Uddhava Visits Vṛndāvana

Krishna and Balarama stay back in Mathura …

• Parental affection of Vasudeva and Devaki - wanted Krishna and Balaram for the reformatory function of purification, the sacred thread ceremony

• Wanted to give proper education

• Enemies of Mathura were planning to attack Krishna and Balarama, so if they went back they might attack Vrindavana.

• Jarasandha (relative of Kamsa) – Asti and Prapti’s Father

Krishna and Balarama stay back in Mathura …

• Nand maharaj came back without Krishna and Balaram

• Extremely pathetic scene for gopis, mother Yashoda, Srimati Radharani and all inhabitants and residents of Vrindavan

• Krishna had promised them that He was coming back after finishing His business in Mathura.

• Did Krishna cheat the residents of Vrindavan?

• Or … could He not keep His promise?

Krishna never leaves Vrindavan

• Krishna never goes even one step out of Vrindavan

• Krishna came back with Nand Maharaj, in His original identity.

• His Lotus Feet are captured by Gopis's love

• Krishna stayed with the gopis and Mother Yashoda in His Bhava expansion

• Krishna is ever present in Vrindavan by His Leela

Krishna is always present in Vrindavan

• Krishna bound by Pure Devotional Service - Lord feels attraction for devotional service

• The real Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were in Vṛndāvana in Their bhava manifestation

So who stayed back in Mathura?

• Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma remained in Mathurā, not in Their original forms, but in Their expansions as Vāsudeva and Saṅkarṣaṇa.

• In Mathurā They appeared in the prabhava (Vāsudeva) and vaibhava (Saṅkarṣaṇa) expansions.

So who stayed back in Mathura?

kṛṣṇera svarūpera haya ṣaḍ-vidha vilāsa prābhava-vaibhava-rūpe dvi-vidha prakāśa

Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 2.97

The Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa enjoys Himself in six primary expansions. His two manifestations are prābhava and vaibhava.

Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa is the original form of Godhead, and He is the last word in the Transcendence.

Thus He is more attractive to the higher transcendentalists who participate in the eternal pastimes of the Lord.

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the svayaṁ-rūpa Personality of Godhead.

Speciality of devotional service to Lord Krishna

Purport SB 1.2.22

Speciality of devotional service to Lord Krishna

In forms of the Personality of Godhead other than Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva, there is no facility for intimate personal contact as in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord at Vrajabhūmi.

Purport SB 1.2.22

State of Mother Yashoda, Cowherd boys …

Simply thinking of Kṛṣṇa at every step.

•Kṛṣṇa was playing in this way. •Kṛṣṇa was blowing His flute. •Kṛṣṇa was joking with us•Kṛṣṇa was embracing us

•līlā-smaraṇa, and it is the process of association with Kṛṣṇa most recommended by great devotees

State of Srimati Radharani and Gopis …

•What about state of Krishna?

•What was Krishna thinking?

ye yathā māṁ prapadyantetāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

BG 4.11

Who is Uddhava?•Krishna’s Cousin – son of Vasudeva’s brother

•Sarupya - Resembles almost Krishna in bodily features, Even dresses like Krishna

•Described as the most exalted personality in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, almost equal to Kṛṣṇa

•Direct student of Bṛhaspati•Very intelligent and sharp in decision•Highly intellectual

•Eternal Confidential Associate

Uddhava is very dear to Lord Krishna …

•Serving the Lord in a mood of an intimate friend

•However he is considered more intimate to Lord Krishna than Pandavas

•Uddhava Prayed to Krishna to take him along

•Uddhava Gita – message for the sages in Himalaya

Krishna’s instruction to Uddhava…

•Uddhava Gita – similar instructions given to Arjuna

Why Krishna wanted Uddhava to visit Vrindavan …

•Krishna’s causeless favor to Uddhava - Kṛṣṇa, being a very loving friend of Uddhava, wanted to send him to Vṛndāvana just to study the highly elevated ecstatic devotional service practiced there

•Krishna was very anxious about the gopis’ grief, that they may give up their lives due to intense separation from Him.

•He wanted them to be relieved of their plight

Why Krishna wanted Uddhava to visit Vrindavan …

•Krishna was aware that gopis’ could not give up their lives as they were waiting for Him to return. They were thinking what will happen to Krishna if He finds them dead…

•Krishna knew very well the psychology of women. When a woman’s beloved is away, she thinks of him more in meditation than when he is present before her. Krishna wanted to teach through the behavior of the gopis that one who is constantly in trance like the gopis surely attains His lotus feet.

•To increase gopis’ incessant love for Him, He had left them. He wanted them to be aware of this state – i.e. “My dear gopis, in order to increase your superexcellent love for Me, I have purposely separated Myself from you. I have done this so that you may be in constant meditation on Me.”

•Gopis’ unalloyed love for Krishna – Krishna’s headache could be cured by the dust of lotus feet of a pure devotee

Krishna’s instruction to Uddhava

"My dear gentle friend Uddhava, please go immediately to Vṛndāvana and try to pacify My father and mother, Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodādevi, and the

gopīs. They are very much grief stricken, as if suffering from great ailments. Go and give them a message. I hope their ailments will be partially relieved. The

gopīs are always absorbed in thoughts of Me. They have dedicated body, desire, life and soul to Me. I am anxious not only for the gopīs, but for anyone who sacrifices society, friendship, love and personal comforts for Me. It is My duty to protect such exalted devotees. The gopīs are the most dear. They are

always thinking of Me in such a way that they remain overwhelmed and almost dead in anxiety due to separation from Me. They are keeping alive

simply by thinking that I am returning to them very soon."

