SRILA JIVA GOSWAMI'S SANKALPA KALPADRUMA PART ONE

1. O Sri Krishna, O Lord who appears as Sri Krishna Caitanya, O Lord

whose form is eternal, O protector of the cows, O Lord who appears as
Sri Ramacandra, O beloved of Vraja, please protect us.
2+3. I offer my respectful obeisances to the Sri Krishna who is known
as Nanda's son, who is the protector of the cows, who fills the three
worlds with bliss, who is the master of the birthless and perfect gopis,
who is as dark as a monsoon cloud, and whose eyes are lotus flowers.
4. A person gradually growing old in Vrndavan tells his mind: Fool, now
you are close to death. Drink this nectar I give you.
5. O mind, as you drink this nectar, think of yourself as being in
Gokula, and think of the loving service you wish to offer the Lord.
6. May the gopa-prince Krishna, who makes the devotees blossom
with happiness, and who is the auspiciousness of all the worlds and
the gopis' beloved, protect us.
7-9. What sensible person on this earth will not take shelter of Lord
Krishna, who filled his parents with wonder, who is the original
Supreme Personality of Godhead as described in SB 1.3.28, and whose
glory is seen in SB 3.2.23, 10.14.38, 10.12.11, 10.9.20 and 10.47.60?
O mind, O brother mind, O my protector, please take shelter of Him.
("Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who
granted the position of mother to a she-demon (Putana) although she
was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her
breast?" "There are people who say 'I know everything about Krishna.'
Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to
speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much:
As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach
of my body, mind and words." "In this way, all the cowherd boys used
to play with Krishna, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for
jnanis desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead for the devotees who have accepted eternal
servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary
child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious
activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their good
fortune?" "Neither Lord Brahma, nor Lord Siva, nor even the goddess
of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can
obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from
this world, such mercy as received by mother Yasoda." "When Lord Sri
Krishna was dancing with the gopis in the rasa lila, the gopis were
embraced by the arms of the Lord. This transcendental favour was
never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the
spiritual world. Indeed, never was such a thing imagined by the most
beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily aroma and luster
resemble the lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who
are very beautiful according to material estimation?"
10. O mind, please understand what I will now teach you: Krishna is a
monsoon cloud of nectar. He is a kalpa-vriksha tree that fulfills all
desires.
11. The root of that kalpa-vriksha tree is the pastimes that begin with
His birth. The trunk is His eternal pastimes. The branches are the
verses describing His pastimes in the different seasons. The fruit is
love for Him.

Chapter One: Janmadi Lila. Lord Krishna's Birth and other Pastimes
12. Sri Krishna, the son of Nanda, who, although He hides from the
Vedic rituals and is not in the Vedic mantras, does happily appear
before some persons in this world....
13. ...who, even though He is naturally Nanda's son, was said, out of
duty, by Garga (in SB 10.8.14 “For many reasons, this beautiful son of
yours sometimes appeared previously as the son of Vasudeva.
Therefore, those who are learned sometimes call this child
V€sudeva.”) to be the son of Vasudeva...
14. ...who first appeared in the hearts of Nanda and Yasoda and then
was born like the moon from the milk ocean...
15. ...who, simply by being born brought to this world His own forest-
garden home, Nanda's all-opulent cowherd village where many
beautiful goddesses were also born...
16. ...the nectar of whose sweetness flowed everywhere, defeating
even the form of Mohini on the milk ocean's shore...
17. ...who from the moment of His birth was very compassionate, who
when He was a small child defeated Putana, purified her, and made
her His nurse...
18. ...who, confident that His glory would remain hidden, with His soft
toes kicked a great cart and made it collapse...
19. ...who with the sound of His kick and the glory of His smile filled
many saintly girls with desire...
20. ...whose face eclipses the glory of the moon, who after receiving
His names from Garga Muni, spoke the word Om (yes) in the broken
words of an infant, and thus showered His relatives with happiness...
21. ...who made the Trnavarta whirlwind demon fall and gave him the
opposite of what he expected...
22. ...who was King Nanda's lion-cub son, who, going to His own forest
garden, delighted Balarama and the boys with many splendid
pastimes...
23. ...who, wearing clothes splendid with gold and tilaka splendid with
gorocana, sat on His mother's lap...
24. ...who, a small child playing in the mud, was suddenly picked up
by Mother Yasoda, who then anointed both Himself and His mother
with mud, affection, distress and happiness...
25. ...who, seeing that His mother became alarmed when He and His
brother crawled in the muddy courtyard, quickly went to her...
26. ...who was embraced by His mother with a tear-filled smile, who
without thinking of any other thing drank the milk of her breast, who,
kissed by her again and again, smiled and gazed at her...
27. ...who, laughing and roaring, and His charming eyes like those of a
lion cub, made His mother forget everything other than Him...
28. ...who when His mother wasn't looking ate clay, who was caught
by her and gently asked, "What is this?", who was at once rescued by
His yogamaya potency...
29. ...who, keeping time and pleasing His fortunate elders, expertly
danced with Balarama's friends...
30. ...who, the grains He was about to give as payment slipping from
His hand, purchased limitless fruits and gave the woman who was
selling them many priceless jewels in return...
31. ...who, accompanied by Balarama and the boys, released the
calves and enjoyed a game of pretending to milk them...
32. ...who, accompanied by Balarama, tugged at a calf's tail and was
pulled here and there as His aunts laughed...
33. ...who stole milk and yoghurt to give a blessing and to enjoy the
happiness of seeing the gopis argue over whether He had indeed been
a thief...
