Fraternal Devotion 327

in the Bhagavad-gita, His uncommon genius in all fields of endeavor,
His exhibition of expert knowledge, His mercy, His chivalry, His be-
havior as a conjugal lover, His intelligence, His forgiveness, His at-
traction for all kinds of men, His opulence and His happiness—all
provoke fraternal love.

The impetus to fraternal love upon seeing the associates of Krsna
in Vrndavana is also very natural, for their personal bodily features,
their qualities and dress are all equal to Krsna’s. These associates are
always happy in their service to Krsna, and they are generally known
as vayasyas, or friends of the same age. These vayasyas are fully con-
fident of protection by Krsna. Devotees sometimes pray: “Let us of-
fer our respectful obeisances unto the vayasyas of Krsna, who are
firmly convinced of Krsna’s friendship and protection and whose de-
votion to Krsna is ever-fixed. They are fearless, and on a level equal
with Krsna they discharge their transcendental loving devotional ser-
vice.” Such eternal vayasyas are also found beyond the jurisdiction of
Vrndavana, in places such as Dvaraka and Hastinapura. Except for
Vrndavana, all the places of Krsna’s pastimes are called puras (towns).
Mathura and Hastinapura, the capital of the Kurus, are both puras.
Personalities like Arjuna, Bhima, Draupadi and Sridama Brahmana
are counted amongst Krsna’s fraternal devotees in the puras.

How the sons of Pandu, the Pandavas, enjoy Krsna’s association is
described as follows: “When Sri Krsna arrived in Indraprastha, the
capital of the Kurus, Maharaj Yudhisthira immediately came out to
smell the flavor of Krsna’s head.” It is the Vedic custom that su-
periors smell the heads of their subordinates when the subordinates
offer respect to the superior by touching his feet. Similarly, Arjuna
and Bhima embraced Krsna with great jubilation, and the two young-
er brothers, namely Nakula and Sahadeva, touched the lotus feet of
Krsna with tears in their eyes and offered their respects. In this way
all the five Pandava brothers enjoyed the fraternal friendship of
Krsna in transcendental mellow. Of the five Pandavas, Arjuna is the
most intimately connected with Krsna. He has a nice bow in his hand
which is called Gandiva. His thighs are compared with the trunks of
elephants, and his eyes are always reddish. When Krsna and Arjuna
are together on a chariot, they become celestial beauties, pleasing to
