Pictures of Sri Syamasundara
.
1. Malgaldcaraëa
(Obeisances to Oà Viñëupdda Paramahaàsa Pdrivrdjakdcdrya Añöottara-gata Sri
Sriman Abhaya-caraëdravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupdda)
.
Here and there a
piece had fit,
but important pieces
still did not.
Some claimed,
"Now it is solved.", but it
was not. The
puzzle's tangled knot
was not untangled by
their wit.
Bhdrata knew, but
not the west,
the truth of the
divine design,
how souls in many
births are thrust,
how although
sufferings entwine
this world, God is
benign and just.
Then a preacher
traveled
to the west and
unraveled
the puzzle-knot of
the universe.
To him I bow by
speaking this verse.
.
2. Malgaldcaraëa
(Obeisances to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nitydnanda)
.
In Gaura-dega's
sacred land
two auspicious moons
arose
in Ekacakra-grdma
and
in Navadvipa. Ah!
Who knows
Their glory? With
lotus upraised hands
and lotus face and
eyes, and with
gracefulplayfully
dancing feet
and with sacred
nectar breath
incensed with
fragrant fragrant sweet
breezes of
"Krsna! Krsna!" Both
fill with light
the blinding night
of Kali-yuga. Each
morning, noon
and night I bow to
those two moons.
.
3. In the Temple of
the Heart
.
Along the pathway of
my thoughts
I pass. I stand at
the arched dark door
of the temple of my
heart. Caught
by my hands, the
door opens. On the floor
my feet walk. Some
humble gifts I've brought.
The temple-room is
filled with light
and a brilliant,
colorful, dancing sweetness.
Everything is
graceful and bright.
A sense of bliss, of
sweet completeness
rests upon my weary
sight.
On Krsna's form
filled with charm
my wide-opened eyes
now gaze,
unblinking, all
their nights and days.
.
4. Music From
Krsna's Breath
.
The arching branches
of the trees
are filled with
flower-blossom gifts.
The fragrance calls black
dancing bees.
Through
lattice-branches slowly drifts
a languid,
flower-marked autumn-breeze.
Through the forest
Krsna goes
with smiling eyes
and footsteps light
and sapphire chest
and lotus toes
and playful teenage
grace. A slight
breath into His
bamboo flute He blows.
The sweet and soft
sound rises aloft,
lingers, dances, and
quickly floods
with nectar the
forest of flowers and buds.
.
5. Writing on a
Lotus-petal
.
Careful Nandimukhi
writes
on a page that is
lotus flower
petal, as graceful,
love-struck, bright-
eyed Rddhd speaks
the words. An hour
passes in the
bough-filled, sunlight-
dappled Vraja-forest
grove.
The cuckoos sing on
forest boughs.
The flowers blossom
now above.
Inscribed on
flower-paper now
is Rddhd's
declaration of love.
With skill and grace
in a letter are
placed
Sri Rddhd's sweet,
soft words that tell
how She is caught in
Krsna's spell.
.
6. Krsna Disguised
as a Pearl-Merchant
.
Sri Krsna, wrapped
in the disguise
of a jewel-merchant
girl
smiles with
blossoming lotus eyes.
He shows His wares
of sapphire, pearl,
gold, emerald, and
ruby. Wise
Sri Rddhd carefully
picks
a bracelet that She
likes. Ah! Dark
Sri Krsna, the
master of playful tricks,
is joyful. Rddhd
stops to mark
Him with Her
wonder-dazzled eyes.
She pauses. She
thinks.
Her open eyes drink
the sweet and
graceful form that stands
among jewel earrings
and gold bands.
.
7. A Hunter Armed
With Flowers
.
Now the soft and
gentle touch
of Krsnacandra's two
feet falls
on the forest floor.
The trees are rich
in leaves and
flowers. The cuckoo calls,
"Kuhu!"
Sri Krsna's eyes keep watch.
