Chapter 4: Kṛṣṇa’s Unparalleled Beauty and Opulence
asamānordhva-rūpa-śrī-vismāpita-charācharaḥ
“Kṛṣṇa’s personal beauty and opulence are beyond compare.”
The fourth quality Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī presents as the unique possession of Kṛṣṇa, which no other form or incarnation of the Lord has, is Kṛṣṇa’s incredible beauty: asamānordhva-rūpa-śrī-vismāpita-charācharaḥ.
Mad by beauty
How much beauty does Kṛṣṇa have? Kṛṣṇa’s beauty is beyond compare. Kṛṣṇa becomes mad when He sees His own beauty. In Kṛṣṇa’s house there are so many mirrors that sometimes He is afraid to go inside because when He sees His own beauty, He forgets Himself. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said Kṛṣṇa has so much beauty because He is Reality, and Reality’s nature is the Supreme Personality of Godhead — Reality the Beautiful.
śyāmaṁ hiraṇya-paridhiṁ vanamālya-barha-
dhātu-pravāla-naṭa-veṣam anavratāṁse
vinyasta-hastam itareṇa dhunānam abjaṁ
karṇotpalālaka-kapola-mukhābja-hāsam
This verse describes the beauty of Kṛṣṇa. “Kṛṣṇa always has a crown with peacock feathers and flowers in it. His cloth is golden, and He is always bedecked with flower garlands made from fresh wild flowers. He is always dancing and playing on His flute.” There are no weapons in Vṛndāvan. When Kṛṣṇa killed the various demons — Pūtanā, Vatsāsura, Keśī, etc. — He did it all by hand. Sometimes He uses an arm or leg or another part of His body, but never any weapon.
Also, we see in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (9.24.65):
yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-chāru-karṇa-
bhrājat-kapola-subhagaṁ savilāsa-hāsam
nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyo
nāryo narāś cha muditāḥ kupitā nimeś cha
“Kṛṣṇa’s face is so beautiful. It is decorated with ornaments such as earrings that resemble sharks. His ears are beautiful, His cheeks brilliant, and His smile is attractive to everyone. Whoever sees Kṛṣṇa sees a festival. Simply by seeing Kṛṣṇa, one sees a festival taking place.
“When the demigods are flying in their airplanes with their wives, and they see Kṛṣṇa walking through the forest of Vṛndāvan herding His cows and playing His flute, they are having a festival in their airplanes. Kṛṣṇa’s beauty is so overwhelming for everyone that the gopīs are angry at the creator, Lord Brahmā, for making eyes that blink because in that split second they can’t see Kṛṣṇa.”
When the gopīs see Kṛṣṇa and Balarām roaming in the Vṛndāvan forest, they say:
mālānupṛkta-paridhāna-vichitra-veśau
madhye virejatur alaṁ paśu-pāla-goṣṭhyāṁ
raṅge yathā naṭavarau kvacha gāyamānau
“Dressed in a charming variety of garments, decorated with garlands, peacock feathers, lotuses, lilies, newly grown mango sprouts, and clusters of flower buds, Kṛṣṇa and Balarām shine forth magnificently among the assembly of cowherd boys. They look just like the best of dancers appearing on a dramatic stage, and sometimes They even sing.”
Unique loveliness
In Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā, there are many ślokas describing Kṛṣṇa’s beauty.
ālola-chandraka-lasad-vanamālya-vaṁśī-
ratnāṅgadaṁ praṇaya-keli-kalā-vilāsam
śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Ālola-chandraka-lasad-vanamālya-vaṁśī: Kṛṣṇa’s dearest lover has made a vanamālya (forest garland) with peacock feathers and forest flowers and given it to Him. There is nothing else on that garland except forest flowers and peacock feathers gathered from the forest. There are no jewels, diamonds, or anything else; only forest flowers and peacock feathers. Ratnāṅgadaṁ praṇaya-keli-kalā-vilāsam. Since Kṛṣṇa is playing with the gopīs, it is necessary to dress like them. Mother Yaśodā has given Kṛṣṇa some nice dress, golden ornaments, bracelets, ankle bracelets, etc., and He is wearing them and playing with the gopīs.
Śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśaṁ: Kṛṣṇa’s colour is so beautiful that it gives peace to the eyes. It isn’t effulgent like Nārāyaṇ’s. It is soothing the eyes and attracting them like a magnet.
veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ
barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Kṛṣṇa’s eyes are like blooming lotus petals, and He always has a peacock feather in His hair. His beauty is like the form and colour of a blue rain cloud, and He charms millions and millions of cupids. Koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ: when millions of cupids see Kṛṣṇa, they faint. His divine form is that beautiful. This is Lord Brahmā’s description, so we must believe it.
