEva thArAnikare The whole city was like a huge heap of a huge city was like The whole even though there are numerous stars numerous are there even though are said to be the eyes the are said to be the description by Desika concludes varnyathAm 'prabhuNA sahasravadhanEna dhviguNairamushya nayanairavEkshyathAm nisamyathAm thasya bahuDHA Sruthibhischa aDHIkAm thathaH Sriyam avApa sA puree as follows: The meaning of the sloka is The city of Dvaraka more attained can describe, thousand faces and mouths eyes and ears. was like Krishna lived in a palace which description of the kings of Suryavamsa. was Ravathi Revathi looking for a bridegroom for his daughter and spent sometime listening marriage. in him to to the music of gandharvas during whic daughter his give and the Lord had incarnated as and Brahma told him to go to the earth where time that at Balarama the early yuga an very tall belonging to of Indra. Desika briefly mentions the exploits of Balarama in pulling the river river the pulling in Balarama of Gokula to see and married his friends, exploits to the went mentions he briefly when Desika Indra. door of his to Yamuna Revathi, daughter of Revatha, a king of Ikshvaku clan. is told in the The episode of Revatha sadagopan.org deals withthemarriageof all thethree incarnationsinthatname of his plough and married her. Desika says the exploits of the Lord as Rama in KrishnawithRukmini. 108 have beenwonderful. thenext chapter

sadagopan.org 'ananyA

a of bliss. Lakshmi the bliss is one and of

12 12 12 the vedas, to whom the creation of , I am non-different from Rama as the, I am non-different from Rama the waves of the se e Universe, Sridevi becomes His fitting Sridevi becomes His e Universe,

109 andha lahari, and the waves of the ocean is of the ocean is andha lahari, and the waves two are mutual elixir to each other and the two are mutual elixir to follows Him in all His incarnations. follows Him in all His incarnations. RUKMINI RUKMINI RUKMINI e Sun as Seetha says to Ravana as Seetha says to e Sun HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C not seek anything else. else. not seek anything e nothing but the e nothing but the ar in the form like the waves which raghavEnAham yaTHA prabhA bhasakareNa light from the Sun (SK-20.15) Sikhandakam nishprathimam SrutheenAm SrngAraleelOpamavisvakrthyam aDHeeyathE thanmiThunam svabhAvAth anyOnyajeevAthum ananya bhOgyam of The divine couple, the unparalleled jewel The play of love. is like a the universe delight of the devotees who do thaThAviDHAnandhamahApayODHEH tharangavrtthyA bajathO avathArAn aSEsharoopEshvanurooparoopA anuprajajnE dhEvee jagannEthuh like The Lord takes numerous incarnations also takes many forms accordingly and also takes many forms accordingly says, 'sa Eko brahmaNa Anandhah',The upanishad ocean, An Brahman. That bliss is like an the avatharas, differing only of th ocean.To Him who is the controller inconsort in all His incarnations, some not manifest as in mathsya, koorma, vamana th of light etc. She is like the

sadagopan.org since to Desika, a paramvaishnava, th paramvaishnava, since toDesika,a Almost thewholechapter has beendedi less. consort oftheLord,mothera out Rukmi consideredherashissister Bheeshmaka, thekingofVudharbhathou Amananthi mAtharam prajAsrjAm yAm EkapathneemanaghaSchapumsaH rukmee chamOhAthanujAmananyAm amanyatha EnAmthanayAmsarAjA says, So SridevitooktheincarnationasRukm milky ocean. supreme abode,Suryamandala,theor inallthreeabodesofHis,namely,Srivaikunta, the status attains equal because sheisHisdhaya.Shethemo She islikedhaya,mercyoftheLord, jananeeprajAnAm.' parAvarANAm 'dhayEva nithyamdhayithAthriDHAmnah sarvEshubhAveshusamAnabhAvA; authorofDhayasathaka,describesSridevias: Desika, the both aremutually dependentfortheirexistence. dharmi by itselfwithoutasubstratum, ceases tobesowithoutshakthi.Simila shakthi orpower.Onewhopossesses Sri istheahamthA,'I-ness'be The meaningofaham,'I',ahamarTha,is asfollows: explainedbyAppayyadIkshitha The wordanyonyajeevathumis 110 rly shakthi, being a dharma cannot stand rly shakthi,beingadharmacannotstand which cannot bedissociatedfromHim, ing his dharmadharmiNi. Thatis,His ing hisdharmadharmiNi. ll beings,includingBrahma,andbirth , namelytheonewhohasshakthi.So b oftheSun,andksheerAbDHi, ther ofallbeings greatandsmall of delusionbecausesheisthedivine of power iscalledshakthimAn,andhe power ght she was his daughter and his son ght shewashisdaughterandson cated to thedescri cated to ini inthelandofVidharbha.Desika ayar, thedivinemother, ismore the Lord ,being the real self of all. ption ofRukmini, sadagopan.org rior only extols onification of His of His onification uncognisable except by by except uncognisable , is satisfied only in this the moon free from the clouds, the the moon free from the clouds, and phonetically, equal to the vedas and phonetically, equal to the says that clean and being apAmsula, at manifested at the time of the payya dikshitha commenting on the of comparison for her beauty finds of comparison for her beauty finds f, she being the pers f, she being showered flowers on her and thus her thus her on her and showered flowers e even to sarasvathi, the goddess of e even to sarasvathi, the her where they will be uncontaminated will be uncontaminated her where they combination of the rays of the sun and and the rays of the sun combination of her lustre was like a lightning. her lustre was l for children, was fulfilled by the pollen was fulfilled by the l for children, 111 'adhrsyabhEdhaih athisookshmabhAvAth'adhrsyabhEdhaih aisargikee buddhiriva SruthEna; ukthA babhou noothana youvanEna.' ukthA babhou noothana pAmsu vihAra vAncchA beautiful as though wishing to delight Krishna for Krishna wishing to delight beautiful as though with scriptural knowledge and the unerring and and the unerring and with scriptural knowledge mercy. mercy. an ideal abode in found All the virtues looked like the her form by faults and gold and gems, because the moon or of and more She grew up more were taken birth. Her playful activities whom she has says Desika,the subtlest intellects, on blessings ' and they were conferring jajnE jaganmangalathAm dhaDHAnaih damsels world. The celestial the whole as is usua desire of playing in the dust, her. Desika of the flowers which fell on pure, her wish to play in dust, manner. Her words were perfect, grammatically praiseworthy than even the Lord Himsel Lord the even than praiseworthy a challeng and such that it presented learning. which was like Rukmini attained her youth combined natural intellect fruitful justice. 'niSena chandhrENa ghanavyapAyE,n phalena sa neethiriva apramAdhA y She seemed to be a golden lotus th appearance of Lakshmi from the milky ocean. Desika, not satisfied by the objects comfort in the thought that comparing something is infe which the glory of the thing compared. Ap sadagopan.org be thatassoonthe bhuvanasundhara that Rukminisenta Desika differsfromtheaccount ofSrim ananyalakshyam' svalakshaNam Sourim the oneinherheart bent herheadwithshynessasthoughby the about her asked friends her When She reachedthemarriageableageandher description, inhisNarayaneeyam. sayingthatitdefies bhattadhri describedtheformofNarasimha, after But DesikacontinuestodescribeRuki incomparable nature subject, evencomparingwithaninferior eternal andallpervadingliketheAkasa, BrahmaniscomparedwithAkasaasinthetext'He Sruthishu.' Justasthe api gunaHSyAth,yaTHA'AkASavath syAth line is, Sisupala,carryme awaylikeajack mrgapathEh balimambujAksha' gOmAyuvath says inherlettertoKrishna,' to human, desiredherasadogwishing Sisupala, whohad the sonofDhamagosha, 'alipsatha SvAivahaviHthadhAEnAm asDesikarelating theintentionofSisupalatomarryhersays, Bhagavatham But neverthelessthereisaveiledrefe be toldaboutthewishes appearance Himselfbecauseresidinginth 'nidharSanam thairapinithyadhrshtAm ' says, 'yEshAm, AkASAdheenAm,yathaH paramAthmAdhEHnikarshO 'yEshAm, AkASAdheenAm,yathaH ' etc. in as much as he never refers to it at all. His idea may letter toKrishna,in of thesubject. is hercounterpart. ofthedevotees. devotee thinksof mA veerabhAgam abhimarSathu chaidhya ArAth mA veerabhAgamabhimarSathu al stealingthepreyof thelion. 112 dhaithyasvabhAvOdhamaghoshajanmA'

get theofferingof mini kesadhipadhantham as Narayana mini kesadhipadhanthamasNarayana thefamouspassage, ad bhagavatham whereitismentioned ad bhagavatham lookingatherself bridegroom shehadinher mind she ' whenthere isnothing equalto the object is a merit as it denoted the 'asoochayan noonamanEnathasyAH e heartasthereal rence totheletterofRukminiin the attributesofanasura,thougha theLord earnestlyHemakesHis sarvagathasya nithyaH'ithyAdhi yEshAmnikarshOpiguNoyathaH mind hasgonetoKrishnaalready. , letnot,chaidhya, that the devas.Rukmini she indicated that she indicatedthat self He need not 'SruthvA guNAn sadagopan.org 'vanidai vazum avvanavarkku vazum avvanavarkku 'vanidai one describes the marriage of marriage one describes the bur here Desika says that it was th Sisupala, which was agreed upon which th Sisupala, e temple of Indra and prayed she to kAnidai thirivadhOr nari pugundhu nari pugundhu thirivadhOr kAnidai by a fox that roams in theby a fox that forest. ves an elaborate description of her ves an elaborate indicate that Krishna has come and the indicate that Krishna has come

' meaning that to give' meaning that her in marriage

and she heard the sound of Panchajanya.and she heard the sound of consecrated for the devas by the vedic the devas consecrated for 113 ter and the next was thinking only of Krishna and the only of Krishna and by 16 slokas. Rukmini was thinking adorned beauty other chaste ladies blessed without her for the fulfillment of her desire even taken to th knowing her heart. She was of her desire. (In Bhagavathamthe goddess for the fulfillment Rukmini was Durga mentioned as worshipping goddess IndhraNi, the goddess of marriage.) to Her left thigh and left eye throbbed by her brother Rukmi, and Desika gi Rukmi, brother by her Tulasi of of the fragrance air was full Thus ends the 12th chap Rukmini. maraiyavar vELviyi vavai, lvaguttha mOppadhum Seivadhoppa, kadappadhum is like the offering to a human being smelled and carriedscholars being away wi for the marriage Rukmini was decorated Andal also says in her Nacchiar thirumozi, her Nacchiar also says in Andal sadagopan.org of lovehimself asPradhyumna. the others suchasSitainbrilliance beca the bees for hislotus–face. his handlooked likea bee desiring forth hand. Desikapoeticallydescribesthat Krishna camenearRukminiandgraspedher comparison. blossom moon. Thelotusessimilarly bird his eyes.Chakoraisamythological hereyes,andshe chakora birds,meaning they werelookingwithoutbattingtheir The friends ofRukmini seeing the couple (Yad.13-13) yayuh thulAmapsarasAmanoonAm- thadhadhbhuthadhvandhvam avekshyasakhyah thA thathpraharshAmbujapoorvasanDhyA Sa rukmineenethrachakorachandhrah excelled all therasas. surpassed alltheseandshon adhbutha, thesentiments oflove,valour three. Helookedasthepersonificat lily andindheevara,aflowercoloredin Itwaslikeonemadeoflotus, like thegarlandssheplacedonhimasinsvayamvara. Rukmini cameoutofthetemp KRISHNA CARRIESRUKMINIOFF KRISHNA CARRIESRUKMINIOFF KRISHNA CARRIESRUKMINIOFF Desika saysthatthisincarnationofRukmini excelled e as somethingdifferent fromallthesebecause he le andsawKrishna.Hergl C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER 114 digo, becauseher eyesresembled allthe use she was going to give birthtothegod use shewasgoingto give ion ofthe rasas, sringara, veeraand resembled thecelestialdamselsbecause

e lotus of her face and her eyes became e lotusofherfaceandeyes became at the arrival of dawn. Hence the the arrivalofdawn.Hence at the believed tosurvivebythelightof and wonder and at the same time he andwonderatthesametimehe eyelids. Krishnawasthemoonfor appeared asthedawnforlotusof 13 13 13

ances, says Desika, were ances, saysDesika,

sadagopan.org r by their auspiciousr by their qualities, gave le by the other kings who were like kings le by the other o thought that she was like a lioness like a lioness that she was o thought front of all the enemy kings. Desika un on the word hari which means both un on the word 115 'haripriyAm kesariNeem ivainAm dhurAsadhAm'haripriyAm kesariNeem ' Krishna carried Rukmini in his chariot Krishna carried Rukmini in his (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) As Rama freed Sita from the rakshasas and took her in the pushpaka vimana vimana pushpaka the in her took and rakshasas the from Sita freed Rama As Krishna carried Rukmini in his chariot in describes Rukmini traveling with Krishna thus: prabhEVa dhEvEna thamopahEna prathyak dhiSam thena saha prayAhnthee wh of Rukmini joy to the friends immense to Lord Hari, (p beloved being Haripriya, and hence unapproachab lion and Krishna) of the lion, in front elephants anyanrpadvipendhraih The couple, who were bound to each othe bound to each who were The couple, sadagopan.org obtained all the four purusharthas, says Desika. says obtained allthefourpurusharthas, people seeingRukminiwholookedlikeagoldencreeperaroundthekalpavrksha and them different statedecorating elaborately describestheirarrivaltoth allthewome When theyenteredDvaraka probably becauseitisunnecessaryforabhakthikavya. skips thedetailsoffigh friends. But Krishnavanquishedhimand of RukminipursuedKrishnawiththeinte carrying Rukminilikehislioness, hollering Sisupala towhomRukminiwasbetrothed alarmEl mangaiuraimarbA always accompaniestheLordasAzvarputsit yaThA Sita saysinSundarakanda ignorance. Thussheseemed withKrishnawho the westtoDvaraka Just asthelightofSun goeswithhimtothewe nijamprajAnAm sathyApayAmAsa nithyAnapAyithvam ajAnatheenAm Ananya labhyAn alabhantha pourAh (Yad.13-65) (Yad.13-65) Rukmini whoisnoneother th Dharma duetothe rightful by thepeopleofDvar simultaneously namelydharma, The fourpurusharthas, Ananya labhyAnalabhanthapourAh Avekshya noonamchathurahpumarTHAn Suradhrumasyeva suvarNavalleem upaGnayantheem Krshnasya thAmskanDham ' -"Iaminseparablefrom Ramaas t between Rukmi withKrishna andhishumiliation, ' toproclaimherinsepara unionofthe two,arTHa an Lakshmi,seeingthem asacouplesatisfiedthe 'ananyA rAghaveNAham bhAskareNaprabha 'ananyA rAghaveNAham 116 hurrying upinthemiddleofit.The aka whichisrareto getotherwise. carried RukminiofftoDvaraka.Desika n hastened toseeRukmini andDesika arTha, kamaandmokshawasgained e scene. Each oneof themwas ina is thedispeller of likeajackal andRukmi,thebrother ran behindthelionofyadhavas, ntion ofavengingtheinsulttohis the light from the Sun". Lakshmi thelightfromSun".Lakshmi

