Radhashtami 2025 Understanding Radha-tattva through Radha lila Chaitanya Charan

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, I’m grateful to be here with all of you today. And I will speak today about the life of Radharani and how that illustrates the principles of love and loving service.
I’ll talk about, listen, three broad parts. First, I’ll talk about the position of Radharani. Who is she, actually? Then, we’ll talk about some of her pastimes.
That will be a major part of the class. And then after that, we’ll talk about the principle, what Radharani embodies, how that principle is something which we all can learn. And by that, we can grow in bhakti and find deeper fulfilment, deeper joy in our life.
So, now, Radhashtami is not that well-known a festival. So, recently I was in India and one person asked that, you know, Janmashtami, nowadays there’s a lot of Hinduism or Hindutva in consciousness about Vedic Sanatana Dharma is rising in India. And it’s rising across the world also, among the Indian diaspora.
And there is a reaction to that. So, there’s one person who asked me, Janmashtami is so popular, but Radhashtami is not that popular. Doesn’t this show gender bias? That Krishna festival is so popular, Radharani is not so popular.
And I said, if you want to look at from that perspective, that the longest festival in India is Durga Pooja, it is nine days. Even Diwali is not that big. So, we cannot look at these exalted personalities and these timeless festivals or the ancient festivals from a reductionistic lens of our own values.
These are embodying a different level of reality. They are providing us a glimpse into the timeless. So, when we talk about Radharani, who is she? Now, at a basic level, you may say that Radharani is the consort of Krishna.
She, they are the divine couple, Radha and Krishna. Yes, that is true, but that’s only one part of the understanding of Radharani. Her position is, it’s not just that she is one member of the divine couple.
Yes, that is there. She is also, Radharani is the greatest devotee. She is considered to be, among all those who have devotion, her devotion is considered to be the greatest.
Is this visible to everyone? But more than that, this sound system will be blocking, so some of you may have to move this side. Can this be moved here? But she is not just the greatest devotee. And this is most important for us to understand that she is the source of all devotion.
That what is bhakti is itself a topic of great discussion in the Vedic tradition. And different acharyas have given different definitions of bhakti. But we can look at bhakti from our perspective and we can say, okay, bhakti is the emotion we experience, the attraction we experience, the love for Krishna.
And that is true, no doubt. At the same time, bhakti is not just that. So, in this understanding of bhakti, it is that, okay, I have attraction towards X, Y, Z, and now I have got an attraction towards God.
So, it is the same principle which is redirected towards God. There is truth to that, but that is not the complete truth. Why? Because Krishna exists in a different domain of reality.
And for us to say, shift our love from one object to another, say in India somebody is a big fan of cricket and they come here and they start playing maybe some other game. They may be, we may like, we may have one friend over here, then we develop another friendship. That is shifting in the same horizontal domain, the same material domain.
But here, we are shifting our love from the material domain to the vertical domain. From the material domain to the spiritual domain is a vertical shift. And that vertical shift doesn’t happen only by our own effort.
That vertical shift requires a grace coming from above. So, it is like, hey, this is the earth and then around the earth is the gravity pull. Now, an object on the earth might be going this way and it may go this way.
That is not very difficult. You just turn around and go. But if the object has to go upward, then there is a gravity pull that is pulling it down.
And at that time, the effort required is far, far more. So, now, yes, one can, with a huge amount of effort, try to push and get through the gravity. However, if there is another possibility that this is the earth and say, we are here or there is a rocket over here which we want to launch, whatever it is.
When this is to be launched, around it is a gravity pull. But if there is another powerful object, which comes over here, and then this object falls in the gravity pull of that object, then what will happen is, then that will pull it upwards. So, bhakti is not just centred on the push principle.
Push is for I push myself upward. Bhakti is primarily centred on the pull principle. Then this upward, if I try to go upward, this is push.
And this is the pull principle. So, in bhakti, while we have to do the push part, there is a pull principle that is much, much more important. And this pull principle is Radharani.
That is Ladini Shakti. That it is whatever devotional experience, whatever attraction experience for Krishna, that attraction comes by the blessing of Srimati Radharani. So, when we don’t have this understanding, Radharani is a devotee, we may call her the greatest devotee.
In India, because people prematurely come to know about the Raas Leela, they are sometimes a little bit frivolous or disrespectful understanding of Radharani. And I have a friend from a traditional Vaishnava group, he said, you know, you Hare Krishnas have got everything wrong. He said, with respect to Krishna, you just refer to him as Krishna.
There is no Sri Krishna, no Bhagwan Krishna, just Krishna. And for Radha, you have a double orderly thing. You have Srimati before and Radharani afterwards.
So, Srimati Radharani, but not even Sri Krishna. What is going on with you people? So, actually, I told Aishwarya Prabhupada to find an entire term to describe Krishna. What is that term? The supreme personality of Godhead.
So, that is not just a literal translation of Bhagwan. Prabhupada very emphatically wanted to convey that position of Krishna. At the same time, he wanted us to have a personal relationship with Krishna.
And that is why he referred to him directly as Krishna. So, the idea is, Prabhupada referred to Krishna simply as Krishna is. He wanted that Krishna is not just some remote divinity far away.
That Krishna is the Lord who is in our own hearts. But on the other hand, there is a tendency among people who hear Radha-Krishna pastimes to take Radha a bit cheaper. My young people, if they hear someone’s story of Radha-Krishna, they think, you know, okay, there is a divine couple on the altar and I am also a couple over there.
And we are a couple. Let me just equate it in a very mundane way. So, Prabhupada wanted to emphasise that.
And that is why he used this double honorific. Now, before Prabhupada, Bhakti Sahasrath Thakur and his gurus, they would use Shri Radha, Shri Radhika or they would, Bhakti Vishwanath Thakur and Rupa Goswami simply used as Radha. But Prabhupada wanted to emphasise that she is a worshipable person.
Srimati Radharani. So, the idea is that Radharani is not just the topmost devotee. She is the source of devotion for everyone.
And you may say, but isn’t that we have devotion? Yes, we have devotion. We have the potential for devotion is there in every heart. But for that potential to be manifested, it can take a huge effort.
And when we get a Radharani’s mercy, so in this understanding, Krishna is here. If Krishna is here and we are here, then Radharani is here. So, what Radharani does is, Radharani gives pleasure to Krishna and Radharani gives enrichment, nourishment to our heart through that relationship with Krishna.
So, that upward pull, how does it come? It comes in the form of an experience of a deep satisfaction. This nourishment comes at three distinct levels. First, we experience some sense of contentment.
Contentment is where all we feel satisfied. But then it goes beyond to enrichment. Where I’m not just content, I’m enriched means I feel filled with joy.
It is overflowing with joy. And after that, by Radharani’s mercy, it also comes as empowerment. So, contentment is, I’m satisfied.
The constant craving that is there in the world, oh, I want to buy this, I want to achieve this, I want to prove to the world how famous I am. All that contentment, after that comes enrichment. Where it’s not just I feel content, I feel like there’s so much I have, I want to share with others.
Why should others not have this? When we don’t have contentment, if we are coming to a temple or we are coming to a programme and everything, just thinking, oh, it’s a Sunday evening, I could have gone to watch a movie, I could have gone to the beach, I could have gone to sleep, why would I want to go over there? So, that is discontentment. When we feel contentment, I’m happy to be there. Enrichment means, oh, this is so wonderful.
I don’t just want to be here. I feel such a pleasure. I want everyone to know about it.
That is enrichment. And beyond that is empowerment. Empowerment is where we feel confident that I can share this with others.
Enrichment is I feel like sharing it. But empowerment is where we feel that confidence. So, we’ll cycle back to this point where in the conclusion, we talk about the principle of Radharani.
So, the position is Radharani is not just a member of the divine couple. She’s not just the topmost devotee. She is the person who fills our heart with devotion, who enables us to direct our love from this world to the Lord.
And that’s why her position is of critical importance. That is so important that the Goswami, that sometimes Ramananda Goswami says that actually we don’t worship Krishna. We worship Radharani.
And because Radharani happens to love Krishna, so we offer Krishna some respect. So, that is the mood of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas. So, let’s look at, now with this understanding that Radharani is actually the embodiment of all devotion.
Let’s now look at some of the pastimes of Radharani and how they illustrate the principles of love. Love is a word which is very commonly used nowadays. Now, generally the word love is nowadays quite often equated with, it’s almost like an involuntary emotion.
It’s like we say, I fell in love. It’s like you fall in love and then you fall out of love. So, it’s almost as if something which is in love is just equated with emotion, often a strong overpowering emotion.
And yes, that is there in love, of course. But love is much, much more than that. So, we’ll look at a few pastimes of Radharani which illustrate this principle.
So, we’ll see how much time we have. I have, I was trying to talk about something like nine pastimes of Radharani which illustrate how love is sacrifice, centred on that coin sacrifice. We can’t complete all of them.
We’ll at least complete four or five. So, now, love begins with selection. What does selection mean? That whenever there is love for someone, you know, if say we are talking with someone and there is a loving relationship, any kind of love, romantic love alone, but then we’re talking with someone, we select and focus on that person.
We don’t get distracted by everyone else over there. So, this is illustrated right from her very appearance. When she appears in this world, normally, it’s when the birth is so paradoxical that when a baby is born, if the baby cries, everyone is happy.
And if the baby does not cry, everyone is unhappy. So, if the baby cries, that means the baby is awake, the baby is conscious, the baby is healthy. So, when Radharani is born, she appears, she’s clearly alive, but she appears as if, what’s wrong with her? It can be in today’s world, a doctor’s going to diagnose her as autistic.
What’s going on? Because she’s not speaking, she’s not opening her eyes, she’s not reading at all. So, the parents were worried about something over there. Mr. Narad Muni came and said, you know, she’s a very special child.
She’s perfectly normal. Actually, she’s better than normal, but that will be revealed in due course. So, then because a newborn child was there, there’s a celebration.
So, her parents, Radharani is born in which place? Varsana. Vrindavan, there’s a place called Varsana. So, Nanda Maharaj is like the head of the whole Vrindavan area.
See, Vrindavan is the name of one particular forest, but the whole area is also called Vrindavan. So, Krishna, when he was born in Mathura, then he came to the place called Gokul Mahavan. And he was living over there.
And Radharani appeared in Varsana. And so, Varsana, the leader was Vrishabhani. So, it’s like Varsana is one place.
And then, this whole place is also called Vrindavan, also known as Rajamandala. Now, within that, there’s a place called Gokul. And there’s another place called Vrindavan.
So, now, Krishna came from Mathura. Radhakrishna was brought from Mathura by Vasudeva. And then he was living here.
And then, there are too many demons seem to be threatening this particular place. And they decided to relocate. But here, when Radharani appeared over here, Krishna appeared over here this time.
So, because Radharani had been born, and his baby Radha, all the parents wanted to celebrate. And when they wanted to celebrate, they invited the head of the whole community. And that was Nanda Maharaj.
So, when he came, Nanda Maharaj was welcomed by them, and the elders were talking. And Krishna was this one of the curious baby. So, he went around, looking here and there.
And he saw, okay, there’s a crib over there. What’s that over there? So, Radharani at this point, her eyes were closed. She was not at all acting.
She was completely silent. She said, what’s that? So, Krishna, the curious boy, just crawled over there. He climbed up, and he peered into the crib.
And as soon as Krishna peered into the crib, that is the time Radharani first opened her eyes. That is the time when she opened her eyes. And so, the first face that she wanted to see was the face of Krishna.
So, that is the spontaneous nature of her love. That the first face, that’s the face I want to see. So, her eyes were closed.
Not because there was anything wrong. But because the love of her heart was such that, this life, this existence is only for Krishna. That is that whom I want to see.
There are many Vaishnav Acharyas in Mukund Malastotra, in the Vaishnav songs. He says, let my eyes not see the beauty of anything except your beauty, O Lord. Let me drain that, feast on that.
And let that beauty be the sustenance of my eyes. So, Radharani demonstrates that right from her childhood, right from her birth itself. Now, as they grow up, and they start growing up now, they are still living in different places.
And there is some interaction, there is some big danger. For example, if there is a flood, then they all come together at a particular time. So, another time, if there is a festival, they come together.
Galiya is there. You know, Krishna, when Galiya catches Krishna, Krishna could have reached himself from Galiya to Neetam. But Krishna wanted Radharani to come.
When Krishna wants to dance, he wants Radharani to see his dance. So, he waits and waits and waits. And finally, the news goes to Varsana.
And for Varsana, the Varsanavasis come running. And Radharani comes over there. You know, just like, Radharani’s eyes were closed, but she was conscious when Krishna has come.
