|| Gopāla Viṁśati
||
Gopāla Viṁśati of Śrī Vedānta Deṣika
Twenty beautiful Verses on Gopāla, the cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana
Gopāla is a name of Kṛṣṇa and means the cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana. Viṁśatiḥ means twenty. So Gopāla Viṁśatiḥ means the Twenty beautiful Verses on Gopāla, the cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana.
Swami Deṣikan paints a word picture of the incomparable beauty of Śrī Gopāla. He describes the structure of His mantra and affectionately recalls the many mischievous deeds performed by Bāla-Gopāla (the child Gopāl) in Gokula and Brindāvana to the utter delight of the humans and the celestial beings.
Śrī Gopāla Viṁśati must have been very dear to Swami Deṣika as indicated by his inclusion of the twelfth verse of this stotram in his esoteric masterpiece Sankalpa Suryodayam. There, he depicts Nārada descending from heaven singing joyously the above verse during his journey to meet Purushan and initiate him into the mahāmantra of the Lord .
May our thoughts be blessed with the delectable experience of Swami Deṣikan! I salute Śrī Vedānta Deṣika prior to attempting to provide an English translation to these bhakti-laden verses dedicated to Śrī Rukmini Satyabhama sameta Rājā Veṇugopāla (The Flute player Gopāla).
॥ गोपाल विंशतिः ॥
|| gopāla viṁśatiḥ ||
Invocation
श्रीमान् वेङ्कट नाथार्यः कवितार्किक केसरी ।
वेदान्ताचार्य वर्यो मे सन्निधत्तां सदा हृदि ।
śrīmān veṅkaṭa nāthāryaḥ kavitārkika kesarī |
vedāntācārya varyo me sannidhattāṁ sadā hṛdi |
Text 1
The Lord of the cowherds, Śrī Gopāla is seated on a yantra in the shape of a eight-petalled lotus. Inside that yantra is yet another yantra in the shape of a triangle. Gopāla-upāsakas seat Him at the center of this inner triangle and enjoy His illustrious beauty. On His lap, they find Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. He blesses Her with His auspicious glances .
He has on His lotus lips the conch known as Panchajanya, whose sound is that of the holy praṇavam symbolizing the essence of the Vedas. (His devotees meditate on Him in this manner and receive His blessings).
Here, Swami Deṣikan enjoys the scene just before the Lord is caught by his angry mother in the act of stealing butter from a hidden vessel.
May the special pose that this protector of the Universe, who acted like an innocent child born in the family of cowherds of Gokulam, nurture the inhabitants of his world! His mother normally stored freshly churned butter in shallow earthern vessels (chattis). Gopāla routinely raided the kitchen and stole this butter. Yasodha thought that she could hide the butter in deep water pots (kumbha) to mislead her child. Gopāla defeated his mother in her efforts to save the butter and won the game. When his mother stepped out of the kitchen for a moment, he put his hands into the pot and helped himself. As he was enjoying himself, his mother arrived suddenly suspecting something was going on behind her back. She saw Gopāla stealing butter again and ran towards him, rope in her hand, to tie him up as punishment.
Gopāla was bewildered by the sight of his angry mother. For a moment, he wanted to run away to escape his mother. He lifted his foot to run. His (feigned) fright at his mother however made him stop. He stood still pretending that he did not know what to do next. He closed his eyes at the thought of the impending calamity of being caught and punished by his mother. He appeared as though he was averting that danger by closing his eyes. It is common for ordinary human beings to close their eyes, when they face serious danger, out of a sense of utter helplessness. Our Lord, who is the protector of His universe adopted this posture as if he was a mere mortal. May the thought of the simplicity that he adapted for this occasion protect all of us in our daily lives
Gopāla is a roamer of the forest. Hence, he decorates himself with the ornaments appropriate to the dwellers of the forests i.e. natural products available in the forests.
The mischievous Gopāla, who stole the youth of the Gopīs appears before them with many decorations that enhance his beauty. On his ears, the Gopīs find the flower known as Lāngali (flower from the coconut tree's sheaf/ Tennampālai flower); peacock feathers are found by them on his dark and curly tresses; red hibiscus also decorates those tresses. On his broad chest, they find a beautiful necklace made of yellowish-red seeds known as Gunjā or Kunrimani strung together . With these and more ābharaṇās made of forest products, Gopāla enchants the hearts of the adoring Gopīs
Gopāla desirous of performing water sports with the Gopīs tucked tightly his garments. He took in his hands the water pump used in those sports. He approached one of the Gopīs, who was standing with one foot forward in the water and the other planted backward on the land. He surprised her from behind and embraced her tightly. That Gopī was overpowered by that delectable experience and partially closed her eyes and looked at Gopāla with half-open eyes. He returned her affectionate glances. Their eyes met.
May that Gopāla engaged in water sports with the Gopīs as their lover protect us, since he is the medicine for his devotees suffering from the afflictions of Samsāra.
