20 / Description of Autumn

The killing of Pralambasura and the devouring of the devastating forest
fire by Krsna and Balarama became household topics in Vrndavana. The
cowherd men described these wonderful activities to their wives and to
everyone else, and all were struck with wonder. They concluded that
Krsna and Balarama were demigods who had kindly come to Vrndavana
to become their children. In this way, the rainy season ensued. In India,
after the scorching heat of the summer, the rainy season is very welcome.
The clouds accumulating in the sky, covering the sun and the moon,
become very pleasing to the people, and they expect rainfall at every
moment. After summer, the advent of the rainy season is considered to be
a life-giving source for everyone. The thunder and occasional lightning are
also pleasurable to the people.

The symptoms of the rainy season may be compared to the symptoms
of the living entities who are covered by the three modes of material
nature. The unlimited sky is like the Supreme Brahman, and the tiny
living entities are like the covered sky, or Brahman covered by the three
modes of material nature. Originally, everyone is part and parcel of
Brahman. The Supreme Brahman, or the unlimited sky, can never be
covered by a cloud, but a portion of it can be covered. As stated in the
Bhagavad-gita, the living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. But they are only an insignificant portion of the
Supreme Lord. This portion is covered by the modes of material nature,
and therefore the living entities are residing within this material world. The
brahmajyoti—spiritual effulgence—is just like the sunshine; as the sunshine
is full of molecular shining particles, so the brahmajyoti is full of minute
portions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Out of that unlimited
expansion of minute portions of the Supreme Lord, some are covered by
the influence of material nature, whereas others are free.

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