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pradyumnah—Pradyumna (a son of Lord Krsna); sarva—all; vrsninam—of the members of the Vrsni family; sukham—happiness; aste—are in; maha-rathah—the great general; gambhira—deeply; rayah—dexterity; aniruddhah—Aniruddha (a grandson of Lord Krsna); vardhate—flourishing; bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead; uta—must.

How is Pradyumna, the great general of the Vrsni family? Is He happy? And is Aniruddha, the plenary expansion of the Personality of Godhead, faring well?

Pradyumna and Aniruddha are also expansions of the Personality of Godhead, and thus They are also visnu-tattva. At Dvaraka Lord Vasudeva is engaged in His transcendental pastimes along with His plenary expansions, namely Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, and therefore each and every one of Them can be addressed as the Personality of Godhead, as it is mentioned in connection with the name Aniruddha.

SB1.14.31

TEXT 31

susenas carudesnas ca

sambo jambavati-sutah

anye ca karsni-pravarah

saputra rsabhadayah

susenah—Susena; carudesnah—Carudesna; ca—and; sambah—Samba; jambavati-sutah—the son of Jambavati; anye—others; ca—also; karsni—the sons of Lord Krsna; pravarah—all chieftains; sa-putrah—along with their sons; rsabha—Rsabha; adayah—etc.

Are all the chieftain sons of Lord Krsna, such as Susena, Carudesna, Samba the son of Jambavati, and Rsabha, along with their sons, all doing well?

As already mentioned, Lord Krsna married 16,108 wives, and each of them had ten sons. Therefore 16,108 x 10 161,080 sons. They all grew up, and each of them had as many sons as their father, and the whole aggregate was something near 1,610,800 family members of the Lord. The Lord is the father of all living beings, who are countless in number; therefore only a few of them are called to associate with the Lord in His transcendental pastimes as the Lord of Dvaraka on this earth. It is not astonishing that the Lord maintained a visible family consisting of so many members. It is better to refrain from comparing the Lord’s position to ours, and it becomes a simple truth as soon as we understand at least a partial calculation of the Lord’s transcendental position. King Yudhisthira, while inquiring about the Lord’s sons and grandsons at Dvaraka, mentioned only the chieftains amongst them, for it was impossible for him to remember all the names of the Lord’s family members.

SB1.14.32-33

TEXTS 32–33

tathaivanucarah saureh

srutadevoddhavadayah

sunanda-nanda-sirsanya

ye canye satvatarsabhah

api svasty asate sarve

rama-krsna-bhujasrayah

api smaranti kusalam

asmakam baddha-sauhrdah

Also, Srutadeva, Uddhava and others, Nanda, Sunanda and other leaders of liberated souls who are constant companions of the Lord are protected by Lord Balarama and Krsna. Are they all doing well in their respective functions? Do they, who are all eternally bound in friendship with us, remember our welfare?

brahmanyo bhakta-vatsalah

The constant companions of Lord Krsna, such as Uddhava, are all liberated souls, and they descended along with Lord Krsna to this material world to fulfill the mission of the Lord. The Pandavas are also liberated souls who descended along with Lord Krsna to serve Him in His transcendental pastimes on this earth. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8), the Lord and His eternal associates, who are also liberated souls like the Lord, come down on this earth at certain intervals. The Lord remembers them all, but His associates, although liberated souls, forget due to their being tatastha sakti, or marginal potency of the Lord. That is the difference between the visnu-tattva and jiva-tattva. The jiva-tattvas are infinitesimal potential particles of the Lord, and therefore they require the protection of the Lord at all times. And to the eternal servitors of the Lord, the Lord is pleased to give all protection at all times. The liberated souls never, therefore, think themselves as free as the Lord or as powerful as the Lord, but they always seek the protection of the Lord in all circumstances, both in the material world and in the spiritual world. This dependence of the liberated soul is constitutional, for the liberated souls are like sparks of a fire that are able to exhibit the glow of fire along with the fire and not independently. Independently the glow of the sparks is extinguished, although the quality of fire or the glowing is there. Thus those who give up the protection of the Lord and become so-called lords themselves, out of spiritual ignorance, come back again to this material world, even after prolonged tapasya of the severest type. That is the verdict of all Vedic literature.

