Hare Krishna,
PAMHO,
AGTSP!
All of us have some emotions and possessiveness. I don't understand why Krishna would like gopis who are wives of others. Even the men who married gopis are his children only, then why Krishna chose to hurt their feelings. How does any man will feel when he comes to know that his wife is secretly in love with someone else. I know Krishna wants to show that he is above all but still why does he let gopis marry these poor guys making them scapegoat. Why gopis didn't dedicated their life to Krishna without marrying. I don't understand how this can be justified on spiritual platform.
I don't understand Krishna lilas may be that is the reason I like Ram avatar more.
Your servanat
Aakash
Replies
Another one saw just now
https://raganugaprembhakti.wordpress.com/how-manjari-bhava-is-the-e...
Tricky question and therein lies the superiority of the Radha-snehadhika sakhis over others. Srila Kunjabihari Das babaji Maharaj explains this nicely in Manjari swarupa nirupana as follows:
In the ananda-candrika commentary on Ujjvala-nilamani 2.15, Visvanatha writes that although all sakhis find their own happiness by arranging for the pleasure of the nayika in union with her Lord, still a general division can be made of two categories from amongst them. They are :
(1) those whose bodies are extremely attractive to Krsna due to their having salient qualities of love, beauty and coquettishness, etc.
(2) others who are somewhat inferior in these respects and so are not so attractive to the Lord’s romantic aspirations.
Thus, girls of the former category may occasionally, at the behest of their friend and mistress (yuthesvari), desire for erotic dalliance with Krsna, for his pleasure. These sakhis include Lalita and the other parama-prestha-sakhis. The second category of sakhi, however, never entertain such aspirations. They are Kasturi and the other nityasakhis. (ananda-candrika to UN 2.15 (Kavya-mala edn., 46))
For an example, we can look to the Vrndavana-mahimamrta by Prabodha-nanda Sarasvati(VMA 16.94):
One day one of srimati Radharani’s handmaidens whose exclusive desire is to relish the flavour of serving her lotus feet and who never thinks for a moment, not even in dreams, that she would have any kind of intercourse with Krsna, was accosted by him who shocked her by tearing away at her blouse and uncovering her bosom. She started crying, “No, no, what are you doing?” while srimati Radharani, my very life and soul, stood by and watched, laughing.
The nitya-sakhis have a certain reward for their unique spirit of abnegation, something which is withheld even from Radharani’s dearest comrades like Lalita and Visakha. That reward is described for us by Raghunatha Dasa Gosvamin in Vraja-vilasa-stava(Verse 38):
I take shelter of the handmaidens of the Queen of Vrindavan,
who are led by sri Rupa Manjari
and who lovingly satisfy her
by offering hazelnuts and other condiments,
massaging her feet, bringing fragrant water
and arranging trysts with her gallant
and have thus become most dear to her.
They are thus allowed to enter the scene
of the Divine Couple’s most intimate affairs
without the slightest discomfiture
a reward not given even to her dearest friends.
This is the area where the manjaris are unique and distinctive. Ranganamala and her friends, though they are themselves loving friends, either on their own initiative or at the behest of Visakha and her friends, sometimes behave towards the
Ever-youthful Couple of Vraja just as if they were maidservants. Behaving shyly, they do this in order to obtain the highest ecstasy by listening to their extremely funny conversations as well as to gain their most cherished service.(Mukta-carita, p.111)
A further special feature of the nitya-sakhis or manjaris is that just as srimati Radharani and the other yuthesvaris are spontaneously and instinctively filled with an intense thirst to relish the flavour of Krsna’s form, taste, fragrance, touch and sound, so similarly the manjaris are spontaneously and instinctively attracted to both Radha’s and Krsna’s qualities. To what extent and how they are so attracted can be explained as follows. The nature of madhura-rasa is clear: the gopis want to please Krsna by offering their own bodies. Even Brahma prays to be able to drink again and again from the cup of his senses the honey-like nectar of Krsna’s lotus feet.(BhP 10.14.33) According to Caitanya-caritamrta, “the nectar of Krsna’s lotus feet” means his direct bodily contact.(Commentary on Brhad-Bhagavatamrta 1.7.99)
From this we can understand that the nayikas serve Krsna by directly relinquishing their bodies to him that is their qualification for being in the madhura rasa. The manjaris, on the other hand, are unenthusiastic about such type of service. They never contemplate such a possibility, even in their dreams.
Yet, the question may be asked, if there is no possibility of madhura rasa or romance without physical intimacy, how can the platonic spirit of the manjaris be graced with the name of samartha rati or kama-rupa bhakti?
In answer to this question, it should be said that the object of the manjaris affection is the Holy Couple of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna together. Therefore, the perfection of the manjari’s power of sight and the thirst of their eyes is to see that couple locked in embrace. The craving of their ears is to hear the Holy Couple’s sweet murmuring conversations and that is the fulfillment of their sense of hearing. The desire of their tongues is to relish the flavour of the condiments touched by the Holy Couple’s lips, and in that way their sense of taste attains perfection. Similarly, the sweet fragrance that arises at the Holy Couple?s union is the object craved for by their nostrils and its experience is the fulfillment of their sense of smell. The tactile sense finds plenitude in massaging the Holy Couple’s feet and bodies, and this is the only object of their sense of touch.
In this way, it may be said that of the four types of sambhoga (sexual union) mentioned by Jiva Gosvamin (i.e., by sight, conversation, touch and copulation) the first three are present in the manjaris to some extent. The question is, how do they experience samprayoga, or intercourse? We get some light on this point from the following passage from the Govinda-lilamrta:
Just as the moon enlivens the lilies, so Krsna is the bright moon who enlivens the lily-like hearts of the residents of Vrindavan. His pleasure-giving potency is personified in Radha, who is like a creeper whose fruits are prema. Her girlfriends are like the unlimited branches, leaves and flowers which expand out from her self and are thus equal to her. For this reason, when that winding creeper of love is watered with the heavenly potion of Krsna’s sporting activities, then the leaves and flowers (the sakhis) find hundreds of times more pleasure than if they were themselves to be sprinkled this seems quite normal.(GLA 10.16, quoted in Caitanya-caritamrta, 2.8.211)
Prabodhananda Sarasvati also states in the Vrndavana-mahimamrta(VMA 1.54):
The pleasure felt by the eyes of the sakhi alone in seeing Radha merged in the ocean of love for Krsna makes all the Supreme Lord’s festive arrangements for his own happiness seem insignificant.
Another quote from the Govinda-lilamrta (11.137) of Krsnadasa Kaviraja illustrates the power of the vicarious pleasure of the manjaris:
If Krsna should touch srimati Radharani,then lo and behold! her sakhis start to tremble they sweat and their body hairs stand on endand tears well in their eyes. And if Krsna should carefully sip the spirituous liquor of Radha’s lips, it is they who become intoxicated! This is truly something wonderful.
In his commentary on this verse, Vrndavana Cakravartin observes that this verse contains the rhetorical embellishment (alamkara) known as asangati or non sequitur. Asangati is defined as arising when causes are described as being inflicted on one entity have their effects reproduced in a completely distinct one. Here, the Lord is touching and kissing Radha, but the effects of trembling and intoxication are described taking place in the bodies of the sakhis.
Another verse can be quoted here from the ahnika-kaumudi of Kavi Karnapura where Krsna says:
O doe-eyed beauties!
When your girlfriends are absent,
you may have to look at a mirror
before you can say whether you are happy or sad.
They reflect every mood of yours
they perform all the services of a looking glass!
When tears fall from your eyes they also cry;
when you are excited, their hairs stand on end;
when you laugh they also do so;
and when you become depressed,
they also look down-hearted.(AK 5.128)
In the Krsna-bhavanamrta, there is another verse which illustrates the point:
Radha’s handmaids are unable to maintain their lives if they cannot see the pastimes of the beautiful Divine Couple; with great eagerness they had gathered about the window of the forest cottage in which Radha and Krsna were locked in embrace and one of them said, Friends, what an amazing and wonderful situation is this they have gotten themselves into.(KBhA 20.26)
If the sakhis can feel intoxicated when Krsna kisses Radharani, then it is not altogether surprising if they get an even greater pleasure by watching the intimate activities of the Lord and his mistress than they would from their own. The reason for this is that they are not lovers in the mundane sense, but are supreme, the transcendental Lord and his celestial mistress.
Not only are Radha and Krsna transcendental, but so also are the sakhis . In the Krsna-bhavanamrta they are described in the following way:
These handmaidens of Radharani are unexcelled in this universe for their beauty is without bounds. The rays coming from the nails of their toes defeats the glory of the lightning bolt. Each one of them is an incarnation of Radharani’s expertise in loving dalliance and thus competent to herself become a competitor for Krsna’s affections. Yet such desires do not enter their minds for even a moment because they are completely desireless. In this way, they are eligible to eternally dive into the ambrosial sea of service to her.(KBhA 2.1)
Without bhava or feeling, the ecstasies of sacred rapture cannot be experienced. Without feeling, the ecstasies of love cannot be appreciated. To relish Krsna’s sweetness, one must become similar to him in quality, otherwise it will not be possible. Just as Radharani’s competent affection is not separable from her identity, eternal and self-manifest, so too the sakhis and manjaris have love for the Divine Couple which is similarly uncaused, self manifest and directly produced from their own identities. This is beyond normal experience and thus inconceivable. “Those things which are inconceivable are not accessible by mental speculation“.(MBh cited at BRS 2.5.93)
The actions of the Lord are supra-mundane, its ways and means are all transcendental; thus the unfortunate hear about them and even so develop no faith in him.
Sometimes Radharani makes arrangements for the manjaris to meet Krsna to be enjoyed by him; but even this intercession on her part does not shake their indifference to such direct erotic union with the Lord. srila Rupa Gosvamin gives an example in the Ujjvala-nilamani, which Visvanatha expands upon as follows in his commentary to UN 8.89:
One day, srimati Radharani arranged through another of her friends for Mani Manjari to have a rendez-vous with the Lord in some forest glen. That friend, after trying persuasively to convince the reluctant manjari finally returned to Srimati’s side in failure. She then said to her, Dear friend, you told me to try and I did. I went to Mani Manjari and tried to tempt her in many ways. I said,My friend, I don’t believe there is any thrill in this entire universe that can compare with the ecstasy of Krsna’s embrace; you really should try it one time. Lalita and the other sakhis sometimes have trysts with him, why shouldn’t you, just this once? They can act as both friends and, occasionally, independently as Krsna’s mistresses too. There’s nothing wrong with it, why don’t you be like that too? Otherwise, you become too insignificant!
Radhe, after hearing these arguments of mine, Mani answered me by saying,“Friend, when Radharani enjoys the pleasure of Krsna’s company, then I find the happiness I feel is greater than that which I could gain by doing anything for myself at all.” Therefore, dear Radhe, I am completely convinced that her heart is entirely pure because despite all temptations and clever tricks on my part, she showed not the slightest urge for going for a meeting with Krsna.
Sometimes Krsna also personally tries to seduce the manjaris and meets with similar failure( Vishwanath’s commentary on UN 8.88).
One day one of Radharani’s girlfriends was picking flowers for the purpose of making a garland. Sri Krsna chanced upon her at that time and immediately proposed to her, O beautiful one, why not perfect your life by passing a few moments with me in this forest grove’ as well as saying many other sweet and enticing words. The bewildered girl put aside all her feminine tactics and arguments and very simply said to the Lord,
Govinda, I have only one desire:
to have the ever-greater intelligence
to be able to serve you and Radha
on the field of your ever-expanding, ecstatic romance
so that you experience newer and newer bliss;
for by such service, unlimited gopis have attained
the very limit of the fulfillment of their desires.
Therefore, oh Lord of Gokula, my mind
never becomes eager for your direct embrace;
it does not crave for such enjoyments,
please just engage me in that service.
Direct erotic union with the Lord is thought by many to be the ultimate object of the fulfillment of the gopi’s desires but the manjaris have no attraction for it. Visvanatha glosses the above-quoted gopis’ words: “Secretly watching your activities with Radharani in the forest groves seems to me to be hundreds of times more rapturous than direct intercourse with you.”
When a higher happiness can be found in other ways, then what intelligent person will take up inferior ways of pleasure-seeking?
The direct act of love-making functions as a climax to the variegated sportings of the transcendental loving pair and is not prominent as their highest source of happiness. As Rupa Gosvamin describes it at the very end of Ujjvala-nilamani (15.253): Those who are knowledgeable about sacred rapture have experienced that the actual sexual act is not as great a cause of happiness for experienced lovers as their various flirtations and loving exchanges.
Furthermore, the sexual act of the Supreme Lord has no tinge of mundaneness to it whatsoever. One should bear these points in mind at all times while going through this or any other book on the supramundane love life of the Lord
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Regarding "How does any man will feel when he comes to know that his wife is secretly in love with someone else."
