Gopi Gita Part 2 – SB 10.33.5-8: “Krishna, please bless us with with your hands, your face, your feet and your lips” (Janmashtami class)

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Krishna-centred rites of passage so let us continue with Gopini from verses 5 onwards so verses 5 to 8 in the second section they talk about the devotees praying to Krishna please bless us so in the first fifth verse they ask for the blessing I am paraphrasing it please place your desireful hand on our head sixth they ask for please accept us as your servants seventh they ask please bless us with your lotus feet and eighth they say please revive us with the nectar of your bliss so let us look at this one by one so the fifth verse is saying Jijanatmikhe Veerachitabhayam Vishnidhulite Charulimusham Samsmiterbhalam Kavesaroruham Kaantakamandam Sundasidhir Himah Shrinkara glahu Veerachitabhayam Oh Hero Veer You give abhaya You give fearlessness Vishnidhulirachitabhayam Vishnidhulite You are a hero in the Krishna dynasty Charulimusham Samsmiterbhalam Charulimusham So you take help of your lotus feet We give them freedom from all the sufferings of material existence Samsmiterbhalam So, what are we asking? We are also suffering right now in the pre-existence, because if we are separated from you, that is in pre-existence. So, it is a shelter and relief for everyone.
Please give relief to us also. And what is the relief that we want? Shri Vasudeva Nithyananda, Shri Thadavidham. So, please place on your head, back, on our head, the hand that is accepted by the Goddess of Fortune.
Shri Karagraha. So, Shri Karagraha has two meanings. One is that your hand has been accepted by the Goddess of Fortune.
And the Amrit Mantra was done and that time, the Goddess Lakshmi appeared as Sindhu Dhaniya. And she accepted your hand. She chose you as her Guru, as her Lord.
So, that is the truth. Your hand has been accepted by the Goddess of Fortune. And Shri Karagraha also means that your hand when it goes in the Lakshmi, that brings Shri in the light of the Goddess of Fortune.
So, please fulfil our desire to your Lord. Please purify us. Please bless us so that whatever it is that has caused you to go away from us, let that go away.
So, whatever you are feeling presently over here, come along. Please bless us. So, earlier they were saying, please be here now.
Now they are saying, please bless us. If you don’t bless us, who will bless us? Ultimately, all good fortune rests with you. You, who are our Lord, whom we have offered ourselves to, how can we let this fortune come in our lives? So, this is the second reference to Shri in the Gopi Gita.
The first was a reference to Shri in the world. Jai Shri Jai Shri. And that was the word Indra.
Indra also refers to the Goddess of Fortune. So, by talking about the connection with the Goddess of Fortune, the Supreme Lord, the Gopi, they are saying that you should bring fortune in our life to your Lord. Why are you letting this fortune come in our life? Shri Rukh Karna, Shri Rukh Mani, we flee from the misery of material existence, let that go away.
So, why not us? Normally, when we practise spiritual life, we often expect instant relief from the miseries of material existence. I became enchanted meditation and now I will have no more miseries. But, miseries are reluctant to return to the world.
When we take the treatment, we may be sick, we may be, we may not experience the need to leave from this world. So when we are sick, whether we are taking the treatment or not, we will have to suffer. And the treatment, whichever there are suffering won’t go on forever.
We will decrease and we will go away. So the Gopis are saying over here that if we are taking shelter of you, then please remove our misery. Like that, we should understand that when we are suffering, that the only way to remove from this suffering is by taking shelter of the Lord.
And the sufferings that sometimes seems too intolerable, that time you will suffer. But if you know this is an infectious disease, you will be in greater shelter of Krishna. Far more greater shelter of Krishna by which the misery can subside and then become eliminated.
Vishni, you are born in the Vishni dynasty. So Vishni, Satavata, Anilaka, Yadava, all these are related dynasties. And Krishna is referred to by all these different names.
So now the reference to Vishni here you take is a continuation of the point, the Gopis are acknowledging that Vishni didn’t belong to the Vinayaga dynasty. When you are born in the Vishni dynasty. And earlier I was saying, you are not Gopikam and Anilaka.
And you are actually not Gopikam and Anilaka. But still they are saying that you are Vishnu’s Guru. But they are also acknowledging that you are not just another descendant of the Vishni dynasty.
