Srimad Bhagavatam #18: Vidhura meets Uddhava
Srimad Bhagavatam #18: Vidhura meets Uddhava
Before meeting Maitreya, Vidhura met Uddhava and listened to a summary description of Krsna’s pastimes. This description represents the first time these intimate pastimes are discussed.
In this part:
Vidhura meets Uddhava (chapter 3.1).
The story of Vidhura
Uddhava, the pure devotee of the Lord
Vidhura meets Uddhava
Vidhura inquires and Uddhava’s answers (chapter 3.2)
Vidhura reveals that Krsna left
Vidhura describes Krsna’s pastimes
The childhood pastimes of the Lord
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Vidhura meets Uddhava (third canto, chapter 1)
At the end of the second canto, Śaunaka Ṛṣi asked Suta Goswami about the activities of Vidhura after leaving the palace, being offended by Duryodhana. Suta Goswami answers that Pariksit Maharaja asked the same question to Sukadeva Goswami after hearing the explanation of the Catuh-sloki Bhagavatam given in chapter 2.10, and thus proceeds in narrating it.
The third and fourth cantos of the Srimad Bhagavatam are centered around the conversation of Vidhura and Maitreya. All the pastimes narrated there, including the pregnancy of Diti and the birth of Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakashipu, the pastime of Kardama Muni and Devahuti, the instructions of Lord Kapila, Daksa offending Lord Shiva and Sati leaving her body, Prthu Maharaja milking the Earth and so on, are part of this discussion.
However, before meeting Maitreya, Vidhura met Uddhava and listened to a summary description of Krsna’s pastimes. This description represents the first time these intimate pastimes of the Lord are discussed in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The first canto is centered on the activities of the Pandavas and the birth of Pariksit Maharaja, as well as the different incarnations of the Lord, while the second canto explains the Virat-rupa and the process of Mystic yoga, and gives us the philosophical basis for surrendering to the Lord and accepting the process of constantly remembering Him. The beginning of the third canto, however, brings us the first description of the Lord’s intimate pastimes. After our understanding is further deepened in the subsequent cantos, we will have the same pastimes described in much more detail in the 10th canto.
The story of Vidhura
In verses 1 and 2 of the first chapter, Sukadeva Goswami introduces the story of Vidhura as an answer to the inquiry of Pariksit Maharaja. In verses 3 and 4, Pariksit asks specifically about the conversation between Vidhura and Maitreya, and verse 5 is an introduction by Suta Goswami:
“Śrī Suta Gosvāmī said: The great sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī was highly experienced and was pleased with the King. Thus being questioned by the King, he said to him, “Please hear the topics attentively.” (SB 3.1.1)
Then, from verses 6 to 16, Sukadeva Goswami describes the story of Vidhura, and how he decided to leave the palace. This pastime happened after the exile of the Pandavas, but before the battle of Kuruksetra. All the events of the 4th canto, including the conversation with Maitreya happen before Vidhura goes back to the palace to save Dhṛtarāṣṭra (described in the first canto).
Vidhura and Dhṛtarāṣṭra were the brothers of Pandu, the previous emperor. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the eldest son, but he couldn’t become the King because he had been blind since birth. Vidhura also couldn’t because the was the son of a maidservant, therefore Pandu became the King.
When Pandu passed away, the crown passed to Yudhisthira, the eldest son of Pandu. However, Dhṛtarāṣṭra became resentful, desiring that his son Duryodhana would become the king instead. This led him to conspire with Duryodhana, Duḥśāsana, Sakuni, and others, first trying to kill the Pandavas by different means, and later taking the kingdom and sending them into exile by cheating on the dice game. In the process, they also seriously offended Draupadi.
Although Yudhisthira was defeated unfairly in the game, he honored his word and went into exile with his brothers. However, when the time came to get the kingdom back, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana refused. They remained adamant even after many attempts to negotiate the situation, including a personal visit of Krsna to the assembly. With this, the battle of Kuruksetra became inevitable.
Although spiritually blind, Dhṛtarāṣṭra had some trust in his brother Vidhura and thus asked him for advice. Vidhura spoke directly to the point:
“[Vidura said:] You must now return the legitimate share to Yudhiṣṭhira, who has no enemies and who has been forbearing through untold sufferings due to your offenses. He is waiting with his younger brothers, among whom is the revengeful Bhīma, breathing heavily like a snake. Surely you are afraid of him.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, has accepted the sons of Pṛthā as His kinsmen, and all the kings of the world are with Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He is present in His home with all His family members, the kings and princes of the Yadu dynasty, who have conquered an unlimited number of rulers, and He is their Lord.
