Does ISKCON have a phobia for the tenth canto? (Bhagavatam 10.47.28)
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Namaskritya Naramchaya Narottamam Devim Saraswatim Vyasa Tatojaya Budhiraye Nashtaprayeshu Bhadreshu Nityambhagvata Sevaya Bhagavateeruttama Shloke Bhaktirbhavati Naishtiki Krishnaya Vasudevaya Devaki Nandanayacha Nanda Gopakumaraya Govindayana Monamaha Prantharaj Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 47, Verse 28 Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Shriyatam Priya Sandesho Bhavati Naam Sukhavaha Yamadaya Gato Bhadra Aham Bharto Rahaskaraha Word to word translation Shriyatam Please hear Priya Of your beloved Sandesho The message Bhavati Naam For you Sukha Happiness Avaha Caring Yam Which Adaya Carrying Agataha Have come Bhadra Good ladies Aham I Bharto Of my master Rahaha Of confidential duties Rahaha The executor Translation in purport By the followers of Shilpa Prabhupada Translation My good ladies Please hear your beloved's message Which I The confidential servant of my master Have come here To bring you This verse has no purport So, we go to the 29th verse Shri Bhagavan uvacha Bhavati Naam yoga me Sarvaatma naakvachit Yatha bhutani bhuteshu Khamvayo agnirjalam mahi Tatha ham jamanah prana Bhutendriya gunashrayaha Translation The supreme lord said You are never actually separated from me For I am the soul of all creation Just as the elements of nature Ether, air, fire, water and earth Are present in every created thing So, I am present within everyone's mind Life air and senses And also within the physical elements And the modes of material nature Purport According to Shri Jiva Goswami And Shri Vishwanath Chakravarti The apparently philosophical language Of the lord's statement Conceals a deeper meaning The supreme lord was secretly Telling the gopis that he By way of reciprocating Their special love for him Was present with them Not only as the soul of all creation But also as their special lover Prana indicates the gopis Special divine qualities Which attracted Shri Krishna And the word sarvatmana Which we have here translated In reference to lord Krishna himself Corresponding to the word me Which is also in the instrumental case Is also understood in the sense of Sarvata or completely In other words, although in one sense Lord Krishna was absent He could never be completely absent Since in his spiritual form He is always in the hearts Of the supreme personality of Godhead In other books Shri Prabhupada Has elaborately explained That the reason lord Krishna Separated himself from the gopis Was to intensify their love for him And as Uddhava noted To bless other devotees By revealing to them The intensity of the gopis' love In fact, the lord was spiritually Present with the gopis Since they are his eternal associates Shri Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur Further points out that foolish persons Using philosophical language Meant that the lord was trying To bring the gopis to the point of liberation By explaining basic points Of Krishna conscious philosophy In truth, the gopis are the most Exalted liberated souls And their pastimes with Shri Krishna Must be understood with the help Of authorized acharyas When the gopis came for the rasa dance Shri Krishna tried to preach Karma yoga to them Emphasizing ordinary ethics and morality But the gopis were beyond that Shri Krishna now offers them Gyana yoga or metaphysical philosophy But this is also inadequate For the gopis Who have achieved spontaneous And alloyed love for Shri Krishna Vandeham Shri Guru Shriyuta Padakamalam Shri Gurun Vaishnavamsha Shri Roopam Saagrajaatam Sahagana Raghunatham Vittamtam Sajeevam Saadvaitam Saavadhutam Parijana Sahitam Krishna Chaitanya Devam Shri Radha Krishna Padaan Sahagana Lalita Shri Vishakhaan Vittamsha Namao Vishnu Padaaya Krishna Prishtaya Bhutale Srimate Bhaktivedanta Swami Itinamine Namaste Saraswati Deve Gauravani Pracharine Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Ashyanti Deshitarine Vanchakal Patarubhascha Kripasindhubhyaevacha Atikanaam Paavanebhyo Vaishnavibhyo Namo Namaha Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nithyananda Shri Advaita Gadadhar Shri Vasanthi Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna So today morning, we are discussing from one of the most esoteric sections of the Srimad Bhagavatam from its 10th canto. So this is the song of the bees, the Bhramar Gita from the 47th chapter of the 10th canto. The Srimad Bhagavatam has 335 chapters in total its 12 cantos among which the Madhurya Rasa the highest revelation of the Srimad Bhagavatam is talked about primarily in only 7 chapters.
It's from 29 to 33 of the 10th canto which is the Rasa Panchadhyay in the 47th chapter which is the Bhramar Gita and then the 65th chapter of the 10th canto which is Balramji's visit to Vrindavan. So, of course, other places also there are references to the Madhurya Rasa. The first reference in the 10th canto comes in the 19th chapter where the Gopis are remembering Krishna when he is in the forest and they are meditating on how everybody has the opportunity to serve him but we do not have that opportunity.
Thinking that Krishna is in the forest and in the forest the sun is serving him by his warmth and when the warmth becomes beyond comfort then the cloud springs into service and the cloud comes in and then offers a very cooling, soothing shade to Krishna. And then when the shade becomes slightly, when the cold becomes a little uncomfortable then the sun again takes over and evaporates the cloud and again the sun starts giving it. So like this, everybody is serving Krishna but we do not have the opportunity to serve Krishna.
So, now here Krishna has departed from Vrindavan and after he leaves Vrindavan his heart is still in Vrindavan and he longs to return. Shri Jiva Goswami in Gopal Champu describes how Krishna is torn between the call of duty and the call of love. The call of duty requires him to be in Mathura because Kamsa had formed alliances with many of the demoniac kings all over the world and his death at the hands of Krishna would surely be avenged by his allies.
And if Krishna was not there to protect the Mathura Vasis then they would wreak vengeance on the Mathura Vasis and that was actually the external reason why Krishna stayed on in Mathura. The internal reason was that Krishna did not want any more that the sweetness of Vraja be disturbed by the attack of any demons and although many demons came to Vraja before Krishna killed Kamsa but all those demons came individually on an individual mission. One demon came alone and the mission was to kill Krishna but if now the kings would come and the kings knowing Krishna's prowess would not come alone.
They would bring their huge armies and we know how Jarasandha brought huge armies seventeen times to attack Krishna and to destroy the Vraja Vasis. So Krishna did not want the sweetness of Vraja to be disturbed by such invasions and that's why putting a stone on his heart he told Nanda Maharaj that my elders here in Mathura are asking me do not go back please stay here and protect us. He said I will kill the demons and then I will come back and Nanda Maharaj practically swooned fell unconscious unable to tolerate the thought of separation from Krishna and Krishna gave mementos for everyone.
