Srila Rupa Goswami's Bhajan Kutir

bhajan kutir of Srila Rupa Goswami

 

                       some theater for Sri Krsna Lila smaran

 

Sakhya Lila Sthan "Place of Sri Krsna's pastimes with his friends and dear cows".

 

On the day of Gopashtami, Mother Yasoda first sent Krishna to herd the calves. She dressed Him as a prince with jeweled ornaments, beautiful turban and silken clothes. When the friends of Krishna saw Him, they started making fun of Him. They said, “Look at Him. He has come dressed, as though He has come to take care of the kingdom.

He has simply come to graze the calves, but in the dress of a King? We should remove His ornaments and royal clothes! The cowherd boys decided to dress Krsna like the cowherd boy He is. They then removed the gorgeous dresses and ornaments of Krsna and dressed Him nicely to their satisfaction and decorated Him with the flowers available there. They gathered varieties of colorful flowers and then put them on Krsna.
Relishing these acts of His friends, Krsna also planned to make some fun with them. There is a lake near there which is called Shyam Talaiya. Through His potency, He covered that lake with small green floating leaves. And then pointing out towards the other side of the lake, He told His friends, “Oh My dear gopas, look on that side. Many flowers are blooming there. Why don’t you all pick them and bring to adorn Me?”
Listening to Krsna’s words, all the gopas started running towards the other side not knowing they have to cross a lake in between to reach them. As they approached the lake, not noticing it covered by Krsna with the leaves, they all started falling into it, thus giving pleasure to Krsna.
Ter in Vraja means ‘call’. Many Kadamba trees grow at this beautiful spot. Hence it is called Ter Kadamba. Krishna used to call there three times a day.
Everyday morning after getting ready and having breakfast, Krsna used to guide the calves to this place for grazing. Mother Yasoda used to put Krsna’s lunch in a cloth. She would then send Him early to herd the calves with a heavy heart. Krsna arrived at Ter Kadamba before the other cowherd boys.
He would climb on the Kadamba tree and call (first ter of the day) all His friends. Oh Sudama, Subala, Mansukha, Dhansukha, Madhu, come soon. I am waiting for all of you to play. Please don’t delay. Hearing the call of Krsna, all the gopas would start worrying and start walking towards ter-kadama, thinking that Krishna will be alone and will not get any pleasure without our company.
So they hurried along to play with Him. They used to come running hearing Krsna’s call. After going there, they used to tie their lunches on the branches of the trees there. Since the lunch of all the gopas would be tied on the branches that tree, the tree got bent and they could easily reach the tree since it was low in height. All of the cowherd boys were still very young.
This tree is still like this today. All throughout the day, Krsna would play with His friends here. While Krsna and the boys would play there, the gopis would cry in the separation of Krishna. Mother Yashoda used to be so worried that she would climb to the terrace to see if the boys are fine. This she would do several times in the day and always be waiting anxiously for the boys to return.
As the lunch time approached, all the boys would start feeling hungry and they all used to looked towards the Lord, the Lord understanding their hearts, would sit in the middle of all the gopas. Krsna is the cynosure of the devotees like the whorl of a lotus flower.
It used appears as though a bumblebee is sitting in the middle of the lotus flowers. All used to then open their lunch-cloths and offer everything to Krsna. Sandesh, rasagullas, laddus, mithais, and other delicious varieties of foods for the pleasure of the Lord. His hunger was not satisfied and He was still hankering for more food. Looking at the lotus face of Krsna, one friend spoke, ”Krsna, we know that your belly will not be filled unless you eat the butter from the gopis house.” Another said,” Those places are so far, how can we get it for you?”
Krsna was also feeling separation from the gopis. When He was young, everyday He would go to Their houses and steal the yogurt and butter. This would give transcendental pleasure to the gopis and they would get a chance of seeing Krsna in Their houses. Since Krsna now goes to forest, they were also feeling separation from Him, waiting for Him to come to His house.
Krishna then decided to call those gopis to Ter Kadamba to get their butter and yogurt and thus see His beloved Gopi’s. Krsna climbed up in the tree and played the sweet music of His transcendental flute, which maddened the gopis who immediately rushed to the Supreme Personality of Godhead with the butter and other nice foods. That was the second call, ter, of the day.
The gopis would then satisfy the hunger of the Lord completely not just with their food offerings, but with their love. After the lunch, Lord would again start playing at this transcendental place with the gopis.
For the whole day Krsna would play there. As the evening approached, all the gopas would start thinking about going home. They were all concerned because mother Yasoda would be waiting for them with transcendental anxiety. All the gopas considered mother Yasoda as their own mother and she also considered them all like her own children.
In the course of the day the calves would have gone far away while grazing. It was very difficult to gather them all since there were so many of them. They used to look at Krsna’s face which would remove all anxieties. Krsna, understanding the minds of His friends would again climb the tree and start playing His flute. The sound of Krsna’s flute would go beyond the coverings of the material universe.
It used to mesmerize even the residents of the heavenly planets and would even break the meditation of Lord Siva. This was the third call, ter for the day. He then asked His friends to close their eyes and He brought all the cows and calves at that place attracting them there by the sound of His flute. The Supreme Lord can do anything because He is the Supreme mystic.
They all then used to start walking towards Their homes. Looking at the dust raised by walking, mother Yasoda’s jubilance knew no bounds. She would rush down, asking all the gopis to get everything ready for the boys arrival. She would instruct all the gopis, to bring food items for the boys since they would all be hungry from herding the calves and playing all day.
When all the residents saw Krsna return, They would become so enlivened. Such was their love for the Supreme Lord. Even a moment without Krsna’s presence seemed like many lifetimes for them.
Sometimes at night Krsna used to go to Ter Kadamba and play His flute which would attract the gopis to come and meet Him.