His mind thus animated by devout faith, and meditating in this manner, Akrúra proceeded on his road, and arrived at Gokula a little before sunset, at the time of the milking of the cows; and there he saw Krishńa amongst the cattle, dark as the leaf of the full blown lotus; his eyes of the same colour, and his breast decorated with the Srivatsa mark; long armed, and broad chested; having a high nose, and a lovely countenance, brightened with mirthful smiles; treading firmly on the ground, with feet whose nails were tinted red; clad in yellow garments, and adorned with a garland of forest flowers; having a fresh-gathered creeper in his hand, and a chaplet of white lotus flowers on his head. Akrúra also beheld there Balabhadra, white as a jasmine, a swan, or the moon, and dressed in blue raiment; having large and powerful arms, and a countenance as radiant as a lotus in bloom; like another Kailása mountain, crested with a wreath of clouds.

When Akrúra saw these two youths, his countenance expanded with delight, and the down of his body stood erect with pleasure: for this he thought to be supreme happiness and glory; this, the double manifestation of the divine Vásudeva; this was the twofold gratification of his sight, to behold the creator of the universe: now he hoped that his bodily form would yield fruit, as it would bring him in contact with the person of Krishńa; and that the wearer of infinite forms would place his hand on his back; the touch of whose finger alone is sufficient to dispel sin, and to secure imperishable felicity: that hand which launches the fierce

irresistible discus, blazing with all the flames of fire, lightning, and the sun, and slaughtering the demon host washes the collyrium from the eyes of their brides: that hand into which Bali poured water, and thence obtained ineffable enjoyments below the earth, and immortality and dominion over the gods for a whole Manwantara, without peril from a foe. "Alas! he will despise me, for my connexion with Kansa, an associate with evil, though not contaminated by it. How vain is his birth, who is shunned by the virtuous? and yet what is there in this world unknown to him who resides in the hearts of all men, who is ever existent, exempt from imperfection, the aggregate of the quality of purity, and identical with true knowledge? With a heart wholly devoted to him, then, I will approach the lord of all lords, the descended portion of Purushottama, of Vishńu, who is without beginning, middle, or end."

Footnotes

541:1 The commentator explains this to mean Hayagríva, or Vishńu with the neck and head of a horse; who, it is said in the second book of the Bhágavata, appeared at the end of a great sacrifice performed by Brahmá, and breathed from his nostrils the texts of the Vedas. The fourth Avatára is always elsewhere said to be the Vámana, or dwarf.

Next: Chapter XVIII

Hinduism