Bhagavatapurana 10.22
English (machine translation) 10.22
- Language
- English
Contents
10.22.1
Śrī Śuka said: / In the first month of the winter season, the young maidens of Nanda's Vraja / undertook the observance of worshiping Kātyāyanī, subsisting on sacrificial food.
10.22.2
Having bathed in the water of the Kālindī at the water's edge at daybreak, / they made an earthen image of the goddess and worshiped her, O king,
10.22.3
with perfumes, fragrant garlands, offerings, incense, lamps, / varied presentations, fresh sprouts, fruits, and grains of unhusked rice:
10.22.4
“O Kātyāyanī, O possessor of great creative power, O supreme mistress of great yoga! / O goddess, make the son of the cowherd Nanda my husband! Homage unto you!” / Repeating this mantra, those young girls performed their worship.
10.22.5
Thus for a month the maidens, their minds fixed on Kṛṣṇa, performed the vow; / they properly worshiped Bhadrakālī, praying: “May the son of Nanda be my husband!”
10.22.6
Rising at dawn, their arms linked together, / they sang loudly of Kṛṣṇa as they went every day to bathe in the Kālindī, calling each other by their family names.
10.22.7
One day, having arrived at the river bank, leaving / their clothes as before, singing of Kṛṣṇa, they played in the water with joy.
10.22.8
The Lord, Kṛṣṇa, the master of the masters of yoga, perceiving that, / went there surrounded by his companions to bring fulfillment to their rite.
10.22.9
Quickly taking their garments and climbing a nīpa tree, / laughing alongside the laughing boys, he spoke teasing words:
10.22.10
“Come here, women, and take your own garments as you wish. / Truly I speak, not in jest, because you are emaciated by the vow.
10.22.11
An untruth was never spoken by me before, as these [boys] know. / Take them one by one, or all together, O slender-waisted girls!”
10.22.12
Seeing his prank, the gopīs, overwhelmed with love, / felt bashful, looked at one another, smiled, and did not come out.
10.22.13
As Govinda was speaking thus, their minds captivated by his teasing, / immersed up to their necks in the cold water and trembling, they said to him:
10.22.14
“Do not commit injustice! For we know you / as the dear son of the cowherd Nanda, the pride of Vraja, dear one. Give us our garments, we are trembling!
10.22.15
O Śyāmasundara, we are your maidservants; we shall do what you say. / Give us our clothes, O knower of dharma! Otherwise, we will tell the king!”
10.22.16
The Lord said: / “If you are my maidservants and will do what is spoken by me, / come here and receive your own garments, O women of pure smiles! / Otherwise I shall not give them. What can the angry king do?”
10.22.17
Then, from the pool of water, all the young maidens, trembling with cold, / covering their private parts with both hands, emerged, tormented by the frost.
10.22.18
Seeing them afflicted, the Lord, pleased by their pure devotional love, / placing the clothes on his shoulder, spoke with a smile, delighted:
10.22.19
“Because you, while observing a vow, plunged into the water naked, this was an offense to the gods. / Folding your hands upon your heads to remove the fault, offer obeisance and take your lower garments!”
10.22.20
Thus spoken to by Acyuta, the women of Vraja, considering naked bathing to be a breach of the vow, / desiring its fulfillment, bowed down directly to him, the seeker of their flaws, who is the fruit of all rites.
10.22.21
Seeing them thus bowed, the Lord, the son of Devakī, / compassionate and pleased by that, gave them their clothes.
10.22.21.p1
Thoroughly deceived, stripped of shame, / mocked, and made to act like playthings,
10.22.22
and their clothes had been taken away, nonetheless, delighted by the company of their beloved, they did not resent him.
10.22.22.p1
[…]
10.22.23
Having put on their clothes, prepared for union with their dearest,
their hearts captive, their eyes filled with bashfulness, they did not move away from him.
10.22.24
Understanding their resolve, taken with the desire to touch his feet
by those women who had kept the vow, the Lord Dāmodara said to them:
10.22.25
“O virtuous maidens, the resolve of yours to worship me is known;
it is approved by me, and so it is bound to come true.
10.22.26
For those whose minds are absorbed in me, desire does not lead to material desire;
grains of barley that are roasted and boiled generally have no power to sprout as seeds.
10.22.27
Go, women, back to Vraja, having attained your aim; with me you shall enjoy these coming nights,
with a view to which you virtuous ones undertook this vow of worship to the noble goddess.”
10.22.28
Śrī Śuka said:
Thus instructed by the Lord, their desires fulfilled, the young maidens,
meditating on his lotus feet, entered Vraja with great difficulty.
10.22.29
Then, surrounded by cowherds, the Lord, the son of Devakī,
went far from Vṛndāvana, grazing the cows along with his elder brother.
10.22.30
When the summer sun's heat grew intense, seeing the trees
acting like parasols with their own shades, he spoke to the dwellers of Vraja:
10.22.31
“O Stoka-kṛṣṇa, O Aṃśu, Śrīdāman, Subala, Arjuna,
Viśāla, Vṛṣabha, Ojasvin, Devaprastha, Varūthapa!
10.22.32
Behold these fortunate ones whose life is solely for the sake of others,
who, enduring the wind, rain, heat, and cold, ward them off from us.
10.22.33
Oh, how supreme is their birth, the livelihood of all living beings,
from whom petitioners never turn away empty-handed, just like from a noble person!
10.22.34
With leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, and wood,
fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp, and tender shoots, they fulfill every desire.
10.22.35
This much is the fulfillment of birth here among embodied beings for the embodied:
that by their lives, wealth, intellect, and speech they should always act for the highest good of others.”
10.22.36
Thus speaking, through the midst of the trees whose branches were bowed down
with clusters of fresh shoots, fruits, flowers, and foliage, he went to the Yamunā.
10.22.37
There, having let the cows drink the water—pure, cool, and auspicious—
the cowherds themselves, O King, drank the sweet water to their heart's content.
10.22.38
Allowing the cattle to graze at will in her grove, O King,
tormented by hunger, they approached Kṛṣṇa and Rāma and said this:
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Commentaries (1)
- Subodhinī — Vallabhācārya, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit