Akrura's Vision

This thirty ninth chapter describes how the gopis became very disturbed when Krsna departed for Mathura, and began to discuss among themselves. Akrura, submerging himself in the Yamuna, saw Vaikuntha.

“Why did Akrura only desire to see and touch Krsna, and not desire to attain Brahman or sayujya mukti?” This verse answers. If Krsna, who is the shelter of Laksmi, the goddess of all wealth, in the form of a line on his chest is pleased, what more could one desire?

Sva indicates friends, jnati indicates relatives of direct kinship through mother and father for seven generations. Bandhu indicates those without direct kinship. Are they all without sin (anamivam) and healthy (anamayam)?

“Asking about their welfare is not an intelligent question. Oh Akrura (anga), should I ask about the welfare of relatives when Kamsa, the disease of our family, is present?”

6.” From me, their son, they have suffered. Though I am their son, I have caused their sons to be killed.”

“ I have desired to see you for a long time, for after seeing you and getting good reason for going, I can go to Mathura and kill Kamsa.”

Madhava here indicates Akrura of the Madhu dynasty. Krsna asked him about the events in Mathura.

Akrura described how he was sent to invite them to dhanur yajna for the purpose of being killed by Canura.

10.Their smile indicated that Kamsa’s plan of inviting Krsna and Balarama to Mathura would bring about Kamsa’s own death. They informed everything about Kamsa’s invitation to the dhanur yajna to their father.

11.Nanda (sah) gave the order to the cowherd men.

We will pay the tax to the king with ghee (rasan). All the village people are going to watch the festival, so what do we have to worry about. He sent one of the security officers (ksatra) to inform everyone.

Then (tat) those gopis , who had made Krsna their live, heard that Akrura had come to take Krsna and Balarama to Mathura from others.

Five verses describe the mental anguish of the gopis. Among them, Bhadra and others are described. Bhadra’s face was withered, due to lack of breath from the increase in heat on hearing the news. Next the withering of the limbs of Syamala and others is described. They became so thin that their ornaments began to fall off.

This verse describes the prema of Candravali and others. Absorbed in meditation, their senses could not recognize their proper objects, like people who have realized paramatma and lose consciousness of their bodies. However, the example is not raised to compare the gopis taste to that of the meditators, for the taste of prema is completely different from that of Brahman, like gold in comparison to glass.

This verse describes the extremely intense prema of Radha and others. Here Krsna is described as sura, or brave warrior, a person now identifying himself as a ksatriya, and thus wanting to go to Mathura. This indicates Sukadeva’s inclination to the gopis. They became bewildered on remembering the statements of sauri composed of astonishing words and soft smiles indicating his attraction for them. For example “na paraye’ham…..” remembering these words they became completely (samyak) bewildered. The previous gopis through meditation on Krsna became bewildered (mumuhuh), but these gopis became completely bewildered (sam mumuhuh), and just by remembrance, not by having to concentrate in meditation. This shows these gopis’ superior prema.

In this way they spent the night experiencing various sancari bhavas such as fainting (murccha), the waves of prema. Gaining external consciousness through the strength of the sancari bhava of anxiety over whether they would see him again, they gathered in the early morning in front of Nanda’s door in great longing, and all being afflicted with the coming separation, began discussing in a group. Those gopis who feared even a moment’s separation, were now afflicted with an approaching lengthy separation. When all the different groups joined together, they began conversing.

As in the case of meeting him, the gopis could not find any reason for Krsna leaving them, so they began to criticize the creator. “O creator! Your act of injustice is astonishing.”

“What is so unjust?”

“You do not have one drop of mercy. This is very unfair.”

“How have you concluded this?”

“You bring together people in friendship and intense mutual exchange of mind, life and intellect, and then separate them again without giving them a chance to enjoy.”

“You should not compare me to an inexperienced boy.”

Fearing such a response from the creator, the gopis said, “You give sorrow to the souls of this world.”

“Though you are the creator, you show us the beautiful, smiling face of Mukunda which removes all suffering, and then make it disappear. That is very bad.”

“Akrura is taking him to Mathura, not I.”

“Though you are cruel (krura), you have come with a name of opposite meaning (akrura). No one except you could do such cruel work, giving and then taking back from us our eyes. “

“You are complaining that I, like a person ignorant of sin and piety who takes back what he has given, I have done the same. But I have come to take Krsna, so why do you speak about your eyes?”

“Because we will become blind without Krsna, when you take Krsna, you also take our eyes. What will we do with these eyes which have seen the pinnacle of all beauty in the face and eyes of Madhusudana? Therefore we will become blind.”

“The object of our love, the cause of our life, Krsna, is indifferent to us. Why, then should we criticize the creator? How has he broken this very strong bond of love? Friendship broken in an instant cannot be real friendship. Though he has brought us to the point of death, he does not even look at us. He has decided to go to Mathura for his own happiness, even if we should cry and eventually die. Giving up house, husband and son, we became his servants. In order to become his servants we gave up all these things, but now he is giving us up and going away. Why? Because he has new lovers. Because we have become old lovers, he is giving us up and going away. Thus in this life we achieve nothing (having left our husbands and Krsna having left us), and in next life also (since we have broken laws of dharma.)”

