'GOpikA geetham and GOpikA manOharan'

[Guest guest]

Dear bAghavadhOthamAls,

My humble obeisance to the

devotees of Sriman NArAyana. There are ways and ways of enjoying the

Alps.Travel brochures tell tantalizingly about the Alps.V isitors talk

vividly about it.Still, to enjoy the Alps you have to be in the

Alps.Similarly to know who these Gopis are, what they did/did not, why

SriAndAl chose the stance of the Gopasthrees, how SriKrishnA

transformed Himself into a simple cow-herd boy, we have to transport

ourselves to the land of the GOpis.BhAghavatha PurAnA or Srimad

BhAgavadam is our destination.

In Bhakthi Sruthi Sage NAradhA is asked 'who is the real devotee, who

has the supreme devotion and bhakti-'parama prEma roopA'.NAradhar had

said 'yathA vraja gOpikAnAm'-like the GOpis of the BrindAvan.On another

occasion ,He is asked 'what are the ways of attaining the Lord'.He

says'gOpyaha kAmAthu bhayAth kasmsa: dvEshAth

jhaitAthnayOnrupA'.SishubAlA and JarasandhA-through hatred,PAndavAs

through friendship, the GOpis through worship, adoration, venerance,

devotion and invocation.(sometimes,less than a few amongst us, skip

reading the original Sanskrit versions.I catch myself doing this.It

really never hurts anybody to read sankrit.As we read them we can see

the magic of SriShukAchAryA's words weave the fabric of this PurAna

thilakam)

What can these GOpis possess, even SriKrishnA would say to UDhavA 'for

unalloyed bhakti go to the Gopis and learn from them'.But in

SriKrishnA's words 'among the bhAghavathAs I am you the UDhavA'.To

Arjuna was given the Bhagawad GitA- to UDhavA is given the UDhava

GitA.There is a lot of difference between the two-ArjunA was made to go

into the world to perform his duties.UDhavA is asked to rise above the

world to perform his spiritual duties.ArjunA is confused, UDavA is

enlightened.UDhavA is not the confused, perturbed, doubting Thomas like

ArjunA.ArjunA falls at the feet of SriKrishnA and says,'save me' whereas

UDhavA says'exalt me'.UDhavA is a sage of excellent qualities and goes

to the gOkulam as advised by SriKrishnA.After his sojourn ,UDhavA would

tell'

'vandhE nanda vrajasthreenAm pAdha rEnum abeeksh*nasaha:

yAsAm hari kathOth geetham punahAdhi bhuvanathrayam'

'I bow down to the Gopis, at the feet of the GOpis,to the dust at the

feet of the GOpis'

If the UDhavA has such a conviction why would SriKrishnA doubt even for

a moment's trice to give these Aachiyars the 'parai'(andha NArAyananE

indha AachiyarkE EN tharakoodAdhu 'parai')

Sarvam SriKrishnArpanamasthu,

With highest regards,

Subadra