राम

Viṣṇu-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 52

36 versesThe Wolves of Vraja

Synopsis

The two children pass childhood and reach their seventh year in that same Vraja. They wear blue and yellow robes, with pāle and white unguents, carry calves, wear the side-lock of childhood. A plague of wolves strikes the cattle and the village; they terrorize men and beasts alike. The cowherds are praised in the world as those who move in circles, not living in fixed houses with walls and gates. The chapter closes with the village paralyzed in one place, all motion stopped, for fear of the tiger-strong wolves.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

एवं तौ बाल्यम् उत्तीर्णौ कृष्णसंकर्षल्णावुभौ तस्मिन्न् एव व्रजस्थाने सप्तवर्षौ बभूवतुः

evaṃ tau bālyam uttīrṇau kṛṣṇasaṃkarṣalṇāvubhau tasminn eva vrajasthāne saptavarṣau babhūvatuḥ

Thus the two, Kṛṣṇa and Saṃkarṣaṇa, crossed from infancy and, in that same Vraja-place, became seven-year-olds.

Verse 2

नीलपीताम्बरधरौ पीतश्वेतानुलेपनौ बभूवतुर् वत्सपालौ काकपक्षधराव् उभौ

nīlapītāmbaradharau pītaśvetānulepanau babhūvatur vatsapālau kākapakṣadharāv ubhau

Verse 3

पर्णवाद्यं श्रुतिसुखं वादयन्तौ वराननौ गोपवीथ्यां सुमधुरं गायन्तौ कामरूपिणौ शुशुभाते वनगतौ त्रिशीर्षाव् इव पन्नगौ

parṇavādyaṃ śrutisukhaṃ vādayantau varānanau gopavīthyāṃ sumadhuraṃ gāyantau kāmarūpiṇau śuśubhāte vanagatau triśīrṣāv iva pannagau

Verse 4

मयूराङ्गदबाहू तौ बल्लवापीडधारिणौ वनमालाकृतोरस्कौ द्रुमपोताव् इवोद्गतौ

mayūrāṅgadabāhū tau ballavāpīḍadhāriṇau vanamālākṛtoraskau drumapotāv ivodgatau

Verse 5

अरविन्दकृतापीडौ रज्जुयज्ञोपवीतिनौ सशिक्यतुम्बकरकौ गोपवेणौप्रवादकौ

aravindakṛtāpīḍau rajjuyajñopavītinau saśikyatumbakarakau gopaveṇaupravādakau

Verse 6

पर्णवाद्यसमायुक्तौ दध्योदनकरौ कृती किंकिणीजालसंबद्धकटिदेशविभूषितौ कक्षकूटसमालम्बिशिक्यस्थधृतपायसौ कालयन्तौ च दण्डेन वत्सान् वत्सौ दिशं प्रति गुल्मेषु मधुमाध्वीकं मार्गमाणावितस् ततः खादन्तौ वन्यमूलानि पिबन्तौ मधुमाक्षिकम् ददतौ मधुमूलानि दारकेभ्यः समन्ततः खादन्तौ खादयन्तौ च मूलानि च फलानि च तिन्दुकं भक्षयन्तु च गोपैर् आपत्य भूतले कीलैर् आपत्य वृक्षेभ्यः खादयन्तु फलानि च क्वचिद् धसन्ताव् अन्योन्यं क्रीडमानौ क्वचित् क्वचित् दध्योदनं प्रभुञ्जानौ क्वचित् कक्षविलम्बितम् क्वचिच् च पानसंभ्रान्तौ क्वचित् पायसमोदितौ क्वचिद् वृक्षेषु विश्रान्तौ स्थलीष्व् इव यथासुखम् पर्णशय्यासु संसुप्तौ क्वचिन् निद्रान्तरैषिणौ

