Bhakti Shastri (041) – The Nectar of Instruction Text 11

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Hare Krishna. Welcome back to the Nectar of Instruction.
Today we will be discussing the last verse, the eleventh verse, the ninth and tenth verse discussed, the topmost place and the topmost devotee. Now both these analysis are combined together to talk about both of them in offering their combined mercy through the service of Radha Kund. So let us look at this particular text.
So here we see, before we look at the text, let us look at the translation of the verse. So, Uccha means high. So Krishna Ucchai, a very high object of love for Krishna, Pranayavasati.
The object of Vasati is vast to reside. So Pranayavasati is where Krishna’s, where love resides, the object of love. Priyasi, Priyasi means lovers, Ebhyo means among them, Priyasi, Bhyopi Radha.
So among all of Krishna’s lovers, Radha is the highest, Uchchai pranayavasati, Kundam chaasya and her kunda, Munibhir abhitas, Munibhir abhitas. The Munis have stated, Munis feel in all respects, Tadruk eva, it says similarly, Vidhahai, so the Munis describe just as Radha is the topmost of the Gopis, similarly her kunda is the topmost among all places, Yat preshthai rapya alam asulabham, Yat preshthai, so preshthai, preshtha means dear, most advanced, those who are most dear to Krishna, those who are most advanced. So for even the most advanced devotees, api alam asulabham, it is difficult to obtain, kim punar bhakti bhajaam, so even for those who are advanced devotees, it is difficult to obtain this place and what to speak of those who are just engaging in devotional service.
Tat premedam, that prem, sakrut api saraha, that love of Godhead, saraha is the river, snathu, so one who bathes, snathu, snan, so one who bathes in the holy place, avishkaroti, it arouses, so by bathing in that holy place arouses premedam sakrut, that premedam arouses that love sakrut, even once bathing, so then look at the translation, of the many objects of favour, delight and of all the lovable damsels of Rajbhumi, Srimati Radharani is certainly the most treasured object of Krishna’s love and in every respect, her divine kunda is described by great sages as similarly dear to him, undoubtedly Radha kunda is very rarely attained even by the great devotees, therefore it is even more difficult for ordinary devotees to attain, if one simply bathes once within those holy waters, one’s pure love of Krishna is fully aroused, let’s look at the overview of the text, you will see that, what is the speciality of Radha kunda, so serving Radha kunda is the theme of this verse, it’s not just bathing in Radha kunda or living in Radha kunda, it is serving Radha kunda, so why Radha kunda, because it belongs to Radharani, who is the most beloved Gopi, and that place Radha kunda is as dear to Krishna as Radha himself and there are unlimited glories, the sacredness of it can scarcely be comprehended by us and it is very rare to attain, let’s look at these points one by one, the scriptures extol the glories of God and those associated with God, now when we hear those glories we sometimes may think that how do we make sense of this, that is through service, when we go to Radha kunda, it is not to just see with our eyes, in fact going to Holi is not for sightseeing purposes, it is for purifying, for the purposes of purification, when we purify ourselves in spiritual vision, we will awaken and then we will be able to see, we discussed in earlier class how text, scriptural description plus sensory perception, then it’s complemented with inner spiritual revelation, that helps us to see the Dham actually, so till that spiritual revelation happens, we go to Dham primarily for purification, so when we talk about Radha kunda, the attitude has to be of service, in the Bhakta Samvat Sindhu quotes a Puranic verse, it is said that, अतः श्री कृष्ण नाम आधी, नभवेद ग्रायं इन्द्रियई, सेवोन मुखे ही जिवः दव। स्वयमेवस्पुरत्यधा, अतः श्री कृष्ण नाम आधी, the name and other things of Krishna, नभवेद ग्रायं इन्द्रियई, that the gross senses cannot understand them, they are not perceivable to the gross senses, सेवोन मुखे ही जिवः दव। स्वयमेवस्पुरत्यधा, अतः श्री कृष्ण नाम आधी, नभवेद ग्रायं इन्द्रियई, the tongue, आदव, आदव is beginning with जिवः, and what do we do, सेवो उन मुख, so we are all currently विमुख, from Mukha is face, Vi is virudhya rupaya, so Krishna is there right next to us in the heart, but our heart, we are turned away, we have become vimukha from Krishna. So because we are seeing away from Krishna, we are seeing material things instead of spiritual, so right now we can’t perceive the spiritual even when it manifests in the material world. Our vision is glued, riveted, locked in the material.
