Uddhava Comforts Nanda and Yasoda

Chapter 46
this chapter describes how Sri Krishna sent uddhava to Vraja to

relieve nanda and Yasoda of their distress.
uddhava was an intimate friend of Lord Krishna, a disiciple of

Brhaspati and a respected minister of the Vrsni dynasty. One day
Lord Krishna told Him to go to Braja and remove the misery of
His
parents and of the gopis by giving them news of himself. After
all, the Lord explained, it was His responsibility of assure the
happiness of those who surrendered their very minds to Him,
abandoning all means of gaining happiness in this world or the
next. For the young women of the cowherd community, He,
Krishna,
was the most dear of all precious things. These gopis were
anxiously maintaining their lives in the great torment of
separation only by the expectation of His soon returning to them.
taking Lord Krishna's instructions, uddhava mounted His chariot

and went off toward Vraja, which He reached at sunset. At that
time the cows were returning home to the cowherd village. The
dust raised by their hooves covered the chariot. The calves
jumped here and there and the cows followed behind their young
slowly, weighed down by their heavy milk bags. All this
presented a scene of exceptional beauty. The cowherd men were
chanting the glories of Krishna and Balarama, and the village was
attractively decorated with rows of lamps and burning incense.
When He noticed uddhava, the king of the cowherds, nanda

maharaja, worshiped Him as nondifferent from Lord Vasudeva
himself, fed Him nicely, seated Him comfortably upon a bed and
then inquired from Him about the welfare of Vasudeva and His
sons. He asked uddhava whether Sri Krishna still remembered His
friends, the village Gokula and the hill Govardhana. Nanda thus
went on glorifying Lord Krishna, describing how He had protected
them from a forest fire, from wind and rain, and from many other
disasters. By remembering over and over the various pastimes of
Lord Krishna, Nanda Maharaja stated, He has relieved of all
karmic
entanglement, and by seeing the places marked by Lord Krishna's
lotus feet, His mind has became fully absorbed in thought of Him.
nanda then concluded, in accordance with the words of Garga
muni,
that Krishna and Balarama must have both descendent directly
from
the spiritual world, since they had so easily dispatched Kamsa,
the wrestlers, the elephant Kuvalapida and many other demons.
thus remembering the pastimes of Krishna, Nanda Maharaja
experienced a swelling of emotion in His throat and could speak
no further. Mother Yasoda then felt such love for her son that
milk began to spontaneously flowed from her breasts and a torrent
of tears poured down from her eyes.
uddhava, seeing the superexcellent affection of nanda nad

Yasoda for Sri Krishna, commented that the two of them were
indeed
the most glorious of persons due to having such an attitude
toward the supreme spiritual master of all, Lord Narayana.
Balarama and Krishna are the original seed of this universes'
existence, as well as the womb from which it is born. These two
Lords enter within the amalgamated material elements and
establish themselves as the indwelling controllers of the
infinitesimal individual spirit souls. By absorbing one's mind in
Sri Krishna even momentarily at the time of leaving one's body,
the living entity has all traces of His karma burned away and
thus attains the supreme destination. When one attains pure love
for the supreme absolute truth in His human-like form there then
remains nothing further to be acomplished.
Krishna and Balarama are present in the hearts of all living
beings just as fire rests dormant within wood. They see equally
everywhere, having no particular friends or enemies. They are
free from egoism and possessiveness, have no father, mother, wife
or children, are never subject to birth, and have no material
body. Only for the sake of enjoying and in order to deliver
their saintly devotees do they appear by their own will among
various species of life, lowly as well as elevated. Lord sri
Krishna, although He lies beyond the modes of material nature,
accepts these modes for the purpose of effecting the creation,
maintenance and destruction of this universe. In the same way as
the eyes of a person who is swirling around thinks that the earth
is swirling, so the individual spirit soul, being engaged as a
material actor, thinks the supreme Lord to be similarly acting
on the material platform.
Lord Krishna is not merely the son of nanda and Yasoda, but the
son of all persons, as well as their mother, father-- in essence,
He is everyone's dearest relation inasmuch as nothing that is
seen or heard in past, present or future, moving or nonmoving is
independent of Him.
Nanda Maharaja and uddhava passed the night conversing in this

way, and then the cowherd women, after carrying out worship of
the protecting deity of the house, began their work of churning
butter. While they busily pulled the churning ropes, the women
began to sing about the glories of Sri Krishna. This sound
reverberated across the sky, cleansing the world in all
directions of all inauspiciousness. When the sun had risen, the
gopis could see uddhava's chariot at the edge of Vraja village,
and this gave them the idea that Akrura must have again returned.
But just then uddhava finished His religious duties for the
morning and presented himself to them.
TEXT 1
sri-suka uvaca
vrsninam pravaro mantri
Krishnasya dayitah sakha
sisyo brhaspateh saksad
uddhavo buddhi-sattamah
sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; vrsninam-- of the

Vrsnis; pravarah-- the best; mantri-- adviser; Krishnasya-- of
Krishna; dayitah-- beloved; sakha-- friend; sisyah-- disciple;
brhaspateh-- of Brhaspati, spiritual master of the demigods;
saksat-- directly; uddhavah-- uddhava; buddhi-- having
intelligence; sat-tamah-- of the highest quality.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: uddhava was the best counselor of the

Vrsni dynasty, a beloved friend of Lord Sri Krishna and a direct
disciple of Brhaspati. He was supremely intelligent.
Sridhara Svami
in this thirty-sixth Chapter Lord Krishna sends uddhava to the

cowherd village to relieve Yasoda and nanda of their unhappiness
with this fine words.
Because Krishna himself, having taking second birth and received

the orders of His spiritual master, was now very self-controlled.
thus He had renounced all sensuous indulgences, and sent His
friend instead to preach to the gopis.
Because the business of consoling the gopis was extremely

confidential, only to be properly executed by a first-class
adviser, uddhava is single out for such purpose in the verse
beginning vrsninam. Buddhi-sattamah means most excellent in
His intelligence.
Jiva Gosvami
having thus carrying out His primary obligations, so now,

concerned that they (the residents of Vraja) might become
especially distressed by conjecturing that He is failing to live
up to His own promises, ayasye ("I am going to return," Bhag.
10.41.17) and drastum esyamah ("We will come back to see
you," Bhag. 10.45.23), the supreme Lord was therefore thinking
of going to Vraja. Still He decided not to go. The reason for
this we find to be His obedience to sri Vasudeva and Devaki as
well as other (residents of Mathura), whose words He could not
transgress due to His reverence for them, and who were frearful
that since He was so bound in love to sri nanda, Yasoda and the
other (residents of Vraja), He might never come back again if He
went. This is as stated, jnatin vo drastum esyamo vidhaya
suhrdam sukham (Bhag. 10.45.23).
therefore, in order to conceal the truth of the matter from

Vasudeva and Devaki, (He sends) uddhava, who is described as
bhaktam ekantinam kvacit (text 2 of this chapter) and
ekantinam priyam bhrtyam (Bhag. 11.6.50). And according to
the yet to be made statement (Bhag. 10.82.41),
api smaratha nah sakhyah

svanam artha-cikirsaya
gatams cirayitan satru-
paksa-ksapana-cetasah
there is yet another reason (for His not going back to Vraja) in
the yet remaining obligations of eliminating such wicked persons
as Jarasandha, since failing to meet these obligations would
create terrible disturbances for them, the people of sri Vraja.
it is to maintain a false show of indifference that Lord Krishna

does not take the opportunity to invite Nanda Maharaja and the
others (to visit Him in Mathura). Moreover, if both parties were
present together, their simultaneous attitudes of parenthood
toward Him would become unseemly, making impossibile the
proper
adjustment of His involvement in various differing pastimes with
each of them. There would be additional incongruity in His
having them bring along His beloved gopis, or also alternately
in their not bring the gopis along with them. For these
reasons He had said vayam ca sneha-duhkhitan and jnatin vo
drastum esyamah, rather than "We will invite you (to come visit
me in Mathura." since He had thus indicated to them, "don't come
here to see me; rather, I will come to see your good selves,"
nanda, Yasoda and the others did not leave Vraja, even though
their desire to see the two Lords was so extreme.
Because it would create disturbances for both parties, it

furthermore would not be suitable for Him to manifest himself
simultaneously in both the city and the cowherd village; if they
were to find out about this, sriman nanda and the others would
no longer be able to think of Him as their exclusive dear one and
as their intimate relative. If they were to hear of Him, their
son, friend and so on, on the other hand, as having become a
mighty king, that would simply increase their ecstatic, pure love
for Him in the pervading mood of anxiety, as will be stated in
the verse beginning yatha dura-care presthe (Bhag. 10.47.35).
therefore He did not arrange to be thus present (simultaneously
in both places).
the Lord remains, however, always present there (in Vraja) in

His unmanifest appearance (aprakata sthiti), as is demonstated
in such statements as ma socatam maha-bhagau (Bhag. 10.4.18)
and bhavatinam viyogo me na hi sarvatmana kvacit (Bhag.
10.47.29). Nevertheless, He is not perceived by them as they are
present in His manifest pastimes. Thus, since it is described in
the uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana and also corroborated
by the opinion of srimad-Bhagavatam that after dantavakra was
killed He will himself go to Vraja, He needs to find some pretext
on which to make himself present to them (the residents of Vraja)
and also have them hear about His assuming the opulences of a
great king. To make this reconciliation without His personally
going (to Vraja), and since if instead of himself Lord Balarama
alone were to go that would also be a cause of suffering, He
consoled the residents of Vraja by sending His second self, known
as uddhava, who was most dear to Him.
thus this pastimes, related in chronological order, is

described in the following two chapters.
Visvanatha Cakravarti
in this thirty-sixth Chapter uddhava goes to the cowherd

village and sees both that which caused great joy (uddhavam)
for the two Lords and also the unhappiness (anuddhavam) caused
by separation from Krishna.
remembering the unhappiness of the residents of Vraja, who are

experiencing separation from Him, and thus himself becoming full
of anxiety, (Lord Krishna) thought, "Who is there in this city
qualified to deliver my message, which will dissipate their
misery, and to make known to the world the extent of their
various kinds of love for me? Who is there who has performed
enough thousands of austerities to be able to sport in the ocean
of the sweetness of the inhabitants of Vraja and of the sweetness
of their pure love?" (the present verse) singles out uddhava,
who had by chance just then appeared before the Lord, and
designates
Him as the proper person to carry out what need to be done.
"approved of by the Vrsnis" means that all the members of the