One must understand that these men are all nitya siddhas and expansion of Lord himself. These are done just for the sake of creating a romantic situation. We should never ever judge these with materialistic mindset. Even in the bhauma lila in material world these nitya siddhas come along with lord .
If you are not attrached in these things no need to worry. Just read these sections again and again which are taken from the books of acharyas who have explained it properly. However if you still feel not good about these pastimes then you can follow your natural inclination . Following maryada purushottama Lord Rama is nit forbidden .
Development of the highest love depends on the receptacle
Madhurya is the essence of the Lord’s divinity. It has its ultimate realization in his form as Sri Krishna when he adopts the pose of a charming and flirtatious gallant (dhiralalita). A leading man (nayaka) of this type is considered by the poeticians to be the best of the various types of romantic hero. In the Stavavali, Radharani is described as having performed austerities in order to have Krishna’s playful dhira-lalita disposition increase.
Rupa Gosvami characterizes this charming gallant in the following manner(BRS 2.1.230.):
The charmer is suave, youthful, clever at amusing flirtations, always carefree and usually dominated by his mistress.
Rupa lists sixty-four of the Lord’s qualities in the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu; these attributes are appreciated by devotees of all the five inclinations. Of these sixty-four, however, only twenty-five are considered to be stimuli for the erotic mood. The Caitanya-caritamrita(CC 2.19) confirms this when it is said, The gopis’ ears are enlivened by hearing about each of the twenty-five qualities of the Lord that are dominant in madhura-rasa.
The Lord has unlimited qualities and it is through an attraction to these qualities that the devotee’s love develops. In his Priti-sandarbha 92, Sri Jiva categorizes these qualities as the causes of particular changes or developments in the heart of the devotee (bhakta-cittasa àskriyä-viçeñasya hetavaù) or the root causes of a devotee’s particular self-conception(abhimaan).
In the erotic relation, some of the Lord’s attributes enliven the devotee’s (the gopi’s) heart, thus elevating her to the point of bhava, feeling. The appreciation of the Lord’s further qualities create in her the spirit of possessiveness, which is the dominant characteristic of prema, love. Other qualities melt the heart completely, bringing her to the point of sneha, affection. Further qualities strengthen the gopi’s self-assurance in her loving relationship with the Lord and she thus rises to the next stage called mana, jealous pride. Those qualities that awaken a sense of intimate trust elevate her to pranaya, confident love. Others create the intense desire or attachment that is the symptom of raga, passionate
love. Finally, some of the Lord’s attributes madden the devoteee with their unequalled marvels .this is the platform of maha-bhava, great feeling. These different levels are the higher stages of the sthayi-bhava.(Priti-sandarbha, 84.)
Of course, the appreciation of the different attributes of the Lord depends a great deal on the nature of the devotee and the intensity of her emotion: not all devotees appreciate all of God’s qualities. Those qualities which enmadden due to their unequalled marvels (asamordhva-camatkäreëonmädayati) are appreciated by the cowherd beauties of Vraja alone. As a result of this, the highest devotional mood known as maha-bhava, not found in any other devotee, appears in them. The qualities of Krishna which awaken this mood are only perceived and relished by them and thus they are the only ones who have a proprietary claim on them.
Different devotees experience and express different spiritual emotions; and just as there are such different devotees, there are corresponding manifestations of the Lord. In the Priti-sandarbha, Jiva Gosvamin makes the following comment on the relation between a devotee’s particular devotional attitude and the Lord’s revelation of his qualities:
It is said that during the predominance of the Svati asterism, pearls are produced from the rainfall; however, this rain-water does not produce pearls everywhere, but only in those special receptacles known as oysters. Similarly, although it is quite within Krishna’s capabilities to awaken devotional sentiments up to the point of maha-bhava [in any-one at all], not everyone’s love is developed to that extent. The development of the highest love depends on the receptacle. [This is the unique achievement of the Vrindavana gopis.]
Certain indicators (anubhavas) of maha-bhava, such as intolerance of even the momentary interruption to the vision of Krishna’s face caused by the blinking of the eyelids, are to be found only in the gopis.
Jiva further states in the Priti-sandarbha that the first development in the process of the growth of this erotic love is the perception of a certain form of the Lord equipped with particular qualities. The experience of such a form produces a particular sense of self awareness in the devotee, which later develops into an attachment or loving possessiveness.
