Who are Subhadra and Paurnamasi? Who is Yogamaya, and was Krishna born in Mathura or in Gokula, and why did Krishna leave Vrindavana and went to Mathura? Because actually it is said that Krishna NEVER leaves Vrindavan?
Krishna book says:
The Yogamaya is the principal potency of the Personality of Godhead. In the Vedas it is stated that the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has multipotencies. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. All the different potencies are acting externally and internally, and Yogamaya is the chief of all potencies. He ordered the appearance of Yogamaya in the land of Vrajabhumi, in Vrndavana, which is always decorated and full with beautiful cows.
Krishna Book Chapter 2 (Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb)
Same chapter:
“Since you will appear as My contemporary sister, people within the world will worship you with all kinds of valuable presentations: incense, candles, flowers and offerings of sacrifice. You shall quickly satisfy their desires for sense gratificiation. People who are after materialistic affection will worship you under the different forms of your expansions, which will be named Durga, Bhadrakali, Vijaya, Vaisnavi, Kumuda, Candika, Krsna, Madhavi, Kanyaka, Maya, Narayani, Isani, Sarada and Ambika.
Krsna and Yogamaya appeared as brother and sister–the Supreme Powerful and the supreme power. Although there is no clear distinction between the Powerful and the power, power is always subordinate to the Powerful. Those who are materialistic are worshipers of the power, but those who are transcendentalists are worshipers of the Powerful. Krsna is the Supreme Powerful, and Durga is the supreme power within the material world. Actually people in the Vedic culture worship both the Powerful and the power. There are many hundreds of thousands of temples of Visnu and Devi, and sometimes they are worshiped simultaneously. The worshiper of the power, Durga, or the external energy of Krsna, may achieve all kinds of material success very easily, but anyone who wants to be elevated transcendentally must engage in worshiping the Powerful in Krsna consciousness.”
Krishna Book Chapter 2 (Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb)
Note:
It appears that Yogamaya ( Subhadra/Paurnamsi) and Mahamaya ( Durga, Candika, Ambika etc.) are same energy but let us hear what Prabhupada says:
Subhadra is Yogamaya. The spiritual energy is called Yogamaya. And she has 16 different expansions. Out of these 16 expansions, Subhadra is one. The Mahamaya of the material energy is also expansion of the energy of Yogamaya; and both Yogamaya and Mahamaya are equally important to Krishna as much as any government department is equally important for functioning of the government. The police department may be horrible for the criminals, but to the government it is a department as good as university department. Similarly, Mahamaya is horrible to the conditioned soul, but to the liberated soul, there is no fear of Mahamaya, because he is protected by Yogamaya. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita when Krishna said the following: “I am not visible to everyone on account of being curtained by Yogamaya.” So when a conditioned soul surrenders unto Krishna, the Yogamaya winds up the curtain and Krishna is visible to the devotee.
(SP Letter to: Madhusudana,, Montreal, 29 July, 1968)
And:
Regarding your question about Subhadra and Durga, they are not at all the same. Durga’s other name is Bhadra, not Subhadra, and Durga’s activities are within the material world. Subhadra does not work as Durga. Subhadra is internal energy, and Durga is external energy. As energy, they have a relationship as much as we are energies of Krishna, but the energies are working in different capacities. Although originally the energy is one, by their expansion, the accents of the energies are different, and as we are not impersonalists, this variegatedness of actions are essential for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as much as the government is one but there are multi-departments for management of the government. The education department and the criminal department are all departments of the government. The government is connected with all parts and departments, but the education activities are different from the criminal activities. This is the philosophy of inconceivably simultaneously one and different manifestations of the Absolute Truth.
(SP Letter to: Manager of Bank of Baroda, Los Angeles, 1 February, 1969)“The child, Yogamāyā-devī, the younger sister of Lord Viṣṇu, slipped upward from Kaṁsa’s hands and appeared in the sky as Devī, the goddess Durgā, with eight arms, completely equipped with weapons.”
PURPORT
Kaṁsa tried to dash the child downward against a piece of stone, but since she was Yogamāyā, the younger sister of Lord Viṣṇu, she slipped upward and assumed the form of the goddess Durgā. The word anujā, meaning “the younger sister,” is significant. When Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, took birth from Devakī, He must have simultaneously taken birth from Yaśodā also. Otherwise how could Yogamāyā have been anujā, the Lord’s younger sister?
( SB 10.4.9)
Note:
Krishna has simultaneously taken birth from Yaśodā and Devaki. And Yogamaya after slipped upward she assumed the form of durga or Mahamaya.