34. ...who, hearing His mother affectionately call Him by the name
"Damodar", would come, both embarrassed and happy, from His
childhood play...
35. ...who was so rapt in playing that at first He would not come when
again and again His mother lovingly called, "Krishna! Lotus-eyed
Krishna!"...
36. ...who as He was leaving with Balarama for Vrndavan forest
inspired Yasoda and Rohini to talk and joke and laugh...
37. ...who, imitating the bees and other creatures, played with
Balarama, Sridama, and other friends in beautiful Vrndavan forest...
38. ...who, in Lord Balarama's company gazing at Vrndavan,
Govardhana and the Yamuna's shore, became very happy...
39. ...who in the middle of His boyhood went to the forest with His
father, asked the names of the different creatures, and became happy
as He gazed at the different places...
40. ...who was the prince of Vraja, who without shyness played with
His elder brother Balarama, talked with Him, and wrestled with Him
hand to hand and foot to foot...
41. ...who herded the calves, who killed Vatsasura and the duck-
demon Bakasura and gave them liberation...
42. ...who played the game of "stealing lambs" with His friends, who
pushed His enemy Vyomasura into the impersonal void...
43. ...who killed Aghasura and pushed him into the Brahman
effulgence, who led the creator Brahma to the glory of devotional
service...
44. ...who, leaving behind the kaumara age, and now decorated with
the handsomeness of the pauganda age, became the protector of the
cows, even though He was already the protector of the rulers of the
planets...
45. ...who, when the boys of Vraja fainted, their consciousness crushed
by drinking poison, compassionately revived them with a shower of
nectar from His eyes...
46. ...who placed His footprints on the Kaliya snake, footprints that
declared, "This is My servant", who delighted the other snakes that
took shelter of Him...
47 + 48. ...who, as Srila Sukadeva explained in SB 10.16.10, was the
object of love for Vraja's people, for whose sake the gopis and gopas,
young and old, left Gokula, lamenting and yearning to see Him...
("When the members of the cowherd community, who had accepted
Krishna as their dearmost friend, saw Him enveloped in the snake's
coils, motionless, they were greatly disturbed. They had offered
Krishna everything - their very selves, their families, wealth, wives and
all pleasures. At the sight of the Lord in the clutches of the Kaliya
snake, their intelligence became deranged by grief, lamentation and
fear, and thus they fell to the ground.")
49. ...who, when He saw that the girls of Vraja had come in spite of all
obstacles, thought that this activity was now a success...
50. ...who quickly swallowed the forest fire He expertly created to test
Vraja's love for Him...
51. ...who by a single touch turned nectar to poison and made the
Kaliya snake immortal, who even more so gave immortality to the
devotees taking shelter of Him...
52 - 55. ...who went to Bhandiravana forest and enjoyed wrestling
pastimes with His friends, the boys Subhadra, Mandalibhadra,
Bhadravardhana, Gobhata, and Yaksendrabhata, who joked with the
ten gopis Gopali, Palika, Dhanya, Visakha, Dhyananistika, Radha,
Anuradha, Somabha and Taraka, declaring "I am a wrestler, and you
are also wrestlers," and enjoyed with them as if drinking madhu
liquor...
56. ...who went to beautiful Kamyavana forest and, pretending that a
lake was the ocean and the shore was Lanka, played with His friends...
57. ...who when He attained adolescence yearned after the lotuslike
gopis as a bumblebee yearns after a flowering vasanta vine...
58. ...who with the help of His pastime potency eagerly took the
beautiful girls of Vraja, His eternal beloveds, to a secluded place and
pleased them with many pastimes...
59. ...who in Balarama's company protected the cows, killed
troublesome Dhenukasura and removed the fears of the demigods in
heaven...
60. ...who in the evening returned to Vraja with the cows, exchanged
sidelong glances with the young gopis, glances that were the
beginning of their love....
61. ...who, throwing away the love-letter He had timidly written, made
His sidelong glance the messenger of His love...
62. ...who, now passionately in love with the gopis and thinking
everything else uninteresting, had the music of His flute send a
message begging in charity the touch of their limbs...
63. ...who with His flute music at once attracted all conscious and
unconscious entities although He could not attract the gopis, tightly
bound with shyness...
64. ...who, again and again wandering in the banyan forest named
Bhandiravana, and enjoying many pastimes there, gave a great
festival of happiness to the birds in their nests...
65. ...who on the pretext of playing with Sridama, Sudama,
Bhadrasena, Arjuna and the others, arranged for the killing of
Pralambasura...
66. ...who, far away and after a long time, arranged that Balarama use
His great power to push Pralambasura far from life...
67. ...who during the summer spent long days enjoying pastimes in
the forest and then later in the day gave pleasure to His gopi-
beloveds, as described in SB 10.19.16....
68. ..."For the gopis seeing Krishna was the only happiness. A moment
without Him was like a hundred yugas"...
69. ...who ended the monsoon night of their separation and became
an autumn sunrise that restored the sight of His beloved gopis...
70. ...who gave love for Govardhana Hill to His own family and to His
associates, living by the treasure of love for Him, who taught about
that love to the other saintly devotees...
71. ...who lifted Govardhana Hill like an umbrella, broke Indra's pride,
and showed that His dear gopa associates are the most exalted
people...
72. ...who was the happiness of the cows and the entire world, who
offered friendship and happiness to Indra's followers...
73. ...who by bringing His father, who was His mother's very life, back
from Varuna's kingdom, saved the life of Vraja, which had been almost
dead in King Nanda's absence...
74. ...who comforted the sufferings of His own people of Vraja, people
who always kept Him in their hearts, who showed them His own realm
of Goloka...
