Chapter 13

Brahma's Stealing of Boys and

Calves

When Paritsit Maharaja asked

why the cowherd boys did not
talk about the Akashuravam
even after a year, Sukadeva
Gosvami became enthusiastic.
"Dear King, because of your
enthusiasm, talking about the
transcendental pastimes of
Krishna is giving new
enthusiasm," he said.

It is said that it is the nature of

a devotee to always engage
his mind, energy, speech and
ears in hearing and chanting
about Krishna. This is called
Krishna consciousness. To one
who is completely absorbed in
hearing and chanting about
Krishna, the matter of Him
always seems new. It never
seems stale. This is the
difference between
transcendental matters and
worldly matters. After hearing
about worldly matters for a
while, the listener becomes
indifferent. Therefore, he
wants to hear about
something different. But the
Supreme is described as
"nitya-nava-navayanamana."
That is, even if one keeps
hearing and singing about the
Lord, one does not get tired.
One is always eager to hear
more and more with new
enthusiasm.

It is the duty of the spiritual

master to teach all kinds of
secret things to the disciple
who is eager and has real
LDILITEST siramat. Therefore,
Sukadeva Gosvami explained
why no one spoke about the
killing of Akashura until a year
had passed. Gosvami told
Paritsit Maharaja: "Now listen
to that secret carefully.
Krishna is the one who

After rescuing his friends from

the mouth and killing Agarana,
he gathered his friends on the
banks of the Yamuna and said:
My dear friends, how
beautiful this place is for
dining. We can play happily on
the soft sand on the banks of
the river. See how the dharma
flowers bloom beautifully in
the water and spread their
fragrance everywhere. The
sound vibrations created by
the birds, the peacocks, the
secret talk of the surrounding
leaves, all resonate with each
other. The pleasant view
presented by the trees
becomes even more beautiful
due to this. We can have lunch
here. It is already late and we
are very hungry. Let the calves
be by our side. Let them drink
water from the Yamuna.
While we eat, the calves can
graze here. While we eat, the
calves can engage in grazing
on the soft grass here.

Hearing Krishna's suggestion,

the gopalas happily agreed
and said, "We will sit here and
eat." Then they let the calves
graze on the grass. Keeping
Krishna in the middle, they all
sat around him and opened
their food packets. Krishna
was sitting in the middle of
the circle. While eating, they
were delighted to see the Lord
face to face. At that time,
Krishna appeared like the
center of a lotus flower and
the children around him like
the petals of the flower. The
children collected flowers,
leaves and bark and kept them
under their food boxes and
ate as Krishna's companions.
While eating, each child
expressed a different kind of
relationship with Krishna.
They ate while talking jokingly
and jokingly. Krishna, who
enjoyed eating with his friends
in this way, had a flute, a horn
and a cane attached to his
waist. The food was made of
curd, butter, rice and pieces of
fruit.

laughed and joked and

enjoyed. They were having
fun. When the Supreme Lord
accepted the fruit of the
sacrifices, which he held in his
left palm, it was visible
through the fingers like petals.
At that time, we were having
dinner with our friends in
Vrindavan. The gods in the sky
witnessed this incredible sight.
The children were enjoying
supreme bliss in the presence
of the Supreme Lord.

At that time, the calves that

were grazing nearby
disappeared from sight. The
calves, the calves, went far
into the forest in search of
fresh grass and cried out,
"Krishna." Seeing that Krishna
was not near, the children
were afraid and killed.
Everyone is afraid of fear. But
fear is afraid of Krishna. The
children who cried out the
word "Krishna" were
immediately freed from fear.
Out of love for them, he did
not want those who were
eating to stop eating and get
up to look for the calves. So he
told his friends, "Don't stop
eating. Enjoy your meal. I will
go and see the calves myself."
Immediately, Krishna set out
to look for the calves in caves
and bushes. He looked for the
calves in the mountain caves
and forests. But he could not
find them.

