Which Krishna pastimes can we meditate on?

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, if you have to remember Krishna, which pastimes of Krishna can we remember? It is not that we should not remember some pastimes. Any pastime we can remember. But what Srila Prabhupada’s concern was that if we focus exclusively on the Madhurya pastimes, Krishna’s pastimes and the Gopis, then because we still have material conceptions, so we may misunderstand.
So, we, generally, the Bala Leela is very sweet to memorize, to recollect. We have Damodarashtakam and many of the childhood pastimes of Krishna. So, Bala Leela’s pastimes, Sakya Leela’s pastimes, Mahabharata’s pastimes of Krishna are very unmissable.
So, this way if we start remembering Krishna’s pastimes and even when we are remembering the Madhurya Leela’s pastimes, if we focus not so much on the specifics of the pastimes as the prayers within the pastimes. So, Gopi Gita is very sweet and uplifting to recite and to sing and to contemplate. We don’t have to necessarily meditate on the forms of the Gopis and the pastimes specifically.
That may be a little disturbing for us. Prabhupada when he was asked that, you know, Prabhupada you said that the pastimes of Krishna are confidential, Krishna’s pastimes of the Gopis, but then you have given us Krishna book and you said Krishna book is for distribution to everyone, even new people. So, how is that? Prabhupada said yes, but there is so much other things in Krishna book also.
It’s not just Gopis those esoteric pastimes of Krishna with the Gopis. So, if we find a particular pastime very relishable how Krishna rescued Udraupadi or how Krishna countered Kali or whatever if we find a particular pastime relishable, surely we can contemplate that pastime. But contemplating that pastime and meditating on that pastime, we can do it through a scriptural framework that means, we memorize some verses or we memorize some songs and we contemplate those songs when we have So, we have to Prabhupada when he was asked whether we can read the pastimes of Krishna with the Gopis we can rascal the pastimes of Krishna book, Prabhupada said Prabhupada’s approach is pragmatic, he says that you read the pastime and if you find you are getting agitated then stop reading it.
So, the idea is that it’s not that Jayanand Maharaj tells us that, at one time some devotee had written an article about the Rashtriya and the editors, they said that no, no Rashtriya is too advanced, we cannot write about this So, that devotee wrote to Prabhupada Prabhupada said No, that devotee is not right One of the editors had little doubt He says, is it that we should not talk about Gopis and Krishna? So, Prabhupada said, what do you mean? He said, are you going to boycott the Gopis from BTG? He said, the Gopis are our worshipable models we cannot boycott them He said, present, if you write about them write about them in a proper way so that people don’t just see them as Krishna as a boy and Gopis as girls they see them in the proper worshipable mood So, if we have the proper mood and if by reading even the confidential pastimes, we feel our consciousness being elevated then we can read those pastimes also. But we shouldn’t focus only on those pastimes. If you focus on the pastimes which inspire us the most but it is unlikely that just the Madhuras pastimes what is going to inspire us the most.
Because at our level when we have problems and see how Krishna rescues devotees from problems how Krishna helps in wonderful ways, that is what is likely to attract us the most So, we can have individual choice about which pastimes we meditate on. But we should be careful that the meditation is done in a devotional mood and it enhances our devotion. Not that in the name of devotion our contemplation goes towards sensuality