75. ...who stole the young gopis' garments, gave them a great
blessing, and bound their hearts with unprecedented eternal love for
Him...
76. ...who with the sound of His flute enchanted Sri Radha, who
enchanted the Pulinda girls, as is described in SB 10.21.17...("The
aborigine women of the Vrndavana area become disturbed with lust
when they see the grass marked with reddish kunkuma powder.
Endowed with the colour of Krishna's lotus feet, this powder originally
decorated the breasts of His beloveds, and when the aborigine women
smear it on their faces and breasts, they give up all their anxiety.")
77. ...who in the summer called one by one His gopa friends, eager to
play with Him, who delighted them by saying...
78. ..."Stokakrishna! Amsu! Sridama! Subala! Arjuna! Visala! Vrsabha!
Ojasvi! Devaprastha! Varuthapa!"...
79. ...who after calling them joked about the exalted position of the
unmoving trees of Vrndavan...
80. ...who to increase the yajnika brahmanas' wives love for Him sent
His friends begging for food...
81. ...who, enjoying pastimes in a beautiful asoka garden with His
friends and the brahmanas' wives, is described in SB 10.23.22...("His
complexion was dark blue and His garment golden. Wearing a peacock
feather, coloured minerals, sprigs of flower buds, and a garland of
forest flowers and leaves, He was dressed just like a dramatic dancer.
He rested one arm on the shoulder of a friend and with the other
twirled a lotus. Lilies graced His ears, His hair hung down over His
cheeks, and His lotuslike face was smiling.")
82. ...who, taking lunch and expertly joking with Madhumangala, His
minister of jokes, delighted His friends...
83. ...who, as a cloud is the life of cataki birds, is the very life of the
beautiful-eyebrowed gopis...
84. ...who, His messenger-flute speaking to numberless gopi-beloveds,
eclipses the tiny power of all other messengers...
85. ...who, seeing that after a long time His flute had concluded its
teachings to His gopi beloveds, became perfectly happy at heart...
86. ...who, pretending to be a renunciant, joked with His gopi-beloveds
and enjoyed their joking replies...
87. ...who always takes help from His yogamaya potency, the
renunciant named Paurnamasi in Vraja...
88. ...who with the help of this divine potency enjoys pastimes of
joking with numberless beautiful-eyebrowed gopis...
89. ...who in the rasa dance enjoyed happiness that doubled again and
again, who appeared before each delighted gopi...
90. ...who left them all and enjoyed with someone else, who inspired
them to speak SB 10.30.11, a verse that is nectar to the ears...("O
friend, wife of the deer, has Lord Acyuta been here with His beloved,
bringing great joy to your eyes? Indeed, blowing this way is the
fragrance of His garland of kunda flowers, which has been smeared
with the kunkuma from the breasts of His girlfriend when He
embraced Her.")
91. ...who, hearing their lament recorded in SB 10.31.1 became
agitated and again appeared before them, as the wise have described
in SB 10.32.2...("The gopis said: O beloved, Your birth in the land of
Vraja has made it exceedingly glorious, and thus Indira, the goddess
of fortune, always resides here. It is only for Your sake that we, your
devoted servants, maintain our lives. We have been searching
everywhere for You, so please show Yourself to us." "Then Lord
Krishna, a smile upon His lotus face, appeared before the gopis.
Wearing a garland and a yellow garment, He directly appeared as one
who can bewilder the mind of Cupid, who himself bewilders the minds
of ordinary people.")
92. ...who, as the moon shone on the riverbank, sat on the gopis'
cloth, glorious with the kunkuma of their breasts...
93. ...who, speaking in riddles, declared Himself conquered by them,
and in SB 10.32.22 declared Himself in debt to them...("I am not able
to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of
Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have
worshipped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to
break. Therefore let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.")
94. ...who, His own complexion dark, was glorious and handsome in
the company of the golden-complexioned gopis, as is described in SB
10.33.6...("In the midst of the dancing gopis, Lord Krishna appeared
most brilliant, like an exquisite sapphire in the midst of golden
ornaments.")
95. ...who, when they became exhausted by again and again enjoying
these pastimes, lovingly wiped their lotus faces with His soothing
hand, as is described in SB 10.33.20... ("Seeing that the gopis were
fatigued from conjugal enjoyment, my dear King, merciful Krishna
lovingly wiped their faces with His comforting hand.")
96. ...who played with them in the forest and the water, comforted
them, and then left them to return home...
97. ...who on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to Ambikavana with
the people of Vraja, cheated the gopis of their clothes and
ornaments...
98. ...who is the life of all, who saved His father's life, who with the
touch of His foot delivered a snake from a sage's curse...
99. ...who transformed the terrible snake into handsome Sudursana
Vidyadhara, who is kind, even to His enemy, and is never cruel to
anyone...
100. ...who celebrated the Holi festival, killed the yaksa Sankhacuda,
and is present as the Supersoul in all village festivals...
101. ...who enjoyed pastimes from morning to night, pastimes that the
gopis daily praised in songs of many verses...
102. ...who, yearning to enjoy a rasa dance, met the gopis on
Govardhana Hill and enjoyed with them a great battle of joking
words...
103. ...who, hearing Aristasura roaring in Vraja, met, defeated, and
happily killed him...
104. ...who quickly went to Govardhana Hill and enjoyed a splendid
rasa dance with the beautiful and graceful gopis...
105. ...who, intelligently, playfully joking, and His eyes like lotus
flowers, made a glorious pond for Himself and another one for Sri
Radha...
