Sarvam Vishnu Mayam Jagat

Lord Vishnu is everywhere around us in this world. Here is a little story from the Bhagavatha where he reminds Lord Brahma of this fact.

Seeing the leelas of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan, Lord Brahma decided to play a game with him. Whether he intended to reveal Lord Krishna’s divinity, test his powers, or assure himself that indeed it was this little cowherd boy who was going to save the world, we do not know, but he decided to play a trick on the Lord!

So, one day when Lord Krishna and his friends were having lunch on the river bank after grazing the cows, Lord Brahma quietly came and hid all the cows. When Lord Krishna went in search of the cows, he hid his cowherd friends as well, in a faraway cave. When the five-year-old Lord Krishna came back and found his friends missing, he started searching all around for them. When he could not find them, he realised through his inner vision that this was Brahma’s mischief! He could have immediately gone to where his friends were hidden and released them, but he decided to play along and teach Brahma a lesson in return.

Taking the place of his friends

Lord Krishna took on the form of all the missing boys and the cattle as well! He wore the boys’ clothes, picked up their musical instruments, adopted all their mannerisms, and went to their respective houses. No one realised that it was Krishna in the form of these boys and cows. Yet, the cows seemed happier and yielded more milk than ever before. The boys seemed to be so nice and endearing, everyone showered love on them. They could all feel a change, but not pin-point what it was. Only Balarama realised what was happening.

In the meanwhile, Brahma put the abducted cattle and boys in a trance, and transported them to his world. And then, he immediately came back to see what was happening in Vrindavan. As you all know, time is measured differently in different worlds. The little while that Brahma went away to his world to hide his captives, was actually equal to a year in Bhu-Loka! So, when Brahma returned to Vrindavan, a year had passed. 

Bala Leela; Courtesy: Krishna for Today by Keshav

Trapped in Krishna's Maya

Imagine Brahma's surprise when he saw Lord Krishna grazing the very cattle he had hidden, and playing with the very friends he had kidnapped. He looked closely, but could not find anything amiss. Seemed to be those children only! He wondered how this was possible. He looked closer now, as close as he could. And now, each of the children looked like the shankha-chakra-gadha-dhaari, Lord Vishnu.

Brahma was in a dizzy, trapped in maya, unable to distinguish the Lord from others. Then, in a moment of realisation, he surrendered to the Lord. “Oh Krishna, you are omnipresent. I surrender unto you,” he chanted, and sure enough, Lord Krishna revealed himself and blessed Brahma. Brahma sent the kids back from his world. 

All is well that ends well

The children, who had been in a trance, did not realise a year had passed. They just thought they had been kidnapped and rescued on the same afternoon. Only when they went back home and discussed this with their surprised parents, did everyone realise a miracle had happened. So, were the moms happy to have their original kids back, or did they miss Krishna in their guise? Must have been both!

By Janani G. Vikram