SHREE KUMANDASJI

You promised last evening you would be true
And now you come here in haste
Wearing her shawl so blue!
You forgot your yellow garments
They are with her!

Shri Vallabhacharya hearing him sing said, “You have entered the exhalted devotional stage.”
“All through your mercy.” Replied Kumbhandas. “Now shower your grace and allow me to feel it even more.”
Kumbhandas did not sing anything other than Shri Radha and Shri Krishna’s loving lila.
Once when the Muslim invaders the area, Shri Nathji told Kumbhandas , Sadu Pande and some other local bhaktas that He wanted to be taken to Tond Ghano, a dense thicket a few miles away. He wished to travel on the back of a water buffalo. When they reached the thicket, Kumbhandas smiled and sang , “I like this berry thicket”.
Then his eyes opened to the divine lila. The real reason Shri Nathji wanted to go there was to meet His Beloved. Seeing the intimate lila behind the entire event he sang ,

The Vrindavan Gopi
Meets the prince of enjoyers
Shri Krishna , the Holder of the Mountain .

His poem delighted Shri Nathji and when the Muslim invaders retreated, Shri Nathji rode the buffalo back to the temple where Kumbhandas again broke into verse,

He obliterated the pain of the Braja people .
Glories to His most dazzling yellow cloth.
Sings Kumbhandas , I bow and take Your shelter .

Once Emperor Akhbar sent some men to summon Kumbhandas to his court. Kumbhandas to his court. Kumbhandas told them, “I am a poor resident of Braja, but I am no one’s servant expect Shri Krishna’s .”
The gaurds explained, “If you don’t accompany us, the emperor will execute us. Please come.”
Kumbhandas considered, “I must go for their sake.”
When he reached the palace and came before the emperor he sang the following song,

Why would a bhakta
Ever want to come to your palace?
While walking here my shoes wore out
And I forgot Hari’s name.
Now I must pay homage to a face
Whose very sight pains me ,
Says Kumbhandas , without Shri Krishna,
This whole place is false.

Akbar was at first filled with anger upon hearing this song, but then he reflected, “He is not afraid of me . His interest is only in God.” He then said to Kumbhandas, “Ask of me whatever you want.”
Kumbhandas replied , “Never call on me again.”
As Kumbhandas walked back to his village , he was overwhelmed with the mood of Shri Krishna’s separation. He softly sang,

When will my eyes be filled with Him again…
Since I’ve seen Shri Krishna
I’ve forgotten my husband , family and everything …
This crush n Shri Krishna is hard on my heart.

Shri Nathji heard Kumbhandas’ song and praised him , “You are blessed one. As you can’t live a moment without Me, so without you , everything seems balnd.”

Once during the hot season Raja Mansingh came to Shri Nathji’s temple and noticed that Shri Nathji was wearing light cloth and few ornaments. The temple was sprinkled with rose water. Raja Mansingh had visited many other temples where the worship was not sensitive to the Blessed Lord’s true needs and thought, “Shri Krishna truly resides here.”
While he stood before Shri Nathji, Kumbhandas sang,

My eyes don’t even blink …
Beholding Shri Krishna
My eyes and heart are both stuck
To His every part.

The next day Raja Mansingh went to visit Kumbhandas. At the time Shri Nathji was sitting with Kumbhandas and was about to say something to him but when the Blessed Lord saw the king approaching He got up and ran away.
When Raja Mansingh saw the poet make his tilak mark with the help of the relfection in a pail water , he offered Kumbhandas a jewel-studded mirror. “King, no thanks. Our house is thatched and made of mud. Someone trying to steal this costly ornament might harm us.”
The king then offered Kumbhandas many things , but when the poet would not accept anything , the king finally offered to extend an unlimited line of credit to all of his merchants. Kumbhandas then told him where his merchants live. “See those two trees , they are my only grocers. In the hot season the Karila tree supplies me fruit and tanta berries while during the winter the Modi Bera tree gives me sweet berries. Pay them what you want.”
After the king left, his niece came to him, “We don’t have a single possession, why didn’t you accept what the king offered?”
Kumbhandas replied, “if Shri Nathji were to hear that, what would He think?”
When Shri Nathji returned to the poet , Kumbhandas overflowed with devotion and sang,

Shri Krishna, you are the great love of my heart…
Why were You afraid if him?”

Shri Nathji changed the subject, “Kumbhandas! Today there is a contest between all of My friends to see who can prepare the most delectable meal.”
Kumbhandas then sang ,

The Supreme fruits of Braja are these Tanti berries.
From them you can make vegetables and pickles-
And eat them with chickpea and wheat rotis.

He then made Shri Krishna all of His favorite foods and distributed the prasada to all of Shri Krishna’s friends. Kumbhandas remained in a state of pure bliss for the entire day. That evening he returned to the temple and sang before Shri Nathji,

Our eyes met and became four.
To Shri Krishna, Kumbhandas offers his
Body, mind and everything.

