Balarama Purnima

Today is Balarama Purnima, the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the first
expansion of Lord Krishna, who plays as Krishna’s older brother. Listening to Sri
Caitanya-bhagavata this morning, I happened to hear a description of Lord
Chaitanya’s special affinity for the mood of Lord Balarama: “Every day, Lord
Chaitanya, accompanied by Lord Nityananda, visited various Vaishnavas’ homes
and enacted transcendental pastimes. The Lord was constantly engaged in His
ecstasies, manifesting the moods and behaviors of different incarnations—Matsya,
Kurma, Narasimha, Varaha, Vamana, Ramachandra, Buddha, Kalki, and Krishna,
the son of Nanda Maharaja. Lord Chaitanya displayed these moods, as and when
He desired, and then quickly hid them.
“But somehow the mood of Balarama came repeatedly to the Lord, and He kept
manifesting it. As Haladhara (Balarama), Lord Chaitanya would become very
excited and shout loudly, ‘Bring Me wine! Bring Me some wine!’ Nityananda
always understood the Lord’s intentions, and so He would reverentially give Him a
pot filled with Ganges water. At such times, Lord Chaitanya’s mighty voice
seemed to shake the entire creation, and His dancing was so wild it appeared as
if the earth would shatter. Seeing such violent dancing, the devotees became
fearful. They sang the glories of Balarama, and the Lord became very pleased and
His ecstasy increased. In this state, the Lord moved about like a madman; He
staggered like an intoxicated person, and He composed and recited varieties of
poems and songs. What splendor He manifested in the mood of Balarama! The
devotees gazed at the exquisite beauty of the Lord’s face, but their eyes could
not be satiated. They more they looked, the more their desire to see Lord
Chaitanya’s moonlike face increased—without limit.” (Cb Madhya 28.61–74)
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi 17.115–117) describes, “One day the Lord sat down
in the corridor of a Visnu temple and began calling very loudly, ‘Bring some
honey! Bring some honey!’ Nityananda Prabhu Gosani, understanding the ecstatic
mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, brought a pot of Ganges water as a token and
put it before Him. After drinking the water, Lord Caitanya became so ecstatic that
He began to dance. Thus everyone saw the pastime of attracting the river
Yamuna.”
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains, “Yamunakarsana-lila is the pastime of
attracting the Yamuna. One day, Sri Baladeva wanted the Yamuna River to come
before Him, and when the river Yamuna refused, He took His plow, wanting to dig
a canal so that the Yamuna would be obliged to come there. Since Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu is the original form of Baladeva, in His ecstasy He asked everyone to
bring honey. In this way, all the devotees standing there saw
the yamunakarsana-lila. In this lila, Baladeva was accompanied by His girlfriends.
After drinking a honey beverage called Varuni, He wanted to jump into the
Yamuna and swim with the girls. It is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.65.25–
30, 33) that Lord Baladeva asked the Yamuna to come near, and when the river
disobeyed the order of the Lord, He became angry and thus wanted to snatch her
near to Him with His plow. The Yamuna, however, very much afraid of Lord
Balarama’s anger, immediately came and surrendered unto Him, praying to the
Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and admitting her fault. She was then
excused.”
This incident is also described in the Dasavatara-stotra (8), the prayer of
Jayadeva Gosvami concerning the ten incarnations:
vahasi vapusi visade vasanam jaladabham
halahati-bhiti-milita-yamunabham
kesava dhrta-haladhara-rupa jaya jagad-isa hare
“O Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari who have assumed the form of
plow-wielding Balarama! All glories to You! On Your brilliant white body You wear
garments colored like a fresh rain cloud and the river Yamuna, whom You frighten
with the blows of Your plow.”
May Lord Balarama kindly excuse us for our offenses and draw us near Him.