How can the gopis become proud?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, how can the Gopis become proud? There are different levels of understanding this. One is that Prabhupada says that even if exalted devotees like Gopis become proud, Krishna leaves them.
So, it is for our instruction that Krishna demonstrates that the pride is, he doesn’t like it at all, that even he is an exalted devotee like the Gopis. In the Anuradhana and Champu, there is another reason given for this. So, actually all the Gopis, they are simply concerned with Krishna and they are concerned with loving Krishna and they are concerned with pleasing Krishna.
So, they feel that among all of us, it is Radharani who loves Krishna the most. So, when Krishna is with all of us, then Krishna cannot relish Radharani’s love. And Radharani’s special love for Krishna cannot be known.
Therefore, the Gopis act as if they are proud. And they act as if they are proud so that Krishna leaves all of them except Radharani. Then he goes with Radharani.
And when Krishna goes with Radharani, at that time, Radharani is initially elated. Oh, Krishna is only with me. She feels overwhelmed by love.
But then she starts thinking, but what about Lalita, what about Vishaka? What will be their plight without Krishna? They will be devastated. So, if they are my sakhis and if they are devastated, how can I enjoy? How can I enjoy Krishna’s devotion for myself like this? So, then as Krishna is taking Radharani deep into the forest, at that time Radharani starts thinking, what should I do? So, she starts acting as if she is proud. She says, Krishna, no, I am very tired.
I cannot walk any further. So, she is thinking, if I speak like this, then Krishna will slow down. And the Gopis are searching for us, they will catch up with us, they will find us.
But what happens? Krishna, he says, oh, because it’s a forest, Krishna acts as if he gets angry with her. He gets displeased with her for her unsubmissiveness, for her pride. Because this is a forest and I cannot get a palanquin for you.
So, you climb on my shoulders and I will carry you. Radharani is surprised by Krishna’s angry tone. She looks up and Krishna has disappeared.
She is devastated. She says, Krishna, please don’t leave me and go away like this. So, Kavi Karnapur describes that Krishna goes away like this.
Radharani, in her mind, she thinks about Krishna. And sometimes when we have some very important discussion with someone, and we actually mentally replay the discussion. If I say this, they may say this.
Then I will say this. Then they will say this. Then I will say this.
So, like that, Radharani, she actually mentally replays the whole conversation with Krishna. Krishna says that, you know, I don’t like how you became proud. That’s why I left you.
She says, no, I was not proud. I was simply concerned about the other gopis. Krishna says, you know, I wanted to be with you.
Why didn’t you thwart me? She says, no, Krishna, I also want to be with you. I want to serve you. It’s only that I felt the other gopis, my sakhis would be so distressed.
So, Krishna says, I am displeased by your unsubmissive behavior. Radharani says, Krishna, please come back. You know, I will die in separation from you.
So, Krishna says, you know, other gopis are also separated from me. They have not died. So, you will also not die.
Radharani says, no, but at least they have each other’s association. I don’t have anyone. I am alone.
Please come back, Krishna. So, Krishna says, they will soon find you. I am not coming back.
As Radharani says that Krishna is really not going to come back, she swoons. And then all the sakhis come running over there. They are searching for Krishna and they find Radharani over there.
So, the point is, later on Krishna says that he separates himself from his devotees so that he can intensify their love for him. So, the separation leads to the intensification of their love. So, it is for that purpose that Krishna enacts his whole pastime.
So, actually the gopis don’t become proud. Nor does Krishna misunderstand and think that everyone should become proud. There are different levels of understanding this pastime.
At the innermost level, it is the sweetest reciprocation of love between Krishna and the gopis. And not just Krishna and the gopis, between the gopis and the gopis also. And it culminates in Krishna demonstrating to the world how intense is the love of the gopis.
That even when he rejects them, they don’t reject him. That even when he abandons them in a sense, all alone in the forest, the gopis don’t abandon him. Their love for him is so great that in separation from him, they attain greater absorption in him.
So, the whole pastime of the gopis apparently becoming proud is meant to reveal the glory of their love to the world.