MORNING PASTIMES
Nisanta-lila (3:36 – 6am)
WAKING THE DIVINE COUPLE
The saris the sarikas (male and female parrots) wake the Divine Couple at dawn.
Pratah-lila (6 – 8:36am)
Mother Yashoda enters Krishna’s bedroom.
The young boys and young girls, Krishna’s servants, assist Him in His morning duties.
When He is ready, Krishna goes to milk the cows at the goshala.
Krishna wrestles with his friends.
Krishna has a massage, and is bathed and dressed by His servants. At this time, Krishna donates cows to the brahmanas.
The sakhis leave their homes to help Radha in the execution of Her morning activities. They wash, bathe and anoint Radha with scented oils. The sakhis dry and dress Radha. They decorate Her with jewels and flowers.
KRISHNA’S BREAKFAST
Radha leaves for Nandagram, at Mother Yasoda’s bidding, to cook for Krishna.
Krishna takes breakfast with Nanda Maharaja, Balarama and the cowherd boys. Radha takes Krishna’s remnants after He has eaten.
The sakhis take Radha to Her room, so She can watch Krishna as He leaves for the forest.
FORENOON PASTIMES
Purvahna-lila (8:36 -10:48am)
LEAVING FOR THE FOREST
Krishna’s cowherd friends wait for Krishna in Nanda Maharaja’s courtyard. The cows moo affectionately. The villages wait to see Krishna leave for the forest.
Nanda and Yashoda follow Krishna, going back and forth, until Krishna sweetly says, ‘Now you should return to your home’.
Krishna and the cowherd boys and cows move towards the forest playing flutes, horns and pan-pipes. The mooing of the cows is thunderous.
Krishna and the cowherd boys lead the cows to lush green pastures. Krishna stands under a kadamba tree in His threefold bending pose. He calls the cows with His flute.
The cows eat the lush grass. Krishna strokes the cows and bulls lovingly. They long to hear His flute. The cowherd boys walk behind the cows. Krishna reciprocates with the love of the boys and cows, and vice-versa.
MIDDAY PASTIMES
Madhyahna-lila (10:48 am to 3:36pm)
ENTERING THE FOREST
Krishna’s flute affects moving and non-moving entities. Krishna is all-attractive. His lotus feet are indescribably fragrant and sweet.
Krishna, Balarama and the best of the cowherd boys enter the beautiful forest. The forest flowers look like precious stones. There are tasteful mandaps everywhere. The ground is strewn with jewels like emeralds and rubies. The deer mistake the emeralds for grass.
Vana-laksmi, the Goddess of the Forest, manifests all six seasons for Krishna’s pleasure. The forest performs arati for Krishna. The cuckoos call out to Krishna, ‘Come here! Come here!’ Krishna enhances the love of the creepers and trees with His touch.
SIX SEASONS IN ONE
Krishna experiences the ecstatic festival of Spring; the waterfalls and fragrances of Summer; the lotuses and water-birds of Autumn; the atmosphere of Winter; and the white blossoms of the dewy season (when the forest weeps tears of anxiety).
Krishna is decorated with the fruits and the flowers of the six seasons. He consults with His friends, then looks for a place to rest.
Krishna and the cowherd boys marvel at a a raised platform which has been licked by the camari deer. The platform is scented with sandalwood and deer musk. Krishna climbs the platform and takes rest.
The cowherd boys try to make comfortable arrangements for Krishna and Balarama as They take rest.
Krishna awakens and wants to herd the cows because they are thirsty from eating grass. Krishna directs the cowherd boys to lead the cows to the Yamuna with His flute.
The cows drink. Krishna personally feeds them tender shoots from the sallaki trees. He watches two bulls lock horns and fight. He then quells their anger with his flute-song.
THE GOPIS’ LOVE FOR KRISHNA
Meeting Krishna is the only thing that can assuage the anguish of the gopis’ minds. The anticipation of meeting His beloved thrills Krishna. (Yogamaya creates duplicate bodies for the gopis, who leave for the forest, to give their husbands and in-laws the impression they are laying in bed).
Balarama and the cowherd boys, who are busy tending the cows, do not notice Krishna slipping away into the Spring forest.
Radha and the gopis hear Krishna’s flute-song while picking flowers in the forest. Krishna’s flute drowns the anguish and sorrow in their hearts. The sakhis find Krishna and bring their friends close to Him. They continue picking flowers, careful to conceal the love that they feel for Him.