So, Krishna’s eyes were closed. It happened as if Galiya’s bites had poisoned Krishna. Was Krishna alive? Was Krishna dead? The Varsanavasis were completely lost, not knowing what is happening.
Yashodamai wanted to jump into the river to go to Krishna. She said, the other ladies said, no, you cannot go. What do you do? They just beat you.
But then, Krishna was conscious. As soon as Radharani came, and Radharani was watching what is happening, then Krishna just effortlessly broke free from the fangs of Galiya. And then he started dancing.
And started dancing on the fangs of Galiya. And Radharani was amazed. And it is that time in her heart arose the desire to dance with Krishna.
And that desire was fulfilled in the Raas Gita. So, just as Radha was conscious of Krishna even when the eyes were closed, Krishna was conscious of Radha when his eyes were closed. Krishna premamai Radha, Radha premamai ohari, Jeevane na dhane nityam, Radha Krishna gatemama.
So, Krishna is made of love for Radharani. And Radha is made of love for Krishna. That is the very nature of their love.
Then, as they were going down, So, at one level, these pastimes are transcendental. They are exhibiting non-physical love. But at the same time, they are manifested in this world.
And when they are manifested in this world, some of the aspects of this world also play out. The relationship with God that we have is in some ways similar to the relationship we have with others. And in some ways, it’s completely different.
Then, achintya bhed aave the. If it’s completely similar, then that’s a mistake because Krishna is not at any personal area of that person. But if it’s completely different, then we won’t know how to love Krishna.
Because what do we know? Krishna is completely different. So, the human divine relationship, our relationship with Krishna, there is bhed. Bhed means difference.
Bhed because Krishna is God. And there is abhed. Abhed means non-difference.
Because ultimately, Krishna and the soul, both have hearts that long to love. So, Krishna longs to love us. And we long to love.
Ultimately, our heart longs to love Krishna. There’s the bhed and abhed. So, as Krishna and Radhanand were both growing up, so now, as Radharani was growing up, what happened was, now, they would not meet very regularly.
Now, Krishna’s glory would be heard by Radharani. Radharani, Krishna would also hear about Radharani. But they were not meeting a lot.
And then, as they started growing up in that culture, even when they were doing their learning, studying, they would go out and work also. So, the Gopals were, they would go out and herd cows. Especially, cows initially and then cows.
And the Gopis, they would churn milk, make butter. And then, they would often go to Mathura or nearby places to sell those. So, they would do their small chores.
So, quite often, in their chores, they would go outside, they would meet each other. They would interact. So, now, what happened as Krishna was growing up, see, there is an age, you know, in teenage, especially when puberty comes, and people’s appearance, their personality, everything changes.
A significant change that happens. So, that is called in the Vedic tradition, it’s called Purvabhav. Now, the Purvabhav is before the Madhuryabhav manifests, the attraction starts coming.
That is Karnabhav in the 19th and 20th chapters. The Raj Panchatya will come a chapter later. So, what happened? Now, Radharani, that was not the age of Facebook, where you could see people’s faces and know how they look like.
So, what happened? When Radharani, once, she was going to the forest. And once when she was going, she heard a flute in play. And this flute song was played in such a beautiful way that Radharani felt.
Now, whoever is singing this, music is often not just a matter of the skill with which the music is done. It’s also expression of the emotion in the heart. So, Radharani, when she heard this music being played, she felt, oh, this person, this person is so attractive.
I just want to love this person. She felt as if, so I’m, I fall in love with this person. So, I’m moving forward to the acronym which means sacrifice.
So, now we are moving forward. A, A is attraction. So, she felt completely in love with this person who was playing the flute.
But, as they were going along, there was like a forest grow, and the sound of the flute was coming from somewhere behind. She was trying to peer in and see, but she couldn’t find out who was playing. And they had their chores.
They just couldn’t go out of the way to find out who it was. So, all right, it’s me. Oh, I’ve fallen in love with this person.
Who is this person? Then, a couple of days later, when she was going by, at this time, she was passing in a particular way, and the wind was blowing like this. So, she experienced the fragrance of Krishna. And now, she did not turn to the same person.
So, when she experienced the fragrance of Krishna, she’s completely captivated by that. She’s like, who’s this person? I’ve fallen in love with this person. She started thinking, what kind of woman I am? I’ve fallen in love with two men.
And her heart was feeling torn. And then, third time, when she was going, and there’s a hill over here, and on top, Krishna was walking by. And she saw the forward bow of Krishna.
And she fell in love with this. Who is this attractive person? Three-pole bending. This time, Krishna was not playing his flute.
Now, Krishna knew what he was doing. They’re just having some mischief with Radha. So, this time, when she saw him, the wind was flowing this way.
So, she did not… Krishna was not having a flute on his body. He was not playing the flute. And the fragrance of Krishna’s body did not come through.
So, what happened? She thought, oh, this person is so beautiful. And then, Radha, she was attracted. That itself was making an association.
Now, I’m attracted to three people. What’s going to happen to me? And now, Krishna, if he wants to… He wants to churn the emotions of the heart. See, he does that in ways that can sometimes be very agitating.
But it is agitating. At the same time, it is very spiritual. Her heart became more and more absorbed with Krishna.
And then, one day, when she was going to the forest, you know, as she was walking by, she heard this first. The flute sound coming. And her heart started beating faster.
And then, after that, she felt the fragrance. Oh, who is this person? She was eager to see this person. And then, she saw the form.
And this time, when she saw the form, she saw, actually, the same person was playing the flute. And then, as she noted, oh, this fragrance is coming from the same person. And her heart became filled with great relief and joy.
I’m not attracted to three people. I’m attracted to the same person. So, actually, what does this illustrate? One of the features of Krishna is that he is all-attractive.
All-attractive means what? That any one of his features can attract the heart. And this is described in the Bhagavatam. When the Kumaras had gone to the spiritual world, they were attracted to impersonal.
But they just got the fragrance of the Tulsi from the lotus feet of Krishna. And, just by the fragrance, just got completely attracted and captivated. So, for all of us, we can hope that one aspect of Krishna, any one aspect of Krishna can attract us.
Maybe we are attracted to the deity of Krishna. Maybe we are attracted to the Gita of Krishna. So, maybe we are attracted to Kumbha Krishna.
Maybe we are attracted to one particular pastime of Krishna. No, Krishna is all-attractive. And even one glimpse of the attractiveness of one facet of Krishna is enough to captivate the heart.
