KRSNA AND BALARAMA PLAY LIKE HUMAN CHILDREN
Sometimes Krsna and Balarama would play on Their flutes; sometimes They would throw ropes and stones devised for getting fruits from the trees, sometimes They would throw only stones, and sometimes, Their ankle bells tinkling, They would play soccer with fruits like bel and amalaki.
Sometimes They would cover Themselves with blankets and imitate cows and bulls and fight with one another, roaring loudly, and sometimes They would imitate the voices of animals. In this way They enjoyed sporting exactly like two ordinary human children.
Krsna and Balarama, while tending the cows, appeared just like two actors going to play on a dramatic stage. Krsna was dressed in glowing garments of yellow, Balarama in blue, and They held new twigs of mango tree, peacock feathers, and bunches of flowers in Their hands. Dressed with garlands of lotuses, They sometimes sang very sweetly among Their friends. One gopi told her friend, “How is it that Krsna and Balarama are looking so beautiful?” Another gopi said, “My dear friends, we cannot even think of His bamboo flute! What sort of pious activities did it execute so that it is now enjoying the nectar of Krsna’s lips? Krsna sometimes kisses the gopis. Therefore the transcendental nectar of His lips is available only to them, and His lips are considered their property. So the grapes asked, “How is it possible that the flute, which is nothing but a bamboo rod, is always enjoying the nectar from Krsna’s lips? Because the flute is serving the Supreme Lord, the mother and the father of the flute must be happy.”
PAINTING BY RAMADASA – ABHIRAMA DASA
AND DHRTI – DEVI DASI (1982)