parṇavādyasamāyuktau dadhyodanakarau kṛtī kiṃkiṇījālasaṃbaddhakaṭideśavibhūṣitau kakṣakūṭasamālambiśikyasthadhṛtapāyasau kālayantau ca daṇḍena vatsān vatsau diśaṃ prati gulmeṣu madhumādhvīkaṃ mārgamāṇāvitas tataḥ khādantau vanyamūlāni pibantau madhumākṣikam dadatau madhumūlāni dārakebhyaḥ samantataḥ khādantau khādayantau ca mūlāni ca phalāni ca tindukaṃ bhakṣayantu ca gopair āpatya bhūtale kīlair āpatya vṛkṣebhyaḥ khādayantu phalāni ca kvacid dhasantāv anyonyaṃ krīḍamānau kvacit kvacit dadhyodanaṃ prabhuñjānau kvacit kakṣavilambitam kvacic ca pānasaṃbhrāntau kvacit pāyasamoditau kvacid vṛkṣeṣu viśrāntau sthalīṣv iva yathāsukham parṇaśayyāsu saṃsuptau kvacin nidrāntaraiṣiṇau

Verse 7

वत्सान् अनु यथाकामं चरन्तौ वत्सपालकौ वत्सपुच्छान् समाधूय विक्षिप्तन्तौ पृथक् पृथक् एवं वत्सान् पालयन्तौ शोभयन्तौ महावनम् एवं तु वत्सपालौ तौ शोभयाम् आसतुर् वनम् चञ्चूर्यन्तौ रमन्तौ स्म किशोराव् इव चञ्चलौ

vatsān anu yathākāmaṃ carantau vatsapālakau vatsapucchān samādhūya vikṣiptantau pṛthak pṛthak evaṃ vatsān pālayantau śobhayantau mahāvanam evaṃ tu vatsapālau tau śobhayām āsatur vanam cañcūryantau ramantau sma kiśorāv iva cañcalau

Verse 8

गायन्तु च क्वचिद् गेयान् सुस्वरं मधुरस्वरम् उत्कर्णं मृगसंघं च कुर्वन्तौ गीतनिस्वनैः गजान् परवशान् गेयैः कुर्वन्तौ च गहावने लोकम् इत्थं चरन्तौ च रमयन्तौ च चेष्टितैः अथ दामोदरः श्रीमान् संकर्षणम् उवाच ह आर्य नास्मिन् वने शक्यं गोपालैः सह क्रीडितुम्

gāyantu ca kvacid geyān susvaraṃ madhurasvaram utkarṇaṃ mṛgasaṃghaṃ ca kurvantau gītanisvanaiḥ gajān paravaśān geyaiḥ kurvantau ca gahāvane lokam itthaṃ carantau ca ramayantau ca ceṣṭitaiḥ atha dāmodaraḥ śrīmān saṃkarṣaṇam uvāca ha ārya nāsmin vane śakyaṃ gopālaiḥ saha krīḍitum

Verse 9

अवगीतम् इदं सर्वम् आवाभ्यां भुक्तभोजनम् प्रक्षीणतृणकाष्ठं च गोपैर् मथितपादपम्

avagītam idaṃ sarvam āvābhyāṃ bhuktabhojanam prakṣīṇatṛṇakāṣṭhaṃ ca gopair mathitapādapam

Verse 10

गहनानीह यान्य् आसन् काननानि वनानि च तान्य् आकाशनिकाशानि दृश्यन्ते ऽद्य यथासुखम्

gahanānīha yāny āsan kānanāni vanāni ca tāny ākāśanikāśāni dṛśyante 'dya yathāsukham

Verse 11

गोवातेष्व् अपि ये वृक्षाः परिवृत्तार्गलेषु च सर्वे गोष्ठाग्निषु गताः क्षयम् अक्षयवर्चसः

govāteṣv api ye vṛkṣāḥ parivṛttārgaleṣu ca sarve goṣṭhāgniṣu gatāḥ kṣayam akṣayavarcasaḥ

