Krsna's age is considered in three periods: from His appearance day to the end of His sixth year is called kaumara; from the beginning of the sixth year up to the tenth year is called pauganda; and from the tenth to the sixteenth year is called kaisora; after the beginning of the sixteenth year, Krsna is called a yauvana or a youth, and this continues with no change.   (More...)

As far as Krsna's transcendental pastimes are concerned, they are mostly executed during the kaumara, pauganda and kaisora periods. His affectionate pastimes with His parents are executed during His kaumara age. His friendship with the cowherd boys is exhibited during the pauganda period. And His friendship with the gopis is exhibited during the age of kaisora. Krsna's pastimes at Vrndavana are finished by the end of His fifteenth year, and then He is transferred to Mathura and Dvaraka, where all other pastimes are performed.   (More...)

Krsna's kaisora age can be divided into three parts. In the beginning of His kaisora age-that is, at the beginning of His eleventh year, the luster of His body becomes so bright that it becomes an impetus for ecstatic love. Similarly, there are reddish borders around His eyes, and a growth of soft hairs on His body. In describing this early stage of His kaisora age, Kundalata, one of the residents of Vrndavana, said to her friend, "My dear friend, I have just seen an extraordinary beauty appearing in the person of Krsna. His blackish bodily hue appears just like the indranila jewel. There are reddish signs on His eyes, and small soft hairs are coming out on His body. The appearance of these symptoms has made Him extraordinarily beautiful."   (More...)

In this connection, in the Tenth Canto, 21st Chapter, 5th verse, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami tells King Pariksit: "My dear King, I shall try to describe how the minds of the gopis became absorbed in thought of Krsna. The gopis would meditate on Krsna's dressing Himself just like a dancing actor and entering the forest of Vrndavana, marking the ground with His footprints. They meditated on Krsna's having a helmet with a peacock feather and wearing earrings on His ears and yellow-gold colored garments covered with jewels and pearls. They also meditated on Krsna's blowing His flute and on all the cowherd boys' singing of the glories of the Lord." That is the description of the meditation which the gopis used to perform.   (More...)

Sometimes the gopis would think about His soft nails, His moving eyebrows and His teeth, which were catechu colored from chewing pan. One description was given by a gopi to her friend: "My dear friend, just see how the enemy of Agha has assumed such wonderful features! His brows are just like the brows of Cupid, and they are moving just as though they were dancing. The tips of His nails are so soft-it is as if they were dried bamboo leaves. His teeth are reddish, and so it appears that He has assumed a feature of anger. Under the circumstances, where is the chance for a young girl not to be attracted by such beautiful features and not to be afraid of becoming a victim to such beauty?"   (More...)

Krsna's attractive features are also described by Vrnda, the gopi after whom Vrndavana was named. She told Krsna: "My dear Madhava, Your newly-invented smile has so captivated the hearts of the gopis that they are simply unable to express themselves! As such, they have become bewildered and will not talk with others. All of these gopis have become so affected that it is as if they had offered three sprinkles of water upon their lives. In other words, they have given up all hope for their living condition." According to the Indian system, when a person is dead there is a sprinkling of water on the body. Thus, the statement of Vrnda shows that the gopis were so enchanted by the beauty of Krsna that because they could not express their minds, they had decided to commit suicide.   (More...)

When Krsna arrived at the age of thirteen to fourteen years, His two arms and chest assumed an unspeakable beauty, and His whole form became simply enchanting. When Krsna attained thirteen years of age, His two arms were challenging the trunks of elephants, His rising chest was trying to come to peace talks with doors of jewels, and His two arms were minimizing the value of the bolts found on doors. Who can describe the wonderful beauty of these features of Krsna? The special beauty of Krsna's body was His mild smiling, His restless eyes and His world enchanting songs. These are the special features of this age.   (More...)

There is a statement in this connection that Krsna, on arriving at this age, manifested such beautiful bodily features that His restless eyes became the playthings of Cupid, and His mild smile resembled the newly-grown lotus flower. The enchanting vibration of His songs became a great impediment to the young girls, who were supposed to remain chaste and faithful to their husbands.   (More...)

At this age Krsna enjoyed the rasa-lila, exhibiting His power of joking with the cowherd girls and enjoying their company in the bushes of the gardens by the bank of the Yamuna.   (More...)

In this connection there is the following statement: "Throughout the whole tract of land known as Vrndavana there were the footprints of Krsna and the gopis, and in some places peacock feathers were strewn about. In some places there were nice beddings in the bushes of the Vrndavana gardens, and in some places there were piles of dust due to the group-dancing of Govinda and the gopis." These are some of the features which are due to the different pastimes invented by Sri Krsna in the place known as Vrndavana.   (More...)

There is the following statement by one gopi, describing Krsna's attractive feature during this age: "My dear friend, just see how all of a sudden in the sky of Krsna there is a powerful rising sun and how this rising sun is minimizing the rays of our chastity moon. Our attraction for Krsna is so intense that it is drying up the lotus flower of our discrimination, and we are losing our senses in deciding whether we shall continue as chaste women or be victimized by the beauty of Krsna. My dear friend, I think that we have lost all hope of life!"   (More...)

