VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 83
Draupadî Meets the Queens of Krishna
This chapter relates a conversation between Draupadī and Lord Kṛṣṇa's foremost queens, in which each of them describes how the Lord married her.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa returned from His meeting with the gopīs and asked King Yudhiṣṭhira and His other relatives whether they were well. They replied, "My Lord, anyone who has just once imbibed through his ears the honey of Your pastimes can never know misfortune."
Then Draupadī inquired from Lord Kṛṣṇa's wives how the Lord had come to marry them. Queen Rukmiṇī spoke first: "Many kings, headed by Jarāsandha, were intent on giving me in marriage to Śiśupāla. Thus at my wedding they all stood with bows in hand, ready to support Śiśupāla against any opponents. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa came and forcibly took me away, as a lion takes his prey from amidst goats and sheep."
Queen Satyabhāmā said, "When my uncle Prasena was killed, my father, Satrājit, falsely accused Lord Kṛṣṇa of murder. To clear His name, Kṛṣṇa defeated Jāmbavān, recovered the Syamantaka jewel and returned it to Satrājit. Repentant, my father presented the Lord with both the jewel and myself."
Queen Jāmbavatī said, "When Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered my father's cave in search of the Syamantaka jewel, at first my father, Jāmbavān, did not understand who He was. So my father fought with Him for twenty-seven days and nights. Finally, Jāmbavān understood that Kṛṣṇa was none other than Lord Rāmacandra, his worshipable Lord. Thus he gave Kṛṣṇa the Syamantaka jewel, along with me."
Queen Kālindī said, "To obtain Kṛṣṇa as my husband, I performed severe austerities. Then one day Lord Kṛṣṇa came to me in the company of Arjuna, and at that time the Lord agreed to marry me."
Queen Mitravindā said, "Śrī Kṛṣṇa came to my svayaḿ-vara ceremony, where He defeated all the opposing kings and took me away to His city of Dvārakā."
Queen Satyā said, "My father stipulated that to win my hand, a prospective suitor would have to subdue and tie up seven powerful bulls. Accepting this challenge, Lord Kṛṣṇa playfully subdued them, defeated all His rival suitors and married me."
Queen Bhadrā said, "My father invited his nephew Kṛṣṇa, to whom I had already given my heart, and offered me to Him as His bride. The dowry was an entire military division and a retinue of my female companions."
Queen Lakṣmaṇā said to Draupadī, "At my svayaḿ-vara, as at yours, a fish-target was fastened near the ceiling. But in my case the fish was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below. Several kings tried to hit the fish with an arrow but failed. Arjuna then made his attempt. He concentrated on the reflection of the fish in the water and took careful aim, but when he released his arrow it only grazed the target. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa fixed His arrow on the bow and shot it straight through the target, knocking it to the ground. I placed the victory necklace on Śrī Kṛṣṇa's neck, but the kings who had failed raised a violent protest. Lord Kṛṣṇa valiantly fought them, cutting off the heads, arms and legs of many and sending the rest fleeing for their lives. Then the Lord took me to Dvārakā for our lavish wedding."
Rohiṇī-devī, representing all the other queens, explained that they were daughters of the kings defeated by Bhaumāsura. The demon had held them captive, but when Lord Kṛṣṇa killed him He had released them and married them all.
10.83.1
tathānugṛhya bhagavān
yudhiṣṭhiram athāpṛcchat
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'The Supreme Lord, the spiritual master and goal of the gopîs, this way showing His favor, then met with Yudhishthhira and the rest of His relatives and inquired after their welfare.
The words gurur gatiḥ have been translated here in their usual sense: "spiritual master and goal." Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, however, points out an additional meaning: While Lord Kṛṣṇa is the goal for all sādhus in general, for the gopīs specifically He is that goal which is guru, "predominant," in the sense of completely eclipsing the significance of all other possible goals.
10.83.2
paripṛṣṭāḥ su-sat-kṛtāḥ
pratyūcur hṛṣṭa-manasas
tat-pādekṣā-hatāḿhasaḥ
(2) They, who from seeing His feet were freed from their sinful reactions, felt thus questioned by the Lord of the World very honored and replied gladly:
10.83.3
kuto 'śivaḿ tvac-caraṇāmbujāsavaḿ
mahan-manasto mukha-niḥsṛtaḿ kvacit
(3) 'How can inauspiciousness arise for those who of Your lotus-like feet ever drank the intoxicating nectar that is poured out by the minds and mouths of the great souls? How can they who with the drinking cups of their ears drank to their fill not experience the happiness, o Master, o Destroyer of the forgetfulness about the Creator of one's bodily existence?