While the gods were watching

the killing of Akashura with
great amazement, Brahma,
who was born from the lotus
of Vishnu's navel, also came to
see the incident. The little
Krishna was surprised to see
how this miraculous act could
be understood. Although
Brahma knew that the middle-
caste boy was the Supreme
Lord, he wanted to see more
of His glorious pastimes. He
stole all the calves and took
them to another place.
Therefore, despite his hard
search, Lord Krishna could not
find the calves. Moreover,
since he had come a long way,
he sat down on the banks of
the Yamuna River
He lost touch with the boys
who were begging for food.
Although Krishna, as a small
cowherd boy, was younger
than Brahma, he knew that
Brahma had stolen the boys
and calves, since he was the
Supreme Lord. 'Brahma has
taken the boys and calves.
How can I return to Vrindavan
alone? "Mothers will be
sorry," Krishna thought.
So, to satisfy the mothers of
His friends and to make
Brahma realize the supremacy
of the Supreme Lord, He did
so. Krishna immediately
expanded Himself into
children and calves, and the
Supreme Lord, by His power,
is said to expand Himself into
many living entities.
Therefore, it is not surprising
that He expanded Himself into
children and calves. Just as
children with different bodies
and faces, wearing different
clothes and ornaments, had
different bodies and faces,
God expanded Himself in a
way that reflected their
behavior and habits. Everyone
has different tastes. It is
natural for individual souls to
have different activities and
behaviors. However, taking on
the nature of each individual
child, Krishna expanded
Himself into children. Those
children who had different
colors, shapes, and activities
He also spread as calves. This
was possible because
everything was the expansion
of Krishna's energy. "Parasya
Brahmana Shakti" is said in
the Vishnu Purana. What we
see in the appearance of the
universe, whether it is
material matter or the
activities of living beings, is
only the expansion of the
energies of the Lord. This is
like heat and light being
different expansions of fire.

In this way, Krishna spread

himself as cowherd boys and
calves, taking on the individual
characteristics of each, and
thus, as His expansions
stopped. The villagers did not
know what had happened.
After reaching the village of
Vrindavan from the middle, all
the calves closed their nests.
They went home to their
mothers. The boys also asked
when their children were
coming. The mothers came
out of the house to welcome
them with milk in their breasts
and embraced them. Their
love for their mother was
strong. The mothers nursed
the children. But in reality
they did not feed their
children. They got another
opportunity to nurse the
Supreme Personality of
Godhead who was pervading
them as children. Lord Krishna
gave the opportunity to nurse
him not only to mother
Yashoda but also to other
mothers, the gopis.

All the children interacted

with their mothers as usual.
As soon as the evening came,
the mothers bathed their
children, applied tilak,
decorated them and fed them.
The cows that had gone out to
graze during the day returned
home in the evening and
found their calves. As soon as
the calves came to their
mothers, they licked their
calves with love. Thus, since
the real children and calves
were not there, the gopis and
the cows did not know the
difference, and everything
went on as usual. Moreover,
the gopis showed more
affection for their children and
the cows for their calves than
usual. This increased affection
was natural for the gopis. They
had more affection for
Krishna, the resident of
Vrindavan, than for their own
children or calves. Therefore,
now that Krishna himself had
appeared as a child and a calf
to the cows, the affection of
the gopis and the cows also
increased. For a year, Krishna
continued to appear as calves
and cowherd boys and visit
the pastures.
As stated in the Pasuvad Gita,
the Supreme Soul is present in
everyone's body as the
Supreme Soul. Similarly, here,
in Vrindavan, He was present
in the form of calves and
young children for a year.

