The time for an appearance of the Lord coincided with two internal desires
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. First the Lord desired to descend
on earth to increase the fortune of Yasoda and Nanda. Also at that time
Krishna wanted to relish the sweet mellow of smgara rasa (paramour love)
while enacting His worldly pastimes. For these two reasons the Lord appeared
within the material creation on Bhuloka, (earth planet), along with His
parents, friends, and other eternal associates.
Another distinction of Lord Krishna's earthly pastimes is that when
the eternally liberated gopis such as Srimati Radharani, Candravali, and
others appeared, the Srutis personified also appeared in the homes of other
gopis, because they had previously cultivated the desire to serve Sri Krishna
as Vraja gopis. The Dandakaranya sages, upon seeing the svakiya bhava (the
sweet conjugal relationship) of Lord Ramacandra and Sitadevi, desired to
have the same relationship with their Lord Madana Gopala. Upon attaining
perfection in their sadhana they achieved the fortunate position of appearing
as gopis in Vrindavan. Yogamaya, Lord Krishna's pastime potency who possesses
unlimited abilities, appeared invisibly in Gokula to arrange this, and
perform other difficult tasks on behalf of the Lord.
Sri Nanda, Yasoda, and others appeared in Brhadvana (Mahavana) before
the Lord. The gopas, gopis, and other eternally liberated associates appeared
after the Lord. Then those who had attained perfection by sadhana, namely
the sruti-caris and muni-caris, took birth in Vrindavan.
Learning of Krishna's imminent appearance, the earth personified, feeling
like a wife happily greeting her husband after a long separation, immersed
in unlimited joy. At the time of Krishna's birth the general mass of people
tasted the inner bliss that devotees forever relish. Auspicious signs abounded
everywhere. As Visnu's conchshell Pancajanya opens in a clockwise fashion,
similarly, auspicious sacrificial fires glowed in all directions. Pure
gentle breezes brought a refreshing coolness like devotees who satisfy
and sanctify everyone with their calm, sweet, and affectionate behavior.
The whole atmosphere became as completely purified as the heart of a
devotee. The devotees once again found peace and prosperity in worshiping
the lotus feet of Lord Hari. Fruits filled the jubilant trees. But the
envious demons exhibited various inauspicious signs of degradation such
as rapidly aging bodies and symptoms of imminent death. The desire vines
of the celestial denizens seemed to be hanging in the air as if eager to
produce fruits. At that time all the directions became felt as pure and
joyful as the mind of a devotee who has received the mercy of Lord Hari.
Just as gems, mantras, or medicines can a remove a poisonous disease from
the body of a man, the advent of the Lord relieved the world from the contamination
of material existence and the sinful effect of the demons. Happiness gradually
replaced the distress in everyone's hearts.
The bodies of all creatures manifested extraordinary beauty and youthful
vitality. Men felt extremely joyful and displayed virtuous qualities. Throughout
the world people behaved cordially and interacted amicably. Happiness twinkled
in everyone's eye. At the end of Dvapara-yuga, which completely destroys
faults and doubts, an auspicious, favorable, obstacle-free time appeared
on the eighth day of the waning moon in Bhadra month. Just at that sweet
moment the Rohini Naksatra, along with the good qualities of the moon and
an auspicious conjunction of stars called Ayusman, appeared in the sky
to give shelter to gentle persons.
As the living entity comes out from the womb of his mother and the moon
appears on the lap of the eastern direction, Yogesvara Sri Krishna, the
personification of complete bliss, appeared amidst great festivities. As
the moon appears in the lap of the eastern direction, which is like a beautiful
bride, Krishna manifested the wonderful pastime of His appearance out of
His love and compassion for the conditioned souls.
Due to austerities performed in previous lives, Vasudeva and Devaki
received the opportunity to momentarily relish parental affection for Lord
Sri Krishna when He appeared before them in His form as Vasudeva. Thereafter
in fear of Kamsa, Vasudeva brought Vasudeva Krishna to Gokula. There the
Supreme Lord appeared as Govinda before Nanda and Yasoda, His eternal parents
who have been smothering Him with the sweetest form of parental love since
time immemorial. The four symbols of Visnu (sankha, cakra, gada, padmd)
adorned His hands and feet. The flute, flower garland, and kaustubha mani,
although present within Him, had not yet manifested.
In fear of cruel Kamsa, Vasudeva decided to transfer all his wives except
Devaki to Gokula. He sent Rohini to the house of Vrajaraja Nanda. By the
sweet will of the Lord, Yogamaya arranged for the seventh child of
Devaki (Balarama) to enter the womb of Rohini. As a result, Balarama appeared
in the home of Vrajaraja Nanda before the birth of Krishna.