SB1.14.34

TEXT 34

bhagavan api govindo

kaccit pure sudharmayam

sukham aste suhrd-vrtah

bhagavan—the Personality of Godhead, Krsna; api—also; govindah—one who enlivens the cows and the senses; brahmanyah—devoted to the devotees of the brahmanas; bhakta-vatsalah—affectionate to the devotees; kaccit—whether; pure—in Dvaraka Puri; sudharmayam—pious assembly; sukham—happiness; aste—does enjoy; suhrt-vrtah—surrounded by friends.

Is Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who gives pleasure to the cows, the senses and the brahmanas, who is very affectionate towards His devotees, enjoying the pious assembly at Dvaraka Puri surrounded by friends?

Here in this particular verse the Lord is described as bhagavan, govinda, brahmanya and bhakta-vatsala. He is bhagavan svayam, or the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, full with all opulences, all power, all knowledge, all beauty, all fame and all renunciation. No one is equal to or greater than Him. He is Govinda because He is the pleasure of the cows and the senses. Those who have purified their senses by the devotional service of the Lord can render unto Him real service and thereby derive transcendental pleasure out of such purified senses. Only the impure conditioned living being cannot derive any pleasure from the senses, but being illusioned by false pleasures of the senses, he becomes servant of the senses. Therefore, we need His protection for our own interest. The Lord is the protector of cows and the brahminical culture. A society devoid of cow protection and brahminical culture is not under the direct protection of the Lord, just as the prisoners in the jails are not under the protection of the king but under the protection of a severe agent of the king. Without cow protection and cultivation of the brahminical qualities in human society, at least for a section of the members of society, no human civilization can prosper at any length. By brahminical culture, the development of the dormant qualities of goodness, namely truthfulness, equanimity, sense control, forbearance, simplicity, general knowledge, transcendental knowledge, and firm faith in the Vedic wisdom, one can become a brahmana and thus see the Lord as He is. And after surpassing the brahminical perfection, one has to become a devotee of the Lord so that His loving affection in the form of proprietor, master, friend, son and lover can be transcendentally achieved. The stage of a devotee, which attracts the transcendental affection of the Lord, does not develop unless one has developed the qualities of a brahmana as above mentioned. The Lord is inclined to a brahmana of quality and not of false prestige. Those who are less than a brahmana by qualification cannot establish any relation with the Lord, just as fire cannot be kindled from the raw earth unless there is wood, although there is a relation between wood and the earth. Since the Lord is all-perfect in Himself, there could not be any question of His welfare, and Maharaja Yudhisthira refrained from asking this question. He simply inquired about His residential place, Dvaraka Puri, where pious men assemble. The Lord stays only where pious men assemble and takes pleasure in their glorifying the Supreme Truth. Maharaja Yudhisthira was anxious to know about the pious men and their pious acts in the city of Dvaraka.

SB1.14.35-36

TEXTS 35–36

mangalaya ca lokanam

ksemaya ca bhavaya ca

aste yadu-kulambhodhav

adyo ’nanta-sakhah puman

yad bahu-danda-guptayam

sva-puryam yadavo ’rcitah

kridanti paramanandam

maha-paurusika iva

mangalaya—for all good; ca—also; lokanam—of all the planets; ksemaya—for protection; ca—and; bhavaya—for elevation; ca—also; aste—is there; yadu-kula-ambhodhau—in the ocean of the Yadu dynasty; adyah—the original; ananta-sakhah—in the company of Ananta (Balarama); puman—the supreme enjoyer; yat—whose; bahu-danda-guptayam—being protected by His arms; sva-puryam—in His own city; yadavah—the members of the Yadu family; arcitah—as they deserve; kridanti—are relishing; parama-anandam—transcendental pleasure; maha-paurusikah—the residents of the spiritual sky; iva—like.