You belong, you leave from all different existence. So the thread of thought is continuing. That you are the Supreme Lord who was prayed to by Brahma.
And then you appear. And when you appear, you can give relief from all the miseries of existence. So what does this mean? Just as if you have given relief from miseries, it means give also relief from misery.
And our misery is not only misery due to existence. Our misery is separation from you. So it means you leave out of this separation.
And in this enable us to have your darshan. Have your blessing in terms of having your lotus-eyed Acharya bless us. So in the next verse, we will pray for the darshan of the Lord.
We will pray. Pratyajanatyam virenyam sitam Pratyajanasyam tam siddhasvitam Pratyasakhyam bhavatyam karasyam Yadubhananam karyadarshaya And here we are praying. Please accept us as your servants.
And if you become proud, your smile will destroy our pride. In the Bhagavad Gita, I told you that the background of this pastime is that when Krishna and Gopiji were about to perform the rasakam, they had some discussions. Initially Krishna tried to enter the entire darshan and told them, go back home.
And then Gopiji said, you are our Lord. And we have come here to serve you. How can you go back? And they started performing the rasakam.
And Gopiji felt very fortunate. And as that sense of feeling very fortunate, they felt that now Krishna is performing the rasakam, because we are the most fortunate woman in the whole world. And Gopiji felt that.
So Gopiji felt very proud. And Krishna immediately left them. So actually they were not proud.
They were feeling very fortunate. Krishna left them, not because they were proud, otherwise extraordinary was not going to be there. But in the meaning of it, Krishna wanted to demonstrate the superiority of Radharani.
Supremacy of Radharani. Krishna said, I am with all the Gopis. Radharani is one of the Gopis.
This is the first time I am demonstrating the supreme devotion of Radharani. So he left all the Gopis to be alone with Radharani. Radharani would initially be happy to be with Krishna.
But when she realised that all her friends were suffering, she thought, how can I make use of Krishna since he is alone. And to slow Krishna down, so that the other Sakhis will catch up, the other Sakhis will be frantically searching for them. So she told Krishna, Krishna I am with you.
Now, if you want me to go further into the forest, I will meet you on the rock. So, then Krishna in a angry tone said, because this is a forest, I cannot get a palanquin with me. So, he climbed on my shoulders and I carried him.
And seeing this, Krishna said, I am Radharani Krishna. Krishna, you can really be Krishna. She was literally heartbroken.
And she swooned. And I went in the middle of it. And the other Gopis caught up with it.
So, even when Radharani had become proud, she told Krishna, I cannot move forward. But, the Gopis heard. Actually, they did take the lead.
They said, let Krishna become proud. But for a devotee, what is the need to become free from pride? In Jai Jaina, Surya, Ramasthan, you will see her. It is your smile that destroys the pride of human beings.
How can some Krishna’s smile destroy the pride? You know, when you are practically going to service, there is always a tug-of-war in their heart. They want to stay focused on the highest spiritual happiness, loving and serving Krishna, and getting completely satisfied with whatever happiness comes their way. At the same time, they also feel allured by the pleasures of this world.
The lust, the anger, the greed. They all promise pleasure. So, like that, pride also comes into play.
They land in their own world. And sometimes devotees may also get seduced by that. But then, when the devotees perceive Krishna’s beauty, and Krishna reveals his beautiful smile to them, they get to know the real story.
That’s the glory of pride. What is the pleasure in pride? It’s so tiny. When somebody praises me, I get some pleasure.
But then, I spend so much of my mental energy expecting that pleasure. And pleasure is never enough. And the praise that I get is never enough.
And that’s why the pleasure I get from that is never enough. And no matter how much I get, the desire for being praised is simply more and more. And just as lust is like an insatiable fire, similarly, pride is also an insatiable fire.
It will never be satisfied. So, therefore, let me not get involved in this business. And the devotee, when he sees Krishna’s enchanting smile to them, they realise the insignificance of the pleasure of pride.
And therefore, the pride gets destroyed. And for those who are not so easily inclined, Krishna may have to use stronger treatment. Krishna may not find the revelation of his beauty enough for that.
So, then Krishna may have to reveal his power. And that will be Indra. And Indra, simply thinking that, Oh, I am the Lord of the heavens.