So therefore we need to free it and the way to free it is by service, by rendering service to Krishna with our material senses, with our material mind and intelligence, with our material talents and trying to invest as much of our heart, our consciousness as possible in it, we become purified. So seva unmukha, so when Krishna sees that we are trying to turn towards him, then swayam eva, by his own free will, sphuratyadaha, he reveals himself to us, sphurati, sphurati means spontaneous remembrance. So Krishna gives a spontaneous remembrance to us by his own free will, when he sees that we are sincerely trying to serve him and then our consciousness becomes unglued, unriveted, unlocked from matter and then we are able to perceive spiritual reality.
So the service attitude is very important even when we go to Radha Kund, sometimes people think that just by going to a place like Radha Kund we become spiritually advanced and that’s why people sometimes are very eager to stay in Radha Kund and then they tell others that oh I am staying in Radha Kund, oh you are so advanced, you have left the world, you are staying in the most sacred place. So Bhaktsanshu Thakur did not entertain such pretentiousness, he said that for people who live in Radha Kund but who have not controlled their senses and especially if they are given to immoral activities at Radha Kund, then that same Radha Kund can become Narak Kund for them. So instead of taking them to Radharani, the immoral activities somebody does over there, that can have disastrous results, that can take one to Narak.
So generally sinful activities are bad but sinful activities performed at a holy place, they are even worse. And sinful activities performed at a holy place while one is pretending to be a holy person, they are the worst. Anybody performing sinful activities anywhere is bad.
So if somebody goes to a holy place and performs sinful activities that is much worse. But if somebody is externally acting as a very advanced devotee and at that time doing immoral activities in Radha Kund that is extremely grievously, monstrously sinful and the results of that will also be very grave. Of course as sadhakas we are not just paranoid about karmic reactions, our greater fear is that we don’t want to displease Krishna, we don’t want to displease our spiritual master in the Vaishnavas and Shila Prabhupada.
That’s why we avoid sinful activities. But we have to remember also that there are consequences for our actions. So Bhaktivedanta Sudhakar jolts us out of our devotional fantasy that just going to Radha Kund will be something wonderful.
Yes it can be but it has to be with proper consciousness otherwise improper consciousness can make Radha Kund into Narak Kund for us. So actually it is not something theoretical. It has unfortunately happened in our Sampradaya that there are people who somehow pervertedly claim that the past times of Radha and Krishna are not just to be contemplated and contemplated only in the most advanced stages of devotion.
They think that those past times are to actually be enacted. And who is going to enact it? We will enact it. So generally there are different approaches in spirituality.
So the Vedantic approaches, especially the Upanishadic approaches separate matter and spirit. This is matter, this is spirit. So reject matter and focus on spirit.
That focusses on meditation, contemplation, analysis and then discrimination and rejection of matter. So that is one way. Now the Bhakti way is to use matter for the service of spirit and therefore to utilise the spirit.
So in Bhakti we use various material things in the service of Krishna and by such service of Krishna we become purified, we become gradually elevated. While we are doing this there is a danger that not all matter can be used in Krishna’s service. Certain matter can entangle us and that is why we have to be cautious.
Very cautious. The point is Yukta Vairagya as Guru Swami says. That renunciation is important.
Only when we have some Vairagya then we can do Yukta. We can actually engage it in Krishna’s service. So that’s why although we say matter can be used in Krishna’s service but we still have regulative principles and certain forms of activities are to be given up because they will drag us down.
You won’t be able to do them and go to Krishna towards them. However there is apart from the Bhakti tradition there is another tradition which is Tantra tradition. This is the left hand Tantra.
So deity worship is called as right hand Tantra. Right hand Tantra is auspicious. Left hand Tantra is widely considered inauspicious.
David Devotion talks about it in the Bhagavad Gita. In the 16th chapter he talks about Ashuchi Vratha, unclean vows. So in this left hand Tantra now it is actually a huge deviation from whatever is there in the Vedic tradition.
And even the Vedic tradition what is given is for people who are very much in Tamoguna. Right hand Tantra is deity worship. Krishna manifests through matter and allows us to worship him and serve him.
So in left hand Tantra and similarly Krishna manifests also as the various avatars and he allows us to remember him and those who are there at that time to see him, to interact with him and that way we can turn towards him. So in left hand Tantra the idea is any matter can be used in Krishna’s service. And this is a very distorted understanding which has been thoroughly rejected by the Vaishnavacharyas.
