Bhagavatapurana 10.46
English (machine translation) 10.46
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Contents
10.46.1
Śrī Śuka said:
The foremost counselor among the Vṛṣṇis was Kṛṣṇa's beloved friend,
a direct disciple of Bṛhaspati, named Uddhava, of supreme intellect.
10.46.2
To him, his dearest and single-minded devotee, the Lord Hari,
who removes the distress of the surrendered, once said, taking his hand in his own:
10.46.3
"Go to Vraja, gentle Uddhava, bring joy to our parents,
and with my messages relieve the mental anguish of the gopīs born of separation from me.
10.46.4
Their minds are fixed on me, their life-breath is dedicated to me, and for my sake they have renounced their bodily concerns.
They have attained to me alone in thought—their beloved, their dearest, their very self.
And those who have renounced worldly duties for my sake, I sustain.
10.46.5
When I, dearest of the dear, am far away,
those women of Gokula, remembering me, O friend, swoon, overwhelmed by the yearning of separation.
10.46.6
With the utmost difficulty they somehow sustain their life-breath,
by means of my messages promising my return—the cowherd women whose very soul is me."
10.46.7
Śrī Śuka said:
Having been thus spoken to, O king, Uddhava respectfully accepted the message of his master,
mounted his chariot, and departed for Nanda's Gokula.
10.46.8
The glorious [Uddhava] reached Nanda's Vraja as the sun was setting,
his chariot obscured by the dust raised from the hooves of the returning cattle.
10.46.9
It resounded with lusty bulls fighting for the sake of cows in heat,
and with cows running towards their calves, their udders heavy [with milk],
10.46.10
adorned with white calves leaping here and there,
resounding with the sounds of cows being milked and the melodies of flutes,
10.46.11
and shining brightly with beautifully adorned gopīs and cowherds
singing the auspicious deeds of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa.
10.46.12
It was charming with cowherds' homes provided with worship
of fire, the sun, guests, cows, brāhmaṇas, ancestors, and deities, and adorned with incense, lamps, and flower garlands.
10.46.13
Everywhere were flowering groves resonant with flocks of birds and bees,
and adorned with clusters of lotuses crowded with swans and kāraṇḍava ducks.
10.46.14
When he arrived, Nanda went out to meet this dear follower of Kṛṣṇa,
embraced him with joy, and honored him with the respect due to Vāsudeva.
10.46.15
After he had eaten the finest food and lay resting comfortably on a couch,
freed from his fatigue by the massaging of his feet and other attentions, [Nanda] inquired:
10.46.16
"O blessed one, is our friend the son of Śūra doing well,
united with his children and others, freed [from prison], and faithful to his companions?
10.46.17
By good fortune, the wicked Kaṃsa has been slain along with his followers by his own evil,
he who always hated the virtuous, righteous Yadus.
10.46.18
Does Kṛṣṇa remember us—his mother, his companions, his friends,
the cowherds, Vraja, whose lord he is, the cows, Vṛndāvana, and the hill?
10.46.19
Will Govinda come even once to see his own people?
Then we would gaze upon his face with its handsome nose and charming smiling eyes.
10.46.20
From forest fire and wind-driven rain, from the bull demon and the serpent,
from perilous deaths, we were rescued by the noble Kṛṣṇa.
10.46.21
As we remember Kṛṣṇa's heroic deeds, his playful sidelong glances,
his laughter, and his speech, O friend, all our activities slacken.
10.46.22
As we behold the regions of rivers, hills, and forests adorned by Mukunda's footprints,
the scenes of his sports, our minds become absorbed in him.
10.46.23
I think that Kṛṣṇa and Rāma are the two foremost gods who have arrived here
for a great purpose of the gods, just as Garga spoke.
10.46.24
They playfully killed Kaṃsa, who had the strength of ten thousand elephants, and the two wrestlers,
just as the king of beasts kills other animals, or an elephant leader kills its foes.
10.46.25
With one hand he broke the very strong bow, three palm-trees long, like a lordly elephant snaps a reed,
and for seven days he held up the mountain.