And I am delighted in my glory. And Krishna was revealing his sweetness in Vrindavan. But rather than being captivated by the sweetness, he started to use the statement, वादिशाः पंदिकमानिया When a child is revealed that he is very clever, then Krishna has to reveal his power.
And the power gets shattered. Indra’s arrogance, Indra’s pride reveals his own power. Indra is like, my power is insignificant as compared to Krishna’s.
So, it means there are two ways to become free from pride. One is by becoming attracted to Krishna’s sweetness. Or the other is by becoming jointed by Krishna’s greatness.
So, whichever way we choose, ultimately, we will never be able to hold on to our pride. Material nature will grind our pride to powder. It will become gold.
It will disease you. Old age and sickening and weakening of the body is bound to humiliate us. And material nature’s power is also one in which Krishna exhibits his power.
So, one time, one devotee, Prabhupada, on a morning walk, there is a young person over there. You are all, you know, you are not independent, Prabhupada. You are all not controlled.
He said, no, I am not controlled. Prabhupada said, no, you have to become old. He says, yes.
And that is simply biological. Nobody can force you to become old. That is biological force.
That is simply biological force. You don’t want to become old, but you are forced to become old. You are forced to become old.
So, nature is very welcome at Krishna’s feet. Nature is called as welcome at Krishna’s feet. So, if we voluntarily choose to become attracted to Krishna’s feet, it means we intentionally become conscious of Krishna’s beauty as he revealed to me through his deities, as he revealed to me through the holy name, through his pastimes, through the association with devotees, then that can purify us.
Right. Otherwise, Krishna’s greatness will become manifest through us. Krishna hasn’t had to personally come and look over us and expose our pride.
He has to do it through material nature. But either way, we will have to become free from pride. If you go through the same history, even if you feel that you are a little bit incompetent, and you don’t like Krishna, the way to remove our pride is by being so generous, and you just come and smile, and put your face, and smile, or you don’t know whether you are in love or not, but you see their smile, and why should we do this? Because we are You remove the misery with the rajivasis.
Like I was talking to you, you remove the misery with the rajivasis, and we are also rajivasis. And especially, we need to ensure that we are the hero of women. So, Krishna, you are the hero, and we are weak women.
Please protect us. Normally, if a woman is in need of help, you need to be masculine to use it, to want to help, to protect. And as a Kshatriya, he needs to protect the helpless.
He is certainly in need of help. So, the Gopis, we are using all possible means to somehow attract Krishna. Krishna, please come.
We are helpless. They are also saying that we are about to die. So, we need to be manushyita.
You are the hero of all women. Please come and protect us. We are helpless.
And what is the aim to help us? Like we are saying, that Chandra Narayanam Chandra Narayanam Chandrasekhar says that you are to use Chandra Narayanam Chandra Narayanam is a lotus flower which is born in a jala. Chandrasekhar He rose like a sweet, sweet lotus-like face. Please be with us.
Please let us see it. Once we see it, we are able to feel that there is some fire within us which is going long over it. That is the way we will become free from fire.
So, here also we see this simultaneous oxymoronic juxtaposing side by side of the awareness of Krishna’s greatness and sweetness over here. In the same line, they are saying Please accept her as your service. At the same time, they are also saying Sakhi, you are our Sakha.
So, you are our Sakha. We are not asking you to accept her as your friend. We consider your friend to be accepted as at least your service.
So, if you don’t want to be proud, just accept her as your service. Just accept her as your service. So, the master comes into the service to give orders.
Similarly, if you come in here just to give orders, our matter will go on with all the men and women. So, see your beautiful form. So, in this course, there are two prayers.
One is accept her as your service and reveal your beautiful lotus-like face to us. And the other one is Sorry. Actually speaking, in Mahabharata and Anarkasa, it is not written that we will be rejected by our exposure to Krishna’s sweetness and our exposure to Krishna’s sweetness.
Because the exposure to Krishna’s sweetness is very important. And it is often involuntary. In that course, we want to enjoy lust but the body is capable to enjoy lust because of our exposure.
And then we have empathy frustration. When we are forced to turn towards Krishna, we don’t turn towards Krishna and our frustration will go on long time after long time. We voluntarily turn towards Krishna that is, we can save ourselves from each pain which comes from that frustration and we can also become purified faster.
