Canto Ten / CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Krishna Rescues His Teacher’s Son

If Vasudeva and Devakī would have seen Krishna as almighty God, their intense love for Him as their son would have been spoiled. Lord Krishna did not want this. Rather, the Lord wanted to enjoy with them the ecstatic love of vātsalya-rasa, the relationship between parents and children. As Śrīla Prabhupāda often pointed out, although we normally think of God as the supreme father, in Krishna consciousness we can enter into the Lord’s pastimes and play the part of His parents, thus intensifying our love for Him.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura points out that the word jana may be translated here as “devotees,” as in the verse dīyamānam na grihnanti vinā mat-sevanam janah (Bhāg. 3.29.13). He further explains that jana may also be translated as “parents,” since jana is derived from the verb jan, which in the causative form (janayate) means “to generate or to give birth to.” In this sense of the word (as in jananī or janakau), the term jana-mohinī indicates that the Lord was about to expand His internal illusory potency so that Vasudeva and Devakī would again love Him as their dear child.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī discusses this verse as follows: “One may object that at this point Lord Krishna had not actually passed the kaiśora stage [age ten to fifteen], since the women of Mathurā had stated, kva cāti-sukumārāngau kiśorau nāpta-yauvanau: ‘Krishna and Balarāma have very tender limbs, being still at the kiśora stage, not having reached adolescence.’ (Bhāg. 10.44.8) The definition of the different stages of growing up is given as follows:

‘The kaumāra stage lasts until the age of five, pauganda up to age ten and kaiśora to age fifteen. From then on, one is known as yauvana.’ According to this statement, the kaiśora period ends at the age of fifteen. Krishna was only eleven years old when He killed Kamsa, according to Uddhava’s words: ekādaśa-samās tatra gūdhārcih sa-balo ’vasat. ‘Like a covered flame, Lord Krishna remained there incognito with Balarāma for eleven years.’ (Bhāg. 3.2.26) And since Krishna and Balarāma never took brahminical initiation in Vraja-bhūmi, it was at the time [of Their going to Mathurā] that Their kaiśora stage began rather than ended.

“This objection to Lord Krishna’s statement in the present verse — that His parents could not enjoy His kaiśora stage — is based on ordinary measurement of age. Yet we should consider the following statement:

‘O King Parīkshit, within a short time Rāma and Krishna began to walk very easily in Gokula on Their legs, by Their own strength, without the need to crawl.’ Sometimes we see that the son of a king, even while in his pauganda stage of life, undergoes exceptional physical growth and exhibits activities appropriate to a kaiśora. Then what to speak of Lord Krishna, whose exceptional growth is established in the Vaishnava-toshanī, Bhakti-rasāmrita-sindhu, Ānanda-vrindavana-campū and other works?

“The three years and four months that Lord Krishna stayed in Mahāvana were the equivalent of five years for an ordinary child, and thus in that period He completed His kaumāra stage of childhood. The period from then to the age of six years and eight months, during which He lived in Vrindāvana, constitutes His pauganda stage. And the period from the age of six years and eight months through His tenth year, during which time He lived in Nandīśvara [Nandagrāma], constitutes His kaiśora stage. Then, at the age of ten years and seven months, on the eleventh lunar day of the dark fortnight of the month of Caitra, He went to Mathurā, and on the fourteenth day thereafter He killed Kamsa. Thus He completed His kaiśora period at age ten, and He eternally remains at that age. In other words, we should understand that from this point on the Lord remains forever a kiśora.”

Thus Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī analyzes the intricacies of this verse.

Here Lord Krishna points out that not only did His parents suffer in separation from Him and Balarāma, but the two boys also suffered in separation from Their parents.

Having stated, “Both you, Our parents, and We have suffered because of Our separation,” Krishna now states that His and Balarāma’s religious principles have been spoiled by Their failure to satisfy Their parents.

Lord Krishna continues to bring Vasudeva and Devakī back to their normal parental feelings toward Him and Balarāma. An ordinary child would be afraid of a cruel, tyrannical king like Kamsa, and Lord Krishna here plays the part of such a child, thus evoking the parental sympathy of Vasudeva and Devakī.

According to Sanskrit grammar, the words para-tantrayoh and klishtayoh may also refer to Vasudeva and Devakī. Actually, Vasudeva and Devakī were under the control of Providence and were disturbed by the activities of Kamsa, whereas Śrī Krishna is always the absolute Personality of Godhead.