He said how will Yashoda live without you and then Krishna gave parts of his own dress which Yashoda Mai had stitched for him and he said this dress will carry the fragrance of my body and let this be the remembrance for Yashoda Mai and then Nanda Maharaj said but how will the Gopas live in separation how will the cows live in separation from you so Krishna told that Subala looks very similar to me and I will give him all my dress and because he looks similar to me and because my dress will have my fragrance the cows will think that I am still there and that way they will be pacified and he gave mementos for all his loved associates but he could not give any mementos for the Gopis because Krishna's relationship with the Gopis was not official he had not married the Gopis so he could not very well give any token to them and of course in Vrindavan just before Krishna departed he said so when Krishna was about to depart at that time the Gopis they became agitated intolerably agitated by the prospect of separation from Krishna so till then all the rendezvous meetings with the Gopis were secret they would meet in private in the forests or at various occasions but not publicly but here when the Gopis saw that Krishna is about to depart and thinking that we will never get to see him so Visrujya Lajja the word Lajja here doesn't exactly mean shame it means modesty because men and women don't exhibit their attraction to each other even when they are married publicly what to speak of if they are not yet married so therefore Visrujya Lajja but here the Gopis they although they never publicly exhibited their attraction here they Visrujya what is the use of modesty if the very basis of our life is lost from us therefore Visrujya Lajja they put aside and Rudus crying they called out to Krishna and Krishna seeing their agony promised that I will soon come back so he has promised this and then he has departed so the 39th chapter is the last chapter of Krishna in Vrindavan the 40th chapter is Uddhava's prayers when he sees Krishna's Vishwaroop in Yamuna that marks the transition and now we are here in the 47th chapter so in between what all has happened since Krishna departed Krishna has not only Krishna departed after the return news came that Krishna will come later so now often we know that when people say later it means never tomorrow has no end so the Gopis were agonized will Krishna never come back so Krishna was in Mathura and from there the Vrajavasis the Mathuravasis told him that now it is our responsibility you are our son so we should get you initiated we should get you educated now of course Krishna is supremely educated but as a matter of duty Krishna went from Mathura to Avantipur what is modern day Ujjain and the Vrajavasis had no news where is Krishna Krishna seems to have disappeared and when Krishna returned at that time his heart was eager to go to Vraja so when his initiation ceremony happened at that time Krishna wanted the Vrajavasis also to come but the Mathuravasis were always fearful even when Krishna is not seeing the Vrajavasis he is so attached to them if he sees them he will leave us and go away so therefore they told him please don't call the Vrajavasis and then Krishna consulted Balramji and he said you know I cannot live any longer in separation so please maybe one day I will just secretly slip away from here and you act as a cover for me you tell me that I am with you and I will just go so Balramji said let us talk with Rohini about this now actually among the various associates of Krishna apart from Balramji the only associate who is in both Vrindavan and Mathura Dwarka pastimes is Rohini so Rohini says I have also thought about this I have seen how much you are afflicted in separation from Krishna from Vrajavasis but the Mathuravasis are constantly keeping watch on you and you can slip away from their watch but it is not good for you to disobey your elders your father your mother so then Krishna decided to send Uddhava and when Uddhava comes the previous chapter describes how he pacified the elders especially in the Maharaja Yashoda Mai and in this chapter it is described how he meets with the Gopis now interestingly this chapter has two distinct parts the first part is the prayer the intoxication of love that characterizes Radharani wherein she sees Uddhava and her heart is torn on one side she is eager what is the message that Krishna has sent on the other hand she thinks Krishna has disappointed us he has devastated us again if I hear his message our hopes will be raised and again those hopes may be crashed so better I don't want to hear the message at all and she expresses the agony of her heart by considering a honey bee as a messenger of Krishna now the Acharya described that actually that is just that can be either a random honey bee who is just flying around and Radharani thinks that this is a messenger of Krishna the other is that actually that honey bee has come from Mathura and third is that Krishna himself has come in the form of the honey bee and Radharani speaks this and her heart is expressed and after that Uddhava is stunned to see the exaltedness of the love of Radharani and now he is about to speak so now the whole purpose of Uddhava's visit is to give this message to Radharani to Gopis and Rajivasis but it's again interesting that this chapter is not titled as Krishna's message to the Gopis it is titled as the Brahma Raghita the song of the bee so the chapter has these two parts the song of the bee part is the Brahma Raghita is over already now the part about Krishna's message is coming so both these parts are important but in terms of the Bhagavatam's mood the Bhagavatam's mood is that the Bhagavata conquers the heart of Bhagavan and that's why the Bhagavata is actually higher than Bhagavan and that's why we will see for example the seventh canto in terms of drama dramatic entry and action it is Narasimha who is most prominent he appears in the eighth chapter and he delivers Hiranyakashipu now delivers is a delicious euphemism for killing so euphemism means to speak something which is unpalatable in a relatively softer way so delicious sorry deliver the delicious euphemism for kill so he kills him in the eighth chapter in the ninth chapter there are the prayers that are offered in the tenth chapter Narasimha Dev responds and he departs so Narasimha Dev is there only for three chapters but Prahlad is there right from the first chapter till the not just the tenth chapter he reappears in the eighth canto also in the chapter 24 when he offers prayers to Vamanadev so to forgive Bali Maharaj so the point is that in terms of overall narrative it is Prahlad who steals the show who is the hero similarly here in the Bhagavatam tenth canto it is the Gopis and it is Radharani who is the centerpiece and that is why the chapter is entitled not as Uddhava Sandesh although that can also be a title it is entitled primarily as Brahmara Gita so now the Brahmara Gita is over and Krishna is about Krishna's message is about to be delivered by Uddhava so Uddhava speaks Shruyatam Priya Sandesh Shruyatam so Shravan is to hear Shruyatam Shruyatam means please hear Priya Sandesh the message of your beloved please hear this Bhavati Nam so in Sanskrit unlike in English there are variants for expressing degrees of respect in second verse so for example if I want to express in second person I will say he now in the past in English sometimes people would use they to refer to somebody respectable so for example if you if there is some emperor the emperor is referring to himself so actually singular should be man but there is that element of respect so when one uses plural to use singular but that's because it's a limitation of the language actually it's there in English so he is there but in Sanskrit there is for the second person Tvam and Bhavan so Tvam is an ordinary second person reference Bhavan is a respectful second person reference so second first person is I second person is you and third person is he or she so here Bhavati Nam now from the point of view of worldly relationships Uddhava is both learned and powerful he is very very learned being a disciple of Brihaspati and he is one of the Yathus as compared to that the Gopis are just unknown