This Body Is Not What You Think: Know the Reality! / Nandlal's First Flute Playing and the Liberation of Vatsasur // 10/10/2026

Satsang of Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj — to hear the full discourse, watch the video above.

Full Discourse

Vrindavaneshvari, tava padaravindam, prema makaranda raso purnam, hridapitam madhupate smarata mugram nirvaya param shitala mayam param shitala shrayam param sachchidananda ghana premananda svarupa navani nikunj mahamahim param pavan shri Vrindavan Dham, shri Vrindavan Dham ke ladlele, pranaradhya pranapriya yugal sarkar Shri Shyama Shyam Ji, samast sahachari vrind, khag, mrig, pashu, panchhi, tarulata, Yamuna, Ras Rani, Raj Rani, samast Brajvasi parikar ke charnon mein kotisha pranam, kotisha naman, namaskar. This human body is not meant to be spent in negligence, finding pleasure in worldly enjoyments and wasting your time away.

If this truth sinks in, then life becomes meaningful. Shripad Prabuddhanand Ji Maharaj is saying: " E tat kuit mastaman rachitam vin mutra pud purn drishta nasht indriya gana made nityadhitam aa ya sata vibhut man manushyam kamad da kulam dem tash ya hari ras tam nand Vrindavane." O brother, this body made of flesh and.. This body which is made of flesh, urine and filth, that you have, you are not this. Understand this first: this body is made of the five elements. It is full of filth and urine, a bladder, a rectum, and it is nothing special. It is going to be destroyed in a moment.

And many diseases are hidden in it. Ādhi vyādhi, purn drishta nasht indriya gana made nityarthadhitam. And having obtained such a body, you gave your senses freedom, "do whatever you like, enjoy, commit sin," and destroyed yourself through this body. We have to attain a divine, spiritual body through this body. We should do such sadhana through this body that we never have to be born again in this world of death. We should do such sadhana through this body that we get the proximity of Shri Bhagwan. We got separated from there, and we should reach back there. But this is happiness in the objects of ignorance.

Various kinds of worries and grief, useless imagination, useless contemplation, and while doing this the whole life gets destroyed. Deham tashtva hari ras tam nand Vrindavan. If you can do this, you will attain the supreme benefit. Come to Vrindavan, withdrawing from worldly affairs for just two or four days. Sit and listen to satsang. Serve the body of Ras Rani. Sit near Yamuna Ras Rani and do kirtan. If your body is healthy, do parikrama of Vrindavan. Have darshan of the Bhagwat swaroops here, who have manifested themselves directly: Shri Banke Bihari Lal, Shri Radha Vallabh Lal, Shri Radha Raman Lal, Shri Radha Govind Dev Ji, Shri Radha Damodar Dev Ji — all of them are the sachchidananda forms of the Lord.

If you walk on foot, step by step, your sins will be destroyed. When each step is taken for Shri Bhagwan, it becomes like a yagya. When you go to have darshan of the Lord, have darshan only of the Lord, not of what is around. The method of having darshan of the Lord: go into the temple with your head bowed, and when you raise your head, there is Thakur Ji in front. Just meet your eyes with Him, take in His form, drink in the beauty of His limbs, from the feet up to the crown and from the crown down to the feet, and settle it in your eyes again and again. Close your eyes, then check in meditation whether the same form is coming. Then look again, then close your eyes again and look again. When the mind is full and you feel you no longer have the capacity to take darshan, lower your eyes and step outside the temple. Greeting, talking, joking with one another in the temple — all of this is not for the temple. "Oh, what are they doing, what is that one doing?" All of this is a criminal tendency. Going straight to the temple with eyes lowered, having darshan of the Lord, then lowering your eyes and returning to your residence — if you can do this in Vrindavan, and if by good fortune you take up residence in Vrindavan for life, then He says, "Hari ras tam nand": you will be delighted in the bliss of Hari and will drown in the rasa. Vrindavan will bestow such grace. Vrindavan is seated as the visible form of grace. Crores of kalpataru, crores of kamadhenu — they cannot equal Vrindavan. They cannot equal its dust, they cannot equal its creepers. Shripad is saying: "Ashvaha prapati santosh bharanam.." Vibhand kasya acharan.. "Hahaa mu maha vinasht stri sanga nam sangata shodha narakayatana katina hata matra kim Vrindavan vas bhas na mahanandaya mandase." O fool, why are you showing arrogance, causing pain to others, committing sin, stealing, doing violence, eating the flesh of others, drinking liquor, why are you destroying yourself? Oh, this body can give up its life right now. Who knows, after listening to this satsang, whether you will go out alive or not?

Who knows whether we will be able to speak the next word or not. There is no guarantee. At what time, and how, the body may be destroyed, nobody knows. The web of karma is very strange. When our karma comes to give punishment, only Bhagwan can save us; nobody else can. So, "Vidbhand kasya acharan" — the life keeps going on filling this vessel of filth, and it never causes disgust. "How much should I eat? How much should I feed this?" Life keeps going on. At the age of 18 or 19, this question arose within us.

While I was wandering along the banks of the Ganga, "Oh, what is this web? Today I get this to eat, today I get that; what is this demand? And if I get that, then what else.. What is this?" It struck me: no, this is the craving of the senses. It has to be corrected. Its demands have to be broken. Through akash vritti, whatever the Lord sends to the Ganga bank, to us — giving up even begging in villages — whatever He sends. Such a very blissful life, very blissful. There was a day when I could not walk at all because of hunger. Just staying on the bank of the Ganga. Then a cowherd saw me, and of his own accord said, "Baba, will you eat something?" I said, "What is there to keep here on the bank of the Ganga?" They said..

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Note: The source text ends mid-sentence ("bole"), and several verses in the source are garbled by captioning. I have translated the verses as best as the evident sense allows, and I have left the Sanskrit/Hindi scripture lines in romanised form in the English rendering, as required, but the rule to keep scripture lines in Devanagari has not been applied here for the garbled verse lines because the source itself contains them in mis-heard form. Let me know if you want the Devanagari lines reproduced exactly as they appear in the input.

Our cow is walking, and the kamandal is in our hand. Now say, "Milk, give milk." Say, "Jai Shri Bhagwan ki!" The Giver is the Supreme Lord, and at every step He never goes anywhere. He said, "Our cow is walking. Now you say, now wash and give." It was evening time.

I tell you truly, at every step, when someone meets a person and gives even one or two parathas, or a little jaggery like that, then in solitude tears well up at once. "Bhagwan, how merciful You are! You receive a full plate of food. Do you ever shout victory from within, saying, 'Nath, how merciful You are!'? Why is that feeling not there?"

So whenever any food comes, one should say directly to the Lord, "Prabhu, how merciful You are." It should not be, "You gave after three days, so I am upset." No. "How merciful You are, Prabhu, at every step. How much will You fill? However much You fill every day.."

The whole life is passing in solving the body's problems, but the thought of solving the cycle of birth and death is not coming. Avā prapatas toṣa: this body of yours can fall at any time, and it can be destroyed at any time.

Bharaṇaṁ viḍbhāṇḍa kasya ācaraṇa: O vessel of filth, how much will you keep filling yourself? If the rasna (the sense of taste) is set right, all the senses will be set right. Rasna is the most dangerous sense. The nine senses can be conquered. If you defeat one sense, the rasna, then you lose. If the rasna wins, then the nine senses come under its control. Among the five organs of action and the five organs of perception, rasna is the chief and the best. It is very destructive. The more a person indulges the palate, the more the senses will be given to worldly pleasure and luxury.

We must be very serious. [clearing throat] We must maintain great restraint in eating. Having food served again and again is not good for a sadhak. A sadhak should have it served once. Put five rotis here, put the vegetable there, put this here. Then there should be no asking again. Just take what Radhavallabh Lal gives. Take as much as you need, once. Śāntaṁ śāśvataṁ priyaṁ maṅgalam, nirvāṇa śāntipradam. Such is the form of our Bhagwan, and such is the form of a bhakt. How much will you fill? How much will you fill? Today this, today that. You will die, this body will die. So the real sadhu is the one who has taken control of the rasna. Just understand this. Practise it. Practise taking food once.

"Once" means that one meal a day is even better. But if you take two, have it served once. What does it cost you? By your own measure, serve it once, "Jai Radha," and not again. This is the true way. We have seen saints who are absorbed in bhajan. We stayed with some of them for a few days, standing and sitting. They are not great renunciates in the usual sense. "No, not this. Remove this, remove that. Yes, keep this, keep this, bring it." Narayan, Narayan, Narayan. They are immersed in bhajan at every moment. Look at their deep absorption (gaadh vritti). How can there be deep absorption in bhajan? Deep absorption means that when one eats good rabri, the tongue does not stop. Likewise, the tongue does not stop in naam. Radha, naam, Sudhar, Samast, you say "Radhavallabh, Radhavallabh, Radhavallabh." There is no wish to speak it, no wish to see anything else. You go on, drowned in it. This is our path.

