Uddhava Gita nectar 4 – Understanding the different gopis’ varying understandings of Krishna

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so today morning we are discussing the last of these four verses that describe lord Krishna’s remembrance of the gopis the context here is Uddhava is asking some final instructions from Krishna and Krishna through various modes of analysis establishes bhakti as the best means for perfection and here in the preceding verses Krishna has given various examples of how souls who were relatively unqualified attain perfection through bhakti and in these four verses when he is describing the gopis when he comes to the example of the gopis he does not just mention that example as he has done for many previous devotees he elaborates because he has such an intimate loving relationship in his form as Krishna with the gopis so in the previous three verses the first verse talked about how Krishna appreciated the sacrifice of the gopis and even after he left them they continued to love him then in the next verse he talks about how the gopis they cared for nothing except Krishna and everything seemed a time seemed to be like a moment when they were with Krishna and seemed like infinity when they were away from Krishna then he says in the previous verse that the gopis attained the same perfection as that they were as absorbed in him as the greatest yogis may be absorbed and this verse now he gives a further point he is talking about how the gopis were unaware of his supremacy so Krishna the title of the chapter is beyond knowledge and renunciation so usually jnana and vairagya are considered to be very important on the spiritual path and usually jnana and vairagya are said to go together if we acquire jnana here jnana is sometimes simply translated as knowledge but in the Vedic philosophical context when we use the word karma jnana and bhakti that jnana refers to philosophical knowledge about the nature of reality and that jnana leads to vairagya say the modern scientific knowledge that we have in a general sense we can call it jnana but within this technical classification of karma jnana and bhakti scientific knowledge is actually karma why? because the principle of karma is how I can enjoy the material world better.
In karmakanda one does various religious rituals by which one can enjoy the material world better now in science one uses the intellectual faculty but the primary purpose is what? so that one can better control better manipulate and better enjoy this world so philosophical knowledge of jnana leads to vairagya but today most of scientific knowledge is used to increase one’s attempts to enjoy the material world so the jnana which in the tripartite classification of karma jnana and bhakti is there that jnana refers to the knowledge about the nature of the world and that knowledge leads to vairagya so in the previous verse Krishna has talked about how the gopis were as good as the sages who had renounced the world. They did not have vairagya but still they had the absorption that even the vairagyas aspire for and in this verse Krishna emphasises that they did not have jnana also normally jnana is very important on the spiritual path so here he says that they did not have jnana and yet brahmama paramam brahpaho, they attained me the supreme brahman so here Krishna in these two ways that even in the absence of vairagya and jnana bhakti can give one perfection that is what the emphasis is being made. Bhakti is the super relative path for attaining spiritual perfection so today I will discuss 2-3 points the first point is what was the gopis understanding of Krishna the vrajavasis their understanding of Krishna was that he is simply the most lovable vrajavasi the gopis were not ignorant they were transcendent that means there is sometimes the gopis did not know that Krishna is God and some person we go on the street he also does not know Krishna is God but the difference is the gopis the people on the street they are in ignorance the gopis are in transcendence what that means is normal transcendence is to go beyond material attractions and to be situated on the transcendental platform but one of the words used to describe Krishna is parat paratattva he is not just paratattva he is parat paratattva he is transcendental to transcendence in this analysis the three modes comprise material nature above them is transcendence that is Brahman and above that is Krishna so Krishna is parat paratattva he is transcendental to transcendence so within the transcendental to transcendence manifestation Krishna as the Supreme Lord does not delight in his Godhood Krishna delights in the reciprocation of love and for the reciprocation of love he conceals his Godhood so that love can flow unimpeded aishwarya shithila prema na ishwara bhujai it is said that when one is aware of God’s greatness then at that time the awareness of God’s greatness inhibits one’s love for Krishna but when one becomes aware when one forgets that just like say if somebody is the president of the country or the prime minister of the country everybody has a respectful attitude