Is the Sakshi-Gopal pastime mundane with a brahmana using God to futher his marriage?
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Hare Krishna question in the Sakshi Gopal pastime the whole pastime seems to be very mundane it is about the marriage of a person and it is about how God is made to is used for serving God is made to serve man in a mundane thing like marriage so what is the point of having such a pastime in a book of pure devotion like Chaitanya Chaitanya Amrit answer marriage is only the is the event around which the pastime is centered but the essence of the pastime is not marriage the essence of the pastime is how the lord reciprocates with his devotees and the two brahmanas in the pastime are devotees both of them are devotees and if you see the mood of the pastime is that both the brahmanas who are devotees basically these devotee brahmanas they want to honor the word which they have taken commitment which they have made in the presence of the lord so first of all they have gone on a devotional pilgrimage and secondly it was because the younger brahmana assisted the older brahmana so sincerely in serving him he desired to reward him something and that’s why he offered him his daughter in marriage his Kanyadaan so the mood was of Vaishnava pilgrimage the purpose in which this marriage was instantiated was triggered was as a reward for devotional service as a reward for Vaishnava seva. Thirdly the marriage was formalized in the marriage arrangement was formalized in front of the deity fourthly even then there was obstacle in the marriage at that time both the brahmanas what was their mood the elder brahmana he was actually a sensitive sensitive person and he on one side wanted to honor his word to the younger brahmana and honor the promise which he has given in front of the deity but at the same time his family members threatened that he will commit suicide if you go ahead with this marriage so he did not want them to be hurt also so his mood was that if he had been to attach to his family members then he would have said just forget about the word but he wanted to take care of his family members and he also wanted to elevate them to a higher level of faith which happened when Sakshi Gopal actually came all the way from Vrindavan to Vidyanagar now similarly the younger brahmana was he interested in marrying a girl from a higher brahmana family no if we look at his mood when he is going to Vrindavan before that he says that this brahmana is a very great person and it is by his piety that I will be able to bring Gopal because actually he is such a great brahmana and Gopal will ensure that his dharma is protected and that his word is truthfulness is maintained so he is not thinking that I am a great devotee he is actually considering the elder brahmana as a great devotee and somehow because of family constraints he is not able to do the he is not able to live up to his word and then eventually when he goes in front of Gopal also he clarifies it is not that I am desirous of marrying this particular girl this brahmana kanya, actually my anxiety is to maintain the honour of the word of a brahmana and eventually the pastime culminates in Gopal not just giving a sakshi so that the marriage takes place but the point is lord gives sakshi, lord walks all the way so that the truthfulness of the word that his devotee has given that is maintained so the point is the lord’s bhaktavakta vatsalya, the lord’s willingness to go to any extent to ensure that his devotee’s words is maintained true just as in the Mahabharata Krishna you know Krishna wanted to at one level protect his devotee Arjuna at the same time he also wanted to ensure that Bhishma’s word comes true that Bhishma had said either I will kill Arjuna today or I will cause Krishna to raise weapons, so Krishna raised weapons, he picked up a chariot wheel so similarly here the lord in order to protect the word of his devotee he walked all the way from Vrindavan to South India to protect the word of his devotee and if we want to understand the essence of the pastime we have to look at the thrust which the author gives when telling the pastime so Krishna’s Kaviraj Goswami usually in almost all chapters of Chaitanya Charita Amrut at the start of the chapter gives a chapter summary and at the end of the chapter also gives a chapter summary so if we look at either the end or the beginning the point is not oh in this way the young brahmana married a brahmani girl and they lived happily ever after that is not the that is not mentioned anywhere either at the beginning or at the end the point he says in the beginning and he reiterates in the end is that just see how wonderful is Gopal that they that he walked all the way of such a great distance for so many days so that he could serve as a witness by which the word of his devotee could be maintained true so that is the thrust of the pastime and when we see with this thrust then actually your marriage is just the occasion on which around which the transcendental reciprocation between the lord between the lord in the deity form and his devotees who are in brahmana families in this world is demonstrated thank you