You are maintaining offense personified, Duryodhana, as your infallible son, but he is envious of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And because you are thus maintaining a nondevotee of Kṛṣṇa, you are devoid of all auspicious qualities. Relieve yourself of this ill fortune as soon as possible and do good to the whole family!” (SB 3.1.11-13)
Dhṛtarāṣṭra could not accept the advice and remained silent. Duryodhana then took advantage of the situation to offend his uncle Vidhura and chase him away:
“Who asked him to come here, this son of a kept mistress? He is so crooked that he spies in the interest of the enemy against those on whose support he has grown up. Toss him out of the palace immediately and leave him with only his breath.” (SB 3.1.15)
Vidhura was not attached to life in the palace. On the opposite, he took this situation as an opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to the holy places, understanding it as an arrangement by the Lord.
Vidhura traveled through many different holy places, like Ayodhyā, Dvārakā, and Mathurā, where deities of the Lord were worshiped in the temples. During his pilgrimage, he remained independent, without depending on anyone. He was dressed like a mendicant, without any sign of being part of the royal order, and thus he could travel without being recognized by any of his relatives.
Uddhava, the pure devotee of the Lord
By the time he reached Prabhāsakṣetra, the battle of Kuruksetra had already happened and Yudhisthira had become the undisputed king of the word. There he got news about the death of all his relatives in the fight, except for the Pandavas and his brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
Instead of lamenting, Vidura continued his pilgrimage, passing through the provinces of Surat, Sauvīra, Matsya, and Kurujāṅgala. Then he finally reached the banks of the Yamuna, where he met Uddhava.
“Then, due to his great love and feeling, Vidura embraced him [Uddhava], who was a constant companion of Lord Kṛṣṇa and formerly a great student of Bṛhaspati’s. Vidura then asked him for news of the family of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead.” (SB 3.1.25)
At this point, Krsna had just left the planet. Both Uddhava and Maitreya were with Krsna under the banyan tree where he was hit by the arrow of Jara. There, Krsna exhibited a four-armed form and transmitted many spiritual instructions to Uddhava, recorded in the 11th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. This purport from 11.6.35 explains it:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to bewilder the demons and ensure that the word of His own devotees and of the brāhmaṇas be maintained, created a body of material energy into which the arrow was shot. But the Lord’s actual four-armed form was never touched by the arrow of Jarā, who is actually the Lord’s devotee Bhṛgu Ṛṣi. In a previous age Bhṛgu Muni had placed his foot on the chest of Lord Viṣṇu. In order to counteract the offense of improperly placing his foot on the Lord’s chest, Bhṛgu had to take birth as a degraded hunter. But even though a great devotee willingly accepts such a low birth, the Personality of Godhead cannot tolerate seeing His devotee in such a fallen condition. Thus the Personality of Godhead arranged that at the end of Dvāpara-yuga, when the Lord was winding up His manifest pastimes, His devotee Bhṛgu, in the form of the hunter Jarā, would cast the arrow into a material body created by the Lord’s illusory energy. Thus the hunter would become remorseful, gain release from his degraded birth and go back to Vaikuṇṭha-loka.”
Because Uddhava was a very confidential devotee, Krsna gave him the mission of sharing the knowledge he received with the sages from Badarikāśrama and giving them association. During His pastimes, the Lord had visited many places, but not Badarikāśrama, so He wanted to send His most intimate servitor there, to instruct such dear sages on the perfect path.
Vidhura meets Uddhava
When Vidhura met with him, Krsna had already left, and Uddhava was on the way to the Himalayas. Vidhura embraced him and asked for news about the Lord and the Yadhu dynasty, as well as the Pandavas. Amongst the personalities Vidura asked about are:
Vasudeva, the father of Krsna.
Ugrasena, the devoted father of Kamsa, who Krsna put back on the throne after killing the demon.
Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī, who is an incarnation of Kārttikeya (the son of Lord Shiva).
Yuyudhāna, who learned the military art from Arjuna.
Akrūra, the uncle of Krsna, who came to Vṛndāvana to take Him to Mathura.
Devakī, the mother of Krsna, and others.
