Uddhava

Uddhava was one of the foremost companions and ministers of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa among the Yādavas. He is also called Hṛṣīkeśa-priya, the dearest of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. He was Kṛṣṇa’s friend, disciple and minister at Dvārakā. He served as a counsellor in the rule of Dvārakā and helped defend the city in a time of danger. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa chose him to receive the final and fullest teaching, later called the Uddhava Gītā. He also carried Kṛṣṇa’s message of love and jñāna (knowledge) to Rādhā and the people of Vṛndāvana. He says he would be glad to be born as a blade of grass in Vṛndāvana to receive the dust of the gopīs’ feet.

Who he was

Uddhava was the son of Devabhāga. He was the nephew of Vasudeva and so a cousin of Kṛṣṇa. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa says he was born in the Yadu line as the son of a brāhmaṇa minister. He studied under Bṛhaspati and is seen as the greatest jñānī (knower) among the Yādavas. His name means “one who excites or uplifts”. This fits his work as Kṛṣṇa’s messenger and as a teacher to those in sorrow.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa says that he is an aṃśa (portion) of Brahmā. He is one of the divine beings who came down to earth to take part in Kṛṣṇa’s līlā (divine play) on earth.

He was a mahābhāgavata (a great devotee of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa), learned and devoted. Kṛṣṇa trusted him with his most private thoughts and his most delicate missions. This included a mission to the gopīs of Vraja at their request. He was the minister who received Kṛṣṇa’s closest confidence.

Defence of Dvārakā

In the Mahābhārata’s Vana Parva, Uddhava appears in the Saubhavadha Upākhyāna. When Śālva attacked Dvārakā with the Saubha vimāna (flying city), Kṛṣṇa was away. Uddhava was one of the chief organisers of the defence. He worked with Ugrasena and the other Yādava leaders in the city to arrange the defence against the fierce attack from the air. The Saubha was beyond what the defenders could fully stop without Kṛṣṇa’s own coming. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 14–16)

The mission to Vṛndāvana in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

Kṛṣṇa had left Vṛndāvana for Mathurā. Nanda had then visited him in Mathurā and taken his leave. After this, Kṛṣṇa told Uddhava to go to Vṛndāvana as his own messenger. He chose Uddhava when he needed to send word to Rādhā, the gopīs, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī. Uddhava was to do the following:

  • Bring Kṛṣṇa’s love and message to Rādhā and the gopīs.
  • Comfort Yaśodā and Rohiṇī.
  • Lift up all the people of Vṛndāvana with the ātmajñāna (knowledge of the self) that Kṛṣṇa had given him.

Many good omens marked his journey. There were the sounds of drums, bells and conches. He saw a wife with her husband and children, a lit lamp, full water pots, white flowers, a bull, a white horse, a mongoose and many other good signs. They showed the divine blessing on his mission. (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 91–92)

At Yaśodā’s palace and Rādhā’s āśrama

Nanda’s palace was built by Viśvakarma from pearls, rubies, diamonds and sapphires. There Uddhava met Yaśodā and Rohiṇī. They welcomed him warmly and asked about their loved ones. He then went through the holy forests of Vṛndāvana to Rādhā’s āśrama. He passed the rāsamaṇḍala (the circle of the rāsa dance), the banana groves, the mango and campaka forests and the kadamba groves.

Rādhā’s āśrama lay deep in a quiet forest. It was a divine fort with six gates, built by Viśvakarma, and guarded by 100 crore gopīs with golden staffs. In the innermost room he found Rādhā on a couch of jewels. Her body was almost lifeless from viraha (the pain of separation). He burst into tears. (Chapter 92)

Uddhava sings the Rādhā Stotra

To bring Rādhā back to life, Uddhava sang the great Rādhā Stotra. It has sixty-four verses. It praises her as Sarvalakṣmī, as Mahālakṣmī in Vaikuṇṭha, as Gāyatrī, as Durgā and in every divine form. The stotra (hymn of praise) says that Rādhā is the prāṇādhidevī, the devī who rules over the life-breath, and that without her all creation would cease. When he sang it, Rādhā began to stir. (Chapter 92)

What Uddhava received from Rādhā

Rādhā spoke with Uddhava several times, drifting between a swoon of viraha and waking. He received some of the deepest teachings of the Purāṇa:

  • Kāla-tattva (Chapter 95). Time is Kṛṣṇa’s own form, and viraha is the highest form of bhakti (devotion).
  • The Pañcāṅga system (Chapter 96). This is the full science of time, from the paramāṇu (smallest unit) to the day of Brahmā. It covers the nakṣatras, yogas, karaṇas, yugas, and time in Goloka and Vaikuṇṭha.
  • Hari-dāsya as the highest dharma (Chapter 97). No tapas, tīrtha or yajña equals even one moment of true service to Kṛṣṇa.

