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karmani—activities; aparimeyani—immeasurable, unlimited; manasa api—even by such plans perceived within the mind; sura-isvaraih—by the controllers of the universe like Brahma and Siva; saha-sankarsanah—along with Sankarsana (Baladeva); cakre—performed; bhagavan—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; madhu-sudanah—the killer of the Madhu demon.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, with the cooperation of Sankarsana, Balarama, performed activities beyond the mental comprehension of even such personalities as Lord Brahma and Lord Siva. [For instance, Krsna arranged the Battle of Kuruksetra to kill many demons for the relief of the entire world.]

SB9.24.61

TEXT 61

kalau janisyamananam

duhkha-soka-tamo-nudam

anugrahaya bhaktanam

supunyam vyatanod yasah

SYNONYMS

kalau—in this age of Kali; janisyamananam—of the conditioned souls who will take birth in the future; duhkha-soka-tamah-nudam—to minimize their unlimited unhappiness and lamentation, which are caused by ignorance; anugrahaya—just to show mercy; bhaktanam—to the devotees; su-punyam—very pious, transcendental activities; vyatanot—expanded; yasah—His glories or reputation.

TRANSLATION

To show causeless mercy to the devotees who would take birth in the future in this age of Kali, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, acted in such a way that simply by remembering Him one will be freed from all the lamentation and unhappiness of material existence. [In other words, He acted so that all future devotees, by accepting the instructions of Krsna consciousness stated in Bhagavad-gita, could be relieved from the pangs of material existence.]

PURPORT

The Lord’s activities of saving the devotees and killing the demons (paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam [Bg. 4.8]) take place side by side. Krsna actually appears for the deliverance of the sadhus, or bhaktas, but by killing the demons He shows them mercy also, for anyone killed by Krsna is liberated. Whether the Lord kills or gives protection, He is kind to both the demons and the devotees.

SB9.24.62

TEXT 62

yasmin sat-karna-piyuse

yasas-tirtha-vare sakrt

srotranjalir upasprsya

dhunute karma-vasanam

yasmin—in the history of the transcendental activities of Krsna upon the surface of the earth; sat-karna-piyuse—who pleases the demands of the transcendental, purified ears; yasah-tirtha-vare—keeping oneself in the best of holy places by hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord; sakrt—once only, immediately; srotra-anjalih—in the form of hearing the transcendental message; upasprsya—touching (exactly like the water of the Ganges); dhunute—destroys; karma-vasanam—the strong desire for fruitive activities.

Simply by receiving the glories of the Lord through purified transcendental ears, the devotees of the Lord are immediately freed from strong material desires and engagement in fruitive activities.

When the devotees aurally receive the activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as enacted in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, they immediately achieve a transcendental vision in which they are no longer interested in materialistic activities. Thus they achieve freedom from the material world. For sense gratification practically everyone is engaged in materialistic activities, which prolong the process of janma-mrtyu jara-vyadhi—birth, death, old age and disease—but the devotee, simply by hearing the message of Bhagavad-gita and further relishing the narrations of Srimad-Bhagavatam, becomes so pure that he no longer takes interest in materialistic activities. At the moment, devotees in the Western countries are being attracted by Krsna consciousness and becoming uninterested in materialistic activities, and therefore people are trying to oppose this movement. But they cannot possibly check this movement or stop the activities of the devotees in Europe and America by their artificial impositions. Here the words srotranjalir upasprsya indicate that simply by hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord the devotees become so pure that they are immediately immune to the contamination of materialistic fruitive activities. Anyabhilasita-sunyam [Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11] Materialistic activities are unnecessary for the soul, and therefore the devotees are freed from such activities. The devotees are situated in liberation (brahma-bhuyaya kalpate), and therefore they cannot be called back to their material homes and materialistic activities.

SB9.24.63-64

TEXTS 63–64

bhoja-vrsny-andhaka-madhu-

surasena-dasarhakaih

slaghaniyehitah sasvat

kuru-srnjaya-pandubhih

snigdha-smiteksitodarair

vakyair vikrama-lilaya

nrlokam ramayam asa

murtya sarvanga-ramyaya

bhoja—assisted by the Bhoja dynasty; vrsni—and by the Vrsnis; andhaka—and by the Andhakas; madhu—and by the Madhus; surasena—and by the Surasenas; dasarhakaih—and by the Dasarhakas; slaghaniya—by the praiseworthy; ihitah—endeavoring; sasvat—always; kuru-srnjaya-pandubhih—assisted by the Pandavas, Kurus and Srnjayas; snigdha—affectionate; smita—smiling; iksita—being regarded as; udaraih—magnanimous; vakyaih—the instructions; vikrama-lilaya—the pastimes of heroism; nr-lokam—human society; ramayam asa—pleased; murtya—by His personal form; sarva-anga-ramyaya—the form that pleases everyone by all parts of the body.