Vrsni clan regarded His (uddhava's) words and deeds as
exemplary.
thus, when He comes back from Vraja, having experienced the
various manifestations of pure love of its residents, He will
tell the Vrsnis how the pure love of God of sri Yasoda and
nanda, the cowherd men and the gopis is thousands of times
greater even than their own love for Him, and thus the Vrsnis
will gain further faith. These (Vrsnis), that is to say, who
thought the good fortune and the pure love of Devaki and
Vasudeva, who have the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their
son, to the most excellent, and who also thought their own (good
fortune and love for the Lord) to be also so by dint of their
relationship with Him.
the word mantri indicates that He was an expert in that kind

of counseling by which the people of Vraja would be pacified.
"the beloved (dayita = vallabha) of Krishna," meaning that
therefore He is qualified to drink the nectar of the pure love of
Godhead of Vraja. The word sakha implies that He is fluent in
discussing the conjugal rasa, just like subala in Vraja-bhumi;
this expertise has developed dormantly within His (uddhava's)
heart and now it is going to manifest itself in full bloom, as
stated in the third Canto noddhavo 'nv api man-nyunah (Bhag.
3.4.21). Thus, since He is equal to Krishna, the business of
acting as Krishna's messenger can be sucessfully carry out by this
second image of Lord Krishna. That He is the direct disciple of
Brhaspati indicates that that when Brhaspati saw the sharpness
of uddhava's intellect He taught Him all the sastras. But He
lacks knowledge of one particular sastra which is unavailable
to even Brhaspati, namely the topmost knowledge of the science of
prema, which makes Lord Krishna himself subservient. Because
(uddhava) is so dear to Krishna, certainly the gopis of Vraja
will instruct Him in this sastra.
the word buddhi-sattama means that since He is so extremely

intelligent, He is capable of learning this sastra which Lord
Krishna will personally speak to His own chief queens in the
privacy
of their personal quarters. Thus we hear (Bhag. 10.83.43),
vraja-striyo yad vancanti

pulindyas trna-virudhah
gavas carayato gopah
pada-sparsam mahatmanah
which states that the chief queens of dvaraka, who speak this
verse, also are eager for this knowledge (of the pure love of
Vraja).
this uddhava is the son of the brother of Vasudeva, devabhaga,

as is stated in sri hari-vamsa, uddhavo devabhagasya
maha-bhagah suto 'bhavat. Thus He is going to be addressed by
Nanda Maharaja, kvaccid anga maha-bhaga. Coincidentally He is a
directly manifest uddhava, or festivity (utsava), so when the
people of Vraja see Him they will experience a festival.
TEXT 3
tam aha bhagavan prestham

bhaktam ekantinam kvacit
grhitva panina panim
prapannarti-haro harih
tam-- to Him; aha-- spoke; bhagavan-- the supreme Lord;

prestham-- to His most dear; bhaktam-- devotee; ekantinam--
exclusive; kvacit-- on one occasion; grhitva-- taking; panina--
with His hand; panim-- (uddhava's) hand; prapanna-- of those who
surrender; arti-- the distress; harah-- who takes away; harih--
Lord hari.
TRANSLATION
the supreme Lord hari, who takes away the distress of all who
surrender to Him, once took the opportunity to address as follows
this exclusively devoted, dearmost friend uddhava, taking His
hand in His own.
His devotee, and furthermore, His exclusive (ekantinam)

devotee, according to the definition,
vihaya pitr-devadin
parinisthangato harau
tad-gadha-premabhih purna
ekantiti nigadyate
and furthermore He is prestham, even among these (exclusive

devotees) the object of special affection. On some occassion
taking His hand in a secluded place, which hints at the Lord's
own anxiety (about the residents of Vraja). He is remover of
distress for anyone who merely surrenders to Him, what then to
speak of the residents of Vraja, who are the topmost possessors
of pure love of Godhead.
TEXT 3
gacchoddhava vrajam saumya

pitror nau pritim avaha
gopinam mad-viyogadhim
mat-sandesair vimocaya
gaccha-- please go; uddhava-- O uddhava; vrajam-- to Vraja;
saumya-- O gentle one; pitroh-- to the parents; nau-- Our;
pritim-- satisfaction; avaha-- carry; gopinam-- of the gopis;
mat-- from me; viyoga-- caused by separation; adhim-- of the
mental pain; mat-- brought from me; sandesaih-- by messages;
vimocaya-- relieve them.
TRANSLATION
dear gentle uddhava, go to Vraja. Make Our parents happy and

bring my messages to the gopis to relieve them of the distress
of their separation from me.
make (my parents) attain (joy) completely (a = samyak). By

the word vimocaya is understood that the mental pain of
separation from me is bound within their hearts with a strong
rope. Their release from this will be by the messages from me
rather than by the expertise of your words and so on. And it
will be by many messages, not just one instruction in
jnana-yoga, nor by two, this (instruction in jnana-yoga)
being followed by a pair of messages expressing, respectively,
the means of obtaining me and consolation. These (three)
instructions will be burn to ashes by the blazing subternnean
fire of their pure love for me. But at the end of all this (they
will be pacified) by numerous messages expressed to them, which
while apparently refering to other matters hint at very
confidential meanings.
TEXT 4
ta man-manaska mat-prana
mad-arthe tyakta-daihikah
mam eva dayitam prestham
atmanam manasa gatah
ye tyakta-loka-dharmas ca
mad-arthe tan bibharmy aham
tah-- they (the gopis); mat-- absorbed in me; manaskah--

their minds; mat-- fixed upon me; pranah-- their vital airs;
mat-arthe-- for my sake; tyakta-- abandoning; daihikah--
everything on the bodily platform; mam-- me; eva-- alone;
dayitam-- their beloved; prestham-- dearmost; atmanam-- self;
manasa gatah-- understood; ye-- who; tyakta-- giving up; loka--
this world; dharmah-- religiosity; ca-- and; mat-arthe-- for my
sake; tan-- them; bibharmi-- sustain; aham-- I.
TRANSLATION
the minds of these gopis and their very life airs are always
focused upon me. For my sake they have abandoned everything
related to their bodies, giving up all hope for achieving
happiness in this life and for carrying out the religious duties
necessary for happiness in the next life. I am their only
dearmost beloved and very self. Therefore I take it upon myself
to sustain them in all circumstances.
Sridhara Svami
the special reason for sending a message to the gopis is

spoken in the verse beginning tah. They whose minds, the
function of which is to make formulate desires (sankalpam), are
absorbed in me alone; whose very lives I am; and who have given
up for my sake everything related to their bodies-- their
husbands, children and so on. And what else? Who have given up
loka-dharma, meaning that for my sake they have abandoned both
this word and the principles of religion, or in other words the
happiness both of this world and the next, together with the
means for achieving both. These (gopis) I sustain (bibharmi =
posayami), meaning that I make them prosper, make them happy.
they whose minds, the function of which is to make formulate

desires (sankalpam), are absorbed in me alone; whose very lives
I am; and who have given up for my sake everything related to
their bodies-- their husbands, children, parents, resting places,
and facilities for eating and drinking. The reason for all this
is stated, that they have come to understand (manasa gatah =
jnatavatyah) that I alone am dear to them (dayitam = priyam),
and not any other husband or so on of their own. And not only am
I dear, but the dearmost of all (prestham), and not only the
most dear but also their very selves (atmanam); they have
determined that I am their own jiva souls, or else the
Paramatma. That same person, myself, am here in Mathura, and so
they think that their own souls who have left their bodies; thus
only by my inconceivable Yogamaya potency, they think, are they
even kept alive. And even other, neophyte devotees engaged in
sadhana-bhakti, who abandon this world with its religiosity and
so on are sustained by me, what to speak of these gopis.
TEXT 5
mayi tah preyasam presthe

dura-sthe gokula-striyah
smarantyo 'nga vimuhyanti
virahautkanthya-vihvalah
mayi-- I; tah-- they; preyasam-- of all objects of endearment;
presthe-- the very most dear; dura-sthe-- being far away;
gokula-striyah-- the women of Gokula; smarantyah--
remembering;
anga-- my dear (uddhava); vimuhyanti-- become stunned; viraha--
of separation; autkanthya-- by the anxiety; vihvalah-- besides
themselves.
TRANSLATION
my dear uddhava, when these women of Gokula remember me,

their
most cherished object of love, who have gone so far away, they
become stunned, besides themselves in the anxiety of separation.
Sridhara Svami
their anxiety is shown in the two verse beginning mayi tah.

Besides themselves (vihvalah = para-vasah because of the
anxiety caused by feelings of separation.
But, someone may object, if You are the dearmost to their

minds, life airs and so on, and their very self, then why haven't
they come here? how can they stay there? this is replied to,
that the minds of these women of Gokula are fixed in the mood of
meditating upon me in the dress of a cowherd boy, adorned with
gunja, colored oxides, flute, peacock feathers and so on,
engaged in playing with them in Gokula. Why should they come
here to the city of the Vrsnis, since the idea of coming here
does not even enter their minds?
and furthermore, "when the dearmost of all objects of
endearment is far away," meaning that everything that is dear to
one is an object of possessiveness, and even more dear than all
such dear things is the very soul which is object of
self-identification; although each single person may have many
such objects of endearment, (I am) the very most dear of
countless millions of such dear things. Therefore they become
confused, that is to say, they become exceptionally stunned.
although being kept alive by my inconceivable potency, they seem
to be unable to remain alive.
TEXT 6
dharayanty ati-krcchrena
prayah pranan kathancana
pratyagamana-sandesair
vallabhyo me mad-atmikah
dharayanti-- they hold on; ati-krcchrena-- with great difficulty;

prayah-- barely; pranan-- to their lives; kathancana-- somehow;
prati-agamana-- of return; sandesaih-- by the promises;
ballavyah-- the cowherd women; me-- my; mat-atmikah-- who are
fully dedicated to me.
TRANSLATION
my fully devoteed cowherd girlfriends are barely maintaining

their lives by some means or other with great difficulty simply
because I have promised to return to them.
Sridhara Svami
By those statements made at the time of leaving Gokula,
promising my return, "I will come back very soon." my (me =
madiyah) beloved girlfriends, the gopis, whose very soul I am.
if their souls were in their own bodies, then they would burn to
ashes in the fire of separation; but since their souls remain
with me, they somehow maintain their lives.
Jiva Gosvami
(this has to be redone!!)
"they are holding on," so thus also now they can be pacified
with messages indicating that I will return. "my dear consorts,"
because they are in fact my wives, since by the repetition in the
statement man-manaska mat-pranah (text 4), they are
mad-atmikah, manifestations of my internal nature
(mat-svarupa-bhutah).
(I am asking you to particulary address my parents and the

gopis) although actually all the residents of Vraja
deserve to be consoled, since they all live simply for my sake,
as stated in such verse as yad-dhamartha-suhrt- (Bhag.
10.14.35), and among all of them (the cowherds) headed by
simad upananda and others are especially deserving, and among
even these especially such cowherds as sridama deserve to be
consoled. Thus it is going to be said by the King of Vraja (text
18 of this chapter),
api smarati nah krsno

mataram suhrdah sakhin
gopan vrajam catma-natham
gavo vrndavanam girim
From the fact that all these (devotees of Vraja) are not
specifically mentioned here the following is to be inferred:
some of them are intended to be pacified even without any overt
act of pacification by their falling within the general
categories of His parents and so on, and others by His special
inner thoughts directed toward them.
and thus we see that there are three different categories of

pure love in sri Gokula-- that which is predominantly in a mood
of anxious eagerness (utkantha-pRadhana) , that which is in a
mood of intimate trust (visrambha-pRadhana) and that which is
indiscriminate (viveka-sunya). When this pure love is
refined to superexcellence then it causes the direct appearance
of the beloved. Specifically, pure love of God cause the
awareness of the manifestation of the beloved for those who in
the second two categories of ecstatic sentiment, whereas
those in the first category of loving ecstasy do not become aware
of the Lord's presence even when He is directly before them,
since it is not fitting for the moods of intimate trust and
indiscrimination to cause perception contrary to actual fact.
(??) What then to speak of when He is only manifest as an image
(sphurtau) rather than directly present, since as time passes
their thoughts become completely filled with anxiety.
thus the Lord's parents and girlfriends, who exemplify the

category of devotees in the mood of anxiety, thought themselves
to be separated from Him, as stated gacchoddhava (text 3), and
as will be later stated in the verses iti samsmrtya (text 27)
and gopan amantrya (Bhag. 10.47.64). And those who
exemplify the undiscriminating, such as the cows, and those who
exemplify those predominantly in a trusting mood, such as
sridama, think that they are (still) directly associating with
the Lord, as do also the cowherd women other than the Lord's
mother and beloved girlfriends, since they possess a lesser
degree of pure love. This is proven by the personal realizations
of some of the cows and others. The other (residents of Vraja)
will also become firmly convinced after conversing with these
devotees that I have come back from Mathura and am meeting just
with them. Thus how they become even joyful is going to be
described in such verses as vasitarthe 'bhiyudhyadbhih (text 9)
and gopyah samutthaya (text 44). Thus devotees like sridama
are pacified even without any overt act of pacifying, and other
devotees are automatically pacified by their association with
them.
"With great difficulty:" it is very difficult for them to

maintain their lives by the hope of obtaining me, and it would
be much easier to simply give up their lives. "But then,"
someone may question, "by what means are they able to maintain
their lives?" this is answered by the words beginning
pratyagamana, implying that it was by my statements that I
would be coming back, "I will quickly return," that I made while
leaving Gokula, that their hope of getting me back became very
strong and was able to hold back their life airs, which were on
the verge of leaving them.
"What is their relation to You?" this He answers with the word

