“It is not proper to remain in this place. Let us go to another great forest, as here we have seen numerous calamities which are causes of ruin. The destruction of Putana and the reversal of the cart, and similarly the falling of the trees without the intervention of the wind. Therefore, let us without delay depart from Gokula to Vrindavana, where the earthly calamities will not overpower us.” (Vishnu Purana, 5.6.22-24)

Download as podcast episode (right click and save)

स्थानेनेह न नः कार्यं व्रजामो ऽन्यन् महावनम्
उत्पाता बहवो ह्य् अत्र दृश्यन्ते नाशहेतवः

पूतनाया विनाशश् च शकटस्य विपर्ययः
विना वातादिदोषेण द्रुमयोः पतनं तथा

वृन्दावनम् इतः स्थानात् तस्माद् गच्छाम मा चिरम्
यावद् भौममहोत्पातदोषो नाभिभवेद् व्रजम्

sthāneneha na naḥ kāryaṃ vrajāmo ‘nyan mahāvanam
utpātā bahavo hy atra dṛśyante nāśahetavaḥ

pūtanāyā vināśaś ca śakaṭasya viparyayaḥ
vinā vātādidoṣeṇa drumayoḥ patanaṃ tathā

vṛndāvanam itaḥ sthānāt tasmād gacchāma mā ciram
yāvad bhaumamahotpātadoṣo nābhibhaved vrajam

In our childhood, we often heard the phrase, “What goes up must come down.” There might even be the related riddle posed immediately thereafter. “What goes up but never comes down?” The answer was your age. The amount of time elapsed since exiting the womb. The spiritual science that is the Vedic tradition teaches that this number is only arbitrarily drawn. The same defect is there with space. Both time and space are infinite. The living being has the same property, though it is difficult to notice. The living being has endurance in the manner of the infinite energies emanating from the infinite one Himself.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent there is no endurance, and of the existent there is no cessation. This seers have concluded by studying the nature of both.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 2.16)

Part of the illusion is thinking that you will never fall, once you have risen. In the farm community of Gokula a long time ago, there were notable incidents involving falls that seemingly had no rational explanation. These were dangerous affairs, but the person at the center managed to escape unharmed. He seemed to be unaffected, as well, mirroring His external visual of a small child. After all, what do they know about what goes on around them? In this case, the child knew everything. What He did after each fall reveals that His compassion is as infinite as His existence.

There was the cart. Known as shakata in Sanskrit, this was actually a bad character clandestinely approaching the area to do bad things. As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains, Shakatasura took the form of a cart. Baby Krishna happened to be placed underneath that cart, and when the adults were away the cart happened to collapse. This was actually due to Krishna kicking the cart. No one would believe the explanation if they heard it. They wouldn’t believe their eyes if they had seen it. The truth is the truth, nonetheless.

ऊचुरव्यवसितमतीन् गोपान्गोपीश्च बालका:
रुदतानेन पादेन क्षिप्तमेतन्न संशय:

ūcur avyavasita-matīn
gopān gopīś ca bālakāḥ
rudatānena pādena
kṣiptam etan na saṁśayaḥ

“The assembled cowherd men and ladies began to contemplate how this thing had happened. ‘Is it the work of some demon or evil planet?’ they asked. At that time, the small children present asserted that the cart had been kicked apart by the baby Krishna. As soon as the crying baby had kicked the cart’s wheel, the cart had collapsed. There was no doubt about it.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.7.9)

There was the witch. She was both gigantic and hideous. Except no one suspected her. She, too, entered Gokula with wicked intent. She wanted to kill baby Krishna. She chose the method of poison, administered through the breast. Krishna kindly obliged. He proceeded to suck the very life out of her, which simultaneously revealed her true form. The witch crashed to the ground as she died. Krishna was unharmed. He was seen innocently playing on the dead body, in the aftermath.

There were the two trees. They came crashing to the earth. Vishnu Purana uses the word “dosha” to describe how the adults of the area were looking for a cause. They could not find a dosha related to the wind. The same dosha was missing with the cart and with the witch. The loving adults were too overpowered by the auspicious energy known as yogamaya to notice the reality. This again shows the mercy of Shri Krishna, who is always protecting the devotion of His devotees.

The trees were actually demigods, residents of the heavenly region. They were in the form of trees due to a curse. As they were fond of roaming around naked, even in front of saintly people, they were rewarded with a sentence to stand without clothes for a long time. Krishna knocked them down, using a mortar. Krishna was tied to the mortar at the time. No one would believe that Krishna was responsible. How could someone so young move something so fixed? He was tied to the mortar for a reason. He became known as Damodara from the loving punishment offered by His mother.

The trees might have been proud of their standing prior. Shakatasura had special abilities in allowing him to resemble a cart. Putana could fool others. They all came crashing down. They were essentially knocked down to nothing. What goes up did eventually come down. The exception in this case is that Krishna leaves a parting gift. He gives liberation to those who interact with Him in this way. Though they were humbled in the process of their movements, they were elevated through the interaction with Krishna. In the same way, saintly people since time immemorial have been trying to liberate everyone through giving them the gift of the association of the same Krishna, who can cure the ailment of rebirth in one second.

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते

māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.26)

In Closing:

Proud of my efforts to be,
But in instant falling like tree.

Because someone responsible for standing,
Who control over universe commanding.

Kindness shown with cart,
And manner of witch to depart.

Even the sons of Kuvera to attain,
Liberation from Krishna the same.

Categories: moving to vrindavana

Tags: dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, vrindavana