Chapter Two

 

The Appearance of Lord Krishna

 

Now we will discuss the truth about the transcendental birthplace of  Bhagavan and the appearance of Lord Shri Krishna. Once upon a time, Bhumi,  the predominating deity of the earth, felt overburdened by differ­ent  demons posing as members of the royal order. Feeling aggrieved upon seeing  her miserable condition, the lotus-born Brahma appealed to Ksirodakasayi  Vishnu, the maintainer of the universe, saying, "Please de­liver Goddess  Bhumi who is feeling greatly distressed by these demoniac kings. Only You  can remove this terrible influence from the earth."

 

The time for an appearance of the Lord coincided with two internal desires  of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. First the Lord desired to descend  on earth to increase the fortune of Yasoda and Nanda. Also at that time  Krishna wanted to relish the sweet mellow of srngara rasa (par­amour love)  while enacting His worldly pastimes. For these two reasons the Lord  appeared within the material creation on Bhuloka, (earth planet), along  with His parents, friends, and other eternal associates Another distinction of Lord Krishna's earthly pastimes is that when the  eternally liberated gopis such as Shrimati Radharani, Candravali, and  oth­ers appeared, the Srutis personified also appeared in the homes of  other gopis, because they had previously cultivated the desire to serve  Shri Krishna as Vraja gopis. The Dandakaranya sages, upon seeing the svakiya  bhava (the sweet conjugal relationship) of Lord Ramacandra and Sitadevi,  de­sired to have the same relationship with their Lord Madana Gopala. Upon  attaining perfection in their sadhana they achieved the fortunate position  of appearing as gopis in Vrndavana. Yogamaya, Lord Krishna's pastime potency  who possesses unlimited abilities, appeared invisibly in Gokula to arrange  this, and perform other difficult tasks on behalf of the Lord.

 

Shri Nanda, Yasoda, and others appeared in Brhadvana (Mahavana) before the  Lord. The gopas, gopis, and other eternally liberated associ­ates appeared  after the Lord. Then those who had attained perfection by sadhana, namely  the sruti-caris and muni-caris, took birth in Vrndavana.Learning of Krishna's imminent appearance, the earth personified, feel­ing  like a wife happily greeting her husband after a long separation,  im­mersed in unlimited joy. At the time of Krishna's birth the general mass  of people tasted the inner bliss that devotees forever relish. Auspicious  signs abounded everywhere. As Vishnu's conchshell Pancajanya opens in a  clock­wise fashion, similarly, auspicious sacrificial fires glowed in all  directions. Pure gentle breezes brought a refreshing coolness like  devotees who satisfy and sanctify everyone with their calm, sweet, and  affectionate be­havior.The whole atmosphere became as completely purified as the heart of a  devotee. The devotees once again found peace and prosperity in wor­shiping  the lotus feet of Lord Hari. Fruits filled the jubilant trees. But the  envious demons exhibited various inauspicious signs of degradation such as  rapidly aging bodies and symptoms of imminent death. The desire vines of  the celestial denizens seemed to be hanging in the air as if eager to  produce fruits. At that time all the directions became felt as pure and  joyful as the mind of a devotee who has received the mercy of Lord Hari.  Just as gems, mantras, or medicines can a remove a poisonous disease from  the body of a man, the advent of the Lord relieved the world from the  contamination of material existence and the sinful effect of the de­mons.  Happiness gradually replaced the distress in everyone's hearts.