ballavyah, meaning that even though they are women of the
cowherd community (ballavanam), still they belong to me; their
husbands cannot have even the slightest trace of any contact with
their supremely attractive form, taste, fragrance, sound, touch
and so on. Rather they are only able to presume "these are our
wives." thus, by the power of the transcendental rasa, they
have always been, from the very beginning, in a self-sustaining
conjugal relation with me as their paramour. I have dominion
over them and they are mine because they are mad-atmika,
functions of prema, the distilled essence of by the pleasure
potency of my own internal nature. Thus being not only within
my internal nature but also manifestations of my supreme pleasure
potency, they are capable of attracting me. For this reason I
consider them more deserving of my mercy than even my own self,
and therefore I have used the suffix -ka to express compassion
(in the word mad-atmikah). Coincidentally, they are mine
because are the objects of my enjoyment, their very selves
being absorbed in me in the sense of their always hankering to give
pleasure to my mind.
TEXT 7
sri-suka uvaca
ity ukta uddhavo rajan
sandesam bhartur adrtah
adaya ratham aruhya
prayayau nanda-gokulam
sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; iti-- thus; uktah--

spoken to; uddhavah-- uddhava; rajan-- O King (Pariksit);
sandesam-- the message; bhartuh-- of His master; adrtah--
respectfully; adaya-- taking; ratham-- His chariot; aruhya--
mounting; prayayau-- went off; nanda-gokulam-- to the cowherd
village of Nanda Maharaja.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus addressed, O King, uddhava

reverentially accepted the message to deliver from His master.
He then mounted His chariot and set off for nanda-gokula.
Sridhara Svami
the message beginning bhavatinam viyogo me na hi sarvatmana

kvacit (Bhag. 10.47.29).
TEXT 8
prapto nanda-vrajam sriman

nimlocati vibhavasau
channa-yanah pravisatam
pasunam khura-renubhih
praptah-- reaching; nanda-vrajam-- the pastures of nanda

maharaja; sriman-- the fortunate (uddhava); nimlocati-- while it
was setting; vibhavasau-- the sun; channa-- invisible; yanah--
whose passing; pravisatam-- who were entering; pasunam-- of the
animals; khura-- of the hooves; renubhih-- by the dust.
TRANSLATION
Fortunate uddhava reached Nanda Maharaja's pastures just as the

sun was setting, and since the returning cows and other animals
were raising the dust with their hooves, His chariot passed
unnoticed.
Sridhara Svami
When (the sun) was setting (nimlocati = astam gacchati sati).

Whose passing was invisible, indicating that He reached nanda
maharaja without being discovered by the gopis.
When (the sun) was setting (nimlocati = astam gacchati sati).

traveling invisibly, His chariot being covered.
TEXTS 9-13
vasitarthe 'bhiyudhyadbhir
naditam susmibhir vrsaih
dhavantibhis ca vasrabhir
udho-bharaih sva-vatsakan
itas tato vilanghadbhir

go-vatsair manditam sitaih
go-doha-sabdabhiravam
venunam nihsvanena ca
gayantibhis ca karmani
subhani bala-Krishnayoh
sv-alankrtabhir gopibhir
gopais ca su-virajitam
agny-arkatithi-go-vipra-
pitr-devarcananvitaih
dhupa-dipais ca malyais ca
gopavasair mano-ramam
sarvatah puspita-vanam
dvijali-kula-naditam
hamsa-karandavakirnaih
padma-sandais ca manditam
vasita-- of the fertile (cows); arthe-- for the sake;

abhiyudhyadbhih-- who were fighting with one another; naditam--
resounding; susmibhih-- ruttish; vrsaih-- with the bulls;
dhavantibhih-- running; ca--and; vasrabhih-- with the cows;
udhah-- by their udders; bharaih-- burdened; sva-- after their
own; vatsakan-- calves; itah tatah-- here and their;
vilanghadbhih-- jumping; go-vatsaih-- by the calves; manditam--
adorned; sitaih-- white; go-doha-- of the milking of the cows;
sabda-- by the sounds; abhiravam-- reverberating; venunam-- of
flutes; nihsvanena-- with the loud vibration; ca-- and;
gayantibhih-- who were singing; ca-- and; karmani-- about the
deeds; subhani-- auspicious; bala-Krishnayoh-- of Balarama and
Krishna;
su-- finely; alankrtabhih-- ornamented; gopibhih-- with the
cowherd women; gopaih-- the cowherd men; ca-- and; su-
virajitam--
resplendant; agni-- of the sacrificial fire; arka-- the sun;
atithi-- guests; go-- the cows; vipra-- the brahmanas; pitr--
forefathers; deva-- and demigods; arcana-- with worship;
anvitaih-- filled; dhupa-- with incense; dipaih-- lamps; ca--
and; malyaih-- with flower garlands; ca-- also; gopa-avasaih--
because of the homes of the cowherds; mano-ramam-- very
attractive; sarvatah-- on all sides; puspita-- flowering; vanam--
with the forest; dvija-- of birds; ali-- and bees; kula-- with
the swarms; naditam-- resounding; hamsa-- with swans;
karandava-
and a certain species of duck; akirnaih-- crowded;
padma-sandaih-- with bowers of lotuses; ca-- and; manditam--
beautified.
TRANSLATION
Gokula resounded on all sides with ruttish bulls fighting with

one another for the now fertile cows, with the cries of the
cows, burdened by their udders, chasing after their own calves,
with the jumping here and there of the white calves, the loud
sounds of milking the cows, the playing of flutes and the singing
of the all-auspious deeds of Balarama and Krishna by the cowherd
women and men, who made the place respelendant with their
wonderfully ornamented dress. The cowherd residences in Gokula
appeared most charming with their abundant exhibitions of
worship made to the sacrificial fire, the sun, unexpected guests,
the cows and brahmanas, and also forefathers and demigods. On
all sides lay the flowering forest, echoing with the swarms
of birds and bees, and beautified by its lakes crowded with swans,
karandava ducks and bowers of lotuses.
Sridhara Svami
(text 9) Vraja is described in the five verses beginning

vasitarthe. Resounding with the ruttish (susmibhih =
mattaih) bulls who are fighting on all sides for the sake of the
now fertile (vasitah = puspavatyah) cows. With the cows
(vasrabhih = dhenubhih) who are chasing after their own calves.
(text 10) Who are jumping about (vilanghadbhih =

utpatadbhih). That (Gokula) where, together with the sounds of
milking, were heard on all sides the loud cries (of the milkers),
"Let go!" "dont' let go!" "send!" "Bring!" "Give!" "take!". And
also decorated with the sound of flutes.
(text 11) made wonderfully respelendant by the singing cowherd

women and men.
(text 12) made charming by the cowherd homes decorated by

worship with fire and so on and also by the lamps, etc.
(text 13) sandaih means "groups".
Vraja is described by the five verses beginning vasitarthe.

sent by the desire potency of the supreme Lord when He was
thinking "uddhava should see the beauty of my Vraja," Yogamaya
covered the particular manifestation of Vraja which was
experiencing separation from Krishna and perplexity because of
the
sancari-bhavas of distinterest, depression, humility and so
on-- and instead exhibited for uddhava as soon as the sunset
approached a complete manifestation of Vraja as still associating
with Krishna, charming with the moods of joy, eagerness,
playfulness, boldness and so on. Such is the understanding we
should derive.
resounding (naditam = nada-yukti-krtam) with the ruttish

bulls who were fighting among each other on all sides for the
fertile cows. And resounding also with the cows who were running
after their own new calves. In which (Gokula), together with the
sounds of milking, were the loud cries of "Let go! don't let go!
Bring! send away! hurry! don't hurry! send! Bring! Give! take!"
also resplendant with the sound of flutes and the singing
(cowherd women and men). "With the homes of the cowherds
(which
were decorated with) fire and so on" is also modifying it
(Gokula).
_icular manifestation of Vraja which was
experiencing separation from Krishna and perplexity because of
the
san TEXT 14
tam agatam samagamya

Krishnasyanucaram priyam
nandah pritah parisvajya
vasudeva-dhiyarcayat
tam-- Him (uddhava); agatam-- arrived; samagamya--

approaching;
Krishnasya-- of Krishna; anucaram-- the follower; priyam-- dear;
nandah-- Nanda Maharaja; pritah-- happy; parisvajya-- embracing;
vasudeva-dhiya-- considering Him nondifferent from the supreme
Lord Vasudeva; arcayat-- worship.
TRANSLATION
as soon as uddhava arrived at His home, Nanda Maharaja

immediately came forward to meet Him. He embraced Him in
great
happiness and worshiped Him as nondifferent from Lord
Vasudeva.
Sridhara Svami
arcayat means "He worshiped."
then uddhava entered the home of nanda, which was manifest in

the mood of separation from Krishna, as stated by the verse
beginning tam. samagamya means coming from inside (the
house) and going up to Him, by which we can understand that
because nanda saw uddhava as looking just like His own son and
because uddhava had the potency of giving pleasure to anyone who
simply saw Him, thus sri nanda (who hitherto was too absorbed
in separation) began to experience awareness of external events
and became capable of conversing and so on. Vasudeva-dhiya
means that He thought "my worshipable deity, Narayana, has come
here in the form of this guest." thus He worshiped Him by
offering water to bathe His feet and so on.
TEXT 15
bhojitam paramannena
samvistam kasipau sukham
gata-sramam paryaprcchat
pada-samvahanadibhih
bhojitam-- fed; parama-annena-- with first-class food;

samvistam-- seated; kasipau-- on a mattress; sukham--
comfortably;
gata-- relieved; sramam-- of fatigue; paryaprcchat-- He inquired;
pada-- of His feet; samvahana-- with massaging; adibhih-- and so
on.
TRANSLATION
after feeding uddhava with first-class foot, seating Him

comfortably on a mattress and seeing that His fatigue was
relieved by a foot massage and other services, nanda then
enquired from Him.
Sridhara Svami
seated on a bed (kasipau = sayayam).

Jiva Gosvami
the massaging of His feet and so was done by a servant (rather

than Nanda Maharaja himself).
"Fed with sweetrice (paramannam)" (But note that Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta's anuvada gives "excellent food" instead):
although ever since (Krishna) had left for Mathura all the homes of
the residents of Vraja had been left completely uncleaned and
become filled with grass, leaves and spider webs, and had been
kept alive only by the curds, milk and butermilk brought by
people from other neighboring villages, and although they had
been simply lamenting, saying only "alas, alas!", nevertheless on
that day one particular brahmana in the entourage of nanda
maharaja understood that the King of Vraja was thinking, "ah, ah,
when uddhava comes to my house today He should not suffer
hunger," and thus, we understand, that brahmana cooked, from
chipped rice and milk, just enough sweetrice to feed one person.
the massaging of uddhava's feet was done by a servant, since He
was His (nanda's) own nephew.
TEXT 16
kaccid anga maha-bhaga

sakha nah sura-nandanah
aste kusaly apatyadyair
yukto muktah suhrd-vratah
kaccit-- whether; anga-- my dear; maha-bhaga-- O most fortunate

one; sakha-- the friend; nah-- our; sura-nandanah-- the son of
King sura, Vasudeva; aste-- lives; kusali-- well;
apatya-adyaih-- with His children and so on; yuktah-- joined;
muktah-- freed; suhrt-- to His friends; vratah-- who is devoted.
TRANSLATION
Nanda Maharaja said: my dear most fortunate one, does the

son of maharaja sura, fare well now that He is freed and has
rejoined His children and other relatives?
Jiva Gosvami
(devoted) to His friends, His maternal uncles and so on.

