The heart of Hinduism is God-Love, or devotional worship of the Divine Person. And such worship finds its greatest raditional expression in the devotional love relationship between Krishna, the Avatar or Divine Incarnation, and the gopis, the cowherd-maidens of the village of Brindaban. Krishna, the very embodiment of Bliss and Love on Earth, is said to have lived in ecstatic play with hundreds of gopis for a number of years. As their spiritual master and lover, he taught them the esoteric practices of yoga, won their hearts with the charm of his flute playing, stole their clothes and teased them, and embraced them in love. Yet all of Krishna's play with the gopis only served to intensify their attachment to him as the Divine Person, and it created the necessary devotional fervor to move them into ecstatic Communion with God.
From the basic story, which is contained in an ancient text named the Bhagavata Purana (also known as the Shrimad Bhagavatam), have sprung an endless stream of legends, poems, songs, and spiritual discourses on the Divine Play between Krishna and his lovers. This book, Gopis' Love for Sri Krishna, is perhaps the most informed, charming, and descriptive text available in English from this lineage. It contains the essence of the devotional path of God-Love.
Hanumanprasad Poddar, 1892-1971, the author of this book, is little known in the West. In his native India, however, he was greatly revered as a saint and a scholar whose love for the spiritual writings of Hinduism had a far-reaching effect. For forty-five years he edited the Kalyan, a renowned Hindi religious journal, while also guiding the work of the Gita Press. This publishing house is well known throughout India for providing well-edited, low cost editions of the most important and spiritually relevant Hindu texts. We are deeply grateful for the work of Hanumanprasad Poddar, the Gita Press, and the Sri Radha Madhava Seva Sansthan who made this edition available to us. We have edited it slightly to conform to more modern Western usage.
Spiritual Greatness of the Gopis
It is no use enjoying pleasure after pleasure and possessing immense wealth nor is it any use becoming a great ascetic besmearing the body with ashes.
It is little use surrounding oneself with fires on all sides and sitting under the sun in summer, or acquiring the power of floating in water, or extending one's dominion across the seas.
You may repeat sacred formulas times without number, practice austerities and exercise control over body and mind, observe fasts for any number of days, undertake pilgrimage to a thousand sacred places; but who cares for all these?
He is really an uncultured boor who loves not, nor enjoys the blessed company of the beloved child of Nanda.
You may possess a number of mansions cast in gold, the splendor of which dazzles the eyes, and which are perpetually illumined by rows of bright rubies and other precious stones.
To mention only a single fact indicative of worldly greatness, you may have a regular troop of guards waiting at the door all the twenty-four hours to regulate the entry of visitors.
Nay, you may throw pearls to the crowd in charity after taking a plunge in the Ganges, or chant the Vedas twenty times or engage in meditation of the Lord.
All of this is of no use, says Rasakhan, if you have not been able to love the yellow-robed Sri Krishna by offering Him the heart!
It is presumptuous of me to attempt to write anything on the Love of the Gopis.The truth about that Love may be known to a certain extent only by such lovers and devotees of the Lord. To them the truth may be revealed in all kindness by the Blissful Aspect of the Lord embodied as Sri Radha, and by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna himself, the transcendent ocean of Bliss and Love, the embodiment of Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss. One who knows the truth about this Love cannot, again, speak or write about it, inasmuch as the sports of the Lord at Brindaban, through which that Love is revealed, cannot be expressed through words. It is something beyond human conception, transcendent, supernatural. The inhabitants of Vraja of the time of Sri Krishna were none other than the eternal associates of the Lord, who came from beyond the region of Maya, and manifested themselves on earth in order to participate in the boyish sports of the Lord under the direction and guidance of His Divine Energy, Sri Radha. Even the creator of the universe, Brahma, soliciting the dust of the feet of these Mahatmas (great souls) that manifested in Vraja, said:
O Lord, may I have the rare good fortune of being enlisted as a servant of Thine either in this very birth or even through birth in one of the lower species of animals, so that I may be able to serve Your sacred feet. Enviable is the lot of Nanda and the other cowherds of Vraja, who have got Thee, the Supreme Eternal, Blissful Lord, for their friend. It is a great privilege to be born in Vraja, and more particlarly in Gokula, even as an insect that crawls on earth, for that may afford one an opportanity of sanctifying one's head with the dust of the feet of any of the blessed inhabitants of Vraja.
How great were the inhabitants of Vraja, the dust of whose feet was sought by Brahma himself! Spurning liberation, they have gone far beyond that state in spiritual realization. Even Brahma admitted this when He said, "Lord, You vouchsafed salvation even to Putana, the demoness, who came with the evil intention of killing You, painting her breasts with deadly poison. Will You confer the same thing on these lovers of Yours? Nay, You will have to remain bound in perpetual debt to them." The Lord Himself acknowledged this in the following memorable words addressed to the Gopis:
O dear ones, you have shown your Devotion to Me by snapping off the strong ties of the family and of relations. lt is not possible for Me to repay the debt of this sacred Devotion of yours even if I serve you for the whole lifetime of a celestial being. You alone can discharge me from this obligation through your own generosity.
Although as Lord and ruler of the universe He keeps all beings, gods, demons, Gandharvas (demi-gods) and men alike, perpetually bound by the fetters of Karma, he allows Himself to be tied to the husking-stand by the milkmaid Yashoda [Krishna's mother]. The Lord of Maya, who makes the entire creation dance to the tune of His Maya [Play of Illusion], loses the game in favor of His playmates, and as a condition of the game plays the horse and carries the cowherd boys on His back! Blessed are those men, women, and children of Vraja! It happened, one day, that Devi Yashoda was engaged in some household duties when the child Sri Krishna became obstinate and asked the mother to take Him in her arms. The mother turned a deaf ear to His importunities. This upset the child, who began to weep and roll on the floor of the courtyard. Just at that moment appeared on the scene Devarsi Narada [a sage], who had felt an impulse in his heart to witness the boyish sports of his beloved Lord. He found that the Lord of entire creation, the Abode of Supreme Bliss, was rolling on the ground and clamoring for being picked up by the mother. The celestial sage was driven into raptures at this unprecedented sight, and addressing Yashoda, he exclaimed:
Your fortune, O Yashoda, is indeed incomparable. I wonder how many sacred places you visited and what virtuous deeds you performed in your previous births! Wonder of wonders! The Lord, Creator, and Sustainer of the Universe, whose grace even great gods like Indra [Lord of Heaven], Brahma [Creator], and Shiva [Destroyer] find difficult to obtain, that Supreme Brahma is rolling in dust seeking to obtain a seat in your arms.
God, the embodiment of supreme Knowledge and Bliss, who makes the whole creation dance like a puppet tied to the strings of his Maya, Himself dances in the courtyards of the Gopis enchanted by their Love. Who can adequately praise their lot or describe the greatness of their Love? Says Rasakhan:
Shesha (the serpent-god), Mahesha (Shiva), Ganesha (the elephant-god), the Sun-god and lndra, on whom all these gods constantly meditate, Whom the Vedas describe as eternal, infinite, partless, indivisible, and differenceless,
Whose Name and glories are incessantly sung by Rishis [sages] like Narada, Shuka, and Vyasa—even they cannot exhast his glories and themselves feel exhausted: Him the cowherd girls get to dance before them over a cup of buttermilk!
Praising the lot of the Gopis, Sri Shukadeva, who had supreme indifference to the enjoyments of the world and had established his absolute identity with Brahma, said:
Neither Brahma, nor Shiva, nor even Sri Lakshmi [goddess of Fortune], who constantly resides in the heart of the Lord, could obtain that rare and incomparabe boon (of Love) from the Lord, the dispenser of salvation, which fell to the lot of these supreme lovers, the cowherd-maids of Brindaban.
Similarly says Sri Uddhava [a disciple of Krishna], foremost among men of wisdom:
The rarest boon (of Love) that fell to the lot of the damsels of Vraja, who during the Rasa dance had the rare good fortune of clasping the arms of the bessed Lord to their bosom and had all their desires fulfilled thereby, was neither obtained by Lakshmi, who resides permanently on the bosom of the Lord, nor by other goddesses who possessed the grace and fragrance of a full-blown lotus.
In one of his memorable songs, the celebrated poet-saint Surdas says:
The Gopis of bessed memory enjoyed the childish sports of Sri Hard [Krishna] to their hearts' content as a matter of course; Lakshmi Herself was not privileged to obtain this favor even in her dreams.
