The Story of
Krishna and Uddhava
There are beautiful stories about the
relationship between Lord Krishna and his devotee, Uddhava, a disciple of
Brihaspati, the preceptor of the Gods and son of Devabhanga. The differences
between them were sharp and glaring. Uddhava was a scholar and intellectual,
while Krishna was a cowherd. The former was brought in a city while Krishna was
brought up in a village. Uddhava intuitively knew that Krishna was no ordinary
soul while Krishna saw Uddhava as a seeker.
Uddhav was son of Vasudev's (Shri
Krishna's father) little brother Devbhaag.
After his childhood, Devraj Indra took him to Swarg Lok (Heaven) and Uddav got education from DevGuru Vrihaspati. After Kansa death, Uddhav returned to Mathura and here he was main minister of Yadav's and became good friends with Shri Krishna. Uddhav had very good knowlegde of Shastra, Ved etc but he was missing Bhakti (devotion). He was in the favour of Nirgun Brahman (the supreme reality without form, quality, gender) while Gopis were in favour of pure devotion (shuddh premabhakti).
After his childhood, Devraj Indra took him to Swarg Lok (Heaven) and Uddav got education from DevGuru Vrihaspati. After Kansa death, Uddhav returned to Mathura and here he was main minister of Yadav's and became good friends with Shri Krishna. Uddhav had very good knowlegde of Shastra, Ved etc but he was missing Bhakti (devotion). He was in the favour of Nirgun Brahman (the supreme reality without form, quality, gender) while Gopis were in favour of pure devotion (shuddh premabhakti).
"Real wise person is that person
who loves God without ego or greed"
To combine knowledge and Love, Shri
Krishna sent Uddhav to Braj Bhumi. Shri Krishna gave His peetambar and
Vaijayanti mala to Uddhav and told Uddhav to meet Gopis in this attire otherwise
gopis won't talk to you. Shri Krishna also sent love message to all brajwaasi (mother,
father, gopis etc) that He remembers them a lot. Krishna instucted Uddav to
meet nandbaba and mata yashoda first.
AAs instructed, Uddhavfirst met with
NandBaba and yashoda. Nandbaba asked about the well being of Krishna. NandBaba
said. "Uddhav, We (gop-gwal, birds etc) consider Him (Krishna) everything,
does he also remember us? Sometimes I also feel, he is not in Mathura, but
playing in my lap. He is touching my beard. Sometimes I feel, he is sitting on
my shoulder touching my hair. I see him everywhere. Uddhav, when will my
kanhaiya return? What crime I have done?" Saying all this, Nandbaba
started crying.
Meanwhile
Yashoda also came there and said- "Can someone see dreams without
sleeping? Sometimes I feel Krishna is in Mathura and sometimes I feel Krishna
is in my lap." Saying all this, Yashoda also started crying.
It went from evening to morning
(3:30am) like this talking about Krishna. 3:30 am is the time of Brahma
Muhurta. Now it was time for Gopis to wake up. They were chanting Shri Krishna
name while making butter. All the sound that was getting created due to making
of butter started to sound like dholak (like drum). It was making a sound like
gham-gham. Their bangles were making sound like chhan-chhan and it started to
sound like Majira. Shri Krishna name chanting and these sounds seemed like
sankirtan.
Bhaj
Govindam, Bhaj Govindam, Govindam bhaj hare hare, krishna kanhaiya, bal
mukundam, nand kumaram hare hare. It
was habit of every Gopi that after completing their household work, they used
to come to Nandbaba home and nandbaba ke praangan ko pranaam karna (Obeisance
to countryard). Whether krishna is there or not, it has no meaning for them,
they used to come there daily. On this day, Uddhav and Gopis met each other, Uddhav
told gopis that he has come here to give message of Krishna to you. Recognizing
peetambar and baijanti mala of krishna, Gopis did praanam (Obeisance) to
Uddhav.
It was habit of every Gopi that after
completing their household work, they used to come to Nandbaba home and
nandbaba ke praangan ko pranaam karna (Obeisance to countryard). Whether
krishna is there or not, it has no meaning for them, they used to come there
daily. On this day, Uddhav and Gopis met each other, Uddhav told gopis that he
has come here to give message of Krishna to you. Recognizing peetambar and
baijanti mala of krishna, Gopis did praanam (Obeisance) to Uddhav.