since, nanda thought, if He were to ask about Krishna He (nanda)
would immediately experience choking in His throat from tears,
He
instead first asked Him about the well-being of Vasudeva.
"delivered," from His imprisonment and also from all dangers.
TEXT 17
distya kamso hatah papah

sanugah svena papmana
sadhunam dharma-silanam
yadunam dvesti yah sada
distya-- by good fortune; kamsah-- King Kamsa; hatah-- has been

killed; papah-- the sinful; sa-- along with; anugah-- His
brothers; svena-- because of His own; papmana-- sinfulness;
sadhunam-- saintly; dharma-silanam-- always righteous in their
behavior; yadunam-- the Yadus; dvesti-- hated; yah-- who; sada--
always.
TRANSLATION
By good fortune sinful Kamsa has now been killed, along with
all His brothers. He has met His death as the reaction of His
own sinfulness, because He was always inimical to the saintly and
righteous Yadus.
Sridhara Svami
the use of the word sadhunam and (its modifiers) in the sixth
case is here in the same sense as the accusative case.
TEXT 18
api smarati nah krsno

mataram suhrdah sakhin
gopan vrajam catma-natham
gavo vrndavanam girim
api-- perhaps; smarati-- remembers; nah-- us; Krishnah-- Krishna;

mataram-- His mother; suhrdah-- His well-wishers; sakhin-- and
dear friends; gopan-- the cowherds; vrajam-- the village Vraja;
ca-- and; atma-- himself; natham-- whose master; gavah-- the
cows; vrndavanam-- the forest of Vrndavana; girim-- the mountain
Govardhana.
TRANSLATION
does Krishna still remember us? does He remember His mother

and His
friends and well-wishers? does He remember the cowherds and
their village Vraja, of which He is the master? does He remember
the cows, Vrndavana forest and Govardhana mountain?
Sridhara Svami
the word gavah is the same as gah, and girim means Govardhana.
then, choking with tears, He enquires in the verse beginning

api. "His mother": He says "Just see the unfortunate
condition of His mother" by pointing at her with His forefinger.
and, He implies, just see, this Vraja, whose very soul and master
He is, but now deprived of a master and devoid of beauty.
Gavah is the same as gah.
TEXT 19
apy ayasyati govindah

sva-janan sakrd Iksitum
tarhi draksyama tad-vaktram
su-nasam su-smiteksanam
api-- whether; ayasyati-- will come; govindah-- Krishna;

sva-janan-- His relatives; sakrt-- once; Iksitum-- to see;
tarhi-- then; draksyama-- we may glance upon; tat-- His;
vaktram-- face; su-nasam-- with beautiful nose; su-- beautiful;
smita-- smile; Iksanam-- and eyes.
TRANSLATION
Will Govinda return even once to see His family? if He ever

does, we may then glance upon His beautiful face with its beautiful
eyes, nose and smile.
Sridhara Svami
apy ayasyati means "will He come?"
"Will He come?" implies "uddhava, perhaps You know the intent

of
His mind?" indeed there is no expectation of your (uddhava's)
telling us "Yes, I am sure He will come and console you. He will
remain here again permanently." Forget about His coming back
here to remain permanently; I simply am begging to just be able to
see Him. This Nanda Maharaja speaks with the words beginning
govindah.
Will Govinda come just once to see His own family members,
who
are tormented in the blazing fire of separation and may die any
day now? if He does, then He can have and enjoy millions of cows
and also, by unspoken implication, gold coins, pearls, diamonds
and other jewels, silver and gold plates, varieties of garments,
ornaments and sandlewood paste, aguru scent and kunkuma, as
well as many other household objects. If we two (His parents)
die then who else will have a right to all these things? so He
should come and take them. Certainly a person should reside
where the things He desires are found.
But (uddhava may reply), why are you making these offers,
since, you should know, He is just now on the verge of returning?
But nanda, intolerant of delay, speaks the words beginning
karhi, which also has an alternate reading tarhi. The loss
of the letter s (at the end of) the word draksyama is by
poetic license of the sages.
We have a great hankering that we may see before us, now at the
end our lives, His face, which ridicules the beauty of millions
of moons, with its incomparable nose, its smile sweeter than
nectar and its two broad eyes like lotus petals. Seeing this we
may then die.
TEXT 20
davagner vata-varsac ca
vrsa-sarpac ca raksitah
duratyayebhyo mrtyubhyah
krsnena su-mahatmana
dava-agneh-- from the forest fire; vata-- from the wind;
varsat-- and rain; ca-- also; vrsa-- from the bull; sarpat-- from
the serpent; ca-- and; raksitah-- protected; duratyayebhyah--
insurmountable; mrtyubhyah-- from threats of death; krsnena-- by
Krishna; su-maha-atmana-- the most compassionate.
TRANSLATION
We have been saved the forest fire, the wind and rain, the bull
and serpent demons-- from all such formidable threats of death--
by magnimious Krishna.
Sridhara Svami
By remembering the help given by Sri Krishna (nanda)

experiences
unequalled joy and speaks the verse beginning davagneh. Also
from the wind and the rain, from the bull and from the serpent,
and from other insurmountable threats of death (mrtyubhyah) we
have been protected by Sri Krishna.
But, (uddhava may object), you are not going die, but rather
you will all live a long time taking care of Him, your son. In
order to (in reply to this) state that now, in contrast (to
before), we are not going to be saved from the hands of death,
Nanda Maharaja counts the past threats of death in the verse
beginning davagneh. By the su-mahatma, He whose nature is
most affectionate (maha-sneha-maya); but now, because of this
horrible subterannean fire (of separation), how can we be
protected by Him? this we cannot imagine.
TEXT 21
smaratam Krishna-viryani
lilapanga-niriksitam
hasitam bhasitam canga
sarva nah sithilah kriyah
smaratam-- who are remembering; Krishna-viryani-- the

valourous
deeds of Krishna; lila-- playful; apanga-- with sidelong glances;
niriksitam-- His looking; hasitam-- smiling; bhasitam-- speaking;
ca-- and; anga-- my dear (uddhava); sarvah-- all; nah-- for us;
sithilah-- slackened; kriyah-- material activities.
TRANSLATION
as we remember the wonderful deeds performed by Krishna, His

playful sidelong glances, His smiling and His words, O uddhava,
we forget all our material engagements.
Sridhara Svami
Furthermore, the statement beginning smaratam. The looking

with sidelong glances. My dear (anga), O uddhava.
But, one may object, my the intoxicating nectar of remembrance

of His moonlike face once should be relieved of all kinds of
distress. Yes, that is so, but even though remembering Him
removes all distress, still now, because of our ill fortune, it
has become the cause of all distress, as (Nanda Maharaja) states
in the verse beginning smaratam. "Our fruitive activities have
slackened" means that even though our activities of bathing,
eating, drinking and so on have been going on by the force of
habit, now they have become slackened. As a consequence we will
not be able to remain alive.
TEXT 22
saric-caila-vanoddesan
mukunda-pada-bhusitan
akridan Iksyamananam
mano yati tad-atmatam
sarit-- the rivers; saila-- hills; vana-- of the forests;

uddesan-- and the various parts; mukunda-- of Krishna; pada-- by
the feet; bhusitan-- ornamented; akridan-- the locations of His
play; Iksyamananam-- for those who are seeing; manah-- the mind;
yati-- attains; tat-atmatam-- total absorption in Him.
TRANSLATION
When we see the rivers, hills and various parts of the forest
decorated by the feet of mukunda-- the places where enjoyed His
sporting pastimes-- our minds become totally absorbed in thought
of Him and we see Him present everywhere.
Sridhara Svami
not only are the slackened, but gradually they come to a halt,
as stated in the verse beginning saric-caila. The rivers,
hills and places in the forests are the locations of His playing
(akridan = krida-sthanani).
But if this is the case then since if you stay home you will
just think about your son more you should therefore go out and
wander along the shore of the Yamuna tending your cows. In
anticipation of such a suggestion (nanda) explains how even this
would be unfavorable, in the verse beginning sarit.
tad-atmatam means being filled with His images or else merging
into (thought of) Him.
TEXT 23
manye Krishnam ca ramam ca

praptav iha surottamau
suranam mahad arthaya
gargasya vacanam yatha
manye-- I think; Krishnam-- Krishna; ca-- and; ramam--

Balarama;
ca-- and; praptau-- obtained; iha-- on this planet; sura-- of
demigods; uttamau-- two of the most elevated; suranam-- of the
demigods; mahat-- grave; arthaya-- for the sake; gargasya-- of
the Garga rsi; vacanam-- the statement; yatha-- as.
TRANSLATION
in my opinion, Krishna and Balarama must be two elevated

demigods
come to this planet for the benefit of all the demigods. Such
was solemnly foretold by Garga rsi.
Sridhara Svami
For the sake of the demigods, as according to the grave

(mahat = gambhiram) words of Garga.
TEXT 24
kamsam nagayuta-pranam
mallau gaja-patim yatha
avadhistam lilayaiva
pasun iva mrgadhipah
kamsam-- Kamsa; naga-- of elephants; ayuta-- ten thousand;

pranam-- whose vital strength; mallau-- the two wrestlers (Canura
and mustika); gaja-patim-- the king of elephants (Kuvalayapida);
yatha-- inasmuch; avadhistam-- the two of them killed; lilaya--
as a game; eva-- simply; pasun-- animals; iva-- as;
mrga-adhipah-- the lion, king of animals.
TRANSLATION
after all, the two of them killed Kamsa, who was as strong as
ten thousand elephants, and also the wrestlers Canura and mustika
and the elephant Kuvalyapida, simply as a sport, as easily as a
lion disposes of small animals.
Sridhara Svami
not only according to His words, but also according to

statements circulating in ordinary circles, as stated in the
verse beginning kamsam.
Because of (nanda's) nature of possessing transcendental

affection imbued with the mood of separation, as soon the Lord's
image is manifest the Lord's opulences causes Him to imagine
momentarily that He has obtained Him, as stated in this verse
beginning manye. The two of them obtained here, in my house;
in other words it was due to the good fortune of me and of
Vasudeva that they became our sons. For the benefit of the
demigods, the purpose characterized by the killing of Kamsa, as
according to the grave statement of Garga.
TEXT 25
tala-trayam maha-saram
dhanur yastim ivebha-rat
babhanjaikena hastena
saptaham adadhad girim
tala-trayam-- as long as three palm trees; maha-saram-- extemely

solid;
dhanuh-- the bow; yastim-- a stick; iva-- as; ibha-rat-- a royal
elephant;
babhanja-- He broke; ekena-- with one; hastena-- hand;
sapta-aham-- for seven days; adadhat-- held; girim-- a mountain.
TRANSLATION
He broke a strong bow that was as long as three palm trees with
the ease of a royal elephant breaking a stick, and held a
mountain aloft for seven days with just one hand.
Sridhara Svami
as an elephant (breaks) a stick He broke the bow, which

measured three talas.
tala means a palm tree, which measures the length of sixty

hands. With one (hand), the left one.
TEXT 26
pralambo dhenuko 'ristas

trnavarto bakadayah
daityah surasura-jito
hata yeneha lilaya
pralambah dhenukah aristah-- Pralamba, dhenuka and arista;

trnavartah baka-adayah-- trnavarta, Baka and others; daityah--
demons; sura-asura--- both the demigods and the demons; jitah--
who conquered; hatah-- killed; yena-- by whom; iha-- here (in
Vrndavana); lilaya-- easily.
TRANSLATION
here in Vrndavana He easily dispatched daityas like Pralamba,

dhenuka, arista, trnavarta and Baka, who had been able to defeat
all the demigods and demons.
(no commentaries)
TEXT 27
sri-suka uvaca
iti samsmrtya samsmrtya
nandah Krishnanurakta-dhih
aty-utkantho 'bhavat tusnim
prema-prasara-vihvalah
sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; iti-- thus; samsmrtya

samsmrtya-- repeatedly remembering; nandah-- Nanda Maharaja;
Krishna-- to Krishna; anurakta-- completely attracted; dhih--
whose
mind; ati-- extremely; utkanthah-- anxious; abhavat-- He became;
tusnim-- silent; prema-- of His pure love; prasara-- by the
force; vihvalah-- overcome.
TRANSLATION
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus remembering Krishna in various

