Remembrance of Lord Krishna

Verse 1 (bhagavata.3.2.1)

श्री शुक उवाच इति भागवतः पृष्टः क्षत्त्रा वार्तां प्रियाश्रयाम् । प्रतिवक्तुं न चोत्सेह औत्कण्ठ्यात्स्मारितेश्वरः ॥ 2.1 ॥

śrī-śuka uvāca iti bhāgavataḥ pṛṣṭaḥ kṣattrā vārtāṁ priyāśrayām prativaktuṁ na cotseha autkaṇṭhyāt smāriteśvaraḥ

Shri Sukadeva said: When the great devotee Uddhava was thus asked by Vidura to speak of his beloved Lord Krishna, the mere remembrance stirred such longing in him that he could not find words to answer at once.

Verse 2 (bhagavata.3.2.2)

यः पञ्चहायनो मात्रा प्रातराशाय याचितः । तन्नैच्छद्रचयन् यस्य सपर्यां बाललीलया ॥ 2.2 ॥

yaḥ pañca-hāyano mātrā prātar-āśāya yācitaḥ tan naicchad racayan yasya saparyāṁ bāla-līlayā

Even as a child of five, when his mother called him for the morning meal, he had no wish for it — so absorbed was he, in his childish way, in arranging some form of service to the Lord.

Verse 3 (bhagavata.3.2.3)

स कथं सेवया तस्य कालेन जरसं गतः । पृष्टो वार्तां प्रतिब्रूयाद्भर्तुः पादावनुस्मरन् ॥ 2.3 ॥

sa kathaṁ sevayā tasya kālena jarasaṁ gataḥ pṛṣṭo vārtāṁ pratibrūyād bhartuḥ pādāv anusmaran

Having lived thus in service from his very childhood, how, now that age had come upon him, could Uddhava answer such a question without his mind turning at once to his Lord's own feet?

Verse 4 (bhagavata.3.2.4)

स मुहूर्तमभूत्तूष्णीं कृष्णाङ्घ्रि सुधया भृशम् । तीव्रेण भक्तियोगेन निमग्नः साधु निर्वृतः ॥ 2.4 ॥

sa muhūrtam abhūt tūṣṇīṁ kṛṣṇāṅghri-sudhayā bhṛśam tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena nimagnaḥ sādhu nirvṛtaḥ

For a while he simply fell silent, sinking deep into the nectar of Krishna's lotus feet, wholly absorbed in intense devotion, lost in a serene bliss.

Verse 5 (bhagavata.3.2.5)

पुलकोद्भिन्नसर्वाङ्गो मुञ्चन्मीलद्दृशा शुचः । पूर्णार्थो लक्षितस्तेन स्नेहप्रसरसंप्लुतः ॥ 2.5 ॥

pulakodbhinna-sarvāṅgo muñcan mīlad-dṛśā śucaḥ pūrṇārtho lakṣitas tena sneha-prasara-samplutaḥ

Vidura saw that Uddhava's whole body had thrilled with rapture and that tears were flowing from his half-closed eyes; by this he understood that Uddhava's heart was wholly submerged in a flood of love for the Lord.

Verse 6 (bhagavata.3.2.6)

शनकैर्भगवल्लोकान्नृलोकं पुनरागतः । विमृज्य नेत्रे विदुरं प्रीत्याहोद्धव उत्स्मयन् ॥ 2.6 ॥

śanakair bhagaval-lokān nṛlokaṁ punar āgataḥ vimṛjya netre viduraṁ prītyāhoddhava utsmayan

Gradually returning from the Lord's own abode to the plane of human awareness, Uddhava wiped his eyes and, smiling through his memories, began to speak to Vidura with great affection.

Verse 7 (bhagavata.3.2.7)

उद्धव उवाच कृष्णद्युमणिनिम्लोचे गीर्णेष्वजगरेण ह । किं नु नः कुशलं ब्रूयां गतश्रीषु गृहेष्वहम् ॥ 2.7 ॥

uddhava uvāca kṛṣṇa-dyumaṇi nimloce gīrṇeṣv ajagareṇa ha kiṁ nu naḥ kuśalaṁ brūyāṁ gata-śrīṣu gṛheṣv aham

Uddhava said: My dear Vidura, the sun that was Krishna has now set, and our household has been swallowed whole by the great serpent of time. In a house so stripped of its fortune, what welfare is there left for me to tell you of?