The first manifestation of the Lord’s specific form depends on the association of devotees attached to such a form. For example, let us say that Lord Krishna has a certain devotee known as Krishna Dasa with whom he deals as a friend. Another person named Hari Dasa is bereft of such good fortune until he is one day blessed with Krishna Dasa’s company. Then he develops a similar sentiment for the Lord. Not only that, but the Lord also starts thinking of Hari Dasa as a friend. As a result, the quality of devotion known as sakhya-rati develops in Hari Dasa.
As stated in Caitanya-caritamrita, the basis of the birth of sacred love for Krishna is the association of saintly persons.(CC 2.22.83) Still, it should be remembered that one’s devotional sentiment would necessarily be the same as that of the company one keeps.
According to the extent that the Lord’s different devotees perceive his qualities which are related to the erotic mood, they come to different conceptions of self-identity. The Supreme Lord and his devotees attract each other like a magnet and iron filings. As a result of this essential characteristic, the devotee’s specific sense of identity is also brought into being by the eternally true nature of the Lord. Thus, according to the particular form and nature the Lord reveals in certain times and places, a corresponding sense of identity is born in the devotee who experiences him. This is the source of the relative superiority or inferiority of devotional moods or sthayi-bhavas. This shows that the sense of self identity or abhimana and the feeling of devotional passion (raga) are mutually interdependent, each being nourished by the other.
They therefore appear simultaneously. Although the various senses of self-identity are many in number, there are only four dominant types in Vrindavan those of servitude, friendship, guardianship or parenthood and mistress-hood, which, as has already been stated, is supreme amongst them all.
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Understanding the intensity of gopi’s prema
O Mukunda, giver of liberation!
Who in the world is there with the courage
to pray for the gift of sacred love,
of which the slightest manifestation,
when brushing against the minds of the great sages,
makes them forget the happiness of liberation?
My prayer therefore to you is this:
that I should simply desire for such prema,
and that this desire should increase forever,
in this world, birth after birth.
(Rüpa Gosvämi, Astadasa-cchanda, Vastra-harana, 2)
Even those self-satisfied sages who directly experience the happiness of liberation immediately become indifferent to that pleasure simply on coming into contact with the fractionally germinated seed of prema; what person in this world is so bold
that he would pray for such wealth? I, therefore, always pray only that, wherever I should take birth, I may constantly develop the thirst and enthusiasm for attaining that great prizethat I should remain forgetful of all else and thirst for it in the way that a fish from its pond craves for a return to water, as a cataka bird thirsts for the appearance of a cloud, or as the fabled cakora seeks the rays of the moon.
Brahmananda is the name given to the joy found in the transcendentalist’s realization of universal spiritual identity. This pleasure is so highly lauded by its proponents that it is said to make all worldly pleasure, even that of being an emperor or universal creator like Brahma, appear completely insignificant. Yet this brahmänanda itself becomes an object of scorn for one who has attained the fortune of getting even the slightest scent of Krishna prema, or love for Krishna. Prema is therefore the ultimate goal of life, or prayojana-tattva.
There are unlimited varieties of prema, but there is a vast difference in their magnitude. According to Visvanatha Cakravarti’s commentary on the varieties of heroine in Ujjvala-nilamani, the four degrees of magnitude are:
1.atomic
2.comparatively substantial
3.great
4.exceedingly great.
In those persons whose devotional taste has not yet developed (ajata-ruci), prema is present only in atomic quantity; it is only barely detectable and consequently, the Lord’s giving of himself to such devotees is also just barely perceptible.
At the opposite extreme, prema is found to be of exceedingly great magnitude only in the person of the Queen of Vrindavan, Srimati Radharani. There, because prema is present in its fullest possible manifestation, Krishna is also in complete
subordination to her.
Sacred love (prema) is great in all the residents of Vrindavan and therefore Lord Krishna accepts the role of a subordinate to them also.
The Lord submits himself to devotees like Narada, in whom sacred love is greater or lesser, in proportion to their devotion.
When the Lord consents to become a subordinate to his devotee, i.e., in a case where love is either great or exceedingly great, his majestic aspects remain completely hidden in the presence of so much devotional sweetness, in the way that the
potencies of a feudal baron, though relatively apparent to his subordinates, remain subdued in the presence of the emperor.
