Was Mirabai greater than Jiva Goswami because she saw beyond bodily gender?

Transcript

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Hare Krishna. Question, was Mirabai greater than Jiva Goswami because she saw beyond bodily gender? There is a story that when Mirabai wanted to meet Jiva Goswami, at that time she said that Jiva Goswami refused because he said that he cannot meet a female. So it is reported that Mirabai said, oh I thought that Krishna was the only male in Vrindavan.
And then when Jiva Goswami heard this reply, he agreed to meet Mirabai. So does this indicate that Mirabai was at a higher level of consciousness than Jiva Goswami? Answer, not exactly. First of all, we don’t have to put great saints in competition with each other.
We should focus on what we can learn from their behavior, not focus on who is right and who is wrong. Because we understand that great saintly personalities are inspired by the Lord to behave in different ways for the pleasure of the Lord and for teaching certain principles to us. So now Jiva Goswami wanted to test the level of consciousness of Mirabai.
And he also wanted to follow the example of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in being careful in associating with the opposite sex, associating with women. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu set a very strong precedent through the Chhota Haridas fast time. And this was required to counter the sahajiyaic trends wherein the men and women would mix freely in the name of being transcendental.
And often illicit activities would happen because of that. So that is a very sad, unfortunate, regrettable, even the principle part of the Vaishnava history. So Jiva Goswami was following Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s example and exhibiting adequate caution in his interaction with Mirabai.
And when Mirabai replied in that way, he did not just see the reply, it was not just that he was in a debate defeated, but he saw the consciousness and the intention of Mirabai in that particular reply and he recognized that she is a great devotee and then he met her. So now the point is that Mirabai, as far as the historical record goes, it is not described that she was initiated in any particular tradition. And she herself never took the position of an acharya.
She was just spontaneously permeated with devotion to Krishna and she wrote songs and she led a life of devotion to him. But she did not take the position of an acharya teaching and teaching others. And as I said, she is not also considered to be initiated in any sampradaya.
So she is a special soul who as arranged by the Lord, maybe from a previous life of devotion, to demonstrate a very high level of devotion. So Jiyu Goswami, on the other hand, was initiated properly and is considered a Siddhanta Acharya of the Gaudiya Sampradaya. So their positions are different and Mirabai was exhibiting extraordinary devotion, was exhibiting a great eagerness to associate with a great devotee of the Lord.
Whereas Jiyu Goswami, as an acharya, was setting an example as had been set by the acharya of his tradition, by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he was following the example of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and exhibiting adequate caution in associating with a woman. And when he saw that she was at an exalted level of consciousness, then he met with her.
So there is no competition over here. Jiyu Goswami is setting a standard, as an acharya, is setting a standard over here. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.