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Texts:
Summary
of Lord Krishna's Glories
Text
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.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: The master of the goddess of
fortune resided happily in His capital city,
Dvârakâ, which was endowed with all opulences
and populated by the most eminent Vrishnis and their
gorgeously dressed wives. When these beautiful women in the
bloom of youth would play on the city's rooftops with balls
and other toys, they shone like flashing lightning. The main
streets of the city were always crowded with intoxicated
elephants exuding mada, and also with cavalry, richly
adorned infantrymen, and soldiers riding chariots
brilliantly decorated with gold. Gracing the city were many
gardens and parks with rows of flowering trees, where bees
and birds would gather, filling all directions with their
songs. Lord
Krishna was the sole beloved of His sixteen thousand wives.
Expanding Himself into that many forms, He enjoyed with each
of His queens in her own richly furnished residence. On the
grounds of these palaces were clear ponds fragrant with the
pollen of blooming utpala, kahlâra, kumuda and ambhoja
lotuses and filled with flocks of cooing birds. The almighty
Lord would enter those ponds, and also various rivers, and
enjoy sporting in the water while His wives embraced Him,
leaving the red kunkuma from their breasts smeared on
His body. (Vedabase)
Text
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.
As
Gandharvas joyfully sang His praises to the accompaniment
of mridanga, panava and ânaka drums, and
as professional reciters known as Sûtas,
Mâgadhas and Vandîs played vînâs and
recited poems praising Him, Lord Krishna would play with His
wives in the water. Laughing, the queens would squirt water
on Him with syringes, and He would squirt them back. Thus
Krishna would sport with His queens in the same way that the
lord of the Yakshas sports with the Yakshî nymphs.
(Vedabase)
Text
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.
Under
the drenched clothing of the queens, their thighs and
breasts would become visible. The flowers tied in their
large braids would scatter as they sprayed water on their
consort, and on the plea of trying to take away His syringe,
they would embrace Him. By His touch their lusty feelings
would increase, causing their faces to beam with smiles.
Thus Lord Krishna's queens shone with resplendent beauty.
(Vedabase)
Text
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.
Lord
Krishna's flower garland would become smeared with
kunkuma from their breasts, and His abundant locks of
hair would become disheveled as a result of His absorption
in the game. As the Lord repeatedly sprayed His young
consorts and they sprayed Him in turn, He enjoyed Himself
like the king of elephants enjoying in the company of his
bevy of she-elephants. (Vedabase)
Text
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.
Afterward,
Lord Krishna and His wives would give the ornaments and
clothing they had worn during their water sports to the male
and female performers, who earned their livelihood from
singing and from playing instrumental music.
(Vedabase)
Text
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.
In
this way Lord Krishna would sport with His queens, totally
captivating their hearts with His gestures, talks, glances
and smiles, and also with His jokes, playful exchanges and
embraces. (Vedabase)
Text
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.
The
queens would become stunned in ecstatic trance, their minds
absorbed in Krishna alone. Then, thinking of their
lotus-eyed Lord, they would speak as if insane. Please hear
these words from me as I relate them. (Vedabase)
Text
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?
The
queens said: O kurari bird, you are lamenting. Now it is
night, and somewhere in this world the Supreme Lord is
asleep in a hidden place. But you are wide awake, O friend,
unable to fall asleep. Is it that, like us, you have had
your heart pierced to the core by the lotus-eyed Lord's
munificent, playful smiling glances? (Vedabase)
Text
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?
Poor
cakravâkî, even after closing your eyes, you
continue to cry pitifully through the night for your unseen
mate. Or is it that, like us, you have become the servant of
Acyuta and hanker to wear in your braided hair the garland
He has blessed with the touch of His feet? (Vedabase)
Text
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?
Dear
ocean, you are always roaring, not sleeping at night. Are
you suffering insomnia? Or is it that, as with us, Mukunda
has taken your insignias and you are hopeless of retrieving
them? (Vedabase)
Text
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?