'agalakillen enru iraiyum st Rukmini wenttowards ble statewiththeLord. duetothearrival of thedarknessof sadagopan.org d as though doing which means 'let which means 'let 'AthmAnameva svayam

was put in the fire which is usually usually was put in the fire which is ini, like an ordinary mortal. Desika thinking that it is too much to bethinking that it is too much arimugan acchuthan kaimmEl en kai arimugan acchuthan kaimmEl all the steps of the ceremony of of the ceremony all the steps ments and it looked as though they detail which was not found indetail which slokas will be a fitting quotationslokas will be in a for life-long companionship and took for life-long companionship couple. The sacred thread tied to the ignited burnedroun on the bridegroom (lajahoma) with the on the bridegroom (lajahoma) d the sacred rice grains attained their d the sacred rice grains attained –Nacchiar thirumozi) g to churn the sea of his foes. g to churn the sea of his foes. 117 on the Manthra Mountain, as his hands Mountain, as his on the Manthra chanted the manthra chanted capable of securing moksha. moksha. of securing capable a going round the fire as THE MARRIAGE OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA THE MARRIAGE hand of Krishna looked like Vasuki hand of Krishna looked like The flames of the the altar when fire in mangalarathi The puffed rice to the couple. is placed hand done by the bride whose husband. ( of her prayer for the long life vaitthu porimugam thatta kanAkkandEn manthra the Then the couple chanted seven steps round the fire. Anvethu vishnuh svayam ithi udheerya priyAm parADheena ivAnugacchan jAyApatheenAm jagadhudhbhavAnAm bhavyAm dhaSAm bhAvayathi sma nAThah Krishna, the Lord Vishnu Himself, you,' and went behind Rukm Vishnu follow explains the act of Krishn merit by the association with the divine merit by the association with which was goin the mountain resembled the marriage in Desika describes garlands an shown in full. The auspicious desire kamadesire divine sight is and the Srimadbhagavatham. One can understand Srimadbhagavatham. ornaments have covered her beauty with marriage by reading this chapter. These marriage invitation. Elderly ladies adornedRukmini with orna THE MARRIAGE OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA THE MARRIAGE THE MARRIAGE OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA OF RUKMINI AND KRISHNA THE MARRIAGE sadagopan.org cha yaevaeshAm The reasonforthisis form ofagni. agniroopamparikramaih paryacharathsadhevah Rama is of course sheshouldbeth blessing. Tosaythat validaware oftheidentitydivineco but Vishnuthe comparisonwithRamaandVishnu by thewomen,who naturallywerenot is be the one and only wife to Krishna.Rukmini looked attheelderlywomenof Here there could ariseadoubtregarding preethASayA praikshathasAsanAThA(Yad.13-95) ithyoochisho yAdhavavrddhadhArAn ihaikapathnee amushya bhooyAsthvam rAmasya seethevaramevavishnoh thefire. propitiated bhAntham anubhAthisrvamthas dhevah Desika says doneinawrongorderagnish marriage were as theupasanaofagnidevawithimpl Finally Krishnadidthesvishtakrthyaga (must betheseshahoma) whichisdone the associationofhandLordan ammi Then Krishnagraspedthefeet ofRukmini andplaceditonthegrindingstone, motion asthoughcircumambulatingthe else exists other than Him. Agni, the fire-god also sent his flames in a circulartranscendent andimminent,hecanneithe , whichacquiredthestatusofjewe ', meaning,theonewith whose 'svathejasA bhAvitha viSvathejA 'svathejasA bhAvitha ' sincetheLordiseverywhere 'viSvasya bAhyAntharanithyavrtthyA nakarmakartha 'viSvasya bAhyAntharanithyavrtthyA ya bhasA sarvamidham vibhAthi-upanishad.) ya bhasAsarvamidham 118 knowntohavethree pathnis,namely, divine couplewhoareinsidehim. Yadava clan who ble who clan Yadava e ekapathni of Krishna like Seetha to e ekapathniofKrishna likeSeethato light everything elseshines( uple andsimply gavethetraditional ication thatevenifthe stepsof the r bethedoernoractasnothing d thefoot ofSridevi,saysDesika. ould rectifyitandmakeright. l-stone crowningthe Vedas, dueto hsvAhAsakham dhevamupAstha ' he went round himself in the insideandoutside,being ssed hersheshould thameva sadagopan.org to their houses pathnee which word pathnee which be the Lord Himself be the Lord Himself more and more. like heat and cold, were

, that is, the pathni is the one is the one , that is, the pathni

rishing in dharma, because both of rishing in dharma, because in krishnavathara also he had many also in krishnavathara everyone went back everyone Rukmini being none else that Sridevi none else that Rukmini being sters of the universe, bestowed all they ere known to they ere known fe of Vasisihta was also performed and fe of Vasisihta was also performed jna and other vedic duties.jna and other It is always rable from Him, takes prominent part rable from Him, that Rukmini is the that Rukmini is 119 r in auspiciousness the dualities of opposites ed for this. Even in respect to Lord Vishnu Lakshmi Vishnu Lakshmi to Lord respect in ed for this. Even all beings, were there. all beings, dhampathee dhvou bajathAm dhadhAthe yajne pathyuh samyogah yayA sA' yajne pathyuh pathnis. be construed to mean But this should is derived as ' blessings to the world. Desika says that and His consort by the which is also the place of srivathsa mark on His chest Lakshmi. Those who were blessed by the sight of two, who were mutual adornment the to each other and beyond Sridevi, Bhoo devi and Neeladevi. And Neeladevi. Bhoo devi and Sridevi, in protecting the devotees. Of course devotees. Of the in protecting the ma That divine couple who were jagathpathee thAviha jagathpathee thAviha who is in unison with her husband in ya with her husband who is in unison who is entitl the first wife who being insepa is the main consort blessing is quite appropriate. herself this the wi The ritual of seeing Arundhathi, of because reverence with all by seen be to fit became Arundhathi says Desika this. by his his own wife ng that Krishna, who married The sages gave their blessi prospe leela as a human being, should to both After doing the proper honoring and the whole city of Dvaraka was flou them, the prime cause of prkrthyA srivathsasamsThAna jushA lakshaneeyou cha sThAnenachihnena dhrshtAvabheeshtam sadagopan.org implication isthatthe divinecoupleth dvandhvAdhikam dvandhvam avaikshi dhanyaih (Yad.13-107) (Yad.13-107) they canneither be devasbecause they They arenothumans becausethedivini dhanyaih avaikshi dvandhvam dvandhvAdhikam Yairevam anyonyavibhooshithamthath thaTHAbhavanthou prAyeNa thAmeva Na themanushyAnachadhevathAsthe not tobeconsidered eitherhumans (Courtesy: www.stephen-knapp.com) Rukmini andSrIKRishna or divinebeing,saysDesika. 120 emselves assumed the role of spectators theroleofspectators emselves assumed ty isnotperceptible byhumansand alsohavetheir

limitations. The sadagopan.org rt of this sloka isrt of the mahavakya e or embedded in gold shines the same. e or embedded in gold shines the pair who are dhvandhvAtheetha,the pair

121 kAlakante api gangA kAlakante api

impo duality. The of the transcendent her splendour in the mansion ofSimilarly Rukmini shone in all as well Vasudeva her to inferior was which vidarbha of king the of palace the in was she when as status. to see themselves as the dvandhva, as the dvandhva, themselves to see thathvamasi, says Utthamur swamin. sloka as follows. the chapter by a beautiful Desika concludes rathnam SAthakummbhe api Subhagam upalabimbe Kanathi vipinabhAge sA vasudeve apivaSika nrpagrhe adheepyath nithyonnathAnAm na hi bhavathi viseshah kvApi imag gem, either in a stone The precious sadagopan.org and he killed the lion and took thege and hekilledthelion andtook which tookthegem. Jambavan, thecelebrated bearof Ramayanawaslivingthere The brotherofSathrajith wenttoforest The implicationoftheslokaisthis: rice grainsgiventohimbyadevoteeasbiksha. isquitefittingtoonewhothrewaway thegoldflesh whichwasjuicy(rasa).This was thecause ofthedownfall ofmany.De (arThakankshee) withdelight,(rasena).Cr one (Surya)andobtainedbyanother (Sat means bhogya vasthu,object ofenjoyment The gem, whichwasanobjectofenjoym (Yadh.14-4) kramAth bahoonAmvinipAthakaraNam babhoova thathbanDhu arThakAnkshiNA rasEna rathnAmisham thadhEkamEkena chalabhdhamEkathO keeping. of all but herefused andgaveitto of goldeveryday.Krishnaaskedhimtogi Surya, whomheworshipped andthegemhad Sathrajith, avassalkingonthewestcoast,gotgemcalledsyamanthakafrom Retrieving syamanthakamanian KRISHNA MARRIESSATHYABHAMA, KRISHNA MARRIESSATHYABHAMA, KRISHNA MARRIESSATHYABHAMA, virODHam AdhaDhath d fight with Jambavan d fightwithJambavan C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER 122 hisyoungerbrotherPrasenaforsafe-

ve thegemtoUgrasenafor benefit ent, rathnAmisham,(thewordAmisham m todecoratethe cradle ofhisson. eated enmitybetweentherelatives,and JAMBHAVATHI ANDFIVEOTHERS JAMBHAVATHI JAMBHAVATHI ANDFIVEOTHERS JAMBHAVATHI ANDFIVEOTHERS wearing the gem and was killed byalion wearing thegemand was killed hrajith), who wasdesirousofwealth, sika impliesthatitwaslikeAmisha, as wellflesh, 14 14 14 the capacity tobestowlargeamount

(mAmsam) givenby

sadagopan.org ered perhaps the fight of d to overcome him by his strength. d to overcome him by his strength. e marriage of Krishna with others in e marriage of detail by 27 slokas in order to bring bring to order in slokas 27 by detail Krishna, who was his own object of Krishna, who e blood of Jambavan, and looked like e blood of Jambavan, and looked worship. Gradually Jambavan lost his Gradually Jambavan lost worship. tling for twenty one days. Krishna'stling for twenty one days. an but only destroyed the arrogance an but only destroyed the hna had killed his brother to get the to get his brother killed hna had st of the passage is as follows: st of the passage mabavan was blessed with eternal life, life, mabavan was blessed with eternal s heart would come to his cave one day. id that he was told by siddhapurushas pponent was none other than Srirama pponent was none other than Srirama Jambavathi, daughter of Jamabavan and Jambavathi, daughter 123 ode of Krishna meeting Jamabavan and meeting Jamabavan and ode of Krishna g good would come out of it. g good existing in dvaparayuga also. during the war with RavaNa in His previous previous His in RavaNa with war the during red silk worms. He consid He understood that now and started praising Krishna. He understood Desika narrates the words of Jambavan in out the greatness of his devotion. The gi remembering his assistance incarnation. Finally Jambavan realized that his o Himself in His next incarnation. He sa that the Lord who was in the cave of hi strength. Krishna did harm not Jambav battle between his father and his son, Desika saysand his seeing the battle between his father that Brahma, Brahma born out of his yawn) did(Jambavan was the son of not prevent it only somethin because he knew that by wres Krishna fought with Jambavan body describes Desika, splattered with th a bed of grass with scatte as a form of the great devotee Jambavan e child of Jambavan and Wanted to take it and and it take to Wanted and Jambavan of child near the Krishna saw the gem a robber trie Jambavan mistaking him for worship, Rama, in the previous yuga. Ja worship, Rama, in the previous chiramjeevithvam and he was thus n of extolling the virtues of the great due to his intention of extolling may be brief. This and his meeting with devotee Jambavan Jambavan met and name his clear to order in it of search in went Krishna gem. and this was the cause of his marrying marrying th while he narrates Jambavathi Sathrajith spread the rumour that Kris rumour that spread the Sathrajith later Sathyabhama, and the daughter of Sathrajith. and the daughter of Sathrajith. later Sathyabhama, in detail the epis Desika describes sadagopan.org the ruleslaiddownbyHi Even thoughtheLordisbeyondaction incarnations whicharebeyond others. HeshowsHis gracetothose whose mindisconcentratedonHimbyHis are verydeepandlofty,comprehended andHayagr likeNarasimha mixed, miSra, His incarnationsaredramassometimes achinthyachinthyaiH avathAranAtakaiH ananyabhAvAn anukampathEbhavAn pramithAmithakramaih aghADhathungaih viSuddhamiSraih chathuraSravrtthakaih lighten theburdenofea and feltthat he hasregainedhisyouth. behind onearthwhen Sugrivaandothers during hisbattlewith Ravana.Hesaidth thethreeworlds.'HeagainservedLord hasmeasuredall Lord Vishnu withatumultuouscry Vamanavathara Jambavan wentroundtheworldswhenth the slokasarefilledwith devotion. In theconcluding slokasDesika speaks himselfinthe guiseof Jambavanand was reallythedaughterofocea asked theforgivenessofKrishna.He proper hefoughtagainsttheLordwithou and hence noonecan vanquishHim.Ev andthepower and imminent, Jambavan saidthattheLo overpowered withthemayacons withtheasurascouldno devas along mself accordingtotherole rd is inside and outside everything, transcendent everything, transcendent outside rd isinsideand rth andhisleelasshineas of allbeingsincludingbr mindandintellect. isting ofthethreegunas. n andalsothesyamanthakamani. 124 offered his daughter Jamabavathi who offered hisdaughterJamabavathi and its results, HerestrictsHimselfto itsresults, and en though he was he en though HeforesawthatKrishnawasgoingto t understandHisrealnature,being 'jaganthi viSvAnimithAnivishnunA' viSuddha, pure like Rama, sometimes viSuddha, purelikeRama,sometimes t knowingHisidentityandforthathe at hereapedthefruitofhisstaying went to Vaikunta by seeing Krishna iva, beautiful and appropriate. They iva, beautifulandappropriate. bysomebutincomprehensible to e LordincarnatedasThrivikramain the crownofVedas. ahma is through His will His isthrough ahma he plays and even the heplaysandeven a devoteerightand , sadagopan.org ara, the whirlwinds of the fruits of ara, the whirlwinds of the desert in the form of sensual sensual of form the in desert the of is stopped by the feet of the Lord is stopped by es to drink the milky ocean with the revolving world without support. Then world revolving o is the ocean of nectar, possessed by wants to describe You with his limited ght expressed by Desika at the outset ght expressed by Desika at 125 bhavArNavE karmavipAkavAthyayAbhavArNavE paribhraman AvarthaganaiH bhavadhbhih thvadheeyayA krpayA krthOparOdhaH koolamivabhavathpadham prapadhyathE into the ocean of sams One who is thrown past karma toss him about and he goes past karma toss the mercy of the Lord intervenes and he Lord of the the mercy avarice and desire, consider the hot winds in. to be plunged as something cool and enjoyment thou of the see the reflection Then we write to ambition his that says who Kamban of power of speech is like the one who wish verse the stalk of a lotus." to similar is This which he grasps in anguish. in which he grasps avindhathaH thvAm amithAmrthOdhaDhim vighADa thrshnA vivaSAntharAthmanH veechikAH prathibhAnthi vigAhaneeyAH mareechikAnAm iva bhogasampadhAm Those who do not resort to the Lord wh the auspicious qualities ofdescribing his inability to enumerate Lord. (Vide the sloka 2 – chapter1) guNOdhaDhim yaH pramithapramANayA icchathi girA thvadheeyam parimAthum sa pAthum eehEtha samagrachApalaH payOjanALEna payaH payOnidhim virtues. One who "You are the ocean of sadagopan.org KRISHNA MARRIES JAMBAVATHI AND FIVE OTHERS. ANDFIVEOTHERS. JAMBAVATHI MARRIES KRISHNA KRISHNA MARRIES JAMBAVATHI AND FIVE OTHERS. ANDFIVEOTHERS. JAMBAVATHI MARRIES KRISHNA acalEna bAhuna Vasuki withwhomtheoceanwa the armsofKrishnalikebigse Aheendhra shobinAvimaThyamanAth as `wateringeneral'. residence of beings in wa means bothJambavanthekingoffo VanoukasAm pathuHmeansfromJambavan,th poetry ofDesika. it iswiththe are fullofpunasoften girl withpleasure.Herethewordsused Krishna, theslayerofMa dhivyammadhukaitabhAnthakaH maNim cha nanandha labdhvAhrdhayangamAmpriyAm vimaThyamAnAth achalenabAhunA vanoukasAm pathyuHaheendhrashobinA kesariasfollows: style asthekavitarkika Desika narratesthemarriageofKrishnawi Ramayana islikethatofacatwhowishes labDhvA hrdhayangamAm priyammeansobtainingthe brid achala meansthemanthara mountain uplifted him andembracedhim. Saying thus Jambavan fell at the feet of Krishna like an uprooted tree. Krishna arO kadhai kAsilkotratthuirAman araiyalutrEn " KRISHNA MARRIES JAMBAVATHI AND FIVE OTHERS. ANDFIVEOTHERS. JAMBAVATHI MARRIES KRISHNA Osai petruuyarpArkadalutruorupoosaimutravumnakkububukkenaAsaipatri denotes the arms of Krishna like denotes thearmsofKrishna Okas meansresidence. ter, becausethewordvanahasalsoanother meaning dhu and Kaitabha, acceptedthegemalongwith dhu andKaitabha, s churned,vimathyamAna. with whichtheoc 126 qualifies Jambavan,whohasbeenhitby rest animalsaswelltheocean, todrinkthemilkyoc rpent. Aheendhraalso couldmean th Jambavathiinhisowninimitable ." (KR-Payiram-4) mountainandalsotheword e wordvanoukasampathi ean waschurned. e who ispleasingto