cowherd girls but Uddhava knows that the two standard of respect is based on one's respect for the Supreme Lord so how is one's relationship with the Supreme Lord how much one loves the Supreme Lord and that's why although the Gopis from the worldly hierarchy are below him from the devotional hierarchy they are far far above him Bhavati Nam that's why the respectful second person Sukhavah Sukhavah bringing happiness so Jiva Goswami explains that this message of Krishna will relieve the Gopis of some of their separation and that's why Sukhavah it'll bring happiness another meaning he uses that Vaishno Toshani explains that actually the Gopis have vented especially Radharani have vented their anger caused by separation from Krishna and after venting that anger they have become really pacified and so now that you have become a little emotionally stabilized now I will speak this message Sukhavah and Yamaada Yagato Bhadra Aada Yagato so I have come carrying this message so it's interesting that normally a messenger is not considered to be a very important person Krishna becomes the Shanti Dhoota when he wants to take the peace message of the Pandavas to the Kauravas and of course the messenger is respected but normally we have people who are in English they are called errand boys there have been in the past somebody has to carry an errand send this message to that person so you write something and give it to that person so they are not considered very respectable so but when there is something very important to be done then at that time that message has to be interested to a very important person so he says I have come carrying this message Bharatu Rahaskaraha I am my master I am his confidential servant so now is it a pride to say that you know I am a confidential servant you know if I say that I am an intrepid disciple of my spiritual master what is this how can you how can you say something like this it will be inappropriate so how is it that Uddhava is saying Aham Bharatu Rahaskaraha I am a confidential messenger actually we see the same theme in the ninth chapter of the first canto when Bhishma is trying to pacify Yudhisthira after the Kurukshetra war and he says Sadhappe Kanta Bhakteshu Pashyabhupanu Kampitam Yanmey Sunstejata Sakshat Krishna Darshanam Agataha so he is telling Yudhisthira that ultimately everything happens by the plan of the lord and all that we can do we cannot understand the plan of the lord but all that we can do is act according to his plan and if we act according to his plan eventually how everything is for the good will be revealed so Krishna's actions may not always be pleasant but they are always benevolent pleasant means that which feels good benevolent means that which does good so to illustrate this point what he is saying over here see I had to fight against my beloved lord and can you imagine how difficult it must have been for Bhishma to shoot arrows at the lord who was the ultimate object of love for him but he did that he says Tathapi Ekanta Bhakteshu I was his Ekanta Bhakta Ekanta Bhakteshu and then Pashyabhupanu Kampitam I am Bhupa or ruler of the earth Anukampitam just see what mercy he has bestowed upon me what is that mercy Sakshat Krishna Darshanam Agataha when I am about to depart from this world Krishna has himself come and is present giving his darshan so here Bhishma is saying that I am Ekanta Bhakteshu I am an unalloyed devotee but the focus or the purpose of this statement is not that I am such a great devotee the focus is that those who are unalloyed devotees are wonderfully rewarded by the lord so I practice unalloyed devotion and just see the mercy the lord has bestowed that is he has come and given his darshan to me so the implication there is that O Yudhishthir you also be a Ekanta Bhakta you also practice unalloyed devotion because you will also be rewarded by the lord eventually so when the principle of Bhakti or when the mercy of the lord is to be glorified at that time if the context requires the devotee may glorify oneself also so Bhishma is glorifying his unalloyed devotion to demonstrate the lord's undoubtable reciprocation that the lord will surely reciprocate so similarly here when Uddhava is saying Bhartu Rahas Karaha he is saying implying by that actually you are very dear to the lord and because you are very dear to him that's why he has sent a confidential servant of his so his declaring that I am a confidential servant is to serve the mission of the lord the mission of the lord is actually to pacify and encourage the gopis to remove their sorrow and for that if it is required he is ready to do that so the essence of humility is neither self glorification nor self condemnation it is Krishna glorification now humility doesn't mean that I have to think that I am worthless or I have to keep saying that I am worthless I have to focus humility simply means that humility enables us to move away from self absorption and to move towards Krishna absorption so if for the service of the lord it is required that a devotee speak one's own glory then the devotee is ready to do that there are so many instances in the Bhagavad Gita says that one should be humble in fact that is the beginning of knowledge so actually everyday I write a small meditation in the Bhagavad Gita on gitadaily.com so today only I wrote the article about how humility should not be a justification for shirking responsibility it should be the inspiration for embracing responsibility what does it mean humility should not be the justification for shirking responsibility that means if I start thinking that I am so fallen I have given some service and if I start thinking I am so fallen I can't do this service well the service has to be done isn't it so if yes I am not qualified for doing a service but then if Krishna is entrusting me the service then I should do the service so that is a very nice anecdote of one of the disciples I think Mahavishnu Maharaj so when Mahavishnu Maharaj was in London at that time Prabhupada wanted him to start preaching and he said Prabhupada I am so new I don't know the philosophy he says I don't have faith in myself and Prabhupada looked at him and said do you have faith in me he said yes of course Prabhupada I have full faith in you Prabhupada says if you have faith in me then you should have faith in my judgment and I have faith in you so I have faith in you and if you have faith in me therefore you should have faith in yourself so a devotee is self confidence comes from understanding the self connection with Krishna it is not independent self confidence that I can do great things but by Krishna's mercy I can do whatever is required so humility should not be justification for shirking responsibility it should be the inspiration for embracing responsibility if I am very self centered then my only basis for deciding whether I can do something or not will be whether I have the ability or not or if it is not just I have the ability if I do the service will I get some glory or not but if my focus is the connection with Krishna then I know that if Krishna wants me to do something then Krishna will empower me to do it Krishna will give me whatever is required and therefore I can do the service so same way when we talk about the tenth canto here so Yuddhavai saying I am a confidential servant this is a confidential section of the Bhagavatam going on so the tenth canto is a confidential section of the Bhagavatam so on my website the school scientist I often answer questions so recently one devotee asked a question now this devotee is connected not just with ISKCON he is also connected with some other other Gaudiya Vaishnava institutions and they talk about Krishna Ila quite frequently and quite they often talk about intimate pastimes of Krishna this is not the Gaudiya Math this is the non Gaudiya Math Gaudiya Vaishnava that means that which comes from Bhakthanath Thakur town which is there in Vrindavan so they say so they told this devotee that if you come to ISKCON you will never become a real Krishna devotee because ISKCON has a perpetual phobia for the tenth canto ISKCON has a phobia for the tenth canto and the tenth canto is the heart that's why you will learn about Krishna Bhakti so you will never become a proper