Rasa-Lila, Dysfunctional Relationships, and Personal Denial

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achintya, Bharat Kapadia <bak3143> wrote:

 

> Prabhu, I am not a great literary scholar, but I would

> like to point out one fact. The dealings of Krishna

> with Radharani and the gopis, especially the Rasalila

> of wich you speak; are very confidential topics. These

> are ONLY to be discussed amongst the most advanced of

> devotees in Krishna Consciousness.

 

I would argue that it is our duty to discuss such topics, but mostly

in the way Srila Prabhupada did - with utmost reverence. It is an

unfortunate fact that ignorant or unscrupulous people have made it a

business to misrepresent the rasa-lila, and we must be prepared to

combat their misconceptions with proper knowledge. Srila Prabhupada

did not have to include the rasa-lila description in his Krishna book

which is to this day distributed en masse to thousands of mlecchas

every month, but he did.

 

Only a very qualified devotee can truly appreciate the rasa-lila is,

as you have already pointed out. The rest of us have to settle for

discussing what it is not, at least for the time being. We would

similarly prefer not to delve into esoteric shrutis, but we have to

sometimes in order to combat impersonalistic speculations alleged to

be based on them.

 

Speaking of unqualified individuals discussing rasa-lila, take a look

at the following excerpt (last paragraph) from the essay at Jan

Brezinski's website at

http://jagat.wisewisdoms.com/articles/showarticle.php?id=37

 

"Look at Radha and Krishna and don't deny what they symbolize. ISKCON

people are so eager to say Radha and Krishna are not symbols of

mundane sex. This is serious denial. They represent the ideal love

and we should think of that when we love, just as we should think of

Yasoda and Krishna when we see our child. Your wife and child are

Krishna for you. Krishna is everywhere, he is even in the temple, but

his presence is most important in the objects of love around us. You

want to learn to love Krishna? Love the people who are around you."

 

The above is a perfect example of someone who cannot distinguish

between the significance of the transcendental devotion between Radha

and Krishna and material relationships. Basically, the person who

wrote the above fancies himself a Gaudiya Vaishnava scholar and has

made it a business to criticize Srila Prabhupada. From his own

writings we can see why: he admits to having physically tormented

small children, as well as in abandoning his own family (all in the

name of devotional service). Now, instead of taking responsibility

for his actions, he is trying to absolve himself of guilt by blaming

Srila Prabhupada. There are many misconceptions in this essay, and

seasoned disciples of Srila Prabhupada would best serve him by being

able to maturely and authoritatively refute them.

 

I suspect that many former ISKCON members who now make it a business

to criticize Srila Prabhupada are also hiding skeletons in their

respective closets. We don't need to perform character assasinations

in order to refute their views, but it helps to point out their

philosophical misconceptions in the context of their preexisting

biases.

 

I hope that more followers of Srila Prabhupada learn to defeat these

misconceptions in a mature and authoritative way, which will

naturally involve setting the record straight on such things as rasa-

lila.