The idea is that actually matter, everything that is there in this world is simply the dance of matter and spirit. So matter is considered to be Prakriti and spirit is Purusha and Purusha is considered to be Shiva and matter is considered to be Shakti. So the whole idea is that whole of creation is a dance of Shiva and Shakti and their idea is in Tantra it is a very distorted idea that by the union of Shiva and Shakti spiritual realisation comes about.
So these people have the idea that by engaging in sex, sex is basically they are convinced that Shiva and Shakti are entering into us and when we engage in this activity actually they are enjoying through us. Now our bodies are material, our bodies are filled with foul substances and this is a distorted idea. So people think, so they do sinful activities and then they say that this is actually religious and although this idea has been strongly rejected by Vaishnavacharyas, sometime in history this came into Vaishnavism also.
And some people started saying that when we perform, when we do Rasleela actually Krishna is entering into us and Radharani and Gopis are entering into these women and we are performing Vastans. So Prabhupada would say this is not Rasleela, this is Rascal Leela. So this is just very very degraded conception and now there is an understanding that for example when some generally there is some dramas, children perform the dramas.
So some small children will be dressed as Krishna, some will be dressed as Radharani and the Gopis and they perform Rasleela. And at that time when those children are devotionally trained and they are devotionally inclined, they are devotionally cultured, then during the time of the pastime those children are often treated like Radha and Krishna only. So the idea is at that time when the Rasleela is performed, Radha and Krishna, they are so happy to see this pastime happening that they themselves manifest and the people who watch this pastime they become transported to a higher level of reality by remembrance of Krishna through the watching of those pastimes.
So generally speaking in such pastimes there are only males, even the Gopis are played by small children. Sometimes if the children are not very small then sometimes the girls might be there. But the dancing is purely aesthetic and there is nothing more than that and there is nothing immoral or unholy that is ever allowed in such things.
So some devotees in the early days of ISKCON went to Vrindavan, saw this happening and they decided we will do this also. So initially Prabhupada was in San Francisco, then Los Angeles, one of those two places. So then and Prabhupada said we are going to do a drama tomorrow.
So two devotees had dressed as Radha and Krishna and when they had dressed as Radha and Krishna all the other devotees came and started offering obeisance and started doing aarti of them. And Prabhupada sat very quietly, did not speak anything but he watched the whole drama. Then the next day in the morning Bhavatam class Prabhupada said we should not do this.
This can take us in the wrong direction and we should not do this in ISKCON. So certain people may perform some aarti’s and things like that but we shouldn’t start worshipping those people. It is possible that Krishna manifests some amsha of his bhav so that the drama can happen effectively but Prabhupada said that this can take us in the wrong direction and we don’t want imitation of the exalted pastimes.
So our Acharyas have time and time again cautioned us against this. So Radha Kund has tremendous potency but it also requires tremendous purity. Otherwise if we go there with impure hearts we can be dragged down.
This has unfortunately happened many times and that’s why our Acharyas are very cautious that we have the proper consciousness when we go to Radha Kund. Actually Prabhupada even went to one extreme of saying don’t bathe in Radha Kund if you want to be so frivolous. So Prabhupada was so cautious that even in moral activities, even just casual swimming and tossing of water and playing in the water of Radha Kund, Prabhupada felt it was inappropriate.
So of course Prabhupada did not want an all time ban on bathing in Radha Kund. Actually Prabhupada’s words have authority in a hierarchy. So in the front matter of Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda V Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda Veda V Lectures are also contextual.
Now purports are among these the most universal. And Srila Prabhupada considered his purports the most important contribution, legacy that he was leaving for posterity. So now when we look at this hierarchy, Srila Prabhupada in one conversation told devotees, don’t bend Radha.
But he has told repeatedly in purports like this, and it is mentioned by Shastra and sadhus, the glory of Radha-Kunda. So it is not that we have to take that one statement out of context and absolutise a ban for a scorned devotee in bathing in Radha-Kunda. By the same time, we have to take that one statement seriously and understand that we can’t be casual, we can’t be frivolous about that which is precious, an opportunity to actually bathe in Radha-Kunda.
So now it is said here that even by one’s bathing one will gain love of Krishna. So you may say, I have gone and bathed over there, I’ll go and bathe over there. Will none of that itself give us love of Krishna? You have to understand that in scriptures, whenever anything is spoken, there is value to it, there is potency to it.
At the same time, in real life, it is not one principle alone that applies. There are multiple principles that come together. This happens even in law.
You know, for example, if one person kills another person, that is considered to be murder. But if one person kills another person and that happens to be in a war and that other person is the enemy soldier, then this person may get an award for doing that. Or if one person kills another person and then the person who is killing happens to be a thief and the person who is in the house is trying to protect the house, it’s a different situation.
