Canto 10 - Chapter 13: Brahma is seized with and ultimately rid of infatuation

Discourse XIII

Brahmā is seized with and ultimately rid of infatuation

Śrī Śuka began again : A good enquiry has been made by you, O highly blessed one, since though listening to the narrative of the Lord again and again, you lend it a new charm (every time by your pertinent and intelligent queries), O jewel among the devotees of God! (1)
It is something natural with the righteous—who choose (only) what is best—that, like the topic of a (young) woman to an assembly of gallants, the story of Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the immortal Lord) appears quite new to them every moment even though their speech, ears and mind (too) are devoted to Him alone. (2)
Listen, O king, with (rapt) attention. I (proceed to) tell you even that which is most secret; for to a loving pupil preceptors impart even hidden things. (3)
Having rescued in the aforesaid manner His companions (the keepers of calves) from death in the shape of Aghāsura's mouth and brought them to the sandy river-bank, the Lord spoke as follows:—(4)
"Oh! so very delightful, O friends, is this bank consisting of soft and stainless sand, full of facilities for our play and surrounded by trees charming with the echo of the humming of bees and warbling of birds drawn by the fragrance of budding lotuses (which makes the lake itself containing lotus-beds appear full-blown). (5)
Let us have our (midday) meal here; the day is (already) advanced and we are oppressed with hunger. Let the calves drink water and leisurely graze the grass near at hand." (6)
Saying "Amen !," the (cowherd) boys made the calves drink water, set them to feed on the green grass, opened their bags and lunched with the Lord in (great) delight. (7)
Seated together round Śrī Kṛṣṇa in a number of circular rows, (all) facing* Him with blooming eyes, the (cowherd) boys of Vraja shone brightly in the woodland like petals set round the pericarp of a lotus. (8)
Some dined on (the petals of) flowers and leaves, and others on young leaves, sprouts, fruits, bags, barks and slabs, having converted them into (so many) plates. (9)
Severally describing to one another the (exquisite) taste each of his own dish, all took their (midday) meal in the company of the Lord, laughing (themselves) and making others laugh. (10)
Bearing the flute between His belly and loin-cloth (on the right side) and His horn and cane under the left armpit and holding a buttered morsel (of cooked rice and curds) in His left hand and (preserved) fruits (fit for being taken with rice etc.), stuck in between the fingers, (nay,) seated in the middle and inducing laughter in the friends surrounding Him by His jokes, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Enjoyer of sacrifices), (now) engaged in childlike sports, dined (with them) while the denizens of heaven looked on (with wonder). (11)

• All the cowherd boys could not evidently face Śrī Kṛṣṇa; it was Śrī Kṛṣṇa who manifested Himself on all sides so as to make it possible for each and every companion of His to look at His face.

While the cowherd boys (the keepers of calves), O Parikṣit (a scion of Bharata), were thus having their repast with their mind absorbed in Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the immortal Lord), the calves allured by (luxuriant) pasture strayed far away into the woods. (12)
Seeing them obsessed with fear, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the terror (even) of Death (the cause of fright to the world), said to them, "Friends, do not desist from eating; I shall (presently) fetch the calves here." (13)
Saying so, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa went a hunting for His calves in mountain-caves, arbours and forests, with the morsel (still) in His hand. (14)
Appearing in the meantime Brahmā (the lotus-born), who while stationed in the sky had ere long felt highly astonished to witness the deliverance (even) of Aghāsura at the hands of the almighty Lord—carried away from this place His calves (and later on) the cowherd boys (too) to another place, O jewel of the Kurus, and hid himself in order to behold further delightful glory of the Lord appearing as a child through His Māyā (enchanting power). (15)

