Remembering Srila Prabhupada - dasa-dasanudasah - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree

dasa-dasanudasah

Prabhupada had Pradyumna read out the purports to verses 41 and 42 before he gave class. Commenting on how Draupadi offered all respects to the bound-up Asvatthama, despite the fact that he had killed her sleeping sons, he said, "So this is already explained in the purport that woman's nature is very mild, and man's nature very strong. That is the difference. Therefore according to Vedic civilization, the woman must be protected, because they are very simple -- they can be led to goodness also very easily, and they can be polluted also very easily. By nature, they are very simple. Therefore sastra says that just like child, if you mold the character of a child from the very beginning, then he can become a great man. Similarly, if you train woman from the very beginning how to become chaste and faithful to the husband, they can become a very good mother, very good asset in the family. So there is sufficient information in the Vedic literatures how a boy should be trained up, a girl should be trained up, so that in future they may become happy. The ultimate aim of life is how to become connected with Krsna."

He said that becoming connected with Krsna meant being in the mood of Lord Caitanya. "Caitanya Mahaprabhu has taught us how to become free from the false ahankara. He said that naham vipro na yatir va: 'I am not a brahmana. I am not a sannyasi. I am not a grhastha. I am not a vanaprastha. I am not this. I am not that.' All material designations He refused....

"Then? When you become liberated? That is stated by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. This is liberation. Gopi-bhartuh, the maintainer of the gopis, Gopijana-vallabha. Krsna's business is how to please the gopis, the inhabitants of Vrndavana. Yasoda-nandana vraja-jana-ranjana, as the vrndavana-vasis, they have no other business than to love Krsna, similarly, Krsna has no other business than to please the gopis and the inhabitants of Vrndavana. Gopijana-vallabha."

Prabhupada described why Krsna is so attached to the vrndavana-vasis. "They do not know anything. They do not know even that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But they do not like to love anybody than Krsna. This is their only qualification. They did not love Krsna understanding that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, param brahma param dhama; they did not know this. But they did not like to love even Visnu than Krsna. That is their qualification. Gopi-jana-vallabha.

"So when we come to that stage, as Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching, the gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayoh. He's also bringing the reference of the gopis because Krsna is completely under gopis. He's so much indebted to the gopis that He said that 'I cannot repay your debts. It is not possible.' Krsna, the all-powerful, all-opulences, but He had no means to repay the debts of the gopis. This is the position of the gopis."

Prabhupada cautioned us that we should not try to become gopis -- that is Mayavadi. Rather we have to become like Uddhava, who prayed that he could take birth as a blade of grass in Vrndavana so that the gopis would trample him under their feet. "This is the highest perfection. So liberation means gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-dasanudasah. The more you become servant of the servant, servant of Vaisnava, then your perfection is there."

- From "A Transcendental Diary Vol 4" by HG Hari Sauri Prabhu

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