Or if the person who is killed is a person who is trying to molest a woman and the person who kills the woman in defence of her chastity, then that is also a very different situation. So there is one rule, that one principle, that if you kill, they have to be punished. But then there can be so many other circumstances which also have to be taken into consideration.
So in real life, it is very rare that one law, which is made in the law course, will map into reality as it is. So the mapping of law onto reality involves taking into account the circumstances and those circumstances bring into picture other factors. There will be other laws also.
Similarly, the scriptural statements are true. The law is true. But now just because A kills B, then B should be hanged.
Say A kills B, then A should be hanged. That’s the law, say. Then, but still not every time in the court, A will be hanged for that because there are other factors which the court will take into consideration.
So similarly, the scriptures give us promises. The scriptures talk about the glories of certain holy places. And those holy places, those glories are definitely there.
The potency is there, but along with there are other factors. So now, why is it that Rupa Goswami here is talking about this bathing in Radha-Kund only in the eleventh verse? If just by bathing in Radha-Kund one can develop love for Krishna, then he doesn’t have to write the full Upadishamrut at all. He can just write one statement, go and bathe in Radha-Kund.
And then he can repeat it in eleven verses, go and bathe in Radha-Kund, go and bathe in Radha-Kund, go and bathe in Radha-Kund. He doesn’t do that. He gives a whole series of texts, each filled with very profound wisdom.
And though that series of texts is actually helping us move forward progressively, one by one by one by one, and to come to the understanding of what Radha-Kund is. So through all those verses, we become purified. By applying that instruction, the Upadesh given in the Upadeshamrut’s previous verses, we become purified.
And after we are purified, we are devotionally prepared in our consciousness, then when we bathe in Radha-Kund, then we become stimulated, energised, electrified with love for Krishna. As the verse says. So there is a process that has to be followed.
So Rupa Goswami doesn’t just put this at one place, arbitrarily, it is at the climax of the whole book. So that means, yes, Radha-Kund has the potency, but at the same time, there are other principles which also apply. And when we understand those principles, and apply those principles, then we can actually get the full benefit.
So therefore, these promises are not exaggerations. At the same time, we cannot use those promises as bargaining chips to demand from Krishna. Say, I have made it, now I must get love for what? No, that demanding attitude is antithetical to devotion.
In fact, it will bury our devotion in the graveyard, if we have the demanding attitude. So, you have to have a submissive, in fact, begging attitude. And that begging attitude, coupled with a systematic process of purification, will eventually enable us to relish the glories of the Radha-Kund.
And by bathing there in this devotional attitude, we will awaken love of God, love for Krishna, as I described. So now, let’s move forward and discuss about the aspect of Madhurya Bhakti, in terms of what it is. So, we said that Radha-Kund is so exalted.
Now, why is it so exalted? Because Radharani is so exalted. Now, why is Radharani so exalted? Because she has the highest love for Krishna. And now, what exactly is the nature of the love of Radharani and Krishna? And how is that love different from the, entirely different from the immorality that goes on in male-female relationships in this world? There is atlavirili sensuality, and sometimes there is even immorality that goes on.
So, what is that exactly? How do we understand it? So, first and foremost, like we discussed in the earlier class, now, we have to learn through spiritual vision, based on scriptural understanding, that we shouldn’t see Radharani and Krishna just as males and females. We should see them as devotees and the Lord. When we see them with this vision, then we focus on the devotional interactions, not on the, not on what we may easily mistake to be sensual.
So, whatever is present in this world is in its original and pure form present in the spiritual world. Of course, there are many, as I said, the original and pure is present in the spiritual world. So, there will be much in this world, which will be distorted, which will be perverted and that is not present in the spiritual world.
So, what is present in the spiritual world is pure and it is transcendental, but at the same time it is present. now, what do we mean by this? That the Bhagavad Gita says this material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. So, throughout the various spiritual traditions of the world, various great religions of the world, it’s told that the male-female interaction is potentially dangerous, and one has to be careful.
Otherwise, this attraction can drag one away from the spiritual path. And at the same time, the world’s other religious traditions do not give any explanation of where this male-female attraction comes from. Why is it there here in this world? That is unfortunately not explained.
So, because of that, it just says this is a temptation and you have to keep it under regulation through marriage and beyond that nothing more. And that’s all that there is. So, it’s like a fiat.