Nanda Maharaja felt His mind irretrievably attracted to the Lord.
He experienced extreme anxiety and fell silent, overcome by the
stregnth of His own love for Krishna.
"His mind becoming completely attached to Krishna," by the

wonderful opulences of the Lord which were arising in His
remembrance: "alas, alas! By my bad fortune I have been
deprived of this rare mine of transcendental qualities, my own
son, who possesses so much opulence!" in this way His mind was
attached to Krishna, meaning that the Lord's opulences did not at
all weaken His personal relationship with Krishna as it did on the
other hand for Vasudeva; His mind remained attached to Krishna
with
undiminished firmness.
"Beside himself by the force of His love" means "For such an
agastya muni (nanda) who has this extreme degree of pure love
what is the significance of a whole ocean of opulences?" (note:
agastya muni is famous for drinking the entire ocean.)
TEXT 28
yasoda varnyamanani
putrasya caritani ca
srnvanty asruny avasraksit
sneha-snuta-payodhara
yasoda-- mother Yasoda; varnyamanani-- being described;

putrasya-- of her son; caritani-- the activities; ca-- and;
srnvanti-- as she heard; asruni-- tears; avasraksit-- poured down;
sneha-- out of love; snuta-- moistened; payodhara-- her breasts.
TRANSLATION
as mother Yasoda listened to these descriptions of the pastimes

of her son, she began to let loose a torrent of tears and milk
flowed spontaneously from her breasts.
Krishna's father nanda having thus steadied himself by the

strength of His sobriety, was now able to honor uddhava properly
as a guest, look at Him face to face, recognize Him, inquire from
Him about His well being and talk about the powerful activities
of Krishna. His mother, Yasoda, on the other hand, was rising and
falling in a whirlpool within the ocean of unsteady
consciousness, unable to perform any of these functions. This is
described in the verse beginning yasoda.
Beginning from the very day He left for Mathura, even though
she was being counseled by hundreds of women and men, she did
not
see anything other than the face of her son. At every moment she
kept her eyes closed to everyone else and poured forth (asraksit
= visasarja) tears on all sides (ava = samantat), innundating
her own clothes and so forth. She could not recognize uddhava,
treat Him with parental affection, ask any questions of Him or
give Him any message for her son. By the affection she felt for
her son her breasts became wet with milk, implying that her
exuding milk became a downpour.
TEXT 29
tayor ittham bhagavati

krsne nanda-yasodayoh
viksyanuragam paramam
nandam ahoddhavo muda
tayoh-- of the two of them; ittham-- like this; bhagavati-- for

the Supreme Personality of Godhead; krsne-- Lord Krishna;
nanda-yasodayoh-- of nanda and Yasoda; viksya-- fully seeing;
anuragam-- the loving attraction; paramam-- supreme; nandam-- to
nanda; aha-- spoke; uddhavah-- uddhava; muda-- with joy.
TRANSLATION
having amply seen this superexcellent loving attraction nanda

and Yasoda had for Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
uddhava joyfully addressed Nanda Maharaja.
Jiva Gosvami
"With joy": ah, my good fortune, that I have beheld this

sight!" such an idea is implied by His exhibition of joy. He
did not, rather, exhibit unhappiness at seeing their unhappiness.
Because for uddhava the opulent aspect of Krishna's manifestation
was predominant, the opulent aspect even of (His parent's)
affection for Him was manifest to Him, and not the aspect of
their anxiety. After all, if He experienced this aspect of
anxiety He would not be capable of pacifying them.
Viksya means seeing especially well, even though He was before

already aware of this since He is an abode pure love of God.
Paramam means greater even than (the love of) Devaki and
Vasudeva. "With joy": now my life has become fruitful, in that
I have seen such loving attraction; thus uddhava was joyful even
at seeing their distress.
TEXT 30
sri-uddhava uvaca
yuvam slaghyatamau nunam
dehinam iha mana-da
narayane 'khila-gurau
yat krta matir Idrsi
sri-uddhavah uvaca-- sri uddhava said; yuvam-- you two;

slaghya-tamau-- the most praiseworthy; nunam-- for certain;
dehinam-- of embodied living beings; iha-- in this world;
mana-da-- O bestower of honor; narayane-- for the supreme Lord
Narayana; akhila-gurau-- the spritual master of all; yat--
because; krta-- produced; matih-- a mentality; Idrsi-- like
this.
TRANSLATION
sri uddhava said: Certainly you are the most praiseworthy
persons in this entire world, O bestower of honor, since you have
developed such an attitude toward Lord Narayana, the spiritual
master of all living beings.
Jiva Gosvami
and thus now desiring to console the two of them, first

summoning up His courage by describing their glories, uddhava hit
on the opportunity of nanda's speaking words of the same sort and
thus spoke in that manner, in the two verses beginning yuvam.
For Narayana, the shelter even of multiple Purusa forms who

create the mahat-tattva and so on, the spritual master of
everyone. The implication is that this mentality-- directed
toward the manifestation of the Lord who is greater even than the
master of the spiritual sky-- is capable of even bringing Him
under control, since it is full of parental affection for Him.
among all praiseworthy devotees in this world Devaki and

Vasudeva are especially so, but you two, being superior even to
them, are the most praiseworthy.
the words narayane 'khila-gurau: understanding, according to

His (nanda's) statement manye ramam ca Krishnam ca praptav iha
surottamau, that He (nanda) was experiencing the manifestation
of Krishna's opulent feature, uddhava spoke in terms of His
opulences by way of pacifying the two of them.
TEXT 31
etau hi visvasya ca bija-yoni

ramo mukundah purusah pRadhanam
anviya bhutesu vilaksanasya
jnanasya cesata imau puranau
etau-- these two; hi-- indeed; visvasya-- of the universe; ca--

and; bija-- the seed; yoni-- and the womb; ramah-- Lord Balarama;
mukundah-- Lord Krishna; purusah-- the creating Lord;
pRadhanam--
His creative energy; anviya-- entering; bhutesu-- within all
living beings; vilaksanasya-- separate; jnanasya-- knowledge;
cesate-- they control; imau-- they; puranau-- primeval.
TRANSLATION
these two Lords, Balarama and mukunda, are both the seed and
the womb of the universe, and they are both the creating Lord as
well as His creative potency. They enter within the hearts of
all living beings and control the conditioned souls' variegated
awareness. They are the primeval supreme.
Sridhara Svami
He describes how they are spiritual master of all in terms of

their being the projenitor and their being the controller, in the
verse beginning etau. Rama and mukunda, these two, are the
bija and yoni of the universe, its immediate cause and
ingredient cause (nimmita and upadana). But, it may be
objected, isn't it an established fact that the immediate and
ingredient causes of creation are the purusa and pRadhana?
this is answered by the words purusah pRadhanam. Purusah is
(the Lord's) plenary portion and pRadhana is His potency; thus
they are also the pRadhana and the purusa. In this way how
they are the projenitor is stated.
Furthermore, entering within (anviya = anupravisya) the
living beings, they rule over, become the controlers of, the
jiva, whose knowledge, covering and distinct from themselves,
is of names and forms. How? (since they are) purana, without
beginning; in other words, because they have no beginning they
are the cause and thus the controler.
Jiva Gosvami
the rule over the jiva within each living body (bhutesu =
pranisu), whose true knowledge is distinct from the body. Or
else, the verse beginning etau states how they are Narayana and
the spiritual master of all. The word visvasya implies, by the
use of the word ca, also of the Lord's avataras. This is
because they rule over, influence manifestly and unmanifestly,
the indwelling supersoul who, even while entering within all
living beings (bhutesu = sarva-jivesu), is distinct from them,
and in addition (they rule over) the "knowledge" of Him who is
thus situated, His merely cit aspect, the feature of Brahman;
this is due to their being the shelter of both (Paramatma and
Brahman), and also by the statements of Bhagavad-gita,
vistabhyaham (10.42) and brahmano hi pratisthaham (14.27).
how they are Narayana and the spiritual master of all is

described by the verse beginning etau. Since the expansion and
the source of expansion (amsa and amsi) are nondifferent, and
following the words of Akrura, bahu-murty eka-murtikam, these
two are indeed Narayana. Both of them are the seed and the womb
of the universe, both of them assume the forms of immediate and
ingredient cause, and both are the purusa and the pRadhana,
since the potency and the potent are essentially one. This is as
stated (Bhag. 11.24.19),
prakrtir yasyopadanam
adharah purusah parah
sato 'bhivyanjakah kalo
brahma tat tritayam tv aham
Entering as the indwelling supersoul within all beings, they

rule over (the jiva), whose knowledge is separate. Capable of
giving (knowledge), they mercifully grant knowledge of the
Personality of Godhead to the devotees and knowledge of
Brahman
to the jnanis, as stated,
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
and
madiyam mahimanam ca
para-brahmeti sabditam
vetsyasy anugrhitam me
samprasnair vivrtam hrdi
By the word ca it is implied that He is also the bestower of

separate knowlege, mundane knowledge of how to attain heaven
and
so forth, to the karmis.
TEXTS 32-33
yasmin janah prana-viyoga-kale

ksanam samavesya mano 'visuddham
nirhrtya karmasayam asu yati
param gatim brahma-mayo 'rka-varnah
tasmin bhavantav akhilatma-hetau

narayane karana-martya-murtau
bhavam viddhatam nitaram mahatman
kim vavasistam yuvayoh su-krtyam
yasmin-- in whom; janah-- any person; prana-- from one's life

air; viyoga-- of separating; kale-- at the time; ksanam-- for a
moment; samavesya-- absorbing; manah-- one's mind;
avisuddham--
impure; nirhrtya-- eradicating; karma-- of the reactions of
material work; asayam-- all traces; asu-- immediately; yati--
He goes; param-- to the supreme; gatim-- destination;
brahma-mayah-- in a purely spiritual form; arka-- like the sun;
varnah-- whose color; tasmin-- to Him; bhavantau-- your good
selves; akhila-- of all; atma-- the supreme soul; hetau-- and
reason for existence; narayane-- Lord Narayana; karana-- the
cause of everything; martya-- human; murtau-- in a form;
bhavam--
pure love; viddhatam-- have given; nitaram-- exceedingly;
maha-atman-- to the perfectly complete; kim va-- then what;
avasistam-- remaining; yuvayoh-- for you; su-krtyam-- required
pious activity.
TRANSLATION
any person who absorbs His mind in Him at the time of death for
even a moment, and even in an impure state, burns up all traces
of sinful reactions and immediately attains the supreme
transcendental destination in a pure, spiritual body, effulgent
as the sun. You two have rendered exceptional loving service to
Him, Lord Narayana, the supersoul of all beings and exclusive
purpose for one's existence, the perfect and complete whole who,
even while being the original cause of everything, has a
humanlike form. What pious deeds could still be required of you
two?
Sridhara Svami
But if He is involved in activities of creation and so forth

and if we see Him taking birth as a human being and so forth,
then what makes Him different from anyone else? anticipating
this objection, the two verses beginning yasmin are spoken.
(text 32) Burning up (nirhrtya = dagdhva) all traces of

fruitive work (karmasayam = karma-vasanam). Brahma-maya
means "having knowledge of the true self" (svarupa-jnanavan)
and arka-varna means appearing in a form of suddha-sattva.
He attaains the position (gatim = padam) of the supreme.
(text 33) Both the soul of all and the cause are within Him.
With karana, meaning "in a human form." You two perform
devotional service (bhavantau = bhaktim kurutah) for the
complete whole (mahatman = mahatmani = paripurne); therefore,
it is implied, you are all-sucessful.
Jiva Gosvami
then, seeing that they are still not experiencing satisfaction

in their minds, He says the same again, elaborating with the
logic of "what to speak of," in the two verse beginning yasmin.
(text 32) a person, any jiva at all, who even at the time of
death, even for a moment, and even being impure. Brahma-maya
means fully manifesting one's true identity in such a form of a
personal associate of the divine Personality of Godhead that is
comprised of the pure mode of goodness which is a function of the
Lord's internal energy. He does not, rather, like one whose form
is composed from the pRadhana, lose any portion (of that
suddha-sattva); thus He is arka-varna, meaning that He is
self-illumining and also illumines others. This is as stated,
aditya-varnam tamasah parastat (svetasvatara up. 3.8).
(text 33) But doesn't Lord Narayana have four arms? this is
answered, that the same truth which is the cause of everything
also has a "mortal" form; in other words, the supreme Brahman in
the form of a human. Bhavam means "such loving attraction
(anuraga)."
nirhrtya means "burning up," and "the supreme destination" is

Vaikuntha-loka. Being in a spiritual body, He is arka-varna,
equal to the sun in potency. In whom are both the soul of all
and the reason, and in whom is also the cause and a human form as
well.
For you, however, what obligations still remain to be

performed? the word tu indicates that there remain the duties
of being consoled by Krishna, being fussed over by Him and
having
Him under your control. With the alternate reading sva-krtyam
we have the same meaning.
TEXT 34
agamisyaty adirghena
kalena vrajam acyutah
priyam vidhasyate pitror
bhagavan satvatam patih
agamisyati-- He will return; adirghena-- not long; kalena-- in
time; vrajam-- to Vraja; acyutah-- Krishna, the infallible one;
priyam-- satisfaction; vidhasyate-- He will give; pitroh-- to His
parents; bhagavan-- the supreme Lord; satvatam-- of the devotees;
patih-- master and protector.
TRANSLATION
infallible Krishna, the lord of the Yadus, will soon return to