Uddhava reaches Vrindavan

Lakes with Ducks and SwansUddhava reaches Vrindavan at SunsetWhite cows and their calves

•Uddhava was received as a representative of Vāsudeva.•Nand Maharaj could understand that Uddhava was a very confidential friend of Kṛṣṇa

Nand Maharaj greets Uddhava

•He inquired about the well being of Vasudeva•Nand Maharaj could understand that Uddhava was a very confidential friend of Kṛṣṇa •He acknowledged the killing of Kaṁsa, the most sinful demon

•Further inquired … “whether Kṛṣṇa is remembering His father and mother and His friends and companions in Vṛndāvana. Does He like to remember His cows, His gopīs, His Govardhana Hill, His pasturing ground in Vṛndāvana?”

•Is there any possibility of His coming back to His friends and relatives so that we can again see His beautiful face with its raised nose and lotus-like eyes?

Nand Maharaj recites Krishna’s pastimes …

"We remember how He saved us from the forest fire, how He saved us from the great snake Kāliya in the Yamunā, how He saved us from so many other demons, and we simply think how much we are obliged to Him for giving us protection in so many dangerous situations. My dear Uddhava, when we think of Kṛṣṇa's beautiful face and eyes and His different activities here in Vṛndāvana, we become so overwhelmed that all our activities cease.

Nand Maharaj recites Krishna’s pastimes …“We simply think of Kṛṣṇa, how He used to smile and how He looked upon us. When we go to the banks of the Yamunā and other lakes of Vṛndāvana or near Govardhana Hill or the pasturing field, we see that the impressions of Kṛṣṇa's footprints are still on the surface of the earth. We remember Him playing in those places, because He was constantly visiting them. When His appearance within our minds becomes manifest, we immediately become absorbed in thought of Him. ."

Nand Maharaj recites Krishna’s pastimes …

"We think, therefore, that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma may be chief demigods in heaven who have appeared before us like ordinary boys in order to execute particular duties on earth. This was also foretold by Gargamuni when making Kṛṣṇa's horoscope. If Kṛṣṇa were not a great personality how could He have killed Kaṁsa, who possessed the strength of 10,000 elephants? Besides Kaṁsa, there were very strong wrestlers, as well as the giant elephant, Kuvalayāpīḍa.

Nand Maharaj recites Krishna’s pastimes …How wonderful it is that Kṛṣṇa took in one hand the big, heavy bow made of three joined palm trees and broke it very quickly. How wonderful it is that continually for seven days He held up Govardhana Hill in one hand. How wonderful it is that He has killed all the demons, like Pralambāsura, Dhenukāsura, Ariṣṭāsura, Tṛṇāvarta and Bakāsura. They were so strong that even the demigods in the heavenly planets were afraid of them, but Kṛṣṇa killed them as easily as anything."

Uddhava tries to pacify Nand Maharaj…

•Nanda Mahārāja gradually became overwhelmed and could not speak any more. •As for mother Yaśodā, she sat by the side of her husband and heard the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa without speaking. •She was simply crying incessantly, and milk was pouring from her breasts.

Uddhava delivers Krishna’s message to the gopis…

Uddhava delivers Krishna’s message to the gopis…

•It is stated by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākur that Kṛṣṇa saved the cowherd boys from the blazing forest fire within a second, while their eyes were closed.

•Similarly, Uddhava advised the gopīs that they could be saved from the fire of separation by closing their eyes and meditating on the activities of Kṛṣṇa from the very beginning of their association with Him.

•From the outside, the gopīs could visualize all the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa by hearing the descriptions of Uddhava, and from inside they could remember those pastimes. From the instruction of Uddhava, the gopīs could understand that Kṛṣṇa was not separate from them. As they were constantly thinking of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa was also thinking of them constantly while at Mathurā.

•Uddhava appreciated the exalted position of the gopīs and wished to fall down and take the dust of their feet on his head.

•Yet he did not dare to ask the gopīs to offer the dust from their feet; perhaps they would not be agreeable.

•He therefore desired to have his head smeared with the dust of the gopīs' feet without their knowledge.

•He desired to become only an insignificant clump of grass or herbs in the land of Vṛndāvana.

Uddhava’s desire …

•The gopīs were so much attracted to Kṛṣṇa that when they heard the vibration of His flute, they instantly left their families, children, honor and feminine bashfulness and ran towards the place where Kṛṣṇa was standing.

•They did not consider whether they were passing over the road or through the jungles.

•Imperceptibly, the dust of their feet was bestowed on small grasses and herbs of Vṛndāvana.

•Not daring to place the dust of the gopīs' feet on his own head, Uddhava aspired to have a future birth in the position of a clump of grass and herbs. He would then be able to have the dust of the gopīs' feet.

Uddhava’s desire …

•Similarity between our situation and the situation of Vrajavasis

•Separation from the Lord

What is the relevance of this pastime?

•Our hearts are also burning – 6 enemies

•Krishna sends spiritual master to save us, the fallen souls

•Lord Krishna’s one of the most intimate pastimes

•Lord displays His most beautiful personal aspects -

•Vipralambha - method of rendering service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the feeling of separation

Lord Chaitanya’s instructions …

•Gosvāmīs were always absorbed in the ocean of transcendental feelings in the mood of the gopīs

•Their mission remained always unfulfilled; they never met Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

•Lord Caitanya states that there cannot be, at any time, a worship as exalted as that realized by the gopīs.

•Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in separation from Govardhan Hill

Lord Chaitanya’s instructions …

•This method of loving and serving in the mood of separation is the highest form of absorption in Krishna and the highest source of spiritual ecstasy - and this fact is very difficult to understand from the material point of view.

•Krishna Himself was constantly absorbed in this mood of love in separation from Radharani while in Dvaraka and Mathura.

Lord Chaitanya’s instructions …

•Gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsa.

I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly in

His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being

present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always

my worshipful Lord unconditionally