Verse 8 (bhagavata.3.2.8)

दुर्भगो बत लोकोऽयं यदवो नितरामपि । ये संवसन्तो न विदुर्हरिं मीना इवोडुपम् ॥ 2.8 ॥

durbhago bata loko ’yaṁ yadavo nitarām api ye saṁvasanto na vidur hariṁ mīnā ivoḍupam

Alas, how unfortunate is this world, and more unfortunate still the Yadus themselves, who, living side by side with Bhagavan Hari, could not recognize Him — no more than fish in the water recognize the moon.

Verse 9 (bhagavata.3.2.9)

इङ्गितज्ञाः पुरुप्रौढा एकारामाश्च सात्वताः । सात्वतामृषभं सर्वे भूतावासममंसत ॥ 2.9 ॥

iṅgita-jñāḥ puru-prauḍhā ekārāmāś ca sātvatāḥ sātvatām ṛṣabhaṁ sarve bhūtāvāsam amaṁsata

Even the Yadus, for all their deep experience and their skill in reading His slightest gesture, and for all the time they spent at ease in His company, could think of Him only as the foremost of the Satvatas and as one who dwells everywhere — never as He fully is.

Verse 10 (bhagavata.3.2.10)

देवस्य मायया स्पृष्टा ये चान्यदसदाश्रिताः । भ्राम्यते धीर्न तद्वाक्यैरात्मन्युप्तात्मनो हरौ ॥ 2.10 ॥

devasya māyayā spṛṣṭā ye cānyad asad-āśritāḥ bhrāmyate dhīr na tad-vākyair ātmany uptātmano harau

But the intelligence of those who have offered their very self to the Supreme Soul can never be shaken by the words of others — whether of those touched by the Lord's illusory power, or of those who have taken shelter in something unreal.

Verse 11 (bhagavata.3.2.11)

प्रदर्श्यातप्ततपसामवितृप्तदृशां नृणाम् । आदायान्तरधाद्यस्तु स्वबिम्बं लोकलोचनम् ॥ 2.11 ॥

pradarśyātapta-tapasām avitṛpta-dṛśāṁ nṛṇām ādāyāntar adhād yas tu sva-bimbaṁ loka-locanam

Having once shown His own form to the sight of the whole world, the Lord then withdrew that very form from the eyes of those men whose austerity had never ripened, and whose gaze remained forever unsatisfied.

Verse 12 (bhagavata.3.2.12)

यन्मर्त्यलीलौपयिकं स्वयोग- मायाबलं दर्शयता गृहीतम् । विस्मापनं स्वस्य च सौभगर्द्धेः परं पदं भूषणभूषणाङ्गम् ॥ 2.12 ॥

yan martya-līlaupayikaṁ sva-yoga- māyā-balaṁ darśayatā gṛhītam vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhagarddheḥ paraṁ padaṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam

That very form, taken up by the strength of His own yogamaya to suit His pastimes in the mortal world, was a wonder even to His own opulence — the supreme abode, the very ornament of all ornaments.

Verse 13 (bhagavata.3.2.13)

यद्धर्मसूनोर्बत राजसूये निरीक्ष्य दृक्स्वस्त्ययनं त्रिलोकः । कार्त्स्न्येन चाद्येह गतं विधातु- रर्वाक्सृतौ कौशलमित्यमन्यत ॥ 2.13 ॥

yad dharma-sūnor bata rājasūye nirīkṣya dṛk-svastyayanaṁ tri-lokaḥ kārtsnyena cādyeha gataṁ vidhātur arvāk-sṛtau kauśalam ity amanyata

At the rajasuya sacrifice of Dharmaraja Yudhishthira, when the three worlds beheld with their own eyes that auspicious form, all of them concluded that here, complete and entire, was the very summit of Brahma's own art of creation.

Verse 14 (bhagavata.3.2.14)

यस्यानुरागप्लुतहासरास- लीलावलोकप्रतिलब्धमानाः । व्रजस्त्रियो दृग्भिरनुप्रवृत्त- धियोऽवतस्थुः किल कृत्यशेषाः ॥ 2.14 ॥

yasyānurāga-pluta-hāsa-rāsa- līlāvaloka-pratilabdha-mānāḥ vraja-striyo dṛgbhir anupravṛtta- dhiyo ’vatasthuḥ kila kṛtya-śeṣāḥ

The cowherd maidens of Vraja, honored by the glances of His laughter-filled rasa-play steeped in love, would follow Him with their eyes alone, their minds so caught up that their household tasks were left forever unfinished.

