Srimad Bhagavatam – day 700
Krishna sends the boys to the Brahmins who are engaged in Yagna
Śrikrishna Krishna
We often come across the environmentalists who advocate the protection of trees, growing of vegetable and other small gardens, growing bonsai plants in high rises and so on. A bonsai at home is a real friend. It supplies us with additional oxygen. Learn to talk to plants as you water and prune them. These plants in the balconies are our friends who observe all our actions. Through regular practice of gardening, we get habituated to rearing plants. We will cultivate newer plant-friends.
Maharishi Śuka continued, “Krishna walked amidst the rows of trees whose branches were almost touching the Earth due to the weight of the fruits and flowers growing on them. The trees were joyfully swinging their branches as if they were dancing”.
Trees and plants do not sulk when they are pruned. Instead, they again re-grow.
“Krishna who was accompanied by the cowherds and the cattle, reached Yamuna and let the cattle drink water to quench their thirst”.
Bhagavatam gives a dairy of the activities of the Lord, His attitude towards trees, water bodies and Nature. It explains in minute detail the way He spent every moment of his life. Each action of His has a Vedantic significance. Even seemingly insignificant actions like walking amidst trees or taking cows to drink water have a deep significance.
“The waters of Yamuna were pure, cool and healthy”.
Rivers and water bodies of that era were free from contamination. We let our sewage and factory wastes into the water bodies and thereafter consume the same water. We scrub our bodies in the rivers and thereafter consume the same water. We let chemical waters seep into the rivers and thereafter consume the same water, after filtering it. We are sinning and are absorbing back into us the same sin. We are drinking our sin and are supplying the same to our kinsmen. If only we had let the chemical pollutants flow into some deep pit or valleys, they would have got evaporated or would have seeped into the soil. Why do we need to pollute rivers? We thereafter scream that Ganga and Yamuna are contaminated and demand the Government should clean the rivers.
“Thereafter the cowherd boys drank the sweet waters of Yamuna to their satisfaction”.
Such pure water contains in it all the minerals. It is energetic. Of course, these days we fear to drink water directly from rivers due to contamination. Even if at all we are asked to drink, we hurriedly take a sip or two. That’s all. We do not dare to drink water to our heart’s content.
“The boys then led the cows into a garden adjoining the Yamuna and let them graze freely. By then the boys were hungry. They approached Balarama and Krishna.”
With this the twenty second chapter of the tenth canto comes to an end.
Tenth Canto Chapter Twenty-three
In this chapter, Śrikrishna blesses the wives of the priests engaged in Yagna.
Maharishi Śuka continued, “The cowherd boys said to Balarama and Krishna, ‘O Balarama! Your might is unsurpassed. O Śrikrishna! You are the destroyer of the wicked. Presently we are tormented by severe hunger pangs. We request you both to subdue this fire that is tormenting us’. In this way, the boys explained their plight to Krishna, the son of Devaki and sought his help”.
The boys had finished eating the food brought from homes. Hence they did not have with them any more food.
“Exactly at that moment, Śrikrishna, who was pleased with the wives of the priests engaged in Yagna, desired to bless them. He said to the boys, “Dear friends, at a short distance from this place a Yagna is taking place. Proceed to that sacrificial hall. With a desire of obtaining heavens, many Vedic Brahmin scholars are engaged in performance of a sacred Yagna known as Brihaspati-savana.
O cowherd boys, after reaching there, please mention the names of my venerable brother Balarama and myself and ask for some cooked rice. Your hunger will be abated’.
The cowherd boys immediately walked towards the sacrificial hall. Having arrived there, they prostrated before the Vedic Brahmin scholars and then, in accordance to the advice given by Krishna, they said, “O supreme among Brahmins! Please listen. We are the cowherd boys who at all times abide by the commands of Krishna. To us there is nothing more superior than abiding by His order. We have arrived here at the behest of Krishna and Balarama. May you be bestowed with auspiciousness!
O learned Brahmins! At a short distance from here, Balarama and the Supreme Lord Śrikrishna are busy tending to cattle’.”
The Brahmins were performing a grand Yagna in order to reach heaven and see God, when in reality God was right beside them in Brindavan.
Krishna Srihari