ean bylicking. sadagopan.org , , yAna dvaiDha , fight, with the three the six gunas denote the , seeking shelter and , seeking shelter amanthakaand kousthubha. on earth as long as he wishes and and wishes he as long as earth on and Vasuki, along with the divine gem and Vasuki,along with the divine gem ually forget everything else and saw else and ually forget everything ys that she at first was filled withys that she at first was filled e jewel to Sathrajith and erased the e jewel to Sathrajith and erased could mean Lakshmi who took seat inwho took seat Lakshmi could mean Jambavathi about Krishna describes Krishna describes Jambavathi about , peacemaking, vigraha taining Lakshmi from the milky ocean, from the milky ocean, taining Lakshmi his three wives as pends on the three powers of prabhu devotee experiences and none else could none else could and experiences devotee 127 or halt, samSraya gy meaning the army and gy meaning the army and sika the great bhaktha! Neela) and possessing the shadgunas (jnana, bala, sThAna the divine jewel means both sy the divine jewel guilt which was imposed on him wrongly guilt which was imposed on on which Sathrajith being ashamed of himself gave Krishna his daughter Sathyabhama in marriage to redress the wrong committed by him. de rule of Desika says that Krishna shone with policy shakthis, (Sri, Bhoo and The aisvarya, veerya, tejas and shakthi) achieved success like the governing powers monarch. a of shakthi, power of royalty, manthra shakthi the power of counsel and uthsaha shakthi the power of ener six means of success, namely, sandhi advancing against, duplicity. then reach the supreme abode of the Lord. of the Lord. the supreme abode then reach Krishna returned to Dvaraka and gave th Hence the sloka refers to the Lord ob sloka Hence the by Manthara Mountain which was churned impliesKousthubha and time. as happy as He was at that that Krishna was of describes the feeling The sloka that Desika sa the stages of bhakthi vividly. and became one with Him. nothing but Him everywhere which a This is the stages of bhakthi describe it better than De to remain Then Krishna blessed Jambavan wonder and then became joyous and grad then became joyous wonder and of the Lord. the heart Divyam maNim his heart. The word hrdhayangama also hrdhayangama The word his heart. sadagopan.org it willfetchgoodresultsandleadoneinthe rightpath. Desika concludesthechapte eight directions, denotingtheal eight wivesarecompared totheeight Theywere like thefiveunmanifestLakshmana andBadhra. elements andthe Krishna marriedanotherfive,namely r bysayingthatnarrating l pervasivenessoftheLord. 128

siddhis byDesika , Kalindhi.Mithravindha,Sathya, thisepisodeorhearing and represented the the represented and sadagopan.org

g with the lustre

15 15 15 n as the son of Devaki and acquired n as the son of Devaki and with the blossoming of lotuses and endless and shinin father Brahma has originated, has now father Brahma has originated, taphor, refers to the Sun who is beyond taphor, refers to the nging thus with his veena. nging thus with his veena. a great actor who has assumed the role a great actor who has assumed

ishna, situated beyond the darkness (of for his performance like a veena given to for his performance like a veena 129 THE SLAYING OF SISUPALA THE SLAYING OF SISUPALA THE SLAYING OF SISUPALA - - - HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C by the adjective sruthilakshyA, known through the known through by the adjective sruthilakshyA, SISUPALAVADHAM SISUPALAVADHAM SISUPALAVADHAM came to Dvaraka to see si Krishna The next sloka is beautiful by the figure of speech known as virodhAbhAsa, in in virodhAbhAsa, as known speech of figure the by (kamalollasitha) beautiful is sloka next The darkness, thamas and accompanied of Lakshmi, (Kamala)." Here the well-known daylight used as a me thamas), self-illumined and beginning less "The Lord Narayana, whose navel my from He is incarnated as the son of Vasudeva. himself know of a cowherd and now made as a reward Sridevi (Rukmini) as though and dance." an artiste for his skill in music Here Lakshmi is qualified good veena. is also applicable to a Vedas, which epithet Thadhaham sThitham parasthAth anapAyadhuthi Athmana Eva bhAsvathA kamalollasithEna darsaneeyam dinamAdhyanthavivarjitham dhidhrkshe "I wish to see the daylight which is Kr Arrival of Narada in DvarakaArrival of Narada Narada

sadagopan.org Paramam brahma bhavantham Amananthi Paramam brahmabhavantham Amananthi Bhavabheethinieethineevin bhAtham Na niyanthanachthesamasthvadhanyah Jaya dhevajagathryAntharAthman toKrishnathus: Narada spoke saying NaradaapproachedKrishna. because they know thathiskalahawill name kalahapriya, one who reveals hegoesonplayin and forthatpurpose o in creating discord. He was reveredThen Naradamentionedhisown rolein by all He isthefirstguruyetshowsreverenceto otherguruslikeNarada. the authorofdayasathakamtodoso.) is elevatedtothestatus ofaconsortto He isaccompaniedwithLakshmiyetshow He isdifficult tobeknownexcept bytheVedas.) anthasThithi showsHiseasyaccessibili Agamaikagamyah, knownonly through He is the gathi,gunas (thethreeofsa goalHe isgunasindhu,oceanofvirtues,(g of everyone viDhAthA gururAdhyo mayigouravam an dhayithAsahitho dhyaikasangee gathiranthasThithirAgmaikagamyaH guNAthivrthee guNasinDhurasou which anentityisqualifiedbyadjectiv ttva rajas and thamas). rajasand ttva unas) yetguNAthivarth 130 es whicharecontrarytoeachother. g oneagainsttheother andearnedthe ty whileAgamaikagamyahdenotesthat d anthasThithih, situated within,yet d anthasThithih,situated end inthe welfare of theworld. Thus the worldas thepreserver ofdharma s favors to Daya,(h s favorsto theLord. Itistobeexpected from the Vedas. (Thewordsgathiand ee, transcends the ee, transcendsthe ere dayaormercy sadagopan.org everything while everything action of enjoying the chObhE bhavatha Odhanah; Odhanah; bhavatha chObhE . Brahman is the eater because d to him earlier. Narada said that are the foremost beings of creation. emy in the previous births because emy in the previous births saying that to Him who had destroyed saying that to Him who had ndiment, or that mixed with which the ndiment, or that mixed with which the of movable and immovable, signified by movable and immovable, signified by of . He has become krthrimasathru, enemy n, the death consumes the condiment and the corresponding rth also as he was becoming increasingly rth also as he was becoming one who can command you and equal to you and equal can command one who 131 iment which becomes the inducement for iment which becomes the inducement for movable and immovable beings. movable and immovable beings. called samsara you the dawn. are called samsara the universe and not the (Kato.1-2-25), to whom brahma kshatriya varnas (Kato.1-2-25), to whom brahma AtthA charAcharagrahaNAth' yasya brahma cha kshathram yasya brahma cha kshathram eating the food while itself being eate food is eaten. Because like the cond food is eaten. Because food. Mrthyu, death is said to be the co of consuming the whole universe of of consuming the whole Food referred to be the whole universe brAhmaNa and kshathriya, because they It means the absorption of Brahmasuthra ' mrthyuryasyOpasEchanam' are food and the god of death is the demons Madhu and Kaitabha is like who were like the mount Meru, Sisupala a fly. of Narada refers to the upanishadic the words Desika here through declaration ' Krishna married Rukmini who was betrothe Krishna married Rukmini who in this bi Sisupala has to be annihilated wicked. Narada further praised Krishna of the night those afraid you. To udhithaH praNavAnkurAthmanA thavth viviDha skanDha vibhaktha rooDa SAkhah prajAnAm thvadhanugrahapushpithah nigamdhrumah prasoothe phalam ishtam the sprout of Omkara, sport Vedas sprung from You from The tree called many Your grace. of put forth flowers branches and Then Narada spoke who had two lives as HiraNyakasipu Sisupala about and as Sisupala RavaNa and now taken birth natural en with a cause besides being Victory to Thee, Oh Lord, there is no Lord, to Thee, Oh Victory sadagopan.org He destroysthewickedbecauseis Narada furthersaidthatpartialityca beingthesidedish. food withgodofdeath the oneto whomthewholeuniverse from thedestructionofasuras said, Narada dhamanenAdhriyase nadhAnavAnAm mahadhAdhi vilApayanmahimnA upaghnan upasechanamchamrthyuh aThavA jagadhethathOdhanasthethath Now letusseethewords ofDesika. it beingconsumed byBrahman. vichithrahethi means wonderfulflameas the heartandfire into fire inwhichtheself issacrificedby At thetimeofreleasefromsamsara whichisthe yajna,theLordis Adhyam anaGhathma krathuhavyavvahanam thvAm hrdhi SAnthaDhiyahsaminDhathe viDhinA viSvapathevichithrahethim Savane bhavamukthisanDhiroope The nextsloka isverybeautifulandfullofimport. beings. onlyre creator andannihilatorthe worshipped byallandtheonewhobestows thefruitofaction.Heisboth Krishna waspraisedbyNaradaasthefirs (We couldseethisintheexampl who surrendertoHimwhetherheisan whichtheselfisoffere e of Vibheeshana and Jayantha) e ofVibheeshanaandJayantha) 132 nnot beattributedtotheLordbecause impartial towardsall the enlightened.Thesacrificial altaris like MadhuandKaitab punishes likewise. asura oradevaandpunishes ality in the Vedas and the world of theworldof ality intheVedasand mahattillthegrosselements,is t andtheultimateGo well aswonderfulweapons, thatis, d istheLord.Theword and protectsthose ha, isnothingto d. Heistheone

sadagopan.org

hadeva announce his hadeva announce the invitation of Yudhishtira for the the invitation of Yudhishtira this Krishna showed his soulabhya in this Krishna showed his soulabhya h the Vedas, the first and foremost h the Vedas, be permitted by the wise of this be permitted by the wise of this ing inside the eye, the individual self, the individual self, eye, ing inside the nce all accept those who know Him who know nce all accept those acharya of all. Hence we have come we have come acharya of all. Hence flowers, accompanied by the buzzing flowers, accompanied by the buzzing head of Sahadeva indicating that the of first honour, Sa rd who is worshipped even by the devas the devas rd who is worshipped even by comes perceptible through devotion and devotion perceptible through comes 133 the feet of the Brahmins. of the Brahmins. the feet sh Sisupala, Narada went away. is Lord Vishnu Himself, known throug known Himself, Vishnu Lord is RAJASUYAYAGA AND THE AGRAPUJA OF KRISHNA AND THE AGRAPUJA RAJASUYAYAGA rajasuya yaga. Desika that says the Lo of all devas and the father, Lord and forward to worship Him first. Let this assembly. Desika says that there was a shower of on the came with them, of bees that Krishna went to Indhraprastha accepting Krishna went to Indhraprastha disguised Himself as a yadhava and he treated him with disrespect and added to undertaking the duty of washing the ritual agrapuja, at the time of Then is describedwith insight. (Brahman as be do agrapuja thus: to Krishna intention to Avadhath cha tham etham agragaNyam vibuDhAnAm pitharam pathim gurm cha harim archithum archyamudhyathAh smah thath aSeshaih anmanyathAm suDheebhih He charka, gadha etc. charka, be He seen be cannot He though Even rvading in the brahma vidhyas of the and also all pervading in the in the hrdhayapundarika Upanishads.) ofHence the svarupa unenlightened and the t known to the the Lord is no their palm. jnanis know Him like the fruit on worldly but the Thus entreating Krishna to puni RAJASUYAYAGA AND THE AGRAPUJA OF KRISHNA AND THE AGRAPUJA RAJASUYAYAGA RAJASUYAYAGA AND THE AGRAPUJA OF KRISHNA AND THE AGRAPUJA RAJASUYAYAGA sadagopan.org came thereandthemother near himtheextratwo armsandeyewill vanish.Thishappened when Krishna voice toldhismotherthatwhenthe hewasbornacelestial andwhen ofsisterVasudeva Sisupala wastheson hence heis invitinghisowndestruction. his house when hewas bornhis third residence inhell.Bheeshma alsoreminded will bringallpurusharthasincludingmoks nearby, islikediscardingkousthubha someone elsewhentheonewhobestow Hesaidthattoworship Bheeshma triedtopacifyhimwithgoodwords. Vishnu wearing conchandthe He alsostartedabusingKrishna,saying others. udhishtira inparticularfordoingpuja All haveagreedexcept Sisupla whogo devas willhonortheonewho worshipsHari. chyavamAnA pavanmAna veganeetha viDhihastha DhrthAth Then Bheeshmaaddressedthe himself gone withfinalablutionperformedinrespect ofhim. to thewordswhichwereutteredforhis and censurehim.BheeshmaadmonishingSisu meaning oftheVedas andth Bheeshma further saidthatthereareso cautions SisupalanottoabuseKrishna. till hehurls100abusesatKrishna.That yadhanghri padhmAth of SisupalarequestedKris ey arebeing disgracedbythewordsofSisupala disc, andacowardwhoranfromKalayavanaetc. assembly ofkingsandsagesextollingKrishna. 134 person whowillcausehiddeathcomeb foracowherd,ignoringBheeshmaand t angry and insulted the pandavas and t angryandinsultedthepandavas forredstones. PropitiatingKishna eye andtwoextraarmsvanished thathewasajuggler,pretendingas iswhatBheeshmareferstohereand own benefithecouldaswellconsider ha andabusinghimwillresultonlyin many in the assembly who knew the Sisupala that when Krishna came to s all benefits including moksha iss allbenefitsincludingmoksha pala said that if he did not listen hna tobearwithherson sadagopan.org

at Krishna, whom at Krishna, whom sacrificed in the sacrificed in purifies all the worlds, is really purifies all the by humans. But he had been abusing had been he by humans. But sed if he thinks th sed if he thinks e feet, grasped by Brahma, the divine that is going to be that is going a child of Vasudeva and Devaki, who Krishna, playing his veena and dancing Krishna, playing his veena and which Krishna promised his mother to which Krishna promised his rapuja of Krishna and Narada who was who was rapuja of Krishna and Narada e fuel to he hell-fire, because he had because he had e fuel to he hell-fire, of Narada was same as the udhgita of of Narada was same as the mapi brahma kishorabhaava dhrsyam (like arrows) and who is the fortune of ed Bheeshma also. All those assembled also. All those ed Bheeshma light of His ardent devotees. 135 of attacking one of his guests. of attacking one of his guests. dhuraabhaagyam ananyabhogyameede same as those in Gopalavimsathi. as though flared up kept their silence seeing the silence seeing up kept their as though flared is pierced by the glances of the gopis nikateshu nisaamayaami nithyam -(Gopalavimsati-6) -(Gopalavimsati-6) I worship that Brahman, who appears as the kingdom of Madhura and is the de and carried by the wind Ganga flows Sisupaladistressing and is like an animal be excu to be but he can battle that is vrajyoshidhapaangaveDHaneeyam ma vasudevavadhoosthanandhayam thath ki vipunAthi jaganthi dhivyasinDhuh jaganthi dhivyasinDhuh vipunAthi vivAdDhah hantha thadharchane kramathe Him, from whos To debate on worshipping face of Krishna which showed no anger. Bhima rose to attack Sisupala but but Sisupala should not be worshipped devas worship attack he is going to be th Krishna and hence to rose 100 insults already crossed the limit of Bhima only tolerate. anger. Krishna by no killed be to showed is Then Sisupala got furious and insult which Sisupala that Krishna saying of him face restrained Bheeshma blame and Bhima should not incur the glory of sang the there praised him and the song accordingly. Desika says that were shocked and the yadhav the ag allow Bheeshma told everyone to hymns) is the singing of SAma (udhgita the rthviks in the yaga. The four slokas that follow are the sadagopan.org krthArThah hiseulogywiththewords ' concluded Narada always beinfrontofmewhen peacock feathersathiscrow May theappearanceofflute applied santhu mamaanthimaprayaaNe harineelasilaavibhangaleelaah prathibhaah makutaalambhimayoorapicchamaalaah chaaruvamsanaaLaah adharaahitha lips. flute,which looksBrindavan forestandholdsthe eagertobenear His red (Gopalavimsathi-8) in humanform,thusashortcuttosalvat I worshipHim,whois thecause ofthe worldandthepersonificationofmercy karuNAm kAraNamAnusheem bajAmi aruNADHara sAbilAshavamsAm ataveesampadham ambuvAhayantheem Padhaveem adhaveeyaseemvimukthEh whose boyhoodiswitnessed now andeternal,whosechildhoodsport Let meobserveeverywherenearme,Hi kumaaram yamunaasaakshikayouvanam yamalaarjuna dhrshtabaalakelim mrgyamaanam nigamaantharairadhunaapi ' theyagahasbecome fruitfulbythisact.

by theriverYamuna.

n, ofthelustre resembli I startonmylastjourney. 136 m, whoisinquiredbythevedaseven

ion, whoistherainbearingcloudto is witnessedbythetwintreesand to the lower lips, of the garland of to thelowerlips,ofgarland Krathurathra samarpithah (Gopalavimsathi-12) (Gopalavimsathi-9) ng that ofsapphire blue sadagopan.org

(ignorance and (ignorance and knowledge of the hna. Sisupala continued to abuse hna. Sisupala supala challenged the yadhavas for supala challenged the those who had the tion for the Pandavas to conduct the powered with thamas with powered army and a battle ensued between the army and a battle ensued 137