You have to follow this, but there is no philosophical, logical explanation of why this is present at all. So, only in the Vedic tradition, the spiritual reality is revealed in its extraordinary splendour and flavour. So, in that splendour and flavour of the spiritual reality, it is explained that the relationships that we have in the world are present in their original and pure form.
So, God manifests in a male form as Krishna, and actually Radharani is God himself manifesting in a female form. Radha, Krishna, Eka Atma, Doi, Deha, Dhaari. Radha and Krishna are one person.
Doi, Deha, Dhaari. They manifest as two. Anyonya Vilasakauri.
For what purpose? For the purpose of reciprocating love. Anyonya Vilasakauri. So, when they reciprocate love like this, what is the purpose of reciprocating love? It is vilas.
They get great joy, supreme joy. So, why does Krishna manifest one as two? Because through that he reciprocates love. And the love that he reciprocates is not because of a sense of incompleteness.
In this world, a man feels incomplete without a woman, a woman feels incomplete without a man. Of course, when here in this world, when two incompletes come together, they don’t become complete, they become incomplete squared. Why? Because, you know, they are themselves small parts.
They have to unite with the supreme whole, that is Krishna, so that then they’ll become complete. But that doesn’t happen. Of course, if the complete is in this whole in the centre, then things are much better.
But still, that is not the relationship that is here, is lasting, that is eternal. So we want a relationship with Krishna. So that’s what will satisfy the heart completely.
And to get to that relationship, we need to have proper philosophical and scriptural understanding. So, scriptures describe that Krishna, when he forms relationship, it is not because of any sense of incompleteness. It is because he wants to share his completeness.
He wants to share his completeness. Just as a person who is filled with happiness may want to go and do something not in order to become happy, but to share that happiness, to delight in that happiness. So, this raises a fundamental question, why does God do anything at all? Now, if God is perfect and complete, as we discussed in Ishopanishad, then why does God have to do anything? So that’s why in the western tradition there were theologians, like many Greek philosophers, they had their own theology, conception of God and they said their idea was that God should be like a frozen perfection.
Frozen perfection means that when somebody is making a painting so at that time, slowly as the painting is being made, the image comes up and as the painting comes closer and closer to its perfection, to its zenith, then the painting becomes more and more beautiful. But at a particular point, the painting becomes excellent. Now, one dab less and the painting is not so good.
And one dab more and again the painting is not so good. And the painting has to be stopped at a particular point. And when the painting is frozen at that point, then the painting is perfect.
So their idea was if God is perfect, then if he does anything, then why would he want to do anything? Because we do something because we want something. So then God, if he does something, then he will become imperfect. But God is not imperfect.
God is perfect. So therefore he will not do anything because he doesn’t need to do anything. And if he does something, that doing something will make him imperfect.
Therefore, the idea is God will not do anything. And therefore, God has to be like a frozen perfection. A frozen perfection means that God is just perfect, eternally perfect, and he doesn’t do anything.
Now, such a conception of perfection may be theoretically correct, but it is practically unsound and it is actually emotionally unappealing. You know, God who forever stands in a perfect pose and that’s all he does. How attractive will it be to live eternally with such a God? Yes, God is all attractive and we can live eternally with him like that also.
But what about God’s perspective? Is God meant to do nothing but stand in a perfect pose for all of eternity? No, the Vedic scriptures actually understand that actually the perfection of God is in some entirely different sense. It is the perfection of love. And love by itself involves reciprocation.
And there is dynamism in love. We do something for the beloved, the beloved does something for us. And in that reciprocation, there is joy.
And the perfection of love is when everything else freezes. So that love can go on. Just like sometimes in the movies they show when a boy looks at a girl and a girl looks at a boy and they say love at first sight.
And what happens? They are looking at each other and they forget the whole world. They get lost in each other’s eyes. So, of course, this is at a material level.
It’s fanciful. But the point is we understand what is love. When there is love, then everything else freezes.
That is the perfection of love. In fact, the perfection of love is even greater. Not only does everything else freeze but the perfection of love will be when everything else contributes to the intensification of the love.
Everything else contributes to the heightening, the sweetening, to the deepening of the love. And that is what happens in the spiritual world, in Krishna’s abode. And everything in Goloka Vrindavan contributes to Krishna’s all-attractiveness.
Not just Krishna’s all-attractiveness but Krishna’s all-loving nature. Not just his all-loving nature to his all-loving pastimes. So everything that Krishna does, everything that happens, everything that everyone does, that is all meant to add to the intensity of the love of Krishna and his devotees.
So when Krishna acts, it is not because of any incompleteness. It is to share and relish the completeness of love. So that is the meaning of the word Leela.
