Qualities of Krsna Further Explained 184
the bluish line on the neck of Lord Siva disappeared. Upon seeing
this, Gauri, the wife of Lord Siva, suspected Lord Siva of being some-
one else disguised as her husband, and out of fear she immediately
left his company. Upon hearing the chanting of Krsna’s name, Lord
Balarama saw that his dress had become white, although He was gen-
erally accustomed to a bluish dress. And the cowherd girls saw all.of
the water of the Yamuna River turn into milk, so they began to
churn it into butter. In other words, by the spreading of Krsna
consciousness, or the glories of Krsna, everything became white and
pure.

44. Popular

Any person who is very dear to people in general is called a popular
man.

As for Krgna’s popularity, there is a statement in the First Canto,
1lth Chapter, 8th verse, of Srimad-Bhagavatam that deals with His
returning home from the capital of Hastinapur. While He had been
absent from Dvaraka at the Battle of Kuruksetra, all the citizens of
Dvaraka had become morose. Then, when He returned, the citizens
joyfully received Him and said, “My dear Lord, while You were ab-
sent from the city, we passed our days in the darkness of night. As in
the darkness of night every moment appears to be a long duration of
time, so while You were gone every moment appeared to us like
millions of years. Your separation is completely: unbearable to us.”
This statement shows how popular Krsna was all over the country.

A similar incident occurred when Krsna entered the arena of sacri-
fice, arranged by King Kamsa for His death. As soon as He entered
the place, all the sages began to cry, “Jai! Jai! Jai!” (which means
“Victory!”) Krsna was a boy at that time, and all the sages offered
.their respectful blessings to Him. The demigods who were present al-
so began to offer beautiful prayers to Krsna. And the ladies and girls
present expressed their joy. from all corners of the arena. In other
words, there was no one in that particular place with whom Krsna
was not very popular.