Whose true nature the Vedas are trying to determine though with little success, whom Sri Shiva is constantly engaged in studying and.whom Shesha himself is trying hard to fathom but in vain;
Who eludes the gaze even of ladies belonging to the Kinnara, Gandharva, and Naga classes (the leading types of demi-gods). The damsels of Vraja catch hold of the self-same Lord (now disgised as a cowherd boy) and make Him dance like an ape to the tune of their clapping. Addressing words of endearment, they smilingly gaze on His charming contenance and then clasping Him within their arms they engage in sport with Him. Forgetting all their household work, the bessed ladies follow the two brothers (Krishna and Balarama [Krishna's older brother]) wherever they go. Having heard the sweet nectarlike stories of the Uplifter of hill (Sri Krishna) all other nectar appears inferior in taste,
Who will covet the other trivial pleasres of the world, when even the joy of liberation appears as unpalatable as salt?
Addressing Uddhava, whose one ambition was to be born as a creeper or a shrub or an herb in Vraja in order that the sacred dust of the feet of the Gopis may fall on his head, and who having assimilated the discipleship of the Gopis had assimilated the lofty sentiment of the Gopis, the Lord said:
O Uddhava, neither Brahma, nor Shiva, nor Sankarshana (Balarama), nor again Lakshmi, nay, not even My own soul is so dear to Me as are devotees like you.
This may have given the reader some idea about the spiritual greatness of the Gopis. How it is possible for a humble mortal like me to describe that Love which made the Gopi the dearest object of the Lord Himself? The eligibility for this Love is attained only after one has developed supreme indifference to the enjoyments of the world, and it is only through the grace of those exalted souls who have direct experience of the transcendent region that a devotee may expect to tread the thorny path of Love and obtain a taste of that nectar. For this, however, one is required to pursue a course of spiritual discipline. Through mere study or book-learning, it is not possible to reach that height of spiritual experience. An attempt is, however, being made here to give a gist of what I have been able to gather from various sources through the grace of God. Those blessed and revered souls, who are steeped in this Love, will kindly excuse this guilt and impudence of mine.
What Is Love?
Before attempting to probe into the mystery of the Gopis' Love, it is necessary to discuss at some length the philosophy of Love itself. In reality Love is not something which can be expressed through words; that which can lend itself to description is the grossest and most external form of Love. The seat of Love is the heart; it transforms the lover into Love itself.
Bhagavan Sri Rama sent the following message of Love to Sri Sita:
O dear, the truth about the Love betueen You and Me is known only to My mind and that mind constantly stays with You. Know You that herein lies the essence of Love.
In Love there is no room for self-interest. Where there is any desire for return, there the purity of Love is stained by lust, or desire for self-gratification. In Love there is giving and giving alone; the thought of taking or receiving never occurs to the mind of the lover. Love, again, always tends to grow. A lover can never believe that his is a fully developed love; he always sees his own limitations, and keeps the needle of his heart directed exclusively toward the beloved. Love that hinges round some virtue, or expects something in return, diminishes, or disappears as soon as it notices a decline in the virtues of the beloved, or apprehends loss of expectation. Love of this type is not love in the proper sense of the term. It is love of self or desire for self-gratification that masquerades as love in that case.
Kabir says:
Now that which swells up and the very next moment ebbs low is not Love: That alone which is firmly rooted in the heart and knows no ebbing should be given the name of Love.
Again, it is said:
An attraction between lovers, which knows no extinction even in the presence of factors favorable to such extinction, is called Love.
For instance, suppose the object of our love loses his wealth, his beauty fades, his virtues give place to vices, he ceases to reciprocate our love or show regard to us, snubs us at every step, offers insult to us and shows respect to others in our very presence, or manifests thousands of evil tendencies. Under such circumstances our love, for our beloved, is sure to disappear. This is our experience of love as it is known in the world. True love is that which does not diminish even in such conditions, but goes on increasing every day.
Says Rasakhan:
That Love is the fountain of all sweetness which is not dependent on youth, virtue, beauty or wealth, nor tainted by self-interest or thoughts of personal gain, and which is pare and free from desire (of self-gratification).
Very subtle, very soft, very slender, very remote, Love is the hardest of all, constant, unvaried in sweetness, brimful.
All-sweetness, spontaneous, disinterested, unwavering, sublime, unvaried in sweetness, constantly growing, such is pure love, O Kasakhan.
A poet says:
Love constantly grows like the waxing moon, Only there is no full-moon here, hence it never reaches the point where it may be said to be full.
This type of Love can grow only in the heart of the devotee in relation to God. Devarshi Narada, while describing the nature of this Love, says:
The nature of Love cannot be described in words, like the experiences of a dumb person. This Love manifests itself in some rarely fortunate and qualified medium (namely, a devotee who has developed supreme indifference to worldly enjoyments).
This Love is beyond the range of the three Gunas, is untainted by desire, constantly growing, ceaseless in flow, and very subtle; it can be understood only by experience. A devotee who attains this sees only this Love, hears only this, and thinks of this and this alone.
(Bhakti-Sutra 51-55)
There remains no distinction between the lover and the beloved in this state. For, as the poet says:
Love is the essence of God and God is the embodiment of Love. Though one in essence, they appear as two, like the sun and the sunshine.
Below are the utterances of some Hindi poets regarding the condition of the Gopis, who attained this highest stage of Love.
In whichever direction I look, I find the landscape full of Shyama [Krishna] (dark blue). The bowers and groves are dark, the water of the Jamuna is dark, the sky and clouds are dark. All the colors are merged in the dark color, people say this is something novel.
Am I mad, or are the dark pupils of the peoples' eyes changed? The heart of the Moon and the scion of the Sun are dark, the musk is dark, as well as Cupid, the conqueror of the world. The neck of the blue-necked Shiva is also dark, as if the dark color has been broadcast all over the earth. The letters of the Vedas appear dark; the point of the tapering light is also dark. Not to speak of men and gods; the Formless Brahma itself has assumed a dark Form.
The ears went ahead of all and lost themselves in the stories of His glory. Then the eyes departed and lost themselves in the nectarean beauty. So did the mind lose itself in the smile in the dance, in the furtive glance, in the mirth, in the symmetry of Form and in the sweetness of disposition, even as water mixes with milk.
Enchanted by that Supreme Enchanter, my mind has identified itself with the Enchanter Himself and no distinction, says Harichand, is now visible between the two. Krishna has entered into my very life-breath, and the breath is surcharged with Krishna. It cannot be perceived now whether it is life that pulsates within, or Krishna that is throbbing in the heart.
Wherever I turn my eyes, I find Shyama [Krishna] and Shyama alone visible everywhere. In the streets, on the bathing ghats, in the alleys, in the orchards, in the trees, in the creepers, in the gardens, in the groves, in the doorways, on the walls, on the thresholds, on the windows, in the gardens, in the diamonds, in the necklaces, in the body, in the woodlands, in the bowers, in the Gopis, in the cows, in the herds of cattle in Gokula, in the lightning, and in the clouds. It is Krishna, again, who has occupied my mind and eyes.
This love of Shyama is something which cannot be expressed through words. The sky, water, earth, animate and inanimate creation, all that is perceived is nothing but Shyama. Brahma has vanished: Maya, too, has disappeared: no Jiva (embodied soul), no time: Even one's own self has been forgotten. If anything remains, it is the darling of Nanda.
There is no one left to confide the secret of his heart. As a matter of fact, no such secret is left, to whom and in what manner shall it be confided? While gazing on Hari, the heart got stolen. Now it is Hari and Hari alone who is seen on all sides.
Narayana says, in whose heart Shyama resides. In branch, leaf, flower and fruit I see Him and nothing else. Doors and walls have been transformed into mirrors. In whichever direction I look I find Thee and Thee alone. Pebbles, stones, and broken pieces of earthenware all have turned into so many looking-glasses.
The following is an anecdote connected with the Gopis, who saw Krishna permeating the whole universe. One of these Gopis asked another in the course of their talks about Krishna, in which they remained engaged all the twenty-four hours—"Sister, here is a puzzle for me. The blessed Nanda has got a fair complexion, Queen Yashoda is fair, even Balarama is fair-complexioned; while all members of the family are fair, is it not strange that Shyamasundara [Krishna] alone should have been dark-complexioned?" Hearing this the other Gopi, who beheld Krishna everywhere, replied—"Sister, what a shame? Don't you know even this?"
He stays day and night within our eyes painted black by collirium.4 0 friend, it is due to this that the body of our dearest is dark in color.