Verse 12

संनिकृष्टानि यान्य् आसन् काष्ठानि च तृणानि च तानि दूरावकृष्टानि मार्गितव्यानि भूमिषु

saṃnikṛṣṭāni yāny āsan kāṣṭhāni ca tṛṇāni ca tāni dūrāvakṛṣṭāni mārgitavyāni bhūmiṣu

Verse 13

अरण्यम् इदम् अल्पोदम् अल्पकक्षं निराश्रयम् अन्वेषितव्यविश्रामं दारुणं विरलद्रुमम् अकर्मण्येषु वृक्षेषु स्थितविप्रस्थितद्विजम्

araṇyam idam alpodam alpakakṣaṃ nirāśrayam anveṣitavyaviśrāmaṃ dāruṇaṃ viraladrumam akarmaṇyeṣu vṛkṣeṣu sthitaviprasthitadvijam

Verse 14

संवासस्यास्य महतो जनेनोत्सादितद्रुमम् निरानन्दं निरास्वादं निष्प्रयोजनम् आरुतम् निर्विहंगम् इदं शून्यं निर्व्यञ्जनम् इवाशनम्

saṃvāsasyāsya mahato janenotsāditadrumam nirānandaṃ nirāsvādaṃ niṣprayojanam ārutam nirvihaṃgam idaṃ śūnyaṃ nirvyañjanam ivāśanam

Verse 15

विक्रीयमाणैः कष्ठैश् च शाकैश् च वनसंभवैः उत्सन्नसंचयतृणो घोषो ऽयं नगरायते

vikrīyamāṇaiḥ kaṣṭhaiś ca śākaiś ca vanasaṃbhavaiḥ utsannasaṃcayatṛṇo ghoṣo 'yaṃ nagarāyate

Verse 16

शैलानां भूषणं घोषो घोषाणां भूषणं वनम् वनानां भूषणं गावस् ताश् चास्माकं परा गतिः तस्माद् अन्यद् वनं यामः प्रत्यग्रवयसेन्धनम्

śailānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ ghoṣo ghoṣāṇāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ vanam vanānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ gāvas tāś cāsmākaṃ parā gatiḥ tasmād anyad vanaṃ yāmaḥ pratyagravayasendhanam

Verse 17

इच्छन्त्य् अनुपभुक्तानि भोक्तुं गावस् तृणानि च तस्माद् वनं नवतृणं गच्छन्तु धनिनो व्रजाः

icchanty anupabhuktāni bhoktuṃ gāvas tṛṇāni ca tasmād vanaṃ navatṛṇaṃ gacchantu dhanino vrajāḥ

Verse 18

न द्वारबन्धावरणा न गृहक्षेत्रिणस् तथा प्रशस्ता वै व्रजा लोके यथा वै चक्रचारिणः

na dvārabandhāvaraṇā na gṛhakṣetriṇas tathā praśastā vai vrajā loke yathā vai cakracāriṇaḥ

Neither with walls and gates nor with the marks of a householder, the Vraja-settlements in the world are famous — those who move in circles.

Verse 19

शकृन्मूत्रेषु तेष्व् एव जातं क्षाररसायनम् न तृणं भुञ्जते गावो नापि तत्पयसो हितम्

śakṛnmūtreṣu teṣv eva jātaṃ kṣārarasāyanam na tṛṇaṃ bhuñjate gāvo nāpi tatpayaso hitam

Verse 20

स्थलीप्रायासु रम्यासु नवासु वनराजिषु चरामः सहिता गोभिः क्षिप्रं संवाह्यतां व्रजः

sthalīprāyāsu ramyāsu navāsu vanarājiṣu carāmaḥ sahitā gobhiḥ kṣipraṃ saṃvāhyatāṃ vrajaḥ

Verse 21

श्रूयते हि वनं रम्यं पर्याप्ततृणसंस्तरम् नाम्ना वृन्दावनं नाम स्वादुवृक्षफलोदकम्

śrūyate hi vanaṃ ramyaṃ paryāptatṛṇasaṃstaram nāmnā vṛndāvanaṃ nāma svāduvṛkṣaphalodakam

