Shreemad Bhagavat Mahapuran- Canto: 10, Chapters: 13
Sutji tells Shaunakji and the assembled sages that when King Parikshit hears the wondrous pastime of how his protector and life-giver, Shree Krishna, delivered Aghasur, his heart is completely drawn into that divine rasa. Absorbed in this sweetness, he asks Shree Shukdevji another question connected to the same sacred pastime of Bhagwan.
King Parikshit says, “Bhagavan! You mentioned that Shree Krishna performed this leela in His fifth year, yet the gopal-bal narrated it in Braj only when they reached their sixth year. Kindly explain how an event that happened at one time appeared to them as if present at another time. There must surely be a divine mystery here. I am eager to know this wonder. Surely this is the work of Krishna’s maya-shakti, for ordinarily such a thing is impossible.
Though I have fallen from my Kshatriya dharma and remain a Kshatriya only in name, I still consider myself fortunate because I am able to drink the sanctifying leelamrit of Shree Krishna that continuously flows from your lips.”
Sutji continues, “Shaunakji, upon hearing this question from King Parikshit, Shree Shukdevji at once remembers that divine leela. His senses and mind become immersed in Krishna's eternal sports. After some time, slowly returning to external awareness, he begins to narrate the leela.”
Krishna’s Forest Picnic with His Gopal-Bal
Shree Shukdevji says, “After Shree Krishna rescued His cowherd friends from the deathlike mouth of Aghasur, He led them all to the banks of the Yamuna. Smiling, He said, ‘My dear friends, look how beautiful this riverside is! The sand here is soft and clean, and everything we need for play is right here. Let us take our meal on this pleasant bank. The day has grown long, and all of us are hungry. Let the calves drink water and graze in the fresh green grass nearby.’”
The gopal-bal exclaimed, “Yes! Wonderful!” They gave water to the calves, let them wander in the grass, opened their lunch packs, and happily sat with Bhagwan.
Krishna sat at the centre, and the boys formed circular rows around Him. Each boy sat close to the next, their faces turned toward Krishna, their eyes shining with joy. The scene looked just like lotus petals arranged around the golden core.
Some boys used flowers as bowls, others used leaves, sprouts, bark, fruits, or even little stones as plates. Each expressed his playful creativity while eating. Krishna and the boys teased one another, made each other laugh, and often burst into happy giggles. In this way, they all enjoyed their forest picnic with overflowing delight.
Bibhrad venum jathara-patayoha shring-vetre cha kakshe,
Vaame paanau masrinakavalam tat-phalaany-angulishu.
Tishthan madhye sva-pari-suhrido haasayan narmabhiha svaiha,
Svarge loke mishati bubhuje yajna-bhug baal-keliha.
At that moment, Shree Krishna’s beauty was truly unmatched. He had tucked His flute into the waistband of His cloth in front. The horn and the herding stick were held snugly under His arm. In His left hand He carried a soft, fragrant morsel of ghee-mixed curd-rice, and between His fingers He held pieces of ginger, lemon, and other pickles.
The gwalbal were sitting all around Him, encircling Him with affection, and Krishna Himself sat in their midst, delighting them with His playful jokes and sweet words.
He, who is the sole enjoyer of all yajnas, sat there like a simple cowherd boy, sharing a meal with His friends, absorbed in childlike play. Meanwhile, the gods in heaven looked on in wonder, astonished at this enchanting and divine pastime. (Bhagavat 10.13.11)
As the gwalbal continued eating, they became wholly absorbed in their joyful meal. At that very moment, their calves, tempted by the fresh green grass, wandered far away into the deep forest. When the boys finally glanced in the direction where the calves had been grazing and found them nowhere to be seen, fear gripped their hearts.
Shree Krishna gently said, “My dear friends, do not stop your meal. Keep eating happily. I will go and bring the calves back.”
Saying this, Shree Krishna rose, still holding a morsel of curd-rice in His hand, and went in search of the calves moving through hills, caves, leafy bowers, and other difficult places, looking for His own calves and those of His companions.