Krishna devotee if you go to ISKCON therefore come to us now actually speaking the word phobia essentially means an irrational fear there is no logic now there is a phobia called arachnophobia that is fear of spiders you know so now so people sometimes when they are in their houses before they sleep they have to look in every single place where there might be a spider and they cover all those places clean all only then they can have peace and sleep now actually speaking spiders are not going to be present if the house is cleaned regularly and even if spiders are present they are not really dangerous creatures but there is a very weird word phobia means an irrational fear so actually speaking when what what our acharyas have given us is not a phobia it's not an irrational fear it's a rational caution it's it's based on rational intelligent understanding and it is not a matter of fear it's a matter of caution caution means not that we shouldn't enter something but we should have a proper reverential attitude now if really there were a phobia to the 10th canto Prabhupada has repeatedly said one should not trespass the 10th canto there is the saying fools rush in where angels fear to tread so Bhakta Siddhanta Chakravarti would apply this saying to the context of the 10th canto and he says even the angels they cautiously approach the 10th canto but people rush to it frivolously prematurely so one should not do that but that doesn't mean that the 10th canto is never to be studied Prabhupada himself on one side he said don't study the 10th canto prematurely and one should complete all the 9 cantos before studying the 10th canto but then he himself made the 10th canto available as the Krishna book and in fact we can say that Prabhupada says don't study the previous 9 cantos before studying the 10th canto and Prabhupada gives only the 10th canto as the Krishna book isn't it so is Prabhupada contradicting himself no it's not a matter of contradiction it's a matter of comprehension that actually Prabhupada presents the 10th canto through the Krishna book in a way that is comprehensible for people so now if you look at the Bhagavatam itself there is no inbuilt caution given at the start of the 10th canto or the end of the 9th canto now we are coming to confidential part now beware it's like sometimes if there is some government building then there are certain areas which are available for visitors but in certain areas there are no visitors allowed over here so there is no mark like that at the end of the canto no visitors allowed or something like that it is a smooth transition in the 9th canto basically the essential flow of the Bhagavatam is from the 3rd canto onwards the lives of the various Manus are being described so so Embu Manu and his descendants are described from the 3rd canto till the 7th canto so and then while describing those Manus the various incarnations of the lord and the various great devotees of the lord who appear they are described so in the 7th canto sorry not the 7th canto 8th canto in the 8th canto 1st chapter it is described how Swayambhu Manu is delivered he attains liberation by the grace of Yajna Avatar and then after that the subsequent Manus are described so from 8.2 onwards the subsequent Manus are described and then actually it goes quite fast till Vaivasvath Manu Vaivasvath Manu is the current Manu is going on and then the descendants of Vaivasvath Manu are described from the 9th canto onwards so in that there is a description of Lord Ram there is Parashuram there are various there is a Yati all those pastimes come up and in that Krishna's pastimes also come up so the last chapter of the 9th canto is a summary description of Krishna's pastimes and then Parikshita asks at the start of the 10th canto he says please describe in detail the pastimes of Krishna and that's how the 90 chapters of the 10th canto emerge so in that sense there is a smooth chronological and conceptual flow in the Bhagavatam's development so where does the caution about the 10th canto come about now actually if we see there has been historically a progressive revolution of Krishna tattva the Bhagavatam as we know is spoken by or compiled by Vyasadeva in his spiritual maturity that is described in the 4th 5th and 6th chapters of the 1st canto that is in terms of the compilation of the Bhagavatam in terms of historical dissemination the Bhagavatam became prominent roughly in the 9th, 10th century when Sridhar Swami wrote his commentary actually Sridhar Swami's date is historically there is a wide variation when he appeared but it can be 9th century onwards to 11th century whenever it was 11th, 12th century so he appeared and he wrote his commentary Bhavartha Deepika now that's why we see that Ramanujacharya appeared before Sridhar Swami and Ramanujacharya refers to the themes of the Bhagavatam but Ramanujacharya never talks never refers to the Bhagavatam directly in any of his books leave alone writing a commentary on the Bhagavatam there is not even a reference to the Bhagavatam in Ramanujacharya's commentary why? because those themes are there elsewhere but the Bhagavatam itself gained prominence thereafter actually speaking you know there is a plan of the Lord to reveal the confidential past times of Krishna historically culminating in Shatana Mahaprabhu's description of the Parakiras so the different Acharyas were given by the arrangement of the Lord different roles in this mission so Ramanujacharya focused on establishing the supremacy of Vishnu and that's why for that purpose the Vishnu Puran was the primary book and that's why the Shri Sampradaya focuses not on the Bhagavat Puran they focus on the Vishnu Puran now when Sridhar Swami writes a commentary on the Bhagavatam that indicates that the Bhagavatam had already gained respect isn't it? you know if some book itself is unknown and somebody says I will write a commentary on it the book is already important and the commentary is written on it so Sridhar Swami's commentary became the fundamental commentary which is referred back by all the previous Acharyas now his commentary is very brief now the even in his commentary he doesn't go too much into the Parakiras the first book which talks about the past times of the Gopis with Krishna elaborately is Gita Govinda by Jayadev Goswami now of course the Bhagavatam contains indirect reference to Srimati Radharani but there are direct references to Radharani also in the Puranas in the Brahma Puran the Brahma Vaivarta Puran and the Padma Puran there are references to the Gopis and to Radharani the Mahabharata of course focuses more on the Pandavas so even Krishna's life is not described much in the Bhagavatam now Krishna is Krishna's life is described to the extent that his life trajectory intersects with the trajectory of the life of the Pandavas so there is a supplement to the Mahabharata called the Harimamsa in which Krishna's past times are described and there also the description is not much elaborate about the Gopis although there are references to that but the Gita Govinda is the first book which talks about the especially about Radharani specifically and about their amorous past times now Srila Prabhupada protects us from misunderstanding his past times in many ways in our sampradaya Srila Prabhupada is the first Acharya who uses the honorific for referring to Radha as not just Radha but as Radharani and not just as Radharani Srimati Radharani in contrast there are some other Vaishnavas who get a little bewildered one of my friends who is a Madhava Vaishnava he said you know how is it that in ISKCON when you refer to Krishna you have no honorific no Sri Krishna no Bhagwan Krishna just Krishna this is not proper respect so it is you see that now if you see when Vishwanath Chakra Thakur or Jiva Goswami refer to refer to Krishna as consort they simply refer to her as Radha they don't refer to her as Radharani some Gaudiya Vaishnavas say actually using Srimati Radharani is a rasabhas because Radha is a simple Gopi in Vrindavan and she is not a queen and she is a very simple cowherd girl and the whole mood of Vrindavan is the mood of simplicity so this usage of Srimati Radharani is not proper but actually to think that Raja has no opulence is a misunderstanding of