Leela means that Krishna performs pastimes for the sake of Leela, some propa translates as pastime, some people start to translate as play, some call it love play. But the point is Leela means it’s entirely voluntary and it’s performed for the sake of joy. So Ramanujacharya gives the example in his Sri Bhashya, this commentary in the Vedanta Sutra, that why will the absolute truth have to act at all? So he says the reason why the absolute truth acts, does any actions, is that this sort of actions are a recreation.
So they are like a person who has his job, he works, and then after that he comes back, he may do some Krida, he may do some play. That is a Leela. That a person is not obliged to do that play, but it plays for the sake of enjoyment.
So when Krishna, when the Supreme Lord performs pastimes, that is a Leela, that Krida is done voluntarily, there is no obligation. When the scripture says, that there is nothing to be done by the absolute truth, that means it’s all done for the sake of love. So when we look further and deeper into Samyagaji, Baldevidya Bhushan in Govinda Bhashya says, actually this example is good, but it is not perfect.
Because even when a person plays, that play is done for some purpose, that is to enjoy. So the play is done, okay, now I have done my work and now I come back and enjoy. I want to do something that I will enjoy.
So then the person starts playing. So playing is done to enjoy, but the absolute truth is himself filled with joy. He doesn’t have to do anything to get enjoyment, like a person plays to get enjoyment.
So he says a better example is dancing. You know, a person is over flooded with happiness and when the person is over flooded with happiness, that person just stands up, jumps and starts dancing. Now dancing is not for the purpose of happiness, dancing is the result of happiness.
So similarly in the case of the absolute truth, the Leela that is performed is not for the purpose of happiness. It is the result of happiness. So Krishna is filled with so much love, so much joy, Atma Aram.
He is self-satisfied. But that joy wants to overflow, just like when a person is happy, the person is happy already, but wants to express that happiness. So when Krishna performs pastimes, it is not out of any incompleteness.
It is not to relish incompleteness. It is not to gain some completeness, to move from incomplete to complete, but it is to relish the completeness. By sharing that completeness.
So that same absolute truth Krishna manifests as Radharani. And Krishna and Radharani together they are God in male form and God in female form and they perform pastimes. So it is Krishna relishing with his own expansion.
And actually the Gopis, various Gopis are called as the expansion of Krishna. They are called as Parakaya Vyuha. Parakaya Vyuha means that they are the expansions in separate forms of Radharani.
So they are expansions of Radharani, who is an expansion of Krishna. Of course, there is a difference in tattva, but still the point is that they are all ultimately meant for Krishna’s pastimes and they reciprocate love with Krishna and they delight in that. So this has got nothing to do with the body-based, materially motivated worldly love that we see in this at the sensual level here.
It is simply the absolute truth relishing at a transcendental level. And when the absolute truth relishes in this way, the important point is that the absolute truth is simply acting out of selfless love. The absolute truth doesn’t need anything from anyone.
Although in the spiritual realm there is yoga maya. And that yoga maya makes things happen in such a way that everything seems to be the sweetness of love being reciprocated and for that sake whatever is required is done. So Krishna can forget his divinity for the sake of love.
And the gopis can forget that Krishna is God for the sake of love. And in this way there can be a systematic reciprocation of love. So now to heighten this love further, there is further excitement.
So when I said Krishna and gopis can forget Krishna’s divinity, that means that the gopis, when yesterday we discussed how they saw Vishnu, they think Vishnu is God. Earlier we discussed that they offered obeisance and they asked where is Krishna because they think Krishna not as God. They think of Krishna as our beloved.
We want to love him. We want to serve him. We want to be with him.
That is their longing. So when they act in this way they are aware of Krishna’s godhood but that awareness has gone to the background of their consciousness. And the foreground of their consciousness is simply the intense immense intolerable longing to be with Krishna.
And this is the perfection of love. As I said the perfection of love is when everything else that will detract from the love is forgotten. So in the case of Krishna everything else including his godhood is forgotten so that the love can be intensified.
And that love reaches its climax and then it climaxes further and it climaxes further and it goes on for all of eternity. And Krishna and Radharani of course along with all the gopis perform pastimes so their their love is entirely pure, entirely spiritual, entirely selfless. And it is the most cherished aspiration for us sadhakas.
Whatever we are attracted to in this world those emotions are shadow and shallow as compared to the vibrant potent originals of which these are just sparks. So the Vedic scriptures help us understand that when we have male-female attraction here this male-female attraction has to be given up because this is a reflection and there is a reality. You know, when I see a good-looking mango and somebody says don’t eat it.
