Yadhavabhyudhaya

 

                          Story of Krishna- Part3

 

 

Chapter 18- Travellogue !

 

Krishna traveled from Indraloka to Dvaraka with Sathyabhama and showed her the places they were crossing explaining about them.This reminds one of the immortal kavya Megha dhutha of kalidasa.

 

He starts by showing her the mount Meru in the north above the earth, on the way from Devaloka.

 

nisargakaLyANathayA pradheeptham

sarvottharam thatthvam ivaikam Adhyam

amum priye noonam athandhrithAni

jyotheemshi bhakthyA pariyanthi ajasram

 

Tn he mount Meru is compared to the Lord who is the supreme reality, sarvottharam thatthvam, and possesses infinitely auspicious qualities. The mount Meru is situated in the north of all , sarvottharam,  always auspicious, nisarga kalyANatha being made of gold. The heavenly ; luminous bodies like the Sun and the Moon go round it, always, deligently, athandhritham   pariyanthi ajasram as though with devotion, as the nithya sooris, the eternal souls always go round the Lord with devotion.

 

The sky with the stars shone as the canopy of pearls and the Meru in the centre was being showered by the water of the Ganges from heaven, like  king having abhisheka performed to him and the luminous bodies going round were doing mangAlarathi as it were. The Meru abounds in caves of precious gems that put to shame those in the palaces of the dhikpalakas.

 

Krishna showed to Bhama how the earth itself looked like a lotus and the Meru was like the centre of the flower. The earth itself revolving like a chakra of the Lord.

 

Next Krishna describes the three regions of the earth, namely, IlAvrthavarsha, Harivarsha and Kimpurushavarsha. Garuda was flying over the Harivarsha, that is the modern Arabia which is situated to the south of IlAvrtha, Tibet and was nearing the Kimpurushavatrsha that is the slopes of Himalayas, which was inhabited by the mkimpurushas and kinnaras. The former have horse-face and the latter are musicians of celestial heritage. Garuda was flying high and low like a jet plane to show the places below and when he ascends above the clouds looked like the fans for the divine couple as they moved fast. The movement of Garuda was so smooth that the earth and the mountains with forests seem to come near them and recede as when we travel in a vehicle with high speed.

 

They were approaching Mount Kailas and Krishna compared it to the clouds of autumn which are white in colour and imagines that it is the heap of the sacred ash fallen from the body of Siva who dances in the pradhoshakala. The place of Kubera is also situated there and shine as though white-washed by the reflection of the snow- clad mountain peaks and it is enhanced by the waves of the Ganges flowing from the head of Siva when he shakes his head during his dance.

 

Desika here alludes to the incident of Ravana moving the kailasa mountain.

 

udhagravajravraNakarkaSAnAm

paryApthasAreNa bhujArgaLAnAm

anenavikhyApitha vikramamthath

rakshah pur ramasaravyam Aseeth

 

Kailasa mountain proclaimed the fame of Ravana who moved it with his twenty arms hardened by the blow of Vajra and who later fell for the arrow of Rama. By this sloka the strength of Ravana ,the greatness of Kailasa, which he could not move  though tried because his hands were caught under it due to Siva pressing his big toe and also the glory of Rama who could vanquish such a valiant hero, are all brought out.

 

Krishna compared the mountain to Balarama by saying that it had dark middle due to the trees and white in the upper part and red at places due to the red sand of the mountain like Balarama  who used to wear dark garment with a white body and his eyes red with wine.

 

The next sloka  is full of poetic beauty.

 

niSamya dhivyadhrumasambhavAnAm

noonam ravam noopuramanjareeNAm

uddeeyamANAh pratyanthi amee thvAm

manjusvarAh mAnasa hamsadhArAh

 

 

The sound made by the cluster of flowers of the parijatha resembled the sound of the swans of the mAnaSA lake  in  Kailas and so the swans come in front as though honouring them.

 

Next they neared the city of SoNithapura where the asuras like Hiranayakasipu were ruling and which was at that time reigned by BaNAsura, the son of Bali, who pleased Siva by playing mrdhanga with his 1000 arms. Then Krishna pointed out the krouncha mountain in which Parasurama made a hole with his arrow and through that hole swans are flying with ease and it looked like the Ganges coming out of the ear of Jahnu. (Ganga when following Bhagiratha flodded the asrama of he sage Jahnu and he drank the river  and let it out of his left ear as requested by Bhagirtha which was why Ganga acquired the name Jahnavi.)

 

Krishna showed to Sathyabhama the Manthara mountain which was churned by the devas to get amrtha. The poetic imagination of Desika runs riot in this chapter and he describes that the gems on the ornaments of the Lord which were stained by the blood of the asuras, became polished and shining due to the drops of nectar the fell on them when the peaks of the mountain were churned and hence they acted as the polishing stones for the gems. This from the mouth of Krishna Himself adds the vehemence and the sloka is also one of metrical beauty.

 

Vilagna dhaithyeSvara SoNithAnAM

vikunTa keyoorajushAmmaNeenAm

ayathnaSANopalathAmapushyan

ArdhrAh suDhAbinDhubhih asya kootAh

(Yad.18-30)

 

Krishna further said that the whirlpools of the sea stand as the marks of  the speed of the mountain being churned in order to get amrtha and Lakshmi.. Here the words ‘lakshmeesuDhAsanjananAya,’ reminds one of the words of Yamuna in his sthothra rathna where he says that the Lord took so much trouble to churn the ocean not for securing amrtha to the devas but only to get Lakshmi for Himself. Apart from the meaning in a lighter vein, this may mean that the Lord wanted Lakshmi not for Himself but for the world because she took place in His heart and made it full of mercy.

(Reading the sloka of Yamuna this sloka arose in the mind which I would like to share with the devotees.

SreeprApthyarTham eva yadhi mahadhAYAsam krtham

Thadhapi thava karuNA eva na svArTham

karuNekshaNenakarothi yA jaganmangalam

chakarTha thasyAh khalu nivAsam thava hrdhayam

 

That You have taken so much trouble to churn the ocean  to get Lakshmi if nit an act of selfishness but for the sake of the world because You have made your heart her abode that she directs  her merciful glances to all and causes the welfare of the world.)

 

Thus they reached the Himalayas which Krishna describes as the second Siva because it has Ganges and resorted to by the siddhapurushas and it forms the ornamental boundary to the land of Bharathavarsha. The description of the Himalayas by Desika  can only be compared to that of Kalidasa in his Kumarasambhava and it excels by the aura of devotion.

 

Description of Himalayas and Ganges

 

Krishna pointed out the pleasure garden of Parvathi  which excelled that of Kubera.

 

During the daytime the luster of the blue sapphire stones created a dark hue and in the night the medicinal herbs emitted their lustre which created brightness and hence the celestial beings who were there consider both day and night as the same.

 

Alupthameghadhuthih indhraneelaih

vajraih asou nithya thatithprakASah

pravrtthagangAsthanitho dhaDhAthi

prAvrdguNAn preeNitha neelakantah

(Yad.18.37)

 

In this sloka  Himalayas is compared to the rainy season because the blue sapphire stones in the mountain give the hue of the clouds and the diamonds create the appearance of lightning and the sound of Ganges flowing simulate that of torrents of rain and above all else it pleases Siva, Neelakanta , as the rainy season pleases the peacock, which is also known as neelakanta, due to its blue coloured neck.

 

Krishna compares the Ganges, which fell on the peaks of the mountain (when Siva let fall the river from his locks) and divide itself in four streams going in four directions, to the four Vedas which came out in streams from the four faces of Brahma. The Ganges dissolves  all sins of the world like the Vedas, and thus serves as the ladder to dharma.

