Krsna Book Audio Dictation - Chapter 05
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Fifth Chapter: "Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva."
Although Kṛṣṇa was the real son of Vasudeva and Devakī, on account of Kaṁsa's atrocious activities Vasudeva could not enjoy the birth ceremony of his son Kṛṣṇa. But Nanda Mahārāja, the foster father of Kṛṣṇa, enjoyed the birth ceremony of Kṛṣṇa very joyfully. The next day, therefore, when it was declared that a male child is born of Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja, according to Vedic custom, immediately called for learned astrologer brāhmaṇas for performing the birth ceremony. According to Vedic system, just after the birth of a child the astrologers calculate the auspicious moment of the birth, and that makes a horoscope of the child's future life.
Another ceremony is that after the birth of a child, it is the custom that the family members should take bath and cleanse themselves and decorate with ornaments and nice garments and come in front of the child and the astrologer and hear of the future life of the child. So Nanda Mahārāja and other members of the family dressed and sat down in front of the birth place. All the brāhmaṇas assembled there on this occasion chanted auspicious mantras, according to the rituals. The astrologers performed the birth ceremony. On this occasion all the demigods are also worshiped, as well as the forefathers of the family are also worshiped.
Then Nanda Mahārāja distributed 200,000’s of cows well decorated with ornaments and dress to the brāhmaṇas. He not only gave the cows in charity, but he made hills of grains, decorated with garments with golden border and many ornaments, and all those grains and clothings were also distributed amongst the brāhmaṇas.
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In the material world we possess riches and wealth by so many ways, sometimes not in very right and pious ways, because that is the nature of accumulating wealth. Therefore according to Vedic injunction, such wealth should be purified by giving in charity cows and gold to the brāhmaṇas. Similarly, a child born is also purified by giving in charity grains to the brāhmaṇas. In this material world it is to be understood that we are living always in contaminated state. Therefore to purify ourself we have to purify the duration of our life, possession of our wealth and contamination of ourself are to be purified in different ways. So far our duration of life is considered, we have to purify it by taking daily bath and cleansing inside and outside of the body. By accepting the ten kinds of purificatory processes, by austerities, by worship of the Lord and by distribution of charity, we can purify the possession of wealth. Similarly, we can purify ourself by studies of Veda in the matter of self-realization and understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth by such studies.
It is therefore stated in the Vedic literature that by birth everyone is born a śūdra, and by accepting the purificatory process one becomes twice-born. And by studies of the Vedas one becomes vipra, or just preliminary qualified for becoming a brāhmaṇa. And when one understands what is the Absolute Truth in perfection, he is called a brāhmaṇa. And when the brāhmaṇa reaches further perfection, he becomes a Vaiṣṇava, or a devotee.
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So in that auspicious ceremony, all the brāhmaṇas assembled there began to chant different kinds of Vedic mantras to invoke all auspiciousness to the child—different kinds of chanting, known as sūta, māgadha, vandīja, virudāvalī. And along with this chanting of mantras and songs, there was sounds of bugle, and kettledrums sounded outside the house. On this occasion all the pasturing grounds, all the doors of the houses, courtyard and within and without the house, there were varieties of artistic painting with the pulp of rice, and scented water sprinkled everywhere, even on the road and streets. The ceilings and the roofs were decorated with different kinds of flags and festoons and green leaves and gates made of green leaves and flowers. All the cows, bulls and calves were smeared with a mixture of oil and turmeric and painted with minerals like red oxide, yellow clay manganese, with garlands of peacock feathers, covered with nice colored dresses along with necklace of gold.
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When all the ecstatic cowherds men heard that Nanda Mahārāja, father of Kṛṣṇa, was celebrating the birth ceremony of his son, automatically they become very much engladdened and dressed themselves with very costly garments and ornamented the whole body with different kinds of earrings and necklace, with grand turban on their head. And after dressing themselves in this gorgeous way, they took in their hand various kinds of presentation, and thus all of them approached the house of Nanda Mahārāja.
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Similarly, all the cowherds women, as soon as they heard that mother Yaśodā has given birth to a child, all of them became overwhelmed with joy, and very soon they also dressed themselves with various kinds of costly garments and ornaments, with scented cosmetics on their body.
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As the dust on the lotus flower exhibits an exquisite beauty of the flower, similarly, all the gopīs, when they dressed themselves with the dust of kuṅkuma on their lotuslike face, such beautiful gopīs took their respective presentation and very soon reached the house of Mahārāja Nanda. All the gopīs were overburdened with their heavy hips and swollen breast, and therefore could not proceed very quickly towards the house of Nanda Mahārāja. But still, out of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, they began to proceed as quickly as possible. Their ears were decorated with pearl rings, their necks were decorated with jeweled padlocks, their lips and eyes were decorated with different kinds of lipstick and ointment, their hands were decorated with nice golden bangles, and when they were very hastily passing on the road of stone crags, the flower garlands which were decorating their body, some of them fell on the ground, and it appeared that there was a shower of flowers falling down from the sky. And because on account of movement of different kinds of ornaments on their body, they were looking still more beautiful.