May His divya rUpam always be in my thoughts! in my thoughts! rUpam always be May His divya (periyasramam-dolai kannan-thanks shreyas sarangan) shreyas (periyasramam-dolai kannan-thanks THE DEATH OF SISUPALA detail and says that it was like the drumbeat signifying his own end. He was was He end. own his signifying by who was respected Then Sahadeva, drumbeat the Vedas, performed the worship of Kris like was it that Bheeshma. Desika describes his anger andeveryone including outburst in says and detail over in eclipse looking like the Sun Then Si delusion) which was like Rahu. battle and went out. Krishna gave sanc yaga and followed Sisupala with his supporters of Sisupala and the yadhavas. Sisupala went towards Krishna like a moth towards a fire. Desika says both

THE DEATH OF SISUPALA THE DEATH OF SISUPALA sadagopan.org attacking Krishnathus: of fear.DesikadescribesSisupala anxious forhisdeathandthelatterout devas andthefriendsofSisupalawere arose fromthebody of Sisupala andmergedwithKrishna. Then Krishnacutoffthehe merge withtheLord,thatbeinghislastjanma ofthethree. with theSuncausingAmavasya.Theimplic light ofthemooncomingnearerandnear Sun buton thepartofKrishna,kris Sisupala, themoon,losthislustregradua also beconstruedasnara+d from asacrifice. Theword'naradeva' kings whowerewitnessing their argumentslikeweapons.Itcrea between two opponents,whodesirousof kavithArkika kesaricomparingthe between RamaandRavana,toindicate Desika describesthebattleas well asUpanishads. Aranyakas. Thereispunontheword'A in thecave oftheheart,andhasfree strong andwandersamongtheanimalsofforest unchallenged. TheLord is The foolish elephant, SisupAlaattackedtheLionofYadhus,wh nikhilAraNyaka nirvighAthavrtthih vijahAra guhASayahtharasvee sisupAlakunjareNa yadhusimhah thadhAabhiyukthah madhalupthaDhiyA

the fightashumansan eva, menanddevas. eva, ad ofSisupalawithHis 'athirAghavarAvaNam', 138 hnapaksha, therewasnodecrease.The movementamongtheUpanishadscalled ted wonder and satisfaction among the among ted wonderandsatisfaction battle to vAdhaprathivAdha, debate battle tovAdhaprathivAdha, is usedtodenotethekingswhichcan raNyaka,' whichmeanswildanimalsas watchingwithanguish,theformer winning eachother makeuseofall itsfierceness. er theSunisreduced untilitunites lly by coming closer to Krishna, the ation isthatSisupalawasgoingto sudarsanachara, andalight d devas get satisfaction d devasgetsatisfaction excelling eventhat Here we see the the wesee Here o isinhiscave, sadagopan.org on both sides. He away the Airavatha. of the Sun made the ious gems of Adhithi,

16 16 16 in with the snakes nue at the gate and went into thenue at the gate and went dra came on his celestial elephant elephant celestial his dra came on a describes Airavatha in 18 slokas.) pt Rudra, perhaps thinking that he was pt Rudra, perhaps thinking that pu. The vajra of Indra was powerless in of Indra was powerless pu. The vajra dy along with that es of Narakasura, came out of who was . He confiscated the umbrella and the . He confiscated the umbrella es. The sound of his wings seemed to me wished to take hna that by killing Naraka he will reduce hna that by killing Naraka he dusk at the time of deluge accompanied e gems at the head of the snakes which e gems at the head of the snakes

hna reassured Indra and thought of his 139 HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C the earrings made of prec the earrings , who came immediately. the weapons of all the eight Dikpalakas, Agni,the weapons of all the eight Varuna, DESTROYINGNARAKASURA DESTROYING NARAKASURA DESTROYINGNARAKASURA mother of devas and at that particularmother of devas and at that ti directions golden, and he looked like the by lightning. His body was shining with th the whole sky. His big were resembling Adhisesha and his chest covered shoulders looked like the Manthara Mounta jeweled mount of Indra and jeweled mount of Indra and celestial carrier-bird, Garuda Desika describes Garuda by eleven slokas. Garuda was adorned by garlands of snak front of him and so were them exce of all and the rest. He defeated only a hermit and did deserve not notice away sixteenNot only that but he had carried damsels thousand and hundred born of devas, kings and asuras. Indra told Kris the burden of the earth by half. Kris his bo hue of create the Vedas, the golden the Lord tookthe earth, Bhoodevi, when and Varahavathara, hence even more Hiranya kasi terrible that Hiranyaksha and After Krishna returned to Dvaraka,After Krishna In Airavatha to Dvaraka to see Krishna. (Desik Indra stopped and his reti his elephant manner him in a fitting honoured When Krishna residence of Krishna by walking. the atrociti Indra informed Krishna about

sadagopan.org Describing Narakacoming outofhiscity with oneflingingofthe charka. Mura andthe7000sonsof Krishna destroyedthedemonMura,Panchajana sametime,meaning thatno arrival atthe and theasurasinPrAgjyothishapurawitn To indicatethespeedofGaruda,Desika encouraging words. PrAgjyothishapura, thecapitalofNara who didnotwanttobeparted victorysloganstoKrishnawhomountedhimwithSathyabhama Garuda raised contested thescriptures, thusprovinghimselfasthekavithArkikasimha. he isfanningtheVedaswhichwere patted hisshouldersandshookwings When KrishnamadearrangementstostartforthefightwithNaraka,Garuda and theseaincontractedformwithitswavesaswings. He seemed to be the personification of demonstrated therasaofSAnt humblewithdevotionGaruda was tharangAn pakshatheekrthyasamkshipthaivasAgarah moorthimAn ivasamrambhoroopavAnmAruthah (Yad.61) SAnthaveerAdhbhutha rasAn vapushA bhakthinamreNa one knee bent andtheotherstraight he was wearingredgarmentandstoodinfron (Yad.62) Dheeronnatha maheeyasA samAhathyeva sampathan sampathan samAhathyeva ha, veeraandadhbhutha. 140 butveryloftyandmajestic oppressed bytheheatofthosewho seemed to performakindofdance. energy, thephysicalformofwind Desika shines as a vedantacharya and Desikashinesasavedantacharya timelapsedbetweenthetwoacts. from himandadvancedtowards essed the starting of Krishna and his Krishnaand his essed thestartingof saysthattheyadhavasinDvAraka ka aftersendingIndrabackwith which appearedto t ofKrishna withhisusualposeof Desika asthough

sadagopan.org from the asuras, like the clouds ivAbhavath (Yad.16-95) his, as the ahankara thathva evolving his, as the ahankara rrows in his bow but only saw the fall ared to those the Vedas who contest e army of the enemies into two. None valry and soldiers, completely cut off of ahamkara rising out of arrogance rd, Sarnga, arrows flowed as cataracts e who is banned by the Vedas. e who is banned by the Vedas. of the destruction of ahamkara, the of the destruction iva haithukAh (Yad.16-79) 141 guna is uppermost of the other two and guna is uppermost of the other powerless. Here there is pun on the word rajas on is pun powerless. Here there pouring water on the sea. But Desika says that the ed just like His own devotees who are not affected are not affected like His own devotees who ed just parabhADhAbhilAshiNAM ttle by 27 slokas. and hence become associates to the on become associates and hence Tham asthramAyAbhyaDhikAh dhAnavAh paryavarayan Prakatacchanna pAshandam koutilyAh thatprakrthi. The implication is thathva, born out of out of the mahath the Naraka is symbolic destruction of realization of truth. impediment to are comp The asuras surrounding Naraka Desika describes the ba rajo by the four kinds of army, rathaThe dust that was raised gaja, thuraga. whose being, a elephants, ca padhathi, that is, chariots, in as vision the Satthva and thamas become dust.which means both rajoguna and Also rajas denote rakshasas. a torrential shower of arrows There was concealing all the directions Lord was not at all affect by any calamity. From the bow of the Lo kavitharkika kesari. kesari. kavitharkika abhimAnodhithavyakthih iva ulbaNah ahamkAra niragAth narakAsurah mahatho dhaithyanagarAth like the manifestation Naraka looked (Yad.16-78) emerging out of the great mahath, city of emerging out of from the mountain and cut the sea of th witnessed the act of Krishna fixing the a of the arrows on the asura army. svabhAva niyathasthatra prayAsah suraSathrooNAm jAThyuttharam sadagopan.org

as criticismagainsthis opponentanditbe the argumentinadebate calledjAthyu The efforts oftheasurasto hurtothers (Courtesy:www.glimpseofkrishna.com) narakAsura vadam 142 tthara. Whenanoppo comes applicabletohis sideaswellit recoiled on them, says Desika, like recoiledonthem,says Desika, nent gives a reply areply gives nent

sadagopan.org , yAna also means srj , fighting, kshiptha yAnAsana , possessed of red vigraha samASraya , have allies and ments of going,Asana, yAna, to yogis because their fighting was was fighting to yogis because their those who have given up dhvaiDhee dhvaiDhee up those who have given c. They were cut into two and hence c. They were cut into two and d RuDhira, the word being split as sa vakravrtthi, crooked conduct like is the joint of the body and vigrahais the joint of the body and ira and lohithanga to the polity which has gone awry. The to the polity which also. in astrology He compares versed red with blood and hence lohithAnga, supposed to be bhouma, the son of the supposed to be bhouma, the son of the , peace-making, , peace-making, , cease-fire, 143 as they were prepared to lay down their down their prepared to lay as they were nce it secured him moksha. The asuras arence it secured him moksha. sanDhi g against sandhi and vigraha. g against sandhi and vigraha. like the gathi of a yogi which is that of no return which is that of a yogi like the gathi Asanam , created two halves of them. The word , created two halves of them. , fruitful because of their sincerity to serve their master. to serve their sincerity of their , fruitful because , creating rift between friends. The asuras were friends. The asuras were , creating rift between , given up, (kshiptha,) the move , given up, (kshiptha,) the asangathyakthavarshmaNah dhvaiDheebhAva visanDhivigrahAh, (sandh broken-limbed, means body), also meaning goin samASrayAh sitting and samASraya, against et leaning dhvaiDheebhAva srjah aresix limbs of statesmanship the enemy, marching against without life compared toabandon and hence they are their up werebhAva. Further the asuras compared give to is anaghavyavasAya that si fruitful also ia only yogi of effort The direction termed one in was lives and hence given up attachment gathi Their of their body, like the yogis. movement or returning back to their abode to this world again, aparAvarthana. The next sloka shows Desika to be well Naraka to Angaraka, Mars, who was also goddess of earth. Naraka was having Angaraka who was known to have vakravrtthi, that is, terrible powers like Saturn. Naraka became saruDhira, cove Angaraka was also calle red-limbed while he, Angaraka, was ruDhira, called Rudh body. The similarity is not finished yet. Desika says, (Yad.16-97) (Yad.16-97) jAthuttharam. is called kshipthayAnAsanasamASrayAh visanDhivigrahAh ivAbhavan srjo yoDhA dhurhnayasThA dhvaiDheebhAva the army of the asuras Desika compares sadagopan.org army, and the six limbs of statesmanship." the sixlimbsofstatesmanship." army, and power, goodcouncilofministersandpowerful manthra shakthis,thatisLordly that gotomakeBhagavAn) shakthi,thejas -the veerya, aisvarya, Lakshmi, BhooandNeeLa,withthes You aredeemedastheking ofkings, aDhirAjam aSeshasyajagadhuhthvAmji Thisrubhih shakthibhihuktha need nosupport. supported byYou.TheVedaspraiseYou "I amincludedamongYourmanifest aSeshADharam ekamthvAmanADhAramaDHeeyathe (Yad.16-112) vibhoothisthebh Aham asmi praised theLordthus: The choppedheadofNarakafellonthe beingasnake. and hascrookedmovement co nisarga, andofjihmagathi,crooked off theheadofRahu.Narakawasnisarg ramApathi todenoteKrishnaimplyingth Krishna cutoffhis headlikethatofRahu.Desika hereusestheterm luster andvanishes;thewordmoodaisused became mooDa, notknowingwhattodo Naraka movingclosetoKrishna(yadha (Yad.16-103) kramAth sambhavath mooDah prApya yAdhavbhAsvantham as thethreeshakthis ofaking,utsaha,prabhu and oothaDhathree thvayADhrthA m shAdguNyapraThithodhayam m shAdguNyapraThithodhayam 144 nduct asRahu,whowas calledThamas like AngarakanearingtheSun loses his six qualitiesthatareknownasbhagas ix aspectsofLordship,(jnana,bala, thAhitham (Yad.16-113) (Yad.16-113) thAhitham at He was the same Narayana whocut at HewasthesameNarayana athamah, fullofthamoguna bynature, who isthesubstratumofallwhileYou who va), whowasliketheSun, bhAsvan, ations. Isupportallbeings, being lap ofBhoodevi,hismother.Bhoodevi withYourthreeshakthis,namely, inthesenseofbecoming extinct. sadagopan.org vA (Yad.16-121) a bhrthya bhrthya bhrthyasyaa bhrthya bhrthya me as the servant of your servant of me as the servant of your servant as well as protect the universe by three gunas as by three ropes, (guna as by three gunas You and who can protect one who is You and who can protect one who is s virtues are like the milky ocean even ocean even milky are like the s virtues aih nivrthyathe (Yad.16-119) d reminds the lines in Mukundamala by lines d reminds the ee, probably to denote the seven times seven times ee, probably to denote the utes of satthva, rajas and thamas) can , the devotee of the devotee and those and , the devotee of the devotee xture of bhakthi and reminds the one in xture of bhakthi 145 sthrAtha thvath jighAmsitham blessed to attain moksha. yasyAsou thasya yasthayA 'thvathbrthyabrthya parichArak 'thvathbrthyabrthya bhrthya ithi mAm smara lokanATha'. Meaning: remember of the universe, "Oh the Lord degr the seventh your servant" etc. to to come. seven lives this: The sloka of Desika goes like Yasya thvam yasya hrdhyasthe na punah th nATha thvathpadham Aryhya he is dear to You, the one to whom who one whom you are dear, the to The one Youris dear, continuing abode never to return to all these like this, attain the Lord is the devotee of earth. That by them are all who are graced The next sloka is also of the same te KamasikAshtaka by Desika himself. Kasthavth angeekrtham hanthA ka Nihanthi pAthi cha ekasthvam svena viSvam pareNa Who can kill the one who is accepted by abandoned by You? You alone destroy is world The faces. their all with beings all by tasted be cannot which of drop a by Him dividinga garden created movables and it into immovables and He alone by the bound beings it. The can protect well as the three attrib means rope as Kulasekhara, Bhoodevi further praise the Lord that Hi the Lord that further praise Bhoodevi be released only by the Lord. by the be released only is steeped in bhakthi an The next verse sadagopan.org Thungam vihangamapathim thvarayA aDhirohan thvarayAaDhirohan Thungam vihangamapathim dhurgajalaDh erudhayAdhrikalpam Udhgamya The lastsloka isfullofpoeticbeauty. married themthere. on seeingKrishnawishedtomarryonlyhi Then KrishnaenteredthecityofNara afterhavingtheassura adieu toKrishna Then Bhoodevi gave back the earrings of Adhithi taken away by Naraka and bid there isno causeforsorrow. universe itselfaresubjectedtodestru destroys asThe Lordhasnoenemies, it is His duty to protecannihilated bytheLordHimselfwh beings areher childrenonly.Moreover Bhoodevi saidthatshehadnoattachment river. You,OhNrhari, thought Iresortto what istheuseofotherprotectors Where istheneedofotherprotectors Nrhare vegavatheethatASrayamthvAm Ithi nischithaDheeh SrayAminithyam kimanyaih rakshakaih Thvayi chaarakshathi Thvayi rakshathirakshakaihkimanyaih is, The parallelslokainkAmAsikAshtakam yourself orthroughothers. said Bhoodevibutthosewho ich ishisgoodfortune. t thedevotees.Allbeingsandeven 146 ka andacceptedthe16100 damselswho who resides on the bank of Vegavathi residesonthebankofVegavathi who y the Lord and now now hewascreated Lordand buythe when youforsakeus.Withthisfirm nce thatNarakawillgetsalvation. ction atonetimeorotherandhence when youarethereprotecting usand m. He sent them to Dvaraka andlater m. HesentthemtoDvaraka towardsNarakainparticularasall torment his devotees he torment hisdevoteeshe sadagopan.org de the lotuses of the faces of Apsara of the faces de the lotuses

