Shreemad Bhagavat Mahapuran- Canto: 10, Chapters: 14-15
After beholding the true divine form of Bhagwan Shree Krishna, Brahmaji folded his hands. With utmost humility and a trembling voice, he said, “O Prabho Krishna! Your blue complexion, yellow pitambar, makar-kundal, peacock-feather crown, and cowherd attire radiate wondrous beauty; I bow at Your sacred feet.
Your sattva-filled, self-effulgent form is beyond the five elements; neither yogis can fully know it through yog, nor the wise can measure it with their intellect.
Those who humbly seek saintly association and listen to Your divine pastimes win You over by pure love; for devotion alone is the fountainhead of all auspiciousness, whereas the path of knowledge is complex and wearisome.
Even the ancient yogis, when they found You unattainable through yog, surrendered all their actions at Your lotus feet; through that surrender, they attained devotion, and through devotion, Your supreme abode.
O Prabho, even those who can count the particles of the Earth cannot enumerate Your infinite qualities. Your glory is inconceivable and boundless.”
Tatte anukampaam susamikshamaano
Bhunjaana eva atma-kritam vipaakam
Hrid-vaag-vapurbhir vidadhann namaste
Jeevet yo mukti-pade sa daayabhaak
Therefore, the person who, at every moment, eagerly perceives Your grace, who accepts the pleasures and pains that come through prarabdha with an undisturbed mind, and who continually offers himself at Your lotus feet with a heart full of love, a choked voice, and a body thrilled with devotion, such a person becomes eligible for Your supreme abode, just as a son naturally inherits the wealth of his father.” (Bhagavat 10.14.8)
With deep humility, Brahmaji says, “O Prabho! Deluded by rajo-guna and ignorance, I dared to cast maya upon You. Compared to You, I am not even a spark. In every pore of Your divine body, countless universes revolve, while I am but a tiny being with a body merely three hand-spans long. Just as a mother forgives the foolishness of the child in her womb, may my mistakes too be forgiven at Your shelter.
The Shrutis declare that I was born from the lotus of Your navel, therefore I am truly Your son. Not being able to behold Your cosmic form, then seeing You appear in my heart during tapasya, and then seeing You withdraw again, this entire play is nothing but Your astonishing maya. Even today You revealed that all the cowherd boys, the calves, and the universes are but You alone, and that in the end only Your Brahman-form remains.
The ignorant consider You a being bound by prakriti, and therefore they perceive You as Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra. You descend into various forms to humble the wicked and shower grace upon devotees. Your Yogmaya is unfathomable. This world, born of maya, is like a dream; the only truth is Your bliss-filled, eternal form.
The self-effulgent Atma-tattva alone is real; bondage and liberation are merely imaginations born of ignorance, like mistaking a rope for a snake. When the jeev abandons You and identifies the body as ‘I’, that is the great delusion. Saints realise You only through inner purity. By Your grace alone does maya dissolve, and one attains the vision of Your satchidananda glory; mere knowledge and renunciation cannot accomplish this.
O Prabho! May I attain the fortune, whether in any form of existence, to become Your servant and offer myself at Your lotus feet. Grand sacrifices cannot satisfy You, but the Gopis and cows of Braj please You with their pure affection. You Yourself became their calves and children to accept their love; truly, they alone are blessed.”
Aho bhaagyam aho bhaagyam
Nanda-gopa-Braja-okasaam
Yan mitram parama-anandam
Poornam brahma sanaatanam
Ah! Blessed indeed are Nand and the cowherds of Braj, truly; their fortune is unparalleled. For You, the eternal, complete Brahman, the very embodiment of Supreme Bliss, have become their own intimate relative and well-wisher.” (Bhagavat 10.14.32)
“O Krishna! The fortune of the Brajvasis is truly limitless. Yet, even we devas are immensely blessed for all our senses repeatedly receive the chance to taste the nectar of Your lotus feet, the very nectar that even Shankarji longs to attain.”