In this way, all of them reached the house of Nanda-Yaśodā and blessed the boy, "My dear child, You live long just to protect us." While they were blessing child Kṛṣṇa in this way, they were offering on His body a mixture of turmeric powder with oil, yogurt, milk and water. Not only they sprinkled this mixture on the body of child Kṛṣṇa but also on all other elderly persons who were present there. In this way, when the Supreme Personality of Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in the house of Nanda-Yaśodā as their child, at that time in that auspicious occasion there were different kinds of bands also, sounded by expert bandsmen.
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When the cowherds men saw thus the pastimes of the cowherds women, certainly they became very much engladdened, and in response to the cowherds women they also began to throw on the body of the gopīs things like yogurt, milk and clarified butter, water. Before long, both the parties began to throw butter on each other's bodies. Nanda Mahārāja was also very much engladdened to see these pastimes of the cowherds men and women. Thus he also became very liberal in giving charity to the respective persons who were assembled there, namely the singers. Different kinds of singers, some of them were reciting great verses from Upaniṣads and Purāṇas; some of them were glorifying the ancestors of the family; and some of them were singing very sweet songs. In this way there were many learned brāhmaṇas also present.
So Nanda Mahārāja, being very much satisfied on this occasion, began to give them in charity different kinds of garments, ornaments and cows. It is very important to note in this connection that how much the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were happy simply by raising cows. All the cowherds men were belonging to the vaiśya community, and their business was to protect the cows and agriculture. So by their dress, by their ornaments, by their behavior it appears that they were in the village and still they were so rich in material possession, and especially in possessing various kinds of milk products, so that they were throwing butter lavishly on each other's bodies without any restriction. Practically the demonstration of their festivities were as milk, yogurt, clarified butter, butter and similar many other milk products. And apart from milk products, by trading on their agricultural products they were rich in possessing various kinds of jewelry, ornaments and costly dresses. Not only they possessed all these things, but they could give in charity lavishly, as it is exemplified by Nanda Mahārāja.
Thus Nanda Mahārāja, the foster father of Lord Kṛṣṇa, began to satisfy the desires of all kinds of men assembled there. He respectfully received them and gave them in charity whatever they desired. The learned brāhmaṇas, who had no other source of income, completely depended on the vaiśya community for their maintenance so that they could receive lavishly all their requisition on such festive occasions like birthday, marriage or similar other various auspicious occasions. While he was worshiping Lord Viṣṇu on this occasion and was trying to satisfy all the persons present there, the only motive was that his newly born child Kṛṣṇa would be happy. Nanda Mahārāja had no knowledge that his child Kṛṣṇa is the origin of Viṣṇu, but still he was praying to Lord Viṣṇu for protection of his newly born child.
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87:30 Tape number seven, Kṛṣṇa. Tape number seven, Kṛṣṇa.
Just then Rohiṇīdevī, mother of Baladeva, the most fortunate wife of Vasudeva, although she was away from her husband, still, just to congratulate Mahārāja Nanda on the occasion of the birth ceremony of his son, Kṛṣṇa, she dressed her sons very nicely with garlands and necklace and all other different ornaments over the body and appeared on the scene, moving hither and thither. According to Vedic system, a woman whose wife (husband) is not at home does not dress herself very nicely. But Rohiṇī, although her husband was out of home, still she dressed herself very nicely on this occasion. Rohiṇī was one of the sixteen wives of Vasudeva, and Baladeva was transferred from Devakī's womb to Rohini's womb. This incidence we have already discussed previously.
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From the opulent feature of the birth ceremony of Kṛṣṇa, it is very clear that at that time Vṛndāvana was richest in every respect. Or in other words, because Lord Kṛṣṇa took birth in the house of King Nanda and mother Yaśodā, therefore the goddess of fortune in her own way was obliged to manifest her opulences in Vṛndāvana. It appeared that Vṛndāvana had already become the place of pastimes of the goddess of fortune.
After this ceremony, Nanda Mahārāja decided to go to Mathurā for paying the annual tax to the government of Kaṁsa, and as such he called for the able cowherds men in the village and asked them to take care of Vṛndāvana in his absence. In this way, when Nanda Mahārāja arrived in Mathurā, Vasudeva got this news and he was very much eager to congratulate his friend, and thus he immediately went to the place where Nanda Mahārāja was staying. When Vasudeva arrived at Nanda's place, at that time Nanda Mahārāja thought it that he has got back his own life. He immediately stood up and, being overwhelmed with joy, he immediately embraced Vasudevajī with his two arms. In this way, Vasudevajī was offered a very nice place to sit on, and receiving him very warmly.
At that time Vasudeva, being very much anxious about his two sons given under his protection without his knowledge, with great anxiety inquired about them. Both Baladeva and Kṛṣṇa were the sons of Vasudeva. Baladeva was transferred in the womb of Rohiṇī, his own wife, but she was kept under the protection of Nanda Mahārāja, while Kṛṣṇa was delivered to Yaśodā personally in exchange of her daughter. Nanda Mahārāja knew Baladeva was the son of Vasudeva, but he did not know that Kṛṣṇa was also the son of Vasudeva. But Vasudeva, being aware of this fact, he inquired very eagerly about Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, how they are doing.
