Gopalacampu 1.11

Now begins the eleventh chapter:

The Deliverance of Agha and the Removal of Brahmā's Sin.

[1] Then, in the morning assembly illuminated as before from daybreak, Madhukaṇṭha said with longing:

[2] In this very way, through the fun of play just as before, the early childhood of these two boys, the slayers of the asuras, was almost entirely spent. [3] Indeed, both of them:

Possessing white and dark splendour, they took delight in the charm of boyhood; / with their restlessness, they made the mind even of a sage restless. / Having attained the whole host of lessons in the excellent arts of diverse play's sweetness, / these two moon-faced boys played, pouring forth the nectar of flute song. ||1

[4] Then once, waking up earlier than usual before his own morning activities, there arose in Śrī Rāma's brother, the protector of the universe, this spontaneous desire: "Today, even the morning meal should be taken in the lonely forest." Then, having performed his morning duties, having pleased his mother to ask her consent, and departing with her permission, he awakened the host of friends along with his elder brother by the signal of blowing his horn. Quickly walking along, he reached the crossroads and spent a few moments eagerly awaiting their arrival. [5] When the assembled boys of the same age woke from sleep, ran, and met together, [Kṛṣṇa,] eager to bring Rāma, sent word through his messenger.

[6] And this [messenger] delivered that message: "Alas, Kṛṣṇa, though I thirst to play with you, I am blocked by adverse fate; for unexpectedly, my maternal uncle born of Puru's race, having come to see me with utmost insistance, has taken on the nature of a fixture in my palace. Today, as you have awakened very early, I infer you have a special plan. Therefore, whatever divine play you intended to manifest must indeed be manifested by you. For an obstacle at the outset of a new undertaking arrests the expectation of uninterrupted success."

[7] Hearing that which was being related, his lotus-like eyes blossoming as far as his ears, fond of the undertaken sport, he said to his friends: "So be it! You yourselves, each from your own house, having fastened a sling to your shoulder-pole, employing your servants who carry the eatables and rice, having the appropriate provisions brought, hasten to depart for the forest! Our mother also will quickly dispatch excellent foodstuffs placed in containers through the company of good people." When this was done in accordance with his desire, he whose generous conduct brought joy to the host of boys seeking what was dear to them, and who cherished the herds of calves placed in front, entered the forest. There, cowherd boys in their thousands are renowned to be mingling with him every single day. Their calves are described as numbering in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, and more. But the count of Kṛṣṇa's calves is praised as beyond counting. And then:

Resounding with hundreds of thousands of fully blown horns and flutes, / with the bellows of tens of thousands of herds of calves, mingled with raised calls, / Kṛṣṇa, setting out for the forest, / made the heart of Balarāma, together with the whole world, eager for the sport. ||2

[8] Then, plunging into the dense forest, the boys, although possessing lovely forms adorned with jewels and gold, decorated themselves with fruits, tender sprouts, and the like, just as at home they would use even glass beads and heaps of guñjā berries that are hard to ask for. For in those who are overwhelmed by an abundance of playfulness, the consideration "this is not equal to that" never arises. Indeed, pettiness alone makes one estimate the value of an object, whereas playfulness is delighted simply by perceiving its beauty.

[9] Then, hanging their lunch bags onto the branches of trees, they displayed a distinct restlessness in playful synchronization with the waves of Kṛṣṇa's knitting brows:

"Stealing one another's bags and the like, when noticed they threw them far away; / and those standing there threw them still further, and laughing, gave them back again." [BhP 10.12.5]

[10] There, stealing and the like took place as follows:
Those who in jest snatched the sticks and other things, those whose belongings were taken, / those who threw them far away, and those who retrieved them—promptly, each and every one, / through those various sports graced with lightness at every flutter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's brow, / understood their own appropriate conclusion, and nothing else at all. ||3

[11] Thus, just as their enjoyment consisted solely in the joy of his association through their meeting together, so too it was through separation from him, as it is said:
"If Kṛṣṇa went far off to view the beauty of the forest, / saying 'I first! I first!', touching him, they rejoiced." [BhP 10.12.6]

[12] And the meaning of this is shown in its totality. There, touching him took place as follows:

Having sent away the whole host of friends to look after the calves, the slayer of Agha, his eyes drawn, / went far away to behold the beauty of the forest; then, returning from afar, / with their eyes smelling his fragrance, like a swarm of bees, running toward him in groups, / touching him in mutual competition, asking him 'I first! I first!', the host of boys rejoiced. ||4

[13] Their sporting took place as follows:

Though affectionate toward one another, their proud emulation was seen as if in rivalry to bring amusement to Kṛṣṇa. // Some sang on the flute, while others, intent on drowning that out, / blew on horn pipes and made Acyuta laugh. // Some, displaying the rustic manner of the elders, / restrained them and sang like bees, while others sang like cuckoos. // 'Fleetness is commendable for cowherds; singing and the like are fit for beggars'— / thus indicating, some ran imitating the shadows of birds. // Some, displaying their own superior skill in imitating everything, / entered into the midst of flocks of swans, curlews, and peacocks. // Some, gladly displaying their own acrobatic skill on bamboo canes, / roamed among the branches along with monkeys' young who were mocked [by them]. // But the youngest of all, devoted only to their own natural disposition, / leaped along with the frogs across the flooded streams. // Laughing at their reflections, cursing their echoes, / laughing and sporting, they constantly brought delight to Kṛṣṇa. // Urging on the boys to curse the echo and mock their reflection, / Hari, receiving counter-curses and the like, experienced great joy.

This attainability, which deludes the vision of those who are under māyā, / and is far out of reach for self-realized souls and devotees alike, / was obtained through Kṛṣṇa by the children of Vraja; / this is explicitly Śrī Śukadeva's conclusion.

[14] Thus, while the enemy of Kaṃsa desired to extend yet another play, and while the calf-herding boys, skilled in all arts, were sporting as they spread about like a net, a certain demon named Agha, the younger brother of Bakī and Baka, stood in their path like a fierce cloud of doom among the spheres of heavenly lights. Kaṃsa indeed had praised him: 'O my great ally, cast off wonder and listen! Because you, living as a python, were always without waking, intent only on endless sleep, and did not know [what had happened], I have awakened you.'

[15] Agha said: 'O Lord of the world, order as you please.'

[16] Then Kaṃsa, narrating the entire story beginning with the voice of the sky-dweller on the day of Devakī's wedding, said: 'Thus, since each of the deeds of Pūtanā and the others—who used ever-new pretenses of poison—has had its efforts and results shattered, you today, with your game of devouring all, have an unhindered course. And here—checking midway the words "Rāvaṇa's Kumbha[karṇa]" out of fear of an ill omen, and rejecting also the comparison "like Vṛtra among the ancient gods of old"—he said this: "Certainly, as if by Dhruva's determination, the avenging of your brother and friend here must be brought under control." '

[17] Thus, having received that auspicious commission, this brother of Baka, moving swiftly ahead of those whose brother was Kṛṣṇa with blatant incivility, assumed a formless, massive serpent-body and lay waiting. But then he appeared so that he became famous through his mobile nature resembling an appointed pathway. And he was addressed by them, as they playfully described the nature of a snake:

"A python, wakeful on the path ahead with open gullet, / will swallow us entirely if he plays the part of Baka."

[18] Saying this and gazing upon the lotus face of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, joyfully clapping their hands, sporting and laughing, they entered his open mouth as if entering a great mountain cave, like a circle of light entering the western mountain, where all the calves also took that path like rays of light; in which [matter], though desiring to prevent them, He who bears the mark of Śrīvatsa found no opportunity, but felt wonder because of the unalterable course of his own future play, and even felt regret; wherefore, following their path, he too entered there, like the blazing solar orb into a mass of darkness formed of mist and fog; [19] where the gods, lacking understanding of Murāri's prowess, and the enemies of the gods repeatedly cried out 'Alas, alas!' from near and far; and where the pairs of faces of both groups, alike in color, manifested successively fear and victory according to their respective hues.

[20] But in the throat of that most wicked demon performing the action of Baka, this very Kṛṣṇa of unabated splendor, aided by Yogamāyā consisting of the ascetic power of the king of Vraja, expanded like the divine serpent of his own arm which entered into Keśin. [21] With his breath obstructed, he remained unconscious for a few moments. Above that, casting off his life-breath by splitting the crown of his head, the soul of Pūtanā's brother, purified upon coming into contact with the slayer of Pūtanā, awaited His emergence to attain an ever-new, sublime destination.