Verse 15 (bhagavata.3.2.15)

स्वशान्तरूपेष्वितरैः स्वरूपै- रभ्यर्द्यमानेष्वनुकम्पितात्मा । परावरेशो महदंशयुक्तो ह्यजोऽपि जातो भगवान् यथाग्निः ॥ 2.15 ॥

sva-śānta-rūpeṣv itaraiḥ sva-rūpair abhyardyamāneṣv anukampitātmā parāvareśo mahad-aṁśa-yukto hy ajo ’pi jāto bhagavān yathāgniḥ

Whenever His own peaceful devotees are harassed by others acting under the sway of material nature, the compassionate Lord of both the higher and lower worlds, though unborn, takes birth — accompanied, as it were, by the mahat-tattva itself — much as fire appears from friction.

Verse 16 (bhagavata.3.2.16)

मां खेदयत्येतदजस्य जन्म- विडम्बनं यद्वसुदेवगेहे । व्रजे च वासोऽरिभयादिव स्वयं पुराद् व्यवात्सीद्यदनन्तवीर्यः ॥ 2.16 ॥

māṁ khedayaty etad ajasya janma- viḍambanaṁ yad vasudeva-gehe vraje ca vāso ’ri-bhayād iva svayaṁ purād vyavātsīd yad-ananta-vīryaḥ

It grieves me even now to recall it — how the unborn One took birth in Vasudeva's prison house, how He then dwelt hidden in Vraja as if in fear of an enemy, and how, boundless in power though He was, He at last fled Mathura as though afraid — such is the bewildering nature of His pastimes.

Verse 17 (bhagavata.3.2.17)

दुनोति चेतः स्मरतो ममैतद् यदाह पादावभिवन्द्य पित्रोः । ताताम्ब कंसादुरुशङ्कितानां प्रसीदतं नोऽकृतनिष्कृतीनाम् ॥ 2.17 ॥

dunoti cetaḥ smarato mamaitad yad āha pādāv abhivandya pitroḥ tātāmba kaṁsād uru-śaṅkitānāṁ prasīdataṁ no ’kṛta-niṣkṛtīnām

My heart still aches when I recall how He bowed at His parents' feet and said, 'O father, O mother, forgive Us — out of fear of Kamsa We could not serve you as We should have.'

Verse 18 (bhagavata.3.2.18)

को वा अमुष्याङ्घ्रि सरोजरेणुं विस्मर्तुमीशीत पुमान् विजिघ्रन् । यो विस्फुरद्भ्रूविटपेन भूमे- र्भारं कृतान्तेन तिरश्चकार ॥ 2.18 ॥

ko vā amuṣyāṅghri-saroja-reṇuṁ vismartum īśīta pumān vijighran yo visphurad-bhrū-viṭapena bhūmer bhāraṁ kṛtāntena tiraścakāra

Who, once he has breathed in the dust of His lotus feet, could ever forget it — He who, by nothing more than the mere arching of His brow, has sent so many kings, burdens upon the earth, to their death?

Verse 19 (bhagavata.3.2.19)

दृष्टा भवद्भिर्ननु राजसूये चैद्यस्य कृष्णं द्विषतोऽपि सिद्धिः । यां योगिनः संस्पृहयन्ति सम्यग् योगेन कस्तद्विरहं सहेत ॥ 2.19 ॥

dṛṣṭā bhavadbhir nanu rājasūye caidyasya kṛṣṇaṁ dviṣato ’pi siddhiḥ yāṁ yoginaḥ saṁspṛhayanti samyag yogena kas tad-virahaṁ saheta

You yourself saw, at the rajasuya sacrifice, how even Shishupala, king of Chedi, who hated Krishna, attained that very perfection which true yogis long for through the whole of their disciplined practice — who, then, can bear to be parted from Him?

Verse 20 (bhagavata.3.2.20)

तथैव चान्ये नरलोकवीरा य आहवे कृष्णमुखारविन्दम् । नेत्रैः पिबन्तो नयनाभिरामं पार्थास्त्रपूतः पदमापुरस्य ॥ 2.20 ॥

tathaiva cānye nara-loka-vīrā ya āhave kṛṣṇa-mukhāravindam netraiḥ pibanto nayanābhirāmaṁ pārthāstra-pūtaḥ padam āpur asya

So too did other warriors of this earth, purified by Arjuna's very arrows on the battlefield, drink in with their eyes the lotus face of Krishna, so pleasing to behold, and thereby attain His own supreme abode.