106. ...who, when the horse-demon Kesi entered Vraja on Kamsa's
order, sent Kesi to the house of death...
107. ...who, overcome with love for his father and the other people of
Vraja, became stunned, standing motionless like a painted picture and
forgetting everything else about His mission on the earth, who for this
reason did not want to leave Vraja and kill Kamsa...
108 - 109. ...who with His affectionately smiling glances, words sweet
as nectar, pure and noble character, and transcendental form that is
the goddess of fortune's home, delighted the land of Vraja and the
entire world, who enjoyed many pastimes, giving a festival of
happiness to the gopis' eyes...
110. ...who is the prince of Vraja, who enjoyed many pastimes with the
gopis, in whose absence the gopis thought a single moment was like
ten million years...
111. ...who, plunged in a great ocean of love whipped with great
waves by the moonlight of His beloved gopis' faces, had no power to
escape...
112. ...who, carried by waves of embarrassment, pushed by the winds
of the gopis' love, came to a shore that was His own voluntary wish to
kill Kamsa...
113. ...who, walking on that shore, came to Mathura City...
114. ...who went to Mathura and left the people of Vraja in a condition
that was like.... Oh! How can it be described?...
115. ...who is full of all transcendental virtues, who does not have the
power to abandon His devotees of Vraja, whom the devotees of Vraja
would never abandon, who in Vraja is the great hero of love, whose
loving relationship with the people of Vraja is proclaimed in all the
worlds...
116. ...whose many eternal virtues, which were described by the earth
to the bull Dharma in SB 1.16.26-29, should be heard by the
devotees...("In Him reside truthfulness, cleanliness, intolerance of
another's unhappiness, the power to control anger, self-satisfaction,
straightforwardness, steadiness of mind, control of the sense organs,
responsibility, equality, tolerance, equanimity, faithfulness,
knowledge, absence of sense enjoyment, leadership, chivalry,
influence, the power to make everything possible, the discharge of
proper duty, complete independence, dexterity, fullness of all beauty,
serenity, kindheartedness, ingenuity, gentility, magnanimity,
determination, perfection in all knowledge, proper execution,
possession of all objects of enjoyment, joyfulness, immovability,
fidelity, fame, worship, pridelessness, being (as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead), eternity, and many other qualities which are
eternally present and never to be separated from Him.")
117. ...who is the root of all bliss, who has all transcendental virtues,
who is a great festival of all transcendental bliss, who for this reason is
declared to be the original Supreme Personality of Godhead...
118. ...whose opulence always increases, who is worshipped by all,
whose transcendental form possesses all virtues and piety, whose
pastimes are all blissful and auspicious...
119. ...whose glorious handsomeness showers nectar on the eyes,
whose words fill the ears with bliss...
120. ...whose breath is sweetly fragrant, whose lips touch water or
other liquids, liquids that the goddess of fortune then yearns to taste
with her own tongue...
121. ...whose touch removes the sufferings of the world, whose sacred
name and transcendental abode are glorified in all the worlds...
122. ...whose form is limitless, splendid, eternal and full of knowledge
and bliss, whose handsome form and glorious garments eclipse the
splendour of Visnu and Laksmi...
123. ...who is splendid with all ornaments, who decorates the
ornaments He wears, who has all splendours, virtues, and powers, who
can be present in many places at once according to His wish...
124. ...whose transcendental virtues make the goddess of fortune
blink, who does not hold the conchshell, disc and other
paraphernalia...
125. ...who is so powerful He can defeat even Himself again and again
without tiring, whose youthfulness enchants the worlds and steals the
hearts of the great souls...
126. ...whose face filled with splendid smiles and laughter is more
graceful than the most artistic dancing, whose transcendental form
never changes, who displays the symptoms of ecstatic love...
127. ...who the Puranas say is the ancient Supreme Person, who is like
a fresh youth, whose handsome and glorious form is the oldest
although He is like a fresh youth eternally...
128. ...who makes everyone's heart blossom, who appears before the
wise...
129. ...who gives intelligence to all living entities, who gives all
perfections, who teaches all, who is the wisest and the most expert...
130. ...who, even though He is great like an ocean, is grateful for the
smallest drop of service, who strictly keeps his vow always to protect
they who have vowed to serve Him...
131. ...who creates the rules of the Vedas by His own wish, whose
glance bestows all virtues...
132. ...who knows the truth about sacrifice, who understands all times
and places, who is the crown of they who know everything, who does
not consider His potency of knowing everything to be very important,
who by His supreme intelligence knows everything...
133. ...who is virtuous with perfect thoughtfulness, steadiness,
handsomeness, splendour, self-control and peacefulness...
134. ...who is saintly, generous, glorious, heroic, playful, happy at
heart, respectful to all...
135. ...who is always humble, shy, honest, famous and powerful, who
manifests His transcendental form before the saintly devotees...
136. ...who fills the devotees with sweetness, who is the devotees'
eternal shelter, who gives impersonal liberation to His enemies, who is
an ocean of transcendental qualities that attract even the liberated
souls...
137. ...who is supremely eloquent in all languages, who is more
glorious than the demigods, who is most expert in debate, whose
words are glorious with love and truth...
138. ...who is so intelligent that He easily silences the most eloquent
philosophers, who with only a glance enlightens the wise...
139. ...who gives appropriate benedictions to the right persons, who
brings happiness to the poor and downtrodden, who protects those
who approach for shelter, whose activities are auspicious and
sublime...
140. ...who cannot be loved with even a tiny drop of love by they who
do not engage in devotional service, who is deep like an ocean, who is
equal to all, who loves His devotees, who is equal to all His devotees...
