आमुक्तमाल्यदा (विजयनगर सम्राट् श्रीकृष्णदेवराय - गोदा देवी आण्डाल भक्ति एवं साम्राज्य-नीति)

Vishnuchitta 11
their clothes, and dances upon the serpent Kaliya. And the flute
of Krishna!
As the sounds of Krishna's flute came from the forest, the girls
stood silently where they were with bowed heads so as not to miss
a single note. Divine damsels found this experience sweeter than
their own Gandharva music. Tilottama, Rambha and Urvasi
froze in statuesque poses in the midst of the dance. Tumburu,
Narada and the Kinnara couples ceased to play their musical
instruments, preferring to pay attention to the flute's call. Gandha-
rvas decided not to sing. Even more astonishing was the group
of gods who forgot to receive their respective portions in yajnas.
Instead, they came gliding to the Yadava homesteads. Krishna
stood in the forest, his hands crossing each other and holding the
flute, surrounded by birds and cattle self-lost in the vasts of this
soulful music:
The boy, dark like rain-bearing clouds,
With darker tresses of ringlets framing the darling face
Like droves of bees encircling a red lotus,
Played the flute; hearing the music,
The deer forgot to graze
And stood still as painted figures.
Such was Vishnuchitta's self-effacing bhakti-yoga. And,
suddenly, he was called upon to proceed to Madurai, then the
capital of the Pandyan rulers. The second Aswasa of Āmukta
Mālyada swiftly transports us to the grandeur of the capital city
of Madura. Krishnadeva Raya is in his element in picturing the
gold-topped fortresses, the snake-filled moat and the abundance
of high-rise buildings. Released from the earlier constraints when
dealing with Villipputtur, the poet gives free rein to his imagina-
tion as he takes up the epic components: the archful maids who sell
flowers, the noble elephants of the royal stable, the speeding horses,
the heroes of the land. However, for all the abundance, the bhoga,
there is no falsity, pride, jealousy. For this city of Madura revolves
on the pivot of Dharma. The vaishyas gather wealth through
honest means and give away most of their earnings to charity. The
farmers work ceaselessly to produce mountains of paddy which are
used to sustain the holy and the good; and the King himself is an
ideal monarch, heroic, well-endowed, charitable, compassionate.