S'rî
S'uka said: 'Akrûra
with his spirits high spending the night in the city of
Mathurâ [after 10.36:
40], then
mounted his chariot and set off for Nanda's cowherd
village.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: After passing the night in the
city of Mathurâ, the high-minded Akrûra mounted
his chariot and set off for the cowherd village of Nanda
Mahârâja. (Vedabase)
Text
2
On
his way experienced he an exceptional amount of devotion for
the greatly fortunate lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead and
thought he thus like this:
As
he traveled on the road, the great soul Akrûra felt
tremendous devotion for the lotus-eyed Personality of
Godhead, and thus he began to consider as follows.
(Vedabase)
Text
3
'What
good works have I done, what severe penance did I suffer or of
what other worship was I that I today may see
Kes'ava?
[S'rî
Akrûra thought:] What pious deeds have I done,
what severe austerities undergone, what worship performed or
charity given so that today I will see Lord Kes'ava?
(Vedabase)
Text
4
My
reaching the presence of the One Praised in the Verses is, I
think, for someone with a worldly mind as difficult to achieve
as the chanting of the Vedas is for someone of the lowest
class.
Since
I am a materialistic person absorbed simply in sense
gratification, I think it is as difficult for me to have
gotten this opportunity to see Lord Uttamahs'loka as it
would be for one born a s'ûdra to be allowed to recite
the Vedic mantras. (Vedabase)
Text
5
But
enough of that, even for a fallen soul like me there is a
chance to have the audience of Acyuta; sometimes does someone
pulled along by the river of time reach the other
shore!
But
enough of such thoughts! After all, even a fallen soul like
me can have the chance to behold the infallible Supreme
Lord, for one of the conditioned souls being swept along in
the river of time may sometimes reach the shore.
(Vedabase)
Text
6
Today
has the impure been uprooted and bears my birth indeed fruit,
for it are the lotuslike feet of the Supreme Lord meditated
upon by the yogis that I am going to respect.
Today
all my sinful reactions have been eradicated and my birth
has become worthwhile, since I will offer my obeisances to
the Supreme Lord's lotus feet, which mystic yogis meditate
upon. (Vedabase)
Text
7
Kamsa sending
me here indeed did me a great service by obliging me to look
for the feet of the Lord who descended into this world; it is
by the effulgence of His rounded toenails that in the past many
succeeded in freeing themselves from the hard to overcome
darkness of a material existence.
Indeed,
today King Kamsa has shown me extreme mercy by sending me to
see the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who has now appeared in
this world. Simply by the effulgence of His toenails, many
souls in the past have transcended the insurmountable
darkness of material existence and achieved liberation.
(Vedabase)
Text
8
It
is they [those feet], worshiped by Lord Brahmâ,
S'iva, the other demigods, by S'rî the goddess of
fortune, the sages and the devotees, with which He for tending
the cows with His companions moved about in the forest that was
marked by the kunkum from the breasts of the
gopîs.
Those
lotus feet are worshiped by Brahmâ, S'iva and all the
other demigods, by the goddess of fortune, and also by the
great sages and Vaishnavas. Upon those lotus feet the Lord
walks about the forest while herding the cows with His
companions, and those feet are smeared with the kunkuma from
the gopîs' breasts. (Vedabase)
Text
9
For
certain will I behold the beautiful cheeks and nose, the smiles
and glances of His reddish lotuslike eyes and the hair curling
around the face of Mukunda; indeed are the deer passing me to
the right [an auspicious omen]!
Surely
I shall see the face of Lord Mukunda, since the deer are now
walking past me on my right. That face, framed by His curly
hair, is beautified by His attractive cheeks and nose, His
smiling glances and His reddish lotus eyes.
(Vedabase)
Text
10
No doubt will I
today enjoy the direct sight of Vishnu, will I perceive the
Abode of Beauty, who by His own desire to diminish the burden
of this earth has assumed the form of a human
being.
I
am going to see the Supreme Lord Vishnu, the reservoir of
all beauty, who by His own sweet will has now assumed a
humanlike form to relieve the earth of her burden. Thus
there is no denying that my eyes will achieve the perfection
of their existence. (Vedabase)
Text
11
He, though
being a witness [like me] to the true and untrue, is
void of I-ness and has by that personal potency of His
dispelled the darkness and bewilderment of an existence in
separation [see also 2.5:
14,
2.10:
8-9,
3.27:
18-30 and
10.3:
18]; it is
He, who works from the inside out, who by the created beings
who manifest themselves when He casts His glance upon the
material energy of His creation only indirectly can be seen
through the vital airs, senses and intelligence in their bodies
[see also 2.2:
35].
