Bhagavata Purana

यद्‍बाहुदण्डाभ्युदयानुजीविनो यदुप्रवीरा ह्यकुतोभया मुहुः । अधिक्रमन्त्यङ्‌घ्रिभिराहृतां बलात् सभां सुधर्मां सुरसत्तमोचिताम्

The foremost Yadus, who live by the rise of their many strong arms and are fearless at all times, forcibly enter the Sudharmā assembly hall, fit for the best of gods, with their feet, having brought it there.

कच्चित्तेऽनामयं तात भ्रष्टतेजा विभासि मे । अलब्धमानोऽवज्ञातः किं वा तात चिरोषितः

My dear, do you remain free from illness? You appear to me as if your radiance has faded. Have you failed to obtain something, been disrespected, or stayed away for a long time?

कच्चित् नाभिहतोऽभावैः शब्दादिभिरमङ्‌गलैः । न दत्तमुक्तमर्थिभ्य आशया यत्प्रतिश्रुतम्

Have you not been struck by inauspicious things, such as sounds or other disturbances? Have you failed to give or fulfill what was promised to supplicants out of desire?

कच्चित्त्वं ब्राह्मणं बालं गां वृद्धं रोगिणं स्त्रियम् । शरणोपसृतं सत्त्वं नात्याक्षीः शरणप्रदः

Have you, as a giver of refuge, not rejected a Brahmin, child, cow, elder, sick person, woman, or any being who approached you for shelter?

कच्चित्त्वं नागमोऽगम्यां गम्यां वासत्कृतां स्त्रियम् । पराजितो वाथ भवान् नोत्तमैर्नासमैः पथि

Have you not approached a woman who should not be approached, or one who is to be approached, or one who has been made your companion? Or have you been defeated by superior or inferior paths?

अपि स्वित्पर्यभुङ्‌क्थास्त्वं सम्भोज्यान् वृद्धबालकान् । जुगुप्सितं कर्म किञ्चित् कृतवान्न यदक्षमम्

Have you eaten food that should be shared with elders and children? Have you committed any act that is disgraceful or beyond your capacity?

कच्चित्प्रेष्ठतमेनाथ हृदयेनात्मबन्धुना । शून्योऽस्मि रहितो नित्यं मन्यसे तेऽन्यथा न रुक्

O dearest, do you always feel empty and deprived in your heart by your own kin? Or do you think otherwise? If not, then there is no sorrow.

ऊचुश्च सुहृदः कृष्णं स्वागतं तेऽतिरंहसा । नैकोऽप्यभोजि कवल एहीतः साधु भुज्यताम्

And the friends said to Krishna, 'Welcome to you, who have come so swiftly! Not one has eaten a morsel; come, please eat well.'

ततो हसन् हृषीकेशोऽभ्यवहृत्य सहार्भकैः । दर्शयंश्चर्माजगरं न्यवर्तत वनाद् व्रजम्

Then Hṛṣīkeśa, smiling, ate together with the children, showing them the python's skin, and turned back from the forest to the village.

( वसंततिलका ) बर्हप्रसून नवधातुविचित्रिताङ्‌गः प्रोद्दामवेणुदलशृङ्‌गरवोत्सवाढ्यः । वत्सान् गृणन्ननुगगीत पवित्रकीर्तिः गोपीदृगुत्सवदृशिः प्रविवेश गोष्ठम्

Adorned with peacock feathers, flowers, and fresh minerals, rich in the festival of flute and horn, praising the calves, singing holy fame, and with the gopīs' eyes celebrating him, he entered the cowherd settlement.

( अनुष्टुप् ) अद्यानेन महाव्यालो यशोदानन्दसूनुना । हतोऽविता वयं चास्माद् इति बाला व्रजे जगुः

Today, by the son of Yaśodā and Nanda, the great serpent was slain and we are protected from it—thus the children sang in the village.

श्रीराजोवाच । ब्रह्मन् परोद्‍भवे कृष्णे इयान्प्रेमा कथं भवेत् । योऽभूतपूर्वस्तोकेषु स्वोद्‍भवेष्वपि कथ्यताम्

The king said: O Brahmin, how did such great love arise for Krishna at his birth, even among those who had never felt it before, even in their own offspring? Please explain.

श्रीशुक उवाच । सर्वेषामपि भूतानां नृप स्वात्मैव वल्लभः । इतरेऽपत्यवित्ताद्याः तद्वल्लभतयैव हि

Śuka said: For all beings, O king, the self alone is most dear; others, such as children and wealth, are dear only because of that self.

तद् राजेन्द्र यथा स्नेहः स्वस्वकात्मनि देहिनाम् । न तथा ममतालम्बि पुत्रवित्तगृहादिषु

O king, just as attachment for one's own self is strongest among embodied beings, it is not so for sons, wealth, homes, and other things that depend on possessiveness.