So, Radharani’s heart is so open and so receptive that it demonstrates the power of the attractiveness of even one aspect of Krishna. Unfortunately, our heart is so closed. Krishna, it’s like we are close to Krishna and we are close to Krishna.
Close to Krishna means our heart is so caught in worldly attachments that our heart is just not open to Krishna. But somehow, by coming in devotional ambience like this, by being in association, slowly a small window, a small slit in our heart will open. And then, Krishna’s attraction will manifest in us.
And then, we will be also completely captivated by Krishna. Then, we move to love is seen through commitment. Commitment means here that as Radharani was growing, now, they again invited Maharaja Krishna along with their family to their house for prasad.
When they invited, so naturally, Krishna Paramahansa meet them in the Maharaja and then Kirti, who is Radharani’s mother, she took Krishna to the inner chambers. And then now, they had cooked a huge feast. And then, she saw Radharani and then Kirti was showing Krishna what all we have cooked, how we have cooked.
And then, Kirti looked at one chamber. And in that chamber, there were dozens upon dozens of just delicacies. And Krishna saw then that Radharani was cooking.
And Krishna said that, you know Radha, her body is tender like a flower. Why is she doing all these things? This flower gets desiccated, she will get exhausted. So, Krishna said, you know, I didn’t tell her to cook.
She just wanted to cook. And there were some special items that she has cooked. And there were dozens of special items.
And Rishabhanu and Kirti were very, very pleased by that. And that was the time when, you know, when parents are growing older, they always are concerned about the marriage of their children. So, when she and Krishna saw that Radharani is so diligent, so dedicated, she is so eager.
You know, Rishabhanu and Kirti, they are like leaders of the community. They have servants. Others could have cooked for them.
But here, she is cooking herself. So, at that time, a desire arose in the heart of Yashoda that Radha should become my daughter-in-law. That Radha should be with Krishna.
Then Yashoda said that, oh, you are cooking wonderfully. Now, I will train you in the art of serving. So, she said that, you know, when you go, this is how you should serve food.
Radharani is actually very shy. Radharani had some sakhis. So, now, Yashoda wanted that Radharani should go and serve food to Krishna.
Radharani was serving Rishabhanu. She was serving Nityananda Maharaj. The whole group of people had come.
But when it comes to serving Krishna, she would ask some other sakhi to go and serve. And she was shy to go in front of Krishna. And then, finally, she was like, no, you should go and serve.
And then she served some food and then they were all watching. And she had made some special delicacy. And Krishna ate it.
Krishna made a bitter face and pushed it away. And Radharani’s heart stopped. What happened? And then, Madhubangal took that food.
Oh, delicious. And Krishna glanced at Radharani’s smile. Krishna was just having fun at her expense.
So, Radharani got a bit angry on Krishna. And then Madhubangal said, you know, I am in great anxiety. He said, Krishna said, I regret bringing you here.
You always are a drama queen. What happened? He said, I am in great anxiety. Normally, if you eat some food, when eating some food, if you tell the hostess, I am in great anxiety.
What happened? Is there something wrong over here? So, Madhubangal said, this food is so tasty that I am in anxiety. How will I be satisfied with any future food? So, there is like an indirect compliment to give. So, this is like the king of indirect compliments.
So, this was the time when Krishna loved his son. Now, Krishna would love her food that she would be cooking. But she saw that the food that Radharani had cooked, and Krishna was eating it even greater than her scale.
And she decided that she went to eat with her. And after the whole feast was over, they were going back. She said, I saw with how much joy Krishna ate the food that Radharani had cooked, than expecting what Radha had cooked.
So, I want that Radha should come every day and cook for us. So, Radharani was very less and her heart filled with joy. Then, Ketidharani said, you are our queen, whatever you say, we will do.
But at the same time, what will people talk? They are unmarried. She did not have intention, that she understood. She said, I have thought about it.
She does not have to come to our home. Near our home, there is a place called Pavan Sarovar. And there, we have a large kitchen.
So, Radha can come and cook over there. And from there, our attendants will come and take the food and they will serve Krishna. And that’s how Radharani started coming every day to cook.
So, here is an important principle. See, when we serve, when we do some service, the reward of the service is that we are given a greater service. So, when we do some service, if we do it well, Radharani did the cooking well, and what happened? It was a one-time cooking, but now she got the opportunity for cooking every day.
And every day, she would cook for Krishna. And Krishna would eat whatever she would cook with great, great interest. That was the commitment.
So, for Radharani, her love is not just, oh, Krishna, I love Krishna. It is seen through practical service. Prabhupada would say that the substance of devotion is practical service.
So, Radharani would do this practical service. Isn’t that? Now, when we talk about love, love is not just one emotion. Love includes many emotions.
So, love can include anxiety. Because when we love someone, we want to offer the best to that person. And in trying to offer the best, there can be anxiety.
Love can also involve anger. So, if somebody is hurting the person whom we care for, then we get angry. That’s how, in the Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, love for Prahlad is seen through his anger towards Krishna.
Now, love can also involve fear. Now, anxiety is seen as fear, but love can also involve horror. When you see something terrible, anxiety is something that may not work out.
Horror is something terrible has happened. So, when the Rajivasi is here, when they show that, oh, that the tree has fallen down and Krishna is nearby. Has something happened to Krishna? And Krishna is unconscious in the piles of Kaliya.
But there is a love, there is a whole galaxy of emotions within you. So, Radharani would be, to the extent there is anxiety to cook nicely for Krishna, then there is ecstasy when the cooking is done nicely. Now, as this moves forward, we move to R is renunciation.
Now, Radharani is not technically a sanyasi or sanyasini. But her renunciation is seen through what is called as the parakhiya bhava. So, this is one speciality of the relationship of Radharani with Krishna.
And this is what, that when Krishna plays the flute and when the Rajivasi performs, Krishna plays the flute and he calls the Gopis to come. So, now here, the Gopis just move everything before the Krishna. See, normally, devotion is expressed in various ways.
Devotion, a love is seen through, open to sacrifice, we give up something. So, first is, we give up the bad. So, for example, there are certain activities which are anti-emotional.
Say, we stop meditating, we stop gambling, we stop intoxication. But those are what we call as sinful activities, the bad activities. At a basic level, if you are trying to go close to God, then you have to give up the bad activities.
