Nārada Muni Visits Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Palaces in Dvārakā

In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda beautifully describes the city of Dvārakā as follows: “Being inquisitive as to how Kṛṣṇa was managing His household affairs with so many wives, Nārada desired to see these pastimes and so set out to visit Kṛṣṇa’s different homes. When Nārada arrived in Dvārakā, he saw that the gardens and parks were full of various flowers of different colors and orchards that were overloaded with a variety of fruits. Beautiful birds were chirping, and peacocks were delightfully crowing. There were tanks and ponds full of blue and red lotus flowers, and some of these sites were filled with varieties of lilies. The lakes were full of nice swans and cranes, whose voices resounded everywhere. In the city there were as many as 900,000 great palaces built of first-class marble, with gates and doors made of silver. The posts of the houses and palaces were bedecked with jewels such as touchstone, sapphires and emeralds, and the floors gave off a beautiful luster. The highways, lanes, streets, crossings and marketplaces were all beautifully decorated. The whole city was full of residential homes, assembly houses and temples, all of different architectural beauty. All of this made Dvārakā a glowing city. The big avenues, crossings, lanes and streets, and also the thresholds of every residential house, were very clean. On both sides of every path there were bushes, and at regular intervals there were large trees that shaded the avenues so that the sunshine would not bother the passersby.”

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that Tvaṣṭā, Viśvakarmā, manifested the expertise of the Supreme Lord, and thus he was able to build such exquisite palaces. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “The great kings and princes of the world used to visit these palaces just to worship [Lord Kṛṣṇa]. The architectural plans were made personally by Viśvakarmā, the engineer of the demigods, and in the construction of the palaces he exhibited all of his talents and ingenuity.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “There was so much incense and fragrant gum burning that the scented fumes were coming out of the windows. The peacocks sitting on the steps became illusioned by the fumes, mistaking them for clouds, and began dancing jubilantly. There were many maidservants, all of whom were decorated with gold necklaces, bangles and beautiful sārīs. There were also many male servants, who were nicely decorated in cloaks and turbans and jeweled earrings. Beautiful as they were, the servants were all engaged in different household duties.”

Since Lord Kṛṣṇa’s own lotus feet are the source of the most holy Ganges, the Lord did not have to purify Himself by bathing Nārada Muni’s feet. Rather, as Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: “Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā enjoyed the pastimes of a perfect human being. When, therefore, He washed the feet of the sage Nārada and took the water on His head, Nārada did not object, knowing well that the Lord did so to teach everyone how to respect saintly persons.”

In this verse the words nārāyaṇo nara-sakhaḥ indicate that Kṛṣṇa is Himself the Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa, who appeared as the friend of the sage Nara. In other words, Lord Kṛṣṇa is ṛṣiḥ purāṇaḥ, the original and supreme spiritual master. Nevertheless, following the Vedic injunctions (vidhinoditena) that a kṣatriya should worship the brāhmaṇas, Lord Kṛṣṇa happily worshiped His pure devotee Nārada Muni.

As pointed out by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, all living beings are in fact servants of the Lord. The ācārya quotes the following verse from the Padma Purāṇa to elucidate:

“[In the mantra om] the letter a signifies Lord Viṣṇu, the letter u signifies the goddess Śrī, and the letter m refers to their servant, who is the twenty-fifth element.” The twenty-fifth element is the jīva, the living being. Every living being is a servant of the Lord, and the Lord is the true friend of every living being. Thus even when the Lord chastises envious persons like Jarāsandha, such punishment amounts to real friendship, since both the Lord’s chastisement and His blessing are for the benefit of the living being.

Lord Kṛṣṇa had asked Nārada Muni, “What can We do for you?” and here Nārada answers. Nārada Muni is a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus his request is sublime.

In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when Nārada arrived at the second palace, “Lord Kṛṣṇa acted as if He did not know what had happened in the palace of Rukmiṇī.” Nārada understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa was simultaneously present in both palaces, performing different activities, so “he simply left the palace silently, in great astonishment over the Lord’s activities.”

This translation is from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that in virtually all the palaces Nārada visited, Lord Kṛṣṇa worshiped and honored him.

The five mahā-yajñas, or great sacrifices, are defined as follows: pāṭho homaś cātithīnāṁ saparyā tarpaṇaṁ baliḥ — “reciting the Vedas, offering oblations into the sacrificial fire, waiting on guests, making offerings to the forefathers, and offering [a share of one’s food] to living entities in general.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows on these sacrifices: “In another palace Kṛṣṇa was found performing the pañca-yajña sacrifice, which is compulsory for a householder. This yajña is also known as pañca-sūnā. Knowingly or unknowingly, everyone, specifically the householder, is committing five kinds of sinful activities. When we receive water from a water pitcher, we kill many germs that are in it. Similarly, when we use a grinding machine or take foodstuffs, we kill many germs. When sweeping the floor or igniting a fire we kill many germs, and when we walk on the street we kill many ants and other insects. Consciously or unconsciously, in all our different activities, we are killing. Therefore, it is incumbent upon every householder to perform the pañca-sūnā sacrifice to rid himself of the reactions to such sinful activities.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, in his commentary on this verse, again points out that all the different times of the day were occurring simultaneously in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s palaces. Thus Nārada saw a fire sacrifice — a morning ritual — and at about the same time he saw Lord Kṛṣṇa feeding the brāhmaṇas and accepting their remnants — a noontime activity.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the words sandhyām upāsīnam indicate sunset rituals, whereas the words asi-carmābhyāṁ carantam refer to sword practice, which takes place at dawn.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that riding on horses and elephants is a noon activity, whereas one lies down during the latter part of night.