Sacred love is the essence of Krishna”s internal potency, known as the Hladini or bliss-giving
energy.(Sri Jiva, Durga-sangamini on Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 1.3.1.) This energy manifests in different types of devotees in four basic varieties known as servitorship, comradeship, guardianship and the sweetest affection known as mistressship. This mistress-ship is called sweet love (madhura rati) because it is the most relishable of the devotional sentiments. It is of three types:
1.common (sadharani rati)
2.compromising (samanjasa rati)
3.competent (samartha rati). Of the three, the last is considered the most perfect.
In Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu(BRS, 1.2.283-6), Rupa Gosvamin has described this competent love as kama-rupa bhakti or the devotion that has the form or appearance of sexual attraction:
That devotion or love which makes the desire for sexual union submit to it and take on its own form, i.e., makes it function only for the purpose of Krishna’s pleasure, is known as kama-rupa bhakti. Where such devotion exists, all efforts are made only for his happiness and never for ones own pleasure or satisfaction, even though externally or superficially this desire for Krishna”s pleasure may appear like a desire for one’s own sexual satisfaction. Kama-rupa bhakti is widely known to exist only in the cowherd girls of Vrindavan. Learned persons have given the name of sexual attraction (kama) to the love of the cowherd girls for Krishna because, in the multifarious expressions of sweetness, such sports as embracing, kissing and other amorous activities take place.
Even great devotees like Uddhava adore the spirit of the cowherd girls because it transforms the essentially selfish sexual desire into pure devotional love or desire for the Supreme Lord’s sensual enjoyment. These devotees desire to attain that level of devotion, but remain forever unable.
In The Story of Gopala (Gopala-campu ii.37.11) and Priti sandarbha , Jiva Gosvamin writes that the Lord gave Uddhava a position in his life in the spiritual world of Goloka, but even so, Uddhava was unable to obtain the form of a cowherd girl or the true identity of one. This does not mean that Uddhava’s status is not extremely elevated.
According to the Brihad-Bhagavatamrita(2.1.16-17 and commentary ) there are five kinds of devotees:
(1) the devotee in knowledge (jnanabhakta),such as Bharata Mahäräja
(2) the pure devotee (suddha-bhakta) like Ambarish Maharaja
(3) the devotee in sacred love (prema-bhakta) like Hanuman
(4) the devotee entirely fixed in sacred love (prema-para-bhakta) like the five Pandava brothers
(5) the devotee completely absorbed in and moved by sacred love (prema tura-bhakta) like the Yadavas, of whom the chief is Uddhava.
Each of these divisions is superior to the one preceding it. Nevertheless, even though Uddhava stands as superior to all the above mentioned devotees, he cannot attain to the ultimate standard of devotional sentiment known as the mood of the cowherd girl (gopi-bhava).
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Who is unqualified for madhurya rasa ?
In Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, the five chief types of sacred feelings with all their component ingredients are described in an comprehensive manner. Sacred erotic love (madhura rati) has there been characterized as standing above all other kinds of sacred attitude towards the Supreme; nevertheless, it was only summarized there briefly as Rupa reserved his extensive treatment of the subject for the exhaustive Ujjvala-nilamani. Rupa himself explains why in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, 3.5.2.
“Three types of person are unqualified to hear about sacred erotic rapture:
(1) renunciates who are excessively inclined to asceticism
(2) others who are unable to distinguish between mundane sexuality and the divine eros
(3) those who, though devotees, are indifferent to the erotic mysticism of the Bhagavata-purana.
Since the subject is esoteric and rather difficult to understand, as well as being expansive, I have only given an abbreviated description of it here.”
One need spiritual greed to dive deep into the topics of madhurya rasa. Where does such spiritual greed come from? Rupa Gosvamin summarizes this in Bhaktirasamrita-sindhu 1.2.292:
“When one has gained some perception, from hearing the Bhagavata Purana or other books on the Lord’s sports written by rapturous devotees, that all of Krishna’s senses are pleased by the feelings, beauty and qualities of the residents of Vraja such as Nanda and Yasoda, an attitude arises that is indifferent to scripture or argument and is a symptom of the development of eagerness or greed (lobha). This attitude is, more specifically, the innate, spontaneous desire for the sweetness of those various moods: “May I also have the same kinds of feelings and qualities”
Even though spontaneous attraction to the mood of the residents of Vrindavan is so natural, not all persons develop it instantly upon first hearing about it. The Caitanya caritamrita 2.22.87 says:
“Some rare fortunate soul develops greed on hearing the glories of the residents of Vrindavan.”