towards that person now if that same head of the state has a mother for the mother he is first her son afterwards he may be the head of the state so when there is an intimate relationship the whatever public position might be there that is not considered very important and if the public position say there are two people who are friends and then one of them becomes the prime minister of the country then naturally that old friend will not deal with the person who has now become the prime minister in the same way that he had earlier dealt with because now that knowledge oh he is such a big person that will inhibit but on the other hand if the head of the state is a very sociable person he may feel that oh everyone is being so reverential to me I want to have some friendly relationship with someone and he will tell the friend forget that I am the prime minister just treat me like a friend so Krishna is like that Krishna he is God but he doesn’t delight in his Godhood he doesn’t say that I am God all of you bow down to me all that you have to do all of eternity in my kingdom is bow down to me now Krishna wants his devotees to love him uninhibitedly and that is why in the spiritual world he conceals his Godhood and the agency that is used for concealing his Godhood is Yogamaya the word Yogamaya is an oxymoron oxymoron is an English figure of speech or English neutral device in which two opposite words are brought together to convey some meaning if we say that he is an intelligent fool what does that mean that means he is an intelligent person but presently he is acting foolishly or they say suicide is an act of courageous cowardice what that means is actually to end one’s life requires some courage even soldiers who go to fight on the war they require courage but when one ends one’s life because one is frustrated and unable to cope with the problems of life that is cowardice so when two contradictory words are brought together to convey some deeper meaning then that is called a oxymoron maya is that which makes us forget Krishna and yoga is that which connects us with Krishna so what is Yogamaya that is an oxymoron two opposite words brought together so what is Yogamaya Yogamaya is actually that energy which makes us forget or makes the exalted devotees forget Krishna’s godhood so that they can love him unlimitedly so Yashodamayi she does not see Krishna as god she sees him as her beloved child and she thinks that if I don’t feed him milk then he will starve he may even die if I don’t discipline him he will become a spoiled child so there this is not ignorance this is transcendence they are exalted devotees the Vrajavasis they know Krishna is god but they have transcended that knowledge Krishna has arranged through Yogamaya so just like I said earlier that this prime head of state may say forget that I am the prime minister just be like a friend with me now still that friend may find it difficult how can I forget that you are the prime minister so Krishna doesn’t just tell his devotees forget that I am god he arranges through an energy Yogamaya to subject them to a transcendental illusion by which they forget his godhood now their forgetting his godhood is intriguing intriguing this is seen in the Gopi Gita when the Gopis chapters 29 to 33 chapter 29 describes how Krishna calls and the Gopis come to meet him chapter 30 describes how after some conversation Krishna disappears from the Gopis and the Gopis frantically search everywhere for Krishna and when they cannot find him chapter 31 describes how the Gopis sing the Gopi Gita desperately begging Krishna to appear so in one of the Gopi in the whole Gopi Gita actually this this simultaneous awareness and unawareness of Krishna’s divinity this plays out so in one of the verses in the Gopi Gita the Gopis say that Trunacharanugam Shriniketanam Panipanarpitam Tepadambujam so he says Trunacharanugam says that you are lotus feet you are the supreme lord but these feet follow those who are Trunachara those who are the eaters of grass that is the cows you are the servant of the cows and then they say in a poetic way Panipanarpitam Fani, Fani is a serpent with fangs so that is Kaliya so you offer those lotus feet to Kaliya Panipanarpitam so Krishna actually smashes Kaliya’s head Kaliya’s boots with his feet but you offer those feet and then they ask Krishna you offer your feet to the cows, you offer your feet to Kaliya why don’t you offer your feet to us why are you away from us so here they are exhibiting awareness that Krishna has defeated Kaliya but just in the next few verses later they say that Krishna you want to leave us and go away that is not causing us as much agony it is breaking our heart but what is causing us even greater agony is that we are thinking when you are in the forest you are bare feet and when the twigs the thorns, the pebbles they pierce your feet when they pierce your feet that thought is ripping our hearts apart so please Krishna come back so that we can nurse your feet so here we see the Gopis if Krishna has survived and subdued the formidable fangs of Kaliya how can Krishna be hurt, Krishna’s