10.83.4
māyākṛtiḿ paramahaḿsa-gatiḿ natāḥ sma
(4) Indeed are we by the light of Your personal form released from the bonds of the three states of material consciousness [wakefulness, dreaming and sleeping] and are we, totally immersed, of spiritual happiness in having bowed down to You, the goal of the perfected saints [the paramahamsas] who by the power of Your illusion has assumed this form for the protection of the unlimited and ever fresh vedic knowledge that is threatened by time.'
Simply by the effulgent light emanating from the beautiful form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one's intelligence is purified of all material contamination, and thus the soul's various entanglements in the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are dispelled. "How then," the Lord's relatives imply, "can we ever suffer misfortune? We are always immersed in absolute happiness." This is their answer to His inquiry about their welfare.
10.83.5
(5) The great sage said: 'As His people were thus glorifying the crest jewel of all personalities hailed by the scriptures, met the women of the Andhaka and Kaurava clans to discuss with each other the topics of Govinda sung in the three worlds; please listen as I describe them to you. (6-
10.83.6-7
he vaidarbhy acyuto bhadre
7) S'rî Draupadî said: 'O Vaidarbhî [Rukminî], Bhadrâ, Jâmbavatî and Kaus'alâ [Nâgnajitî]; o Satyabhâmâ, Kâlindî, S'aibyâ [Mitravindâ], Rohinî [see foonote* and 10.61*] and Lakshmanâ [Mâdrâ] and other wives of Krishna, please tell us how it came to pass that Acyuta, the Supreme Lord Himself, who by the grace of His mystic power lived the way one lives in the world, got married to you?'
The Rohiṇī addressed here by Draupadī is not Lord Balarāma's mother but another Rohiṇī, the foremost of the sixteen thousand princesses Lord Kṛṣṇa rescued from the prison of Bhaumāsura. Draupadī turns to her as the representative of all sixteen thousand, and as a virtual equal to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's eight chief queens.
10.83.8
caidyāya mārpayitum udyata-kārmukeṣu
tac-chrī-niketa-caraṇo 'stu mamārcanāya
(8) S'rî Rukminî said: 'Like a lion taking his share from a herd of goats and sheep, took He who puts the dust of His feet upon the heads of invincible fighters, me away when the kings with their bows were about to offer me to S'is'upâla; may the feet of Him, the abode of S'rî, be my object of worship [see 10.52-54].'
10.83.9
śrī-satyabhāmovāca
liptābhiśāpam apamārṣṭum upājahāra
(9) S'rî Satyabhâmâ said: 'To my father whose heart was distressed with the death of his brother, gave He, being accused, to clear His name, the jewel back after defeating the king of the bears [Jâmbavân]; afraid because of this offered my father me to the Lord even though I was spoken for [see 10.56].'
As described in Chapter 56 of this canto, King Satrājit had already compromised himself by promising his daughter's hand first to Akrūra and then again to a number of other suitors. But after the return of the Syamantaka jewel, he felt impelled by his shame to offer her to Lord Kṛṣṇa instead. According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the word prabhave ("unto the Lord") answers any doubt as to the propriety of offering Kṛṣṇa a bride who had already been promised to others. It is perfectly proper to offer Him everything one owns, and improper to withhold anything from Him.
10.83.10
jñātvā parīkṣita upāharad arhaṇaḿ māḿ
(10) S'rî Jâmbavatî said: 'The maker of this body unaware of Him, the Husband of Sîtâ, as being his master and worshipable deity, fought for twenty-seven days with Him. Having come to his senses recognizing Him he presented me together with the jewel taking hold of His feet; I'm His maid-servant [see also 10.56].'
Jāmbavān had been Lord Rāmacandra's servant many thousands of years before. that while hearing Jāmbavatī's story, the women present recognized her as the girl whom Jāmbavān had once offered to Lord Śrī Rāma to be His wife. Since Lord Rāma had taken a vow to have only one wife, He could not accept her then, but did so when He returned in the Dvāpara-yuga as Kṛṣṇa. The other queens wanted to honor Jāmbavatī for this, but she replied humbly, "I am just the Lord's maidservant."
How Jāmbavatī and Satyabhāmā became Lord Kṛṣṇa's wives is told in Chapter 56 of the Tenth Canto.