Failing to find the calves there and the cowherd boys too on the river bank on returning (to that spot), Śrī Kṛṣṇa looked for both on every side in the forest. (16)
Not perceiving the calves or (even) their keepers anywhere within (the limits of) the forest, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who (as a matter of fact) knew everything, at once clearly perceived it all to be the doing of Brahmā (the creator). (17)
Presently, in order to bring delight to their mothers as well as to Brahmā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the almighty Lord), the Maker of the universe, made Himself appear as both (the calves as well as their keepers). (18)
A concrete illustration, as it were, of the (Vedic) dictum that "Everything consists of Viṣṇu," the all-formed Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the birthless Lord) appeared as many and of the same size as the tender forms of the small calves and their keepers, having the same number and size of hands and feet and other limbs, carrying the same number and size of staves, horns, flutes, whistles etc., made of leaves and bags, decked with and clad in the same number and size of ornaments and clothes, assuming the same disposition and accomplishments, names, appearances and age and exhibiting the same sports etc. (19)
Causing Himself, in the form of calves, to be driven back (from the forest) by His own Self in the form of their keepers, Himself being the Guide, and diverting Himself with sports that represented His very Self, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa (who embraced all) entered Vraja. (20)
Driving (in the form of the various cowherd boys) separately the calves belonging to the different cowherd boys and placing them in their respective stalls, He entered the houses of those cowherd boys and stayed (there) in the form of each such boy, O Parikṣit! (21)
Rising in a hurry at the sound of the flutes, their mothers lifted them up in their arms and, closely embracing them, suckled them (even though they had long been weaned) with the milk of their breasts flowing through (motherly) affection—which was sweet as nectar and inebriating like the sap of the palm fruit—looking upon the supreme Divinity as their own sons. (22)
(Thus) returning at dusk (from the forest in the form of the cowherd boys) according to His scheduled round of pastimes, and affording excessive delight by His winsome ways (to His mothers), Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Spouse of Lakṣmī, the goddess of prosperity) was thereupon duly tended (by them), O protector of men, by rubbing and cleaning His person with fragrant unguents, bathing Him and painting His body (with sandal-paste and pigments of various kinds), decking Him with ornaments, protecting Him against the influence of evil spirits (by waving the tail of a cow over Him etc.), applying the sacred mark (Tilaka) on His forehead and feeding Him etc. (23)
Returning in (great) hurry from the forest to their pen, the cows (too) suckled each its grown-up calves with the overflowing milk of their udders, licking them (all over) again and again when they approached them on being called by their lowing sound. (24)
The motherly care of the cows and the cowherd women towards Śrī Kṛṣṇa (figuring as their young in the case of cows and as their son in the case of cowherd women) was entirely the same as before, excluding (of course) the measure of their love (which had now grown to an enormous degree). The filial feeling of Śrī Hari too (figuring as their calves or sons) towards them was just the same as before to the exclusion of attachment of the feeling of mineness (which was absent in the case of Śrī Kṛṣṇa). (25)
Day by day for a (whole) year indeed the creeper of affection of the inhabitants of Vraja for their own sons gradually grew to an immense degree as it did for Śrī Kṛṣṇa (in the past) and as it had never done before. (26)
Tending Himself in the form of calves through His own self in the form of their keepers, the aforesaid Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Self of the universe) sported thus in the woods as well as in Vraja for a year as a keeper of calves. (27)

When (say) five or six nights were left to complete one year, Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the birthless Lord) entered the forest one day along with Balarāma (His elder brother) while pasturing the calves. (28)
Grazing grass on the top of Mount Govardhana, the cows espied the (aforesaid) calves pasturing in the vicinity of Vraja far away from that summit. (29)
Overpowered with love for the said calves on seeing them, and forgetting themselves, that herd of cows rushed headlong with (a series of) bellowing sounds, ignoring their keepers as well as the difficult path, milk flowing (from their udders all along) and looked like bipeds (on account of their galloping gait) with their necks slightly contracted at the hump and their heads and tails erect. (30)
Approaching the calves below (at the foot of Mount Govardhana), the cows, even though they had calved once more, suckled them with the milk of their udders, licking their limbs as though they would swallow them (with intense eagerness). (31)
Arriving there in great anger and shame over the futility of their attempt to restrain the cows and with a feeling of exertion caused by traversing the difficult path, the cowherds perceived their sons along with the calves. (32)
With their mind steeped in affection excited by their sight they found their anger gone. (Nay,) love having sprouted in them, they lifted the boys in their arms, embraced them and experienced supreme delight by smelling them on the crown (as a token of love). (33)
Highly gratified by embracing the young ones, the elderly cowherds slowly departed from that place with (great) difficulty, tears gushing forth (from the eyes) at their very thought. (34)

Perceiving the longing induced by abundance of love every moment on the part of the people and the cows of Vraja even for their offspring (long) weaned from the mother's breast, Balarāma, who failed to discover its cause, thought as follows:—(35)
"What a wonder it is that the love of (the whole of) Vraja including myself towards the children is growing (in intensity) as it never did before and (even) as it did (in the past) for Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the Son of Vasudeva), the Soul of the universe! (36)
What is this enchantment and whence has it come? Is it the work of some god, of a human being or a demon ? In all probability it must be the deluding potency of my Lord (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) and none other, for it has deluded even me (which no other Māyā can)." (37)
Pondering thus, Balarāma who belonged to the race of the Yadus (who were also known as the Dāśārhas), saw through his intuitional eye all the calves as well as his companions to be (none else than) Lord Viṣṇu. (38)
(Turning to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he said), "These cowherd boys are not the rulers of gods nor are these calves Ṛṣis (as I knew them to be); You alone appear, O Lord, even in these different forms. (Pray,) relate You in detail how all this happened." (And) Balarāma (thoroughly) understood the (whole) incident related in a nutshell by the Lord questioned as above (by Balarāma). (39)

Returning, meanwhile, after a year—which passed as a moment according to his own measure of time—Brahmā (the self-born) saw Śrī Hari playing as before (even) at the end of a year alongwith His followers. (40)
As many cowherd boys, including the calves, there were in Gokula are in fact all evidently reposing in the bed of My enchanting power, and have not yet risen again. (41)
Therefore, whence are these other than those deluded by My enchanting power, though as many in number, playing in the company of the all-pervading Lord for a whole year here (in this woodland) as well as there (in Vraja)? (42)
Having thus contemplated on these differences for a long time, the self-born Brahmā could not by any means ascertain as to which were the real ones (who existed even before they were removed by him) and which of the two groups were not so. (43)
Thus trying to delude Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the all-pervading Lord), who is proof against delusion and enchants the (whole) universe, Brahmā (the birthless) too stood deluded himself by his own deluding potency (employed against the Lord). (44)
Just as the darkness caused by mist gets merged in (that of) a night and even as the light emitted by a fire-fly is merged in day light, the inferior Māyā (deluding power) of one employing it against a superior nullifies his own control over that power. (45)
Meanwhile, before the very eyes of Brahmā (the birthless), who kept looking on, all the cowherd boys (the keepers of the calves) forthwith appeared dark as a cloud, clad in yellow silk, endowed with four arms, carrying a conch, a discus, a mace and a lotus in their hands, adorned (each) with a diadem, ear-rings, a necklace of pearls and a sylvan wreath, wearing on the (upper part of) their arms a pair of armlets illumined by the (lustre of) Śrīvatsa (a curl of hair on the right breast) and about their wrists a pair of bracelets made of precious stones marked with three lines like a conch, (nay,) decked with anklets and bangles, girdles and rings and covered all over their body from head to foot with fresh soft wreaths of basil leaves offered by devotees possessed of abundant merit. (46—49)
By their sidelong glances cast from their ruddy eyes and accompanied by smiles bright as moonlight they awakened desires in the heart of their devotees and fulfilled them as it were with the help of Rajas* and Sattva (which are credited with a reddish and white colour respectively and stood symbolized by the reddish eyes and bright smiles of these divine forms). (50)
They were severally waited upon with dances, music and many other courses of worship by (various types of) created beings, both animate and inanimate, from himself (Brahmā) down to a clump of grass, (all) possessed of a living form. (51)
They were surrounded by mystic powers such as Aṇimā (the power of assuming an atomic size), potencies like Māyā and the twenty-four† elementary principles, the Mahat-tattva and so on (all in living forms). (52)
They were (further) waited upon by Kāla (the Time-Spirit, that is responsible for disturbing the equilibrium of the three Guṇas or modes of Prakṛti), Swabhāva (the mutability of Matter), Saṃskāra (latent desire), Kāma (the desire for enjoyment), Karma (worldly and religious activity), the (three) Guṇas, (all) endowed with a living form with their glory eclipsed by the glory of these divine forms. (53)
They were embodiments of the one (absolute) essence consisting of truth, consciousness, infinitude and bliss alone. Their infinite glory was unapproachable indeed even by those whose (only) eye is Self-Knowledge. (54)
In this way (but) once Brahmā (the birthless) saw them all as identical with the transcendent Brahma (Absolute), by whose effulgence is this entire creation including animate and inanimate beings stands revealed. (55)