feet be hurt by the pebbles so Acharya described that the Gopis for them Krishna’s divinity is a background awareness just like in the day time even in the day time the stars are there in the sky but because the sun is so bright the stars can’t be seen similarly for the Gopis they have in their consciousness the stars of the knowledge of Krishna’s divinity that is the supreme lord, the supreme brahman but the sun of their intimate affection for Krishna their amorous love for Krishna that sun is so strong, so bright that the stars are like eclipsed so the Gopis Krishna’s divinity is not in the foreground of their awareness although it is there it is not that they are ignorant and when the circumstances come they will pray and they will pray eloquently remembering how Krishna is God but that is not the mode of their relationship with Krishna the mode is of amorous love of intimate affection in the mood of a lover and a beloved so asvarupa vidha as it is said over here they did not know my svarupa they did not know that I am the supreme lord and interestingly our acharya especially Jiva Goswami and his Gopal Chambu and subsequently in books like Sangeet Madhava, Brahmadan Saraswati and others they analyse how there were many different Gopis so the there are different understandings of who the Gopis are because the fact that the Gopis were apparently married to someone else that creates a lot of confusion and is it that God is sanctioning immorality God is not just sanctioning immorality because Krishna played the flute and invited the Gopis so is it God who is asking people to be immoral what is going on here so in the tradition different Puranas and different places different explanations have been given so Madhavacharya for example says that the Gopis were Devakanyas Devakanyas means they were like damsels from heaven Apsaras and others and they were attracted towards Krishna with lust the Apsaras in the heavens they are meant to serve the Devatas in a particular way so they are just like Urvashi was attracted to Arjuna when Arjuna went to the heavens she was attracted to Arjuna and she propositioned Arjuna, Arjuna refused and Urvashi got angry and cursed Arjuna that he will become a eunuch because you have refused to act on your manliness so the point is that the Apsaras they often have strong desires and Madhavacharya says the Gopis were Apsaras and when they saw Krishna’s beauty they were attracted to him this is true but it is a partial truth that means that our Acharya has explained that there were many different kinds of Gopis some Gopis were Devakanyas some Gopis were Munichari Gopis Munichari Gopis means that there had been sages in Ramlila and when there had been sages in Ramlila at that time when they had seen Sita and Ram performing intimate pastimes in the forest they had become attracted and they had said oh lord we also want to serve you so the lord had told them that in future when I will descend I will accept you so those sages had now come as Gopis some Gopis in this way some Gopis were Devakanyas some were Munichari Gopis some Gopis were Sadhakas who after practising Sadhana for many lifetimes had got the fortune of being born in the place where Krishna would descend and it is described when the Ramlila was performed when Krishna played his flute and called the Gopis some of the Gopis family members did not allow them to come when those family members restricted the Gopis from going those Gopis felt so separation from Krishna so intolerable that in their hearts they went so deep in the remembrance of Krishna that they left their bodies left their bodies not just in the sense of their consciousness leaving their bodies but they literally abandoned their bodies and they immediately got spiritual bodies and they went in spiritual bodies to participate in Krishna’s pastimes so these were the Gopis who were Sadhakas they were almost near perfection and whatever residual residual impurities were there when they shed their bodies they became free from those impurities and they attained the eternal association of Krishna and of course there were Gopis who were eternal associates of Krishna and those Gopis had descended with Krishna from the spiritual world and they participated fully in Krishna’s pastimes so like that there are four broad categories of Gopis the Dev Kanyas, the Munichari Gopis, the Sadhana Siddha Gopis and the Nidhya Siddha Gopis now in this verse when Krishna says Asvarupa Vidha, they did not know about my divinity so how this we understand that if we consider that this is applying to the Nidhya Siddha Gopis then it means that they were not aware that I am the Param Brahman they were not at that time consciously aware, I explained how Yoga Maya covers their knowledge but this can also refer to the Dev Kanya Gopis, Dev Kanyas they did not know that Krishna is God they simply attracted to Krishna because he is so attractive now in the 7th Canto it is described that there are different modes in which one may become attracted to Krishna Gopya Kama, Bhayat, Kamsa Vesha Chaitya Dayantra Paha, like that the list is given, the different people, the