the glory of Raja actually Vrindavan is filled with as much opulence as is required but the devotees subordinate all the opulence to the opulence of love so the for example we know that just now we recited the Brahma Samhita so there is described Kalpataru there are so many desire fulfilling trees but you look at the past times of Krishna whether it is Gopal Champu Anandavan Champu or whichever books you describe the past times practically nowhere do you see that when the devotees want to serve Krishna when say Radharani wants to cook and offer something to Krishna she doesn't say Kalpataru just provide this so that I can feed it to Krishna she personally cooks for Krishna and she takes up anxiety in cooking for Krishna so there is the Kalpataru which can provide everything but the mood of Raja is the mood of personal service and that's why although the facilities of opulence are all there but the devotees consider their personal service to Krishna without any of these equipments of without any of these trappings of opulence their personal service to Krishna is the greatest offering to him and that's why the opulence of Raja is concealed it is present but it is concealed so the point I am making over here is that it is not that Radharani is just a simple cowherd girl she is the source of even the goddesses of fortune Devi Krishnamai Praukta Radhika Paradevata Sarvalakshmimai Sarvakanti Sammohini Para Chetancharita Amrit Krishnaskar Rajoswami quotes this verse puranic verse he says Devi Krishnamai Praukta she is Krishnamai she is completely filled with Krishna and who is this Radhika Paradevata she is the supreme goddess and Sarvalakshmimai Sarva all the Lakshmis come from her and are present in her so actually Lakshmi Devi is the goddess of fortune but she doesn't have the fortune of the personal intimate association of Krishna that the Gopis have so the Lakshmi is the goddess of fortune but the Gopis are the super goddesses of fortune and when Krishna leaves all the Gopis to be alone with Srimati Radharani in the Rasa Leela of the 31st chapter it describes that reveals the glory of Srimati Radharani so Radharani is not the super goddess of fortune she is the supreme goddess of fortune so there is a goddess of fortune which is Lakshmi Devi there is a super goddess of fortune that is Gopis and there is a supreme goddess of fortune that is Srimati Radharani so therefore it is fully appropriate that Radharani be called by the honorific Radharani and also Srimati and this is especially required because the activities of Radharani can often be misunderstood not just activities of Radharani activities of pastimes of Krishna and Radharani and to have the proper respectful attitude to give us the proper respectful attitude Prabhupada uses Srimati Radharani now in contrast why does Prabhupada not use any honorific for Krishna see Prabhupada does use sometimes Lord Krishna and Prabhupada actually what to speak of using some traditional honorific Prabhupada has coined this phrase supreme personality of godhead so this is a phrase which actually counters both the prevalent misconceptions about god that were there at his times when Prabhupada was preaching and of course that is true even today the primary misconception within India was that the absolute truth is impersonal so Prabhupada coined that personality he is a person he is not impersonal and the other prevalent misconception was the Christian western thought come to India and the Christians are labelled Indians as polytheistic you worship so many gods and the polytheism was considered to be very low level so Prabhupada counters that yes there may be gods but there is a godhead so the personality as term counters the impersonal misconception and the supreme and godhead counters the polytheistic misconception so in this way both polytheism and monism monism is everything is one Brahman absolute truth both are counters so Prabhupada has his own usage Sitamal Krishna Maharaj did his thesis his PhD thesis in Prabhupada's teachings and there he says that every Acharya's teachings can be condensed in a Mahavakya so Prabhupada's Mahavakya is Krishna is the supreme personality of godhead so as far as the ontological position of Krishna is concerned Prabhupada does demonstrate it very clearly now in some old editions of the Bhagavad Gita you may see especially in the fourth chapter what happens is there the blessed lord says it is used so where does this word blessed lord come from so the blessed lord what happened is in the initial days when the devotees were editing Prabhupada's books so at that time they wanted to make Bhagavata translation was very poetic because Bhagavata is poetry so he was repeatedly consulting Prabhupada can I do like this can I do like this can I do like this and Prabhupada initially because he was a new devotee and he wanted to engage in the Prabhupada encouraged him and Prabhupada told him finally he says you know the translation is not all that important the purport is what is important so he says don't spend so much time he said that you know about translation concept just take anyone's translation and put there how can I take anyone's translation plagiarism plagiarism means you take somebody else's intellectual product somebody else's writing and publish it as your own so Prabhupada said how can it be plagiarism they are Krishna's words they are not that commentator's words so then what happened is in the first edition of the Bhagavad Gita the devotees took things from some other contemporary translation and that translator had translated Sri Bhagavan Sri as blessed and Bhagavan as lord that's how the blessed lord had come over there but that's why the later editions of the Bhagavad Gita reflect Prabhupada's will more accurately and that's now we have the supreme personality of God so as far as the ontological position is concerned ontology means the nature of existence Prabhupada makes it very clear that Krishna is no ordinary being he is not even an extraordinary being he is a supreme being and that is enshrined in his unique phrase supreme personality of God but at the same time Prabhupada thought that we have to develop a personal relationship with Krishna because ultimately bhakti the essence of bhakti is that personal relationship with Krishna and to demonstrate or to facilitate that personal relationship Prabhupada talked about Krishna as a very real vivid person and that's why Prabhupada himself said Krishna will help you so Prabhupada in his conversations and his lectures he referred to Krishna in a very intimate personal sense so the intimate personal relationship with Krishna is definitely not lost in fact it is very much there and through Prabhupada's example Krishna consciousness can be defined in various ways everybody can always think of Krishna always remember Krishna be absorbed in Krishna's Vrinda on past times and all those things you can think about Krishna consciousness Prabhupada gives a very practical definition when time devotee asks what is Krishna consciousness Prabhupada said that when you come in the temple and you take darshan of the deities at that time while taking darshan of the deities if you feel that Krishna is asking me what are you doing for me if you have that consciousness that Krishna wants me to do some service for you then you are Krishna conscious so Krishna consciousness doesn't mean that oh I always think of Krishna and always think what is Krishna going to do for me no I think about what I will do for Krishna and that's why you know the Vatsalya Ras which is among the five Rasas the Vatsalya Ras inverts the normal parental relationship with God the Vatsalya Ras is how does it invert the normal parental relationship is God is the father and we are his children that is true but along with that there is the Vatsalya Ras in which the devotee becomes the parent and the lord becomes the son so the point is the intimacy with Krishna is there but it is there in a proper way so now I was talking about the historical revelation of the intimate pastimes of Krishna so Radharani comes prominently in Gita Govinda now again if you see Gita Govinda Bhakti Sastra has explained that it is a book for liberated souls but now again you will see that it is not that