The original Personality of Godhead, the enjoyer, and Balarama, the primeval Lord Ananta, are staying in the ocean of the Yadu dynasty for the welfare, protection and general progress of the entire universe. And the members of the Yadu dynasty, being protected by the arms of the Lord, are enjoying life like the residents of the spiritual sky.

As we have discussed many times, the Personality of Godhead Visnu resides within each and every universe in two capacities, namely as the Garbhodakasayi Visnu and the Ksirodakasayi Visnu. The Ksirodakasayi Visnu has His own planet on the northern top of the universe, and there is a great ocean of milk where the Lord resides on the bed of the Ananta incarnation of Baladeva. Thus Maharaja Yudhisthira has compared the Yadu dynasty to the ocean of milk and Sri Balarama to the Ananta where Lord Krsna resides. He has compared the citizens of Dvaraka to the liberated inhabitants of the Vaikunthalokas. Beyond the material sky, further than we can see with our eyes and beyond the sevenfold coverings of the universe, there is the Causal Ocean in which all the universes are floating like footballs, and beyond the Causal Ocean there is an unlimited span of spiritual sky generally known as the effulgence of Brahman. Within this effulgence there are innumerable spiritual planets, and they are known as the Vaikuntha planets. Each and every Vaikuntha planet is many, many times bigger than the biggest universe within the material world, and in each of them there are innumerable inhabitants who look exactly like Lord Visnu. These inhabitants are known as the Maha-paurusikas, or persons directly engaged in the service of the Lord. They are happy in those planets and are without any kind of misery, and they live perpetually in full youthfulness, enjoying life in full bliss and knowledge without fear of birth, death, old age or disease, and without the influence of kala, eternal time. Maharaja Yudhisthira has compared the inhabitants of Dvaraka to the Maha-paurusikas of Vaikunthaloka because they are so happy with the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita there are many references to the Vaikunthalokas, and they are mentioned there as mad-dhama, or the kingdom of the Lord.

SB1.14.37

TEXT 37

yat-pada-susrusana-mukhya-karmana

satyadayo dvy-asta-sahasra-yositah

nirjitya sankhye tri-dasams tad-asiso

haranti vajrayudha-vallabhocitah

yat—whose; pada—feet; susrusana—administration of comforts; mukhya—the most important; karmana—by the acts of; satya-adayah—queens headed by Satyabhama; dvi-asta—twice eight; sahasra—thousand; yositah—the fair sex; nirjitya—by subduing; sankhye—in the battle; tri-dasan—of the denizens of heaven; tat-asisah—what is enjoyed by the demigods; haranti—do take away; vajra-ayudha-vallabha—the wives of the personality who controls the thunderbolt; ucitah—deserving.

Simply by administering comforts at the lotus feet of the Lord, which is the most important of all services, the queens at Dvaraka, headed by Satyabhama, induced the Lord to conquer the demigods. Thus the queens enjoy things which are prerogatives of the wives of the controller of thunderbolts.

Satyabhama: One of the principal queens of Lord Sri Krsna at Dvaraka. After killing Narakasura, Lord Krsna visited the palace of Narakasura accompanied by Satyabhama. He went to Indraloka also with Satyabhama, and she was received by Sacidevi, who introduced her to the mother of the demigods, Aditi. Aditi was very much pleased with Satyabhama, and she blessed her with the benediction of permanent youth as long as Lord Krsna remained on the earth. Aditi also took her with her to show her the special prerogatives of the demigods in the heavenly planets. When Satyabhama saw the parijata flower, she desired to have it in her palace at Dvaraka. After that, she came back to Dvaraka along with her husband and expressed her willingness to have the parijata flower at her palace. Satyabhama’s palace was especially bedecked with valuable jewels, and even in the hottest season of summer the inside of the palace remained cool, as if air-conditioned. She decorated her palace with various flags, heralding the news of her great husband’s presence there. Once, along with her husband, she met Draupadi, and she was anxious to be instructed by Draupadi in the ways and means of pleasing her husband. Draupadi was expert in this affair because she kept five husbands, the Pandavas, and all were very much pleased with her. On receipt of Draupadi’s instructions, she was very much pleased and offered her good wishes and returned to Dvaraka. She was the daughter of Satrajit. After the departure of Lord Krsna, when Arjuna visited Dvaraka, all the queens, including Satyabhama and Rukmini, lamented for the Lord with great feeling. At the last stage of her life, she left for the forest to undergo severe penance.

