Gopalacampu 1.19

Now begins the twentieth chapter:

The Sight of Goloka which Surpassed the Wonder of Seeing the Realm of Varuṇa.

"Is this a dream? Is it waking? Or is it a faint, or madness?"
—thus the people could not repeatedly make sense of their intellect concerning him;
but of them, whose hearts were veiled in longing, this lament arose:
"Alas, alas, O king of Vraja! Alas, woe, alas, alas, O Śrī Kṛṣṇa, where are you, O Lord?" ||1

Held by four women, her heart scorched, the queen of Vraja,
a ground for inferring the existence of breath alone, uttered merely: "Alas, alas!" ||2
[13] Now let the unadorned conduct of that beloved of the goddess of Vraja be considered, who reached the abode of Pracetas through entering a subterranean passage filled with waters of high mountains. [14] When those servants had swiftly conveyed the venerable king of Vraja to the mansion of the lord of aquatic creatures, then he too arrived there. And as follows:

Supported by four servant women, her heart burned with grief, the queen of Vraja, / an object of doubt as to whether breath still existed in her, uttered only: "Alas! Alas!" // / [13] Now let the unfeigned conduct of that beloved of the goddess of fortune of Vraja, who had gone to the abode of Varuṇa through entering a subterranean passage filled with the waters of the high mountain, be understood. / [14] For when they swiftly escorted the venerable king of Vraja to the palace of the lord of aquatic creatures, he too accompanied him there. As follows:

Although His body had a charming, dark splendor, from the reddish flash of His anger it became unseeable;
though His pair of eyes dispelled darkness, by being variegated with fierce intensity they checked all sight;
and though His voice possessed tenderness and other virtues, out of the impetuosity of His rage it was so harsh
that it struck with bewilderment those who mistook it for the roar of lightning within the clouds of cosmic dissolution. //

[15] And then, with the uttering of the words, "Where on earth is that jackal who keeps rolling around in his hole?", while His splendor, which deepened the dishonor [of the arrogant] and exalted the family of the glorious Nanda, exceedingly wished to inflict pain and cause torment upon the sight, the protector of all the waters—maintaining a flow of loud outcries, wrapping a cloth around his neck, pressing his forehead to the ground, dreading strife, and joining his palms—bowed down like a whole rod even while still far off on the ground. [16] And seeing this humble state of his humbled pride, all his attendants did the same. [17] Then He whose eyes were like fresh red lotuses, pleasing to everyone, approached out of compassion and at once asked that Varuṇa: "Where is the venerable foot of my father, who practices the supreme virtue?" [18] But Varuṇa, his composure vanished, with folded hands revealed a pacifying utterance: "O Supreme Person! Surely where Your Lordship is, there alone that peerless, supremely great one can be, and nowhere else. But what punishment shall I mete out to these servants, and what for myself? In this matter I pray for Your instruction." [19] Kṛṣṇa, with a tranquil heart, said: "Punishing these wretches only diminishes the manhood of the punisher. Rather, quickly show the lotus feet of my revered father without delay." [20] Then [Varuṇa said]: "As Your Lordship, who relieves the poor and afflicted, commands." [21] The king of the waters made the path all the way to the palace where the glorious king of Vraja sat exceedingly suitable with fine cloth from the base of His feet, led the chieftain of the line of cowherd chiefs there, and said: "O Govinda, take this father of Yours, who is devoted to his son." [22] The meaning is: "I certainly know this; how then could I act otherwise? Or how could he suffer defeat from another?" [23] Thus, of Him who by His own majesty delivered him even from being a vessel of fear of the noose of Varuṇa—

And perceiving the fragrance of his son who was so hard to attain,
he returned to outer consciousness, carrying astonishment to the members of the court. //

He opened his eyes,
and beheld His glorious face;
just from seeing Him, he became filled with tears,
and because he was shrouded in tears, he thought it was a dream. //

[24] Kṛṣṇa, touching the soles of his feet, embraced him, lifted him up, and comforted him: "Father, here I am, I have come." [25] While both were thus overcome with total agitation, Hari—His heart shrinking with apprehension of the ridicule of the other attendants gathered all around—spoke in order to bring upon that place and upon Himself an appearance free from the transformations of tears and the like: "Father, look around." [26] Then the Indra of Vraja, looking around, looked with embarrassment at his son's face, thinking: "Where have we two come?" [27] And He said: "Father, do not let your feelings be troubled. We shall go to our own Vraja just as we came. Therefore, place your mind on setting your lotus feet forward." [28] While he was doing so, Varuṇa, with an agitated and distressful cry, said:

"Ah, Kṛṣṇa, You are merciful! Grant one of the two:
either punishment or grace, but do not leave the offense unsettled." //

[29] Even though they were ready to depart, as they lingered for just a moment, he made supreme offerings of worship before their feet and prostrated himself; and he walked with them as far as the opening of the abyss. Reaching its vicinity, he caused the waters standing in that portion of the pathway to part, and having filled a moment with delight through the presentation of magnificent gifts consisting of magnificent ornaments and the like dispatched with people sent to accompany them toward Vraja, he returned as though dancing out of a sense of fulfillment.