Lord Hari, who is bliss personified, appeared in the home of Nanda Maharaja,
the king of Vrindavan for three reasons: to engage the self satisfied sages
in devotional service, to please the devotees by performing sweet transcendental
pastimes, and to relieve the earth's burden caused by the demons. At the
time of His majestic birth Krishna employed His inconceivable powers to
appear in a body of eternity, bliss and knowledge. Everyone in the maternity
room swelled with joy upon seeing the Lord's exquisite transcendental form
that looked like a creeper of beauty.
Mother Yasoda resembled a lake of spiritual ecstasy in which a brilliant
blue lotus of personified bliss had appeared. Neither the wind nor the
bees relished the fragrance of that blue lotus. That unborn lotus was never
touched by the waves of the modes of nature. Even Lord Brahma could not
see it, what to speak of ordinary men.
After Yasoda and her family members fell asleep in the maternity room,
Hari cried beautifully like a newborn baby. His crying sounded like the
maha-vakya omkara announcing the auspicious arrival of His pastimes. Omkara
is a transcendental vibration that had previously emanated from the mouth
of Lord Brahma. When the ladies of Vrindavan heard the sweet sound of Krishna's
crying, they woke up and ran to see the Lord. With the mellow of their
matchless overflowing affection they anointed His body.
The natural fragrance of Krishna's body smelled just like musk. After
the ladies bathed Krishna hi sweet ambrosia, He looked cleansed and beautiful.
Then they smeared His body with fragrant sandalwood pulp. The presiding
deity of the house sent a campaka flower resembling the flame of a lamp
into the maternity room to worship that ornament of the three worlds. With
the strength of His little arms, delicate as the tender leaves of a tree,
Krishna made all the lamps in the maternity room look like a garland of
lotus flower buds.
The ladies of Vrindavan saw baby Krishna like a blossoming flower made
of the best of blue sapphires, or like a newly unfurled leaf of a tamala
tree. Krishna looked like a fresh rain cloud decorated with the musk tilaka
of the goddess of fortune of the three worlds. The ointment of the greatest
auspiciousness lined His eyes. His presence filled the maternity room with
good fortune. Although a mere baby, Krishna had a head full of curly hair.
To hide the unique signs on His hands (goad, fish, conch etc.) the Lord
folded His delicate petal-like fingers into His lotus palm. At that time
Krishna laid on His back with His eyes closed.
Mother Yasoda awoke amidst the joyous chattering of the elderly gopis.
Leaning over the bed she admired her gorgeous son. But upon noticing her
own reflection on Krishna's body, she imagined it another woman. Thinking
that a witch had assumed her form to kidnap Krishna, Yasoda became bewildered
and yelled, "Get out of here! You go away!" Spontaneously she cried out
to Nrsimhadeva to protect her precious son. Beholding Krishna's tender
face, Yasoda showered tears of affection that looked like an offering of
a pearl necklace.
Yasoda saw Krishna's body as a mound of dark blue musk, softer than
the butter churned from the milk ocean. Overflowing with nectar, His charming
body appeared like the foam of milk, but being dark blue in color it seemed
the foam was full of musk juice. Admiring the supremely delicate form of
her son, Yasoda worried about His safety and feared the touch of her body
might hurt his tender body.
As she leaned over the bed Yasoda bathed Krishna with the milk dripping
from her breasts. The elderly gopis instructed Yasoda how to caress the
baby in her lap, and affectionately push the nipple of her breast into
Krishna's mouth to feed Him. Due to Yasoda's intense love, personified
bliss flowed from her breasts as steady streams of milk. When milk sometimes
spilled out of Krishna's bimba fruit red lips onto His cheeks, Mother Yasoda
would wipe His face with the edge of her cloth. After feeding her son,
Yasoda gazed affectionately at Him in wonder.
She saw her child's body as made of dazzling blue sapphires. His mouth
resembled a red bimba fruit and His hands and feet looked like exquisite
rubies. Krishna's nails shone like precious gems. In this way, Yasoda thought
her child was completely made of jewels. Then she perceived that His naturally
reddish lips looked like bandhuka flowers, His hands and feet resembled
Java flowers, His nails looked like maJlika flowers. Yasoda then thought,
"Krishna's whole body seems to be made of blue lotus flowers. He does not
appear to be mine." After thus deliberating within herself Yasoda became
stunned in amazement.
The beautiful, soft curly hairs on the right side of Krishna's chest
resembled the tender stems of a lotus. Seeing the mark of Srivatsa on His
chest, Yasoda thought it was breast milk that had previously spilled out
of His mouth. She tried unsuccessfully to remove these 'milk stains' with
the edge of her cloth. Struck with wonder, Yasoda thought this must be
the sign of a great personality. Observing the sign of Laksmi (a small
golden line) on the left side of Krishna's chest, Yasoda thought a small
yellow bird had made a nest amidst the leaves of a tamala tree. Could this
be a streak of lightning resting on a rain cloud, or could it be the golden
streaks marking a black gold-testing stone? Krishna's delicate, leaf-like
hands and feet, glowing pink like the rising sun, looked like clusters
of lotus flowers floating in the Yamuna.