What a sentiment of deep spiritual significance. In the painted eyes of these Gopis resided Sri Krishna alone and nothing else; their eyes beheld nothing else in this wide world. There are some people who hold that the Gopis never believed in the all-pervading nature of the Lord. This is quite true, inasmuch as these Gopis saw their beloved Sri Krishna alone, and nothing else. When in their eyes nothing besides Sri Krishna existed, then what would He pervade?
Bowing again and again to the sacred feet of these Gopis, who are merged and lost in this Divine Love of Sri Krishna, we proceed to the next stage of our discussion.
In the love of the Gopis, there is no absence of passion; of course, that passion has withdrawn itself from all other objects of worldly attraction, and crossing the barriers of all allurements in the shape of liberation and worldly enjoyments, which are so difficult to surmount, has centered round Sri Krishna alone. The mind, the senses, the vital energy—all that the Gopis possessed—belonged to Sri Krishna. Whether in this world or in the next, the Gopis knew no one else than Sri Krishna. Whether awake or asleep, at work or at recreation, whether engaged in dressing, toilet, in music, or in conversation, they thought of nothing else but making Sri Krishna happy. It is only when they found Sri Krishna pleased and gratified that these Gopis, who had no personal desires, enjoyed a delight whose sweep was almost infinite. The Lord Himself said:
O Arjuna, the Gopis take care of their bodies simply becase they regard them as instruments of service to Me. Besides the Gopis there is none who is the object of My secret and profound Love.
The question may be raised here—"What is the meaning of rendering happiness to God, who is Himself the ocean of happiness, who is solidified Knowledge and Bliss? Does God derive His happiness only through the Gopis? Is not God Himself the source and fountainhead of all happiness? No doubt He is. And Sri Radha is nothing else than the embodiment of the Bliss aspect of the All-powerful God, who through the music of His flute draws that Aspect of His own, separated for sport, towards Himself. This aspect (Bliss) of God attended by Her subordinate forces is constantly being drawn towards the Lord, who tasting that Bliss distributes the same among those very forces—His beloved devotees. When the music of the flute—the Master's Call—enters the ears of the devotee, he forgets his hearth and home, and sacrificing every interest that may bind him runs like one possessed and intoxicated to make his beloved Lord happy. The Lord accepts this offering of his Love, and sanctifying it with His Divine touch returns it to the devotee. When a person goes before a mirror after beautifying his person, the beauty reflected in the mirror is not retained by the mirror but always comes back to the person, and he himself becomes the enjoyer of that beauty. In a similar way the All-Beautiful Lord accepts the offering of beauty of the Gopis and gives satisfaction to their desire, namely that He should accept their physical service and make Himself happy through sports of Love with them. God enjoys that bliss Himself and returns it to them as His own offering after augmenting it to an enormous extent. The Love of the Gopis had the distinction that they possessed not the slightest desire for self-gratification. They did not entertain the thought of personal happiness even in imagination. Finding Sri Krishna happy through their association they remained merged in the ocean of bliss, whether awake or in sleep. There was not stain of lust in this pure Love of the Gopis; it was as spotless as the sun in a cloudless sky; it was purely Divine and supernatural. Bringing out this difference between Kama (lust) and Prema (Love) Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita says:
The object of Kama is enjoyment through gratification of the senses, while Prema has the pleasre of Sri Krishna for its object. Social conventions, scriptural injunctions, and other Karma (activity), sense of decorum, patience, comfort of body and happiness of mind, renouncing all these, they take to the worship of Sri Krishna. They (the Gopis) pursue this Prema for the pleasures of Sri Krishna (not for their own gratification). Therefore, there is a world of difference between Kama and Prema. Kama is pitch darkness, Prema is the brilliance of the sun in a cloudless sky.
This difference between Kama and Prema is very wide and vital. We mortals, deluded by the attraction of the senses, forget this vital difference and, mistaking Kama for Prema, fall an easy prey to our propensities. Kama is honey mixed with poison, while Prema is Divine, celestial nectar. While Kama gives place immediately to pain, Prema through every experience of its pang gives the taste of nectarean bliss. In Kama there is satisfaction and gratification of the senses, whereas in Prema there is absorption of Self, and an evergrowing desire for seeing the beloved happy. The gratification of senses through satisfaction of Kama (lust), though appearing sweet in the beginning, is painful in consequence; whereas Prema (Love), though it knows no satiety, is the source of eternal and Supreme Bliss. Kama is intermittent and spasmodic, while Prema is continuous and uninterrupted. Kama has a tendency to subside, but Prema grows eternally. There is thirst for sense-enjoyment in Kama, while in Prema the senses and their enjoyments are entirely forgotten. The object of Kama is gratification of.the lower self through sense-enjoyment, while in Prema there is complete renunciation of the world and complete forgetfulness of self.
True Love itself kills the lustful propensity. Although the devotee who has realized this Love would look upon his eagerness to see the Beloved happy as an expression of desire—and the senses, mind, and intellect being all directed towards Love, such eagerness naturally goes by the name of desire—yet this type of pure and unadulterated Love has no tinge of carnality about it. The Gautamiya Tantra says:
Although the love of the Gopis goes by the name of Kama (lust), in reality it is not so. Great devotees and Mahatmas like Uddhava yearn for this Love, miscalled Lust.
For the Gopis had absolutely no desire for gratification of their own senses. Knowing Sri Krishna to be God Himself, they sought to make Him happy by offering their entire being to Him. Referring to these Gopis, who had absolutely no attraction for worldly enjoyments and who had merged their very existence in Sri Krishna, Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita says:
The object of Kama is to gratify one's senses. To render happiness to Krishna is the object of the adorable sentiment of the Gopis. The Gopis have no desire of happiness through gratification of senses; it is for the happiness of Krishna that they engage themselves in sports. The consideration of their own happiness or suffering does not weigh with the Gopis at all; what they do, they do for the sake of happiness of Sri Krishna. Renouncing everything else, they cherish stainless Love for the happiness of Sri Krishna.
One who entertains pure love for Sri Krishna for the sake of His happiness—regarding his body, mind, wealth, beauty, youth and all that is enjoyable in this world and the next as objects of Sri Krishna's enjoyment—is said to have attained Gopi-consciousness. The sentiment of sweetness is predominant in this Gopi-consciousness. The Rasas (sentiments) are five in number—(1) the sentiment of quietism, (2) the sentiment of service, (3) the sentiment of friendship, (4) the sentiment of parental affection, and (5) the sentiment of wifely love. Each of these is of two kinds—worldly or Divine. That is to say, worldly sentiments are five in number, as stated above, and Divine sentiments are likewise five. Among these, the sentiment of wifely love is the highest; for the four other sentiments, namely, those of quietism, service, friendship and parental affection, are covered by this. Inasmuch as it is the noblest of all sentiments, it is the most delicious, hence it is called "sweet." Even so, among Divine sentiments the sentiment of wifely love is the foremost of all. In the sentiments of quietism and service, the prevailing idea of the devotee is, "God is great and glorious, while I am humble and poor. God is the Lord and Master, and I am His slave." There is some amount of aloofness in this sentiment as well as an element of shyness and fear. But in the sentiments of friendship, parental affection, and wifely love, our relation with the Divine is progressively more and more intimate. He is our darling, our most beloved Lord. The Lord here forgets His supreme greatness, casts a veil over his Divinity and is always present before the devotee either as friend, son, or the beloved Lord. In these sentiments there is no place for prayer, no expectation of return. How can there be any prayer before one who is dearest and nearest to us? All that belongs to Him is our own. Even among these, the sentiment of wifely love is supreme. The two other sentiments of friendship and parenthood are fully represented therein. Here there is unremitting service of the Lord, so unremitting that the devotee never feels tired of it; for that service is not rendered to the Lord and Master, but to the dearest object of one's heart. In the happiness of the beloved the wife feels infinite joy. She never feels that she has rendered enough service to her Lord; for the greater the happiness of the beloved, the greater becomes the joy of the devoted wife who contributes to that happiness.