147 damsels’ blossom. ullAsahethurabhavath yadhuveerabhAsvAn yadhuveerabhAsvAn ullAsahethurabhavath mountain eastern the from as vimAnikapraNayineevadhanAmbujAnAm Naraka of fort the from rose Sun, the Krishna, the back of Garuda, ma and traveling on sadagopan.org Here Desikaimplies thatKrishnaha on thered lip-likesprouts. teeth,shining seemedtobesmiling withthedewdropslike and kousthubha wearing thekousthubhagem.Thetree of LordNarayana,withLakshmi,whowas also bornfromthemilkyocean,and around itan With thekarpakacreeper flowers for worshipandbarkforausteregarment. body andthebarkwasshin leaves werelikeemeralds,theflowersof came outofthemilkyocean.Thesprout santhAna, kalpavrikshaandharichandhana.Thefifthwastheparijatawhich There werefourkinds oftreesin bees. and saidthatthecreepers dance tothe Krishna comparedthebeautyoffl instead ofhis1000eyes. exquisite thatIndraonseeing itused showed thebeautyofittoSathyabhama. return totheearth,sawnanadanava from them.Afterbeinghonored byIndr earrings ofAdhithiandtheumbrella Krishna traveledonGarudawithSath KRISHNA BRINGS PARIJATHA TREE TODVARAKA TREE PARIJATHA BRINGS KRISHNA KRISHNA BRINGSPARIJA KRISHNA BRINGS PARIJATHA TREE TODVARAKA TREE PARIJATHA BRINGS KRISHNA ing likegold.Thetree ca C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER s alreadywilledto take thetreeto 148

THA TREE TODVARAKA THA TREE to feelasthoughhehadonlyoneeye owers andcreeperstothatofBhama of Varuna,whichNarakaconfiscated the nandanavana, namely, mandhAra, the nandanavana,namely,mandhAra, yabhama toIndralokareturnthe tune ofthemusicbirdsand which wasasiblingofcrescentmoon thetreewerelikejewels worn onthe na, the celestial garden ofIndraand na, thecelestialgarden d withredsproutsitremindedone Desikasaysthatthegardenwasso s ofthetreewerelikerubies, 17 17 a and others Krishna, wishing to a andothersKrishna,wishingto 17

n providebeadsforjapa,

sadagopan.org bhAma is split as ghtful meaning as h made Indra forget the Indra forget h made and conveyed his intention, was and conveyed his svathi who graced Valmiki, knownsvathi who graced Valmiki, as be enjoyed later as he intended to as he intended later be enjoyed t with him over the tree. Krishna said over the tree. t with him though it was the breakfast before though it was e there were already the sankha and already e there were she wanted to take the she wanted to tree and plant mha. The word sathya with this tree Dvaraka would shine even with Dvaraka would shine even this tree ra and also the assembly hall was called was called ra and also the assembly hall are expecting him there, his eyes were there, him are expecting e suggestion of Krishna was accepted by e suggestion of Krishna was 149 e mouth of Sathyabhama to achieve this to achieve this e mouth of Sathyabhama ue wisdom and glory (ma meaning Lakshmi) and the power of His maya whic of His maya power the figh Krishna and rendered by great help rush to Dvaraka as all as he had to beauty of the tree as taking in the beauty will the full that journey, meaning He put words in th take it with him. Dvaraka, show may be, to end by saying that she looked as though end by saying it in her garden. He told her that along He told it in her garden. capital of Indra becaus more than the of Kube padma nidhis as in the capital sudharma after that of devaloka. In the next sloka Desika says that th Sathyabhama with joy. Ittham AdhikavinA sameerithA sA anvabhAvi kila sathyabhAmayA Samarasyamiva thEna jagmushee soukumAryasubhagA sarasvasthee the one who who is Adhikavi (because he was of the Lord, The speech is Sarainstructed Brahma, whose consort of Adhikavi) and which was sweet and soft front in welcomed by Sathyabhama with glee. stands he as Adhikavi swamin with a deli This sloka is explained by Utthamur called be to fit is (Yad.17-44) follows: says he himself, Desika kavithArkika si everyone else being the sathya+bhA+mA meaning tr the words of Desika, sarasvathi is enjoyed by those who have wisdom and glory. sadagopan.org K K The arrowsofIndra fell onGarudaand Krishna, whowasmore formidablethatthecloudsatdeluge. Indra whohadclouds ashisvehicle faced Krishnamegha, the cloud called kr 'bheeshaNapraLayameghasannibham as byDesika in battleisdescribed Krishna Indra facing implying thatonewho iscalledsath There isa punonthewordmanyutome the postofIndracouldbeattained chose onlyanger(andnotfears)the sathamanyunA mahAnAgrhee of Thechamatkara got angry. realizingthathecould Indra, without something unheardofearlie offth Hearing thatKrishnaiscarrying true( glory andwisdomwere by Valmiki,whoisthe Adhikaviandhi The sarasvathireferredcouldbetaken expl Utthamur swaminalsogivesanother tasted it. of asVinatha,mother him assoon ButitwastakenbackbyIndracondition thathe,shoulddoso. whofollowed and slavery ofKathru,hisstepmother for arryingoffamrtha.Garudacarriedaw khyAthakeerthih amrthApaharathah,meaningthathewasalreadyrenowned wings which werelikea bigforest his parijathatreeandhiditinside Garuda, instructedbyKrishna,uprootedthe fetched, isbeautiful. kavya wassungbyLavaandKuSa.This K RISHNA RISHNA RISHNA

SUBDUES SUBDUES SUBDUES I I I NDRA NDRA NDRA

r, Indrawasoverwhelmed by bhA chamAsath tha manasA abhyamanyatha tha manasA amanyu naturallygotangeronly. amanyu Desika isseeninsaying Garuda wasfreed,before theserpents word Sathamanyu denotes Indra because word SathamanyudenotesIndrabecause 150 s wordswereenjoyedbySeethawhose do nothingagainstthewillofLord, ishnamegham aThameghavAhanah' were reducedtoashes withthefireof by performing 100 Asvamedhayagas. byperforming100Asvamedhayagas. e parijathatreeonGaruda,whichwas mother ofthe serpents, wholaidthe anation thatreferstoRamayanakavya. as Ramayanakatha that was composed as Ramayanakathathatwascomposed meaning, though it may look far- . DesikareferstoGarudaas an angeraswellsacrifice,thus ay amrthatofreehismotherfrom yA yasyAh thayA bothfearand anger. '. ThemindofIndra 'manyureva ) whenthe , sadagopan.org vAhathAm vAhathAm n on the words, e planets, meaning , the serpents which formed which formed , the serpents de the arrows of Indra recoil on the de the arrows of Indra recoil a when Krishna took his chakra. All plied with the pu iot, nAga meaning the elephant, vAha iot, nAga meaning the elephant, y the devas because even though they they y the devas because even though t even though they were alive. Indra strong that they scattered the winds the winds strong that they scattered ee the effect of this act. Krishna of this ee the effect s and stars lose their luster going near were his dependents. The devas faced the ghee poured on the sacrificial fire sacrificial fire on the poured the ghee are not visible, the devas also reached a ed dhurdhaSA like th ion of returning it to Indra later. 151 shine more with them. with them. shine more overpowered with the poison of the serpents and serpents poison of the with the overpowered thunga pakshathi SathAnga and the gait of him, sapatthithA. The four kinds of army, namely namely army, of kinds four The sapatthithA. him, of gait the and his ornaments, bheemanAga, his stature as the vehicle of the Lord, denotes cavalry and patthi is the infantry. were The army of the devas was so the outgoing breath of Garuda to appeared Garuda because thus: Garuda fighting with the devas Desika describes thungapakshathiSathAngaSAlinah bheemanAgaghatithAkrtheh abhooth vahathah sapatthithAm vAhathAm cha surasainya yoDhinah sainyathA asya of kinds of army, his wings containing hundreds Garuda, was himself the four feathers, vahathah are im ratha, gaja thuraga padhAthi, ratha, char SathAnga, which also means Indra and ma that formed the armour of army of devas. How ever Krishna did not want to destro were under delusion at that time, they appropriated the vajra with the intent glory, tejas, of Garuda, and were like and were of Garuda, glory, tejas, extinction of their valour as the planet with trepidation to s beings waited the Sun. Desika saysthe Sun. Desika that they attain that as the evil planets rahu and kethu appeared to be extinc state when hey being defeated, again started attacking Krishna with the desire to retrieve the parijatha tree and wielded his vajr sadagopan.org Krishnawithfoldedhands. Then hestartedpraising identity ofKrishna),hisattachmentto and deridedhimselfthathe Indra realizedhis mistakeoffightingfor atreewiththeLord ofthe universe above. Thisisaninstanceof it is usually the objectbecame lighterwithhisdefe with more weightKrishna gainedmoreweightbyhis goes down and the likegemsof Krishna andIndralooked lighter one rises lAghavena chanathihthadhadhbhutham gouraveNa dhadhrSesamunnathih thulADhirooDayoh rathnayoriva yAdhavendhra vibudhendhrayohthadhA Desika explainstheresultofbattlethus: derision. Indra became ashamedofhishelplessness andSathyabhamalookedathimin

STORY OFKRISHNA STORY OFKRISHNA at andwentdown.Desikacallsitawonderbecause the chamathkAraofkavi. waslostduetohisforg 152 his possessions and arrogance ofpower. andarrogance hispossessions victory andreached equal weightplacedonthebalance and

- - ENDOF PART2 ENDOF PART2 etfulness (astothereal high while Indra high whileIndra

153 sadagopan.org

SrI KrishNa 154

sadagopan.org as though as h above the earth, on the on the h above the earth,

18 18 18 of pearls and the Meru in the centre the centre and the Meru in of pearls Ganges from heaven, like king having eternal souls always go round the Lord eternal souls

ng about them. This reminds oneof the 155 athandhritham pariyanthi ajasram HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER TRAVELLOGUE! TRAVELLOGUE! C TRAVELLOGUE! TRAVELLOGUE! C TRAVELLOGUE! TRAVELLOGUE! C the mount Meru in the nort , and possesses infinitely auspicious qualities. The mount Krishna traveled from IndralokaKrishna traveled to Dvaraka and showed her with Sathyabhama crossing explaini were they the places immortal kavya Megha dhutha of kalidasa. immortal kavya Megha dhutha He starts by showing her

was being showered by the water of the was being showered way from Devaloka. nisargakaLyANathayA pradheeptham sarvottharam thatthvam ivaikam Adhyam sarvottharam, always auspicious, nisarga amum priye noonam athandhrithAni all, of jyotheemshi bhakthyA pariyanthi ajasram north the in to the Lord who is the supreme reality, compared Meru is The mount sarvottharam thatthvam situated is Meru the Sun and the bodies like luminous The heavenly kalyANatha made of gold. being Moon go round it, always, deligently, with devotion, as the nithya sooris, the with devotion. The sky with the stars shone as the canopy to put that gems precious of caves in performed to him and the luminous bodies going round wereabhisheka doing abounds Meru The were. it as mangAlarathi shame those in the palaces of the dhikpalakas. sadagopan.org arms hardenedbythe blow of Vajraan Kailasa Mountainproclaimed thefameof rakshah purramasaravyamAseeth anenavikhyApitha vikramamthath paryApthasAreNa bhujArgaLAnAm udhagravajravraNakarkaSAnAm Desika herealludestotheincidentof Ravana movingthekailasa mountain. dance. the Ganges flowing from thereflection ofthesnow-clad head of Siva when he shakesKubera isalsosituatedthereandsh his head during his ash fallenfromthebodyofSiva whodanc autumn whicharewhiteincolourandimagin They were approachingMountKailasand in avehicle withhigh speed. mountains withforests comenear seemto ThemovementofGarudawa moved fast. ascends abovethecloudslookedliketh flying high andlow like have horse-faceandthelatteraremusici Himalayas, whichwas inhabitedbythe IlAvrtha, TibetandwasnearingtheKimp Harivarsha thatisthemodernArabia andKimpurus IlAvrthavarsha, Harivarsha Next Krishnadescribesthethree the Lord. was likethe centreoftheflower. The ea Krishna showedtoBhamahowtheearthit a jetplanetoshowthepl mountain peaks and it is enhanced by the waves of 156 d wholaterfellforthe arrowofRama. kimpurushas andkinnaras.Theformer ine asthoughwhite-washedbythe whichissituatedtothesouthof Ravanawhomovedit withhistwenty e fansforthedivine coupleasthey havarsha. Garudawasflyingoverthe Krishna compared it to the clouds of Krishna comparedittothecloudsof ans of celestial heritage. Garuda was ans ofcelestialheritage.Garudawas es in the pradhoshakala. Theplaceof es inthepradhoshakala. s so smooth that the earth and the thattheearthands sosmooth the self lookedlikea urushavatrsha that is the slopes of urushavatrsha thatistheslopesof themandrecedeas rth itselfrevolves likeachakra of regions of theearth,namely, es that it is the heap of the sacred aces belowandwhenhe lotus andtheMeru whenwetravel sadagopan.org d so the swans come in river and let let he drank the river and s are flying with ease and it looked in in which Parasurama made a hole hara mountain which was churned by s at that time reined by BaNAsura, BaNAsura, by reined time that at s ma by saying that it had dark middlema by saying that Nithapura where the asuras like Nithapura where the asuras part and red at places due to the red places due to the red part and red at o used to wear dark garment with a o used to wear e greatness of Kailasa, which he could which he could of Kailasa, e greatness owers of the parijatha resembled the owers of the parijatha resembled aying mrdhanga with his 1000 arms. Then 157 Bhagirtha which was why Ganga acquired MAnaSA Lake in Kailas an ma of he sage Jahnu and and Jahnu sage he of ma hamsadhArAh to Siva it due under were caught his hands because though tried not move vanquish such a could toe and also the glory of Rama who pressing his big all brought out. valiant hero, are the mountain to Balara Krishna compared upper white in the and due to the trees By this slokaBy this th of Ravana, the strength sand of the mountain like Balarama wh Balarama like mountain the of sand red with wine. eyes and his white body beauty. is full of poetic The next sloka niSamya dhivyadhrumasambhavAnAm noonam ravam noopuramanjareeNAm amee thvAm uddeeyamANAh pratyanthi manjusvarAh mAnasa of fl The sound made by the cluster with his arrow and through that whole swan like the Ganges coming out of the ear of Jahnu. (Ganga when following following when (Ganga sound of the swans of the Jahnu. of front as though honouring them. ear the of So city Next they neared the of out Hiranayakasipu and which wa were ruling by pl the son of Bali, who pleased Siva coming Krishna pointed out the Krouncha Mounta Ganges the like Bhagiratha flooded the asra by requested as ear left his of out it the name Jahnavi.) Krishna showed to Sathyabhama the Mant The poetic imagination runs riot in this of Desika the devas to get amrtha. sadagopan.org your heartherabode thatshedirectshe an actofselfishness butfor thesake That Youhavetakensomuchtroubleto chakarTha thasyAhkhaluni karuNekshaNenakarothi yAjaganmangalam evanasvArTham Thadhapi thavakaruNA krtham SreeprApthyarTham evayadhimahadhAYAsam share withthedevotees. (Reading theslokaofYamunathis arose inthemindwhichIwould liketo itfullofmercy. in Hisheartandmade Lord wantedLakshminotfor Himselfbu for Himself. Apartfromthemeaningina lightervein,thismaymeanthatthe churn theoceannotforsecu (Yad.18-30) in hissthothrarathnawherehesaysth the words' speed ofthemountainbeing churnedin Krishna furthersaidthatthewhirlpoolsofseastandasmarks ArdhrAh suDhAbinDhubhihasyakootAh ayathnaSANopalathAmapushyan vikunTa keyoorajushAmmaNeenAm Vilagna dhaithyeSvaraSoNithAnAM metrical beauty. the mouthofKrishna Himselfaddstheve churned andhencetheyacte the dropsofnectarfellonthem were stainedbytheblood chapter andhedescribesth lakshmeesuDhAsanjananAya vAsam thavahrdhayam of theasuras,becamepolishedandshiningdueto at thegemsonorna d asthepolishingstonesforgems.This from ring amrthatothedevasbutonlygetLakshmi 158 ', remindsoneofthe wordsofYamuna when the peaks of the mountain were when thepeaksofmountain order to get amrtha and Lakshmi. Here Lakshmi. order togetamrthaand of theworldbecause You havemade t fortheworld because shetook place churn the ocean to get Lakshmi if nit churntheoceantogetLakshmi at theLordtooksomuchtroubleto hemence and the sloka is also oneof hemence andtheslokaisalso r mercifulglancesto allandcauses ments oftheLordwhich sadagopan.org Krishna describes as the second Siva the second Siva describes as Krishna