My
dear moon, having contracted a severe case of tuberculosis,
you have become so emaciated that you fail to dispel the
darkness with your rays. Or is it that you appear dumbstruck
because, like us, you cannot remember the encouraging
promises Mukunda once made to you? (Vedabase)
Text
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?
O
Malayan breeze, what have we done to displease you, so that
you stir up lust in our hearts, which have already been
shattered by Govinda's sidelong glances? (Vedabase)
Text
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.
O
revered cloud, you are indeed very dear to the chief of the
Yâdavas, who bears the mark of S'rîvatsa. Like
us, you are bound to Him by love and are meditating upon
Him. Your heart is distraught with great eagerness, as our
hearts are, and as you remember Him again and again you shed
a torrent of tears. Association with Krishna brings such
misery! (Vedabase)
Text
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.
O
sweet-throated cuckoo, in a voice that could revive the dead
you are vibrating the same sounds we once heard from our
beloved, the most pleasing of speakers. Please tell me what
I can do today to please you. (Vedabase)
Text
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?
O
magnanimous mountain, you neither move nor speak. You must
be pondering some matter of great importance. Or do you,
like us, desire to hold on your breasts the feet of
Vasudeva's darling son? (Vedabase)
Text
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].
O
rivers, wives of the ocean, your pools have now dried up.
Alas, you have shriveled to nothing, and your wealth of
lotuses has vanished. Are you, then, like us, who are
withering away because of not receiving the affectionate
glance of our dear husband, the Lord of Madhu, who has
cheated our hearts? (Vedabase)
Text
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?'
Welcome,
swan. Please sit here and drink some milk. Give us some news
of the descendant of S'ûra, dear one. We know you are
His messenger. Is that invincible Lord doing well, and does
that unreliable friend of ours still remember the words He
spoke to us long ago? Why should we go and worship Him? O
servant of a petty master, go tell Him who fulfills our
desires to come here without the goddess of fortune. Is she
the only woman exclusively devoted to Him? (Vedabase)
Text
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.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: By thus speaking and acting with
such ecstatic love for Lord Krishna, the master of all
masters of mystic yoga, His loving wives attained the
ultimate goal of life. (Vedabase)
Text
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?
The
Lord, whom countless songs glorify in countless ways,
forcibly attracts the minds of all women who simply hear
about Him. What to speak, then, of those women who see Him
directly? (Vedabase)
Text
27
How ever can
the abnegations be described of the women who with the idea of
having Him, the Spiritual Master of the Universe, as their
husband, with pure love served His feet perfectly with massages
and so on?
And
how could one possibly describe the great austerities that
had been performed by the women who perfectly served Him,
the spiritual master of the universe, in pure ecstatic love?
Thinking of Him as their husband, they rendered such
intimate services as massaging His feet. (Vedabase)
Text
28
This manner
proceeding according the dharma as defended by the Vedas,
demonstrated He, the Goal of the Saintly, how one's home is the
place to regulate one's religiosity, economic development and
sense gratification [the purushârthas].
Thus
observing the principles of duty enunciated in the Vedas,
Lord Krishna, the goal of the saintly devotees, repeatedly
demonstrated how one can achieve at home the objectives of
religiosity, economic development and regulated sense
gratification. (Vedabase)
Text
29
With Krishna
answering to the higest standard of a householder's life, where
there over sixteen thousand and one hundred queens [see
also 10.59**
and 7.14].
While
fulfilling the highest standards of religious householder
life, Lord Krishna maintained more than 16,100 wives.
(Vedabase)
Text
30
Among them
there were eight gems of women headed by Rukminî whom I
along with their sons one after the other described previously,
o King [see 10.83
& 10.61:
8-19].
Among
these jewellike women were eight principal queens, headed by
Rukminî. I have already described them one after
another, O King, along with their sons. (Vedabase)
Text
31
In each of His
many wives begot Krishna, the Supreme Lord Never Failing in His
Effort, ten sons [and one daughter].
The
Supreme Lord Krishna, whose endeavor never fails, begot ten
sons in each of His many wives. (Vedabase)
Text
32
Of
these there were eighteen mahârathas
of an unlimited prowess, whose fame spread wide; hear their
names from me.
