Krishna, The Butter Bandit - Volume 3: Krishna, The Butter Bandit, #3

By Swetha Sundaram

The story of Krishna enchants and attracts everyone! All the playful pastimes of Lord Krishna is narrated in a style that attracts young adults. There are many questions which arise in the mind of young adults regarding certain pastimes of the Lord like the Rasa Leela; in this book the esoteric meaning of these pastimes have been examined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Swetha Sundaram
• Release date: Apr 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386029113

Swetha Sundaram

Swetha Sundaram lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is an Instrumentation and Controls Engineer working in Calgary. She graduated from B.S. in Engineering Honours Program from University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects; some of the topics include, Sri Vaishnavism, health & diet, history and children’s books. She believes in promoting love and equality. She has travelled to many countries and has lived in many different countries. Apart from writing, her hobbies also include sketching, gardening and reading.

Book preview

Foreword:

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Ms. Swetha Sundaram , the  gifted author of the new book , KrishNa  the Butter Bandit hails from a family with deep links to the famous temple town of Srirangam in South India. The presiding deity of the ancient VishNu temple at Srirangam is Lord Ranganatha. His divine consort is Sriranga Naayaki . A huge temple at Srirangam has been built for the divine couple  at Srirangam by many Kings and AchAryas . For many centuries , a coterie of  renowned Vedic scholars  settled down at Srirangam to worship Lord Ranganatha and to study as well as interpret  traditional sacred texts  linked to Sri VaishNavism , one of the oldest monotheistic religion of India. Acharya Ramanuja is one of the most renowned leaders , who left his indelible mark on Visishtadvaitam from His base in Srirangam . At the Srirangam Temple , the sthira bheram ( moolavar) is recognized as Damodhara KrishNa with welt marks in His waist and the processional deity

( utsavar) is worshipped as Lord Ramachandran . Following the foot steps of AchArya Ramanuja , the scholastic community at Srirangam continued to maintain the highest standards of Scholarship in the Vedas , Tamil Prabhandhams

( hymnology in Tamil to Veda mantrams)  , the Epics (Ithihasams like Maha Bharatam and Puraanams like Vishnu puranam and Srimad Bhagavatam )  as well as the two Vaishnavite Agamas ( Rituals of worship) ; these scholars  handed over  the various sacred  treasures as family heirlooms from one generation to the next  .  This tradition continues to this day at Srirangam .

Every day is a festival day at  Srirangam . It is a dream of every devotee of Lord Ranganatha to spend at least one year at Srirangam to enjoy the temple festivities and immerse themselves in the supercharged  cultural atmosphere and religious traditions of Srirangam . It is in this environment , Ms.Swetha Sundaram grew up during her younger days until  her parents immigrated to Canada to raise their young family. At Canada , Swetha  graduated with an Engineering Degree from  University of Guelph , Ontario where she excelled in her academic pursuits   . Her family moved on next  to the Prairie Province of  Alberta in Western Canada and are settled down there now . Currently , She works as the  Controls and Instrumentation Engineer for an industrial  firm in Alberta. She has thus been exposed to what is the very best in both the eastern and western cultures . Her caring parents have kept alive her deep interests in the Visishtadvaita Vedanta philosophy and Vaishnava religion and encouraged her to write about them . This  first book released by Swetha is an outcome of such efforts . Her first book is an  engaging one dealing with the incarnation and glories  of Lord KrishNa. This is a  story that has been told many times before  but  her  version  carries the imprint of her unique gift for story telling  at many levels from literary to esoteric . Her conversational mode of story telling reaches its height in the context of the famous Tiruppavai Prabhandham of Andal as convincing reinterpretations as the dialogs between Radha and the girls of Gokulam observing Katyayini vratam to gain the Lord as their husband . The Sanskrit names that Swetha has created for the Gopis and Gopas is an amazing list  that personalizes her narration of the happenings at Gokulam and Brundavanam. Her rich vocabulary ,vivid imagination and descriptive powers makes us feel that we  are witnesses to  the events that she is covering . Some of these events described by Swetha in her own unique style are: The wedding of King Vasudeva and Princess Devaki at the temple , Lord’s avataram in the prison of Kamsa , Baby Krishna’s entry in to Gokulam at the middle of the dark night , the birthday festivities at Gokulam organized by the cowherds , the destruction of the many demons sent to Gokulam by the evil Kamsa to kill child Krishna  , His baala leelais centered around the stealing of butter from the houses of the Gopis as The Butter Bandit , His affectionate  herding of the cows at Brundavanam , His playing of the divine flute and calling the specific Gopis to His side with unique raagams named after them , the destruction of the pride of Indra and Brahma , His coronation as Govindha , His life at Dhwaraka as the Householder and so many others.