“Ah, is this so astonishing? We have become unfortunate, and simultaneously the women of Mathura have become fortunate. For the women of Mathura, it is an auspicious daybreak, and for us it is the daybreak of inauspiciousness. The blessings given to them by the brahmanas, or their long standing aspirations, have been fulfilled, whereas ours have become frustrated. These women of Mathura will be able to relish the taste of that face, intoxication incarnate (asava), whose smiling glances hinting at secrets are full of the highest rasa. Giving up propriety, shame and fear instantly, they will accept those hints he gives. Then, at suitable time, unseen by others, they will directly and completely taste his face.”

“Perhaps he will stay there a few days, and then being attracted by our love, will be brought back by his parents.”

“O foolish woman! You do not know the truth. Listen. Though obedient to his parents, being overwhelmed by the sweet words of the women of Mathura, how will he return to us? Why do you give useless hope to the minds of us village women who are devoid of beauty, arts and strength (abalah)?’

“But though that is so, you should have faith that he will return, intelligently remembering his parents and sense of duty.”

“But he will become bewildered by their amorous suggestive actions and shy smiles, and forget all of that.”

“The people of Mathura will today attain the bliss that the inhabitants of Vraja had.

The eyes of the city people of the Dasarha, bhoja and others, who see him on the road will become joyful.” Or “The eyes of the city people and the people on the road will become joyful.” Drsah is a singular form of “eye” to indicate species.

In this verse the gopis curse Akrura. “It is not proper for person like this to have the name Akrura (not cruel), because he is extremely cruel. His name should be Krura. He does not promise that he will bring Krsna back again to those who are suffering (suduhkhitam), those who are nearing death. This akrura will be committing the sin of killing people of Vraja. He is taking Krsna, more dear than our life, far off where we cannot go.”

Akrura, in coming to Vraja has spread cruelty everywhere.

Though seeing us crying, the hard hearted Krsna simply sits on the chariot. Sridama and other cowherd boys are following behind Krsna in a cart, but they have become very foolish because they are not aware that when Krsna does not return here, they will also die. The elders do not stop him from going and thus overlook their own lives. And today fate has been unkind to us. If fate were kind to us, it would have produced some obstacle to his going. It is certain that the inhabitants of Vraja will no longer live.”

After discussing everything thoroughly, the gopis attained the highest state of ecstasy. “Coming close to the charioteer, we will stop it with our hands and garments. We will also stop it using words such as, “O dear one, please step down from the chariot so that you do not commit the crime of killing thousands of people.”

“Seeing our foolishness, people will laugh at us, and our secret will be public. Seeing all this, our friends will also reject us. They can do nothing for us, who have become separated from Krsna. If we stop Krsna from going to Mathura, and are rejected by friends, then we will live like forest deities in Vrndavana. Thus our desires will all be fulfilled. Or if we are punished or kept in our houses, we will happily maintain our lives by his chewed tambula and old garlands obtained by friends. If we do not stop him, then we will certainly die.”

“There are other reasons for stopping him also. We spent all our nights as if they were a few seconds at the rasa mandala full of intimate discussions of rasa and sweet smiles tinged with love. Without Krsna, how can we cross the dark ocean of separation whose shore we cannot fathom? As much as we spent so many nights as if they were seconds, so now a moment of separation is a thousand yugas. So how will we pass the many nights that now await us in the future?”

Moreover, today in the evening we will die.

At the end of the day, the friend of Balarama, Krsna, while entering Vraja, will glance upon our breasts. By that our hearts become bewildered. How will we live without Krsna? If this evening we do not receive that glance, how can we maintain our lives?

After discussing in this way, when they assembled in a group and began to go towards the chariot in order to bring Krsna down from it, their legs became paralyzed and all they could do was weep.

Due to the pain of separation they could neither move a step nor utter clear words.

“O govinda, take (vinda) all of our thousands of senses such as mind and eye (go). Mercifully take these gopis who are following you. Let our senses remain joined to the bull of your mind. Do not neglect them. If our bodies are not suitable for meeting with you, and you do not come to us, then right here we will leave our bodies. If you want, you may kill women, but you cannot kill your mother, from love of whom you accepted the bondage of the ropes (damodara). If you do not appear the day after tomorrow, then she will die. So do not be a killer of your mother. O husband of Laksmi (Madhava), you are not our husband, but a friend. As husband, you would not be at fault if you protected or destroyed us, because we would be your property. But we belong to someone else. Therefore do not do something which will be a cause of our destruction.”

