Garga Bhagavatham : Giriraj Khanda - Chapter 6
Gopas praise Sri Vrishabhanuvar’s glories and inspire him to test the divinity of Sri Nandanandan Krishna; Sri Vrishabhanuvar sends the most precious necklaces studded with rare and innumerable pearls as wedding presents for the bridegroom; Sri Nanda, by the grace of Sri Krishna sends even more precious necklaces for the bride
Sri Narada says:- King! After listening to Vrishabanuvar all the residents
of Vraj were pacified. All their doubts were cleared and they were amazed.
Gopas said:- King! Your discourse
is true. Truly this Radha is the beloved of Sri Krishna. By her influence only,
you look more majestic on this earth. Thousands of intoxicated elephants, agile
horses, and crores of beautiful chariots and fine palanquins similar to those
of Devatas are beautifying your palace. Not only these but also crores of cows
bejeweled with ornaments studded with precious gems, many types of mansions and
precious gems and exotic food and drinks and all types of comforts can be seen
in your mansion. Seeing your great strength, even Kamsa was defeated.
Great Hero! You are the son in law of the King Bhalandan
of Kaanyakubja province and you have as much treasure as Kubera. There is not
as much grandeur in Nandraj's mansion as you have here. Nandraj is only a
farmer and owner of a group of cows and is poor hearted. Lord! If Nand's son is
the real Paripoornatam Sri Hari, then put to test Nand's prosperity in front of
us.
Sri Narada says:- King! Listening to the words of the gopas, the great
Vrishbanuvar tested the richness of Nandraj. King of Mithila! He took one crore
burly necklaces which were studded with precious gems and each gem was as
expensive as a crore medallions of gold and its brightness was spreading to a
long distance. King of Kings! Keeping all the jewels in huge pots, he sent them
along with renowned matchmakers to the house of SriNandraj. The proficient
matchmakers went to the court of Nandraj and kept the necklaces in front of and
after paying respects to him said thus
The Matchmaker said:- Nandraj! Vrishabanuvar, feeling that his daughter Sri
Radha, whose eyes are like freshly blossomed lotus and whose face shines like a
crore Moons, is in search of a groom, has decided that your son Madanmohan Sri
Krishna is her divine groom. He has strong shoulders that can lift Govardhan
mountain and is brave and heroic. Superior Vaishya! Seeing and thinking about
all this Vrishabanuvar, who is respected by Vrishabanus has sent all of us
here. To fill the lap of the groom, you please accept all these heaps of
necklaces sent from the bride's side. Then from your side give equivalent heaps
of necklaces to fill the lap of the bride. This is the prominent custom of our
community.
Sri Narada says:- Seeing that heap of wealth, the excellent Nandraj was amazed. He
took all the jewels to find out if they had enough to equal that. Then in the
chamber of Yashoda, discussing with each other for a long time, they concluded
they do not have enough treasure equal these. "We have lost all prestige
in front of everyone. We will be laughed at by all. What wealth can we give in
return for these? What to do? What is to be done by us for Sri Krishna's
marriage? Firstly we have to accept what has been sent to the groom. Later when
we get enough wealth, we will send gifts to the bride." As they were
thinking thus, Bhagawan Sri Krishna came, and without the knowledge of Nand and
Yashoda, took one hundred necklaces from there and went out of the house into
the farmland and scattered the precious gems one by one, with His own hands in
the farmland just like a farmer scatters seeds of cereals for farming. Later,
when Nand counted the gem-studded necklaces he found that there was a shortage
of one hundred necklaces, and became upset.
Sri Narada says:- Alas! In the first place, there is no wealth in my house
to match these heaps of jewels and now there is a shortage of one hundred
necklaces. Oh! Insult will be heaped on us from all the sides by my friends and
relatives. Or if Balaram or Sri Krishna have taken some gems to play with, I
will go and plead with those two boys.
Sri Narada says:- King! Thinking like this, Nand went to Sri Krishna and asked Him
very humbly about the gems. Sri Krishna who had held Govardhan in His hands
laughed aloud and said
Sri Bhagawan said:- Father! All of us Gopas are farmers, who plant all kinds
of seeds in the farmland, hence we have planted the gem seeds.
Sri Narada says:- King! Hearing these words from his son, the King of Vraj scolded
him and went to the farm along with him to search and pick those gems. There,
they saw crores of large and beautiful trees with bunches of gem fruits, which
were large and shining just like the stars in the sky that shine in groups.
There were millions of Gem fruits hanging in the trees in bunches. Then the
king of Vraj, Nandraj realized that Sri Krishna was the Supreme God, and he
plucked the Gem fruits similar to the original ones, and filled more than a
crore times the original number of gems in carts and gave them to the
matchmakers. They took all the gemstones and went to Vrishabanuvar and
described the matchless grandeur of Nandraj.
At that time all the gopas were dismayed. All
of them realized that the son of Nand was indeed Sri Hari and all their doubts
vanished and they paid their respects to Vrishabanuvar. King of Mithila! From
that day onwards all the people of Vraj came to know that Sri Radha was the
beloved of Sri Hari and Sri Hari was the heartthrob of Sri Radha. Lord of
Mithila! At the place where Sri Hari scattered the gems, appeared 'Muktha
sarovar', which is the king of all holy waters. Whoever donates one Gem in that
place is blessed with the benefits of donating a lakh gems. In this way I have
described the celebrations of Giriraj, which blesses humans with all pleasures
and moksh(salvation). Now, what else do you want to hear?
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