Krishna eavesdrops on Radha and Vishaka’s conversation. The melodies of Krishna’s flute destroy Radha’s pride. Radha converses with her sakhis, cryptic allusions to Her love for Krishna.
Radha approaches the love-grove where the Divine Couple’s love-battle will take place. Krishna’s mind is pacified when the gopis approach Him. Radha consults Lalita and Vishaka.
Krishna enters the forest, accompanied by the gopis. They admire the beautiful pleasure-groves made of trees and creepers. Krishna decorates the gopis with flowers and pollen-tilak. The gopis, in turn, decorate Krishna.
Krishna holds Radha in His snake-like arms. Radha feigns discomfort.
WATER SPORTS IN RADHA KUNDA
Krishna rests under a flowering tree in the Summer forest. They are refreshed by a fragrant breeze. The gopis want to frolick in Radha Kunda and rest in a kunja cottage (rati-keli-mandir). Vrinda-devi supplies all their Summer needs – clothes, food and drinks.
Krishna plays splashing-games and lotus-throwing pastimes with the gopis in Radha Kunda. The water-birds spread their wings and dance in ecstasy. Radha and Krishna embrace in the kunda.
Krishna disappears under the water. Radha asks the gopis to find Him. The gopis spread their arms into a luminous circular net. They cannot find Him. Radha feels separation from Krishna. Seeing a swarm of bees amongst some water-lilies, the gopis draw close, forming a tight circle around Krishna.
Krishna adorns Radha’s face and body with flowers and decorations from the kunda.
The gopis are exhausted. Some dry, change, and go to a grove decorated with cloth to serve Radha-Madhava. Some of the gopis remain in the kunda to perform the avabhrtya bathing ceremony of Radha and Krishna. After some time, they go to the pleasure-groves, flanking Radha and Krishna.
DRESSING RADHA AND KRISHNA
The gopis serve Radha and Krishna in the forest-grove. Some participate directly; others watch. Some dry Radha’s hair. Others wiper Her limbs. Others dress Her. While some perform different services.
Radha decorates Krishna’s body with ointments and decorations. She decorates Krishna with flowers, jewelled armlets, bracelets and earrings. She ties ankle-bells on His feet (with toenails more brilliant than the moon). She draws crescent-moon shaped tilak on His forehead with sandalwood paste. Radha hangs a thin yellow cadar over His shoulders. The cadar flutters on the breeze.
FOREST PICNIC
Vrinda-devi and a group of gopis prepare a picnic of various eats, especially fruits. Radha places them, with a sweet smile, in Krishna’s hand. She expertly cuts a mango and places the pieces in the lotus hands of Her Lord. Krishna relishes Her offerings.
Shyama finishes His picnic. He performs acamana and fills His mouth with camphor-scented tambula. He lies on a jewelled platform under a tree near the entrance of a kunja.
Radha and the sakhis sit in a circle and eat Krishna’s prasada. After eating, they wash their marks and take some of the tambula.
DICE
Vrinda facilitates a game of dice between Krishna and the gopis on a sapphire platform, at the edge of a grove. Krishna interrupts Radha’s start, making three wagers. The pastime revolves around the three wagers, including one of Radha’s sakhis. The game ends in a deadlock and the wagered items are returned. Vrinda and the sakhis, in pain of separation, go home.
LATE AFTERNOON PASTIMES
Aparahna-lila (3:36-6pm)
When Krishna returns the cowherd boys experience unlimited happiness. Six hours of playing with Krishnan seems to pass in seconds! Their separation feels like an age. The boys ask Krishna, ‘Where have you been? Why didn’t you play with us?’
Krishna makes some excuses, then requests the boys to call the cows back to the goshallas with their flutes and horns. They call out loudly to the cows, by name. The cows – with their large udders and bellies full of grass – move back to Vraja.
Krishna and Balarama make Their way back home from the forest with Their friends. The forest and the creatures of the forest search for Krishna in separation. Sometimes the cows move fast, drawn by their affection for their calves. Sometimes they move slowly.
Krishna is covered with fine dust.
Brahma and Siva descend to earth to glorify Krishna on His return from the forest with His cows. ‘Wherever Krishna casts His merciful glance that place becomes showered inlove, and, all desire creepers suddenly burst into bloom’.
THE GOPIS SEE THE COWS
The gopis see the dust raised by the cows in the distance. They hear Krishna’s flute and the mooing of His cows. Hearing the mooing of the cows, the gopis run out of their houses and stand by the roadside, reeling in bliss when they see Him. When Krishna glances at each gopi, that gopi feels that tonight Krishna will only come to her house. Fearing their elders, the gopis glance momentarily at Krishna. This does not diminish their love for Him.