And we can do good to others also through our purification. Therefore, in Jainism, we say, whenever we do any service, it is so easy to become proud that I can do so many things. But rather than becoming proud, we can focus on the connection with Krishna that we serve in the morning.
Now, we do service for connection with Krishna, not for extinction in the world. Service is for connection, not extinction. And we keep that in mind.
Then, even the material results that we consume, even if they are special, extinct, noteworthy, they do need to be respected and still that would infatuate us. So, we keep our mind. The purpose of serving is connection, not extinction.
Devotional connection, not mundane extinction. And we go to the next verse. Pranam prajnam pranam Aapam pranam shivam Pranam chaiyam Pranam shivam Pranam pranam Pranam chaiyam Pranam kuchhe shivam Pranam me rup chayam So here, therefore, please bless us with your lotus feet.
So first, please bless us with your hand, also lotus hand. And please bless us in the darshan of the Lotus Feet. I accept as a Luciferian.
And now, in verse 7 they are saying, He is, bless us with your Lotus Feet. So, they glorify the Lotus Feet. And what is the glory? Blessing.
Namaste. He destroys the path, destroys the sin of those who go down to it. So, even if worldly people come and go down to the Lotus Feet, He destroys their misery also.
So, why not our misery? That’s the underlying thing. So, we are also trying to respect that, under all the worship of that Lotus Feet. And we are seeking its connection.
Why the British are not coming also? And they are saying, that those who have attraction to Him, you know, you yourselves are serving Him. So, Sri Yukendran, this is one of the sweetest contrasts, that actually the Goddess of Fortune resides on those feet. So, the Goddess of Fortune is present on the Lotus Feet of Krishna.
This is also ultimately an expansion of Lakshmi Devi. So, Sri Yukendran, So, there is Lakshmi Devi present on the Lotus Feet. But what are the Lotus Feet doing? They are going after the cows.
The cows are referred to in a poetic way, Trunachara Anugam. So, Trunachara, those who eat the grass and the cows, Anugam. So, Lotus Feet go after the cows.
That is, you are the servant of the cows, and you go out in the forest to graze the cows. So, where the cows go, you go after them. So, those Lotus Feet bless the cows, because they follow the pursuit of the cows.
And there, they bless Lakshmi Devi also. This is a third reference to Sri. Because they allow Sri Devi residence over there.
I want to speak of those who are devoted. So, all these three that I have talked about are devoted. Those who go down, they are not devoted.
There are devotees. But they at least have some devotion because of which they are going down. The cows of Vrindavan, they are exalted there.
I want to speak of Sri Devi. But apart from those who are devotion, those who are a virgin, we have offered the Lotus Feet even to them. Panipanarpitam, Teipadambujam.
So, Panipanarpitam means that, that is Karna. Pana is his hoods. So, you offer the Lotus Feet even to the hoods of Karna.
So, actually, Karna did not receive Krishna’s Lotus Feet as a benediction. For him, they were like thunderbolts. And because Krishna offered it to him, in the only way he would accept.
Krishna just danced and shattered his pride by the Lotus Feet. But the point is, that way also, Krishna, Kaliya’s head got the Lotus Feet. How many of us can have the fortune that Krishna’s Lotus Feet will touch our head.
And the Nagapatnis, the wives of Kaliya, they see, that what is this extraordinary fortune of this Kaliya. He is a demon. And these demons, like him, don’t get this fortune of having the Lotus Feet of the Lord touch his head.
Even the great, great yogis seek this fortune and they don’t get this fortune. So, how is it that Kaliya has got this fortune? So, they are amazed by this fortune. And they say, that this fortune is because, actually, Kaliya has, simply, it is an unconceivable scenario.
They say that probably Kaliya has done some extraordinary parasitic deed in his life. But whatever he has done, he has so many times, the Lotus Feet coming in his way. Such extraordinary mercy.
So, the Gopikas remembering, Krishna, you gave the Lotus Feet to everyone. Even to Kaliya. Why did you not give those Lotus Feet to us? So, the Gopikas have a unique way of worshipping Krishna’s Lotus Feet.
They want to take those Lotus Feet and place them on their chest. So, they are saying that, our hearts are burning with desire for you. And when we come in contact with you, only then the desire will evolve.