Verse 21 (bhagavata.3.2.21)

स्वयं त्वसाम्यातिशयस्त्र्यधीशः स्वाराज्यलक्ष्म्याप्तसमस्तकामः । बलिं हरद्भिश्चिरलोकपालैः किरीटकोट्येडितपादपीठः ॥ 2.21 ॥

svayaṁ tv asāmyātiśayas tryadhīśaḥ svārājya-lakṣmy-āpta-samasta-kāmaḥ baliṁ haradbhiś cira-loka-pālaiḥ kirīṭa-koṭyeḍita-pāda-pīṭhaḥ

He is Himself the peerless Lord of all three planes of being, self-sufficient in every desire through His own supreme fortune — and yet the eternal guardians of creation bow the crowns of countless heads to offer worship at His footstool.

Verse 22 (bhagavata.3.2.22)

तत्तस्य कैङ्कर्यमलं भृतान्नो विग्लापयत्यङ्ग यदुग्रसेनम् । तिष्ठन्निषण्णं परमेष्ठिधिष्ण्ये न्यबोधयद्देव निधारयेति ॥ 2.22 ॥

tat tasya kaiṅkaryam alaṁ bhṛtān no viglāpayaty aṅga yad ugrasenam tiṣṭhan niṣaṇṇaṁ parameṣṭhi-dhiṣṇye nyabodhayad deva nidhārayeti

That is why it pains us, His own servants, O Vidura, to recall how He would stand before King Ugrasena seated on the throne and humbly submit, 'O my lord, be pleased to take note of this' — such was His service to him.

Verse 23 (bhagavata.3.2.23)

अहो बकी यं स्तनकालकूटं जिघांसयापाययदप्यसाध्वी । लेभे गतिं धात्र्युचितां ततोऽन्यं कं वा दयालुं शरणं व्रजेम ॥ 2.23 ॥

aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema

Alas, even the she-demon Putana, faithless as she was, who smeared her breast with deadly poison meaning only to kill Him, was granted the very destination fit for a mother — whose shelter, then, could be more merciful than His?

Verse 24 (bhagavata.3.2.24)

मन्येऽसुरान् भागवतांस्त्र्यधीशे संरम्भमार्गाभिनिविष्टचित्तान् । ये संयुगेऽचक्षत तार्क्ष्यपुत्र- मंसे सुनाभायुधमापतन्तम् ॥ 2.24 ॥

manye ’surān bhāgavatāṁs tryadhīśe saṁrambha-mārgābhiniviṣṭa-cittān ye saṁyuge ’cakṣata tārkṣya-putram aṁse sunābhāyudham āpatantam

I have come to think the demons more fortunate than the devotees — for those hostile to the Lord of the three worlds, their minds fixed wholly on the path of enmity in battle, actually behold Him coming toward them in person, mounted on the shoulder of Garuda, weapon in hand.

Verse 25 (bhagavata.3.2.25)

वसुदेवस्य देवक्यां जातो भोजेन्द्रबन्धने । चिकीर्षुर्भगवानस्याः शमजेनाभियाचितः ॥ 2.25 ॥

vasudevasya devakyāṁ jāto bhojendra-bandhane cikīrṣur bhagavān asyāḥ śam ajenābhiyācitaḥ

Prayed to by Brahma to bring welfare to the earth, the Lord willed His own birth, and was thus begotten by Vasudeva in Devaki's womb, within the very prison of the king of the Bhojas.

Verse 26 (bhagavata.3.2.26)

ततो नन्दव्रजमितः पित्रा कंसाद्विबिभ्यता । एकादश समास्तत्र गूढार्चिः सबलोऽवसत् ॥ 2.26 ॥

tato nanda-vrajam itaḥ pitrā kaṁsād vibibhyatā ekādaśa samās tatra gūḍhārciḥ sa-balo ’vasat

After this, His father, fearing Kamsa, carried Him to Nanda's pasture-land of Vraja, and there, together with His elder brother Balarama, He dwelt for eleven years, hidden like a fire banked under ashes.

