Devotees of Krsna 212
them.” Anyone who becomes exhilarated by hearing of the pastimes
of Lord Krsna when He was present on this earth with His associates
is to be understood as nitya-siddha, eternally perfect.

In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 30th verse, of Srimad-
Bhagavatam there is the statement: ““How wonderful are the fortunate
residents of Vrnddvana, such as Nanda and the other cowherd men.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme Brahman, has ac-
tually become their intimate friend!”

A similar statement is there in the Tenth Canto, 26th Chapter,
10th verse, of Srimad-Bhagavatam. When Lord Krsna lifted Govardhan
Hill, the cowherd men, under the protection of Lord Krsna, became
struck with wonder and went to Nanda Maharaj and inquired from
him, ‘““My dear Nanda Maharaj, how is it that we are so intensely
attached to Krsna, and Krsna is also so affectionately attached to us?
Does it mean that He is the supersoul of everyone?”

All of the residents of Vrndavana and Dvaraka—namely the cow-
herd men and the members of the Yadu family—are eternally perfect
devotees of the Lord. As the Lord descends by His causeless mercy
upon this planet, so, in order to help in the pastimes of the Lord,
these devotees also come here. They are not ordinary living entities
or conditioned souls; they are ever-liberated persons, associates of the
Personality of Godhead. And, just as Lord Krsna behaves like an or-
dinary man when He descends to this planet, so the members of the
Yadu dynasty and the residents of Vrndavana execute activities just
like ordinary men. But they are not ordinary men; they are as liber-
ated as Lord Krsna Himself.

In the Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda section, it is stated: “Just as
Lord Ramacandra descends along with Laksmana and Bharata, an ex-
pansion of Sankarsana,* so the members of the Yadu dynasty and the
cowherd men of Vrndavana also descend with Lord Krsna in order to
join in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. When the Supreme
Lord returns to His eternal abode, His associates return with Him to
* A detailed description of the ways in which the various expansions and incarna-
tions of Godhead are developed is to be found in the author’s Teachings of Lord
Chaitanya (New York: 1968) in Chapters VI, VII and XIII.