Vidhura also asked about Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Both appear as sons on Krsna in Dvaraka, but they are originally part of the original quadruple expansion (Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha). In reality, Krsna never leaves Vrindavana. In His original form, Krsna always stays in Vrindavana and expands Himself into other forms to play His different pastimes. When he departs to Dvaraka, He expands Himself into Vāsudeva, who in turn expands Himself into Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, and they in turn generate all the other expansions. Mahā-Viṣṇu, for example, comes from Aniruddha.
He also asked about the Pandavas, Kunti, and others. He also mentioned Dhrtarastra but didn’t ask about his welfare, understanding that there was no chance of him being well after all the offenses he committed against the Pandavas.
On his purport to 3.1.42, Prabhupada explains the difference between Dhrtarastra and Vidhura:
“Although he was the brother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Vidura was completely different. By the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he was not foolish like his brother, and thus his brother’s association could not influence him. Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his materialistic sons wanted to falsely lord it over the world by dint of their own strength. The Lord encouraged them in this, and thus they became more and more bewildered. But Vidura wanted to achieve sincere devotional service of the Lord and therefore became a soul absolutely surrendered to the Absolute Personality of Godhead. He could realize this in the progress of his pilgrim’s journey, and thus he was freed from all doubts. He was not at all sorry to be bereft of his hearth and home because he now had experience that dependence on the mercy of the Lord is a greater freedom than so-called freedom at home.”
Vidhura inquires and Uddhava’s answers (third canto, chapter 2)
At the end of the first chapter, Vidura told Uddhava:
“O my friend, please, therefore, chant the glories of the Lord, who is meant to be glorified in the places of pilgrimage. He is unborn, and yet He appears by His causeless mercy upon the surrendered rulers of all parts of the universe. Only for their interest did He appear in the family of His unalloyed devotees the Yadus.”
The word is used kīrtaya (please narrate), so the idea is that Uddhava could answer the questions of Vidura by narrating the pastimes of the Lord.
Hearing these questions, Uddhava was not able to answer immediately. These questions were in fact very overwhelming to him. The remembrance of the Lord put Him in great anxiety. It happens that at this point Krsna had already disappeared from the planet, and the questions of Vidura just further unsettled his heart.
Uddhava was engaged in the service of the Lord since the beginning of his life. Even when he was a five-year-old child he was so absorbed that he would forget to eat, and as he grew older, his devotion only increased.
In his purport to 3.3.2, Prabhupada explains:
“From his very birth, Uddhava was a natural devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, or a nitya-siddha, a liberated soul. From natural instinct he used to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, even in his childhood. He used to play with dolls in the form of Kṛṣṇa. He would serve the dolls by dressing, feeding and worshiping them, and thus he was constantly absorbed in the play of transcendental realization. These are the signs of an eternally liberated soul. An eternally liberated soul is a devotee of the Lord who never forgets Him. Human life is meant for reviving one’s eternal relation with the Lord, and all religious injunctions are meant for awakening this dormant instinct of the living entity. The sooner this awakening is brought about, the quicker the mission of human life is fulfilled. In a good family of devotees, the child gets the opportunity to serve the Lord in many ways. A soul who is already advanced in devotional service has the opportunity to take birth in such an enlightened family. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (6.41). Śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ’bhijāyate: even the fallen devotee gets the opportunity to take his birth in the family of a well-situated brāhmaṇa or in a rich, well-to-do mercantile family. In both these families there is a good opportunity to revive one’s sense of God consciousness automatically because particularly in these families the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa is regularly performed and the child gets the opportunity to imitate the process of worship called arcanā.”
How it was for a great devotee like Uddhava to be left behind after the Lord concluded His pastimes? We can’t imagine, but everything connected with the Lord is auspicious, and thus remembrance of the Lord, even in separation is the source of great ecstasy. In fact, meditation in the Lord in separation is even stronger than when He is physically present, as we can see in the example of the Gopis.
What was Uddhava’s reaction?
“For a moment he remained dead silent, and his body did not move. He became absorbed in the nectar of remembering the Lord’s lotus feet in devotional ecstasy, and he appeared to be going increasingly deeper into that ecstasy.
It was so observed by Vidura that Uddhava had all the transcendental bodily changes due to total ecstasy, and he was trying to wipe away tears of separation from his eyes. Thus Vidura could understand that Uddhava had completely assimilated extensive love for the Lord.” (SB 3.2.4-5)
Prabhupada comments that these kinds of bodily changes exhibited by Uddhava can’t be imitated. They are possible only for a person in the transcendental plane. A devotee on this platform is free to join the pastimes of the Lord in the spiritual world even while still technically living in a material body. Their consciousness thus travels between the two planes and their behavior appears to be erratic, incomprehensible to regular people.