Assisted by the descendants of Bhoja, Vrsni, Andhaka, Madhu, Surasena, Dasarha, Kuru, Srnjaya and Pandu, Lord Krsna performed various activities. By His pleasing smiles, His affectionate behavior, His instructions and His uncommon pastimes like raising Govardhana Hill, the Lord, appearing in His transcendental body, pleased all of human society.

yasyananam makara-kundala-caru-karna-

The words nrlokam ramayam asa murtya sarvanga-ramyaya are significant. Krsna is the original form. Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is therefore described here by the word murtya. The word murti means “form.” Krsna, or God, is never impersonal; the impersonal feature is but a manifestation of His transcendental body (yasya prabha prabhavato jagad-anda-koti [Bs. 5.40]). The Lord is narakrti, exactly resembling the form of a human being, but His form is different from ours. Therefore the word sarvanga-ramyaya informs us that every part of His body is pleasing for everyone to see. Apart from His smiling face, every part of His body—His hands, His legs, His chest—is pleasing to the devotees, who cannot at any time stop seeing the beautiful form of the Lord.

SB9.24.65

TEXT 65

bhrajat-kapola-subhagam savilasa-hasam

nityotsavam na tatrpur drsibhih pibantyo

naryo naras ca muditah kupita nimes ca

yasya—whose; ananam—face; makara-kundala-caru-karna—decorated by earrings resembling sharks and by beautiful ears; bhrajat—brilliantly decorated; kapola—forehead; subhagam—declaring all opulences; sa-vilasa-hasam—with smiles of enjoyment; nitya-utsavam—whenever one sees Him, one feels festive; na tatrpuh—they could not be satisfied; drsibhih—by seeing the form of the Lord; pibantyah—as if drinking through the eyes; naryah—all the women of Vrndavana; narah—all the male devotees; ca—also; muditah—fully satisfied; kupitah—angry; nimeh—the moment they are disturbed by the blinking of the eyes; ca—also.

Krsna’s face is decorated with ornaments, such as earrings resembling sharks. His ears are beautiful, His cheeks brilliant, and His smiling attractive to everyone. Whoever sees Lord Krsna sees a festival. His face and body are fully satisfying for everyone to see, but the devotees are angry at the creator for the disturbance caused by the momentary blinking of their eyes.

As stated by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gita (7.3):

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah

“Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.” Unless one is qualified to understand Krsna, one cannot appreciate the presence of Krsna on earth. Among the Bhojas, Vrsnis, Andhakas, Pandavas and many other kings intimately related with Krsna, the intimate relationship between Krsna and the inhabitants of Vrndavana is especially to be noted. That relationship is described in this verse by the words nityotsavam na tatrpur drsibhih pibantyah. The inhabitants of Vrndavana especially, such as the cowherd boys, the cows, the calves, the gopis and Krsna’s father and mother, were never fully satisfied, although they saw Krsna’s beautiful features constantly. Seeing Krsna is described here as nitya-utsava, a daily festival. The inhabitants of Vrndavana saw Krsna almost every moment, but when Krsna left the village for the pasturing grounds, where He tended the cows and calves, the gopis were very much afflicted because they saw Krsna walking on the sand and thought that Krsna’s lotus feet, which they dared not place on their breasts because they thought their breasts not soft enough, were being pierced by broken chips of stone. By even thinking of this, the gopis were affected, and they cried at home. These gopis, who were therefore the exalted friends of Krsna, saw Krsna constantly, but because their eyelids disturbed their vision of Krsna, the gopis condemned the creator, Lord Brahma. Therefore the beauty of Krsna, especially the beauty of His face, is described here. At the end of the Ninth Canto, in the Twenty-fourth Chapter, we find a hint of Krsna’s beauty. Now we are proceeding to the Tenth Canto, which is considered Krsna’s head. The entire Srimad-Bhagavata Purana is the embodiment of Krsna’s form, and the Tenth Canto is His face. This verse gives a hint of how beautiful His face is. Krsna’s smiling face, with His cheeks, His lips, the ornaments in His ears, His chewing of betel nuts—all this was minutely observed by the gopis, who thus enjoyed transcendental bliss, so much so that they were never fully satisfied to see Krsna’s face, but instead condemned the creator of the body for making eyelids that obstructed their vision. The beauty of Krsna’s face was therefore much more appreciated by the gopis than by His friends the cowherd boys or even by Yasoda Mata, who was also interested in decorating the face of Krsna.

