Gopalacampu 1.9

(9)
Now begins the ninth chapter.

Entry into the Region of Śrī Vṛndāvana

[1] Then, on another day, as the assembly was shining in full splendor, the king of Vraja questioned: "Dear Snigdhakaṇṭha, those two trees in Vraja surely resembled deities because they granted desires. What were they in their previous birth? Why did they come here? And into what condition have they now gone, and where?"

[2] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: "Formerly born from the friend of Dhūrjaṭi [Kuvera], they behaved insolently toward the best of divine sages [Nārada]. But ultimately, through supreme grace manifested as the chastisement inflicted by that best of divine sages, even in treehood they attained devotion to the Lord. Standing disguised as the twin arjuna trees near your house situated in Bṛhadvana, where your incarnations take birth one after another, and after this having attained their true destination, they became endowed with supreme devotion to the Lord. Now, indeed, they abide beholding the manifestation of the fruit of that devotion."

[3] The king of Vraja said with curiosity: "Tell the truth: where have they gone now?"

[4] Then Snigdhakaṇṭha, bowing his lotus face and remaining as if silent, glanced sideways toward Madhukaṇṭha.

[5] The king of Vraja said: "Why have you fallen silent, as if hesitating?"

[6] Snigdhakaṇṭha said with deference: "Sire, what can we say? Your illustrious feet will know of themselves."

[7] The king of Vraja said with a smile: "It is true that what you say would only be repetition, since through the rule that 'your silence alone speaks in this matter,' we have indeed understood. Still, with your own mouth, please gladden us."
[8] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: "We two are clearly those very two who, having attained intelligence through the mercy shown to wretched beings by the feet of the divine sage who showers all happiness, obtained those past and present conditions."

[9] Hearing this, the king of Vraja and the other elders, gazing upon their faces, called them forward and repeatedly embraced them with curiosity and delight. Seating the two between them, they gazed upon them. [10] Then, after their questioning, Madhukaṇṭha narrated the tale that followed in sequence: [11] "Then, five days after this wondrous previous event, the illustrious Upananda, arriving at his own house, asked his wife: 'Today, in the house of your brother-in-law, the king of men, was the auspicious visit undertaken by you?'"

[12] His wife said: "Certainly! Who indeed can calm their mind without going there, let alone we who are close relatives of your standing?"

[13] The husband said: "If there is anything special, please tell me."

[14] The wife said:

"Where there is abundant love, there abundant fear is also perceived, / just as the eye is an object of apprehension, but the ear and other senses are not so. ||1

[15] For, although those two are protected even with companions by their mothers and others who take faultless care, nevertheless, since they cannot be managed during playtime, they completely disturb everything pleasant. And in that regard, hear today’s happening:

[16] While Yaśodā was filled with delight in preparing food for her own Vraja and the lord of Vraja, and while Rohiṇī too was occupied with assisting her, your two nephews deceived the foster-mothers, who were full of anxiety, and wandered far away. As it is said:

In front of the nurses who were slightly absorbed in another task, / beyond the vision of their left and right eyes and in a concealed place, / gradually slipping away under the pretext of play and running far off, / there with their companions, an unruly company, they made a loud commotion. ||2

[17] Then the group of foster-mothers appointed to protect them, having been thus outwitted, directed their attention in an instant, quickly followed their trail, and gradually realizing that their calling was rendered ineffective, reported it to their two mistresses.
[18] Meanwhile, hearing that the two had gone exceedingly far to the deep riverbank, the mother of the slayer of Pūtanā sent Rāma’s mother alone to gather them, saying: 'Alas! I do not know whether, urged by an evil person just like the pair of arjuna trees, some tree or riverbank might collapse; while I am detained by the outcome of the cooking, you yourself go quickly!'
And she, going there quickly with agitated limbs and mind, / then called Kṛṣṇa, who had broken the arjuna trees and reached the riverbank: ||3

[19] Then, as Kṛṣṇa, the master of his companions, refused to listen because of being absorbed in the delight of play, and as Kṛṣṇa's elder brother also thirsted to follow him, she returned, came home, and dispatched the one who was both an object of some fear to him and the source of her authority [namely, Yaśodā].