• The quality of Rajas is associated with the power of creation and the quality of Sattva with that of preservation or fulfilment.
  † The total number of principles of which the cosmos is composed is twenty-five, including Prakṛti (Primordial Matter) and Puruṣa (the Spirit). Excluding Prakṛti and Puruṣa the number comes to twenty-three alone, viz., the Mahat-tattva (the principle of cosmic intelligence), Ahaṅkāra (the cosmic ego), the five Tanmātrās (subtle elements), the eleven Indriyas including the mind, and the five Mahābhūtas (gross elements). The entire cosmos (referred to in our scriptures under the name of Sūtra) presided over by Brahmā (the Sūtrātmā or Hiranyagarbha) will have therefore to be recognized as the twenty-fourth principle in order to complete the figure of twenty-four.

Thereupon turning away his gaze in great wonder (and) with all his eleven Indriyas (the five senses of perception, the five organs of action and the mind) having been overpowered by their splendour, Brahmā (the birthless one) stood mute like a doll by the side of the Deity presiding over the land of Vraja. (56)
When Brahmā (the spouse of Saraswati, the goddess of learning) thus got perplexed—as to what it might be with regard to the Lord—who cannot be comprehended through reason, possesses a glory peculiar to Himself, who is of the nature of bliss shining by itself, who is beyond (the realm of) Māyā (and) who is known through the Upaniṣads (forming the crown of the Vedas) by the process of negating what He is not—(nay) when he was unable to perceive even those (divine) forms, Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the supreme birthless Lord) who perceived his perplexity immediately drew off the curtain of His Māyā. (57)
Having now regained his vision outside, Brahmā rose like a dead man (brought to life again) and, opening his eyes with great difficulty, beheld once more this universe alongwith his own self. (58)
Looking round at once in every direction, he saw stretched before him (the woodland of) Vṛndāvana thick with trees that served as a means of subsistence to the people and having agreeable objects scattered all round, where creatures bearing natural and inveterate enmity, such as human beings and carnivorous beasts, lived together like friends and from which anger, thirst for enjoyment etc., had disappeared, due to Śrī Kṛṣṇa (the invincible Lord) having taken up His abode there. (59-60)
Brahmā (the highest functionary of the universe) beheld there the secondless transcendent Infinite (Absolute) possessed of fathomless wisdom, playing the role of a child born in the line of a cowherd and looking about all alone as before for the calves and Its companions with a morsel (of cooked rice) still in Its hand. (61)
Perceiving this and hastily alighting from his mount (the swan), he stretched his body like a staff of gold on the ground and, touching the Lord's feet with the crest of his four crowns (one after another) and bowing down, bathed them with limpid water in the form of tears of joy. (62)
Recollecting again and again the glory, witnessed ere long, of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he rose again and again and remained lying down at His feet for a long time. (63)
Then, slowly rising, and rubbing his eyes, he gazed at Śrī Kṛṣṇa and with his head bent low and composed in mind he proceeded in great humility with joined palms to extol the Lord in a faltering voice and with a trembling body (as follows). (64)

Thus ends the thirteenth discourse in the first half of Book Ten
of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise
known as the Paramahamsa-Sarhhitā.