Canto Ten - Chapter 23

The cowherd boys said: Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed one! Kṛṣṇa, chastiser of the wicked! Hunger is tormenting us; please arrange to relieve it.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus petitioned by the cowherd boys, Bhagavān, Devakī's son, wished to show grace to the devoted wives of the brāhmaṇas and spoke as follows.

Go to the sacrificial enclosure. Brāhmaṇas who expound the Vedas are there performing a sacrifice called Āṅgirasa in hope of attaining heaven.

Go there, cowherd boys, and ask them for cooked rice, saying that We sent you and proclaiming the names of My venerable elder brother and Me.

Thus instructed by Bhagavān, they went and made their request. With palms joined, they bowed to the brāhmaṇas, falling to the ground like staffs.

O earthly gods, please hear us. May all be well with you. Know that we cowherd boys have come at Rāma's urging to carry out Kṛṣṇa's command.

Rāma and Acyuta are grazing the cows not far from here. Hungry, They desire cooked rice from you. Most learned knowers of dharma, if you have faith, please give food to these two petitioners.

Best of the virtuous, except during the interval between initiation and the animal offering, and during the Sautrāmaṇī sacrifice, even a consecrated sacrificer incurs no fault by eating.

Although they heard Bhagavān's request, the brāhmaṇas acted as if they had not heard. Their hopes were petty, their ritual exertions immense, and though childish, they imagined themselves mature.

The place, the time, the separate ingredients, the mantras, the ritual procedures, the priests, the fires, the deities, the sacrificer, the sacrifice and dharma itself all have Him as their essence.

Yet those foolish men, identifying themselves with mortal bodies and seeing Him as an ordinary human being, did not recognize Him as Adhokṣaja Bhagavān Himself, the directly manifest Supreme Brahman.

Scorcher of foes, the brāhmaṇas said neither yes nor no. Disappointed, the cowherd boys returned and reported everything to Kṛṣṇa and Rāma.

Hearing this, Bhagavān, the Lord of the universe, laughed. Showing the cowherd boys how people ordinarily behave, He addressed them again.

Tell the brāhmaṇas' wives that I have arrived here with Saṅkarṣaṇa. Their hearts dwell lovingly in Me, and they will give you all the food you desire.

The boys then went to the wives' quarters and saw the well-adorned women seated there. Bowing to those chaste brāhmaṇa ladies, they humbly spoke.

Our obeisance to you, wives of the brāhmaṇas. Please listen to our words. Kṛṣṇa, who is grazing nearby, has sent us here.

He has come a long way with Rāma and the cowherd boys while tending the cows. Please give food to Him and His companions, for He is hungry.

Hearing that Acyuta had come near, the women, who were always eager to behold Him and whose minds had been carried away by accounts of Him, suddenly became intensely excited.

Taking in vessels abundant, flavorful foods of all four kinds, all the women hastened toward their beloved, like rivers flowing to the ocean.

Though their husbands, brothers, relatives and sons tried to restrain them, long hearing about Uttamaśloka Bhagavān had firmly established their resolve in Him.

In a grove beside the Yamunā, adorned with aśoka trees and fresh leaves, the women saw Him roaming with His elder brother and surrounded by cowherd boys.

His complexion was dark, and He wore a golden garment. With a forest garland, peacock feather, colored minerals and fresh shoots, He was dressed like a dancer. One hand rested upon a companion's shoulder while the other twirled a lotus. Lotuses adorned His ears, locks framed His cheeks, and His lotus face shone with a smile.

O King, their ears had long been filled with reports of their beloved's appearance, and their minds were immersed in Him. Now they drew Him inside through the openings of their eyes, embraced Him within for a long time and cast off the burning pain of separation, as sages do upon embracing their cherished realization.

They had abandoned every other hope and come desiring to behold their very Self. The witness who sees all that every eye beholds understood them and spoke with a smiling face.

Welcome, greatly fortunate ladies. Please sit down. What may I do for you? You have come wishing to see Me, and this is entirely fitting for you.

Surely wise people who perceive their true welfare offer causeless, uninterrupted devotion to Me, their own dearest Self.