Gopis were attracted out of Kama Bhayat, Kamsa Kamsa was constantly thinking about Krishna out of fear then Chaitya Chaitya was the descendant of the King of the Cheddar dynasty, that was Shishupal Vesha, he was thinking about Krishna out of envy and Narada Muni while instructing Yudhishthira Maharaj says that whichever way one thinks about Krishna just thinking about Krishna will lead to purification and perfection the context for this discussion is that during the Rajasuya Yajna when Shishupal had blasphemed Krishna for more than 100 times, Krishna had performed a bloodless surgery he had decapitated him without the spilling of any blood because the spilling of blood would have spoiled the sanctity of the Rajasuya Yajna but although he deserved to be killed, Shishupal, for all that he had done, still Yudhishthira Maharaj observed that something, a shining spiritual light came out of the body of Shishupal and it entered into the body of Krishna so Yudhishthira Maharaj later when Narada Muni comes to meet him asks him that how is it that Shishupal who is always envious of Krishna how did he attain perfection and in that context Narada Muni is explaining that actually thinking about Krishna is always auspicious whatever way one thinks about Krishna that is auspicious and in that connection he used the example that Shishupal thought out of fear, sorry Shishupal thought out of envy Kamsa thought out of fear and the Gopis thought out of lust so that means that Krishna is all pure and he is all purifying so whatever way we think about Krishna that will take us closer to Krishna Prabhupada gave the example of how this works now Prabhupada says in a lecture that if somebody is alcoholic and that person cannot give up alcohol he says I have to drink alcohol Prabhupada says if such a person thinks Krishna says that I am the taste of water Rasoham Apsu Kaum Deyai, 7.8 in the Gita so if somebody thinks that actually when Krishna says I am the taste of water what it means is somebody may say actually according to science water is a tasteless liquid so what do we mean by the taste of water so here Krishna is talking about something not in terms of our ordinary experience although we can when we drink water and feel relief we can see this is Krishna giving me relief but in a metaphysical sense what Krishna is referring to is that different objects among the five elements earth, water, fire, air, ether each of them is associated with a particular sense object so earth is associated with fragrance so fire is associated with sight and form like that water is associated with taste so when Krishna says that I am the taste of water what he means is that actually the capacity for tasting which enables us to enjoy things through the tongue that capacity for taste is imbued in objects by him so Prabhupada says that if a drunkard is drinking alcohol and that person cannot give up drinking alcohol that person says that if that person thinks oh this taste of alcohol is Krishna then Prabhupada says by just thinking like this one day the alcoholic will become a great devotee of Krishna now what does this mean we have to give up alcohol we have to give up alcohol and if I think that the taste of alcohol is Krishna will that take me to Krishna see there are two different things one is the perception and the second is the intention the perception a devotee should perceive Krishna everywhere that means even if we see people performing sinful activities we can think that they are attracted to a particular activity particular sense of object whatever it is that is making them sinful activities the attractiveness of the sense of object is actually Krishna Krishna says that the attraction of everything attractive comes from me all opulent beautiful and glorious creations spring from a spark of my splendour so a devotee should be able to perceive Krishna everywhere so for example if we see people mad after cricket then we need to understand that why are they mad like this because for them a spark of Krishna’s splendour sometimes there is some cricketer millions of people become fans of that cricketer you may say just ordinary human being why are you going mad after him so actually for them by that cricketer’s karma and by these fans desires they are perceiving a spark of Krishna’s splendour through that cricketer and that’s why they are so irresistibly captivated towards him so devotee in this way whatever people are attracted to one can perceive Krishna over there that’s perception but we have to differentiate perception from intention intention means that yes the taste of alcohol is also Krishna but that is only a spark see Prabhupada writes in 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita that the jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness extends everywhere so Krishna is transcendental but in this world he can manifest in goodness he can manifest in passion, he can manifest in ignorance that means some people are very learned very gentle, very sober their overall life is in goodness and people get attracted to that that means through them Krishna is manifesting