The New Dawn 4: Krishna's First Love

Prem's mother forced him to accompany her to the Hari-Katha in the temple premises (Hari-katha is a type of art form where the artist narrates mythological stories in a high pitched tone inter spread with some devotional songs). Dhanya, Prem's young neighbour decided to accompany him so that he may not be bored to death. That day's Hari Katha was on Lord Krishna and Radha.

The narrator was a young girl of around eighteen years old. With her high pitched voice, she started the story and took the listeners present there to the banks of Yamuna river where Lord Krishna was playing some melodious tunes on his flute and Radha found her legs forcing her to run to her beloved Sri Krishna...

Dhanya had to interrupt with her comment, "And the present generation boys! They only know to play tunes on their cell phone! My Boyfriend Madan always irritates me with that romantic tune on the mobile Agar tum mil jao...Zamaana chod dhenge (If I get you in my life, I am ready to leave this entire society)"

Prem's mother never watches bollywood movies and was confused by the explanation, "Girl!... you have got it completely wrong.. Agar tum mil jao is a devotional song... it means, if my soul captures the essence of God, its the time to leave this material world..."

Prem and Dhanya were silenced by this new spiritual explanation to a song picturised on the serial kisser Emraan Hashmi and thought its better to listen to the artist on the dais.

The young girl on the dais with her mystical smile went on to explain the first fight between the eternal lovers, "Radha once doubted that though both loved each other there was a difference in their love. She loved too much and he that is Lord Krishna loved too many. Lord Krishna cleared her doubt, 'If Gopikas(the girls in the Brindavan) loved me, its not my fault. They feel they deserve it. I can't completely ignore them also... But I love you the most...You should know that!'"

Prem was more interested in knowing Dhanya's reaction rather than Radha's, "If you found your Madan with someone else, what would you do?"

Dhanya gave a angry look, "I did once catch him red handed... in the library... not with one but three cute figures... He gave a lame excuse of group study... Angrily I messaged all his and my friends, 'Koi Pathar se na maare mere Sanam ko...Koi Pathar se na maare mere Sanam ko... 21st century hain... bomb se hi uda diya jayan* (Don't pelt my beloved with stones... Please don't pelt him with stones. This is 21st century! Waste him away with a crude bomb....)"

Prem's mother scolded them, "Gosh! What language! How can you talk like that in the temple. You are polluting the temple environment!"

But the narrator's mind was not polluted... it was still focused on the story as she touched another important aspect, the test of love, "Once Nanda, Lord Krishna's foster father arranged to do tulabharam (Giving in charity wealth equal to the weight of Lord Krishna). But no matter how much gold and jewelery Nandgopal added, the scale didn't budge. Seeing a worried look on his father's face, Lord Krishna hinted at Radha to hand over a bud from the jasmine flower that adorned her head to his friend. And as the friend slowly placed that bud on the scale... there was equilibrium... This showed how much Radha loved Lord Krishna...**"

Prem had to ask Dhanya this pivotal question, "How will you test Madan's love for you?"

Dhanya smiled and replied coolly, "Its easy to test a boy's love. Tell him, the dress he wears looks good on him and see how many times he wears it in a week!"

Prem's mother turned to her son, "Now I know why you wore that pink dress continuously for a week without getting it washed or ironed..."

As the three were enjoying themselves, The young story teller was nearing the end of the story, "As Lord Krishna prepared to leave Brindhavan to Mathura, Radha knew that her Krishna will never come back. So she took two promises from him, one that he should always remain in her heart and second, before Lord Krishna leaves the planet Earth he should give her one final darshan...and Lord Krishna in turn took one vow from her and that too a very difficult one..that Radha should never allow tears to flow from her eyes...They thus separated. But their love was endless and unconditional and yes... the promises were kept"
Then Prem somehow got the feeling that the narrator was suddenly focussing completely on him as she delivered the message of the story, "Lord Krishna took the human Avtaar (form) and experienced himself many things to teach humans various lessons on dharma, karma and other aspects... But he also had a lesson for all the young lovers of his time as well as for the lovers of this generation... an important one....Never forget your First Love... Sri Krishna ne Premi ka haath choda hoga... magar Prem ka nahi..."


(PS * The Hindi Sanam shayari was a forwarded mobile message
**The Tulabram story is attributed to Krishna Rukmini Satyabama episode. But it does appear in Krishna Radha episode too.)