VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 90
The Queens Play and Speak and Lord Krishna's Glories Summarized
This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with His queens in the lakes of Dvārakā. It also relates the queens' ecstatic prayers in the mood of intense separation from Him, and summarizes the Lord's pastimes.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa continued to reside in His opulent capital of Dvārakā, together with the Yadus and His queens. He would enjoy sporting with His wives in the ponds on the palace grounds, squirting water on them with a syringe and being squirted in turn. With His graceful gestures, loving words and sidelong glances, He would enchant their hearts. In this way the queens would become totally absorbed in thoughts of Him. Sometimes, after playing with the Lord in the water, they would address various creatures — kurarī and cakravāka birds, the ocean, the moon, a cloud, a cuckoo, a mountain, a river and so on — declaring their great attachment to Śrī Kṛṣṇa on the pretext of commiserating with these creatures.
Lord Kṛṣṇa begot ten sons in the womb of each of His queens. Among these sons, Pradyumna was foremost, being equal to His father in all transcendental qualities. Pradyumna married Rukmī's daughter, and from her womb Aniruddha was born. Aniruddha then married Rukmī's granddaughter and begot Vajra, who was the only Yadu prince to survive the battle of iron clubs at Prabhāsa. From Vajra descended the remainder of the Yadu dynasty, beginning with Pratibāhu. The members of the Yadu dynasty are virtually innumerable; indeed, just to educate their children the Yadus employed 38,800,000 teachers.
Before Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared, many demons took birth in human families to harass the people of the world and destroy brahminical culture. To subdue them, the Lord ordered the demigods to descend into the Yadu dynasty, which then expanded into 101 clans. All of the Yadus recognized Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and had unflinching faith in Him. While resting, eating, walking and so on, which they often did in His company, they would forget their own bodies in their transcendental happiness.
The Tenth Canto concludes with this promise of success for the sincere hearer: "By regularly hearing, chanting and meditating on the beautiful topics of Lord Mukunda with ever-increasing sincerity, a mortal being will attain the divine kingdom of the Lord, where the inviolable power of death holds no sway."
10.90.1-7
strībhiś cottama-veṣābhir
kandukādibhir harmyeṣu
krīḍantībhis taḍid-dyubhiḥ
sv-alańkṛtair bhaṭair aśvai
rathaiś ca kanakojjvalaiḥ
udyānopavanāḍhyāyāḿ
nirviśad-bhṛńga-vihagair
protphullotpala-kahlāra-
kumudāmbhoja-reṇubhiḥ
vāsitāmala-toyeṣu
vijahāra vigāhyāmbho
hradinīṣu mahodayaḥ
(1-7) S'rî S'uka said: 'The Master of the goddess of fortune resided happily in Dvârakâ, His own city opulent in all features and populated by the most prominent Vrishnis. When the finest of their women, dressed in new clothes, in the beauty of their youth were playing with balls and other toys on the rooftops, shone they like lightening. Its roads were always crowded with well ornamented elephants intoxicated dripping with mada, footsoldiers and horses and chariots brilliant with gold. The city was richly endowed with gardens and parks with rows of flowering trees everywhere filled with the sounds of the bees and birds frequenting them. Enjoying His sixteen thousand wives as their one and only love had He in their richly furnished residences expanded in as many different forms [see also 10.69: 41]. Diving in the pellucid waters where there was the cooing of flocks of birds and the aroma of the pollen of nightblooming and dayblooming lotuses and water lilies, sported the Great Appearance in the streams whereby His body, being embraced by the women, was smeared with the kunkuma of their breasts.
One rule of poetic composition practiced by Vaiṣṇava authors is madhureṇa samāpayet: "A literary work should conclude in a mood of special sweetness." Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the most tasteful narrator of transcendental topics, has accordingly included in this last chapter of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam a description of Lord Kṛṣṇa's water sports in the attractive setting of Dvārakā, followed by the rapturous prayers of the Lord's queens.
10.90.8-9
upagīyamāno gandharvair
mṛdańga-paṇavānakān
sicyamāno 'cyutas tābhir
(8-9) By the singers of heaven playing two-sided drums, kettledrums and tabors and by female and male praisers playing vînâs being glorified, was Acyuta with syringes by His wives laughing squirted with water and squirted He back, thus sporting like the lord of the treasurekeepers [Kuvera] does with his nymphs.
10.90.10
(10) Sprinkling revealed they with wet clothes their thighs and breasts and tried they, with the flowers of their large braids scattered all over the place, with resplendent faces beaming wide smiles, to embrace Him in snatching away the syringe of their Consort.
10.90.11
siñcan muhur yuvatibhiḥ pratiṣicyamāno
(11) As Krishna with on His garland the kunkuma from their breasts, and the order of His mass of hair disheveled from His absorption in the sport, enjoyed the being sprayed and spraying of the women, was He like the king of the elephants surrounded by she-elephants.
10.90.12
gīta-vādyopajīvinām
krīḍālańkāra-vāsāḿsi
(12) Done playing gave Krishna the male and female performers who earned their livelihoods by singing and playing music, the ornaments and garments of Him and His wives.
10.90.13
kṛṣṇasyaivaḿ viharato
gaty-ālāpekṣita-smitaiḥ
(13) Thus were in the play of Krishna's sporting, His movements, His conversing, glancing and smiling; of His jokes, exchanges of love and embraces, the hearts of the wives stolen.
10.90.14
ūcur mukundaika-dhiyo
cintayantyo 'ravindākṣaḿ
(14) With their minds exclusively focussed on Mukunda spoke they stunned like they were mad. Now listen to me as I relate to you these words resulting from this thinking about the Lotus-eyed One.
that this superficial appearance of insanity in Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens, as if they had become intoxicated by dhattūra or some other hallucinogenic drug, was in fact the manifestation of the sixth progressive stage of pure love of Godhead, technically known as prema-vaicitrya. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī refers to this variety of anurāga in his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (15.134):
priyasya sannikarṣe 'pi
premotkarṣa-svabhāvataḥ
"When, as a natural by-product of one's extreme love, one feels the distress of separation even in the direct presence of the beloved, this state is called prema-vaicitrya."10.90.15
(15) The queens said [see also 10.47: 12-21, 10.83: 8-40]: 'O kurari you are lamenting, deprived of sleep you cannot rest while the Controller somewhere in the world in an unknown place is sleeping this night. Is it that you, like us o friend, had your heart pierced to the core by the smiling, munificent, playful glance of His lotus eyes?
that the transcendental madness (unmāda) of the queens filled them with such ecstasy that they saw their own mood reflected in everyone and everything else. Here they point out to the kurarī bird, whom they take to be sorrowing over separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa, that if the Lord actually had any concern for her or themselves, He would not be sleeping comfortably at that moment. They warn the kurarī not to expect Kṛṣṇa to hear her lamentation and show some mercy. In case the kurarī might think that Kṛṣṇa is sleeping with His queens, they deny this by saying that He is gupta-bodha: His whereabouts are unknown to them. He is out in the world somewhere this night, but they have no idea where to go looking for Him. "Ah, dear bird," they cry, "even though you are a simple creature, your heart has been deeply pierced, just like ours. You must have had some contact, then, with our Kṛṣṇa. What keeps you from giving up your hopeless attachment to Him?"
10.90.16
netre nimīlayasi naktam adṛṣṭa-bandhus
(16) O cakravâkî, alas, having closed your eyes for the night, you're crying pitifully. Or do you, having attained the servitude, perhaps like us desire in your braided hair the garland honored by Acyuta's feet?
10.90.17
bho bhoḥ sadā niṣṭanase udanvann
alabdha-nidro 'dhigata-prajāgaraḥ
kim vā mukundāpahṛtātma-lāñchanaḥ
prāptāḿ daśāḿ tvaḿ ca gato duratyayām
(17) O dear, dear ocean, you're always making such a noise, never getting any sleep. Do you suffer insomnia? Or were maybe your personal qualities stolen by Mukunda and have you also reached the state from which there is no escape?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī states that Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens here confuse the sea surrounding Dvārakā with the celestial Ocean of Milk, from which Lakṣmī and the Kaustubha gem arose long ago. These were taken (apahṛta) by Lord Viṣṇu, and they now reside on His chest. The queens presume that the ocean is anxious to see once again the mark of Lakṣmī's residence and the Kaustubha jewel on the Lord's chest, and they express their sympathy by saying that they also want to see these marks. But the queens desire even more to see the kuńkuma marks on the Lord's chest, which He "took" from their breasts when they last embraced Him.
10.90.18
tvaḿ yakṣmaṇā balavatāsi gṛhīta indo
kṣīṇas tamo na nija-dīdhitibhiḥ kṣiṇoṣi
(18) O moon are you, seized by the fell disease of consumption, so emaciated that you can't dispel the darkness with your rays? Or is it that you appear so stunned to us, o dear, because you, like us, can't remember the talks of Mukunda?
10.90.19
govindāpāńga-nirbhinne
(19) O wind from the Malaya mountains, what have we done that would have displeased you so that we are inspired with lust in our hearts, hearts that are already torn apart by Govinda's sidelong glances?
10.90.20
aty-utkaṇṭhaḥ śavala-hṛdayo 'smad-vidho bāṣpa-dhārāḥ
(20) O you honorable cloud, you sure are a friend most dear to the Chief of the Yâdavas with the S'rîvatsa on His chest. We, just as your good self, are bound to Him in our meditation on the pure of love. Your most eager heart is as distraught as ours. The same way as you, do we remember Him over and over and results that in torrents of rain with you and gives that us streams of tears again and again. That is the pain one suffers in association with Him.
The ācāryas explain this verse as follows: The cloud acts as the friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa by shielding Him from the scorching rays of the sun, and certainly such an earnest well-wisher of the Lord must constantly meditate on Him with concern for His welfare. Although the cloud shares the Lord's blue complexion, it is Lord Kṛṣṇa's distinctive features, such as His Śrīvatsa mark, that especially attract him to this meditation. But what is the result? Simply unhappiness: the cloud is depressed and thus constantly sheds tears on the pretext of raining. "So," the queens advise him, "it would be better for you not to take much interest in Kṛṣṇa."
