18 - Desire for redemption of a Brahmana Woman

Shaunaka said - О Suta, this is an astonishing type of story of lord Krishna which is quite secret and provides welfare besides salvation. 

Suta said - Hearing about the construction of the city, Narada the best of the sages, enquired about the other story about lord Krishna. 

Narada said - О best of the sages, О ocean of knowledge, I have arrived to take refuge under your feet and as your pupil also, therefore, you kindly continue to narrate the nectar-like story of lord Krishna. 

On hearing the words of Narada, Narayana himself started narrating the astonishing annal of lord Krishna. 

Narayana said - Once Madhava accompanied by Baladeva and other boys went to Madhuvana on the bank of Yamuna which was created as an island on its bank. 

All the boys started roaming about in that place together with thousands of cows. After getting tired they felt hungry and thirsty and all of them spoke to Krishna, "O Krishna we are feeling extremely hungry; we are your attendants, tell us what should be done?” 

On hearing the words of the boys, Krishna with a delightful face being the ocean of mercy, spoke to them the truthful words. 

Sri Krishna said- О boys, you go to the place of yajna of the Brahmanas and ask them for food 

from them when they might be engaged in performing the yajna. The sages like Angira and other Brahmanas well-versed in the scriptures are engaged in the performing of the yajna. They are all Vaishnava and are performing the yajna for achieving salvation, but they are unable to realise about me, because of the illusion. 

In case the Brahmanas do not give away food to you being engaged in the performing of the yajna, then you can go to their wives, who are always compassionate on children. 

On hearing the words of Krishna, all the boys reached there and bowing in reverence to the Brahmanas stood there.

The boys said - О best of the Brahmanas, you give us food at once. But many of them did not hear those words while others stood there attentively in spite of listening to them. 

Thereafter the boys went to the kitchen where the Brahmana women were cooking the food and bowed in reverence to them. 

Offering their salutations to the chaste Brahmana women, the boys said, "O mothers, we are suffering from hunger and therefore give us food."

On hearing the words of the boys, they looked at them who were quite charming, smiling with lotus-like faces. The chaste ladies then asked them respectfully.

The Brahmana women said - "O intelligent boys, who are you? Who has sent you? What are your names? We shall serve you food with several other delicious dishes." On hearing the words of the ladies, all the boys laughed with delight and said. 

The boys said - "O mothers, we have been sent here by Rama and Krishna, we are extremely hungry. You give us food. We have to return to them immediately. Both Baladeva and Krishna are seated under the shade of a banyan tree in Madhuvana located in Bhandira forest, a little distance away from this place. О mothers, they are quite peaceful, besides being hungry and thirsty and are demanding food. Do you want to give us or not; you tell us frankly.” 

On hearing the words of the cowherds, the eyes of the ladies were filled with joy and their hair on the body stood on end because they were desirous of having a look at the lotus-like feet of the lord. 

They arranged food in plates of gold and silver besides the flowers and delightfully carried the same to them. The food contained boiled rice, milk mixed with rice, tasteful curd, milk, ghee and honey which they carried to lord Krishna. 

Such of the chaste ladies are quite graceful who go for an audience with Krishna preserving many desires in their mind. 

Reaching there, they found Krishna and Balarama seated there with other boys under the shade of the banyan tree. They looked as if the moon was surrounded by the stars, he had a dark-complexion, was of tender age, wore a yellow silken garment, had a smiling face; was peaceful and shining being the lord of Radha. 

He had the face resembling the full moon of the winter season and was adorned with the gem studded ornaments, a pair of kundalas was adorning his ears. 

He had on his person the gem-studded armlets, wristlets and anklets and he wore a long garland of forest flowers falling up to the knees. He was wearing the garland of jasmine flowers on his neck and the chest. His body was plastered with sandal-paste, aguru, kasthuri and saffron; his nose and cheeks were quite beautiful. The lips resembled the ripe wood-apples and the line of teeth resembled the ripe seeds of the pomegranate. 