This translation is based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, Lord Kṛṣṇa met with His counselors around dusk and enjoyed water sports in the afternoon.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī informs us that giving cows in charity occurs in the morning, while hearing the histories takes place in the afternoon.

This translation is based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa.

Joking conversations take place during the nighttime, whereas religious rituals, economic development and family enjoyment occur during both the day and the night.

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Meditation, as recommended in authorized scripture, is meant for concentrating one’s mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu. Lord Kṛṣṇa is Himself the original Viṣṇu, but because He played the part of a human being, He taught us definitely by His personal behavior what is meant by meditation.”

This activity of meditation indicates the brāhma-muhūrta, the early morning hours before sunrise.

This translation is based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Kṛṣṇa.

The word kāle here means that Kṛṣṇa arranged for His sons and daughters to be married when each of them reached the proper age.

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “According to Vedic regulations, the kṣatriyas were allowed to kill prescribed animals on certain occasions, either to maintain peace in the forests or to offer the animals in the sacrificial fire. Kṣatriyas are allowed to practice this killing art because they have to kill their enemies mercilessly to maintain peace in society.”

Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is all-knowing, while executing His pastimes as a typical monarch He sometimes traveled about incognito to acquire necessary information about His kingdom.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, Nārada fully understood the Lord’s omniscience, and thus when he saw the Lord trying to find out the mood of His ministers, moving about in disguise, Nārada could not help laughing. But remembering the Lord’s supreme position, he somewhat constrained his laughter.

According to the ācāryas, this verse indicates that even great mystics like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva cannot fully comprehend the mystic power of the Supreme Lord.

Even Nārada Muni was bewildered to see Lord Kṛṣṇa’s amazing pastimes as a human being. Therefore, with the words anujānīhi māṁ deva he requests permission to return to his normal service of traveling and preaching. Inspired by what he has seen, he wants to preach widely the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to dispel Nārada’s distress, which the sage felt because he saw Lord Kṛṣṇa worshiping the demigods and even Nārada himself. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains Lord Kṛṣṇa’s feelings as follows: “As I state in the Bhagavad-gītā, yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas tat tad evetaro janaḥ: [‘Whatever a great person does, ordinary people follow.’] Thus I bathed your feet today in order to help propagate the principles of religion. In the past, before I began My pastimes of directly teaching religious principles, you came and offered prayers to Me after I had killed the Keśī demon, but I simply listened to your elaborate prayers and glorification and did nothing to honor you. Just remember this and consider.

“Do not think that you have committed an offense by allowing Me to bathe your feet today and accept the water as holy remnants. Just as a son does not offend his father by touching him with his foot while sitting on the father’s lap, so you should understand that in the same way, My son, you have not offended Me.”

In this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī repeats what the Lord has Himself explained. As Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in Kṛṣṇa: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead was engaged in His so-called household affairs in order to teach people how one can sanctify one’s household life although one may be attached to the imprisonment of material existence. Actually, one is obliged to continue the term of material existence because of household life. But the Lord, being very kind upon householders, demonstrated the path of sanctifying ordinary household life. Because Kṛṣṇa is the center of all activities, a Kṛṣṇa conscious householder’s life is transcendental to Vedic injunctions and is automatically sanctified.”

As stated in text 2 of this chapter, all the Lord’s activities in the many palaces were performed by the Lord’s single spiritual form (ekena vapuṣā), which manifested in many places at once. This vision was revealed to Nārada because of his desire to see it and the Lord’s desire to show it to him. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the other residents of Dvārakā could see Kṛṣṇa only in the particular part of the city they themselves occupied, and not anywhere else, even if they would sometimes go to another precinct on some business. Thus the Lord gave a special view of His pastimes to His beloved devotee Nārada Muni.

As Śrīla Prabhupāda points out in Kṛṣṇa, the phrase artha-kāma-dharmeṣu indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa was behaving like an ordinary householder deeply concerned with economic development, sense gratification and religious duties. Nārada could understand the Lord’s purpose, and he was most pleased by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s exemplary behavior. Thus fully enlivened in his pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he departed.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī has given various meanings for the word ananya-viṣayāṇi. This term may indicate that the Lord performed activities in Dvārakā that were unusual even for His plenary expansions, to say nothing of others. Or the term can be understood to indicate that the Lord performed these activities for the sake of His pure, exclusive devotees. In any case, one who recites or hears accounts of these pastimes will certainly be engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and, as Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “certainly find it very easy to traverse the path of liberation and taste the nectar of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa.” Śrīla Prabhupāda further points out that the word anumodate here indicates that one who “supports a preacher of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement” will also receive the benefits mentioned here.