One needs the mercy of a devotee who is himself endowed with this spirit and the candidate must be possessed of certain qualities on his own a certain lucidity or clearness of mind before such greed can appear. Therefore, Rupa says in
Bhaktirasamrita-sindhu (1.2.309) that it is kripaikalabhya, only available through the mercy of the Lord and his devotees.
The candidate who is qualified for practicing devotion in pursuit of erotic passion(kamanuga bhakti) is further described in Rupa Gosvamin’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu BRS 1.2.300:
“Those who have seen the beauty of the image of the Lord or who have heard about his sports with his lovers, from their falling in love (purvaraga) to the ecstasies of the circle dance, and who have become eager for the feelings of either the heroines or their friends are qualified for the practice of one of the two types of this form of devotion.”
Jiva Goswami’s commentary on this verse is as follows:
“Previously [in verse 1.2.292], only the process of hearing was mentioned.Now it appears that it is necessary to see Krishna’s form also. Seeing Krishna’s images, certainly, is also dependent on hearing, for without hearing, there is no possibility that the Lord’s beauty or activities will spring into reality. Moreover, even without seeing the image of the Lord, hearing of his sports will be effective.”
Who then is not qualified? Expanding on the verse from Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (3.5.2), which was quoted above , Vishnu Dasa writes in his commentary on Ujjvala nilamani (1.2):
(1) This spiritual discussion is unedifying for those who, though they are devotees of Krishna, have no inclination toward erotic sacred rapture and for those who, considering the Lord’s erotic dalliances to be the same as mundane sexuality, feel dispassion or lack any taste for them.
(2) Although there are many devotees in erotic sacred rapture, still, because they have not been properly trained or purified, not all of them are proficient at tasting rapture. For them, this discussion is difficult to grasp.
(3) It is improper to discuss this topic before those whose minds are deeply absorbed in the path of injunctions, who, because of having various tendencies, are by nature unaware of the path of passion. The superiority of the path of passion means, after all, that there are unlimited lesser natures unsuited for it.
This conception of the Manjari(Radha dashyam) is as difficult to comprehend as it is rare. Yet, as it is extremely important we have no other recourse than that of familiarizing ourselves with it. Although such a task is beyond the capabilities of an uneducated, foolish and most unqualified person such as myself, still, because of the indomitable influence of this holy land and of the blessings of the Vaisnavas, who are all embodiments of Srimati Radharani’s compassion, I have been inspired to take up this task with enthusiasm.
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Hare Krishna Akash Prabhu,
The question you have asked is valid. It needs to be understood partly.
Srimad Bhakticharu Swami once told in a lecture.
Just try to understand the intensity of prema. When lovers meet with one another and the family is not aware it is a different level of enthusiasm and the intensity of love has no bounds as it has all excitement . But the husband and wife are always together doing household duties and all reverence for each other. But that excitement and enthusiasm is mostly missing which was present before marriage.
Krishna is rasaraj and wishes to experience the highest intensity of Love. That is why parakiya bhava is mostly relished by him.
Below I am sharing some sections from a blog though not from our Iskcon parampara but good one . I don't have that book so pasting from the blog.
Listening Krishna katha presented by materialist in religious cloths, should be avoided, because in that case people for sure will be misled by misunderstanding and speculating such stories. Such presentation will not wake any attraction for it, and when people isnt attracted, they cant even taste such divine nectar.
Devotees of Krishna always seek to talk about Krishnas past times with another devotees, who used to drink such nectar, but they usually avoid talking with materialistic non devotee, because non devotees disrespect such stories and have judging mind based on materialistic body views.
At start, non devotee who have strong desire to talk about Krishna past times with devotee should be very humble and be listener, asking questions without commenting to much. In that case, devotee is always happy to talk about lilas to non offensive and humble listener.
After some time, when person gets attraction for such nectar, he is begin to be qualified for Krishna katha conversations.
Krishna doesnt care for such outside things like marriage, education, caste, body form,..
He is attracted by devotion or love.
Generally speaking, whats in your heart there will be your mind, and where is your mind there will be your heart.
If the mind isnt occupied with Him, in another word, if the mind doesnt serve, He will not be attracted.
All living beings in Vraja are full of love for Him, therefore they always thinking on Him.
Thats why He is always with Gopis, He cant leave them even for a moment, even its seems He is gone far away .