a spark of his Krishna’s splendour in goodness there are some people who ignore there is WWF wrestling competition people just do all sorts of crazy things over there and it is it is a show because it is not even a show that means it’s just ridiculous things happen over there but millions of people are attracted to that kind of wrestling so why? It’s Tamasic so there it is Krishna who is manifesting a spark of Krishna’s splendour manifesting in ignorance now we have to know that Krishna himself is transcendental and the intention of a sadhaka should be to move towards transcendence the intention of a sadhaka should always be to move towards transcendence so if somebody thinks that the taste of alcohol is Krishna therefore I will keep drinking alcohol then that person will stay in ignorance but if a person understands that this thing which is attracting me so much it’s actually a spark of Krishna’s splendour and if the spark is so attractive how much more attractive will the whole be? so let me try to become attracted towards the whole not towards the spark but whatever attraction is there towards the spark even if I am not able to give it up some attractions may be sinful but still even within that sinful indulgence this is actually a spark of Krishna’s splendour that is attracting me but everything comes from Krishna but everything doesn’t take us to Krishna everything comes from Krishna but everything doesn’t take us to Krishna what does that mean? that all the objects in this world ultimately their source is Krishna but whether those objects by thinking about them by interacting with them whether our consciousness will go towards Krishna or not that will vary so we in a philosophical sense recognise that Krishna is the source of everything but it is not that some people may ask the beauty of beautiful objects is created by Krishna yes but if I get consumed in that beauty am I going towards Krishna? somebody may say that somebody may argue that there are many kinds of strange people some people say that they rationalise nowadays there is lot of pornography and some people rationalise it saying that actually distorted rationalisation they say God has made the human beings beautiful so why should we conceal the beauty that God has made but the question is ok God has made everything but thinking of that does that remind you of God? it doesn’t so the point is everything comes from Krishna but everything doesn’t take us to Krishna so if anything attracts us we recognise in the intellectual sense that the attractiveness of this comes from Krishna but we should focus on those attractive manifestations which take our thoughts towards Krishna so Prabhupada writes in his C.C. Parpot that the impersonalists may say that actually wine is also Brahman yes wine is also Brahman but wine is a manifestation of Brahman that will keep you away from Brahman that will not take us towards Brahman so we need to for example some devotees may speak very eloquently and sometimes the non-devotees may also speak eloquently so now we need to know that the capacity to speak eloquently comes from Krishna but if some atheist speaks eloquently by hearing that atheist speech although the atheist’s ability to speak is coming from Krishna by appreciating that ability by getting persuaded by that message I will go away from Krishna so our focus should not just be that everything comes from Krishna in terms of perception we see the connectedness of everything with Krishna but in terms of intention we focus on going towards Krishna and accordingly we focus on those manifestations those attractive manifestations in this world which take us towards Krishna so here the point is that the Gopis some of the Gopis they may have been attracted to Krishna Kamad in terms of ordinary lust that may have been their initial intention in approaching Krishna now if they stay at that platform itself that becomes a problem but initially they may be attracted because of lust but Krishna is so attractive and the other Gopis they are so absorbed in Krishna and gradually by their focus on Krishna they start becoming absorbed in Krishna and their mood they don’t see Krishna primarily as an object for their gratification but by their focus on Krishna their worldly desires get purified and they develop the desire of wanting to love and serve Krishna in a pure selfless way this is what happened to Kupya initially when she saw Krishna he was such a lovable boy and not only is he a lovable boy but earlier I was so ugly he has given me a lovable form also she says I want to serve you she was a society girl she wanted to serve Krishna in a particular way Krishna accepted her intention and then purified her so even if one is attracted to Krishna out of lust if one does not use that to rationalise and perpetuate one’s lust then one can become purified the Sahajiyas many of them the problem is that they they prematurely trespass into advanced devotional emotions that means they think that we are actually at the same level as the Gopis and Krishna will perform pastimes with us so what the sometimes Sahajiyas do is a man and a woman