159

the welfare of the world.) of the world.) the welfare Thus they reached the Himalayas which Himalayas which reached the Thus they Himalayas by Desika can only be compared to that of Kalidasa in his his in Kalidasa of that to compared be only can Desika by and it forms the Ganges and resorted to by the siddhapurushas because it has of Bharathavarsha. The description of the to the land ornamental boundary Himalayas devotion. and it excels by the aura of kumarasambhava sadagopan.org are onlyHismanifestations. svayam khalu not doHiswork,namelytheprotection karmacheth aham' This hasreferencetotheGItasloka world because ofyourwilltospreaddharma." waking up of"The the Lord of yadhavas! whole Give up your sleep. world. When you open your eyes it willDharmapravarthanDhiyA DharaNeethalethva You be the have manifestedjAthah svayamkhalujagathhithamevakarthum yourself to lokam unmesham icchathithavonmishithena do good to the yAminyapaithi yadhunAThavimunchanidhrAm intellect, wasclosinghislotus-likeey whoisalwaysawake,Krishna, saysDesika, nithyaprabuddha,withhisdivine the eighty slokaswillbeexplained here. ofthewaking The wholeadhyayaconsists who normallywakeup thekingbytheirsongofpraise. a was awakenedbythevedasthemselves against Banathenextdayan Krishna onhearingabouttheimprisonme indicates thattheseeming birthsof , in which the Lord says that the worlds will collapse if He does KRISHNA WAKENED BY THE VEDAS KRISHNA WAKENED BY THE VEDAS KRISHNA WAKENED BY THE VEDAS d spentthenightinhispa C C C HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER es as thoughhewassleeping. oftheworldbeings.ThewordsjAthah 160

ssuming the role of vandhis, the bards roleofvandhis,the ssuming the 'uthseedheyuh ime lokAhna kuryAm up ofKrishna.Themeaningsome nt of Aniruddha de nt ofAniruddha (Yad.19.2) m 19 19 19

the Lord as Krishnan, Rama etc. the LordasKrishnan,Rama etc. lace. Onthedaybreak he

cided toadvance sadagopan.org , in that rs the ocean which rs oka along with the 'kozi azaitthana kAN' long is going to vanish and the Sun to vanish and the Sun going long is (Yad.19.13) devoid of the stars like the body of devoid of the ur at the end of the churning of the ur at the end d hue of the rising Sun in the dark dark d hue of the rising Sun in the e milky ocean that were splattered on e milky ocean e entering of the Moon in to the ocean e end of eclipse when all waters are Ganges. The Moon is referred to as 161 am agryam (Yad.19.7) that the Sun is hidden when the thamas, e with white rays. The poetical fancy continues e with white rays. The poetical fancy continues This reminds of the line His body fell off. His body fell off. and play their loud cry come out of the houses The cocks with red crown with to the joy of the damsels. His original colo regained the Lord which when, the drops of th ocean for nectar Thiruppavai pasuram of Andal. Prathyakshithe thamasi yAsyathi viprakarsham jeevaloke bhAnumathi samprathi Sanccahnna gangAyamAnasalilam nijaraSmiyogAth sishNAsyeva upaithi sinDhum sithabhAnuh Santhyajyathe tharalamoukthikajAladhrSyaih tharalamoukthikajAladhrSyaih Santhyajyathe thamAlaneelam thridhaSavarthma thArAgaNaih amrtha nirmaThanAvasAnepadhmApatheh iva roop dhugDhAmburASiprshathaih The sky regains its blue colour becoming The sky regains The darkness that perceptible so has been has been made white by his rays as though he wishes to take bath in the the in bath take to wishes he though as rays his by white gs and the Moon ente all bein of view is still hidden from the made been has here is Ganges. The implication considered to be as pure as the the as pure as be to is, Rahu is present during eclipse. So th is compared to the bath taken at th considered sithabhAnu, which means on got has who Sun the of wife the personifies the dawn as further when Desika like a good wife and the re up earlier hair. morning is the mark of Sindhoor at the parting of her dark to the forefront in the following sl comes The philosopher sadagopan.org also chakrapriya,fond ofhischakra,an bodies byhislightand heisdeartoth (Yad.19.35) action. Heisworshipped bythe good.He bhooDhara mountainsbyhisrays,padha, The Sunwhenrisenisli chakrapriyah thvamivasamprthichandabhAnuh thejogaNANapithirasuruthe svadheepthyA satthvam sameDhayathisadhbhihudheerithArGhyah dhiSathibhoomibhrthAmprakASam pAdhasprSAM theasuras. rising uptodelightthegoodanddestroy destroying thedarknessislikelightbrillianceofchakra oftheLord, The light oftheSunstartingfromeastwakingupflowers and birds(thewordraThAngaalsomeanschakrayudha). chakravaka red colourbody, welcomed bythesageswhogotup inthe morning, accompaniedbythe ofopening, the colouroftheindheevara flow the dawnThe dawn iscomparedtotheLordwi like (Yad.19.18) thatthree gunas, whichare describedasred,whiteandblack, before creation. of earth, black.Itresemblestheprkrthiorprimalnaturewhichconsistsof the causativeelements oftheuniverse is redwithAruna,dawn,whiteMoonan The timeofthemorning, mAyAvipakthih ivalohitha SuklakrshNA AbhAthi bhAvithaparasparleSayogA prApthAruNena viDhunAthamasAchavela prAdhurbhavishyathi charAcharjanthuvarge poet. before themoveableandi ke Krishnahimselfbecause hegives lighttothe 162 e chakravakas, chakrapriyah. Krishnais e chakravakas, Lakshmi andwithrathAnga,thatis d giveslightofknowledge tothekings d the darkness still remaining, is like d thedarknessstillremaining,islike , namely, fire, red, water, whiteand , namely,fire,red,water, th lotuses blossoming likeHiseyes th lotusesblossoming make theendeavourgrowbyinducing eclipses the glory of other luminous ers shininglikethedarkblueofHis mmovable beingswokeup, sadagopan.org also is achieved make us meditate nissreyas is both Sun destroyed the Sun destroyed SamaDhi to the forefront in the following to the forefront in the good actions flourish and worshipped and worshipped flourish good actions to Sri Narasimha and Sri Varaha. He samADhi or realization. He wakes up scued by the Sun like the time when by the Sun like the time scued ter by the wise who ter by the wise reality resulting in moksha. Here the reality resulting in moksha. Hiranyaksha and was brought out by Hiranyaksha and was brought norance which makes the individual soul who manifested suddenly and tore the who manifested e darkness and the e darkness and ay the darkness. The earth which was ay the darkness. The earth 163 the individual soul and ough in a dream and then creating awareness in the the sins being removed by the association of the good by the association of the removed being sins the means the west and also means the west and worldly welfare as well as moksha. are ever who are compared to the benefactors getting up The elephants prathyak after first dispelling the darkness of ig sleep in worldliness, as th of the perception causing self and then sloka. dhrSo niroDham nidhrAm apAsya thamasA cha praThayan prakASam prathangmukham praThamathah DhAmnA niSSreyasa prathipadhena nijena vivasvANviSvam samADhiriva dharSayathi state of Desika compares the Sun to the the light to the west and then the sleeping, dispels the darkness, spreads the world. the welfare of shows himself and causes on the Lord. now makes reference Desika the baktha Sun is like Narasimha says that the aw body of Hiranyakasipu in tearing long is re immersed in the darkness for by the sea the earth was immersed in Varaha. coming Now we see the vedanthacharya some of rest. This is like la are destroyed sins of the and the rest bhooDhara, who resort to him, makes the to him, makes who resort bhooDhara, by the good. good. by the removed partAruna, the dawn of th sadagopan.org Aniruddha. Aniruddha. The nextadhyayadescribe s thedefeatofBana an fromhislotuseyes. towards them from hisbedliketheadhiseshaandca up toget ofthemorningbardsentreatedKrishna After alongdescription receiversofthegifts. towards the the elephants gettinguparecompared to The beeswhichhover aroundthemareli always coveredwithrutlikethewaterflowing fromthevesselusedfordhAna. engaged intheactof givinggiftstoothers.Thetrunks oftheelephants are thanks-Ananth Padmanabhan([email protected]) Meditating on Him destroys our sins Meditating onHimdestroysour vedasreni kannan- 164 ke thosewhoareaskingforgiftsand therespectful gestureofthe donors st hishoney-like d themarriageofUsha and

merciful glances sadagopan.org

bore the earth bow

20 20 20 it seemed that the direction, ASA, ASA, it seemed that the direction, cal powers to find him and bring him. him and bring find cal powers to ran away in fear seeing the force of that her burden is going to be less, to to less, be to going is burden her that were married secretly. Bana coming to to coming married secretly. Bana were l of BANa.so huge that The army was GE OF USHA AND ANIRUDDHA GE OF USHA AND ANIRUDDHA with all their force and Bana himself GE OF USHA AND ANIRUDDHA g informed of this by Narada Krishna by Narada Krishna of this g informed

w Aniruddha in her dream and asked 165 e made Adhisesha who HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C shortly. The dust that rose above looked like the shortly. The dust that rose lowered. But the earth bore it patiently knowing that lowered. But the DEFEAT OF BANA AND THE MARRIA DEFEAT OF BANA AND THE MARRIA DEFEAT OF BANA AND THE MARRIA itself advanced in front with desire, ASA, to welcome Krishna. The flag of the the of down with it with his hoods flag The her burden would be lessened Krishna. the good news earth itself ascending to tell welcome to ASA, Brahma. desire, with front in very quickly that Krishna reached SoNithpura advanced itself city shook with the speed of the wings of Garuda carrying Krishna. The bhoothas of Siva who guarded the city came out with anger. charya sees the philosophical meaning how the vedantha The following sloka shows fighting. even in asrkcchatAsAravaSAth DhvajinyAh rajassamethe thamasi praSAnthe decided to and march against Bana bring Aniruddha back. Krishna started he capita for SoNithapura, one plac of it converged in the weight Balarama. The yadhavas attacked the city Usha, the daughter of Banasura, sa Usha, the daughter Chitralekha her friend who possessed of magi Chitralekha her and Aniruddha Chitralekha did so and Usha Bein know of this imprisoned Aniruddha.

sadagopan.org eloquence. tolerate themeaningful wordscoming kavithaarkika kesaricomparesittoth the bowSarngaofKrishnawasinto lerable for theasuras.Here by the wind from the wingsBana thenfoughtwithhisthousandar of Garuda. The shower of arrows that camesent JrmbhaNAsthrawhichinduced sleep toRudra. from of SivawasoverpoweredbyKrishnawi ofSkandhawasquelledbyPrdhyumnaandthejvara(amissile) shakthyayaudha on Himalayasduetohisgoldencolour describedas Rudra was (Bana didpenanceonSivaandacquire Then Rudra who was guarding the fortress of Bana came to fight with Krishna. init-(Utthamurswamin). Lord andrevel thushyanthi charamanthicha' Gitacharya says,' that allis, theysee everything asequal beca this is 'pandithAh samadharsinah', Brahman.The word' They meetand createsjoy. samsara,thesatthvagu hatred towards thamas, impliesthatwhen mutualjoy. creating satthvAnuroopam, lightshowedthefightbe blood, the The darkness,thamas,createdbythedust, rajas,wasremovedbytheflowof prakASah sammukhayan samAn miThah pramodham vidhaDhe satthvAnuroopam samAn bodhayanthah parasparam ka bodhayanthah parasparam ' meanspeopleofequalwisd 'sithAchalemerum ivajvalantham' 'sithAchalemerum the gunas - rajas andth thegunas-rajas with theview'sarvamkhaluidhambrahma They talktoeachothe d him as his guard and protector). d himashisguardandprotector). 166 use theyare endowedwiththewisdom ms but all his missiles were deactivated ms butallhismissileswere The useof the wordssattva,rajasand and mounted onth andmounted each othertothemutualdelightas e situationwhenth na enablesthemeeting oflike-minded th his Vaishnava jvara.ThenKrishna th hisVaishnava out of a kavi who hasinfallible outofakaviwho tween warriorsofequalstrength, Thayanthah cha mAm nithyam chamAmnithyam Thayanthah om, assaidinthegita, amas areremoveddueto r aboutthegloryof , shininglikea Meru e ignorantdonot e white bull.The e white ', that sadagopan.org 'bhrthyabhAvi 'bhrthyabhAvi SAkhaikadheSeshu SAkhaikadheSeshu 'kim va viDhou vairiNi'kim va viDhou the Vedas. Rudra said that on fighting with his rest of the on fighting with ed against him due to arrogance. ed against him due to arrogance. earlier that he will not kill the that he will not kill earlier ys Desika, is life which gave their nt of the Vedas. Having him as the the as him Having Vedas. the of nt at since Bana was a devotee of Rudra at since Bana eat fame like a large amount of money. of money. amount like a large eat fame as well and granted him the boon that rden of the earth and is known for his of the earth and is known rden ant. Here Appayyadhikshitha quotes up his hatred and became the servant to stop the havoc created by Bana with created by Bana to stop the havoc ishna may kill him Rudra intervened and ishna may kill him Rudra intervened s two consorts Lakshmi and Bhoomi and s two consorts Lakshmi and 167 him the boon. Desika says, him the boon. my of yadhavas and cut off the extra armsmy of yadhavas of Bana . When the Lord Himself becomes the enemy who can save the who the enemy Himself becomes . When the Lord , like birds on the branches of , like birds on the branches

Those who were killed in the battle, sa in the battle, who were killed Those worthless as an interest and received gr and received as an interest worthless Finally Krishna took his chakra on hand took his chakra Finally Krishna his thousand arms in the ar who gave in front of Rudra kena rakshyam' offender?' not to be stopped and went But Bana was though Kr arms and when it looked as descendents of his devotee) Rudra praised Krishna as the Brahman who is the creator, protector and embodime annihilator and Garuda is the Brahma and Rudra are appointed the vedas. of essence the Lord is the vehicle and all the devas are like by him to do their work SakunthkalpAh the bu Krishna has incarnated to lessen like hi mercy and patience which are who has sinn requested him to pardon Bana Krishna pardoned Bana and told Rudra th the devotee of Krishna he has become live to play his mrdhangam to please Rudra. he will in marriage and Bana repenting agreed to give his daughter Usha to Aniruddha as a serv prayed to be considered reminded Krishna that Bana was the son of Mahabali and should be protected protected be should and Mahabali of son the was Bana that Krishna reminded promised Prahladha had (as he by him the becomes bride the of clan the says he where Kalidasa of Raghuvamsa Janaka says in Raghuvamsa, servant of the bridegroom. ' (RV-11.89) But in ' (RV-11.89) dhuhithuh parigrahAth veekshyathAm kula idham nimerithi actuality this may mean that Bana gave sadagopan.org returned to Dvaraka withUshaandlivedhappily. returned toDvaraka becamesuitedtohisname, Aniruddha of theLord. 168

being released from imprisonment and being released fromimprisonment sadagopan.org

ke Krishna and was ke Krishna

21 21 21 ctory to the yadus and responsible disguise etc. proclaimed that he he that proclaimed etc. disguise Poundraka to Krishna. He said that ould listen to him for his own benefit. benefit. ould listen to him for his own the messenger had spoken is given by the messenger had spoken is ts of Hari belonged to his early lives. ts of Hari belonged to his early The very words which were said to The very words which were and sent a messenger to Krishna who and sent a messenger to Krishna an object of ridicule and pity for the an object of ridicule and pity first, before conveying the command of the command first, before conveying commentary of Appayya dhikshitha was commentary of Appayya dhikshitha dressed and acted li

e supremacy of Poundraka seems to imply f Vasudeva and madef Vasudeva and for himself the 169 t of Krishna in a brazen manner. t of Krishna in a brazen manner. HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER rusha and the lord of the earth. C C C 'niSchaleekrtha hithAhithaseemnA jishNunA yadhukulasya 'niSchaleekrtha hithAhithaseemnA ' which means "by you who wishes vi who wishes "by you ' which means THE EPISODES OF POUNDRAKAVASUDEVA, SALVA AND OTHERS THE EPISODES OF POUNDRAKAVASUDEVA, SALVA AND OTHERS THE EPISODES OF POUNDRAKAVASUDEVA, SALVA AND OTHERS that Krishna should win him to guard the limits of dharma through the chamatkara of the kavi. Then the messenger conveyed the command of indicate the importance of accepting th indicate the importance of The king of Poundraka called himsel of Poundraka The king panchayuDha of the Lord, srivatsapanchayuDha and extra arms like kousthubha and two of magic, Krishna and through the gimmicks the exploi and himself is the real Vasudeva a costume he Thus like an actor wearing praised byas such his courtiers became wise. own importanceHe became drunk with his the cour went to Dvaraka and spoke in slokas which The commentary for the four Sri Srinivasagopalacharya as the original slokas. available only for the subsequent own on his The messenger advised Krishna Poundraka Vasudeva. He said that Krishna sh The messenger said, vibhoothyai for maintaining the boundary of dharma."