SB9.24.66

TEXT 66

jato gatah pitr-grhad vrajam edhitartho

hatva ripun suta-satani krtorudarah

utpadya tesu purusah kratubhih samije

atmanam atma-nigamam prathayan janesu

jatah—after taking birth as the son of Vasudeva; gatah—went away; pitr-grhat—from the houses of His father; vrajam—to Vrndavana; edhita-arthah—to exalt the position (of Vrndavana); hatva—killing there; ripun—many demons; suta-satani—hundreds of sons; krta-urudarah—accepting many thousands of wives, the best of women; utpadya—begot; tesu—in them; purusah—the Supreme Person, who exactly resembles a human being; kratubhih—by many sacrifices; samije—worshiped; atmanam—Himself (because He is the person worshiped by all sacrifices); atma-nigamam—exactly according to the ritualistic ceremonies of the Vedas; prathayan—expanding the Vedic principles; janesu—among the people in general.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna, known as lila-purusottama, appeared as the son of Vasudeva but immediately left His father’s home and went to Vrndavana to expand His loving relationship with His confidential devotees. In Vrndavana the Lord killed many demons, and afterwards He returned to Dvaraka, where according to Vedic principles He married many wives who were the best of women, begot through them hundreds of sons, and performed sacrifices for His own worship to establish the principles of householder life.

prthvyah sa vai guru-bharam ksapayan kurunam

As stated in Bhagavad-gita (15.15), vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah: by all the Vedas, it is Krsna who is to be known. Lord Sri Krsna, setting an example by His own behavior, performed many ritualistic ceremonies described in the Vedas and established the principles of grhastha life by marrying many wives and begetting many children just to show people in general how to be happy by living according to Vedic principles. The center of Vedic sacrifice is Krsna (vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah [Bg. 15.15]). To advance in human life, human society must follow the Vedic principles personally demonstrated by Lord Krsna in His householder life. The real purpose of Krsna’s appearance, however, was to manifest how one can take part in loving affairs with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Reciprocations of loving affairs in ecstasy are possible only in Vrndavana. Therefore just after His appearance as the son of Vasudeva, the Lord immediately left for Vrndavana. In Vrndavana, the Lord not only took part in loving affairs with His father and mother, the gopis and the cowherd boys, but also gave liberation to many demons by killing them. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.8), paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam: the Lord appears in order to protect the devotees and kill the demons. This was fully exhibited by His personal behavior. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord is understood by Arjuna to be purusam sasvatam divyam—the eternal, transcendental Supreme Person. Here also we find the words utpadya tesu purusah. Therefore it is to be concluded that the Absolute Truth is purusa, a person. The impersonal feature is but one of the features of His personality. Ultimately, He is a person; He is not impersonal. And not only is He purusa, a person, but He is the lila-purusottama, the best of all persons.

SB9.24.67

TEXT 67

antah-samuttha-kalina yudhi bhupa-camvah

drstya vidhuya vijaye jayam udvighosya

procyoddhavaya ca param samagat sva-dhama

prthvyah—on the earth; sah—He (Lord Krsna); vai—indeed; guru-bharam—a great burden; ksapayan—completely finishing; kurunam—of the personalities born in the Kuru dynasty; antah-samuttha-kalina—by creating enmity between the brothers by disagreement; yudhi—in the Battle of Kuruksetra; bhupa-camvah—all the demoniac kings; drstya—by His glance; vidhuya—cleansing their sinful activities; vijaye—in victory; jayam—victory; udvighosya—declaring (the victory for Arjuna); procya—giving instructions; uddhavaya—unto Uddhava; ca—also; param—transcendental; samagat—returned; sva-dhama—to His own place.

Thereafter, Lord Sri Krsna created a misunderstanding between family members just to diminish the burden of the world. Simply by His glance, He annihilated all the demoniac kings on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra and declared victory for Arjuna. Finally, He instructed Uddhava about transcendental life and devotion and then returned to His abode in His original form.