10.46.26
Pralamba, Dhenuka, Ariṣṭa, Tṛṇāvarta, Baka and the rest—
those demons who had conquered gods and asuras were slain by him here in mere play."
10.46.27
Śrī Śuka said:
Remembering thus again and again, his mind attached to Kṛṣṇa,
Nanda became deeply yearning, rendered silent and overwhelmed by an outpouring of love.
10.46.28
And Yaśodā, listening to the deeds of her son being described,
shed tears, her breasts flowing with milk out of motherly affection.
10.46.29
Beholding their supreme love for the Lord Kṛṣṇa—
that of both Nanda and Yaśodā—Uddhava joyfully said to Nanda:
10.46.30
Śrī Uddhava said:
"You two are indeed the most praiseworthy of all embodied beings here, O honor-giver,
since you have fixed such devotion upon Nārāyaṇa, the guru of all.
10.46.31
These two, Rāma and Mukunda, are indeed the seed and womb of the universe, the Puruṣa and Pradhāna;
pervading beings, they are the ancient masters of distinct consciousness.
10.46.32
If at the time of departing from life a person fixes his mind upon him for a moment, even if impure,
he casts off the store of past karma and quickly attains the supreme destination, full of Brahman and radiant like the sun.
10.46.33
In him, the cause of the self of all, in Nārāyaṇa who has assumed a mortal form for a cause,
you two have placed boundless devotional emotion, O noble one; what good deed is left for you to perform?
10.46.34
Acyuta will return to Vraja before long;
the Lord, master of the Sātvatas, will bring joy to his parents.
10.46.35
Having slain Kaṃsa in the midst of the arena, that adversary of all Sātvatas,
Kṛṣṇa will make true the promise he made upon coming to you.
10.46.36
Do not despair, O fortunate ones; you will see Kṛṣṇa nearby.
He resides within the heart of living beings like fire within firewood.
10.46.37
For him, who is devoid of ego, no one is dear, nor is anyone disliked;
no one is superior or inferior, nor equal to him who looks upon all equally.
10.46.38
He has no mother, no father, no wife, no sons or other relations;
none belongs to him, none is a stranger, nor does he have a physical body or birth.
10.46.39
Nor does he have any karma in this world across good, bad, or mixed wombs;
yet, for the purpose of play, he appears for the protection of the virtuous."
10.46.40
Though devoid of qualities, the unborn Lord assumes the qualities of purity, passion, and darkness;
playing, though transcending the qualities, He creates, preserves, and destroys through them.
10.46.41
Just as to the vision of one who is spinning round the earth itself seems to spin,
so when the mind is the active agent, the self within it is thought by ego-intellect to be the agent.
10.46.42
This Lord Hari is not merely your son;
He is indeed the son, the self, the father, the mother, and the Lord of all.
10.46.42.p1
Whatever is seen or heard, past, present, or future, stationary or moving, vast or minute—
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no entity at all can be spoken of apart from Acyuta; He alone is everything, existing as the Supreme Self.
10.46.43.p1
[Omitted verse]
10.46.44
In this way, O King, the night passed as Nanda and Kṛṣṇa's follower spoke together.
Rising, lighting lamps, and worshipping the household deities, the cowherd women churned the curds.
10.46.45
They shone brightly with gems lit by the lamps, rows of bracelets on their arms as they pulled the ropes,
their faces flushed with red kuṅkuma on cheeks gleaming with earrings, while their hips, breasts, and necklaces moved.
10.46.46
The sound of the women of Vraja loudly singing of the Lotus-eyed Lord touched heaven,
mingled with the sound of churning curds, by which the inauspiciousness of all directions is dispelled.
10.46.47
When the blessed sun arose, the dwellers of Vraja, seeing a golden chariot
at the door of Nanda's house, said, "Whose is this?"
10.46.48
"Has Akrūra come, who accomplished Kaṃsa's purpose,
by whom the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa was taken away to Madhupurī?"
10.46.49
"Will he now accomplish with our bodies an offering of expiation for his pleased master?"
While the women were thus speaking, Uddhava arrived, having performed his morning rituals.
Translations (1)
- The Srimad Bhagavatam — S. Subba Rau 1928, English
Linked texts (1)
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit