Gopi Gita Appreciation part 2, The Monk’s Podcast 160 – Madhavananda Prabhu and Amarendra Prabhu

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna Madhavanand Prabhu, Amarendra Prabhu. Thank you very much for joining once again. This is probably among the most eagerly awaited podcast for us.
So many devotees have appreciated that it opened a new vista of appreciation of Krishna Bhakti for them, especially in terms of the particular Gopi Gita. So one devotee said that this is, I had written the book called Demystifying Reincarnation. One devotee told me that this is demystifying the Gopi Gita.
So thank you very much for joining. And since this is a very devotional topic, you know, maybe we could normally just start the discussion, but we could start with some Mangalacharan. If you would like to lead us, Madhavanand Prabhu.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Go Ranga Hare Krishna Thank you. Beautiful. So I’ll just quickly try to summarise what we discussed last time.
Thank you. I think a major amount of the time we did invest in discussing why and how the Rasagulla should be discussed. So one of the major hesitations is because it’s a very advanced topic which can be easily misunderstood.
But then the other point we discussed was that if we are not going to discuss it, that doesn’t mean the world is going to stop discussing it. And if we don’t present the proper understanding from our tradition, others are going to present some understanding. And that is going to likely be a misunderstanding.
And so unwittingly in trying to preserve our tradition, we may end up handing over our tradition’s esoteric aspects to those who are more likely to misrepresent it. Then we discussed Prabhupada’s quotes also, how Prabhupada cannot boycott the Gopis. And especially love and separation can be talked about.
And also if we look at the Bhagavatam itself, it says its purpose is to free us from the hearing the Rasagulla, especially if it is done in Anushrunayad. It will free us from lust. So the idea is that the more we understand the real love between the Gopis and Krishna, then our attraction to the replicas of that love in this world will decrease.
And then also this particular section of the 10th canto is exquisitely beautiful in terms of this. So it’s not just devotional, devotional sweetness, but also poetic sweetness, which we can glimpse. And in that case, we discussed about Amaranthapuram mentioned the words that Krishna speaks.
And then in response, the Gopis speak. So we discussed the beauty of the characteristics of the first words, especially. And overall, this is a topic which has to be discussed carefully not prematurely, but at the same time, it is a part of our tradition and it is important for us to discuss it in that.
So I think the mood for the discussion was one of the main aspects that we had in our previous session. And then we discussed especially the first words of the Gopi Gita and how the word Indira can refer to Radharani as well as Lakshmidevi and various connotations of that particular verse. So overall, I think we have set the scene for the discussion of this topic.
Do we want to have some more caveats or something before we move ahead? Or any other things you would like to add from the last time’s discussion? Can you hear me, Prabhu? Yes, yes, I’m okay. Okay, so I’m just sharing the screen. And maybe we can go on to the subsequent verses, if you’re okay with that.
We were going to start with the first verse, I think. I think first we discussed. Are you going to discuss more of the verse? I’m okay with it.
We’ll just take it however it goes. Actually, I could tell you, Amarendra can correct me, but I think we could spend another four sessions on the first verse. Sure, sure, sure.
Please go ahead. So, yes, Prabhu. You would like to lead the discussion on the first verse? All right.
Well, first of all, some of our Acharyas have described that in this section of the Gopi Gita, first of all, in his Vallabha Charya in his Subodhini Tika, he says, that there’s 19 different types of Gopis, and so there’s 19 different varieties of praise. That’s from the Vallabha Sampradaya. But in our line, we generally consider that each verse has two different meanings, one of which is presented by the Dakshina Gopis, the right-wing Gopis headed by Chandravali, and the other headed by the Bamya Gopis, the left-wing Gopis headed by Radha.
In the first verse, then, the Gopis headed by Chandravali, basically they’re saying that because of your birth, Braj is more glorious. And dear Lakshmi Devi always resides here. So, our dear beloved, you please show yourself.
And those who belong to you and whose lives depend on you, they’re always looking for you in all directions. But the Bamya Gopis headed by Radha, they say that because of its origination in Braj, the group that belongs to you is more eminent, meaning Radharani’s group. And Radharani is always abiding there.
And our dearly beloved, the life airs which are yours, and are kept for your sake, those life airs seek you in all directions. You should see this. So, those life airs are the Gopis themselves.
So, there’s many, many different points made in this chapter. Pretty much all of our Acharyas, at least three or four of them, they begin with an invocation verse, which Amarendra Prabhu summarised in the last section. Sridhara Swami in Bhavarta Deepika, he says… Oh, I’m sorry, if you don’t mind.
Can you just slow down? It’s beautiful that the two wings of the Gopis are… So, maybe we could just backtrack a little bit and talk about the mood of the two wings also. So, I think if I understand right, Chandravali’s group is a little more submissive. In fact, I think Vidak Madhav gives the example that like say Krishna is an elephant and in one sense, Chandravali is like a she-elephant chasing the he-elephant, when Radharani is the he-elephant chasing the she-elephant.
So, it talks about a procession of three. So, in that sense, Chandravali is more… and her Gopis, the mood is more of appreciation of Krishna and almost a little bit of fear that Krishna may go away from me. But Radharani and her group is that actually Krishna fears that Radharani may go away from me.
So, the mood is more of mana, like with the mana mandir we have. So, this is my understanding. You’d like to maybe elaborate on the mood a little bit and then maybe re-articulate the reading of the two verses from that perspective.
Well, the word tāvaka is significant in the verse two. Tāvaka means your, means that belong to. So, the first, the right-wing Gopis, they’re saying that we belong to you and in a submissive kind of way.
Āsava means the prana, the airs, the life. So, āsava vichendate, the left-wing Gopis, the Vamyanayakas, the Radharani’s Gopis, they’re saying that your life airs, which are non-different from you, they’re searching from you in all different directions. And you should understand, you should see this.
You should understand this thing. It means to be seen. May you see this or maybe you see us right when Gopis are saying.
I wonder if Amarendra Prabhu has any further comments on that. Oh, beautiful. Thank you.
So, Amarendra Prabhu, you want to go ahead? Before that, if you want to elaborate why Chandravali’s group is called right-wing and the Radharani’s group is called left-wing, any particular reason for that? So, Srila Rupa Goswami has said something very beautiful in this regard. He says that Chandravali’s mood and Srimati Radharani’s mood can be understood with a very beautiful example. He says that Chandravali is called gṛta-sneha.
Gṛta-sneha. Madhu-sneha, you mean? Madhu-sneha. Yes.
Madhu-sneha. It is the affection that they have. Sneha means affection.
And Chandravali’s affection for Krishna is like ghee, gṛta. And Radharani’s affection for Krishna is like honey. Now, there are many beautiful meanings that come out of this.
The first meaning is, if you see just the way it’s used in the process of eating, you have a specific dish and then ghee just adds more value to that dish or more taste to that dish, right? But ghee on its own is never accepted as a dish. But on the other hand, honey by itself is considered to be the sweetest. So we could say that if there is a specific gathering of gopis who are offering service to Krishna, then the presence of Chandravali’s bhava only heightens the mood.
But Srimati Radharani doesn’t need to be used as a booster to the augmentation of another group’s mood. She by herself is like honey. She completes the group by herself.
She completes the group by herself. That’s why in one sense, Krishna goes alone with Radharani. That is okay.
Yes. The second point that could come is with respect to ghee and honey is when you heat ghee, it melts. But on the other hand, when you heat honey, it becomes solid.
So what that means is when Krishna, the dealing of Krishna with Chandravali and Krishna with Radharani could be understood like this, that when Krishna gets a little angry or a little heavy, that’s considered to be the heat of the fire. Then the ghee of Chandravali’s bhava melts and she becomes subservient. But on the other hand, when Krishna goes like this to Srimati Radhika, then Srimati Radharani being honey, she doesn’t melt.
She goes higher. Manini Srimati Radharani. And then Krishna has to melt.
This is why Srila Rupa Goswami calls Radharani as Swadhena Bharatrika. She is that heroine, that naika who can completely control Krishna. Chandravali cannot do man because if she tries to do man, Krishna will leave her and go to Radharani.
But if Radharani does man, Krishna has no other kunsh to go to. So therefore, the heat of Krishna’s dealing melts the bhava of Chandravali’s ghee-like personality, and then she becomes submissive and subservient. But the honey of Radharani’s mood gets thicker when the heat is given.
So her bhava becomes more thicker and intense. Also, another thing could be understood that when we pour ghee from one, let’s say, a bowl to another bowl, so sometimes it splits and splatters on the end while pouring. But honey, while it’s being poured, it’s slow, but it’s always one-pointed.
It never splitters and splatters at the edge. So we could say that Chandravali is like ghee. Enough said to be understood.
She can splitter and splatter with some vyavasaya atmika buddhi ek eha kuru nandana. But Srimati Radharani is like honey, one-pointed, sweet, one-directional, although slow, but sweet and perfect. So in this way, Srila Rupa Goswami has given grita sneha, snehika and madhu snehika bhava of Chandravali and Radharani.
And I just want to add one more thing, that as far as their names are concerned, the name Chandra-Avali. Now in Sanskrit, the word Avali means rays, arrays or rose. Like Deepa-Avali.
Deepa-Avali. Avali means rose and Deepa means lamp. So on the day of Diwali or Deepa-Avali, we keep rose or arrays of lamps.
Therefore, it’s called Deepa-Avali. So she’s called Chandravali because she’s as beautiful as rose and rose and arrays and arrays of moons put together. So she’s that beautiful.
And what’s the meaning of the word Radha? Radhyate yaya sa radha, radhaiva aradhyate maya. The Brahma-Vaivarta Purana describes, Krishna is saying, she who worships me completely at all times in all circumstances and she whom I worship completely at all times in all circumstances is Radha. So we could say that by the names, Chandravali is the array of moons as far as beauty is concerned and Radha is she who worships Krishna and whom Krishna worships.
So just playing with the word, we can know that we can call Radharani as Chandravali. Because she’s also as beautiful as millions of moons. But we can call Chandravali Radha.
Because she may worship Krishna, Krishna doesn’t worship her. So therefore, Radha-Purna-Shakti, Krishna-Purna-Shaktimaan, Dui-Vastu-Bheda-Nahi-Shastrera-Pramana. So Radharani is the complete manifestation of Krishna’s internal pleasure potency.
Beautiful. So there are many, many aspects of the metaphor. I think at a basic level also, the ghee conveys a little bit more of opulence and honey has more of sweetness.
So that it’s not exactly, you could say, Aishwarya and Madhuriya because both are in the Madhuriya Rasa. But to some extent, there is a greater, you could say, awareness of Aishwarya within that Madhuriya. Like in Sakhya, Arjuna’s Sakhya is slightly different from, say, Sridhama or Madhumangal’s, their Sakhya.
I think Rupa Goswami refers to the Gaurav Sakhya. I think Gaurav Sakhya was Vishrambha Sakhya. So we could say that that metaphor also conveys a little bit of that difference.
Isn’t it? Yeah, thank you. My Guru Maharaj also commented on this, that when the Vipralambha Agni, or the heat of separation, is applied, then what happens is that the Chandravali-like ghee, the Gita Sneha, melts. But the Madhu Sneha, as Amaranda Prabhu pointed out, it becomes thicker, in particular with the heat of separation.
Sometimes Chandravali has some maan. You can also point out, and we’ll see that in this Gopi Gita. But that maan is only for a brief moment, and she feels very bad right away, generally, and she withdraws that.
Sometimes there’s some kind of maan there with her. Beautiful. So, Prabhu, going back, I mean, is there any particular reason that one of them is considered right and left? Now, left is superior in some ways, in this context? I mean… I always understood, and maybe Amaranda can comment on this, that Bhaumya indicates not just left, but contrariness, that left side.
And Dakshina, right, indicates something which is correct. Oh, that’s beautiful. There’s a beautiful example in Lalita Madhav, when Krishna is in Navarbindavan garden, and it’s a long, complicated thing, but Chandravali appears as Rukmini in Lalita Madhav, and Radharani appears as Satyabhama.
And at one point, Chandravali, Rukmini, understands that Krishna has gone with Radha, and she starts to become angry, and she starts to say something harsh. And then immediately she feels bad, Oh, I’m really sorry, please forgive me. And Kusumkara Prabhu, in his translation, is given a nice example, I think.
He says that Krishna protested, he said, For one moment, you were giving me some very sweet thing, and now you’re giving me well water. So, Krishna was appreciating the harsh words of Chandravali, and all of a sudden, it’s like, well water, it’s not so good. So, I think then that also, I think in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, in the beginning, he says that, what is that? Aishwarya Shithila Prema Nahi Ishwara Bhujai.
The Lord is not pleased by the love which is Shithil. Shithil is, it is almost made inactive. Shithil is like, important almost, important inactive.
So, by the knowledge of Aishwarya, so you can say that it’s something similar over here. Yeah, so I was just thinking about this contrariness, what you said. In English, the word right also means this.
The right means correct and right also means the direction, right? So, in that sense, also the right, so the right disposition toward approaching the Lord is reverence and that is what is exhibited by Chandravali. But with respect to Radharani, that is contrary. The Lord, she goes away from the Lord and the Lord runs after her in some ways, especially in the Mandila.
Okay, so just going back. So, these two moods that the two readings you gave for the Gopi, for the first verse. So, do these two groups, moods, are they reflected in the two readings? Yes.
Can you, with this background, can you just repeat that a little bit? So, the first, the right-wing Gopis headed by Chandravali, they’re glorifying Krishna in a very sweet way and they’re saying, Jayatite dekam janmana vraja, that because of your birth, vraja has become very glorious. And Indira, Lakshmidevi, she’s always residing here, all the time. And they’re saying to Krishna that those persons who are Tavaka, Tavaka means who belong to you, and they give a different understanding of the tvayi-jita-asva-tvam vicinvite, that your personalities who, Tavaka, they belong to you, and whose lives are dependent on you, they’re looking for you in all directions.
But the Bhamya Gopis headed by Radha, their mood is a little different. The Dakshina Gopis, they say that, oh, Krishna, we belong to you. But the Bhamya Gopis, they say that, Krishna, you belong to us, you belong to Radha.
And so, they’re indicating by the words, Jayatite dekam janmana vraja, that by its origination, this janmana vraja, in vraja, that this group is more prominent. In other words, because vraja belongs to Radharani. And Radharani is always abiding here.
They’re giving this meaning of the word Indira. They’re indicating that Indira indicates Radharani, that Radharani is always staying here in this place. And they’re also giving a similar meaning, the word Tavaka, meaning yours.
But this Tavaka, that what belongs to you is not just the bodies, like the Dakshina Gopis are indicating, their lives, but their life heirs, their everything is yours. And those life heirs are kept for your sake. And those life heirs are searching for you in all different directions.
And this is something you should see. You should understand this. There’s a different meaning to see.
Sita Swami, Bhavarta Deepika, says that this chapter, the Gopis, they’ve lost their hope. And it’s very interesting. They’ve gone to the bank of the Jamuna, which is significant, because previously the Gopis are just staying with Krishna in the forest.
But now, as we have a saying in America, they’re coming out. The Gopis are coming out, and as Gopi Geet, they’re going to just boldly start singing in a public area about Krishna. And this first verse is considered to be like a Mangala Charana of the Gopis, their statement.
Many, many nice things in this first verse. One thing I find really striking is that this verse openly declares, this is strong evidence, our Charyas say, that Krishna is actually the son of Mother Yashoda. We have the authority of the Gopis stating this.
Charyate dekam Jamuna Braja, that Jamuna Braja, you’re born in Braj. And Sukadeva Goswami, usually he doesn’t say this, but he’s losing it now. Sukadeva Goswami is becoming so ecstatic, thinking about the situation of the Gopis, that he slips a little bit.
Usually he’s keeping that very private, how Krishna is born in Braj. But now he openly declares through the mouths of the Gopis that Jamuna Braja, you’re actually a Brij Basi, you’re born in Braj. That’s beautiful.
This is a very specific reference, a very strong reference to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharya’s understanding that Krishna was born in both places, not just in Mathura, but also in Vrindavan. Yeah, it’s amazing. I never thought of it that way.
Yeah, Hari Vamsa Purana is very clear about that. It’s a whole another big subject matter. And I always found that significant that Srila Prabhupada in the Krishna book does not present that Krishna is the son of Yashoda, just that Krishna was born in Mathura from Devaki.
Because the Krishna book is something which was meant to introduce people to Krishna, and it’s a bit of a complicated thing to try to explain that he actually is the son of Yashoda in the Krishna book. But in the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada, following Rupa Goswami and Baladeva Yabhushan Thakur and so many different Acharyas, he quotes Hari Vamsa Purana, which describes that Krishna actually appeared. He was born from the womb of Yashoda at the same time that the avirbhava, the appearance of Vasudeva Krishna made its appearance in the prison of Kamsa.
That’s amazing. So Prabhupada is, you know, Prabhupada asked about Krishna book. He said this is summary study.
And Prabhupada was asked, what does summary study mean? Satsvarupa Maharaj asked him, Prabhupada said, summary study means I do what I want. That is a simple explanation. What he meant by that is he addressed the needs of the audience, what he felt the audience would need.
And he kept that, the esoteric aspects of Krishna Nilay, he gave them, but in the Bhagavatam. Yes. So Janmana Vraja.
Now, Amitabh, do you want to elaborate on something? So, or either this thing or? Sure, sure, Prabhupadaji. Actually, Shila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur says that I am not a snake. He says, I’m not a snake to have a tongue which bifurcates at the end.
You see there, the tongue of a snake bifurcates at the end, which means he says, I’m not a snake to share one Krishna with two mothers. Okay, for me, he is Yashoda Nandan. So if we see even in Canto 10, chapter 90, text 48, Jayati Janani Vaso, Devaki Janmavada, the term says Devaki Janmavada, which means there’s a Vada, there’s a constant point of discussion on whose son is Krishna actually, whether he’s Devaki’s son or Yashoda’s son.
Okay, but it’s very wonderfully reconciled for us that even when we call Krishna as Devaki Nandan, you see, we have so many devotees in ISKCON also who have the name Devaki Nandan. So would we say that that refers to Krishna as the son of Devaki? That’s one meaning, but it’s very wonderfully reconciled that Nanda Maharaj’s wife, Yashoda, just like Krishna has thousands and thousands of names, thousands of names, and each of those names have unlimited strength. So what to speak of the number of names that Krishna’s mother can have? So she has innumerable names, but the two prominent names of the wife of Nanda Maharaj is Yashoda and Devaki.
So apart from Devaki in Mathura, Yashoda Rani is also called Devaki at home. Dwenamini, Nanda Bhariya, the wife of Nanda Maharaj, Dwenamini, she has two prominent names, Yashoda, Devaki, Iti. These are the two names, Yashoda and Devaki.
And this is also seen in the Venugit. The gopis are calling Krishna, this is Canto 10, chapter 21, text 10, Srimad Bhagavatam, Venugit. The gopis are calling Krishna as Pisuta, that the whole of Brindavan has the imprints of the lotus feet of Devaki Suta, the son of Devaki.
So we could say there’s some rasabhas there, that the gopis are saying Krishna is born as the son of Devaki in Mathura, and then he’s imprinting Vraja with his footsteps. But actually that’s not the meaning. Devaki is the household name for mother Yashoda.
So Devaki Suta or Devaki Nandana is also the name for Krishna as the son of mother Yashoda. So completely in line with Sripada Madhavananda Prabhu on that, that this is a very strong proof, that Jayati, Te Adhikam Janmana Vraja, Vrajaha Tava Janmana Adhikam Jayati. O Krishna, Vrajaha, Brindavan, Tava Janmana, Tava or Te in Sanskrit, your Janmana, by your appearance, O Krishna, Vrajaha, Brindavan, Adhikam Jayati, has become more glorious.
So now this more can be like, you can discuss and take multiple meanings out. What are the different meanings of Adhikam? We could say, well Brindavan is, has become more glorious than Vaikuntha. Because in Vaikuntha, again, Brindavan, as we, Vaikuntha, Janitavara, Madhupurita, Trapiras, Utsavat, in the Upadeshamrita, there is a hierarchy.
So in Vaikuntha, you have a four-handed form, and you never take birth there. But in Brindavan, you are having a two-handed form, and you appear here. So this Brindavan, by your appearance, has become more glorious than Vaikuntha, where you don’t appear.
Or we could say, Brindavan is always glorious. But by your appearance, Brindavan has become more glorious than before. Because Krishna, one of the names for Krishna, is Madhava.
And Madhava also means the spring season. So just like after the fall, when all the leaves have fallen, the flowers have fallen, in the spring season, they all spring back again in joy. So it’s almost like Brindavan, before Krishna, is like fall.
And when Krishna appears, it’s spring season. The hearts, the flower-like hearts of the Brajbasis have blossomed in different colours by your appearance. So by your appearance, Brindavan has become more glorious than what Brindavan was before.
Or we could say, Bhauma Brindavan has become more glorious than Goloka Brindavan. Although Goloka Brindavan and Bhauma Brindavan are simultaneously one, there’s just the same dham, Prakash, the same dham is appearing. But in that abode, you don’t do your Janma Leela.
But this Bhuloka Brindavan has become more glorious than Goloka Brindavan, because you perform your Janma Leela here. And knowing that you are going to come, Indira has taken complete shelter of this land. That is Srimati Radharani.
So Radha and Krishna have come together in this land of Brindavan, therefore Brindavan has become more glorious than before. Because it was always glorious, but now Radha and Krishna, the divine couple, have manifested in the eyes of everyone. So we could say that wherever Radha and Krishna come together, Kaalaka Parama Shobhanam, that time is most auspicious, that place becomes most auspicious.
And one final thing that comes to my mind is our Tilak. We can see that these two lines of our Tilak, they are like Radha and Krishna. We say it’s Vishnu’s lotus feet with the Tulsi at the heel of his lotus feet, which is true.
But our Ishta Dev is Radha Krishna. Jeevane Nidhane Nityam Radha Krishna Gatirmama. So actually we could say that these two lines are Radha and Krishna.
And in the presence of Jatila and Kutila, they can never meet. You see, they’re parallel lines. Parallel lines means no meeting.
It’s very difficult. So Jatila, Kutila, Abhimanyu, they’re all trying to stop the meeting of Radha and Krishna. So then they’re running parallel, parallel, parallel.
But then what happens? The queen of Brindavan is Brindavaneshwari, Brindadevi. So that’s the Tulsi leaf. So by her divine arrangement, the parallel lines ultimately meet.
So therefore, we imprint our body in Braj Bhav, taking shelter of Brindadevi, who can make even Radha and Krishna meet. What to speak of us meeting them? Definitely possible. So we want to imprint our body with Braj Bhav.
So Brindavan, the forest of Brindadevi has become so glorious because by her sweet arrangement, Radha and Krishna have met in the first verse of the Gopi. Amazing. So you’re saying that Radha is already there and Krishna has come or how is Radha there? She’s appearing in the first line.
Yeah. And then Radha as Indira is appearing in the second line. Okay.
So this is a different meaning from the meaning of Lakshmi has already taken shelter. That’s okay. Okay.
Beautiful. You know, going back to your earlier point about I accept only Yashoda Krishna. Krishna Jagadagur says I’m not like a snake.
So maybe this is a whole different subject. But so briefly maybe you can say how because the Bhagavatam is quite clear that Krishna did appear in Mathura in the prison cell of Devaki. So does he deny that or he says he appears in Brindavan and is transported to Devaki’s cell or how does he explain that then? Jiva Goswami explains that very nicely in Gopal Champu.
He says that well, first of all, there’s two things. One is Avirbhav and the other is Janma. And although sometimes we use the two words kind of interchangeably, there’s a subtle but distinct difference.
Avirbhav means an appearance. And in the prison of Kamsa, when Vasudeva Krishna appeared, it was a very startling, amazing thing, a miraculous thing. And it was a good thing there wasn’t a birth because a mother to give birth to a baby with a metal crown and a Sudarshan Chakra in a club would be very difficult for a woman to do.
Okay. That’s the Avirbhav, this miraculous, mystical appearance of Vasudeva Krishna. At that time, according to Jiva Goswami, Vasudeva carried Vasudeva Krishna across the Jamuna River to Nandagam.
And when he arrived there, by the potency of Yoga Maya, everyone was asleep, even Yasoda was asleep. She’d just given birth, but she was asleep. And according to Jiva Goswami and Acharyas, Yasoda had given birth to twins, a baby boy and a baby girl.
But by the potency of Yoga Maya, Vasudeva couldn’t see Nandanandana Krishna, who was laying there next to Yasoda, and he only saw the baby girl, Subhadra. So he placed Vasudeva Krishna down on the bed, and that Vasudeva Krishna at that time entered into the body of Nandanandana Krishna. And in the Gurga Vindasvarana Arjuna Padati, Jnana Chandra Goswami explains that, therefore, it was always… He gives a very nice explanation how and there’s two different Shaktis.
He would kill the demons and Radha and Krishna would go somewhere else, so that they’re not part of that pastime. And then again, they would come back, and then they would send that Vasudeva Krishna away when they’re together. So there was some privacy between Radha and Krishna.
It wasn’t that Vasudeva Krishna was there, but Vasudeva Krishna kills the demons, or at least most of the demons. Krishna personally dealt with Shankarachudda and with Kaliya. That’s another subject matter.
But most of the demons were killed by Vasudeva Krishna. I think that also Gopal Champu says that, continuing the differentiation between Avirbhav and Janma, I had not heard about that particular thing. He also says that Yashoda was asleep because in her case, the delivery was long and exhausting, and that’s why everybody at that time was asleep.
So that difference between Avirbhav and Janma, that can also be elaborated that way. But then… Yeah, Janma is something very sweet and innocent when a baby’s born. That’s so sweet.
It’s the epitome of sweetness. But Avirbhav, when some just bang, somebody appears in the room. It also describes in the Bhagavatam and Gopal Champu that Krishna was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki.
But in Gopal Champu, it says that Krishna was transferred from the heart of Nandamaraj to the heart of Yashoda. And there’s a difference. Oh, okay.
That’s amazing. So mind, is it a little bit more indicative of Amor of Aishwarya? Gyan and Aishwarya. We read in the Bhagavatam that when Krishna appeared, that Avirbhav, I mean, if somebody just bang appears in the room, what do you do? You fall down on the ground and you start offering prayers.
Wow, this is amazing. So they started offering prayers to him. But when Krishna appeared, when he was born from the womb of Yashoda, and there’s proof of that, because according to the Bhagavatam and the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, the umbilical cord was cut.
And the Jatakarma Saṃskāra, which means cutting that umbilical cord, was performed in Nanda Bhavan, in the house of Nandamaraj. Now, unless that umbilical cord was extremely long, it went all the way across the Yamuna River to Mathura. This is positive proof that Krishna is the son of Yashoda.
And so when Krishna was born from the womb of Yashoda, according to Kavi Karnapura in Nanda Vrindavan Champu, he began to cry. And the sound of that crying was the origin of the Ankara. And that crying woke up Mother Yashoda.
And she looked at the baby, and she was so ecstatic, the baby was bluish in his sapphire colour, and there’s amniotic fluid all over the baby. And when Yashoda looked at the baby, she saw her own reflection in the baby. And Mother Yashoda became frightened.
She thought there was a witch or something present. And she started calling out to Vishnu. So there’s no…when Krishna was born from the womb of Yashoda, they didn’t offer prayers.
And later we hear when Krishna came and killed Kamsa, then at that time, Vasudeva and Devaki began to offer prayers. And one of the things they told Krishna and Balaram is that actually, you’re not our son. But you’re the Supreme Personality of God.
Contrast that with, I think it’s the 46th chapter, when Uddhava comes to Braj, and he tries to say the same thing to Nanda and Yashoda, that actually, Krishna’s not your son. Krishna’s Bhagavan, He’s God. And Nanda and Yashoda are just, what kind of murkha are you? What kind of idiot are you? Of course, He’s our son.
How can you try to say this kind of thing? And they don’t accept that. But Vasudeva and Devaki, they offer prayers, actually, you’re God, you’re not our son. But Nanda and Yashoda are so firmly fixed.
There’s a nice Leela Kirtan in Braj that explains the, when Krishna showed his Virat Roop to Yashoda, what had happened that day, is that, that was the, I think, the birthday of Balaram. Anyway, Balaram and Rohini had gone with Nanda Maharaj to the house of Upananda, Nanda Maharaj’s older brother. And Yashoda was alone with a few other gopis and some cowherd boys.
And the boys came running, and they started saying that Krishna had been eating mati, eating dirt. And Mother Yashoda asked to look in his mouth, and we know what happened. He showed the Virat Roop.
So what happened to Yashoda at that time? Mother Yashoda, when Krishna showed his Virat Roop to Arjuna, then Arjuna immediately began offering prayers and begging forgiveness. But Mother Yashoda, when she saw the Virat Roop, she became afraid, but not for herself. She became afraid for Krishna.
She thought, there’s a booth, there’s a ghost, here’s something. So she’s a village lady. Those village ladies, they have their wisdom, their own understanding of things.
So she knew that if you go to the ghost shelter, you get some gobar, some cow dung, that cow dung will drive the ghosts away. So she went and got a bucket full of cow dung and brought it back, and she started smearing it all over Krishna, all over his hair and his face and all over his entire body. And Krishna’s standing there with this gobar, this cow dung, smeared all over his body.
And Krishna was thinking to himself, in other places, when I show my Virat Roop, they offer prayers. But in Vrindavan, when I show my Virat Roop, they just smear cow dung all over me. So henceforth, I’ll not show my Virat Roop here again.
So this is the difference between the mood of Devaki and Yashoda. And Yashoda’s mood is so much stronger. Whereas you, as you commented, Aishwarya Priti Sankuchita, that Aishwarya Priti Sankuchita, it makes it shrunken.
So that opulence, that knowledge of the opulence of the Lord makes it shrink. But Mother Yashoda, even sometimes the boys, they come back at the end of the day, and they say, it was amazing. Krishna killed this demon.
And then we were coming home, and we looked up in the sky, and there was this guy, he was riding on a bull, and he was naked, and he had five heads. And there was another guy with four heads riding on a swan. There was somebody else riding on an elephant.
He had eyes all over his body. They’re describing the demigods, and how they started throwing flowers down on Krishna. And they were addressing him, worshipping him, saying he’s Bhagavan.
And when Yashoda hears that, Yashoda’s response is, really? My Gopal is Bhagavan? Isn’t that sweet? It doesn’t weaken her love. And Aishwarya has described that sometimes in Braj, just like in the village, if you buy milk, the dudwala, he’s bringing the milk, and they put straw on top of the pot to keep the milk from coming out. And so then when you buy the milk, when you go to boil the milk later on, sometimes there’s little pieces of straw in that milk.
And sometimes that straw comes to the top, and you can see it. But sometimes when it’s boiling, it goes down, and you can’t see it. So similarly in Braj, they’ve heard from Purnamasi, they’ve heard from Gargamuni, that Krishna is Bhagavan.
And sometimes that conception comes up, just like the straw comes up and other times it’s not there. But even when it comes up, it enhances the intensity of their love. It doesn’t weaken it, as it does with Devaki and Vasudev.
Sorry for speaking so long. That’s beautiful. Amazing.
So much, there’s so much nectar which you never, not even heard of. It’s almost like it’s difficult to even conceive these things. It’s amazing.
So just going back to that Vishwaroopa, we said that he’s speared Gopal. So when exactly is this said to have happened? Any idea of the time phase? Is it Komar Leela or Baal Leela or Yogan Leela or something like that? That pastime takes place in the bank of the Jamuna and the boys, that’s still there. That, what’s the name of that place? Raman Rethi? No, no, in Gokul on the bank of the Jamuna, where the boys, they were teasing Krishna about that.
Amaranda, you must know the name of the place. It’s in Gokul Mahavan. Yeah.
The place where this Brahmanda got. Brahmanda got. Yeah.
Brahmanda got. Thank you. So that’s where Krishna showed his Brahmanda Roop, but it didn’t fill the big vases full of awe and reverence and fear as it did with Krishna and with others.
Oh, so you’re saying normally what we hear is only Yashoda saw the universal form. And we don’t hear what happened afterwards generally, but in this Braj Leela, they say that mother Yashoda, she became afraid thinking that that my boy has been possessed by a ghost or something. And so she got that Gopi and smeared it all over Krishna.
So this point which you mentioned that beautiful example of straw going up and or coming down, if we look at the Gopi Gita later also, we’ll see that time and time again, all the Gopis refer to Krishna as God. They ultimately come down to therefore you come back, you are our lover. So that in one sense, the Aishwarya Gyan is used to intensify the Madhurya mood.
It doesn’t detract from it, but rather it adds to it. Very different. Just like an ordinary citizen in a country may feel awe and reverence to the king, but the king’s mother, for the king, the king’s mother, he’s always my boo-boo, my little boy.
And she thinks of him in a very, very sweet way, even though she understands that he has this opulence. And sometimes she sees the opulence and she might even be somewhat impressed by it. But the presided, the prominent mood in that mother is a sweet mood.
And that’s a prominent mood. And you show that sometimes this Aishwarya comes up, but then immediately it’s defeated by the Madhurya, by the sweetness. Amazing.
So you’d like to add anything more? Actually, Sripada Bilvamangala Thakur has written a very beautiful verse in this regard. He says, He has given a very beautiful transcendental contrast of how Krishna behaves, bracket misbehaves, in Vrindavan, in contrast to how he responds to anyone and everyone outside Vrindavan. He says, When the Brahmanas outside Vrindavan, Vipra, means Brahmanas, on the fire sacrifice, when they call, they call, they’re chanting these prayers and awaiting and calling Krishna.
But they don’t see Krishna appear from that Yajna Kunda. Why? He says, He feels very shy to appear there. But what is he busy doing anyway? He’s busy rolling in the backyard of a cowherd man in Vrindavan, in the dust, cow dung, cow urine, and all the fresh water and the dirty water of Vrindavan is where he’s busy rolling.
And they don’t even call him. He goes to steal their butter. And here outside Vrindavan, when the Brahmanas are calling him, He doesn’t come.
But in Vrindavan, he’s busy rolling. Angana means the backyard or front yard. He’s busy rolling.
But he’s shy to go to the fire sacrifice of Brahmanas outside Vrindavan. Now the second contrast. When the yogis are sitting in meditation for lifetimes, for lifetimes, and they’re meditating, and they even realise the form of Paramatma in their heart, the Paramatma doesn’t speak a word to them.
They see the form after lifetimes of bhajan, of meditation, but Paramatma doesn’t speak a word. But what is he busy doing in Vrindavan? All that it takes to make Krishna speak in Vrindavan is for one calf to say, that’s it. Now he will sit there.
And Sripad Bilvamangal Thakur says, he speaks hundreds and hundreds of times. What happened? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Is it very hot? Are the flies troubling you? Do you want to come and play with us? Is the rope on the neck too tight? Do you want to take a bath? Do you want me to sit with you in contrast to going with my friends? Just one. That’s it.
He sits there talking thousands and thousands of times. But for those yogis who are doing bhajan for lifetimes, Krishna doesn’t speak a word outside Vrindavan. And then the third contrast.
Outside Vrindavan, the devotees are crying, my lord, you are my master and we are your servant. And he may or may not accept that proposal. But what is he doing busy in Vrindavan? Outside Vrindavan, he is not ready to become the master of his servants.
But in Vrindavan, Dasyam Gokula Sundari Shukurushe. He is busy. He is busy rolling at the dust of the lotus feet of the gopis that please accept me.
Please accept me. So he is ready to become the servant of his servants in Vrindavan, but not ready to become the master of his servants outside. So with these three contrasts of moving in the dust or rolling in the dust in Vrindavan, of talking to the calves in Vrindavan, and taking the dust of the lotus feet of the devotees in Vrindavan, Sripad Bilvamangal Thakur said, I have understood the key to the treasure box of your heart.
I have understood the way to get to your lotus feet. It is only Vraja Prem, which attracts your heart and nothing else. And this is why in It has been described that the Supreme Lord was thinking that the whole world is bowing down to me, but this doesn’t impress me.
I want them to love me the way the Brijbasis love. And if that love attracts my heart and they don’t have it, I think it’s time for me to come down and give it myself. And this is the beginning story of Gaura Leela or Gaurakatha in Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
So I think Vrindavan and Vraja Prem is the key to success to Krishna’s heart. What are the three things you said? You know, it’s amazing. The secret of dust of lotus feet.
So the first thing is that he’s not ready to go to the fire sacrifice of brahmanas outside Vrindavan because he’s busy rolling in the dust in the backyard of the Gopas. The second is he’s not ready to talk to the yogis who are performing silent meditation. He will give them darshan.
They will see in the heart, but he will not speak. But because in Vrindavan the calves have so much love, he’s busy sitting and talking to them. The third is outside Vrindavan, the devotees are begging the Lord, please accept our service.
And he may or may not, because Sandrananda Vishesh Atma and Shri Krishna Krishna just saw that before the stage comes Sudurlaban, very rare. But in Vrindavan, he is busy taking the dust of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani on his head. Hmm.
Amazing. Just thinking that there is that Shantakaram Bhujakshayanam. There also Dhyana Avasthitathgatena, I think that comes the yogis are in Dhyana, but the Shantakara is relevant.
Krishna does not respond. He’s peaceful, but he’s peaceful can also mean quiet then. Krishna does not respond to the Gopas.
Amazing. Yeah. Yeah, I really appreciate Amarendra Prabhu’s comment about Mahaprabhu.
And that can also introduce another aspect of this first verse, that this chapter, this chapter, this is the glorious kirtan of the Gopis. As Sridhar Swami was mentioning, the Gopis, they came, they came out of the forest, they came out, they came to the bank of the Jamuna, and they started singing this Gopi And this particular kirtan of the Gopis is characterised by a particular quality. Their tears.
And they were crying and crying. And this is the kirtan of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And because the quality, the mood of the Gopis in this kirtan, this is the mood of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his followers.
And this is one reason for Gaudiya Vaishnava is why this chapter is so important. This teaches us the mood of Sankirtan and how we should be crying in separation from the Lord, from Krishna, from the Gopis. And it teaches us ultimately that by this crying out in this way, then Krishna won’t fail to manifest.
In the 47th chapter of the Brahma Ragita of the 10th Canto, there’s a famous verse, vande nanda bhaja strinam padam renam abhiksanasa. Uddhava speaks this after he’s heard everything from the Gopis. And he says that I offer my pranams to Nandamaraja’s village and these ladies, and I just want to have the dust of the lotus feet.
And then on the second line, he says, yasam harikato dgitam, that he speaks about the kirtan of the Gopis, which is udgitam, which is very, very loud chanting, punati bhuvana trayam, that this kirtan of the Gopis, punati bhuvana trayam, punati means that is purifying. Bhuvana trayam, all the three worlds. So this indicates indirectly the kirtan of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, because Mahaprabhu’s kirtan is in the mood of the Gopis and Radharani.
So that’s another reason why this Gopi Gita is very important for devotees to study. If we want to understand about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, if we want to understand the kirtan of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we should study this Gopi Gita. Amazing.
So, you know, again, this punati jagat trayam, this is also, you know, the end of the Gopi Gita is not the Bhagavatam is nama sankirtanam yasya sarva-papa-pranasyanam, that all sins are destroyed. And the end of the Gopi Gita is also at one level, at the karma is destroyed from the heart. So that is also similarity between nama sankirtan and the Gopi Gita.
And that also, like I mentioned last time that I, there is Prabhupada’s translating the Gopi Gita as simply Hare Krishna Mahamantra. That can seem like a, it can seem like a oversimplification, but you can also see that there’s so much profundity in what Prabhupada has done over there. It’s amazing.
Amarindu, you wanted to say something? Yeah, I was actually remembering Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami’s words about the glories of Brajaprem and how it controls Krishna. Kaviraj Goswami says, mora putra mora sakha mora pranapati ei bhave je more kare shuddha bhakti apana ke bada mane ama shama heen ei bhave ami hoye tahara adhi that Krishna has said that what controls me, what controls the heart of Krishna, that he has spoken himself in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit. Krishna says mora putra, if someone worships me as the mother or the father, that mora putra, Krishna is my child, mora putra mora sakha, or if someone worships me as a friend, or like the Gopis in the Gopi Gita, mora pranapati, they use the word daita here and that actually reminded me of this verse.
They use the word daita as one of the invocation, as one of the sambodhan to address Krishna in the first verse and the word daita could have multiple meanings. One meaning of the word daita is he who’s very merciful, like daya, right? Another meaning of the word daita is the ataatmanamiti, that person to whom we have given our life or that person who has placed his life in us. So you see the two camps of Chandravali’s camp and Radharani’s camp speaking this.
So Chandravali’s camp is saying Krishna, you are so merciful, daita meaning he who is the ocean of mercy. So please shower your mercy and appear before us. But Radharani’s camp saying daita means radhe jaya jaya madhava daite, right? Meaning he in whom we have placed our life and he who has placed his life in us, daita, the mutual daita and daita, daita for the male and daita for the female.
So the same thing has been mentioned in Chaitanya Charita Amritan, the words of Kaviraj Goswami. Krishna is saying mora putra, if someone worships me in parental mood, in vatsalya rasa or vatsalya prem, mora putra, mora sakha or in sakhya prem, that Krishna is actually my friend or mora pranapati, like the gopis in the Gopi Gita, that Krishna is my lord and master or in a conjugal mood Krishna is Radharaman, he is the daita. Krishna says sakhya rasa, vatsalya rasa and madhurya rasa, these three rasas, these rati Krishna mentions and he says in this mood, in one of these three moods if someone worships me and apana ke bada maane aama shamaheen, either they consider me to be equal to them, like the friends do, or consider me to be lower than them, like mother Yashoda does, then I become completely subordinate, completely.
Krishna doesn’t say servants because servants always consider Krishna to be superior. But Krishna says those who consider me to be equal to them or those who consider me to be inferior to them, only they can control me. They consider themselves to be great and aama shamaheen, and consider me to be either equal to them or inferior.
I can become adheen or subordinate to them only in these moods. So we can see that this mood of the gopis is what controls Krishna completely, that they have this mamata, they have this possessiveness that Krishna is mine or again two terms madiyabhav and tadiyabhav, like I am yours or you are mine, either of these moods, it’s fine because it shows possessiveness in the madhurya prema, in the conjugal mood. Krishna says that completely controls me.
So just to clarify, you’re not saying that like madhyatva is the mood of Chandravali’s gopis and tadiyabhava is the mood of Radharani’s gopis, rather madhyatva and tadiyabhava are both interconnected. Daita, so daita is a lover, your lover or lord or merciful lord, that is the right wing gopis mood, like Chandravali’s mood and both madhyatva and tadiyabhava are included in the mood of Radharani and her gopis. Is that what you’re saying or madhyatva is for Chandravali and tadiyabhava is for Radharani’s group? Yeah, Chandravali’s mood is that we all belong to you.
Radharani’s mood is you belong to us and very specifically to me. So therefore, we see even in our prayer, we say, hey Krishna, karuna sindho, dina bandho jagatpate, gopeshe gopika kanta, radha kanta namostu te. So it’s almost like increasing in the explosion of the description of Krishna.
So first we say, hey Krishna, oh all attractive lord, hey Krishna, then he’s saying who, karuna sindho, oh ocean of mercy, again with respect to me, I am fallen, so you please uplift me. I am in the ocean of this world, bhava sagara and you are karuna sagara, you are the ocean of mercy, so you please have mercy on me. I am in the ocean and you’re also in the ocean, the ocean of compassion and I am in the ocean of passion, we could say.
So karuna sindho and then Krishna says, so what would you want me to do? Dina bandho, you’re the friend of the poor. Why are you asking me then? Why not go to someone else? Jagatpate, jaga bandho he goshai, tumha charanabhinu aaragati nai. This has been quoted in Odia, that my lord, I’m a resident of this world and you are Jagannath, the lord of this world.
So it so happens, I think I have to submit my application to you alone and no one else. So dina bandho jagatpate. But then that’s all description of Krishna with respect to this world.
Then gopesha, the lord of the gopas. Gopika kanta, the lord of the gopis. Gopinam kanta, he’s the lord of the gopis.
But very specifically, Radhakanta. And then there’s nothing else after that. Namostu te, you just bow down to that form of the lord.
So these are some thoughts. Beautiful. This mood of, you know, I belong to Krishna and Krishna belong to us.
This seems to be consistent for devotees in general because that is there in the Bhagavad Gita also. Samoham sarvabhuteshu. Or the last line of that.
Samoham sarvabhuteshu. Name dvesho sinapriya. Ye bhajanti tumham bhaktya.
Mai te teshu chaapya ham. So mai te can mean I belong to them. But also, I think Chakravarti Pada explained that I exist in them.
And mai te teshu chaapya ham. They exist in me. And then even in the Ambarish Maharaj pastime, I think Lord Vishnu says sadhamam rudhayam manyam sadhunam rudhayam tadaham.
That I, the sadhus exist in my heart and I exist in the sadhus hearts. But with respect to the gopis, the intimacy and the intensity is far greater. Isn’t it? Yes.
So Madhavanandru, I would like, if you have something to comment on this or I would like to go back to an earlier point which you had mentioned. Okay. So you mentioned that the gopis coming to the banks of the Yamuna and then speaking.
So in one sense, it’s like a public place. That whereas the devotion was private. So that team that in one sense, because of the agony of separation, in one sense, they don’t care whether the world comes to know or not about whether, you know, that our relationship with Krishna.
I think that mood also comes at the end. Evam bruvana virahatura bhrusham vajashtriya krishna vishikta manasa visrujya lajjam rudhususvaram govinda damodara madhaveti So that is I think 10, 39, 31, which actually is said to be that govinda damodara madhaveti is the seed from which the govinda damodara sotra vilvamangal thakur has come up. So there also they say that when Krishna is seeing Krishna is about to depart from Vrindavan, the gopis visrujya lajja.
So lajja can mean shame or lajja can also mean modesty. The modesty of concealing their relationship with Krishna. They say if life is itself not going to be there, that if Krishna is not going there, what is the point of living? What is the point of modesty? What is the point of reputation? Nothing matters.
So we just leave everything and we call out to Krishna. You cannot leave us and go away. So it seems that that mood which they actually manifest in public in front of everyone in Vrindavan, that the seed of that mood is there in the Gopi Geet also when they come together collectively and they start singing the Gopi Geet.
So you want to add anything on this or any other points? Yeah, I really appreciate that very much. We could summarise your comments that there’s two aspects of Gopi Kirtan, private and public. And we see the same thing in Gora Kirtan.
There’s two aspects, private and public. And many times we don’t, we were mentioning this in our last session, many times we don’t give credit or we don’t pay attention to the private aspect. But Gora Kirtan began behind closed doors in Srivastava Sangha, it was private and no one was allowed inside.
And Gora Kirtan finished behind closed doors in the Gambhira. So that Kirtan of Garanga Mahaprabhu in Puri, which is Dripalamba Khetra, which is a place of separation, it becomes more and more intense at the time of Ratha Yatra. And as you’ve mentioned it, in that separation, the Gopis, they forget about everything.
Just as when Akrura was taking Krishna away from Vrindavan, the Gopis previously, they didn’t express their feelings for Krishna. And as we mentioned in our last session, the very word Gopi comes from the same beach, Gupta, to hide. It means someone who hides their feelings.
But when Akrura was taking Krishna away from Vrindavan, the Gopis, they came out. They said, no, we have to stop this. And they openly expressed their feelings because of that separation.
So suddenly in the Gopi Gita, Sridhar Swami and Bhavartha Deepika saying that the Gopis, they came out, they came to a private, to a public place, and they began doing that Kirtan. Just like in Gauri Lila, Mahaprabhu is doing Kirtan privately in Srivasangam, and then later in the Gambhira. But at certain points when things become very, very intense, he just forgets about everything and he comes out for Ratha Yatra.
So just as the Gopis have two aspects of their Kirtan, private and public, so also there’s Garunga Mahaprabhu. And so also do we ascetics. We have sometimes devotees, they don’t understand the nature of our bhajan and they think that our preaching, bhajan means preaching.
And I’ve even seen devotees practically going out on the street and announcing to people, outside people, you know, I chant 64 rounds a day and they start telling them about their personal bhajan. And they have this idea that this is how I preach, by sharing what I’m doing with others. But that’s not what we learned from the Gopis, that’s not what we learned from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
There’s certain things which we need to keep private. And there’s certain things which we speak about in the public. Prabhupada said that here in Jagannath Puri, in public, Mahaprabhu was doing Kirtan, Mahaprabhu was speaking about Bhagavad Gita and philosophy.
But when he met with very high class people, and he gives a few examples, like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, Roy Ramananda, then he would speak something more intimate, something deeper. So it’s a very important principle. And I think it’s very important when we look in the Gopi Gita that we should see these different aspects and not just go to the deep end of the swimming pool and just see the Gopi Bhava, but also how there’s indications of Gauralila.
And even by the Gopis saying, jayati te dikam janman abhraja, jayati means to be glorious or victorious, just like we call out Gurudev ki jai, or Tulsi Maharani ki jai ho. We express our hope that Gurudev and Tulsi Devi, they’re going to have victory. But that victory of one party implies the defeat of the opposing party.
So someone who is, we’re the devotees, the sadhak devotees, we’re often in battle with Krishna, with Gurudev, with the instructions that they give. On one hand, we’re trying to do that. But on the other hand, there’s this internal struggle.
So by saying, jayati te dikam janman abhraja, that may you take birth, and abhraja, may you take birth in my heart. Gurudev ki jai can mean that, Gurudev, you please conquer my rebellious heart. Please make me, that I have no choice but to follow you.
In the song, Gurudev kripa bindu diya, Bhaktivinoda Thakur, three times, he uses the word koro. He says, kripa bindu diya koro e dasi. Trinape, koro means you make, you do this thing.
So Gurudev, kripa bindu, you give me a drop of your mercy, and koro e dasi, you make me into your servant. Don’t accept me. He’s not saying, please accept me.
He says, make me into your servant. And then the next time he says, sakalasehani bala diya, koro, nijamani spriya. You make me, the nijamani spriya, that I don’t desire anything for myself.
And then again, later on, he says, shakti-bhunehi amniyati dina. I’m very, I have no potency. I’m very fond.
Koro, mori atma sattva. You please make me atma sattva. You make me very, very dear to you, very close to you.
So we can also see this in Gopi Geet. There’s Krishna in the Bhagavatam, prati-shloki, prati-akshin, and at the Koi, each and every verse, each and every syllable has so many different meanings for different person. And we should also be looking for what is relevant for us in terms of Gaura Leela and in terms of our relationship with Gurudev.
Amazing. At one level, we appreciate the exalted, but we also look at what is our adhikar and take what is suitable for us. Yeah, I sung that Gurudev so many times, but Kora, it’s almost like these are Herculean tasks.
We may say that, that I am your servant, we may sign in our emails and other things, but to actually cultivate that mood, we need the mercy, the empowerment of the spiritual master. So, you know, in one sense, the private kirtan in Gaura Leela becomes public because of a threat. Because of the Kazi’s people destroying the Murudanga at one time.
So, it does seem also that to some extent, the Prabhupada also wrote the Krishna book in advance because he felt that if I’m not there to complete like Krishna Svarupa Swami also gives a summary of the Chetan Leela at the start of the Madhya Leela, in case I cannot complete it. Similarly, in one sense, our speaking the Gopi Gita, you know, it’s a very exalted topic, but it also is that there are so many misunderstandings of it. So, it’s that we want to make sure that the misunderstandings don’t get propagated and that the right understanding, at least to, according to whatever little understanding we have, gets shared.
So, it’s our humble attempt to try to do that. So, in one sense, there’s this privacy, there’s the private and the public and they both go together. We don’t publicise the private, but then that doesn’t mean that the private is, that the public is to be deprived from that in an appropriate form.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does Sankirtan everywhere, but then the Ashtakali Leela where he demonstrates his divinity, that he doesn’t do normally to everyone. He doesn’t invite people to talk about his personal interactions with everyone and give special benedictions to them. So, there is the appropriate aspect of the Leela that is presented to appropriate audiences.
So, that applies not only in how we share, but also you can say in how we receive, which part of the Leela we take for our understanding and our nourishment, our growth. In the Archayemi Vahadeva’s famous verse in 11th Canto, which describes about the nature of the Kanishka Adhikari, Madhavacharya gives a very brilliant commentary on that. And he says that the Madhyam Adhikari, he gives respect to other people because this is the fault of the Kanishka, right? Natad Bhaktesu Chanyeshu.
He doesn’t give respect to other devotees, doesn’t give respect to other people. The Madhyam does that, but the Madhyam does it because it’s an intellectual adjustment. He knows I’m supposed to do this.
I know God is in everybody’s heart. I haven’t realised that, but I’m doing it mechanically. So in a similar way, we could say too that if we want to drive a car, you could drive a car theoretically from India to Russia.
But how are you going to get there unless you have an understanding what your destination is and how are you going to go there? So we should have some understanding. We should read Krishna book. It’s bona fide.
Including the five chapters on the Rasleela. If we don’t read Krishna book, then how are we going to understand what is our goal? And that understanding, but as Madhva says in this explanation of the Archa Amiva Hariya verse, it may be mechanical. But at least there’s something there and we’re behaving in a proper way.
Yes, thank you. Amarinder, would you like to add something or take it forward? Yeah, actually Shila Narottam Das Thakur and Prem Bhakti Chandrika, he says, He has said that one should not speak about one’s bhajan in public, just in line with what Sripad Madhavananda Prabhu says. Don’t put it out in public.
And the same mood, is there anything that’s fragrant if it’s kept in private, then it makes the whole thing aromatic. The whole closet is fragrant. But if it’s kept out in public, then there’s sublimation.
So on the pretext of preaching, there are some things which are to be kept as as a sign of affection between devotees. We see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu keeping that relationship with sort of Damodaran Ramanandara at the Gambhira. But he was in a He was in a mood of giving Krishna Prem just by his glance in public.
But in the Gambhira, he’s trying to tear his chest and try to hit the wall and bleed and rub his cheek to find Krishna. So he who is giving affection for Krishna in public, in private, he’s crying. Where is my Krishna? When can I see him? So with respect to the Gopis in this context, there’s a very nice example that I feel inspired at this point is that of a candle flame.
So if you have a candle flame and we keep the door, let’s say the window open and it’s next to the candle flame, the candle flame is next to the open window, then it’s no time that the in no time the breeze will come in and blow off the candle flame. Right. On the other hand, if the flame is bright with a nice teardrop like shape, well protected by the window down, it’s not open.
Then what happens is you can see through the glass window that the flame is well lit. But at the same time, it’s not open for the breeze to come and blow it off. So what I’m saying is devotion in the heart of a devotee is like a candle flame.
And the mouth, it’s the window. So when it’s open, then the breeze of pride will come and blow off the flame, the candle flame of one’s devotion. On the other hand, when the mouth is kept closed, which means the window pane is well shut, the window glass window is well shut, which means the mouth is shut.
We’re not speaking about our practises and internal realisations to everyone and anyone and everyone. Then what happens is that that inner devotional lamp gets brighter and brighter because there’s no breeze of pride coming through the window pane of the open mouth. And then that light can be seen through the eyes of the premi bhakta.
The eyes of a premi bhakta is lit up with devotion because the inner flame of devotion is well lit. So what’s happening with the gopis is throughout the 10th canto up to this point of the Gopi Gita, they have kept the candle flame of their devotion well protected with their mouth sealed, not speaking about Krishna to anyone. But however, that candle flame has now become a forest fire inside.
So what’s happening is even if the mouth is open, there’s no question of breeze of pride for them. So even if the mouth is open, they try to close it with the candle flame throughout. But now it’s become a forest fire of separation.
So automatically the mouth is open not for the breeze to come in, but for the Krishna prema ecstatic fire flame to go out in the form of their kirtan. So the inner cultivation is… So basically we could say the external explosion, the external expression is an aspect of internal explosion. You could put it like that.
The external expression is an aspect of internal explosion. There’s an internal explosion of their bhav. It’s almost like a pressure cooker.
When we cook rice in an open pot, it takes a long, long time. Long, long time. And it’s not that hot.
But when you cook rice in the pressure cooker, then the pressure is building inside. And then at one point, the pressure cooker can’t handle it anymore. So there’s the whistle that comes up.
And then you know after a few whistles that okay, now the rice is cooked. So it’s almost like the gopis are keeping their bhav in the pressure cooker of privacy. And then these five chapters of the rasa leela or the five songs of the 10th canto are the five whistles of the pressure cooker of gopi bhav to know that the rice of their mood is completely perfect and very tasty for Krishna to taste.
So these are some thoughts. Amazing. So in one sense, Prabhupada also made external expression a part of our sadhana.
It’s to take a slightly different tack. But he also was cautious that we don’t just get caught only in external expression without any internal experience or internal relishing. So to some extent in our tradition or in our movement, we may overemphasise external expression at the cost of any internal experience at all.
So but we need that internal experience and the best, like they say, the best preacher is a happy devotee. It’s not so much what kind of classes we give, but if we just there’s happiness in the heart and that happiness expresses itself and naturally that will attract others. So internal explosion and external expression, nice way of putting it.
Also, my mind goes to this phrase that preaching is the belching of one’s bhajan. Preaching is the belching of one’s bhajan. So when we have had a satisfactory, tasty meal, prasadam, then the belching will speak about it.
So preaching is the belching of one’s bhajan. So what we are tasting through seva, vaishnava seva, guru seva, naam bhajan, vigraha seva, complete submission to our superiors and chanting the holy name and tasting Srimad Bhagavatam, that is our internal bhajan. And then what we taste as janmasarthaka kari through the belching of preaching will be karapara upakar.
So in that way, His Grace Vaisheshika Prabhu puts it very beautifully as distributing the overflow. He says distributing the overflow. He says if you pour water on a cup, it goes on filling up to the brim and then when you fill it further, then there’s an overflow.
So he says our heart is like that. You fill it up with bhajan, with chanting, hearing, reading, serving the Vaishnavas, serving under Guru Jan. And then so much ecstasy, so much happiness, that automatically what overflows is the preaching.
It must come through the mouth. So the gopis have cultivated the internal bhajan in like-minded Sajatiya Sadhu Sangha in the dham, in separation from Krishna. And now in the form of preaching, it’s coming out in all ways, not just through the mouth, but through the eyes even.