 

The bodies of all creatures manifested extraordinary beauty and youth­ful  vitality. Men felt extremely joyful and displayed virtuous qualities.  Throughout the world people behaved cordially and interacted amicably.  Happiness twinkled in everyone's eye. At the end of Dvapara-yuga, which  completely destroys faults and doubts, an auspicious, favorable,  obstacle-free time appeared on the eighth day of the waning moon in Bhadra  month. Just at that sweet moment the Rohini Naksatra, along with the good  quali­ties of the moon and an auspicious conjunction of stars called  Ayusman, appeared in the sky to give shelter to gentle persons.As the living entity comes out from the womb of his mother and the moon  appears on the lap of the eastern direction, Yogesvara Shri Krishna, the  personification of complete bliss, appeared amidst great festivities. As  the moon appears in the lap of the eastern direction, which is like a  beautiful bride, Krishna manifested the wonderful pastime of His appear­ance  out of His love and compassion for the conditioned souls.Due to austerities performed in previous lives, Vasudeva and Devaki  received the opportunity to momentarily relish parental affection for Lord  Shri Krishna when He appeared before them in His form as Vasudeva.  There­after in fear of Kamsa, Vasudeva brought Vasudeva Krishna to Gokula.  There the Supreme Lord appeared as Govinda before Nanda and Yasoda, His  eternal parents who have been smothering Him with the sweetest form of  parental love since time immemorial. The four symbols of Vishnu (sankha,  cakra, gada, padma) adorned His hands and feet. The flute, flower garland,  and kaustubha mani, although present within Him, had not yet manifested.

In fear of cruel Kamsa, Vasudeva decided to transfer all his wives ex­cept  Devaki to Gokula. He sent Rohini to the house of Vrajaraja Nanda. By the  sweet will of the Lord, Yogamaya arranged for the seventh child of Devaki  (Balarama) to enter the womb of Rohini. As a result, Balarama appeared in  the home of Vrajaraja Nanda before the birth of Krishna. Lord Hari, who is  bliss personified, appeared in the home of Nanda Maharaja, the king of  Vrndavana for three reasons: to engage the self satisfied sages in  devotional service, to please the devotees by performing sweet  transcendental pastimes, and to relieve the earth's burden caused by the  demons. At the time of His majestic birth Krishna employed His inconceivable  powers to appear in a body of eternity, bliss and knowl­edge. Everyone in  the maternity room swelled with joy upon seeing the Lord's exquisite  transcendental form that looked like a creeper of beauty.

Mother Yasoda resembled a lake of spiritual ecstasy in which a brilliant  blue lotus of personified bliss had appeared. Neither the wind nor the  bees relished the fragrance of that blue lotus. That unborn lotus was  never touched by the waves of the modes of nature. Even Lord Brahma could  not see it, what to speak of ordinary men. After Yasoda and her family members fell asleep in the maternity room,  Hari cried beautifully like a newborn baby. His crying sounded like the  maha-vakya omkara announcing the auspicious arrival of His pastimes.  Omkara is a transcendental vibration that had previously emanated from the  mouth of Lord Brahma. When the ladies of Vrndavana heard the sweet sound  of Krishna's crying, they woke up and ran to see the Lord. With the mellow  of their matchless overflowing affection they anointed His body.

 

The natural fragrance of Krishna's body smelled just like musk. After the  ladies bathed Krishna in sweet ambrosia, He looked cleansed and beauti­ful.  Then they smeared His body with fragrant sandalwood pulp. The pre­siding  deity of the house sent a campaka flower resembling the flame of a lamp  into the maternity room to worship that ornament of the three worlds. With  the strength of His little arms, delicate as the tender leaves of a tree,  Krishna made all the lamps in the maternity room look like a garland of  lotus flower buds. The ladies of Vrndavana saw baby Krishna like a blossoming flower made of  the best of blue sapphires, or like a newly unfurled leaf of a tamala  tree. Krishna looked like a fresh rain cloud decorated with the musk tilaka  of the goddess of fortune of the three worlds. The ointment of the  great­est auspiciousness lined His eyes. His presence filled the maternity  room with good fortune. Although a mere baby, Krishna had a head full of  curly hair. To hide the unique signs on His hands (goad, fish, conch etc.)  the Lord folded His delicate petal-like fingers into His lotus palm. At  that time Krishna laid on His back with His eyes closed.