Krishna here flattered Sathyabhama by saying that the ocean, though has many wives(rivers) from different sources, gets its status of being the husband, nATha, only by Ganges as He , Krishna is with sathyabhama.

 

Krishna further extolled Ganga, saying that the source of Ganga was the water that washed the feet of the Lord when He took Thrivikramavathara and spread into three streams to wash off the sins of the three worlds. The reason that the sea was not dried up by the vatava fire is due to the never ceasing floods of the Ganges, and thus the river acted as nectar inducing immortality to the ocean and also by giving divine forms to the sons of Sagara for whose salvation it was brought to earth by BhageeraTha.

 

The next sloka seems to compare the river to Desika himself since he gives a description of kavithva.

 

sthAnAnuroopam prasrthAih pravAhaih

mahadhbhireshA maDhurAvadhAthaih

prAleyaSailAth praThithAnubhAva

pravarthathe vAg iva vaSyavAchah

(Yad.18.47)

 

Krishna describing the Ganges said that the great  floods of the river from the Himalayas which spread according to the place it occupies and pure and sweet, resembled the words of a kavi, who has Sarasvathi within his grasp. The eloquence of such a kavi flows like the floods of the river, sweet sounding and suited to the occasion, the description of which fits perfectly Desika as a kavi.

 

Then they neared the Badhrikasrama where  Narayana along with Nara shows moksha to the world as it were. Narayana was doing thapas and produced UrvaSi from His thigh who put to shame those celestial damsels sent by Indra to distract Him. Near the Badarikasrama there was another, where Vamana took the gift of three feet of land from Mahabali and grew to become Thrivikrama. There the sages were performing yajnas. Krishna said that the sacrificial fires took in the ghee, cooked rice, milk etc. which were offered and give them out as smoke. It seemed that they emit the sins and the ignorance of those who approach them, which they imbibe as a medicine taken to  kill the disease which is  then expelled.

 

(This must be the siddhasrama  where  Visvamithra was doing yajna  which was protected by Rama.)

 

Krishna further said that the parrots that reside in the nests near the asrama repeat the Vedas they learnt along with the students there. Then Krishna showed Sathyabhama the asrama of Sandeepani, his guru, where he learnt the three Vedas which lighted a permanent lamp in his heart, by which he knew all that is to be known.

 

Krishna praised the land between the Himalayas and Vindhya mountain and said that this land, Aryavartha, was decorated by gem-like noble souls as the sea is decorated with the precious stones and the sky with stars. Then Krishna pointed to the Kurukshethra where Parasurama gave ablutions to his ancestors after destroying the khasthriya race. Krishna said that for those  who leave their body in this place never go in the southern direction, meaning the abode of Yama. That is, they either go to heaven or attain moksha. ( This is why kurukshethra is called dharmakshethra)

 

Then Krishna showed to Bhama the city of Ayodhya on the bank of Sarayu. He said ‘dhayA vipAkena charAcharANAm dhivyam padham yathra dhidheSa Ramah, the place where Rama created a Vaikunta  for his people due to mercy.

 

They neared the Kalindha mountain from which the river Yamuna flows. Desika the poet reigns supreme in the sloka describing the caves of the mountain which reminds one of Kalidasa describing Himalayas.

 

The caves in the Kalindha mountain are always dark even in the daytime when they become darker as during   midnight because of the shadow of the trees around. This is described poetically by Desika thus:

 

dhivAkareNa athra bileshu noonam

bhandheekrthANAM bahula kshapANAm

cchAyAviSeshaih prachithaih thadharhAm

ApyAyanAm Arachayanthi vrkshAh

(Yad.18.67)

 

The trees are nourishing the dark nights of the dark fortnight which were imprisoned by the Sun inside the caves of the mountain. The darkness provided by the trees is the nourishing food for the night inside by making them grow. Utthamur swamin says in his commentary that it is but natural that the trees which were scorched at the top by the Sun became favourably inclined towards the nights  on the basis that enemy of enemy is a friend.

 

Now as a diversion let us see the sloka in Kumarasambhava which is parallel to this.

 

dhivAkarAth rakshathi yo guhAsu

leenam dhivAbheetham iva andhakAram

kshudhre api noonam SaraNam prapanne

mamathvam ucchaih SirasAm sathi iva

(KS.1.12)

 

Kalidasa describing the  Himalyas  says that Himavan gives shelter to the darkness which is afraid of the Sun in his caves because when one surrenders, even if he is a mean person, the noble souls accept him as their own.

 

Then Krishna makes a brief mention about the Kaliyamardhana by saying that the river Yamuna  starting from the Kalindha mountain became impure for a short while due to the poison of Kaliya but purified (when Krishna defeated Kaliya and made him withdraw his poison) and joined with her friend Ganga and approached the ocean.

 

Appayyadhikshitha commenting on this sloka says that it is like a woman of noble birth who becomes contaminated,  leaves her father and does some expiatory rites and goes to her husband with the company of some female friend as befitting her status. It is to be noted that the river Yamuna reaches the sea only after it joins with Ganga.

 

Krishna then mentions the city of MaDhura as yaThArThanama, justifying its name since it is delightful. The present city of MaThura is mentioned in Srimadbhagavatham as maDhura only. But in some other works it is known as MaThura.

 

They have almost reached their abode and Garuda descended to the earth. Desika describes the descent of Garuda and the land near the west coast and the sea, in the forthcoming slokas.

 

 

 

The sea and reaching Dvaraka

 

Thrayeemayah thanvi thava oupavAhyah

kAlakramAth Apanatho DharaNyAm

sAmAbhirAmDhvanibhih samsthAth

pakshAniaih mArjayathi iva dhoshAn

(Yad.18.72)

 

Desika describes the descent of Garuda to the earth as follows:

 

Garuda being the embodiment of Vedas, (vedhAthman), made  sound with his wings resembling the samaveda  announcing the descent to the earth and it looked as though he was sweeping off with his wings the imperfections of the earth.

 

The dark forest along the cost which has the look of the wife to the sea whose company is ever newly enjoyed by the husband by means of the water that enters the forest again and again. There is pun on the word rasa, which means water as well as love or enjoyment.

 

The sea seemed to extend its arms (waves) towards them as though eager to see the parijatha tree, which got separated long ago from it, coming near. The upcoming foam served as the pearl umbrella for Bhama, said Krishna.

 

There were some islets on the sea which, said Krishna, looked like the hoof marks of Varaha or those made by the arrows of Rama. This looks as though Krishna is reminding himself of his previous incarnations.

 

To prove that a devotee will see the Lord everywhere, especially on seeing something magnificent, Desika through the words of Krishna compares the sea to the Lord Himself.

 

Asou parapremapadham svabhavAth

ApooryamAno mahathA rasena

Athmeva dhrshtah sahasAprajAnAm

adharsanecchAM ithareshu dhatthe

(Yad.18.93)

 

The ocean is like the Lord because;

1.It is loved most. There is no one on  earth who does not love the sea. Even the Lord Himself loves it as it is His abode. So too the Lord is the object of supreme love.

2. It is filled with water (rasa) by nature. The Lord is also full of Anandharasa, ‘raso vai sah, ’ declares the Upanishad.

 

3.While seeing it, the sea excludes the desire of seeing everything else. Similarly on seeing the divyamangalavigraha of the Lord one does not want to see anything else except Him.

 

Next Krishna compares the sea to the oordhva thandava of Siva.

 

saphenahAso jatilah pravAlaih

udhvarthayan oormibhujaih bhujangAn

vidambayathyesha nisarga bheemah

kasyApi kalpAnthanatasya leelAM

(Yad.18.970

 

The foam was like the fierce laughter, the coral reeds were the matted hair, the waves like arms tossing the snakes in the sea, the scene resembled the dance of Siva at the time of deluge.

