The sakhas
Visala, Vrishabha, Ojasvi, Devaprastha, Varuthapa, Mandara, Kusumapida, Manibandha, Karandhama, Mandara, Candana, Kunda, Kalinda, Kulika and other sakhas are younger than Sri Krishna. They are very enthusiastic in serving Him.
The priya-sakhas
Sridama, Dama, Sudama, Vasudama, Kinkini, Bhadrasena, Amsumana, Stoka-krishna, Vilasi, Pundarika, Vitankaksha, Kalavinka and Priyankara are Sri Krishna’s priya-sakhas. These sakhas are of the same age as Krishna. Out of them, Sridama is a pitha-marda[1].
Among all of these priya-sakhas, Bhadrasena is the commander of the army consisting of Krishna’s friends.
Stoka-krishna has a suitable name, for he is like a small Krishna, always following under the guidance of Sri Krishna[2].
The priya-sakhas greatly please Sri Krishna through various types of playful pastimes and by different kinds of sports, scuffles, brawls, wrestling and stick fights.
All the priya-sakhas are peaceful by nature, and they are Krishna’s life and soul.
[1] The pitha-marda is an assistant who follows Krishna’s orders even though he would be qualified as a leader himself (Jaiva-dharma, Chapter 32).
[2] The word stoka means small. It also means very similar to Him
This is a section of the book “Sri Sri Radha Krishna Ganoddesa Dipika”.
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