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Chapter 1 Text 23
Yotsyamanan avekse ‘ham
Ya
ete ‘tra samagatah
Dhartarastrasya durbuddher
Yuddhe priya-cikirsavah
Translation
Let
me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the
evil-minded son of Dhrtarastra.
Lecture
Ruzov
V.O.
People want to see what awaits them. We are afraid of the
unknown. Folk wisdom says that we should not believe that, which
we haven't seen ourselves. But spiritual practice proves these
statements wrong. Tractates say that true vision is vision
through hearing. If we listen to those who have seen it, it is
much better and real, than seeing it for ourselves, because our
own vision is not perfect. For example, you looked into the
microscope or the telescope. What did you see there? It is
better to listen to a microbiologist or astronomer and ask them
what they see in these devices, and then everything will become
clear. In the same way, the Vedic tractates tell us about what
is happening in the spiritual world and it is enough for us to
just hear about it.
God's behavior in the spiritual world is called "the eternal
past times of Krishna". There are two types of such past times:
“santara” and “nirantara”. “Santara” - are the past times, which
happen in the material world. They happen regularly after
certain periods of time. They have a beginning and an end, and
they go from one universe to another one. “Nirantara” or
“ashta-kalia-lila” - are past times that happen in the course of
each day.
Past times in the course of Krishna's life include his birth,
growth, battles with demons, and his going from Mathura to
Dvaraka.
His
early childhood (from his appearance on this Earth to the age of
three years and four months) Krishna spent in Gokula.
His
childhood (from three years and four months to six years and
eight months) Krishna spent in Vrindavana. During this time, the
Lord and his friends the cowherd boys played in Ramana Reti on
the banks of the Yamuna.
His
early youth (from six years and eight months to ten years and
seven months) Krishna spent in Nandagram.
Then, at the month of Chaytra (March) he went to Mathura, where
he killed the demon Kamsa on the 14th day. After that, Krishna
no longer grew. In Padma Purana it is explained that very
special people have 1 1/2 times more maturity than other people
their age. That is why Krishna always looks like a 16-year-old
young man.
The
Lord stayed in Mathura from the age of 10 years and 7 months to
28 years and 4 months. After that, he went to Dvaraka and stayed
there for 96 years. Therefore, he ruled over Dvaraka as the king
from 28 years and 4 months to the time he was 125 years old,
after which he went to another universe.
In
the spiritual world, there is also a past and future. For
example, the gopis plan their service to Krishna for the
following day, they hope to meet him, and they regret that the
rasa dance has already ended. However, all of these thoughts
bring them lots of satisfaction and joy. Time on Galoka
Vrindavana, like everything else, has its own consciousness and
obediently serves Radha and Krishna in their past times.
Under the instruction of Sri Chaytanya, the six Gosvamis of
Vrindavana and their followers described Radha and Krishna’s
saintly past times in their books. Among them, special attention
is paid to "Govinda Lilamrita" by Krishnadasa Kaviraja, "Vilapa
Kusumanjali" by Raghunatha das Gosvami, "Sri Krishna
Bhavanamrita" and "Sankalpa Kalpa Druma" by Vishvanatha
Chakravarti Thakura, "Sri Krishnanika Kaumudi" by Kavi Karnapura
and "Bhajan Rahasya" by Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
Now, we will go over the brief description of the pastimes in
the course of the day. Even though they are repeated from day to
day, still Radha and Krishna constantly bring changes to them.
Besides, Krishna makes everyone who surrounds Him forget about
the previous past times, that's way each time everyone thinks
that everything is happening for the first time, and this makes
their feelings stronger.
1)
Nishanta Lila
At
the end of the night, 3:36-6:00 am.
This is unusual for us, but the Lord wakes up at 3.36.
Vrindadevi asks the cuckoo birds, peacocks, parrots, and pigeons
to sing together at this moment, so Krishna wakes up by the most
pleasant alarm clock in the world. All birds dream of becoming
God's alarm clock. This is their service, their goal in life,
and their happiness. Even in this world, they constantly
practice, trying to wake everyone who is around them. So,
Vrindadevi asks them to wake Radha and Krishna.
However, Radha and Krishna don’t wake up so easily, that's why
it is sometimes hard for us to wake up too, because we are parts
of Krishna. So, Vrindadevi asks the old monkey Kakhati to jump
around Them, and They wake up and quickly run home, so that
their parents won't notice that They came home so late. Even
now, lots of teenagers try to come home quietly so that their
parents won't know how late they came back.
The
Godly lovers leave Their flowery bed, and quickly and carefully
come home. Radharani runs home to her village Javat, and Krishna
comes home to Nandagram. They both go to bed and pretend they
have been sleeping all night at home.
2)
Pratah lila
Early morning, 6:00 a.m. - 8:24 a.m.
Exactly at 6 a.m., the older relatives come to wake Them. No one
suspects what has happened at night. The first thing that
Krishna does is go with his friends to milk the cows. There is
nothing more pleasing than milking cows early in the morning, if
your consciousness is clear and elevated. At this time,
Radharani gets dressed and runs to Krishna's house with her
friends. She starts making breakfast for Krishna. The thing we
do first in the morning shows how clean our heart is. If we have
love in our hearts, we will want to make a wonderful breakfast
for the person we love.
Even though Radharani is still a little girl, she is famous for
being the best cook in Vrindavan and in all the three worlds.
All wise cooks know that without worshipping Radharani, it is
impossible to achieve perfection in preparing food. Perfection
in the art of cooking means that God likes what we cook. Krishna
really likes everything that Radharani cooks, and doesn't want
to eat anything else. Radharani is known among the chefs as the
one who never cooks the same dish twice.