 

 Or perhaps it imitates the dance of Manthara mountain which was like rasakreeda,  when it was churned.

 

Thaisthairasou nirmaThithoviDhoothah

samkshobhitho banDhanapeedanAdhyaih

prasAdha gAMbheerya niDHih praThimnA

kshmANvayam nojJathi SeethalAthmA

(Yad.18.100)

 

Krishna praises the ocean saying that, even though it was churned by the devas, made turbid by the Varaha, bound by Rama, troubled by Parasurama, (by the word Adhi the drinking by Agasthya is also implied), the ocean still maintained its coolness being accompanied n by the earth. The term used for the ocean, prasadha gAmbheerya nidhih, meaning the reservoir of clearness  and depth, implies the nature of saintly souls who are always calm, without showing anger and kind-hearted even when tormented by others and do not give up their composure.

 

Klathravantham purusham purANam

kapALinam chandhrakalAvathamsam

airAvathAdhyaihprachithAN akArsheeth

vaimAnikAn eva mahAn vadhAyah

(Yad.18.102)

 

The ocean is a great donor, vadhAnya, said Krishna, because it gave a wife to the Ancient Purusha, Narayana, crescent moon to Siva and all the riches like airavatha etc to the devas.

 

As a vaishnava devotee Desika could not resist mentioning about the divine mother and he says,

 

Idham jagath dharSitha thArathamayam

yadhbhroolathA lAsya viSeshanighnam

prajApatheenAm jananeem ajanyAm

thAm eva dheveem anaghAm asootha

(Yad.18.105)

 

This ocean gave birth to the Goddess Lakshmi, who is birth-less, faultless and by whose graceful dance of the eyebrows the ups and downs of the world is decided and who is the mother of all the Brahmas. ( There are many Brahmas in each kalpa like Indra)

 

Thus the sea, not only gave its daughter to the ever young bridegroom but also gave Him kousthubha gem and other things that go with the wedding like the feast in the form of nectar, vehicles and other gifts for the devas. The crowning glory of the sea was that it acquired Seshabhava, the status of offering service to the Lord by accommodating Him, a part of whose body accommodated the whole Universe, along with His couch, the Sesha.

 

Anargham Adhyam harineelarathnam

lakshmeedhrSA nithya nidharSaneeyam

nabhahprthicchandhanibhena noonam

anthargatham vyanjatayathi svaDhAmnA

(Yad.18.106)

 

There is a shadow of the dark clouds on the surface of the sea. By this it seems that the sea is implying  the presence of the invaluable blue sapphire called Hari within itself , which is incessantly enjoyed by Lakshmi through her glances. Here the commentators feel that there is reference to the Mathsyavathara, lakshmeedhrsa  nithyanidhaSaneeyam perhaps implying the constant moving of the eyes of mathsya. The word nidharSana also has the meaning of illustration. So the dark body of the Lord is compared to the dark eyes of Lakshmi.

 

Krishna told sathyabhama that he got the conch named pAnchajanyam only from this ocean when he retrieved the dead son of his guru SAndhaapani by killing the asura Panchajana.

 

They reached Dvaraka and Desika through the words of Krishna extols the city as one of the mokshapuris.

 

Padhe parasmin iva nithyam asyAm

Suddhena satthvena vibhooshithAYAm

DharmasyavAsAh praThithAh prThivyAm

Sarithpathougoshpadhavath bhavanthi

(Yad.18.118)  

 

              

The city of Dvaraka consisting only of satthva without rajas and thamas resembles the eternal abode of the Lord and hence all the other sacred cities are as of little importance as   the pool under the hoof of a cow in comparison with the ocean.

 

It is said that the seven cities Ayodhya,MathurA, Maya, Kasi, Kanchi Avanthika and Dvaraka are the seven places that secure  moksha.

 

ayoDhyA maThura mAya kASee kAnchiravanthikA

puree DhvAravathee chaiva sapthaithA mokshadhAyikAh

 

 

Sva raSmi nishpAdhitha sooryabhedham

archirmukhaih architha bhavyabhAgAm

nivrtthidharme niyathasThitheena

naSreyaseem paddhathim Ahuh enAm

 

The city is compared to the archirAdhi mArga, the path of light traveled by those who go attain moksha, because it abounds in rays of light that join with the rays of the Sun and it is the place of worship of the devas and hence all the devas like Agni are in their respective places.

 

The lofty palaces that seem to touch the heavens and the shadow of hem which spread to the netherworld the sea in-between, make it impossible to find the entrance of the city.

 

The ocean is the  moat around that protects this city, the sea-coast itself is the  wall surrounding it and protected by Sathyaki, the city is invincible even by the host of the devas.

 

Krishna reached Dvaraka which is similar to Lanka in glory. The adjectives vyathikarithasuvelAm, viSvakarmaprasoothim, lavanajalaDhigupthAm and Dhanapathi bahumAnyAm fit both, suvela being the mountain on which Lanka is situated, while with reference to Dvaraka it means those who act according to dharma, both were built by visvakarma, protected by the ocean, lavaNajalaDhi and Dvaraka was revered by Kubera while Lanka was his earlier abode.

 

When Krishna came to Dvaraka, Narada arrived to inform him of the imprisonment of Aniruddha by Banasura. The next chapter and the next are about the fight with Bana and the marriage of Usha with Aniruddha, the grandson of Rukmini and Krishna.

 

 

Chapter19- Krishna wakened by the Vedas

 

Krishna on hearing about the imprisonment of Aniruddha decided to advance against Bana the next day and spent the night in his palace. On the daybreak he was awakened by the vedas themselves assuming the role of vandhis, the bards who normally wake up the king by their song of praise.

 

The whole adhyaya consists of the waking up of Krishna. The meaning of  some of the eighty slokas will be explained here.

 

Krishna , says Desika,  who is always awake, nithyaprabuddha, with his divine intellect, was closing his lotus-like eyes as though he was sleeping.

.

 

yAminyapaithi yadhunATha  vimuncha nidhrAm

unmesham icchathi thavonmishithena lokam

jAthah svayam khalu jagath hithameva karthum

DharmapravarthanDhiyA DharaNeethale thvam

(Yad.19.2)

 

“The Lord of yadhavas! Give up your sleep. When you open your eyes it will be the waking up of the whole world. You have manifested yourself to do good to the world because of your will to spread dharma.”

This has reference to the GIta sloka ‘uthseedheyuh ime lokAh  na kuryAm karmacheth aham,’ in which the Lord says that the wolrds will collapse if He does not do His work, namely the protection of the world of beings. The words jAthah svayam khalu indicates that the seeming births of the Lord as Krishan Rama etc. are only  His manifestations.

 

Santhyajyathe tharalamoukthikajAladhrSyaih

thArAgaNaih thridhaSavarthma thamAlaneelam

padhmApatheh amrtha nirmaThanAvasAne

dhugDhAmburASiprshathaih iva roopam agryam

(Yad.19.7)

 

The sky regains its blue colour becoming devoid of the stars like the body of the Lord which regained His original colour at the end of the churning of the ocean for nectar when, the drops of the milky ocean that were splattered on His body fell off.

 

The cocks with red crown with their loud cry come out of the houses and play to the joy of the damsels. This reminds of the line ‘kozi azaitthana kAN,’ in Thiruppavai pasuram of Andal.

