Balarāma Drags the Yamunā
This narrative from the Harivaṃśa tells of a visit Bhagavān Balarāma made to Vraja after he and Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had returned to Mathurā. Balarāma was in a state of joyful, divine intoxication. He called the river Yamunā to come to him so that he could bathe. She did not come, so he drove his plough into her bank and pulled her along a new course. The Yamunā then took the form of a woman, bowed to him, and received her new course with his blessing.
The return to Vraja
A short while after Kṛshṇa and Balarāma had settled again in Mathurā, Balarāma felt his old friendship and love for the people of Vraja. He told Kṛshṇa and set out alone for Vraja. On the way he passed the lovely lakes and sweet-smelling forests where the brothers had played in childhood. Each one brought back a rush of memory.
He entered Vraja quickly, dressed in the forest clothes of a cowherd. He was joined again with the gopālas (cowherds). He spoke to them with the warmth of old friendship. He talked sweetly with the gopikās (cowherd women) as before, and he spoke affectionate words suited to their age to the elders.
The gopālas’ welcome
The senior gopālas received Balarāma with joy after so long an absence. They told him: “We heard everything: the battle with the ‘timi’ asura in the ocean, the war on Gomanta Parvata, the slaying of Pañcajana, the battles with Jarāsaṃdha, the slaying of Darada, the slaying of Śṛgāla and the crowning of his son, and the calming of the people of Mathurā. You have brought peace to the earth. Because of you, we who were blessed by Kṛshṇa’s presence are blessed again today. You must go on bringing us prosperity, O Rāma.”
Balarāma’s intoxication
The gopālas who knew him brought Balarāma wine in honour of his visit. He drank with his kinsmen. They brought him many forest fruits, flowers and his favourite foods. He was dressed as he always is. He had beautiful hair, one earring (a single kuṇḍala in one ear), sandalwood paste and flower garlands. His fair body was wrapped in dark cloth, and his plough rested on his shoulder. Balarāma was in a state of lifted, divine intoxication.
The command to the Yamunā
In this state Balarāma called to the Yamunā, the great river that flowed through the land of Vraja: “O great river! I wish to bathe. Come here to me.” But the Yamunā was in the full flow of her current. She paid no attention to the words of the intoxicated Balarāma, and she did not come to him.
The plough draws the Yamunā
Balarāma became angry. He took his divine plough, the nāgali, bent it down into the earth near the river’s bank, and dragged it. Saṃkarshaṇa’s arm has the same power that holds up the world as Śesha. With that force he pulled the Yamunā along the new path made by the tip of the plough. The river was torn from her natural course. She rushed along the direction the plough showed, churning in agitation and confusion.
The Yamunā’s submission
The force of Balarāma’s plough carried the Yamunā into Vṛndāvana. There she took the form of a woman and came before Balarāma. She bowed her head at his feet and said: “O Bhagavān Balarāma! Show me your grace. I was afraid to move against the order of my own flow. I bow to you with my head at your feet. Command me. Show me the path I am to take.”
Balarāma’s blessing and the new course
Balarāma told the Yamunā: “Flood all this region with your waters along the course traced by the plough. Be at peace and flow freely. May your fame last as long as the world lasts.” The people of Vraja who had seen Balarāma drag the Yamunā cried out “Well done, well done!” and bowed to Rāma.
Balarāma had given the Yamunā her new course and had blessed the river and the people of Vraja. He took leave of the gopālas and of Vṛndāvana and returned to Mathurā. There he found Śrī Kṛshṇa at home and greeted him. The two brothers talked joyfully together in the presence of their father Vasudeva.
Balarāma and Śesha
Balarāma is the avatāra of Śesha, who holds up the worlds. The nāgali, his plough, is his weapon.
Sources
- Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Vishṇu Parva, Chapter 47