[20] And then his mother, going there—

Seeing her son playing excessively long with the boys alongside his elder brother, / showering affection in the guise of breast-milk, she raised her call: ||4

[21] But she did not go close all at once, out of fear that he would run away. Let the sweetness of this call be carried to the height of relish:

'Kṛṣṇa, O lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa! / Darling, come and drink milk from my breast. / Enough with sports! Wearied by hunger, / you should eat.' || [BhP 10.11.15]

[22] Still, since he did not come because he was thirsty for play while jostling with his companions, she gently reproved him; and grieving over the separation, she compassionately called out to Śrī Balabhadra alone, who was the second recipient of an incomparable affection and who was certainly obedient out of respect for her words alone:

'O Rāma, come quickly, darling, delight of the family, together with your younger brother! / Having eaten only in the morning, my little son, you are worn out by play!

The lord of Vraja, O Dāśārha, is waiting for you to eat with him. / Come, do what pleases us both; boys, go to your own houses!'" || [BhP 10.11.16–17]

[23] Then, as Saṅkarṣaṇa was pulling Kṛṣṇa to turn him back for his mother's delight, she said to him with pretext-filled encouragement:

"Your limbs are greyed with dust, dear child; take a bath!
Today is your birth-star; become purified and give cows to the brāhmaṇas!"

[24] Then, seeing the boys who had just come from home and wishing to kindle his desire, she said:

"Look, look at your playmates, cleaned and well adorned by their mothers!
You too, having bathed and eaten, play about, beautifully adorned!"

[25] In this manner, [thinking,] "Pleasing oneself comes from nourishing the brāhmaṇas right from childhood," under the pretext of calling him and so on as he hesitated to begin that [bath], she approached slowly, took Rāma's younger brother along with Rāma by their arms, and brought them home.

[26] And then, although the words "Today is your birth-star" were uttered as a fiction, the king of Vraja's wife took it quite seriously and celebrated that festival, wherein mantras accompanied by yantras were repeatedly applied to avert the evil eye.

[27] Realising this, the glorious Upananda, who perceived everything, reflected: "The fear for their children held by these two [parents], who have children and are loving toward their subjects, is true, for this chamber of the cowherd settlement appears as if tainted by evil. Be that as it may, we shall deliberate in the assembly of the king of Vraja."

[28] His wife said: "The deliberation will indeed rest with your noble self."

[29] Then, early in the morning, the cowherds gathered in the assembly hall located at the edge of the cow pasture, which was radiant with the assembly of the king of Vraja, the refuge of all their trust; and they considered that the ease of pasturing cows and the like was no longer here:

[30] Because Bṛhadvana's forest was near exhaustion due to prolonged dwelling. There, however, the glorious Upananda—advanced in age and wisdom, rich in love for the glorious Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, and attaining delight through Kṛṣṇa, who constantly adorned his lap-couch, repeatedly held his chin, asked fanciful questions, and eagerly begged for various toys then and there—spoke words agreeable to everyone. And here, noticing the reluctance of the king of Vraja, he took the side of what was beneficial merely to the young children, as follows:

"As to what you have said for the good of Vraja, that 'We must not stay here,'
that appears to me to be foremost for the welfare of the little children.
Since a host of disasters has occurred here even when [the child] was protected with constant effort
by the two brothers, what [good] would remain here after that?
In that multitude of calamities, protection came solely from the supreme Lord;
and it is certainly not desirable to those devoted to him to place a burden on him.
One who is moving must consider two things: the place to be abandoned and the place to be reached.
The place to be abandoned is the root of sorrow, while the place to be reached is a treasury of happiness.
A place is to be rejected which results in sorrow in this world and the next;
the forest named Bṛhadvana has now become, at every step, a source of worldly sorrow.
A place is to be accepted which results in happiness in this world and the next;
and that forest of Vṛndāvana is the most delightful of all and exceedingly sacred.
The forest where the mountain named Govardhana shines,
that is indeed the very life of the herds of cows and of the cowherds.
The cowherds pay tax on the forests, since there is no certainty of settled villages and the like;
therefore, when going to another forest, the permission of kings is established of itself.
Whatever duty becomes an obligation, whether out of happiness or out of fear,
that should indeed be done quickly; for delay produces ample doubt.
Therefore we must depart at once from this place; no sluggishness should be indulged in.
For the calculation of exertion is weighed whenever each deed is performed at its proper time.
This is our consideration, if it should be pleasing to you;
for even regarding a matter seen by another, widespread consensus milks celebration.
If, however, your agreement is obtained here, then first let the cows,
having thoroughly suckled their calves, take the path to the Vṛnda forest.
Afterwards, let the tent-laden carts set out, taking all household belongings;
for such is the nature of a cowherd settlement, established by traditional custom, through wandering (vrajanāt) in the house of the cow-milkers."
And then:
That speech, understood on its own for their own benefit,
suited the crowd of cowherds who had no doubts of their own;
behold: into soil that possesses the same nature, a variety of seed
flourishes and bears fruit there, and not elsewhere.