He
is the witness of material cause and effect, yet He is
always free from false identification with them. By His
internal potency He dispels the darkness of separation and
confusion. The individual souls in this world, who are
manifested here when He glances upon His material creative
energy, indirectly perceive Him in the activities of their
life airs, senses and intelligence. (Vedabase)
Text
12
The auspicious
words, joined with the qualities, activities and the
incarnations [of Him and His expansions], destroy all
sins in the world and give life, beauty and purity to the
entire universe, while words void of these are considered as
things beautiful on a corpse.
All
sins are destroyed and all good fortune created by the
Supreme Lord's qualities, activities and appearances, and
words that describe these three things animate, beautify and
purify the world. On the other hand, words bereft of His
glories are like the decorations on a corpse.
(Vedabase)
Text
13
And
now has descended indeed in His own dynasty of loyals
[Sâtvatas] He who maintains the codes, He who as
the chief of the immortals creating delight spreads His fame
being present in Vraja as the Controller of whose
all-auspicious nature the godly sing.
That
same Supreme Lord has descended into the dynasty of the
Sâtvatas to delight the exalted demigods, who maintain
the principles of religion He has created. Residing in
Vrindâvana, He spreads His fame, which the demigods
glorify in song and which brings auspiciousness to all.
(Vedabase)
Text
14
For certain
will I today see Him, the destination and spiritual master of
the great souls of all three worlds, the real beauty and great
feast to all who have eyes, He who exhibits the form that is
the desire of the goddess, who is my safe haven of whom all
dawns became His auspicious presence.
Today
I shall certainly see Him, the goal and spiritual master of
the great souls. Seeing Him brings jubilation to all who
have eyes, for He is the true beauty of the universe.
Indeed, His personal form is the shelter desired by the
goddess of fortune. Now all the dawns of my life have become
auspicious. (Vedabase)
Text
15
The moment I
alight from my chariot to respect the feet of the two Lords,
the Principal Personalities to whom even the yogis meditating
hold on for their self-realization, will I bow down before Them
as also to the friends living with Them in the
forest.
Then
I will at once alight from my chariot and bow down to the
lotus feet of Krishna and Balarâma, the Supreme
Personalities of Godhead. Theirs are the same feet that
great mystic yogis striving for self-realization bear within
their minds. I will also offer my obeisances to the Lords'
cowherd boyfriends and to all the other residents of
Vrindâvana. (Vedabase)
Text
16
And having
fallen at the base of the feet will the Almighty place upon my
head His very own lotuslike hand that makes one unafraid of the
serpent of time of whose swift force the people greatly
disturbed search for shelter.
And
when I have fallen at His feet, the almighty Lord will place
His lotus hand upon my head. For those who seek shelter in
Him because they are greatly disturbed by the powerful
serpent of time, that hand removes all fear.
(Vedabase)
Text
17
Putting into
that hand a respectful offering attained Purandara [see
8.13:
4] and
Bali [see 8.19]
as well rulership [the position of Indra] over the
three worlds; it is that hand which, during the pastime in
contact with the ladies of Vraja, fragrant like an aromatic
flower wiped away the fatigue [see 10.33].
By
offering charity to that lotus hand, Purandara and Bali
earned the status of Indra, King of heaven, and during the
pleasure pastimes of the râsa dance, when the Lord
wiped away the gopîs' perspiration and removed their
fatigue, the touch of their faces made that hand as fragrant
as a sweet flower. (Vedabase)
Text
18
Toward me,
though being a messenger of Kamsa, will Acyuta develop no
attitude of enmity; He is the overseer of everything who inside
and outside the heart is the Knower of the field [of the
body, see B.G.
13: 3],
the Knower who with a perfect vision sees whatever that is
sought and tried.
The
infallible Lord will not consider me an enemy, even though
Kamsa has sent me here as his messenger. After all, the
omniscient Lord is the actual knower of the field of this
material body, and with His perfect vision He witnesses,
both externally and internally, all the endeavors of the
conditioned soul's heart. (Vedabase)
Text
19
Fixed at the
base of His feet with joined palms will He look upon me smiling
affectionately so that with the immediate eradication of all
contamination by His glance I will be freed from doubt and
achieve intense happiness.
Thus
He will cast His smiling, affectionate glance upon me as I
remain fixed with joined palms, fallen in obeisances at His
feet. Then all my contamination will at once be dispelled,
and I will give up all doubts and feel the most intense
bliss. (Vedabase)
Text
20
As the best of
friends and a family member having Him exclusively as my object
of worship, will He embrace me with His two large arms
whereupon as a result of which my body instantly will become
sanctified and my karma-given bondage will
slacken.
