43.agre dheerghatharo ayam arjunatharuH
thasyaagratho varthmanee
saa ghosham samupaithi thath parisare
dheSe kalindhaathmajaa
thasyaastheera thamaalakaananathale
chakram gavaan chaarayan
gopaH kreedathi dharSayishyathi
sakhe panThaanam avyaahatham
This is the tall Arjuna tree in front, my friend, the road in front of it reaches the habitation of cowherds. The river Yamuna flows near that place and in the forest of thamala trees on its banks a cowherd is tending the cows and playing. He will show the path to immortality.
Leelasuka guides the seeker of moksha by this sloka telling him to resort to
"You see in front, agre, of you" ,says Leelasuka , "this arjuna tree (a kind of tree) and you take the path that is seen in front, thasya agratho varthmanee, and it will take you to the village of cowherds, saa ghoshaam samupaithi.." Leelasuka gives the landmarks for the same by saying that the river Yamuna flows nearby, thath parisare dheSe kalindhaathmajaa, and there is a forest of thamala trees thmaalakaanana, on its banks, thasyaah theere. Then he says " there you will see cowherd tending the cows, gavaan charaayan and playing, kreedathi. He is the one you seek because he will show you, dharSayishyathi, the path, panThaanam avyaahatham, to immortality."
Here the word arjunatharuH may mean Arjuna and the sloka has reference to Geethopadhesa. This jagatguru who appears like a cowherd is going to show the whole world the mokahamarga, may be the implication. The path from the banks of yamuna to the battle field of kurujkshethra is the path of
As Leelasuka said earlier , `upanishad arTham ulookhale badDham,'(Sloka 28) the Brahman of the Upanishads has taken the form of a cowherd in order to milk the wild cows (aaranYakas as the Upanishads are called meaning belonging to the forest) of the Upanishads.
`sarvopanishadhio gaavo dhogDhaa gopaalananadhanaH.'
44. goDhooliDhoosaritha komalagopavesham
gopaalabaalakaSathaiH anugamyamaanam
saayanthane prathigrham paSubanDhanaarTham
gacchantham achyuthaSiSum pranathosmi nithyam
I offer my salutations everyday, nithyam, to the child
Leelasuka further visualizes the actions of
45.niDhim laavaNyaanaam nikhilajagadhaaScharya nilayam
nijaavaasam bhaasaam niravaDhika niSSreyasarasam
suDhaaDhaaraasaaram sukrthaparipaakam mrgadhrSaam
prapdhye maangalyam praThamam aDhidhaivam krthaDhiyaam
I surrender to the Supreme Lord, who is the treasure house of beauty, the source of wonder for the whole world, the resort of all luminance, boundless joy of immortality, (that is Brahman ), the flowing essence of nectar, the result of the merits acquired in past lives of the deer-eyed damsels and the auspiciousness of the wise.
1. He is the nikhila jagath aaScharya nilaya, the source of wonder for all the worlds, because, he is the abode of luminance as the Upanishad says, `thamreva bhaantham anubhaathi sarvam thasya bhaasaa sarvamidham vibhaathi,' that is, all luminous bodies like the Sun and the Moon shine after Him who is self luminous and by whose light all
others get their luminance.
2.He is the infinite joy of immortality, niravaDhika niSSreyasaya rasam because He is Brahman, the existence, knowledge and bliss, sacchidhaanandha.
3. He is the essence of nectarine flow, suDhaaDhaaraasaara, as everything connected with him is nectar , akhilam maDhuram, because He is the Brahman of the Upanishads which declares `raso vai saH.'
4. The supreme self, that is
5. He is the embodiment of auspiciousness, , maangalyam, for the evolved, krthaDhiyaam.
6.He is the first cause and the Supreme Lord, praThamam aDhidaiva.
46.aathaamrapaaNikamalapraNayaprathodham
aalolahaaramaNikundalahemasoothram
aaviSramaambugaNam ambudhaneelam avyaath
aadhyam DhananjayaraThaabharaNam maho naH
May the primal light, aadhyam mahaH, that is dark like a cloud, ambudhaneelam that is the ornament of the chariot of Arjuna, DhananjayaraThaabhaarana, whose lotus-like red hand, aathaamrapaaNikamala, is holding the whip, praNayaprathodha, who is adorned with necklace, haara, earrings maNikundala, and girdle of gold, hemasoothra, which are moving, aalola, and whose body is covered with sweat, aaviSramaambugana, protect, avyaath, us.