they start hearing Krishna’s pastimes together and they have their own concocted belief that when we become absorbed in hearing about Krishna actually if we are hearing the pastimes of Radha and Krishna Krishna will enter into the man’s body Radha will enter into the woman’s body and when the man and the woman enjoy it is Radha and Krishna enjoying through them it’s complete distortion Acharyas have been very very firm in condemning this so what happens in principle even if one is attracted to Krishna with lust still one can become purified but when one understands Krishna’s transcendence and gradually tries to give up lust but if one tries to perpetuate the lust then it is a problem it is a serious problem if one tries so there is the material platform there is a transcendental platform and even if you are attracted to Krishna at the material level if we follow the process of purification we will go to the transcendental level so Dhruva Maharaj initially when he came to Krishna he came with a purely material motivation he wanted wealth but because he practised the process of bhakti he became purified whereas even if the Sahajiyas if they don’t practise the process of bhakti and they imagine that we are at the transcendental level while they are at the material level then they become bound not only bound they become degraded actually so that’s why our Acharyas are very careful even through lust one can approach Krishna but when Prabhupada was asked if we read the intimate pastimes of Krishna even in Krishna book Prabhupada has given some intimate pastimes so should we read those pastimes so Prabhupada’s answer is practical you read them and if you get agitated that means you are not ready don’t read them anymore so yesterday evening I was explaining how the Radha Krishna relationship is the reality and the world male female attraction in this world is a reflection so for the exalted devotees when they see the reflection Rupa Goswami says just as a boy is attracted to a girl and a girl is attracted to a boy my dear lord let me be attracted to you so for them when they see the reflection they are reminded of the reality but for us when we see the reality we are reminded of the reflection so if we are philosophically convinced this is the reflection and that is the reality then if we then hear about the reality then we will oh this reality is so sweet so beautiful then hearing about the reality will detach us from the reflection and the Bhagavatam says if we hear faithfully about Krishna’s pastimes in the Gopis then lust will go away from our heart but that will happen when we truly understand that is the reality this is the reflection then attraction in the reality will bring detachment from the reflection but if that basic philosophical conviction is not there then hearing about the reality will remind us of the reflection and that will make us agitated therefore we have to be practical we cannot say that I can approach Krishna through my lust no we have to ultimately recognise that we have to give up lust to approach Krishna but whatever captivation happens through lust we should recognise this is also because the spark of Krishna’s splendour is manifesting over here then this I will conclude with this point this we see most beautifully in the 8th canto in the 12th chapter I think where yeah where Lord Shiva is bewildered by Mohini Murthy actually for Lord Shiva is a great saint is a great devotee and not only the great devotee is the worshipable lord for many many sages and Mohini Murthy when Lord Shiva starts chasing after her Mohini Murthy deliberately runs through the assembly of sages who are devotees of Lord Shiva and all the sages are horrified to see what is our lord doing he is running after a woman and then finally Lord Shiva comes back he loses his energy and then he sobers up at that time his reaction is not oh why did you humiliate me like this he says he actually glorifies the lord my dear lord so great is your potency and nobody could have deluded me but you deluded me therefore I bow down to you that means what happens over here even when he is put into illusion even when he is dragged away by maya he doesn’t forget Krishna this falling down to maya is also a demonstration of how powerful Krishna’s maya is so when maya attracts us it is Krishna’s maya but that is so we will always be attracted to Krishna Prabhupada says that everybody is dancing in everybody is dancing in Rasa Leela some people are dancing under Krishna’s yoga maya some people are dancing in maha maya but those who are dancing in maha maya they are not enjoying rasa they are becoming rascals so Prabhupada says those who imitate rasa leela prematurely they are not doing rasa leela that is rascal leela so so as devotees if we are attracted irresistibly by some sense object this is also actually a spark of Krishna’s splendour manifesting through that sense object but this manifestation will take me away from Krishna so even amidst temptation and even amidst fall down because of temptation a devotee can be Krishna conscious that is what lord Shiva demonstrates of course that is not