Poundrka Vasudeva is the supreme pu sadagopan.org knows everythingHe welcomestheoppo words ofPoundraka is beneficialand yadhbraveeshichiralipsitham ethath', thava manye Krishna laughedandrepliedsarcastically saying himself. Saying thusPoundrakademandedKrishn Eventhoughonecommitssindue to 4. Onewhowishes forpower notdu 3. Thetheftoftheselfisworstkind 2. Onewho forgets thatheisdependentontheLordandconsidershimselfas 1. The ideasoutlinedin theslokasareasfollows: himself. Considering thatthesearethewordsof follows: scripturePoundrak As devilquotingthe paraphernalia ofshanka,chakraetc. the supremepurushaandKrishnashoulda one whosecuresreleasefrombondage.Po onewhowasboundbyth and alsothe theordinaryindividuals andsinlike bymerit alsobound Supreme Lord.Heis supreme Lord.Hence thereis novalid deitiesdescribedintheVe are somany Krishna couldnotbetheSu out ofit. self belongs toyouwhenitis king. the Lordwillbepunished likeaservantwhoactsasthe preme Lord butonly avass thepropertyofLord. e tohimwillcomeharm. 170 e gopisforhismisdeedscannotbethe desired foralongtime. AstheLord destiny with discrimination hecanget destiny withdiscrimination rtunity providedbyPOundraka forhis Desika itseemstoreferPoundraka authority for holding Krishna as the authority forholdingKrishnaasthe a should surrender in order to save a shouldsurrenderinordertosave a byfourslokasadvisesKrishnaas das butnooneisconsideredasthe undraka proclaimedthathealonewas ccept hissovereigntyandgiveup ofsinthatis,toconsiderthe 'paThyam adhyavachanam which meansthatthe al ofPoundraka.There sadagopan.org 'parasmAth parah' parah' 'parasmAth rough the messenger rough the messenger e king of Kasi who was his associate that it is indeed the great fortune that it is indeed the great ng I) dependents we (I) do not have ng I) dependents we (I) do beside him like the twin trees that form of advice I will show my status status my show will I advice of form ans both gait and the status attained ers, being the servants of Ugrasena.ers, being the servants of imitating the appearance of Krishna of Krishna imitating the appearance of the Supreme Lord as the word para of the Supreme Lord as the you as our lord and master." Butyou as our lord and master." the the real worth of Krishna and thethe real worth of Krishna e eesvara because I know that I am the then sent word th 171 'anvabhooth kila gathim cha thadheeyAm'. superior to the supreme, me to see Poundraka. that he sent word to them like this, meaning, it is good that he created an an created he that good is it meaning, this, like them to Krishna said also means an enemy. Further word sent he that to know opportunity for the world look upon Now hearing your advice we army fierce selves, who have the individual all actual meaning is “since are our (meani (ugrasena) of sense organs, (Ia mistaken notion that we are am) th in the eesvara. Now due to your offense as eesvara to you." is Krishna said that Poundraka the enemy which really means that he is Krishna insignificance of Poundraka. co that they will themselves Krishna advanced against Poundraka and th Krishna uprooted in his childhood. Desika says that Poundraka was only got his gait, earlier but now also own punishment. own punishment. ethe ugrasenabhrathakAayam vibhramanthah ithi na eeSithAra samprathi thvadhupadheSa mahimnA eeSvarabhAvam bhAvayemahi thava of this sloka is, meaning The literal as mast consider ourselves "We do not and destroyed them and them both fell on the word gathi which me There is pun after death. sadagopan.org describes thedhikvijaya Krishna theninduced Ugrasenatoarrangefordhikvijayaandthenextchapter born asSisupalaandDhanthavakra. killedby was bornforthreebirthstobe who wastheotherdvarapalaka ofvaikunta Desika brieflymentions thedestruction to thedaughterofDuryodhana) it startedfallingin the Ganges. Theel andinsultedthem, the conciliatorywords topunishDu arrested himandBalarama, wonthedaughterofDuryodhanaJamabhavathi andDuryodhana insvayamvara city ofHasthinapura intotheGanges Balarama hitthemonkeywithhisplough and entering theplacewhere tothewo causingdestruction and started and oneof themcalled Dhvividha(the There were twomonkeysamongthosewhohelpedRamaintheprevious yuga securing mukthiforthe devotees. theLordwanted asthough that itlooked those whosentitandthesudarsanaburn chakradrovethede and hissudharsana of Kasisentademonproducedfrom soochanam Desikamentionsas game, which After thisKrshnawentbacktoDvarak

', beingthesignof Mahabharat oftheyadhavas. he wasenjoying himselfitstartedirritatinghim. 172 ders intervenedandSamba wasmarried and killedit.(OnceSambha thesonof

yajna. Krishnawasplayingunperturbed other wasMaindha)becamecorrupted with which heonce draggedthewhole mon awayanditwentdestroyed a andoncewhenhewasplayingdice to purify the city and make it fitfor topurifythecityandmakeit theLord.Inthisbirthtwowere of Dhanthavakra, king of Salvas and ofSalvasand of Dhanthavakra,king t thewholecityofKasi.Desikasays ryodhana, when he did not listen to to listen whenhedidnot ryodhana, cursedbythesagesSanakaetc.and dragged thecitywithhisploughand dragged 'bhAvibhArathamahAhava siddheh rld andcametofightwithBalarama ha war later,thesonofking ha war sadagopan.org avas and Pandavas

epts with obstinacy and epts dharma and the duty of dharma and the ainst the vedas, meaning

22 22 22 is to avoid pitfalls, said Krishna and is to avoid pitfalls, said Krishna sasthra. Here the KavithArkika simha dhurahankara, all good which destroys e dhurahankara is the life force of the rd has given neethi sasthra a lamp called nquer all except Kour three kinds of friends to be handled THE CONQUEST THE CONQUEST THE CONQUEST

told they should march against them that - arrogance born out of ego as the one who arrogance - - rned umbrella which will not protect from not protect rned umbrella which will 173 HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER they cling to their conc C C C of Philosophy that are ag dharma. He gave a lecture on dharma. He gave THE DHIGVIJAYA THE DHIGVIJAYA THE DHIGVIJAYA THE DHIGVIJAYA THE DHIGVIJAYA THE DHIGVIJAYA Krishna called the allies of yadhavas and Krishna called those who shun the path of those who shun those who uphold it. In the night called indiscrimination the Lo

which helps one to avoid stepping into the mire of adharma and it serves as the the as serves it and adharma of mire the into stepping avoid to one helps which who go down. hand of the Lord to rescue those an uptu is like The advice of the wicked the rain of calamities. of the good To walk along the beaten track told them to march into the world to co told them to march into the (because Krishna had other plans for them!) for them!) had other plans (because Krishna Krishna advised them to discard false ego, to the world and conduct and is contrary says through the words of Krishna that th pAshandamatha, the schools Buddhism and Jainism, because arrogance. Krishna cautioned them to be careful of is at the cliff-top is wary of falling down. are like The body, mind and intellect properly. sadagopan.org Krishna toldthemtogiveupsevenills sampatthyajayathadh angasapthaka pramAdhasapthakam thyakthv and allies. army aspects ofakingdomare,Theking,ministers,country,fort,treasury, viptthipratheekAra, antidoteforcalami right apportioningoftimeandplace, of ensuringsuccess,dhesakAlavibhAga, The fivelimbsmentionedhereare,sa to establishthesevenaspectsof poison istakenout.Likethemanthrato The prosperity itself is like a cobra andtobeuprooted prosperity which can be worn onhave the body when the faith Krishna furthersaidthattobelievethose whoareeasilyexcitableandnot in thosehim andbygiftsdependingonwhichkindoffriendheis. whoimpress afriend,by welcominghimfrom loverelation whoisfriendlybecause ofthe you,heart. Mithraistheonewhofriend both hasfriendshipwithoutreasonandoutofgoodness Gita. Suhrdisonewho are likeThis hasreferencetothewordssuhrd, thorns in your path to The sevenlimbsofkingdom ha punishment, The sevenmeans-sama andcruelpunishment assassination The sevenills-Hunting,dice,wome the sevenislands.seven limbsofthekingdom overpower mAyA deluding, , peace,dhana upekshA a prayujyopAyasapthakam a prayujyopAyasapthakam ve beenmentioned earlier. the kingdom to bring prosperity. the kingdomtobring veepasapthakam (Yad.22.29) (Yad.22.29) veepasapthakam , indifferenceand 174 , employthesevenme hAya, assistance,sADhanopAya,means hAya, removethepoisontherearefivelimbs , gift, relation ship. There are three ways to relation ship.Therearethreewaysto ly withapurposeandbanDhuisthe mithraandbanDhumentionedinthe ties and siddhi, su andsiddhi, ties n, drink,harshspeech, character a distance,byopeningyourheartto bhedha , creatingrift, indhrajAla, ccess. Theseven ccess. ans, acquiringthe magic. magic. dhanda , sadagopan.org al enemies namely, namely, enemies al , hereditary, from , hereditary, , of Krishna, which was sprouts, the youth is the sprouts, the youth s when necessary and the his men and the sword is , sweet as well as beneficial s his advice and starts talking about s his advice and starts talking sarasvathee ass immutable wealth in the form of in the form ass immutable wealth quering all the places in the west he fruit. The life ebbs away whether you you ebbs away whether fruit. The life priyahithA has to win his intern has to win his d Nandhaka. Sathyaki Like the sword out which nothing is of any use. which nothing out SAlmali, kuSa, krouncha, SAkha and and SAkha kuSa, krouncha, SAlmali, and by enemy's enemy. But the most enemy. and by enemy's ke a second Krishna for the Dhikvijaya. x kinds of strength x the treasures from the neethi sasthra 175 mentioned between them are, mentioned between them are, - gives away the treasure tree. The childhood is the tree. The childhood – Sathyaki is surrounded by , fragrant of the Vedas, - winning the enemy. - winning the enemy. parivAreNa sampannah also covered with the scabbard. thyakthakoSah kAryathah The life is like movable The life is like conclude and dharma sasthra. Now Krishna pleases him and the similarities need si they Next etc. Kama krodha thatservants, army, given by friend, is the inner strength with important one dharma is the the sanathana flower and should am So one are awake or sleeping. spiritual discipline. out So long Desika has been handing his generals like Sathyaki. to his swor Krishna compares Sathyaki sword leaves its scabbard when needed. Sathrujith All of them drank thirstily the words, SruthisoursbhA and pariSuddhA, pure. Then Sathyaki started with his army li He subdued the regions of Gujarath, Persia, Mathyadhesa and the adjacent ones, and fought the yavanas. Thus con The seven dhveepas – jambu, plaksha, dhveepas The seven pushkara. pushkara. rule the earth first one To conquer and sadagopan.org victorious. victorious. regions surrenderedtotheruleofKris andenjoyedthesanctity pandya kingdoms ocean, seeingthedevoteesofNarayanathere. Thenhewent impressed byitwhichresembledSvetha Andhra whichsurrendered,hewentto Ta and conqueredBengalth Kashmir. Then heover powered theHimalayan regionandadvancedtoNepal advances towardsnorthwestandwonov e regions intheeastwonoverKalingaandthrough 176

hna and sathyaki returnedtoDvaraka hna andsathyaki er theregions ofSind, kambojaand milnadu. Enteringinto Kanchi andwas dhveepa, at the centre of the milky dhveepa, atthecentreofmilky there. Kerala and Ceylon andallthe tothecholaand sadagopan.org , Pandavas , Pandavas

'macchitthA 'macchitthA 'priyo hi jnAnino 'priyo hi jnAnino led to the mahabharatha led to the mahabharatha

23 23 23 They knew Krishna as he is in reality in reality knew Krishna as he is They nning her in the game of dice and she, nning her in the game ced Droupadhi in the court of kings, ced Droupadhi in the court of kings, as of the earlier kalpas. They resorted as of the earlier kalpas. They and accepted Him as their master and as their master and accepted Him Thus Pandavas were dear to Krishna as Thus Pandavas were dear to t her cried for help to Krishna who t her cried for help to Krishna who is the dearest and they are dearest to is the dearest and they are and poison when Dhuryodhana plotted to am long with his brother Dhussasana and

tors and through the study of the Vedas.tors and through the study aps of silks to guard her honour. 177 HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER . (Yad.23.3) (Yad.23.3) . Him, as mentioned Gita, in the In the Gita Krishna says, In the Gita Krishna says, C C ' and 'jnAnee thu Athmaiva me matham' C MAHABHARATHA WAR WAR MAHABHARATHA MAHABHARATHA WAR WAR MAHABHARATHA MAHABHARATHA WAR WAR MAHABHARATHA aces the circumstances that aces the circumstances owing to the instructions of their precep of their owing to the instructions 'mamaprANA said very dear to Krishna who hi pAndavAh' They became Karna who had enmity with Arjuna, disgra her under the pretext of wi after enslaving helpless to protec finding her husbands In this chapter Desika tr In this chapter war and describes the role of Krishna in it. the role of Krishna war and describes to be the Indr The Pandavas were supposed the Kouravas. to Krishna for support to win are my life, to Dhuryodhana. athyarTham sa eva mamapriyah the Lord To those who know Him in reality Lord Himself. Him and the wise man is the Him they surrendered to Him, worshipped always they by were protected madhgathaprANAh.' thahASrayAh thathpraNiDheyakrthyAh thenAiva nAThena sadhA sanAThAh Krishna protected them from fire, water kill them. Then Dhuryodhana, instructed by Sakuni, and he giving her heaps protected her by