One day, while Krishna and

Balarama were tending the
calves in the forest, they saw
some cows grazing on the top
of Govardhana Hill. The cows
at that height were carrying
children. On seeing the calves,
they suddenly rushed down
from the top of the hill. They
jumped with their forelegs
and hind legs together. Due to
their great affection for the
calves, the cows quickly
descended the hill, ignoring
the rough mountain path.
They approached the calves to
suckle their milk and raised
their tails upwards. When the
cows ran down the hillside,
milk dripped from their full
udders and dripped onto the
ground. They nursed the
calves. A great bond of
affection was seen between
the calves and the cows.

When the cows came running

down the Govardhana hill, the
priests who were looking after
them tried to stop them. The
calves were looked after
separately by the elders and
the children. They were kept
separate so that the calves
would not drink all the milk of
the cows. So the priests who
were looking after the cows
on the hilltop tried to stop
them. But they could not.
They were ashamed and angry
at their failure in this attempt.
Although they were unhappy,
they felt a surge of affection
for the children of Kantown
who came down and looked
after their children. Their
disappointment and sorrow
immediately disappeared.
Overwhelmed by the affection
they received, they lifted the
children up, hugged them, and
sniffed the tops of their heads.
Then, they hitched up the
cows and headed back to the
mountaintop. All the way,
they talked about their
children.

They went on counting, and

tears of love welled up in their
eyes.
Seeing this extraordinary
affection between the cows
and their calves, between the
fathers, the shepherds, and
their children, the boys,
Balarama wondered how this
miracle had happened.
Balarama was amazed to see
that everyone was as fond of
Krishna as the people of
Vrindavan were of his own
children. Similarly, the cows
also showed the same love for
Krishna. They showed their
calves the same love.
Therefore, Balarama decided
that there must be some
divine power behind this
extraordinary love, or the
action of a powerful being.
Otherwise, how could this
amazing transformation have
happened? Balarama decided
that this supernatural
transformation could only
have been caused by Krishna,
the Supreme God, whom he
worshipped. "Krishna himself
has done this," thought
Balarama. Balarama
understood that those boys
and calves were Krishna's
manifestations.

Balarama inquired from

Krishna about the truth.
Balarama said: "My dear
Krishna, I had initially thought
that these cows, calves and
cowherd boys were great
sages, saints or gods. But now
it is clear that they are all your
manifestations. They are all
you. You yourself are playing
as calves, cows and boys.
What is the mystery of this?
Where are the other cows,
calves and boys? Why are you
appearing as calves, cows and
boys? Tell me the reason for
this?" Krishna explained that
Krishna stole the calves and
children at the request of
Balarama, and that he had
spread himself so that people
would not know that the real
calves and children had
disappeared.

While Krishna and Balarama

were talking, Brahma returned
after a momentary interval
according to his lifetime
calculation. That is a thousand
times four yugas, i.e.
43,20,000 x 1,000 is Brahma's
12 hours. We know about
Brahma's lifespan from the
Bhagavad Gita. One moment
of Brahma is one year of
Brahma according to our
calculation. He realized it as
calculated. After a moment he
returned to see the chaos
caused by his theft of the
children and the calves. But at
the same time he had taken
away the calves and the
children of his master Krishna
for fun. He was very worried
about that and did not want
to delay for long and returned
at a moment according to his
calculation. Brahma thought
that he saw the cows, calves,
and children playing with
Krishna just as he had seen
them before. In fact, he had
taken them away and put
them to sleep with his magical
power. "I had taken the boys,
the cows and the calves. I
know that they are now
asleep. So how come the same
cows, calves and boys are
playing here with Krishna? Has
my magic power not affected
them? Have they been playing
with Krishna for a year? Who
are they? Brahma tried to find
out how they were not subject
to his magic power. But he
could not. That is, he himself
had become subject to the
magic power. His magic power
was like dew falling in the dark
and like a firefly seen in the
day. A firefly can show its glow
in the dark. Snow falling on a
mountaintop or on the ground
can shine in the day. But the
silvery glitter of snow is not
visible in the dark. Before the
divine power of Krishna,
Brahma's small magic power
was like dew in the dark and
like a firefly seen in the day.