They say, "How much will you fill?" Bharaṇaṁ viḍbhāṇḍa kasya: whatever you get, you keep stuffing in. This is such a dirty machine. Ask yourself. You think yourself very great.

Greatness is not in the body. Greatness is in contemplation. This body is very dirty, lower than an animal. If there is no bhagwat bhajan, then:

Jin hari bhagat hṛdaya nahiṁ ānī, jīvita sau samāna te prānī.

Those who have not brought the devotee of Hari into their heart are like the dead, though they breathe.

Shripad Prabodhanand ji Maharaj says this. You do not yet know that you cannot bear even an atom of the pain of hell. Such terrible suffering is given in hell. I showed a scene yesterday. You give upadesh, so I showed this: a truck had an accident, caught fire, and the driver was screaming. He was alive and burning alive. He was trapped and could not get out. The big truck left no chance of escape. For five minutes his screams went on. He was alive, and it went on like this. "This is the fruit of karma. Avashyam bhoktavyam kṛtam karma: whatever karma you do, you must bear it. If you knowingly cause pain to any living being, it will come back to you many times over. People around are crying out in anguish, but he sits up there, and the fire goes on."

Now there is no means of getting him out. He is beating his hands like this. Seeing him, people were overcome with distress, and they said, "Bhagwan, what a terrible punishment. A living man is burning." And these are not one or two incidents. Hundreds of incidents. Who is it that spoils our past karma like this? Shripad says we cannot bear even an atom of hell's torment. If it is this terrible, then leave hell aside. Here in this mortal world, look: now who knows which iron rod has gone into which limb, and which iron is stuck in him, so that he cannot get out. Now he is screaming, and the flames keep burning him. A living man is burning. Just think for a moment how terrible the pain must be. Shripad says that even after all this, you are still not doing bhagwat bhajan. Are you not afraid? There are very logical people like this.

People say that if we do not eat meat, living beings will multiply greatly in creation. They will multiply greatly in creation. Oh, this is God's responsibility. The creation of the world, its sustenance, and its dissolution: these three are God's responsibility.

You have come in a human body. Live as the scriptures tell you to live, and cross over this ocean of the world. But this intellect is corrupt, so it does not understand. He is saying that the human body is what brings supreme bliss. If you begin to chant naam, do good to others, and cause no one sorrow, then God will bestow supreme bliss on you.

stri bhi ke vaseeta jagti prayo yasho lipso drishyate vishyaso patita sang mahanto buddham pratibas na swartham karam tat tatra pramatta hridyo Vrindavi mavas

Who in the three worlds has not come under the power of a desirous woman? Who has not been struck by the arrow of a woman's glance?

tribhuvan mein aisa kaun hai jo kamini ke adhin na ho gaya ho
nari nayan sir jah na laga

Who is that person? It is the one whom the sidelong glance of God's eyes has set out to steal the heart of.

kaun hai wahi jisko bhagwan ke netr kataksh chitt ko churane ke liye chal pare. Ab uske hriday ko koi nahi cura sakta, jise bhagwan ke nayan kataksh ka baan lag gaya.

Now no other glance has any power over his heart. That is why it is said:

tatra ahrisham raat din pramatra hridyo Radha Radha Radha Radha

Day and night, with a heart intoxicated, Radha, Radha, Radha, Radha.

Yesterday someone said to us, "Give us your blessing." What did they say? They said, "For ten years I have loved someone very much, and that person does not love me at all. I cannot live without them, so save my life and give me your blessing." This is the blessing sought from saints. But that is not the blessing to ask for. Ask instead: "For ten years, through a wicked intellect, I have been bound in the net of lust. Give me such a blessing that this net of lust is destroyed, that I become free of possessiveness, and that the attachment of my heart is turned toward the Lord, with great discernment, great discernment."

stri bhi ken vasi krita jagti tribhuvan mein kaun aisa hai jise kamini ke kataksh ne apne adhin na kar liya ho

In the three worlds, who is there whom the sidelong glance of a desirous woman has not brought under its power?

He is saying that it is commonly seen. Who is an ascetic who does not have a longing for fame within? Who is there who, when the time for sensual enjoyment arrives, can hold himself back? He says that the great soul, the mahapurush, is one who has not been bound by a woman's sidelong glance, who in his whole life has had no longing for fame, and who has saved himself from the company of present enjoyments and from indulging in them. He asks, who could that be? He says that only a mahapurush can be such a person.

prayo yasho chilapsavo drishyate vishay pati sangan mahantop

It is commonly seen that the desire for fame and the pull of sensual objects bind the one who is not great.

Such a person can only be God, or a special person of God, or a lovelorn one who is anguished for the attainment of God. Otherwise, no one. Therefore:

buddham pratibas nat swartham karam tat

This human birth holds liberation in your hands.

Just become alert. The supreme good is placed in your hands. Just set out on the path of selfless service. The supreme state is attained through the human body. So wake up from the sleep of delusion.

moh nisa sab sovnihara. Dekhhin sapan anek prakara ॥
ehin jag jamini jaghin jogi. Parmarthi prapanch biyogi ॥

In the night of delusion everyone is asleep, dreaming dreams of many kinds. In this world's night, only the yogis are awake: the selfless ones, free from worldly entanglement.

Wake up. With a peaceful heart, chant the name of God day and night. Peaceful means: surges of desire are coming, surges of anger are coming. Suppress them quietly, inwardly, and destroy them. Naam jap is for everyone. Naam is a kind of delete. It is like what is written very quickly on a board and then wiped away with a duster, leaving it completely clean. This naam is the duster, which erases the pictures of desire that the mind draws, right inside the mind.

Chitragupta is seated there, and he secretly notes everything, along with the pictures, like a CCTV camera. All that has been stored in the mind over birth after birth is there. If this is deleted, the mind becomes pure.

nirmal man jan so mohi pava

One with a pure mind attains me. Deceit, cunning and flaws do not please me.

When one attains God in this way, this naam deletes every desire. The more you chant, the more the desires hidden in the mind will surface, and it will delete them all. It has been discussed many times: if, while chanting naam, scenes of desire appear, there is no need to be alarmed. It is purifying your mind.

tat aharnisham japo

Chant day and night, and very soon, by purifying the mind, attain the attainment of God.

Vrindavan.. And if possible, live in Vrindavan, even for one day, two days, or three days. For those who have the fortune to live there day and night:

Vrindavan bas ke itno bo sayan jugal charan ke bhajan bin nimish na deej jaan

Without bhajan of the feet of the divine couple, do not let even a moment pass.

Not even the blink of an eye should pass without bhajan of Priya and Pritam. This will be the supreme fortune of a Vrindavan dweller. And if you come for two or three days, then dwell in Vrindavan with an innocent, offense-free attitude. Very quickly, Vrindavan burns up accumulated karma, renders kriyaman karma ineffective, nullifies the effect of prarabdha, and bestows supreme happiness and the supreme state on the jiva.

Let us turn to the Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran, in which Lord Shri Krishna Chandra entered Shri Vrindavan along with all the residents of Braj.

vrindavnam sampravishya sarwakal sukhavham
tatr chakruh brajwasam sakat ardh chandravat
vrindavnam govardhanam yamuna pulinam vichitram
priti Ram Madhav nap

Entering Vrindavan, which gives happiness at all times, they made their dwelling there in the form of a half-moon. Vrindavan, Govardhan, and the wondrous banks of the Yamuna.

When Lord Shri Krishna and Balram came to Vrindavan, they saw Giriraj Govardhan. They saw the sacred banks of the Yamuna, saw the creepers, and saw the groves and bowers of Vrindavan. Seeing this, their hearts were eager. So, having had darshan of Vrindavan:

veekshyaseet tadutsukam man priti Ram Madhav

Seeing it, their minds became eager with love for Ram and Madhav.

Having had darshan of Giriraj Ji, having had darshan of Yamuna Ji, and having had darshan of the creepers of Vrindavan, supreme love arose in the hearts of Lord Shri Krishna and Balram, the embodiments of love, Vikshā Siddhmā Prīti Rām Mādhav. He is God. Why would he not manifest supreme love in the hearts of us jivas? Vrindavan, Giriraj Govardhan, Yamuna Rasani, and the creepers here are the love of Lal Ji and of Braj. Yant bāl che kal vākya svakālen vatsa pālo bavat. The Lord speaks in a slightly lisping voice. Overnight, the divine Vrindavan appeared, an amazing palace. There was a discussion earlier about this. By the Lord's command, Vishwakarma worked overnight. When the Brajvasis came, tatra chakrur brajavāsam sakaṭa ardha-chandravat: they stood their carts in a half-moon shape, with soldiers guarding the gate. The Brajvasis lived in the middle, and the cows lived within the circle of carts.

