Srimad Bhagavatam – day 661
The situation is restored to what it was a year back
Srikrishna
Brahma is extolling the Supreme Lord who has incarnated as Srikrishna on Earth. He continued,
“O Lord Srikrishna! You are the Sun who has caused the lotus called the Vŗṣni-lineage to bloom. You are the Moon who has caused the ocean called Earth, Devatas, learned Vedic scholars and animals to surge. You are the Sun who destroys the darkness called unrighteous conduct (adharma) which falsely appears righteous. You will destroy all demonic forces on Earth”.
This Earth is unreal in existence. The Supreme Lord is the Sun who dispels the misconception (darkness) in us that everything we see is real. He drives away the darkness called unrighteous conduct.
“O Lord, everyone beginning with the Sun-god worships You reverentially. I will remain offering obeisance to You till the end of this creation (kalpa)’. Brahma, the creator of the Universe offered his reverential prayers to the infinite Supreme Lord who had incarnated as Srikrishna.
He then circumambulated thrice around the Lord and then, after offering prostrations to the lotus feet of Lord Srikrishna, returned to his abode in Satya-loka. Even Srikrishna took permission from Brahma. That instant, the calves stood around Srikrishna exactly as they had been standing a year ago, before being stolen. Together with the calves Srikrishna returned to the sandy river bed, where his friends were waiting for him (for the picnic lunch). They were seated exactly as they were a year ago!”
A year ago, as part of their picnic lunch the boys had all settled down on the sandy river bed with Krishna in their midst. Krishna had left them to search for the missing calves. Now, a year later, it was the same scene.
“The boys were deluded due to the illusion cast by Krishna. To the boys, Krishna was their life and essence. Although they had stayed away from Him for a year, to them it was as if just half a second had elapsed”.
It was as if they had travelled to another planet and returned within a fraction of a second. They felt that in the time required to blink the eyes, Krishna had returned in their midst.
“In this world, those who are deluded due to illusion forget the events that take place. Even this entire creation, which is enveloped by illusion, forgets itself. It forgets its own existence. Enveloped by illusion, living entities forget the ‘Self’ which exists within them. Similarly, the cowherd boys forgot everything and upon seeing Krishna they exclaimed, ‘Aha! You have returned swiftly Krishna. We have not even had one morsel and you are already back with the calves.
O Krishna, you did not even eat a morsel of rice till now. Even before you could put that morsel in your mouth, you ran in search of the calves. At least now sit comfortably and eat to your heart’s content’. Hearing their words, Krishna, the inner dweller within everyone laughed heartily”.
He is the greatest conjurer! In what seemed a fraction of a second to the boys, limitless incidents had unfolded. The boys were unaware of the illusion cast by Brahma, or of Brahma’s arrival to that place, or of his prayers to Krishna. They did not realize that in what seemed like a fraction of a second to them a year’s time had elapsed.
“Krishna sat beside them and showed to them the skin of the python-demon Aghasura. Together with them, He returned to Brindavan”.
The skin of Aghasura had remained like a cave in that forest. He showed to them that cave-like structure and took them near it. They discussed the specialities of that cave and then returned to their homes.
“The Supreme Lord Krishna then adorned Himself with peacock feathers and forest flowers”.
With Krishna’s touch, the flowers would remain fresh forever without wilting. That was His greatness. After all, even the flower is Krishna, isn’t it? The one who is wearing the flower is Krishna. How then can it wilt? It has the protection of the Supreme Lord. How can it, which has His protection, wilt? In reality, the flowers worn by the cowherd boys also never wilted. The flowers decorated on the calves too wouldn’t wilt.
“As He had decked Himself with the nine types of minerals, His limbs began to glow radiantly in varied hues. His body was decorated with varied types of leaves and flowers of different colours”.
The varieties of flowers and plants that existed in that Yuga are now extinct. Hence, these incidents appear like illusory stories. We compare the flowers of that era which never wilted to the present -day plastic flowers that do not wilt.
Narayana Krishna