Verse 27 (bhagavata.3.2.27)

परीतो वत्सपैर्वत्सांश्चारयन् व्यहरद्विभुः । यमुनोपवने कूजद्द्विजसंकुलिताङ्घ्रिपे ॥ 2.27 ॥

parīto vatsapair vatsāṁś cārayan vyaharad vibhuḥ yamunopavane kūjad- dvija-saṅkulitāṅghripe

Surrounded by the cowherd boys, tending the calves, the all-pervading Lord wandered along the groves on the Yamuna's bank, where the trees rang with the calling of the birds.

Verse 28 (bhagavata.3.2.28)

कौमारीं दर्शयंश्चेष्टां प्रेक्षणीयां व्रजौकसाम् । रुदन्निव हसन्मुग्धबालसिंहावलोकनः ॥ 2.28 ॥

kaumārīṁ darśayaṁś ceṣṭāṁ prekṣaṇīyāṁ vrajaukasām rudann iva hasan mugdha- bāla-siṁhāvalokanaḥ

Showing the residents of Vraja those childish antics so delightful to watch, now crying, now laughing, He would gaze about with the wide, wondering eyes of a lion cub, and everyone was charmed.

Verse 29 (bhagavata.3.2.29)

स एव गोधनं लक्ष्म्या निकेतं सितगोवृषम् । चारयन्ननुगान् गोपान् रणद्वेणुररीरमत् ॥ 2.29 ॥

sa eva go-dhanaṁ lakṣmyā niketaṁ sita-go-vṛṣam cārayann anugān gopān raṇad-veṇur arīramat

That same Lord, the very abode of fortune in the wealth of cows, would herd the beautiful cattle and, playing His flute, delight the cowherd boys who followed close behind Him.

Verse 30 (bhagavata.3.2.30)

प्रयुक्तान् भोजराजेन मायिनः कामरूपिणः । लीलया व्यनुदत्तांस्तान् बालः क्रीडनकानिव ॥ 2.30 ॥

prayuktān bhoja-rājena māyinaḥ kāma-rūpiṇaḥ līlayā vyanudat tāṁs tān bālaḥ krīḍanakān iva

The demons sent by the king of Bhoja, sorcerers able to assume whatever form they pleased, He destroyed in the course of His play as easily as a child breaks its toys.

Verse 31 (bhagavata.3.2.31)

विपन्नान् विषपानेन निगृह्य भुजगाधिपम् । उत्थाप्यापाययद्गावस्तत्तोयं प्रकृतिस्थितम् ॥ 2.31 ॥

vipannān viṣa-pānena nigṛhya bhujagādhipam utthāpyāpāyayad gāvas tat toyaṁ prakṛti-sthitam

That part of the Yamuna the serpent-king Kaliya had poisoned and rendered fatal, He entered and subdued its lord; then, coming out, He made the cows drink from that very water, proving it restored to its natural purity.

Verse 32 (bhagavata.3.2.32)

अयाजयद्गोसवेन गोपराजं द्विजोत्तमैः । वित्तस्य चोरुभारस्य चिकीर्षन् सद्वययं विभुः ॥ 2.32 ॥

ayājayad go-savena gopa-rājaṁ dvijottamaiḥ vittasya coru-bhārasya cikīrṣan sad-vyayaṁ vibhuḥ

Wishing to see the great wealth of the cowherd king put to its proper use, the all-pervading Lord had Nanda perform, with the help of the finest brahmanas, a sacrifice in honor of the cows.

Verse 33 (bhagavata.3.2.33)

वर्षतीन्द्रे व्रजः कोपाद्भग्नमानेऽतिविह्वलः । गोत्रलीलातपत्रेण त्रातो भद्रानुगृह्णता ॥ 2.33 ॥

varṣatīndre vrajaḥ kopād bhagnamāne ’tivihvalaḥ gotra-līlātapatreṇa trāto bhadrānugṛhṇatā

When Indra, his pride wounded, poured down rain without pause, the people of Vraja were thrown into great distress; but the merciful Lord protected them all beneath the playful umbrella of Govardhana Hill.

Verse 34 (bhagavata.3.2.34)

शरच्छशिकरैर्मृष्टं मानयन् रजनीमुखम् । गायन् कलपदं रेमे स्त्रीणां मण्डलमण्डनः ॥ 2.34 ॥

śarac-chaśi-karair mṛṣṭaṁ mānayan rajanī-mukham gāyan kala-padaṁ reme strīṇāṁ maṇḍala-maṇḍanaḥ

Honoring, as it were, the face of the autumn night brightened by moonbeams, He, the very ornament of that circle of women, sang in a sweet, low voice and gave Himself over to that play.