10.83.11
sakhyopetyāgrahīt pāṇiḿ
(11) S'rî Kâlindî said: 'Knowing that I with the desire of touching His feet was executing penances, came He together with His friend [Arjuna] and took He my hand; I am the one cleaning His residence [10.58: 12-23].'
10.83.12
śrī-mitravindovāca
tasyāstu me 'nu-bhavam ańghry-avanejanatvam
(12) S'rî Mitravindâ said: 'During my svayamvara coming forward stole He me away the way the enemy of the elephants [a lion] claims his share from a pack of dogs; after defeating the kings and my brothers insulting Him, took He me to His capital where S'rî resides; may there for me, life after life, be the service of washing His feet [10.58: 31].'
10.83.13-14
śrī-satyovāca
(13-14) S'rî Satyâ said: 'Seven great bulls most strong and vital with the sharpest horns, by my father arranged to test the prowess of the kings, destroyed the pride of the heroes; but they were quickly subdued and tied up by Him with the ease of children playing with young goats. This way paying for me with His valor took He me, protected by maid-servants, with Him, with an army of four divisions along the road defeating the kings; may there be my servitude to Him [10.58: 32-55].'
10.83.15-16
śrī-bhadrovāca
pitā me mātuleyāya
kṛṣṇe kṛṣṇāya tac-cittām
karmabhir bhrāmyamāṇāyā
(15-16) S'rî Bhadrâ said: 'With me in love with Him, o Krishnâ [Draupadî], invited my father on his own accord my maternal cousin Krishna and gave he me to Him together with a retinue of female companions and a military escort of one akshauhini; may there for me, birth after birth wandering because of my karma, be that betterment of myself in touching His feet [10.58: 56].'
With the word ātmanaḥ, Queen Bhadrā speaks not only for herself but for all living entities as well. The soul's perfection (śreya ātmanaḥ) is devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, both in this world and beyond, in liberation. although in civilized society it is normally considered disrespectful to publicly speak the name of one's guru or husband, Lord Kṛṣṇa's name is unique: the mere utterance of the name Kṛṣṇa is commendable as the highest expression of reverence for God. As the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.19) states, yasya nāma mahad yaśaḥ: "The holy name of the Lord is supremely glorious."
10.83.17
śrī-lakṣmaṇovāca
(17) S'rî Lakshmanâ said: 'O Queen, time and again hearing Nârada glorifying Acyuta's births and activities became my heart fixed upon Mukunda, He who after due consideration in rejection of the rulers of the world, indeed was chosen by her [the goddess S'rî] holding the lotus.
10.83.18
bṛhatsena iti khyātas
tatropāyam acīkarat
(18) My father known as Brihatsena, o saintly lady, knowing of my state of mind arranged out of his love for his daughter a means to this end.
10.83.19
(19) Just as in your svayamvara, o Queen, was a fish used [hung high as a target] that had to be won by Arjuna. Hidden from sight however, could it only be seen as a reflection in water [in a pot below].
Arjuna is famous as the most expert bowman. Why, then, could he not hit the fish target at Śrīmatī Lakṣmaṇā's svayaḿ-vara ceremony just as he had done once before to win Draupadī? Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains: The target at Draupadī's svayaḿ-vara had been covered only partially, so that a marksman could see it if he looked straight up the pillar on which it was placed. To shoot Lakṣmaṇā's target, however, it was necessary to aim by looking up and down at the same time, an impossible feat for any mortal. Therefore only Kṛṣṇa could strike the target.
10.83.20
sopādhyāyāḥ sahasraśaḥ
(20) Hearing about this came from everywhere all the kings expert in the art of shooting arrows and wielding other weapons to my father's city along with their thousands of teachers.
10.83.21
(21) My father honored all of them in full, each according his strength and age, after which they who had set their minds upon me in the assembly took up their bow and arrow to take a shot.
10.83.22
petur eke 'munāhatāḥ
(22) Some of them after lifting [the bow] were unable to string it and some having pulled the bowstring failed because they were hit by it.
10.83.23
māgadhāmbaṣṭha-cedipāḥ
bhīmo duryodhanaḥ karṇo
nāvidaḿs tad-avasthitim
(23) Other heroes, the kings of Magadha [Jarâsandha], Cedi [S'is'upâla] and Ambashthha as well as Bhîma, Duryodhana and Karna, managed to string the bow but couldn't determine the target's location.
10.83.24
pārtho yatto 'sṛjad bāṇaḿ
(24) Arjuna did manage to locate it and took, as he aimed carefully while looking at the reflection of the fish in the water, a shot, but the arrow didn't hit the target, it brushed it only.
According to the explanation of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, Arjuna was more expert a marksman than the other kings, but his physical strength was not adequate to the task of shooting it with perfect accuracy.
10.83.25-26
chittveṣuṇāpātayat taḿ
(25-26) When the kings defeated in their pride had given up, managed the Supreme Lord, playfully taking up the bow, stringing it and then fixing an arrow on it, to pierce with a single look in the water the fish with His arrow at the moment the sun was situated in Abhijit [in 'victory', or at noon].
Each day the sun passes once through the lunar constellation Abhijit, marking the period most auspicious for victory. As pointed out by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, on this particular day the muhūrta of Abhijit coincided with high noon, further emphasizing Lord Kṛṣṇa's greatness by making the target all the more difficult to see.
10.83.27
divi dundubhayo nedur
devāś ca kusumāsārān
(27) Kettledrums resounded in the sky together with the sounds of 'jaya' of the godly on earth who overwhelmed by joy released torrents of flowers.
10.83.28
(28) Next did I, with a shy smile on my face and a wreath of flowers in my hair, enter the arena with gently tinkling ankle bells on my feet, a necklace of gold with brilliant jewels around my neck and a pair of fine silken, new garments held together by a belt.
that Śrī Lakṣmaṇā was so excited by remembering how she obtained the Supreme Lord that she forgot her natural shyness and went on to describe her own triumph.
10.83.29
(29) Lifting my face with its many locks of hair all around and my cheeks effulgent of the earrings, looked I all around at the kings. With a cool smile casting sidelong glances placed I slowly my necklace around the neck of Murâri who had captured my heart.
10.83.30
śańkha-bhery-ānakādayaḥ
ninedur naṭa-nartakyo
(30) At that moment resounded conch shells, mridangas, tabors, kettle drums and wardrums and such, and sang the singers while male and female dancers danced.
10.83.31
spardhanto hṛc-chayāturāḥ
(31) The choice I thus made for the Supreme Lord as my master was for the leading kings not acceptable o Draupadî, upset with a heart filled with abuse they became quarrelsome.
10.83.32
(32) Faced with that situation lifted He me in the chariot with its four excellent horses and stood He, preparing His S'ârnga and donning His armor, firm to deliver battle with His four arms [displayed in full].
10.83.33
kāñcanopaskaraḿ ratham
mṛgāṇāḿ mṛga-rāḍ iva
(33) Dâruka drove the chariot that was trimmed with gold o Queen, while the kings were looking on as if they were little animals daunted by the lion king.
10.83.34
saḿyattā uddhṛteṣv-āsā
(34) The kings, like village dogs with a lion, went after Him. Some of them then tried to stop Him in His course by raising their bows against Him.
10.83.35
kṛtta-bāhv-ańghri-kandharāḥ
(35) From the floods of arrows shot from S'ârnga fell some of them with their arms, legs and necks severed, while some others, gave it up and fled.
10.83.36
tataḥ purīḿ yadu-patir aty-alańkṛtāḿ
kuśasthalīḿ divi bhuvi cābhisaḿstutāḿ
(36) Then entered the Lord of the Yadus, like the sun reaching its abode [or the western horizon], Dvârakâ, His city that is glorified in heaven and on earth, and was profusely decorated with wonderful archways and banners on flagpoles that blocked the sun.
10.83.37
mahārha-vāso-'lańkāraiḥ
śayyāsana-paricchadaiḥ
(37) My father honored his friends, immediate relations and other family members with the most valuable clothing and jewelry and with beds, thrones and other furniture.
10.83.38
āyudhāni mahārhāṇi
(38) Out of devotion presented he the Lord of the Complete [Pûrnasya] the most valuable weapons, along with maidservants endowed with all riches, infantry, elephantry, chariotry and cavalry.
The Supreme Lord is pūrṇa, perfect and complete in Himself. He requires nothing for His satisfaction. Knowing this, a pure devotee makes offerings to the Lord only out of love, bhaktitaḥ, with no expectation of material profit. And on His part, the Lord happily accepts even a small gift of flowers, tulasī leaves and water when it has been offered in love.
10.83.39
ātmārāmasya tasyemā
(39) By doing penances with the abrupt breaking off of our material bonds have we all become the maidservants of His household, of Him the One Satisfied Within Himself.'
Śrīmatī Lakṣmaṇā became embarrassed when she realized that she had been talking about herself, and so she spoke this verse praising her co-wives. In her humility Lakṣmaṇā claimed that Kṛṣṇa's queens, unlike ordinary wives, could not bring their husband under control, and thus they could relate to Him only as servile housekeepers. In fact, however, since the Lord's queens are direct expansions of His internal pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti), they fully controlled Him with their love.
10.83.40
pādāmbujaḿ pariṇināya ya āpta-kāmaḥ
(40) The other queens said [through Rohinî]: 'He met us after He in battle had killed the demon Bhauma and his followers. We who have been defeated and imprisoned by the demon are the daughters of the kings Bhauma defeated during his conquest of the earth. After our release have we constantly remembered His lotus feet as the source of liberation from a material existence, and has He, the One Whose Wishes are All Fulfilled, married us.
Rohiṇī-devī was one of the nine queens questioned by Draupadī in Texts 6 and 7, and thus it is assumed that she speaks here, representing the 16,099 other queens. Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms this in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
10.83.41-42
svārājyaḿ bhaujyam apy uta
kāmayāmaha etasya
(41-42) O saintly lady, we do not desire rulership over the earth, a heavenly kingdom, unlimited pleasures even or mystic power, to be the supreme divinity, immortality or the abode of Hari, we desire to carry on our heads the dust of the divine feet of the Wielder of the Club that is enriched with the fragrance of the kunkuma from the bosom of S'rî [see also 10.47: 60, ** and the S'rî S'rî S'ikshâshthaka verse 4].
The verb rāj means "to rule," and from it are derived the words sāmrājyam, meaning "rulership over the entire earth," and svārājyam, meaning "rulership over heaven." Bhaujyam comes from the verb bhuj, "to enjoy," and thus refers to the capacity of enjoying whatever one desires. Virāṭ is explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī as representing the phrase vividhaḿ virājate ("one enjoys many kinds of opulence") and specifically indicating the eight mystic perfections of aṇimā and so on.
An alternative explanation of these terms is given by Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, who says that according to the Bahv-ṛca Brāhmaṇa, these four terms designate the power of sovereignty over each of the four cardinal directions: sāmrājya for the East, bhaujya for the South, svārājya for the West, and vairājya for the North.
Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens clearly state that they do not desire any of these powers, or even the position of Brahmā, liberation or entrance into the kingdom of God. They simply want the dust from Śrī Kṛṣṇa's feet, which Goddess Śrī herself worships. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī tells us that the goddess of fortune mentioned here is not Lakṣmī, the consort of Nārāyaṇa. After all, the ācārya explains, Goddess Lakṣmī could not attain the direct association of Kṛṣṇa even after performing extended austerities, as Uddhava states: nāyaḿ śrīyo 'ńga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ (Bhāg. 10.47.60). Rather, the Śrī referred to here is the supreme goddess of fortune identified by the Bṛhad-gautamīya-tantra:
devī kṛṣṇa-mayī proktā
"The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord."
10.83.43
gāvaś cārayato gopāḥ
(43) We desire the same as what the Pulinda women [the gopîs] desire, as what the grass and the plants and the grazing cows and the gopas of Vraja desire: to be touched by the feet of the Supreme Soul.'
the jealous rivalry that always existed between the queens of Dvārakā and the gopīs of Vraja. The gopīs considered the sophisticated women of Dvārakā the most serious threat to their hold on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, confessing their anxiety to Uddhava: kasmāt kṛṣṇa ihāyāti prāpta-rājyo hatāhitaḥ/ narendra-kanyā udvāhya.
"Why should Kṛṣṇa come back here after winning a kingdom, killing His enemies and marrying the daughters of kings?" (Bhāg. 10.47.45)
Rukmiṇī and her seven chief co-wives considered themselves so fortunate in their relationship with Kṛṣṇa as He appeared in Dvārakā that they did not especially desire to see Him as He is in Vṛndāvana. But the sixteen thousand lesser queens, after hearing Uddhava describe Śrī Rādhā's superexcellent qualities, became attracted to touch the dust that falls from Kṛṣṇa's feet onto the grass and plants of Vṛndāvana. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī indicates that some commentators give this as the reason why, after the mauṣala-līlā, these sixteen thousand queens were stolen from Arjuna on the road by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the disguise of sixteen thousand cowherds, who then took them away to Gokula.
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Eighty-third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Draupadī Meets the Queens of Kṛṣṇa."
No comments:
Post a Comment