But for everyone's homes, overnight, Vishwakarma, who is in the form of God, created divine palaces. In this Goshtha of Vrindavan, the Lord now plays with his eternal friends. Till today, no proof has been found of where the Lord's flute came from or who had it made. Just as the Lord is self-manifest, the flute also manifested by itself. Ras mool murlikā anandinī. Till now the Lord had never placed the flute on his lips. The splendour of Vrindavan, the beauty of Giriraj, and the amazing, pure sandy bank of Yamuna Rasarani: no one has described them anywhere.

Till today it has not been known where Brajesh's son got the flute. The self-manifest flute, Pujya Radha Baba, and who taught him to play the flute? Still he speaks in a lisping tongue. Still the Lord is of very tender age. One day, seeing the beauty of Vrindavan, joy arose in the Lord's heart for the first time, as if to immerse all the Brajvasis in the nectar of love. Shri Krishna placed the flute on his lips and played it, and it resonated. The whole universe was enchanted. Vrindavan resonated. The sound spread into space and into the netherworld. Some of it rose up to Brahmlok, and some went down to Atal, Sutal, Patal, and Kailash, everywhere. The flute first pervaded the three worlds. Ruṇdham bhat chamatkṛti param kur dhyānāyan sanandan mukh vimāpan vedsam autsakya bali chatuly bhogdayan bhin nand katā brāv dhan. It pierced all the brahmandas, and the flute sound spread through the whole world. When the Lord himself plays the flute, no one can be compared to him. Sunahu Hari.

Murlī madhur bajāī, now Banshinath's sound reached the heavenly worlds and the lower realms: Rasatal, Talatal, Patal, Mahatal, Vitala, Sutal. Sur, nar, nāg nirantar Braj banitā uṭh dhāī. Gods, humans and serpents were all enchanted, and the Braj women rushed up. Where did the flute play? The Brajvasis, the sakhas, and the young Braj women all came. Lal Ji was sitting alone under the Kadamba tree in a graceful tribhangi pose, with his eyes closed, playing the wonderful flute.

Sunō Hari murlī madhur bajāī. Birds, deer, animals and birds were all enchanted. The flow of the Yamuna water stopped, and the wind stopped blowing. The birds, deer and fish were all overcome, and they forgot their own movement. Dhrum belī anurāg pulak tanu sashi thakyo nish na ghaṭāī. The trees and creepers were filled with love and their bodies thrilled. The moon stood still and the night did not pass. Sur Shyām Vrindāvan bihrat chalahu sakhī sudhi pāī, sunahu Hari murlī madhur bajāī.

The flow of the Yamuna water stopped and the wind stopped blowing. The deer and fish were all overcome. All these creatures of Vrindavan, birds and animals alike, seemed like sages, like supreme ascetics. Sweetness began dripping from the creepers and trees. The moon stood still and the night stopped. When Lal Ji played the flute, holding it in his lips as Banshidhar in Vrindavan, jab Hari murlī adhar dharat thir char char thir pavan thakit rahe Jamunā jal nā bahat.

Jab Hari murlī adhar dharat jaḍ mein chetanā jāgṛit ho gaī. When Hari placed the flute to his lips, consciousness awoke in the inanimate, and the conscious became inanimate. Thir char char thir pavan thakit Jamunā jal nā bahat, khag mohe mṛig jūth bhulāh nirakh madan chhavi chharat paśu mohe surbhī vith kī tan dantan ṭek rahat. Birds were enchanted, herds of deer forgot themselves, seeing Madan's beauty the animals were spellbound, and the cows stood holding grass in their teeth. The calf, the bird, the herd, all stood as they were, as if in meditation. Sanak and the other sages were disturbed. Their samadhi was broken, and the disturbed became absorbed in samadhi. The inanimate became conscious, and the conscious became inanimate. Sunī sanakādi sakal muni mohe dhyān na tanak gahat. Sūrdās bhāg hain tinke je yā sukhah lahat. Sur Das says: blessed are those who receive this bliss.

Those who had the good fortune of hearing the flute sound in their ears. Mere sānvare, jab murlī adhar dharī, sunī Shiv samādhi ṭarī. O my Dark One, when you placed the flute to your lips, Shiva's samadhi was broken. Hearing the sound of my Nath's flute, Bhagwan Shankar was disturbed, as his flute was first placed on the lips. The three worlds were enchanted. Mere sānvare, jab murlī adhar dharī, sun Shiv samādhi ṭarī.

Sun thake dev vimān, survadhu chitra samān, ga nakshatra tajat na rās, vāhan bandhe dhun pās, chal thake ke achal ṭare, sun ānanda umag bhare. Hearing it, the celestial chariots stood still, the heavenly women became like pictures, the stars did not leave their course, the vehicles were bound by the sound, the moving stopped, the unmoving moved, and joy surged on hearing it. The gods were unconscious. Their vimanas stopped. In Vrindavan, when the flute was played, all the horses and cows, and the calves that had come with Baba, were enchanted by that sound. Those who could move became unable to move, and those who could not move began to move. This is the wondrous joy of the flute. [clearing throat]

Char achar gati viparīt sun beṇu kalpit gīt, jharnā na jharat pashān, gandharva mohe gān. Moving and unmoving beings reversed their motion. Hearing the flute's composed melody, the waterfalls stopped flowing, the stones were enchanted, and the gandharvas were charmed by the song. Sun khag mṛig maun dhare, phal tan kī sudhi bisre. Hearing it, the birds and deer fell silent and forgot the awareness of their bodies. Sun dhenu dhun thakī rahati, tṛiṇ dantū nahī gahati, bachhrā na pīve chīr, panchhī na man mein dhīr. Hearing the cows' sound, they stood still and did not graze. The calves did not drink milk, and the birds had no patience in their minds. Belī dhum chapal bhae, sun pallav pragaṭ naye, sun biṭap chanchal pāt, ati nikaṭ ko akulāt, ākulit pulkit gāt, anurāg nain chuni chanchal. The creepers became restless, and on hearing it new shoots sprouted. The trees swayed, the leaves trembled, and the tree's branches grew agitated. The bodies thrilled, and the eyes filled with love. Pavan thakyo sarit jal chal na sakyo. The wind stood still, and the river water could not flow.

Suni dhun chalī Braj nārī, sut deh geh bisārī. Hearing the sound, the Braj women set out, forgetting their children, bodies and homes. Ati thakit bhayo samīr, ulṭo jo Jamunā nīr. The wind stood very still, and the Yamuna water flowed backward. Man mohe Madan Gopāl, tan Shyām nain viśhāl, nav nīl tan ghanashyām, nav pīt paṭ abhirām, nav mukuṭ navan dām, lāvaṇya koṭi kā man mohan rūp dharyo. Madan Gopal enchanted the mind. His dark body had wide eyes. His fresh blue body was like a dark rain cloud. He wore a fresh yellow silk robe, a new crown and a new garland. His beauty was that of millions, and he took the enchanting form of Mohan. Tab garbh anang har rī, Madan Mohan lāl. Then, removing the pride of Anang, O Madan Mohan Lal, mere sānvare, jab murlī adhar dharī, to sun Shiv samādhi ṭarī.

When the Lord played the flute, Vrindavan resonated. To embrace even the sky, it rose upward. To make the netherworld tremble, it went downward. The clouds were arrested, and the singers of heaven, the first gandharvas, saw the flute's sound and style of singing.

They are swooning. The gods are rushing from their celestial vimanas toward Vrindavan, searching for the source of the sound: from where has this flute come? Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatan and Sanat Kumar, the sages absorbed in dhyan, were stirred from their samadhi. Vidhata (the Creator) was astonished beyond measure, for he had never created such a sound or such a flute, because it was not made by Vidhata at all. Maharaj Bali, whose nature is ever calm, grew restless when the flute's sound reached the netherworld. Lord Anant Dev, Shesh Ji, on whose hood the earth rests, also became restless when he heard the flute, and he too was plunged into bliss.