 

Prathyakshithe thamasi yAsyathi viprakarsham

Sanccahnna bhAnumathi samprathi jeevaloke

gangAyamAnasalilam nijaraSmiyogAth

sishNAsyeva sithabhAnuh upaithi sinDhum

(Yad.19.13)

 

The darkness that has been perceptible so long is going to vanish and the Sun is still hidden from the view of all beings and the Moon enters the ocean which has been made white by his rays as though he wishes to take bath in the Ganges. The implication here is that the Sun is hidden when the thamas, that is Rahu is present during eclipse. So the entering of the Moon in to the ocean is compared to the bath taken at the end of eclipse when all waters are considered to be as pure as the Ganges. The Moon is referred to as sithabhAnu, which means one with white rays. The poetical fancy continues further when Desika personifies the dawn as the wife of the Sun who has got up earlier like a good wife and the red hue of the rising Sun in the dark morning is the mark of Sindhoor at the parting of her dark hair.

 

The philosopher comes to the forefront in the following sloka along with the poet.

 

prAdhurbhavishyathi charAcharjanthuvarge

prApthAruNena viDhunA thamasA cha vela

AbhAthi bhAvithaparasparleSayogA

mAyAvipakthih iva lohitha SuklakrshNA

(Yad.19.18)

 

The time of the morning, before the moveable and immovable beings woke up, is red with Aruna, dawn, white Moon and the darkness still remaining, is like the causative elements of the universe, namely, fire, red, water, white and earth, black. It resembles the prkrthi or primal nature which consists of the three gunas,  which are described as red, white and black, before creation.

 

The dawn is compared to the Lord with lotuses blossoming like His eyes opening, the colour of the indheevara flowers shining like the dark blue of His body, welcomed by the sages who got up in the morning, accompanied by the red colour of the dawn like that of Lakshmi and with rathAnga, that is chakravaka birds (the word raThAnga also means chakrayudha.

 

The light of the Sun starting from the east waking up the flowers and destroying the darkness is like the light brilliance of the chakra of the Lord, rising up to delight the good and to destroy the asuras.

 

pAdhasprSAM dhiSathibhoomibhrthAmprakASam

satthvam sameDhayathisadhbhih udheerithArGhyah

thejogaNANapithirasuruthe svadheepthyA

chakrapriyah thvam ivasamprthi chandabhAnuh

(Yad.19.35)

 

The Sun when risen is like Krishna himself because he gives light to the bhooDhara mountains by his rays, padha, make the endeavour grow by inducing action. He is worshipped by the good. He eclipses the glory of other luminous bodies by his light and he is dear to the chakravakas, chakrapriyah.  Krishna is also chakrapriya, fond of his chakra, and gives light of knowledge to the kings bhooDhara, who resort to him, makes the good actions flourish and worshipped by the good.

 

Aruna, the dawn removed part of the darkness and the Sun destroyed the rest. This is like some of the sins being removed  by the association of the good and the rest of the sins are destroyed later by the wise who make us meditate on the Lord.

 

Desika the baktha makes reference now to Sri Narasimha and Sri Varaha. He says that the Sun is like Narasimha who manifested suddenly and tore the body of Hiranyakasipu in tearing away the darkness. The earth which was immersed in the darkness for long is rescued by the Sun like the time when the earth was immersed in the sea by Hiranyaksha and was brought out by Varaha.

 

Now we see the vedanthacharya coming to the forefront in the following sloka.

 

nidhrAm apAsya thamasA cha dhrSo niroDham

prathangmukham praThamathah praThayan prakASam

niSSreyasa prathipadhena nijena DhAmnA

viSvam samADhiriva  dharSayathi vivasvAN

 

Desika compares the Sun to the state of samADhi or realization. He wakes up the sleeping, dispels the darkness, spreads the light to the west and then shows himself and causes the welfare of the world. SamaDhi also is achieved after first dispelling  the darkness of ignorance which makes the individual soul sleep in worldliness, as though in a dream and then creating awareness in the self and then causing the perception of reality resulting in moksha. Here the prathyak means the west and also the individual soul and nissreyas is both worldly welfare as well as moksha.

 

The elephants getting up is compared to the benefactors who are ever engaged in the act of  giving gifts to others. The trunk of the elephants are always covered with rut like the water flowing from the vessel used for dhAna. The bees which hover around them are like those who are asking for gifts and the elephants getting up is compared to the respectful gesture of the donors towards the receivers of the gifts.

 

After along description of the morning the bards entreated Krishna to get up from his bed like the adhisesha and cast his honey-like merciful glances towards them from his lotus eyes.

 

The next adhyaya describes the defeat of Bana and the marriage of Usha and Aniruddha.

 

 

 

Chapter20-  Defeat of Bana and the marriage of Usha and Aniruddha

 

Usha, the daughter of Banasura, saw Aniruddha in her dream and asked Chitralekha  her friend who possessed of magical powers to find him and bring him . Chitralekha did so and Usha and Aniruddha were married secretly. Bana coming to know of this imprisoned Aniruddha. Being informed of this by Narada Krishna decided to march against Bana and bring Aniruddha back.

 

 

Krishna started for SoNithapura, he capital of BANa. The army was so huge that the weight of it converged in one place made Adhisesha who bore the earth bow down with it with his hoods lowered.  But the earth bore it patiently knowing that her burden would be lessened shortly. The dust that rose above looked like the earth itself ascending to tell the good news that her burden is going to be less, to  Brahma.

 

Krishna reached SoNithpura very quickly that it seemed that the direction, ASA, itself advanced in front with desire, ASA, to welcome Krishna. The flag of the city shook with the speed of the wings of Garuda carrying Krishna.

 

The bhoothas of Siva who guarded  the city ran away in fear seeing the force of Balarama. The yadhavas attacked the city with all their force and Bana himself came out with anger.

 

The following sloka shows how the vedanthacharya sees the philosophical meaning even in fighting.

 

asrkcchatAsAravaSAth DhvajinyAh

rajassamethe thamasi praSAnthe

satthvAnuroopam vidhaDhe pramodham

samAn miThah sammukhayan prakASah

 

The darkness, thamas, created by the dust, rajas, was removed by the flow of blood, the light showed the fight between warriors of equal strength, satthvAnuroopam, creating mutual joy. The use of the words sattva, rajas and thamas, implies that when the gunas rajas and thamas are removed due to hatred towards samsara, the satthva guna enables the meeting of like-minded and creates joy.

 

 The word ‘samAn’ means people of equal wisdom, as said in the gita , ‘pandithAh samadharsinah,’ with the view ‘sarvam khalu idham brahma,’ that is, they see everything as equal because  they are endowed with the wisdom that all this is  Brahman. They meet each other to the mutual delight as Gitacharya says, ‘bodhayanthah parasparam kaThayanthah cha mAm nithyam thushyanthi cha ramanthi cha.’ They talk to each other about the glory of the Lord and revel in it.-(Utthamur swamin )

 

Then Rudra who was guarding the fortress of Bana came to fight with Krishna. ( Bana did penance on Siva and acquired him as his guard and protector)

 

Rudra was described as ‘sithAchalemerum iva jvalantham,’ shining like a Meru on Himalayas due to his golden colour and mounted on the white bull. The shakthyayaudha of Skandha was quelled by Prdhyumna and the jvara ( a missile ) of Siva was overpowered by Krishna with his Vaishnava jvara. Then Krishna sent JrmbhaNAsthra which induced sleep to Rudra

 

Bana then fought with his thousand arms but all his missiles were deactivated by the wind from the wings of Garuda. The  shower of arrows that came from the bow Sarnga of Krishna was intolerable for the asuras. Here the kavithaarkika kesari compares it to the situation when the ignorant do not tolerate the meaningful words coming out of a kavi who has infallible eloquence.