MEETING THE VRAJAVASIS
The Vrajavasis joyfully greet Krishna as He blissfully enters Vraja. He showers affection as he looks on each child and offers respects to His elders. Krishna offers regard to the nursemaids who love Him more than their own children.
Mother Yashoda stands in the courtyard, staring down the road leading to Krishna. Krishna and Balarama and the cowherd boys respectfully meet Yashoda after returning the cows and the calves to the goshalla. Milk flows from her breasts. Yashoda asks the boys to go home and returns to her home with her sons.
SUNSET PASTIMES
Sayana-lila (6-8:36pm)
Krishna’s servants expertly groom and bathe Him according to Mother Yashoda’s instructions. They dry Him and dress Him in His yellow dhoti. They cover His broad chest with a see-through cadar. One of His servants puts a white turban around His head. Another places sandalwood tilak on His forehead. They scent His body with harichand and camphor. One boy decorates Krishna’s limbs with jewel-inlaid ornaments and gem-studded gold bangles on His lotus feet. Krishna enters the house with His left hand in the right hand of one of His friends.
Krishna takes off His jewelled slippers and bows before Nanda Maharaja. Nanda Maharaja offers Krishna a loving embrace and smells His hand. Krishna, with His father’s permission, sits on a royal seat. Krishna embraces Balarama, who arrives later.
SECOND MEAL
Rohini notifies Yashoda when Krishna and Balarama’s second meal is ready. Yashoda has young girls prepare the table. Nanda Maharaja washes His feet. Krishna and Balarama sit on either side of him. Rohini serves everyone with great affection, starting with sattvic preparations for the brahmanas. She then serves Nanda Maharaja, Balarama and then Krishna. They finish eating. This pleases Nanda Maharaja. The servants bring water so they can all wash their mouths. Krishna smiles sweetly to His father, bows and then enters the courtyard.
KRISHNA ENTERS THE GOSHALA
Dusk arrives. The vrajavasis light ghee lamps in their houses. Krishna enters the gosala, pleased by the crystal pillar of the cowsheds. Krishna lifts His yellow dhoti and milks the cows with His soft hands. The cows release their milk freely upon seeing Krishna’s moonlike face and feeling His lovely touch.
EVENING PASTIMES
Pradosh-lila (8:36-10:48)
KRISHNA GOES TO HIS BEDROOM
Krishna offers His respects to His mother and father.
Krishna’s luxuriant quarters are next to Nanda Maharaja’s. His room is surrounded by small gardens with small lakes with swans and cuckoos. The beautifully dressed gopis will soon meet Krishna in His garden under the brilliant moon.
His seva dasis have prepared Krishna’s room in a most pleasing way. Krishna’s bed is golden. It is inlaid with jewelsl. His bed is covered with attractive pillows and soft sheets like milk-white foam.
The moonlight shining through His window makes the bed look like a thousand drifting clouds. Beautiful green parrots are perched in the corners of Krishna’s room.
Krishna gets ready for bed. He enters His bed-chamber with both male and female servants. Krishna dons His jewel-inlaid slippers and steps onto the veranda of His bedroom with His servants. He relishes the atmosphere.
Krishna sits on a gem-studded cot. His servants dress Him in His night-dress and sprinkle water on His feet and on His face.
Mother Yashoda and some of Krishna’s servants approach Him. Milk flows from her breasts. She offers Krishna kheer. She smiles. She exchanges words of love with Krishna. She rinses His mouth and offers Him tambula. Krishna offers obeisances to His mother. Yashoda embraces Him, then retires.
Krishna lies on His back, against a bolster, on His bed. His parrots try to perch on the moonbeams that shine through His window. This makes the small children laugh. Krishna tries to be serious, but cannot restrain Himself. He accepts some tambula from His friends, then goes to bed.
Krishna meditates on the pastimes He’ll spend with the gopis. Some intimate servants massage His feet while others fan Him with a camara. Krishna drifts off to sleep. His servants fall asleep in various places in His room. Nidra-devi makes their sleep deeper and deeper. In the meantime, she makes Krishna’s sleep lighter – for His pastimes with the gopis.
LATE NIGHT PASTIMES
Nisa-lila (10:48pm-3:36am)
THE GOPIS LEAVE FOR THE FOREST
Yogamaya creates duplicate bodies for the gopis, so they can meet Krishna without restriction during the night.