Uddhava’s vow

What he saw changed Uddhava deeply. He said: “I am not worthy to go back to Mathurā. I will stay here in Vṛndāvana as the least of beings, even as an insect on the dust, so that I may receive the drops of water that wash Rādhā’s feet.” These words are famous as an expression of the highest bhakti. He was ready to give up all rank and place for a drop of the grace that flows freely where devotion is greatest.

Uddhava in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa

Mission to Gokula after the death of Kaṃsa

In the Bhāgavata’s account, Kṛṣṇa had finished his schooling at Sāṇḍīpani’s gurukula. He called Uddhava to him in private and asked him to take a message of comfort to Gokula. The gopas and gopīs had lived on the hope of Kṛṣṇa’s return ever since he left with Akrūra. Their grief had not grown less.

Uddhava went to Gokula in a chariot and arrived at dusk. Nanda welcomed him, for Uddhava looked like Kṛṣṇa in dress and ornaments. Nanda spent the whole evening speaking of Kṛṣṇa. Yaśodā wept quietly through the night when her son was named.

The next morning the gopīs gathered around Uddhava. One gopī was lost in thought of the absent Kṛṣṇa. She spoke the famous Bhramara Gīta, a long speech to a black bee. In it she showed, through irony, reproach, longing and deep questions, the whole depth of her viraha-bhakti. She called up Kṛṣṇa’s past deeds and blamed him for leaving. At last she gave herself up fully: “Place your hand on our burning heads. That is all.”

Uddhava gave Kṛṣṇa’s message: “I am the ātmā of all. There is no separation from me. Deep meditation on the absent beloved reaches depths that a mind distracted by his presence cannot. You will find me, for I was never absent.” He then praised the gopīs with full sincerity as the highest examples of devotion. He said he would wish to be born as a blade of grass in Vṛndāvana to receive the dust of their feet.

He stayed for several months. Each day he visited the places of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood and sang of his deeds. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 46–47)

Meeting with Vidura on the Yamunā

The 3rd Skanda opens with Vidura, on his tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage) from Hastināpura, meeting Uddhava on the banks of the Yamunā. This is the river of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood at Vṛndāvana.

Vidura asked about the welfare of the Yādavas, of Dvārakā and of Kṛṣṇa himself. Uddhava could hardly speak through his grief. He told Vidura these things:

  • The Yādavas had destroyed one another at Prabhāsa-kṣetra. This fulfilled the śāpa (curse) of the brāhmaṇas whose iron pestle they had mocked.
  • After Kṛṣṇa’s departure, the ocean had swallowed Dvārakā.
  • Arjuna had cremated the dead Yādavas. But he found that his divine powers had left him in Kṛṣṇa’s absence. He could not even protect Kṛṣṇa’s women from robbers on the road.
  • Kṛṣṇa himself had left the world, after making sure each part of his līlā was complete.

He spoke of Kṛṣṇa so as to show both the size of the loss and the depth of his own devotion. Kṛṣṇa had known what was coming and had not stopped it, because the end of the Yādavas was part of his purpose. The same Kṛṣṇa who had laughed with them, eaten with them and embraced them had also allowed it to end, with full clarity. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapters 1–4)

Direction to Maitreya

When he had answered Vidura’s questions about Dvārakā, Uddhava sent him to Maitreya Maharṣi. He said: “Go to Gaṅgādvāra, Haridvār, where the Gaṅgā comes down from the Himālaya. There you will find Maitreya Maharṣi in meditation. He has received from Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa the full knowledge of creation, of existence and of mokṣa (liberation). He will answer the questions that lie beneath all your questions: why the world is as it is, how it came to be, and how the jīva (the living being) finds its way home.”

Uddhava was still fully present for Vidura’s need, though he was in the depths of his own grief. He did not give small answers. He pointed Vidura to the whole teaching. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 4)

Departure for Badarikā

After their talk, Uddhava left for Badarikā. This is the mountain āśrama in the high Himālaya linked with the eternal tapas of Nara-Nārāyaṇa. It was his own path of sādhanā (spiritual practice), with solitude, meditation and the direct practice of what he had received from Kṛṣṇa. In Vaiṣṇava teaching, grief at the separation from Kṛṣṇa is itself a form of bhakti. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 4)

The Uddhava Gītā

Uddhava’s most important part was to receive Kṛṣṇa’s final and fullest teaching, in Chapters 6 to 29 of the 11th Skanda. Kṛṣṇa saw the signs of destruction gathering over Dvārakā. He knew the end of the Yādava line was near, and he called Uddhava. He gave him a vast teaching. It covered bhakti, sāṅkhya, yoga, jñāna, varṇāśrama-dharma, the rules of pūjā, the three guṇas, ātma-tattva (the truth of the self) and the bhāgavata-dharmas. It was not a public discourse. It was a close and private last teaching.

