Verse: Krishna's Pastimes Leicester
Transcription: Ramananda Raya
Editing: Ramananda Raya
They would also do the same think. They would also speak about what they understood and then they would tell: ”Now you go and you tell others.” That is how in a very short time Krsna Consciousness spread throughout India. Mahaprabhu travelled only for six years and within these six years all of India was inundated with Krsna Consciousness.
So here we are. Today we are going to discuss about Krsna-Balarama in Vrindavan. Krsna-Balarama? Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Balarama is His first expansion. Krsna is not an incarnation. Krsna is the Source of all incarnations. Krsna is not the Avatara, Krsna is the Avatari. He is the Source. All the incarnations, all the expansions are coming from Him. Brahma-Samhita has described it in a very nice way, it is saying:diparcir eva hi dasantaram abhyupetya dipayate viv?ta-hetu-samana-dharma.Just as one lamp lights other lamps and when the lamps are lit, other lamps give out the same amount of light and heat. But still the first lamp is the lamp that lit the other lamps. In this way Krsna is the first original lamp and His incarnations are different other lamps. But They are giving out the same amount of light and heat. They have the same potency. No difference, Krsna. One Krsna became two. That second Krsna is Balarama. Then from this Personality expanded other Personalities. There are two different types of expansions here. One is the cowherd boys in Vrindavan. They are all Balarama’s expansions, all the cowherd boys. Another type of expansion is in Dvaraka. Vasudeva, Sa?kar?a?a, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, the catur-vyuha. And it goes on in this way. Narayana in Vaiku??ha. Then Maha-Visnu, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, K?irodakasayi Visnu. Then K?irodakasayi Visnu incarnates in different planets where K?irodakasayi Visnu is… different universes. All incarnations in the universe are expansions of K?irodakasayi Visnu. And another expansion of K?irodakasayi is the Supersoul. He is situated in everyone’s heart. So this is how inconceivable Krsna’s potency is.They are all incarnations of Krsna but Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead: Govindam adi-purusam tam ahambhajami. Or ete ca?sa-kala? pu?sa?Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. All these are His expansions but Krsna is the Original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsnas tu bhagavan svayam.So that is our understanding. In the Gau?iya line, Chaitanya Mahaprabhus’ line we have a very clear understanding. And this understanding is based on scripture, not that Mahaprabhu concocted something. Of course He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for Him there is no question of concocting. Whatever He concocts that becomes the Absolute Truth. That is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He says: “Let there be light and there was light.” He says: “Let there be an expansion and there is expansion.” He just glances towards the material nature and the whole creation manifests. That is what Krsna is. Everything pertaining to Him is the Absolute Truth. But still He plays pastimes and His pastimes have multifarious aspects. I just narrate one such aspect.
Krsna and Balarama are the Original Personality of Godhead, there is no doubt about it. But there is another aspect to it. Lord Ramacandra after He killed Rava?a, He went back to Ayodhya and so He was reinstated as the King. And all the great personalities, all the kings and the demigods just went there. And everyone was glorifying Lord Ramacandra for what He had done. Demigods prayed to Him, prayed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And as a result of that He incarnated. He killed Rava?a, because Rava?a was impossible to deal with...Rava?a was so powerful that nobody could deal with him.
This is how sometimes the demons become powerful, by being blessed by Lord Brahma or Lord Siva. And no one can defeat them. Sometimes even Lord Siva, after giving benediction even He cannot defeat this demon. Sometimes a demon gets a benediction from Lord Siva, he pleases Lord Siva .. And Lord Siva says: “Okay, what do you want?” And he says: “Give me such and such boon.” And Lord Siva says: “Fine”. And one such a demon wanted a boon, what was the boon? Upon whosoever’s head I put my head, the head will crack into thousand pieces. Lord Siva is Asuto?a. He is very quickly pleased. He is a Vaishnava. Vaishnavas are very easy to please... And the demons sometimes take advantage. So Lord Siva says: “Fine, tatastu, let it be.” And the demon said: “Is it real? Did you really give me this benediction?” He said: “Yes, I did.” He said: “Let me try it.” He wanted to put his hand on Lord Siva’s head. And Lord Siva was in trouble, so he ran. And he went to Narayana. He said: “Look, this is what has happened.” Narayana said: “Okay, don’t worry; I will take care of him. Then Narayana assumed the Form of one brahma?a boy and this demon was running, chasing Lord Siva. And he asked: “Hey, you look so tired, what happened to you, why are you running so fast?” He said: “You see, I got this boon from Lord Siva and I wanted to try it out on him and he is running away. I am just trying to catch him.” So then brahma?a boy said: “That’s not true. How can anybody give you such a boon? And at the same time He was affecting him with His yoga-maya which completely bewildered him. And He said: “Why don’t you put your hand on your head and see if it works?” [Laughter] And he put his hand on his own head and his head cracked into thousand pieces.”