Then the people born of Vraja standing on the bank, whose radiance had been devoid of life
and whose state of vitality had grown languid as they kept gazing at that path,
seeing father and son, accompanied by the servants of the lord of the waters, returned without distress,
aha, once again fell into a slumber of bliss. //

[30] But Baladeva alone ran up to them and bowed to the king of Vraja. When the king of Vraja, who had given joy to the gathering, embraced him, forgot the outer world, and for a few moments paused without comprehending anything, and when Rāma bowed again and again, the younger brother of Rāma with a smile swiftly stepped around, and, through the nectar-like touch of His exceedingly charming person, anxiously brought first His mother back to the world of the living, and gradually all the others as well.

When the father of Hari had returned, both of these [brothers]
met with the folk of Vraja, who were embracing one another;
then that gathering noticed nothing else,
but those two understood everything, the highest and the lowest. //

Amidst the lowing of the cows, the clamor of the people, showers of flowers from heaven,
instruments, dances, and hundreds of shouts of praise, when a mutual crush arose,
the glorious Rāma, holding back the herd of cattle and soothing the crowd of people
with gentle words, stationed them in their proper places. //

And there— / Having personally offered a radiant seat here to the great lord of the cowherds, / and then arranged for the others to be seated appropriately, Bala, / after inquiring all around from his younger brother who had taken a seat close by, / listened to this account and made the herd of cowherds hear it as well. // [31] Then, having been given leave, they invited the brāhmaṇas, satisfied them with milk-rice pudding and other dishes, offered them their desired gifts in full abundance, and, mindful of completing it before the Dvādaśī passed and being intent upon it, prayed, "May this vow be renowned as faultless." Considering themselves capable and fulfilled by their words of blessing, those fortunate cowherds all returned to Vraja with immense delight. [32] There the leader of Vraja, walking along the path himself, shone splendidly between his two sons. [33] Then the narrator, concluding this story, said to the lord of Vraja:

"What need to say that there was no contact with the snare of the bearer of the noose in your case? / Even fear of him did not exist, through the prowess of this son of yours! // For it was said of his compassion by Varuṇa, terrified of his valor: / 'O Govinda, let him be taken! This is your father, fond of his father!'" // [34] Then on another day, when seated in another assembly without Kṛṣṇa, the elders of the cowherd clan questioned the lord of Vraja about the marvel that took place there. [35] And he celebrated in verse, at no small length, that magnificent splendor of that guardian of the world, which surpasses the visual range of people of this world. And in that context he described: "Friends, hear the wonder!"—the extraordinary devotion of the inhabitants there toward Kṛṣṇa. [36] Following that description, astonished within their own minds, all of them had this thought arisen from the possibility of his being God: "Even if he is God by virtue of indestructible recognition, still, as the giver of flawless joy consisting in being the object and locus of inborn riches of affection, the disposition of our minds repeatedly leaps with delight to clearly behold that superiority which completely surpasses every [other] desire! And will that be accomplished by him without impediment?" [37] And he, knowing this about all of them—who were regarded without difference from himself, as kin sharing the same identity—deliberated, constrained by the pain born of compassion and overcome by urgency: [38] "Ah, these very people are my foremost kin; discerning supreme lordship in me, they wish to experience my majesty, which is impossible from every perspective, yet they do not experience it, precisely because they treat merely the splendor of a guardian of the world as an object of astonishment. And yet that kind of splendor of theirs belongs entirely to their own state. But the fact that they do not experience it, even though they consist of it, is surely due to an impediment of the intellect because of regarding me as ordinary, following my descent manifested in a world that has high and low states fashioned by ignorance, desire, and karma. And of them:

"Thus Nanda and the other cowherds, joyfully discussing the exploits of Kṛṣṇa and Rāma / and delighting [in them], did not feel the suffering of worldly existence."

"[They] whose selves, friends, wealth, wives, and desires were surrendered to Kṛṣṇa"; "Who had entrusted all their wealth to Kṛṣṇa, whose eyes are like lotus petals." [39] And so:

"O Lord, what will you give to these inhabitants of the cowherd station? Pondering this, our / mind is bewildered, finding anywhere no reward other than you, from whom all rewards come! / For even Pūtanā, along with her family, was brought to you merely through her appearance as a virtuous woman— / [while these cowherds] have made their home, wealth, friends, beloveds, selves, sons, life-breaths, and hearts for your sake!"