Uddhava asked just the right questions. They showed deep understanding and real care for all who would struggle with these questions after Kṛṣṇa left. His last request was especially moving. He asked for an easy means of mokṣa for those whose senses were not yet fully under control. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa answered with the bhāgavata-dharmas. This is the practice of seeing Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in all beings and bowing to every creature.

When the teaching was done, Kṛṣṇa told Uddhava to go to Badarikāśrama. Uddhava’s grief was deep, and he could not bear the thought of parting. He put Kṛṣṇa’s pādukās (sandals) on his head, bowed again and again, and left in tears. At Badarikāśrama he meditated on Kṛṣṇa as the ātman of all and attained jīvanmukti (mokṣa while living). (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapters 6–29)

Uddhava and the Bhāgavata in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells of Uddhava’s life after Dvārakā. This is not narrated in the Bhāgavata itself. He is present in Vṛndāvana but unseen, and he began the tradition of the Bhāgavata kathā (recital) at Vraja.

The Bhāgavata line

Uddhava received the Śrīmad Bhāgavata from Bṛhaspati, who had received it from Sāṃkhyāyana. This puts Uddhava in a different line of transmission from the divine line of Nārāyaṇa, then Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra. It makes him a teacher of the highest rank.

Bṛhaspati told him how Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra each received the text from Nārāyaṇa, for 7 days, 30 days and one year respectively. Uddhava then followed the Vaiṣṇava method and read the Śrīmad Bhāgavata for one full month. By that alone he became Kṛṣṇa’s beloved companion and was trusted with missions of the deepest closeness.

Kṛṣṇa’s final gift

Before he left, Kṛṣṇa gave Uddhava the innermost secret of Vraja. He did it at the root of the Aśvattha tree and fixed it firmly within him. This was apart from the Uddhava Gītā. It was a secret about Vraja itself.

Unseen presence in Vraja

After Dvārakā, Uddhava lives in two places at once:

  • At Badarikāśrama he lives in visible form. He gives knowledge of Kṛṣṇa through the Bhāgavata to those who seek him. This is called the “land of preparation”.
  • At Vraja he is present but unseen. He takes the form of sprouts and creepers near Govardhana mountain at Sakhīsthala, and at Nārada Kuṇḍa. He longs for the dust of the gopīs’ feet. Vraja is called the “land of fruition”.

Appearance at Kusumasaras

Vajranābha and Parīkṣit held a festival in praise of Kṛṣṇa at Kusumasaras (the Flower Lake) in Vṛndāvana. Uddhava came out from a cluster of grasses and creepers. He was dark in colour, dressed in yellow, and wearing garlands of guñjā seeds. He sang Kṛṣṇa’s glories again and again. He bore Kṛṣṇa’s own form, and at the sight of him all who were there gained perfect knowledge at once.

The month-long Bhāgavata kathā

At Vṛndāvana near Govardhana, Uddhava began a month-long recital of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata. During the kathā, Kṛṣṇa’s līlā showed itself everywhere. Vajranābha reached mokṣa at Kṛṣṇa’s right foot. Kṛṣṇa’s queens rose to their eternal realm. Other devotees entered the unseen, eternal līlā.

Uddhava also told Emperor Parīkṣit to go on a digvijaya (tour of the quarters) to hold back Kali. He foretold that Śuka Maharṣi would tell the Bhāgavata to Parīkṣit, and that this would let the text spread on earth. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, Chapters 2–3)

Departure by yoga in the Mausala Parva

The Mahābhārata’s Mausala Parva tells of Uddhava’s departure just before the destruction of the Yādavas. The Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas were driven by Kāla (Time). They had camped with their wives at Prabhāsa on the seashore for the tīrtha festival. Uddhava knew yoga and was skilled in the wisdom of mokṣa. He saw the whole clan gathered there. He foresaw their ruin, which was set by the brāhmaṇas’ śāpa, and he took leave of them and set out.

He joined his palms in añjali and went. Hari (Kṛṣṇa) knew that the end of the Vṛṣṇis was near, and he did not hold him back. The doomed mahārathas (great chariot warriors) of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas watched. They saw Uddhava, filling the space between earth and sky with his own tejas (radiance), rise and go away by the power of yoga before the disaster fell on them. (Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 3)

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 14–16
  • Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapters 91–92 and Chapters 95–97
  • Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapters 1–4
  • Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 46–47
  • Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapters 6–29
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, Chapters 2–3
  • Mahābhārata, Mausala Parva, Chapter 3