Sometimes Yasoda saw the curly, dark blue locks of baby Krishna as a
swarm of bumblebees surrounding His face. Intoxicated from drinking too
much honey nectar, the bees just hovered in the sky. His thick, beautiful
blue hair appeared like the dark night. The two lotus eyes of Krishna looked
like a pair of blue lotus buds. His cheeks resembled two huge bubbles floating
in a lake of liquefied blue sapphires. Krishna's attractive ears looked
like a pair of fresh unfurled leaves growing on a blue creeper.
The tip of Krishna's dark nose appeared like the sprout of a tree, and
His nostrils looked like bubbles in the Yamuna River, the daughter of the
sun god. His lips resembled a pair of red Java flower buds. Krishna's chin
rivaled a pair of ripe, redjambu fruits. Seeing the extraordinary beauty
of her son fulfilled the purpose of her eyes and submerged Yasoda in an
ocean of bliss. The elderly Vrajavasi ladies addressed Vrajaraja Nanda,
"O most fortunate one, you fathered a son!" Previously Nanda Maharaja had
felt deeply aggrieved over his long-standing inability to obtain a son.
His heart was like a small lake that had completely dried up during a long
hot summer. But when Nanda Maharaja heard of his son's birth he felt as
if the dry lake of his heart had been blessed with a sudden downpour of
nectar. The gentle sound of Krishna's voice removed all his grief and lamentation.
Now he bathed in the rains of bliss, swam in the ocean of nectar, and felt
embraced by the joyful stream of the celestial Ganges.
Eager to see his son, Nanda's body thrilled with astonishment and waves
of ecstasy as he stood outside the maternity room. Because he had accumulated
heaps of pious activities, it appeared that the King of Vrindavan was now
shaking hands with the personification of pious deeds. Anxiously standing
in the background, Yogamaya induced Nanda Maharaja to enter the maternity
room. He rushed in to see his son, the personified seed of condensed bliss.
It seemed that all the auspiciousness of the three worlds now resided within
Krishna, the original cause of everything. Nanda saw his son as a perfectly
charming person. The kajala around Krishna's eyes looked like lines on
a black creeper of beauty. As the very embodiment of Nanda's good fortune,
Sri Krishna bloomed like a beautiful flower in a garden of desire trees.
The aparajita flower is compared to the body of the Queen of Vrindavan.
Her son is like the representative of the Upanisads that are compared to
the fruit of the desire creepers. By seeing his glorious son Nanda felt
that he had attained happiness, perfection, and the fulfillment of all
his desires. Meeting that embodiment of bliss overwhelmed Nanda with immeasurable
satisfaction. He stood motionless, stunned; his hair stood erect and tears
flowed from his eyes. He appeared like a person carved in stone or a figure
drawn in a painting. For some time Nanda Maharaja remained in this semi-conscious
state like a sleeping man about to awaken.
Upananda, Sunanda, and other relatives felt extremely joyful while observing
the best ofbrahmanas perform the rites of purification for Krishna's birth.
To insure his son's welfare Nanda Maharaja donated newborn calves to each
and every brahmana, thus turning their homes into abodes of surabhi cows.
These cows had gold and silver plated horns and hooves, and jeweled necklaces
adorning their necks. In addition, Vrajapati Nanda filled the courtyards
of their homes with hills of gold, jewels, and sesame seeds. While Nanda
distributed charity, the kamadhenus, touch- stones, and desire-trees lost
their power to produce valuable items. Even the jewel-producing oceans
lost their stock of jewels, and the goddess of fortune, the abode of lotuses,
had but one lotus in her hand. The auspicious news of Krishna's wonderful
appearance spread in all directions by word of mouth. Delight danced in
the hearts of Nanda, his brothers Upananda and Sunanda, and all the other
gopas. The gopas brought many varieties of delicious dairy products such
as milk, yogurt, butter, wet cheese, and hard cheese in jewel-studded pots.
The pots were tied to the ends of bamboo poles with jute straps and carried
on their shoulders. Bedecked with many precious jeweled ornaments, the
gopas appeared very handsome. They dressed in beautiful yellow cloth defeating
the brilliance of lightning, and held staffs topped with gold and jewels
in their lotus hands. As a great ocean spreads its waves in all directions,
the birth of Krishna filled the Vrajavasis with unbounded bliss. The gopas
and gopis enjoyed a grand festival by happily eating and by splashing each
other's bodies with a mixture of yogurt, butter, milk, and condensed milk.
