Source
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 their youth
beautiful, 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. It 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 that many different forms [see also
10.69:
41].
Diving in the pellucid waters there cooing with flocks of birds
and aromatic with the pollen of nightblooming and dayblooming
lotuses and water lilies, sported the Great Appearance in the
streams with His body, embraced by the women, smeared with the
kunkum of their breasts.
S'ukadeva
Gosvamî 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.
Text
8-9:
By
the singers of heaven playing two-sided drums, kettledrums and
tabors and with female and male praisers playing
vînâs glorified, was Acyuta, with syringes being
squirted with water by them laughing and He squirting back,
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.
Text
10
They,
sprinkling, with wet clothes revealing their thighs and breasts
and with the flowers of their large braids scattered all over
the place, attempted, with resplendent faces beaming wide
smiles, mindful of their love embracing Him, to steal 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.
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.
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.
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.
Text
14
With
their minds exclusively on Mukunda spoke they, thinking about
the Lotuseyed One, stunned like mad; hear these words from me
as I relate them.
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.
Text
15
The queens said
[see also 10.47:
12-21, 10.83:
8-40]: 'O
kurarî
you are lamenting, deprived of sleep you cannot rest as the
Controller, with His whereabouts hidden, somewhere in the world
is sleeping this night; is it that you, just as we o friend,
had your heart pierced to the core by the smiling, munificent,
playful glance of His lotus eyes?
The
queens said: O kurarî 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?
Text
16
O
cakravâkî,
alas, having closed your eyes for the night, you're crying
pitifully; or do you, like us having attained the servitude,
perhaps desire in your braided hair the garland to the honor of
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?
Text
17
O
dear, dear ocean, always you're making such a noise, never
getting any sleep suffering 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?
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, being forgetful
of the talks of Mukunda like we are?
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?
Text
19
O wind from the
Malaya mountains, what have we done that is displeasing to you,
to be inspired with lust in our [poor] hearts 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?
Text
20
O cloud, you
honored one, 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 meditating in pure love and
your heart extremely eager is as distraught as ours, the same
way as you, remembering over and over, release torrents as we
do tears again and again with the misery given by [missing
the] 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!
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.
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
desire - like we do - 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?
Text
23
O
[rivers,] wives of the ocean, your lakes alas have lost
their wealth of lotuses, now they shriveled up just like us,
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?
Text
24
O
swan, welcome and sit down, please drink some milk, tell us o
dear one the news, as we know you are a messenger of
S'auri;
is the Unconquerable One all well, does He, so fickle in His
friendship, still remember having talked to us so long ago; why
should we be of worship, o servant of the campaka
[type of magnolia], tell Him raising the desire to come
to us without the goddess of fortune, why would she be the only
woman exclusive in her 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?
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.
Text
26
He,
in numerous songs sung in numerous ways, attracts with force
the mind of any woman who but heard about Him; what more then
of the ones 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?
Text
27
How ever can
the penances be described of them who, with the attitude 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.
Text
28
This manner
proceeding to the dharma as expressed by the Vedas,
demonstrated He, the Goal of the Saintly, how one's home is
there as the place for the religiosity, the economic
development and the regulation of sense-gratification [the
purusârthas].
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.
Text
29
Of Krishna
being situated in the highest dharma of a householders 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.
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
en 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.
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.
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.
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.
Text
35
O
best of kings, of these sons of Krishna, the enemy of Madhu,
was Pradyumna, the son of Rukminî, the most prominent,
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.
Text
36
He, the great
chariot fighter, married the daughter of Rukmî [named
Rukmavatî] from whom then was born Aniruddha, 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.
Text
37
Furthermore
took He, as you know, next Rukmî's granddaughter
[Rocana] for His wife from whom His son Vajra was born,
the only one remaining 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.
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.
Text
39
Truly none of
the offspring appearing in this family was poor in wealth or
children, short-lived, small in prowess or failing with the
brahminical.
No
one born in this family was poor in wealth or progeny,
short-lived, weak or neglectful of brahminical
culture.
Text
40
The deeds of
fame of the men born in the Yadu-dynasty cannot be counted, o
King, not even in tens of thousands of years.
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.
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.
Text
42
Who can keep
count of the Yâdavas when Ugrasena among them was present
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?
Text
43
In wars between
the divine and the demoniac were the most pitiless daityas
killed, who rising among the human beings arrogantly troubled
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.
Text
44
To
subdue them were the devas by the Lord told to descend in the
family in their one hundred-and-one clans, 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.
Text
45
To them was
Krishna on account of His mastery the authority of Lord Hari
according 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.
Text
46
In their
activities of sleeping, sitting, walking, conversing, playing,
bathing and so on were the Vrishnis mindful 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.
Text
47
O King, taking
birth among the Yadus outshone He the site of pilgrimage of the
river of heaven [the Ganges] washing from His feet;
friends and foes attained to His embodiment
[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 descent [of the sages];
with Lord Krishna, whose weapon is the wheel of Time, is this
removal of the earth's burden, no thing of wonder [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?
Text
48
Glorious as the
Ultimate Abode, known as the son of Devakî, as the
devotion of the Yadu nobles who with His arms [or
devotees] puts an end to the unrighteous, as the Destroyer
of the Distress of the Moving and Nonmoving, is He the One,
always smiling with His beautiful face, arousing 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!
Text
49
This manner of
the Supreme has He with the desire of protecting His own path
for His lîlâ
assumed various personal forms and imitating the
[human] activities destroyed the karma; desiring to
comply to His feet should one hear of 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.
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 an end;
even the ones holding the dominion [like
Dhruva
and Priyavrata]
went for this purpose to 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.
*
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.