In the next verse, it’s revealed that Uddhava had gone to the abode of the Lord in his meditation. In other words, his consciousness was transferred to the spiritual world and had to come back from there to the human plane to be able to finally answer the questions of Vidura.
As Prabhupada explains in the purport of verse 6:
“When Uddhava was fully absorbed in the transcendental ecstasy of love of God, he actually forgot all about the external world. The pure devotee lives constantly in the abode of the Supreme Lord, even in the present body, which apparently belongs to this world. The pure devotee is not exactly on the bodily plane, since he is absorbed in the transcendental thought of the Supreme. When Uddhava wanted to speak to Vidura, he came down from the abode of the Lord, Dvārakā, to the material plane of human beings.”
Vidhura reveals that Krsna left
When Uddhava was finally able to speak, he started by revealing that Krsna had left the planet. Just like the Sun is sometimes visible and sometimes not, the Lord is always present, but He becomes visible only for a short period, once in a day of Brahma. He comes, plays His pastimes, and then goes to the next universe.
In reality, the pastimes of the Lord are constantly going on. It’s just that they become visible in a particular universe, and then in the next, just like the sun is always shining and is always visible in some part of the planet. Prabhupada explains it in the following way:
“When the Lord’s pastimes are visible to the human eye, they are called prakaṭa, and when they are not visible they are called aprakaṭa. In fact, the Lord’s pastimes never stop, just as the sun never leaves the sky. The sun is always in its right orbit in the sky, but it is sometimes visible and sometimes invisible to our limited vision. Similarly, the pastimes of the Lord are always current in one universe or another, and when Lord Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the transcendental abode of Dvārakā, it was simply a disappearance from the eyes of the people there. It should not be misunderstood that His transcendental body, which is just suitable for the pastimes in the mortal world, is in any way inferior to His different expansions in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas.” (SB 3.2.12)
Uddhava lamented that not all members of the Yadu dynasty were able to fully recognize Krsna as the Supreme Lord and that he himself was not able to properly use the opportunity he had to personally serve the Lord. This is also due to the ecstasy of separation. As Srila Prabhupada explains:
“The pure devotee of the Lord thinks himself most unfortunate. That is due to excessive love for the Lord and is one of the transcendental perceptions of viraha, the suffering of separation.”
Some of the Yādavas were eternally perfect associates of the Lord who came with Him from the spiritual world, like Uddhava, while others were demigods who joined His pastimes from this universe. Those who joined from here were the Yādavas who left Dvaraka to perform the sacrifice and were killed in the fight with bamboo rods. This allowed Krsna to finish His dynasty when He was ready to leave.
We can see thus that these demigods who joined the pastimes of the Lord were not necessarily all perfect devotees. They had the opportunity to join the Lord’s pastimes to increase their devotional service, and when the Lord finished His pastimes they were returned to their posts as the departmental heads of the Universe. That’s why Prabhupada in his purport to 3.2.10 defines them as “only partially cognizant of the Lord” and said that their “lack of knowledge was not due to their insufficient erudition; it was due to their misfortune.”
After having experienced the pastimes of the Lord, these demigods will stay in their posts for millions of years more, until the end of their mandates, having the opportunity to chant and remember the glories of the Lord, and after this period, the ones who attain a platform of pure devotional service will be able to finally go back to Godhead.
Their situation is thus similar to ours. We also have the opportunity to participate in the pastimes of the Lord, being part of the sankirtana movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but how much we will benefit from this opportunity depends on us. The soul has always free will, and this free will can be used to turn his face to Krsna or turn away from Him. Just like many were not able to recognize Krsna even while He was personally present before then, like Sisupala, others may not be able to take advantage of any other opportunity. The mercy is available to everyone, just like the light of the sun, but it also depends on our attitude of accepting it or not.
Vidhura describes Krsna’s pastimes
After deliberating on these points, Uddhava starts a summary description of the Lord’s pastimes, which will continue up to chapter four. All these pastimes will be described in more detail in the tenth canto.