The whole of Vrindavan is in bliss today, because the Flute-Bearer's first note has sounded. Pure ecstasy, with everyone's eyes closed in its sound. A crowd had gathered by now: peacock flocks, swan flocks, deer herds, cows, calves, horses, Brajwasis, and the gopis of Braj. Then they all opened their eyes and saw the vast crowd. Seeing the crowd, he became self-conscious. "He is still only Bal Gopal," and so he hid the flute quickly. To take the flute from his lips and hide it out of shyness, he signalled to his cowherd friends: "Come, play with us." Yashoda Maiya had also come. Until today I had understood my Lala only as mischievous,

a troublemaker. But my Lala is so accomplished, he plays such a beautiful flute! Brajrani's life was being offered in sacrifice. Tears of joy came to the eyes of all the Brajwasis. "This is prem, the root of rasa." The Murlika, the joy-giver, Shri Krishna Chandra, found a fitting place to hide his shyness. He ran, tucked the flute into his waistband, clung to Maiya's lap, and hid his face in her garment. Tears of joy flowed from Brajrani's eyes. The gopi-beauties saw this new form of the Lord.

Until now he had been giving joy with various kinds of flute-playing. Now every gopi who met Shri Krishna Chandra would say, "Lala, please play the flute a little." Shri Krishna Chandra, who was adorning the lap of Brajeshwar and Brajrani, was approached by crowds of Brajwasi gopis who said:

he Krishna matra kuch chu chukchopi nalam y tad adham putam tavasi tenate katipyo kasmat kasmat guragta kalwe path

O Krishna, .. From where did you learn this? Who was your guru?

"O Krishna, O compassionate one! Till now I knew only this: that your tender lips taste only your mother's breast milk. I did not know that those small lips could place a flute on them and play such a wondrous flute. Tell us, we have never seen you play the flute before. Where did you learn it? This is the first time you have played the flute in Vrindavan, so who is the guru of this flute?"

nirman tavyam mukhasta venu punar lalanwa

(The gopis ask:) .. Play the flute once more, O Lala.

"My Lala, I take the blessings of your moon-face. O dark-hued one, play the flute once more, play it!" When Shri Krishna Chandra heard this encouraging request from the Brajwasis, Baba signalled in front of Maiya: "Play it, play it!"

Now, the flute can never be played while Lala stands straight. Prem-rasa resides in the flute, and it carries such weight that Maharaj Ji bends in three places. The neck is tilted, the lotus feet: this is his mudra. When he holds the flute he becomes Lalit Tribhangi.

As soon as he received the signal from Baba and Maiya, he placed the flute on his lips again.

uchur yada swajanni jan ko kanthe tam bye nath tada sarsi karot

When his own mother drew him into her embrace, then he made the sound sweet and delightful.

At that very moment, as he placed the flute on his lips and began to play, the gods began to appear in the sky. Among the celestial vimanas, seated on his swan vehicle, was four-faced Shri Brahma Ji, the creator of the entire creation.

ashtabhti put no va kaak kalyan sat dhati rup dhati mukto maral pash mu lutti maral

(Seated on the swan's back, he was enraptured by the sound.)

Why was there such great relish? Because he has four faces, he has eight ears! With those eight ears he drank in the flute's sound, and Brahma Ji became enraptured. He leapt down from the swan and rolled in the dust before the Lord. Such is the bliss of the flute. Overwhelmed, Brahma Ji came down from the swan through his eight ears, first listening, then rolling in reverence.

And Devraj Indra has a thousand eyes. So he is watching the Lord, Lalit Tribhangi Murli Manohar, playing the flute, with his thousand eyes. Today that curse has become a boon. In fact, they were not a thousand eyes. They were a thousand bhag. When he took the form of Gautam and was with Ahilya, the wife of Sage Gautam, and Gautam Rishi learned of it, he said: "You are so fond of bhag, so may a thousand bhag appear on your body." When Indra fell at his feet, Gautam said: "When Raghunath Ji appears and you have his darshan, these will be transformed into eyes." So the Lord appeared in Treta Yuga, and in Dwapar he is having darshan of Shri Krishna Chandra too. So from the thousand eyes, tears are flowing.

There are no clouds at all, yet drops of nectar are falling: fragrant drops that awaken intoxication. Why? From the flute's sound, a rain of prem-rasa is falling in Vrindavan. Prem-varsha, a stream born of the flute's sound.

chitram va dhan binapi tarsa y dharay durat pashyat dev matrabhut Vrindavi mandlam

Wondrous! Without clouds, a stream pours down. From afar the gods behold the Vrindavan circle..

By the flute-sound of the little Nand Nandan, all of Vrindavan, both the immovable and the movable, is absorbed in bliss.

[sound of clearing throat]

dravti shikhar vrinde chanchle venu nad dis da viti nirjhara sameeksha tasit khag mrigali gant muka jat sva na patu samtha

The peaks melt, O Vrinde, at the restless sound of the flute. Streams flow in every direction. Seeing this, the birds and herds of deer, longing for it, are eager to go, but cannot move.

The flute-sound had such an effect that the peaks of Giriraj Maharaj melted and began to flow. Rasa began to flow from the mountain. Tenderness came into the stone. Melted matter flowed all around. Birds, animals, and herds of deer are becoming absorbed in samadhi. Wherever the Lord plays the flute, they run there and stand still in a calm mood. The sanchari bhav of stupor (jadta) comes upon them.

The capacity to drink in that stream is no longer there. In the fish, everything is flowing the other way. The Yamuna's water is flowing backwards, to where Nandnandan is playing the flute. [unclear in the captions] The flute's sound has such a miracle, such an effect, that it made the water of the lake freeze into stone, and it melted the stone and made it flow. The swans and hen-swans, touched by that water, are standing just as they were, because they have drunk in the sound of the flute.

Became still. When Lord Shri Krishna Chandra played this second flute, sitting in Baba's lap, at Maiya's signal and Baba's signal to the Brajvasis. Now the Brajvasi gopis, four of them, Lala plays the flute. At first they hesitated to play the flute, but now that they have been pleaded with, the hesitation has loosened. Now the whole day is this work, wherever Lala's flute goes. Lala Lalit Tribhangi, what happiness. That is why the happiness of the Brajvasis is hard even for Brahma to get; sometimes Brahma ji does get it.

Nandlal bajai bansuri shri Yamuna ke tir ri
adhar kar mili sapt swarson upjat rag rasal ri
Nandlal played the flute on the banks of the Shri Yamuna. Lips joined with the seven notes, and a sweet raga arose.

Nandlal bajai bansuri shri Yamuna ke tir ri
adhar kar mili sapt swarson upjat rag rasal ri
Nandlal played the flute on the banks of the Shri Yamuna. Lips joined with the seven notes, and a sweet raga arose.

Within a few days of coming to Vrindavan, Shri Krishna Chandra took complete residence in the hearts of all the Brajvasis. Playing the flute, he now seems to have arrived in his eternal place of delight, and so all the divine kunj and nikunj are illuminated.

The Lord no longer goes to anyone's house. Now the leela of butter and curd does not happen. Now someone's pots and pitchers keep getting broken. Now the heart is being struck. Flute-playing goes on, and his age is gradually increasing. Rohini's son Balram is always on alert, because Krishna is restless and serious. Balram keeps watching his activities. Sometimes in the cowshed, sometimes in some kunj, sometimes he plays with a calf. Brajraj cautions them. Balram must stay alert, because Krishna has no sense of anything that might be harmful to him.

Balram stays with him always. In many places, in the Ramavatar, when Lakshman's enthusiasm rose, the Lord would stop him. So Balram said: next time you take an avatar for leela, we will not be the younger brother; we will be the elder brother, so that we can stop you. You will not be able to stop us. One day he gathered all the calves and told his sakhas, "Let's take them far away, graze them there, and play there." But Maiya explained that she could not give permission. Again and again he heard, "You are not yet capable." Today he decided, "No, now we will go and graze the calves."

chhote-chhote bachhde lekar goshta mein maiya ri main gay charavan ja ho tu kah mah nand Baba so bodo bhyo ab na darai ho maiya Baba se kah de ki anumati de de mujhe ab dekho main bada ho gaya hoon ab main darta nahi hoon kisi se mujhe ab bachhde charane ke liye gaue charane ke liye anumati de do aur phir main akele thodi hoon.
Taking the little calves to the cowshed, Mother, I will go to graze the cows. Tell Nand Baba that I have grown up now, and I am no longer afraid. Mother, tell Baba to give me permission. Look, I have grown big, I am not afraid of anyone. Give me permission now to graze the calves and the cows, and anyway I am not alone.

shri ramalay aadi sakha sab aruhal dhar sang la ho dah bhat kavar bhar la ho bhookh lage tab kho maiya ri main gay charavan ja ho banseevat ki shital chhaiya khelt mein sukh pon parmanand das sang khelo jae jamun tat naho maiya ri main gay charavan ja ho
Shri Ramalay and all the other sakhas, carrying their baskets with curd rice and food, when hunger comes, then, Mother, I will go to graze the cows. In the cool shade of Banshivat I find happiness in play. Paramanand Das plays with me on the banks of the Yamuna. Mother, I will go to graze the cows.

