daśana-padaṁ bhavad-adhara-gataṁ mama janayati cetasi khedam kathayati katham adhunāpi mayā saha tava vapur etad abhedamSmall Krsna, having been given a laddu and a malpua in each hand by His mother, is wandering about in Nanda-bhavana. Some elderly gopis saw Him and one said, “O Krsna, will you give me Your laddu? I will give You some butter in exchange.” Krsna agreed, but when they asked him for the malpua in His other hand, He said, “No, this is for My friend.”
“Who is Your special friend? Is it a cow, a monkey, or a peacock?”
Krsna met the friend He spoke of in the hall of Nanda-bhavana, where there were many glistening pillars. He saw His reflection in a pillar and became attracted. He had rushed to get something to offer that friend from His mother, so He did not let the elderly gopis take it from Him. Now back at the pillar, He approached His friend and showed Him the malpua. “Would you like some?” He asked. To His surprise, His new friend also offered Him some malpua. He was delighted at first. But He saw that His friend was not taking it. “Won’t you take it?” He asked. But he gave no answer. Krsna said, “Hey, rude fellow! Should I give You a slap?” and He threateningly raised His hand in anger, but found the boy in the pillar did as well. He ran away and, looking back, saw that the boy had also retreated. Yasoda Mata saw all of this and laughed out of intense love, seeing that Krsna was enchanted by His own svarupa.
Krsna has a heavy duty. He manifests in many svarupas. For His parents He is Gopala, for the sakhas He is Kalua or Kanhaiya, and He is also Ramana, Gopinatha, Madana Mohana, and many more.
bahir iva malinataraṁ tava kṛṣṇa mano ’pi bhaviṣyati nūnam
katham atha vañcayase janam anugatam asamaśara-jvara-dūnam
Once, the sakhas asked Krsna, “How do you expect to defeat Kamsa?”
“It will be easy,” Krsna said.
“But You are skinny and just a little boy.”
Then Krsna manifested a huge form called Dirgha Visnu, filling His friends with surprise and also confidence that He could defeat Kamsa. This is an example of Krsna manifesting different svarupas for different reasons.
Krsna manifests many svarupas for the Vraja-devis. The Vraja-devis each take a svarupa into their heart and continuously serve Him. But then they see another svarupa of Krsna and wonder what to do. “We cannot replace Him for the one in our heart. Whatever shall we do? This is a problem. He is so attractive!”
Rasika-sekara Krsna takes on another svarupa at every moment.
“O Krsna, Your body is covered in dust raised by the cows’ hooves. You are dirty and thin and seem to be dejected. Why are you avoiding us?” The sakhis tease Krsna like this. Krsna thinks about Srimati Radharani constantly. If She is pleased, He is pleased. He can never feel happy if She is unhappy.
Therefore Krsna, in Mathura, once told Uddhava, “Please, go to Vrndavana. Everyone there is disturbed with Me. I am alone here and am devoid of happiness. If you can make them happy then I will also feel happy.”
The sakhis say, “We know why You are sad. You are sad because You separated from Srimati Radharani. So, just come with us.”
Knowing that Srimati is in mana, Krsna thinks, “How can I go? I am so full of faults. I have angered Her. When I try to come and meet Her, I remember our lila-vilasa on the way and then I become maddened with prema and cannot continue on the forest path.”
An advanced bhakta will chant, “Hare Krsna,” and then become unable to chant more. He gets caught up in the sweetness of those two first words and His affection for Radha-Ramana. Similarly, Krsna says, “I think about Srimatiji and become bewildered. I lose My heart and mind there, on the way to meet with Her. At those times, when I chant and remember Her names I feel I am with Her. Then how am I supposed to keep walking? How can I go then? So please, O Vraja-devis, help me.”
On the other side, Srimati Radharani is in a similar maddened state born of Her love. She first imagines how She will talk with Krsna when He comes, then She thinks, “No. I will not talk to that cruel person!”
bhramati bhavān abalā-kavalāya vaneṣu kim atra vicitram
prathayati pūtanikaiva vadhū-vadha-nirdaya-bāla-caritra
The Vraja-devis say to Krsna, “O Syama, You have no problem all day long as You run about in the forest here and there, but when we want You to do something for us, You have problems. You are just a two-faced treacherous lady-killer. You killed Putana when you were only a baby—we have not forgotten this. She came to offer You some service but You killed her. This has been Your business from the time You were an infant. In Your previous life also, You were cruel to Suparnaka who came to You with a simple heart full of attraction to You. You can go everywhere, but You can’t come to Srimati Radharani? What is this? You show Your charming svarupa to us, the gopis of Vraja, steal our hearts, and then You cruelly run away. You destroy the lives of all girls. Oh, how cruel You are! So don’t come. We don’t have anything to do with you and neither does our Radhika.”
śrī-jayadeva-bhaṇita-rati-vañcita-khaṇḍita-yuvati-vilāpam
śṛṇuta sudhā-madhuraṁ vibudhā vibudhālayato ’pi durāpam
Jayadeva Gosvami says:
O vidvan, O qualified persons, the demigods do not know what nectar is. They are enjoyers who don’t serve, having offered themselves to the object of service. How then, could they ever understand the rasa expressed by Srimati Radharani and the Vraja-devis, who have have offered everything to Krsna and thus constantly engage in krsna-seva. The Vraja-devis have no other desire apart from the desire that Krsna be happy.
tavedaṁ paśyantyāḥ prasarad-anurāgaṁ bahir iva
priyā-pādālakta-cchuritam aruṇa-dyoti-hṛdayam
mamādya prakhyāta-praṇaya-bhara-bhaṅgena kitava
tvad-ālokaḥ śokād api kim api lajjāṁ janayati
Today, the sakhis have caught Krsna’s feet, which have a complexion of the rising or setting reddish sun, and are decorating them with sweet designs and patterns of alta. They carry those feet and arrest them within their heart and do not let go. “After so long, we finally have Your feet,” they say. “These were our cherished desired attainment. Now our separation will not exist and there will be no more pain.”
Why catch hold of someone’s feet? If you hold people’s feet they cannot run away. How could they? If you hold their hand or kiss them they can still run, but if you have their feet, they are immobilized.
The Vraja-devis thus trap Krsna and He cannot leave them. Then, He plays His flute and a wonderful program of song and dance begins.
antar-mohana-mauli-ghūrṇana-calan-mandāra-visraṁsana-
stabdhākarṣaṇa-dṛṣṭi-harṣaṇa-mahā-mantraḥ kuraṅgī-dṛśām
dṛpyad-dānava-dūyamāna-diviṣad-durvāra-duḥkhā-padāṁ
bhraṁśaḥ kaṁsa-ripor vyapohayatu vaḥ śreyāṁsi vaṁśī-ravaḥ
Govinda tries to see if He can free Himself from the trap of the Vraja-devis’ hearts by playing His flute. As butter is churned from yogurt, Krsna wants to see if His flute’s song will churn their hearts, and He—Himself will be able to come out.
He is surprised to find that they keep Him embraced in their hearts and do not let Him escape. His music is responded to and completely vanquished in beauty by the Vraja-devis’ singing. Thus, Mohan, Krsna, is trying to bewilder people, but He is now bewildered Himself. He tries to defeat others, bet He has now been defeated Himself. He has tried to attract others as the all-attractive enchanter, but He has become the attracted and enchanted Himself.
[CC-by-NDNC Bhakta Bandhav]