Gita Govinda prefaces if you are not liberated you should not read the book there is nothing like that over there so now at that time it was regularly recited and it became immensely popular when Gita Govinda was written in today's language it became a super hit it became immensely popular and then afterwards there was Vidyapati who wrote his compositions Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard his compositions Chandidas was there and then of course the Goswamis wrote compositions describing Radharani's pastimes with Krishna and they were widely distributed and they were relished and now if you see when there is a culture of reverence then even when one understands when one talks about Krishna's intimate pastimes with the Gopis one understands that these are objects of reverence these are not ordinary these are transcendental but from the 17th 18th century onwards the when the western people came to India the west had the presumption of intellectual superiority over India now why intellectual superiority is we have science we have technology and relatively speaking the British had relatively less forces but they had cannons and other things other weapons by which they conquered India so seeing the technology even Indians started thinking that that yes these Europeans are intellectually superior to us and their attitudes they had the whole idea of Victorian morality they said Krishna is not married to the Gopis and how is he having a relationship with these all Krishna is an immoral God and that's when the conception started coming into the Indian thought also cause prior to that in Krishna's pastimes the Gopis were described it was understood that they are not immoral they are trans-moral there is moral below that is immoral but above moral is trans-moral so when the Gopis there is there is one Hindu group who has changed the Bhagavad Gita you know how they have changed it I was hearing a recitation of the Bhagavad Gita so there is this 18.66 sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja so they have said sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja they say how can God tell you to give up dharma there is a mistake over there there has to be one over there sarva-dharman parityajya so that mistake which has come through the tradition will correct it now but the point is the Bhagavad Gita is not just talking about giving up dharma yeah it is talking about giving up dharma also the word dharma is multivalent multivalent means it has many meanings and that is why the word dharma it means in this context worldly religiosity the religiosity which leads to dharma-arthakama that kind of dharma you should give up and therefore what should you do take up the supreme dharma what is that supreme dharma mam ekam sharanam vraja take shelter of me alone so now the gupi the gupis what are they doing when Krishna plays his flute and calls them here also in the purport it is mentioned how Krishna when the gupis come he first tells them about karma yoga you know how a wife should be devoted to her husband and therefore you should go back you should serve your family members Krishna tells them that but what do the gupis do the gupis actually reject Krishna's instruction and they stay on over there now if you see what Krishna tells in the 29th chapter 29th, 30th chapter of the 10th canto he also tells the same thing in the 22nd chapter the 22nd chapter is Krishna's instructions to the brahmana patnis and he tells them to the brahmana patnis now actually it is a great sacrifice of the brahmana patnis that when their husbands have turned away Krishna's cowherd gupis so the brahmana patnis go to Krishna but Krishna tells them go back and they go back but when Krishna tells the gupis go back gupis don't go back so what are the gupis doing gupis are demonstrating so all dharmas so even the dharma of chastity that which is the highest dharma for a that is to be given up for the sake of Krishna so it is a principle that is being demonstrated over here see there is there are certain pastimes of Krishna which are models which are to be literally followed in the footsteps and there are others which are to be exalted for understanding but not for imitating that is the difference between anukaran and anusaran anukaran means just doing what is being done anusaran means taking inspiration so what the gupis do for Krishna that is not to be imitated that is to be revered that is to be exalted so the gupi is what Krishna teaches in the Bhagavad Gita the gupis demonstrate that give up all dharma even the dharma of chastity if that is to be given up for Krishna's sake one should be ready to give it up so that principle is being demonstrated that is why I said that Krishna's pastimes with the gupis are not immoral immoral means that which is below morality transmoral means that which is above morality the gupis are very devoted they are diligent in performing their duties but when Krishna calls then they take up that call of Krishna so this is the proper understanding of course this is just one aspect of the proper understanding of Krishna's pastimes with the gupis so what happened is that this was the broad understanding that the gupis are very exalted devotees and their activities with Krishna are not ordinary worldly activities so that is why there was no aspiration that the gupis activities with Krishna are immoral but from the time the Britishers came then they had their idea of Victorian morality and they said that oh this is an immoral god so then Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote an essay called the Bhagavata it's ethics, theology and philosophy and very celebrated essay that was the essay that began his you could say career as a Gaudiya Vaishnava preacher so this year is the 100th anniversary of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's disappearance and so there he explains how Krishna's pastimes he explains to the people at that time how Krishna's pastimes are actually transcendental they are not material so what happened is prior to that also India was ruled by foreigners but now when the Muslims were there ruling India nobody considered them to be intellectual competitors to the Vedic religion you know see somebody can mistake mistake say copper to be gold but you know nobody will mistake a potato to be gold so now if you see this is not disrespect of Islam there are revelations which are meant to elevate people according to time, place, circumstance and we see Mohammed that did a lot of socio-cultural reform during his times but subsequently what has happened in Islam is that if you see in the Vedic tradition the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas were always separated the Brahmanas were the sources of spiritual power the Kshatriyas were the sources of political power now if you see in Christianity also Jesus was the spiritual spiritually potent person and Christianity was widely spread by Saint Paul who was one of the later apostles and he was like the center of political power so the separation of spirituality and political power is essential but Islam that has not been there right from the beginning Mohammed was a spiritual revealer as well as a political ruler and subsequently most of the followers rather than focusing on his spiritual teachings have focused on his political activism and that's why largely today we see now there are many many people who are sincere seekers within Islam also but there it has largely become a search for political power under the garb of religion and then there are various forms of terrorism and other things that come up so why I am talking about Islam is Islam was never an intellectual threat for the Vedic tradition although it ruled India for so many centuries but when the Christians came to India they because they had science and technology which gave them an aura of intellectual superiority so then when they look down you worship such an immoral God then that disturbed Indians so then Bhaktivinod Thakur and especially Bhaktisiddhanath Thakur he said that you cannot just trespass into the nth canto if people are born in a culture where there is reverence proper reverence then one understands and approaches and understands Krishna appropriately but when one