141. ...who is pleased by the service of His devotees, who is
conquered by love, whose forms, qualities and pastimes are all
wonderful...
142. ...who showers love on all living entities, who is worshipped by
great kings, who is a new cloud eternally showering the nectar of love
on all living entities...
143. ...whose nectar flute music fills Vraja village and Vrndavan forest
and makes everyone intoxicated with love for Him, who earnestly
desires the welfare of His beloved gopis, who is worshipped by Lord
Vishnu's beloved Laksmi...
144. ...about whom what is the need to say many words?, about whom
what is the need to hear many words?, about whom it may be said,
"Krishna is Krishna", about whom it may then also further be said,
"Krishna is Krishna",...
145. ...who is filled with all transcendental virtues, who, bound with
love for His saintly devotees there, is not able to leave Vrndavan...
146. ...about whom it was said, "O Nanda, why is it that we people of
Vraja cannot give up our love for your son, and why does He love us
so sincerely?"...
147. ...who rested on Kaliya's lap, who, aware that the people of Vraja
had become anguished at heart, emerged from Kaliya's lap and thus
showered them all with sweet nectar...
148. ...who, being very wise, being conquered by the love of Vraja's
people and wishing their welfare, and seeing that Indra had become
crooked-hearted, revealed the desire in His heart with these words:...
149. ..."With My mystic power I will protect the people of Vraja, who
have taken shelter of Me, who consider Me their Lord, and who are all
My relatives. This is My vow."...
150. ...who after making this vow lifted Govardhana Hill for 7 days and
nights...
151. ...who, when Brahma stole His friends and calves, expanded
Himself into many forms like theirs, forms that were exactly Him and
not anyone else...
152. ...who, unhappy with what Brahma had done, expanded Himself
into the forms of the boys and calves, who in this way increased the
love of the people of Vraja for Him, who became conquered by their
love...
153. ...who was swallowed by Bakasura, who, seeing that because of
this the actions and lives of His friends, who lived only for His sake,
were now also swallowed up, suddenly broke the Baka demon...
154. ...who was stunned when Aghasura swallowed the gopas, who,
thinking the gopas as dear as life, entered Aghasura to rescue them...
155. ...who remembered how Nanda and Yasoda, the king and queen
of the gopas and gopis, dearly loved Him with a very wonderful love...
156. ...who is best of they who know everything, who knows
everything like the Vedas, whose glories are loudly sung by Sukadeva
Goswami and other great saints...
157. ...who, speaking to the gopis in SB 10.32.22 said He was a debtor
who could not repay His debt...("I am not able to repay My debt for
your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your
connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me,
cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore let
your own glorious deeds be your compensation.")
158. ...who killed a host of demons beginning with Kamsa and ending
with Dantavakra, who thought that until He returned the people of
Vraja would never be peaceful at heart,...
159. ...who visited the people of Vraja, and, comforting them again
and again, stopped their great sufferings,...
160. ...in whose absence the people of Vraja almost left their bodies,
who promised them they would return to His spiritual abode, ...
161. ...who was glorified by Sukadeva Goswami, who loved the gopis
as much as they loved Him, ...
162. ...who, leaving for Mathura, and seeing the gopis were in great
distress, consoled them with the loving words, "I will return," ... SB
10.39.35....("As He departed, that best of the Yadus saw how the gopis
were lamenting, and thus He consoled them by sending a messenger
with this loving promise: 'I will return.' ")
163. ...who killed Kamsa, who in the Hari Vamsa spoke words that had
never before been spoken, who created the Vedas from His breath,
who certainly returned to Vraja (for how could it be otherwise?)...
164. ...who said, "Like an elephant free to go as he likes, I will happily
wander in the forest with many cows and gopas."...
165. ...who, after Kamsa was dead, approached His father, Nanda,
who was reluctant to return to Vraja without Him, and said, "Father,
why do you lament?...
166. ..."Please return to Vraja. As soon as we give some happiness to
our friends in Mathura, We will return to Vraja and see our relatives,
who dearly love Us and are always unhappy in our absence"...
167. ...who spoke these words to His relatives, relatives tormented
with love for Him, relatives He loved without limit, relatives He
promised to see again...
168. ...who, in promising that His relatives would see Him in the
future, meant that they would see Him eternally...
169. ...who grasped the feet of His father and relatives and said that
He would stay in Mathura a little longer to give happiness to His
friends there...
170. ...who spoke the word "friend" which implies one person helping
another, for one is always happy to help a friend...
171. ...who, with the word "giving" hinted at His impending separation
from the people of Vraja...
172. ...who said "after killing My enemies I will give happiness to you,
My affectionate relatives"...
173. ...who urged the people of Vraja to be patient, who told them that
He would make them happy after He had killed Jarasandha and a host
of other demons...
174. ...who said that if Jarasandha and the other demons attacked
Him, He would have to put His attention to stopping the trouble they
would make...
175. ...who promised His relatives that He would return to Vraja, who
said to them "Don't come to Mathura. I will return"...
176. ...who said to them "if you come back and forth to visit Me, My
enemies will know that I love you. Then they will destroy the village of
Vraja to spite Me"...
177. ...who said to them "Please be patient. Once again we will meet
and exchange our feelings of love"...
178. ...who, after He left His guru's home, remembered Vraja and sent
Uddhava with a message for the people of Vraja...
179. ...whose message said "Now that in the wrestling arena He has
killed the devotees' enemy, Kamsa, Lord Krishna will fulfill His promise
to you and return to Vraja" in SB 10.46.35...