Recognizing
me as an intimate friend and relative, Krishna will embrace
me with His mighty arms, instantly sanctifying my body and
diminishing to nil all my material bondage, which is due to
fruitive activities. (Vedabase)
Text
21
When I, head
down and palms joined, have achieved the physical contact, will
Urus'rava ['the Lord of Great Renown'] address me with
words like 'O Akrûra, dearest relative' and will thus
because of the Greatest of All Persons my birth be a success;
indeed is he whose birth is not honored like that to be
pitied!
Having
been embraced by the all-famous Lord Krishna, I will humbly
stand before Him with bowed head and joined palms, and He
will address me, "My dear Akrûra." At that very moment
my life's purpose will be fulfilled. Indeed, the life of
anyone whom the Supreme Personality fails to recognize is
simply pitiable. (Vedabase)
Text
22
No one is His
favorite or best friend, nor is anyone indeed disliked, hated
or contemptible to Him either [see
B.G.
9: 29] and
still does He reciprocate with His devotees [see also
10.32:
17-22] for
they are just like [desire-] trees from heaven that
resorted to give whatever is wished for [see
vaishnava
pranâma].
The
Supreme Lord has no favorite and no dearmost friend, nor
does He consider anyone undesirable, despicable or fit to be
neglected. All the same, He lovingly reciprocates with His
devotees in whatever manner they worship Him, just as the
trees of heaven fulfill the desires of whoever approaches
them. (Vedabase)
Text
23
Furthermore
will His elder brother, the most excellent Yadu, smiling at me
standing there with a bowed head embrace me, take hold of my
hands and take me into His house to receive me with all
respects and inquire how Kamsa fares with the members of His
family.'
And
then Lord Krishna's elder brother, the foremost of the
Yadus, will grasp my joined hands while I am still standing
with my head bowed, and after embracing me He will take me
to His house. There He will honor me with all items of
ritual welcome and inquire from me about how Kamsa has been
treating His family members. (Vedabase)
Text
24
S'rî
S'uka said: 'Thus on his way with his chariot pondering over
Krishna reached the son of S'vaphalka [see
9.24:
15] the
village of Gokula as the sun was setting behind the mountain, o
King.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued: My dear King, while the son
of S'vaphalka, traveling on the road, thus meditated deeply
on S'rî Krishna, he reached Gokula as the sun was
beginning to set. (Vedabase)
Text
25
The
prints of His feet, of which the rulers of all worlds hold the
pure dust on their crowns, saw he in the earth of the pasture:
a wonderful decoration distinguished by the lotus, the
barleycorn, the elephant goad and so on [see
also
10.16:
18 and
10.30:
25*].
In
the cowherd pasture Akrûra saw the footprints of those
feet whose pure dust the rulers of all the planets in the
universe hold on their crowns. Those footprints of the Lord,
distinguished by such marks as the lotus, barleycorn and
elephant goad, made the ground wonderfully beautiful.
(Vedabase)
Text
26
The ecstasy of
seeing them exited him greatly, made his hair stand on end and
filled his eyes with tears; getting down from his chariot he
rolled himself in the prints exclaiming: 'Oh this is the dust
from my masters feet!'
Increasingly
agitated by ecstasy at seeing the Lord's footprints, his
bodily hairs standing on end because of his pure love, and
his eyes filled with tears, Akrûra jumped down from
his chariot and began rolling about among those footprints,
exclaiming, "Ah, this is the dust from my master's feet!"
(Vedabase)
Text
27
This
is what of all embodied beings is the goal of life: to give up
the pride, fear and sorrow from being commanded [by
mâyâ]when one has within one's sight the
signs of the Lord that one hears about and so on [see
7.5:
23-24].
The
very goal of life for all embodied beings is this ecstasy,
which Akrûra experienced when, upon receiving Kamsa's
order, he put aside all pride, fear and lamentation and
absorbed himself in seeing, hearing and describing the
things that reminded him of Lord Krishna. (Vedabase)
Text
28-33
In Vraja he saw
Krishna and Râma, who with their eyes that looked like
autumnal lotuses were going to where the cows were milked,
wearing yellow and blue clothes. The two shelters to the
goddess were bluish-dark and fair skinned youngsters most
beautiful to behold with mighty arms, attractive faces and a
gait like that of an elephant. With Their feet marked by the
flag, bolt, goad and lotus did the great souls with Their
smiles and glances full of compassion beautify the cow pasture.
They whose pastimes were so magnanimous and attractive were
freshly bathed and wore jeweled necklaces, flower garlands, had
Their limbs anointed with auspicious, fragrant substances and
were spotless in their apparel. The two original, most
excellent persons, who are the Cause and Lord of the universe
[see also 5.25]
had for the welfare of that universe descended in Their
distinct forms of Balarâma and Kes'ava. O King with their
effulgence dispelled They, as a mountain of emerald and a
mountain of silver both decorated with gold, in all directions
the darkness.