 

Mother Yasoda awoke amidst the joyous chattering of the elderly gopis.  Leaning over the bed she admired her gorgeous son. But upon noticing

her own reflection on Krishna's body, she imagined it another woman.  Think­ing that a witch had assumed her form to kidnap Krishna, Yasoda became  bewildered and yelled, "Get out of here! You go away!" Spontaneously she  cried out to Nrsimhadeva to protect her precious son. Beholding Krishna's  tender face, Yasoda showered tears of affection that looked like an  offering of a pearl necklace.Yasoda saw Krishna's body as a mound of dark blue musk, softer than the  butter churned from the milk ocean. Overflowing with nectar, His charm­ing  body appeared like the foam of milk, but being dark blue in color it  seemed the foam was full of musk juice. Admiring the supremely delicate  form of her son, Yasoda worried about His safety and feared the touch of  her body might hurt his tender body.

 

As she leaned over the bed Yasoda bathed Krishna with the milk dripping from  her breasts. The elderly gopis instructed Yasoda how to caress the baby in  her lap, and affectionately push the nipple of her breast into Krishna's  mouth to feed Him. Due to Yasoda's intense love, personified bliss flowed  from her breasts as steady streams of milk. When milk sometimes spilled  out of Krishna's bimba fruit red lips onto His cheeks, Mother Yasoda would  wipe His face with the edge of her cloth. After feeding her son, Yasoda  gazed affectionately at Him in wonder.

She saw her child's body as made of dazzling blue sapphires. His mouth  resembled a red bimba fruit and His hands and feet looked like exquisite  rubies. Krishna's nails shone like precious gems. In this way, Yasoda  thoughl her child was completely made of jewels. Then she perceived that  His naturally reddish lips looked like bandhuka flowers, His hands and  feei resembled Java flowers, His nails looked like mallika flowers. Yasoda  ther thought, "Krishna's whole body seems to be made of blue lotus flowers.  H< does not appear to be mine." After thus deliberating within herself  Yasod; became stunned in amazement.

The beautiful, soft curly hairs on the right side of Krishna's chest  resemblei the tender stems of a lotus. Seeing the mark of Shrivatsa on His  chesi Yasoda thought it was breast milk that had previously spilled out of  Hi mouth. She tried unsuccessfully to remove these 'milk stains' with th  edge of her cloth. Struck with wonder, Yasoda thought this must be th sign  of a great personality. Observing the sign of Laksmi (a small golde line)  on the left side of Krishna's chest, Yasoda thought a small yellow bii had  made a nest amidst the leaves of a tamala tree. Could this be a stree of  lightning resting on a rain cloud, or could it be the golden streaks mar1  ing a black gold-testing stone? Krishna's delicate, leaf-like hands and fee  glowing pink like the rising sun, looked like clusters of lotus flowers  floe ing in the Yamuna.

 

Sometimes Yasoda saw the curly, dark blue locks of baby Krishna as swarm of  bumblebees surrounding His face. Intoxicated from drinking too much honey  nectar, the bees just hovered in the sky. His thick, beau­tiful blue hair  appeared like the dark night. The two lotus eyes of Krishna looked like a  pair of blue lotus buds. His cheeks resembled two huge bubbles floating in  a lake of liquefied blue sapphires. Krishna's attractive ears looked like a  pair of fresh unfurled leaves growing on a blue creeper.

The tip of Krishna's dark nose appeared like the sprout of a tree, and His  nostrils looked like bubbles in the Yamuna River, the daughter of the sun  god. His lips resembled a pair of red Java flower buds. Krishna's chin  ri­valed a pair of ripe, red jambu fruits. Seeing the extraordinary beauty  of her son fulfilled the purpose of her eyes and submerged Yasoda in an  ocean of bliss.

The elderly Vrajavasi ladies addressed Vrajaraja Nanda, "O most for­tunate  one, you fathered a son!" Previously Nanda Maharaja had felt deeply  aggrieved over his long-standing inability to obtain a son. His heart was  like a small lake that had completely dried up during a long hot sum­mer.  But when Nanda Maharaja heard of his son's birth he felt as if the dry  lake of his heart had been blessed with a sudden downpour of nectar. The  gentle sound of Krishna's voice removed all his grief and lamentation. Now  he bathed in the rains of bliss, swam in the ocean of nectar, and felt  embraced by the joyful stream of the celestial Ganges.