Now, that is good if you give up the bad activities. But that is like a preliminary level of devotion. Then, after that, we may have to give up the good activities also.
Good activities are not activities, but if bad things we have to give up, then good things we have to give up. Now, good things means, what does it mean? For example, so, we might sacrifice wealth, we might do charity. Now, money is not itself a bad thing.
Money is an important thing. So, when we give up bad things, it is like we give up Anartha. Anartha is the bad things.
So, we want to go towards Parmartha. Parmartha is the supreme value. So, we give up the Anartha for Krishna.
But then, we also have to give up the Artha for Krishna. So, we give up the good things. But the good gross things, we give up.
But as we move forward, we give up the good subtle things also. What does subtle things mean in this context? See, somebody may give a lot of donation. And that is okay.
But quite often, when we give donation, at that time, we would like others to know that I gave this good donation. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, if we are doing, we are contributing to good cause, that is good.
But some people may like to give anonymous donations. They want to give a large donation, they don’t want that. They don’t want even to give.
Now, what that means is that they are not only giving up something gross, but from that, the subtle pleasure, oh, I am such a good person, I am such a charitable person, I am such a noble person, that prestige also they are giving up. But now, imagine a situation where somebody gives a huge donation, but they do it anonymously. And because nobody knows that they have given donation, then other people start criticising them.
Dude, you are not giving any donation at all. Ah, this person has given a huge donation. At that time, it can be infuriating, you know.
I have given so much and I have been criticised, I give up nothing. So that, when we have to give up subtle things for Krishna, so that is more difficult. But when we give up subtle things, one is we give up bad things, we give up good things, good gross things, we give up good subtle things.
But at least in each of these levels, we are giving something and we are getting something back. We give up bad things, actually our life becomes better. We give up bad things, we give this up, overall our life becomes better.
We give up good gross things, then what happens is, often our prestige becomes better. But when we give up subtle things, then what happens is, maybe we can say our heart becomes richer, we feel more satisfied. Maybe, that has quite a very high level of devotion.
But if we have given up everything and we get nothing in return, if we give up and all that we get is criticism, then it is very, very clear that we are giving up things only because we want Krishna. We don’t want anything of this world. I don’t want the reputation, I don’t want the fame, I only want Krishna.
So now, what is the parakiya bhaav? See, in Krishna, Krishna could have very easily arranged everything so that just as he is married to Rukmini, he could be married to Radharani also. And from a philosophical perspective, Krishna is the lord of everybody. So Krishna is the patil patinam paramam parastha.
So Krishna is philosophically speaking the lord of everyone. He is the lord of the gopis, he is the lord of Radharani also. But the parakiya bhaav, swakiya means that the queens are married to Krishna.
And in Dwarka, it is the swakiya bhaav. In Vrindavan, it is the parakiya bhaav. The gopis are not officially married to Krishna.
So now, what happens in this is, that the gopis give everything up for Krishna and they get nothing in return. All that they get is, what kind of women are you? You left your home to go with Krishna, go with some other man. Don’t you have any culture? Don’t you have any decency? Don’t you have any chastity? So, throughout history, there are people who have misunderstood the gopis.
There are people who have misunderstood the love of the gopis for Krishna. So, they give up everything for Krishna and they get nothing in return. Nothing gross, nothing sacred.
Gross means, they don’t get the protection of the name of the husband. I am the wife of Surya. So, they don’t get that.
They don’t get anything from Krishna. And then, the greatest sacrifice is, okay, I am giving up everything for you, but at least, okay, I am not getting your name, I am not getting the respectability from society, but I am at least getting your company. I just want to be with you.
But then, Krishna leaves the gopis and goes there. So, the gopis do not even get the company of Krishna. So, that is the time when the gopis could very easily have rejected Krishna.
But they do not do that. So, this is actually pure devotion. What does pure devotion mean? There are many different meanings.
One meaning is that we give everything to Krishna and we get nothing in return. But nothing except Krishna. And Krishna is the greatest thing.
So, when the gopis give themselves to Krishna, they don’t get anything gross, they don’t get anything subtle. At both levels, they get criticism. But what they get is, Krishna becomes completely indebted to them.
Krishna says to the gopis, what kind of love have you got? He says, I have never seen love like this. I cannot repay you for this love. So, their renunciation is, that they give everything for Krishna.
That’s why in the verse it is, sarva-dharman parityajya. In the Krishna, we could say it is, sarva-adharman parityajya. And that is true.
We give up bad things for Krishna, but then we also should be ready to give up good things for Krishna, if it is required. So, it is not sarva-dharman parityajya, we give all dharma to become adharmic. That’s all the point of it.
That is, there is dharma, then below dharma is adharma, and above dharma is paradharma. Or in terms of morality, we can say there is moral, there is immoral, and there is transmoral. So, what the gopis, they are ready to go here, and when their renunciation is, that they are actually going here, but this is the reality, but the world will often think that they are going there.
The world’s perception is, that they are doing something immoral. But the gopis, their mood is, I don’t care. And among all the gopis, the highest degree of such a mood, is shown by Radhahani.
So, how is that? I’ll describe that, and then we’ll move to the last part of the class. You won’t be able to go through the whole lecture on it. But, so, in the specific pastime of Radharani himself, of Rasila, there’s something very subtle, like, romance going on.
So, initially, Krishna plays the flute and calls the gopis, and all the gopis come there. They come in streams. Not everybody is able to leave immediately and come.
They are all looking for opportunities, and they come one by one. So, when they come there, at that time, Krishna talks with them. And Krishna actually tests them.
Krishna, in one sense, wants to test, are they really ready to give up dharma for the sake of Radharani? So, Krishna letters the gopis that, it’s wonderful that you have come. Did you come here to look at the beauty of the night sky, Vrindavan? Yeah, it’s very beautiful. Now that you’ve looked at it, you can go back now.
Now, the gopis, their desire is raging in their heart. But still, it’s a cheesed, conservative, shyhead of culture. So, they don’t express.
They start, you know, making marks on the ground with their toes. And they say, Krishna, we know you coined us. That’s why we have come here.
So, here, the Bhagavatam contrasts between the gopis and the Brahman Patnis. The Brahman Patnis also come. But when Krishna tells, go back, they go back.
They’re not happy to go back. They’re reluctant, but they go back. But the gopis say, you’re not going back.
And, so then, Krishna and the gopis, they start doing the rasa dance. Now, when they’re doing the rasa dance, at one level, the narrating is that the gopis become proud. And the gopis become proud, and Krishna abandons them and goes away.
Krishna, and the lesson over there is Krishna is, Krishna is her life-partner. And then they go with, he goes along with Radharani, and Radharani also becomes proud. And Krishna abandons her also.
Now, that is a valid lesson that probably can alienate Krishna, even if somebody is as exalted a devotee as gopi. But that’s at an external level. It’s something much deeper happening over there.
Kavi Karnapur, in Zaman Vrindavan Champu, describes what the thought process of the gopis and of Radharani is. All the gopis are dancing with Krishna, and it’s the greatest joy of their life that they are with Krishna. And they are, the beautiful ambience is there.
It is Shalpur, you know, it’s very, very divinely attractive atmosphere is there. And they all are delighted to be with Krishna. At the same time, the gopis know that while we are all dancing with Krishna, that Radha’s love for Krishna is unparalleled.
So, they want that Krishna should have some special time with Radharani. They want that. They know their purpose is, they want to enjoy Krishna’s company because they love Krishna.
But their purpose is Krishna should be happy. And they know Radha’s love for Krishna is the greatest, Krishna’s love for Radha is the greatest. So, both of them should have some time together.
And therefore, the gopis act as if they are proud. They act as if they are proud. So, the gopis themselves are ready to renounce this association to be with Krishna just so that Krishna can be with Radharani.
So, then, when this happens, say, Radharani and Krishna are all alone. Krishna has taken Radharani away from the Rasala. Then Radharani sees that Krishna is exclusively spending time with me.
She wants to be with me alone. Her heart is delighted for a few minutes. Although she is with Krishna, her concern is Lalita, Abhishekha, Indraprekha, all of them, they are my sakhis.
They are dear to me. They will be devastated that Krishna has left them. Krishna has left them and gone away.
She says, I cannot enjoy Krishna’s company alone. You know, I cannot enjoy when my sakhis are not with me. It will be agony.
So, she tries to come up with various excuses to slow Krishna. She thinks, you know, Krishna is taking her to the forest, to a secluded place to have Krishna wants to be alone with her to express confidential words of love. Those or those private words with little nothing that are expressed with affection.
So, Krishna has that in focus. Krishna has that and Krishna is happy with that. But then Radharani tries to slow Krishna, you know.
So, she says, Krishna, this flower is so nice. Can you get this flower for me? And, oh, the moon looks so nice for me. Let’s go ahead and look at the moon.
And he says, oh, this flower is also very nice. And then, now Krishna is here with Radharani deep into the forest. Radharani is slowing her down.
Then, when Radharani asks for a flower, Krishna immediately gets the flower. At one point, Radharani deliberately asks for a flower that is way up high. And Krishna jumps up and still he can’t reach the flower.
Radharani is thinking, now Krishna will slow down. Maybe Krishna will have to climb up the tree. And he’ll have to go up and get the flower.
And he says, she’s with Krishna and she wants to be with Krishna, but another part of the room, he’s coming. And then, she’s just looking around and suddenly, Krishna comes from behind and picks her up. He says, you want that flower? You take that flower.
And Radharani takes that flower and Krishna puts it on her head. And finally, Radharani runs out of ideas. How to slow Krishna down? And then she says, Krishna, I’m feeling very tired now.
And, now at an external level, Krishna has had enough. And Krishna gets angry with Radharani. And Krishna says, because this is a forest, I cannot get a palanquin for you.
So, you climb on my back and I’ll carry you. There is a very sweet, loving exchange there and suddenly the tone changes of Krishna. Radharani wonders what has happened.
She’s just looking around. She’s looking where the sakhis are going to come. And suddenly she hears this harsh tone of Krishna and she turns around and in total horror, Krishna has disappeared.
That’s when she realises, Oh my God! She, that Krishna got angry with me. They say, Oh Krishna! So, she starts, she starts looking here and there for Krishna, starts searching for Krishna. She just can’t find him.
Oh Krishna, where are you? Please come back. So, now, Kavikantipur described that Radharani is having a conversation with Krishna. Whether it is, whether Krishna is actually there and replying to her or it’s in her mind that Krishna is replying.
She’s begging Krishna, come back. She says, Krishna, please come back. Krishna says, I was there with you and you took me for granted.
You are so, you’re so proud. I don’t want to be with you. She says, no, no.
She says, no, that is not the case. I was just concerned about the Sakis. They would be devastated without you.
That’s why, Krishna, I swore you that promise. No, but I wanted to be with you. Why were you concerned about them instead of being concerned about me? She says, no, no, Krishna, I wanted to be with you.
Krishna says, you have lost your chance. Now, in the Leela, sometimes what happens is, now, is Krishna speaking like this or Radharani is like, in her imagination, she’s giving Krishna advice, Krishna’s being like this. Kavir Padapur doesn’t really make it very clear over there.
So then, she says, but Krishna, you know, without you, I will die. Please come back. So, Krishna says, but all the Sakis are without me.
They are alive, they’re not dying. So Radharani says, no, but they have each other. I’m all alone here.
Please, Krishna, come back. Krishna says, with that note of finality, says, you know, that I was all alone with you, but you have displeased me. I’m going now.
And he just goes away. And at that time, Radharani feels a heart storm. Describes that she cannot sustain her life.
Not only has Krishna gone away, there’s one thing Krishna has gone away, but Krishna has gone away, being displeased with her. And the displeasure is because Krishna has misunderstood her. This she just can’t bear.
And she faints over there. She faints and all the Sakis are searching. And initially, there is a bit of annoyance, a bit of a jealousy, a bit of a negative emotion.
Who is the special person who Krishna has gone away to? But then, when they see Radharani’s condition, when they find her sprawled at the ground in a state of complete… She’s fainted and she is… Not only that, even her face, she’s devastated. So seeing her in that condition, seeing that Krishna has left her also, seeing in how much agony she is, whatever negative feeling they have, it immediately disappears. And then the Sakis go and get some water.
They sprinkle some water. They wake up Radharani. Radharani tells what has happened.
And they continue searching for Krishna. And then, this is the 38th chapter in the script. The 10th chapter, 31st chapter is the Gopi Singh, the Gopi Geet.
And then finally, Krishna comes back. And when Krishna comes back, I’ll continue with this point. This is like, now what is Krishna doing over here? So now, when Krishna finally comes back, a part, the Gopis are in part delighted that Krishna is back.