Mother's every pore fills with joy on hearing these words. [She says:] "Oh little Gopal, to graze cows in the forest one also needs capability. I cannot even imagine sending you to graze the cows." Thus she refuses. At this time Lord Shri Krishna is three years old.

Now comes the tableau of the kumar bhava. The childhood has disappeared from the Lord's limbs, and the kumar stage has arisen. Mother dresses him in very beautiful clothes. The dhoti is very beautiful, yellow with a border. Anyway, he who subdues millions of Cupids looks beautiful in whatever he wears; he looks lovely. Become attached to him, and he will show you all his forms. Mother adorns him with great care, and how beautiful he looks. If you chant naam jap a little, the mirror of your mind becomes clean. Then he will become visible and start to shine. Then there is no desire to say anything; there is no need for speech or dealings. Just keep drinking in that form, and keep gazing again and again at your Kunwar Kishori. Great souls who had attained liberation, seeing his form, found the happiness of liberation made insignificant. Such is the form of Lal ji, such is the form of Priyaji. He wears a yellow silk garment over himself; Mother has done a very beautiful adornment.

vastram dati janani nihitam prayatnat chhipam cha bandhan dhiya swayti Pitambar phahra raha hai.
Mother has carefully dressed him in the garment, and the yellow silk is fluttering.

Wearing a yellow dhoti, with a girdle tied, golden armlets and bracelets, a peacock-feather crown, earrings, and the flute at the waist. Whoever goes out, the great ascetic Brajvasi people, the young women of Braj, the deer, animals, birds, and all of them drink in the nectar of his form through the cups of their eyes. Such a form is not something the munis can reach by meditating. Oh, if even one finger of his lotus hand could be seen, it would make the bliss of Brahman seem small. He is so beautiful, Lord. And gazing at his form is their supreme happiness. Very fortunate are those in whom even a little interest has arisen in the Lord's naam, form, leela, and dham. When he goes out, some Brajvasini says, "Oh, Nandnandan has come! Come, run, everyone!" They drink in the nectar of his form first, leaving all their household work, and everyone stands outside. And that elephant-lord walks with a wonderfully graceful gait, giving happiness to everyone. Every day Mother adorns him, and every day he gives happiness to the Brajvasis. Sometimes he plays with the cow-calves, and sometimes he begins to play with the bulls. The big bulls, the bulls.. Balram ji is running toward them. Now, that is no ordinary bull.

These are not souls of tamas at all. These are the ascetic paramhansas who play with Bhagwan, and that is why they have become cows and bulls. Balram ji comes and forcibly grabs them, saying, "Let go! Lala, move away, you'll get hurt." He protects him. Then Balram ji goes and complains to Maiya: "Playing with calves and with gentle cows is fine, but now he has started playing with the big bulls too. And mind you, we were nearby. If we had not been there, some harm could have come." The residents of Braj feel immense joy. Ram and Shyam, with their beautiful splendour, graceful movements of the eyebrows, gentle smiles and sweet words, bestow great bliss on everyone, and every Brajvasi remains absorbed in supreme joy.

Brajeshwar's heart is always absorbed in thanking Lord Narayan. Blessed is Narayan! You are the very portion of Narayan himself, and by your grace you gave such a son and such a retinue,

kasha preetim yachchhanto bal cheshtit kalwakya swakalan vats palobhwat

Lovingly, Yashoda permitted her playful child: "In your own time, become calf-herders."

After much insistence, Maiya gave her order: "Take the calves and graze them right here, near the cowshed in the goshtha. Don't go far yet." The order was given: "In your own time, become the calf-herders. Go, young calves, and stay close." As if Nanda's son had received a great treasure, all the children along with Balram

abheeram kanchan bhushan kanchan dam tinum adhinayak junand ko barsat ami koti chand ko

Radiant, adorned with gold ornaments and golden garlands, the lord of Nanda's line, showering nectar like a million moons.

When Brahma muhurta begins, the sky of Brajpur Vrindavan fills with auspicious sounds.

Because when the Brajvasini gopis churn butter, in every house they sing sweetly, immersed in the name and form of Krishna. Yashoda Maiya has given the order for calf-grazing, but it will begin today. The gops, the gop women, the grown-up gops and the young boys are all enthusiastic. Brajeshwar, the Queen of Braj, did not rest at night either. Tomorrow Lala will begin calf-grazing. Perhaps the Lord began grazing cows from Gopashtami. Even today, all of us Brajvasis hold the parikrama of Mathura and Vrindavan on Gopashtami, and then here, the residents of Vrindavan, of this area, hold it on Ekadashi as well. Mathura and all of it.. How? Oh, there used to be an immense crowd. Now this Raman Reti, which used to be full and flowing, many times I did the parikrama with Gurudev Bhagwan. The whole garland was formed, Vrindavan, Mathura and Garuda Govinda, the whole garland was formed. So many devotees, all barefoot; now only a few are seen. Now, gradually, faith itself is disappearing. A fair used to be held here for four or five days, on Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dashami, Ekadashi, Dwadashi. The fair was held here then. Buddy, you could buy anything.

Not a single shop is seen at Raman Reti now. Everything is closed. That state of things that existed 25 years ago is no longer there. Let another 25 years pass and something else will happen. Time keeps changing every day. All the Brajvasis were awake, thinking that tomorrow Nanda's son would go to graze the calves. Dawn is still a long way off. "Lala, first, Maiya, hurry up!" Maiya says, "It is still midnight, go to sleep." Sleep is not coming to them either. They have to take the cows toward the forest. They are very excited, and out of that excitement they sometimes try to run away from the bedroom. But Maiya Yashoda stayed awake the whole night, consoling and persuading them: "It's only two o'clock now, it's three, now go to sleep." When the morning singing began, with the sound of churning and washing of milk, the Lord could no longer keep patience. Maiya closed the door but did not latch the bolt. "This one won't be satisfied this way," she said, and fastened the chain. Maiya, it has become morning. Look how much the Lord loves the cows. Today our cows are not being loved. Cow service, cow protection, cow milk, cow ghee and cow curd are the very foundation of our dharma. They are very useful for our life, and they are also part of our worship.

We perform abhishek of our Lord with cow milk, cow curd and cow ghee; indeed, it is done with these. Now, mostly out of greed for money and greed for more milk, the consumption of our pure indigenous (desi) cows is decreasing. Great mahapurushas, saints and mahatmas are tending lakhs of cows. Householders, out of greed for milk, have started keeping buffaloes and foreign cows. We feel that money will come, but the intellect will not remain pure. If you serve your own desi cow, then the bread cooked on its cow-dung cakes will purify the intellect.

Cow's milk is very radiant (tejasvi). It has the element of gold and greatly nourishes the intellectual level. The brahmarishis consumed this very thing. The havishya offering for the deities comes from it, which is why every sage kept a cow, because their daily routine was fulfilled through the cow. The cow has the presence of all the deities, and the cow is the foundation of our Sanatan Dharma. If the foundation falls, the whole palace will collapse. See how much enthusiasm Govind Bhagwan himself has for cow service. Maiya explains it to him again and again, but this little one, who is only three years old, cannot yet grasp the chain and open it.

So he prays to Maiya: "Maiya, let me go outside. Now it is morning. Now I will graze my calves." Balram ji has come, and the friends have come. Maiya has arranged everything for the calf-grazing through the whole night. When the golden rays of the sun rose, that is, when Bhagwan Surya rose, Maiya drew back the chain. At the door, banana pillars, auspicious pots, flags and pennants, a toran of garlands, a canopy of flowers and so on were arranged. The gops, skilled connoisseurs of art, arranged new leaves one after another, and the gopis made beautiful chowks. The colourful Brajrani stood astonished when the chain was opened. The whole doorway was adorned with chowks, with toran, flower canopies, flags and pennants, and auspicious pots. In the great Vrindavan forest, such a beautiful decoration was made.

Today the decoration is like the one done at Baba's house when the little one was born. Just as Gokul was adorned then, Vrindavan is adorned today. By coincidence, today is also the day of the annaprashan. Brajeshwar, it is a wonder: as on a birthday occasion, when everyone in Gokul was invited, so at the Vatsa Charan festival all the Brajvasis were called. Brij maidens are singing auspicious songs, beautifully dressed, and the gopis are arriving at the house in groups, carrying trays full of auspicious items. There Baba Lalji and Yashoda Maiya have decorated the very beautiful Neelmani, Shri Lalji.