Verse 22

अझिल्लिकण्टकवनं सर्वैर् वनगुणैर् युतम् कदम्बपादपप्रायं यमुनातीरसंश्रितम्

ajhillikaṇṭakavanaṃ sarvair vanaguṇair yutam kadambapādapaprāyaṃ yamunātīrasaṃśritam

Verse 23

स्निग्धशीतानिलवनं सर्वर्तुनिलयं शुभम् गोपीनां सुखसंचारं चारुचित्रवनान्तरम्

snigdhaśītānilavanaṃ sarvartunilayaṃ śubham gopīnāṃ sukhasaṃcāraṃ cārucitravanāntaram

Verse 24

तस्य गोवर्धनो नाम नातिदूरे गिरिर् महान् भ्राजते दीर्घशिखरो नन्दनस्येव मन्दरः

tasya govardhano nāma nātidūre girir mahān bhrājate dīrghaśikharo nandanasyeva mandaraḥ

Verse 25

मध्ये चास्य महाशाखो न्यग्रोधो योजनोच्छ्रितः भाण्डीरो नाम शुशुभे नीलमेघ इवाम्बरे

madhye cāsya mahāśākho nyagrodho yojanocchritaḥ bhāṇḍīro nāma śuśubhe nīlamegha ivāmbare

Verse 26

मध्येन चास्य कालिन्दी सीमन्तमिव कुर्वती प्रयाता नन्दनस्येव नलिनी सरितां वरा

madhyena cāsya kālindī sīmantamiva kurvatī prayātā nandanasyeva nalinī saritāṃ varā

Verse 27

तत्र गोवर्धनं चैव भाण्डीरं च वनस्पतिम् कालिन्दीं च नदीं रम्यां द्रक्ष्यावश् चरतः सुखम्

tatra govardhanaṃ caiva bhāṇḍīraṃ ca vanaspatim kālindīṃ ca nadīṃ ramyāṃ drakṣyāvaś carataḥ sukham

Verse 28

सुखं चरन्तं द्रक्ष्यावः कालिन्दीं च नदीं शुभाम् तत्रायं वसतां घोषस् त्यज्यतां निर्गुणं वनम् संवाहयाम भद्रं ते किंचिद् उत्पाद्य कारणम्

sukhaṃ carantaṃ drakṣyāvaḥ kālindīṃ ca nadīṃ śubhām tatrāyaṃ vasatāṃ ghoṣas tyajyatāṃ nirguṇaṃ vanam saṃvāhayāma bhadraṃ te kiṃcid utpādya kāraṇam

Verse 29

एवं कथयतस् तस्य वासुदेवस्य धीमतः प्रादुर्बभूवुः शतशो रक्तमांसवसाशनाः

evaṃ kathayatas tasya vāsudevasya dhīmataḥ prādurbabhūvuḥ śataśo raktamāṃsavasāśanāḥ

Verse 30

घोराश् चिन्तयतस् तस्य स्वतनूरुहजास् तदा विनिष्पेतुर् भयकराः सर्वतः शतशो वृकाः

ghorāś cintayatas tasya svatanūruhajās tadā viniṣpetur bhayakarāḥ sarvataḥ śataśo vṛkāḥ

Verse 31

निष्पतन्ति स्म बहवो व्रजस्योत्सादनाय वै वृकान् निष्पतितान् दृष्ट्वा गोषु वत्सेष्व् अथो नृषु गोपीषु च यथाकामं व्रजे त्रासो ऽभवन् महान्

niṣpatanti sma bahavo vrajasyotsādanāya vai vṛkān niṣpatitān dṛṣṭvā goṣu vatseṣv atho nṛṣu gopīṣu ca yathākāmaṃ vraje trāso 'bhavan mahān

Verse 32

ते वृकाः पन्चबद्धाश् च दशबद्धास् तथापरे त्रिंशद्विंशतिबद्धाश् च शतबद्धास् तथापरे

te vṛkāḥ pancabaddhāś ca daśabaddhās tathāpare triṃśadviṃśatibaddhāś ca śatabaddhās tathāpare