Satyabhama instigated her husband to get the parijata flower from the heavenly planets, and the Lord got it even by force from the demigods, as a common husband secures things to please his wife. As already explained, the Lord had very little to do with so many wives to carry out their orders like an ordinary man. But because the queens accepted the high quality of devotional service, namely administering the Lord all comforts, the Lord played the part of a faithful and complete husband. No earthly creature can expect to have things from the heavenly kingdom, especially the parijata flowers, which are simply to be used by the demigods. But due to their becoming the Lord’s faithful wives, all of them enjoyed the special prerogatives of the great wives of the denizens of heaven. In other words, since the Lord is the proprietor of everything within His creation, it is not very astonishing for the queens of Dvaraka to have any rare thing from any part of the universe.

SB1.14.38

TEXT 38

yad bahu-dandabhyudayanujivino

yadu-pravira hy akutobhaya muhuh

adhikramanty anghribhir ahrtam balat

sabham sudharmam sura-sattamocitam

yat—whose; bahu-danda—arms; abhyudaya—influenced by; anujivinah—always living; yadu—the members of the Yadu dynasty; pravirah—great heroes; hi akutobhayah—fearless in every respect; muhuh—constantly; adhikramanti—traversing; anghribhih—by foot; ahrtam—brought about; balat—by force; sabham—assembly house; sudharmam—Sudharma; sura-sat-tama—the best among the demigods; ucitam—deserving.

The great heroes of the Yadu dynasty, being protected by the arms of Lord Sri Krsna, always remain fearless in every respect. And therefore their feet trample over the Sudharma assembly house, which the best demigods deserved but which was taken away from them.

Those who are directly servitors of the Lord are protected by the Lord from all fearfulness, and they also enjoy the best of things, even if they are forcibly accumulated. The Lord is equal in behavior to all living beings, but He is partial to His pure devotees, being very affectionate toward them. The city of Dvaraka was flourishing, being enriched with the best of things in the material world. The state assembly house is constructed according to the dignity of the particular state. In the heavenly planets, the state assembly house called Sudharma was deserving of the dignity of the best of the demigods. Such an assembly house is never meant for any state on the globe because the human being on the earth is unable to construct it, however far a particular state may be materially advanced. But during the time of Lord Krsna’s presence on the earth, the members of the Yadu family forcibly brought the celestial assembly house to earth and placed it at Dvaraka. They were able to use such force because they were certain of the indulgence and protection of the Supreme Lord Krsna. In other words, the Lord is provided with the best things in the universe by His pure devotees. Lord Krsna was provided with all kinds of comforts and facilities available within the universe by the members of the Yadu dynasty, and in return such servitors of the Lord were protected and fearless.

A forgetful, conditioned soul is fearful. But a liberated soul is never fearful, just as a small child completely dependent on the mercy of his father is never fearful of anyone. Fearfulness is a sort of illusion for the living being when he is in slumber and forgetting his eternal relation with the Lord. Since the living being is never to die by his constitution, as stated in Bhagavad-gita (2.20), then what is the cause of fearfulness? A person may be fearful of a tiger in a dream, but another man who is awake by his side sees no tiger there. The tiger is a myth for both of them, namely the person dreaming and the person awake, because actually there is no tiger; but the man forgetful of his awakened life is fearful, whereas the man who has not forgotten his position is not at all fearful. Thus the members of the Yadu dynasty were fully awake in their service to the Lord, and therefore there was no tiger for them to be afraid of at any time. Even if there were a real tiger, the Lord was there to protect them.

SB1.14.39

TEXT 39

kaccit te ’namayam tata

bhrasta-teja vibhasi me

alabdha-mano ’vajnatah

kim va tata cirositah