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Vasudeva then addressed him, "My dear brother, you are now old enough, and you had no son, although you are very much anxious to get a son. Now, by the grace of Lord, you are fortunate enough to have one very nice son. I think this incidence is very auspicious in your life. My dear friend, I was imprisoned by Kaṁsa, and now I am released; therefore this is another birth of my life. I had no hope to see you again, but by God's grace I am seeing you." In other words, Vasudeva expressed his anxieties about Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa was left incognito in the bed of mother Yaśodā. Now Nanda Mahārāja, after celebrating very pompously the birth ceremony of Kṛṣṇa, he had come to Mathurā. So Vasudeva was very much pleased and said that "This is my another birth," because he never expected that Kṛṣṇa also could be alive while all his other sons were killed by Kaṁsa.
He continued to say, "My dear friend, it is very difficult for us to live together. Although we have got families, relatives, sons and daughters, but by nature's way we are mostly separated from one another. The reason is that every living entity appears on this earth under different pressure of fruitive activities. And although they assemble together, still there is no certainty of their keeping together for a long time because according to one's own fruitive activities, one has to act differently and they are separated. The very best example in this connection is that…, that in the waves of water many plants and creepers are floating, but sometimes they are coming together and sometimes they are separated forever. One plant is going in one side, another is going another side. Similarly, our family assembly may be very nice for some time that we are living together, but after some time, in course of the waves of the time, we are separated."
The purport of this expression by Vasudeva was that he had eight sons born in the womb of Devakī, but unfortunately they are all gone. Even one son, Kṛṣṇa, last son, He, He also could not be kept with him. He, Vasudeva, was feeling His separation, but he could not express the real fact. "Now please tell me about the welfare of Vṛndāvana, where you have got many animals. Are they happy, getting sufficient grass and water for their maintenance? And please also let me know that the place where you are now living, is that place undisturbed and peaceful." This…, this inquiry was made by Vasudeva because he was very much anxious about Kṛṣṇa’s safety. He knew that Kaṁsa and his followers were trying to kill Kṛṣṇa by sending various kinds of demons. They had already resolved in that way that all children born within ten days of the birthday of Kṛṣṇa should be killed, by policy. So he was also very much anxious about Kṛṣṇa and inquired about the safety of the place where He was living.
Formerly, he also inquired of Baladeva and His mother, Rohiṇī, who were entrusted under the care of Nanda Mahārāja. Vasudeva also reminded Nanda Mahārāja that Baladeva did not know His real father. "He knows you as His father, and now you have got another child, Kṛṣṇa. So I think you are taking very nice care for both of Them." Another peculiarity of Vasudeva's inquiry from Nanda Mahārāja was about the animals. The animals, especially the cows, were protected exactly in the manner of one's children. As Vasudeva was kṣatriya and Nanda Mahārāja was vaiśya, so as it is the duty of the kṣatriya to give protection to the citizens, mankind, similarly, it is the duty of the vaiśyas to give protection to the cows. The cows are as much as important as the citizens are also important in the governmental function. As the humankind citizens should be given all kinds of protection, similarly, the cows also should be given all kinds of protection. That is the significance of this inquiry of Vasudeva from Nanda Mahārāja.
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Vasudeva continued to say that maintenance of religious principles, economic development and satisfactory execution of meeting the demands of the senses—all these things depend on cooperation between relatives, nations and humankind. Therefore it is the duty of everyone to see that his fellow citizens and the cows are not put into difficulty. Everyone should see to the comfort of his fellow men and animal so that usually, and in a very peaceful way, the development of religious principles, economic development and sense gratificatory methods can be achieved without any difficulty. In other words, Vasudeva expressed his feelings of sorrow on account of not being able to give protection to his own sons born of Devakī. As such, he was thinking that his religious principles, economic development or anything for satisfaction of his senses were all lost.
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On hearing this, Nanda Mahārāja replied, "My dear Vasudeva, I know that you are very much aggrieved that the cruel Kaṁsa has killed all your sons born of Devakī. At last, although the last issue was a daughter and Kaṁsa could not kill her, still the daughter has entered into the celestial planets. So my dear friend, you do not be aggrieved, because we are being controlled by our past unseen activities, and everyone is subjected to his past deeds. And one who is conversant about this philosophy of karma and reaction, he is practically a man in the knowledge. Such person, being in the knowledge of the fruitive activities of karma, may not be aggrieved for all incidences, happy or miserable."
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Vasudeva then replied, "My dear Nanda, if you have already paid the taxes to the government, and if you have already finished that job, you may soon return to your place, because I think the Gokula there may be some disturbances. That is my opinion."
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Thus after the friendly conversation between Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva, Vasudeva went back to his place. The cowherds me n who came to Mathurā to pay their taxes, headed by Nanda Mahārāja, also returned back their home.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of summary study of Kṛṣṇa, Fifth Chapter, in the matter of "Meeting of Nanda and Vasudeva."