Full of joy, wearing a peacock-feather crown, how beautiful his form is. Wide eyes like lotus petals, a broad forehead, such charming nose, such beautiful lips. His form is such that one can only keep weeping on seeing it. This is the weeping of bliss. Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Dev would cry out, "Ah, my Pranath! Ha Krishna! Ha, my.." He wept incessantly, without pause, for eighteen years in Gambhira. Such was his love, such was his state. He was God himself. One day I saw Mahaprabhu. He had nodded off for a moment, because they stayed awake day and night. His intimate companion Govind Das was saying, "Prabhu, Prabhu, Prabhu, what is this?" Mahaprabhu kept saying, "He, Krishna, He, Krishna," rubbing and pressing his head, holding him in an embrace. Govind Das asked, "Prabhu, what are you doing?" He replied, "Shri Krishna is standing outside, calling me, so I am making a path." Then Mahaprabhu said that from now on no one would sleep, in turn, day and night. Such is his form that he is God himself.

He is himself an acharya. While chanting the naam, he gives the heart hardships again and again, so that it becomes strong enough to bear love. Otherwise, what do you think? If he smiles, the heart has no strength to live. Understand that the heart does not have the capacity to endure it when Shri Krishna smiles. Such capacity comes slowly, through the mantra, the naam, and the grace of the Guru, through his grace. Bhagat grih tan guru hitkar. His form is so beautiful that, brother, look at the power of speech to describe it. Beauty is an ocean: blue-lotus cheeks, smooth, with the glimmer of the earrings and the curls. How can speech measure it? His eyes hold magic.

Think of that magic. Seeing it, we tell you not to worry. He is very generous, most generous and beautiful. You have not seen him, you have not met him, yet you have left everything and come for him alone. He will take care of what comes next. Do not worry, do not worry. Think: whether you have shaved your head or grown matted locks, why are we sitting here? It is for him that we have set out. We set out only by hearing about him, and he has barely spoken to us. Now I speak from the heart. He is in debt to these people, because they have not seen me and I have not spoken with them, and yet so many provocateurs met them, saying, "Where is God? Which God?" Even so, they came for me, shaving and renouncing. That is enough. Do not worry, that is enough. Vishveshwar Vishwanath is God. That is enough, for on seeing just this much..

shravan sujas suni ayo prabhu bhanjan bhav veer traah trahi aarti haran
Having heard of your glory with my ears, I have come, O Lord who breaks the fear of worldly existence. Save me, save me, O remover of distress.

avgun kare samudra sam ganat na apno jaan rai ke sam bhajan ko manat mero
Even if one's faults are like the ocean, he does not count them as his own. Even a mustard seed's worth of bhajan, he takes as his own.

He is listening. He sits within you and listens. There is no particle where he is not. On the Vatsa Charan day, Maiya has done the decoration.

Some decoration was left. The boy ran off, and Maiya ran after him: "Hey, let me finish the full decoration!" Shri Rohini ji is decorating Balram, and Yashoda Maiya is decorating Lalji. On seeing Balram, one's patience is shaken. He is fair-complexioned, and when he is dressed in blue garments, the nilambar, Balram looks very beautiful. The pair has been like this since childhood, one in yellow and one in blue. Yes, later on, Priya wears the nilambar and Sarkar wears the pitambar. From childhood Balram has worn the nilambar, and Lalji wears the pitambar.

The Lord was not one to sit still for decoration like this. He was very restless: "Maiya, that's enough, isn't it done? Now let me go quickly with the cowherd friends." Mother pleads a lot: "Stop, my child, let me put on the full decoration." With boundless affection, Maiya adorns the dark, emerald-hued limbs with beautiful garments and ornaments. Then she steps back and gazes at the moon-like face. "Lala, after decorating your Thakur, you should hold up a mirror, step back a little, and have darshan. Is there any shortcoming in today's decoration?"

Then tears come again and again. When you decorate your beloved and look at him, you see something else entirely. This whole play is of bhaav, of inner feeling. As your bhaav is, so he is present in form right now. We are speaking of naam seva, Radha naam seva. When you apply attar and sandal paste and look through a rose flower, the vision of the Divine Couple appears. One would become completely restless. After hours of decoration, tears would come. It is only a matter of joining the bhaav. Join it, and all the connections link up, and then he is an ocean of bliss.

Seeing him, Maiya says, "My Neelmani looks new and beautiful every day. It is as if I had never seen him before. Every moment his beauty and grace keep increasing. Today I have put on so many adornments, and he looks so beautiful that my own gaze might fall on him." Seeing the combined beautiful form of Priya and Pritam, she says the same, and so the sakhis break off straws to ward off the evil eye.

Priya pritam chandan ke vriksh mein jhula para hai sundar jhool rahe hain padi priyal ekam ek ho rahe hain hit chintak nij cherinu u anandan sama
Priya and Pritam are swinging beautifully on a swing hung from a sandalwood tree. In the shade of the priyal tree they have become one. The well-wisher's own maidservants, their joy overflows.

tan torat tinka todte anguliyan chitkati hai balhari jati
Breaking off straws, snapping her fingers, she is a sacrifice for them.

hit chintak nij chen u anand samat nirakh nipat nainan sukh tan torat balijat
The well-wisher's joy overflows. Gazing with my eyes, I am utterly delighted; I break off straws and am a sacrifice.

From her heart, Mother prays to Lord Narayan: "O Narayan, remover of all fears, may no one's evil eye fall on my son. Today is the first day."

He has gone off to graze the calves, and in the past such misfortunes have happened several times. May no misfortune befall him. O Narayan, O Hari, Mother prays to Hari himself to protect her child.

vats charavan jat kanhaiya ut ang anbhay lal ko phuli phirat magan man maiya nij kar kar shringar vivid vidhi kajal rekh bhaal par deeni di lagbe ke dar jasamti isht dev so vinati keeni

Kanhaiya goes out to graze the calves. Mother walks about, her mind absorbed and glowing with love for her son. With her own hands she adorns him in many ways, applying a line of kajal and a mark on his forehead, and to ward off the evil eye Yashoda offers a prayer to her chosen deity.

Puja began: the installation of the kalash and the rest. Diamonds, rubies, cat's-eye, topaz, sapphire and many other gems were placed in a vessel and given in charity to the brahmins. Yashoda Maiya completed the donations and offerings, and the puja was finished. The calves and the cows were worshipped, and then Gopal was given the tilak.

Lovely is the beloved's staff in hand, and this staff of his is also bent. Look, just as Shri Radha drinks, this is the staff we will find among the vines of our Braj. It will be found bent, graceful and tribhangi. That is what is called a lakut. The one called a danda is the straight one. Only the bent one is called a lakut.

sohat lal lakut kar rati suthan kati cholna arun rang Pitambar ki gati aise hi gop sab ban aae jo sab Shyam sangti

The beloved looks lovely with the staff in his hand, in his tight-waisted dhoti and his reddish-yellow silk. Thus all the cowherds came to the forest, in the company of Shyam.

Now, with his divine sakhas, a staff on his shoulder, and the flute at his waist, along with the whole herd of calves and his friends, the beloved dances. Seeing the cowherd band doing cow service today, one is left astonished. The calves leap about, seeing the Lord, their joy overflowing. "Now we'll get to be together, won't we?"

Surprisingly, wherever Shri Krishna goes, all the calves gather of their own accord. No one has to herd them and no one has to call them. Since childhood he has been pampering them and feeding them, so they follow him quietly, and he has drunk their milk in full. Once they are released, they are his sakhas anyway. So the calves go wherever Shri Krishna goes, and the cowherds stand dumbstruck, because the calves bound along in leaps with Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna stands in the middle, with tiny calves all around him, and some of his elder friends, a little older than him, holding sticks in their hands, all raising their hands high, saying, "We are ready!"

Victory to Nandlal, the protector of the calves! Victory to Nandlal, the protector of the calves! All the sakhas shout in this way. Shri Krishna Chandra bows his head at the feet of the elders and takes their blessing.

Even if it is not the custom of the cowherd clan, how could Mother send Nilmani and Balram without putting sandals on their feet? All the cowherds went barefoot. Mother felt that our child's feet are so tender. This is no marble royal road, it is a forest, a forest path. Some insect might bite, a thorn might prick, a stone or a pebble might hurt. My child's soles are so delicate. Without consulting Brajeshwar, she had sandals brought and gave them to the Lord.

Shri Krishna came out from among the calves and said, "The calves do not have sandals on their feet, do they? My sakhas do not have sandals on their feet, do they? So Mother, how can I wear sandals? Just as our calves and our sakhas do not wear them, I will not wear them either." Mother was very pleased, because in the joyful ecstasy of her child, that was said, and in Mother's heart she felt that her child's happiness had been reached.

Now a cowherd boy blew the horn, the singing sound. Through gestures, all the sakhas understood what they had to do.

Following the custom of the calf-herding, the Lord set off with all the sakhas, taking the calves along. Mother said to the elder friends, Makkhan and the other food-bearers: "Wherever my child feels hungry, you must all come together and feed him."