They’re preaching even through tears. The emotions are so much that it’s coming through the mouth. The heart is exploding.
It’s coming in the form of perspiration drops. It’s coming in the form of hair standing on end and tears rolling from their eyes. And Krishna had to repay this back to the gopis.
So there must be a Gaur Leela after Krishna Leela. Krishna Leela can be just, it’s complete, but there must be something more complete than that because there must be a payback time because he says, yaya tam mam prapadyante. So if the gopis have cried for him, then there must be a time when he’s crying for them.
And Kaviraj Goswami says, skanchana sadrisa deha aruna vasan pulaka ashru kampasveda tahate bhusan that when Mahaprabhu was dancing in front of Jagannath, how beautiful he looked. Skanchana sadrisa deha, golden form. Aruna vasan with saffron cloth and what were his ornaments? Pulaka, hair standing on end.
Pulaka ashru, five streams of tears from his eyes, almost bringing in impressions like permanent lines on his cheek. Pulaka ashru kampa, horopalation and sveda. There was like a necklace of pearl beads in the form of perspiration.
So there must be a payback time. So this is the completion. Gaura Leela is the completion of Braja Leela.
So Gopi Gita is part one, but Gaura Leela is Krishna’s response or reciprocation could be a better word. Again, please forgive me for over blabbering. So payback, you’re saying it’s almost the Lord.
Lord is giving it back. So what the devotees are offering, the Lord is giving it back. That’s what you’re saying.
I would say he’s trying to give it back. Because Kaviraj Goswami says Pratigya bhanga hoila Gopira bhajane that Krishna did Pratigya in the Bhagavad Gita that anyone who approaches me, I will reciprocate qualitatively and quantitatively. But when the Gopis cried, Kaviraj Goswami says Pratigya bhanga hoila Gopira bhajane by the bhajan of the Gopis, his own promise was broken to pieces.
That my dear Gopis, even in the lifetime of Brahma, I cannot repay you. So you’re saying that Gopis, Krishna is paying back to Lord Chaitanya is paying back to the Gopis or is paying back to the world or whatever he’s expressing, it’s just coming out and the world is incidentally benefiting by it. So basically the idea would be, let’s say I take, you know, I’m not going to take, but just as an example, let’s say I take $1 million from someone and I tell that person that I will repay.
You know, I will definitely give it back. But then there comes a point when I realise that I’m not going to do it because I can’t do it. Even if I try, I will not be able to do it.
So what will I do? I will try to hide my face every time that person comes, I will try not to see him because it’s embarrassing. It’s going to be once, twice, thrice and it gets even more embarrassing when I face him and he doesn’t talk about that money. It’s more painful to the heart.
So what’s happening is Krishna has taken more than $1 million from every Brajbasi in the form of love and he says, I will reciprocate. But every time he looks into the eye of a Brajbasi, he realises I can’t reciprocate. So there comes a point when he tries to hide, hide, hide, hide, hide from everyone and Yoga Maya puts a curtain and takes him out to Mathura that you can’t take it anymore in Vrindavan.
You have taken so much debt. From everyone, there’s so much loan. You can’t reciprocate.
But then what does he do? He tries to go to that owner, that person who has given him mercifully that $1 million and says that, you know, I can never repay you. I’m really sorry. And the owner says, no problem.
I’m not even considering a repay. That’s fine. And the person feels, if you just forgive me, guess what? If you just forgive me, I will go around and tell everyone how great you are and not just that, I will personally work in your house as a complete maidservant.
And not just that, I will also bring my family and friends to serve you. He said, yeah, no problem. So that’s the position of Krishna.
He has taken so much affection and love from Srimati Radharani that he comes and falls at her feet that I can never repay you. And Radharani says, oh, that’s fine. No problem.
Krishna says, if you can forgive me, I will walk around this world telling everyone how glorious you are. And not just that, I will bring more maidservants at your lotus feet. And Radharani agrees.
And Krishna comes in this world as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, only to speak to this world the glory of Srimati Radharani. He comes in this world for these two purposes, to go and tell everyone how great Radha’s love is and also to give love to everyone and recruit them in this service of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet. So, it’s a payback time where Krishna’s trying to pay the world and also collect servants from this world to pay back to Srimati Radharani.
So, it’s both. I’m not sure if I could even explain the example properly. The point is that he’s always in debt.
Krishna’s always in debt. The last line in the Paryaham verse, Krishna says, by this, he’s indirectly indicating Gauralila, that my dear gopis, I can’t repay you, but let your own activities be your glory. When you have a debt, if I borrow a million dollars from the wealthy Amarendra Prabhu, and then I get back to him and say, well, I don’t have him, but I have a million rupees.
I’ll give you a million rupees. He may not accept it. No, it has to be in the like currency.
It has to be in the same currency. So, this is a debt of love. And it has to be paid back with love.
So, he has to experience the same thing the gopis experience. So, Gauralila begins at Vamsivat. It begins when Krishna’s blowing his flute and calling the gopis.
And then the gopis, they leave everything. They run in the dead of night to Krishna. So, for Krishna and Mahaprabhu to repay that debt, he also has to leave.
He has to leave his mother. He has to leave his wife. And he has to adopt the mood of Radha.
And he comes to Jagannath Puri. I was also appreciating his point about, I like the phrase he used so much. Preaching is a belching of one’s bhajan.
What a beautiful expression. In the Rupa Goswami, in the beginning of his Laghu Bhagavatam, he gives a very important verse, which probably both of you know, Sri Chaitanya Mukod Girna, Hare Krishneti Varnakam Ajayanti Jagat Preni Vajayanti Charabia Ajayanti Charabia All glories to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is giving this Hare Krishna mantra all over the universe. But how is he doing it? Sri Chaitanya Mukod Girna.
Mukod Girna means that he’s vomiting. It’s exploding. In the words of Srila B. R. Sridhar Maharaj, it’s a golden volcano of divine love.
It’s an explosion. My grandma said that this word, Mukod Girna, means something coming up. Or as Amaranda Prabhu just said, preaching is a belching of one’s bhajan.
He gave another word too, udgara. Udgara in Bengali means to vomit. And my grandma said that our preaching is vomiting.
I find when I speak this in class, little boys love this because they love to talk about vomiting. And when do you vomit? You vomit when your stomach is full. And then when you vomit, by the smell of that vomit, you can tell what the person’s been eating.
If they’ve been eating nice krishna katha or they’ve been eating nasty things, that’s our bhajan. As you nicely cited, our dear friend Vaisesika Prabhu, that when we fill that cup up completely and then what starts overflowing, that’s our preaching. And this is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
And this is Gopi Geet. The Gopis are exploding, as Amaranda Prabhu was saying. And that explosion, the echo of that explosion is continuing in Gaura Leela.
And we’re learning from the Gopis how to do that kirtan. At one level, there is so much you could say, there’s so much to relish at a very intimate or transcendental level, but there’s so much to, we could also apply at our practical level also from this Gopi Geet. So I look forward, we would probably have to have 19 sessions for the 19 verses.
I was speaking with Amaranda Prabhu the other day about it, and we were both saying there’s so many things. Actually, I wanted to share a little something, if we can, about the words, Indira Sasvadattari. Those are also very significant.
And there’s so many different meanings to this. But one meaning of Indira Sasvadattari is that Lakshmi Devi, she’s always residing here in Braj. But you can say that, but we don’t see Lakshmi Devi everywhere.
But there is a Lakshmi Devi that we see. Can I share my screen? Is that possible? Please, please. Yeah.
So there’s this deity. This is Lakshmi Devi in Braj. But she’s not in Vrindavan.
She’s in Bilvavan. She’s on the other side of the river. And she’s a very unusual deity.
Usually, you see deities, they have some, they’re giving some benediction. They have some ashivad, a hand like this. But here, Lakshmi Devi, she’s got her hands folded.
And she’s sitting like in yoga asana, like someone doing austerities. So the story of this deity is very, very significant in relationship with this statement of the Gopi Geet, that Indira Sasvadattari, that Lakshmi Devi is always residing in Braj. So Lakshmi Devi once said she went to Vrindavan and she wanted to enter the Raslila because she’d heard that the Gopishwar Mahadev, he was able to enter the Raslila.
And some say by the mercy of Lalita, some say by the mercy of Brindadevi, that he took bath in Mansarovar and then he got the body of a Gopi. So Lakshmi Devi was thinking like that. But Lakshmi Devi, she couldn’t enter Vrindavan.
She only got as far as the other side of the Yamuna in Bilvavan. And there she’s doing so many different austerities. And the other side of the Yamuna is the Rasastali.
But Lakshmi Devi, she can’t enter into that thing. So she’s been there for a long, long time. In the 16th chapter of the 10th Canto, the wives of Kaliya, they described that Lakshmi Devi, she’s been doing austerities in that place for a long, long time.
Yad Ganchayat, she has this desire by which Sri Lakshmi Devi, she’s been doing this Tapa, this austerity for centuries and centuries. So it’s been a long, long time that that deity’s been there. So she’s there.
She’s praying. That’s why she has this particular, she’s not doing a Jnana Mudra. She’s not doing some, giving some benediction or something.
But she’s doing this Anjali Mudra, which means that, please, she’s begging like that. Because Lakshmi Devi, although she’s the goddess of fortune, she’s become bereft now. She’s become bankrupt.
Therefore, Mahaprabhu, in Madhya-lila, Chapter 8, he asked Ramananda Raya, that of all the different Sampathis, all the different wealthy people, who is the topmost of those? And Ramananda Raya replies that, Radha-Krishna, Prema-janra, Se-bhura-dhani. That that person who has Prema, who has love for Radha and Krishna, that person, Se-bhura-dhani, he’s the wealthiest person. So the Lakshmi Devis, the goddess of fortune, in Braj, she’s become bankrupt.
And she’s become a bhikkhari. She’s become a beggar, begging from the Brijbhasis. And every year, December, January, the first four Thursdays of that Posha Mas, all the Brijbhasis, they have a festival to worship Lakshmi Devi.
But they’re not exactly worshipping her like they do in other places in India. They all go to Bilvavan to give their asirbad, to give their blessings to Lakshmi Devi. And so many people go.
It’s like a big festival. The vendors are there selling little food and trinkets and things. And that festival has been going on as long as the Brijbhasis can remember.
And every Thursday, a different Goswami temple in Vrindavan takes the responsibility for worshipping Lakshmi Devi. And they go there and they cook huge quantities of kichdi for Lakshmi Devi. Why do they make kichdi? This is Lakshmi Devi.
They make kichdi because she’s doing austerities. And when you’re doing austerities, you take kichdi. So one Thursday, the Goswamis from Marimohan go.
Another Thursday, Radha Ramana Goswamis go. And this way, they make this kichdi prasad and they distribute it to everyone. Now, generally, Lakshmi Devi is eating opulent things.
But when she goes to Bilvavan, she’s doing her austerities. So they’re giving her kichdi. Meanwhile, in Vrindavan, the gopis, they’re eating all kinds of very opulent rabri, kachoris, those gulas, sandesh, all kinds of nice things.
But on the other side, Lakshmi Devi, she’s eating this kichdi. So this is another way to see that in Vrindavan is the most opulent place. As Ramana underwrites, it’s Radha Krishna, Prema Janashe, Bodhadhani.
That someone who has love for Radha Krishna, that person is the wealthiest person. So the Brijbhasis, they’re coming to give their asirbad to Lakshmi Devi. They’re not coming to pray to Lakshmi Devi, please, dhanam dehi, rupam dehi, give me some wealth, give me a nice wife, give me this or that.
But they’re coming to give their asirbad, their blessing. We wish you well. Someday, may you be successful, may you actually enter into the Raslila.
That’s Lakshmi Devi in Braj. And this is another significant point of this phrase, Indra Sasvid Atrahi, that Lakshmi Devi, she’s there in Braj, but how is she there? So this is, the way Lakshmi Devi is depicted, that image that DTV has seen, but I don’t know this particular, that is the mood of Lakshmi Devi, amazing. There is that conversation between, is it Venkat Bhatt and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in South India, where there is a philosophical discussion with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also keeps the mood light.
First he says that, why did she leave Vishnu and go to Krishna? And he says that they are the same person. So what is wrong? It’s not being unchaste. But then he says, then if she went, then why was she not allowed over there? Why was she not allowed over there? And then he says, all this is above my head.
And then Lord Chaitanya says, this is, we are just having some friendly discussions. That’s amazing. Yeah.
So Amaranthapu, you know, we would love to continue, but I know it’s very late for you also. So we’ll try to keep a cap of about two hours for our talks. And we’ll see if we have to take more for each verse also we can take, if required.
But are there any, anything that is waiting to explode from your heart on the first verse? Only Anartha has come out of my heart. No, you, at least I feel, when I hear you speak, I feel that everything that I’ve studied in my scriptural journey is Anartha, it’s worthless, you know, I haven’t studied anything at all in Krishna Lila and Krishna Tattva also. If you can kindly give me the, the possibility to screen share probably.
Yes. It’s a very beautiful verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam that I would like to. Yeah, I think I have.
Go ahead. So this is spoken by Gargacharya at the appearance of Krishna. I was thinking of this verse as a proof just to again bolster this point that Krishna did appear in Braja.
Because Gargacharya is coming from Mathura and he’s saying, Tasman Nanda Atmaja Ayam. This Ayam, this boy is who? Nanda Atmaja. He’s the son of Nanda Maharaj.
It’s more chance, it’s possibility that Gargacharya could have said that he’s actually from Mathura. He’s from the same place that we all belong from. But he doesn’t say that.
In Sanskrit, the word Atmaja, Atma means soul and Ja means Janma. So the son in English is called son, S-O-N. He’s the first child, second son, third son, fourth son, he’s always the son.
But in Sanskrit, you could call him Putra, Sutaha, Sunuhu, Atmaja, Tanayaha, so many words and they all mean different things. So the word Atmaja is that child who is so dear to the parent. Other children are appearing from the body, but this child is appearing from the soul.
So therefore, O Nanda, this child, Atmaja is your Atmaja, Nanda Atmaja. And where is Nanda? He’s in Vraja. By your appearance of Krishna, Vrindavan has become more glorious.
Again, it’s coming from the lips of Gargacharya. Now who can refute that? And then he says, This child, he almost equals Narayana as far as his qualities are concerned. What qualities? Shriya, opulence, and Kirtiya, fame, Anubhavena.
Through this perspective of opulence and fame, he almost equals Narayana. And therefore, Gopayasva samahitaha. Please raise the child with lot of care.
Now, as we know, Srimad Bhagavatam is like Krishna. There’s definitely more than what we can actually see. So Gargacharya says that this is the son of Nanda Maharaj, and he almost equals Narayana.
And as far as opulence, and as far as fame is concerned, he’s unparalleled, and therefore he must be taken care. So that’s the general meaning. But then there is a hidden meaning here.
Gargacharya is saying something very beautiful, even more beautiful than the previous statement. He says, This child of Nanda Maharaj, oh Nanda, this child of yours is so great, which means Narayana is trying to equal him in qualities. Instead of saying Krishna is almost equalling Narayana, he says Narayana is almost equalling Krishna, because Krishna has 64 qualities and Narayana has 60.
But Krishna doesn’t come alone. Who does he come with? He comes with Radharani, Shriya. The hidden name Shri has been used here for Radha.
He appears with Radha. But where does Radha come from? Kirtiya, from Kirtida Devi. From the womb of Kirtida Devi, Shri has also appeared.
Radha has also appeared. So, oh Nanda Maharaj, your son has appeared here and from Kirtida Devi. It makes perfect sense.
So the boy’s father and the girl’s mother have been invoked in this invocation. So Krishna is the boy and his father Nanda and the girl is Radha and her mother Kirtida both have been invoked. To say that Krishna, the son of Nanda and Radha, Shri is another name for Radharani, the daughter of Kirtida Devi, both have appeared and therefore, oh Nanda Maharaj, please take care of your son.
Very soon, he may leave you and spend more time with her. So please raise your child very carefully. Give him a lot of affection because there’s going to be a tug of war between both you and mother Yashoda trying to keep him at home and Radha and her Sakhi trying to pull him to the forest of Braja.
So therefore, a very wonderful prediction here, just like in the first verse of Gopi Gita, the first line says about Krishna’s appearance and the second line Indira can refer to Radharani. So similarly here, there’s reference to Krishna’s appearance in Braja as son of Nanda and there’s also mention of hidden meaning of Radha’s appearance through Kirtida’s womb and therefore Gopayasva Samahita, you know, raise this child very carefully. So in this way, this makes this point and also in the first verse of Gopi Gita, we see that Krishna, please appear and why appear? It’s very interesting.
One meaning could be please appear because we want to see you. But there’s a hidden meaning, another hidden meaning that the friends of Krishna, when they find that Krishna is hungry, Krishna is hungry in the middle of his play, but he wouldn’t say that because he’s so busy playing. So they say, we are hungry.
You feed us. They realise that Krishna is actually hungry, but he’s not going to say it in the mood, in the enjoyment of the rasa that he’s enjoying. So the friends say we are hungry because if they say we are hungry, Krishna can’t refute that.
So the Gopis are saying, please appear. So the understanding could be the friends can think so much about Krishna and force Krishna saying that we are hungry. So you come and feed us.
That’s actually we want to feed you. So how much more will the Gopis have that possessive mood that instead of saying we want to see you, the actual hidden meaning is we want you to see us. Why? Because your eyes are beautiful, but they haven’t still seen the most beautiful thing in this world.
That is us. So don’t hide. Come and see us.
But instead of saying that, they say, please, we want to see you. So then Krishna will be pulled by that mood of the Gopis. And in their call, also, instead of saying that we want to see you, the hidden intention is we want you to see us.
And especially we want you to see Radha. And then we want to see you fall at her feet. And then we will say Jai Sri Radhe.
We will proclaim the victory of Radha. Ananga Ranga Mangala Prasanga Bhangura Bhruvam Savi Brahmam Sasam Brahmam Dhriganta Bhaana Patanai Nirantaram Vajikrita Pratita Nanda Nandane Kadhaakari Sisyamam Krupaka Takshabhajanam Lord Shiva is saying that when Krishna comes face to face with Srimati Radharani, he can’t even stand because Radharani moves her eyebrows, which is the actual bow. And through that, she shoots the arrow of her glance, sidelong glance, the arrow of her sidelong glance kept on the movement of her long, beautiful eyebrows.
And then that goes and hits the heart of Krishna. Krishna faints. So then the Gopis want to see the most beautiful form of Krishna.
When is he most beautiful? He’s beautiful when he’s with Gopis. But then he’s most beautiful when he’s with Radharani. And he’s even more beautiful when he is completely conquered by the affectionate controllership, the loving controllership of Srimati Radharani as the Swadhinaparthrika Naika.
So then the Gopis are saying they can’t say all this. So they are saying that we want to see you. Please come.
But actually we want to we want to give you a chance to see us and especially Srimati Radhika. So in this way, Also to mean that we are all like lotus flowers and your eyes are the sun and the moon. So you are the cosmic creation and your eyes are the sun and the moon.
And we are all like lotus flowers. And we all know that the lotus flower blossoms only when the sun or the moon gives it sunlight or moonshade or moonbeams. So when you glance on us, that’s when we completely blossom.
But now that you have gone away, we have completely closed. We have wilted. We have melted.
We have withered. So Krishna, you please come out and save yourself from social defamation. Because you will be the cause of the death of so many gopis.
Because we will die in the fire of your separation. And where will all that sin come? It will come to you. So we don’t want that social defamation in your life.
So therefore, please come so that the sunrays and the moonbeams of your glands can fall on the lotus of our hearts and the lotus of our lives. And it can blossom instead of getting wilted. And that sin of social defamation, of killing so many gopis, shouldn’t come on you.
So we want to save you. So in this way, so many hidden moods are there in this verse. So these are some thoughts.
Can I add a little comment? Please, please. Fakim Rambabu shared with us a wonderful book called Mathura Vijay, very famous book in Oriya by Bhaktakavi Gopal Krishna. And he speaks there about the mood of the gopis when Akrura is taking Krishna away.
And the gopis, they’re addressing Krishna that we’ve heard from Gargamuni that previously you were Ramachandra. And we see that you’re just like Ram because Ram left Ayodhya. He went with the chariot of mantra and he took Lakshman with him.
So in the same way, now you’re living with Akrura and Balaram. But Ram is better because Ram took Sita with him. And that way, the gopis are indicating that you should have taken Radharani with you.
And then the gopis, they go on and they say, we heard that as Ram, you were so, he had no sense of any shame. You’re shameless. That behind a tree, you killed Bali, the brother of Sugriva from behind a tree.
But in Ramlila, you only killed one Bali. But now if you leave Vrindavan, you’re going to kill thousands of Balis because Bali is the name of Sugriva’s brother, but Bali also means a young girl. So you’re going to kill all of us.
A similar thing, which is being made here at a point in the Gopi gate. So beautiful. That’s a beautiful, actually, one sense set up also for our next verse.
So that talks about killing. How can you kill us? And Nijnata, how can you kill us? So I look forward eagerly for the next session. Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu, would you like to read? There’s a very sweet comment from Gornitai Prabhu.
I know Gornitai is from Hungary. He’s a senior devotee there. And he wrote a very nice kind of poetic thought, reflection of the talk today.
Would you like to read that? Sure, I’ll do that. Click back on it. So shopping in a big shopping centre or a small store as our village is very different.
When you go to a big shopping centre, it is very difficult for you to find out what is where. So many different variations, new companies and the place is big. And then we become tired and confused till we find what all we need.
When we go to the village shop, a beautiful example, and the owner is also your friend, whom you know very well, and offering the best of what we need. Others in the shop are also friends, and they offer us what they have experienced the best. And then we also have a nice conversation with them about the values of those things.
The mood is very sweet, and you feel enlightened after shopping, not tired. That was his reflection on the discussion. So what is the like a big supermarket is directly reading the Shastra over here? Or just going to hearing general classes? Yeah, Shilobhakta Siddhanta in one article, he says that we don’t want to do platform preaching.
When you do platform preaching, you can’t give very much. You can’t really nourish someone because you have to… It’s like kitchen, you can only give something very, very general. But when you can nourish someone in an intimate way, there’s some friendships there.
So Gaurani Thay Prabhu was saying that going to a big shopping centre, it’s impersonal. It’s very exhausting. You don’t know where to get everything.
You have to look everywhere. But when you go to a small village, you know the shop owner. He knows you.
He knows what you want. And then you have some friends there. And it’s very sweet.
You talk and you feel inspired. When you walk away, you don’t feel tired. We also discussed earlier what are the three qualifications of association? That what are those three things? And the first candidate.
Sadhu, Sangha, Satovari. Bhakti, Rashmi, Nisendu. Yeah.
They should be in the same family. Yeah. So first.
And then Aasheya. Aasheya, Snigdha. The person should have affection for us in the heart.
So first of all, they must be like-minded. Second, they must be affectionate. And third, Satovari.
They must be superior to us spiritually. So that holds true only for me in this assembly. You know, I think your insertions of humility are creating a rasavas here now.
Yeah, you’ll cause so much distress in our hearts, Samarandar, if you speak like that. You don’t want to cause pain to us, do you? Why are you speaking like this? You’re going to kill us. That’s like a good insight.
So, you know, it’s like taking these three points, the metaphor you got with everyone’s given that it’s like you go to a supermarket, there are 100 items available. But you go to a small village, there are separate shops for separate things. So that in one sense, it is the Sajati Aasheya.