His graceful
glorious handsomeness,
His sidelong smiling
glance, and His nectar river
of jests are
glistening arrows that press
each other tightly
in His quiver.
The graceful gopis
now caress
His thoughts. He
walks
slowly. He stalks
His prey. His
glorious features glisten.
For jingling anklets
His ears listen.
.
8. Pulling the
Bowstring
.
The graceful teenage
gopis look
at Krsna with
moonlike face and chest
of sapphire and they
sip the nectar brook
that runs with
Krsna's playful jests.
The paërita gopis
are rapt in the book
of Krsna's smiling
glances bright
with Kdmadeva's
smiles and vows.
Glorious in the
white moonlight,
the archer Krsna in
His eyebrows'
bows places arrows
of delight.
The arrows slip
now from His Srip
and from His dark
eyes' bowstring taught
are plunged into the
gopis' thoughts.
.
9. A Trap Entwined
With Flowers
.
The black bees of
the gopis' eyes
fly to the sweet
dark lotus flower
of Krsna's face. The
bright moonrise
of Krsnacandra's
face churns power-
full, turbulent
waves of smiles and sighs
in the gentle,
still, deep, glistening, blue
ocean of the
graceful-limbed gopis'
hearts. Krsna's
handsomeness is new
and sweet at every
moment. A breeze
of flowers gently
blows now through
the forest grove.
Dizzy with love,
the helpless gopis
now are caught
in Kdma's trap of
flowers wrought.
.
10. The Budding
Flower
.
As in the darkness
of the night
the dim, slight,
slender, youthful crescent
moon slowly grows
into a bright
full moon, and as a
tiny, pleasant
bud in sunlight and
in moonlight
slowly grows and
grows and grows
from tiny infant
tightly curled
into glorious flower
with clothes
of many petals all
unfurled,
so love for Krsna
slowly rose
with glistening
splendor
within the slender
beautiful, playful,
smiling-eyed
girls who in
Vrajapura reside.
.
11. Millions of
Moons
.
Do a million million
moons arise
resplendent all with
nectar light
within the glorious
evening skies
of the graceful,
wide, sweet, bright,
dark, unblinking
splendid eyes
of Vraja's teenage
gopis? Or
do a million million
million flooding
nectar oceans
without shore
splash their eyes?
Or do the budding
kalpa-vekña forests
pour
millions of blooms
in the
treasury-rooms
of the gopis' eyes
as they gaze and gaze
at Krsna walking the
forest's pathways?
.
12. Dawn in Vraja
.
The reddish sun
rises in the east.
The sunlight
glistens on the clear
lakes' waters and on
a graceful host
of peacocks,
monkeys, swans, birds, deer,
and many others. The
vines now twist
many soft, fragrant,
flower-filled tendrils
around the trees'
trunks and intricate branches.
All is peaceful and
quiet and still.
Forests, gardens,
leaves, and bunches
of flowers fill the
valleys and hills.
To Vraja, the place
where gentle, grace-
ful Krsna plays, my
obeisances
I offer. To my words
its glory I press.
.
13. A Circle of
Dancers
.
Krsna's delicate
lotus fingers
move as His breath
enters His flute.
Krsna the graceful
expert singer
of flute-songs now plays intricate sweet
melodies that dance
and linger
in the forest air.
Some peacocks
come. One takes some
joyful, play-
ful, gentle dancing
steps. He rocks
his body. Gracefully
he sways
to and fro. Now many
flocks
of peacocks and deer
and others hear
the music, come,
surround Krsna, and dance
in Vraja's forest of
trees and plants.
.
14. A Dance of Sighs
.
From Krsnacandra's
soft, sweet breath
into his bamboo
flute, languid
music dances on the
path
that arches over
Vraja's mid-
day autumn air. A
flower wreath
moves with His
breath. High in the skies
the melody flies,
touches the boughs
of the flowering
vine-entwined trees, then rises
and dips, and
slowly, slowly flows
as it sings and
sighs and sighs and sighs.