 

Those who were killed in the battle, says Desika , gave their life which is worthless as an interest and received great fame like a large amount of money. Finally Krishna took his chakra on hand to stop the havoc created by Bana with his thousand arms in the army of yadhavas and cut off the extra arms of Bana in front of Rudra who gave him the boon. Desika says, ‘kim va viDhou vairiNi kena rakshyam. When the Lord Himself becomes the enemy who can save the offender?’

 

But Bana was not to be stopped and went on fighting with his rest of the arms  and when it looked as though Krishna may kill him Rudra intervened and reminded Krishna that Bana was the son of Mahabali and should be protected by him (as he had promised Prahladha earlier that he will not kill the descendents of his devotee)

 

Rudra praised Krishna as the Brahman who is the creator, protector and annihilator and Garuda is the embodiment of the Vedas. Having him as the vehicle the Lord is the essence of the vedas. Brahma and Rudra are appointed by him to do their work and all the devas are like SAkhaikadheSeshu SakunthkalpAh, like birds on the branches of the Vedas. Rudra said that Krishna has incarnated to lessen the burden of the earth and is known for his mercy and patience which are like his two consorts Lakshmi and Bhoomi  and requested him to pardon Bana who has sinned against him due to arrogance.

 

Krishna pardoned Bana and told Rudra that since Bana was a devotee of Rudra he has become the devotee of Krishna as well and granted him the boon that he will live to play his mrdhangam to please Rudra.

 

Bana repenting, agreed to give his daughter Usha to Aniruddha in marriage and prayed to be considered as a servant. Here Appayyadhikshitha quotes Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa where he says the clan of the bride becomes the servant of the  bridegroom. Janaka says in Raghuvamsa , ‘bhrthyabhAvi dhuhithuh parigrahAth veekshyathAm kula idham nimerithi.’ (RV-11.89) But in actuality this may mean that Bana gave up his hatred and became the servant of the Lord.

 

 Aniruddha became suited to his name, being released from imprisonment and returned to Dvaraka with Usha and lived happily.

 

 

Chapter21-  The episodes of Poundrakavasudeva Salva and others

 

The king of Poundraka called himself Vasudeva and made for himself the panchayuDha of the Lord, srivatsa and kousthubha and two extra arms like Krishna and through the gimmicks of magic, disguise etc. proclaimed that he himself is the real Vasudeva and the exploits of Hari belonged to his early lives. Thus like an actor wearing a costume he dressed and acted like Krishna and was praised by his courtiers as such became an object of ridicule and pity for the wise.

 

He became drunk with his own importance and sent a messenger to Krishna who went to Dvaraka and spoke in the court of Krishna in a brazen manner.

 

The commentary for the four slokas which the messenger had spoken is given by Sri Srinivasagopalacharya as the original commentary of Appayyadhikshitha was available only for the subsequent slokas.

 

The messenger advised Krishna on his own first, before conveying the command of Poundraka Vasudeva. He said that Krishna should listen to him for his own benefit. Poundrka Vasudeva is the supreme purusha and the lord of the earth.

The messenger said, ‘niSchaleekrthahithAhithaseemnAjishNunA yadhukulasya vibhoothyai’  which means “by you who wishes victory to the yadus and responsible for maintaining the boundary of dharma.” The very words which were said to indicate the importance of accepting the supremacy of Poundraka seems to imply that Krishna should win him to guard the limits of dharma through the chamatkara of the kavi.

 

Then the messenger conveyed the command of Poundraka to Krishna. He said that Krishna could not be the Supreme Lord but only a vassal of Poundraka. There are so many deities described in the Vedas but no one is considered as the supreme Lord. Hence there is no valid authority for holding Krishna as the Supreme Lord. He is also bound by merit and sin like the ordinary individuals and also the one who was bound by the gopis for his misdeeds cannot be the one who secures release from bondage. Poundraka proclaimed that he alone was the supreme purusha and Krishna should accept his sovereignty and give up his paraphernalia of shanka, chakra etc.

 

As devil quoting the scripture Poundraka by four slokas advises Krishna as follows:

 

Considering that these are the words of Desika it seems to refer to Poundraka himself.

 

The idea outlined in the slokas are as follows:

 

One who forgets that he is dependent on the Lord and considers himself as the Lord will be punished like a servant who acts as the king.

 

The theft of the self is the worst kind of sin that is, to consider that the self belongs to you when it is the property of the Lord.

 

One who wishes for power not due to him will come to harm.

 

Even though one commits sin due to destiny with discrimination he can get out of it.

 

Saying thus Poundraka demanded Krishna should surrender in order to save himself.

 

Krishna laughed and replied sarcastically saying ‘paThyam adhya vachanam thava manye yadhbraveeshi chiralipsitham ethath,’ which means that the words of Poundraka is beneficial and desired for a long time. As the Lord knows everything He welcomes the opportunity provided by POundraka for his own punishment.

 

ugrasenabhrathakAayam ethe 

na eeSithAra ithi vibhramanthah

samprathi thvadhupadheSa mahimnA 

bhAvayemahi thava eeSvarabhAvam

 

The literal meaning of this sloka is,

“we do not consider ourselves as masters, being the servants of Ugrasena. Now hearing your advise we look upon you as our lord and master.” But the actual meaning is  “since all individual selves, who have the fierce army(ugrasena) of sense organs, are our (meaning I) dependents  we(I)  do not have a mistaken notion that we are (Iam) the eesvara because I know that I am the eesvara. Now due to your offense  in the form of advice I will show my status as eesvara to you.”

 

Krishna said that Poundraka is superior to the Supreme, ‘parasmAth parah’ which really means that he is the enemy of the Supreme Lord as the word para also means an enemy. Further Krishna said that it is indeed the great fortune that he sent word to them like this, meaning, it is good that he created an opportunity for the world to know the real worth of Krishna and the insignificance of Poundraka. Krishna then sent word through the messenger that they will themselves come to see Poundraka.

 

Krishna advanced against Poundraka and the king of Kasi who was his associate and destroyed them and they both fell beside him like the twin trees that Krishna uprooted in his childhood.

 

Desika says that Poundraka was only imitating the appearance of Krishna earlier but now also got his gait, ‘anvabhooth kila gathim cha thadheeyAm.’ There is pun on the word gathi which means both gait and the status attained after death.

 

After this Krshna went back to Dvaraka and once when he was playing dice game, which Desika mentions as ‘bhAvibhArathamahAhava siddheh soochanam,’ being the sign of the Mahabharatha war later, the son of the king of Kasi sent a demon produced from a yajna. Krishna was playing unperturbed and his  sudharsana chakra drovethe demon away and it went and destroyed those who sent it and the sudarsana burnt th whole city of Kasi. Desika says that it looked as though the Lord wanted to purify the city and make it fit for securing mukthi for the devotees.

 

There were two monkeys among those who helped Rama in the previous yuga and one of them called Dhvividha (the other was Maindha) became corrupted and started causing destruction to the world and came to fight with Balarama and entering the place where he was enjoying himself it started irritating him. Balarama hit the monkey with his plough with which he once dragged the whole city of Hasthinapura into the  Ganges and killed it. ( Once Sambha the son of Jamabhavathi won the daughter of Duryodhana in svayamvara  and Duryodhana arrested him and Balarama, to punish Duryodhana, when he did not listen to the conciliatory words and insulted them, dragged the city with his plough and it started falling in the Ganges. The elders intervened and Samba was married to the daughter of Duryodhana)

 

Desika briefly mentions the destruction of Dhanthavakra, king of Salvas and who was the other dvarapalaka of vaikunta cursed by the sages Sanaka etc. and was born for three births to be killed by the Lord. In this birth the two were born as Sisupala and Dhanthavakra.

 

Krishna then induced Ugrasena to arrange for dhikvijaya and the next chapter describes the dhikvijaya of the yadhavas.