Like the light of a firefly, the

light faded away. A person
with a small amount of
mysterious power loses
strength when competing with
a person with great power.
Even a person with great
power like Brahma was
ridiculed when he tried to
show his power before
Krishna. Thus he became
confused about his own
power.

To show that the cows, calves

and children present there
were not real to Brahma,
Krishna made them appear as
forms of Vishnu. In fact, the
former were sleeping under
the spell of Brahma. Now all
that Brahma saw were the
expanses of Vishnu, Krishna.
Vishnu is the expanse of
Krishna. So the forms of
Vishnu appeared before
Brahma. All those Vishnu
forms were wearing blue and
yellow clothes. They all had
four hands holding a scythe, a
lotus, a wheel, and a conch.
They wore golden crowns with
bright beads on their heads.
They wore pearls, earrings,
and beautiful garlands of
flowers. The Srivatsa mark was
visible on their chests. Bangles
and other ornaments were
beautiful on their hands. Their
anklets were smooth like
conch shells. Their feet were
adorned with bracelets. They
wore golden bracelets around
their waists. Rings with beads
glittered on their fingers.
Brahma saw that the whole
body of Lord Vishnu was
covered with fresh basil buds
from the soles of his feet to
his head. Another special
feature of those Vishnu forms
was that they all shone with
divine beauty. Their smiles
resembled the moonlight and
their gaze resembled the light
of the rising sun. By their gaze
it was known that they were
the creators and maintainers
of the qualities of austerity
and tamas. Vishnu represents
goodness, Brahma represents
intensity, and Shiva represents
darkness. Therefore, all the
cosmic manifestations
As the preserver, Vishnu
created and maintained
Brahma and Shiva.

After seeing this form of

Vishnu, Brahma also saw
many more Brahmas, Shivas,
devas, and even small
creatures, ranging from ants
to ants, dancing around
Vishnu. Along with that dance,
various types of music praising
Vishnu were played. Those
forms of Vishnu appeared
before Brahma. Brahma also
realized that all those forms of
Vishnu, from the small atomic
level called anima, to the
limitless level like the
appearance of the universe,
were complete. All the yogic
powers of Brahma, Shiva, and
other devas were seen in
Vishnu. Due to the influence
of Lord Vishnu, all the other
divine powers were
worshipping him.
 Time, space, the universe,
change, desire, and action, the
three modes of material
nature, were all praising Him.
Brahma also realized that
Vishnu was the abode of
truth, knowledge, and bliss.
He, the combination of the
three supreme qualities of
eternity, knowledge, and bliss
(sat, sid, anand), had become
the incarnations of Vishnu
from the calves and children
of the followers of the
Upanishads. The
characteristics of Vishnu Maya
are like fire and heat. Heat
contains the nature of fire. But
heat is not fire. The cows,
calves, and children appeared
as incarnations of Vishnu, not
like heat. Like fire. They are all
actually Vishnu. In reality, the
nature of Vishnu is absolute
truth, absolute knowledge,
and absolute bliss. Another
example is the reflection of
material objects in various
forms. The sun is reflected in
many bodies of water. But
those images are not the sun.
Although the images appear
like the sun, they do not have
the light and heat of the sun.
But each form that Krishna
took was the perfect Vishnu.
They were the perfect truth,
the perfect knowledge, the
perfect bliss.
The Supreme Personality of
Godhead, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, is so
great that those who follow
the Upanishads cannot attain
the intelligence to understand
them. The Absolute Truth is
not a material object, nor is it
subject to limited material
energies. The immaterialists,
who have studied the
Upanishads and understood
only that, cannot understand
the Supreme Lord's
transcendental forms. Brahma
understood Krishna and His
Vishnu forms, which are His
pervading forms. Brahma
knew that all the animate and
inanimate objects in the
universe had come into
existence due to the
pervading energy of the
Supreme Lord.

Knowing the limited power

and activities of his eleven
senses, Brahma realized that
he himself was a puppet of
material nature. Just as a
puppet moves without any
power of its own, and moves
according to the will of the
one who moves it, so the
demigods and living entities
are subject to the will of the
Supreme Lord. As stated in the
Caitanya-caritamrita, Krishna
alone is the master, and all
others are servants, and the
entire world is in the
possession of the waves of
material illusion. Everything in
the world is like a wave on the
surface of the water.
Therefore, their struggle for
existence is going on
continuously. But when one
realizes that he is the eternal
servant of the Supreme Lord,
this struggle for existence
immediately ends.

Brahma, the husband of

Sarasvati, the goddess of
learning, and the great scholar
of Vedic knowledge, was
amazed by the immense
power of the Supreme Lord.
Even a person as talented as
Brahma in the material world
cannot understand the power
that is present in the Supreme
Lord. Not only was Brahma
unable to understand it, he
was also unable to properly
understand the scene that
Krishna performed before
him.
Seeing that Brahma was
confused because Krishna was
using his Vishnu energy to
spread himself as cows, calves
and children, Krishna took pity
on him and removed the veil
called Yogamaya. It is said in
the Bhagavad Gita that we
cannot see the Supreme
Personality of Godhead due to
the veil called Yogamaya. The
external power called
Mahamaya has veiled the
truth so that the universal
form cannot be seen. But the
power that covers the
Supreme Lord in a way that is
partly known and partly
unknown is called Yogamaya.
Brahman is not an ordinary
conditioned soul. He is far, far
superior to all the demigods.
However, he could not
understand the vision shown
by the Supreme Lord.
Therefore, Krishna stopped
showing his power further.
 The bound soul is not only
stunned but also loses all
power of understanding. The
veil of yoga was lifted so that
Brahman would not be
confused any further. When
Brahman was freed from
confusion, he opened his eyes
with great difficulty, as if he
had awakened from a state of
death. Then he could see the
entire eternal cosmic
manifestation with ordinary
eyes. He saw the magnificent
sight of Vrindavan, full of trees
that give life to all living
beings. He saw Vrindavan, the
supreme abode where all
living beings transcend the
ordinary state of nature. The
fierce animals of Vrindavan
live peacefully with the gentle
animals like deer and humans.
Brahman understood that
since the Supreme Personality
of Godhead resides in
Vrindavan, it is an abode free
from vices such as lust and
greed. Tigers are the Supreme

Thus Brahma saw the

Supreme Lord Sri Krishna
playing like a small shepherd
child.

His friends who had passed

away a year ago. Brahma saw
the child standing there,
carrying food in his hands, just
as Krishna had stood looking
for cows and calves.
Immediately Brahma got
down from his vehicle, the
Hamsa, and fell at the feet of
the Lord, which looked like a
rod made of gold, and
worshipped him. Vaishnavas
use the word "dandavat" to
refer to worship. Danda,
which means to fall like a rod,
means to bow down with the
body straight like a rod and
bow down to the great
Vaishnavas. Thus, Brahma
offered the danda before Lord
Krishna. Since Brahma had a
golden mane, when he fell at
Krishna's feet, he appeared
like a golden rod. The crowns
from Brahma's four heads also
touched the lotus feet of
Krishna. Brahma shed tears
out of great joy. His tears
washed the lotus feet of the
Lord. Brahma repeatedly fell
at the Lord's feet, recounting
the wonderful pastimes of the
Lord. After offering obeisances
for a long time, Brahma stood
up and covered his eyes with
his hands. Seeing the Lord,
with great respect, humility,
and devotion, Brahma,
trembling, prayed to Him. He
began.

Thus ends the thirteenth

chapter of Bhaktivedanta's
book "Krishna", "The Stealing
of Children and Calves by
Brahma".