CONTENTS:
- LOVE FOR KRISHNA INTENSIFIED
- MAKING KRISHNA THE CENTER
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S OFFER - FREEDOM FROM MAYA
1. LOVE FOR KRISHNA INTENSIFIED
So, this chapter describes how Balarama went to Gokul Vrndavana. Krishna and Balarama left Vrndavana a long time ago. The residents of Vrndavana, especially the gopis, could not tolerate the inability to see Krishna even for the wink of an eye. When their eyes blinked, for that one moment they could not see Krishna and that separation or inability to see Krishna became so unbearable for them that they criticized Brahma’s creation: What kind of bodies did Brahma create? He created eyes that blink and because of that we are not able to see Krishna.
So those Vraja vasis, who could not tolerate the separation from Krishna even for a wink of an eye, were deprived of Krishna’s association for a long, long time. So, they were in a very, very miserable condition at that time. Actually, they stopped eating; they stopped doing anything.
When Uddhava went to Vrndavana he saw that the fireplaces had spider webs, which meant they hadn’t been used for so long. They didn’t cook for many days. Practically they hadn’t cooked since Krishna left. That was how they were feeling separation from Krishna.
When Balarama went to Vrndavana, first He met the senior members, Mother Yashoda, Nanda Maharaja and the other elderly gopis. Then finally it is described how Balarama met with the Vraja gopis, the young damsel girls of Vrndavana. They were complaining to Him, “Look, we have given up everything for the sake of Krishna. We gave up our mothers, we gave up our fathers, we gave up our husbands, we gave up our brothers, we gave up our sisters, we gave up our children-- only for the sake of Krishna, and look what He has done to us. He left us and went away. We gave up everything for His sake and now He has left us also.”
At this point in these two verses, although there is no commentary, Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura gives a very long commentary. In that a kind of discussion goes on with questions and answers. The gopis are asked questions, “Why did you do that and give up everything for Krishna?” They answer: “We couldn’t help it.” Then they are asked, “You should have thought about it.” So finally, the gopis mention, “Because we are stupid, we are village girls and so we are not really very intelligent, so we fell for Him. And see what He has done to us.”
But then in the thirteenth verse the gopis are saying, “He may have deceived us village girls who are inexperienced and unintelligent, but how could the city girls, who are intelligent and smart fall in love with Him, because He cannot be trusted.”
They are saying, how can intelligent city women possibly trust the words of one whose heart is so unsteady and who is so ungrateful. So, they are saying that Krishna is fickle minded; His mind is unsteady and His heart is ungrateful, because if Krishna was grateful then He could never behave in this way.
So ultimately, we have to understand these are all Krishna’s pastimes that are arranged through Yogamaya. Why did Krishna do that? He does it in order to intensify His devotees’ love for Him. If love is uninterrupted, then love can become boring. But when there is an interruption, when there is separation, then love becomes more intensified. There is an expression, viraha madhura. Viraha means separation and this separation makes loving relationships sweeter. So that is why Krishna is making these arrangements; this separation is simply to intensify their love for Him. And Krishna derives great joy seeing how they are feeling due to His separation and how intense their love for Him is.
That is the greatness of Krishna’s Vraja lila. Krishna’s Vrndavana pastimes are very unusual pastimes. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Supreme. He is the Supreme Lord and master. So, since He is the Supreme Lord and master what is the natural relationship of the living entities with Him? It is of servitorship. He is the Lord and everyone else is His subservient subordinate. Ekale isvara Krishna, ära saba bhrtya (CC Adi 5.142). Krishna is the Supreme Lord and master and everyone else is His servant. So that is the natural attitude towards the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But in Vrndavana that is not the case. In Vrndavana, the predominating relationships with the Lord are in friendship, parental and conjugal and the principle consideration of those relationships is conjugal. Parental and friendship are supporting that conjugal relationship. So that is Vrndavana.
In this respect the Goswamis of Vrndavana made a very wonderful analysis. They derived this point from the consideration that this material nature is a perverted reflection of the spiritual world. So, if there is something in the reflection, then that must be existing in the real substance. If there is something in the reflection, then the real object must exist. For example, in a reflection of a tree on a pool of water, if we see green leaves, red flowers and yellow fruits then we have to conclude that the green leaves, red flowers and yellow fruits are existing there in the real tree.