Tad bhoori bhaagyam iha janma kim apy atavyaam
Yad gokule’pi katamaanghri-rajo’bhishekam
Yaj jeevitam tu nikhilam Bhagavaan Mukundah
Tvady aapi yat pada-rajah shruti-mrgyam eva
“O Prabho! To take birth in any form in this land of Braj would be the greatest fortune for us. For by being born here, we would certainly receive upon ourselves the dust of the feet of at least one of Your loving devotees.
O Prabho! The entire life of Your devotees in Braj is but an extension of Your own life. You alone are their everything. Therefore, the dust of their feet is the dust of Your own lotus feet. And Your lotus foot-dust is what the Shrutis have been searching for since time without beginning.” (Bhagavat 10.14.34)
Brahmaji prays, “O Prabho! What fruit can You possibly grant the Brajvasis, when You Yourself are the supreme fruit of all fruits? If even a cruel being like Putana attained Your divine abode by touching Your lotus feet, then how can You ever become indebted to those who have offered You their body, mind, and very life-breath?
A jeev remains bound by attachment, aversion, and delusion only until he becomes Yours. Though ever unattached, You incarnate solely to bestow bliss upon Your devotees; Your glory is beyond the reach of speech and mind. O Prabho, accept me, and grant me permission to return to Your divine realm.”
Saying this, Brahmaji concludes his prayer and returns to Satyalok.
Krishna brings the calves back to the bank of the Yamuna; by His Yogmaya, the cowherd boys feel that the one full year that has passed was merely half a moment. Seeing Krishna, they rejoice and begin eating. Krishna laughs and plays with them, then returns to Braj from the forest with the boys. The children of Braj announce, “Today Nandanandan has slain a huge serpent!”
Parikshit asks Shukdevji, “O revered one, the Brajvasis knew that Krishna was not their biological son; He was someone else’s child. Then how did they come to love Him so deeply? Such love had never arisen in them even for their own children! Kindly explain the reason for this.”
Shukadevji replies, “In this world, all beings love their own atma above everything else. Even those who mistake the body to be the atma love their body far more than they love the relatives connected to it, sons, friends, and others.
When, through true understanding, one realises ‘This body is not me; this is my body,’ then even the body no longer receives the same love that the atma does.”
Krishnam enam avehi tvam
Aatmaanaam akhilaatmanaam
Jagaddhitaaya so'py atra
Dehivaabhaati maayayaa
Know Shree Krishna alone to be the Soul of all souls. For the welfare of the world, He appears here taking the support of Yogamaya, as though He possesses a material body. (Bhagavat 10.15.55)
Those wise ones who realise the true form of Shree Krishna perceive the entire universe, everything moving and non-moving, and even the transcendent principles such as Paramatma and Brahman as nothing other than Krishna Himself. For Bhagwan Shree Krishna is the ultimate cause of all causes; therefore, nothing can truly be said to exist separate from Him.
For the noble souls who take shelter of the lotus-feet of Mukund, those lotus-feet that serve as a divine boat, the vast ocean of worldly existence becomes as insignificant as the hoofprint of a calf (bhavāmbudhi vatsapadam). Attaining the supreme state, they become free from fear and all miseries born of this world.
Shree Krishna Goes to the Forest for Cow-Grazing
Shree Shukadevji tells Parikshit that when Shree Krishna and Balram reached the pauganda age (ages 6 to 10), they were granted the sacred privilege of taking the cows out for grazing. As They entered Vrindavan with their cowherd friends and herds of cows, every step of Their lotus feet sanctified the land.
Vrindavan was a paradise of emerald grass, flower-laden trees, murmuring waters, humming bees, graceful deer, and melodious birds. Its lakes were as pure as the hearts of sages, and the fragrance of blooming lotuses perfumed the forests. Beholding this enchanting vision, Shree Krishna resolved to sport there with His beloved Ones.