देहात्मवादिनां पुंसां अपि राजन्यसत्तम । यथा देहः प्रियतमः तथा न ह्यनु ये च तम्

Even among those who identify the body as the self, O best of kings, the body is not as dear as those who follow it.

देहोऽपि ममताभाक् चेत् तर्ह्यसौ नात्मवत् प्रियः । यज्जीर्यत्यपि देहेऽस्मिन् जीविताशा बलीयसी

If the body is regarded as possessing 'mine-ness,' then it is not as dear as the self; for even when the body ages, the hope for life remains strong.

तस्मात् प्रियतमः स्वात्मा सर्वेषामपि देहिनाम् । तदर्थमेव सकलं जगद् एतत् चराचरम्

Therefore, the dearest is one's own self for all embodied beings; for its sake alone, this entire world, both moving and unmoving, exists.

कृष्णमेनमवेहि त्वं आत्मानं अखिलात्मनाम् । जगद्धिताय सोऽप्यत्र देहीवाभाति मायया

Know Krishna to be this very self, the self of all selves; for the welfare of the world, he too appears here as embodied, by his own illusion.

वस्तुतो जानतामत्र कृष्णं स्थास्नु चरिष्णु च । भगवद् रूपमखिलं नान्यद् वस्त्विह किञ्चन

In truth, for those who know, Krishna alone is the abiding and moving reality here; the entire form of the Lord—there is nothing else at all in this world.

सर्वेषामपि वस्तूनां भावार्थो भवति स्थितः । तस्यापि भगवान्कृष्णः किं अतद्वस्तु रूप्यताम्

The essential meaning of all things is established in being; and for him too, Lord Krishna—how could anything not of that nature be considered real?

( मिश्र ) समाश्रिता ये पदपल्लवप्लवं महत्पदं पुण्ययशो मुरारेः । भवाम्बुधिर्वत्सपदं परं पदं पदं पदं यद् विपदां न तेषाम्

Those who have taken shelter of the boat of the tender feet of Murari, whose fame is pure and great, for them the ocean of worldly existence becomes as small as a calf’s hoofprint; that supreme destination, which is never touched by misfortune at any step.

( अनुष्टुप् ) एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातं यत् पृष्टोऽहमिह त्वया । यत् कौमारे हरिकृतं पौगण्डे परिकीर्तितम्

All this has been told to you, as you asked me here, about what Hari did in his childhood and what is renowned from his boyhood.

( मिश्र ) एतत्सुहृद्‌भिश्चरितं मुरारेः अघार्दनं शाद्वलजेमनं च । व्यक्तेतरद् रूपमजोर्वभिष्टवं शृण्वन् गृणन्नेति नरोऽखिलार्थान्

This conduct of Murari with his friends—destroying evil, playing in the meadows, his manifest and unmanifest forms, and his fulfillment of the earth’s desires—hearing and praising this, a person attains all purposes.

( अनुष्टुप् ) एवं विहारैः कौमारैः कौमारं जहतुर्व्रजे । निलायनैः सेतुबन्धैः मर्कटोत्प्लवनादिभिः

Thus, with such childhood pastimes—hiding, building bridges, leaping like monkeys, and the like—they passed their boyhood in Vraja.

सूत उवाच । एवं कृष्णसखः कृष्णो भ्रात्र राज्ञाऽऽविकल्पितः । नानाशंकास्पदं रूपं कृष्णविश्लेषकर्षितः

Sūta said: Thus, Krishna’s friend, Krishna, was left without choice by his royal brother, whose mind was troubled by many doubts, and who was tormented by separation from Krishna.

शोकेन शुष्यद्वदनहृत्सरोजो हतप्रभः । विभुं तमेवानुध्यायन्नाशक्रोत्प्रतिभाषितूम

His face and heart’s lotus withered with grief, his radiance gone; meditating only on that Lord, he was unable to speak.

कृच्छ्रेण संस्तभ्य शुचः पाणिनाऽऽमृज्य नेत्रयोः । परोक्षेण समुन्नद्धप्रणयौत्कण्ठ्यकातरः

With great effort restraining his sorrow, wiping his eyes with his hand, he was overwhelmed by longing from the Lord’s absence.

सख्य मैत्रीं सौहृदं च सारथ्यादिषु संस्मरन । नृपमग्रजमित्याह बाष्पगद्गदया गिरा

Recalling their friendship, intimacy, and affection—his service as charioteer and so on—he addressed the king, his elder brother, with a voice choked with tears.

अर्जुन उवाच । वञ्चितोऽहं महाराज हरिणा बन्धुरुपिणा । येन मेऽपहृतं तेजो देवविस्मापनं महत

Arjuna said: I have been deceived, O great king, by Hari, who appeared as my kinsman; by whom my power, which astonished even the gods, has been taken away.