We can see that the Srimad Bhagavatam starts by describing the pastimes of great devotees of the Lord, such as the Pandavas, Vyasadeva, Narada Muni, Sukadeva Goswami, Bhismadeva and Pariksit Maharaja in the first canto, progress in giving us an understanding of the Lord in his universal aspect in the second canto, explaining how He controls His different energies that are responsible for the cosmic manifestation, how He is present everywhere, etc. Now, at the beginning of the third canto, a preliminary description of the personal pastimes of the Lord is given.
How is it possible that the transcendental Lord may appear in this mortal world and become visible to us? Does He assume a material body like believed by the Mayavadis?
Uddhava’s answer is no. The Lord appears by His internal potency, Yoga-maya. He thus never comes in contact with the illusory energy, although it may appear so. The Lord comes in His original spiritual form and performs His pastimes in the association of His pure devotees.
This point is emphasized in the Bhagavad-Gita. In chapter four, when Krsna mentions that He spoke the science of the Bhagavad-Gita to Vivasvan, many millions of years ago, Arjuna questions how it is possible since Krsna is his contemporary. Krsna then reveals that both He and Arjuna appear continuously in many forms in this and other universes. He remembers everything, since He always comes in His original spiritual form, while Arjuna forgets since he accepts a different body each time. The fact Krsna remembers everything He did in all His previous incarnations proves that He doesn’t accept a material body like ordinary souls. A king may visit a prison to see how the inmates are doing, but He doesn’t become a prisoner by doing so. Similarly, Krsna remains transcendental, even though He comes to play His pastimes in the different material universes.
The first pastime described by Uddhava is the Rajasuya Sacrifice of Maharaja Yudhiṣṭhira. During this sacrifice, all the demigods who rule the celestial planets, as well as kings from the lower and intermediate planetary systems could appreciate the transcendental beauty of the Lord. Being conditioned, these kings and demigods thought that Krsna was a creation of Lord Brahma, like them, although Krsna is the creator of Lord Brahma and everyone.
The Rajasuya Sacrifice happened before the dice game and the exile of the Pandavas. After the incident of the house made of lac, when Duryodhana tried to kill the Pandavas, the five brothers, together with their mother Kunti escaped through the forest, and went all the way to the village of Ekachakra, on the opposite side of India, where they lived for several years dressed as Brahmanas. Hastinapura, the capital of the Kurus is where is now New Delhi, while Ekachakra is close to Mayapur. On the way back, Arjuna attended the swayamvara ceremony of Draupadi and won her hand in marriage.
When they finally returned to Hastinapura and claimed their kingdom, Dhrtarastra cheated them by giving a deserted part of the kingdom as their share. Still, being so pious, the Pandavas were able to quickly develop it, and eventually, Yudhiṣṭhira could claim dominance over all the other kings and celebrate the Rajasuya sacrifice with the participation of Krsna. This led Duryodhana to become more and more envious, culminating with the plot of the dice game, when he again cheated the Pandavas and sent them into exile for 13 years. After this period, the Pandavas returned and, being refused their kingdom back, prepared for the battle of Kuruksetra.
“All the demigods from the upper, lower and middle universal planetary systems assembled at the altar of the rājasūya sacrifice performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. After seeing the beautiful bodily features of Lord Kṛṣṇa, they all contemplated that He was the ultimate dexterous creation of Brahmā, the creator of human beings.” (3.2.13)
The next pastime mentioned by Uddhava is how the Gopis became affected when Krsna left for Mathura. In reality, Krsna never leaves Vrindavana, He resides eternally there in His original form, while Vasudeva Krsna, His first expansion, departs to Mathura. However, Krsna is sometimes visible and sometimes not visible in Vrindavana, which creates the dynamic of meeting and separation that increases the love of the inhabitants for Him and leads to the most intense exchanges of love later when they meet at Kuruksetra. According to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, the intensity of the loving exchanges between the inhabitants of Vrindavana when they meet Krsna at Kuruksetra is even more intense than in Vrindavana.
“The damsels of Vraja, after pastimes of laughter, humor and exchanges of glances, were anguished when Kṛṣṇa left them. They used to follow Him with their eyes, and thus they sat down with stunned intelligence and could not finish their household duties.” (3.2.14)
Next, Uddhava mentions how Krsna was born in the prison-house of Kamsa. During the marriage of Devaki, the sister of Kamsa, with Vasudeva, the father of Krsna, a voice from the sky predicted that the eighth son of Devaki would kill Kamsa. Enraged, the demon took his sword and prepared to kill his own sister, but he was somehow pacified by Vasudeva, who promised to give him all the children born of them. Vasudeva was famous for never breaking his word, so Kamsa felt reassured and left them be, but later, due to the advice of his demoniac ministers, decided to put them in prison and proceeded to kill all the sons of Devaki, one by one. With this, Kamsa exhausted his pious credits and prepared the road for his death.
