Krishna Attracts Everyone

2014-04-12
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.43.08-17 - Krishna Attracts Everyone (download mp3)
by Baladeva Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
www.iskcondesiretree.net

SB 10.43.8

pucche pragṛhyāti-balaṁ

 dhanuṣaḥ pañca-viṁśatim

vicakarṣa yathā nāgaṁ

 suparṇa iva līlayā

Translation:

Lord Kṛṣṇa then grabbed the powerful Kuvalayāpīḍa by the tail and playfully dragged him twenty-five bow-lengths as easily as Garuḍa might drag a snake.

SB 10.43.9

sa paryāvartamānena

 savya-dakṣiṇato ’cyutaḥ

babhrāma bhrāmyamāṇena

 go-vatseneva bālakaḥ

Translation:

As Lord Acyuta held on to the elephant’s tail, the animal tried to twist away to the left and to the right, making the Lord swerve in the opposite direction, as a young boy would swerve when pulling a calf by the tail.

SB 10.43.10

tato ’bhimakham abhyetya

 pāṇināhatya vāraṇam

prādravan pātayām āsa

 spṛśyamānaḥ pade pade

Translation:

Kṛṣṇa then came face to face with the elephant and slapped him and ran away. Kuvalayāpīḍa pursued the Lord, managing to touch Him again and again with each step, but Kṛṣṇa outmaneuvered the elephant and made him trip and fall.

SB 10.43.11

sa dhāvan kṛīdayā bhūmau

 patitvā sahasotthitaḥ

tam matvā patitaṁ kruddho

 dantābhyāṁ so ’hanat kṣitim

Translation:

As Kṛṣṇa dodged about, He playfully fell on the ground and quickly got up again. The raging elephant, thinking Kṛṣṇa was down, tried to gore Him with his tusks but struck the earth instead.

SB 10.43.12

sva-vikrame pratihate

 kuñjarendro ’ty-amarṣitaḥ

codyamāno mahāmātraiḥ

 kṛṣṇam abhyadravad ruṣā

Translation:

His prowess foiled, the lordly elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa went into a frenzied rage out of frustration. But the elephant-keepers goaded him on, and he furiously charged Kṛṣṇa once again.

SB 10.43.13

tam āpatantam āsādya

 bhagavān madhusūdanaḥ

nigṛhya pāṇinā hastaṁ

 pātayām āsa bhū-tale

Translation:

The Supreme Lord, killer of the demon Madhu, confronted the elephant as he attacked. Seizing his trunk with one hand, Kṛṣṇa threw him to the ground.

SB 10.43.14

patitasya padākramya

 mṛgendra iva līlayā

dantam utpāṭya tenebhaṁ

 hastipāṁś cāhanad dhariḥ

Translation:

Lord Hari then climbed onto the elephant with the ease of a mighty lion, pulled out a tusk, and with it killed the beast and his keepers.

SB 10.43.15

mṛtakaṁ dvipam utsṛjya

 danta-pāṇiḥ samāviśat

aṁsa-nyasta-viṣāṇo ’sṛṅ-

 mada-bindubhir aṅkitaḥ

virūḍha-sveda-kaṇikā

 vadanāmburuho babhau

Translation:

Leaving the dead elephant aside, Lord Kṛṣṇa held on to the tusk and entered the wrestling arena. With the tusk resting on His shoulder, drops of the elephant’s blood and sweat sprinkled all over Him, and His lotus face covered with fine drops of His own perspiration, the Lord shone with great beauty.

SB 10.43.16

vṛtau gopaiḥ katipayair

 baladeva-janārdanau

raṅgaṁ viviśatū rājan

 gaja-danta-varāyudhau

Translation:

My dear King, Lord Baladeva and Lord Janārdana, each carrying one of the elephant’s tusks as His chosen weapon, entered the arena with several cowherd boys.

SB 10.43.17

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān

 gopānāṁ sva-jano ’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ

mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ

 vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ

Translation:

The various groups of people in the arena regarded Kṛṣṇa in different ways when He entered it with His elder brother. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa as a lightning bolt, the men of Mathurā as the best of males, the women as Cupid in person, the cowherd men as their relative, the impious rulers as a chastiser, His parents as their child, the King of the Bhojas as death, the unintelligent as the Supreme Lord’s universal form, the yogīs as the Absolute Truth and the Vṛṣṇis as their supreme worshipable Deity.

Purport:

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes the following verse, which explains the ten attitudes toward Kṛṣṇa described here:

raudro ’dbhutaś ca śṛṅgāro

 hāsyaṁ vīro dayā tathā

bhayānakaś ca bībhatsaḥ

 śāntaḥ sa-prema-bhaktikaḥ

“[There are ten different moods:] fury [perceived by the wrestlers], wonder [by the men], conjugal attraction [the women], laughter [the cowherds], chivalry [the kings], mercy [His parents], terror [Kaṁsa], ghastliness [the unintelligent], peaceful neutrality [the yogīs] and loving devotion [the Vṛṣṇis].”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that people like the wrestlers, Kaṁsa and the impious rulers perceive Kṛṣṇa as dangerous, angry or threatening because they fail to understand the actual position of the Personality of Godhead. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s friend and well-wisher, but because we rebel against Him, He chastises us, and thus we may perceive Him as threatening. Kṛṣṇa, or God, is actually merciful, and when He punishes us, that is also His mercy.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura quotes the following Vedic statement: raso vai saḥ rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati. “He Himself is rasa, the taste or mellow of a particular relationship. And certainly one who achieves this rasa becomes ānandī, filled with bliss.” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1)

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī quotes a further verse to explain the word rasa:

vyatītya bhāvanā-vartma

 yaś camatkāra-bhāra-bhūḥ

hṛdi sattvojjvale bāḍhaṁ

 svadate sa raso mataḥ

“That which is beyond imagination, heavy with wonder and relished in the heart shining with goodness — such is known as rasa.”

As Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī elaborately explains in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, there are five main rasas — neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental love and conjugal love — and seven secondary rasas — amazement, humor, chivalry, compassion, fury, fear and dread. Thus altogether there are twelve rasas, and the supreme object of them all is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. In other words, our love and affection are actually meant for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, out of ignorance we stubbornly try to squeeze happiness and love out of material relationships, which are not directly connected to Kṛṣṇa, and thus life becomes a constant frustration. The solution is simple: surrender to Kṛṣṇa, love Kṛṣṇa, love Kṛṣṇa’s devotees and be happy forever.