10.90.21
(21) O sweet-throated cuckoo, please tell me what I should do to please you who, in this voice able to revive the dead, are uttering the vibrations of Him whose sounds are so dear.
though the song of a cuckoo is very pleasant, Lord Kṛṣṇa's wives perceive it as painful because it reminds them of their beloved Kṛṣṇa and exacerbates their pain of separation.
10.90.22
(22) O mountain so broad in your intelligence, you do not move or speak. Are you preoccupied with great matters, or do you maybe like us desire to hold the feet of the darling son of Vasudeva on your breasts?
10.90.23
(23) O [rivers,] wives of the ocean, your lakes alas have lost their wealth of lotuses, now they just like us dried up emaciated of not obtaining the loving glance of our beloved husband, the Lord of Madhu, who so often cheated our hearts [see also 10.47: 41 and 10.48: 11].
During the summer the rivers do not receive downpours of water provided by their husband, the ocean, via the clouds. But the real reason for the rivers' emaciation, as the queens see it, is that they have failed to obtain the loving glance of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of all happiness.
10.90.24
(24) O swan, be welcome and sit down, please drink some milk, tell us o dear one the news, for we know you are a messenger of S'auri. Is the Unconquerable One all well? Does He who is so fickle in His friendship still remember that He talked to us so long ago? Why should we [run after Him to] be of worship, o servant of the campaka [a type of magnolia]? Tell Him who raises the desire that He must visit us without the goddess of fortune. Why would that woman have the exclusive right of devotion?'
the following conversation between the queens and the swan:
The queens ask, "Is the unconquerable Lord doing well?"
The swan replies, "How can Lord Kṛṣṇa be doing well without you, His beloved consorts?"
"But does He even remember what He once told one of us, Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī? Does He recall that He said, 'In all My palaces I see no other wife as dear as you'?" [Bhāg. 10.60.55: na tvādṛśīḿ praṇayiṇīḿ gṛhiṇīḿ gṛheṣu paśyāmi]
"He does indeed remember this, and that is just why He sent me here. You should all go to Him and engage in His devotional service."
"Why should we go worship Him if He refuses to come here to be with us?"
"But my dear oceans of compassion, He is suffering so much from your absence! How can He be saved from this distress?"
"Just listen, O servant of a petty master: tell Him to come here, as He should. If He is suffering from lusty desires, He has only Himself to blame, since He Himself is the creator of Cupid's power. We self-respecting ladies are not going to yield to His demand that we go seek Him out."
"So be it; then I will take my leave."
"No, one minute, dear swan. Ask Him to come to us here, but without the goddess of fortune, who always cheats us by keeping Him all to herself."
"Don't you know that Goddess Lakṣmī is devoted exclusively to the Lord? How could He give her up like that?"
"And is she the only woman in the world who is completely sold out to Him? What about us?"
10.90.25
itīdṛśena bhāvena
kṛṣṇe yogeśvareśvare
kriyamāṇena mādhavyo
(25) S'rî S'uka said: 'Speaking and acting with such ecstatic love for Krishna, the Master of the Yogamasters, attained the wives of Lord Mâdhava the ultimate goal.
here Śukadeva Gosvāmī uses the present tense of the word kriyamāṇena to indicate that the Lord's queens attained His eternal abode immediately, without delay. By this insight the ācārya helps refute the false notion that after Lord Kṛṣṇa's departure from this world, some primitive cowherds kidnapped His queens while they were under the protection of Arjuna. In fact, as the self-realized Vaiṣṇava commentators elsewhere explain, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appeared in the guise of the thieves who abducted the queens. For further information on this subject, see Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.15.20.
that the supreme goal attained by these exalted women was not the liberation of the impersonal yogīs but the perfect state of prema-bhakti, pure loving devotion. Indeed, since they were already imbued with divine love of God from the very beginning, they possessed transcendental bodies of eternity, knowledge and bliss, in which they were fully able to relish the pleasure of reciprocating with the Supreme Lord in his most intimate, sweet pastimes. Specifically, in the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, their love of God matured into the ecstasy of madness in pure love (bhāvonmada), just as the gopīs' love did when Kṛṣṇa disappeared from their midst during the rāsa dance. At that time the gopīs experienced the full development of ecstatic madness, which they expressed in their inquiries from the various creatures of the forest and in such words as kṛṣṇo 'haḿ paśyata gatim: "I am Kṛṣṇa! Just see how gracefully I move!" (Bhāg. 10.30.19) Similarly, the vilāsa, or flourishing transformation, of the ecstatic love of Lord Dvārakādhīśa's principal queens has produced the prema-vaicitrya symptoms they have exhibited here.
10.90.26
prasahyākarṣate manaḥ
(26) He, in numerous songs glorified in numerous ways, attracts with force the mind of any woman who but heard about Him. And what then would that mean to those who directly see Him?
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