Srihari Krishna

“The young cowherd boys, who normally tended calves, now began to eat their food with their mind focused entirely upon Krishna.

Meanwhile the tender calves, fascinated by the green grass in the deeper portions of the forests, slowly moved in that direction”.

The boys were enjoying their meal, the calves decided to enjoy theirs. So leaving the boys, the calves moved into the deeper forests.

“Every form of fear in this world fears Srikrishna, the Supreme Lord”.

In this world, there are many objects that instil fear. There are many demons who create fear and there is illusion that is frightening. Yet, all such objects and all such illusions tremble in the presence of Srikrishna! He is the supreme conjurer who controls every illusion present in this world! His illusion far surpasses the illusion created by the demons. Although there are many who offer protection and drive away fear, the protection offered by Krishna far surpasses theirs. Although there are various types of food, He is the food that offers absolute contentment. Therefore, fear trembles in His presence. Even Yama, the Lord of death, who is feared by every living entity in the creation, fears Krishna.

“Krishna, the Supreme Lord in whose presence even fear trembles, suddenly noticed the boys seated around him getting restless. They who were laughing and chatting joyfully all along, now appeared frightened. Krishna pondered over the reason for their anxiety and then concluded that the missing calves was the reason”.

The boys who had realized that their calves were not to be seen, were now distracted and frightened. It is normal for cows to graze a little here and a little there. The moment they spot a greener area, they move towards it. Following this habit, the calves that were grazing had slowly entered the deep forests.

“In order to dispel their fear Krishna said to them, “Why do you worry, my dear friends? All of you continue to eat. There is no need to panic. I shall go and fetch all the calves in a jiffy. Please do not stop eating. Continue to laugh and enjoy your food”.

Eating when the mind is distressed converts the food into poison. It is better to delay eating until the tension has eased and until the mind returns to normalcy. It is incorrect to eat when grieving. It is imperative for the mind to be peaceful and pleasant when eating food. Never eat when crying or when in a foul mood.

“Having comforted them thus, Krishna set out in search of the calves. The ball of curd-rice remained intact in His hand. Krishna, who was holding this ball of curd-rice in His hand, searched the mountains, valleys, caves, secretive passages and other terrains in that area. The calves were nowhere to be seen.

That morning, Lord Brahma was deeply astonished witnessing Krishna kill the infallible demon Aghasura. He now observed Krishna who was thoroughly searching the mountains for the missing calves.

The Supreme Lord, using His illusionary energy (maya shakti), had incarnated as a human on Earth. Lord Brahma wanted to test the mystical energies of the Lord who was in human form. As such, in Krishna’s absence, he took on a human form and quickly led the boys and calves from there to another place”.

In His form as a small cowherd boy, the Lord was showering happiness upon all living entities. Wanting to witness the power of this Lord who was in human form, Lord Brahma took all the boys and the calves and vanished from there.

“Krishna could not find the calves no matter how hard He searched. He then returned to the place where he had left the boys, but then, he could not locate them there. Krishna was now all alone. Now Krishna began to search for the boys and the calves all through the forest. He was perplexed upon not finding them anywhere. The Supreme Lord Krishna then figured it to be the doing of Brahma.

Tataḥ kṛṣṇo mudaṁ kartuṁ tan-mātṝṇāṁ ca kasya ca

Ubhayāyitam ātmānaṁ cakre viśva-kṛd īśvaraḥ

Then the Supreme Lord Srikrishna, who is the cause for the entire creation, decided to bring happiness to Lord Brahma and to the mothers of all these cowherd boys. Forthwith He manifested in the form of all the calves and all the cowherd boys”.

The Lord thus made himself visible in the form of the calves and the boys of Brindavana, while also remaining separately as Krishna.

“He manifested in exactly as many calves as had gone missing. He manifested exactly with the bodily features of every boy who had gone missing. He was an exact replica of every cowherd boy. He was dressed exactly as each boy had dressed. He further manifested as the ornaments worn by each boy as well as the bugle, flute, lunch bag, leaves, flowers and batons held by each of them”.

If Lord Brahma created one form of illusion, Srikrishna created another wonderful illusion!

Krishna Krishna