As Uddhava mentions: “The Personality of Godhead, the all-compassionate controller of both the spiritual and material creations, is unborn, but when there is friction between His peaceful devotees and persons who are in the material modes of nature, He takes birth just like fire, accompanied by the mahat-tattva.” (3.2.15)
By his acts, Kamsa accelerated the process that led to the birth of Krsna and ultimately to his demise, just as all atheists who harass devotees are in reality digging their own graves. Most however will not be as fortunate as Kamsa to be personally killed by Krsna.
The six sons of Devaki who were killed by Kamsa were previously the sons of Marīci, who had been cursed by a Brahmana. After being killed by Kamsa they returned to their position on the celestial planets. The seventh son was Balarama, who was transferred to the womb of Rohini (making it appear that Devaki had a miscarriage), and the 8th was Krsna.
After being born in the prison, Krsna was taken by Vasudeva to the house of Nanda Maharaja, where he lived incognito. In other words, the unborn and all-powerful Lord appears to take birth and run in fear of an enemy. Uddhava reveals how these pastimes are bewildering.
“When I think of Lord Kṛṣṇa — how He was born in the prison house of Vasudeva although He is unborn, how He went away from His father’s protection to Vraja and lived there incognito out of fear of the enemy, and how, although unlimitedly powerful, He fled from Mathurā in fear — all these bewildering incidents give me distress.” (3.2.16)
Later, when Krsna became a grown-up, he went with Akrura to Mathura, where he killed Kamsa and freed his parents. Playing the role of an obedient son, he begged Vasudeva and Devaki to pardon Him for not being able to rescue them sooner.
“Lord Kṛṣṇa begged pardon from His parents for Their [Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma’s] inability to serve their feet, due to being away from home because of great fear of Kaṁsa. He said, “O mother, O father, please excuse Us for this inability.” All this behavior of the Lord gives me pain at heart.
Who, after smelling the dust of His lotus feet even once, could ever forget it? Simply by expanding the leaves of His eyebrows, Kṛṣṇa has given the deathblow to those who were burdening the earth.” (3.2.17-18)
Apart from Kamsa, Krsna killed millions of other demons, some directly and some through the actions of His devotees, like the Pandavas during the battle of Kuruksetra. In this way, Krsna relieved the burden of the world.
As revealed by Rupa Goswami on the Laghu Bhagavatamrta, although most incarnations of the Lord kill demons, only when Krsna comes personally do the demons killed by Him attain liberation. We can see for example, that Hiranyakashipu was later reborn as Ravana and again as Sisupala when he was finally killed by Krsna. In this way, the population of demons in the universe grows during the first half of the day of Brahma, creating a difficult situation for everyone. Although they are killed by the demigods and different incarnations of the Lord, their population continues to increase, since even when killed they are just reborn in new bodies.
When Krsna descends during the reign of the 7th Manu, all these demons take birth on Earth, and the planet becomes overburdened. When Krsna finally kills them, they are purified of their demoniac nature and attain liberation. Most of the demons killed by Krsna attain the Brahmajoti, but a few, who somehow develop a devotional attitude are able to attain the spiritual planets, just like Putana (who became an assistant of Mother Yashoda).
The universe is thus cleansed and devotees have again peace to practice their devotional service. There are many demons in our age, but not big powerful demons like the ones present in Krsna’s times.
“You have personally seen how the King of Cedi [Śiśupāla] achieved success in yoga practice, although he hated Lord Kṛṣṇa. Even the actual yogīs aspire after such success with great interest by performance of their various practices. Who can tolerate separation from Him?
Certainly others who were fighters on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra were purified by the onslaught of Arjuna’s arrows, and while seeing the lotuslike face of Kṛṣṇa, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.” (3.2.19-20)
When Krsna killed Kamsa, He could very well have assumed the throne, but instead, he reinstalled Ugrasena on the throne. Ugrasena became thus again the king of the Yadu, Bhoja, and Andhaka dynasties, and Krsna played the role of a subordinate to him. This is of course possible because of the great piety of Ugrasena, who differently from his demoniac son, was a great devotee. Uddhava remembers also how Krsna, although being worshipped by all demigods as the Supreme Personality of Godhead used to submit reports to the king.
“Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of all kinds of threes and is independently supreme by achievement of all kinds of fortune. He is worshiped by the eternal maintainers of the creation, who offer Him the paraphernalia of worship by touching their millions of helmets to His feet.
Therefore, O Vidura, does it not pain us, His servitors, when we remember that He [Lord Kṛṣṇa] used to stand before King Ugrasena, who was sitting on the royal throne, and used to submit explanations before him, saying, “O My lord, please let it be known to you”?” (SB 3.2.21-22)
The mention that Krsna is the Lord of all kinds of threes is in the sense He is the master of the three words, the modes of material nature, the three purusha-avataras (Maha-Vishnu, Garbhodakaśāyī and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu), the trinity of Vishnu, Brahman, and Shiva, the spiritual, material and marginal energies and so on.
The childhood pastimes of the Lord
After describing these pastimes, the attention of Uddhava returns to Vrindavana, and he starts a description of the childhood pastimes of the Lord.
Although Putana came to the Lord as an enemy, intending to kill Him, she simultaneously manifested an attitude of service by feeding the Lord with her breast milk. The Lord thus accepted her service and at the same time destroyed her demoniac nature by killing her body. In this way, Putana became free and was able to join the Lord’s eternal pastimes in Goloka Vrindavana as one of the lady assistants of Mother Yashoda.
“Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Pūtanā] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?” (3.2.23)
Krsna is always the all-powerful Supreme Lord. It does not matter if He appears as a small baby, as the gigantic Varahadeva to lift up the Earth. In any case, his power is not diminished. Therefore, even as a small baby, He had no problem killing a powerful demon like Putana.
Cases like that of Putana are however the exception, not the rule. Most demons Krsna kills are just elevated to the Brahmajoti, while devotees reach the spiritual planets, where they can personally serve the Lord. There is thus no comparison between the position of the devotees and the demons, who are liberated just due to the causeless mercy of the Lord.
However, in his ecstasy of separation, Uddhava laments he is not able to see the Lord face to face, like demons are when they are fighting the Lord, and thus in humility he overestimates their position.
“I consider the demons, who are inimical toward the Lord, to be more than the devotees because while fighting with the Lord, absorbed in thoughts of enmity, they are able to see the Lord carried on the shoulder of Garuḍa, the son of Tārkṣya [Kaśyapa], and carrying the wheel weapon in His hand.” (3.2.24)
Most of the demons who Krsna came to kill took birth before Him, overburdening the planet. In this situation, Bhumi the personification of Earth went to Lord Brahma to beg for help, and as a response, Brahma prayed to the Lord to advent as an incarnation to relieve the burden of the world.
“The Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being prayed to by Brahmā to bring welfare to the earth, was begotten by Vasudeva in the womb of his wife Devakī in the prison of the King of Bhoja.” (3.2.25)
Krsna goes to Mathura to kill Kamsa at the age of 16. However, in this particular iteration of the pastimes, the Lord desired to go earlier, and therefore all the pastimes in Vrindavana were accelerated, and the Lord matured faster than usual. The 16 years the Lord usually stays in Vrindavana passed thus in just 11 years. Uddhava describes the Lord during this period as a covered flame, because His true identity was not known. He was just the son of Nanda Maharaja and the brother of Balarama. This is His mood in Vrindavana, as opposed to all the pomp and opulence of Mathura and Dvaraka.
“Thereafter, His father, being afraid of Kaṁsa, brought Him to the cow pastures of Mahārāja Nanda, and there He lived for eleven years like a covered flame with His elder brother, Baladeva.” (3.2.26)
In the next four verses, Uddhava gives a short description of the childhood pastimes of the Lord in the company of the cowherd boys. Every day Krsna would go with them to the pastures where they would play many different pastimes, and where Krsna would inevitably fight and kill some demon. At the end of the day, Krsna would return to Vrindavana and play pastimes with the Gopis.
“In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamunā river, through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds.
When the Lord displayed His activities just suitable for childhood, He was visible only to the residents of Vṛndāvana. Sometimes He would cry and sometimes laugh, just like a child, and while so doing He would appear like a lion cub.
While herding the very beautiful bulls, the Lord, who was the reservoir of all opulence and fortune, used to blow His flute, and thus He enlivened His faithful followers, the cowherd boys.