So, from that consideration, the Goswamis are deriving the consideration that in the material world we see five kinds of positive relationships. Actually, there are four kinds of positive relationships and one is a neutral relationshipsanta. Santa means: I am okay, you are okay; but there is no loving exchange. The loving exchange actually begins with servitor-ship. The master and servant have a kind of loving relationship. Now the relationship between friends is even deeper than the relation between master and servant. The relationship between the parents and offspring is even deeper than friendship and the relationship between husband and wife is even deeper than parental. So, we find that these relationships are there in the material nature. Beyond servitor-ship, there is friendship, parental and conjugal. Don’t you find that? Now if these relationships are there in the material nature, then these relationships must be there in the spiritual nature also. Otherwise, how can they be here?
What is the difference between material nature and spiritual nature? The material nature is the world where we are the center and the spiritual nature is the world where Krishna is the centerthat is the only difference. The distance between material and spiritual, is us and Krishna.
2. MAKING KRISHNA THE CENTER
Where we are the center, that is material and where Krishna is the center, that is spiritual. So, if we have these relationships with us in the center, then there must be these relationships with Krishna also.
But Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the Supreme Lord and master, so His relationships with the living entities are generally in servitor-ship. These three other relationships are not possible with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Friendship takes place among equals. How can one become equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? At least in friendship the Lord and His devotees are equal. But in parental the devotees have become superior and Krishna has become subordinate. So how is this relationship possible with the Supreme Personality of Godhead? How can anyone be superior to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? And in conjugal, how can one develop the loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead just as a young girl and young boy fall in love with each other. So, these relationships are not possible with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Then the question is, why do we find these relationships in the material nature? One cannot become equal to the Lord or superior to the Lord, but if the Lord wants, if Krishna wants, then He can become equal to somebody. If Krishna wants, He can become subordinate to somebody.
And if Krishna wants, He can allow a girl to fall in love with Him, just like a young girl falls in love with a young boy.
And how does Krishna do that? In order to enable His devotees to develop these relationships with Him, Krishna ceases to become the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna becomes a cowherd boy. It is impossible to become equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but to become equal to a cowherd boy is no problem. To become superior to a cowherd boy it is possible and for a young girl to fall in love with a cowherd boy it is possible. So that is why Vrndavana is the region where Krishna is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is a cowherd boy and all the devotees there have forgotten that Krishna is God.
There is another consideration to this forgetfulness. There are two types of forgetfulness. One kind of forgetfulness is out of ignorance—that we always experience. But there is another kind of forgetfulness that is out of intense love. For example, the son has become the Prime Minister. It is not that the mother does not know that her son is the Prime Minister, but she doesn’t treat him like a Prime Minister. Why? It is because of her love for him. It is not important. Because of their love, because of the mother’s love for the son, the mother doesn’t consider what his position is. She treats him like her son. So, this is another kind of forgetfulness out of intense love.
In Vrndavana, the forgetfulness of the residents about Krishna’s situation as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is something like that. Their attitude is, “You may be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but so what? What really matters is that You are my friend. Whether You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead or not, you will always remain my friend. I will always treat You as my friend. I will always treat You as my son. I will always treat You as my lover.
3. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S OFFER FREEDOM FROM MAYA
Srila Prabhupada created this wonderful opportunity to free us from the lap of Maya, free us from the bondage of material pangs. Now the question is are you going to take advantage of it or not? And taking advantage means we have to become serious we have to actually realize that we have something that is very precious. It’s like somebody comes and gives you some very precious jewel, very precious diamonds. Now what are you going to do with the diamonds. He gave you the diamonds but then what are you going to do with the diamonds? It’s up to you. What are you going to do with the diamonds? If you don’t recognize the value of the diamonds, what’s the use of getting it? There’s an English expression, “Casting pearls in front of a swine”. If you give a swine, a pig some pearls, what difference does it make to the swine, to the pig? The pig will sniff it and he will see that he can’t eat it so he will sit tight. To recognize the value of a pearl or a diamond we have to know what it is, we must assess its value and utilize it for our benefit.
Prabhupada has given us the most precious spiritual wealth and now it’s up to us that we will do with that? How we are going to take advantage of this? Therefore, please become serious, don’t take it lightly. Take advantage of it and if you feel that this place is not good enough some other than ISKCON has many other temples yes you can go to some other temple. If you don’t like this temple, please feel free to go wherever you want to go because as I said like activities of ISKCON goes on. Similarly, activities of this temple also will go on. No one is dependent upon anyone especially Krishna is not dependent upon anyone.
Especially, Prabhupada was very emphatic that this movement has a very serious mission, only serious people should be involved. That’s why Prabhupada made it very clear if you want to join ISKCON you have to follow the four regulative principles. So, this is the first hurdle to cross. Then if you want to stay in ISKCON you have to chant 16 rounds. You have to study the books. You have to render service. These are the indications of seriousness. So become good members of ISKCON society, become serious about your spiritual life. Remember that you have an important mission and try to fulfil that mission.