[22] But that young child marked with the Śrīvatsa, having slain him from within and having restored consciousness to the swooning calves and cowherd boys with a flow of his glance full of a shower of nectar, came out from him along with them through the throat-passage, like the nectar-beamed moon from the mouth of Rāhu.

[23] And then, as they poured forth like the streams of the Gaṅgā from the Himālaya, his soul's radiance was seen by the people of the world merging directly into the assembly of the limbs of the unconquered Lord, like a light into the light of the fierce-rayed sun.

[24] Whereupon the gods headed by Brahmā, standing before him in the celestial path, worshiped the praiseworthy son of the king of Vraja with showers of bouquets of flowers from celestial trees and with occasions featuring songs of praise, eulogies, the triple symphony of song, dance, and music, and the like, and they mocked Aghāsura.

"Merely by my touch, your kind [of demon] is instantly destroyed, like darkness by light; / even though knowing this, O demon named Agha, how did you approach me?"—so Kṛṣṇa seemed to say. / Or rather: / "You swallowed all the millions of calves and cowherd boys; still, / you wished to swallow me as well, so out of eagerness to give delight I entered within you. / Then, wishing to go outside out of suffocation, O serpent, the company of your life-airs indeed—/ despite my restraint—burst through your skull and departed. Alas, what could I do?"—in this way.

[25] And then, as he moved very briskly away from that thicket of trees due to the gathered multitude and due to the collected and densely arranged heavenly celestial luminaries, a certain ground not too far away, though excellent, attained an inferior state because of being bordered by an extensive forest grove and an excellent lake of pure water. [26] Reaching that place, the lotus-eyed one, whose lotus face immediately bloomed with joy, spoke words that were delightful to him, as follows:

"The sun's light makes the lotus bloom; / it is possessed of a heart-stealing splendor, with the luster of a bee. / Friends, behold this lake, the abode of fine water, / most resembling the mind of a great sage!

This grove of trees and the lake are continually nourished mutually / by their multiplied virtues; / for the former fills both with rasa, / since it blossoms with hundreds of flower fragrances. / / The spotless bank gleams, soft with sand, / covered by forest ground laden with flowers and fruits, with delicate dūrvā grass; / here, for the deer living in countless trees, / it appears beside the clear water like a bed.

Here we should take our meal, for the day has advanced and we are afflicted by hunger. / Let the calves drink water nearby and graze slowly on the grass."

[27] Then, as those friends brought together what was situated on the ground for the purpose of dining, bathed, and mutually arranged themselves, at first it happened just so:

Having obtained Kṛṣṇa in their midst, / the companions forgot all their various sorrows; / desiring constantly to drink his splendor, / they stood like cakora birds drinking the full moon.

[28] Then, as his companions were engaged in dining through the effort of Kṛṣṇa, who thirsted to maintain them, a certain other beauty adorned that fortunate woodland, as follows: / / In the midst of the youthful companions / whose circles met one another closely, / Hari turned his face in all directions; / he moved sportively like an unprecedented dancer.

Holding the flute between his stomach and garment, and the horn and cane under his left armpit, / a soft morsel in his left hand, and condiments between his fingers, / standing in the midst of his dear companions, laughing and made to laugh by them, / the child Kṛṣṇa ate with joy, beholding everything in that divine world.

[29] Thus, while they were delighting in the great festival, the calves entered an unclear, grassy area from the riverbank and became hidden. [30] When they disappeared, soothing the host of friends whose delight in eating was interrupted, remaining in that very state, he himself searched through the thick mountain forests where untrodden and impassable paths lay; realizing his lack of success, he returned and, not recognizing the groups of friends there, considering both to be frightened under the sway of bewilderment, he reflected and investigated. From bodily exhaustion, that Keśava pondered with anxiety: / / "Alas! That group of children, dearer to their mothers than life itself, / clings to their condition as calves, and they are masters of the calves; / so where has that body, the very image of my own life-breath, gone, / for whose sake, alas, I entered the poison-filled belly of the wicked serpent?"