In part, they are infuriated. How could you abandon and go away like this? This is like, if we have a small child, the child can’t survive for long. Now, when… What has happened to him? The child has been kidnapped.
The child is hurt. The child is injured. We are worried about the child.
I hope the child… I hope the child is alive. And when I find my child, I’m going to kill him. So, the idea is that it’s part joy, part anger.
The Gopis are really angry with Krishna. How did you abandon us like this? At the same time, they are afraid to express their anger. Like, once we find our child, and we know that he’s okay, then we want to be angry with the child, but we are worried, if we get too angry, the child will run away with him.
So, the Gopis are worried like that. What is… What should we do? So, the Gopis indirectly ask Krishna, that Krishna, we want to ask you some questions about love. Love and the nature of lovers.
He said, there are some lovers, you know, when we offer, when one person loves the other, the other person reciprocates. There are some lovers, who, when you offer love, they reciprocate much more than the love that is offered. And there are some lovers, you offer them love, and they don’t reciprocate.
Among these, which love do you think is the best? Indirectly, they are saying, Krishna, you are the person who didn’t reciprocate first. We gave everything up for you, and then you just gave up, gave us up and went away. How could you do like this? So, at that time, Krishna replies, Krishna says that, you know, I left you, not because I did not value your love.
I left you, because I wanted you to experience the highest stage of absorption. I wanted you to intensify your love for me. I wanted your love to be, become more and more intense and blazing up.
The level of absorption needed by God, no one else can. The way you completely sacrificed yourself for me, that has no balance. This, I cannot offer you anything in return, since you inspired me with your love.
So, here, the Acharyas explain, there is a mysterious relationship between love and separation. Love is like fire, and separation is like wind. Now, if, in a, I was in Delhi a few months ago, you may know that there is a forest fire.
If, the worst nightmare of firefighters at that time is, the wind comes on you. Because then, there is a spray. So, like that, if there is a stormy wind in a forest fire, then what happens? The fire spreads.
So, love does to separation, what wind does to fire. I was once giving this class, and after that, one devotee came and said, I have decided to stop coming to the temple now. I said, why? You know, I think I offend a lot of devotees.
So, after hearing your class, I thought if I have separation from devotees, then my love will increase. I told him, with all due respect, now whenever somebody starts a sentence, with all due respect, what is going to follow is not going to be very respectful. So, I said, this applies only when, the love is like a forest fire.
But, if the love is like a candle flame, then wind comes, what will happen? Get completely extinguished. So, our love is not like the love of the Gopis. Our love will not survive separation from Krishna.
We need to associate regularly with devotees. We need to spend time with daily sadhana, with our puja. So, it is the proximity with Krishna that will fan the flame of our love for Krishna.
But, in a very exalted state, for the Gopis, there is no question of forgetting Krishna. There is no question of life without Krishna. So, when Krishna is externally absent, Krishna becomes more and more internally present.
And that is a very exalted level of love. But, the last point, I concluded, I said, we talk about the pastimes, we talk about the principle. The principle of Radharani’s love is that love means sacrifice.
Love means service. Love means caring for others. So, we care for Krishna, that’s love bhakti.
But Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains, that bhakti, when it is directed towards Krishna, it is devotion. When it is directed towards other souls, that same bhakti becomes compassion. That compassion is, we are concerned about the distress of others.
We want to remove that distress. So, like Radharani was with Krishna, she wanted to be with Krishna, but she was also concerned about her sakhis. They should not be in distress.
They should also be enjoying Krishna’s company. So, we talk about contentment, enrichment and empowerment in the beginning. So, devotedly, doesn’t just want to be joyful in Krishna consciousness, but devotedly wants to share that joy of Krishna consciousness with others.
And this is embodied by Srila Prabhupada more than anyone else, especially in recent times. Srila Prabhupada was in Vrindavan. Not just in Vrindavan, he was living in the place where the Goswami samadhis were.
So, Vrindavan is the capital of devotion. And from there, at the age of 17, with great effort, Prabhupada went to New York. And the rest of the way he went to New York was the Lower East Side, I think.
So, from the capital of devotion, Prabhupada went to the capital of illusions. And why did he do that? That was out of compassion. You know, at one level, Prabhupada left Vrindavan, but that is an external mission.
You can take a devotee out of the dham, but you cannot take the dham out of the devotee. So, Vrindavan was always in the heart of Srila Prabhupada. And wherever he went, he manifested Vrindavan.
Wherever he went, he created the teekas of Vrindavan. He wanted that everyone should relish Krishna. Everyone should experience the joy of loving Krishna.
That is what brings ultimate joy to a life. So, that was Prabhupada manifesting the mood of Radha and Krishna. Prabhupada did not talk a lot about the esoteric pastimes of Radha and Krishna.
One reason was that those can be very easily misunderstood. So, as I talk about Gopi’s love, it is the highest level of selflessness. It is actually selfless.
But it can very easily appear to be immoral. It can appear to be sensual, immorally sensual as well. So, Prabhupada’s focus was that first we develop the spirit of selflessness.
Once we start developing the spirit of selflessness, then slowly we will start appreciating how the Gopi’s love is also sensuous. As long as we are filled with sensual desires, then when we approach those pastimes, we will also mistake them to be sensual pastimes. So, that is why I did not talk about those pastimes.
But it is not that Prabhupada was not aware of those, nor that Prabhupada did not want us to reach those pastimes. He very much wanted us. But the way is by cultivating a bhava of seva, cultivating a mood of service and sacrifice.
So, Prabhupada said famously that the way to enter into Radha and Krishna’s pastimes is by sharing Krishna Consciousness with everyone. What does it mean? We say that okay, we are sharing Krishna Consciousness, we have to build a temple, we have to deal with misconceptions of atheism and this and that. What has all this got to do with Radha and Krishna? This is so different from it.
Well, not exactly. Yes, we should hear Krishna Prabhupada in our heart. But along with that, it is not just hearing a lot about Radha and Krishna that will help us to appreciate Radha and Krishna’s pastimes.
Yes, hearing is wonderful. But to appreciate those pastimes, we need to develop that mood of selfless service. So, at our level, when we try to share Krishna Consciousness with others, when we try to assist those who are trying to share Krishna Consciousness with others, we are assisting Radharani.
Mr. Radharani is concerned about the gopis who were not with Krishna. In the same way, we are concerned that I am with Krishna at one level, but I want others also to meet Krishna. And in bhakti, we have these both aspects.