 

 

Chapter22- The dhigvijaya- the conquest

 

Krishna called the allies of yadhavas and told them that they should march against those who shun the path of dharma. He gave a lecture on dharma and the duty of those who uphold it.

 

In the night called indiscrimination the Lord has given a lamp called neethi sasthra which helps one to avoid stepping into the mire of adharma and it serves as the hand of the Lord to rescue those who go down.

 

The advice of the wicked is like an upturned umbrella which will not protect from the rain of calamities.

To walk along the beaten track of the good is to avoid pitfalls, said Krishna and told them to march into the world to conquer all except Kouravas and Pandavas (because Krishna had other plans for them!)

 

Krishna advised them to discard false ego, dhurahankara, which destroys all good conduct and is contrary to the world and sasthra. Here the KavithArkika simha says through the words of Krishna that the dhurahankara is the life force of the pAshandamatha, the schools of Philosophy that are against the vedas, meaning Buddhism and Jainism, because they cling to their concepts with obstinacy and arrogance.

 

Krishna cautioned them to be careful of arrogance  born out of ego as the one who is at the cliff-top is wary of falling down.

The body, mind and intellect are like three kinds of friends to be handled properly.

This has reference to the words suhrd, mithra and banDhu mentioned in the Gita. Suhrd is one who has friendship without reason and out of goodness of heart. Mithra is the one who is friendly with a purpose and banDhu is the relation who is friendly because of the relation ship. There are three ways to impress a friend, by welcoming him from a distance, by opening your heart to him and by gifts depending on which kind of friend he is.

 

Krishna further said that to believe those who are easily excitable and not have faith in those who love you, both are like thorns in your path to prosperity and to be uprooted

The prosperity itself is like a cobra which can be worn on the body when the poison is taken out. Like the manthra to remove the poison there are five limbs to establish the seven aspects of the kingdom to bring prosperity.

The five limbs mentioned here are, sahAya, assistance, sADhanopAya, means of ensuring success, dhesakAla vibhAga, right apportioning of time and place, viptthipratheekAra, antidote for calamities and siddhi, success. The seven aspects of a kingdom are, The king, ministers, country, fort, treasury, army and allies.

 

pramAdhasapthakam thyakthva prayujyopAyasapthakam

angasapthaka sampatthya jayatha dhveepasapthakam

(Yad.22.29)

 

Krishna told them to give up seven ills, employ the seven means, acquiring the seven limbs of the kingdom overpower the seven islands.

 

The seven ills- Hunting, dice, women, drink, harsh speech, character assassination and  cruel punishment’

The seven means- sama, peace, dhana, gift, bhedha, creating rift  dhanda, punishment, mAdeluding, upekshA, indifference  and indhrajAla, magic.

The seven limbs of kingdom has been mentioned earlier.

The seven dhveepas – jambu, plaksha,SAlmali,kuSa, krouncha,SAkha and pushkara.

 To conquer and rule the earth first one has to win his internal enemies  namely, kama krodha etc. Next they need six kinds of strength, heriditary, from servants, army, that given by friend, and by enemy’s enemy. But the most important one is the inner strength without which nothing is of any use.

 

The life is like movable tree. The childhood is the sprouts, the youth is the flower and the sanathana dharma is the fruit. The life ebbs away whether you are awake or sleeping. So one should amass immutable wealth in the form of spiritual discipline.

 

So long Desika has been handing out the treasures from the neethi sasthra and  dharma sasthra. Now Krishna concludes his advice and starts talking about his generals like Sathyaki.

 

Krishna compares Sathyaki to his sword Nandhaka. Like the sword Sathyaki pleases him and the similarities mentioned between them are,

 parivAreNa sampannah – Sathyaki is surrounded by his men and the sword is also covered with the scabbard.

thyakthakoSah kAryathah- gives away the treasures when necessary and the sword leaves its scabbard when needed.

Sathrujith- winning the enemy.

 

All of them drank thirstily  the words, sarasvathee, of Krishna, which was SruthisoursbhA, fragrant of the Vedas, priyahithA , sweet as well as beneficial and pariSuddhA,  pure.

 

Then Sathyaki started with his army like a second Krishna for the Dhikvijaya. He subdued the regions of Gujarath, Persia, Mathyadhesa and the adjacent ones, and fought the yavanas. Thus conquering all the plaes in the west he advance towards northwest and won over the regions of Sind, kamboja and Kashmir. Then he over powered the Himalayan region and advanced to Nepal and conquered Bengal and the regions in the east won over Kalinga and  through Andhra which surrendered he went to Tamilnadu. Entering into Kanchi and was impressed by it which resembled Svethadhveepa, at the centre of the milky ocea, seeing the devotees of Narayana there. Then he went to the chola and pandya kingdoms and enjoyed the sanctity there. Kerala and Ceylon and all the regions surrendered to the rule of Krishna and sathyaki returned to Dvaraka victorious.

 

Chapter23-Mahabharatha war

 

 

In this chapter Desika traces the circumstances that led to the mahabharatha war  and describes the role of Krishna  in it.

 

The Pandavas  were supposed to be the Indras of the earlier kalpas. They resorted to Krishna for support to win the Kouravas.  They knew Krishna as he is in reality owing to the instructions of their preceptors and through the study of the Vedas. They became very dear to Krishna who said ‘mamaprANA hi pAndavAh, Pandavas are my life,’ to Dhuryodhana. In the Gita Krishna says , priyo hi jnAnino athyarTham sa eva mamapriyah,’ and ‘jnAnee thu Athmaiva me matham.’  

To those who know Him in reality the Lord is the dearest and they are dearest to Him and the wise man is the Lord Himself. Thus  Pandavas were dear to Krishna as they surrendered to Him, worshipped Him and  accepted Him as their master and always they were protected by Him, as mentioned in the Gita, ‘macchitthA madhgathaprANAh.’

 

thahASrayAh thathpraNiDheyakrthyAh

thenAiva nAThena sadhA sanAThAh.

(Yad.23.3)

 

Krishna protected them from fire, water and poison when Dhuryodhana plotted to kill them.

 

Then Dhuryodhana, instructed by Sakuni, am long with his brother Dhussasana and Karna who had enmity with Arjuna, disgraced Droupadhi in the court of kings, after enslaving her under the pretext of winning her in the game of dice and she, finding her husbands helpless to protect her cried for help to Krishna who protected her by giving her heaps and heaps of silks to guard her honour.

 

After the thirteen years of exile  Pandavas wishing to gain their kingdom which was deceitfully taken away from  them  through the playing of dice, surrendered to Krishna, who, on account of his souSeelya, agreed to undertake the duty of a messenger for them and became Pandavadhootha. Desika says,

 

Sa thAdhrSeem Adhriyatha thrihAmA

preshyakriyAm preshitha dhevabrndhah

nanu prabhooNAm nirapekshabhoomnAm

prasADhanam bhakthajane guNathvam

(Yad.23.12)

 

The Lord who has all the devas as his servants and has the three supreme abodes, namely, Vaikunta, Ksheerasagara and the Bhoomandala, wished to go as a messenger for His devotees. To the great who do not depend on anything else for their glory, to be bhakthaparAdheena, serving the needs of their devotees , becomes the greatest ornament. This attribute of the Lord is praised by the wise even more than His powers of creation, sustenance and annihilation because, says Desika, ‘nAThochitham nnthrushu pArathanthryam,’ it is fitting for the soulabhya of the Lord to be ready to do the bidding of His devotees.

 

This act of going as a messenger is not in any way demeaning to the Lord says Desika because He is known to take birth for the protection of the devotees, even though He is birth-less. ‘ajanmanhjanmabhrthasya Soureh swAmithva samvAdhi babhoova dhouthyam.’

