Srimad Bhagavatam – day 672
The anguish of the cowherds and Gopikas
Maharishi Śuka continued,
“The snake Kāliya enclosed Srikrishna tightly within its coil. Krishna’s cowherd friends, who were extremely dear to Him and who were watching this, could no longer see any bodily movement in Him”.
Krishna who had been swimming happily in the waters until then, suddenly stopped moving the moment he was caught in the snake’s grip.
“With this, the friends who were boldly watching him until now were petrified. They had surrendered all their wealth, comforts, intelligence, relatives, wives and their bodies to Srikrishna”.
They had self-surrendered to the Lord. There was nothing which they sought. To them, Krishna was their breath!
“Shocked beyond limits, they turned inconsolable. With their intelligence having become clouded due to grief and fear, they fell unconscious to the ground. Cows, bulls and calves too began to groan and weep piteously. Grieving, they too swooned and fell to the ground. Some cows, bulls and calves fixed their gaze solely upon Srikrishna as they wept for him. Some stood still in great trepidation.
Exactly at that moment, tremors were felt in the homes of the cowherds. Burning meteors fell from outer space. The left eye of the cowherd men of Brindavan began to twitch. Thus, in three forms ill-omens were visible to them. These very fearful ill-omens indicated that imminent danger was about to land on them. The residents of Brindavan were now extremely agitated and apprehensive.
Nanda and other cowherd men, who noticed that Krishna had taken the cows for pasture unaccompanied by Balarama, began to fret for His safety as these ill-omens indicated impending death and destruction. They became restless due to fear. Their faces turned lustreless as happiness had drained completely from them.
To the residents of Brindavan, Krishna was their life and hence their minds were fixed solely upon Him. Nevertheless, they were clueless of His influence and potencies.
The residents of Brindavan were gentle- natured like the cows. In great haste all the men, women, children and aged, whose minds were soaked completely in grief, ran towards the forests seeking to catch a glimpse of Srikrishna.
Balarama, the incarnation of the Lord, saw the residents who were brooding for Srikrishna’s safety and laughed to himself. He was very well aware of the potency and glory of his younger brother. He remained mum as he accompanied them who were running towards the forest.
In the forests, the residents of Brindavana began to desperately search for Srikrishna, who was most-dear to their hearts. They then noticed His footprints and following them, they walked on the path that led to the banks of Yamuna”.
Krishna’s feet had lotus and other auspicious symbols. They hence began to follow these footprints. They were eagerly searching for Krishna and had forgotten all about the other boys and their cattle. These fortunate persons followed only Krishna’s footprints. They did not attempt to follow the footprints of the cattle or the other cowherd boys. They were lucky. Only Krishna’s footprints were visible to them.
The sacred lands of Brindavan and Gokula were truly fortunate. The Lord, who had the auspicious symbols on His feet, walked through these lands. For this reason, whenever you visit these sacred lands, sprinkle a few grains of mud from there on your head. These auspicious symbols indicated that He was the Supreme Lord.
“Occasionally on their path they also noticed the footprints of other cowherd boys who had accompanied Krishna, but primarily they followed only Krishna’s footprints. The symbols of lotus, goad, seed, a thunderbolt and a banner were visible in Krishna’s footprints.
From a great distance they spotted Srikrishna, who was motionless, having been trapped in the coils of the serpent. They spotted the cowherd boys who were lying unconscious by the banks of the pond and the cattle that were groaning and weeping piteously.
Tormented by uncontrollable agony and screaming ‘Krishna, Krishna’ they rushed forward. The minds of the Gopikas always overflowed with love towards Srikrishna. Their minds were eternally focussed on His charming smiles, loving gazes and sweet words spoken by Him. As such, when Krishna, who was the dearest to their hearts, was caught in the trap of a snake, they experienced unbearable anguish”.
Krishna, their life, was now in the grip of a poisonous snake. There was nothing they could do to save Him from that terrible serpent. They felt helpless and agitated.
“They felt that the three worlds were empty in the absence of Krishna”.
Krishna was their world. Krishna was their breath. He was the purpose of their life. Krishna was their Brindavan. He was their Gokula. Krishna was everything to them. Their mind, and their intellect was only Krishna. There was nothing without Krishna. There was no existence without Him. In His absence, everything was forlorn and dark. They felt helpless without Him. Their minds failed to function effectively.
“Seeing Krishna in the grip of the serpent, Yashoda rushed towards the pond seeking to enter into it. All the Gopikas collectively held her back”.
Krishna Krishna Narayana Govinda