Sri Krishna Rasa-yatra

These are the glories of nama-sankirtana we are discussing:

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁśreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanamānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁsarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṇkīrtanam

Shikshashtaka (1)

[Glory to the sri-krishna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.]

Krishna was in a state of uddipana as the rays from the east side of the moon arose, śreyaḥ, the rays appeared reddish in colour— like kunkuma. The moon appeared so beautiful and reddish, as if someone placed a red colour on the moon. Like during Holi, when we go to Gulala-kunda to play with powder called gulala, and everything becomes covered by their colours. And the cool, eastern side of the moon is the wife of Indra. And now Indra’s wife, has placed a red colour over her lips. 

Krishna Himself says, “I have taken birth in the chandra-vamsha (lunar dynasty).” In the Gita, Bhagavan also says:

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhastat tad evetaro janaḥsa yat pramāṇaṁ kurutelokas tad anuvartate

Bhagavad-gita (3.21)

[Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.]

A lower person will follow whatever the higher person does. So the Lord has said,  “I am in the chandra-vamsha,” and what was Chandra (the moon) now doing? On the eastern side of her face, she spotted herself red, which caused uddipana (stimulation) in Krishna. 

Uddipana means when you see something and your heart gets so much pleasure or stimulation. Now, the moon was covered in red, just like the gopis’ faces— it was looking so beautiful! And this red-coloured moon reminded Krishna of the gopis, giving Him so much pleasure in His heart. 

Then, what did Krishna do? On the sixth year, Krishna stole the gopis’ clothes, and on the seventh year He lifted Govardhana, that year no rasa-lila took place. When the Lord became eight years old, a feeling arose in His heart, “I have given a benediction to the gopis, however it is incomplete, so now I must fulfill this benediction.”

And that is what Krishna did,  He fulfilled the desires of the gopis. Krishna left His home and went to Vamshivata near the bank of the Yamuna where He sat and began playing His flute. Our Jiva Gosvamipada has stated that Krishna first played His flute and called the gopis to Vamshivata, specifically to a place named Rasoli. Even today, this location Rasoli still exists.

In order to preserve the remembrance of this lila, Krishna’s great grandson, Vajranabha established Rasoli. Which is such a beautiful place beside the Yamuna, and not too far from Vrindavana, perhaps only three or four kilometres away. 

On this particular night, as the moon was rising it appeared like a beautifully blossomed lotus. And in the same way, the faces of the gopis resembled this full-moon. At night, when the lotus rises, it is called kumudini. One by one its leaves become like a flower, and  look so beautiful. Similarly, when you perform nama and saddhana you slowly cultivate this topmost love to blossom within your heart. 

As mentioned earlier, Krishna’s heart became stimulated while seeing the eastern, reddish side of the full moon during purnima and remembering the beautiful faces of the gopis. As the moon arose, on the east side, it appeared as if someone had placed a red colour. 

And the moon was not the only one displaying particular beauty that night, all the waters of the Yamuna were so beautiful and pure that the moon’s reflection on her waters appeared so reddish and beautiful— our words cannot accurately describe the splendour of this scene.  At that time, the Yamuna was also serving with its beautifully slowly flowing waters - ‘dhira-samire yamuna-tire’. 

And all of the trees near the banks of the river were also decorated so beautifully, similar to a bride and bride groom who are about to marry and are dressed and decorated so nicely. On that night, the trees assumed such a lushy green beautiful form. All the trees were so full of fruits and flowers, the weight made their branches touch the ground, and it appeared as if they were kissing the land.  Even Vayu-devata, the wind, was blowing a very gentle breeze carrying with it such a sweet aroma. 

Vrindavana-dhama is the pastime place of Govinda, and on this night Ananda-khanda Bhagavan Vrajendra-nandanda Shyamasundara was going to attend His rasa-lila for the first time. For this reason, everything had now taken a beautiful form. In Ananda-vrindavana-champu, Kavi Karnapura beautifully describes how even the sand dust which covers both sides of the Yamuna now appeared as if someone decorated the ground with freshly picked, soft white cotton.  And the waters of the Yamuna were so crystal clear you could throw a coin and easily follow it as it falls. 

This particular night, her waters were flowing very slowly, appearing as if she did not want to leave. In service to Krishnas’s lila, her waters were flowing back and forth very slowly, creating a whirlpool. And this whirlpool appeared just like a shankha, conch, with her waters also creating the sound of shankha-dhvani. In this way, Yamuna-devi serves Govinda’s lilas by auspiciously welcoming Him. 

The sound of the conch is very auspicious, while we make any offering to the Lord we should play the shankha. So in this way, the Yamuna was playing an auspicious sound as her waters did now flow as normal, they came back and forth, creating many whirlpools. Because who can leave Govinda? 

Once we attain the lotus feet of the Lord, where else can we go? For this reason Yamuna was now saying, “I do not want to go, I would like to stay here.”

Actually, these were not whirlpools, they were svagatam. And all of these whirlpools beautifully appear as many conches, all playing a beautiful sound. All of the flowers were also so nicely blossomed, and the bhramara, the bumblebee was also humming a beautiful tune. Because when we do anything auspicious we have to play auspicious sounds - ‘om svastino govinda svastino achyutananda’. 

On this night, it appeared as if the flowers were offering their svasti-vachana. Actually, all the munis and sadhus from previous yugas had now taken the form of bumblebees. What a wondrous sight to behold. They were thinking, “Our Prana-Govinda is topmost, He is sarva-laukika-nayaka, and tonight, He is entering this topmost pastime.” Thus, everybody was lovingly welcoming Him. 