So, please let your Lotus Feet come upon us and let them be placed on our chest. Then, in our heart, the fire of desire for you, the fire of separation from you, that is burning, that can be removed. So, in this way, in the heart, whatever desire is there, that will be gone.
So, actually, in our life, in our heart, also there is desire. So, generally, the desire that is burning in our heart is not spiritual desire. It is mutual desire.
Spiritual desire is just one tiny spark that is there somewhere in one corner of the heart. And that also gets kindled when we get some strong devotional associations and spiritual inspiration. But otherwise, it just remains a tiny spark which gets lost in the background.
While in the foreground, the blazing conflagration, the gigantic fire, that lust is burning. So, if Krishna Lotus Feet comes in our heart, then that fire of lust will get extinguished. In fact, that’s what will be said at the end of the Gopi Gita section, at the end of the Ras Panchayat, the last verse in the 3rd chapter.
It says that if we hear the Gopi Gita gently, then by that or hearing, attraction to Krishna Krishna will arise in the heart. So, that pure ocean, Parabhakti will arise in the heart. And when that happens, then Rudroga, the heart disease of lust, will be asked quickly, will be quickly restored.
That’s what happens when we hear Krishna’s fast and then become attracted to him. So, in one sense, bearing the sound vibration of Krishna and letting that enter into our heart is non-different from Krishna putting the Lotus Feet on our heart. In a way, it is Krishna who is manifesting His all-pure, all-potent presence.
And that does magic in the heart. So, for the Gopis, the desire that is burning in their heart becomes material, spiritual. They want freedom from the agony, the fire of separation from Krishna by union with Krishna.
For us, we don’t have a fire of separation from Krishna burning, we have a fire of lust, a fire of greed. But whichever be the fire that is burning, Krishna’s presence when He is invoked, that can burn, that can end that fire. And that is what we aspire for.
When we allow Krishna to come in our heart, when we chant the holy names, at that time, the fire of desire, the fire of lust, the fire of greed, it gets extinguished. So, actually, the satisfaction in our life, the satisfaction will not come by indulging in our desires. Indulging in our desires will only make our craving more and more.
If we want freedom from the agitation of the mind, we need to turn our heart towards Krishna. And then the heart’s agitation will go away. In the Gopini school, Krishna, please revive us with the nectar of your lips.
So, they are praying, that your voice is so sweet. And with that sweet voice, what do you do? The word that you speak is so charming. Sometimes people, they have a sweet voice.
The sweet voice, they speak extremely harshly. The voice is so sweet and the speech is also so charming. It’s so charming that it attracts even the good.
There are sometimes some slip-talkers. Some people may have a sweet voice and a charming speech. And these slip-talkers can hit you like this.
But, you are not like that. Actually, what you speak is not so sweet. That’s why even the wise people relate to it.
Those slip-talkers, the wise people, they can see through their slip-talking. But, when there are spaces like trade, how to talk in such a way that you can influence others to do what you want them to do. But if you are saying Krishna, when you talk, actually, even the wise people relate to it.
Again, the metaphor of the lotus comes again and again. Your eyes are the lotus. So, they are saying, after describing how wonderful is the nectar coming from your lips, they are saying, karin ma didi karin.
Didi means order. Karin means good order. That’s how you play it.
That means they are referring to Ma. Karin ma these. So, here the Gopis are referring to themselves.
These Gopis say, all of us. So, actually, these is used to get Ma and na is also used the same way. So, all of us.
Na means us. And these means all of us. So, they are saying, all of us are made servants.
So, O hero, the Gopis are again and again referring to Krishna by these adhering and appealing terms of address. So, O hero, be the hero, Krishna. Be the hero, Krishna.
So, the Gopis are appealing to Krishna’s sense of chivalry. Krishna, you are chivalrous. You are a hero.
And a hero is meant to protect the hero. The hero is not meant to afflict the hero. So, why are you afflicting this? These Gopis are using every possible means to try to get Krishna.
And one, two, three, four. So, we have also become, this is Buddha, Manohar, Krishna. These are wise people become attractive.
Captivated by their speech. Similarly, we have also become captivated. So, father, we have seen Manohar.
So, with the nectar from the lips, when you restore life to us, please revive us. So, the nectar from the lips can refer to speech. Krishna, please come and speak to us.
Please hear your sweet speech. And that will revive us. This is how the Gopis used to talk to each other.