Bhakti is both, like we turn away from the world and we turn towards the world. If we are here, Krishna is here and the world is here. So, devotee turns inward, that is our connection with Krishna.
That is what we do through our sadhana, through our puja. So, through our sadhana, there is an inward connection. And through our seva, there is an outward contribution.
maam anusmara yudhyaja The anusmara is the inward connection. The yudhyaja, the fight, that is the outward connection. This is how for a devotee, Vrindavan and Kurukshetra both exist together.
That inside our heart, by relishing Krishna’s pastime, we try to develop the love of Vrindavan. But the outer world is a place of conflict, is a place of difficulty, is a place of challenge. The devotee just wants to glorify Krishna constantly.
And internally, we can do that. But no, we also want to do it externally. We want to do something for Krishna in this world.
And that is why yudhyaja, determination is required. Because the world outside is not an easy place. There are conflicts.
Again, just taking care of our family, doing our job. All these can be done in the mood of service to Krishna. And of course, helping those who are studying Krishna’s mission, sharing Krishna’s message, we can contribute directly to that.
It is through that, we develop the mood of Radharani’s selfless service. And in that mood, then as we become more and more purified, and hear Radhakrishna’s pastimes, those pastimes will enrich and empower our heart. And help us one day enter into those pastimes internally.
To summarise, what I discussed today, talked about three main points of Radharani’s life. First I talked about, do you remember the three points? First was the position. So this position we talked about, how Radharani is a part of the divine couple.
She’s the female member of the divine couple. She’s also, she is the greatest devotee. But she’s not just the greatest devotee, she’s also the source of all devotion.
That when we make the shift from the material to the spiritual, in trying to offer our love. So it is not just that we have the push principle. We try to push ourselves towards Krishna.
Krishna is here. But actually, like Radharani’s mercy, that comes to us. And where we are, Radharani’s mercy by that, the gravity pull comes.
Of Radharani, it pulls us up. That is, our devotion manifested by her mercy. So it’s a full principle that raises up.
And then we discussed elaborately about the pastimes. So we discussed four levels. S was what? Selection.
We saw how Radharani, she just wanted to see Krishna alone. Nothing else as her first sight. And A was? Attraction.
This is how Radharani is attracted to the flute, the fragrance, and the form. Individually, separately. And then it was great relief and joy that all four are coming the same person.
So the idea that even one aspect of Krishna can be so attractive as to conquer our heart. And C was? Commitment. Commitment.
We discussed how Radharani, she voluntarily served Krishna. She offered little service to Krishna. And what happened was, she got a much bigger seva.
When Krishna came, she cooked some items for Krishna. And she showed that my life is so much that it will become itself a gift. The fruit of seva is that we get more seva.
And R was? Renunciation. So the renunciation is that, that the gopis are ready to be misunderstood. See the path of bhakti, the renunciation can go at various levels.
First we give up the bad things. Then we may have to give up the good things. Good things at the gross level.
But then the most difficult is to give the good things, give up at the subtle level also. So we give charity, but we give up the hope that our charity, the expecting the charity will give us the prestige and good reputation. So the gopis are ready to be misunderstood that the parakiya bhav means they do not get respectability.
They do not even get the company of Krishna when Krishna goes away. Still, the gopis never give up Krishna. And especially, Radharani’s renunciation is that she doesn’t want Krishna’s company alone.
She risks losing Krishna. She doesn’t want to give up her sakhis, her gopis. And at one level, Krishna is a spiritual guru, but Krishna is supremely a spiritual guru.
And then lastly, we discuss the principle. The principle of course here is that we discuss here one principle, love and separation. They are like, it depends.
Separation, love is like a fire and separation is like the wind. The fire is large, the wind stretches. For Radharani, separation increases her love.
And for us, if our fire is small, it may decrease her love. So we don’t ask her to choose separation, but the principle that we apply is that for us, these exalted pastimes, we want to learn the principle of service, selfless service, sacrifice. So the more we do this, through selfless service, we understand Radha Bhava.
It is not Radha Bhava is essentially, it can be very easily misunderstood to be sensual or even immoral. And that can lead to a lot of misunderstanding. That’s why we don’t prematurely hear those pastimes.
But by cultivating a move of service, just as Srila Prabhupada had cultivated, so we will be able to bring closer to Krishna. So our bhakti, our devotion, there’s an inward connection and there’s an outward contribution. So inward through our sadhana, we connect with Krishna and through our seva, we try to share Krishna with others.
So in this way, we will gradually all approach Radha Bhava. So let us continue with one prayer to Radharani. So this is a prayer from the Puranas.
I’ll just repeat the prayer and you can repeat after me. This is the truth. This indeed is the truth.
That without the mercy of Radharani, Krishna cannot be attained. The Lord Krishna cannot be attained. So in the mode of Radharani’s devotion, this is one of my latest books.
This is Prayers Inspired by Bhagavad Gita. I’ve been writing on the Bhagavad Gita for many years. But I felt that I was writing too analytically.
So I tried to approach it more prayerfully. So in this book, there are about 122 prayers. Each prayer is based on one verse from the Gita.
The beautiful picture of the deity of Krishna. And there are prayers for occasions when we feel lonely or abandoned by others. Prayers when our desires are going wild and uncontrollable, when we are in directions of lost enjoyment.
And especially when we feel spiritually dry or disconnected from Krishna. So it’s a devotional way to approach the Gita. Many devotees have told me that really one prayer before they really chant it helps them to become absorbed in Krishna.
And this is more a book for new people. Gita for the CEO. However, there is a lot of interest in the corporate world to learn leadership lessons, life lessons, communication texts.
From Japan, Ikigai is becoming popular. Kanagiri’s stoicism is becoming popular. So HarperCollins is one of the biggest publishers in the world.
They wanted me to present the Gita in a similar way. So I’ve taken 10 principles based on the Gita. And like I was drawing some simple line diagrams.
With that, I have presented the Gita as a conversation between two people. Both in the corporate world, one who knows the Gita and one who wants to know the Gita. And it’s a national bestseller in India.
And it’s a very accessible way to introduce people who may not be ready or capable of directly appreciating the message of the Gita. So it’s not only for CEOs. It has practical life lessons for everyone.
Ultimately, each one of us is meant to be a CEO of our own life. So these books will be available. And I will be happy to answer any questions or to sign the books if you want.
Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.