Is Rasa Lila a Dream??? Please clarify

Hare Krishna! 

My doubts are regarding an excerpt of an article I found online. It discusses about the gopis' morality in their involvement of rasa-lila. 

The excerpt: 

Further Doubt: The same scriptures you swear by, also make it mandatory that conjugal pleasures be restricted to one’s own wife; how then did Lord Krishna indulge in amorous sports with the gopis of Vrindavana who were married to someone else?

Resolution: This is a gross misconception in vogue about Lord Krishna. Its clarification begins with a brief summary of the Rasa Lila as described in the great scripture Srimad Bhagavatam. It was in the dead of night that Krishna set forth the tune from his flute in the forest. The gopis who heard it became intensely attracted to it and ran to the forest, leaving aside anything they were doing then and there instantly. Some stopped cooking, some stopped feeding, some stopped eating, some stopped washing clothes, etc. and ran away.

The moment the gopis reached the forest, Krishna asked: ‘What brings you here? What help do you need?’ They bent their heads without answering Him. Then He said: ‘Is it not wrong for noble ladies like you to meet anyone other than your husbands at this odd hour?’ They cried and said: ‘Krishna! We have come with great difficulty to join you here. You should not reject us like this’. Then He condescended to play Rasa with them among bloomed lotuses.

At the end of the narration of this episode by sage Shukadeva, the listener Parikshit expressed the same doubt that has been expressed above. To which Shukadeva Ji replied: ‘Tejiyasam Na Doshaya – No fault in this for Tejiyans’, and concluded that indeed, the next morning their husbands saw the gopis just sleeping by their sides.

So the clarification hinges on the word Tejiyans and its meaning should be internally consistent with the description of Rasa. Notice that nobody will be washing clothes or doing cooking etc in the dead of night. Also the next morning their husbands saw the gopis just sleeping by their side. This gives us a clue that the Rasa was a dream. This is confirmed as follows:

Tejiyan means ‘more lustrous’ according to Panini’s grammar. Who is more lustrous than whom? The Upanishads call the wakeful Jiva as Vishwa and the dreaming Jiva as Taijasa. This Taijasa is more lustrous (tejiyan) than Vishwa. Therefore, Shukadeva’s reply means that there is no fault in the activities of the dreaming gopis. This is exactly what the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad says. For that matter, we all know it ourselves. Nobody deprecates anyone for the faults committed by him in his dreams. Why? The external world keeps our mind under leash when we are awake; but the mind becomes totally free during dreams and mixes the experiences of the real world with its imaginations creating the dream, where the little boy Krishna can behave like an adult, and lotuses can bloom in the night. Nevertheless, He has to first admonish the gopis for their conduct!

This article is based almost entirely on the teachings of Param Pujya Swami Paramanand Bharati Ji. However, any errors are entirely the author’s own.


Please explain if this is right. Is it a dream? How can it be a dream? 

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  • This reply was deleted.
    • If Lord Krishna wonted His lilas with Gopis to be confidential, Srila Vyasadev would never put it in Srimad  Bhagavatam.

      SB 1.3.43This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa.

      .
      The content of Srimad Bhagavatam is at the first spoken for the welfare of all suffering people in this Kali yuga,  not only for saints, pure devotees, Brahmanas and acaryas.
      There is no precautions about Krishna lilas as far as the person who have desire to hear is not offensive.
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      .
      This statements is based on Srimad Bhagavatam, but statements who dont have a base in scripture can not be taken seriously.
      SB 1.3.43
      Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa has His eternal dhāma, or abode, where He eternally enjoys Himself with His eternal associates and paraphernalia. And His eternal abod…
  • This reply was deleted.
    • SB 10.33.39

      vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
       śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
      bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
       hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ
                                                                           Translation: 
      Anyone who faithfully hears or describes the Lord’s playful affairs with the young gopīs of Vṛndāvana will attain the Lord’s pure devotional service. Thus he will quickly become sober and conquer lust, the disease of the heart.
                                                                           

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      In this sloka śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād - means those who faithfully and continually hears

      In all activities for spiritual progress, only those who have firm faith in Lord will collect  blessings. All others need to work on faith first, because without firm faith, all the effort for spiritual progress goes in vain.

      The faith doesnt grow with years of sadhana, but with personal spiritual realizations.

      Krishna katha is generally for faithful ones, because faithless people may do offenses. But those humble ones who are not offensive are qualified to hear such stories, despite the faithlessness.

  • tejiyasam na doshaya-- spiritually powerful are not in fault

    Therefore tejiyasam means spiritual power, not lustrous.

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    Anyway, those who are learned knows that  materialistic persons are captivated by Mahā-māyā or material illusion, whereas devotees, by the arrangement of the spiritual energy, are captivated by Yoga-māyā-transcendental illusion.

    Such illusion is transcendental energy of Lord, which make devotees to have different personal eternal relationships with Him. Without influence of Yogamaya, Vaikuntha, Goloka, or any other eternal Lords abode can not exist.

    Those who says that Gopis were dreaming do not understand the Absolute Truth. The soul’s material life, his experience of sense gratification is a dream, but there where is Lord Krishna, there is reality. 

    There is no truth above this one.

    • how about the gopis washing clothes and cooking at dead night, prabhuji? is there such a description about them doing those activities at that time of rasa lila?

      • Thats not from Srimad Bhagavatam for sure.

        By the way, some gopis had a small babies, therefore by feeding them with the milk from the breast its aloud at any time. Lord Krishna encourage them to go back and to do that :

        SB 10.29.18Lord Kṛṣṇa said: O most fortunate ladies, welcome. What may I do to please you? Is everything well in Vraja? Please tell Me the reason for your coming here.
        SB 10.29.19This night is quite frightening, and frightening creatures are lurking about. Return to Vraja, slender-waisted girls. This is not a proper place for women.
        SB 10.29.20Not finding you at home, your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands are certainly searching for you. Don’t cause anxiety for your family members.
        SB 10.29.21-22Now you have seen this Vṛndāvana forest, full of flowers and resplendent with the light of the full moon. You have seen the beauty of the trees, with their leaves trembling in the gentle breeze coming from the Yamunā. So now go back to the cowherd village. Don’t delay. O chaste ladies, serve your husbands and give milk to your crying babies and calves.

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