It dances and skips
and with gentle feet
slips
over the tops of the
trees, a slow dance
from lotus-limbed
Krsna of playful glance.
.
15. Watching the
Monsoon Rains
.
A
blossoming-lotus-eyed gopi watches
the darkened host of
monsoon clouds.
A sudden glittering
lightning flash clutches
the sky with light.
A heavy shroud
of darkness follows.
Lightning catches
the sky again. The
great wide skies
are filled with
rains. Again and again
with wide-open
blossoming-lotus-eyes
the gopi watches the
monsoon rain.
Upon her breath now
rests a sigh.
Within her darkened
thoughts rests one
with a dark chest
with splendors
pressed
and a glittering
yellow garment placed
about His slender
graceful waist.
.
16. Millions of
Offerings
.
Millions of lotus
flowers now
we place at Krsna's
graceful feet.
Millions and
millions of times we bow
before Him. With
millions of prayers we greet
Him, Krsna of
playful flower-vine brows.
We decorate Krsna
with ornaments
of millions of
jewels and millions of bunches
of flowers. We
anoint Him with millions of scents.
Millions of
delicious foods are the lunch
we place before Him.
Millions of presents
we lovingly place
before Krsna, whose
face
is like millions and
millions of full moons that rise
in darkened autumn
evening skies.
.
17. Millions of
Nectar Moons
.
A million nectar
moons arise
in Krsna's face, a
million-cloud
monsoon within the
darkened skies
that are His chest,
a millionfold crowd
of lotus lakes
within His eyes,
millions of gentle
fragrant breezes
in Sri Sri
Krsnacandra's breath,
in His heart
millions of kalpa trees,
millions of jasmines
in His teeth,
in His words
millions of nectar seas,
in His gentle smile
millions of miles
of rushing nectar
mountain streams,
and in His jests
millions of nectar dreams.
.
18. Arati in the
forest
.
In a Venddvana
forest room
where
fragrant-flower-breezes sigh
where the roof is a
full moon,
soft stars, and
darkened evening sky,
and where the walls
are overgrown
with trees embraced
by serpentine
vines, some gopis
sweetly sing
and play the drum.In
that soft shrine
with many flowers
blossoming
in the soft and
white moon's shine,
a teenage gopi
offers drati
to dark Krsna, the
playful rake,
and Rddhd, who
spurned all for His sake.
.
19. The Fair Queen
of Jesters
.
A colorful,
fragrant, blooming crest
of flowers in Her
braided hair,
and a necklace of
glittering jewels resting
on Her beautiful
form, the fair
and smiling glorious
queen of jesters,
speaking many
graceful, soft,
and glistening
jokes, makes Her dark
and handsome lover
laugh and laugh.
Her chin bears a
musk-dot mark.
Her throne is of
blossoming flower and leaf.
Behind Her wide
smiling eyes hide
with flower-bud
lances and glittering cloaks
armies and armies
and armies of jokes.
.
20. A Happy Girl
.
Smiling Krsna now
entwines
Rddhd's ornate
serpent braids
with many fragrant
blossomed jasmine
flowers. In the
forest shade
He draws a musk-dot
on Her chin.
With kajjala He
anoints Her eyes.
He places earrings
on Her ears.
Around her neck a
necklace-maze
of jewels He places.
On Her dear
half-moon forehead
now He draws
ornate designs
with fragrant lines
of kulkuma. Rddhd
smiles, happy
in Her lover's
company.
.
21. A Warrior in the
Forest
.
In the afternoon the
warrior
Krsnacandra's
fragrant, soft
lotus feet touch the
forest floor
by the lotus-filled,
sweet, and swift
waves of theYamund's
shore.
Carefully He hunts
for the army
of a lotus-limbed,
glistening-
eyed, slender,
smiling enemy.
Carefully He looks
and listens.