This sentiment of feminine love that one bears towards the Lord has two varieties—(1) the love of the wedded wife, and (2) that of the paramour. In the worldly sphere the love of the paramour is deprecable, detestable; for the same is contaminated by lust or a craving for physical union and gratification of the senses, and the object of love is an erring human being. But in the Divine sphere, i.e., when the object of love is the Divine Himself, that type of love is not only worth cultivating but it is considered even superior to the love of the wedded wife. There is no grossness in this love, no craving for physical union or gratification of the senses. The object of love in this case is no human being transgressing the moral code, but the soul of the Universe, God Himself, the Oversoul, who is the soul alike of the devotee's husband and children, and even of the devotee herself. It is in this sense that the love of the Gopis is regarded as belonging to the latter type, the love of the paramour. Although a devoted wife surrenders her all—her personal and family names, her wealth, her life, nay, her very faith to her husband, and does everything for the sake of the husband, there are three points of exceptional merit in the love of a paramour. These are: (1) constant thought of the beloved, (2) an insatiable longing to meet the beloved, and (3) complete blindness to the faults of the beloved. Since the wedded wife remains under the same roof with her husband all the twenty-four hours, none of these things is present in her. No doubt the Gopis used to see the Lord every day; yet since the sentiment of a paramour was predominant in their love, a moment's separation would appear unbearable to them. They would curse the Creator for covering their eyes with eyelids; for had there been no eyelids at all, the eyes could remain eternally open and drink the nectarean beauty of the Lord without any interruption. They said to their beloved Lord:
Dring the daytime when You go to the forest (to tend the cows), Your alsence maker each moment appear to us as long as an aeon. And when You return from the forest in the evening and we see Your blessed countenance adorned with the side-locks of curly hair, the Creator Brahma, who created the eyelids to cover the eyes with, appears to us no better than an awkward fool. That is to say, our failure to see You even for a moment makes us uneasy.
To have their minds constantly fixed on the Lord, to feel great agony on their failure to see Him even for a moment, and to have surrendered themselves completely to the Lord without the least grudge—these were the natural characteristics of the Gopis. In comparison with the service of their dearest Lord, they attached no importance to any other duty. In their Love for Sri Krishna they had set at naught the restrictions imposed by society and the scriptures. Worldly enjoyments and salvation appeared to them as trivial and worthy of being rejected. The Lord Himself said:
O Uddhava, the Gopis have dedicated their heart and soul to Me, snapping for My sake all their physical ties. I sustain those who renounce for My sake all worldly enjoyments and their means. A devotee who has thus surrendered his whole being to Me covets not the position of Brahma, the position of lndra, the position of an Emperor, sovereignty over the nether regions, the eight Siddhis (mystic powers) of Yoga, nay, not even salvation, in which there is no return to this world, apart from Me.
Now mark what the Lord says with reference to devotees of this type:
To sanctify Myself with the dust of their feet, I constantly follow the footsteps of such devotees.
That is the reason why the author of the Gita-Govinda made the Lord appear as yearning for Sri Radha's sacred feet and utter the words "Give Me the privilege of touching Thy gentle feet." It is on the basis of this very utterance that the renowned devotee Rasakhan, who had drunk deep of this sweet sentiment, wrote:
I sought the Divine (Brahma) in the Puranas and songs and listened with still greater fervor to the hymns of the Vedas: But nowhere did I perceive Him, or hear what His true Form is, and what His nature. I got tired through this search, yet no man or woman could furnish any clue to Him, says Rasakhan. At last I found Him seated stealthily in a bower shampooing Sri Radha's feet.
Of course, the devotee never desires that his beloved Lord should shampoo his feet; but here there is complete identity between the lover and the Beloved. No question of superiority or inferiority arises there. In the Mahabharata we find Sanjaya describing at the Kaurava Court the unique behavior of Bhagavan Sri Krishna towards His devotee-friend Arjuna. When such was the behavior of the Lord towards Arjuna, what could He not do in relation to devotees of the type of the Gopis, whose love towards the Lord was unparalleled? The love of the Gopis was supermundane. Men of the world whose mind and senses are completely under the influence of worldly enjoyments are unable to grasp the true significance of the lofty sentiments of the Gopis and smell carnality in their love due to their own sensuality. In reality the love of the Gopis reached the highest stage of perfection. All the five Rasas (sentiments) were brought into play there, although the sentiment of love was predominant. This sentiment of love gradually develops into fondness, affection, anger, passion, and fully developed love and reaches the highest stage known by the name of Bhava (ecstatic love). The perfection of this last stage is called supreme ecstasy of love. This supreme ecstasy of love was manifested in the blessed Gopis alone. The All-Blissful Lord enacted this absolutely Divine and transcendent sport of Love in Vraja in order to satisfy the heart's desire of His devotees who sought nothing but Love from their Beloved. He did not enact this sacred Lila for the sake of enjoyment or for the satisfaction of the sexual desire of the Gopis. There could be no desire for enjoyment in the All-Blissful Lord, nor could there be any trace of lust in the Gopis. Nay, this Lila was enacted in order to destroy the seed of lust in the hearts of worldly men.
While concluding the description of the Rasa-dance in the Bhagavata, the great ascetic Shukadeva said:
Men of wisdom who hear or read this story of love-sport of the damsels of Vraja with Bhagavan Vishnu 4 (Sri Krishna) will soon attain supreme devotion to the Lord and will be rid of the disease of the heart known by the name of lust.
That the sport of the Lord in Vraja was most sacred is very well known to all devotees following the path of Love; that was the reason why a celestial sage like Narada and the greatest of gods, Shiva, were initiated into the Gopi-consciousness to participate in that sport. The great sage Shukadeva narrated the story of this to king Parikshit, who was awaiting his death, in order to enable the latter to attain this transcendent devotion without much difficulty and realize God after knowing the ultimate truth about Him. Bhagavan Sri Krishna, while describing the stages of Knowledge finally leading to transcendent devotion, also says:
When man endowed with pure Reason, dwelling in solitude, abstemious in food, with mind, speech and body subdued, firmly established in dispassion, constantly fixed in meditation, controlling the self by firm determination, renouncing the object of the senses, such as sound, etc., having abandoned the feelings of attraction and repulsion and shaken off egoism, violence, arrogance, lust, anger, and the instinct of possession, regards nothing as his own and becomes tranquil, then he becomes qualified for realization of Brahma. Thus attaining Brahma, he is always cheerful. He neither grieves nor craves for anything and beholding the Lord equally in all beings, is bessed with supreme devotion to Me. Through that devotion he knows the reality about Me, as to who and what I am in essence. Having known the truth about Me through that transcendent devotion, he gets absorbed into Me.
On a careful examination, all the above stages will be found in their complete state of development in the Gopis. There can be no better proof of the purity of their Reason than the fact that their Reason was constantly attached to Sri Krishna. Dwelling in solitude, not only physically but also mentally, with a view to obtaining the contact of Sri Krishna; forgetting even food and drink; withdrawing the mind, speech, and body from worldly objects and applying them to the service of the Beloved Lord; absence of attraction for objects of enjoyment remaining constantly engaged in meditation of the beloved Sri Krishna keeping the heart full of Sri Krishna by installing His image therein; renunciation of all objects of senses excepting those connected with Sri Krishna; absence of attraction for and repulsion from objects in the worldly sense; laying down egoism, violence, arrogance, Iust, anger, and the sense of possession at the feet of Sri Krishna; absence of attachment not only for the hearth and home, but even for heavenly bliss and final beatitude; fixing the mind in Sri Krishna's Form and restraining it from running after worldly objects; and pining for union with Sri Krishna, knowing Him to be an incarnation of Brahma—all these were found manifested in every single moment of the life of the Gopis. Apart from this, it is also well known that they were always immersed in an ineffable joy and did not lose their balance of mind through gain or loss of worldly objects, and that they saw Sri Krishna in every creature on all sides. All these virtues which may be acquired by an aspirant after a long course of strenuous discipline were found in a state of a natural development in the Gopis; that is why Bhagavan Sri Krishna revealed His whole secret to them, manifested His true Form before them and, engaging in a Divine sport with them, gave them His own Form. The difference between this state of the Gopis and the state of the Jnani (one who has obtained enlightenment through Knowledge) lay in this, that while the realization of the latter is based only on pure Reason, in the case of the former all their experiences were based on direct perception through the senses. The Supreme Brahma of the Jnanis assumed a supremely beautiful and enchanting Form possessing two arms, and holding the flute in one hand danced with His devotees. Stealing the heart of His devotees by His transcendent Beauty and drawing them by the music of the flute, He called them unto Him and blessed them in every sense. A well-known Mahatma, who had been blessed with Divine vision and had entered into the spirit of the Gopis, said:
O friend, hear a strange story. Today I saw Brahma, the highest truth of the Vedanta, dancing in the courtyard of Nanda, besmeared all over with dust raised by the hoofs of cows.
