Bhajana Rahasya 6.17: The enchantment of the Lord’s form


When the Holy Name blossoms, the Lord’s beautiful form, which amazes even the Lord Himself, begins to exercise its enchanting power on the devotee. Uddhava describes the wondrous power of the Lord’s beauty to Vidura:

yan martya-līlaupayikaṁ sva-yoga-
māyā-balaṁ darśayatā gṛhītam
vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhaga-rddheḥ
paraṁ padaṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam

To demonstrate the power of His internal potency, Yogamaya, Krishna took this body, which is perfectly suited to His human pastimes. It is so beautiful that it astonishes even Krishna Himself. It is the supreme achievement of opulent beauty, the ornament that beautifies its own ornaments. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.2.12)

Expanded translation: Of all Lord Krishna’s transcendental activities, His earthly pastimes in the human form are the most excellent, for this is His actual, eternal identity. In this form He dresses as a cowherd boy, plays the flute, blossoms with ever fresh youthfulness and dances expertly. His activities resemble those of a human being.

Just listen, My dear Sanatan, to the description of Krishna’s most attractive transcendental form. Just a drop of that beauty submerges the three planes of existence, attracting all living beings to Him.
Krishna desired to show the world the wonders of Yogamaya, His internal spiritual energy, the transformation of existence in its purest state. He did so by revealing this jewel-like form of beauty, this secret treasure of all devotees, manifesting it from His eternal pastimes.

So beautiful is this form that when Krishna sees it, He Himself is astonished and the desire to relish it completely rises up in His mind. This form is thus called “Krishna’s own good fortune”; it is the eternal abode of all of Krishna’s virtues, beginning with His unequalled beauty.

Krishna’s transcendental body is so beautiful that it even beautifies the ornaments He wears. He poses in an attractive curved posture, His bow-shaped eyebrows dance, firing the arrows of His oblique glances, whose aim is true, piercing the minds of Radharani and the gopis.

Beyond this material universe lies the Spiritual Sky, where the Lord’s infinite expansions reside. Krishna’s beauty is so great that it attracts even these lesser forms of Himself. Furthermore, it forcibly steals the minds of the Lakshmis, their consorts, who are glorified in the Vedas as the topmost and most exemplary devoted and chaste wives.

Riding the chariot of the gopis’ minds, Krishna churns the mind of Cupid, and thus has been named Madan Mohan, the enchanter of Cupid. His form, taste, smell, sound, and touch are more powerful than the arrows of Cupid, which attack these senses. He is thus the new Cupid, in which form He takes the gopis to perform the rasa dance.

Krishna takes His companions to graze the cattle and play freely in the Vrindavan forest. While there, He plays on His flute, causing all living entities from the trees and plants to the animals and human beings to tremble, while tears flow in torrents from their eyes.

Krishna’s pearl necklace appears like a flock of white herons, His peacock feather like a rainbow, His golden garments like flashing lightning. Krishna Himself looks like a monsoon cloud appearing at the beginning of the rainy season. He rains down a storm of ambrosia on the crops of the world.

The Lord’s essence is found in the sweetness of His beauty that is displayed in Vrindavan. Vyasa Deva’s son Shuka described this beauty here and there in the Bhägavatam to let the world know of it. When the devotees hear these descriptions, they become intoxicated \with love for Krishna. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.21.101-110)

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