180. ...whose message said "Infallible Krishna, the master of the
devotees, will soon return to please His parents" (SB 10.46.34)...
181. ..who is the master of the gopis, who, tears in His eyes, took His
dear devotee Uddhava to a secluded place and spoke confidential
words to him...
182. ..who relieves the sufferings of His devotees, who took Uddhava
by the hand...
183. ...who said (in SB 10.46.2-6) "Gentle Uddhava, please go to Vraja.
Make My parents happy. Bring a message to the gopis and relieve the
sufferings they feel in My absence"...
184. ...who said "The gopis always think of Me. They have dedicated
their lives to Me. For My sake they have renounced everything. They
always think of Me as their dearmost beloved. I will protect anyone
who renounces his reputation and duty for My sake"...
185. ...who said "The girls of Gokula think of Me as their dearmost
beloved. Always remembering Me, who am so far away, they are
overcome with the anxiety of separation"...
186. ...who said "My gopis have given their hearts to Me. They are like
My very self. Because they have heard that I will return they struggle
somehow or other to remain alive'...
187. ...who said "Convince them of My words. Make them see the truth
of My message. Then all their bewilderment will disappear"...
188. ...who, when He said (in SB 10.46.4) that He was the gopis
dearmost beloved, revealed that although to the external vision of the
people of the world the gopis were married to others, He was actually
the Lord of their hearts...
189. ...who (in SB 10.45.21) affirmed that His real parents are Nanda
and Yasoda, the king and queen of the gopas, who thus declared the
great glory of the gopas and gopis...
190. ...who by speaking the word "Us" (in SB 10.45.21) affirmed that
He and Balarama are the two sons of Nanda and Yasoda...("O father,
you and mother Yasoda have affectionately maintained Us and cared
for Us so much! Indeed, parents care for their children more than their
own lives.")
191. ..who (in SB 10.46.6) called the gopis "My gopis" and thus
affirmed that they were all His wives...
192. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said the gopis were "Like My very Self",
thus affirming that they were His wives and His transcendental
potencies, in one sense not different from Him, the master of all
potencies...
193. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said "The gopis always think of Me " and
thus showed that the gopis were very exalted and were not at all like
anyone else...
194. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said "Because they have heard that I will
return, the gopis struggle somehow or other to remain alive' and thus
affirmed that He would return to them, who used the term "My gopis"
and in these words also affirmed that He would return to them...
195. ...who promised "Soon I will return to Vraja. Then I will formally
marry all the gopis"...
196. ...who, thinking that the message of transcendental knowledge
He sent the gopis was not successful in appeasing them, decided that
He would visit them and teach them personally...
197. ...who said to the gopis "Because your hearts and minds are fixed
on Me, Sri Krishna, because you have renounced everything for My
sake, and because you always think of Me, very soon you will attain
My company"...
198. ...who said to the gopis "Even the gopis in Vrndavan village that
could not go to the rasa dance I was enjoying at night in the forest
became very fortunate. Always thinking of My glories, they attained
Me"...
199. ...who, when He spoke these words, became agitated at heart
and said to Himself "O heart, please listen. Please understand the
value of this carefully hidden treasure"...
200. ...who said to the gopis "You have renounced everything for My
sake. You always think of Me. You will attain Me very soon. I am under
your dominion. I am not independent"...
201. ...who said to the gopis (in SB 10.47.36) "Because your hearts
and minds are fixed on Me, Sri Krishna, because you have renounced
everything for My sake, and because you always think of Me, very
soon you will attain My company", who with these words affirmed that
the gopis would attain His abode, the abode of Sri Krishna, and they
would attain the company of Sri Krishna Himself, and not another form
of the Lord...
202. ...who, speaking the word "Me" again and again in SB canto 10,
Chapters 46 and 47, made it very clear that the gopis would attain His
company...
203. ...who said to the gopis (in SB 10.47.36) "Your hearts and minds
are fixed on Me, Sri Krishna", who thus identified Himself with two
words (Me and Krishna)...
204. ...who by again and again speaking in these verses the words "for
Me, Krishna" and "to Me, Krishna" and by describing the gopis as
"fortunate" made the gopis aware of the actual truth...
205. ...who said that the gopis who were stopped from going to the
rasa dance and at that moment died did not give up their bodies and
attain new bodies, but rather in their very same bodies attained Him,
who therefore urged the gopis to think of Him always...
206. ...who sent with Lord Balarama a message to the gopis, a
message explaining the feelings in His heart, a message described by
Parasara Muni in the Visnu Purana...
207. ...who sent with Lord Balarama a sweet, humble, beautiful,
comforting message that greatly consoled the gopis...
208. ...who on the pretext of going on a pilgrimage to Kuruksetra,
slipped away from the Yadavas and visited His mother and the other
people of Vraja, bringing them great happiness
209. ...who killed the demons who prevented His return to Vraja,
returned to Nanda's Vraja, and then went to Dvaraka...
210. ...whose thoughts the Vrajavasis captured, bound, and forcibly
dragged to the land of Vraja...
211. ..who, even though He had riches greater than the greatest
kings, felt drawn to Vraja by the calls of Nanda and the others...
212. ...whose thoughts were captured and drawn away only by the
people of Vraja and by no-one else...
213. ...who is all-attractive, who has lotus eyes, who is glorious in the
company of His devotees, who fulfills the desires of His devotees who
have given up everything for His sake...
214. ...whose promise, sent through Uddhava, that "Krishna will return
very soon" was accepted, with other promises, by the people of
Vraja...
215. ...who after He had killed the enemies of who Dantavakra was
the last, returned to Vraja...