He had a peacock feather placed on his head and the flowers of kadamba adorned his ears. Lord Krishna who happens to be beyond the reach of the yogis but he always remains anxious to shower his grace on his devotees. Brahma, Shiva, Dharma, Sesha, Indra and the sages always offer prayers to him. Looking at such a type of lord, the wives of the Brahmanas bowed to him in reverence. 

The Brahmana women said - О lord, you are Brahman, the eternal abode, without desires, pride, qualities, formless and with form, without qualities, witness of all, uninvolved, the great soul, formless besides being Prakruti and Purusha. You happen to be the cause of both of them. 

Though Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are known to create, preserve and destroy the universe, they also happen to be your own amsha. 

О lord, you are the Virat form of Mahavishnu in whose hair-pits of the body all the globes are lodged. 

You possess lustre, knowledge and are the form of knowledge. It has been described in the Vedas that you are the one, who is beyond description, who can be competent enough to recite your glory? 

You are mahat and the form of the globe, panchatanmatras, the seed of all the tejas, a form of all the tejas, the lord of all the tejas and the abode of all the tejas. You are beyond desires, self-illumining, blissful and eternal. Being formless, you also possess several forms. You are beyond the organ of senses though you are well aware of the subject of each one of them. 

The one, by describing whose glory and highlighting whose tattvas even Sarasvati becomes dumb-folded, besides Shiva, Sesha, Dharma and even Brahma, besides Parvati, Lakshmi, Radha, Savitri, the creation of the Vedas; therefore, who can offer prayers to you. 

О lord of our lives, we are only women; what can we offer you as a prayer? О lord of the drown-trodden, О lord, be happy and graceful to us. 

Thus, speaking all the ladies fell at the feet of the lord. Thereafter the delightful lord assured them all protection.

The one who recites this stotra of the wives of the Brahmanas at the time of performing puja, achieves high place. There is no doubt about it. 

Narayana said - Finding the ladies falling at his feet Madhusudana said - "You ask for a boon." You will meet with all the welfare.

On hearing the words of Sri Krishna, the wives of the Brahmanas delightfully stood there with their mind filled with devotion and said to Krishna. 

The wives of the Brahmanas said - Krishna, we are not interested in a boon, we are the followers of your lotus-like feet; therefore, you kindly grant us the inaccessible slave hood of your feet.

О Keshava, we should always look at your lotus-like face. О virtuous one, be compassionate on us, we do not intend to go back to our abodes,

The compassionate Krishna, the lord of the three worlds, listened to the words of the Brahmana wives and said, "All right” He then sat there in the company of the boys. 

Lord Krishna then made the boys to consume the sweet and delicious food and himself also did so. In the meantime, the wives of the Brahmana found that an astonishing type of chariot was descending from the sky. It had the mirrors of gems and diamonds. It had the gem-studded pillars, shining with beautiful kalashas, the white fly-whisks, the best of the silken costumes and it was decorated with the garlands of Parijata flowers. 

It had a hundred wheels and could move with the speed of the mind. The beautiful chariot was surrounded by the attendants wearing a long garland of lotus flowers, clad in a yellow lower garment and adorned with gem-studded ornaments. They were all young having a dark complexion, quite pleasant to look at, having two arms, holding a flute in the hand and appearing in the best of the costumes of cowherds. Their hair was well-arranged on the head with a peacock feather appearing at the top. 

The attendants descended from the chariot and bowed at the feet of the lord and asked the Brahmana women to mount on the chariot.

The Brahmana women bowing at the feet of lord Krishna went to the Goloka and shedding their human bodies, they were turned into the forms of cowherds in the Goloka.

Thereafter the lord created the shadow Brahmana women and sent them back to their abodes in place of the original ones. 

The Brahmanas getting annoyed were searching for them in their abodes. In the meantime, they came across the shadow Brahmana women on the path. 

All the Brahmanas felt emotional by looking at them and their faces blossomed like the lotus flowers. They spoke to the Brahmana women quite meekly. 