The Jnani, having established his identity with Knowledge, is absorbed in Brahma, whereas the devotee in the path of love withesses the sweet sports of the Lord. To the Jnani, Sri Hari is unfathomalle, an embodiment of Truth, Knowledge, and Bliss; With the loving devotee He constantly plays as the sportive Lord, the embodiment of Love and Bliss. The Jnani is always replete with the Bliss of God-consciosness, whereas the loving devotee beholds the rare beauty of Sri Hari, possessed only of stainless wisdom. The enlightened sage, renouncing the pride of his position, aspires for the enviable state of the loving devotee, which is not difficult to attain.
The Charm of Sri Krishna's Beauty
Who can properly describe the transcendent charm of Sri Krishna's beauty? On whomsoever He cast even a single love-laden glance, on him He showered the nectar of Love which has made him immortal; he would remove all his attraction for the world, and plant him into the region of His love. Says Sri Jagannath, the celebrated Sanskrit poet of the Moghul period:
O my Self! in your own interest I give you this warning. Never make the mistake of cultivating friendship with that child, the cowherd of Brindaban, who possesses the hue of a newly-formed cloud; bewitching you by His playfal smile which showers nectar in the form of an ethereal beanty, He will rob you in no time of all your beloved objects of the world.
Even Madhusudana Saraswati, the celebrated author of the Advaita-Siddhi (which contains a masterly exposition of Advaita philosophy), had to fall from his high pedestal of Self-sovereignty (the state of Jivanmukti, living freedom from worldly bondage) fascinated by the transcendent glow of that unearthly beauty. He says:
Respected and adored by the followers of the path of Advaita and having obtained a passport to ascend the throne of Self-sovereignty, I was made to surrender my all (though much against my will) at the feet of that urchin who constantly follows the footsteps of the cowherd-maids (of Brindaban).
Afraid of the bewitching beauty of the child Krishna, the famous devotee Lilashuka warns people against His magic in the following words:
O Wayfarer! Do not go that way. That lane is a terrible lane. The naked child standing there resting His hands on His hips, possessing a hue similar to that of the Tamala leaves, only appears like an ascetic; in truth He is a great robber who robs every traveller passing that way of his heart.
Entering into the spirit of the Gopis, Sah Kundanlal, under the assumed name of Lalitakishori, says:
I make an offering of these eyes to His moon-like face, as the Chakora bird (famos for its love for the moon) offers itself to the moon.
I offer life itself to the sweet smile and beautiful teeth of the darling to His slanting glances and the corners of His eyes. I offer the mind to the beautiful Forms of Shyama and Shyama (the Eternal Pair), to their meeting in the inner chamber, and the rapid movement created by the rhythm of their Rasa-dance.
Supremest Beauty shines in the Form of this Darling with three carves in the Body. I offer my all to the beautiful bend of His neck.
Even though all that the devotee possesses is offered to Him, yet He will continue to inflict wounds on a loving devotee through the spear of His oblique glances. And stealing Looks at him, again and again, He goes on sprinkling salt on the wound by His sweet smile.
Lalitakishori further says:
Look here, friend, this wayward lad of Nanda goes hurling His darts in the shape of His obique glances. Seeing me wounded, cruel-hearted, He merrily smiles. Says Lalitakishori, He sprinkles salt on the wound of my heart.
This wound of the devotee's heart inflicted by the oblique glances of Shyama never dries up. It remains ever green, and the acute pain he feels every moment gives him greater joy than even the bliss of absorption in Brahma. This wound was very deep in the hearts of the Gopis. They are, indeed, supremely lucky who get this wound which goes on gaping more and more as the days pass and which does not heal up even when the swarthy-complexioned Lord appears in person and offers His services as a surgeon. The sight of the Blue Beauty, instead of healing the wound, makes it greener, but His disappearance also becomes unbearable. He is the only doctor who can heal the wound; but instead of healing it He makes it greener than ever. It is pleasanter to have this wound ever green: Hence to suffer acutely from the pain of this wound and repeatedly to do things which may cause it to grow becomes a part of the daily life of the devotee following the path of Love. He derives supreme joy even from this suffering.
The Blessed Flute of the Lord and His Rasa-dance
Equally fascinating is the magic flute of the Lord. When it sounds, even the trance of Yogis established in the highest state of abstract Samadhi is disturbed, to say nothing of ordinary souls.
As soon as the sound of this magic flute breaks forth it infuses life into dead matter and stupefies living beings. A Gopi, while singing the glory of the flute, once sarcastically said:
O Murari, pray spare me the melody of Your magic flute at least for the time I am busy in the kitchen. For as soon as those dulcet notes enter the kitchen, the dry pieces of wood that I use as fuel become wet and begin to drip with water, so that the fire is extinguished and I am undone.
Hearing the flute sounding at a distance, one Gopi says to another:
Do you hear it, friend, haste back home, (else) you will be pierced by the darts from His eyes; this flute, says Niwaj, is full of poison and injects poison into the heart; O innocent lady, you forget yourself hearing the sweet music. lf you want to save the family honor, put finger into both your ears.
The treatment of Gopis' love will remain incomplete without some reference to the Divine Flute and the Rasa-dance in which the Gopis participated. We propose, therefore, to deal with these two points now.
On the day the Lord granted the boon to the Gopis who had worshipped Goddess Katyayani with the object of attaining utmost nearness to Sri Krishna, the Lord tested the purity and exclusiveness of the Love of the Gopis by robbing them of their garments, thus divesting them of all sense of separateness and finding them worthy of treading the path of stainless Love. He gave them assurance of union. To scent sin in his sport is an indication of the sinful condition of the mind which scents it. The individual soul (Atma) cannot afford to have any privacy with the Oversoul (Paramatma). The veil between the individual soul and the Paramatma exists only in Maya [Illusion]. Who would like to conceal his parts from the Lord Himself, who is the Soul of all souls? So long as one attempts to do so, he does not recognize the ubiquity of the Paramatma, and is therefore anxious to preserve intact his consciousness of individuality. This delusion of the Gopis was dispelled by the removal of their clothes. They recognized Sri Krishna as the Paramatma. At once removing the veil of their separate individuality and shaking off the cloak of Maya, the Lord brought them, in their naked purity, face to face with the Soul of all that exists.
Some time after this incident the autumnal full moon appeared on the eastern horizon. The appointed time for meeting the Lord drew near. The cool and delightful autumnal night, blooming flowers, and the nectarean silvery rays scattered by the orb of the full moon—all these combined to excite a hidden desire in the hearts of the Gopis, and they began to crave for something which is ordinarily unobtainable. This craving was for union with Sri Krishna.
Just then the maddening flute of Sri Krishna sounded. The blessed and delightful music evoking Love that enchants the universe started its career from the sweet flute of the Enchanter, delighting in the Self, completely gratified and eternally young, the Lord of the lords of Yoga, the transcendent Dancer. The great sage, Sri Shukadeva, says:
As soon as that love-exciting music (exciting desire for union with Sri Krishna) entered their ears, the minds of all the damsels of Vraja became full of Krishna. They immediately left their work and started to meet their dearest Sri Krishna. On account of excessive eagerness, none of them attemptd to seek the company of fellow-girls during this night's excursion. (Forgetting everything else, they ran posthaste individually from whatever condition they were in at that time.) They ran so quickly that all the way the beautiful rings in their ears shook and moved.
On their love being excited, why did the Gopis make for Sri Krishna instead of approaching their respective husbands? There was reason for this. The love of theirs was not sexual love as it is ordinarily known in the world. They had the overpowering desire, rare even amongst Yogis, to meet Sri Krishna, which compelled them in spite of themselves to run towards Sri Krishna. The sound of the flute was an irresistible invitation sent by God for conferring on them the transcendent unbroken bliss. How could they ignore it? No one has the power to ignore it. How did the Flute sound? What was the sweep of its note?
The sacred Divine music of that Flute, flooding the whole of Brindaban with its soul-enthralling nectarean melody, rose to the heavens and arrested the motion of the clouds, reaching Indra's paradise, it startled, again and again, Tumburu, the chief musician of the Devas, in the abode of Brahma (Brahmaloka). It disturbed the trance of great sages like Sanandana and surprised Brahma Himself. Thus having conquered the whole of the upper regions it descended to the nether world aizd startling King Bali, the Lord of the nether world, it thrilled the Divine Lord of serpents, Ananta or Shesha, who began to shake His thousand heads. Thus penetrating the whole of this universe, the music of Sri Krishna's flute spread throughout infinite space.
But all this notwithstanding, the call of invitation was heard only by the devotees, who ran forthwith following the track of the sound. This Flute of Shyama (Krishna) sounds even now, and devotees in the path of Love hear the music even today.