Ugrasena might have told the Lord, “My dear Lord, it is actually You who should sit on the throne.” Anticipating this statement, Lord Krishna told Ugrasena that because of Yayāti’s ancient curse, princes in the Yadu dynasty could technically not sit on the royal throne, and therefore Krishna and Balarāma were disqualified. Of course, Ugrasena also could be considered part of the Yadu dynasty, but by the order of the Lord he could sit on the royal throne. In conclusion, these were all pastimes the Supreme Lord enjoyed as He played the part of a human being.

Lord Krishna again assures Ugrasena that he should confidently take the throne.

The Lord here indicates His desire to satisfy His dear devotees in Mathurā — Vasudeva, Devakī and other members of the Yadu dynasty — who for so long had been separated from Him during His stay in Vrindāvana.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has written an extensive purport to this verse, elaborately analyzing this portion of Lord Krishna’s pastimes. Just as a man places his valuable gold within fire to reveal its purity, the Lord placed His most beloved devotees, the residents of Vrindāvana, in the fire of separation from Him in order to manifest their supreme love. This is the essence of Ācārya Viśvanātha’s comments.

At the time of Krishna’s appearance, Vasudeva had been imprisoned by Kamsa, who had stolen all his cows. Still, Vasudeva had been so jubilant at the birth of the Lord that he had mentally donated ten thousand of his cows to the brāhmanas.

Now, upon Kamsa’s death, Vasudeva took back all his cows from the late King’s herd and gave ten thousand of them, according to religious principles, to the worthy brāhmanas.

Both Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura explain the term gāyatram vratam as the vow of brahmacarya, or celibacy in student life. Krishna and Balarāma were playing the part of perfect students on the path of self-realization. Of course, in the modern, degraded age, student life has become a wild, animalistic affair filled with illicit sex and drugs.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the confidential portion of the Dhanur-veda, military science, includes knowledge of the appropriate mantras and presiding deities of warfare. Dharmān refers to the Manu-samhitā and other standard lawbooks (dharma-śāstras). Nyāya-pathān refers to the doctrine of Karma-mīmāmsā and other such theories. Ānvīkshikīm is knowledge of the techniques of logical argument (tarka). The sixfold political science is quite pragmatic and includes (1) sandhi, making peace; (2) vigraha, war; (3) yāna, marching; (4) āsana, sitting tight; (5) dvaidha, dividing one’s forces; and (6) samśaya, seeking the protection of a more powerful ruler.

The following list comprises the sixty-four subjects mastered by Lord Krishna and Lord Balarāma in sixty-four days. Additional information may be found in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Lords learned (1) gītam, singing; (2) vādyam, playing on musical instruments; (3) nrityam, dancing; (4) nātyam, drama; (5) ālekhyam, painting; (6) viśeshaka-cchedyam, painting the face and body with colored unguents and cosmetics; (7) tandula-kusuma-bali-vikārāh, preparing auspicious designs on the floor with rice and flowers; (8) pushpāstaranam, making a bed of flowers; (9) daśana-vasanānga-rāgāh, coloring one’s teeth, clothes and limbs; (10) mani-bhūmikā-karma, inlaying a floor with jewels; (11) śayyā-racanam, covering a bed; (12) udaka-vādyam, ringing waterpots; (13) udaka-ghātah, splashing with water; (14) citra-yogāh, mixing colors; (15) mālya-grathana-vikalpāh, preparing wreaths; (16) śekharāpīda-yojanam, setting a helmet on the head; (17) nepathya-yogāh, putting on apparel in a dressing room; (18) karna-patra-bhangāh, decorating the earlobe; (19) sugandha-yuktih, applying aromatics; (20) bhūshana-yojanam, decorating with jewelry; (21) aindrajālam, jugglery; (22) kaucumāra-yogah, the art of disguise; (23) hasta-lāghavam, sleight of hand; (24) citra-śākāpūpa-bhakshya-vikāra-kriyah, preparing varieties of salad, bread, cake and other delicious food; (25) pānaka-rasa-rāgāsava-yojanam, preparing palatable drinks and tinging draughts with red color; (26) sūcī-vāya-karma, needlework and weaving; (27) sūtra-krīdā, making puppets dance by manipulating thin threads; (28) vīnā-damarukavādyāni, playing on a lute and a small x-shaped drum; (29) prahelikā, making and solving riddles; (29a) pratimālā, capping verses, or reciting poems verse for verse as a trial of memory or skill; (30) durvacaka-yogāh, uttering statements difficult for others to answer; (31) pustaka-vācanam, reciting books; and (32) nātikākhyāyikā-darśanam, enacting short plays and writing anecdotes.

