Associating With The Lord Through His Divine Plays

A concise summary of Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 2

The great devotee of the Lord, Uddhava described to Vidura, the various divine plays of Lord Krishna. He was a dear friend of the Supreme Lord since he was 5 years old and he took part in some of the divine plays of the Lord.

Uddhava remained silent for 48 minutes (Muhurtha) before he began speaking. He was deeply immersed in the intense devotion of the Lord. His body hair became firm and he shed tears feeling the separation from the Lord. It said that one who is situated in the state of full surrender to the Lord meditates on the Lord’s divine activities because all he desires is a personal association with the Lord.

Uddhava began to speak:

The Supreme Lord left this World just like the Sun disappears from our vision. As soon as the sun sets, darkness automatically appears. But the darkness experienced by the common man does not affect the Sun itself either at the time of sunrise or of sunset. Lord Krishna’s appearance and disappearance are exactly like that of the Sun. He appears and disappears in innumerable universes, and as long as He is present in a particular universe there is all brightness in the universe (dharma is protected), but the universe from which He passes away is put into darkness (dharma is misconstrued). His divine plays, however, are everlasting (Nitya-Lila). The Lord is always present in some universe, just as the sun is present in either the Eastern or the Western Hemisphere. The divine play of the Lord takes place in each universe during 1 day of Lord Brahma i.e. 1000 Maha Yugas. One Maha Yuga is a combination of Satya, Treta, Dwapar and Kali yugas. It is commonly misunderstood that Lord Krishna appears in every Dwapar Yuga.

The unfortunate people of the world couldn’t recognize the Supreme nature of Lord Krishna in spite of seeing all His divine qualities. From the very beginning of His appearance within the prison bars of King Kamsa up to His mausala-lila, although He exhibited His absolute divinity of the six opulence of wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation, the foolish people couldn’t understand that He was the Supreme Lord. Some thought of Him as an extraordinary historic figure because they had no intimate touch with the Lord, but more unfortunate were the family members of the Lord, the members of the Yadu dynasty, who were always in company with the Lord but were unable to recognize Him completely. The Lord describes in Bhagavad Gita that only a devotee can understand him completely. He clouds our intelligence with his illusory energy until the person gets to the state of ready to surrender.

The Lord exhibited his own eternal form in this complete incarnation so that those people who hadn’t undergone proper penance can get a vision of the Absolute Truth (Parabrahma). This form that he exhibited is the highest peak of perfect beauty. The form was so attractive that it captivated the minds of the Gopis, who exhibit the perfected stage of devotion.

One can only get the vision of the Lord only after one undergoes thorough practice of Yoga and is situated in a state of self-realization. But, the Lord appears once in a day of Lord Brahma out of his mercy to make himself accessible to everyone.

The unborn Lord took birth like fire. The potency of fire though present in the wood, sparks out only after friction.

The Lord has no enemies. He is merciful to even those who hate him such as Kamsa, Sisupala, and Putana. He gave liberation to Kamsa and Sisupala. He made Putana his eternal nurse. He even gave liberation to all the warriors who lost their lives in the battle of Mahabharata. The demons who are inimical to the Lord are like the devotees because they are absorbed in the thoughts of the Lord out of enmity. Kamsa remembered Lord Krishna every moment because he hated him.

The Lord is the controller of the heaven, earthly and hellish planes of existence. He is in the highest state of bliss and is always in the mood for enjoyment. However, he behaves like a servant of his devotees out of love. He became a chariot driver of Arjuna and he washed the feet of Vidura.

The Lord took birth from Vasudev and Devaki in the prison because he was requested by Lord Brahma to appear and restore the balance on the Earth. As soon as he appeared, he used his illusory energy to make the prison guards fall asleep and paved the way so that Vasudev could take him to Yasoda and Nanda Maharaj. He lived with them for 11 years and exhibited various divine plays with cowherd men and women on the banks of Yamuna. He looked like an innocent child playing pranks with the residents of Vraj but turned into a lion when he had to protect them.

The same Lord herded the cows and bulls although he is the reservoir of all wealth (Lakshmi-pati) and entertained the cowherd boys and girls with his flute.

Like a boy who breaks his toys, he destroyed various demons who were sent by Kamsa to kill him. He even killed Kamsa but gave him liberation.

The omnipresent Lord (Paramatma) destroyed the ego of Indra by making Nanda Maharaj direct his worship away from Indra to Govardhan Hill. When Indra became angry and flooded the Vraj, the Lord protected the residents by lifting the Govardhan Hill on his little finger.

In the fall season, the Lord enjoyed his evenings by singing sweet songs and performed the Rasa dance with Gopis, who were his devotees. In essence, he offered his closest association to them. A devotee always desires the association of the Lord and Lord’s devotees.