The Poet-saint Sri Nandadas says:
Hearing (the call), the damsels of Vraja started following the track of the sound. Houses, walls, trees, bowery—nothing could stop their onward corse. This path of nectarean sound is blissful, yet very narrow. The damsels of Vraja alone follow this path; none else is qualified to follow it.
Following the sound of the Flute they started like so many possessed souls and finally reached of Sri Krishna's sacred feet. There the love of the Gopis is again tested. Two things had to be specially examined: (1) whether there was left any trace of attachment for any worldly object in the heart of the Gopis, and (2) whether they understood that Sri Krishna was God Himself. Therefore, addressing them in the first instance, the Lord said
O blessed girls, welcome to you all. Pray let Me know if I can be of any service to you. Is it all well with Vraja? May I know the reason for you coming here at this odd hour?
Hearing this from the lips of the Lord the Gopis only smiled; they did not give any reply. The Lord again said:
Look here, lasses, the night is dreadful. Many ferocious animals roam about at this hour. Therefore, haste back to Vraja forthwith. It is not proper for women to tarry here for long.
Even now the Gopis did not give any reply. The Lord again said:
Missing you at home, your parents, sons, brothers or husbands must be looking about for you. Tarrying here, do not make your relations unnecessarily anxious.
Reminding them of their nearest relations, the Lord sought to test whether the Gopis entertained any attachment for, or fear of, relations, whether they had lived within the region of Maya, or whether they had their faces turned towards God. The Gopis emerged successful out of this test. The wives of the Rishis had failed on this very point and returned to their homes. The Gopis did not give any reply this time either. The mention of their kith and kin did not arouse any attachment in their hearts for the worldly relations. They had completely merged themselves in the transcendent Love of Sri Krishna, the Divine Himself.
The Love of the Gopis for Sri Krishna was roused by the beauty of the moonlit night. Was this an earthly or a Divine impulse? In order to test this, the Lord again said:
You have seen the charming beanty of Brindaban illumined by the silvery beams of the queen of the Night and adorned by beautiful lilies and new leaves shaken by the mild, cool breeze coming from the Jamuna [a sacred river]. Now, O virtuous ladies, tarry not. Quickly return to Vraja and engage yourselves in the service of your respective husbands. Your children and the small calves may be crying for you: Go, give the children suck and milk the cows.
What work can be more important for a virtuous woman than service of her husband? Addressing them as "virtuous ladies," the Lord reminded them of their husbands. Children to their mothers, and calves to milkmaids, are generally very dear—the Lord reminded the ladies of these also in words of tender emotion. He said all this in order to test whether they were still attached to their families, or, having snapped all worldly ties, they had their minds fixed only in Him, the Divine Himself. The Gopis did not utter a word even now. This time, showing the glory of the Beauty of His Form—in order to test whether the Gopis were simply charmed by His Beauty or recognized Him as God Himself—the Lord said:
Or, if you have come to see Me through affection and attachment for Me, there is nothing wrong in this; for all beings are gratified when they see Me.
But—
O blessed ladies! The highest duty of woman is to serve her husband and his friends with sincere heart and nurse her children. A woman who desires a higher life after death should never abandon her husband who has not fallen from the path of virtue, even if he is ill-tempered, unlucky, old, ignorant, poor or is suffering from some malady. It is in every sense despicable for a woman of noble birth to serve a paramour. Such a conduct does not lead to heaven; on the contrary it leads to infamy. It is something extremely loathsome and reprehensibe.
The Iord told them everything plainly. If taking Him to be a human being they had approached Him to satisfy their lust, they would go down to hell and would expose themselves to infamy in the world. For such is the moral code laid down in the Vedas. These words of advice also could not dislodge the Gopis. Then, with a view to testing them further, the Lord said:
(Even if you have come with a sense of My Divinity then I may tell you) Love for Me does not grow by closer proximity to Me as it does through hearing of My glory, obtaining My Darshan (sight), meditation on My Form and loud chanting (Kirtan) of My Names. Therefore, go back to your home.
Hearing similar words from the Lord, the wives of the Rishis had returned to their homes. The latter had doubtless realized that Sri Krishna was God Himself; but they still had attraction for their homes. The Gopis, however, had completely detached themselves from the world and were fully cognizant of the Lord's greatness. They knew the Lord was the soul of the whole universe—their own soul, the soul of their husbands and their children, the soul of all. The idea of illicit love cannot be conceived in relation to God, the soul of creation. The all-knowing and all-blissful Lord, who is sought by the greatest of sages and seers, ascetics and saints, for whose sake they snap all ties of the world and become indifferent to the pleasures of the world, that Paramatma Himself is directly present before them in the Form of their dearest Love and they have placed themselves at his sacred feet. Would it not be an act of sheer folly to leave Him and go elsewhere? Therefore, the Love-intoxicated Gopis, with tears in their eyes, sobbing through Love-anger, said:
O All-pervading Lord! These harsh words do not befit You. Renouncing everything else our hearts have now become solely attached to Your sacred feet. Therefore, just as the prime Purusha Sri Narayana [the god Vishnu, the Preserver] takes all seekers of salvation under His protection, please accept us in the same way. Do not leave us in the lurch, O Krishna. You know the essence of virtue. (Is it not the greatest of virtues to take shelter under Your feet, being a knower of the essence of virtue, how dare You ask us return?) You told us just now that the principal duty of a woman was to serve her husband, children, and other relations; let this instruction remain with You, who are God Himself; You are the source of this instruction and the final goal of all virtues. You are the dearest friend and souI of all embodied creatures, including our husbands and children. Surely You are not the mere child of Yashoda. You are the witness of the heart of all embodied beings. O Friend, at the invocation of Brahma, You have incarnated Yourself in the clan of Yadu for the protection of the world.
Pray do not try to deceive us. You are the Paramatma Himself. Withot Thee none can exist—neither husband nor children nor anyone else. Refuge of all, end of all, substratum of all virtues, Lord of even the highest Devas, where shall we go leaving Your sacred feet? Why should we go?
The Gopis knew that Bhagavan Sri Krishna was the fullest manifestation of the supreme being, a compact mass of Knowledge and Bliss, the soul of the universe, God Himself. He is the soul within the soul, the final resort of all; having attained Him, why should they leave His side? They said:
Those who know the Shastras concentrate all their Love on You, the eternally beloved soul of all. Of what use are husband and children to them, who make them taste only the sufferings of the world. Therefore, O Supreme Lord! be propitious to us. Do not uproot the plant of our hope which we have nourished for such a long time. We can no longer go back to our homes now. Our hearts, which were so fondly attached to our homes, You have easily stolen, the hands that were engaged in household work have now become useless for work, and our feet no longer feel disposed to take a single step aside from Your sacred feet. How shall we return home and going there what shall we do?
God tested His devotees. They came out successful in the test. Then the boon sought for by them was granted to them. The Divine Lord of the Masters of Yoga, though rejoicing in Self, sported with the Gopis. Then for a time the Lord disappeared from the scene, and the Gopis, sorely missing the Lord, began to look about for Him and lament in various ways.
The Poet-saint Nandadas says:
From bower to bower they roamed aboat in quest of the merciful Lord. Failing to discover the Lord of the heart, the damsels of Vraja were sore distressed. Smitten by pangs of separation they all began to question the creepers and trees of the forest. Parted lovers are unable to distinguish the animate from inanimate creation.
O Malati, 0 Jati, 0 Yuthika, 5 ye are our friends; listen attentively. Did you perceive on this side our Darling, the uplifter of the Govardhana Hill, who has stolen our hearts and humbled our pride? O Ketaki, did you observe our angry Lord anywhere this way? Or has the gentle smile of Nanda's darling stolen your heart?
O Muktaphala plant, bearing a wreath of pearl-like flowers! Did you see Nanda's child, the Enchanter, possessing large eyes? O generous Mandara! 6 Heroic and magnanimous Karavira! Did you see anywhere Balarama's heroic brother, the stealer of our hearts possessing a gentle gait? O Sandal, banisher of pain! You cool everyone's heat. Pray tell us the whereabouts of Nanda's darling to whom the world pays its homage.
O friends, ask the creepers which are blossoming profusely, without the touch of our handsome Lord such flower cannot appear! Hallo friend doe. Aye, why don't yon ask these does? Their bright eyes indicate that they have seen Hari somewhere just now. O the delicious fragrance of the forest trees wafted by the mild breeze!