[31] Thus, having informed Paurṇamāsī as well, received her permission, and sent her on ahead, that cowherd settlement (ghoṣa), made to thrive by the kettle-drum proclamation, "Let Vraja pack up quickly!", abundantly revealed its very etymology; for the nature of a cowherd settlement (ghoṣatā) is declared from its being the seat of great sound (mahā-ghoṣa) arising from the clamour of cows and human beings as well. As it is said:

Then in Vraja a multitude of ten million uproars arose,
mingled with cries of "hihī-hihī" and "jihi-jihi";
and the sound of the carts, "ghaḍat, ghaḍat, ghaḍat,"
accompanied by instrumental music, stood devouring everything.

[32] Having placed the elderly and others upon the wagons and personally carrying their bows,
the cowherds set out with valour, out of respect for the cattle.

[32] And then, while the array of carts was thus rattling along, as it rumbled on,
People far off, beholding the spectacle of moving houses that were carts,
Joined together and said: "This is some wandering village!"
And along the path:
One runs, another calls out, someone here gives an answer;
One turns back and walks along, another looks after his own things;
Everyone sings of Kṛṣṇa's childhood deeds, weeps tears, is stunned,
Sweats, trembles, bristles with horripilation, turns pale, and sinks down.

Mounted on carts, adorned with fresh ornaments,
The cowherd women, out of boundless joy, sang of Nandanandana in delight,
As follows:
"O child born to King Nanda! Rejoice, O son of mother Yaśodā!
Anointed in the grand festival of your birth! You who gladden all your affectionate kin! [Refrain]
You who tormented the poisonous woman with your touch! You to whom the fault of disaster was unknown!
You who remained after overturning the cart! O special merit of Gokula!

Delightful by virtue of your given names! You who perpetually delight the women!
Whose body is an orange as you crawl on all fours! You who welcome the company of companions!

You who crossed over the whirlwind! You who delighted the king of Gokula!
Whose joy was in setting the calves free! You who grant happiness and fame to the people of Vraja!

Whose stealing brings joy to everyone! In that very act, your valor was shown!
O you of the Dāmodara pastime! Whose nature bestows all happiness!" Thus.

[33] Thus singing and longing to behold him, they passed along—

Then Yaśodā and Rohiṇī, seated upon a single cart,
Shone with Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, eager to hear tales about them.

[34] Their presence there was as follows:
In a cart resembling a house, variegated with gold inlaid with jewels,
Pleasant within on account of a clean, soft mattress,
Shining with the luster of their sons, those two,
Rohiṇī and Yaśodā, shone brightly.

[35] And those talks were of two kinds: concerning them, and spoken by them. The former was as follows:

The affectionate women around the cart continuously delighted the two mothers
With all those deeds of their two sons, both known and unknown.
Such is the nature of love, having the form of universal wonder, because it completely
Makes everything belonging to itself seem as if it had never touched the mind before.

[36] The latter was as follows—

Kṛṣṇa said: "Mother, where indeed are we going?"

[37] The mother said: "Son, to the forest realm named Vṛndāvana."

[38] Kṛṣṇa said: "When will we reach the house?"

[39] The mother said with a smile: "My child, it is moving right along with us."

[40] Kṛṣṇa said: "Where indeed? Point it out!"

[41] Rāma laughed and said: "Kṛṣṇa, look close by at these wanderers—these houses disguised as great carts, whose lower portions are the places where daily duties like cooking are arranged."

[42] Kṛṣṇa looked with wonder, touched the venerable Rāma, laughed, and said again: "That was spoken truly! For even the trees standing on the distant earth appear that way."