[31] Now, even this inattention on the part of him who is the treasure-house of a host of virtues beyond ordinary qualities does not suggest any surprise. [32] For, having fallen under the sway of absorption in divine play filled with love, he sometimes inevitably appears to see and yet not see. At that moment, he immediately realized: "Ah, this is indeed the work of Brahmā! Yet, for such a long time, because my awareness was overwhelmed by the intense bond of affection with the group of friends being repeatedly injured, that investigation did not occur to me. Nor was this done by him out of hostility; rather, for him who is fixed in firmness of love for me and devoted to the welfare of Vraja, there has now arisen an expectation to witness my special majesty—thus he acted. Since, by the power of his illusion, he took away that very group, which considered itself in no other place, to another part of the forest, and then brought them back and hid them right there on that riverbank, this was not done with a hostile intent. Toward enemies, even when sleep comes upon my intellect and valor, wakefulness is maintained. Therefore, toward that devotee, we shall simply display skill in playful jest. And in that regard, my yogamāyā, which largely embodies the intention of the venerable feet of my father, will come to my assistance. If I rely upon her right now, then I myself will assume those respective forms; for nothing else could equal those who are dear to me—[33] and in this way the sluggishness of Brahmā and the joy of Vraja will diminish and increase respectively." While thus reflecting, he contemplated the sorrow of his companions: "Alas, alas, how shall I pass the time without those who are distressed without me?" And then: / / Meditating with sorrow on the qualities and form of each one, / he then assumed their nature as his own; / with all distinction completely shaken off, / he became that very one, without any special effort.

[34] Resolving thus, assuming from Himself the forms of those various boys, calves, and other things in order to bring about a complete resolution of everything, He took up entry into home after home through the sport of returning to Vraja just like on any other day, and made that twilight fruitful. [35] But their mothers experienced a joy even more intimate than on other days. For:
Showing their maternal affection as before, but doubled / by the joy of believing Him their own son and by the splendor of delight in realizing His friendship with the son of the mistress of the cowherds, / it seemed that their perfection, having attained its fulfillment in the women of the settlement of Vraja, shone in just that way. ||

Even though the other boys and calves became identical in form to the son of Vraja’s king, / nevertheless they did not attain His exact status; and that is indeed proper, / for His form, the host of His qualities, His boundless pastimes, and His sheltering support of them, / creating His own wondrous state, have been declared here and there. ||
[36] In this way, when only five or six days were lacking to complete that year that had nearly slipped away, Rāma too, noticing fully in those boys and others that their affection—which was of the very same nature as their affection for Kṛṣṇa—was directed equally toward Himself and others and solely devoted to Him, was astonished, exchanged questions and answers with Him, came to a definite conclusion, and remained there; but out of anger at his younger brother because of the suffering brought about by the separation of all those friends, he did not go to the forest with Him for five or six days.

Brahmā, however, having arrived there secretly, was conjectured by Śrī Kṛṣṇa as follows:

“Since he comes and goes away, looks in front, behind, and to the side, / spreads himself all around, wanders in bewilderment step by step, / and with his booty suspiciously gazes at the group of calves and cowherd boys who are also booty, / he appears to me to be a thief holding a face in every direction.” ||

[37] Then Brahmā, perceiving the non-difference in forms and other attributes between those recent boys and the former ones, wondering in his mind, and receiving charming voices, beheld them on every side possessing the utmost greatness far beyond what he had ever seen. [38] But when he saw Brahmā, Śrīdāman and the other companions felt the desire to bring back their own friends, and so by chance the state of searching for them manifested, while the present ones vanished inside.

[39] Thus, the downward casting of the face of the lotus-born [Brahmā], who experienced various kinds of majesty, brought about by his shame and remorse, turned of itself into an act of bowing down. And on that occasion:

Lowering one face after another there, the four-faced one, / bowing down, did not attain completion because of the upward rising of his other face. ||
Although the Creator did not rejoice while bowing because one face did not point downward, / nonetheless he obtained joy from the unbroken sight of Hari’s moon-like face. ||

[40] Then, considering himself degraded, with no other recourse, the wise Creator praised Kṛṣṇa with a cluster of praises as if with a bouquet of flowers. And in that [hymn], while praising Him as if with all four mouths at once, though greatest of all, he extended his assent toward the pursuit of the followers of Gokula, however humble. And so he said:

“Great indeed is the fortune of any birth here in this forest, / or in Gokula, sprinkled with the dust of the feet of any of its dwellers, / whose entire life is Mukunda Himself, the Blessed Lord, / the dust of whose feet is sought even today by the Vedas.” [BhP 10.14.34]

[41] “Thus, we, paralyzed by the cluster of rays from the sun of the glory of the land of Vraja, do not find our way to logical argument; therefore enough of excessive elaboration!”