Smiling gently, Shree Krishna said to Balramji, “Brother, see how these trees, bending with fruits and flowers, worship You. These are Brahma-jnani sages who have taken birth as trees, and by beholding You, they are shedding their ignorance. Look, peacocks are dancing in Your presence, the deer express their love, and the cuckoos are offering melodious greetings. Vrindavan’s soil, its vines, mountains, rivers, and every creature have become fulfilled by the touch of Your feet and by Your grace. And the Gopis of Braj, how blessed they are, for Your divine chest has embraced them.”
Shree Shukadevji continues that along the foothills of Govardhan and the banks of the Yamuna, Krishna and Balram grazed the cows and performed countless delightful pastimes with the cowherd boys. The boys sang Their glories, while Krishna and Balram joined the humming of the bees, creating enchanting melodies.
Sometimes Krishna would lovingly call out to the cows, and sometimes imitate the voices of birds and forest animals, making everyone laugh. At times, He cooed with the swans, and at other times danced playfully with the peacocks.
When Balram grew tired and rested in a cowherd boy’s lap, Krishna gently pressed His feet and fanned Him. When the boys danced or wrestled, Krishna and Balram laughed joyfully and praised them. And sometimes, Krishna Himself, exhausted from play, would recline under a tree with His head resting in a friend’s lap, one boy massaging His lotus feet, another fanning Him with tender affection.
Some boys sang Krishna’s favourite songs with love, filling His heart with bliss. Through the power of Yogamaya, Bhagwan concealed His divine majesty and played just like an ordinary cowherd boy, yet from time to time His radiance would effortlessly shine through, revealing who He truly is, the Supreme Being sporting as a child in the forests of Braj.
Balramji Slays Dhenukasura in Taalvan
Shree Shukadevji says that one day, Braj’s chief cowherd boys, Shridama, Subal, and Stokakrishna, approached Krishna and Balram with great affection. They said, “O Dau Balram! Your strength is immeasurable. And O Shyam! Destroying the wicked is Your very nature. Nearby lies a dense forest called Taalvan, lined with rows of tall palm trees. Fragrant, ripe fruits fall there in abundance.
But a fearsome donkey-demon named Dhenuka dwells there. He is immensely powerful, and many other mighty demons in the same donkey form camp there with him. He has killed countless people, and because of this, no human nor any animal or bird dares to enter the forest.
The aroma of those fruits is enchanting, yet we have never tasted them. Shyam! The gentle fragrance of their nectar is making our minds restless. You must get those fruits for us. Dau! We have such a strong desire to taste them. If You find it proper, please take us to that forest.”
Hearing the heartfelt request of the cowherd boys, Krishna and Balram laughed lovingly and, wishing to please them, set out for Taalvan. Upon reaching the forest, Balramji shook the palm trees with the force of a playful young elephant, causing heaps of ripe fruits to crash to the ground.
Hearing the thundering sound of falling fruits, the donkey-demon Dhenukasura came charging in fury, shaking the earth as he ran. With fierce speed, he kicked Balramji on the chest and leapt away, roaring. Blinded by anger, he returned and kicked again.
But this time, Balramji caught both his hind legs effortlessly in one hand, whirled him around in the air like a spinning wheel, and hurled him onto a palm tree. The demon died instantly. As his body fell, many trees crashed into one another like a row of collapsing pillars.
Dhenuka’s companions rushed forward to attack Krishna and Balram, but the two brothers playfully seized them and flung them onto the trees as well. Within moments, the entire horde of demons lay destroyed. The ground was covered with fallen fruit and trees, as if clouds had blanketed the sky itself.
Delighted by this divine victory, the devas showered flowers from the heavens and played celestial instruments. From the very day Dhenukasura was slain, humans began fearlessly enjoying the fruits of Taalvan, and animals too roamed freely in the forest.
Summary: JKYog India Online Class- Shreemad Bhagavat Katha [Hindi]- 12.12.2025
