10 years ago I
had a very painful debate with the elite of the Gaudiya Discussions web-forum
about figures mentioned in śāstra, in which I found myself practically alone
combatting an army of mundane intellectual sceptics and frogs-in-the-well
having devotee-names. Recently a couple of devotees posted an article on
Facebook that supports my stance at the time (and now too). I wish to quote a
selection of the evidence they provided here -
“Some of the
numbers given in Vedic literatures seem too large to be true. For example, the
forty-first verse of chapter ninety of the tenth canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavata
states:
tasraḥ koṭyaḥ sahasrāṇām aṣṭāśīti-śatānica
āsan yadu-kulācāryāḥ kumārāṇām
iti śrutam
“[In Dwarka] the
Yadu family [had so many children] that they employed 38,800,000 teachers to
educate them.” The next verse says lakṣeṇāstesa
āhukaḥ — Maharaja Ugrasena had an entourage of thirty trillion attendants.
Approximately 4,000 times the entire present population of the earth planet.
And aside from that, there were also cooks, laborers, priests, housewives,
children, soldiers, and the rest of a variegated population of Dvārakā.
Regarding the number of personal servants of Mahārāja Ugrasena, Śrīla Viśvanātha
Cakravartipāda offers an explanation in his commentary to the Śrīmad Bhāgavata
10.90.42 as follows:
atrāyutānām iti bahu-vacanaṁ
kapiñjalādhikaraṇa-nyāyena. tritva-viśiṣṭāyāṁ saṅkhyāyāṁ paryavasāyitam
ayutānām ayuta-lakṣaṇena bindu-trayodaśa-yuktena trayeṇa śaṅkha-trayeṇety arthaḥ.
āsīd iti vaktavye āsta iti nitya-līlā-sphūrtyā uktam.
The plural in
the term “ayutānām” should be
understood according to the maxim of kapiñjala-nyāya.
[The kapiñjala-nyāya says that
whenever plural is used in context of numbers, it should be understood as the
number 3]. Thus, the number here is 3 followed by thirteen zeros
(30,000,000,000,000).
(This was
evidence I quoted in the 2004 Gaudiya Discussions debate)
The present
tense term “āste” (are) in this verse
is used instead of the past tense “āsīd”
(were) and this indicates that this great number is being spoken of by Śrīla Śukadev
Gosvāmī from the remembrance of the continuous ongoing nitya-līlā of the Lord [in Goloka Vṛndāvana, and not from the
pastimes that happened on earth].
What to speak of
the cows of Vṛndāvana! In his purport to Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.12.2, Śrīla Viśvanātha
Cakravartīpāda says that the number of Kṛṣṇa’s cows exceeded one followed by
seventeen zeros. That’s in the realm of one hundred quadrillion cows. And
Visvanātha says that was just the young calves, the older cows far exceeded
that amount. In his commentary on Bhāgavata 10.12.2, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī
explains:
evaṁ vatsānāṁ bālānañcānantyam
uktam. itthaṁ vane bālaiḥ pālyamānānām api vatsānāṁ yadīyattā nābhūt tarhi
vraje ruddhānām abhinavānāṁ tṛṇa-carāṇāṁ tathā go-saṅge gatānāñca
mukta-stanyānāṁ vatsānāṁ tathā tan-mātṝṇām anyāsāñca gavāṁ tathā vatsatarīṇāṁ vṛṣāṇāñca
śrī-gopāla-deva-prabhāveṇa nityaṁ vivardhamānānām iyattā katham āstām? mahiṣyādayaśca
kena vā gaṇyā ity evam asaṅkhyeyāḥ paśavas tad-anusāreṇa gopa-gopyādayaś
cānantā jñeyā.
“The boys and
calves of Vṛndāvana together could not be counted. If the number of calves that
they herded in the forest was beyond calculation, how many more calves must
have been left back in Vraja -- the small calves taking milk from their
mothers, as well as the mothers of the calves that went to the forest, other
cows, the elder male and female calves, the bulls, whose numbers kept
increasing daily by the power of Gopal, and the buffaloes as well? Thus the
animals, cowherd and cowherd women were unlimited in number.”
How do we
understand such numbers? Are they exaggeration? Allegory?
Śrīla Viśvanath
Cakravartīpāda gives an answer in his Sārārtha-darśini commentary on Śrīmad
Bhāgavata 10.12.3:
na ca ṣoḍaśa-krośī-mātrasya vṛndāvanasya
pradeśe tāvanto vatsāḥ naiva bhāntīti vācyaṁ bhagavad-vigrahasyaiva dhāmnaś
cāsya tathāparimitatve ‘py acintya-śaktyā vibhutvāt tat-pradeśaika-deśe ‘pi
pañcāśata-koṭi-yojana-pramāṇa-brahmāṇḍārbudānāṁ bhagavataiva brahmaṇe
etat-uttarādhyāye darśayiṣyamāṇatvād ata
“One should not
argue that such a large number of cows could not possibly fit into the
thirty-two square mile area of Vṛndāvana, because the dhāma is unlimited by the inconceivable energy of the Lord. Even a
small portion of the holy dhāma is
sufficient to accommodate billions of universes each measuring fifty million
miles in diameter. Kṛṣṇa showed this to Brahma in a later chapter.”
Another example
is found in Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.33.38 which states brahma-rātra upāvṛtte — Kṛṣṇa danced with the gopīs for an entire night of Lord Brahmā. Kṛṣṇa describes the
length of Lord Brahmā’s day and night in Bhagavad-gītā (8.17):
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad
brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te
’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
“By human
calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahma’s one
day. And such also is the duration of his night.”
A thousand yugas
together equals four million three hundred and twenty thousand years. The
Bhāgavata describes that the duration of those thousand yugas entered into a single twelve-hour night in Vṛndāvana during
which the gopīs danced with Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla
Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda compares this inconceivable expansion of time to the
fact that many universes fit within the forty-mile range of earthly Vṛndāvana.
Similarly, he says, one may consider how Mother Yaśodā was unable to encircle
the abdomen of her child Kṛṣṇa using many, many ropes, or how on another
occasion Kṛṣṇa displayed many universes in his mouth to Mother Yaśodā. Śrīla Rūpa
Gosvāmī writes in his Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta (1.5.515):
ataḥ prabhoḥ priyāṇāṁ ca dhāmnaś
ca samayasya ca
avicintya-prabhāvatvād atra kiṁ
ca na durghaṭam
“In Gokula,
nothing is impossible for the Lord, the devotees, the abode, and everything in
the abode, by the power of the Lord’s inconceivable energy.”
Evidence from the Puranas
Kṛṣṇa, his
devotees, and his abode are not in this material world and cannot be understood
by the material senses. In his Śrī Mathurā Māhātmya, Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmī cites
many evidences from various Purāṇas regarding the unlimited glories of Vṛndāvana.
In text fifty-one he quotes the Ādi-varāha Purāṇa:
ṣaṣṭhi-koṭi-sahasrāṇi ṣaṣṭhi-koṭi-śatāni
ca
tīrtha-sāṅkhyā tu vasudhe
mathurāyāṁ mayoditā
“O Vasudha, I
have manifested six-hundred-sixty billion holy places in Mathura.”
In the next text
Rupa quotes the Mathurā-khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa:
bhūme rajāṁsi gananā kālenāpi
bhaven nṛpa
māthure yani tīrthāni teṣāṁ saṅkhyā
na vartate
O king, the
particles of dust in this world may be counted in due course of time, but it is
impossible to count the number of holy places that are present in Mathura.
Rupa Gosvāmī
declares atha
prapañcātītam — “[This area of
Mathura] is transcendental to the material world.” he then quotes from the
Ādi-varāha Purāṇa:
anyaiva kācit sā sṛṣṭir vidhātur
vyatirekiṇī
na yat kṣetra-guṇān vaktum
īśvaro ’pīśvaro yataḥ
“Mathura is
completely different from the creation of the creator, because even the
controller of this world is unable to describe the unlimited qualities of this
holy place.” (Text 121)
Vṛndāvana is Like a Lotus
Another
perspective is given in Prema-vilāsa (16, 174–191), wherein the author Nityānanda
Dās relates a conversation that he had with Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī at Rādhākuṇḍa:
Raghunath Dās Gosvāmī
said, “While staying here and visiting the various pastime places, be careful
not to commit any offense even in your mind. The pastimes of Kṛṣṇa cannot be
understood, but if you read the books of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī then you will
understand them. If you did not read these books you must hear it from the
mouth of the Guru. A faithful person becomes firm in his mind when he hears
from (Guru’s) mouth. You should understand the different pastimes that Rādhā
and Kṛṣṇa are performing day and night in different places in Vṛndāvana.
Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are always performing pleasure pastimes in Vṛndāvana,
no one can perceive them. The amazing parakīya-pastimes
of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are only understood by the sakhīs.”
Nityānanda Dās
replied to Raghunāth Dās, “There is one doubt in my heart. If you give me your
kind permission I will express it to you. My inquisitive mind has become
blessed by hearing from your lotus mouth about Vṛndāvana. The distance between Vṛndāvana
and the bank of Rādhākunda and Śyāmakunda is about eight krośas [a krośa is about
two miles or three kilometers] and Govardhan is two krośas from the kuṇḍas.
Sanketa is eight krośas from Vṛndāvana,
Nandīśvara is two krośas and Yāvat is
one krośa. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa travel
between these places in a moment. How is it possible for Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, and
their associates to travel such distances daily? For a long time I have had a
desire to hear the answer to this question. Otherwise how can a sādhaka understand these pastimes?”
kṛpā kori kohe śuno nityānanda
dāsa! yei yei sthāne sadā kṛṣṇera vilāsa
padma-prāy jeno vṛndāvaner ghaṭan;
śāstra vākye āche mahāprabhur sthāpan
mudita prakāśa haila dui to prakāra;
vilāse mudita hon līlāya vistāra
ei rūpe hoy sob gamanāgamana;
tadāśrita yei tāra hoy ei mana
yogamāyā bale ihā ghaṭanā
āchaya; yāṅhāra gamana sei kichu nā jānaya
Mercifully, Dās Gosvāmī
said, “Listen, Nityānanda Dās! All these places where Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are eternally
taking place in Vṛndāvana are like a lotus flower. Mahāprabhu has established this
through śāstra. As a lotus, Vṛndāvana is manifested in two ways, closed and
open. It closes itself in pleasure, vilāsa, and opens itself in sport, līlā. In this way Rādhā Kṛṣṇa and their
associates come and go. Only surrendered devotees of the Lord can understand
this. By the strength of yogamāyā one
can understand these matters. Other persons cannot understand.”
Advise to sceptic
mundane scholars – jāo bhāgavat poro vaiṣṇavera sthāne (Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 5.131) “Go and study
the Bhāgavat from a Vaiṣṇava!” The Bhāgavat itself says (1.1.2) it is only understood
by kṛtibhiḥ
suśrūṣubhiḥ, saints who are eager to hear and obey. Ultimately, of
course, the issue of such vast figures in the śāstras does not touch a rāgānugā
devotee, because such huge figures will anyway damage the human view or
conception of Kṛṣṇa-līlā which is required to relish sweet rasa. All figures
need to be modest in order not to create a feeling of aiśvarya or superhuman divine majesty.
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