Once the saints of Vrindavan, Shri Hita Harivamsh , Shri Haridas and other bhaktas came to visit Kumbhandas and asked him to sing something about Shri Radha. He sang for them,

Shri Radha you are the pinnacle of all fortunes.
A billion moons cannot be compared to your face…
My pleasure is to behold you every second.

The saints were amazed and praised him, “We have composed many poems about Shri Radha , but your descriptions are peerless.”

Another time when Shri Gusainji heard that Kumbhandas was very poor he invited him on his pilgrimage to Dwarka. The following afternoon they set out from Shri Nathji’s temple and stopped for the night a few miles away at the southern end of the Govardhan Hill. There Kumbhandas became overwhelmed with separation form Shri Nathji. His eyes welled with tears; the hairs on his body all stood on the end in ecstatic bliss. Leaning against a tree just outside of Shri Gsainji’s tent, Kumbhandas began to softly sing,

How many days have passed without seeing-
That young lad, the amorous son of Nanda.
Shri Krishna?
Mourns Kumbhandas,
Without Him, my life is worthless.

Having overheard Kumbhandas’ poem , Shri Gusainji could not bear the poet’s distress and came out of his tent and said, “Your trip is complete. Now go back and see Shri Nathji.”
Once when Shri Gusainji asked Kumbhandas how many children he had, the poet replied, “One and a half”.
“I thought you have seven sons.” Said Shri Gusainji.
Of my seven sons, five are worldly. Only Chaturbhuja is a full son. I consider my son Krishnadas, who tends Shri Nathji’s cows, as half a son.”

Since Chaturbhujdas experienced Shri Krishna’s intimate lilas of union and separation, Kumbhandas thought him to be a full son. His son Krishnadas who tended Shri Nathji’s cows experienced Shri Krishna’s union, but did not have entrance into intimate Shri Krishna glade, the abode of the Gopis. That is why Kumbhandas considered him half a son. His other children were not bhaktas so he did not even count them as his own.
Once, while Kumbhandas’ son Krishnadas was tending Shri Nathji’s cows , a tiger attacked and killed him while he was saving a cow. When Kumbhandas heard about his son’s death he fell to the ground unconscious. Everyone thought, “He s grieving his son’s death.”
Shri Gusainji them came and explained, “he is not upset about his son! He is concerned that he will not be able to have Shri Nathji’s darshan because one is not allowed to enter a temple during the period of impurity that is observed after the death of a family member.”
Shri Gusainji then called out to him, “Kumbhandas , get up. Come tomorrow for Shri Nathji’s darshan.”
Hearing Shri Gusainji’s words ,Kumbhandas arose and said, “Only you know my heart.”
“I know nothing worldly could ever affect you.”

Another time, Shri Gusainji’s sons, Shri Gokulnathji and Shri Balkrishnaji thought, “Kumbhandas is totally absorbed in the intimate Gopi Krishna lila. We should try to bring him to Gokul, the site of Shri Krishna’s childhood lilas.”
Shri Gusainji overheard them and explained, “You may try , but he will not cross the Yamuna river and Gokul is on the other side.”
That evening, they took Kumbhandas’ hand and started talking to him about Shri Krishna’s lilas and began to walk towards Gokul. All night they praised the divine pastimes, but at sunrise, as they reached the banks of the Yamuna river in front of the town of Gokul, Kumbhandas suddenly realized where he was. “Iam so far away from my Beloved Shri Nathji.”
He turned around and ran back to Shri Nathji’s temple shouting, “Now who will sing songs to Shri Nathji?”
On the day, Shri Nathji arranged for the temple to open two hours late for the Blessed Lord would not wake until Kumbhandas returned.

One day, Kumbhandas was playing with Shri Nathji in his fields. When the poet started walking towards the temple, the Blessed Lord asked him, “Why are you going there when I am here in front of you?”
“This is true, but You could run away from me at any time. In your temple You have to stay there.”

Once Kumbhandas saw some lonely mangoes, but since he didn’t have enough money to buy them, he offered them mentally to Shri Nathji. Later a Rajaputa man purchased them and enjoyed them with a Brahmin companion. That night they both dreamt of Shri Nathji and the next day they went to Shri Nathji’s temple. After having Shri Nathji’s darshan, Shri Gusainji told them, “This is all the result of Kumbhandas having offered the mangoes to Shri Nathji before you purchased them. “The Rajputa became a great bhakta.
On Shri Gusainji’s birthday everyone offered some money to make some jalabi sweets. On that day, Kumbhandas sang the guru’s praises,

Shri Vallabh and Shri Gusainji
Are the essence of all scriptures and spiritual practices.

Kumbhandas sang before Shri Nathji for many years until he became too weak to do so. One day when was sitting by Sankarshan lake, just below Shri Nathji’s temple and singing of Shri Krishna’s lila, he left his material body .His true story has no end .