KRSNA ENJOYS LUNCH WITH THE COWHERD BOYS
The cowherd boys allowed the calves to drink water from the river and then tied them to trees where there was green, tender grass. Then the boys opened their baskets of food and began eating with Krsna in great transcendental pleasure. Like the whorl of a lotus flower surrounded by its petals and leaves, Krsna sat in the center, encircled by His friends, who all looked very beautiful. Every one of them was looking at Krsna, hoping that Krsna might look at him. In this way, they all enjoyed their lunch in the forest.
Some cowherd boys placed their lunch on flowers, some on leaves, fruits, or bunches of leaves, some in their baskets, some on bark, and some on rocks. These are what the children used for plates as they ate their lunch. All the cowherd boys enjoyed their lunch with Krsna, sharing with one another the various dishes they had brought from home. As they tasted one another’s preparations, they began to laugh and make one another laugh.
Krsna sat with His flute tucked between His waist and His tight cloth on His right side and with His horn bugle and cow-herding stick on His left. Holding in His hand a very nice preparation of yogurt and rice, with pieces of fruit between His fingers, He sat like the whorl of a lotus, looking at all His friends, enjoying with them and creating jubilant laughter among them as He ate.
As the denizens of heaven looked on, they were struck with wonder at how the Personality of Godhead, who generally eats only food offered in formal Vedic sacrifices, was now enjoying lunch with His friends in the forest.
PAINTING BY MURALIDHARA DASA AND PARIKSIT DASA (1978)