does not have that culture of reverence one only has a culture of skepticism so then when one approaches that attitude Krishna's pastimes cannot be easily understood so now actually speaking we are in one sense caught in the cross current of both now culturally we belong to India intellectually we belong to the west in the sense that culturally we have been a part of the society where Krishna has been worshipped most of us probably we grew with stories of Ram and Krishna being heard whatever of course that culture is also rapidly disappearing nowadays recently I was asked to give a school program so there and asked about do you know Narsimha the only Narsimha they knew was a former prime minister of India so even the culture is getting lost but at least in the previous generations it was there largely but intellectually the educational system is based on western rationality and humanism and that's why we also to some extent have that skeptical cynical attitude and that's why we need proper caution when we approach the tenth canto but ultimately we have to approach the tenth canto so as we study the Bhagavatam and then we come forward Prabhupada has given us Krishna book and then purpose was what this Krishna book was meant to be like a like a trailer you know the Krishna book itself gives Krishna's pastimes but Prabhupada also wanted summary study of the tenth canto and he wanted the tenth canto be studied systematically by devotees so Satsvarupa Maharaj once asked Prabhupada Prabhupada what do you mean by summary study Prabhupada when he does the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad Gita he has Sanskrit then he has the verse to verse translation then he has word to word translation then he is using translation and then purport so what is summary study so Prabhupada summary study means I do whatever I want so you wonder what does it mean I do whatever I want now if you see in the thirty first chapter of the tenth canto that is the Gopi Gita so when the Gopi Gita is being described at that time Prabhupada's description of the Gopi Gita it starts there are nineteen verses there so Prabhupada gives the translations of those verses and then suddenly at one particular time Prabhupada stops and says in this way the Gopis chanted Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare now you may wonder where is the reference to Hare Krishna look at all the Sanskrit there is no Hare Krishna what has Prabhupada done over here somebody may ask like that actually whenever translation is to be done translation is always a balancing act between precision and relevance precision means stating precisely exactly what is said in the original and relevance means speaking in a way that people can understand so you know there is Sambandha there is Abhidaya and there is Prayojan Sambandha means philosophical knowledge of our relationship with Krishna Abhidaya means the practical means by which one can fix the mind on Krishna and Prayojan means the mature development of love of God the rich experience of love for Krishna now Sambandha Jnana never changes it remains the same it always remains the same because ultimately we are servants of Krishna but Abhidaya the method of fixing the mind on Krishna will change according to time, place, circumstance it will change see we see our Acharyas themselves they demonstrate this Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami they were at a very respected position in the Islamic government and they renounced that to go to Vrindavan and focus on writing literature now we see Bhaktivinoda Thakur was also in a similar position was in a very respected position in the British government now in one sense both governments were non-devotional but we see that Rupa and Sanatana Goswami they renounced their governmental position and Bhaktivinoda Thakur stayed on with the governmental position and still Bhaktivinoda Thakur is called as the seventh Goswami so why is that because the way one can practice Bhakti and share Bhakti with others will vary according to time, place, and circumstance so when so Abhideya will change you know when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Bengal Vaishnavism although there was some persecution overall there was a broad culture of Vaishnavism that was there and the devotees were practicing the Bhakti at that time and we see that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not ask any of the devotees at that time in in the Navadvip Bengal area to construct any big temples why because there was the persecution that was there and now Kirtan is something which can be very easily done and easily stopped but if you have Deities and temples it cannot be easily dismantled or removed so Chaitanya Mahaprabhu focused on some Kirtan but Deity worship is also very important part and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Rupan Sanatan at one level they are renouncing the world demonstrates chakta turna masesha mandalapati renouncing everything for the sake of Krishna but another level you know Rupan Sanatan Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that they use their political savvy for ensuring the redevelopment of Vrindavan now Vrindavan was dangerously close to Delhi which was the center of the Islamic power so Rupan Sanatan and after that Jeeva Goswami by being present over there they ensured that Vrindavan was restored in its glory so there they did the service by renouncing the world Bhaktivinoda Thakur he lived at a time when the renunciates were not much respected because the Bhadraloka the people who are educated from the west educated in western education they did not respect the renunciates much but they respected a person who had education who had position and such a person was talking about Vaishnavism they took him seriously so Abhideya how one fixes the mind on Krishna will vary according to time, place, circumstance so in the Krishna book when Prabhupada says that the gopis were chanting Hare Krishna what does that mean Prabhupada is giving us the Abhideya for doing in essence what the gopis were doing the gopis were essentially remembering Krishna in separation from him so weak too can remember him in separation from him by chanting Hare Krishna so Prabhupada gives us access to the 10th canto through the Krishna book and right in the first chapter itself first chapter of the first canto Prabhupada says that the serious student to study not just his commentaries even Priyashacharya's commentaries in that list he gives not just Gauravakshna commentaries he quotes even Vallabhacharya and he quotes other Sampradaya Acharya's commentaries also so the point is Prabhupada is giving us entry into the 10th canto and what we have is not when we are cautious about the 10th canto that is not phobic that is ensuring that we enter into the 10th canto with a proper understanding so I will conclude with one point about what we mean by the proper understanding I just mentioned earlier about trans-moral and immoral another way of understanding this is that whenever we hear any story at that time there is a identification that we do and for example if we see some drama or if we watch some movie or read some novel then we connect with some character in the novel in that particular narrative and then if we identify with that then we start getting emotionally involved in what is happening in that story so normally speaking when we have when we start studying reading any story we come with the mood of the enjoyer that means if we study Krishna's past times we identify with Krishna identify with Krishna doesn't necessarily mean that we identify with Krishna literally we identify with Krishna as the enjoyer and the great devotees when they hear Krishna's past times they don't identify with Krishna they identify with the gopis identifying with the gopis doesn't mean that males start thinking they are females identifying with the gopis means we understand that I am a devotee and the gopis are the paramount devotees so if we approach Krishna to the extent we can go beyond the filter of seeing Krishna simply as a male and gopis as females and we can see Krishna as the lord and the gopis as devotees to that extent we will be able to appreciate and relish how these past