Akrura disrespected the gopis by not comforting them and saying ,”O Mother Yasoda, please forgive my offense, because I am simply the servant of the king. With my own hand I will bring him back to you.” Some devotees say that because of this disrespect or offense, later Akrura became separated from Krsna during the Syamantaka jewel episode, giving up Dvaraka and living in infamous Varanasi. Completely his morning duties such as bathing, sandhya rites etc. Akrura mounted the chariot. Some say that because he was so absorbed in the gopis’ lamentation at this time, that Sukadeva could not describe the lamentation of Yasoda. Others say that she was assured by Nanda, the cowherd men and her peers among the women of Vraja that there was no need to worry because her son, so anxious to see the festivities of the dhanur yajna, was going with his father, eating with his father at the proper time and sleeping on his lap. The day after tomorrow he would be returning. Therefore she did not lament.

Sitting on the chariot, Krsna turned it towards them, seeing that their live airs were rising up. Glancing at them he seemed to say, “O my beloved girls, do not be sad. After satisfying these people I will return to you.” Therefore they were joyful (anuranjita). When their legs became a little mobile, they began to follow after the chariot like the cowherd boys who were blissfully walking behind. But they desired some answer from him, and thus they remained standing there. As he had assuaged their fears with glances, they desired that he should have done so with words as well.

Seeing the pain of the gopis, the best of the yadus, who was now inclined to protect the yadus, consoled them by sending through messengers thousands of assurances to increase their faith, so that they would regain full consciousness (dautyakaih plural form). Ka is added to indicate that the messages were full of compassion. “I will return quickly. O gopis! Like you , I am also subject to the worst broken heart. I am going to Mathura by maintaining life through the licking with the tongue of my intelligence your laughing sweet glances of honey rare to the three worlds. If I do not return the day after tomorrow, then you and I will both not be able to maintain our lives. But if I live because of a long life span or because of expectations of reunion, this life will be more suffering than a million deaths.” Such were his words mixed with the nectar of prema.

36.As long as the flag staff of the chariot was a little visible, the gopis , following behind him with their minds, remained standing. They appeared to others to be like painted pictures as they stood motionless.

Giving up hope that Govinda would turn around and come back from Mathura, the gopis left that spot. They gave up hope that he was just fooling them and would actually come back. They spend two days in complete lamentation.

Having Krsna and Balarama sit on the chariot, for their comfort or because of fear of enemies, Akrura when to the Yamuna.

In Vraja, Akrura saw a form more astonishing than the one that he meditated on with his mantra. He became fixed in that form. However, as he gave up that source of the gopis sweet words and became fixed on the ancient vedic mantra, Krsna therefore showed him Vaikuntha.

When Akrura submerged himself a second time in the Yamuna, Krsna showed him the form of Visnu, his amsa, the deity of his mantra. And to hold his attention he showed him directly that form surrounded from head to foot with servants. He showed him that form which had appeared in the house of Vasudeva, the lord of Vaikuntha. This is described in thirteen verses. The first two describe Sesa, the amsa of Balarama. He had a thousand hoods and crowns, towering like Mount Kailasa with peaks of snow.

When Akrura went into the Yamuna the second time, he saw Sesa in Vaikuntha, according to Sridhara swami’s comments on 10.28.16 and the statements in Bhagavatamrta “vaikunthe’pi yatha sesa” This is the conclusion of some.

In these verses Krsna’s amsa Narayana is described. From the beginning of the forty sixth verse until the verb (vilokya) in the fifty sixth verse, there is one sentence. He had high shoulders and shining chest, crease lines on his skin (balimat), and stomach shaped like an asvattha leaf. He had large buttocks, thighs and forearms (karabha), and slightly raised ankles. His lotus feet had tender toes.

He was praised by excellent words with various moods. The associates worshipped him as master. Sanaka worshipped him as Brahman. Brahma and others worshipped him as the Supreme Lord. Marici and others worshipped him as Prajapati. Prahlad and others worshipped him as their personal deity. Vasu was situated above, the associates in the eight directions, Sanaka and others behind, Brahma and others to the right , Marici and others to the left, and Prahlada and others in front. Narada was almost in front. All these are eternal associates. The material forms of Brahma and others are expansions of these eternal forms. The Padma Purana, Uttara khanda explains this. “All the devatas in the spiritual sky are eternal. Those devatas in the material svarga are not eternal.”

He was surrounded by various energies who were emanations from his svarupa. The six opulences are indicated in this verse: sri or aisvarya. pusti or bala, gi or jnana, kanti or sobha, kirti or yasa, and tusti or vairagya.

Ila is the internal bhu sakti, sandhini shakti, whose expansion is the material earth. Urjja is the internal lila sakti, whose expansion is tulasi on the earth. Vidya and avidya are the two external energies which cause liberation and bondage. Sakti refers to the internal hladini sakti. Maya is the external energy, the source of vidya and avidya. Ca in this verse indicates the jiva or tatastha sakti. The Lord is eternally served (ni (nitya kala) sevita) by these saktis.