[42] Then Snigdhakaṇṭha said: “What did the illustrious young prince of Vraja say there?”

[43] Madhukaṇṭha smiled and said: “Nothing at all; yet at the time of that praise:
Govinda smiled seeing him offer praise, / for He beheld a certain wonder there: / when that four-faced one was speaking with one mouth, / the illusion arose that four mouths were uttering sounds! ||

[44] “And after the praise:
‘We are cowherds, having wealth, while you, Brahmā, are without wealth; / what should we say to you?’—as if thinking this, He smiled without speaking. ||”

[45] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: “Even when the Creator was departing, was anything said at all?”

[46] Madhukaṇṭha said: “At the end of the hymn of praise, not considering nourished satisfaction through the boys and others who had manifested afterwards, even though they were endowed with all sufficiency by being of His own form, that blessed one, conquered by love for His own people, the illustrious unconquered Lord, desired to bring back those very boys of Vraja; then, to Viriñci, who was asking for permission following a gesture shown by folded hands, He gave permission with a playful smile conveying a gentle reproach to him: ‘If it is the wish of your esteemed self, then I shall bring those who were previously gathered and kept near.’

[47] “Thereupon Viriñci, by observing a vow of silence accompanied by a slightly bowed forehead, made manifest his own misconduct and showed the agent and object of that permission; with his hair bristling with intense absorption in the burden of devotion and agitated by the pain born of his offense, he circumambulated Him three times, bowed repeatedly, and went to his own abode.

[48] “And Śrī Kṛṣṇa, not bringing his offense into His mind even in the slightest, and bringing back those calves who remained in an uninterrupted sequence of actions, dress, and hatred that were as originally ordained, united them with the cowherd boys who were in a similar state. [49] For in just that way, to prevent their reflection upon the contradiction of time and place, this faultless knowledge was produced by Lord Druhiṇa as the threshold of affection. It has indeed been said:”

“Then, bidding farewell to the self-born [Brahmā], the Lord brought the calves, who were waiting as before, / back to the sandy bank, just as He did His former companions.”

Then they,
“said to their friend Kṛṣṇa: ‘Welcome back so swiftly! / Not a single mouthful has been eaten; come here, eat heartily!’”

“Then, smiling, Hṛṣīkeśa took his meal together with the boys, / and showing them the python's skin, returned from the forest to Vraja.”

And it should be understood that this skin had been properly kept hidden by Yogamāyā for all this time.

Then, honored with great joy due to the end of the separation from the calves, cowherd boys, and children which had lasted for the course of a whole year, accompanied by those very [boys], entering Vraja whose abundance of fortune was assembled, signaling to turn back this and that unruly calf, He celebrated a festive day unprecedented even compared to earlier ones. As it is said:

“His limbs adorned with peacock feathers, flowers, and forest minerals, / rich with the festival of loud blasts from flutes, leaf-horns, and horns, / calling the calves, His sacred fame sung by His followers, / His gaze a feast for the eyes of the gopīs, He entered the cowherd settlement.”

Then, His name being repeated as “the son of Nanda” by the paternal relatives and as “the son of Yaśodā” by the maternal relatives, His deed—though it had occurred long ago—was sung as if it had just happened. Thus:

“Nanda's son has today killed the serpent, / and has brought back our time!” — Refrain.

Or: “Today Yaśodā's son has killed the serpent, / and has brought back our time!”

“The row of cloud-banks was His upper and lower lips here, / and a row of deceptive traps was the series of teeth.

The heavy breath was the fierce wind of a forest fire, / and the twin tongues were a pathway running into it.”