Alive with the mood of love
In Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s composition Śrī Śrī Prema-dhāma-deva-stotram, he wrote rūpa-rāsa-raṅgaraṁ (verse 2): Kṛṣṇa’s limbs are “alive with the mood of love that emerges and continually flows from His beautiful form”. His beauty is inconceivable, rūpa-rāsa-līlā.
Every part of Kṛṣṇa’s body wants to show itself to other parts. A hand wants to show itself to the other hand. A leg wants to show itself to the mouth, and the mouth wants to show itself to other parts. Every part wants to show its beauty to others. All parts of His body want to show their beauty to the other parts.
aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛttimanti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti chiraṁ jaganti
ānanda-chinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“With each part of His transcendental body, He can do the function of any other part. With any part, He maintains and manifests all the universes, both spiritual and material. All the parts of His body are interchangeable; each being as beautiful as any other. His form has that type of truth, beauty, and the most dazzling splendor.”
When Kṛṣṇa was present, the whole creation was stunned to see His divine form. There were sixteen thousand girls waiting to marry Him. They were arrested by King Jarāsandha, but when they were released, they became mad when they saw Kṛṣṇa. Everyone ran towards Him and gave Him a garland.
We need to search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful
Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. This is essentially explained in the first śloka of Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā:
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sach-chid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
Lord Nārāyaṇ or other forms of the Lord do not have such beauty. These are the four qualities Kṛṣṇa has that Nārāyaṇ or other forms or incarnations of the Lord do not have.
Good question, good answer — conclusion
The question about Kṛṣṇa’s unique qualities was a good one, and I think the answer was also good because through these topics many things have entered your heart, and also through this answer another desire was fulfilled. We are searchers of the spiritual world, of spiritual life, and of God, and through these topics, we have got a chance to explain something about the glories of Kṛṣṇa. We have received a clue as to whose lotus feet we should worship and who we should take shelter of. There are many demigods and many forms of the Lord — Keśava, Govinda, Dāmodar, and many others as well. Mahāprabhu expressed His mind in this way:
kāhā̐ mora prāṇanātha muralī-vadana
kāhā̐ karo̐, kāhā̐ pāṅa vrajendra-nandana
“Where is the Lord of My life who is playing His flute? What shall I do now? Where should I go to find the son of Mahārāj Nanda?”
There is also a śloka in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.8.46):
nandaḥ kim akarod brahman śreya evaṁ mahodayam
yaśodā cha mahābhāgā papau yasyāḥ stanaṁ hariḥ
“O brāhmaṇ, what pious activities did Nanda Mahārāj perform to receive the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, as his son? And what pious activities did mother Yaśodā perform that made the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, call her ‘Mother’ and suck her breasts?”
At the opening of the Chandrodaya Mandir in Māyāpur in 1973, I spoke the following śloka:
kaṁ prati kathayitum īśe samprati ko vā pratītim āyātu
go-pati-tanayā-kuñje gopa-vadhūṭī-viṭaṁ brahma
The meaning is, “Whom shall I tell, and who will believe me when I say the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is playing in the courtyard of Nanda Mahārāj? He is playing with the gopīs and gopa-bālakas on the banks of the Yamunā. He is playing in Śyāma Kuṇḍa, Rādhā Kuṇḍa, and in the caves of Girirāj Govardhan. He is fighting in the arena with Kaṁsa. His Pastimes are going on everywhere in madhura Vṛndāvan. If one leaves this area, he cannot go to any other place and find such Pastimes.”
Whoever will hear Kṛṣṇa-līlā will be attracted by Kṛṣṇa. He will never go to any other place. The Name of Kṛṣṇa attracts everyone and gives joy to our hearts. This is the meaning of the word Kṛṣṇa.
Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Bhaja Kṛṣṇa kaha Kṛṣṇa laha Kṛṣṇa-nāma.” This is the way to surrender to Kṛṣṇa: take the Name of Kṛṣṇa, surrender to Kṛṣṇa, and give everything to Kṛṣṇa. You will be supremely benefited in your spiritual life. All the scriptures say this. Never abuse any god or demigod or any incarnation of the Lord, but supremely glorify Lord Kṛṣṇa.
ete chāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge
Kṛṣṇa is the creator of the whole creation. This is stated in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and in Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā. We must remember this. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, give attention to Kṛṣṇa, and be happy.