The gopis decorate themselves nicely with jewellery, flower garlands and sandalwood make-up. Thinking of meeting Krishna induces ecstasy in the hearts of the gopis.
The gopis weave through the moonlight to Krishna. They sometimes get lost, mistaking their own lustre for the moonlight. They seem to wear the moonlight on their clothing as the they rush toward Shyama. The wideness of their hips slows them down. Radha is supported by Her sakhis.
Radha discards Her belt made of lotus flowers and Her kunda flower anklets, thinking they are slowing Her down. Farther on, She discards the mallika and karavita flowers in Her hair.
THE GOPIS MEET WITH KRISHNA
Krishna gets up after a short nap and plays His flute. Krishna’s flute-song makes Radha hurry. The sakhis encourage Her, saying, ‘Go! Go!’
Krishna, bathed in moonlight, is seated on a grand seat on a jewel-studded platform near the best of the groves. He sends Vrinda-devi to welcome Radha and Her sakhis. She brings them to Him.
In Her fever of separation, Radha thinks, ‘Where am I? Where did I come from? What path brought me here?’ Radha swoons when She sees Krishna. Her separation dissipates in the familiar atmosphere of Krishna’s garden. she praises Vrinda for Her wonderful arrangements.
Shyama approaches the gopis with His flute, gracefully held, in His hand. Sometimes They sit on special seats and wander about the beautiful forest, buzzing with bees.
Krishna glorifies Radha with beautiful poetry. They return to the platform of madhavi flowers.
PASTIME OF DRINKING HONEY WINE
(Madhupana-lila)
Vrinda-devi places crystal wine goblets on a cat’s eye platform covered with silk. She brings crystal jugs full of honey liquor.
Vrinda takes Krishna by the hand, at the sakhis behest, and seats Him on a jewelled platform besides Radha. Radha-Madhava and Their confidential friends appear like a dark blue raincloud ornamented with lightening and surrounded by a lattice of moonlight.
Krishna begins the drinking festival. The vyabhicari bhavas manifest. Vrinda gives the Divine Couple garlands.
Vrinda-devi offers goblets to Radhe-Shyama with her right hand, and waves a blue lotus flower over the goblets to send away the bees. Radha and Krishna also shew the bees away. Meanwhile Vrinda-devi distributes honey wine to all the sakhis participating in the drinking party.
Krishna offers the first sip to Radha. Radha gazes into the cup. Krishna then drinks and laughs and drinks with great gusto. radha has no desire to drink from Her cup. She drinks from Krishna’s cup. Vrinda offers another glass to Radhe-Shyama. They have a taste and give it to another sakhi. The sakhi take some, and drink from their own glasses. They finish the first round of drinks. Their eyes go red.
For some, one drink is sufficient. They manifest various symptoms of intoxication. The sakhis manifest various degrees of intoxication and bewilderment of being intoxicated.
The liquor brings on feelings of identifying oneself as a lover in separation. Radha and Krishna thus reverse their identities.
The Divine Couple whisper meaningless sentences in each other’s ears.
FINDING THE LOST KAUSTUBHA GEM
Krishna’s Kaustubha jewel seems to get lost amongst His necklaces and garlands. Radha says, ‘Hey, Krishna! Where is Your Kaustubha?’ Krishna, ‘You stole it!’ Radha, ‘I did not. Vrinda took it!’ Vrinda, ‘I did not, Lalita did’ Lalita, ‘I did not. Indulekha did’ Krishna and the drunken gopis quarrel over the theft of the Kaustubha gem. One sakhi says, ‘Hey, cheater! Wanting Your heart all to itself, Your crafty Vaijayanti garland stole the jewel’. Krishna acknowledges and beats His Vaijayanti garland and the Kaustubha gem suddenly appears. Everyone laughs seeing the gem suddenly appearing on Krishna’s neck.
SLEEPING PASTIMES
Nidra-devi appears, on seeing the gopis tiring from Krishna’s drinking pastimes. The sakhis enter various groves to lie down on their individual flower-beds. Radha-Shyama fall asleep on a bed of fragrant flowers arranged by Vrinda-devi.
🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆 🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆 🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆 🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆 🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆🔆
Hare Krishna 🙏
For Authorized Spiritual Articles,Posters , Quote etc . . kindly download Telegram application in Google play store and Follow the below link for telegram Suddha Bhakti channel 👇
https://t.me/suddhabhakti