 

Krishna then went to Hasthina pura.

 

Khadhyothavath dharSitha khanjadheeptheen

prajnAdhrSo bhoomobhrthah sabhAyAm

prApthodhayo bhAnuriva thriDhAmA

praccchAdhayAmAsa kuroon svaDhAmnA

(Yad.23.13)

 

Krishna entered the court of  blind Dhrtharashtra  and eclipsed the glory of the  Kouravas by his brilliance who became like fireflies in front of the Sun.

 

The influence of the presence of Krishna was so great that the Kouravas honoured him as though they have forgotten the enmity (towards Pandavas)

 

Dhuryodhana got angry at the words of Krishna trying to advice him for his own good and tried to bind him but failed.(the Lord showed His visvaroopa and everyone except the wise like Bhishma and Vidhura were blinded by the brilliance) This Desika illustrates with a beautiful sloka.

 

Ulookale bhakthaguNe cha baddham

gunotthare gopavaDhoosthnecha

iyeshabanDhum jagathekabanDhum

dhuryoDhano dhusthyajamrthyupASah

(Yad.23.18)

 

The Lord allowed Himself to be bound in the mortar out of love for His devotees and he was bound by the love of the gopis.(bound by their gunas as with guna –a rope) How could  and with what DhuryoDhana could bind him as he was devoid of gunas ? He actually wished ti bind himself without release with the ropes of death.

 

Krishna returned to the Pandavas and allowed them to fight the war as the Kouravas never listened to him.

 

Desika describes the act of Krishna becoming  ParThasArathy by hext few slokas.

 

narAmSajushtena Dhananjayena

raThee bhvan sAraThirAthmanAcha

DhanurbhrthAthothrabrthAcha bheje

Prthakthvam aikyam cha yaThA pramANam

 

To Arjuna, who was a part of Nara  of the two, Nara-Narayana, wielding the bow, and hence was the owner of the chariot, Krishna took the horse-whip in his hand and became the charioteer, thus exhibiting the identity as well as the difference between the two of them as seen in the pramana.  The identity is due to the part of Nara in Arjuna  and the difference is due to  the human aspect of Arjuna. The pramAna f referred to is that the individual soul experiences difference from the Paramathman seeing itself as embodied but from the viewpoint of the inner Self who is the Lord in everything, there is identity. This is the essence of the mahavakya ‘thatthvamasi’ as elucidated by Ramanuja.

 

raThADhirooDam cha raTham cha rakshan

yaThArThatho dharsayathi sma yanthA

thrayyanthachinthA nirapeksham eeSah

thatthAdhrsam thatthvam vibhAgam Adhyam

 

This sloka illustrates the thatthvathraya of Visishtadhvaitha philosophy, namely, EeSvara, the Lord, jeeva, the sentient beings  and jagath, the insentient Universe.

 

Krishna acting as Parthasarathy, made explicit the thatthvathraya, without the study of the Vedas, by being the protector of the chariot as well as the one inside the chariot , He Himself the charioteer. That is, the Lord is the controller within , the chariot is the body and Arjuna is the individual soul.

 

One is reminded by this sloka of the text in  Katopanishad, ‘ AthmAnam raThinam viddhi Sareeram raThameva thu

Buddhim thu sAraThim viddhi manah pragrahmeva cha

IndhriyANi hayAnyAhuh vishayAh theshu gocharAn (kato.1.3/4)

 

It means that the body is the chariot and the jeeva is the one traveling in it and intellect is the charioteer, the mind is the reins, the indhriyas are the horses and the sense objects are the distractions on the path. As long as the reins are in hands of the charioteer the horses behave well and take the o passenger to his destination. For this the intellect should be established in the Lord and this is what is signified by the Parthasarthy role of the Lord.

 

The next sloka mentions the chariot as a portrayal  of the PraNava. Krishna is the first to be seen and later Arjuna is perceived, showing that he is associated with Krishna. Those who know the meaning of pranava from the Vedas see the Lord in front as the ‘a’kara, the last letter ‘ma’ being the jeeva and the  middle letter ‘u’ showing their connection.

 

purasThithe gopthari visvahethou

paSchAth avasThAyini thathpravarthye

ananyayogAth sa aTho babhAra

prADheethavedhyAm praNavapravrtthim

(Yad.23.23)

 

The moment Krishna appeared on the chariot of Arjuna with the reins and the horse-whip in his hands, the army defended by Bhishma was as good as dead.

 

This sloka hints at the words which Krishna was going to utter later in his discourse of Gita that he has killed the enemies and Arjuna is only a pretext, ‘mamaivaithe nihathAh poorvameva nimitthamAthram bhava savyasAchin,’ (BG.11.33) which is vouchsafed by Sanjaya at the end  of the discourse.

Yahra yogeSvarah Krishnah yathrapArTho DhanurDharh

Thathra sreeh vijayo bhoothih dhruvAneehih mathirmama

(BG.18.78)

 

Wherever there is Krishna, the yogesvara and where Arjuna is with hi bow ready for action, there the victory and good fortune and prosperity reigns.

 

Desika then mentions the sudden despondency of Arjuna and Krishna infusing wisdom into him by his discourse of Gita. He calls it Githopanishad which was given out to the world by the Lord Himself in the form of Vyasa. Desika extols the Gita by saying,

 

abhanjaneeyAm paradharmasatthAm

anaSvareem bhArathasooryadheepthim

Vidhuh SrutheenAm anaghAm vayasyAM

geethAm asmmooDajanAvigeethAm

 

Gita , the everlasting brilliance of the Sun called Mahabharatha  and the faultless companion of the Vedas is the irrefutable essence of self realization and valued by the wise .

 

Then Desika refers to the virAtroopa of the Lord which Arjuna saw with his divine eyes endowed by Krishna, and seeing all the universe and the devas in the cosmic form of the Lord he realised that the Supreme Self is the only agent of all action and the Kouravas were seen by him as already annihilated.

 

Then the war started and Arjuna  freed from his delusion fought valiantly aided by Krishna. Desika says that it was the Lord who controlled everything and secured victory for Pandavas, being the inner self of all and controlling their indhriyas like the horses. He is unparalleled, ’nAnyena nidharSaneeyah.’ Arjuna understood the glory of his charioteer in a portion of whom the whole univers is contained and comes out distinctly at creation and who was now sitting in one part of his chariot.

 

The Desika  briefly describes the various events of the war, like Krishna advancing against Bhishma with Chakra in hand in order to make true the vow of his devotee(Bhishma) that he will make Krishna wield a weapon in the war, being sure of his own infallible valour. This, says Desika is not in any way against the vow of Krishna not carry arms in the war because He is ever free and nothing can limit His actions. Moreover everything happens through His will only.

 

Krishna made good the vow of Arjuna also that he will cut off the head of Jayadhratha who was instrumental in the killing of Abhimanyu before sunset ,failing which he will jump into the fire,  by causing the sunset before its time which made Jayadhratha come out of his hiding and was killed.(Krishna removed the chakra by which he hid the Sun to make Jayadhratha come out thinking it was night fall.)

 

All the eighteen akshouhini of the Kouava army were destroyed and Desika wonders that it was like the pralayaleela of the Lord before the time. It was like the fall of puppets on a string being pulled by the one who holds the string. Thus Arjuna crossed the great ocean  of the war like that of samsara with the help of the Supreme Lord.

 

Then Desika mentions about the protection Krishna gave to the foetus in the womb of Uttara, wife of Abimanyu  from the missile sent by AsvatthAma, son of Drona to destroy the progeny of Pandavas and giving the infant life when he was born charred with the heat of the missile.