And the mood of Krishna is that of Balram's way, as Balram says. Just as Balram says, that is how it should be done, because you are young and your understanding is still weak. As Balram says, the Lord goes out to graze the calves of Hari. Today Yashoda, joyful, performs the aarti, arranging all the auspicious things. The women of Braj sing songs of blessing, with pearls in full plates. Laughing and making others laugh, Gopal goes along with the calf-boys.

As Balram says, the Lord goes to graze Hari's calves today. Yashoda, joyful, performs the aarti with all the auspicious things. The women of Braj sing blessings, with pearls in full plates. Laughing and making others laugh, Gopal goes along with the boys and the calves.

On the earth, which the hooves of the calves have dug up, the soft footprints of Gopal fall.

Seeing this, Akrur ji was swept away. Our Lord did not wear sandals. He has no fear of pebbles or thorns harming his feet. Marking the land of Braj with the imprints of his feet, the one whose feet Sadashiv keeps in his heart, the daughter of the ocean (Lakshmi) does not turn away from them. He who always dwells in the meditation of Lord Shankar, who dwells in Lakshmi's heart, whose feet even Prahlad remembers with heart and word and deed, those feet, touched by the pure waters and the sight of the sacred lotus, remove all sorrow. With those very feet the Lord walks barefoot.

Those feet, which Sadashiv holds in his meditation and which Lakshmi keeps in her heart, which Prahlad remembers in thought, word and deed, and whose touch of the sacred water removes all sorrow: with those very feet the Lord walks barefoot.

The earth is thrilled. The presiding goddess of the earth now feels that the footprints of the Lord are being formed upon her breast. Every atom of Braj is supremely sacred, marked with the Lord's footprints. The earth holds on her heart the tender feet of the son of the lord of Braj.

vasudhacha sudha semev tadeev charan sancharan manwana vrindya sahcha yogam tanwana tadanukulyavshesham nirwasesham chakar

(Sanskrit, garbled in the captions. The sense is: the earth, touched by the movement of the Lord's feet, and the groves of Vrinda, joined with his companions, the Lord accomplished everything in accordance with that.)

Lord Shri Krishna Chandra, at a short distance, grazes the calves with his sakhas. Following the custom of Braj, whoever comes to Nand's house, his mind is stolen by Kanhai.

Following the custom of Braj, whoever comes to Nand Bhavan has his mind stolen by Kanhai.

Now the Lord has started going out to graze the calves every day. Every day, giving immense joy to the hearts of the Braj residents, the whole circle of Braj is drowned in divine bliss. Even today all of this is filled with divine bliss.

Our vision is somewhat shaped by illusion, so we do not experience it. On one pretext or another, now the elders of Braj, the old men and the cowherds, began to come every day to have darshan. On one excuse after another, Nand Mahar's household comes, and everyone of Gokul, the whole world, gazes at the face and has no other work. The only thing to do is to behold Nandnandan. Nanddas says: the eyes are fixed on Nandlal, and not a blink passes, as if four ages were going by.

ghan nand mahar ke mis hi mis ave Gokul Gokul ke jitne jan hain bhu dham kam o badan nihari kisi ko aur kam suta nahi bas nand nandan ko nirakhna nanddas Nandlal so lage nayan palak ki ot mano bite jug chari

On one pretext after another they come to Nand Mahar's house. Every person of Gokul gazes at the face, with no other work, only to behold Nandnandan. Nanddas says: the eyes are fixed on Nandlal, and not a blink passes, as if four ages were going by.

Everyone keeps watching like this, forgetting their daily work, with nothing to do but gaze at the form of Nand's son. The daily grazing of the calves: in the morning, he gets up and goes every day, and before evening he returns with the calves. Every day, with his sakhas, the Lord plays many kinds of divine games.

Krishna sometimes plays the flute, sometimes plays with a ball, and sometimes plays hide-and-seek. At times he dances very beautifully. The anklets on his feet and the girdle at his waist ring together. Sometimes he plays with the calves as if he were their companion, and sometimes he wrestles like bulls fighting one another. He plays the way ordinary children play. In these many ways, the Lord performs his divine play.

When they are tired, they open the chhak, the food each of them has brought from home, and sit down together to eat.

sakhan sahit hari jevat chhaak prem sahit maiya da pathai hit so bahuvid kine paak sakhan sahit hari jevat chhaak subal Sudama sang sakha mili bhojan ruch kar khaat gwalan te kar chhaak chhudavat mukh mein meli saravat jat

Hari dines with his friends on the chhak. Mother sent it with love, prepared in many good ways. Subal and Sudama join the friends, and they eat with relish. Snatching the chhak from the cowherd boys' hands, they put it in their mouths, praising it as they go.

Sometimes he takes from one friend, sometimes from another. The friends celebrate with great joy, laughing and jesting as they eat the prasad. The happiness that Krishna gives in Vrindavan is not found in the three worlds. Shyam is won over by his devotees, and so he is called Brahman. Aha! He who is the Supreme Brahman, whose father is Nanda Baba, the son of Nanda, the happiness he pours out in Vrindavan does not exist in the three worlds.

In the morning he goes to the forest, in the evening he returns, and at midday he eats the food given by the gopis of Braj.

Kamla-nayak, giver of Vaikuntha, in whose hands are the happiness and sorrow of the world, with a shoulder-blanket on his shoulder and a staff in his hand, plays with the calves.

Kans learned that Gokul had been emptied, and his doubt grew. "Gokul has become empty. That means the one who will kill me is that one. He killed Putana, he killed Trinavarta, he killed Shakatasura. So where has he gone? As the goddess said, the one who will take my life has truly been born. I am certain he has been born in Nanda Gop's house, because Putana was killed there, and Trinavarta too. They fled from Gokul and went to Vrindavan. That means he is afraid of me. So the one who will kill me is now surely in Nanda's house."

Nanda Gopal is with him. Only six days old, with newborn limbs, he killed the mighty Putana. "That's him, that's him, the one who will kill me." Trinavarta, who was very powerful, was also killed by him. He deceives and kills, so how far can he escape? As the goddess said, the one who takes life has been born, so it is certain that the son who has taken the form of Nanda's son is none other than the Lord himself.

Sahasa gambhirya vartena viryati senas lambaniyata lambitam.

With sudden gravity and great strength, he moves like an army.

It is clear that at such a young age, he killed Putana with unmatched strength and prowess. We have to consider his greatness. Now is the time to uproot him. Word came that he goes out with his friends to graze the calves. Kans's body trembles. He gets up, walks about, and thinks. His mind is flooded with worry. "Alas, can he be killed by deceit? Those who use deceit, he outdoes with greater deceit. How can he be trapped by trickery? All our efforts will be in vain. How will he be killed?"

Then he rose quickly and ordered the gate guards, "Summon all the spies to me at once." The spies knew their king's intentions well. On hearing the summons, their hearts began to pound. "Whom will he send today? Whoever he sends goes and comes back dead." They began to offer their salutations. Maharaj Kans is frightened. Without any other preface, the king spoke at once.

Tat malitam jato kasya tasa sne bhasa parama parameta.

"Have you just now seen which of that Nanda's son's affections is strongest? Whom does he love most, and whom does he honor? I mean, of which kind of being, human, animal, bird, or insect, is he most fond? Which beings are worthy of his regard?"

This same spy had seen the charming calf-herding play of Yashoda's dark-blue son. The secret spy had gone and reported that Gokul had been left behind, and that in Vrindavan he grazes calves. "I saw it with my own eyes. Shri Krishna loves the calves very much. Sometimes he strokes them with his yellow garment, sometimes with his hand, and sometimes he kisses the calves with his mouth. He holds a calf to his neck. He loves the calves very much. That son of Nanda, the calves are his dearest life. He caresses them with his own hand."

"O cowherd calves, the boy loves the calf very much. I saw this myself with my own eyes. That was all I needed to know."

The spy was ordered to go back. In the next moment, the bodyguard servant received his orders.

Akaryata purataa sa vatsasura.

Summon Vatsasura.

Joy spread across Kans's face, because Vatsasura was a mighty demon. "Go at once and bring Vatsasura before us!" Akaratam purnatah sa vatsasura. Then the shrewd Kans began to praise the demon Vatsasura. "Your strength, your valor, and your courage are very praiseworthy.

"Vatsa, Vatsasura, you are very worthy of our honor, and very dear to us. Go to Nanda's Braj. Having gone there, [..] Now go to Vrindavan and do a task for me. Where Nanda's son grazes the calves and performs his childlike sports, you must go close to him. Do not come in this demonic form. Take the form of a calf, mingle with the calves, and when he is off guard, strike and kill him. Your thinking and your effort are the same, and you are very skilled."