Playful jests and
poetry
are His narrow
and sharp arrow.
A fragrant,
flower-twined lance
rests in the hand of
His sidelong glance.
.
22. Millions of
Lotus Flowers
.
In the ornate,
glistening temple
of my heart I place,
moment
after moment
beautiful
millions and
millions of sugar-scented
lotus flowers at
Krsna's jewel
glorious treasure
graceful feet.
I bow. Upon the
floor my limbs
fall. Musical, soft,
rich, sweet,
saintly, pure,
spiritual hymns
are fragrant incense
on my breath.
The glorious sight
of smiling bright-
eyed Krsnacandra
fills my eyes
open now with sweet
surprise.
.
23. Advice to the
Heart
.
O my heart, please,
please, please look
at Krsna, whose
graceful face and limbs
are like a fragrant
lotus lake.
Please look, please
look, please look at Him.
O my heart, do you
not like
to look at Him?
Please, like a stick,
now fall before His
lotus feet.
O my heart, please,
please, please lick
the nectar of sweet,
sweet, sweet
looking at Him. Please,
please look.
Never, never,
not ever, ever
at any, any, any
time
have you seen
someone so sublime.
.
24. Swinging Nights
.
The place is
splendid and beautiful
on Mount
Govardhana's glistening high
peak. The trees and
flowers are jewels.
A nectar moon shines
in the sky.
Rddhd and Krsna sit
on a pearl
and ruby twined
swing in a jewel mosaic
glittering
courtyard. With motion slow
and gentle, back and
forth, and back
and forth They
happily go.
As They ride on the
swing, bright sapphire black
Krsna and fair
Rddhd, Her hair
braided with
blooming jasmines, bless
the devotees with
deepest happiness.
.
25. The Gopis Rob
Krsna's Flute
.
His lotus eyes are
blossomed wide.
"Who has robbed
My flute?" demands
Sri Krsna. A teenage
gopi hides
it behind her back.
From her soft hands
it quickly, deftly,
silently slides
into an accomplice's
hand. "Where is
the bamboo flute I
dearly prize?"
He asks. The gopi's
heart with bliss
is filled."I
know not," she replies.
Krsna His priceless
flute will miss.
With smiling eyes,
each gopi denies
with words both soft
and resolute
knowledge of Sri
Krsna's flute.
.
26. Directions for a
Secluded Forest Walk
.
First walk under the
canopy
of kadamba trees,
their flowers yawning.
Then, walking by a
lake, you'll see
a forest. Walk under
the fragrant awning
of vine-covered
branches. Then follow the bees
as they fly through
the richly fragrant air.
Then follow the
winding forest pathway.
Then follow the
marks of a graceful pair
of charming, gentle,
dancing, play-
ful feet. Those
marks will lead you where
the glorious sight
of smiling bright-
eyed, lotus-limbed
Krsna will kiss
your wide-open eyes
with a flood of bliss.
.
27. Picking Flowers
.
"Jhunu! Jhunu!
Jhunu!" jangle
on Rddhd's feet a
jewel pair
of
anklets."Runu! Runu!" Her bangles
declare. Graceful,
slender, fair
Rddhd slowly walks
in the tangle
of flowering trees
and vines. A wealth
of flowers surrounds
Her on every side.
She picks flowers
for Krsna's wreath.
Her happy eyes are
opened wide.
"Krsna!
Krsna!" is on Her breath.
Amongst trees and
plants,
with steps like a
dance,
glorious, graceful,
smiling, slender
beautiful princess
Rddhd wanders.
.
28. Sankirtana
.
"Rddhd! Rddhd!
Rddhd!" flows
a sweet nectar
stream of sound.
"Krsna! Krsna!
Krsna!" blows
of words a fragrant
breeze around.
"Rddhd! Rddhd!
Rddhd!" glows
of words a cooling
nectar moon.
"Krsna! Krsna!
