Nandagopa’s good fortune

Lord Narayana took the Krishna avatara so that people could enjoy His saulabhya, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. Rama too captured the hearts of people. Valmiki, in Ayodhya Kanda, says ‘pums

Lord Narayana took the Krishna avatara so that people could enjoy His saulabhya, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. Rama too captured the hearts of people. Valmiki, in Ayodhya Kanda, says ‘pumsaam drishtichitta apahaarinam’. In other words, Rama attracted the eyes and thoughts of those who beheld Him. In the case of Krishna, the attention came automatically, without Kishna having to do anything. Moreover Rama was the son of a king, and so, naturally, people would have maintained a certain distance from Him. But with Krishna, there were no such barriers. And yet, not all had the good fortune of witnessing His childhood pranks.

Krishna was born as Vasudeva’s son, and Vasudeva had the boon of seeing Krishna with four hands. But beyond that, he had nothing, for soon Krishna was taken away and left at Gokula. Vasu means wealth, and to Vasudeva was born the unimaginable wealth, namely Krishna. But Vasudeva did not enjoy this wealth, just as many rich men never get to enjoy their riches. There is a story about a man who was given eight pots of gold by a devata. He found seven were full but one only half full. The man spent the rest of his life trying to fill this pot; by the time it was full, he died, without having enjoyed the gold in the other pots.

Nanda means joy, and Nandagopa had the joy of watching Krishna’s leelas. Two terms are used to describe the Supreme One — Atmadaa and baladaa. Atmadaa means the Lord giving Himself to someone. Baladaa means the Lord giving strength to someone to enjoy His deeds. To Vasudeva, He gave Himself, but was soon parted from him. To Nandagopa, He gave the bala to enjoy Him, and so Nandagopa was as joyous as his name suggests.