Meanwhile, Brahmaji was already present in the sky above. Having just witnessed the astonishing deliverance of Aghasur by the mere will of Shree Krishna, he was filled with wonder. A thought arose in his heart, “This Shree Krishna, who appears as a simple village boy through His divine leela, must be performing some deeper, more mysterious pastime. I should behold yet another of His wondrous acts.”
Dekho dekho ri, gwal-baalan yaari.
In gwalan mukh chhori-chhori Hari, khaat kaur kahi balihari.
Rijhavat khel jitay sakhan ko, ghoda bani bani Banwari.
Kabahun det risaay sakhan kahin, puni tin sunat madhur gaari.
Nakh dharyot Govardhan-giri jab, sakhan kahyo hum Giridhari.
So ‘kupalu’ chhavi anupam jab kahun, dwe tataru dwe mahaatari.
Look, just look at the friendship these illiterate cowherd boys of Braj enjoy with Shree Krishna!
He snatches the food remnants from their mouths and, after eating those morsels, says, "I sacrifice myself on the taste of this food!"
He pleases His friends by letting them win in the games they play and becomes their horse as the loser, allowing them to ride on His back and shoulders!
Sometimes, He makes them angry, then enjoys hearing their sweet abuse.
When He lifted Govardhana Mountain on His fingernail, the cowherd boys who held their staffs to the bottom of the mountain said, "We were the actual lifters of Govardhana, not Him. He was making a show, touching it with the tip of His nail!"
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj says, "That form of Kanhaiya (where He is brought to the verge of tears) is incomparable and is seen when He is being teased as having two fathers and two mothers, by His cowherd friends."
When Brahmaji saw that Shree Krishna, appearing outwardly like an ordinary cowherd boy, was snatching morsels of food straight from the mouths of His friends and eating them with innocent delight, a doubt entered his heart. He wondered, “Is this truly the Supreme Brahman, or could it be someone else? I must test this.”
Thinking this way, Brahmaji first stole the calves and hid them elsewhere. When Krishna later walked away to find the missing calves, Brahmaji returned and carried away the gwalbal too, placing them into deep slumber. Then, becoming invisible, he waited to observe what Krishna would do.
Shree Krishna searched everywhere over hills, through caves, across groves and dense forests, but the calves were nowhere to be found. He finally returned to the bank of the Yamuna, only to discover that even the gwalbals had disappeared. At once, He understood: “This is certainly Brahma’s doing.” For Krishna is the sole knower of all.
Krishna Becomes the Calves and the Gopal-Bal
Krishna thought, “I shall perform a pastime that will remove Brahma’s confusion, and at the same time bless all the mothers and Brajavasis with extraordinary bliss.”
And so, Shree Krishna Himself took the form of every single calf and every single cowherd boy, for He is the creator of the entire universe, the all-powerful Ishwar.
Exactly as they were, their tiny bodies, their hands and feet, their flutes, sticks, slings, lunch bags, their clothes, ornaments, voices, habits, walks, gestures, laughter, Shree Krishna manifested all of them perfectly. It seemed as if the Vedic truth “The whole world is the form of Vishnu” had taken shape before one’s eyes.
Krishna became the calves, and Krishna became the boys. Krishna surrounded Krishna, and together they happily returned to Braj as though nothing had happened.
Each Krishna-boy took “his” calf to “his” home. Then, assuming other forms, Krishna entered every single house separately. Whenever the gopis heard the sound of the flute, they would rush out, pick up “their” child, actually Krishna Himself, and hug Him tightly. With overflowing affection, they would feed Him milk, caress Him, and shower Him with love.
Every evening, Krishna, in the form of the gwalbal, returned from the forest and filled the hearts of all mothers with delight. They bathed Him, massaged Him with fragrant pastes, dressed Him in fresh clothes and ornaments, fed Him lovingly, and applied a dot of kajal on His forehead to protect Him from the evil eye.
The cows, too, upon hearing the calls of their calves, ran swiftly down from Govardhan’s slopes to lick and nurse them with such affection that milk would flow spontaneously out of their udders. Their love, once innocent and straightforward, now intensified beyond measure.
Krishna behaved exactly like a child, yet within Him there was no worldly attachment. In this way, for a full year, the affection of every mother, father, cowherd, and cow kept increasing, just as their love for Krishna Himself always increased.
