Krishna Vāsudeva

“Accompanied by their cowherd friends, Balarama and Krishna, the sons of Vasudeva, entered the city of Mathura walking on the royal path. Eager to catch a glimpse of the two brothers, groups of women-folk ran to the rooftops of their mansions.

In their anxiety to see Krishna, some ladies wrongly inter-changed their upper garments and lower garments. They mistakenly wore bracelets on their ankles while anklets were worn on their wrists. Some wore only one earring, while some placed different earrings from different pairs on their ears.

Some completed eye makeup for only one eye while forgetting the other. Those who were eating set aside their food plates and rushed forward in great eagerness to catch a glimpse of Krishna. Those who were bathing rushed out without even completing their bath. Those who were sleeping, suddenly woke up and rushed forward to see Him. The mothers who were feeding their infants, just left the task mid-way and ran to the terrace. In their anxiety, some mothers woke the sleeping infants and rushed with them to the balconies.

The lotus-eyed Srikrishna walked majestically like an intoxicated king elephant. With His laughter, charming smile, tender gazes and with a body that causes delight to Goddess Lakshmi herself, He stole the hearts of the women-folk whose eyes were feasting upon Him. As these ladies had, many a time in the past, heard of Srikrishna and His glories, their minds had already been fixed upon Him. Most of the residents of Mathura had already heard of Srikrishna and had been fascinated by His stories due to which they were tormented by the desire to see Him.

With the nectar called His laughter accompanied by tender gazes the Lord greeted them all. The women-folk welcomed the Lord, the embodiment of bliss, into their minds through their eyes, consecrated Him there and then mentally embraced Him”.

They were totally perplexed. Captivated by the Lord’s presence, they completely lost coherence of their actions. They mentally welcomed and embraced Him.

“With this embrace, their bodies experienced goosebumbs and they discarded the limitless anguish that they had experienced due to separation from Him”.

They had longed to see Him. Some had given up hopes of seeing Him during the lifetime. ‘How can sinners like us even dream of catching a glimpse of this Lord?’- thought some. They were distressed at their inability to see Him and had been rendered mentally and physically sick due to this. Now with His arrival, they were freed from this anguish.

“From atop the terraces, beautiful maidens, whose faces bloomed like glowing lotuses due to overflowing love, showered baskets of flowers upon Balarama and Krishna covering them completely. With this, their long-cherished desire of worshipping Him with flowers was fulfilled”.

Upon knowing that Akrūra had departed to fetch Krishna, the citizens of Mathura readied to welcome the Lord. Expecting that Swamiji may suddenly arrive at their home, many devotees wash and clean their homes and keep it ready for welcoming Him. They eternally wait for His arrival. Patiently awaiting His arrival (nireekshana) is very good.

“At every step, learned Vedic scholars ecstatically welcomed the brothers reverentially with the Purna kumbha in their hands and offered to them auspicious items like curd, coloured rice (akshata), flower garlands and sandal paste. They chanted auspicious Vedic mantras and worshipped the brothers.

‘Aha, what to say of the penance undertaken by the Gopikas! They are supremely fortunate to spend every minute watching these brothers who bring great delight to every human eye’- the ladies of Mathura said to one another in great delight”.

It can at best be said that the Lord was stepping into teenage when He stepped in Mathura. The beard and mustache had not yet made their appearance. The attractiveness in the face of a young adult far surpasses that of an adult. We do not know if this rule is applicable to Krishna or not, but in general, it is applicable to all men.

Forgetting that they were presently seeing Him, the ladies of Mathura envied the Gopikas who had got the opportunity to spend all their time with the Lord.

“At that moment a washerman, who was also cloth dyer, was walking in towards them. Seeing him, Srikrishna asked, ‘Dear sir, please gift to us some colourful clothes of the very best quality as we both are deserving of it. By gifting them to us, you will be bestowed with good fortune. There is no doubt about it’.

Being a close attendant and servant of Kamsa, this washer man was arrogant and self-conceited. He was on his way to the palace with washed clothes for the king”.

This washerman egoistically thought, ‘I am the personal attendant of Kamsa. I alone stitch his clothes, I wash them and I supply them to him’.

“Infuriated upon being requested thus, the washerman taunted the brothers saying, ‘What is it that you are asking, O’ foolish ones? Discarding your way of life do you seek to wear excellent clothes that exclusively belong to the king? Do you know that I am carrying these clothes to be delivered to the king? How do you, who eternally wander in woods and in mountains, dare to ask for royal clothing’?”

Krishna Srihari