[Kṛṣṇa thought:] “Although the majesty of the love of these [cowherds], which by such statements is proven to conquer all and bring Me under its control, does not consist of ignorance or the like, still, unable to tolerate that they consider themselves ordinary like other [mortals], I consider this [delusion of theirs]—arising though it does from the snare of fond pampering and desire born of delusion made of the abundance of love for Me—to be composed of that very love. [40] In truth, however, by virtue of such a debt of love, their status as creditors has from beginningless time left no room for anyone else; and though they have surrendered everything of value to Me, their goal is My only goal, and My supreme majesty merely conforms to them—indeed, nothing higher than this is even possible. [41] Therefore, the wonder that My father felt over the splendor of the guardian of the waters grieves Me. Hence, thinking, ‘The immersion of love they have in Me is not equaled by My love in them,’ I, who keep this continuously in mind, should now cause them to experience this very majesty of their own, through the perception of Yogamāyā, which consists of their own auspicious meditation.” [42] Having reflected thus, on the following day, using an asking brāhmaṇa who recited the Ādivarāha Purāṇa, He caused the assembly of brave cowherds, including His remarkable father and others who sat in the assembly at the city-gate, to ascertain: “Bathing on the full-moon day in the month of Kārtika in the pool of Brahma, which grants Akrūra's desired goal, swiftly brings about that full fruit.” Holding this as essential, on that morning He took all of them—His kinsmen and the rest—and went there quickly. [43] Having arrived, plunging in there with everyone, coming out of it, and stepping onto the bank, He cast aside the veiling power and revealed Goloka—the cowherds’ own abode, which by being beyond material nature is condensed being, consciousness, and bliss, and which, being the supreme essential form, taste, fragrance, touch, and sound, is dense [bliss] unattainable even for those who delight in the self. [44] Removing the curtain, [He revealed it] like a wonderful celestial painting, which they indeed call the realm of Brahman, as it is the personal realm of this supreme Brahman in human form. [45] Seeing this realm along with Him—seated right in their very midst, recognized as Kṛṣṇa, the crest-jewel of their own clan, and fully ascertained by the testimony of Vedic praise of His divine plays in Gokula, such as His birth—the people of Vraja crossed beyond all grief and, from an abundance of wonder and bliss, experienced a swelling of happiness at every moment. [46] Having thus revealed it, that enemy of the Daityas, in order to fulfill His play of oppressing the Daityas and the like, veiled it again from those people of Vraja whose minds were delighting in Goloka. [47] Then the narrator spoke the conclusion:

Such is your son, O king of Vraja, who conquered the realms of the rulers of the worlds, / who caused you and your people to see this realm! [13]

The cowherds are in Goloka, and Goloka is Himself in the cowherds; / realizing this, He who revealed it—to that wearer of the forest garland I bow! [14]

[48] Thus, when the morning narrative had departed, the night narrative shone forth. As Snigdhakaṇṭha said:

When this Hari went with His father to Varuṇa's realm, / what false person could then describe the condition of Rādhā and the others here? / There may be stupor in dull objects, but for the wise there is awareness of joy and sorrow; / yet here, this condition from every side did not attain even the state of being a void. [15]

When Kṛṣṇa indeed went to Varuṇa's realm for the sake of His father, / then Śrī Rādhā’s breath departed along with Him. / When He came back from there, then suddenly it returned there /—this, moreover, is the supreme poetic art of poets here. [16]

Furthermore: / But when the son of Vraja’s lord returned from the realm of the holder of the noose, then a certain / clever woman, affectionate towards Rādhā and affectionate towards Him, / causing both of them to hear at night the longing rooted in the two, / immediately became like the very mouth of their mental state. [17] / [49] There, the longing rooted in Śrī Rādhā was as follows:

“If You lead me, O Creator, / to another world without His service, / lead me happy with the splendor of His face, / not miserable from separation from Him!” [18] / [50] That rooted in Śrī Kṛṣṇa was as follows:

“My father’s venerable feet have been brought back from Varuṇa’s realm, and the people are overjoyed; / alas, has My Rādhā, swallowed by anguish because of grief over Me, not wasted away?” [19] / [51] Here, by tone of voice, it is understood: “She has indeed wasted away.” [52] Thus, having privately informed her of Him and Him of her, she particularly reproached Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as follows:

“O Mādhava, your heart is devoid of passion, yet that is what pleases you; / thus, surely, golden-limbed Rādhā visibly turns pale.” [20] / [53] And then, discerning the melting of His body through the power of love, she smiled again and said:

“You possess virtues, O Mādhava, and so does that Rādhikā, / by which she is thoroughly attracted even from very far away; / Rādhā, too, is exceedingly full of rasa, by whom / you are thus softened even from within your own home.” [21] / [54] Madhukaṇṭha said: “Who is this old woman? For it was established earlier that no other person can enter there.” [55] Snigdhakaṇṭha said with a smile: “It is Paurṇamāsī herself who enters there in various disguises.” [56] Then, beginning from that time:

Night after night, He then sang intensely / with His flute—this is true, not false; / but those women clearly understood: / “Who is that piercer of vital points who swiftly cuts through everything with his arrows?” [22]

At home, in bed, in churning, on the path, among people, in water, and in the forest, / although Hari, rising, shone forth in every direction, / still, from not obtaining Him so as to see Him or touch Him clearly, born of distress, / Rādhā’s torment grew even greater from not having reached Him. [23]

[57] Now the conclusion:

Such is your husband, O Śyāmā, in whose desire you are the supreme refuge; / or let it be understood here that desire or beauty is kānti.

Thus ends the twentieth chapter, named "The Sight of Goloka, Which Surpasses the Splendor of the Realm of Varuṇa", in the venerable Gopālacampū.