In the kaisora age, beginning from the eleventh year and continuing up to the end of the fifteenth year, Krsna's arms, legs and thighs became marked with three divisional lines. At that time Krsna's chest challenged a hill of marakata jewels. His arms challenged the pillars of the indranila jewel, the three lines of His waist challenged the waves of the River Yamuna, and His thighs challenged beautiful bananas. One gopi said, "With all these exquisite features of His body, Krsna is too extraordinarily beautiful, and therefore I am always thinking of Him to protect me because He is the killer of all demons."   (More...)

The idea expressed in this statement is that the gopis were comparing their attraction for Krsna to an attack by demons; and to counteract their attraction for the beauty of Krsna, they were also turning to Krsna hopefully, because He is the killer of all kinds of demons. In other words they were perplexed, because on one hand they were attracted by the beauty of Krsna, and on the other they needed Krsna to drive away the demon of such attraction.   (More...)

This kaisora age can be translated as adolescence. At the end of this period all the gopis said, "Krsna is the killer of the attraction of Cupid, and as such He disturbs the patience of all newly-married girls. Krsna's bodily features have become so exquisite-it is as if they are all manifesting an artistic sense of the highest sort. His dancing eyes have dimmed the brilliance of the most expert dancer, and so there is no longer any comparison to the beauty of Krsna." Learned scholars therefore describe the features of His body at this time as nava-yauvana, newly-invented youthfulness. At this stage of Krsna's bodily features, the conjugal love affairs with the gopis and similar pastimes become very prominent.   (More...)

There are six features of conjugal love affairs, called peacemaking, picking a quarrel, going to meet one's lover, sitting together, separation and support. Lord Krsna expanded an empire of these six features, of which He was the ruling prince. Somewhere He was picking quarrels with the young girls, somewhere He was scratching them with the nails of parrots, somewhere He was busy going to visit the gopis, and somewhere He was negotiating through cowherd friends to take shelter of the gopis.   (More...)

Some of the gopis addressed Him thusly: "My dear Krsna, because of Your adolescent age, You have just become the spiritual master of these young girls, and You are teaching them to whisper among themselves. You are teaching them to offer solemn prayers, as well as training them to cheat their husbands and to join You in the gardens at night, without caring for the instructions of their superiors. You are enthusing them by the vibration of Your enchanting flute; and, as their teacher, You are teaching them all the intricacies of loving affairs."   (More...)

It is said that even when Krsna was a boy of five He manifested such youthful energies, but learned scholars do not explain them because of the absence of suitable age. Krsna was beautiful because every part of His body was perfectly arranged without any defect. Such perfect bodily features of Krsna are described as follows: "My dear enemy of Kamsa, Your broad eyes, Your rising chest, Your two pillar-like arms and the thin middle portion of Your body are always enchanting to every lotus-eyed beautiful girl." The ornaments on the body of Krsna were not actually enhancing His beauty, but just the reverse-the ornaments were beautified by Krsna.   (More...)

A person is called mild when he cannot even bear the touch of the most soft thing. It is described that every part of Krsna's body was so soft that even at the touch of newly-grown leaves, the color of the touched part of His skin would change. At this kaisora age, Krsna's endeavors were always bent toward arranging the rasa dance, as well as toward killing the demons in the forest of Vrndavana. While Krsna was engaged in enjoyment with the boys and girls within the forest of Vrndavana, Kamsa used to send his associates to kill Him, and Krsna would show His prowess by killing them.   (More...)

Learned scholars have divided Krsna's age into three periods: the age up to five years is called kaumara, the age from the sixth to the tenth year is called pauganda, and the age from the eleventh to fifteenth year is called kaisora. While Krsna is spending His days as a cowherd boy, He is in the kaumara and pauganda ages. In the kaisora age, when Krsna appeared at Gokula, He acted as a cowherd boy, and then, when He was sixteen, He went to Mathura to kill Kamsa.   (More...)

The kaumara age is just suitable for reciprocating the love of a child with Mother Yasoda. In the Tenth Canto, 13th Chapter, 9th verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami tells King Pariksit: "My dear King, although Lord Krsna is the supreme enjoyer and the beneficiary of all kinds of sacrificial ceremonies, He still used to eat with His cowherd boyfriends. This is because at that time He accepted the pastimes of an ordinary boy, keeping His flute under His arm and His bugle on the right side in His belt, along with His cane. In His left hand He would hold a lump of rice paste with yogurt, and in His fingers would be pilu, the king of fruits. When He would thus sit amongst His friends, it would appear that He was the whorl of a lotus flower and that the friends surrounding Him were petals. As they thus enjoyed joking amongst themselves, the denizens of heaven would become struck with wonder and would only stare at the scene."   (More...)