Verse 33

पञ्चाशत्षष्टिबद्धाश् च चत्वारिंशत् तथैव च निश्चेरुस् तस्य गात्राद् धि श्रीवत्सकृतलक्षणाः कृष्णस्य कृष्णवदना गोपानां भयवर्धनाः

pañcāśatṣaṣṭibaddhāś ca catvāriṃśat tathaiva ca niścerus tasya gātrād dhi śrīvatsakṛtalakṣaṇāḥ kṛṣṇasya kṛṣṇavadanā gopānāṃ bhayavardhanāḥ

Verse 34

भक्षयद्भिश् च तैर् वत्सांस् त्रासयद्भिश् च गोव्रजान् निशि बालान् हरद्भिश् च वृकैर् उत्साद्यते व्रजः

bhakṣayadbhiś ca tair vatsāṃs trāsayadbhiś ca govrajān niśi bālān haradbhiś ca vṛkair utsādyate vrajaḥ

Verse 35

न वनं शक्यते गन्तुं न गाश् च परिरक्षितुम् न वनात् किंचिद् आहर्तुं न च वा तरितुं नदीम्

na vanaṃ śakyate gantuṃ na gāś ca parirakṣitum na vanāt kiṃcid āhartuṃ na ca vā tarituṃ nadīm

Verse 36

त्रस्ता ह्य् उद्विग्नमनसो गतास् तस्मिन् वने ऽवसन् एवं वृकैर् उदीर्णैस् तु व्याघ्रतिल्यपराक्रमैः व्रजो निष्पन्दचेष्टः स एकस्थानचरः कृतः

trastā hy udvignamanaso gatās tasmin vane 'vasan evaṃ vṛkair udīrṇais tu vyāghratilyaparākramaiḥ vrajo niṣpandaceṣṭaḥ sa ekasthānacaraḥ kṛtaḥ

Frightened, their minds disturbed, they settled there in the forest. Thus, with the wolves risen up, of tiger-like prowess, Vraja was made motionless, dwelling in one place alone.

Verse commentary

The Move to Vṛndāvana and the Wolves from His Hair

वृन्दावनगमनं वृकसर्गश् च

Verses 2, 4, 16, 21, 24, 26, 33: the seven-year-old brothers in cowherd-attire, the peacock-adorned vana-mālā-bearing iconography, the teaching that cows are the Vṛṣṇis' parā gati, the naming of Vṛndāvana as forest-destination, Govardhana standing nearby, Kālindī (Yamunā) flowing through it, and the astonishing creation of Śrīvatsa-marked wolves from Kṛṣṇa's own body-hairs to drive the cowherd-village from the exhausted old pasture. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 52 is the chapter in which Vṛndāvana enters the Harivaṃśa. The two brothers, now seven, note that the old Vraja-forest has been exhausted: grass is gone, trees have been cut for firewood, the water is low. Kṛṣṇa proposes moving to a new forest called *Vṛndāvana*, describing it in detail — *paryāpta-tṛṇa*, full of grass; *kadamba-prāya*, thick with kadamba trees; *yamunā-tīra-saṃśrita*, hugging the Yamunā's bank; with Govardhana nearby and the Bhāṇḍīra nyagrodha at its center. When he sees the cowherds hesitating, he produces, from his own body-hairs, hundreds of wolves — all marked with Śrīvatsa and bearing Kṛṣṇa's face — who terrify the village into agreeing to move. The chapter is the Harivaṃśa's myth of how Vṛndāvana came to be the bhakti-tradition's sacred geography.

HV 52.2

नीलपीताम्बरधरौ पीतश्वेतानुलेपनौ । बभूवतुर् वत्सपालौ काकपक्षधराव् उभौ ॥

nīla-pītāmbara-dharau pīta-śvetānulepanau | babhūvatur vatsa-pālau kāka-pakṣa-dharāv ubhau

Both wearing dark-and-yellow garments, anointed with yellow and white, they became calf-herders — both bearing the crow-wing side-locks.