Why? You know, I may protest this mango. Let me eat it. No, don’t eat it.
Then if I’m just told don’t eat it then all that will happen. I’ll think the person who’s telling me don’t eat it. That person will kill you.
That person will spoil. What is this nice mango? Eat it and enjoy man. What is this? But if somebody explains to me actually here there is a river and what you are seeing actually is not a mango.
It’s a reflection. And you look up from there you see there is a land over there. On that there is a tree and on that tree there are branches and you see there, there is the real mango.
You can relish that mango. If you go after this, you’ll simply break your head. You’ll never get the mango.
But you go up, climb up that tree, release that mango and you eat that. You’ll enjoy. Make sense? Yes.
Then I will agree. Okay. I don’t want this mango.
I want that. So like that if people just tell us well, I have a male form. Someone else has a female form.
You know, I like that person. You like that person likes me. Enjoy.
What’s wrong? No, you’re not meant to enjoy. It’s fine. It’s a spoil sport.
But no. We can have male-female relationship within a sacred limits of dharma, but this is not the real mango. Actually, the male-female attraction in this world is a reflection of the original male-female attraction that is there in Krishna’s spiritual world and that is not actually just a male-female attraction.
That is a devotee-lord interaction and the devotee-lord attraction is manifested in its highest expression in the lord manifesting in a male form and the devotee manifesting in a female form. But it is essentially spiritual and that why that potent love is what is the real mango and what we are meant to aspire for. So when the scriptures when they reveal to us the reality and then she told us this is the reflection.
Then you can give up the reflection and move towards the reality. So it is this reality that she Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to give us and because Radharani’s love for Krishna is supremely exalted that’s why it is considered to be the highest. Now within the various Madhuri Rasa’s that are there now there is the love of Lakshmi Devi for Narayan.
There is a love of Sita for Lord Ram. There is a love of Rukmini Devi for Dwarkadhish. Among all these forms of conjugal love the love of Radharani for Krishna is considered the highest.
Now all of these are supreme but the love of Radharani for Krishna is highest because it is not Svakiya it is Parakiya. So Svakiya means one’s own. So in the other relationships the two are married to each other because they’re married to each other it is there is a right there is possession over there and therefore it becomes Svakiya.
Now Parakiya means that actually for the sake of intensification of love everything else is put aside everything else is for is subordinated. So and whatever will intensify the love is provided. So now the love becomes more exciting more fascinating more captivating when there are obstacles in the love.
So imagine that there are the man and woman who are married to each other but then they play they participate in a drama and in that drama they are not spouses they are paramours. So in reality they are spouses but within the drama they are paramours. So their relationship within the drama is seems to be is illicit.
So actually the relationship of Radha and Krishna is like that. Now they are eternally as I said earlier, they are the same lord and one lord is manifested as two. So they eternally belong to each other.
So there is there is in that sense nothing immoral in their relationship. But in Goloka Vrindavan for the sake of intensification of Leela what is done is they act as paramours. So Radha and Krishna it appears as if they are not united by wedlock.
Their relationship is outside of wedlock. And by that it appears as if it is immoral. But this is done just for the sake of drama.
And what is the purpose of the drama? That heightens the excitement. That intensifies the love. So the idea is the Vedic scriptures tell us that for the sake of love and for the sake of God everything should be given up.
For the sake of God everything should be given up. So now we will understand at an intuitive level at a logical level that we should give up sin for the sake of God. So yes, we follow the regular principles and all the religions have some rules and regulations which forbid sinful activities at some level.
So giving up the bad for the sake of God is good. It is essential. But actually we have to give up not only the bad but also the good.
For the sake of God. Then that demonstrates the purity of our love for God. So first we give up the bad and then we become good for the sake of God.
But then for the sake of God we give up the good also. Now when we give up the good for the sake of God that doesn’t mean we descend down to bad. No, that means we rise above the good to the level of the godly.
How does that happen? That happens when the devotee transcends morality for the sake of devotion. So Krishna tells this when he says in the Bhagavad Gita He says give up everything for my sake. Give up everything for my sake.
So even give up dharma that means give up the good for my sake also. So giving up the good for my sake means that even if morality is there for my sake you should give up the morality. So the Gopis Radharani and other Gopis when it appears as if they’re married to someone else but they act as if they act out of the love for Krishna, then this whole setting demonstrates sarva-dharman parityajya It demonstrates how they’re ready to give up everything for the sake of Krishna and if for a woman her chastity is considered the most prized thing but then the Gopis demonstrate that they’re ready to give that up.