Eager to see his son, Nanda's body thrilled with astonishment and waves of  ecstasy as he stood outside the maternity room. Because he had  accu­mulated heaps of pious activities, it appeared that the King of  Vrndavana was now shaking hands with the personification of pious deeds.  Anxiously standing in the background, Yogamaya induced Nanda Maharaja to  en­ter the maternity room. He rushed in to see his son, the personified  seed of condensed bliss. It seemed that all the auspiciousness of the  three worlds now resided within Krishna, the original cause of everything.  Nanda saw his son as a perfectly charming person. The kajala around  Krishna's eyes looked like lines on a black creeper of beauty. As the very  embodiment of Nanda's good fortune, Shri Krishna bloomed like a beautiful  flower in a garden of desire trees.

 

The aparajita flower is compared to the body of the Queen of Vrndavana.  Her son is like the representative of the Upanisads that are compared to  the fruit of the desire creepers. By seeing his glorious son Nanda felt  that he had attained happiness, perfection, and the fulfillment of all his  de­sires. Meeting that embodiment of bliss overwhelmed Nanda with  im­measurable satisfaction. He stood motionless, stunned; his hair stood  erect and tears flowed from his eyes. He appeared like a person carved in  stone or a figure drawn in a painting. For some time Nanda Maharaja  remained in this semi-conscious state like a sleeping man about to awaken. Upananda, Sunanda, and other relatives felt extremely joyful while  ob­serving the best of brahmanas perform the rites of purification for  Krishna's birth. To insure his son's welfare Nanda Maharaja donated newborn  calves to each and every brahmana, thus turning their homes into abodes of  surabhi cows. These cows had gold and silver plated horns and hooves, and  jeweled necklaces adorning their necks. In addition, Vrajapati Nanda  filled the courtyards of their homes with hills of gold, jewels, and  sesame seeds. While Nanda distributed charity, the kamadhenus, touch-  stones, and desire-trees lost thieir power to produce valuable items. Even  the jewel-producing oceans lost their stock of jewels, and the goddess of  for­tune, the abode of lotuses, had but one lotus in her hand. The  auspicious news of Krishna's wonderful appearance spread in all directions  by word of mouth. Delight danced in the hearts of Nanda, his brothers  Upananda and Sunanda, and all the other gopas.The gopas brought many varieties of delicious dairy products such as milk,  yogurt, butter, wet cheese, and hard cheese in jewel-studded pots. The  pots were tied to the ends of bamboo poles with jute straps and car­ried  on their shoulders. Bedecked with many precious jeweled ornaments, the  gopas appeared very handsome. They dressed in beautiful yellow cloth  defeating the brilliance of lightning, and held staffs topped with gold  and jewels in their lotus hands. As a great ocean spreads its waves in all  direc­tions, the birth of Krishna filled the Vrajavasis with unbounded  bliss. The gopas and gopis enjoyed a grand festival by happily eating and  by splash­ing each other's bodies with a mixture of yogurt, butter, milk,  and con­densed milk.

 

The society girls visiting Nanda Maharaja's house experienced more  happiness than they had ever felt since their birth. Their minds saturated  with joy and satisfaction. Hearing the delightful description of Krishna's  birth carried away the chariots of their minds and made them abandon all  other duties. They became possessed with the desire to see Krishna. Sparkling rubies hung from the necklaces adorning the society girls. Their  diamond-studded armlets shown more beautifully than drops of crystal clear  water. Their jewel inlaid golden bangles boasted unparalleled el­egance.  For this unique festival they took out some highly ornamental waist-belts  from their jewel boxes and tied them around their hips. The sweet jingling  of the waist-bells resting on their broad hips enhanced the beauty of  these society girls. They attracted the minds of everyone with their bulky  golden anklets, loosened hair braids, and graceful gait, which resembled  the smooth gliding of swans. Their minds entered a state of enchantment as  they gazed upon the captivating beauty of Krishna's tran­scendental body. To  worship Krishna they brought golden trays full of aus­picious articles such  as fruits, flowers, yogurt, durva grass, uncooked rice, and jewel bedecked  lamps. They covered the offering plates with splen­did yellow silk cloth  and held them in their soft lotus hands. Their jeweled ankle-bells  vibrated pleasantly as they walked.