It appears that our dear Lord, who is the abode of Bliss and the allayer of pain, has cast His looks at them. 0 booming Champaka, you possess a rare charm! Pray, let us know where is Hari who sports in the bowers? 0 Kadamba, Nimba, and mango trees, have you taken a vow of silence? If so, why? O exalted Banyan! Pray furnish a clue to that handsome hero. O Ashoka, remove our sorrow and tell as where is or dear Lord, the jewel among men. 0 breadfruit tree, blessed and sweet! Give these dying women nectar to drink.
So questioning the trees near the Jamuna, they became utterly despondent, and said, "Friends, why should these hard-hearted souls give us the desired information, living as they do in a place of pilgrimage. O Jamuna, though knowing and realizing our woes you scrupulously observe strict reticence. The water which redeems the world, you carry openly in your bosom. O Earth, you have surely concealed somewhere the stealer of butter, who has stolen our hearts. Pray give us a clue to or dear Lord. O holy basil, bessed plant, dear always to Govinda's feet. Why don't you tell Nanda's child all about our woes? When He approaches the bowers and thick shades of trees He brightens up the forest by the glow of His moon-like face.
The Gopis said:
The dust of the lotus-feet of Sri Govinda is bessed indeed. Even gods and goddesses like Brahma, Shiva, and Lakshmi place the particles of this dust with reverence on their heads; let as also do the same.
So saying they completely merged their consciousness in Sri Krishna and began to imitate the various sports of Sri Krishna.
After this the Lord appeared on the scene again, and manifesting as many forms as there were gopis, He danced simultaneously with every one of them.
The first verse describing the Rasa-dance runs as follows:
The Lord sought to enjoy Himself with the help of His Yogamaya (the Lord's own eternal Divine energy).
Then we find in the Shrimad Bhagavatam expressions like "though delighting in Self, He sported," "one who enamors Cupid himself," "who has obtained all his desires," "one who has all his desires fulfilled," "Lord of the Masters of Yoga," which prove definitely that this sport of the Lord was supremely Divine. There was not the least trace of carnality in this sport. The word Bhagavan itself shows that the paramour-idea cannot be associated with the Lord, who is the Self of all beings; for the word Bhagavan denotes One who possesses the six superhuman powers, such as assuming the size of an atom, etc., and who is an infinite and inexhaustible storehouse of Righteousness, Glory, Prosperity, Dispassion, and Knowledge.
Carnality and illicit love cannot be conceived to exist in one who possesses these Divine qualities. The Lord enacted the whole of this scene through the help of His Yogamaya. The Lord is eternally pledged to fulfill the desires of His devotees—through His Yogamaya things appeared to each one of His devotees as he or she would have them. It is through the power of this Yogamaya that the Lord, though unattached, carries on His sports of creation, preservation, and destruction. Just as a magician hypnotizes his spectators at will and conjures up scenes of his own choice before them, in the same manner the Lord enacted various sports through Yogamaya. Sri Radha was the embodied form of Yogamaya. In another instance He sent Yogamaya ahead of Himself to inform Kamsa [the enemy of Krishna] about His advent, and through her help subsequently the Lord enacted the whole drama of Divine sports in Vraja. When Brahma stole the cowherd boys and calves, Sri Krishna, who was then to all appearances a child of five, assumed Himself, through the power of this Yogamaya, the forms of those cowherd boys and calves, together with all their paraphernaliaÑclothes, horns, sticks, etc. At the age of six, through the power of the same Yogamaya, He subdued the terrible snake Kaliya and drank off the forest conflagration. At the same age He enacted the sport of stealing the robes of the cowherd-maids of Vraja (who sought Sri Krishna as their husband) in order to lift the veil of Maya that screened them from the Lord and develop their capacity for complete surrender. It was through the influence of His Yogamaya that Sri Krishna, when He was only a child of seven years, appeared as a grown-up lad to the eyes of the damsels of Vraja. It was through the power of this Yogamaya, again, that the Lord appeared as sporting within the ring of the Rasa-dance. It was through this Yogamaya that each Gopi in the ring perceived the Lord of Gopis beside her. Just as a child plays at its will with its reflection in a mirror, even so, with the help of His Yogamaya, Bhagavan Sri Krishna sported with the Gopis who were like so many shadows of His own form.
And it was through the action of the same Yogamaya that the husbands of the girls, who had gone to join the Rasa-dance, found their wives sleeping beside them.
It was through the influence of the Yogamaya, again, that Sri Krishna, a child of only eleven years, appeared differently to different persons when He entered the open court of Kamsa. To the wrestlers He appeared as hard as the hardest stone, to the citizens of Mathura he appeared as a superman, to women He appeared as the God of Love Himself, the Gopas saw Him as their kinsman, the wicked kings as their chastiser, His parents saw Him as their darling, Kamsa saw Him as death itself, the ignorant regarded Him as a monster, the Yogis saw Him as the Supreme Reality, and the Yadavas saw Him as the supreme deity.
It was a Divine sport of Love between God Himself, who is all-sufficient and all-powerful, who is the Lord of the masters of Yoga and possesses the six Divine attributes, who is the director of Yogamaya (who is capable of bringing the impossible into the region of possibility), the master of supreme bliss, and a veritable wish-yielding tree, on the one hand, with His devotees, who were his own shadows, on the other.
In reality, Sri Krishna is always inseparable from Sri Radha. Sri Radha is Sri Krishna's own bliss aspect, which assumes a separate body in order to enjoy the transcendent love and beauty of the Lord and the Gopis, who are the eternal friends and associates of Sri Radha and who are none else than so many manifestations of a particular class of infinite energies (Shaktis), whose office is to help and supplement His bliss aspect. These Gopis, again, are subdivided into various groups or orders such as friends, associates, companions, messengers, and maids. Sri Krishna embodies supreme Beauty and supreme Love. Therefore, He is known as the Lord of Rasa (sweetness or joy), the Charmer of Cupid, one who puts to shame thousands of Cupids in loveliness of form, the original seed or progenitor of the god of love, the Divine and eternally fresh source of delight, solidified Knowledge and Bliss, and the Supreme Purusha (Person). And Sri Radha is Sri Krishna's transcendent Energy charmed by Sri Krishna's beauty and love, the embodiment of devotion to and attachment for Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna enjoys His own Beauty and sweetness through this, His own Energy. This is the basis of Love between Sri Krishna the Lord of Rasa, and Sri Radha, who enjoys that Rasa (sentiment of joy and sweetness). This is not earthly love; it is never revealed in the region of ordinary mortals. That is why Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita says:
In the paramour-sentiment, Rasa (the feeling of joy and love) is strung to the highest pitch. Except in Vraja, it is nowhere revealed.
"Vraja" here means the Divine region of Goloka, which is sustained on the sentiment of Love for Sri Krishna. It is therefore that the Lord of Vraja and the Master of Rasa, Sri Krishna, never goes even a step beyond the boundary of this transcendent Brindaban.
Bhagavan Sri Krishna is pure Consciousness, pure Bliss, pure Iove, pure Rasa (enjoyment), and these Gopis, the beloved of Sri Krishna, are nothing but embodiments of consciousness, bliss, love and emotion in their purest forms. By Gopis are meant Sri Radha, or the bliss aspect of Sri Krishna, and Her companions, who are eternally engaged in bringing about the union of Radha and Krishna, and who through that effort enjoy happiness that is even more intense in experience than the bliss enjoyed by Sri Radha. The Gopis do not possess earthly bodies of the type we mortals possess, made of flesh and blood, conceived in Prakriti and created out of its elements, which take birth as a result of past Karma. They are eternal; although manifested in creation and sporting in the world of Death, they live in the state where death is transcended. Their Divine forms and their eternal Rasa-dance can be perceived only by Divine eyes through which overflows the purest sentiment of Love.
In the Padma-Purana the Lord Himself says to Sri Mahadeva with reference to Sri Radha and the Gopis:
Sri Radha is My beloved—know Her to be the supreme Goddess. Surrounding Her and behind Her are lakhs [millions] of Her female companions. Just as my own form is eternal, they too are eternal. My parents, friends, the cows and cowherds of Brindaban and Brindaban itself are eternal and made of the purest elements of Consciosness and Bliss. Know this Brindaban of Mine to the the very essence of Bliss.