Vraja to satisfy His parents.
Sridhara Svami
the intended message is introduced in the verse beginning

agamisyati. Of His parents, yourselves.
Jiva Gosvami
still they are not pacified, but rather (the rest of this
sentence I can't figure out). How He is the father is explained,
that although He is the supreme Lord, He is the master, the
protector, of the satvatas, the devotees; He is the bestower of
their desired happiness, as stated, ye yatha mam prapadyante.
"Our dear child uddhava, we have heard that you are very
intelligent, but you are actually foolish because you are
praising us. Alas, alas, who else would let such an ocean of
good qualities of a son to leave His home and go elsewhere? Who
is there in the three worlds more misfortunate, degraded and
miserable? We are to be condemned by everyone." anticipating
such statments, uddhava speaks consolingly in the verse beginning
agamisyati.
(He is) acyuta because He never fails, since His words drastum
esyamah are true. He is the master, the protector, of the
satvatas, the Yadus, so that He will only remain here. And He
will make sure that your desires will be satisfied (priyam =
mano-'bhistam).
TEXT 35
hatva kamsam ranga-madhye

pratipam sarva-satvatam
yad aha vah samagatya
Krishnah satyam karoti tat
hatva-- having killed; kamsam-- Kamsa; ranga-- of the arena;

madhye-- in the middle; pratipam-- the enemy; sarva-satvatam-- of
all the Yadus; yat-- what; aha-- He spoke; vah-- to you;
samagatya-- by coming back; Krishnah-- Krishna; satyam-- true;
karoti-- will make; tat-- that.
TRANSLATION
having killed Kamsa, the enemy of all the Yadus, in the

midst of the wrestling arena, Krishna will now surely fulfill the
promise He gave you by coming back.
Sridhara Svami
Krishna will make true what He said,
yata yuyam vrajam tata

vayam ca sneha-duhkhitan
jnatin vo drastum esyamo
vidhaya suhrdam sukham
(Bhag. 10.45.23)
Jiva Gosvami
For this reason (tat = tasmad dhetoh) He will remain, taking

a vow (satyam = sapatham), according to the definition of the
amara-kosa, satyam sapatha-tathyayoh.
that which He spoke in the verse yata yuyam vrajam tata He

will make (karoti = karisyati) true. The present tense is used
to express proximate future (vartamana-samipe lat). Actually,
however, unseen by uddhava He (Krishna) is present in a different
manifestation being pampered at that very moment by the two of
them; in this way Vag-devi (sarasvati) has made the truth come
from out of uddhava's mouth.
_tiOn
having killed Kamsa, the enemy of all the Yadus, in the

midst of the wrestling arena, Krishna wi TEXT 36
ma khidyatam maha-bhagau
draksyathah Krishnam antike
antar hrdi sa bhutanam
aste jyotir ivaidhasi
ma khidyatam-- please do not lament; maha-bhagau-- O most

fortunate ones; draksyathah-- you will see; Krishnam-- Krishna;
antike-- in the near future; antah-- within; hrdi-- the hearts;
sah-- He; bhutanam-- of all living beings; aste-- He is present;
jyotih-- fire; iva-- just as; edhasi-- within firewood.
TRANSLATION
most fortunate ones, do not lament. You see Krishna again very
soon. He is present in the hearts of all living beings in the
same way as fire lies dormant within wood.
Sridhara Svami
since they cannot tolerate any delay, He speaks to them the

verse beginning ma khidyatam. O most fortunate ones, (you will
see Him) antike, meaning right now, or else nearby. How is
that? this is answered by the words beginning antar hrdi.
then why isn't He seen by everyone? this is replied to, like the
fire within wood, meaning that just as that fire does not become
visible without friction so without devotion Krishna cannot be
seen.
Jiva Gosvami
and anticipating that they are especially unable to tolerate

delay, He speaks the verse beginning ma. Then guessing that
they cannot tolerate even a very short delay, He follows the
ordinary means of dispelling sorrow by instructing them in
transcendental truth, with the words beginning antah.
"alas, alas, we are condemned, who are prevented from our son's
returning by His very prowess, even though He would never
abandon
us and always tells the truth." to them who are thus lamenting,
(uddhava) speaks the verse beginning ma.
'But when you say 'very soon,' that means exactly when, on what
day? tomorrow, the day after, after five days or ten days? We
need at least to stop our life airs, which want to leave our
bodies, from doing so by giving them some hope. If we fail to do
this then for certain they will leave us, so please speak
decisively. Let our life airs leave us, but we cannot stand the
pain of trying to hold them back."
thus addressed by nanda, uddhava searched His heart, thinking,

"alas, what solution can I take? if they were agitated by
separation from an ordinary, mundane son I could enlighten them
by saying, 'Come now, why are you so entangled in the
bewilderment of material existence? Give up attachment for false
sons, wives and so on, which is the cause of all undersirable
things, and make your attachment instead for the supreme Lord.'
But how can I thus advise this nanda, whose attachment is for the
supreme Lord himself as His son? nor can His idea of the Lord's
being His son be slackened at all by showing Him the Lord's
opulence, as might be done with Vasudeva. Rather, doing so would
simply make the two of them even more immesurably attached (to
Krishna in the mood of His being their son). 'alas,' (nanda might
say), "even the parents of an ordinary son die out of misery if
they can no longer see Him playing in their house. But we two,
due to our extreme good fortune, had the supreme controler
himself playing in our home. If we could coddle Him for even a
moment we began to lament. How will we be able to live, not
seeing Him in our home? to damnation with us, who have lost such
a son!' such is their mentality. Devaki and Vasudeva, on the
other hand, when they perceived His supreme opulence, thought
'alas, He is the object of our worship, not our son,' and became
embarrassed to even embrace or fuss over Him. But not only is
the knot of possessiveness tied tight for these two (nanda and
Yasoda), it remains tight even (when He shows himself to be) the
supreme Godhead. I have seen His own concern for their sake, as
stated grhitva panina panim pitror nau pritim avaha (text 2).
and I am made to remember the words of the cowherd men which I
previously heard,
dustyajas canurago 'smin

sarvesam nau vrajaukasam
nanda te tanaye 'smasu
tasyapy autpattikah katham
(Bhag. 10.26.13). If I go back to Mathura an bring Him here

tommorrow, then when Jarasandha becomes angry upon hearing
the
complaints of Kamsa's two wives and comes to Mathura to destroy
it, who will protect Vasudeva and the other Yadavas? if Krishna
then goes back to Mathura to protect the city then these parents
of His will die. If I tell them that He will come only after
four or five years, it will be very hard for them to hold on for
that long. If I speak duplicitously, telling them that He will
come after four or five days, then on that day they will discover
the falseness of I my words and die.
"therefore, since I now have no other means at hand, I will

discourse on how Krishna, being the supersoul, is indifferent to
everything, and how, being the original formless Brahman, He has
no relationship with birth, material activities, material body
and parents. By such suitable spiritual knowledge their love for
Him will become subdued. If even with all this effort their
unlimited and unfathomable pure love remains unchecked but
rather
only increases, then I will just go back to Mathura and praise
nanda and Yasoda's unequalled glories in the grand assembly of
Krishna, Vasudeva, ugrasena and the others." Putting aside all
other thoughts, uddhava decided, "I must simply meditate on
Krishna," and began to speak, first indicating how Krishna is the
supersoul, in the words beginning antah.
But then why isn't He seen by everyone? this is answered by

the words beginning jyotih. Just as that is not visible
without friction so Krishna (is not visible without devotion).
"thus," nanda and Yasoda began to think, "He is telling us that
we are incapable of having devotion as the Vaisnava do for this
son of ours, Krishna; why then should He remain visible in our
house? if that is the case, we must develop devotion for Him,
our son, so that somehow or another He will come back to our
house." thus (nanda) is going to tell uddhava, manaso vrttayo
nah syuh Krishna-padambhujasrayah (Bhag. 10.47.66: "Let the
working of our minds remain under the shelter of Krishna's lotus
feet").
TEXT 37
na hy asyasti priyah kascin

napriyo 'vasty amaninah
nottamo nadhamo vapi
sa-manasyasamo 'pi va
na-- not; hi-- indeed; asya-- for Him; asti-- there is;
priyah-- dear; kascin-- anyone; na-- not; apriyah-- undear; va--
or; asti-- there is; amaninah-- who is free from desire for respect;
na-- not; uttamah-- superior; na-- not; adhamah-- inferior; va--
or; api-- also; sa-manasya-- for Him who has respect for others;
asamah-- completely medium; api-- also; va-- or.
TRANSLATION
For Him no one especially dear or not dear, superior, inferior

or altogether intermediate. He is free from all desire for
respect and yet gives respect to all others.
Sridhara Svami
ah, let this be granted, but I think His coming here it would
not be fitting because it would mean abandoning His most dear
parents and others. This is replied to by the verse beginning
na hy asyasti. He has no one dear and so on. The reason for
this is that He free from desire for respect and also gives
respect to others.
seeing that their loving sentiment was still undiminished,

(uddhava) tells (nanda), "my dear King of Vraja, Krishna is
directly the supreme absolute truth," in these three verses. He
has no one dear and so on. The reason for this is that He free
from desire for respect and also gives respect to others.
TEXT 38
na mata na pita tasya

na bharya na sutadayah
natmiyo na paras capi
na deho janma eva ca
na-- there is no; mata-- mother; na-- no; pita-- father;

tasya-- His; na-- no; bharya-- wife; na-- no; suta-adayah--
children and so forth; na-- no one; atmiyah-- related to
himself; na-- nor; parah-- an outsider; ca api-- also; na-- no;
dehah-- body; janma-- birth; eva-- either; ca-- and.
TRANSLATION
He has no mother, no father, no wife, children and other

family. No one is related to Him, and to Him no one is an
outsider. He has no body and no birth.
the meaning of the verse beginning na mata is self-evident,

but there is also another, not obvious, meaning intended by Him
(uddhava) for the purpose of properly informing Nanda Maharaja.
TEXT 39
na casya karma va loke

sad-asan-misra-yonisu
kridartham so 'pi sadhunam
paritranaya kalpate
na-- there is not; ca-- and; asya-- for Him; karma-- work; va--
or; loke-- in this world; sat-- pure; asat-- impure; misra-- and
mixed; yonisu-- in wombs; krida-- of playing; artham-- for the
sake; sah-- He; api-- also; sadhunam-- of His saintly devotees;
paritranaya-- for the saving; kalpate-- appears.
TRANSLATION
He has no work to do in this world that would make Him take

birth in various pure, impure and mixed species of life, yet for
the purposes of enjoying pastimes and delivering His saintly
devotees He manifests himself.
Sridhara Svami
and even though He has no material birth or activities with the

purpose of playing He appears (kalpate = avirbhavati) for the
protection of the sadhus within various species in the modes of
goodness, passion and ignorance, or else, within the species of
demigods and so on, fish and so on, and man-lions and so forth.
Jiva Gosvami
although there is no external cause for His anyone being dear,

not dear and so on to Him, still persons are dear and so on to
Him in connection with their saintliness, and not dear to Him
because of lacking saintliness. This is stated in the verse
beginning sat.
Without consideration of like or dislike, "this is a good

species, and this is a bad one," He manifests within each of
them, taking forms of a suitable nature in imitation of each
species. He always acts in a way conducive to the protection by
all means of the sadhus, those whom He accepts as dear to Him
because of their saintliness.
But, it may be questioned, that could be accomplished simply by