Actually, they don’t give that up. They are supremely chaste to Krishna But within this world when they give it up they demonstrate sarva-dharman parityajya So when they give up dharma, they don’t become adharmi. They give up lower dharma for the sake of higher dharma So this is the demonstration of the purity of their love that they’re ready to give up everything even dharma for the sake of Krishna And in this way they demonstrate their supreme love they’re ready to give up everything for Krishna So this setting of parakheeras demonstrates the supremacy of love It demonstrates how in the spiritual world love reigns supreme Krishna conceals his divinity And the Gopis sacrifice their chastity And all this is so that love can reign supreme Love can reign supreme.
That is the spiritual world And it is this supreme love of Radha and Krishna which is demonstrated in many intimate pastimes in Vrindavan and especially in Radha Kunda So the obstacles to love in the spiritual world are not for the sake of are not because there are any anti-devotional forces or factors in the spiritual world Everything there is meant to intensify the love and even the obstacles are meant to intensify the love It’s like an elephant is very strong It has huge strength But when the elephant is shackled by strong shackles and the elephant is very attracted to something and wants to go there Then the elephant wants to go and is shackled so at that time the elephant pulls pulls pulls and then the elephant pulls then the elephant There is internal realisation and external expression of the strength The strength is there in the elephant But there is internal realisation When there are obstacles and the elephant is shackled say is tied by very strong ropes or strong chains to a big tree And the elephant pulls with all its strength So the elephant normally if they are shackled says, oh, I can’t go there But when it gets some very good looking very good looking food or something very attractive and wants to go there Then it pulls And then finally the whole tree starts shaking Then I’m so strong that I can shake this tree So there’s internal realisation of the strength And then there is also external expression people also the elephant is so strong you can shake them uproot the tree also so similarly The love of the gopis for krishna Is unparalleled it is immense But when there are external obstacles when there are obstacles that love Then there is the internal realisation of that love And there is external expression of that love they understand all this love is so great That we are ready to give up everything for krishna’s sake And the world sees how selfless the love of the gopis is so It is this love that is The sacred gift that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has brought for the world and actually Prabhupada Has given us Through the krishna consciousness movement and Rupi Goswami is pointing us to that love So it is that which we aspire for And by living according to abhishamrut and bathing in Radha kund in this consciousness We can attain that love Let us look at the remaining purport So Bhaktivinoda Thakur therefore writes so we discuss some of the unlimited glories And we say Radha kund can be rarely attained. That means that it has to be attained in the proper consciousness And that consciousness takes efforts to attain then Who can serve in Radha kund? Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes that those interested in advanced devotional service And they had fallen in the wake of sakhis and manjaris. These are all devotees who have exalted level of selfless love for krishna as we discussed and This love of Radha Krishna is so exalted.
It’s very difficult to understand But we can understand it when we are under the protection of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu He through Rupa Goswami and through the parampara Has given us a pathway to understand this And most importantly they should be eager to go back to Goddess. If somebody is happy just eating the reflected mango Then that person will not be looking at the other mango only real mango And then similar this is a theme which has been talked about again and again by Raja. So what is Bhaktivinoda Thakur write? He says That Radha kund is so great that what to speak of ordinary devotees even great devotees like Narada and Sanaka They find it difficult to attain Radha kund So only the greatly fortunate can attain it And this attainment as we just said is actually spiritual so How should we serve Radha kund by bathing as many times as possible And it is the most important form of devotional service.
In bhakti there can be many most important also. There are many perfects So as many times as possible means if you get an opportunity to go to Radha kund we can and bathe But the important thing is we also have to live our rest of the rest of our life so that we cultivate the right mode By which we can bathe and benefit from them And that’s what Prabhupada talks about. We have to give up material conceptions Part of the material conception not just I am the body but also to think that Radha and Krishna their pastime is a material That is also material conception residing We serve under serving means in loving service of the lord.
So now When we are in the Krishna conscious moment, we are also serving the spiritual master And we are serving the guru parampara and that way we are preparing our consciousness to eventually Become purified and return to the spiritual world That is the result that is about the result that you will get is pure love of Krishna In the wake of the gopis just as they were selfless. We will attain selfless love And we can get that by bathing just once if we do the bathing in proper consciousness And by thus imbibing Updesha Amrit We will eventually go back to godhead and we’ll return to the shelter of Srimati Radharani And we’ll serve under her supervision To be eternally happy in love with Krishna Thank you very much