the favourable way to be Krishna conscious that is the unfavourable way to be Krishna conscious it is best to be Krishna conscious through the direct manifestation of Krishna even those gopis who are not aware of Krishna’s divinity even they by their attraction to Krishna they became purified by their attraction to Krishna and eventually they also attain Krishna they attain the supreme perfection this is the meaning in a very inclusive sense of somehow or the other fix the mind on Krishna and of course somehow or the other doesn’t mean in a way that increases our contamination but it stresses the principle that connection with Krishna is always auspicious and we strive in whatever way we can in the standard process given by our acharyas and we follow the process but along with that you also think of ways in which we can increase our remembrance of Krishna so if we have a particular thing that we are attracted to some people are very attracted to novels some people are very attracted to video games some people may be very attracted to sports whatever it is we can try to philosophically analyse and contemplate how my attraction to this object is actually an attraction to Krishna but this is a partial fragmental manifestation of Krishna’s attractiveness let me redirect this towards Krishna and in that way even in our Krishna unconsciousness we can infuse Krishna consciousness I will summarise, I started by talking about how what do we mean when we say the Gopis did not know about Krishna’s divinity so first I talked about the eternal associate book, Nitya Siddha Gopis that Krishna is a god who conceals his godhood so that love can reign supreme so that love is not inhibited by the awareness of Krishna’s greatness this is a head of state may want a friend to relate as a friend and not as a citizen and for that purpose Krishna uses the energy of yoga maya, yoga maya is an oxymoron which conveys, normally maya causes forgetfulness and yoga brings connection with Krishna but yoga maya is that divine energy which causes forgetfulness of Krishna’s divinity so that the connection at the level of intimacy is intensified so we discussed further about how the asvarupa vidha it can mean other things also there are four broad kinds of Gopis the devakanyas, the munichari gopis the sadha sadha siddha gopis and the nitya siddha gopis so for the devakanyas those who were attracted because of lust towards Krishna, they did not know Krishna as god but still they also became purified and in that connection we discussed how whatever attracts us be it in goodness, passion or ignorance that attractiveness of that object comes from Krishna and if we remember Krishna while being attracted to that object we will become purified Prabhupada said, drunkard if he remembers that the taste of alcohol is Krishna will go towards Krishna, but for that to happen you need to differentiate between perception and intention.
Perception means a devotee should be able to perceive Krishna’s hand Krishna’s attractiveness anything attractive in this world but the intention should not be to stay attracted to that fragmental manifestation of Krishna the intention should be to get attracted towards the whole and with that intention we try to regulate and eventually if required, if that particular attraction is anti-demotional, to eliminate it and though the sahajiyas unfortunately they try to, what they are getting attracted to at the material level, they try to perpetuate that, imagine that itself to be transcendent so Krishna’s pastime with the gopis are the reality, they are the real mango and the male-female activities in this world are the reflected mango so if we here with proper philosophical understanding that this is the reality and this is the reflection then this is the wise person who stops chasing after the reflected mango and move towards the real mango like that we will become detached from the worldly male-female attraction and become attracted towards Krishna more and more but if you are not philosophically convinced then seeing the reality we equate it with the reflection and we become attracted to the reflection so if we become sexually agitated by hearing Krishna’s pastime with the gopis, we don’t hear them we can hear other pastimes which will gradually become purified and as we follow the process of purification then gradually that conviction will come more and more and then we can steadily hear the esoteric pastimes of Krishna also but by knowing that whatever attracts us in this world, it manifests a spark of Krishna’s all attractiveness by knowing that we can infuse Krishna consciousness even into those activities which make us Krishna unconscious so thank you very much, is there any one question? yes for bio-data classes you have given us the gyan, the knowledge but you have given us gyan in such a way so when I reach you in bio-data I am not even going to talk about books it is simply philosophy at some points but how can you give me tips on how I can access the emotional content how can I apply it to my Krishna consciousness so how do we when we study Shastra, sometimes it feels like