After milking the cows, Krishna comes home, washes himself, gets
dressed, and sits down with his friends Subala, Shridhama,
Madhumangal and of course Balarama, and starts eating the
breakfast that Radharani cooked for them.
3)
Purvahna lila
Morning, 8:24 a.m. - 10:48 a.m.
At
this time, Krishna goes to herd the cows with his friends. They
lead the calves to the hill “Govardhana” to feed them fresh
grass. Near the hill of Govardhana, the sweetest and softest
grass in the world grows. While the cows joyfully eat this
grass, the boys happily play in the woods. They swim and bathe
in the river called Manasi-ganga and eat fruits and sweets,
taken from home.
At
about 9 o'clock, the morning meeting with Radharani happens.
This happens every day. Krishna lies to the boys and runs away
from them to go on a date with Radharani. The place he comes to
is called Kusum-sarovara. There, the closest of his friends -
Subal, Madhumangal, Dhanishtha, and Vrindadevi await him and
help him to get ready for the meeting with Radharani.
4)
Madhyahna lila
The
first half of the day, 10:48 a.m. - 3.36 p.m.
At
exactly 10.48 Krishna meets Radharani. They joyfully walk
together in the forests of Vrindavana, gather flowers, and swing
on beautiful swings made from lotus flowers. The gopis are very
skilled in making many things from flowers and they can even
make flower swings that are tied to tree branches.
So,
they walk in the forests of Vrindavana, arguing about the best
way to gather flower bouquets. The forests of Vrindavana are
magical; all six seasons of the year are shown in them. In one
forest, there is summer, in the other - autumn, in the other -
winter, in the next one there is the rain period, and somewhere
there is spring... We just need to know which way to turn to
come to the desired season of the year.
Sometimes Radharani jokes around and steals Krishna's flute,
then they play war and spray paint on each other from special
syringes. They joyfully play in the river and spray each other
with water.
When they get tired, they rest in a flower bed, and friends that
prepared this bed, decorate them with flower garlands, give them
a honey drink and forest fruits, while they listen to the
wonderful songs of parrots.
5)
Aparahna lila
Second half of the day, 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Radha comes back to her village Javat, washes, dresses nicely,
and starts preparing gourmet sweets that she wants to give to
Krishna in the evening.
Krishna plays his flute and calls all the cowherd boys from the
forest. Together, they bring the cows back to Nandagram. He
knows the names of each cow, and always calls each one
separately to come home. He climbs on top of a tree and plays
his flute. He doesn't simply play the flute; he is the best
flutist in the world, and he can actually play all the cows
names on his flute. There are millions of cows, so Krishna
counts them with the help of a special necklace made of precious
stones, which he wears on his neck.
Yasoda and Rohini meet Krishna with many fabulous dishes, which
they had made themselves.
6)
Sayam lila
Evening 6:00 p.m. - 8:24 p.m.
Krishna and Balarama take a bath, get dressed nicely, and enjoy
the sweets that Radhika has sent.
By
7 p.m. Krishna does one of two things: he either milks the cows,
or goes to bathe in the lake Yamuna with Radharani. After this,
He comes back home and conducts the evening service to God with
His mother and father. After that, dinner starts with jokes and
laughter. Mother Yasoda gathers the food, which Krishna liked
and puts it into a small box. She sends this box to Radharani.
When Nanda Maharaja ends the evening service to the deities,
Krishna and his friends have dinner in a good mood, joking and
laughing. Yasoda takes the remains of Krishna's food to
Radharani, which Radha joyfully eats.
7)
Pradosha lila
After sunset, 8:24 p.m. - 10:48 p.m.
In
Nanda Maharaja's hall of meetings, Krishna watches theater
plays, dances, magic tricks, listens to musical performances,
and the singing of mantras. After that, mother Yasoda gives
Krishna fresh milk just taken from the cow, and puts him to bed.
During this time, Radharani dresses herself into beautiful
clothes, the color of which depends on the phase of the moon:
white at the time of the full moon, and blue at the time of the
new moon. With her closest friends, She comes to a special grove
on the bank of the Yamuna river to meet Shyam. At His home,
Krishna asks several friends to guard the entrance to His room,
pretends that He is sleeping, shuts the door from inside and
secretly leaves to see His Beloved.
8)
Nisha lila
Night, 10:48 p.m. - 3:36 a.m.
While singing songs loudly, Radha, Krishna, and Their friends
the gopis walk in Vrindavana, along the bank of the Yamuna
river. This is where the amazing rasa dance of Krishna in
multiple forms with millions of gopis begins. The chains of
dancing couples form wonderful, ever-changing patters. Vrinda
hands out vinas, mridangas, flutes, cymbals, and other
instruments to her friends. They start playing difficult rhythms
and melodies. Even though several hundred of gopis are playing
at the same time, the sounds amazingly supplement each other,
without overpowering any of the sounds. The beat increases, the
melodies become more and more difficult; the dance makes
everyone crazy and intoxicates all of our senses. Gopis sing
more and more new songs. Krishna is amazed by the talented
girls. Srimati Radharani gives Krishna special joy, when she
performs a dance, which no one can dance like Her. At the end of
the dance, everyone drinks refreshing fruit juices and a special
honey drink. Then, they lay down on specially made flower beds,
made from lotus flowers. Continuing the game, Radha, Krishna,
and everyone who accompanies them, comes into the sweet waters
of the Yamuna for a fun contest. Vrinda makes sure that Radha
and Krishna have new dry clothes and ornaments. After splashing
in Yamuna in the moonlight, she accompanies the Lovers into a
special temple, where they can be alone; she treats Them to
forest fruits and leaves Them alone together. |