The Brahmana said - "All of you are quite graceful because you have had an audience with the lord. The lives of us people are of no consequence, besides the reciting of the Vedas. It has been ordained in the Vedas and the Puranas by the intellectuals that the entire universe is the tejas of the lord.

It is the lord alone, who bestows the reward of the tapas, recitation, performing of vrata, knowledge, recitation of the Vedas, performing of puja, visiting of the sacred places and the performing of vratas besides fasting. 

Whosoever has adored lord Krishna, would not be in need of the reward for performing his tapas. When one gets the kalpavruksha, then he no more requires the ordinary trees. 

The one, in whose heart lord Krishna dwells, does not need to perform any deeds. The one, who has drunk the ocean, the digging of a well is of no consequence for him." Thus speaking, the Brahmanas returned to their respective abodes together with all the damsels and enjoyed their company. 

By enjoying their company, the Brahmanas were much more delighted as compared to their earlier enjoyment. But the truth about the excess of the same, the Brahmanas could not realise. Thereafter, lord Krishna, accompanied by Balabhadra and other cowherds returned to their respective abodes. 

Thus, I have narrated to you the best of the glory of the lord which I had heard in earlier times from the mouth of Dharma. What else do you want to listen to? 

Narada said - О best of the sages, with the influence of whose merit, the Brahmana women achieved that stage which is inaccessible to the sages, yogis and siddhas. 

What were the virtuous women in their earlier births and for what crime did they reach the earth? You kindly remove this doubt of mine.

Narayana said - These women happened to be the spouses of Saptarshis and were quite beautiful, virtuous, meek, religious-minded and chaste.

All of them were youthful with stiff breasts and developed pelvic region, clad in divine garments and adorned with gem-studded ornaments, having the complexion of molten gold, their faces resembled the full-blown lotus flowers and looked with side-glances, attracting the minds of even the great sages. 

Looking at their beautiful breasts, the pelvic region and the face, the god of fire was infatuated with passion and desired for them. 

Then the god of fire touched limb of beautiful women who were at the place of fire with the flames and fainted as a result thereof. 

The damsels who were devoted to their husbands could not know the trick. On the other hand, the god of fire was infatuated with passion at the sight of their bodies. 

Realising the mind of the god of fire, the sage Angira pronounced a curse on him saying, "You should consume everything thereafter.” 

Regaining consciousness, the god of fire prayed to the sage variously with his head cast down with shame and started trembling for fear of his eternal lustre. 

The angry sage pronounced a curse on the damsels who were touched by Agni, that they should be born as humans in the house of Brahmanas. They were to be married to Brahmanas of a high race. 

On hearing the words of the sage, the damsels started crying and with folded hands they spoke to the foremost of the learned persons. 

The wives of the sages said - "O best of the sages, you have disowned us though we are sinless and chaste. We have been touched without our knowledge and as such you need not disown us. 

It is not proper for you to punish your devotees like this. When shall we again look at your lotus-like feet? 

О sage, the disowning of a chaste lady by her husband is like cutting her into pieces with a sword or the falling of vajra or attacking with various weapons.

О virtuous sage, engrossed in Brahman, separating us from such a chaste husband like you, how shall we roam about on earth?

О best of Brahmanas, in case we move on to the earth then when shall it be possible for us to return here. It is almost established that we shall not earn the sin of an act done by us unknowingly. 

Ahalya, after getting involved with Indra, was owned again by Gautama. She was purified even after enjoying sex with Indra but we on the other hand shall be disowned simply for the reason of being touched. 

О religious one, being well-versed in the Vedas and post-Vedic literature, you just think over it. О best of the those well-versed in the Vedas, you happen to be the son of the creator of the universe. 

Getting afraid of others, a woman goes to her husband; where shall she take refuge?

О religious one, you provide protection to us who are getting fearful. Everyone is competent enough to punish his son, pupils and the wife. 

The owner of a commodity whether he is weak or strong, can sell it and no one else can protect it.” 

On hearing the words of the damsels, the sage looked at their lotus-like faces and with his mind infatuated with love, he started crying. 

