Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 90 Verse 47

krishnasyaitan na citram kshiti-bhara-haranam kāla-cakrāyudhasya

SYNONYMS

tīrtham — sacred place of pilgrimage; cakre — made; nripa — O King (Parīkshit); ūnam — lesser; yat — which (glories of Lord Krishna); ajani — He took birth; yadushu — among the Yadus; svah — of heaven; sarit — the river; pāda — whose feet; śaucam — (the water) which washes; vidvit — enemies; snigdhāh — and loved ones; svarūpam — whose personal form; yayuh — attained; ajita — who is undefeated; parā — and supremely perfect; śrīh — the goddess of fortune; yat — whose; arthe — for the sake; anya — of others; yatnah — endeavor; yat — whose; nāma — name; amańgala — inauspiciousness; ghnam — which destroys; śrutam — heard; atha — or else; gaditam — chanted; yat — by whom; kritah — created; gotra — among the lines of descent (of various sages); dharmah — the religious principles; krishnasya — for Lord Krishna; etat — this; na — not; citram — wonderful; kshiti — the earth's; bhara — of the burden; haranam — the removal; kāla — of time; cakra — the wheel; āyudhasya — whose weapon.

TRANSLATION

The heavenly Ganges is a holy place of pilgrimage because her waters wash Lord Krishna's feet. But when the Lord descended among the Yadus, His glories eclipsed the Ganges as a holy place. Both those who hated Krishna and those who loved Him attained eternal forms like His in the spiritual world. The unattainable and supremely self-satisfied goddess of fortune, for the sake of whose favor everyone else struggles, belongs to Him alone. His name destroys all inauspiciousness when heard or chanted. He alone has set forth the principles of the various disciplic successions of sages. What wonder is it that He, whose personal weapon is the wheel of time, relieved the burden of the earth?

PURPORT

From beginning to end, the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has been exclusively dedicated to reciting the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Vrindāvana, Mathurā and Dvārakā. As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out, this verse sums up the Tenth Canto by mentioning five special glories of Śrī Krishna that even His expansions, plenary portions and incarnations do not display.

First, Lord Krishna's reputation eclipsed that of the holy Ganges when He descended into the Yadu dynasty. Previous to this, mother Ganges was the most sacred of all tīrthas, being the water that had bathed Lord Vāmanadeva's lotus feet. Another river, the Yamunā, became even greater than the Ganges by contacting the dust from Śrī Krishna's feet in the districts of Vraja and Mathurā:

gańgā-śata-gunā prāyo

māthure mama mandale

yamunā viśrutā devi

nātra kāryā vicāranā

"The renowned Yamunā in My domain of Mathurā is hundreds of times greater than the Ganges. About this there can be no dispute, O goddess." (Varāha Purāna)

Second, Lord Krishna gave liberation not only to His surrendered devotees but also to those who considered themselves His enemies. Devotees like the cowherd girls of Vraja and others attained His personal association by entering into His eternal pleasure pastimes in the spiritual world, while inimical demons killed by Him attained the sāyujya-mukti of merging into His divine form. When He was present on this earth, Lord Krishna's compassion extended to His family, friends and servants, and also to His enemies and their families, friends and servants. Great authorities like Lord Brahmā have mentioned this fact: sad-veshād iva pūtanāpi sa-kulā tvām eva devāpitā. "My Lord, You have already given Yourself to Pūtanā and her family members simply because she dressed herself as a devotee." (Bhāg. 10.14.35)

Third, Goddess Lakshmī, Lord Nārāyana's constant companion, whom great demigods serve menially to win her slight favor, was unable to win the privilege of joining the intimate company of Lord Krishna's devotees in Vraja. Despite her eagerness to participate in the rāsa dance and other pastimes enacted by Śrī Krishna, and despite the severe austerities she underwent to achieve that end, she could not transcend her natural mood of reverence. The sweetness and intimacy Lord Krishna manifested in Vrindāvana constitute a unique kind of opulence found nowhere else, even in Vaikuntha. As Śrī Uddhava says,

yan martya-līlaupayikam sva-yoga-

māyā-balam darśayatā grihītam

vismāpanam svasya ca saubhagarddheh

param padam bhūshana-bhūshanāńgam

"To exhibit the strength of His spiritual potency, Lord Krishna manifested a form just suitable for His humanlike pastimes in the material world. This form was wonderful even for Him and was the supreme abode of the wealth of good fortune. Its limbs were so beautiful that they increased the beauty of the ornaments worn on different parts of His body." (Bhāg. 3.2.12)

Fourth, the name Krishna is superior to the name Nārāyana and to those of all of Lord Krishna's other expansions. These two syllables — krish and na — combine together to destroy all inauspiciousness and illusion. When recited, the name Krishna becomes śruta-matha; that is to say, the recitation of Krishna's name totally crushes (mathnāti) the excellence of all other spiritual practices described in the revealed scriptures (śruta). In the words of the Brahmānda Purāna,

sahasra-nāmnām punyānām

trir āvrittyā tu yat phalam

ekāvrittyā tu krishnasya

nāmaikam tat prayacchati

"By uttering the single name of Krishna just once, one attains the same benefit as that gained by reciting Lord Vishnu's thousand names three times."

Fifth, Lord Krishna solidly reinstated dharma, the bull of religion, on his four legs of compassion, austerity, cleanliness and truth. Thus dharma could once again become go-tra, the protector of the earth. Śrī Krishna also established the religious function of Govardhana-pūjā to honor His favorite hill, the cows and the brāhmanas. He also became the hill (gotra) Himself, assuming its form to accept the cowherds' offerings. Moreover, He cultivated the dharma, or loving nature, of Vraja's divine cowherds (gotras), whose love for Him has never been equaled.

These are just a few of the wonderful features of Lord Krishna's unique personality.

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