KRISHNA TAKES LEAVE OF KUNTI

The excitement after the birth of the Child had now subsidized and things were coming back to normal in the City and in the Palace of Yudhishthira too. KRISHNA knew that He had an unpleasant task ahead of Him. He had to tell them that He wanted to go back to Dvaraka. They loved Him so much they would not welcome His departure. He loved them too, but He had to go.

He bade farewell to everyone of them individually: to Subhadra, His Sister; to Draupadi; to Dhritarashtra, the old blind King and to Gandhari, the Saintly Wife of the old King; and the Pandavas. They were loth to let him go and very unwittingly Yudhisthira let him go. KRISHNA went to the apartment of KUNTI and falling at Her Feet He said: “Please wish Me well. I am going back to Dvaraka.”

KUNTI smiled sadly at Him and said: “Still you are playing the role of KRISHNA, My Brother’s Son! I am an ignorant Woman, KRISHNA. I have not studied the Vedas nor have I been taught the Brahma Vidya. But I know one truth and that is: You are the Ishvara, the Lord of Lords. I salute You. You are the Truth that has always existed, the creator of the Universe, the Purusha.  You are the power that brings Prakriti  into action. You pervade the universe made up of the elements. The impenetrable screen which goes by the name Maya hides You from us  and we cannot perceive your presence in every living and non-living object. You are the five senses and You are beyod their power since You are the Truth behind them. I know very little but I know that You are the Absolute Truth. The only thing that I can do is to salute You. Ignorant woman that I am, I do not know even the proper way in which to Pray to You. I fall at Your Feet in all Humility.

“Like an actor appears on the stage whose acting is so perfect that the audience thinks that he is the Character whom he is portraying. You have played the role of KRISHNA to perfection. Your real nature is no known at all. To people deluded by the two cardinal faults “I” and “Mine” You are invisible. Sages who have practiced the Yoga of selflessness, who have tried to realise the Brahman, who have schooled their emotions so well that they are beyond their influence, even they are not able to see You. How then can we , Women, ignorant even in the Yoga called Bhakti, perceive You? To Me You are the Cowherd who tended the Cows in Vrindavan. But You are, I know, the Lord NARAYANA whose Navel has the Divine Lotus in it.  Long ago Your Mother Devaki was freed from the prison by You after You had killed Kamsa.  Even so, I have been saved again and again from miseries by You. My Sons have regained their Kingdom because of You. You have been our saviour. You have been there to protect us whenever troubles visited us. You are beyond the grasp of the highest intellect; and You have been with us in a Human Form with a name and that has been our great good fortune. Whenever misfortunes befell us, in its wake, we found You coming to us. You have Loved us so much.

 

“Please, KRISHNA, there is only one boon I want to ask of You and that is:  there should be misfortune after misfortune visiting us. That, and only that will make You be with us all the Time. People who are born in Good families, who are wealthy, who are well-read and who have their Ego thriving on the power which wealth has given them; how can such people be fit to pronounce Your Name and call You to them? And yet, it is Your Kindness which makes even such undeserving people fit to be graced by Your favours.

“I salute You Who is the Lord of Lords, who is the uncaused cause of the Universe. You are Time which rolls on and on without a beginning and without end. Why did You make up Your Mind to be born in this World of Men? Some say that You were born in the House of Yadu like the sandalwood tree growing on the slope of the Malaya Mountain to propogate to the World the glory of Yudhishthira. Others maintain that You were born as the Son of Vasudeva and Devaki to fulfill a promise oy Yours to a couple: Sutapas and Prishni. Again it is said that You were entreated by Brahma to be born in the world of Men to relieve Mother Earth of Her burden which threatened to overwhelm Her and sink her like an overladen ship. I do not know what made the Brahman, the Infinite, take up a form and a name. I only know that You are beyond the sway of the opposites which trouble Men of small Minds. You have no likes and You have no dislikes. No one is Dear to You and You hate no one. No one is Dear to You and You hate no one. No one is able to guage the depth of Your purpose;  no one who is caught in the snare of likes and dislikes.

“KRISHNA, how can we live when You go away from us? How can the senses function if the life behind them ceases to illuminate them?  How can the mind think of anything else once it has been trained on You? KRISHNA, grant Me that My Mind should always be bent on You and thoughts of You, like the river Ganga who, with single-minded purpose, flows into the sea unmindful of obstructions.”

With a smile of infinite sweetness KRISHNA wiped KUNTI Devi’s Eyes and said: “So be it.”

He then went to the Court of the King and there He saw Yudhishthira and His Brothers plunged in woe because of their impending parting from KRISHNA. The Chariot had been brought to the gates of the Palace. Arjuna stood in the Chariot holding the white silk umbrella over the head of KRISHNA. Uddhava and Satyaki held the Chamaras for Him. Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva walked on either side of the Chariot. The entire city was assembled on the streets to bid farewell to KRISHNA, the beloved of them all. Soon they reached the outskirts of the City and with great difficulty, KRISHNA persuaded His Friends to go back to their Houses. Daruka spurred the Horses and soon the Chariot of KRISHNA was but a speck in the distant horizon.