Among
these sons, all possessing unlimited valor, eighteen were
mahâ-rathas of great renown. Now hear their names from
me. (Vedabase)
Text
33-34
They
were Pradyumna and [His grandson or other son]
Aniruddha; Dîptimân and Bhânu as also
Sâmba, Madhu and Brihadbhânu; Citrabhânu,
Vrika and Aruna; Pushkara and Vedabâhu, S'rutadeva and
Sunandana; Citrabâhu and Virûpa, Kavi and
Nyagrodha.
They
were Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Dîptimân,
Bhânu, Sâmba, Madhu, Brihadbhânu,
Citrabhânu, Vrika, Aruna, Pushkara, Vedabâhu,
S'rutadeva, Sunandana, Citrabâhu, Virûpa, Kavi
and Nyagrodha. (Vedabase)
Text
35
O
best of kings, of these sons of Krishna, the enemy of Madhu,
was Pradyumna, the son of Rukminî, the most prominent
one. He was just like His Father.
O
best of kings, of these sons begotten by Lord Krishna, the
enemy of Madhu, the most prominent was Rukminî's son
Pradyumna. He was just like His father. (Vedabase)
Text
36
He, the great
chariot fighter, married the daughter of Rukmî [named
Rukmavatî] from whom then was born Aniruddha who was
endowed with the strength of a ten thousand elephants [see
10.61].
The
great warrior Pradyumna married Rukmî's daughter
[Rukmavatî], who gave birth to Aniruddha. He
was as strong as ten thousand elephants. (Vedabase)
Text
37
Furthermore
took He, as you know, next Rukmî's granddaughter
[Rocana] for His wife and from her was His son Vajra
born, the only one to remain after the battle with the clubs
[see 3.4:
1 & 2].
Rukmî's
daughter's son [Aniruddha] married Rukmî's
son's daughter [Rocana]. From her was born Vajra,
who would remain among the few survivors of the Yadus'
battle with clubs. (Vedabase)
Text
38
Pratibâhu
came from him, of whom there was Subâhu and from
Subâhu's son S'ântasena came S'atasena as his
son.
From
Vajra came Pratibâhu, whose son was Subâhu.
Subâhu's son was S'ântasena, from whom S'atasena
was born. (Vedabase)
Text
39
Truly none of
the offspring appearing in this family was poor in wealth or
children, short-lived, small in prowess or neglecting the
brahminical.
No
one born in this family was poor in wealth or progeny,
short-lived, weak or neglectful of brahminical culture.
(Vedabase)
Text
40
The deeds of
fame of the men born in the Yadu-dynasty are innumerable, o
King, not even in tens of thousands of years one could sum them
up.
The
Yadu dynasty produced innumerable great men of famous deeds.
Even in tens of thousands of years, O King, one could never
count them all. (Vedabase)
Text
41
It was heard
that for the children of the Yadu family there were
thirty-eight million eight-hundred thousand
teachers.
I
have heard from authoritative sources that the Yadu family
employed 38,800,000 teachers just to educate their children.
(Vedabase)
Text
42
Who can keep
count of the Yâdavas when Ugrasena alone was present
among them with tens upon ten thousands upon hundreds of
thousands [*]
of great personalities?
Who
can count all the great Yâdavas, when among them King
Ugrasena alone was accompanied by an entourage of thirty
trillion attendants? (Vedabase)
Text
43
The most
pitiless Daityas who in wars between the enlightened and
unenlightened souls were killed, took their birth among the
human beings and arrogantly gave trouble to the
populace.
The
savage descendants of Diti who had been killed in past ages
in battles between the demigods and demons took birth among
human beings and arrogantly harassed the general populace.
(Vedabase)
Text
44
To
subdue them were the devas by the Lord told to descend
in the one hundred-and-one clans of the family o
King [see
10.1:
62-63].
To
subdue these demons, Lord Hari told the demigods to descend
into the dynasty of Yadu. They comprised 101 clans, O King.