dry gyan, so how do we infuse it with more emotional content how can we apply the knowledge which we have for developing our relationship with Krishna yes, we all have to find out what stimulates spiritual emotion within us and we focus on that one of the best stimulants of spiritual emotion that I have found is Vaishnav songs Vaishnav songs have a very beautiful blend of both philosophy and emotion and the philosophy absorbs us intellectually and the emotion absorbs us mentally mind is the seat of emotion and in that way Krishna tells repeatedly offer your mind and intelligence to me that can be very easily done now even the Sanskrit prayers are also infused with a lot of devotion but sometimes the verses are complex and the mood is predominated with Aishwarya so because of which the devotion may not be immediately apparent so we can memorise songs and we don’t have to memorise full songs even one or two lines from a song which we like very much one of the lines which I quoted in an earlier class, I like Aamito Tomara Tumito Amara Ki Kaache Opara Dhama it’s one of my favourite lines I am yours, you are mine, what else do I need so if we find some line from a prayer or a song or scripture that resonates with us we can just take that and cherish that and recite that so similarly the Vaishnav songs are mostly in simpler language Bengali or sometimes in Hindi mostly Bengali in our tradition and because the emotion is more directly evident over there we can more easily access Krishna connect with Krishna even using emotions along with that we can also compose our own prayers there are the Acharya’s prayers which we should offer but sometimes the tendency may be to hide behind those prayers that means we just recite those prayers and we feel that I have done my part those prayers are meant to infuse devotion and if we can if sometimes those prayers become mechanical then we can try to have our own prayers which we offer to the Lord and if we are of a more introspective nature then I have found journaling very helpful so whatever are our concerns we write them down and then if I journal something that is worrying me, something that is troubling me something that is agitating me if I write that down my thoughts become more organised then when I come in front of the Deities and pray at that time my prayer also becomes more more concentrated not just in terms of concentration when I am offering prayer but concentrated also in terms of the content that it’s Krishna please engage me in your service that’s a good prayer but in general emotions are evoked by specifics not by universals if I say oh an Indian has come here ok maybe if I am an Indian and I like Indians I may have some emotion if I say an Indian from South India has come it’s more specific, if I am from South India I will be more attracted but if you come to know so and so person has come here then because it’s a specific person if I like that person the emotion will be evoked much more so if we offer general prayer to Krishna, Krishna please engage me in your service, that’s a good prayer but because it is so general, emotion may not be so evoked Krishna I am going for book distribution today I wish to distribute this many books please help me then the more specific the prayer the more emotion can be invested in it now we shouldn’t usually pray we can pray to Krishna that he give us a particular result but we don’t have to make the prayer like a demand Krishna this is what I feel will be a wonderful service to you so I would like to do this but whatever is yours we will let it happen but please let me serve you enthusiastically in this particular service so making our I said composing our own prayers basically means making our prayers specific to our context and our concerns that evokes emotion so another thing that we could do to bring bhava emotion into our devotion is to associate more with devotees who have the kind of emotion that we can relate with there are different devotees who are emotional in different ways also now some devotees we just do kirtans and they go into ecstasy in kirtans and if that’s the kind of emotion we connect with then we associate that kind of devotees there are other devotees who are more there are different natures so they are more subdued but still within that subdued nature also there is intense devotion so basically we have to find out like minded association even with respect to the specific of the intense devotion so different devotees are basically different and many devotees may be very advanced but whether we can relate with them that is something which we will have to find out so by reciting Vaishnava songs by composing our own specific prayers and by associating with devotees who have the kind of emotion that we can connect with we can also infuse our bhakti with devotion thank you very much so thank you very much for your kind hospitality over the last few days and the wonderful services that all of you are doing here at the lotus feet of Shri Radha Gopinath so thank you very much and please forgive any offences that I may have committed Shri Radha Gopinath Chanting