Thus imagining His various limbs, / they engaged in mutual laughter along with [miming] gestures,

taking the serpent to be friendly, / entering it thinking it a mountain, full of pride,

having entered into the midst of its belly, / and having fainted due to separation from their Lord and the like.

Then, joined by Him out of an abundance of affection, / brought back to consciousness by the shower of nectar from His eyes,

He then brought them outside of it, / and once again, ah, showed them everything here!

“He, dearer than life itself, protecting our lives, / effects our deliverance!”

Having heard this, the inhabitants of Vraja thought: “How could the desires of these murderous, fallen beings ever succeed?”

Thus when it was accomplished, in that harmonious meeting interwoven with happiness, in the morning Śrīvatsa-vatsa [Kṛṣṇa], following His elder brother, pacifying his charming anger filled with affection, bringing those [calves and boys] while inspiring amazement, and gathering them together with him, resumed the tending of calves just as before.

Then again, to bring the matter to a close, Madhukaṇṭha said, as if in wonder:

“Such a son has been born to you, O lord of the cowherd settlement, / whose village-headman is even Brahmā, the headman of the universe!”

So, when the two storytellers had unfolded the tale, as if displaying to the assembly the junctures of those various pastimes, and stood with folded hands, on that day as well, all the people, heading along the path to their homes, even while attending to their respective desirable duties, held that very magnified līlā in their hearts.

Thus ends the eleventh chapter, named “Deliverance from Aghāsura and the Offense of Brahmā,” in the glorious Gopālacampū.

Now the twelfth chapter:

The Movement to Pasture the Cows.

Now on the next day, the story unfolded. As Snigdhakaṇṭha said: “Although according to the manner of ‘in a short time’ and so forth, their age is calculated in successive periods of three years each, nevertheless early childhood (kaumāra) extended by one additional year, because the boy-calves and Śrīvatsa-vatsa experienced a lack of joy due to their mutual year-long separation, or because of His staying frozen [in age] out of deference to the young calves for whom that year-long period had passed like a moment. Therefore, Rāma's condition naturally conformed to that state as well. Thereafter, unbroken boyhood (paugaṇḍa) was completed in just two years, because youth (kaiśora) quickly arrived due to the full surge of joy from living together with friends found after so long. And we will explain this at the conclusion of the departure to the lower realm upon the killing of Dhenuka. Thus does ‘in a short time’ and so forth hold together correctly.

‘For just that long, the self-born [Brahmā], by his own reckoning lasting a mere instant, / saw the whole Hari playing for a year as before.’

And then: ‘Having attained the age of boyhood (paugaṇḍa)...’ and so forth.”

Now let us follow the matter at hand. While the two of them were sporting in this manner and captivating the minds of all, their age, moving beyond kaumāra, approached its fifth year. As follows:

“‘He was this old this year, last year, the year before last’— / when everyone calculated in this manner, / ah, then the slayer of Bakāsura, / having attained great splendor, suddenly left behind early childhood.

Endowed with the dark and fair complexions that surpass the first glow of emerging intellectual power, / their limbs marked by slightly broad chests and elongated, wide eyes, / their hair and dress assuming greater refinement than before, skilled in learning playful arts, / their boyhood (paugaṇḍa), previously gentle, now shining forth brightly, makes me intensely eager to behold them!”

And at that time, once in the morning, the wife of glorious Abhinanda came into the assembly of the glorious queen of Vraja, and acting with attentive care, asked her: “O mother of Kṛṣṇa, where has your boy gone today so early in the morning?”

[6] But the queen of Vraja said with a smile: “Alas, up until the present time, his massage, bath, and dressing were performed by me. Now, feeling shy even before me, fond of his servants of his own age, he performs those tasks separately and does not come near me. And when he does come, every day he honors me, his father, and the other elders as appropriate with bows of deep reverence. [7] Moreover, ever since then, when he would return with the calves in the evening while I was waiting for his arrival, I would wave water three times over him and drink it. But now, swearing oaths, growing insistent and forbidding it, he paralyzes my hands. And the son of Rohiṇī does just the same.” Hearing this recent account of him as something novel, looking at her face, all the women laughed. [8] She spoke again: “We take pleasure thinking that this non-childishness of his is still only childhood, since it is out of season; but this [other matter] makes us sorrowful.”