His willing it, so why does He need to take on all these
manifestations? this is replied to, that He does so with the
purpose of playing, of performing pastimes filled with the
expressions of ecstatic love with those who are dear to Him, as
stated in sri Padma Purana, mad-bhaktanam vinodartham karomi
vividhah kriyah.
the idea of this is as follows: He may have some involvement

for other things, but what actually is attractive to Him, the
surpeme possessor of transcendental qualities, is saintliness.
and the prime functional characteristic of saintliness is
exclusive dedication to Him. In the statement dharmah
projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam, everything up
to even the desire for liberation is taken to be cheating. And
the gradations of of exclusive dedication to Him are measured
only by the gradations of pure love. Thus dedication to the Lord
appears in variegated ways according to the varieties of prema,
since such devotion to the Lord can only actually be motivated by
pure love, as stated in such verses as yathasnatah syus tustih
pustih ksud-apayo 'nughasam (Bhag. 11.2.42: "...in the same
way as pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come
simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person
engaged in eating") and yesam aham priya atma sutas ca sakha
guruh suhrdo daivam istam (Bhag. 3.25.38: "...who accept me
as their friend, their relative, their son, preceptor and supreme
deity...).
since it is thus demonstrated that the supreme Lord is only

interested in that (exclusive dedication in pure love), therefore
He desires to protect you two even more than sri Vasudeva and
Devaki because of the extreme elevation of your love of God in the
category of pure parental affection. Thus, being attracted by
your manifestations of pure love, He especially considers himself
the son of you two in particular and, hankering to exhibit before
you pastimes suitable to this mood, He will certainly come back
to Vraja.
thus He has no birth among the various species in pure, impure

and mixed modes-- goodness, passion and ignorance-- and because
He has no birth He also has no material activities, which accrue
in the course of time after one's birth. Neither does He have a
any body pertaining to a birth of with such a body perform
playful activities or have any purpose to carry out (artha =
prayojana). Rather, the idea is, He has His births from the
likes of Yasoda, Devaki and Kausalya, whose natures are purely
spiritual, beyond the material modes. After such births He
performs activities, pertaining to those births He has bodies,
enjoyment and purposes. In such transcendental form His mothers
and so on appear. But (uddhava) here is trying to properly
inform Nanda Maharaja. His implied meaning is that that same
Lord, although He is the original form of Brahman, appears in a
way suitable to the deliverance of the sadhus, His own
devotees, because of His compassion for His devotees.
TEXT 40
sattvam rajas tama iti

bhajate nirguno gunan
kridann atito 'pi gunaih
srjaty avati hanty ajah
sattvam-- goodness; rajah-- passion; tamah-- and ignorance;

iti-- thus called; bhajate-- He accepts; nirgunah-- beyond the
modes; gunan-- the modes; kridan-- playing; atitah--
transcendental; api-- although; gunaih-- using the modes;
srjati-- He creates; avati-- maintains; hanti-- and destroys;
ajah-- the unborn Lord.
TRANSLATION
although He has no business with the three modes of material

nature-- goodness, passion and ignorance-- He accepts association
with them as His play. Thus even though His nature is purely
spiritual the unborn supreme Lord utilizes the material modes to
create, maintain and destroy.
Sridhara Svami
But why does He who has no birth or activities do this? this
is answered in the verse beginning sattvam. Although beyond
play, He is playing, and thus these things (creation and so on)
go on by the modes of nature.
Jiva Gosvami
how He delivers the sadhus as His play is reconciled in the

verse beginning sattvam. Inasmuch as He is nirguna in the
sense that His modes transcend (nirgatah) the modes of
goodness, passion and ignorance, thus He accepts (bhajate)
these three modes in the sense of making direct use of them.
similarly He does play even though He is aloof to play in the
modes of goodness and so on. According to the logic of loka-vat
lila-kaivalyam (Brahma-sutra 2.1.34), He performs His pastimes
of delivering the sadhus and takes the modes of goodness,
passion and ignorance on to effect material creation and so on.
But, it may be questioned, if He is equal to everything and if

no one is dear or not dear to Him, then why does He create some
people as happy in this world and others as unhappy? the answer
is that happiness, distress and so on are produced not by Him but
by the modes of material nature, as stated in the verse beginning
sattvam.
Even though He is nirguna, He accepts (bhajate =

svi-kurute) through His maya-sakti, by glancing (upon her) and
so on, her modes. For what purpose? For the purpose of playing
(kridan = kriditum), even though He is transcendental, beyond
play, which is intended to make Nanda Maharaja understand that
the Lord does not even play. In truth, however, even though He
is transcendental He comes within this world of illusion in His
avataras such as Krishna and Rama to play together with His
devotees. Thus although He transcends the modes He uses the
modes to create the universe, so that the jivas from the
previous day of Brahma may acquire intelligence and senses and
experience happiness and distress for the sake of realizing the
fruits of the execution of their individual pious and impious
karma. What fault is their on His part in doing this? these
(souls) are neither dear or undesirable to Him.
TEXT 41
yatha bhramarika-drstya
bhramyativa mahiyate
citte kartari tatratma
kartevaham-dhiya smrtah
yatha-- as; bhramarika-- because of whirling around; drstya--

in one's vision; bhramyati-- whirling; iva-- as if; mahi-- the
ground; Iyate-- appears; citte-- the mind; kartari-- being the
doer; tatra-- there; atma-- the self; karta-- the doer; iva-- as
if; aham-dhiya-- because of false ego; smrtah-- thought.
TRANSLATION
Just as a person who has been whirling around perceives the

ground as moving, so one who is affected by false ego thinks
himself to be the doer when it is actually only the mind acting.
Sridhara Svami
in this regard, how the jiva covered by designations of

ignorance is the doer is exemplified, His being the doer simply
by the agency of ignorance being stated with an example in the
verse beginning yatha. Bhramarika means "revolving about"
(paribhramanam), with the kind of vision experienced in that
condition the earth itself appears to be revolving; in the same
way when the mind becomes the doer. Thus just as the self is
thought to be the doer because of false ego when actually the mind
is the doer, so.
Jiva Gosvami
the status of being the doer, which actually belongs directly

to the supreme controler, is also partaken of by the jiva, as
explained with an example in the verse beginning yatha.
actually the supreme Lord is not creator of the universe

either, since even that is executed by the modes of nature, as
stated in the verse beginning yatha. Bhramarika means
"revolving about"; by a person with such vision due to an
imbalance of air and the other bodily dhatus, the earth appears
(Iyate = pratiyate) to be turning about just like a potter's
wheel. And just as when the jiva, although the mind is
actually the doer, thinks because of an egoistic mentality that
"the mind is me" and thus He is made to think (smrtah
= smaryate) the self to be the doer, similarly the creation of
the universe, actually executed by the material modes, appears to
be done by the supreme Lord; such is the implied completion of
the idea. And thus it is not in His own original identity
(svarupenaiva) that He creates the universe, but rather it is
by the spritual potential of His internal maya as nondifferent
from Him that the universe is created.
TEXT 42
yuvayor eva naivayam
atmajo bhagavan harih
sarvesam atmajo hy atma
pita mata sa Isvarah
yuvayoh-- of you two; eva-- alone; na-- not; eva-- indeed;

ayam-- He; atma-jah-- the son; bhagavan-- the supreme
Personality of Godhead; harih-- Lord Krishna; sarvesam-- of all;
atma-jah-- the son; hi-- indeed; atma-- the very self; pita--
father; mata-- mother; sah-- He; Isvarah-- the controlling Lord.
TRANSLATION
the supreme Lord hari is not your son alone, but the son of
everyone and indeed their very self, their mother and their
father. He is the ultimate controller.
Sridhara Svami
Furthermore, He is not only the son of you two, but of

everyone, and moreover He is not only son, but also serves as
father, mother and so on. Thus, in order to avoid bewildering
them while explaining how He is the supreme soul of all, He
(uddhava) states that relationships with Him are manifold, in
the two verse beginning yuvayoh.
Jiva Gosvami
having thus discussed His general influence upon the general

class of people, now more specifically He establishes the special
relationship the two of them have (with the Lord), in the verse
beginning yuvayoh.
now, it is not proper to ascribe the idea of His being one's

son of of His being happy or unhappy to this supreme controller
who is the creator of all universes. If you think, "nonetheless,
even though He is the supreme Lord, He, Krishna, is my son," then
just hear these facts, as (uddhava) states in this verse.
He is not only your son, but whoever think of Him of a son all
have Him as a son and as atma, the most beloved of their souls
(atma-prestha); for whomever thinks of Him in this mood He is
their atma. And similarly for those who think of Him as
father and so on, He is their father and so on. The word
isvarah indicates that because He is the controller nothing is
improper for Him.
TEXT 43
drstam srutam bhuta-bhavad-bhavisyat

sthanus carisnur mahad alpakam ca
vinacyutad vastu taram na vacyam
sa eva sarvam paramatma-bhutah
drstam-- seen; srutam-- heard; bhuta-- past; bhavat-- present;

bhavisyat-- future; sthanuh-- stationary; carisnuh-- mobile;
mahat-- large; alpakam-- small; ca-- and; vina-- apart from;
acyutat-- the infallible Lord Krishna; vastu-- thing; taram-- at
all; na-- is not; vacyam-- capable of being named; sah-- He;
eva-- alone; sarvam-- everything; parama-atma-- as the
supersoul; bhutah-- manifesting.
TRANSLATION
there is nothing capable of designation apart from the

existence of Lord acyuta-- nothing seen or heard, past, present
or future, stationary or moving, large or small. He alone
constitutes everything, and He manifests himself as the
all-pervading supersoul.
Sridhara Svami
apart from Lord acyuta their is at all, in actuality (taram =

nitaram = vastutah), nothing capable of being indicated (vacyam
= nirvacanarham).
Jiva Gosvami
how He is "everything for your two," is shown by the verse

beginning drstam.
But actually, my dear King of Vraja, you should understand that

everything you possess, since it is created by the supreme Lord's
energy, is nondifferent from Him (tad-atmakam). You should
therefore speak bearing this in mind. (uddhava) states this in
the verse beginning drstam. Apart from Lord acyuta there is
no object at all that can be described. The inversion of the
natural order of stem and suffix (na and tara) here is by
poetic license of the sages.
TEXT 44
evam nisa sa bruvator vyatita

nandasya Krishnanucarasya rajan
gopyah samutthaya nirupya dipan
vastun samabhyarcya dadhiny amanthan
evam-- in this way; nisa-- the night; sa-- that; bruvatoh-- as

they were both speaking; vyatita-- was finished; nandasya-- nanda
maharaja; Krishna-anucarasya-- and the servant of Krishna
(uddhava);
rajan-- O King (Pariksit); gopyah-- the cowherd women;
samutthaya-- rising from sleep; nirupya-- lighting; dipan--
lamps; vastun-- the domestic deities; samabhyarcya-- worshiping;
dadhin-- curds; amanthan-- churned.
TRANSLATION
as Nanda Maharaja, and uddhava, the messenger of Lord Krishna,

continued speaking, the night became finished, O King. The
women
of the cowherd village rose from bed and, lighting lamps,
worshiped the presiding deities of their domiciles. They then
began churing the yogurt into butter.
Sridhara Svami
Lighting nirupya = prajvalya lamps, (they worshiped) the

entrance porches of their houses and so on (vastun =
dehalyadin).
Jiva Gosvami
the verse beginning evam implies that they never came to a

reconciliation. Gopyah means the cowherd women in general.
While they continued speaking the night was over, and uddhava
had not been able to console nanda and Yasoda, not had they been
able to bring uddhava around to seeing things their way. In this
regard the following went on in the mind of the King of Vraja:
"uddhava is trying to tell me that Krishna is himself the supreme

Lord, but how is that I have been unaware of this? When He was
receiving His name-giving ceremony, I heard from the mouth of
Garga muni, 'He will be equal to naryana in qualities.' indeed
who else is there more equal to Narayana than Him? and thus I
have personally experienced His being on the platform of
Narayana in His killing Putana, agha and Baka, His lifting
Govardhana, His stopping the forest fire and His making the
rulers of Varunaloka bow down. Certainly He is Narayana, the
supersoul, the supreme Brahman. I know all this. But still
nothing inhibits me from thinking of Him as our son, and my
feelings are substantiated by the evidence of sri Garga muni's
words, tasman nandatmajo 'yam te (Bhag. 10.8.19). We who do
not think of Him as an object of worship even though He may be
the supreme Lord, who even offer Him our own remnants of
chewed
betel-nut and so on, could not feel satisfied otherwise (than
thinking of Him as our son). Even before Krishna's birth we were
able to meditate on or worshipable deity Narayana, and now as
soon as we meditate upon Him He becomes immediately manifest
to us
us, appearing before us. This is certainly a symptom of the
satisfaction in our minds and that the behavior we show to our
son is not improper. Further, Krishna's own perceived experience
is evidence that we two are His parents; we have seen many times
that His face becomes sad if He doesn't receive pampering from us
by way of our offering Him the remnants of betel-nut that we have
chewed, putting Him on our laps, embracing Him, kissing Him and
so forth. If this woman is not His mother then why did she tie
Him up for His offense of breaking storage pots? at that time we
saw, indeed, that He showed unhappiness in His face at being tied
up and happiness at my letting Him free. On account of our being
His parents He accepts our various instructions and chastisements
and even our tying Him up and so on even though He is the
supreme
Lord. If it were not the case (that we are His parents) then how
could the Supreme Personality, the all-pervading absolute, become
bound up?
"But now, after He has killed Canura, Kamsa and others in