Gopis asked-"You have brought the
message of which Krishna? Does Krishna live in Mathura only? See there, he is
sitting on Kadamb tree playing flute. You see him only in Mathura but we see
him everywhere". Uddhav started to give them teaching of Nirgun Brahman. Gopis
said we don't know, what sagun is and what nirgun. We only know about our love
with Krishna. Now each Gopi narrated their story about how they see Krishna
everywhere in their daily life.
Shyam
tan, Shyam man, Shyam hi humaro dhan, aathon yaam humko udho(uddhav) shyam se
hi kaam hai, shyam heeye, shyam jeeye, shyam hi to khaye peeye, andhe ki si
laakdi , aadhar shyam naam hai, Shyam mati, shyam gati, shyam hi to praan pati,
shyam sukhdaayi so, bhulaayi shobha dhaam hai, shyaam aan, shyam praan, shyam
hi humari shaan, aadi ant madhya, humara shyamaviram hai.
Uddhava was surprised. He sat in
chariot and started on his way, but he could not help wonder what would be
Radha’s reaction. He was sure Radha would be very angry at this. He did not
want to see a problem in Radha and Krishna’s relationship. So just before he
entered Vrindavan, he got a parch-paper and wrote a hi-hello message to Radha
and forged to look like it came from Krishna. On reaching Vrindavan, he did not
have problem finding Radha’s house. She gave him a warm welcome. After he
settled, he handed over the message, hoping she would not examine the message
in too much detail. For a moment Radha stared at the parch-paper and then she
started laughing hysterically. Uddhava was confused. He asked Radha what was
the matter. She said the message Krishna wrote was funny. Uddhava pretended
surprise and asked what the message was.
“The message says Uddhava’s study is
still not complete.” replied Radha. On listening this, Uddava was stunned. ‘How
could she have known this?’ he wondered. Radha calmed him down. “I love Krishna
and trust Krishna in ways beyond you can imagine.” She said “We are two bodies
but same soul. There is nothing to be said in between us. We have walked the
path of trust, love, devotion and sacrifices for so long that there are no
boundaries in my being and his. He does not need to send me messages. He is my
message. He is my love letter from the universe.”
“But Uddhava, you have not learned to
trust Krishna. You have not learned to give up yourself, your ego, and stop
your manipulating mind. You ego stands between you and the truth. Between you
and the supreme awakening.” “Erasing the sense of duality and being one with
the universe, being one with the one who beholds universe, is this not the jist
of the sacred ancient texts, Uddhava?” Uddhava was speechless. Within a minute,
Radha had explained the the deepest mysteries of life. He just wanted to stand
there and listen.
He spent the whole day at her house.
She talked about life in layman’s terms of love and truth. But Uddhava found answers
to his most profound questions in philosophies he learned all this life. “How
did you get so much knowledge staying in this village and living life doing
chores?” He asked. “Each moment makes you take sides. If you always take side
of truth and love, you will gain insights. Each insight awakens you from the
illusion and takes you a step closer to the supreme awakening.” “How can you be
in Love with Krishna and still remain free from bonds of life?”
“There is distinction between the love
that results from insecurity and the love that results from faith. The former
results in bonds. The later results in freedom. The former gets lost, the later
transcends. The former leads to fear of death and abandonment. The later leads
to Nirvana, to enlightenment that is death of death, to realization that Radha
and Krishna are just ripples and love is like the water, eternal and infinite.”
“How can you get awakened without leaving the society and becoming a monk?”
“Where a man reaches by renouncing the world, a woman reaches by embracing the
world in its wholeness.” Said Radha.
“Is there no point in pursuit of
knowledge? Then what is the meaning of life?” “Your ability to give it any
meaning, is the meaning of life. ” Ansewred Radha. “And about the pursuits,
pursuit of currency is not the same as pursuit of wealth, pursuit of sensation
is not pursuit of happiness, pursuit of titles is not pursuit of knowledge.
These pursuits are in synergy for some time, and they are at conflict later.
You must wake up, and open your eyes.” Radha’s answers turned all of Uddhavas
learning upside down and inside out and presented to him as a paradox, a
paradox his doubting mind could never grasp. Uddhava’s ego surrendered. The
constant chatter of thoughts at the back of his mind stopped and he saw a
totally new world at the same place. An eternal, peaceful world where
everything seemed OK. On his way back to Dwaraka, Uddhava sensed a big change
within him. He sang to himself. He offered lift to a sick man. He appreciated
the sunset in the Western sky. He did not feel rush to get home and work on
getting his title.
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