Bhagavatam-daily 253 – 11.12.10 – Radharani’s love is the summit of selflessness

Thank you.
Here, after talking about how bhakti is the supreme method for liberation, now Krishna mentions the topmost devotees. And in connection with that, he talks about not just the gopis but specifically about their topmost feelings of devotion in separation, viraha. So he says that when Uddhava, Shofalkina, the son of Shofalka, came to Vrindavan and along with Balram, he took Krishna, Raman, Saradam.
So, both of them he took from Vrindavan to Mathura. At that time, the Vrajavasis, especially the gopis, felt intense, intolerable separation from Krishna. Such was the intensity of their separation that their only hope and purpose for living was that Krishna will come back.
And in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit, it is stated that Krishna, Radharani is praying to Krishna that what plight you have put us in by leaving us and still forcing us to keep living. If Krishna had left the gopis and had not promised them that he will return, then the gopis would have had no reason to keep living. But because Krishna stated that, he said, I will come back.
So, the gopis, although at one level their life had left their body, Krishna was their life and Krishna left Vrindavan, they had no reason to live without Krishna. But still the thought that Krishna will come back, that kept them alive. And the gopis kept living, not because they wanted to enjoy with Krishna.
Yes, naturally, Ramayana, Ramayana, Ramayati, Ramati, Ramayati, Krishna delights and he gives his devotees delight. So, the gopis mood was that if Krishna comes back to Vrindavan for us and if we are not there for him, then Krishna will be unhappy, Krishna will be sad, Krishna will feel agony and we can’t tolerate a thought of causing any kind of distress to Krishna. And so, the gopis did not give up their lives.
They kept living, hoping that, oh, when will Krishna come? When will Krishna come? When will Krishna come? And that hope which kept them living was unfortunately the cause of great suffering for them. Of course, within that suffering, there is ecstasy because remembrance of Krishna is the greatest ecstasy. So, whether that remembrance comes because of the joy of union or that remembrance comes because of the agony of separation, still, because there is remembrance of Krishna, there is supreme ecstasy.
But that ecstasy does not always manifest as smiles and laughs. It can manifest as tears and misery. It is still ecstasy because the devotees are intensely, transcendentally, purely absorbed in Krishna.
And the gopis had the greatest love for Krishna. So, they felt the greatest separation from him. And among the gopis, Radharani has the topmost love for Krishna and so she felt the topmost separation from Krishna.
Now, as the gopis felt separation from Krishna in great intensity, so this feeling of separation was like a fire that was burning them. And Radharani gives a very graphic metaphor to describe her situation. She says, suppose somebody is in a cage and that person is burning, the whole cage is burning.
So, this thought of killing by burning has become recently scarred in the public memory because of the way the ISIS did the execution of some of its hostages in a similar way by putting them in a burning cage. So, here Radharani is saying that suppose somebody is in a burning cage, that person will try desperately to come out of the cage and if that cage has a door, if someone locks it, then that locking means that person will have to burn and burn and burn. Now, so Radharani says that Krishna, by leaving us and going away, you have created within me the fire of the agony of separation from you.
And with this fire burning constantly within me, how can I endure? So, I am like the person who is trapped in the cage. And while I’m trapped in the cage, I’m burning and I could have escaped from this agony by just giving up my body. And then the agony would have ended.
Just like a person who is caught in a fire, in a burning case, that person can open the door, that person can come out and then be saved from the scorching fire. Similarly, Radharani is saying that I could have left my body and thus saved myself from the fire of the agony of separation from you. But your words that I will come back, they are like the latch to the cage.
Because of your promise that you will come back, I cannot leave my body because when you come back, you will look for me. You will want me to serve you. And if I’m not able to serve you, if I’m not there to serve you, that will cause you great distress.
And therefore, for serving you, I must stay alive. And therefore, I keep burning in the fire of separation from you. Such is the extraordinary ecstasy of Radharani’s love for Krishna that even in the agony of separation, even in that fire, her concern is not her own relief.
Her concern is Krishna’s pleasure and her willingness to accept whatever suffering is required, no matter how intense, how excruciating, how intolerable. Radharani is ready to endure that for the sake of pleasing Krishna sometime in the future. Such selflessness is actually the summit of selfless love.
And no wonder Radharani is the considered the topmost devotee. And by meditating on her exalted, unparalleled, inconceivable selflessness, we can gain inspiration to imbue our devotional practice with some more selflessness and thus move onwards towards Krishna in our life.