 

The bed of arrows supplied to Bhishma by Arjuna was like a yogasana for the great soul. 

Then Krishna brought the chariot back from the warfrontand embraced Arjuna fondly, which act seemed , says Desika., as though Krishna wanted to reabsorb his power that was  with Arjuna so long.

After causing the exposition on dharma by Bhishma Krishna returned to Dvaraka.

 

 

The Final chapter- Chapter24-Krishna  the husband

 

Krishna returning to Dvaraka was intent in pleasing his wives who got him as their husband due to the merits acquired in their previous lives.

He is described By Desika thus:

 Krthuvidhiniyathah api akarmavaSyah

Parichitha kAmaraso api veetharAgah

Nagaravasathih api aSeshavAsah

kaThamiva kena sa vibhuh varNaneeyah

(YAD.24.2)

 

He was not bound by karma even though he was performing the sacrificial rites according to kshathriyadharma. That is, his sacrifices were  not done for the fruit ordained in the Vedas. He was enjoying married life but was detached. That is, he was not influenced by desire. He was living in Dvaraka but yet he was present everywhere. Hence, says Desika, how and by whom can be described as being such and such?

 

His conduct and story of his life was like that of a rajarshi  and extolled by the sages. Dvaraka became rich in treasures and superior to the three abodes of the Lord described in the Vedas., namely, Vaikunta, ksheerasagara and the region of the Sun.( This may be because His soulabhya, easy accessibility out of love  excelled His parathva, supremacy.

 

Krishna established dharma with the association of the sages. He looked after the royal duties with the  help of those who were well versed in the Vedas. With his superhuman power took many forms and  pleased his many wives.  Desika says that even the yogis who have superhuman powers can do so but their doings will be subjected to their karma and their enjoyment will be dependent on their indhriyas. But Krishna, being the supreme purusha did not need His indhriyas because he is atheendhriya, beyond the senses.(in manthraraja padhasthothra it is said ‘sarvendhriyairapi vinA sarvam sarvathra sarvadha yo jAnAthi namAmi Adhyam tham aham sarvathomukham ,’- that is, He knows everything everywhere and always without the need of the indhriyas.)

 

Naturally Krishna being the one who gives everything and also moksha to those who always contemplate on nothing but Him only, fulfilled all the desires of His wives. Since he tok many forms and pleased his wives simultaneously, says Desika, even Narada could not stage any of his kalahas to create misunderstanding among his wives.

 

Krishna not only gave them his love but also instill devotion which will destroy the fear of samsara.

Krishna played with his wives who were fortunate, by making swings for them from ropes(gunas) resembling the three gunas of his maya. The implication is that like the motion of the swing up and down the Lord makes the good souls ascend to heaven  and descend to be born in good wombs by the play of the three gunas.

By drenching them with coloured water he created anuraga (red colour as well as love ) on them in and out.

 

Anukrtha nija Sakthibhih priyAbhih

Saha gunabanDhavibhaktha sanniveSaih

Muhuriha nipathathbhih uthpathathbhih

karaNavaSairiva kanshykaih adheevyath

(Yad.24.32)

 

With his wives like his three shakthis, Sri, Bhoo and NeelA, Krishna played with the balls tied to the ropes and which rose and fall. It was like His leela with the jivas tied to the three gunas  which he enjoys with his three consorts.

When Krishna, who hides in his three heavenly abodes  played hide and seek with his wives he only bound their eyes but they never bound his eyes thinking that to do so will create blindness to the three worlds.

 

Krishna, who instructed the sages like Sanaka in his incarnation as Hayagreeva and Hamsa, was also adept in  the instruction of love to his wives. It was like Upanishad for the women whatever he told them in private.

 

Krishna made himself many and was present in the house of every one of his wives and they took away his footwear to prevent him from leaving them and hence he could not move anywhere!

 

Describing the various ways in which the wives of Krishna enjoyed his company, Desiks exclaims

 

Ajanishatha kutho nu bhAgaDheyAth

thribhuvanamangaldheepikAh SubhAngyah

yadhupathi sahadharmachArineebhih

sukham anagham bhuvi yAbhih anvabhAvi

(Yad.24.63)

 

Whatever was the good merit acquired by these women who were born to become the wives of Krishna and experienced the unparalleled joy in this life! They considered him as human not knowing that he wasthe supreme purusha whose consort is Sridevi and who used to sleep in the bed of Adhisesha.

 

Yathibhih anububhooshithah sah thAbhih

yadhupathih adhbhutharoopavesha Seelah

nirupaDhika rasAmrthougha sinDhuh

sathatham aporvam apoorvam anvabhAvi

(Yad.24.67)

 

Krishna , with whom the sages who have controlled their senses wished to enjoy, assumed wonderful forms and qualities and was the ocean of limitless stream of the nectar of love, and was enjoyed by the women as though he is ever new (nithyayuva). To see the glory of those women the yogis who have achieved the superhuman powers ridiculed their achievement.

 

Desika describes the experience of the women as

 

Sarithah iva mrgeedhrsah tham ekam

Mahitha guNougha mahodhaDhim bajanthyah

 avibharuh anapAyam aikarasyam

munigaNithascha sa eva mukthabhogah(Yad.24.69)

 

The wives of Krishna merged with him, who is the ocean of auspicious qualities, in their love, like the rivers joining the sea and acquired the state of ekarasya. That is, as the rivers leave their individual tastes and become salty joining with the sea the women were filled with onlyone feeling that is the love for Krishna. This, says Desika,  is what has been  described as the state of sAyujya mukthi by the sages.

 

They proved false the common criticisms that are leveled against women in general such as they are fickle, always oppose, harsh and insincere etc.  They were the beacons of madhurabhakthi in the world which devotees like Meera and Andal followed. Desika says that even those who portray this  by means of acting, dance, singing etc. also get engrossed in devotion of the Lord.

 

Krishna lived happily in Dvaraka as he was in Vaikunta with Rukmini and Bhama as his divine consorts, Lakshmi and  Bhoodevi  and yadhavas sering as the nithyasooris ,Sesha, Vishvaksens Garuda etc. and caused the joy of heaven as well as moksha to those around him.

 

Desika concludes his kavya by these words:

 

nAreedhrshtyAniyamithaDhiyah nAkanATheSvarathvam

sambhoge cha pravaNamansahSASvatham brahmacharyam

athraikasyAm puri nivasathah sarvalokADhikathvam

niDhyAyanthah thvaritham atharandhustharAm thasya mAyAm

(Yad.24.93)

 

Krishna while he seemed to be bound by the beautiful eyes of his women, remained the overlord of the devas, while enjoying the company of the women he maintained his brahmacharya and thus displayed  his status of transience and imminence as the Supreme Self, who, though seen in Dvaraka, was present in all beings and was all pervading. Those who contemplate on the Lord thus transcend His Maya which is otherwise difficult to transcend.

 

Gurubhih anaghachitthah AhithodhArabhoomA

Surabhitharasam ethath soonrtham venkateSah

Vyathanutha yadhuveerapreethim icchan prabhoothAm

kavikaTham kamrgendhrah kshemadham kAvyarathna

(Yad.24.95)

 

The glory of this kavya is described thus:

The contents of the kavya is the gift  of the great masters like Vyasa and others to humanity.

It is composed by the mighty lion of debate and poet Venkatesa (Desika) to please the Lord.

It is full of the fragrance of the essence of kavithva and devotion as it abounds in richness of word and meaning and devotional fervour.

It is composed with the welfare of the world at heart and is beneficial , pleasing and true.

 

Yadhavabhyudhaya , the eminent work of Sri Vedantha Desika is concluded.