The great wizards who were able to assume any form were engaged by the King of Bhoja, Kaṁsa, to kill Kṛṣṇa, but in the course of His pastimes the Lord killed them as easily as a child breaks dolls.” (SB 3.2.27-30)
Afraid of Garuda, the great serpent Kaliya took shelter in the waters of the Yamuna, and ended up poisoning the river. When the cows and boys were poisoned by drinking the water, Krsna played his pastime of dancing on top of the hoods of the serpent while Kaliya tried to bite Him. By doing so, he chastised him for his mischief by strongly kicking his hoods. By the touch of the Lord’s lotus feet, Kaliya was purified of his envious mentality. After receiving the prayers of the wives of Kaliya, who were all great devotees, the Lord sent him to live in another place, assuring him that from that point he would not need to fear Garuda. He restored the waters of the Yamuna and revived everyone who had been poisoned.
According to Srila Prabhupada, Kaliya went to the Fiji islands in the Pacific Ocean. When Srila Prabhupada visited the islands, he opened a temple with a unique deity of Krishna-Kaliya, where Krsna is dancing on the hoods of the serpent.
“The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were perplexed by great difficulties because a certain portion of the Yamunā was poisoned by the chief of the reptiles [Kāliya]. The Lord chastised the snake-king within the water and drove him away, and after coming out of the river, He caused the cows to drink the water and proved that the water was again in its natural state.”
Finally, there is a short description of the pastime of Govardhana. This happened just after the pastime when Krsna met the wives of the ritualistic Brahmanas. In this pastime, Krsna showed the supremacy of devotional service compared with worship to demigods and other fruitive activities recommended in the Vedas for ordinary people. However, when He returned to Vrindavana he found the cowherd men preparing to execute a great sacrifice to Indra!
Krsna argued that Indra is just a servant of the Supreme Lord and there is no need to worship him separately. He argued that instead, they should worship Govardhana, which is the real source of opulence for Vrindavana. Govardhan is just another form of Krsna, so in this way, He instructed the inhabitants of Vrindavana to worship Him instead of Indra.
“The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, desired to utilize the opulent financial strength of Mahārāja Nanda for worship of the cows, and also He wanted to give a lesson to Indra, the King of heaven. Thus He advised His father to perform worship of go, or the pasturing land and the cows, with the help of learned brāhmaṇas.
O sober Vidura, King Indra, his honor having been insulted, poured water incessantly on Vṛndāvana, and thus the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of cows, were greatly distressed. But the compassionate Lord Kṛṣṇa saved them from danger with His pastime umbrella, the Govardhana Hill.” (3.2.32-33)
In the last verse, Uddhava hints at the loving pastimes of Krsna with the Gopis, but he does this discretely. This is something we can observe throughout the whole of Srimad Bhagavatam. The intimate pastimes of Krsna and the Gopis are described very respectfully, Sukadeva Goswami doesn’t even directly mention the name of Radharani. In general, Sahajiyas like to openly discuss these pastimes as if they were something cheap, but our acaryas give us this mood of approaching such intimate pastimes of the Lord extremely respectfully.
“In the third season of the year, the Lord enjoyed as the central beauty of the assembly of women by attracting them with His pleasing songs in an autumn night brightened by moonshine.” (SB 3.2.34)
The point is that differently from pastimes of Krsna killing demons, maintaining the universe, etc. which naturally inspire a mood of respect and reverence to the Lord, the intimate pastimes of Krsna with the Gopis can be easily confused with material lust. Therefore, hearing these pastimes from unqualified sources can nourish our material lust and envy of Krsna (which are the very reasons for our stay in the material world), instead of freeing us from it. In other words, hearing these pastimes from Sahaiyas and other sensual people can harm our spiritual life instead of helping. In general, only pure devotees who are free from lust can properly narrate these pastimes, speaking in a way that invokes the proper mood in the audience.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krsna describes the material world as an inverted tree. Although the material tree appears to be similar to the original tree, it is inverted. Santa rasa, the mood of neutrality where there is no impulse to directly serve the Lord appears in the material world as the mood of renunciation and indifference present in the mood of goodness, which is the purest inside of the material modes. Conversely, the extra-conjugal relationships between Krsna and the Gopis, which are the purest and most intense expression of spiritual love and devotion to the Lord become material lust when reflected, manifested in the form of promiscuous relationships between men and women.
Spiritual love and material lust are thus diametrically opposite and contradictory, and to confuse the two is the greatest tragedy for one’s spiritual development.