216. ...who said to the gopis "Friends, do you remember Me? I was
gone for a long time, My heart intent on protecting My relatives and
killing the demons" (in SB 10.82.41)...
217. ...who said to the gopis "Devotional service rendered to Me by
the living entities revives their eternal life. O My dear damsels of
Vraja, your affection for Me is your good fortune, for it is the only
means by which you have attained My favour" (in SB 10.82.44)...
218. ...who tried to pacify the gopis by teaching them transcendental
knowledge, although they themselves asked (in SB 10.82.49) for
something other than what He taught them...
219. ...who heard the gopis request that they may always remember
His lotus feet, who heard the gopis request that He return to Vraja...
220. ...who in SB 10.46.5 described the gopis constant meditation on
Him and their yearning to see Him...("My dear Uddhava, for those
women of Gokula I am the most cherished object of love. Thus when
they remember Me, who am so far away, they are overwhelmed by
the anxiety of separation.")
221. ...whose fulfillment of the gopis' desires was described by the
sage Sukadeva in the words (SB10.83.1) "Then Lord Krishna, their
master, teacher and goal, gave His mercy to the gopis"...
222. ...who in SB 10.82.44 and 10.47.36 promised that He would
return to Vraja... ("Because your minds are totally absorbed in Me and
free from all other engagement, you remember Me always, and so you
will very soon have Me again in your presence.")
223. ...who is full of good qualities beginning with truthfulness, who is
true to His promise, about whom how could it be said that He did not
keep His promise and return to Vraja?...
224 + 225. ...who spoke to Uddhava words recorded in Srimad
Bhagavatam's Tenth Canto and in other places in the scriptures, words
that said "Please deliver this message to the people of Vraja, the king
of Vraja and the gopis"...
226. ...who returned to Vraja, as the people of Dvaraka explained in
the prayer recorded in SB 1.11.9...("O lotus-eyed Lord, whenever You
go away to Mathura, Vrndavana or Hastinapura to meet Your friends
and relatives, every moment of Your absence seems like a million
years. O infallible one, at that time our eyes become useless, as if
bereft of sun.")
227. ...who grants His auspicious presence to the people of Vraja
eternally, as is described in the Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda...
228. ...who, staying in Vraja, assumed another form and went to
Dvaraka, this action clearly recorded in the scriptures...
229. ...about who Uddhava said "Krishna will very soon return to
Vraja" (in SB 10.46.34), who must have returned to Vraja, for
otherwise Uddhava would have spoken a lie...
230. ...who, as He was about to depart, eagerly described (in SB
11.12.10) to Uddhava the nature of the gopis desires...
231. ...who (in SB 11.12.10-11) described the gopis' suffering in
separation from Him, who after speaking these words explained that
the gopis were never actually separated from Him...("The residents of
Vrndavana, headed by the gopis, were always completely attached to
Me with deepest love. Therefore when My uncle Akrura brought My
brother Balarama and Me to the city of Mathura, the residents of
Vrndavana suffered extreme mental disturbance because of
separation from Me and could not find any other source of happiness."
"Dear Uddhava, all of those nights the gopis spent with Me, their most
dearly beloved, in the land of Vrndavana seemed to them to pass in
less than a moment. Bereft of My association, however, the gopis felt
that those same nights dragged on forever, as if each night were
equal to a day of Brahma.")
232. ...who in SB 10.46.5-6 explained the gopis' feelings in separation
from Him...
233. ...who had Uddhava, on the first day of his meeting with the
gopis, speak His message of love for them...
234. ...who in SB 11.12.12 explained that the gopis were rapt in
meditation on Him and their love for Him was greater than the
greatest love...("My dear Uddhava, just as great sages in yogic trance
merge into self-realization, like rivers merging into the ocean, and are
thus not aware of material names and forms, similarly the gopis of
Vrndavana were so completely attached to Me within their minds that
they could not think of their own bodies, or of this world, or of their
future lives. Their entire consciousness was simply bound up in Me.")
235. ...into whom the gopis, rapt in meditation, seemed to enter with
their names and forms, although they did not actually enter but kept
their individuality (SB 11.12.12)...
236. ...who spoke in this verse (SB 11.12.12) two examples: the
example of the great sages and the example of the rivers entering the
ocean, examples that do not confirm the impersonalist theory because
river water is very different from the water in the ocean, ...
237. ...who spoke in this verse the example of the great sages in
spiritual trance, an example that also does not prove the impersonalist
theory because a single limb can never equal the whole body, and
therefore the limb and the body are different, ...
238. ...who said in SB 11.12.13, "desiring Me as their handsome lover,
and unaware of My true identity, the gopis attained the company of
Me, the perfect Supreme Personality of Godhead." ...
239. ...whose true nature the gopis did not understand, as is seen in
SB 10.24.26 and other verses, who is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead attained by the gopis, ...
240. ...about whom the question is asked "What is the nature of the
Supreme?" about whom the answer is given "The Supreme is the
supreme abode" who affirms that He is Himself the Supreme, who
uses the word "Me" to describe the Supreme...
241. ...who, speaking SB 10.82.44 and 10.46.6, revealed that He is the
perfect Supreme Personality of Godhead...
242. ...who, saying "Giving up their lives thinking of Me, the gopis
attained Me", "The gopis thought of Me alone and no one else," and
"The gopis desired Me as their lover" described how the gopis attained
Him...
243. ...whom the saintly gopis, unaware of His true nature and
thinking Him to be their paramour, attained, who is the eternal lover
of His eternally dear gopis...