(Vedabase)
Text
45
To them was
Krishna on account of His mastery the authority of Lord Hari
because of which all the Yâdavas who were His faithful
followers prospered.
Because
Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
Yâdavas accepted Him as their ultimate authority. And
among them, all those who were His intimate associates
especially flourished. (Vedabase)
Text
46
In their
activities of sleeping, sitting, walking, conversing, playing,
bathing and so on were the Vrishnis who always thought of
Krishna not aware of the presence of their own bodies [and
thus fearless, see also 10.89:
14-17].
The
Vrishnis were so absorbed in Krishna consciousness that they
forgot their own bodies while sleeping, sitting, walking,
conversing, playing, bathing and so on. (Vedabase)
Text
47
O King, taking
birth among the Yadus outshone He the site of pilgrimage of the
river of heaven [the Ganges] that washes from His feet.
With His embodiment attained friends and foes their goal
[7.1:
46-47].
His is the undefeated and supremely perfect goddess of
S'rî for whom others are struggling. His name heard or
chanted is what destroys the inauspiciousness. By Him was the
dharma settled for the lines of descend [of the sages].
With Lord Krishna, whose weapon is the wheel of Time, is this
removal of the earth's burden nothing wonderous [see also
3.2:
7-12].
The
heavenly Ganges is a holy place of pilgrimage because her
waters wash Lord Krishna's feet. But when the Lord descended
among the Yadus, His glories eclipsed the Ganges as a holy
place. Both those who hated Krishna and those who loved Him
attained eternal forms like His in the spiritual world. The
unattainable and supremely self-satisfied goddess of
fortune, for the sake of whose favor everyone else
struggles, belongs to Him alone. His name destroys all
inauspiciousness when heard or chanted. He alone has set
forth the principles of the various disciplic successions of
sages. What wonder is it that He, whose personal weapon is
the wheel of time, relieved the burden of the earth?
(Vedabase)
Text
48
He glorious as
the Ultimate Abode and known as the son of Devakî, He who
as the devotion of the Yadu nobles with His arms [or
devotees] puts an end to the unrighteous, He who is the
Destroyer of the Distress of the Moving and Nonmoving Beings,
is the One who always smiling with His beautiful face arouses
Cupid with the damsels of Vraja [see 10.30-33,
10.35,
10.47].
Lord
S'rî Krishna is He who is known as jana-nivâsa,
the ultimate resort of all living entities, and who is also
known as Devakînandana or Yas'odâ-nandana, the
son of Devakî and Yas'odâ. He is the guide of
the Yadu dynasty, and with His mighty arms He kills
everything inauspicious, as well as every man who is
impious. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious
for all living entities, moving and inert. His blissful
smiling face always increases the lusty desires of the
gopîs of Vrindâvana. May He be all glorious and
happy! (Vedabase)
Text
49
Proceeding this
way with the Supreme has He with the desire to protect His own
path for His lîlâ
assumed various personal forms and has He imitating the
[human] ways destroyed the karma. When one wants to
follow His feet will one have to listen to the stories about
the Best One of the Yadus.
To
protect the principles of devotional service to Himself,
Lord Krishna, the best of the Yadus, accepts the pastime
forms that have been glorified here in the
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam. One who desires to
faithfully serve His lotus feet should hear of the
activities He performs in each of these incarnations -
activities that suitably imitate those of the forms He
assumes. Hearing narrations of these pastimes destroys the
reactions to fruitive work. (Vedabase)
Text
50
At every
sacrifice hearing, singing and meditating on the beautiful
topics about Mukunda, does a mortal from his home head for His
abode, where the inescapable push of death comes to a stop.
Even the ones ruling the earth [like Dhruva and
Priyavrata]
went for the sake of this purpose into the
forest.'
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. For this
purpose, many persons, including great kings, abandoned
their mundane homes and took to the forest.
(Vedabase)
*
The paramparâ adds here that to the rules of
Mîmâmsâ interpretation the number of three is
taken as the default number when no specific number is given.
So literally would strict to the rules be said here that
Ugrasena would have had 30 trillion
attendants.
