Lilas Of Lord Krishna

Nanda kept fast on an Ekadasi day and worshipped Janardana. He went to bathe in the river Yamuna on Dvadasi. It was still dark. He entered the river at dead of night. An Asura, a servant of Varuna, seized Nanda and took him to his master.

The Gopas missed Nanda and called out to Balarama and Krishna. On hearing them, the Lord saw that Nanda had been carried away to Varunaloka. Krishna entered the water and went to Varunaloka.

Varuna worshipped Sri Krishna and said, "Today my purpose is gained. I bow to Thee, O glorious Lord! Thy father has been brought here by my ignorant and foolish messenger. Kindly pardon me. Here is Thy father. Please take him back. I had the fortune, to see Thee, because Thy father was brought here." Lord Krishna took back His father.

The Gopas wished fervently that Lord Krishna might take them to His supreme abode. The All-knowing Sri Krishna knew this. He took the Gopas to the portion of Yamuna called Brahmahrada. They were made to plunge in it. There they saw the region of Vaikuntha, the supreme abode of Krishna, far away from the limits of Prakriti. Nanda and others were immensely delighted, when they had a vision of that region. There they saw Krishna. They were most happy to see Krishna amidst the chanters of Vedic hymns. They were all struck with wonder.

Student Life

Sri Krishna received his instructions from Sandipani, a sage of Avantipura. He lived with his teacher like an ordinary student. He was meek, humble and obedient. He led a laborious life. He gathered fuel from the woods for his preceptor's household. He inspired his classmates with love. Sudama was Sri Krishna's classmate. Sudama was later on known by the name of Kuchela.

Sri Krishna had wonderful retentive memory. If he heard anything once, he would retain it in memory, however difficult it might be. He mastered the sixty-four arts in sixty-four days.

He was matchless in physical strength. He learnt the art of archery and military science under his teacher. When his school career was over, at the request of his teacher, he rescued his teacher's son from Panchajanya, a sea-monster, by whom the boy had been carried away. Krishna slew Panchajanya and took away his conch 'Panchajanya', rescued the boy from Yama, and handed him over to his teacher.

Krishna And Gopis

The flute and its music had stirred the souls of the Gopis. They were not masters of themselves. The world was nothing to them. They felt irresistably drawn towards Sri Krishna. They had neither shame nor fear in leaving their homes. There was a soul-awakening in them. Their mind was not of this world. Their husbands and brothers stopped them in vain.

The flute is the symbol of Pranava. It is this flute that attracted the devoted Gopis, the maidens of Vraja to meet their beloved Lord on the banks of the sacred Yamuna. The divine melody of the flute was enchanting. It had wonderful power. When it entered the core of the heart through the cavity of the ears, it made the hearer forget all his dear relations, the world, and even his own self. It made the hearer dance in ecstasy and filled his heart with pure love. The sound of this divine flute thrilled the heart with rapturous delight and instilled new life and joy. It produced God-intoxication in all beings and infused life even in insentient objects. The sweetness of the music was unsurpassed. He who heard once the music of Krishna's flute, cared not for the nectar of heaven or the bliss of Moksha.

The love that the Gopis bore towards Krishna was a divine love. It was the union of souls. It is the aspiration of the Jivatman to merge in Paramatman. It is the blending of the individual soul with the Supreme Soul.

The Gopis were the sages of Dandaka forest in their previous births. They wished to embrace Lord Rama. They were promised satisfaction in the later Avatara. They got blended into the Paramatman in the Krishna Avatara.

The Fate Of Non Believers

Some ignorant and thoughtless people say that Lord Krishna is an ordinary man only, with some good qualities. They say that he has come from lower stages. Some find fault with his life and character. They say that Krishna is not the Lord. He is not an Avatara. He is a passionate cowherd who lustfully played with the Gopis.

Those who find fault with the Lord have no idea of His greatness and glory, as they have not practised Yoga, as their faults have not been purged by the practice of Yama and Niyama, and as they have not taken recourse to Satsanga with sages. They have no real insight into Adhyatmic science.

People fail to understand the secret of Rasa Lila and Madhurya Bhava, the culmination of highest Bhakti, Atmanivedana or total surrender to the Lord. It is only Narada, Suka Deva, Chaitanya, Mira, Ramananda or the Gopis that could understand the secret of Rasa Lila.

Those devoid of reason think of Lord as an ordinary human being having taken a body from the unmanifested state on account of Prarabdha. They know not supreme nature, imperishable, most excellent. The foolish disregard him, when clad in human semblance, ignorant of his supreme nature, the great Lord of beings. Empty of hope, empty of deeds, empty of wisdom, senseless, they verily are possessed of the deceitful, brutal, demoniacal nature. They enwrapped in darkness, think wrong to be right and see things in a perverted light. These men know neither action nor renunciation, neither purity nor right conduct, neither truth nor uprightness. They do not know what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Deluded birth after birth, they wander in the worldly mire of Samsara, suffering innumerable ills and miseries, and never attain salvation.