Krsna's pauganda age can be further divided into three periods-namely, the beginning, middle and end. In the beginning of the pauganda age there is a very nice reddish luster on His lips, His abdomen is very thin, and on His neck are circles like those on a conchshell. Sometimes, some outside visitors would return to Vrndavana to see Krsna and, upon seeing Him again, would exclaim, "My dear Mukunda, Your beauty is gradually increasing, just like the leaf on a banyan tree! My dear lotus-eyed one, Your neck is gradually manifesting circles like the conchshell. And in the shining moonlight Your teeth and cheeks are competing with the padmaraga jewels in their beautiful arrangement. I am sure that Your beautiful bodily development is now giving much pleasure to Your friends."   (More...)

At this age Krsna was garlanded with various kinds of flowers. He used to put on a silk dress, colored with various kinds of dye. Such beautiful decorations are considered cosmetics for Krsna. Krsna would wear this dress when He used to go into the forest to tend the cows. Sometimes He would wrestle there with His different friends, and sometimes they would dance all together in the forest. These are some of the specific activities of the pauganda age.   (More...)

The cowherd friends of Krsna were so happy in His company that they expressed their transcendental feelings within themselves thus: "My dear Krsna, You are always busy tending the cows which are scattered all over beautiful Vrndavana. You have a beautiful garland, a small conchshell, a peacock feather on Your turban, yellow-colored silk cloth, decorations of karnikara flowers on Your ears and a mallika flower garland on Your chest. Appearing so beautiful, when You pretend, just like an actor, to be fighting with us, You give us unlimited transcendental bliss."   (More...)

When Krsna is more grown-up, in the middle age of pauganda, His nails become finely sharp, and His chubby cheeks become lustrous and round. On the two sides of His waist above His belt there are three distinct lines of folded skin, called tribali.   (More...)

The cowherd boy friends of Krsna felt very proud of their association with Him. At that time the tip of His nose defeated the beauty of sesame flowers, the luster of His cheeks defeated the glow of pearls, and the two sides of His body were exquisitely beautiful. In this age Krsna wore a silk dress that glittered like lightning, His head was decorated with a silk turban covered with gold lace, and in His hand He carried a stick about fifty-six inches long.* Seeing this exquisitely beautiful dress of Krsna, one devotee addressed his friend in this manner: "My dear friend, just look at Krsna! See how He is carrying in His hand a stick which is bound up and down with golden rings, how His turban with golden lace is showing such a beautiful luster, and how His dress is giving his friends the highest transcendental pleasure!"   (More...)

At the end of Krsna's pauganda age, Krsna's hair sometimes hangs down to His hips, and sometimes it becomes scattered. In this age His two shoulders become higher and broader, and His face is always decorated with marks of tilaka. When His beautiful hair scatters over His shoulders, it appears to be a goddess of fortune embracing Him, and this embracing is highly relished by His friends. Subala once addressed Him in this way: "My dear Kesava, Your round turban, the lotus flower in Your hand, the vertical marks of tilaka on Your forehead, Your kunkum-flavored musk and all of Your beautiful bodily features are defeating me today, although I am usually stronger than You or any of our friends. Since this is so, I do not know how these features of Your body can fail to defeat the pride of all the young girls of Vrndavana. When I am so defeated by this beauty, what chance is there for those who are naturally very simple and flexible?"   (More...)

At this age Krsna took pleasure in whispering into the ears of His friends, and the subject of His talks was the beauty of the gopis, who were just tarrying before them. Subala once addressed Krsna thus: "My dear Krsna, You are very cunning. You can understand the thoughts of others; therefore I am whispering within Your ear that all these five gopis, who are most beautiful, have been attracted by Your dress. And I believe that Cupid has entrusted them with the responsibility of conquering You." In other words, the beauty of the gopis was capable of conquering Krsna, although Krsna is the conqueror of all universes.   (More...)

The symptoms of the kaisora age are already described, and it is at this age that devotees generally most appreciate Krsna. Krsna with Radharani is worshiped as Kisora-kisori. Krsna does not increase His age that although He is the oldest personality and has innumerable different forms, His original form is always youthful. In the pictures of Krsna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra we can see that He is youthful, although at that time He was old enough to have sons, grandsons and great grandsons. The cowherd boy friends of Krsna once said, "My dear Krsna, You need not decorate Your body with so many ornaments. Your transcendental features are themselves so beautiful that You do not require any ornamentation." At this age, whenever Krsna begins to vibrate His flute early in the morning, all of His friends immediately get up from bed just to join Him in going to the pasturing grounds. One of the friends once said, "My dear cowherd friends, the sound of Krsna's flute from above Govardhan Hill is telling us that we need not go to search Him out on the bank of the Yamuna."   (More...)

At this age, Krsna once dressed Himself up exactly like Radharani, just to create fun among His friends. He put on golden earrings; and because He was blackish, He smeared the pulp of kunkum all over His body in order to become as fair as She. By seeing this dress, Krsna's friend Subala became very astonished.   (More...)