How can God be chanchal (restless)?
From: Mukul Joshi
How can the supreme personality of the godhead be ‘chanchal and chappal’? even in spiritual terms.
Transcript
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Question by Mukul Joshi.
How can the Supreme Personality of Godhead be chanchal and chappal, be restless even in spiritual terms? Answer. Krishna in his highest devotee, the spiritual world, is interested not in exhibiting or proving his Godhood, but in reciprocating love. So for that purpose he assumes whatever role is best suited to intensify the love of his devotees.
So with Mother Yashoda, Krishna may sometimes hide and secretly try to steal butter and eat. And he may be like a restless child, running here and there trying to escape punishment. And similarly, with his other devotees also, he may act in ways that are necessary to enhance their love for him.
But that in our state, state means stereotyped understanding of God, may not seem steady. But Krishna is perfectly and completely steady in always protecting his devotees. But while protecting his devotees, Krishna may sometimes act in ways that seem restless to us, so that it can enhance the intensity of the love of his devotees for himself.
So Krishna can steal butter and appear like a restless boy who sometimes evades questions, and sometimes even speaks lies and tells, I have not stolen butter. But he is doing that because that mischief gives the elderly gopis something sweet to talk about. And it excites their minds and hearts with images of Krishna and memories of Krishna, and intensifies their Krishna consciousness, churns out the love from their hearts.
So in the spiritual world, the essential driving force is love. And whatever is required for the sake of love, Krishna will do that. So in that, Krishna is not restless.
Krishna is not restless in that he will neglect his devotees. He is not restless in the sense that if his devotees are suffering, he will not protect them. But Krishna may sometimes let his devotees feel separation from him and not come.
And sometimes Krishna may come immediately. And this may seem to be restless to the uneducated eye, but it is not restless. It is carefully chosen according to what is the way to best invoke the most sweet and intense love for Krishna in the heart of the devotee.
So Krishna is supremely studying reciprocating love with his devotees, and contextually, circumstantially, sometimes he may be unsteady in the forms of reciprocation, so that the reciprocation of love becomes more intense. Thank you.