Nandotsava - The Celebration of Nanda Maharaja - Nanda Baba's festivities, opulences and devotion

Stavamrita-kana-vyakhya: In this verse, Sripad Raghunatha praises Sri Brihad-vana, the place of Sri Krishna's advent. It is here that Sri Nanda, the king of Vraja, desiring the welfare of his son, gave ample charity to the brAhmaNas on the occasion of his birthday festival. In Srimad Bhagavata, it is written: dhenUnAM niyute prAdAd viprebhyaH samalaGkRte tilAdrIn sapta rAtraugha zAta-kaumbhAmbarAvRtAn (BhP 10.5.3), and Sridhara Swami comments: niyute dve lakSe - "When Sri Krishna took birth, Sri Nanda Maharaja gave 200.000 cows beautified with golden horns and silver hoves, covered by clothes that were inset with different gems and strings of gold, as well as seven piles of sesame, to the brAhmaNas."

In Sri Brahma Vaivarta Purana, the following is narrated:


In the Bhavisya Purana, we can see how much a pile of sesame is supposed to be:


All these piles of sesame and paddy must be beautified with jewels, gold and flower garlands. The arrangements for this are also outlined in the Bhavisya Purana:


Sri Jiva Goswami has written in his Gopala-campu: dazabhir droNaiH kRta tila saptAcalImad adAt | yad vRti maNi kanakAnAM tad adhikatara bhAratA dvijer mene || - "Nanda Maharaja donated seven piles of sesame, each containing ten droNas, to the brAhmaNas. The brAhmaNas thought that the jewels and gold that covered these mountains of sesame were even heavier than the sesame itself."

From this description, we can get an approximate idea of the immeasurable amounts of jewels and gems Goparaja Nanda gave in charity. Vrajadhama is the transcendental playground of the Original Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Therefore it is not at all impossible for Maharaja Sri Nanda to donate such amounts of jewels and gems. Sripada Raghunatha thus praises Brihadvana, the place where Sri Nanda Maharaja donated such vast amounts of wealth.

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* A droNa is a dry measure of 32 seers for corn etc., or a measuring vessel having this capacity.

** In order to keep die pivotal mountain Sumeru steady, Lord Brahma placed four supporting mountains around it, viz. Mandara, Gandhamadana, Nila and Suparsva. Such mountains are called Viskambha-mountains. Even when mere mountains of paddy or sesame are being donated, four Viskambha-mountains must still be established around them, as if they were mount Sumeru.

[ Transl. Advaitadas ]

Stavamrita-kana-vyakhya: When describing Sri Nandisvara Giri, Sri Raghunatha remembers Nanda and Yasoda, thus praising them in the next two verses. The summit of pure, sweet parental love for Krishna, bereft of any whiff of awe and reverence towards him, resides in Vrajaraja and Vrajesvari. This is clearly known from scriptures like Srimad Bhagavata. Even if a huge mountain of aizvArya falls into the boundless ocean of this parental love, it won't have any impact. Hence, when praising Sri Nanda, it is first said: putrasyAbhyudayArtham Adara-bharair miSTAnna-pAnotkarair divyAnAM ca gavAM maNi-vraja-yuSAM dAnair iha pratyaham - "Every day he satisfies the [i]brAhmaNas by respectfully giving them sweets, drinks, divine cows and jewels in charity for the auspicious growth of his son." Even when he sees Krishna's matchless prowess, Sri Nanda Maharaja is unswerving in his sweet parental love for him. Rather, it nourishes his conception of Krishna as his son - thus is elaborately described in Srimad Bhagavata.

As Sri Nanda Maharaja returned from Mathura after the killing of the witch Putana, he saw Putana's huge corpse with his own eyes. He had heard about these kinds of troubles in advance from Vasudeva Mahasaya, but still the ocean of his parental love swelled as he saw Putanari (the killer of Putana) as Sri Bala Gopala.


Srila Rupa Gosvami said: anubhAvaH ziroghrANam - "One of the signs of parental love is the smelling of the head."

On the day of the Autthanika Parva (the festival to celebrate the child's ability to stand), Sri Nandanandana laid under a great cart and, crying for His mother's breast, he kicked his tender feet up into the air and kicked the huge cart over, thus killing Sakatasura, the infamous cart-demon, with his inconceivable power. The cowherdboys then went to Nanda and the cowherdmen and told them: "Nanda-nandana has thrown over the cart by kicking it with His feet!", but the men did not believe it.


Rather, Sri Nanda Maharaja became very worried about Krishna's safety and had the Veda-knowing brAhmaNas perform all kinds of auspicious rituals for the welfare of his son.


We can see that, out of parental love, Sri Nanda and the cowherdmen acted similarly after the killing of Trinavarta and the breaking of the Yamalarjuna trees.

When Sri Krishna lifted Giriraja Govardhana for seven days and nights in front of the Vrajavasis' eyes, the cowherders were astonished to see His inconceivable prowess, but when they told Sri Nanda Maharaja about this inconceivable prowess, it could not reverse his feelings of pure sweetness at all. Rather, he destroyed their doubts by quoting Garga Muni, who had told him previously (BhP 10.8.18-19) that the power of Sri Narayana was infused into his son, so that He would be able to protect them from all calamities and havoc. When the cowherders relished the nectarine words of Sri Nanda emanating from the ocean of his pure parental love, the ocean of their own sweet love, in which a mountain of Krishna's display of prowess was thrown, temporarily making waves in it, returned to its natural peaceful status. They were also reassured that Sri Krishna was simply the son of Sri Nanda and this awareness made them float in the ocean of topmost transcendental bliss.

When, during mathurA-viraha (when Krishna had left Vraja to go to Mathura), the crownjewel of all wise and learned devotees, Sri Uddhava Mahasaya, saw the great parental love of Sri Nanda-Yasoda, he became astonished and exclaimed:


Just to remove their distress, Sri Uddhava Mahasaya had told them in many different ways that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord, but that could not slacken their parental love even slightly.

We have said: the devotees' love causes the Lord's nature to awaken. Thus the Lord forgot all about His own majesty, being subdued by Sri Nanda Maharaja's pure parental love and just consider himself to be Sri Nandanandana, the son of king Nanda. Although he is the All-worshipable One, he devotedly held the dust of His father's lotus feet on his head. The Lord, whose feet are worshipable by lord Brahma and lord Siva, brought his father his slippers by carrying them on His head, thus making father Nanda float in an ocean of transcendental bliss.

Hence, Sripada Raghunatha says: "I worship this king of Gokula, Sri Nanda Maharaja, who daily offers different kinds of sweetmeats, jewels and decorated cows to satisfy the brAhmaNas for the welfare of His son, and who affectionately asks the brAhmaNas for Krishna's wellbeing, because he totally absorbed in thinking of his son."