And more importantly, on a conjugal level, it can also refer to the lips. Please revive us. So, in this spiritual trend, actually, as Akshay is expressed in various letters of Krishna.
So, Nirmala, Nirmala and Akshaya Krishna. Nirmala normally smells the hair of Krishna. That’s all that I understood.
Nirmala normally kisses Krishna on the lips. Krishna has a message on the cheeks, on the lips. So, generally speaking, there are different meanings which actually exist.
So, there is no sense selfishness, there is no carnality that is like what is present in the Nirmala. There is consequently a vocation of love that is happening in the head. And the Gopis, Gopis are actually, when they are saying they are going to revive us with your lips, what they are saying is actually, we know this is what will please you.
Actually, if you study Chetan Chetan, Chetan Chetan is talking about the difference between lust and love. And there, it’s quite a provocative definition. What Krishna has said, आत्मेन्जी पिति इच्छा धरे प्रेम्या आत्मेन्जी पिति इच्छा धरे प्रेम्या आत्मेन्जी The desire to satisfy one’s own senses is lust.
And the desire, the longing to satisfy Krishna’s senses is prema. So, what this means is that Krishna has senses. And we are going to satisfy the senses of Krishna.
So, Yashodamayi, Krishna has a tongue, and Yashodamayi cooks delicious food for Krishna, and he satisfies Krishna that way. So, similarly, different devotees satisfy Krishna in different ways. Devotees, we should be seeing them just as females, and Krishna as male.
Krishna as God and devotees as devotees. But the topmost devotees are given the form that is best suited for service to Krishna. And so, female form is best suited for service, so Krishna topmost devotees have the female form.
It is not that they are given the thing that at one particular time they did not have, and then they got it. That’s the eternal path. That arrangement is made.
The transcendental realm is full of form and variety. So, there are different devotees but different forms to serve Krishna. So, the gopis, they have their own way to serve Krishna.
So, they satisfy Krishna in the appropriate way. So, here what is being said is, they drive us in the natural direction. So, actually speaking, for us also, we can take out the nectar of the lips in the literal sense as it is still present there in his message.
So, Krishna says, we are also lost in this world. We are deluded that our delusion is not spiritual, our delusion is material. We are deluded by the false hopes of pleasure in this world.
And we pray to Krishna, please remember me. Please, help me. Please revive me.
We are all spiritually dead. Spiritually dead means the soul never dies but we are as good as dead or as bad as dead to our real life and the spiritual life. The dead person is unconscious of everything.
Similarly, a person who is as good, we are unconscious of everything spiritually. And in Kapila, Kapila was teaching, he said, a person is not imaginary. That person is alive but that person is as if dead.
So, we are all spiritually dead for all practical purposes. The way we become revived spiritually is finding by the glorious pastimes, by the message of Krishna. So, when we hear Krishna’s words, about Krishna speaking the Bhagavad Gita, then these words revive us.
These words revive us spiritually. And as we hear these words go to you and revive you in our lives, we will become more and more conscious of our real life. It is like waking up from a stupor.
Stupor is not just a sleep. Stupor is a completely blinded state of unconsciousness. One is not aware of anything and so we come out of the stupor.
So, like that, we say, why not? So, what am I going to do? I have to listen to Krishna. So, Krishna came to me, spoken the Bhagavad Gita to all of us. And we can avail of it whenever we want.
Krishna says that we can return to the priesthood of the Bhagavad Gita immediately. And he also becomes spiritually enlightened. So, from the world, what is it that is possible? The sense objects and the sensual desires that become injected into our consciousness through the contemplative sense objects, they heal us spiritually.
They lead us to spiritual emotions. Even when we go to the temple, if we are in sensory consciousness, then we don’t feel any emotion when we look at the deities. But we start feeling emotions when we look at members of the opposite sex.
That is unfortunate. We are not going to temple to become influenced by material emotions. We are getting mental emotions everywhere in the world.
We are going to the spiritual to get spiritual emotions. So, for that, we need to frankly expose ourselves to the nectar coming from Krishna’s words. Krishna’s metaphysics words.
And minimise the exposure in poison words. By hearing Krishna’s words, we are not just hearing some things. We are going to revive and restore the message.
This prayerful moment we hear, the hearing will be magic in our heart and we will start committing back