The Living Words

*Nīla-pītāmbara-dharau*, 'wearing dark and yellow garments' — the pair's distinctive coloring. *Pīta-śvetānulepanau*, 'anointed with yellow and white'. *Vatsa-pālau*, 'calf-herders'. *Kāka-pakṣa-dharau*, 'bearing the crow-wing side-locks'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the adolescent-iconography answer to HV 45.42's infant-iconography. *Kāka-pakṣa* — 'crow-wing' — names the specific child-hairstyle, two locks of unshaven hair hanging at the temples. The Varkari tradition's tenderness toward this particular detail (a hairstyle) in HV 52.2: the Lord's appearance is given at every age, not just at birth. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh imagines Gopāla precisely this way — seven-year-old with two dark side-locks, yellow cloth, anointed face — the *bāla-kṛṣṇa* of every Varkari household shrine.

HV 52.4

मयूराङ्गदबाहू तौ बल्लवापीडधारिणौ । वनमालाकृतोरस्कौ द्रुमपोताव् इवोद्गतौ ॥

mayūrāṅgada-bāhū tau ballavāpīḍa-dhāriṇau | vana-mālā-kṛtoraskau druma-potāv ivodgatau

Both with peacock-feather armlets, bearing cowherd-crowns, with forest-garland forming the chest — like raised tree-trunks.

The Living Words

*Mayūrāṅgada-bāhū*, 'with peacock-feather armlets on arms'. *Ballavāpīḍa-dhāriṇau*, 'bearing cowherd-crowns'. *Vana-mālā-kṛta-uraskau*, 'with forest-garland making the chest'. *Druma-potāv iva udgatau*, 'like raised tree-trunks'.

The Heart of It

The verse names the iconography in its fuller form. *Vana-mālā-kṛta-uraskau* — 'forest-garland for a chest' — the garland is not worn upon the chest; the chest *is* the garland. The Varkari tradition's meditation on this: the bhakta who has truly received the Name discovers his chest has become a vana-mālā — the breath and the Name have braided themselves into a wreath. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh imagines Pāṇḍuraṅga as *vana-mālā-kṛta-uraska*, and the bhakta too, at the height of kīrtan, as *vana-mālā-kṛta-uraska*, the breath-garland made flesh.

HV 52.16

शैलानां भूषणं घोषो घोषाणां भूषणं वनम् । वनानां भूषणं गावस् ताश् चास्माकं परा गतिः ॥

śailānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ ghoṣo ghoṣāṇāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ vanam | vanānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ gāvas tāś cāsmākaṃ parā gatiḥ

'The adornment of mountains is the cowherd-village; the adornment of cowherd-villages is the forest. The adornment of forests is the cows — and they are our supreme refuge.'

The Living Words

*Śailānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ ghoṣaḥ*, 'the adornment of mountains is the cowherd-settlement'. *Ghoṣāṇāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ vanam*, 'adornment of the settlements is the forest'. *Vanānāṃ bhūṣaṇaṃ gāvaḥ*, 'adornment of forests is the cows'. *Tāś cāsmākaṃ parā gatiḥ*, 'and they are our supreme refuge'.

The Heart of It

The verse is one of the Harivaṃśa's most beautiful ecological sutras. *Śaila → ghoṣa → vana → gāvaḥ → parā gatiḥ* — each thing's value lies in what it adorns, and at the end the cows are named as *parā gati*, 'supreme refuge'. The Varkari tradition's deep reading: everything in the world is valuable by what it serves. The mountain serves the village, the village serves the forest, the forest serves the cows, and the cows serve *us* — that is, they are the final destination. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's reverence for *go-rakṣā* has HV 52.16 as its Sanskrit warrant: cows are *parā gati*, not decoration.