Thousands upon thousands of santa-mahatmas were now in the form of bumblebees, and in the form of bumblebees, these santa-mahatmas were welcoming Krishna by offering their svasti-vachana. Vyasa, Parashara, so many top level santa-mahatmas had now appeared in Vrindavana in the form of ordinary bumblebees. And now they are playing beautiful melodies which sound like they are singing Vedic hymns, offering stava-stutis toward Govinda while showering flowers upon Him. 

How splendid a sight! And all the flowers in Vrindavana are creating a special performance with their petals. The leaves of the lotuses are welcoming the Lord as the bhramaras offer their svasti-vachana while showering the petals of their flowers unto Him. In the same way, Pavanadeva (Vayu-devata) is also showering flowers and welcoming Govinda by offering svasti-vachana while offering lotus petals at the lotus feet of Govinda. 

All the gathered sounds from hundreds of thousands of conch whirlpools and bumblebees offering svasti-vachana was so captivating. This is why these sounds are called vijaya-dhvani, all the victory! And all of the saints, in the form of bumblebees, what are they doing? Pavanadeva is showering lotus leaves, offering them to the feet of Lord Krishna while singing, “Svagatam, svagatam, svagatam.” 

Everything is decorated so nicely. Where the rose flowers have bloomed, you can see many kinds of colored roses: blue, green, red, white, yellow and even sky blue. There are also beautiful banana trees, which symbolize auspiciousness and also increase the beauty of the scenery.

In this way Vrindavana is decorated so nicely, and Yogamaya has prepared everything to welcome Vrajendra-nandana Shyamasundara as He enacts His rasa-lila for the first time. For this reason, everything is beautifully adorned and everything is splendidly welcoming Govinda. Even the moon welcomes Him, whose rays are now reddish, seeming as if someone placed red colour— such a wondrous sight. Everything is so beautiful there. 

The peacocks are also delightfully singing, “Ke-ka ke-ka ke-ka - Who is more powerful than Krishna?” The peahen, the lady peacock is saying 'ke' and the male peacock is saying 'ka'. All the birds there welcome Govinda. Because who can actually attract Krishna? Srimati Radhika. 

Try to remember that these are not ordinary birds, they are many, many high-classed saints— there are actually no ordinary birds in Vrindavana - ‘prayo batāmba munayo’. The santa-mahatmas have even taken the form of the attractive swans living in the Yamuna, who are now also lovingly greeting Govinda. 

Everything is fully decorated by the animals, creepers, trees,  flowers and fruits. In the forest, even the black male and female deers both come to welcome Govinda with tears in their eyes. Everyone is beautifully gathered there to welcome Krishna because He is coming to perform His rasa-lila for the first time. 

barhāpīḍaṁ naṭa-vara-vapuḥ karṇayoḥ karṇikāraṁbibhrad vāsaḥ kanaka-kapiśaṁ vaijayantīṁ ca mālāmrandhrān veṇor adhara-sudhayāpūrayan gopa-vṛndairvṛndāraṇyaṁ sva-pada-ramaṇaṁ prāviśad gīta-kīrtiḥ

Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.21.5)

[Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krishna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrindavana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories.]

Our acharyas have described just how beautiful everything there is. Krishna is now decorated very nicely with beautiful ornaments, and in the same way, all nature has indescribably prepared Vrindavana—  there are actually no words to accurately portray this, but we use these general examples provided. 

Thus, all of the animals have taken such beautiful forms, even the sand of the Yamuna now looks like cotton, giving the appearance that a fine mat was laid on the ground. And everything in Vrindavana is serving Govinda with their madhurya-bhava. Everyone is thinking that Govinda should not suffer. 

Perhaps you have seen that on the paths of Vrindavana there can be many thorns. However, there are actually no thorns in transcendental Vrindavana, it only appears as if they are there. One kind of thorn found there is called gokura; they look like ordinary thorns, but really they are all servants of Krishna. Even the branches of the trees and their flowers are nicely serving Govinda in Vrindavana. 

Kavi Karnapura, with alankarish (eloquent) words, has described Krishna's beauty and everything there. The gopis are also very nicely decorating themselves, because they desire to meet with Govinda. Everything and everyone has been decorated so beautifully, and they all appear as barati (wedding guests). 

On this night, Krishna and the gopis are nicely decorated and clothed like bridegroom and brides. And all of the rivers, trees, birds and animals seem like guests of a wedding ceremony. Everything there has taken a beautiful form because svarupa-shakti-svarupini Srimati Radhika and Her kaya-vyuhas like manjaris and all Her sakhis and gopis are now taking part in Krishna’s first rasa pastime. 

All of the sakhis are kaya-vyuhas of Radha, and are actually non-different than Radharani. Lalita-sakhi and all of these intimate sakhis are the expansions of Srimati Radharani.

rādhāra svarūpa — kṛṣṇa-prema-kalpalatāsakhī-gaṇa haya tāra pallava-puṣpa-pātā

Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila 8.209)

[By nature, Srimati Radharani is just like a creeper of love of Godhead, and the gopis are the twigs, flowers and leaves of that creeper.]

In this way, Yogamaya arranges everything so perfectly, and everyone there surrenders themselves at the feet of Govinda for His service. 

Bolo Vrindavana Bihari Lala ki jaya!

Link: https://gurudevtv.com/2020/04/28/eng-translation-shri-bhajana-rahasya-mathura-28-04-2020-morning/

Date: 28 April 2020 Location: Mathura, India

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Transcriber: Chandrika dasi (UK) Editors: Sanatana dasa (USA) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Photo: Navina-krishna dasa (Holland)