Attracted and Affectionate Calf

Hare Krsna. A cow bathing in the affection of her calf on the sandy bank of the Yamuna. Here, to the Yamuna, Krsna brings His beloved cows and calves to drink her cool waters. How attractive!

All that Krsna does is attractive, especially to the residents of Vrindaban. He’s so attractive that almost all souls are attracted to him. But why not all?

Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Bhag. 7.5.14: “Just contrary to the affairs of Vrndavana is the material world, where no one is attracted by Krsna and everyone is attracted by Maya. This is the difference between the spiritual and material worlds.”

Due to being embedded within a false ego, Maya attracts me from the all-attractive and fills my heart with unnatural, unfulfillable desires for self-centered happiness.

How selfish. How sad.

On the other hand, Srila Prabhupada in the same purport describes a soul’s natural attraction to Krsna and the full attraction to Krsna possessed by the residents of Vrindaban: “For iron to be attracted by a magnet is natural. Similarly, for all living entities to be attracted toward Krsna is natural, and therefore the Lord’s real name is Krsna, meaning He who attracts everyone and everything. The typical examples of such attraction are found in Vrndavana, where everything and everyone is attracted by Krsna. The elderly persons like Nanda Maharaja and Yasodadevi, the friends like Sridama, Sudama, and the other cowherd boys, the gopis like Srimati Radharani and Her associates, and even the birds, beasts, cows, and calves are attracted. The flowers and fruits in the gardens are attracted, the waves of the Yamuna are attracted, and the land, sky, trees, plants, animals, and all other living beings are attracted by Krsna. This is the natural situation of everything in Vrndavana.”

Isn’t Vrindavana attractive?