Hare Krishna Devotees
I have read the 22nd chapter ( Stealing the garments of unmarried gopi girls) of Srila Prabhupadas book "The Supreme personality of Godhead"
It was little disturbing for me the way it has been described.
I couldn't clearly understand the whole purpose of Lord Shri Krishna performing this leela.
Can somebody please explain me in detail
Jai shree Gokulesh
Jai shree Krishna
Replies
Hare Krishna, mataji!!! One achieves Krishna when he offers his tan(body), man(mind) and dhan(wealth) to Him. The gopis offered their dhan when they let Krishna steal butter, man when they heard His flute and tan in this vastra haran leela. This is called purna samarpan(complete surrender) and it is this complete surrender which takes us to God. That's why the gopis are considered to be foremost amongst all devotees for their perfect surrender unto the Supreme. This is a very significant episode that shows the transformation of lust into Love for the Supreme. Krishna confirms in this episode in Bhagavatam-
na mayy avesita-dhiyam
kamah kamaya kalpate
bharjita kvathita dhanah
prayo bijaya nesate
TRANSLATION
The desire of those who fix their minds on Me does not lead to material desire for sense gratification, just as barleycorns burned by the sun and then cooked can no longer grow into new sprouts.
PURPORT
The words mayy avesita-dhiyam are very significant here. Unless one has achieved an advanced degree of devotion, one cannot fix the mind and intelligence on Krsna, since Krsna is pure spiritual existence. Self-realization is a state not of desirelessness but rather of purified desire, wherein one desires only the pleasure of Lord Krsna. The gopis were certainly attracted to Krsna in a mood of conjugal love, and yet, having fixed their minds and indeed their entire existence completely onKrsna, their conjugal desire could never manifest as material lust; rather, it became the most exalted form of love of Godhead ever seen within the universe.
Thank you Prabhuji's for your kind response.
Hare Krishna.
Hare Krishna. PAMHO. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He owns everything. So why can't he just take away the gopis' clothes? They are just simple clothes. His pastimes are not like those of common people. Our material senses can't understand Krishna and His lilas fully. When you say this lila seems disturbing, you are considering Krishna on the same level as you. In a common man's case this would be disturbing. Krishna is not a common man, He does what he desires, no 1 lords over Him. The gopis desired to marry Krishna. And in Vedic culture only a women can only appear naked in front of husband.
Adi 14.68 T Lord Caitanya' s Childhood Pastimes
prabhu tanra puja pana hasite lagila
sloka padi' tanra bhava angikara kaila
SYNONYMS
prabhu--the Lord; tanra--her; puja--worship; pana--receiving; hasite--to smile; lagila--began; sloka padi'--reciting one verse; tanra--her; bhava--emotion; angikara kaila--accepted.
TRANSLATION
Being worshiped by Laksmi, the Lord began to smile. He recited a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam and thus accepted the emotion she expressed.
PURPORT
The verse quoted in this connection is the twenty-fifth verse of the Twenty-second Chapter, Tenth Canto, of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The gopis worshiped the goddess Durga, or Katyayani, but their inner desire was to get Lord Krsna as their husband. Krsna, as Paramatma, could realize the ardent desire of the gopis, and therefore He enjoyed the pastime of vastra-harana. When the gopis went to bathe in the river Yamuna, they left their garments on the land and dipped into the water completely naked. Taking this opportunity, Krsna stole all their garments and sat down in the top of a tree with them, desiring to see the girls naked just to become their husband. The gopis desired to have Krsna as their husband, and since it is only before her husband that a woman can be naked, to fulfill their desire Lord Krsna accepted their prayers by this pastime of stealing their garments. When the gopis received their garments back from Krsna, Krsna recited this verse.
Adi 14.69 T Lord Caitanya' s Childhood Pastimes
sankalpo viditah sadhvyo
bhavatinam mad-arcanam
mayanumoditah so 'sau
satyo bhavitum arhati
SYNONYMS
sankalpah--desire; viditah--has been understood; sadhvyah--O all of you chaste ladies; bhavatinam--of all of you; mat-arcanam--for worshiping Me; maya--by Me; anumoditah--accepted; sah--that; asau--that determination or desire; satyah--successful; bhavitum--to become; arhati--deserves.
TRANSLATION
"My dear gopis, I accept your desire to have Me as your husband and thus worship Me. I wish your desire to be fulfilled because it deserves to be so."
PURPORT
The gopis, the girlfriends of Krsna, were almost of the same age as He. Within their minds they desired that Krsna be their husband, but because of feminine bashfulness they could not express their desire. Therefore later on, after stealing their garments, Krsna informed them, "I immediately understood your desire and approved of it. Because I have now stolen your garments, you have presented yourselves before Me completely naked, which means that I have accepted all of you as My wives." Sometimes foolish rascals, not knowing the purpose of the Lord or the purpose of the gopis, unnecessarily criticize from their own angle of vision, but the real purpose of vastra-harana is expressed by the Lord in this verse.
Hari Bol!
Hare Krishna Mataji. Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
Krishna book is based on Srimad Bhgavatam 10 and 11 canto. Now Bhagavatam 10th and 11th canto is the face of the GOD. Srila Prabhupada warned us that we have to first serve the lotus feet of the Lord then gradually we can stare at his hip ,waist, chest and finally face then only we can actually know about Krishna else remain mundane. So to realize and relish the sweet pastimes as honey of Lord we have to gradually elevate ourself by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam starting from 1st canto under an unalloyed devotee while performing all the purification processes like 4 regulative principle and all austerities and penances then only after 30-40 years one can actually know what is what in reality.
To realize and relish our Lord's pastimes with Gopis one should not have a tinch of material lusty contamination beacuse when we read this pastimes we normally visualize those with our mundane consciousness which is polluted by lust BUT we forget that "KRISHNA IS PARABRAHMAN" ......He has not any material body like us and all his dealing with Gopis are transendental who were great sages in their previous life, performed tapsya to serve Lord as a wife (Madhurya rasa).
"THE EXCHANGHE OF RASA (MELLOW) OF KRISHNA WITH GOPI WAS ON THE BASIS OF DEALING BETWEEN ATMA AND PARATHMA NOT BETWEEN MATERIAL BODIES".
So Prabhupada many times warned his disciples about this fact that we should not jump on the pastimes of lord with Gopis which is very confidential and not understandable with material logic. We should first purify our existence and remove all kind of lusty thought about opposite sex, when one no longer differentiate between male and female body only see ATMA within all body ................THE PASTIMES ARE FOR THEM ONLY.......................SO THIS PASTIMES ARE FOR JIVANMUKTAS(LIBERATED SOUL).
First a neophyte have to perform Vaidhi Bhakti where Lord is worshipped as Laxmi-Narayana then Bhava bhakti then only prema bhakti -highest stage.............Radha-Krishna worships is not so easy as it seems to be...........without going step by step with the instruction of Guru spiritual life will be doomed.
Your aspiring Servant
Hari Bol