Swetha Sundaram’s book deals with the fabled  story  about Lord KrishNa , an incarnation of  Lord VishNu  and His many charming deeds that has endeared Him to one and all . Although Lord Krishna is a Supreme Being ( ParamAtma) and Lord of all sentients and insentients , He incarnated as a human being at Mathura  and grew up among the group of simple cowherds at Gokulum and performed superhuman deeds (atimaanusha leelais) to bless and protect every one , who sought Him as refuge . His divine charitram is housed in the tenth canto (Skandham) Srimad Bhagavatam , the youngest of the sacred Puranams. An intense  Bhakti cult  developed from Srimad Bhaagavatam , which had a huge impact all over India . The Azhwars in the south and AchAryas spread the  divine messages of Lord Krishna housed in Srimad Bhagavad Gita  and Srimad Bhagavatam’s   tenth canto. A huge renaissance of KrishNa worship arose and grew across all corners of India . The Tamil Prabhandhams of the mystic Saints ( the Alwars), literary works by  Jayadeva (Gita Govindam) , Leela Sukhar ( Krishna Karnamrutam ) , poetry of Chaitanya Maha Prabhu and Bhajans of  Meera Bhai , the  philosophical treatises of Acharyas like Nathamuni , Yaamuna , Ramanuja , Swamy Vedanta Desika are some of  the  renowned Krishna Premis  , who  celebrated this full incarnation ( poorna avataram ) of the Lord and grew the bhakti movement .  From the tenth century onwards, Lord Krishna became the favorite subject of the performing arts  at  the Temples and the courts of the kings . Great temples for His worship were built and expanded by Krishna Premis during this time at Poori, Orissa  ( Lord Jagannath) , Maharashtra ( Lord Vitobha) , Rajasthan ( Shrinathji ) , Gujerat ( Dwarakadheesa),  Kerala ( Guruvayurappan) , Karnataka (Udupi) , Srirangam , Mannargudi (Tamilnadu) and many others  both in India and abroad.

Dr. S.M.S Chari’s comments on the concept of Godhead  as a Supreme Being

( Purushottama) are pertinent to recall in the context  of Krishnavataram and its celebration by the Azhwars , which the author has used as a rich source material.  The Purushottama concept covers several interrelated aspects: It covers God’s essential nature ( Svarupa) , the divine attributes ( Guna ) , the divine personality ( divyamangala Vigraha) , the divine incarnations ( divya avataras) and the divine activities ( divya leelas). The upanishads have accorded greater importance to the essential nature/svarupam of the God as the Supreme Being. The Agmaa tratises have paid more attention to the visual aspects of the divine personality / divyamangala vigraha . The itihasas and the Puranas  , on the other hand have emphasized the divine attributes /Gunas and divine functions/leelas.  The religious texts  have focused on selected divine attributes appealing to the emotions of the devotees. The Alvars in their prabhandams have dwelt on all the above aspects of divinity as the Supreme Being.  Swetha’s book on Lord incarnating as Krishna focuses on his divine leelas and devotes few pages to His divine and auspicious attributes ( Kalyana Gunams)       

With this eminently readable book , Swetha has made a welcome contribution to the Krishna literature . The provision of Prologue , rich content , epilogue and glossary makes this book a welcome one and permits us to gain a glimpse in to her awareness of