In the Rasollasa Tantra Sri Shiva says to Devi Parvati [his consort] referring to the Rasa-dance:
Just as there are the gross, subtle, and causal bodies of men, even so there is a forth species known as the Bhava-Deha (body made of the purest Love); this body is attained through God's grace, and is easily obtained from birth to birth through His grace. This Bhava-Deha is generally possessed by liberated souls who have the privilege of eternally waiting upon the Lord, or by the Lord's own representatives whose function it is to carry out God's purpose on earth. Or occasionally, O supreme Goddess, this body may be attained by a soul even by spiritual discipline. This Bhava-Deha is neither subject to Gunas [forces of nature] nor is it beyond the Gunas [unmanifest], it is a body purely Divine in essence, which is found only in Brindaban and nowhere else. The Gopis attained their object through their union with Sri Krishna; this union was neither actuated by Iust, nor was it entirely free from desire. It was a union brought about by the instrumentality of the Bhava-Deha.
From these words of Sri Shiva it is quite evident that the love between Sri Krishna and the Gopis was purely Divine in its nature. The union of the Gopis with Sri Krishna was not of the earthly, gross, or physical type. There was not the least play or exercise of the organs of sense in the union. Therefore, it is a heinous crime to detect sin in this Divine sport of Love.
It has to be specially borne in mind that none else than the Lord Himself can conduct this sport. The privilege of worshipping God through the sentiment of the Gopis is open to all Jivas who have developed dispassion and pure Love. It is not confined to women alone, nor is it necessary for men who desire to cultivate this love to dress themselves as women. What is necessary is to accept the Gopis as the model of this love, and to stimulate within one's heart the kind of love possessed by them. It is the proper attitude of mind and not a particular form of dress that counts in this form of worship. He alone that possesses this Divine, disinterested, and undivided Love, may worship God through the sentiment of the Gopis. Of course, the object of worship would be none else than God Himself.
Those who worship God through the sentiment of the Gopis recognize all beings through their Bhava-Deha as females, and the only male, the transcendent, ever-youthful captivator of their hearts, is the child of the Lord of Vraja (Nanda) who is the sole husband—the Supreme Lord of all. They cannot conceive of any other male than the Darling of Nanda. A supremely faithful wife, says Goswami Tulasidas [a famous poet], knows of no other male than her own wedded husband. In the region of this Divine Love, no other male than Sri Krishna and no other female than the devotee, whose thoughts are immersed in the nectar of Love for Sri Krishna, is privileged, or has the capacity, to enter the gate of this Divine temple of Love inhabited by the blissful Energy of the Lord. It is totally closed to ordinary men and women of the world. One who seeks to enter this transcendent region has to show his permit to the Divine lady who keeps watch at the gate. This permit, again, which is nothing else than an intellect immersed in the nectar of Sri Krishna's love, can be obtained by him alone who surrenders his body, mind, and possessions to the beloved Lord, who renounces all his desires, who has subdued all his passions such as lust, anger, greed and so on, and clothed with dispassion and adorned with Divine virtues, offers himself as sacrifice at the altar of Love. A Hindi poet says:
First he offers his head, then he enters, such a noble lover alone can enter this region.
Therefore, no human being can even play the role of Sri Krishna in this Lila [Divine Play], no matter if he is believed to be a great religious preceptor, teacher or devotee, a liberated soul, or one possessing the Divine sentiments. If, therefore, anyone assuming Sri Krishna's role calls upon others to worship him according to the spirit of the Gopis, one should keep at a respectable distance from such a pretender. Especially one who suggests that women should worship him in the way of the Gopis should be treated as a rake and a debauchee.
This type of Love is so rare that even gods are not eligible for it. The nectar of this sublime Love is drunk only by those devotees who take delight in the sentiment that reigned supreme in Vraja, whose hearts beat in unison with the feeling that predominated in Vraja, who possess the Divine Love which was once manifested in Vraja. It is only by dedicating oneself at the feet of the blessed Gopis and attuning oneself with the sentiment of the Gopis that one can attain this rare Divine Love, which does not possess the least trace of lust or desire for the object and embodiment of this Love, the swarthy complexioned Sri Krishna of rare beauty. Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita says:
One who seeks to possess this nectar-like sentiment of the Gopis, spurning the Vedic laws, he worships Krishna. He alone who worships Him through Love and attachment, gets in Vraja the company of the Darling of the blessed Lord of Vraja.
The poet says that a true lover does not repudiate the Vedic laws; on the contrary, when Divine Love manifests itself in him, the Vedic laws themselves leave their hold on him, knowing that he has attained that Love in which lies their supreme fulfillment. He who deliberately repudiates the Vedic laws is bound to suffer a spiritual fall.
There is one law governing this Love, namely, that laws no longer bind the votary. But he who repudiates the laws knowingly does not possess this Love.
This path is not for those who hanker after sensual pleasures, nor is it meant for those who simply put on the garb of a devotee. This sacred path is trodden by those selfless souls who, having conquered the attractions of the world and curbed all desires, seek to worship God alone. Any attempt to tread this path on the part of those who entertain in their hearts the craving for enjoyment, would be as dangerous as to leap into a blazing fire or to put one's finger into the mouth of a deadly snake. The poet again says:
One who seeks to drink the nectar of Love and is yet attached to the enjoyments of the world will find that the poisonous effect of this attachment spreads throughout his system, burns his heart, and shatters his whole frame.
That is why Sri Shukadeva warns all against this danger when he says:
Sri Shiva drank off the deadly poison, everyone cannot do it, in the same manner God Himself enacted this sport (of the Rasa-dance). Man can never imitate this act of His. A frail mortal shold never therefore even think of imitating this sport. Anyone attempting this through foolishness will surely perish. God is the Soul of the Gopis as well as of their husbands, nay of all embodied beings. He dwells in the heart of everyone as the witness, it was by way of sport that He appeared on this earth in human form, and in order to shower His grace on the mortals inhabiting this globe enacted these supernatural sports through that Divine Body so that men may get devoted to Him by dwelling on those sports in their minds.
Therefore, instead of imitating these supernatural sports of the Lord one should place before him the ideal of the Gopis, and, offering his all to God, should serve him through the intellect, the mind, and the senses, and lovingly remember Him at all times. He should aspire to become a devotee of God, and not God himself
The soul is a fragment of God; therefore, it contains the element of bliss—it is a part of the bliss aspect of God. Should one withdraw this particle of joy from the transient and ephemeral objects of enjoyment, which through error or judgment appear pleasant to us though rooted in sorrow, and direct it towards the everlasting beauty and sweetness of God, he can attain that eternal and unlimited joy, the joy of Divine Love, in place of the transitory, illusive, and trivial sense-enjoyment. When this faculty of joy possessed by man gets purified and elevated, it assumes its real character and is freed from the taint of desire, and begins to long for a taste of the nectarean beauty and sweetness of Sri Krishna: So long as this faculty of joy remains merged in the enjoyments of the senses, it does not turn its face towards Sri Krishna. Therefore, shaking off all attachments for worldly enjoyments one should constantly hear and sing with greatest reverence the story of the sports of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna, and accepting any one of the female companions of Sri Krishna as his preceptor should meditate according to her directions on Sri Krishna's sports until one loses consciousness of his body and mind and gets absorbed in Divine Love.
This exposition of the Love of the Gopis is based on facts collected from the scriptures and is full of the delicious juice of Divine sentiments. What it moves us to is to adore the sacred feet of the blessed Gopis, who are love incarnate, and to beg of them the gift of this Love, and to fulfill our human birth through chanting the Name and singing the glory of the Lord. Says Sri Lalitakishori:
Damn all other work if your hands are not kept busy in decorating the Divine Forms of Shyama and Shyama (Radha-Krishna).
If you have never had the good fortune of washing the sacred feet of the blessed couple and drinking the water so used, damn all other cold drinks.
If you have never had the opportuiiity of rambling in the avenues and bowers of Brindaban, accursed be the joy of having a pleasure-drive in other gardens.
Accursed be this life itself, if throughout its long years these eyes have not been able to behold the blessed form of the Beloved of my heart.
The Lord is present even today. His sports also are eternal. But how shall we get to see him? How can we earn the proud privilege of washing His sacred feet? The method is to utter His Name constantly and lovingly, to sing His glories, to associate with His devotees, to act in conformity with His wishes, to obey His commands, to acquiesce in His dispensation, to conquer the attractions of the world, and to learn to sacrifice oneself at the altar of His beauty and sweetness, to meditate on His sports and to weep for His Darshan from the bottom of of the heart. If you really want Him then renounce all worldly attachments and adopt the methods indicated above. Through constant practice the sentiment will grow, and you will realize Sri Krishna as the be-all and end-all of your life. Glory be to the Gopis, and blessed be the dust of the lotus-feet of the Lord!
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