Balaram Wonders at the Miracle
Five or six days remained for the full year to complete. One day, Shree Krishna and Balaram took the calves to graze. From the peak of Govardhan, the cows saw their calves grazing below. Overwhelmed with motherly affection, they forgot everything and rushed down the steep path, a path they normally never took. It seemed they had only two legs, so fast did they run! Reaching their calves, they nursed them with tears of love.
The gopas tried to stop the cows, but nothing could restrain them. After much difficulty, they reached the calves, and upon seeing their own children standing beside them, a wave of joy washed over them. They embraced their children again and again. Even the elderly gopas wept tears of happiness as they hugged their sons.
Witnessing all this, Balaramji grew thoughtful. “Why is this happening?” he wondered. The affection of the cows, the gopas, and the gopis kept increasing every moment. Even the calves that no longer drank milk were receiving overflowing love. “This is not ordinary. Such power belongs only to Krishna. If even I am affected, then surely this is His divine maya.”
With His divine knowledge, Balaramji realised that all the calves and all the gwalbal were Shree Krishna Himself in countless forms.
He approached Krishna and said, “Bhagavan! These boys and calves are neither gods nor sages. Though they appear in so many forms, I see only You everywhere. Tell me, why have You taken the forms of calves, children, flutes, sticks, and everything else?”
Krishna then narrated the entire episode of Brahmaji’s illusion, how he had stolen the original calves and boys. Balaramji understood everything and was filled with astonishment and bliss.
Brahmaji’s Bewilderment Breaks
By then, Brahmaji returned from Brahmalok. Only a “truti” of time had passed there, just as long as it takes a sharp needle to pierce a lotus petal. Looking down, Brahmaji saw Krishna happily playing with the calves and cowherd boys.
He wondered, “But I have hidden the real children and calves! They are still asleep in my maya. Then who are these playing with Krishna? Where did they come from?”
Brahmaji looked again and again with his divine vision, trying to distinguish the real from the recreated, but he could not. The one who tried to bewilder Krishna had himself become bewildered.
Suddenly, every calf and every boy began to appear in four-armed forms, each one a radiant Krishna! Dark-hued, wearing yellow silk, holding conch, discus, mace, and lotus, with crowns, earrings, garlands, armlets, bracelets, anklets, and shining rings. Each had a fresh tulsi mala. Their smiles were moonlike; their eyes overflowed with sweetness.
Then Brahmaji saw countless universes, countless Brahmas, devas, sages, and beings all worshipping these innumerable Vishnu forms. All energies, all siddhis, maya, prakriti, kala, karma, desires, impressions, everything stood personified, bowing before the Supreme.
Brahmaji understood, “Past, present, future do not exist here. Jada and chetana do not differ. This is the infinite Parabrahman Shree Krishna Himself.” His senses stopped functioning. Overwhelmed, he became still and silent.
Shukdevji tells Parikshit that the Supreme cannot be grasped by logic. He is self-effulgent bliss, beyond maya. Even the Vedas speak of Him only through hints. Brahmaji, master of all vidyas, could not comprehend His divine form. His eyes closed; he became stunned.
Seeing Brahmaji’s condition, Krishna withdrew His maya. Brahmaji’s awareness slowly returned, as if awakening from death. He opened his eyes with effort, regained the sight of his body and the world, and finally saw Vrindavan Krishna’s divine playground, untouched by anger, greed, or impurity.
He felt wonder, “The infinite Parabrahma is playing like a village boy; though one, He has friends; though omnipresent, He walks; though all-knowing, He searches with curd-rice in His hand.”
The moment Brahmaji saw Krishna, he leapt from his swan mount, fell flat upon the earth, and offered full prostrations. His four crowns touched Krishna’s lotus feet; tears of bliss washed them again and again. Brahmaji fell, rose, fell again, unable to contain his devotion.
At last, he stood, trembling, folded his hands, and began to praise Shree Krishna with a choked, humble voice.
Summary: JKYog India Online Class- Shreemad Bhagavat Katha [Hindi]- 08.12.2025