Akrûra
then saw Krishna and Balarâma in the village of Vraja,
going to milk the cows. Krishna wore yellow garments,
Balarâma blue, and Their eyes resembled autumnal
lotuses. One of those two mighty-armed youths, the shelters
of the goddess of fortune, had a dark-blue complexion, and
the other's was white. With Their fine-featured faces They
were the most beautiful of all persons. As They walked with
the gait of young elephants, glancing about with
compassionate smiles, Those two exalted personalities
beautified the cow pasture with the impressions of Their
feet, which bore the marks of the flag, lightning bolt,
elephant goad and lotus. The two Lords, whose pastimes are
most magnanimous and attractive, were ornamented with
jeweled necklaces and flower garlands, anointed with
auspicious, fragrant substances, freshly bathed, and dressed
in spotless raiment. They were the primeval Supreme
Personalities, the masters and original causes of the
universes, who had for the welfare of the earth now
descended in Their distinct forms of Kes'ava and
Balarâma. O King Parîkchit, They resembled two
gold-bedecked mountains, one of emerald and the other of
silver, as with Their effulgence They dispelled the sky's
darkness in all directions. (Vedabase)
Text
34
Quickly
climbing down from his chariot prostrated Akrûra,
overwhelmed by affection, himself at the feet of Râma and
Krishna.
Akrûra,
overwhelmed with affection, quickly jumped down from his
chariot and fell at the feet of Krishna and Balarâma
like a rod. (Vedabase)
Text
35
Seeing the
Supreme Personality was he, because of the tears of joy
overflowing his eyes and the eruptions [of ecstasy]
marking his limbs, in his eagerness not able to announce
himself, o King.
The
joy of seeing the Supreme Lord flooded Akrûra's eyes
with tears and decorated his limbs with eruptions of
ecstasy. He felt such eagerness that he could not speak to
present himself, O King. (Vedabase)
Text
36
The Supreme
Lord, the Caretaker of the Surrendered, recognizing him, drew
him near with His hand that is marked with a chariot wheel and
happily embraced him.
Recognizing
Akrûra, Lord Krishna drew him close with His hand,
which bears the sign of the chariot wheel, and then embraced
him. Krishna felt pleased, for He is always benignly
disposed toward His surrendered devotees. (Vedabase)
Text
37-38
Next embraced
the magnanimous Sankarshana [Râma] him who stood
there with his head down, and with His hand taking hold of his
two hands took He him with His younger brother into the house.
Following He inquired whether he had a pleasant journey and
offered He him an excellent seat, and washed He, as was
prescribed as a form of reverential respect, his feet with
sweetened milk.
As
Akrûra stood with his head bowed, Lord Sankarshana
[Balarâma] grasped his joined hands, and then
Balarâma took him to His house in the company of Lord
Krishna. After inquiring from Akrûra whether his trip
had been comfortable, Balarâma offered him a
first-class seat, bathed his feet in accordance with the
injunctions of scripture and respectfully served him milk
with honey. (Vedabase)
Text
39
Donating a cow
in charity and respectfully giving the tired guest a massage
served the Almighty One faithfully him the right food of
different tastes.
The
almighty Lord Balarâma presented Akrûra with the
gift of a cow, massaged his feet to relieve him of fatigue
and then with great respect and faith fed him suitably
prepared food of various fine tastes. (Vedabase)
Text
40
After the meal
arranged Râma the Supreme Knower of the Dharma with love
further for herbs to serve the tongue and for fragrances and
flower garlands to give the highest
satisfaction.
When
Akrûra had eaten to his satisfaction, Lord
Balarâma, the supreme knower of religious duties,
offered him aromatic herbs for sweetening his mouth, along
with fragrances and flower garlands. Thus Akrûra once
again enjoyed the highest pleasure. (Vedabase)
Text
41
Nanda asked the
honored one: 'O descendant of Das'ârha, how are you, with
the merciless Kamsa alive, that boss that is just like a
butcher is with sheep?
Nanda
Mahârâja asked Akrûra: O descendant of
Das'ârha, how are all of you maintaining yourselves
while that merciless Kamsa remains alive? You are just like
sheep under the care of a butcher. (Vedabase)
Text
42
If he cruel and
self-indulgent killed his own sister's babies to her great
distress, what then, I dare say, would that mean to his
subjects, to someone like you?'
That
cruel, self-serving Kamsa murdered the infants of his own
sister in her presence, even as she cried in anguish. So why
should we even ask about the well-being of you, his
subjects? (Vedabase)
Text
43
Thus by Nanda
properly honored with true and pleasing words put Akrûra
aside the fatigue of the road.'
Honored
by Nanda Mahârâja with these true and pleasing
words of inquiry, Akrûra forgot the fatigue of his
journey. (Vedabase)