We go to it. This is the like-minded association. And then we have those who care for us.
And they’re also more experienced than us in one sense that they have studied scriptures. And then they have tasted, they know, and then they can share with us. So like somebody who’s experienced it, the shopkeeper is well-wished.
Shopkeeper also knows what product does what things. So it’s nice. That’s why in one sense, you can say the living tradition is so important.
That scriptures are there, but it is to the living tradition that the scriptures become accessible for us. And let me interject a quick comment. Bhakti Vigyan Maraj gives a very, very brilliant description about this point.
He says that Narottam das Thakur said, we need three things. We have sadhu, shastra, guru. And he stresses that it goes in this order.
First sadhu, then shastra, then guru. The first thing we meet is sadhu. We meet some person.
And who is a sadhu? Sadhu is someone who speaks shastra. So the sadhu connects us with shastra. And then by that shastra, we get connected with guru.
By hearing from the sadhu about shastra, then we understand the qualification of guru. So that shastra is a middle portion of everything that has to always be there. That’s also the basis of guru.
Amazing. Sometimes the way sadhu is presented is like previous acharyas. But then in this way, you can say sadhu is also referring to shiksha gurus.
And they introduce us to the whole, because almost the universe of bhakti. Because through them, we come to know what shastra, we come to know about guru also. That’s remarkable.
Even we see in the Chaitanya Leela, the poet who comes with his own composition. He makes his own compositions with rasa bhaas and so much siddhanta and topsy-turvy siddhanta. And Kaviraj Goswami says that whenever there is siddhanta virod, then prabhu kare krodh.
Rasa bhaasa hoye jodi siddhanta virod, sahite na paare prabhu maare kare krodh. That when there is mixing of, there’s rasa bhaas and opposite siddhanta presented, then mahaprabhu feels a lot of, although he’s trinadapi suni chena, he’s very humble, then the blade of grass, but then he becomes as fiery as a thunderbolt. But then what’s the way out? Swarup Damodar Goswami says, jao bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane, ekanta asraya koro chaitanya charane, chaitanyera bhakta gana nitya kara sanga, tathapi janiya siddhanta samudra taranga.
He says that the only way to understand shastra is jao bhagavata pada vaisnavera sthane. Go study Bhagavatam at the lotus feet of Mahabhagavata Vaishnavas and ekanta asraya koro chaitanya charane. Take shelter of Mahaprabhu.
And in this way, chaitanyera bhakta gana nitya kara sanga. Associate with Chaitanya Charan Prabhu and Madhavananda Prabhu every day, the word says. And in this way, tathapi janiya siddhanta samudra taranga.
Then you will be touched by the waves of siddhanta and rasa. This is the advice given by Swarup Damodar Goswami. That’s very good.
So I’m a render Prabhu. You should follow your own advice and you should come and associate with this every day. And then we’ll be very, very happy.
I mean, we’ll even take these words, which cause a little pain in our heart. We’ll still accept them. But if we can get the sweet association of yourself.
Yeah, wonderful. Thank you for that request. Wonderful.
I think I’ve had many, many podcasts with two devotees, three devotees. It’s remarkable. And I would say that both of you bring quite your own distinctive flavour.
I am the shop vendor and both of you are the expert cooks. So I’m just fortunate that both of you have come to this shop and the delicacies that you have prepared through in your devoted heart. This is simply a platform for that to be presented.
So I am relishing them and we hope that the audience will also be relishing it. I also feel maybe another example that Srimad Bhagavatam is like a garden. Srimad Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Charita Amrit is like a garden.
And all the verses are like flowers. And Srila Prabhupada has opened this garden for us. And all of us, everyone in the room and everyone who’s watching, we are all entering this garden, taking these flowers, smelling the aroma and out of gratitude appreciating the gift of the fragrance that has touched our life through our Guru Parampara.
That’s a good analogy because sometimes the garden may not be meant for us. The garden is meant for the house owner, the gardener. In India, everybody’s coming and stealing your flowers from your garden.
The garden is not meant for the outside people, but the fragrance of the flowers, the wind is carrying that fragrance. The garden is so kind. So that garden may not be meant for us.
It’s meant for adhikaris, for people who have qualification like the two of you to enter into it. But we’re just standing a little ways away, but we’re getting some fragrance of it. And all the listeners get some fragrance of it.
And that’s how merciful Srila Prabhupada is. Beautiful. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that he broke open the treasure of love of God.
And then that is like, he started sharing the… Is it the jewels or the… He talks about a flood over there in that particular metaphor. The flood is going everywhere. So we are all trying to relish and share in small ways.
It’s so interesting at this point, although we are saying that we are all so fortunate, which we are, but at the same time, I’m reminded of how Prabodhananda Saraswati in Chaitanya Chandramrita, he says, The whole world drowned and is drowning in Gaurarasa. But alas, alas, I’m not touched even by a drop of that flood. I have been bereft, devoid, and I have self-cheated myself from this opportunity.
And of this, there is no doubt. So on one end, it is that feeling of Bhaktivinoda Thakur that my life has gone waste. And in my old age, now I repent.
My Lord, please save me. And Prabodhananda Saraswati says, I’ve not been touched. But at the same time, there’s another extent of how has this… How has this treasure come in my life? It must certainly come through Krupa.
I did not do any bhajan. I did not do any past credit. It’s almost like Hanuman telling Ramachandra in the Bhagavatam, Hanuman is saying, My Lord, look at my birth.
I am a monkey. Look at my past credit. I have not done any bhajan from past life.
I’m not a good orator. I don’t have intelligence. The most intelligent person is saying, I have no intelligence.
I don’t even have a beautiful form, bodily feature to give pleasure to your eyes. I don’t even have a home. I live in the forest.
I don’t wear clothes. And I eat fruits from the trees. But look at what has happened in my life.
Although I’m so unqualified, the brother of Lakshman, Ram, has put his hand out in friendship to me. I can’t believe what has happened in my life. So there’s one end of saying that I have been cheated.
And on the other hand to realise that although I didn’t deserve, I am smelling the fragrance of good fortune, which has come in my life. So I think there’s inclusion of both these moons. That’s beautiful.
Sometimes I say that in a spiritual life, if we become too proud, then we can look ahead to how far we have to go. But if you become too discouraged, then we can look behind to see how far we have come. And we have come a significant distance if we consider how we were living before we were introduced to bhakti.
So in the similar way, at one level, we are grateful that we have got so much, which we didn’t have as compared to what was there earlier in our lives. Our lives are so much richer by bhakti. But then we look at how much and how many more riches are there than we feel want you to, you know.
I’ve got nothing. I’ve been here for so long, but still I got nothing. So it also depends on the, I think the frame of mind, which mood to adopt when.
And whatever is uncool to our bhakti, we can adopt and move forward. These kind of moods too, we’ll hear more in the next verse, how this feeling of despondency, of hopelessness, that just wanting to commit suicide. This is a very integral part of bhajan.
People throughout the history, they have a fascination with suicide in a philosophical existential kind of way. And that comes from the Gopis, that comes from Radharani. When we’re so hopeless and if we’re Sanatana Goswami, he gives a beautiful verse, na prema savanadi bhaktir api vayogo tava vaisnavo.
He says, I have no prema. He says, I have no prema. Then you may say, well, at least you’re doing sadhana.
No, savanadi, I’m not. I’m not doing any sadhana either. Well, you’re practising some bhakti.
No, I have no bhakti either. Well, you’re doing some austerities. No, I’m not doing any austerities.
I’m not a yogi. I’m not a Vaisnava. Ghanam, I have no knowledge.
Ghanam, shubha karma, I have no pious activities that I’m doing. Not even a little tiny bit, do I have any of that. But still, he gopi janavalabhav yatayate ha ha madashaivamam.
I have this asa, this hope. Because I know that you’re very, very merciful on the most fallen person. And that’s my only qualification.
My Guru Maharaj used to sometimes say, your only qualification is your disqualification. So what a beautiful contrast he’s presenting in this verse. He says, hey, gopi janavalabha.
He’s addressing Krishna, who’s gopi janavalabha, who’s the lord of the gopis. He’s gopinath. But at the same time, who am I? Nothing.
I don’t have anything. And so in that intense contrast, it breeds a very intense kind of bhajan. And this is what we hear from the gopis here in the next verse.
Hmm, I look forward to that. There’s a lot of intense emotion there. So, Anand, do you want to add something? Or should I try to summarise? I know you’ll have a lot to add.
We are very happy to hear the summary. Please, please go ahead. In one sense, I think many of us will not be happy that summary time has come.
We could have gone on, but we’ll continue next time. So I think today we started with, Anand, we started with talking about how the same verse can be read as by the Chandravali’s group of gopis, the right and right wing gopis and the left wing gopis. And then we discussed about those two moods of devotion, that the mood of ghee and the mood of nectar or honey.
And a beautiful explication of what these two mean. That when honey melts, honey is heated, it becomes thicker. So Radharani, especially in separation from Krishna, she becomes, her love thickens and she becomes, the manalila comes in.
And that mood was there. That was a beautiful way we started. I think three, four main themes, the also elaborate discussion of those two moods, which we also talk later about how Radharani is Rukmini, sorry, is Satyabhama and Rukmini is actually Chandravali in the Varkalila.
Then also we discussed about Lakshmidevi’s position and showed the picture of the deity and how Lakshmidevi is actually present and she is calling. And she’s, in one sense, begging for Krishna, begging to be allowed entry into Krishna Leela. And that’s why her mood is different and the whole dynamic with respect to that.
Another point was, of course, Janmanavaraja. So that how Krishna actually appears in both places and in one sense, Chakravarthy passes, Krishna appears only in Vrindavan because my tongue is not like a snake. I’m not like a snake.
My tongue is not like a snake. And then he explained how the whole pastime happened, Madhavanpura, that where, how it goes, describing Gopalchampu, how exactly it happens. And then toward the end, we have one other point we discussed also, how is the private and the public aspect of the Rashtriya and the Gopi Gita that bhajan is something which is not to be publicised.
But when the heart is filled with gratitude, with love, with ecstasy, naturally there’s outpouring, the belching, preaching is the belching of the heart. And in some ways, just as the private, at the appropriate time in a crisis, the private becomes manifested appropriately. Like Prabhupada did not talk about Krishna being born in Vrindavan in Krishna book, but he does mention that in his Bhagavatam, in the 10th canto.
So then toward the end, we discussed about this mood of separate, that feeling that there is so much nectar at one level available and I’m so grateful. I quoted the Hanuman prayer and at the same time, the Prabhupada Saraswati prayer, isn’t it? That I’m deprived, but I lost everything. So especially that mood that we have, I’m bereft.
That is the mood which will come in the next verse that the Gopis will talk about, you know, Krishna, you are killing us by separation from you. And of course, there are many other points, but I think these are the broad four things we discussed. Any major things which you want to, I left out, you want to add? Is there a few Madhavanand Prabhu or Virendra Prabhu? I think it was perfect for me.
I’m just afraid I talked too much. You both have so much to give. I’m actually feeling that mood at this point.
That’s why I’m kind of becoming like a tortoise pulling my limbs in because I realised that probably I pulled it out too much and maybe I overspoke. I would say that it’s, there is a verse in Mukunda Mala, if you remember that, not Vahini, that tongue, which glorifies Lord Narayan is, it showers nectar on the earth. It showers nectar on all living beings.
So, you know, I wish we had more and more time and we could have more and more discussion about and both of us can speak more and more. I’ll try to reflect a little bit. One comment about our pace of going.
This first verse, the commentaries are much longer than some of the later verses. I think that we can, we might be able to do two verses per session coming up. Thank you, Guru.
So look forward to next week once again. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much, Madhavan Prabhu.
Thank you, Amarendra Prabhu. This is immensely relishable. Hare Krishna.
Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity. Hare Krishna, Madhavan Prabhu, Amarendra Prabhu.