244. ...who described in SB 11.12.13 the nature of the gopis'
passionate love for Him...("All those hundreds of thousands of gopis,
understanding Me to be their most charming lover and ardently
desiring Me in that way, were unaware of My actual position. Yet by
intimately associating with Me, the gopis attained Me, the Supreme
Absolute Truth.")
245. ...who in SB 11.12.13 spoke the word "mat-kamah" which means
"as girls passionately desire their lover, so the gopis desired Me"...
246. ...who thought again and again about the words Radha spoke to
the bee (SB 10.47.21)...("O Uddhava! It is indeed regrettable that
Krishna resides in Mathura. Does He remember His father's household
affairs and His friends, the cowherd boys? O great soul! Does He ever
talk about us, His maidservants? When will He lay on our heads His
aguru-scented hand?")
247. ...about whom (in SB 10.47.21) Sri Radha used the word "arya-
putra" (son of an exalted father) a word properly used only by a wife
addressing her husband, even though She also referred to Herself and
the gopis as His maidservants...
248. ...of whom the gopis affirmed they were the maidservants (SB
10.22.15)...("O Syamasundara, we are Your maidservants and must do
whatever You say. But give us back our clothing. You know what the
religious principles are, and if You don't give us our clothes we will
have to tell the king. Please!")
249. ...who Sri Radha, saying in SB 10.47.21, "When will Lord Krishna
place His hand on the heads of us, His maidservants?" yearned to
marry...
250. ...who, following His promise in Bhagavad Gita 4.11, fulfilled that
desire...
251. ...who spoke the words (in SB 10.46.6) "ballavyo me mad-
atmikah" which mean "the gopis have given their hearts to Me", who
with these words explained that the gopis stand at the head of all
exalted persons...
252. ...who in SB 11.12.13 explained that the gopis did attain Him and
their desires were all fulfilled...
253. ...who in the fourth line of SB 11.12.13 said that hundreds of
thousands of gopis attained Him...
254. ...who quickly fulfilled the predictions Garga Muni made in SB
10.8.16 and 10.8.18...
255. ...who stopped the troubles caused by Kamsa and a host of
demons, who stopped the obstruction caused by the gopis' so-called
husbands, who gave Himself to His dear gopis...
256. ...who showed the people of Vraja His abode named Goloka, who
gave them Goloka as their home...
257. ...who said in the Brhad Gautamiya Tantra "I, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the master of all the demigods, never leave
the forest of Vrndavan...
258. ...who said in the Brhad Gautamiya Tantra "Millennium after
millennium I appear in Vrndavan and then again I disappear, Vrndavan
cannot be seen with material eyes"...
259. ...whose abode named Goloka is elaborately described in
Brahma-samhita...
260. ...whose words "I never leave Vrndavan" may be interpreted in
two ways: either "I am always present in Vrndavan, even when it
seems I have left" or "If somehow I leave Vrndavan I always quickly
return"...
261. ...who eternally stays in His two cities (Mathura and Dvaraka) as
SB 10.1.28 explains "The city and district of Mathura are very
intimately connected with Krishna, for Lord Krishna resides there
eternally"
262-263. ...about whose abode of Dvaraka SB 11.31.23-24 explains "O
great king, the moment Lord Krishna left, the ocean flooded the city of
Dvaraka, leaving only the Lord's palace. Lord Krishna eternally resides
in Dvaraka. Simply by remembering Dvaraka, a person becomes free
of all sins and attains auspiciousness"...
264. ...who eternally stays in both places (Mathura and Dvaraka) as
Srila Sukadeva Goswami explained to King Pariksit in SB 10.90.48....
265. ...and who, as the Supersoul in Jiva Goswami's heart, made the
final portion of Sri Gopala-campu present the same conclusion...
266. ...killed Dantavakra on the open road, and then returned to live in
Vraja. King Nanda and the other people of Vraja went to Him like
hungry cakora birds gazing at the moon.
267. Seeing His father and the people of Vraja were withered and dry
from not having seen Him, Lord Krishna splashed them all with the
nectar of His presence. Pretending to stand with the hairs of their
bodies erect, the trees that were the cowherd people again and again
sprouted new shoots of joy.
268. Then Lord Krishna, showing the same features as before,
approached the doe-eyed gopis. Wondering whether Lord Krishna had
actually come before them, the gopis were bewildered, not
bewildered, and bewildered again, moment after moment.
269. As He entered Vraja the people offered arati to Him with many
jewels, showered Him with flowers, called out "Jai! Jai!" and greeted
Him with auspicious words.
270. Pleasing them with graceful and humble words, Lord Krishna
gave His association to the people of Vraja. Then, to shower His
mother with happiness, He quickly entered His home.
271. For a long time He pleased her. Then, with her permission He lay
down on a splendid bed and, surrounded by all His friends, slept at
night.
272. Rising from bed, glorious Krishna brought great happiness to His
eternal friends. His lotus face blossoming with happiness, He began a
great festival of nectar for the bumblebee eyes of His friends.
273. Day after day the people of Vraja loved Krishna with a love
greater than before. Day after day they saw that Krishna's
handsomeness was greater than they had seen before.
274. Yearning to see King Nanda after some days, Lord Krishna took
Rohini, Uddhava, and many others and quickly went by chariot to
Vraja.
275. Goddess Yogamaya created a Deity form of Krishna. The
beautiful-eyed gopis who yearned to marry Krishna worshipped that
Deity with the honey of their passionate love.
276. When Lord Krishna assumed a different form and went to the city
of the Yadavas, His original form was visible only to the people in the
glorious village of Vraja. O mind, please always think of that form of
the gopa Krishna.