108 Krsna Lila Pastimes

BY: SUN STAFF - 14.8 2024

Mother Yasoda and Krsna
 

Sri Krsna's divine pastimes.

Lord Krsna and His transcendental associates engage in countless distinct lilas, hundreds of which are narrated in sastra. We have broadly summarized them in previous articles, but today we begin a more detailed survey of 108 of Sri Krsna's divine lilas.

The series will unfold on a relatively age-based progression, beginning with lila pastimes that display Krsna's mischievous boyishness with his parents and elders. The mood of Vatsalya rasa, or parental affection, is described as follows in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (2.5.33): "When a living entity is situated on the platform of vatsalya-rati, he thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His childhood feature. In this feature, the Lord has to be protected by the devotee, and at this time the devotee takes the position of being worshiped by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The feelings of paternal love are called vatsalya-rati. When the devotee is situated on this platform, he wants to maintain the Lord like a son, and he desires all good fortune for the Lord. He offers blessings to the Lord by touching His feet and head. As a parent of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee sometimes chastises the Lord and considers himself to be the Lord's maintainer. This transcendental sense of being the maintainer of the supreme maintainer is very pleasing both to the devotee and to the Supreme Lord.

On the platform of parental love, the qualities of santa-rasa and dasya-rasa are fully developed in another form-the sense of maintaining the Lord. Therefore on the platform of parental love there exists a combination of four transcendental qualities-santa, dasya, sakhya, and the qualities of paternity, which put the devotee in the position of a maintainer. Thus on the platform of parental love the four qualities of transcendental love are present.

Those devotees relating to Krsna in paternal love include Krsna's mother, Yasoda, his father, Maharaja Nanda, along with his aunts, uncles, and similar relatives. the The elder gopis and gopas serve Krsna as His relatives, who are also called worshipable superiors."

"When ecstatic love develops into the relationship of parenthood and becomes steadily established, the relationship is called vatsalya-rasa. The exhibition of this vatsalya-rasa standard of devotional service can be found in the dealings of Krsna with His devotees who represent themselves as superior personalities like father, mother and teacher.

Learned scholars have described the impetuses for parental love for Krsna, existing in the elderly personalities who are in relation with Him, as follows: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose bodily complexion is just like a bluish, new-grown lotus flower, whose body is very delicate and whose lotus eyes are surrounded by scattered hair as black as bees, was walking on the streets of Vrndavana when mother Yasoda, the beloved wife of Nanda Maharaja, saw Him. Immediately the milk began to flow from her breasts, soaking her body." Some specific provocations for parental love of Krsna are listed as His blackish bodily hue, which is very attractive and pleasing to see, His all-auspicious bodily features, His mildness, His sweet words, His simplicity, His shyness, His humility, His constant readiness to offer respect to the elderly and His charity. All of these qualities are considered ecstatic provocations for parental love.

In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, Eighth Chapter, verse 45, it is stated by Sukadeva Gosvami that mother Yasoda accepted Lord Krsna as her son, although He is accepted in the Vedas as the King of heaven, in the Upanisads as the impersonal Brahman, in philosophy as the supreme male, by the yogis as the Supersoul and by the devotees as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Once mother Yasoda addressed one of her friends in this way: "Nanda Maharaja, the leader of the cowherd men, worshiped Lord Visnu, along with me, and as a result of this worship, Krsna has been saved from the clutches of Putana and other demons. The twin arjuna trees were, of course, broken due to a strong wind, and although Krsna appeared to have lifted Govardhana Hill along with Balarama, I think that Nanda Maharaja actually held the mountain. Otherwise how could it have been possible for a little boy to lift such a great hill?" This is another example of ecstasy in parental love. This kind of parental love is generated in a devotee out of his conviction, in love, that he himself is superior to Krsna and that without being taken care of by such a devotee Krsna could not possibly live. One devotee therefore prayed to the parents of Lord Krsna as follows: "Let me take shelter of the elderly parental devotees of Lord Krsna. They are always anxious to serve Krsna and to maintain Him, and they are always so kind to Him. Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto them for being so kind to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the parent of the whole universe!"

There is a similar prayer by a brahmana who says, "Let others worship the Vedas and the Upanisads, and let others worship the Mahabharata if they are afraid of material existence and want to become liberated from that condition. But as far as I am concerned, I wish only to worship Maharaja Nanda, because the supreme absolute Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is crawling in his courtyard as his own child."

Following is a list of respectful personalities who enjoy parental affection toward Krsna: (1) mother Yasoda, the Queen of Vraja, (2) Maharaja Nanda, the King of Vraja, (3) mother Rohini, the mother of Balarama, (4) all the elderly gopis whose sons were taken away by Lord Brahma, (5) Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva, (6) the other fifteen wives of Vasudeva, (7) Kunti, the mother of Arjuna, (8) Vasudeva, the real father of Krsna and (9) Sandipani Muni, Krsna's teacher. All these are considered respectable elderly personalities with parental love for Krsna. This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that mother Yasoda and Maharaja Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities."

Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 43

Sri Krsna's childhood pastimes include countless other delightful lilas with his gopa and gopi friends, in the mood of sakhya-rasa, or friendship. The qualities of santa-rasa (neutrality) and the service of dasya-rasa are both present on the platform of sakhya-rasa. On the platform of fraternity, the qualities of dasya-rasa are mixed with the confidence of fraternity instead of awe and veneration. Krsna's cowherd friends serve Him in sakhya-rasa, along with other friends in Vrndavana like Balarama, Sridama and Sudama, who embody service in fraternity. Other examples of Krsna's dear friends include Bhima and Arjuna in Dwarka and on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra.

"Transcendental qualities are certainly present in the santa-rasa and dasya-rasa, but beyond these there is another quality, confidential attachment, which is pure transcendental love. This loving confidence in the Supreme Personality is technically known as visrambha. On the platform of visrambha, fraternity, there is no sense of awe or veneration towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus in the transcendental fraternal relationship known as sakhya-rasa, there are three transcendental characteristics: the sense of greatness, the sense of service, and the sense of intimacy without awe or veneration. Thus in the sakhya-rasa, the relationship of fraternity, the transcendental qualities are further increased."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1

"Sakhya-rati is described in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (2.5.30) as follows: According to the opinion of advanced devotees and learned scholars, a devotee in sakhya-rati feels equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is a relationship in friendship. Due to having a friendly relationship with the Lord, not only is one free from material attachment, but one believes in equal dealings with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called sakhya-rati. The sakhya-rati devotee is so advanced that he treats the Lord on an equal level and even exchanges joking words. Although one is never equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sakhya-rati devotee feels equal to the Lord, and he does not feel guilty because of this. Actually it is offensive to consider oneself equal to the Lord. The Mayavadis consider themselves equal to the Lord, but such feelings entail bereavement because they are material. The sakhya-rati, however, is a feeling experienced in the mind by a pure devotee, and he is eternally related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in that feeling."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya lila 19:183-184

"As far as friendship is concerned, those high-grade devotees who are almost like Krsna are considered to be great authorities in the modes of friendly relations with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On that friendly platform there are different kinds of laughing and joking conversations. An example of such a friendly relationship with Krsna is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam when Krsna was once thinking, "Today, while I was engaged in tending the cows in the pasturing ground of Vrindaban, I went to collect some flowers in a beautiful garden. At that time My friends, the cowherd boys, were unhappy even to tolerate a two-minute separation from Me. And when they found Me, there was competition between us as to who would touch the other first with the flowers we had in hand."

Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 32
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

In our next segment we'll begin exploring each of the pastimes that fall into the above categories of Sri Krsna's lilas.