Shloka 9
Kṛṣṇa’s Arrival at Dvārakā
Dvārakā-praveśa and Bhakta-vātsalya
यर्ह्यम्बुजाक्षापससार भो भवान् कुरून् मधून् वाथ सुहृद्दिदृक्षया । तत्राब्दकोटिप्रतिम: क्षणो भवेद् रविं विनाक्ष्णोरिव नस्तवाच्युत ॥ ९ ॥
yarhy ambujākṣāpasasāra bho bhavān kurūn madhūn vātha suhṛd-didṛkṣayā tatrābda-koṭi-pratimaḥ kṣaṇo bhaved raviṁ vinākṣṇor iva nas tavācyuta
Wahai Tuhan bermata teratai! Apabila Engkau pergi ke Mathurā–Vṛndāvana atau ke negeri Kuru untuk menziarahi sahabat dan kerabat, setiap detik perpisahan terasa seperti berjuta-juta tahun. Wahai Acyuta, ketika itu mata kami seakan tidak berguna, bagaikan tanpa matahari.
We are all proud of our material senses for making experiments to determine the existence of God. But we forget that our senses are not absolute by themselves. They can only act under certain conditions. For example, our eyes. As long as the sunshine is there, our eyes are useful to a certain extent. But in the absence of sunshine, the eyes are useless. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being the primeval Lord, the Supreme Truth, is compared to the sun. Without Him all our knowledge is either false or partial. The opposite of the sun is the darkness, and similarly the opposite of Kṛṣṇa is māyā, or illusion. The devotees of the Lord can see everything in true perspective due to the light disseminated by Lord Kṛṣṇa. By the grace of the Lord the pure devotee cannot be in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, it is necessary that we must always be in the sight of Lord Kṛṣṇa so that we can see both ourselves and the Lord with His different energies. As we cannot see anything in the absence of the sun, so also we cannot see anything, including our own self, without the factual presence of the Lord. Without Him all our knowledge is covered by illusion.
FAQs
This verse shows that when Krishna is absent, even a moment feels like millions of years to His devotees—separation deepens remembrance and devotion.
Kunti expresses her intense love and dependence on Krishna, recalling how unbearable His departure was, and thus prays from the mood of surrendered devotion.
Cultivate steady remembrance—through mantra, prayer, and hearing Krishna-katha—so that spiritual life is not dependent on external circumstances but anchored in devotion.