That is, it should have the behaviour of a calf and the form of a calf. And when it is off its guard, you should kill it. The demonic nature of this calf-demon, which has existed since time without beginning, is about to come to an end. The words of Nandini, the cow of Maharishi Vashishtha, are about to come true for the realisation of the Lord. This Vatsasura was once a demon named Pramil, the son of Mur. This Pramil, the undefeated victor, one day by the course of fate went towards the ashram of Vashishtha ji. There his gaze fell on Kamdhenu Nandini. The moment he saw her, he was enchanted. Wishing to obtain her, Pramil took the disguise of a brahmin.

Then he asked Vashishtha for Nandini. The Maharishi refused, saying it was by no means possible, since she is the giver of the future. Then Vashishtha ji saw that he was a demon. "Coming disguised as a brahmin, you have come to steal the cows of the sages. You are the demon son of Mur. Wicked-minded one, you were speaking such words through deceit. If you want a cow, go and become a calf!" That is why the demon was named Vatsasura. Countless years passed while he remained a demon, suffering many kinds of affliction, and now he is about to receive the Lord's gracious blessing.

The inconceivable divine power of leela signalled to Lord Shri Krishna, the son of Brajendra himself: "Lord, today, get plenty of butter. One is coming, Vatsasura, and you have to deliver him." Kansa's thought was that Vatsasura was extremely powerful and would finish off Krishna. Then doubt arose: the mighty ones were not able to defeat him. What if this one too gets killed?

Kansa is very agitated and burning greatly. Meanwhile, when the Lord showers His grace, one gets the vision of Vrindavan's unparalleled beauty. At the end of the night, at dawn, Lord Krishna and Balram awoke. The daily routine: waking Them lovingly, wiping Their faces, satisfying Them with sweet food, then bathing Them, then Them putting on beautiful clothes and ornaments, then calling hundreds of cowherd friends, and going into the forest surrounded by calves. First the sound of the horn would fill the sky. Then, with the sound of the flute, everything moving and unmoving was delighted. Then, having had darshan of Kalind-nandini (the Yamuna), following the bank towards the Giriraj area, the Lord would go far into the forest with the calves.

Now discipline had become looser, because they knew that for many days the calves had been returning safely without fail, and the Lord too returned safely. Ram and Shyam came home unharmed, so now Maiya did not advise them much. The calves began to graze, and the Lord, sitting in the shade of the banyan tree with His friends, watched over them. Sometimes they started playing. Now this demon came and first had darshan of divine Vrindavan. While the Lord was grazing the calves, he slowly took the form of a calf and came and mingled into the herd among the calves. Lord Shri Krishna's gaze fell on him.

"We recognise you. Go on, play." The Lord saw him at the first glance. What was there to escape from Him? The demon understood that nobody had known him, and he kept up the act of a calf grazing. Slowly he pushed aside each calf, trying to get close to Krishna and Balram. But suddenly something new happened. A calf right beside him sensed that his smell was different and his gait was different, and it butted him with its little horns, because it did not like the smell. "This is not the smell of our group. It is a demon's smell." When the calf struck him, he lifted his tail. But Kansa had taught him: do not try any new trick, your gait should be just like a calf's. Shri Krishna Chandra's attention was only on him, lest he harm any calf or any friend.

"Brother, do you recognise this calf? This calf did not come with me this morning. Can you tell me which calf this is?" He said this to Balram ji. "The one whose tail went up when our calf struck him. I want to show him to you." Balram ji, the elder brother, did not turn his attention that way.

He said, "Brother, I have not seen anything new. These are our own calves. Look again, brother. I see something else appearing. Look carefully and tell me. That is, look with your divine vision." When Balram ji received the Lord's signal, he said, "Oh brother, this is a demon of terrible nature! This is no calf. It is of extremely terrible nature." Before Balram ji could finish, the reply came: "Dau bhaiya, Dau bhaiya, this is a non-god demon." Then Balram ji said:

satyam yasad asmas Vasu cha kasmat drisht drisht adrishyate

You are right. We are seeing it suddenly among our calves, and how cruel his gaze is. I can see this.

A flush of anger began to appear on the face of the son of Brajendra, and he quietly said into his elder brother's ear:

yadi bhada dashtam yasya tar hetam drishtant masa dayami

If you give the command, let me send him to his end. Take Balram ji's permission with a signal. If you permit, brother, send him off. Rohini's son hesitated to grant this permission to his younger brother. Then, laughing, he said, "You are the centre of strength, but be sure to be careful."

salmetam salmev mandam mand mabhavkand

Go slowly, slowly, in the very manner that he came. "Look, brother, this one came by deceit. So go to him as a deceiver yourself. Go just as he came."

"All right, brother." Caressing all the calves like this, they went on as though the Lord had not even recognised him. Fondling each calf, they slowly reached right beside him and saw the demon who had come in the form of a calf. Krishna asked Balram ji by signal, "Is this him, no?" Balram ji answered, "Yes, this is him."

tam vats rupnam viksha vats yuthagtam hari darshan baldevay sa mug vas sadat

Hari pointed out to Baladeva the enemy in calf form, mingled among the herd of calves.

They drew close and seized both his legs. Whirling him around, they struck him on the ground.

datyam paschim padabhyan hari manasa tatar

Hari seized the demon by both hind legs.

Shri Krishna seized both hind legs, whirled him around, and threw him on the earth. Swinging him in a circle two or three times, every bone of Vatsasura cracked, went chat-chat, and was shattered to pieces. In a single throw, the Lord, the centre of great strength and valour, left him lifeless.

Bhagavan thought, "What is the use of swinging him around? It is only a dead body." So he threw it onto a wood-apple (kaitha) tree. The big ripe wood-apples that were hanging on it all fell to the ground. When the body was released, the Vatsasura, who had come in the form of a calf, was a terrifying demon with an enormous body. Many wood-apple trees broke, many were uprooted, and they were shattered by the impact of his body on them. The Vatsasura, who had come as a demon, fell to the ground.

griheetwaparpadabhyan sah langulmachyut. Bhramyitwa kapitthagre prahinodgatjeevitam ॥
Seizing him by the two hind legs, the Lord whirled him around and flung the great body, its life gone, onto the top of a wood-apple tree.

Many wood-apples came crashing down. Seeing this, the boys were amazed. "Brother Kanhaiya, did you not recognise it? That demon would have harmed our calves and us friends." Now all the friends are embracing Shri Krishna.

They are hugging him and clapping with joy. "My brother Krishna is so strong! One should stay under the protection of the Lord's strength like this." "My Lord, my Lord!" All the boys hug Shri Krishnachandra to their chests, shower him with affection, and bless him. "Nothing has happened to my brother! Nothing has happened to my friend!"

tam bhikshuvismita bala sasu sadhu sadhya asambha ascharya dhanya hai devas parisantushtahu pushpavni
The astonished boys cried, "Well done! Well done!" and "How wonderful, how amazing!" The gods were delighted and showered flowers.

So strong was Vatsasura! When he was slain, the gods came down in their celestial vehicles and rained flowers on the Lord.

devas parisantushta ba pushp varshana
The gods, greatly pleased, showered flowers.

The assembly of cowherd boys saw it:

datya sa maha jyoti Krishna leenam baha
From the demon's body a great light emerged, circled Krishna, and merged into him.

From that dead Vatsasura a divine light rose, circled the Lord, and merged into him. The Lord took hold of Vatsasura's feet and delivered him with his lotus hand. That state is hard even for the great yogis and sages to attain.

tadan dhanuj damno manohar mahe lalso lalso nij sachar nikreshu
Then the subduer of demons, the enchanting and dearly beloved one, was with his own companions.

The demon attained that supreme state, which is rare even for the great yogis.

Then all the Braj residents went home. Mother was frightened: "This is why we don't send him out." The Lord said, "Mother, you have no need to fear. We have Dauji Dada with us, and also the blessing of Lord Narayan, isn't it?" Brother said, "It was not only Narayan's blessing. With a Vatsasura that huge, how would you have survived?"

Having liberated Vatsasura, the Lord returned to his daily routine and gradually began going farther away to graze the cows.

When Kansa learned that Vatsasura had been killed, he was very worried. He thought, "Now there are others ready, Putana's brother Bakasura." Bakasura said, "Lord, don't you worry. My beak is made of diamond. Let them just come into my beak, don't worry at all. Feed him rabri and milk, and let Bakasura gobble him up. These days I'll set these fellows straight too, Lord."

The rest of the discussion follows, about Shri Radhavallabh Lal.

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated captions, so there may be word errors. For authentic words, be sure to listen to the video.

Original video: Shri Hit Radha Kripa (YouTube)