“O My auspicious potency, who are worshipable for the entire world and whose nature is to bestow good fortune upon all living entities, go to Vraja, where there live many cowherd men and their wives. In that very beautiful land, where many cows reside, Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, is living at the home of Nanda Maharaja. Other wives of Vasudeva are also living there incognito because of fear of Kamsa. Please go there.” (SB 10.2.7)
“Within the womb of Devaki is My partial plenary expansion known as Sankarsana or Sesa. Without difficulty, transfer Him into the womb of Rohini.” (SB 10.2.8)
“O all-auspicious Yogamaya, I shall then appear with My full six opulences as the son of Devaki, and you will appear as the daughter of mother Yasoda, the queen of Maharaja Nanda.” (SB. 10.2.9)
“By sacrifices of animals, ordinary human beings will worship you gorgeously, with various paraphernalia, because you are supreme in fulfilling the material desires of everyone.” (SB 10.2.10)
“In different places on the surface of the earth, people will give you different names, such as Durga, Bhadra-Kali, Vijaya, Vaisnavi, Kumuda, Candika, Krsna, Madhavi, Kanyaka, Maya, Narayani, Isani, Sarada and Ambika.” (SB 10.2.11)
Note:
Above, Srimad Bhagavatam says that the daughter that was born to Nanda and Yasoda was indeed Yogamaya but she is not known as Subhadra. The word bhadra used in verse 10.2.7 means auspicious. In verse 10.2.11 Krsna says that in the material world his Yogamaya potency will be known as Durga, Bhadra-Kali, Vijaya, Vaisnavi, etc, but again Subhadra is not mentioned.
In his Sarartha-darsini commentary to verse 10.2.10 the acarya Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti says:
“Your amsa, material maya, will be taken by Vasudeva to cheat Kamsa. You will be worshipped in various forms at the Vindhya Hills and other places. All men will worship you because you are the supreme goddess of those who have all types of material desires.”
Note:
It is clear that the daughter born to Yasoda was indeed Yogamaya, but that the female child that Vasudeva took to the palace dungeon of Kamsa was Mahamaya, the external potency of Krsna in same time. In neither instance is she known as Subhadra.
Hari-vamsa says as follows:
Vasudeva begot his eldest son Rama (Balarama) in Rohini; and their other sons are: Sarana, Satha, Durdama, Damana, Svabhra, Pindaraka, and Usinara; O descendant of Kuru, they also had a daughter by the name of Citra, who is renowned by the name of Subhadra. (1.35.5-6)
Mahabharata says as follows:
This is my sister, O Partha, and born of the same mother as Sarana (this refers to Rohini, the mother of Sarana). May you be blessed. Her name is Bhadra and she is the favorite daughter of my father.
(Adi-parva 221.17)
Note:
Hari-vamsa mentions Krsna’s sister as being Subhadra and Mahabharata mentions Krsna’s sister as being born of Rohini. Both these references are to Krsna’s sister born in Mathura to Vasudeva and Rohini who later married Arjuna in Dvaraka, not to the twin of Krsna born to Yasoda and later taken to the dungeon of Kamsa.
From previous acaryas we have quotes regarding Subhadra, some stating that she is Yogamaya, some even say that she is Mahamaya. The exercise is in how to harmonize the statements of different acaryas. Next quote from A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada is as follows:
“Regarding your question, ‘Is Subhadra, Lord Krsna’s sister, the same as Durga or Maya?’ the answer is that originally Krsna’s energy is one; that is spiritual energy. But according to different functions, the Maya is represented differently. In the material world the energy is called Bhadra, and in the spiritual world the same Maya is called Subhadra. The only distinction is ‘su’ and without ‘su’. ‘Su’ means auspicious. So in the spiritual world the same Maya works auspiciously, and in the material world the same Maya works inauspiciously.
(SP Letter to Upendra – LA, 5th July 1969)
Note:
In 1872 Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote an essay for a newspaper in Cuttack, Orissa about the Deities of Jagannatha, Subhadra and Baladeva as they are manifest in the temple at Jagannatha Puri. An excerpt follows:
“In the middle room [of the temple], there is an elevated seat on which stand four different forms, viz., Jagannatha, Balarama, Subhadra and Sudarsana. According to the Vedanta, God is one without a second, but He has infinite energies and attributes which are not fully known to man. But then man perceives only three energies in God, because he has no other corresponding sides to understand the other powers. From one of the energies proceeds matter in all its different forms and properties and this energy is styled the maya-sakti of God. From the second energy proceeds all spiritual creation, in all its relations and phases. This power is entitled the jiva-sakti of God. The third energy perceivable by man is the energy of Will, which is called cit-sakti. God moving in creation is what is meant by this infinite energy.
Jagannatha is the emblem of God having no other form than the eyes and the hands. They mean to show that God sees and knows and creates. Balarama is jiva-sakti of God; Subhadra is the maya-sakti and Sudarsana is the energy of will.”
(The Temple of Jagannatha at Puri, 1872)
Note:
Now let us come with this Subhadra issue to a conclusion.
From our previous Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas we have minimum 2 opinions on the ontological position of Subhadra. Prabhupada says she is Yogamaya. Bhaktivinoda says she is Mahamaya. How to harmonize?
