Krishna and the Cat

[Madhav Deshpande]

Archana Venkatesan posted a beautiful photo of a cat on the procession palanquin of Nanguneri Perumal. I composed a few verses describing the friendship of the cat and Krishna.

कृष्णवर्णो बिडालोऽयं श्रीकृष्णनिकटे स्थित: ।

उभौ कृष्णौ तत: प्रीतिस्तयो: स्वाभाविकी खलु ।।

This dark cat sits next to Krishna. They are both dark, and so their mutual affection is natural.

कृष्णस्य साहचर्येण बिडाल: कृष्णतां गत: ।

साहचर्याद् बिडालस्य कृष्णो याति बिडालताम् ।।

With Krishna's association, the cat turned into Krishna, and with the association of the cat, Krishna became the cat.

बिडालकृष्णयोरत्र नास्ति भेद: कथञ्चन ।

एकस्य वासुदेवस्य द्वे रूपे पुरतो मम ।।

There is no difference whatsoever between Krishna and the cat. These are just two forms of Krishna in front of me.

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus

Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan

[Residence: Campbell, California]

[Siddharth Wakankar]

Really wonderful.congrats.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

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[Cibi Raj singaravelu]

Namaskaram Madhav Ji, 

The poem is awesome. Is that okay If I post it on facebook with your name ? 


Cibi

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[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Siddhartha Ji,

     I am so glad you liked this poem.  We are cat lovers.  Over a period of 40+ years, we had seven cats, and we loved them like our children.  So this photo of Krishna with a cat struck me as a wonderful representation of that love.  

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus

Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan

[Residence: Campbell, California]

[Madhav Deshpande]

It is already on my FaceBook page with the photo of Krishna with the cat.  Search with my name, and you can share it, I suppose.

Madhav M. Deshpande

Professor Emeritus

Sanskrit and Linguistics

University of Michigan

[Residence: Campbell, California]

[Siddharth Wakankar]

Dear Madhavji,

I always like and appreciate your posts and poems too,but,I don't write everytime due to lack of time,for which I crave for your pardon.

Best luck in your poetic flights.

Prof. Siddharth Y Wakankar.

[Swapna and Sunil]

Professor,

Thank you for sharing your Krishna poetry and in particular these lines concerning Krishna and the cat. While I always read your Krishna poetry, I especially liked the Krishna and the cat poem. I was especially drawn to the equivalence that you draw between an 'ultimate manifestation' and an animal. 

To a rank beginner like me in the study of Samskrta, the fact that I can clearly read these lines, understand them to a large extent and make sense is a huge deal - a complete novice.

Thanks again.

PS: Also love the fact that you provide for an English translation.