Thursday, June 4, 2009

Shri Krishna Kripakataksha Stotram: 6th shloka


Gunakara sukhakara kripakara kripapara.

Surdvishannikanadan namaami gop-nandam.

Naveen gopnagara-naveen keli lampat.

namaami megh sundar tarhitprabhaalsatpatam.


I respectfully salute Shri Krishna, the darling son of Nanda, who is the repository of virtues, joy and compassion. Bestowing grace, he destroys all enemies of the gods.


With the energy of his majestic divinity he works for the salvation of mankind and incarnates several times to lessen the burden of earth. As the son of Nanda he ends demonic forces because of his innate divinity, the composer salutes such a Nandnandan. He confers whatever one aspires for.


The deities he blesses by ending demons burdening earth. He gives moksha or salvation to those aspiring for it. Devotees ask for bhakti and he grants worship to them. To people desiring worldly joys he bestows wealth, wife and sons on them. But all this is due to the power of his divine energy. A portion of it does this instinctively.


Krishna himself displays his virtues before the group of herdswomen, his beloveds in Braj. He delights the lot, with his spirited antics in forests, the bhavan, homes, river banks, wells and lanes. On returning with the cows at the hour of cowdust, he enraptures the gopis waiting for him by the play of his flute. With delicious anguish they flock to him.


Sometimes he ardently longs to hear Priyaji or Radha's song and purposely misses a beat. At times to learn dance or exhibit his dancing skills he embraces her. On the pretext of gathering the cows he meets up with his beloved maidens and enjoys water sports with them.


With mischief and spontaneity, tenderness and teasing, music and dance and the beauty of his dark body, Krishna enflames the desire of the gopis for union with him. A treasure trove of virtues, he is also hungry and passionately drawn by the gopis. We respectfully salute Shri Radha-Krishna over and over again.


Sukhakar is Shri Krishna, the essence of joy.Vedantics can experience their personal happiness with his formless emotion but can't relish the supreme ambrosia. With the play of his flute Krishna broke the meditation of great rishis-munnis and steeped them in his inexpressible joy. He gives the appropriate joy to those with a dasya bhava, when the devotee relates to God as a slave.


In the realm of Shri Radha-Krishna it is difficult to say who is the master and who the slave. He sometimes bows his head before feet and entreats for a charming favour and at times places his flute at her feet, praying for her assistance.


He bestows vatsalya sukh to his mother and father, and the elder gopas and gopis. Sometimes he insists on having the moon and stubbornly wants to milk the cows. Yashoda sees her darling son rubbing his eyes as he steps out of the bedroom and runs to cuddle him, warding off any evil spirit. When Kanhaiya is toddling in the courtyard and calls for his father, Nanda runs to pick him up and kiss his face.


Yashoda has no inkling that his childhood play with the gopis is becoming something more elusive. When they come complain to her, Yashoda is irritable and blames them on the contrary. How does she know that in the meanwhile Krishna has stirred their minds-souls with his smile and enflamed their ardent longing.


Those with the sakha bhava (when the devotee relates to God as a friend) savour the joy of his company. He has to listen to all their demands, play piggy-back and ball games with them. Early in the morning Krishna goes for grazing cows with the gopas and shares the midday meal, grabbing each others' share in the afternoon. Whatever bhava we take on, a sweet love cascades from him constantly.


But only the cowherdesses know the intense joy of relishing his love. On returning home at the hour of cowdust he simultaneously delights gopas and the gopis standing in balconies with his lovable talk and infectious laughter. He is seen as the object of longing and of a love which is expressed in the cry of the enraptured herdswomen for union with their teasing, elusive and insistent paramour.


He is certainly the repository of virtues and joys and also the treasure trove of compassion. Whoever follows the form of his majestic divinity he bestows that particular grace on him...is doing so today...because he is the kalpataru (one of the fabulous trees of Krishna's paradise, that grants all wishes). At times he does not fulfill our wishes by not granting us harmful substances which are injurious.

He is truly kripakar too. He draws anyone who is absorbed with a true bhava. Krishna exists intensely in our hearts when we sing his praise and dwells in our longing for him.


He is kripapar as well. Willingly the Supreme Being Shri Hari came to bound by mother Yashoda when she tied him to the mortar. But only the gopis can relish this transcendental love of the highest order, the zenith of spiritual awareness, the nectarine love which is beyond kripa. The supreme rasika who bestows his love on others, the dark- hued Krishna, is hungry for a glimpse of these love-lorn cowherdesses.


The one who is the naveen gopnagar, absorbed in new spirited antics everyday, greedy for frolics, the colour of the condensed sky- the pitambar or sash sparkling like lightning adorns his dark-hued body- I respectfully salute him. A beautiful rendition of his mischief and irresistibly attractive form. He has just stepped from sweet childhood into a new age of youth and is more handsome than hundreds of Kamdevs.


This naveen gopnagar is very fond of new romantic dalliances, everyday. Only the Braj beauties can handle this terrifying rush of love after losing their own consciousness.The one who indulges in spirited antics with the gopas notoriously creates an uproar when you sight him in the secluded nikunjas of Braj, the forest environs, at wells and the banks of the Yamuna.


Sometimes in the guise of a brahmachari he begs the sulking Radha for her love and playing the flute with the melody of Radhe-Radhe he teases her. At times dressed as a boatman he makes excuses when the beauties insist on crossing Shri Yamuna. He is the sole male in this domain of romantic dalliances. His enraptured followers are the herdswomen of Braj and their beloved sakhi Shri Shri Radha. We repeatedly salute the naveen gopnagar, his beloved Radha and the herd of sakhis along with his various amorous frolics.


namaami megh sundar tarhitprabhaalsatpatam.

"I propritiate the tender Brajendranandan who is the colour of the condensed sky and has draped the yellow sash which reflects the lustre of lightning. Let us also join our voices with these words of the composer and salute the mischievous rasika who is the ardent lover.


Truly speaking the entire world can not survive without an enrapturing glimpse of this blue-hued Mohan of the three worlds...but these Braj maidens can truly relish his love. A yellow sash draped around this handsome youth, flashing like lightning, enlightens the isolated kunja. His yellow pitambar triumphs over the colours of saffron, the sun's rays and the lustre of lightning.

The devotees who search for him, who search for the Darkness in the darkness of the night or for the vision of Light beneath the glaring brilliance of the sun become the most divine, the least mundane of earth's participants. Braj's cowherdesses cast off highly restrictive social norms and the burdens of convention; they rush out of their homes leaving behind their earthly chores, their families, their duties and move in a delicious anguish to the side of the dark-hued Krishna, adorning a yellow pitambar.