Life, intelligence, mind, the individual self, spouse, children, wealth and all else become dear through contact with that Self. Who, then, could be dearer than the Self?

Therefore return to the sacrificial enclosure. Your brāhmaṇa husbands, householders engaged in sacrifice, will complete their rite together with you.

The brāhmaṇas' wives said: Almighty Lord, You should not speak so cruelly. Please make true the sacred assurance concerning the shelter of Your lotus feet. We crossed beyond all our relatives and came here to carry upon our hair the tulasī garland cast off by Your feet.

Neither our husbands, parents and sons nor our brothers, relatives and friends will accept us, much less anyone else. Therefore, subduer of foes, we who have surrendered and fallen at Your feet have no refuge but You. Please arrange for us accordingly.

Śrī Bhagavān said: Your husbands will not resent you, nor will your fathers, brothers, sons or other people. Because you are united with Me, even the gods approve.

Physical contact does not in itself produce love or attachment in people. Fix your minds upon Me, and before long you will attain Me.

Love for Me arises through hearing, seeing, meditating upon and repeatedly glorifying Me, not to the same degree through physical proximity. Therefore return to your homes.

Śrī Śuka said: Thus addressed, the brāhmaṇas' wives returned to the sacrificial enclosure. Their husbands bore them no resentment and completed the sacrifice together with them.

One woman had been forcibly restrained by her husband. Embracing in her heart Bhagavān as she had heard Him described, she gave up the body that bound her to the results of action.

Bhagavān Govinda then fed the cowherd boys with those same four kinds of food, and the all-powerful Lord Himself also ate.

In this way, assuming a human form for His play and imitating the ways of the human world, He delighted the cows, cowherd boys and gopīs with His beauty, words and deeds, and delighted in their company.

Then the brāhmaṇas remembered what they had done and grieved over their offense: they had rejected the request of the two Lords of the universe, who had disguised Themselves as human beings.

Seeing their wives' extraordinary devotion to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa and recognizing that they themselves lacked it, the brāhmaṇas repented and condemned themselves.

Fie upon our threefold birth! Fie upon our vows and our extensive learning! Fie upon our lineage and our expertise in ritual, since we are turned away from Adhokṣaja.

Surely Bhagavān's Māyā bewilders even yogīs. We are brāhmaṇas and teachers of others, yet we have become confused about our own true welfare.

Just see the boundless devotion these women have for Kṛṣṇa, the teacher of the universe. That devotion has severed the hard knots of death known as household attachment.

They have undergone no twice-born initiation, have not resided in a guru's home, performed no austerity or inquiry into the Self, and possess neither ritual purity nor auspicious rites.

Nevertheless, their devotion to Uttamaśloka Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of the masters of yoga, is firm, whereas ours is not, although we possess initiation and all the other qualifications.

We were bewildered about our own welfare, heedless and engrossed in household concerns. How astonishing that, through the cowherd boys' words, He reminded us of the path followed by the saints.

The Lord is completely fulfilled in Himself and master of all blessings, including liberation. What possible need could He have of servants like us? His request was simply part of His humanlike play.

The goddess of fortune abandons all others and worships Him alone, constantly hoping for the touch of His feet and giving up her own faults of pride and fickleness. His act of begging is therefore meant to bewilder ordinary people.

The place, the time, the separate ingredients, the mantras, the ritual procedures, the priests, the fires, the deities, the sacrificer, the sacrifice and dharma itself all have Him as their essence.

He is that very Bhagavān, directly manifest Viṣṇu and Lord of the masters of yoga. We had even heard that He had taken birth among the Yadus, yet in our folly we failed to recognize Him.

Obeisance to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, whose understanding is never obstructed. With our intelligence deluded by His Māyā, we wander along the paths of fruitive action.

He is indeed the primeval Puruṣa. May He forgive the transgression of us whose selves are deluded by His own Māyā and who therefore fail to understand His greatness.

Remembering their offense and how they had disregarded Kṛṣṇa, the brāhmaṇas wished to go to Vraja to see Him, but fear of Kaṃsa kept them from setting out.