Though he was well-versed in Vedic and post Vedic literature, the best of the intellectuals and the yogis, he lost his senses, getting separated from his wives. 

All the people were disturbed and felt gloomy, because of the separation; all of them were dumb found like puppets, looking at them. 

Angira, the sage, who was well-versed in the Vedic and post-Vedic literature, started lamenting. Thereafter he consulted his brothers and feeling grief-stricken, he spoke to the damsels. 

Angira said - I am going to tell you the truth which you please listen to. I have heard from the Vedas that one has to face the result of the deeds performed by him. 

Actually, the time for your association with me has come to an end. This is certain. After the end of the pleasure one does not have to enjoy the same. This has been ordained in the Vedas.

In the land of Bharata all the good or bad deeds are performed by the people and unless their rewards are faced, they do not get destroyed even after the lapse of hundreds of births.

The one who enjoys the wife of others, is considered to be a degraded one. He falls into the kalasutra hell till the age of the sun and the moon. 

Such a woman is prevented from cooking food for the gods or the manes. Her husband even achieves a degraded position embracing her. 

The gods and manes do not feel happy by the offerings made by her. This has been ordained by Brahma. 

Therefore, the intellectuals protect their wives with great efforts, otherwise the husband would become degraded and fall into the hell. 

An intelligent person getting alert protects his wife at every step because a damsel attracts many blames unmindful of vratas or places.

Therefore, one should always protect the women and the cooking vases, because they get polluted with the touch of others and by the touch of her husband, she always remains pure.

In case a degraded woman who disregarding her own husband, visits some other men, she falls into the Kumbhipaka hell up to the life of the sun and the moon. 

The messengers of Yama then throw her in another hell and if she wants to come out of it, she is punished with the strikes of rods. 

The terrific insects of the size of snakes and having terrific fangs bite the degraded women continuously day and night. 

Such a woman cries in pain but she does not die by the stroke because of her having an astral body. 

For a moment's pleasure on earth, she destroys her grace and also receives hostile treatment after death. The women who have been touched by some other person or desires for someone else, are also to be disowned; this had been ordained by Brahma. 

Therefore, the intellectuals have ordained that the women should be protected from the evil eye of others. Such of the women are considered to be quite chaste, who look at the sun through a curtain. 

The one, who roams about at will independently, is born as a female pig. The wicked women who enjoy the company of others are indeed degraded in all respects. 

The one who remains under the control of her husband because of the fear of the family tradition, indeed goes to Vaikuntha with her husband. 

All of you should go to the earth and be born in human race. Getting an audience with Sri Krishna, you would get purified and achieve Goloka. 

Lord Krishna would create your shadow body with the illusion of Yogamaya and would send them to your respective homes. Thereafter, you would all reach my place. 

Then again you would become my spouses; there is no doubt about it. This curse of mine would indeed be the more beneficial to you than a boon. 

Thus speaking, the sage got infatuated with grief and the damsels reached the earth, where they became the wives of the Brahmanas. 

After serving the food to the lord, all of them reached Goloka and they were relieved of the curse. Thus, they were benefited by the curse pronounced by the sage. 

It is a curse to own the riches of a degraded person and it is a boon to have the curse of a noble person. The anger of the wise people bestows welfare in one way or the other. 

Without coming face to face with the danger on earth who can achieve greatness? After having been disowned by the husband, the wives of the Brahmanas achieved salvation. 

I have narrated to you the best of the stories of lord Krishna which includes the achieving of salvation by the virtuous women. 

О best of the Brahmanas, the story of Krishna appears to be new at every step which does not fully satisfy the listeners. Who could be satisfied with the welfare? 

Whatever had been heard by me from the mouth of my teacher, the same has been related by me. Now what else do you want to listen to from me? You tell me what is desired by you. 

Narada said - О compassionate one, О teacher of the universe, you kindly narrate to me the story of Sri Krishna, whatever had been heard by you from your teacher. 

Suta said - On listening to the words of Narada, the great sage, the sage Narayana started narrating the story of lord Krishna which bestows great merit.