Leelasuka gives a description of
47.nakhaniyamitha kandoon paandavasyandanaaSvaan
anudhinam abhishinchan anjalisThaiH payobhiH
avathu vithathagaathraH thoThra nishtyoothamouliH
dhasanavidhrtharaSmiH dhevakeepuNyaraaSiH
May Krishna , with his body exposed ,vithathagaathraH, the horsewhip, thothra, in his headgear, nishtyoothamouliH, and the reins, , between his teeth, dhaaSanavidhrtharaSmiH, bathing, abhishinchan, the horses of the chariot of Arjuna, paandavasyandhanaaSvaan, with water from his cupped hands, anjalisThaiH payobhiH, daily, anudhinam, and scratching them with his nails, nakhaniyathakandoon, protect us.
The picture of Parthasarathy is continued in this sloka. He gives bath to the horses himself everyday by washing their bodies with water in his cupped hands. He also scratches them with his nails to relieve the itch. While doing this he has inserted the horsewhip on his headgear and has the reins between his teeth. His body is open as he is in water.
This shows the soulabhya and vathsalya of the Lord. It is one thing to accept the function of a charioteer but it is quite another to do all the other work himself, which a charioteer will normally do, like bathing the horses etc., which he could have asked anyone else to do. But the Lord, as Desika has said, not only puts on a role for the sake of His devotees but acts the part in perfection, to prove that he will do anything for His devotees who resort to Him with faith and love. It also showed his vatsalya which extends to all beings, man, bird and beast. This was seen in Ramavathara, in Rama doing the samskara for Jatayu and befriending the monkeys etc, but in Krishnavathara, this love for dumb creatures is exemplary. He loved and was loved by the cows and other creatures in Brindavan and the horse in kurukshethra.
48. vrajayuvathisahaaye youvanollaasi kaaye
sakalaSubhavilaase kundhamandhaarahaase
nivasathu mamachittham thathpdhaayatthavrttham
munisarasijabhaanounandhagopaalasoonou
Let my mind, mama chittham, full of thoughts on His feet, thathpadhaayatthavrttham, stay, nivasathu, in the son of Nanda,, nandasoonou, who is the companion of gopis, vrajayuvathisahaaye, has beautiful young form, youvanollaasi kaaye, abode of auspiciousness, sakalaSubhavilaase, has a smile like the kundha and mandhaara flowers , kundhamandhaarahaase, and the sun to the lotuses called sages, munisarasijabhaanou.
Leelasuka prays that his mind should be engrossed in
49.aranyaaneem aardhra smitha madhura bimbaaDhara suDhaa
saaraNyaasankraanthaiH sapadhi madhayan veNuninadhaiH
DharaNyaa saanandhothpulakam upagoodaanghrikamalah
SaraNnaam aadhyaH sa jayathu Sareeree madhurimaa
May He be victorious, sa jayathu who enchants, madhayan, the Brindhavan, aranyaaneem, with his loving smile, aardhrasmitha, and the nectarine flow from his lips like bimba fruit, maDhurabimbaaDhara suDhaasaaraNyaa combined, sankraanthaiH with the sweet music from his flute, veNununadhaiH, whose lotus like feet, anghrikamala, are embraced with joy and horripilation, saanandhothpulakam upagoodaiH, by the goddess earth, Dharanyaa, and who is the embodiment of sweetness, sareeree maDhurimaa, and the prime refuge, aadhyaH sarraNyaanaam, of all.
Leelasuka continues the picture of
50. vidhagDhagopaalavilaasineenaam
sambhogachihnaankitha sarvagaathram
pavithram aamnaayagiram agamyam
brahma prapadhye navaneetha choram
I surrender to the Brahman, who is pure and beyond the comprehension of the Vedas,(yet) who is here has his body marked by his play with the gopis who had their sins burnt because of it, and who acted as a butter thief.
Leelasuka while hinting in the previous two slokas that
Leelsuka refers to
The butter is the heart of the devotees and he comes stealthily and steals it without the owner being conscious of it. This is true because devotion never arises out of will, saying to oneself that "I am going to be a devotee from now on." It just happens by the divine will. As the upanishat says , `yamaivesha vrNuthe thena labhyathe,' He is attained by one whom He chooses. Sometimes He steals even the heart of those who do not love Him by a swift turn of events because they have done such good deeds in their previous lives.
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