On the banks of the Yamunā river shines the Lord, who is seated on the bow of a kunthā tree with a smile on his face. He is enjoying the prank that he played on the unsuspecting Gopīs, who had left their clothes on the river bank and were engaged in taking morning ablutions. [He wanted to teach them a lesson for breaking the rules of Sāstras, which forbid one from taking bath in the river without wearing a cloth.] Gopāla sneaked up on the crowd of Gopīs deeply absorbed in water sports and took all of their clothes and climbed up the kunthā tree and sat on one of its branch and waited for them to come out of the water. The unaware Gopīs completed their water sports and ablutions and got out of the water and discovered that their clothes were removed by the smiling Gopāla sitting on the adjacent Pinnai (Kuntha) tree. Overcome by modesty, they rushed back into the water and prayed to him to return their clothes. He commanded them to come out of the water with folded hands raised above their hands [as a mark of atonement for the sin of breaking the injunctions of Sāstras]. They had no choice, but to obey him to regain their clothes. May that mischievous Gopāla fond of Gopīs be victorious!
॥ स्वामि ष्री निगमान्त महा देषिकन् तिरुवदिगले षरणम्॥
|| svāmi ṣrī nigamānta mahā deṣikan tiruvadigale ṣaraṇam ||
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Gopal-Krishna - the darling of Vrindavan
This is a stotra containing twenty beautiful descriptions and unforgettable pen-pictures of that Darling of Humanity Gopala -- not the mature Krishna of Mathura, but the Child of Gokula with countless joyous pranks to his credit, and the pre-adolescent boy dallying with the cowheard damsels or the milkmaids of Vṛndāvan.
Gopāla or Gopāl is one of Kṛṣṇa’s names and means the cowherd boy, so Kṛṣṇa is known as Gopāl-Kṛṣṇa.
During Kṛṣṇa’s childhood in Vṛndāvana in North India, he grew up as a cow boy/cow herder. He loves cows and took care of the them by taking a herd of cows for grazing to forests and green pastures. He protected them from wild beasts. Gopāla is actually a joint name from two words: go + pala. The meaning of go = cow, and the meaning of pala = caretaker or a person who protects and is responsible for the safety of something or someone. Since Gopāla was very fond of playing on his flute, he was called Veṇugopāla. Veṇu means flute -Gopāl's flute-, so Veṇugopāla means The Flute player Gopāla
Swamy Deṣikan was propelled by his deep devotion to visualize Bāla-Gopāla and His pastimes on the banks of Yamunā and Vṛndāvana. He composed this beautiful Stotra under the emotion of Anubhava (bhavanā prakarśam). Swamy Desikan points out that those who recite this Stotra will be able to visualize the Lord ever dear to the Gopīs in His enchanting form of Veṇugpāla even without the benefit of any bhāvanā-prakarśam.
Swamy Deṣikan states that he composed (constructed) this Stotra in a unique manner -- the poetry, the diction, the informing events were all granted to him by Rāja-Veṇugpāla. Swamy Desikan informs us that the slokas arose from him out of the intensity of the emotional experience associated with the enjoyment of the bliss of visualizing Gopāla enacting these events on the banks of Yamunā and Vṛndāvana. Swamy Desikan assures us that we will visualize the Lord and His nectarean youthful pranks even without the emotional fervour and investment. Swamy Desikan pays tribute to this eternal Youth and matchless God.
Sri Vedanta Desika - Sri Vedanta Desika (1269 – 1370) is a great poet, devotee, philosopher and master-teacher belonging to the Śrī Vaishnava sect founded by saint Ramanuja. By the end of 14th centaury the followers of Saint Ramanuja had split in to Vadakalai and Tenkalai. The followers of the former consider Śrī Vedanta Desika as their Acharya (teacher). This great Stotra sings about the greatness of Gopala (cow herd) and is extremely popular among his devotees. It is said that it was composed in Thiruvahindrapuram by the Acharya overwhelmed by the beauty of the Rājā-gopāla idol in the temple. These are usually sung before Thadhiaradhanams (Group partaking of food offered to God) and on the occasion of marriages and on Krishna Jayanthi day in Thiruvahindrapuram.
The translation presented here is a simple literal translation, trying to bring out the beauty of this great stotra rathna. Those who are interested may refer Śrī V.Sadagopan’s detailed commentary:
http://www.sundarasimham.org/ebooks/GopalaVimsati.pdf
http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/acharyas/desika/stotras/gopalavimsati.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/vdesikan/gopala_vimsati/index.html
Gopal-Krishna - the darling of Vrindavan
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.21.2
kusumita-vanarāji-śuṣmi-bhṛńga
dvija-kula-ghuṣṭa-saraḥ-sarin-mahīdhram
madhupatir avagāhya cārayan gāḥ
saha-paśu-pāla-balaś cukūja veṇum
TRANSLATION - The lakes, rivers and
hills of Vṛndāvana resounded with the sounds of maddened bees and
flocks of birds moving about the flowering trees. In the company of the
cowherd boys and Balarāma, Madhupati [Śrī Kṛṣṇa] entered that forest,
and while herding the cows He began to vibrate His flute.
PURPORT - As
suggested by the words cukūja veṇum, Lord Kṛṣṇa skillfully blended
the sound of His flute with the lovely sounds of Vṛndāvana's
multicolored birds. Thus an irresistible, heavenly vibration was
created.
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