sadagopan.org Krishna enteredthe court of praccchAdhayAmAsa kuroonsvaDhAmnA prApthodhayo bhAnurivathriDhAmA prajnAdhrSo bhoomobhrthahsabhAyAm khanjadheeptheen Khadhyothavath dharSitha Krishna thenwent to Hasthinapura. samvAdhi babhoovadhouthyam even though swAmithva Heisbirth-less.'ajanmanhjanmabhrthasyaSoureh Desika becauseHeis knowntotakebirth forthe protectionofthedevotees, isnot goingasamessenger This actof devotees. it isfittingforthesoulabhyaofLord annihilation because,saysDesika, praised bythewiseevenmorethanHi (Yad.23.12) devotees, becomesthe greatestorname else fortheir glory, tobebhakthap a messengerfor His devotees. Tothe gr Ksheerasagara abodes, namely,Vaikunta, The Lordwhohasallthedevas ashi bhakthajaneguNathvam prasADhanam nanu prabhooNAmnirapekshabhoomnAm preshyakriyAm preshithadhevabrndhah Sa thAdhrSeemAdhriyathathrihAmA Desikasays, a messengerforthemandbecame Pandavadhootha. to Krishna,who, onaccount ofhissouS was deceitfullytakenawayfromthemth After thethirteenyearsof exilePandavaswishingto blindDhrtharashtra andeclipsedthegloryof the ' 'nAThochitham nnthrushupArathanthryam', 178 arAdheena, serving theneedsoftheir s servants and hasthethreesupremes servantsand eelya, agreedtoundertakethedutyof in anywaydemeaning in s powersofcreation,sustenanceand rough theplayingofdice,surrendered and the Bhoomandala, wished to goas and theBhoomandala,wishedto (Yad.23.13) to be ready to do the bidding of His eat who donotdependonanything nt. Thisattribute oftheLordis gaintheirkingdomwhich to the Lord says to theLord sadagopan.org blinded by the blinded by the took the horse-whip in in took the horse-whip hasArathy by hext few in the mortar out of love for His in the mortar out of love Krishna trying to advice him for his to advice him for Krishna trying hna was so great thathna was the Kouravas the two, Nara-Narayana, wielding the allowed war as the them to fight the (Yad.23.18) what DhuryoDhana could bind him as he what DhuryoDhana could bind ed. (the Lord showed His visvaroopaed. (the Lord showed and otten the enmity (towards Pandavas) otten the enmity hma and Vidhura were hma and Vidhura 179 r of the chariot, Krishnar of the chariot, tes sloka. with a beautiful of Krishna becoming ParT devotees and he was bound by the love of the gopis. (Bound by their gunas as as gunas their by (Bound gopis. the of love the by bound was he and devotees and with with guna – a rope) How could was devoid actually wished ti bind himself without release with of gunas? He the ropes of death. and Krishna returned to the Pandavas to him. Kouravas never listened Desika describes the act slokas. narAmSajushtena Dhananjayena raThee bhvan sAraThirAthmanAcha DhanurbhrthAthothrabrthAcha bheje Prthakthvam aikyam cha yaThA pramANam To Arjuna, who was a part of Nara of bow, and hence was the owne The Lord allowed Himself to be bound The Lord allowed Himself as though they have forg honoured him got angryDhuryodhana at the words of Bhis wise like the everyone except Desika illustra brilliance) This Ulookale bhakthaguNe cha baddham gunotthare gopavaDhoosthnecha iyeshabanDhum jagathekabanDhum dhuryoDhano dhusthyajamrthyupASah like fireflies in front of the Sun. the Sun. in front of fireflies like that became by his brilliance Kouravas of Kris presence of the The influence own good and tried toown good and bind him but fail sadagopan.org Krishna actingasParthasarathy,made insentient Universe. Lord,jeeva,th namely, EeSvara,the thethatthvath This slokaillustrates thatthAdhrsam thatthvamvibhAgamAdhyam thrayyanthachinthA nirapekshameeSah yaThArThatho dharsayathismayanthA raThADhirooDam charaThamrakshan Ramanuja. identity. Thisisthee from theviewpointof experiences differencefromtheParamath aspect ofArjuna.ThepramAnareferred due to the partdifference betweenthetwoof of Nara his handandbecamethecharioteer, thusexhibitingtheidentityaswell in Arjuna andthedifferenceisduetohuman reins arein handsof thecharioteer thehorsesbehave horses andthesense objectsarethedist and intellectisthecharioteer,mind thebodyischariot an It meansthat IndhriyANi hayAnyAhuhvishayAhtheshu sAraThimviddhimanah pragrahmevacha Buddhim thu raThamevathu AthmAnam raThinamviddhiSareeram One isreminded bythissloka controller within,thechariotisbody one insidethechariot, HeHimself the the studyofVedas,bybeingpr ssence ofthemahavakya' inner SelfwhoistheLordineverything, there is of thetext inKatopanishad, themasseeninthepramana.Theidentityis 180 explicit thethatth raya of Visishtadhvaitha philosophy, ofVisishtadhvaitha raya e sentientbeingsandjagath,the otector ofthechar and Arjuna is the individual soul. and Arjunaistheindividualsoul. gocharAn (kato.1.3/4) (kato.1.3/4) gocharAn charioteer. Thatis,theLordis d thejeeva istheonetravelinginit isthereins,indhriyasare ractions onthepath. Aslongasthe man seeingitselfasembodiedbut to is that the individual soul toisthattheindividual thatthvamasi well andtaketheo va thraya,without ' aselucidatedby iot aswellthe sadagopan.org ' being the jeeva the jeeva ma' being by Sanjaya at theof the end is perceived, showing that he is showing that he is is perceived, f in the form of Vyasa. Desika extols od fortune and prosperity reigns. enemies and Arjuna is only a pretext, Arjuna is only a pretext, enemies and ishna was going to utter later in his ed by Bhishma was as good as dead. was as good as dead. ed by Bhishma a portrayal of the PraNava. Krishna is Krishna is the PraNava. a portrayal of e intellect should be established in the in the established should be e intellect ara and where Arjuna is with his bow meva nimitthamAthram bhava bhava meva nimitthamAthram 181 the Parthasarthy role of the Lord. of the role the Parthasarthy , the last letter ' , the last letter 'a'kara with the reins and the of Arjuna with the reins and on the chariot sudden despondency of Arjuna and Krishna infusing ' showing their connection. their connection. u' showing (BG.11.33) which is vouch-safed (BG.11.33) which is vouch-safed discourse of Gita that he has killed the discourse of Gita that he has (BG.18.78) This sloka which Kr hints at the words (BG.18.78) poorva 'mamaivaithe nihathAh savyasAchin' discourse. Yahra yogeSvarah Krishnah yathrapArTho DhanurDharh mathirmama Thathra sreeh vijayo bhoothih dhruvAneehih there is Krishna, the yogesv Wherever and go ready for action, there the victory the Gita by saying, horse-whip in his hands, the army defend in his hands, the army horse-whip the Desika then mentions wisdom into him by his discourse of Gita. He calls it Githopanishad which was given out to the world by the Lord Himsel is signified by this is what Lord and the chariot as sloka mentions The next be seen and later Arjuna the first to of pranava fromow the meaning the who kn Krishna. Those associated with Lord in front as the Vedas see the letter ' and the middle visvahethou purasThithe gopthari paSchAth avasThAyini thathpravarthye ananyayogAth sa aTho babhAra prADheethavedhyAm praNavapravrtthim appeared The moment Krishna (Yad.23.23) passenger to his destination. For this th For this to his destination. passenger sadagopan.org and valuedbythewise. faultless companionoftheVedasis Gita, theeverlastingbrilliance of geethAm asmmooDajanAvigeethAm Vidhuh SrutheenAm anaghAmvayasyAM anaSvareem bhArathasooryadheepthim abhanjaneeyAm paradharmasatthAm Arjuna seesbhagavAn's virAtsvarUpam (Courtesy: Sow.R.Chitralekha) the Suncalled Mahabharatha andthe 182 irrefutable essenceof selfrealization

sadagopan.org '

ady annihilated. ady annihilated. 'nAnyena nidharSaneeyah 'nAnyena from his delusion fought valiantlyfrom his delusion the inner self of all and controlling and controlling self of all the inner hand in order to make true the vow vow the true make to order in hand the Lord which Arjuna saw with his saw with his which Arjuna the Lord seen by him as alre seen by him as ioteer in a portion of whom the whole ioteer in a portion of whom stinctly at creation and who was now stinctly at creation and who ed that the Supreme Self is the only Self is the only ed that the Supreme eeing all the universe and the devas in and the devas the universe eeing all 183 pArthasArathy (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) (Courtesy: www.glimpseofkrishna.com) agent of all action and the Kouravas were agent of all action s by Krishna, and endowed divine eyes of the Lord he realis the cosmic form startedThen the war and Arjuna freed Desika says thataided by Krishna. everything was the Lord who controlled it for Pandavas, being and secured victory like the horses. He is unparalleled, their indhriyas of his char Arjuna understood the glory universe is contained and comes out di briefly describes the various events of the war, like Krishna The Desika advancing against Bhishma with Chakra in war, the in a weapon wield make Krishna will that he devotee (Bhishma) of his Then Desika refers to the virAtroopa of to the virAtroopa refers Then Desika sitting in one part of his chariot. sitting in one part of his chariot. sadagopan.org Dvaraka. Dvaraka. After causingtheexpositionondhar reabsorb hispowerthatwaswithArjunaso long. Arjuna fondly, which actseemed,says Then Krishna broughtthechariotback great soul. The bed of arrows supplied to Bhishma bywas borncharredwiththe Arjuna was like a yogasanaof Dronato destroytheprogenyofPandav for the womb of Uttara, wife ofThen Desikamentionsabouttheprotecti Abimanyu from the missile sent byhelp of theSupremeLord. AsvatthAma, son Thus Arjuna crossedthegreat oceanof like thefallofpuppetsonastringbein wonders thatitwaslikethepralayaleel All theeighteen akshouhiniof theKo thinking itwasnightfall.) removed thechakrabywh which made Jayadhrathacomeoutof failing whichhewilljumpintothefire Jayadhratha who was instrumentalinth Krishna madegoodthevowofArjunaal only. nothing can limitHisactions.Moreovereverything happens throughHis will the vowofKrishnanotcarryarmsinth being sureofhisowninfallible valour. This heat ofthemissile. ich hehidthe Suntoma 184 g pulled by theonewho holdsthestring. , by causing thesunset beforeitstime uava armyweredestroyed andDesika

a oftheLord before ma byBhishmaKrishnareturnedto e killing ofAbhimanyubeforesunset, samsara with the the warlikethatofsamsarawith Desika asthoughKrishnawantedto on Krishnagavetothefoetusin so thathewillcu fromthewarfront andembraced his hiding and was killed. (Krishna his hidingandwaskilled.(Krishna e warbecauseHeiseverfreeand says Desika is not in any way against isnotinanywayagainst saysDesika as and giving theinfantlifewhenhe as andgiving ke Jayadhrathacomeout t offtheheadof thetime.Itwas sadagopan.org Desika says that the three abodes of the

24 24 24 ulabhya, easy accessibility out of sed his many wives. pleasing his wives who got him as their pleasing his wives he was performing the sacrificial rites he was performing the sacrificial s sacrifices were not done for the fruit s sacrifices were not done for that of a rajarshi and extolled by the that of a rajarshi and extolled by the ikunta, ksheerasagara and the region of were well versed in the Vedas. With his his With Vedas. the in versed well were

185 (Yad.24.2) (Yad.24.2) THE HUSBAND THE HUSBAND THE HUSBAND THE HUSBAND THE HUSBAND THE HUSBAND

HAPTER HAPTER HAPTER C C C in treasures and superior to sika, be described as being such how and by who can KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA husband due to the merits acquired in their previous lives. the merits acquired in their husband due to He is described By Desika thus: Krthuvidhiniyathah api akarmavaSyah Parichitha kAmaraso api veetharAgah Nagaravasathih api aSeshavAsah kaThamiva kena sa vibhuh varNaneeyah Krishna returning to DvarakaKrishna returning in was intent though bound by karma even He was not

according to kshathriyadharma. That is, hi according to kshathriyadharma. is, he life but was detached. That married enjoying He was ordained in the Vedas. was not influenced He was living in Dvaraka by desire. but yet he was present everywhere. Hence, says De and such? His conduct and story of his life was like His parathva, supremacy.) love excelled after the Krishna established dharma with the association of the sages. He looked royal duties with the help of those who sages. Dvaraka became rich Lord described in the Vedas. Namely, Va the Sun. (This may be because His so and plea many forms took superhuman power sadagopan.org with theballstiedto theropesandwhic With hiswiveslike his threeshakthis kanshykaihadheevyath karaNavaSairiva Muhuriha nipathathbhihuthpathathbhih Saha gunabanDhavibhakthasanniveSaih Anukrtha nijaSakthibhih priyAbhih as love)ontheminandout. colouraswell By drenchingthemwithcolouredwaterhecreatedanuraga(red three gunas. ascend to heaventhat likethemotionofswingup and descendfrom ropes(gunas)resembling thethree gunasofhis to be born inKrishna playedwithhiswiveswhowerefortunate,bymakingswingsforthem good wombs by the play the fearofsamsara. of the Krishna notonlygavethemhisalso instilldevotionwhichwill lovebut destroy misunderstanding amonghiswives. anyofhiskalahas tocreate couldnotstage Narada Desika, even wives. Sincehetook manyformsand who alwayscontemplate onnothing but Hi Naturally Krishnabeingtheonewhogives everywhere andalwayswithoutth thamahamsarvathomukham' namAmi Adhyam yojAnAthi sarvadha vinAsarvamsarvathra it issaid'sarvendhriyairapi because heisatheendhriya, beyondthe senses. (inmanthrarajapadhasthothra indhriyas. ButKrishna,beingthe supr subjected totheirkarmaanden even theyogis whohavesuperhumanpowe e need oftheindhriyas.) 186 and down the Lord makes the good souls thegoodsouls and downtheLordmakes eme purushadidnotneedHisindhriyas , Sri,BhooandNeelA, Krishnaplayed pleased hiswivessimultaneously,says pleased (Yad.24.32) joyment willbedependentontheir m only,fulfilled all h roseand fall.Itwas likeHis leela rs can do so but their doings will be rs candosobuttheirdoingswill everything andalsomokshatothose - thatis,Heknowseverything maya. Theimplicationis the desiresofHis sadagopan.org o were born to his three consorts. his three ties and was the ocean of limitless ced the unparalleled joy in this life! ced the unparalleled avenly abodes played hide and seek hide and seek played abodes avenly ing that he was the supreme purusha sleep in the bed of Adhisesha. the sleep in ich he enjoys with (Yad.24.67) to prevent him from leaving them and to prevent him from leaving e wives of Krishna enjoyed his company, his company, enjoyed wives of Krishna e Sanaka in his incarnation as Hayagreeva Sanaka in his 187 the of love instruction to his wives. It was like dness to the three worlds. dness to the three sages who have controlled their senses wished to They considered him as human not know They considered hence he could not move anywhere! not move anywhere! he could hence in which th Describing the various ways Desika exclaims Ajanishatha kutho nu bhAgaDheyAth thribhuvanamangaldheepikAh SubhAngyah yadhupathi sahadharmachArineebhih ih anvabhAvi sukham anagham bhuvi yAbh by these women wh acquired was the good merit Whatever become the wives of Krishna and experien (Yad.24.63) whose consort is Sridevi and who used to sah thAbhih Yathibhih anububhooshithah Seelah yadhupathih adhbhutharoopavesha nirupaDhika rasAmrthougha sinDhuh sathatham aporvam apoorvam anvabhAvi Krishna, with whom the and quali enjoy, assumed wonderful forms and Hamsa, was also adept in and Hamsa, was in private. them whatever he told the women Upanishad for of his every one and was present in the house of Krishna made himself many footwear wives and they took away his he in his three who hides When Krishna, thinking bound his eyes never they but bound their eyes he only wives with his create blin that to do so will the sages like Krishna, who instructed with the jivas tied towith the wh the three gunas sadagopan.org Krishna. This,saysDesika, iswhathas with thesea thewomen werefilled withonlyonefeeling thatisthelovefor That is,astheriversleavetheirindi in theirlove, liketheriversjoiningth The wivesofKrishnamerged saevamukthabhogah munigaNithascha avibharuhanapAyamaikarasyam Mahitha guNougha mahodhaDhimbajanthyah Sarithah ivamrgeedhrsahthamekam Desika describestheexperi achieved thesuperhuman powersridiculedtheirachievement. ever new (nithyayuva). Toseetheglo stream ofthenectar of SrI Krishna - the paramapurusha SrI Krishna-theparamapurusha love, andwasenjoyedbyth ence ofthewomen as withhim,whoistheoceanofauspiciousqualities, e sea and acquired the state of ekarasya. thestateof ekarasya. e seaandacquired 188 ry ofthosewomentheyogiswhohave been described asthe stateofsAyujya vidual tastes and become salty joining vidual tastesandbecomesaltyjoining (Yad.24.69) e women as though he is

sadagopan.org m thasya mAyAm (Yad.24.93) m thasya mAyAm (Yad.24.93) displayed his statusof transience that are leveled against women leveled against that are in though seen in Dvaraka, was present those who portray this by means of those who portray the world which devotees like Meera like Meera devotees the world which oppose, harsh and insincere etc. They They and insincere etc. oppose, harsh ose who contemplate on the Lord thus on the Lord thus contemplate ose who 189 ise difficult to transcend. hSASvatham brahmacharyam hSASvatham brahmacharyam mukthi by the sages. by the sages. mukthi common criticisms false the They proved general such as they are fickle, always general such as were the beacons of madhurabhakthi in were the beacons Desika saysand Andal followed. that even of the Lord. singing etc. also get engrossed in devotion acting, dance, Krishna lived happily in Dvaraka was in Vaikunta as he and Bhama with Rukmini as his divine consorts, Lakshmi Bhoodevi and and yadhavas serving as the as of heaven the joy nithyasooris, Garuda etc. and caused Sesha, Vishvaksens him. well as moksha to those around theseDesika concludes his kavya by words: nAkanATheSvarathvam nAreedhrshtyAniyamithaDhiyah sambhoge cha pravaNamansa athraikasyAm sarvalokADhikathvam puri nivasathah niDhyAyanthah thvaritham atharandhustharA Krishna while he seemed to be bound by the beautiful eyes of his women, women, his of eyes beautiful the by bound be to seemed he while Krishna of the women company while enjoying the of the devas, remained the overlord and thus he maintained his brahmacharya and imminence as the Supreme Self, who, and imminence as the Supreme Self, who, Th in all beings and was all pervading. transcend His Maya which is otherw ah AhithodhArabhoomA Gurubhih anaghachitth Surabhitharasam ethath soonrtham venkateSah Vyathanutha yadhuveerapreethim icchan prabhoothAm kavikaTham kamrgendhrah kshemadham kAvyarathna (Yad.24.95) sadagopan.org The gloryofthiskavy . Thecontent ofthekavyaisgi 1. and otherstohumanity. a is described thus: a isdescribed kavitArkika simham kavitArkika 190 ft ofthegreatmasters likeVyasa

sadagopan.org ssence of kavithva and devotionssence of kavithva as it

191 .ïIyadva_yudym! s ||SriyAdavAbhyudayamsampUrNam|| kivtaikRkisMhay klya[gu[zailne

(Desika) to(Desika) Lord. please the abounds in richness of word and abounds in richness and devotionalmeaning fervour. pleasing and true. 2. It is composed by the mighty lion of debate and poet Venkatesa Venkatesa poet and debate of lion mighty the by composed is It 2. 3. e fragrance of the It is full of the 4. heart and is beneficial, of the world at with the welfare It is composed