This is how sometimes the demons become powerful and they simply create disturbances. Rava?a was one such character. He became extremely powerful and nobody could deal with him. He defeated all the demigods. Even Yamaraja could not deal with him. Yamaraja could kill anybody. But when Yamaraja was about to strike him with Yama-danda, Yamaraja’s stick, then Brahma appeared to him. He said: “Look, he is not meant to be killed by you. He is meant to be killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so wait for Him to come. So Yamaraja disappeared from there and Rava?a thought: “Oh, I defeated even Yamaraja. So in this way the demons they become powerful and they create disturbance to the demigods, even they cause disturbance to Indra. That’s why it says:Indrari-vyakula? loka? m??ayanti yuge yuge, Indrari, Indra is the head of the demigods, the king of the demigods and he is ari, ari means enemy. The demons are actually the enemies of the demigods. And by getting power, inconceivable power through their distinct practices of a??a?ga-yoga, yoga-practises they become powerful and create disturbance to the structure of the universe. The demigods are actually appointed heads of different departments by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just as the government appoints different heads of departments so demigods are actually the different departmental heads of different departments appointed by Krsna. But the demons create a disruption in that situation. So that’s why Krsna has to come and He kills them :yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmana? s?jamy aham. And how does He do that ? Paritra?aya sadhuna?vinasaya ca du?k?tam.
So Lord Ramacandra killed Rava?a and by killing Rava?a Lord Ramacandra brought peace to this world again. Everyone was glorifying Lord Ramacandra. So at that time Agasta Muni one of the very, very exalted sages, Agasta Muni actually interrupted them. He said: "No, the credit actually goes to Lak?mana." So everyone was surprised. They said: “Why?” They said: “Rama killed Rava?a, Rama killed Kumbakarna, Rama killed all these terrible personalities who were difficult, impossible to deal with. Rama killed them.” But at that time Agasta made a point: “Lak?mana only could kill, Megnat, Rava?a’s son. And unless he was killed Rava?a could not have been killed. This Megnat he actually defeated Indra, therefore his name is Indrajit, one who has conquered Indra. So everyone asked why it was so special that only Lak?mana could kill Megnat? Not even Ramacandra. Then Agasta said that Megnat, Indrajit had a boon that he could only be killed by someone who has been celibate for fourteen years, who has been fasting for fourteen years. Then the question arose: “How can Lak?mana be considered to be a Brahmacari? Because he was with Sita all the time. A brahmacari does not even look at the face of a woman. A perfect brahmacari. He does not even look at the face of a woman. He was with Sita, so he must have seen her face. Then Lak?mana actually admitted that He only looked at Sita’s feet. He never looked at Sita’s face. Only at her feet. And Ramacandra also recalled that: “When the monkeys came with the ornaments of Sita and Rama asked him: “So, Lak?mana, do you recognize that these are the ornaments of Sita?” Lak?mana said: “Only one thing I can remember. It is her ankle bells.” Because Lak?mana only looked at Sita’s feet, he never looked at any other part of Sita’s body. So everyone became very pleased to hear that, very enlivened to hear that. But then the question arose: “For fourteen years He was anahari, for He did not eat anything fourteen years?” Lord Ramacandra said: “I actually gave Him fruits every day. So how can you say that He was anahari?” He did not eat anything for fourteen years. So then Lak?mana told: “Yes, when You gave me the fruits, You just told me: “Take it. But You did not ask me to eat it. Therefore I did not eat it, I just took it and placed it back in the forest. Then Lord Ramacandra said: “Hanuman, go and see whether that is true?” And Hanuman went and found the pile of fruits in the forest. Being touched by Lak?mana these fruits did not decay. By being touched by Lord Ramacandra and Lak?mana. But then Hanuman counted and he found only four fruits missing out of fourteen years. So Hanuman, he came and he reported: “Four fruits are missing. So Rama asked Lak?mana: “So Lak?mana did you eat just four fruits?” Lak?mana said: “No, actually these four days you forgot to give me fruits [laughter]. The first day is when we left Ayodhya and came to the banks of the Ganges, that day You decided to fast. We did not eat anything that day, just to show respect to Mother Ganges. Then the day we got the news of our father’s departure from this planet, You did not give me any fruit. The day Sita was kidnapped by Rava?a You did not give me any fruit. And the day I was hit by the Shakti, the Shakti-shell, and became unconscious that day also You did not give me any fruit. So then everybody started to glorify Lak?mana. Ramacandra felt very bad. He said: “Look, as a younger brother, You underwent so many difficulties, just because You happened to be My younger brother. So in My next pastimes You will become My elder brother, so that I will follow Your order as your younger brother. So that next pastime was? In the Dvapara-yuga when the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Krsna and Lak?mana appeared as Balarama. Here are some… as I said: “Krsna performs one pastime and with that He accomplishes so many different aspects. This is how one of the pastimes is narrated and how in these pastimes Lak?mana became Ramacandras elder brother. This is Krsna and Balarama. Of course we know that Krsna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and His first expansion is Balarama. But although He is His expansion He is His elder brother. That is His pastimes.
So Krsna and Balarama appeared in these pastimes. First Balarama appeared as the Son of Rohi?i and Krsna appeared as the Son of Devaki. Vasudeva had… His principle queen was Devaki and the other sisters were also married to Vasudeva. And Rohi?i was one of them. And when Ka?sa started His atrocities, at that time Vasudeva sent Rohi?i to Nanda Maharaja’s house in Vrindavan. So Rohi?i became Balarama’s mother and Krsna appeared. Vasudeva’s other Son, Vasudeva appeared in the womb of Devaki. And as you know soon after Their birth Vasudeva took Krsna to the house of Nanda Maharaja. And at that time mother Yasoda gave birth to a daughter and that daughter was brought back toMathura. And Ka?sa thought that this was the eight child of Devaki who was meant to kill him. So Ka?sa tried to kill this little daughter, this new borne daughter, baby girl. He was so heinous, he was so cruel. He did not even hesitate, not only to kill his own sisters’ children but even the daughter of that. Generally people, especially in the Vedic culture, the Vedic culture is based on respect for women. That is the greatness, one of the great aspects of Vedic culture. And it is through to respect for women that men develop their character and strength. The more respect one has for women the more one develops his strength of his character. Even his physical strength also comes from that. But those who hate women or those who do not respect women, they are actually cowards. They are very base and mean minded people. So in that culture the killing of a woman was unheard of. But Ka?sa was so degraded, so mean, so cruel, that he did not even hesitate just to kill this new borne baby girl. But who is this baby girl? This baby girl is Krsna’s Maya, Yoga-maya. And she slipped out of Ka?sa’s hand, went up in the sky and manifested her original form and she declared: ”Ka?sa, how can you kill me? As a matter of fact the one, who will kill you, has already appeared. You watch out! And then Ka?sa started to do atrocities. He started to kill all the babies; those who were borne within seven days time. This is how these Ka?sa’s atrocities started. One of the first persons that Ka?sa sent to kill Krsna was Putana. Not only Krsna, Putana was killing all the babies who were borne at that time. And, anyway… Who can kill Krsna? Who can kill the Supreme Personality of Godhead? This killing or death is only a material phenomenon. What to speak of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even a spirit soul cannot be killed. That is the Vedic understanding, that is the reality. Even a spirit soul cannot be killed. So what to speak of killing the Supreme Personality of Godhead Who is the origin of all the spirit souls. But the demons because they are grossly entangled in the materialistic concept of life they want to establish themselves as the rulers of the material nature and they want to get rid of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In the mean time, Vasudeva, he considered that my two sons are growing up in the house of Nanda Maharaja. So their sa?skara, the purificatory processes have to be conducted. After all they are k?atriyas, the higher class of people have these considerations of the process of purification, a very strict consideration of the process of purification. Every aspect of life is treated as a process of purification. The human form of life is meant to be purified for spiritual advancement. This is how the human society has been structured in the Vedic way. Even when the child is borne. When the child is about to be conceived there is a process of purification, garbhadhana-sa?skara. When the baby is in the womb of the mother, there are so many purificatory considerations, sa?skara. Then when the child is borne there is sa?skara. Then one after another there is the sa?skara. Then when the child is borne there is sa?skara. Sa?skarausually means the process of purification. One such process of purification is to give the names. So Vasudeva sent their family priest Gargamuni to the house of Nanda Maharaja, saying: “Please, conduct the purificatory processes for the children.” Gargamuni arrived in the house of Nanda Maharaja. Nanda Maharaja greeted him very nicely. Then Nanda Maharaja was told: “Look, Vasudeva actually sent me to do the samskaras of your children. He did not tell Nanda Maharaja that those sons are actually Vasudeva’s sons. And Nanda Maharaja wanted to perform the ceremony with great pomp. So Gargamuni said: “Don’t do that. Because if I perform the ceremony and Ka?sa gets to know it, he is a big diplomat, he is a very cunning person. He will understand that these children must be Vasudeva’s children and he may cause harm to these children. So this ceremony should be performed quietly. So when Nanda Maharaja was told that, Nanda Maharaja decided: “Okay, we will have the ceremony secretly in the cow shed.” So Krsna’s name giving ceremony was performed in the cowshed. Vasudeva sent Gargamuni. So Gargamuni knew that these are the Sons of Vasudeva. But he did not tell them. But at the same time, Gargamuni was a very learned, very wise person. And this wisdom is actually the spiritual wisdom, not material wisdom. The Vedic consideration of wisdom is not material wisdom, material knowledge. It is the spiritual knowledge. According to the Vedic understanding material knowledge is not knowledge. The Sanskrit word for knowledge is?
Devotees: Jñana.
BCS: Jñana, very good. And material knowledge according to Sanskrit understanding is not jñana but ajñana. Ajñana means ignorance. This materialistic knowledge is actual ignorance, it is not knowledge. With the spiritual knowledge Gargamuni could recognize that this Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But he did not declare it; he did not reveal it to Nanda Maharaja. He wanted Nanda Maharaja to treat Krsna as his own son.
So he first gave the name of Balarama. Balarama’s name was given. By giving His Name Gargamuni actually declared: ”Aya? hi rohi?i-putro,” This Son of Rohi?i, He is “ramayan suh?do gu?ai?”Ramayan that He will give pleasure to his suh?day, his intimate people, his dear relatives or his intimate relatives. Therefore “akhyasyate rama iti”.Therefore His name will be Rama. So that is one thing. Then,baladhikyad bala? vidu?, due to His inconceivable strength, He will be extremely powerful. Baladhikyad bala? vidu?. Therefore His name will be Bala. So Bala and Rama. And another Name will be: “yadunam ap?thag-bhavat”. He will create a link between Nanda Maharaja’s family and the Yadu dynasty. He will bring the Yadus close to them. ThereforeSa?kar?a?am usanty api. Therefore He will also be known as Sa?kar?an. See how profound the Vedic culture is. Even while giving names, they are actually conceiving the purpose of giving these names. Not just giving a haphazard: Tom, Dick, Harry… [Laughter]… Here is ramayan suh?do gu?ai?, He is Rama.Baladhikyad, due to his strength bala?vidu?, He will be known as Bala yadunam ap?thag-bhavat sa?kar?a?am usanty api,He will be known as Sa?kar?an. In this way He gave Balaramas name. And then while giving the Name of Krsna, he considered that this Personality, in three other ages, He appeared in three colors. He is not saying that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but he is saying that This Personality... Another thing is being very clearly established through the Vedic culture, that the concept of reincarnation is accepted as an absolute reality. You are borne, you were here before, you are here now and you will continue to be here…
So the living entities are transmigrating from one body to another. Tatha dehantara-praptir… Dehantara. He admitted, he made it clear, Gargamuni, that this personality in three other ages: Satya-yuga, in Treta-yuga and in Kali-yuga, because that wasDvapara-yuga. Asan var?as trayo hy asya Because that was Dvapara-yuga…G?h?ato ’nuyuga?tanu?. Asan, He had assumed three different varnas, this Personality had three different colours. G?h?ato ’nuyuga?tanu?. Anuyuga? means according to the yuga. Suklo raktas tatha pita Sukla means white, rakta means red, and pita means yellow. So this is how in other yugas, in Satya-yuga He appeared in a white complexion, in Treta-yuga He appeared in a reddish complexion and Kali-yuga He will appear in a yellow complexion.
Idani? Krsnata? gata?,idani? means now. He has assumed a dark complexion, Krsnata? gata?. Sukla, rakta, tatha pita..idani? Krsnata? gata?. Therefore His Name is Krsna. That is one way Gargamuni gave the Name … But another meaning of Krsna is All-attractive: kar?ati iti kršna. Then he also declared another thing, Gargamuniprag aya? vasudevasya, prag means in the past, ayam this Personality appeared as the Son of Vasudeva. kvacij jatas tavatmaja? That this Personality who has appeared as Your atmaja, your Son, He is sometimes Vasudeva’s Son also. Vasudeva iti sriman abhijña? sampracak?ate. So in this way he declared, this Son is actually Vasudeva’s Son, but your atmaja?, your Son is also Vasudeva’s Son. And of course in this respect our previousacaryas have established that: “Krsna appeared as the Son of Vasudeva and Devaki, Krsna also appeared as the Son of Nanda and Yasoda. Not that only Vasudeva’s Son is Krsna. Nanda and Yasoda also gave birth to a Son. And they pointed out that actually mother Yasoda gave birth to twins, a daughter and a Son. That Son is Nanda-Nandana Krsna. This Son, this is Vasudeva-Krsna.
Krsna a?gam yadu sambhuta, Krsna Who appeared in the Yadu-dynasty, in the Yadu-Vamsa as the Son of Vasudeva, He is a?gam. A?gam means? He is different. Krsna [unclear] different. But real Krsna is the Son of Nanda Maharaja andv?ndavana? parityajya sa kvacin naiva gacchati. Even in Vrindavan He is The Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the Son of Nanda Maharaja. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings also: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Son of Nanda Maharaja, not Vasudeva Krsna but Nanda Nandana Krsna.Aradha Bhagavan Vraje?a-tanayas tad-dhama v?ndavanam. Aradha Bhagavan, the Supreme worshipable Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Son of Nanda Maharaja. Anyway, these are some very deep considerations. Right now let just stick to our simple considerations.
Nanda Maharaja is the foster father of Krsna. Krsna is originally the Son of Vasudeva and Devaki, Vasudeva. He is pointing out here because this child is Vasudeva’s Son, He will be known as Vasudeva.kalena vrajatalpena gokule rama-kesavau.So these two Sons of Rohini and Devaki started to grow up in Vraja. And in course of time when They grew up, They started to move withjanubhya?Janu means?
Devotees: knees
BCS: Knees. And In Sanskrit there are single number, duel number and plural number. Janubhya? means with two janus… Singular dual and plural. Kalena vrajatalpena gokule rama-kesavau. Rama, Balarama and Kesava.Pa?i means two hands. janubhya?saha pa?ibhya?. Here also pa?ibhya? means with two hands. With two knees and two hands They are moving. When They grew up a little bit They are crawling. Onto their two knees and two hands They are crawling. This is how They started to perform Their pastimes. And at that time what would They do? They would roll in the mud. They would crawl and go out into the court yard and when it would rain, it would become muddy. So They would roll in the mud and They would all-over be smeared with mud. And all the gopis would be so excited, the elderly gopis . Look at Krsna, look at Rama, look at Kesava. They have become completely smeared with mud.” And they would laugh like that. And sometimes, These two Children, what would They do? They would sit on the calf and they would hold on to the calf’s tale. The calf would become frightened. And the calf would become frightened and they would run. And They would hold on to the calf’s tail. They will be dragged by the calves and everybody would laugh. This is how the Supreme Personality of Godhead displayed His pastimes. Who can ever imagine that the Lord can act like that? Who can ever imagine that God can behave like this? But this is the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “Svara?, completely independent. Nobody can ever consider that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can act like this. Like a baby playing like this.
But why He is doing that? Itid?k-sva-lilabhir ananda-ku??e sva-gho?a?nimajjantam akhyapayantam..Itid?k-sva-lilabhir, through this kind of pastimes. Ananda-ku??e sva-gho?a? nimajjantam. Sva-gho?a?means His devotees. Nimajjantam means drown. He drowns His devotees, in where? Ananda-ku??e: in a pool of joy.Ananda-ku??e, He is drowning them in an ocean of ecstasy. Anandambudhi-vardhanam. You are familiar with that expression? How would He do that ? Anandambudhi-vardhanam. Through His pastimes. And there are so many such wonderful pastimes. He is not only killing the demons. Krsna killed Putana, seven days old, Putana came to kill Him. And what a tricky way of killing! Assumed a beautiful form. Who will ever suspect a beautiful woman? Generally the women are kind hearted. And when someone is so beautiful one becomes automatically favorably disposed to that person. So Putana came in such a way but to act the most heinous act to kill Krsna, just a new born baby, a of seven days old baby. And how? Offering her breast. But the breast was smeared with deadly poison. Krsna felt bad. He is the omnipotent, omniscient Supreme Personaltiy of Godhead. He felt that the first person He had to kill is a woman. As I mentioned in Vedic culture, Vedic culture is based on respect for women. So killing a woman, Krsna felt so bad. But what to do? Ye yatha ma?prapadyante ta?s tathaiva bhajamy aham. The way one approaches Me accordingly I deal with Him. So this is how she is approaching Me. What can I do? But because He had to kill a woman, He closed His eyes. He did not want to see that act Himself. And Krsna killed Putana. The breast she offered to Krsna to kill Him, Krsna actually sucked, by sucking her breast, Krsna sucked the life air out of her body. Putana was dead. Her beautiful form disappeared and her original form appeared. A heinous terrible looking demones. A woman with a huge body. And Krsna was just happily playing on her chest. That’s how Krsna started to paritra?aya sadhuna?vinasaya ca du?k?tam. In one hand he is giving the utmost joy in the hearts of His devotees but on the other hand He was killing the demons. And why is He doing that? Krsna would not kill the demons, He is neutral. But the demons cause disturbance to His devotees. That’s what Krsna cannot tolerate. Because the demons cause disturbance to His devotees, therefore Krsna has to deal with them. In this way Krsna killed so many demons. We will discuss about them in another session. We will discuss about how Krsna killed the demons and who those demons signify? The anarthas in the heart of are signified by these demons. Or these demons are present in our hearts. In our hearts these demons are present and they are the different anarthas. And those anarthas will be killed by Krsna when we take shelter of Krsna. That is from Bhaktivinoda ?hakura’s Krsna-samhita, I think this evening we will have that session. Okay, we will discuss about that.
But let us today discuss about some wonderful pastime of Krsna. The pastimes of giving joy to His devotees. Krsna and Balarama are giving pleasure to Their devotees. They would go and steal butter from the houses of the gopis. Now also another consideration is: “What is this butter?” Krsna is butter thief. What kind of butter does Krsna steal? What is the characteristic of butter?
Devotees: soft
BCS : Butter is soft. And our hearts, when our hearts become soft like butter, when our hearts become delicious to Krsna as butter [laughter], then Krsna will steal our hearts. That’s why Krsna is Makanchora. Navanita-choram The Sanskrit word for butter is navanita. Chora means thief. Krsna is the butter thief. But what kind of butter will Krsna steal? The butter of his devotees’ hearts. Krsna cannot [unclear] the temptation. Even though we may resist it but Krsna will forcibly take it away, steal it. Anyway, Krishna is famous for stealing the butter. The butter is kept in rafters, in clay pots. In the Vedic culture they used to hang it from the ceiling. There is a rafter made of ropes and the clay pots are kept in there. Krishna is small; He is only about five years old. So He climbs on to Balarama’s shoulder and reaches the pot. And He steals the butter. Then He eats the butter Himself, He feeds the butter to others. And when everybody is full, even His friends are full, then He would offer the butter to the monkeys who are just watching what is going on and they wonder how Krsna is even more mischievous than they are. So the monkeys would follow Krsna and they are watching Him. So Krishna would give the butter to the monkeys and then when the monkeys beome full then Krsna says: “Now eat some more.” [Laughter] Then Krsna would say: “This butter is so bad. [Laughter] Even the monkeys don’t want to eat it.” Saying that Krsna breaks the pot. And then they pitch the sleeping child of the gopi and wake this sleeping child up with a huge shriek. And then Krsna and all the other cowherd boys would run away from there.
The gopi came to complain to mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda felt surprised. She said: “Why should Krsna go and steal butter from your house? Do you think there is any dearth of butter in my house? And besides that, when did Krsna go, Krsna had been sitting with Me all the time?” Then the gopi said: “Do you mean that I am lying?” Mother Yasoda said,”No, no, I am not saying that. But I am just wondering what, how could Krsna… You are saying: “Krsna stole the butter, but Krsna are sitting there all this time. When did you do that? Then the gopi says: “Okay, next time He comes and steals the butter from my house I will catch Him and bring Him to you. Mother Yasoda said: “Yes, please do that.” So the gopi was waiting for Krsna to come to her house and eventually Krsna came with His friends. And He did the same thing: stole the butter, fed the butter to His friends, fed the butter to the monkeys, broke the pots, woke up the sleeping child and when the child started to cry and Krsna was about to run out of the house, the gopi was hiding behind the door. She just came out and grabbed Krsna.
So she said: “Now I caught You. Now I will take You to Your mother.” Krsna said: “Please let me go, I promise I will never come to Your house to steal butter.” She said: “Nothing doing, your mother insulted me so badly, she even called me a liar when I told her that You are doing all that mischief. Now that I caught You I am going to take You to Your mother. So saying that, she took Krsna on her back and she started to walk towards Mother Yasoda’s house. Krsna was crying: “Please let me go, please let me go!” I promise that I will never come to your house to steal butter. The gopi insisted. She came to mother Yasoda and said: “Yasode, now I caught your child. Completely red handed I caught Him when He was stealing the butter. See, even His hands are smeared with butter, His face is smeared with butter. I caught Him red handed.” Mother Yasoda started to laugh! She said: “Such a serious matter and you are laughing!” Mother Yasoda could not resist her laughter. She said: “Look who you brought! You are bringing my Krsna, but see who you brought!” So she looked up and she saw that she is carrying her own son! [Laughter] So then embarrassed, with a heavy heart she was just wondering: “How could it happen, what’s so? I mean, I am not hallucinating. Krsna was just talking in my ears.. Please let me go, Please let me go. My mother will be angry. Please spare Me this time. I promise that I will never come back. All these words were still ringing in her ears but she can’t see Krsna. She is seeing her own son. She said: “Am I totally hallucinating? What happened? Am I crazy?” She was still thinking like that, then all of a sudden she heard Krsna’s laughter. She looked up and she saw that it was Krsna. She was completely baffled and she started chastising: “Krsna, you are such a mischievous character. You appeared to be like my son in front of Your mother. And now you are your original Form? Krsna said: “I told you to let Me go, I promised that I will never come to steal in your house but you would not listen to Me. So when you did not listen to Me, then I had to do something. Anyway, this time I became your son. Next time you catch Me and take Me to My mother then I will become your husband. [Laughter] Itid?k-sva-lilabhir ananda-ku??e.In this way Krsna submerges, drowns His devotees in an ocean of ecstasy. And through these pastimes everyone is submerged in an ocean of ecstasy.
So this is how Krsna performed His transcendental pastimes with Balarama. And Balarama is actually given the custody, given the charge because He is elder to take care of Krsna. And Balarama complained about Krsna while Krsna is not there. Balarama cannot deal with Krsna He goes and complains to mother Yasoda. “Ma, this is what Krsna has done.” Krsna says: “No, I did not do it. I don’t know why He is lying about Me.” And one such time Balarama came and complained to mother Yasoda: “Mother Yasoda, you know Krsna was eating mud today. We told Him not to do it but He just kept on eating.” Mother Yasoda said: “Krsna, is it true?” Krsna said: “No, I did not eat mud.” Mother Yasoda said: “Do You mean Balarama was lying?” Krsna said: “I do not know what He is saying but I am telling I did not eat mud.” And mother Yasoda said: “Open your mouth.” Krsna opened His mouth and what did mother Yasoda see? Mother Yasoda saw the entire creation in Krsna’s mouth. This is how Krsna performs His pastimes. And mother Yasoda says: “Am I hallucinating? Why should I see the universe in Krsna’s mouth?” And mother Yasoda did not only see the whole creation, even Vrindavan she saw in Krsna’s mouth. She saw even herself standing in front of Krsna, and Krsna with His open mouth standing in front of her. So in this way mother Yasoda sometimes would become bewildered by Krsna’s mystic potency. But still mother Yasoda was thinking [unclear] : “Maybe I was hallucinating.” I am getting too old. I am seeing things. In this way she would just feel completely perplexed. But sometimes mother Yasoda would become upset with Krsna. So upset with Krsna that she would pick up a stick and try to chastise Krsna. You know when it happened?
Devotees: Damodara-lila
BCS: Yes, Damodara-lila. And what did mother Yasoda try to do? Try to bind Krsna with a rope. But what happened? No matter how much rope she took, it was always one inch too short, two fingers too short. And finally when she was completely exhausted, then Krsna said: “Okay, my mother is exhausted.” Krsna lets Himself be bound by her... And then mother Yasoda binds Krsna with her rope. And here our acaryas are saying: “Who can ever bind Krsna with a rope? It is not with a rope that mother Yasoda bound Krsna but it is with love that mother Yasoda bound Krsna. This is how Krsna becomes bound by the love of His devotees. And mother Yasoda bound Krsna up, tight Him up. And mother Yasoda bound Krsna onto the mortar on which Krsna was trying to steal the butter. And she then went to attain her daily chores, household activities. Krsna just sat there bound. His friends were there laughing at Him. Some were just feeling sad. “Look, we cannot play with Krsna because his mother tied Him up.” Then Krsna invented a new game. He made the mortar fall on the ground and being tied to the mortar He started to drag the mortar. And that was, He started to do that, going around and around the courtyard. And then He decided to go through these two trees that were there in the courtyard. So Krsna passed through the trees but the mortar which was big got stuck between these two trees. And Krsna naturally pulled and pulled and as a result these two trees fell off with a thundering sound. And from those two trees appeared two demigods. They were actually two sons of Kuvera, Nalakuvera and Manigriva. So Nalakuvera and Manigriva were cursed by Narada Muni to become two trees. And Krsna delivered them. That is the kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau k?tau ca. Just the way You delivered two sons of Kuvera kuveratmajau baddha-murtyaiva yadvat tvaya mocitau bhakti-bhajau k?tau ca, so please deliver me also from this material bondage the way You did that with them. So that is the prayer of a devotee. Please deliver me from this material condition and allow me to become engaged in your devotional service.
Sometimes when Balarama does not go with Krsna, Krsna gets into trouble. One such … Krsna actually invites trouble. [Laughter] That day Balarama was not there because it was His birthday. And Krsna along with His friends were going to the forest to attend the cows. All of a sudden they all saw that a huge cave, that looked like a huge cave which they never had seen before… For so many days, so many months, they have been coming to the forest, going through this path, but they never really saw such a cave. What was that cave? That cave was a demon called Aghasura. It was his gaping mouth. He assumed such a huge body which extended for miles together. His wide open mouth, the upper jaw was practically touching the sky. And this was Aghasura. See what kind of mystic power they had? With their mystic power they could assume such a gigantic body. And all the cowherd boys playfully entered into their mouth, thinking that it was a cave. And Aghasura thought, just let Krsna come in. And as soon as Krsna comes in, I will close my mouth and kill Him. And Krsna was standing there; all the other cowherd boys and calves entered. He was wondering what to do, Krsna realized that this was a demon. He came with a mischievous purpose of killing these cowherd boys. So then finally Krsna thought: “Okay, let me also enter.” And Aghasura was just waiting for that. As soon as Krsna entered in his mouth Aghasura closed his jaws. But what did Krsna do as Aghasura tried to close his mouth? Krsna expanded His body in such a dimension that He got stuck while Aghasura was trying to swallow Him. He got stuck in Aghasura’s throat. And not only He got stuck in Aghasura’s throat, He started to emanate such heat that Aghasura was trying to get rid of Him, riding all over in pain. But he could not get rid of Krsna, he got stuck. And as a result of that Aghasura’s soul left his body. The only way was through His Brahma-nadra, the brain center. He came out of his body and he was hovering on the space for a while. And as soon as Krsna came out of the body, his soul merged into Krsna’s body. Brahma was watching that. And Brahma was completely awestruck. Because this Aghasura was so powerful, what to speak of deal with him, even the demigods by hearing Aghasuras name they used to trembled with fear. So such powerful person, Aghasura. And this Boy so easily killed him. And then Aghasura merged into His body. Who is this Personality? So Brahma began to wonder. So Brahma thought of figuring out Who this Personality is. So he started to watch Krsna.
So after killing Aghasura Krsna invited all His friends and the calves and they went to the forest or the bank of the Yamuna. And they were grazing, the calves. They all got to pull out their foodstuffs that they carried from home. And while they were eating Brahma noticed that there was an amazing sight. A very, very strange way of dealing. These boys are carrying their food. So much so that a boy would eat something and he would like it so much, he said: “Krsna, Krsna! See what my mother made today! Just have it. And although he ate half of it he gave it to Krsna. “Krsna, Krsna…” Krsna said: “Yes, your mother is a great cook!” Now eating somebodies yuta, Brahma was suspecting whether this was Narayana, his Lord, because only Narayana could do things like that. Kill the demons so easily. And these demons body merged into the body of Narayana, the soul merged into Narayana’s body. So he suspected that this is Narayana. But then this act was so unusual for Narayana. Just consider, will you eat something and then offer it to the Deities in the temple? Will you offer something to the Deity that has been eaten by somebody? And not only that… The friends also, how they were behaving… Some of His friends saw some nice foodstuff in Krsna’s plate and he wanted to have it. So He would tell Krsna: “Krsna, look at the birds.” And then he took it. Who will ever dare to deal with Narayana like that? So Brahma got completely bewildered by that and Brahma thought: “Let me see who this Personality is.” So Brahma stole the calves. All of a sudden the boys saw: “Not a single calf is grazing. So they started to wonder: “What happened?” And there was anxiety: “What happened to my calves?” And they would go and run, and see where the calves were… So Krsna said: “Don’t worry. I will go and look for the calves. So Krsna went to see for the calves. In the mean time Brahma stole the cowherd boys also. So then Krsna came back and He saw that all the cowherd boys are also gone. The calves are gone and now the boys are gone. He started to wonder what happened. Then Krsna realized whose act was that and why… ThenKrishna said: “Okay, you wanted to figure out Who I am, I will show you Who I am.” So Krsna immediately expanded Himself into that many calves and that many cowherd boys. Brahma put the boys and calves into the mountain caves and kept them inside sleeping in yoga nidra and closed the mouth of the cave. It took Brahma one second according to Brahma’s time, one second. And then when Brahma looked back, this one second of Brahma was one year of the human calculation. So Brahma saw all the calves and cowherd boys and they are there just as before. And then Brahma saw that all these calves and cowherd boys are Narayanas. Brahma knew one Narayana. And here all these calves and boys are all Narayanas. Krsna is sitting in the centre having his picnic. So then Brahma realized Who Krsna is and he fell at His feet, paying obeisances. Now this is also another thing. This one pastime… As I said, by performing one pastime Krsna accomplishes many, many purposes. One such purpose was, the mothers of the gopis, the mothers of the cowherd boys in Vraja, they used to wish that they would have Krsna as their own Son. The mothers wanted to have Krsna as their own Son. Krsna fulfilled their desires. So Krsna became their Sons. So the mothers all of sudden started to feel such affection for their children that they never felt before. The mothers’ affection for Krsna was deeper then their own children. And they were experiencing that kind of love for their children. [Unclear] wanted to have Krsna as your child and this is how I would have felt if I had Krsna as my own child. The cows also felt an uncommon attraction for their calves. Balarama noticed it. Once the cows were grazing on top of Govardhana and their calves were being tended by Krsna at the bottom of the mountain. Now these are the grown up calves. Cows give birth to their calves on a yearly basis. So they had another set of calves already. Now these are the grown up calves. Generally when the cows get new calves then all the attraction goes to their new born calves. And these were the old set of calves. But still they ran to meet these calves. From top of the mountain they jumped without considering all these boulders and rocks and cliffs, they just rushed to their calves… Balarama was perplexed. It is unusual: “Why are the cows so attracted to these grown up calves?” And Balarama asked Krsna: “What’s happening?” That day Balarama was not present. So Krsna told Him what actually happened. So that day also when Brahma looked back Balarama was not there because that day also it was Balarama’s birthday. The same scene, the same boys were sitting there. And Brahma fell at His feet and begged forgiveness from Krsna. “Please forgive me; I dared to check Your identity. I dared to test You about Your identity without accepting You as my Lord and Master.” This is how Krsna and Balarama performed Their pastimes. Do you want to see another aspect of these pastimes?
Devotees: Yes
BCS: Okay, sometimes people say that Krsna’s dancing with the gopis was immoral because they were not married to Krishna. Krsna was dancing with somebody else’s wife… wives. So that month, that year when Krsna became the cowherd boy, all the cowherd boys got stolen by Brahma and who were those cowherd boys?
Devotees: Krsna
BCS: So Krsna told Nanda Maharaja: “This is a very auspicious year for the girls to get married. And Nanda Maharaja would listen to whatever Krsna told him. So he said: “Okay, let all the girls and the boys get married this year.” So that year all the young girls of Vraja got married to the Vrindavan boys. Who did they get married to?
Devotees: Krsna
BCS: Was there anything wrong when Krsna danced with them?
Devotees: No.
BCS: Of course Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the Supreme Proprietor. But again. Those who may have these doubts or considerations, Krsna dispelled those doubts. So in this way Krsna performs His wonderful pastimes. Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna. Gaura Premanande!