The society girls visiting Nanda Maharaja's house experienced more happiness
than they had ever felt since their birth. Their minds saturated with joy
and satisfaction. Hearing the delightful description of Krishna's birth
carried away the chariots of their minds and made them abandon all other
duties. They became possessed with the desire to see Krishna.
Sparkling rubies hung from the necklaces adorning the society girls.
Their diamond-studded armlets shown more beautifully than drops of crystal
clear water. Their jewel inlaid golden bangles boasted unparalleled elegance.
For this unique festival they took out some highly ornamental waist-belts
from their jewel boxes and tied them around their hips. The sweet jingling
of the waist-bells resting on their broad hips enhanced the beauty of these
society girls. They attracted the minds of everyone with their bulky golden
anklets, loosened hair braids, and graceful gait, which resembled the smooth
gliding of swans. Their minds entered a state of enchantment as they gazed
upon the captivating beauty of Krishna's transcendental body. To worship
Krishna they brought golden trays full of auspicious articles such as fruits,
flowers, yogurt, durva grass, uncooked rice, and jewel bedecked lamps.
They covered the offering plates with splendid yellow silk cloth and held
them in their soft lotus hands. Their jeweled ankle-bells vibrated pleasantly
as they walked.
Beholding the astounding beauty of the delicate baby, the society girls
considered the purpose of their eyes fulfilled. They perceived Krishna's
perfect birth to be like the appearance of the leaves of an important herbal
medicine. Krishna resembled a blue lotus floating hi the lake of His parent's
affection. After bestowing their blessings for Krishna's prosperity, they
worshiped Krishna with fresh flowers and a constant shower of loving glances.
With great enthusiasm the society girls glorified Vrajesvari Yasoda since
she had attained the essence of all good fortune by having Krishna as her
son. Leaving the maternity room, the society girls entered the assembly
hall of Nanda Maharaja's palace. Their faces looked exceedingly beautiful
as they sung melodious songs, which resembled the soft sweet humming of
bees moving amidst a cluster of lotus flowers. All the guests bathed in
a nectar shower produced by these soothing sounds. Overwhelmed with love,
they filled then- lotus palms with fragrant oil, turmeric paste, and fresh
butter and started smearing each other's faces and bodies. They looked
very attractive with then* smiling faces and glittering white teeth.
Then: red lips seemed more beautiful than red bandhuka flowers. This
incredible display of elegance smashed the pride of the goddess of fortune
of the three worlds. Carried away with joy over Krishna's birth, they fearlessly
threw cheese balls, butter, and yogurt at each other. One could mistake
the white balls of cheese for hailstones, solidified moonlight, or white
mud from the floor of the milk ocean. Then they showered each other with
buttermilk, aromatic oils, and water mixed with turmeric.
Cymbals, damru drums, bherries, and big drums vibrated auspicious sounds
hi specific melodies. A celestial concert of precise poetical meters, proper
rhythms, and metrical compositions suddenly manifested there. The musical
ensemble inspired the society girls to sing and dance in mirth and merriment.
Though not good singers, by the will of the Lord they sang with great virtuoso.
Then" wonderful songs filled Nanda Maharaja's heart with joy. The combined
vibrations of brahmanas' chanting Vedic hymns, the recitation of Purank
lore, and the panegyrists' prayers transformed the ethers into sabda brahman,
The joy of Krishna's birth celebration taxed the drains of Nanda's capital
city as they swelled to the brim with milk, yogurt, and other auspicious
liquids. Soon rivers of this nectar flooded the streets of the town and
permeated the entire atmosphere with a sweet fragrance. Disguising themselves
as birds, the demigods descended to Vrajapura to happily drink the flood
of nectar. The Vrajavasis decorated their cows with gold and jeweled ornaments.
Then in great excitement they smeared them with oil, fresh butter, and
turmeric paste. Beholding Krishna in their hearts, these fortunate cows
looked like the essence of the earth's auspicious-ness. The whole world
resounded with their jubilant bellowing. Absorbed in the ecstasy of Krishna's
birth, they forgot about eating and drinking.
The festival drowned the gopis in an ocean of joy. After offering oil, vermilion, garlands, and utensils in charity to all the assembled gopis, Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, asked them to bless Krishna, Upon completion of the sacrifice, Upananda and the other relatives felt constant happiness while taking their baths. Keeping the King of Vrindavan in the front, Nanda's relatives offered opulent cloth, jeweled ornaments, tambula, garlands, and sandalwood pulp to the guests. Then they humbly requested all in attendance to bless that wonderfully auspicious boy who had just appeared in Vrindavan.
Hare Krishna!