times are past times of pure love now when from Krishna's perspective whether he is embracing Uddhava he is embracing Arjuna or whether he is embracing Radharani it's all the same same in the sense that they are all his devotees but when we have a material vision we are not able to see it all as the same we start thinking maybe this is just an ordinary male female relationship so as we become purified what happens is we start seeing ourselves not as the enjoyer but as the enjoyed not as the lord but as the devotee and to the extent when we hear Krishna's past times to the extent we can identify with the gopis to that extent what will happen is that hearing these past times will eradicate lust from the heart how will it eradicate lust in fact the bhagavatam itself promises this at the end of the 10th cant of his pancha panchadhyay vikriditam vrajavadrubiridam javishnu shraddhan vito anushunayat avaranyedya if one hears this faithfully then what happens bhaktim param bhagvati pratilabhyakamam will get pure devotion and then rudhrogam asva apahinoti rudhroga the heart disease of lust will be eradicated so how exactly will this happen that the heart disease of lust will be eradicated by hearing the past times of Krishna with the gopis which seem to be like lust itself because they are not lust they are the origin from which the world the last of the world has come the bhagavad gita 15.1 talks about this world as a reflection of the spiritual world so there is an upside down tree now so the male-female attraction which is the basis of all material attachments in this world that is like the reflection and it is very attractive a person is desperately hungry and a person sees a reflection of a mango what will happen the person will dive into that river to try to get that mango and all that will happen is no matter how much one tries one will not get the mango at all but then the person is told don't dive into that river i am starving i need something to eat how will i not so just telling people don't get don't be attracted to worldly things that doesn't work what the bhagavatam tells us this is a reflection but there is a reality also so the reality is there is a tree and there is a real mango real mango is the relationship between the soul and Krishna and to the extent we understand ok this is a reflection and there is no substance over here that is the substance and then we feel inspired to move towards the substance and actually just move towards the substance itself purifies us it gives us progressively deeper and richer happiness and that is how we become detached now the mistake that can happen is instead of the reflection reminding us of the reality the reality can remind us of the reflection that means that when we see Radha Krishna's past times you know sometimes sometimes a young boy and a young girl may come to a temple and they look at Radha Krishna oh Radha Krishna is there we are here so we start thinking it is essentially the same so if we are not properly philosophically educated and devotionally purified then the reality reminds us of the reflection and when the reality reminds us of the reflection that can have two responses either is we use it to justify immorality if Krishna does that with the Gopis then why can't I we use it to justify immorality or we use it to justify superiority you worship like the western people you worship an immoral god what kind of morality do you have but both attitudes are wrong because they don't recognize the difference between the reflection and the reality and by systematically studying the philosophy and by gradually becoming purified by the practice of bhakti we clearly understand the difference between the reflection and the reality and then eventually we as we become progressively more and more attracted to the reality then we become freed from lust so what Krishna is revealing in the 10th canto whether it be in the past times of the Gopis or the parasapancha adhyaya or here it is in the memories of the past times of the Gopis all that is meant to direct us redirect us from reflection to reality through progressive philosophical education and devotional purification so Srila Prabhupada also demonstrated that same mode of sarva dharma how will he do that for he has said many places that when a person becomes old that person should if a person goes to a holy place one should never leave that holy place the only time a person should leave the holy place is when one leaves that body in the holy place so people take a vratta I will stay in Vrindavan I will stay in Kashi and similarly it says sanyasi should not travel across the oceans but all these rules are there Prabhupada respected those rules but for him there was a higher rule the higher rule is that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's prophecy has to be fulfilled my spiritual master's instruction has to be followed and sarva dharmaan parityajya mam ekam sharanam so Prabhupada demonstrated that surrender to Krishna by carrying out the instructions of Krishna as manifested through Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his spiritual master and through that he is offering all of us entry into the intimate pastimes of Krishna so we don't have to imagine ourselves to be deprived of Krishna bhakti nor do we have to imagine ourselves as to be already spiritually advanced and probing into intimate pastimes we practice the process of Krishna consciousness that is given to us and as we keep practicing we will become purified more and more and then we will become spiritually attracted to Krishna not just sentimentally or materially attracted oh Krishna's pastimes seem more interesting to me no, spiritually attracted that means the attraction to Krishna will progressively free us from material attractions and that attraction is what will ultimately take us back to Krishna so Krishna's pastimes are not just the trailer they are also the trail the trailer means a glimpse of what is to come trail means path by remembering Krishna's pastimes by remembering Krishna and developing attraction to Krishna they comprise the path by which we will return back to him so they are the trailer as well as the trail so I will summarize what I discussed I started by talking about the background narrative to this 10th canto 47th chapter so how Krishna has sent a very Krishna is his heart is in Vrindavan and he is feeling separation so he has sent a confidential associate and Uddhava recognizes the exalted position of the Gopis and that's why he says rahaskara I am a confidential associate and that I am giving you you are very respected bhavati naam and then we discussed about how Krishna how rahaskara how the 10th canto is confidential not in the sense that there are some physical or textual delimiters no entry allowed in 10th canto but it is our misconceptions which were not present in the past which came in primarily because of a sceptical approach towards the devotional literature which came from the western education western rationality and humanism and we have to remove those misconceptions so Prabhupada helps us to remove some of those misconceptions through his Krishna book and as talked about how abhidheya how we fix the mind in Krishna will change according to time, place, circumstances so we fix the mind in Krishna not just by thinking about Krishna's pastimes with the gopis but as Prabhupada said by doing practical service Krishna wants me to do something for him we are essentially doing the same activity fixing the mind in Krishna and by thus fixing the mind in Krishna will become purified and then we realize how Krishna's pastimes with the gopis are not immoral but trans-moral and how will that happen when we understand when we by knowing Krishna's pastimes don't identify ourselves as the enjoyer but as the enjoyer not as the lord but as the devotee and to that extent we become philosophically educated and devotionally purified then we won't mistake we won't equate the reality to the reflection nor will the reality remind us of the reflection rather we move away from the reflection and move towards reality where by meditating on Krishna's pastimes which serve as the trail and the trailer we will relish life and love eternally. Thank you very much.