Srimad Bhagavatam – day 719
Nanda reveals the secret as told to him by Maharishi Garga
Krishna Narayana
“The people of Brindavan enquired, ‘O king, this boy too has natural love for us all. What could be the reason behind it? O ruler of Gokula, how can a mere seven-year-old boy lift up with one hand a heavy gigantic mountain? We are unable to understand the reason behind this unbelievable feat of his. We are perplexed. We are now suspicious of your son. We are unable to decipher his deeds. How are we to understand the deeds of this boy, who mingles like a child amidst the children of his age’?”
Nanda replied, “O residents of Gokula, please listen to what Maharishi Garga had previously said about this boy. I shall share the secret today with you all. Please listen to these words and dispel all your suspicions concerning him.
Maharishi Garga had said,
‘Varṇās trayaḥ kilāsyāsan gṛhṇato ‘nu-yugaḿ tanūḥ
śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīḿ kṛṣṇatāḿ gataḥ
This boy will incarnate in every Yuga (eon). He is of three colours- white, red and yellow. In this incarnation, He has assumed a black colour. Previously your son was born to Vasudeva and as such the knowledgeable jnanis who are aware of this fact address Him as the glorious Vāsudeva.
Bahūni santi nāmāni rūpāṇi ca sutasya te
Guṇa -karmānurūpāṇi tāny ahaḿ veda no janāḥ
Based on His attributes and the transcendental deeds exhibited by Him, your son will be known by many names. He has many forms. Only I am aware of them all, not the commoners. He will bring delight to all the cowherds and to the cattle and thereby cause your well-being. Due to Him all of you will easily cross over all obstacles.
O ruler of Gokula! O Nanda! Previously during times of anarchy, dacoits began to loot and torment the commoners. At that critical juncture, this boy rescued all the noble virtuous people and empowered them due to which they could subdue the dacoits. Just as demons cannot harm those who side with Lord Vishnu, those who develop love towards this boy cannot be harmed or subdued by their enemies. They will be truly fortunate.
O Nanda, in attributes, renown, splendour and glory this boy is at par with Lord Narayana. As such, there is no necessity to be astonished at the feats He displays’- Maharishi Garga directly uttered these words to me before leaving for his home.
manye nārāyaṇasyāḿśaḿ kṛṣṇam akliṣṭa-kāriṇam – I believe that Krishna, who through His feats dispels all our difficulties, is none other than an incarnation of Lord Narayana’- concluded Nanda.
Hearing from Nanda of the prophecy given by Maharishi Garga, the suspicion of all the people was shattered. They who until then debated about the powers of Krishna, were now satisfied. Their doubts were put to rest”.
You may wonder why Nanda abstained from revealing this secret until now. One reason was that he did not want the matter to reach the ears of Kamsa. Another reason was that it could be revealed only at an opportune moment. Only when the pot of sins gets filled up completely, it bursts. We have seen this happen during the incarnation as Narasimha. Hiranyakaśipu tortured Prahlada enormously, but then the Lord had to wait for the opportune moment. He cannot incarnate as He pleases. He had to ensure that all the conditions as per the boons given to Hiranyakaśipu had to be met.
We too are puzzled when the wicked people go scot-free. We wonder why the Lord refrains from punishing them for their sinful, evil deeds. This is because He is waiting for the opportune moment. Their pot of sins has to fill up completely. The moment the pot is filled, suddenly they get punished. Until that moment, we, the good-natured sattvik people, have to withstand their torture. We should remember that at the right moment the Lord will ensure the sinners get punished aptly for their misdeeds.
“The inhabitants of Brindavan had directly witnessed the limitless potencies and glories of Krishna. hence, now they were freed of their suspicion and astonishment. In great elation, they offered worship to Nanda and to Srikrishna”.
All along they had only applauded Krishna for all His deeds and embraced Him. Now they began to worship Him.
“Untold reverence coupled with fear towards Krishna filled their hearts. The fact that He was the Lord himself dawned upon them. Angered that the annual worship due to him was not performed, Indra had dispatched heavy torrential rains accompanied by tempestuous gale winds, hail stones causing great fear and discomfort to all the men, women and cattle of Brindavan. At that moment, Krishna had protected them from Indra’s fury. Pitying them, He effortlessly uprooted an entire mountain and held it over His head as effortlessly as a child would pluck a mushroom and hold it above his head. In this way, he had provided them with shelter while subduing the arrogance of Indra”.
May such Lord Govinda be compassionate towards us all! Let us all consecrate the little Krishna in our hearts.
With this the twenty-sixth chapter of the tenth canto comes to an end.
Narayana Narayana