Subhadra is Yogamaya when she appears in Gokula and she is Mahamaya when she is taken to the dungeon of Kamsa in Mathura. Prabhupada is referring to Subhadra in Gokula and Bhaktivinoda is referring to her capacity in Mathura.
After chastising Kamsa in her multi-armed form while in the dungeon in Mathura, that supremely wonderful Goddess (Mahamaya) left that place to go to the Vindhya Hills to be worshiped in the many forms of Durga, Bhadra-Kali, etc. Hence, she did not return as such to take part in the lila of Krsna.
Thus Subhadra is there on the altar with Krsna and Balarama in Jagannatha Puri. She is sometimes considered as Yogamaya or Mahamaya.
In some instances Devaki is called the mother of Subhadra, but this is due to her being a co–wife of Vasudeva along with Rohini and others. Although the “biological” mother of Subhadra was Rohini, she is taken to be the sister of Krsna in the same way that Balarama (also born of Rohini) is taken to be Krsna’s brother.
Ultimately, the internal energy of Krsna is one, which manifests as many according to the Lord’s will and the requirement of His lila (acintya-bhedabheda tattva in best form). It has also been noted that the use of the word ’yogamaya’ in the vocabulary of the acaryas is interchangeable with the word ‘mahamaya’. Accordingly, the sister of Krsna is one-energy manifesting as different personalities (Yogamaya and Mahamaya ) according to the required service.
Note:
Durga/Mahamaya and Subhadra/Yogamaya are essentially the same, but are different due to being enagaged in different activities.
And who is Purnamasi ?
“Paurṇamāsī the grandmother of Madhumaṅgala and mother of Sāndīpani Muni.”
(CC Antya 1.150)“All glories to Radha’s divine father and mother, Vrsabhanu and the beautiful Kirtida. All glories to Paurnamasi, the mother of Sandipani Muni, grandmother of Madhumangala and Nandimukhi, and beloved disciple of Devarsi Narada. All glories lo the young cowherd maidens of Vraja”
(Srila Prabhupada chanting the glories of Vrindavan (Sri Vraja-dhama).””The Nectarean Glories of Vraja-dhama””. From the Krsna Meditation Album by Srila Prabhupada, 5 )
Note:
Purnamasi is Yogamaya in Krishna-lila.
Sri Gaura-Ganoddesa-Dipika says :
41. The same Paurnamasi who greatly pleased Lord Govinda in Vraja appeared in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as Srila Govinda Acarya, the expert author of songs and poetry.
Now the last issue.
Krishna never ever leaves Vrindavana:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead accomplishes many many purposes through one action. The external reason for Krishna’s leaving Vrindavan was to attend to other affairs such as killing the demons and establishing religious principles (as He had promised Mother Earth prior to His appearance, and which He did in the battle of Kurukshetra) as well as to reciprocate with His other devotees in Mathura and Hastinapura.
However, the internal reason was His desire to reciprocate with the unparalleled love of the residents of Vrindavan. Krishna actually never ever leaves His devotees and Vrindavan. It only appears to be so. When Krishna left Vrindavan to go to Mathura, He entered into the hearts and into the minds of all the devotees in Vrindavan and in this way Krishna never left them even for a moment. It is actually opposite, because when Krishna “left” Vrindavan to go to Mathura, He bashed the residents of Vraj into a more stronger Love to Him, in separation of Krishna. In such a way He is MORE there like elsewhere.
Srila Prabhupada writes in Krishna book Chapter 46:
“When Krishna was starting for Mathura on the chariot driven by Akrura and the gopis were blocking the way, Krishna assured them that He was coming back just after finishing His business in Mathura. He told them not to be overwhelmed and in this way pacified them. But when He failed to come back with Nanda Maharaja, it appeared that He either cheated them or could not keep His promise. Expert devotees, however, have decided that Krishna was neither a cheater nor a breaker of promises. Krishna, in His original identity, returned with Nanda Maharaja and stayed with the gopis and mother Yashoda in His bhava expansion. Krishna and Balarama remained in Mathura not in Their original forms but in Their expansions as Vasudeva and Sankarsana. The real Krishna and Balarama were in Vrindavan in Their bhava manifestation, whereas in Mathura They appeared in the prabhava and vaibhava expansions. This is the expert opinion of advanced devotees of Krishna. Externally, however, They were absent from Vrindavan.”
Krishna explains this in His message through Uddhava (Krishna book, Chapter 47) :
“My dear gopis, in order to increase your superexcellent love for Me, I have purposely separated Myself from you. I have done this so that you may be in constant meditation on Me.”
Note:
This constant meditation on Krishna by the gopis is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita to be the topmost yoga.
This method of loving and serving in the mood of separation is the highest form of absorption in Krishna and the highest source of spiritual ecstasy – and this fact is very difficult to understand from the material point of view. Krishna Himself was constantly absorbed in this mood of love in separation from Radharani while in Dvaraka and Mathura.So He NEVER EVER leaves Vrindavan.
Bhagavad-gita, 4.9: “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.”
(compiled by Mathura-pati das)
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