 

Beholding the astounding beauty of the delicate baby, the society girls  considered the purpose of their eyes fulfilled. They perceived Krishna's  perfect birth to be like the appearance of the leaves of an important  herbal medicine. Krishna resembled a blue lotus floating in the lake of His  parent's affection. After bestowing their blessings for Krishna's  prosperity, they worshiped Krishna with fresh flowers and a constant shower  of loving glances. With great enthusiasm the society girls glorified  Vrajesvari Yasoda since she had attained the essence of all good fortune  by having Krishna as her son.Leaving the maternity room, the society girls entered the assembly hall of  Nanda Maharaja's palace. Their faces looked exceedingly beautiful as they  sung melodious songs, which resembled the soft sweet humming of bees  moving amidst a cluster of lotus flowers. All the guests bathed in a  nectar shower produced by these soothing sounds. Overwhelmed with love,  they filled their lotus palms with fragrant oil, turmeric paste, and fresh  butter and started smearing each other's faces and bodies. They looked  very attractive with their smiling faces and glittering white teeth. Their red lips seemed more beautiful than red bandhuka flowers. This  incredible display of elegance smashed the pride of the goddess of  for­tune of the three worlds. Carried away with joy over Krishna's birth,  they fearlessly threw cheese balls, butter, and yogurt at each other. One  could mistake the white balls of cheese for hailstones, solidified  moonlight, or white mud from the floor of the milk ocean. Then they  showered each other with buttermilk, aromatic oils, and water mixed with  turmeric.

 

Cymbals, damru drums, bherries, and big drums vibrated auspicious sounds  in specific melodies. A celestial concert of precise poetical meters,  proper rhythms, and metrical compositions suddenly manifested there. The  musical ensemble inspired the society girls to sing and dance in mirth and  merriment. Though not good singers, by the will of the Lord they sang with  great virtuoso. Their wonderful songs filled Nanda Maharaja's heart with  joy. The combined vibrations of brahmanas' chanting Vedic hymns, the  recitation of Puranic lore, and the panegyrists' prayers trans­formed the  ethers into sabda brahman.

The joy of Krishna's birth celebration taxed the drains of Nanda's capital  city as they swelled to the brim with milk, yogurt, and other auspicious  liquids. Soon rivers of this nectar flooded the streets of the town and  permeated the entire atmosphere with a sweet fragrance. Disguising  them­selves as birds, the demigods descended to Vrajapura to happily drink  the flood of nectar. The Vrajavasis decorated their cows with gold and jeweled ornaments. Then in great excitement they smeared them with oil,  fresh butter, and turmeric paste. Beholding Krishna in their hearts, these  fortunate cows looked like the essence of the earth's auspicious-ness. The  whole world resounded with their jubilant bellowing. Absorbed in the  ecstasy of Krishna's birth, they forgot about eating and drinking. The festival drowned the gopis in an ocean of joy. After offering oil,  vermilion, garlands, and utensils in charity to all the assembled gopis,  Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, asked them to bless Krishna. Upon comple­tion  of the sacrifice, Upananda and the other relatives felt constant  hap­piness while taking their baths. Keeping the King of Vrndavana in the  front, Nanda's relatives offered opulent cloth, jeweled ornaments,  tambula, garlands, and sandalwood pulp to the guests. Then they humbly  requested all in attendance to bless that wonderfully auspicious boy who  had just appeared in Vrndavana.