HV 52.21

श्रूयते हि वनं रम्यं पर्याप्ततृणसंस्तरम् । नाम्ना वृन्दावनं नाम स्वादुवृक्षफलोदकम् ॥

śrūyate hi vanaṃ ramyaṃ paryāpta-tṛṇa-saṃstaram | nāmnā vṛndāvanaṃ nāma svādu-vṛkṣa-phala-udakam

'A lovely forest is heard of, with grass-spread enough — named by the name Vṛndāvana, with sweet trees, fruits, and waters.'

The Living Words

*Śrūyate hi vanaṃ ramyam*, 'a lovely forest is heard of'. *Paryāpta-tṛṇa-saṃstaram*, 'with grass-spread enough'. *Nāmnā vṛndāvanaṃ nāma*, 'by the name Vṛndāvana'. *Svādu-vṛkṣa-phala-udakam*, 'with sweet trees, fruits, and waters'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Harivaṃśa's naming of Vṛndāvana — the forest whose name has traveled from the Bhāṇḍīra region of Uttar Pradesh into every bhakta's heart. *Śrūyate hi* — 'it is heard of' — is the verse's quietest claim: even Kṛṣṇa, in the Harivaṃśa, comes to Vṛndāvana as a rumor first, before he makes it the place of his play. The Varkari tradition's delight in this: Vṛndāvana is a name that precedes its fame. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh sings *Vṛndāvana* as the name of the bhakta's own inward place — the heart-forest with grass-enough for the cows of mind to graze.

HV 52.24

तस्य गोवर्धनो नाम नातिदूरे गिरिर् महान् । भ्राजते दीर्घशिखरो नन्दनस्येव मन्दरः ॥

tasya govardhano nāma nātidūre girir mahān | bhrājate dīrgha-śikharo nandanasyeva mandaraḥ

'Nearby it, a great mountain — Govardhana by name — shines with a long peak, like Mandara in the Nandana-garden.'

The Living Words

*Govardhanaḥ*, 'cow-increasing' — the mountain's name. *Nātidūre girir mahān*, 'a great mountain not far off'. *Dīrgha-śikharaḥ*, 'long-peaked'. *Nandanasyeva mandaraḥ*, 'like Mandara in Nandana'.

The Heart of It

The verse names Govardhana — the mountain Kṛṣṇa will hold for seven days on his little finger in HV 60. The Varkari tradition's close attention to HV 52.24: Kṛṣṇa names Govardhana before he holds it. The mountain has a name; the name calls the child; the child will come to hold the mountain. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's teaching that every great bhakti-moment is first a *name* that comes to the ear, then a *place* that comes to the eye, is in this verse. *Govardhana* — 'cow-increaser' — was already the mountain's name before Kṛṣṇa was born.

HV 52.26

मध्येन चास्य कालिन्दी सीमन्तम् इव कुर्वती । प्रयाता नन्दनस्येव नलिनी सरितां वरा ॥

madhyena cāsya kālindī sīmantam iva kurvatī | prayātā nandanasyeva nalinī saritāṃ varā

'Through its middle, the Kālindī, making as it were a parting — has gone forward, like the Nandana-lotus-stream, the best of rivers.'

The Living Words

*Kālindī*, 'daughter of Kalinda (mountain)' = the Yamunā. *Sīmantam iva kurvatī*, 'making as if a hair-parting'. *Nandanasyeva nalinī*, 'like the lotus-stream of Nandana'. *Saritāṃ varā*, 'best of rivers'.

The Heart of It

The verse captures the Yamunā with one of the Harivaṃśa's tenderest similes. *Sīmantam iva kurvatī* — 'making, as it were, a hair-parting' — the river's line through the forest is compared to a woman's *sīmanta*, the middle-parting of the hair. The Varkari tradition's feminine imagination of the Yamunā — the river-as-sister-of-Yama, dark of water, central to every Kṛṣṇa-līlā — has HV 52.26 as its Sanskrit line. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's reverence for Kṛṣṇa's rivers (Yamunā, Candrabhāgā) always treats them as *sīmanta* — central partings in the tradition's own dark hair.

