28 / Releasing Nanda Maharaja

from the Clutches of Varuna

The Govardhana Ceremony took place on the new moon day. After this,
there were torrents of rain and hailstorms imposed by King Indra for seven
days. Nine days of the waxing moon having passed, on the tenth day King
Indra worshiped Lord Krsna, and thus the matter was satisfactorily settled.
After this, on the eleventh day of the full moon, there was Ekadasi.
Maharaja Nanda observed fasting for the whole day, and just early in the
morning of the Dvddasi, the day after Ekadasi, he went to take bath in the
River Yamuna. He entered deep into the water of the river, but he was
arrested immediately by one of the servants of Varunadeva. These servants
brought Nanda Maharaja before the demigod Varuna and accused him of
taking a bath in the river at the wrong time. According to astronomical
calculations, the time in which he took bath was considered demoniac. The
fact was, Nanda Maharaja wanted to take a bath in the River Yamuna
early in the morning before the sunrise, but somehow or other he was a
little too early, and he bathed at an inauspicious time. Consequently he
was arrested.

When Nanda Maharaja was taken away by Varuna’s servants, his com-
panions began to call loudly for Krsna and Balarama. Immediately Krsna
and Balarama could understand that Nanda Maharaja was taken by
Varuna, and thus They went to the abode of Varuna, for They were
pledged to give protection. The inhabitants of Vrndavana, the unalloyed
devotees of the Lord, having no shelter other than the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, naturally cried to Him for help, exactly like children who
do not know anything but the protection of their parents. Demigod
Varuna received Lord Krsna and Balarama with great respect and said,
“My dear Lord, actually at this very moment, because of Your presence, I
am materially defeated. Although I am the proprietor of all the treasures in
the water, I know that such possessions do not make for a successful life.

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