Krsna!" showers
a gentle, blissful,
giant monsoon
of many, many
fragrant flowers.
Now sounds a sweet
harmonious tune.
The gongs and
cymbals
sweetly tremble.
Hands softly with the
rhythm clap.
The drums do a
graceful dance of thumps.
.
29. Night and Day
.
Within the pleasant
forest groves,
within the palace's
jewel-decked rooms,
beside the rivers'
nectar waves,
among the trees'and
vines' sweet blooms,
within the darkened
hidden caves,
along the pathways
as they twist
by trees and vines,
in peaceful, still,
and private places,
in a forest
of lotus flowers,
and on a hill
with a glorious
fragrant flower-filled crest,
in splendid nights
of white moonlight,
and in effulgent
sunlit days,
smiling Krsnacandra
plays.
.
30. Krsna Converses
with the Animals
.
With a sweetly
cooing swan
in a sugar-lotus
lake,
in a private place
alone
with a many-headed
snake,
In a forest
overgrown
with buds with
gentle does and deer,
with a host of
garralous monkeys,
softly in a white
cow's ear,
and with a host of
humming bees,
Krsna talks with the
soft, clear,
and sweet scent
of eloquent,
charming, and poetic
words
in the languages of
the beasts and birds.
.
31. The Breath of
the Flutist
.
What glorious surging
nectar floods,
what
jewel-glittering treasuries,
what forests filled
with fragrant buds,
what cooling white
assemblies
of nectar moons,
what sweet abodes
of nectar worlds,
what lotus forests,
what palaces with
jewel gates,
what pleasure mazes,
what poets' contests,
what sages' playful
sweet debates,
what nectar wonders
now all rest
in gentle, smiling,
sweet, beguiling,
fragrant-forest-flower-wreath-
anointed flutist
Krsna's breath?
.
32. Krsna Hides in
the Blue-Lotus-Forest in the Midst of the Water-Splashing Contest
.
In the lotus-flower
forest
in the
water-splashing battle
Krsnacandra hides,
tight pressed
against the giant
leaves and petals.
The wide-eyed gopis
search. The contest
is stopped. Where,
where, where, where
did smiling
Krsnacandra go?
Sweet lotus breezes
fill the air.
The gopis are
bewildered. O,
hiding Krsna now
prepares
to splash torrents
of lotus-scented
water on the
glorious suprise-
filled gopis with
bright dancing eyes.
.
33. Running in the
Forest
.
As the surging
rivers flow
to the ocean with
bright waves,
as the flower arrows
throw
themselves from the
tight embrace
of the archer's
bending bow,
as the eager
javelins race,
and as the leaping
graceful does
run into the stags'
embrace
in the place where
flowers grow,
so the gopis with
great haste
and soft feet
run to meet
dark Krsna, whom
they dearly love,
meet Him in a forest
grove.
.
34. Krsna and the
Gopis Play Hide-and-Seek in the Kalpa-vekga Forest
.
In the hide-and-seek
contest
smiling Krsnacandra
hides
in the kalpa-vekña
forest
of many flowers,
leaves and wide
branches. Each
alone, a host
of gopis searches
and searches for Him.
Krsna in many forms
expands.
Swiftly passes the
searching time.
Each Krsna meets
and playfully greets
a gopi in a forest
room
with trees and vines
in fragrant bloom.
.
35. The Mahd-Mantra
.
"Hare
Krsna!" with waves of bliss
fills the nectar
fragrant air.
"Hare
Krsna!" bends to kiss
the ear with a
gentle prayer.
"Krsna
Krsna!" fulfills the wish
of the soul who
would see God.
"Hare
Hare!" is a taste
of nectar that the
ear does flood.
"Hare
Rdma!"is a chaste
vision. "Hare
Rdma!" buds
and with glory
flowers
in the soul's
bowers.
"Rdma Rdma Hare
Hare!"
dance in the heart
night and day.
.
36. Flower Awnings