Srimad Bhagavatam – day 682
Fun-filled games played in the forests
Narayana Krishna
Maharishi Śuka continued,
“Desirous of leisurely wandering through that forests, Śrikrishna, who was accompanied by brother Balarama, other cowherd boys and the cows, entered it while playing various musical notes on His flute.
In the forests, Balarama, Krishna, Sudhama and other boys adorned themselves with tender shoots, peacock feathers, bunches of forest flowers, many flower garlands and golden ornaments. They decorated their bodies with colourful minerals. They sang and danced joyfully and also wrestled with each other playfully. While Krishna danced, some boys sang and some others played the musical instruments. Some boys played the flute while some others blew the bugles. All along, the boys clapped and encouraged Krishna who was dancing.
It was Lord Srihari who had incarnated amidst the cowherds as Śrikrishna. In the guise of Balarama, it was Adishesha (the 1000-headed Serpent-Lord) who was living amidst the cowherds. The Devatas had assumed the forms of the cowherd boys. Such cowherd boys extolled Balarama and Krishna just as actors praise their fellow-actors. They were calling out, clapping and encouraging one another.
Due to dancing, singing and other activities, in Balarama and Krishna, the curly locks began to hang near their ears. At times, the brothers would hold each other’s hands and rotate swiftly in a circular movement. At times, they jumped across huge pits, or hurled stones or held the rope tightly playing tug-of-war. At times, they wrestled with each other. When other boys danced, Krishna and Balarama themselves would sing and play musical instruments while encouraging them exclaiming, “Wonderful! Well-done!” At times, they threw fistfuls of hog plum fruits or gooseberries or kumbha fruit and played”.
These were the childhood activities of the Lord. We must necessarily listen to this. A deep significance is contained within each of these activities.
“Running-races, blindfolding a boy and asking him to locate the other friends, hopping on one leg trying to catch the friends were some of the games they played. At times, they imitated the actions of the animals, while at other times they imitated the behaviour of the birds. At times, they would leap like frogs. On other occasions, they would, through their different actions, cause others to laugh merrily. They would tie ropes to trees and swing on them. On other occasions, they would deck themselves likes kings and play appropriate games. Thus, they played all those games which are popular among children all through the world”.
Names have changed but the basic games remain the same even to-date. In fact, even those games which we believe to be invented during Kali-yuga were part of the sports of Lord Krishna.
“In this way, they wandered through the various river banks, mountain valleys, forests and ponds of Brindavan. By wandering thus, the Lord ensured His footprints touched every part of Earth in Brindavan”.
It is said that the dust from the feet of any cowherd boy itself is precious. The hoof marks of the cows and the calves that lived during Krishna’s period themselves are sacred.
“Thus, surrounded by all the boys, Krishna and Balarama were tending to the cows and calves that grazed.
One morning, a demon named Pralamba arrived there with the intent of kidnapping Balarama and Krishna. He assumed the guise of a cowherd boy and mingled with the group”.
Without any distinction such as night and day, newer problems constantly landed on Krishna’s head. He had no respite at all.
“Isn’t the Supreme Lord all-knowing? Recognizing the evil intent of this demon and having pondered over the way by which he could be killed, Krishna agreed to accept him, who was in the guise of a cowherd boy, as his team-mate in the game”.
The demon who was in the guise of the cowherd boy sought permission to join Krishna’s team for the game. In general, children refuse to admit newcomers into their group/team. They choose to mingle only with those whom they are habituated. It is very rare for a child to immediately agree to admit a newcomer to his/her group. Here Krishna agreed to admit this new boy.
“All the boys began to play. Krishna then called his friends and said, ‘My dear friends, let us divide ourselves into two camps. From both camps, one boy each will come forward. These two boys must be equally matched in strength and they will play against one another’. The boys made Krishna and Balarama the leaders of the two different camps. The cowherd boys then joined either one camp and divided themselves into two large groups. They played different games in which the person who lost the game had to carry the winner on his shoulder. Thus, carrying and while being carried by others, the boys who were immersed in playing this game along with tending to the calves, reached the huge banyan tree called Bāndiraka.
At one point, Balarama’s team won the game. Then the members of Krishna’s team began to carry Balarama, Sridhama, Vŗshabha and other boys who belonged to Balarama’s team. Lord Śrikrishna carried Sridhama, Bhadrasena carried Vŗshabha while demon Pralambha, who was in the guise of the cowherd boy, carried Balarama, the son of Rohini”.
Krishna Srihari Narayana