Krishna and Balarāma also learned (33) kāvya-samasyā-pūranam, solving enigmatic verses; (34) pattikā-vetra-bāna-vikalpāh, making a bow from a strip of cloth and a stick; (35) tarku-karma, spinning with a spindle; (36) takshanam, carpentry; (37) vāstu-vidyā, architecture; (38) raupya-ratna-parīkshā, testing silver and jewels; (39) dhātu-vādah, metallurgy; (40) mani-rāga-jñānam, tinging jewels with various colors; (41) ākara-jñānam, mineralogy; (42) vrikshāyur-veda-yogāh, herbal medicine; (43) mesha-kukkuta-lāvaka-yuddha-vidhih, the art of training and engaging rams, cocks and quails in fighting; (44) śuka-śārikā-pralāpanam, knowledge of how to train male and female parrots to speak and to answer the questions of human beings; (45) utsādanam, healing a person with ointments; (46) keśa-mārjana-kauśalam, hairdressing; (47) akshara-mushtikā-kathanam, telling what is written in a book without seeing it, and telling what is hidden in another’s fist; (48) mlecchita-kutarka-vikalpāh, fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry; (49) deśa-bhāshā-jñānam, knowledge of provincial dialects; (50) pushpa-śakatikā-nirmiti-jñānam, knowledge of how to build toy carts with flowers; (51) yantra-mātrikā, composing magic squares, arrangements of numbers adding up to the same total in all directions; (52) dhārana-mātrikā, the use of amulets; (53) samvācyam, conversation; (54) mānasī-kāvya-kriyā, composing verses mentally; (55) kriyā-vikalpāh, designing a literary work or a medical remedy; (56) chalitaka-yogāh, building shrines; (57) abhidhāna-kosha-cchando-jñānam, lexicography and the knowledge of poetic meters; (58) vastra-gopanam, disguising one kind of cloth to look like another; (59) dyūta-viśesham, knowledge of various forms of gambling; (so) ākarsha-krīda, playing dice; (61) bālaka-krīdanakam, playing with children’s toys; (62) vaināyikī vidyā, enforcing discipline by mystic power; (63) vaijayikī vidyā, gaining victory; and (64) vaitālikī vidyā, awakening one’s master with music at dawn.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the child was captured by the conchshell demon while playing at the Mahā-śiva-kshetra.

Western scholars sometimes think that references in ancient books of wisdom to the deity of the ocean, the deity of the sun and so on reveal a primitive, mythical way of thinking. They sometimes say that primitive men think that the ocean is a god or that the sun and moon are gods. In fact, references such as the word sindhu in this verse, meaning “the ocean,” indicate the person who governs that aspect of physical nature.

We can give several modern examples. In the United Nations we may say, “The United States votes ‘Yes,’ the Soviet Union votes ‘No.’” We hardly mean that the physical countries or the buildings in them have voted. We mean that a particular person, representing that political and geographical entity, has voted. Yet the newspapers will simply say, “The United States voted, decided, etc.” and everyone knows what that means.

Similarly, in business we may say, “A large conglomerate has swallowed up a smaller firm.” We hardly mean that the buildings, office equipment and the like have physically swallowed another building full of workers and office equipment. We mean that the empowered authorities have engaged in a particular act on behalf of their respective corporate entities.

Unfortunately, modern scholars are eager to confirm their pet theories that ancient spiritual wisdom is primitive, mythic and largely supplanted by more modern ways of thinking, exemplified by their own eloquent remarks. However, much in modern scholarship must be rethought in the light of Krishna consciousness.

Clearly the demon Pañcajana was too powerful for the ocean to control; otherwise the ocean would have prevented such an unlawful act.

The conchshell the Lord took from Pañcajana, which is called Pāñcajanya, is the same one He sounded at the beginning of the Bhagavad-gītā. According to the ācāryas, Pañcajana had become a demon in a way similar to that of Jaya and Vijaya. In other words, though appearing in the form of a demon, he was actually a devotee of the Lord. The Skanda Purāna, Avanti-khanda, describes the wonderful things that happened when Lord Krishna sounded His conchshell:

“The hell known as Asipatra-vana lost the sharp, swordlike leaves on its trees, and the hell named Raurava became free of its ruru beasts. The Bhairava hell lost its fearfulness, and all cooking stopped in the Kumbhīpāka hell.”

The Skanda Purāna further states:

“Their sinful reactions eradicated, all the inhabitants of hell attained liberation and approached the spiritual world.”