HV 52.33

पञ्चाशत्षष्टिबद्धाश् च चत्वारिंशत् तथैव च । निश्चेरुस् तस्य गात्राद् धि श्रीवत्सकृतलक्षणाः । कृष्णस्य कृष्णवदना गोपानां भयवर्धनाः ॥

pañcāśat-ṣaṣṭi-baddhāś ca catvāriṃśat tathaiva ca | niśceruḥ tasya gātrād dhi śrīvatsa-kṛta-lakṣaṇāḥ | kṛṣṇasya kṛṣṇa-vadanā gopānāṃ bhaya-vardhanāḥ

Bound in groups of fifty, sixty, and forty — they came out from his body, marked with Śrīvatsa, dark-faced like Kṛṣṇa, increasing the gopas' fear.

The Living Words

*Pañcāśat-ṣaṣṭi-baddhāḥ*, 'bound in groups of fifty and sixty'. *Niśceruḥ tasya gātrāt*, 'came out of his body'. *Śrīvatsa-kṛta-lakṣaṇāḥ*, 'marked with Śrīvatsa'. *Kṛṣṇa-vadanā*, 'with faces of Kṛṣṇa'. *Gopānāṃ bhaya-vardhanāḥ*, 'increasing the gopas' fear'.

The Heart of It

The verse is one of the Harivaṃśa's strangest: wolves emerge from Kṛṣṇa's body-hair, each bearing the Śrīvatsa mark and wearing Kṛṣṇa's own face. *Śrīvatsa-kṛta-lakṣaṇāḥ kṛṣṇa-vadanā* — the wolves are the Lord's own signature. The Varkari tradition's reading: even the fear that drives the bhakta to move — the anxiety that displaces him from an exhausted place to a new one — is itself a form of the Lord, marked with his own Śrīvatsa. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh knows: the wolves that bay at the stale life are Kṛṣṇa's own work, bearing his own face, coming from his own body-hair. The fear that moves us has his mark on it.

Thread

The seven verses trace the chapter's path: the seven-year-olds' cowherd-attire and crow-wing hair (52.2), the peacock-armletted vana-mālā-chested form (52.4), the ecological sūtra naming cows as parā gati (52.16), Vṛndāvana heard of by name (52.21), Govardhana standing nearby (52.24), the Yamunā as a river making a sīmanta-parting through the forest (52.26), and the wolves from Kṛṣṇa's body-hair bearing the Śrīvatsa and his own face (52.33). The Harivaṃśa's myth of how Vṛndāvana, Govardhana, and the Yamunā came to be the sacred geography of bhakti.

Echo in the saints

HV 52 is the Harivaṃśa's naming of the three great places — *Vṛndāvana, Govardhana, Kālindī* — that every subsequent Kṛṣṇa-tradition would make the geography of devotion. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh sings into all three, and the Warkari mind travels there every time the Name is taken. HV 52.16's ecological teaching — *gāvas tāś cāsmākaṃ parā gatiḥ*, 'cows are our supreme refuge' — is recited by Warkari elders when explaining to children why the tradition's *go-rakṣā* is not sentiment but theology. And the strangeness of HV 52.33 — wolves marked with Śrīvatsa, faces of Kṛṣṇa, coming out of the Lord's own body — is one of the scripture's most challenging images, read by the saints as a teaching that what frightens the bhakta into movement is also, unmistakably, the Lord's own work.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 9.18

All beings dwell in me; I am their source and refuge.

गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत् । प्रभवः प्रलयः स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम् ॥

gatir bhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī nivāsaḥ śaraṇaṃ suhṛt | prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṃ nidhānaṃ bījam avyayam

I am the goal, the sustainer, the lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend; the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasury, the imperishable seed.

HV 52.16's tāś cāsmākaṃ parā gatiḥ ('cows are our supreme refuge') is the Harivaṃśa's pastoral specification of the Gītā's gatiḥ, bhartā, śaraṇam. The parā gati is not abstract; it has four legs and gives milk.

BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.