The Playful Pastimes Of Lord Krishna

The Playful Pastimes Of Lord Krishna

Srila Sukadeva Goswami
O King, one day Krishna decided to take His breakfast as a picnic in the forest. Having risen early in the morning, He blew His bugle made of horn and woke all the cowherd boys and calves with its beautiful sound. Then Krishna and the boys, keeping their respective groups of calves before them, proceeded from Vrajabhūmi to the forest. At that time, hundreds and thousands of cowherd boys came out of their respective homes in Vrajabhūmi and joined Krishna, keeping before them their hundreds and thousands of groups of calves. The boys were very beautiful, and they were equipped with lunch bags, bugles, flutes, and sticks for controlling the calves. Along with the cowherd boys and their own groups of calves, Krishna came out with an unlimited number of calves assembled. Then all the boys began to sport in the forest in a greatly playful spirit. Although all these boys were already decorated by their mothers with ornaments of kāca, guñjā, pearls and gold, when they went into the forest they further decorated themselves with fruits, green leaves, bunches of flowers, peacock feathers and soft minerals. All the cowherd boys used to steal one another’s lunch bags. When a boy came to understand that his bag had been taken away, the other boys would throw it farther away, to a more distant place, and those standing there would throw it still farther. When the proprietor of the bag became disappointed, the other boys would laugh, the proprietor would cry, and then the bag would be returned. Sometimes Krishna would go to a somewhat distant place to see the beauty of the forest. Then all the other boys would run to accompany Him, each one saying, “I shall be the first to run and touch Krishna! I shall touch Krishna first!” In this way they enjoyed life by repeatedly touching Krishna. All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds’ shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks. Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes. In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Krishna, who is the source of the Brah¬man effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune? Yogīs may undergo severe austerities and penances for many births by practicing yama, niyama, āsana and prāṇāyā¬ma, none of which are easily performed. Yet in due course of time, when these Yogīs attain the perfection of controlling the mind, they will still be unable to taste even a particle of dust from the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What then can we describe about the great fortune of the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi, Vrindavana, with whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead per¬sonally lived and who saw the Lord face to face?
– Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 10: The Sum¬mum Bonum » Chapter Twelve » Verses: 01-12, Transla¬tions by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.