Mathura, everyone is telling Him, 'O Krishna, You are the
supreme Lord.' What is more, Devaki tells Him, 'I am Your
mother,'
Vasudeva tells Him, 'I am Your father,' others say, 'We are your
paternal uncles,' and yet others tell Him that they are His
brothers, relatives and friends. Whenever they try to bring them
to their various houses by inviting Him there they simply
prolong more and more His being kept in Mathura. Then my son,
being the most noble-minded of persons, looks at their faces and
falls further into the intricate net of entanglement. Unable to
come back to His own Vraja because of universal maganimity, I
suppose He has spoken as follows: 'I indeed am the supreme Lord,
creater of the entire universe. Who is my mother, who is my
father, who is my relative and who is a stranger to me? Just
look in all the scriptures and you will see that I belong only to
Him who renders devotional serivce to me, not to anyone else.
Only to His house will I go, and He alone is my father and other
relations.'
"But this uddhava is simply a child, even though He may be very

intelligent. He cannot possibly fathom the most grave heart of
my son. Hearing this words of His ('Who is my mother,' etc.), He
considered that this were Krishna's real thoughts and thus has
come
here and is instructing me in this way. And indeed my son has
cleverly spoke quite correctly that 'He who renders devotion to
me is my father and so on, and in His house I reside.' therefore
I will send through uddhava this message to Him: 'my dear
Krishna,
please let me achieve devotion for Your lotus feet. Kindly become
pleased with me so that by performing devotional service by
hearing, chanting and remembering about You and offering
obeisances to You I may be able to attain You.' and then, when
this message is presented as an entreaty in the assembly of all
the Yadavas, Krishna will say, 'my dear members of the Yadu
dynasty, You could not exhibit devotion to me in this place, but
Nanda Maharaja shows me such devotion. He is my real father,
friend and beloved. I am going to go to His house.' He will
then come here at once."
this the King of Vraja thought at the end of His deliberations,

and He started to seriously consider (sending this message to
Krishna). But the sancari-bhava of humility overcame Him and He
forgot the idea.
now we resume with the text of verse at hand. Rising up during

the brahma-muhurta, they lit lamps and (worshiped) the
entrances of their homes (vastun = dehalyadin) and so forth.
TEXT 45
ta dipa-diptair manibhir vireju

rajjur vikarsad-bhuja-kankana-srajah
calan-nitamba-stana-hara-kundala-
tvisat-kapolaruna-kunkumananah
tah-- those women; dipa-- by the lamps; diptaih-- illumined;
manibhih-- with jewels; virejuh-- shone; rajjuh-- the (churning)
ropes; vikarsad-- pulling; bhuja-- upon their arms; kankana-- of
bangles; srajah-- wearing rows; calan-- moving; nitamba-- their
buttocks; stana-- breasts; hara-- and necklaces; kundala-- due to
their earrings; tvisat-- glowing; kapola-- their cheeks; aruna--
reddish; kunkuma-- with kunkuma powder; ananah-- their faces.
TRANSLATION
the women appeared shining because of the jewels they wore,

which became illumined by the lit lamps. As they pulled the
churing ropes, their arms covered with rows of bangles, their
buttocks, breasts and necklaces trembled. Their cheeks glowed
from the reflection of their earrings and their faces were
annointed with reddish kunkuma.
Sridhara Svami
With jewels, situated on their belts and so on. They who had
rows of bangles on their arms, which were pulling the (churning)
ropes, whose buttocks, breasts and necklaces were moving, whose
cheeks appear brilliant (tvisantah = sphurantah) because of
their earrings, and whose faces were smeared with reddish
kunkuma.
With jewels, situated on their armlets, leg bracelets and so

on. They who had rows (srak = sreni) of bangles on their arms,
which were pulling the ropes, whose buttocks, breasts and
necklaces were trembling (calantah = kampamanah), whose cheeks
were made brilliants (tvisantah = sphurantah) by their earrings
and whose faces were decorated with reddish kunkuma, the kind
that is produced in Bahlika-desa.
TEXT 46
udgayatinam aravinda-locanam
vrajangananam divam asprsad dhvanih
dadhnas ca nirmanthana-sabda-misrito
nirasyate yena disam amangalam
udgayatinam-- who were loudly singing; aravinda-- like lotuses;

locanam-- (about the Lord) whose eyes; vraja-angananam-- of the
women of Vraja; divam-- the sky; asprsat-- touched; dhvanih-- the
reverberation; dadhnah-- of the curds; ca-- and; nirmanthana-- of
the churining; sabda-- with the sound; misritah-- mixed;
nirasyate-- is dispelled; yena-- by which; disam-- of all
directions; amangalam-- the inauspiciousness.
TRANSLATION
the sound of the ladies of Vraja loudly singing the glories of

lotus-eyed Krishna, mixed with the sound of their churning butter,
touched the sky. That combined sound dissapated all
inauspiciousness in every direction.
the word udgayatinam indicates their joy. Since dressing

nicely with ornaments, smearing kunkuma on oneself and singing
sweetly do not occur when one is feeling separation, therefore
uddhava is getting, now at the end of the night, a general
impression of the particular manifestion of Vraja as still having
Krishna's association, just as He had seen at the end of the
(previous) day (as He was arriving in Vraja).
TEXT 47
bhagavaty udite surye

nanda-dvari vrajaukasah
drstva ratham satakaumbham
kasyayam iti cabruvan
bhagavati-- the lord; udite-- when He rose; surye-- the sun;

nanda-dvari-- in the doorway of Nanda Maharaja's home;
vraja-okasah-- the residents of Vraja; drstva-- seeing; ratham--
the chariot; satakaumbham-- made of gold; kasya-- whose; ayam--
this; iti-- thus; ca-- and; abruvan-- they spoke.
TRANSLATION
Once the sun had risen the people of Vraja noticed the golden
chariot in front of Nanda Maharaja's doorway. They remarked,
"Who does this belong to?"
Sridhara Svami
at that time the residents of Vraja, specifically the gopis.
Jiva Gosvami
"the residents of Vraja" are the men, since the women are going
to speak after this.
"the residents of Vraja" are the gopis who were feeling

separation.
TEXT 48
Akrura agatah kim va

yah kamsasyartha-sadhakah
yena nito madhu-purim
Krishnah kamala-locanah
Akrurah-- Akrura; agatah-- has come; kim va-- perhaps; yah--

who; kamsasya-- of King Kamsa; artha-- of the purpose;
sadhakah--
the executor; yena-- by whom; nitah-- brought; madhu-purim-- to
Mathura City; Krishnah-- Krishna; kamala-- lotuslike; locanah--
whose
eyes.
TRANSLATION
"Perhaps Akrura," the gopis continued, "who fulfilled Kamsa's

desire by bringing lotus-eyed Krishna to Mathura, has returned."
Sridhara Svami
they speak angrily in the verse beginning Akrurah.

artha-sadhaka means "He who has carried out the purpose," and
this they specify by the words beginning yena nitah.
(repeats
Sridhara Svami.)
TEXT 49
kim sadhayisyaty asmabhir

bhartuh pritasya niskrtim
tatah strinam vadantinam
uddhavo 'gat krtahnikah
kim-- whether; sadhayisyati-- will He accomplish; asmabhih--

with us;
bhartuh-- of His master; pritasya-- who was satisfied with Him;
niskrtim-- the funeral ritual; tatah-- then; strinam-- the women;
vadantinam-- as they were speaking; uddhavah-- uddhava; agat--
came there; krta-- having performed; ahnikah-- His early-morning
religious duties.
TRANSLATION
"is He going to use our flesh to offer funeral oblations for His
master, who was so satisfied with His service?" as the women
were speaking thus, uddhava appeared, having finished His
early-morning duties.
Sridhara Svami
For what purpose has He come back, now that Kamsa has been
killed? Considering this, they propose a reason themselves, in
the verse beginning kim. Of His master, Kamsa, who was
satisfied (pritasya = tustasya) at that time by the deed
accomplished-- or, in the alternate reading pretasya, who is
dead-- is He going to carrying out the funeral ritual (niskrtim
= aurdhva-daihikam) with us? in other words, is He going to
take our flesh and make pinda offerings? at that moment, as
the women were speaking thus, uddhava, who had finished His
morning duties, His bathing and other prescribed duties, came
there.
Jiva Gosvami
"He came" means that He entered upon the special place where
the beloved girlfriends of Sri Krishna meet each day to share their
misery.
For what purpose has He again come, now that Kamsa has been
killed? Considering this, they propose a reason in the verse
beginning kim. At that time, with that accomplished deed.
Pritasya means "of Him who was satisfied (tustasya)." (the
rest repeats
Sridhara Svami.)
_opose a reason themselves, in the verse be

Uddhava Comforts Nanda and Yasoda

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Uddhava Comforts Nanda and Yasoda

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Chapter 46

this chapter describes how Sri Krishna sent uddhava to Vraja to

uddhava was an intimate friend of Lord Krishna, a disiciple of

taking Lord Krishna's instructions, uddhava mounted His chariot

When He noticed uddhava, the king of the cowherds, nanda

uddhava, seeing the superexcellent affection of nanda nad

Nanda Maharaja and uddhava passed the night conversing in this

sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; vrsninam-- of the

Sukadeva Gosvami said: uddhava was the best counselor of the

in this thirty-sixth Chapter Lord Krishna sends uddhava to the

Because Krishna himself, having taking second birth and received

Because the business of consoling the gopis was extremely

having thus carrying out His primary obligations, so now,

therefore, in order to conceal the truth of the matter from

api smaratha nah sakhyah

it is to maintain a false show of indifference that Lord Krishna

Because it would create disturbances for both parties, it

the Lord remains, however, always present there (in Vraja) in

thus this pastimes, related in chronological order, is

in this thirty-sixth Chapter uddhava goes to the cowherd

remembering the unhappiness of the residents of Vraja, who are

"approved of by the Vrsnis" means that all the members of the

the word mantri indicates that He was an expert in that kind

the word buddhi-sattama means that since He is so extremely

vraja-striyo yad vancanti

this uddhava is the son of the brother of Vasudeva, devabhaga,

tam aha bhagavan prestham

tam-- to Him; aha-- spoke; bhagavan-- the supreme Lord;

His devotee, and furthermore, His exclusive (ekantinam)

and furthermore He is prestham, even among these (exclusive

gacchoddhava vrajam saumya

dear gentle uddhava, go to Vraja. Make Our parents happy and

make (my parents) attain (joy) completely (a = samyak). By

tah-- they (the gopis); mat-- absorbed in me; manaskah--

the special reason for sending a message to the gopis is

they whose minds, the function of which is to make formulate

mayi tah preyasam presthe

my dear uddhava, when these women of Gokula remember me,

their anxiety is shown in the two verse beginning mayi tah.

But, someone may object, if You are the dearmost to their

dharayanti-- they hold on; ati-krcchrena-- with great difficulty;

my fully devoteed cowherd girlfriends are barely maintaining

(I am asking you to particulary address my parents and the

api smarati nah krsno

and thus we see that there are three different categories of

thus the Lord's parents and girlfriends, who exemplify the

"With great difficulty:" it is very difficult for them to

"What is their relation to You?" this He answers with the word

sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; iti-- thus; uktah--

Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thus addressed, O King, uddhava

the message beginning bhavatinam viyogo me na hi sarvatmana

prapto nanda-vrajam sriman

praptah-- reaching; nanda-vrajam-- the pastures of nanda

Fortunate uddhava reached Nanda Maharaja's pastures just as the

When (the sun) was setting (nimlocati = astam gacchati sati).

When (the sun) was setting (nimlocati = astam gacchati sati).

itas tato vilanghadbhir

vasita-- of the fertile (cows); arthe-- for the sake;

Gokula resounded on all sides with ruttish bulls fighting with

(text 9) Vraja is described in the five verses beginning

(text 10) Who are jumping about (vilanghadbhih =

(text 11) made wonderfully respelendant by the singing cowherd