[43] But the mother, laughing along with Rohiṇī, said: "Son, these do not go anywhere at all; rather, at present they merely seem to do so."

[44] Kṛṣṇa said with eager longing: "Let it be! Where is that Vṛndāvana?"

[45] Rohiṇī said: "Son, on the other side of the Yamunā."

[46] Rāma said: "One Yamunā was left far behind; is there another ahead as well?"

[47] The mother said with a smile: "Son, its course is nowhere broken even in the slightest."

[48] Rāma looked at his mother's face in wonder and happy delight. [49] Kṛṣṇa said: "The noble lady surely did not consider that it was seen flowing clear over there, just as if from here."

[50] Thus, while the two displayed joyous laughter, Kṛṣṇa eagerly spoke again: "Aunt, what abundance of happiness is there, that we are setting out with so much effort?"

[51] Rohiṇī said: "Son, there are many play-grounds and toys."

[52] Joyfully adorning the lap of Saṅkarṣaṇa—that spotless moon—with his own dark luster, Kṛṣṇa, stretching his limbs with bodily affection, looking up at his face, laughing and sporting, rolled about again and again. [53] Saṅkarṣaṇa, placing his face near his face and repeatedly smiling playfully, made him laugh for a long time.

[54] Then, hearing the conversation of the two mothers—"This is the nearby, pleasant line of forest touched by breezes mingled with the waves of the Yamunā"—Kṛṣṇa stood up fully; united with Saṅkarṣaṇa, he reached the forest lining its banks, asking about and giving answers for all the trees, beasts, and birds, both previously unknown and known, as if they were unprecedented, debating with laughing, gap-toothed words.

[55] There, the questions and answers were as follows:

"What is that tree with leaves stirring continuously on all sides?" "The pippala." "What bears ten million fruits?" "That is called the uḍumbara." "What is this here whose form is covered with thick matted locks?" "That is the banyan."
Thus, during their entry into the fresh interior of the forest, the dialogue arising between mother and child
Delighted everyone there with showers of nectar, being most wondrous at every turn.

Moreover:

"What are these fair animals with leaping gaits led by a dark buck that sport about?" "Female deer."
"What are these with bodies resembling buffaloes and horses?" "They are known as rohiṣas."
"What are these whose bodies are speckled with manifold branches of antlers?" "Those called śambaras."
Thus, learning their names from his mother's words, that boy, the cowherd son of Nanda, along with Balarāma, is victorious!

Moreover:
“Who is this wonderful one?” “A peacock.” “Who is that soft-cooing singer here?” “Named a cuckoo.” / “Who wishes to speak words like a human?” “A parrot.” “And who is on the flowers?” “A bee.” / Conversing and laughing thus with their two mothers upon their first journey to the forest, / the two boys, Gopāla and Rāma, showered the women of Vraja with bliss.
Then, arriving at the bank of the Sun's daughter [Yamunā], / the hosts of people of Vraja, packed with carts and cows, / eager to cross in their haste, / milled about one another, filled with hubbub.

Then, both brothers left their two mothers and mounted the exceedingly high cart of their father, the ruler of Vraja. Standing aloft, they beheld with wide-open eyes the Kālindī, radiant with the beauty of blooming blue lotuses, and also Vṛndāvana, which delights all living beings.

The glorious king of Vraja and the others said to one another: “Ah, look at the beauty here of the Sun's daughter, belonging to the far-stretching wilderness! Indeed, holding the interior of Vṛndāvana within herself through the mingling of its reflections, she behaves like a variegated patterned silk cloth! Ah, the fine nature of the sweetnesses of this Vṛndāvana, which, possessing a dark-blue sheen, resembling a cloud with a rainbow shining with lightning blazing amidst a pouring shower due to its rows of white, yellow, and red flowers, offers a flood of nectar even from afar! Its captivating fragrance, clearly rare because its pollen is attained by the bees of heaven attracted to it, is received by the noses of newcomers, as if it were a gathering of courteous hosts advancing from afar to greet them! And its flock of diverse birds, whose clamorous chatter is mingled with an artificial, soft, and indistinct warbling, attracts every creature endowed with ears near its own abode, even without understanding the meaning, just like an attraction mantra!”

Then, as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa were thus looking and listening with eager desire, the cowherds set about having the cattle cross over:
At the crossing, the water and the bank of the Sun's daughter
became in an instant full of cows and covered with cow dung everywhere.

When the cows had crossed over and the cowherd women, along with their attendants and belongings, had disembarked from their palanquins, a line of rafts tied to one another, skillfully constructed from the best of kāśa, kuśa, śara reeds, and bamboo, was prepared without obstruction, like a royal highway. And then, when the near and far banks were made one, everyone entered that section of the forest—situated on the far side as though it were the near side, lying between Madhupurī and the pool of Kālīya—singing, laughing, and playing, even with the array of carts. For thus indeed it was said:

“Entering Vṛndāvana, which brings happiness at all times, / they made their residence in Vraja there with their carts, like a crescent moon.”

And Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, seized with longing, having reached the vicinity of the bank, eagerly leapt from the cart to the ground. Calling out in sudden leaps, they kept their friends joyful behind them and plunged into the dense forest, whose wonders were ever fresh though already fresh, looking to the left and to the right, traversing it on foot. And what else is to be described at that time? The whole of Vṛndāvana, touched by Kṛṣṇa, was ascertained to be joyful indeed, and embraced. For:

The singing of the forest in the cuckoo's warble, its dancing in the swaying of the creepers, / and the poetic conceit of bristling hair in the sprouting shoots—which are otherwise without an adequate cause— / if they were called false before, then by the power of Kṛṣṇa’s company they are truly described in that way, / because all of that is seen constantly and vividly.

And then, walking at times and mounting the shoulders of their affectionate companions at other times, the nectar of their flawless loveliness being relished by their kin, endowed with auspicious omens, the two arrived from the Yamunā ghat known as Vatsakrīḍana at the place named Saṭṭīkara.

Then, when the sound of the horn signaling the halt arose and permission was granted by the king, leaving that behind and setting the southwest before them, they all disembarked into a wide and crowded region.

Its activities manifested by the shouting of the people, then surrounded by Nanda and the rest, / this Vṛndāvana shone forth, appearing as if awakened from sleep.
There they made their settlement in Vraja with their carts, like a crescent moon, / the interior of which was gradually filled by the cows in dense lines.
And in the holy Harivaṃśa:
“He made an extensive settlement for the benefit of the cows, / bounded by a ring of carts, arranged in the shape of a half-moon.”

Thus, on that day, they built it with carts alone; but on another day:
“Well protected on all sides by grown thorny shrubs / and thorny trees with high, entrenched branches.”

Placing the Govardhana mountain in front of the gate, / the cowherds' settlement was established there, for it was not a dwelling on the mountain.
Even though they abandoned their eastern home, arranged with various boundaries, / the configuration of Vraja remained just as it was when situated on the other side of the Yamunā.

This settlement was eight krośas long, / and in its middle it was half that wide; / this measurement here is according to the sight of ordinary people, / but through divine power its nature is truly an infinite, inconceivable abode.

In the middle was the house of the king, beside it that of his brothers, / and beyond that, those of the others; / just as there is an order of intimacy and so forth in love, / exactly so is the propriety even in their dwelling.

[67] Then, as a host of seasons passed there with supreme joy, although the two were engaged in play in Vraja as before, an exceedingly extraordinary desire to see the forest arose. Consequently, every day they wandered everywhere along with their father, who went to the forest to protect the cows. Where—

Seeing Vṛndāvana, Govardhana, and the sandbanks of the Yamunā, / supreme joy arose in Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. // [BhP 10.11.36]

As follows: / Due to the pre-eminence of its host of exceedingly celestial trees, Vṛndāvana; / Govardhana, because of its collection of rocks surpassing jewel-inlaid couches and thrones; / and the sandy banks of the daughter of the Sun, with expanses surpassing arenas made of camphor powder— / yielded a hundred enchanting celebrations for the two. // [68] Then Madhukaṇṭha expressed this conclusion with folded hands:

Such a son has been born to you, O lord of the cowherds, / who makes the universe protected even by the deeds of his childhood!

[69] Thus, when this discourse directly displaying his pastimes had taken place, on that day as well, just as on previous days, all the inhabitants, variegated by a diminisher of their uncurtailed bliss, proceeded to their respective homes.

Thus ends the ninth chapter, named 'Entering the Region of Śrī Vṛndāvana',
in the glorious Gopālacampū. ||9