The Poetic Love Life of the Absolute

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The Poetic Love Life of the Absolute

 

"Anyone who studies Krsna lila carefully will see that it speaks about

absolute giving and self-forgetfulness as no other tradition does. One

who truly embraces self-forgetfulness in love experiences Krsna lila,

the poetic love life of the Absolute."

 

Q. It is said that Sukadev was born self-realized and immediately left

home to live in the forest. Although realized and indifferent to the

world, he was still attracted to the pastimes of Krsna when he heard

someone singing certain verses from the Bhagavatam. I understand that

one of the verses he heard at that time was SB 3.2.23, which describes

how merciful Krsna was to deliver Putana. Do you know the others?

 

A. Vyasa gave a woodcutter some Bhagavata verses to sing in the forest,

in the hope that his son Sukadeva would hear them and come home, which

he did. Sri Jiva Goswami, who discusses this incident in his

Tattva-sandarbha, does not mention the specific verses that Sukadeva

heard from the woodcutter. He only says that they were selected

sections in which the glory of Sri Krsna is particularly mentioned.

Because the section of Brahmavaivarta Purana that described this

incident is no longer available, we are left to draw our answer to this

question from the oral tradition of acaryas who have suggested

different verses. Pujyapada B. R. Sridhara Maharaja suggests that one

of the verses was SB 10.1.2, in which the nature of Krsna lila in terms

of its power to cure the disease of illusion (maya) is described along

with the qualifications of the speaker of the Bhagavata, who ideally

should be free from material desire. Others have suggested 10.21.7,

which describes the beauty of Krsna entering the Vrindavana forest with

his friends, a verse spoken by the young Vraja-sundaris. As you have

mentioned, SB 3.2.23 is also sometimes suggested.

 

The particular verses aside, the significant point here is that

Sukadeva heard only these verses. At that time he had no formal

education and had not studied Sanskrit grammar, yet simply by hearing

the spiritual poetry of the Bhagavatam he became attracted to this

transcendental literature. Such is the power of the Bhagavatam, whose

mere sound caused Sukadeva to forget about nondifferentiated Brahman.

Later Sukadeva underwent a formal study of the literature to further

relish that sound he had heard in the forest. If Sukadeva Goswami, the

best of the atmaramas (spiritually self-satisfied), was prepared to

undergo the rigorous study of Srimad-Bhagavatam, how important must

this scripture be? Can we, who are all atmaramas in the lower sense of

the term (pursuers of self-pleasure), afford to avoid doing the same in

the serious pursuit of our highest potential?

 

Q. The Bhagavatam discusses ten subject matters, which are divided into

asrita (those seeking shelter) and asraya (the ultimate shelter). Will

you explain more about this?

 

A. In the second canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami lists ten

subjects that the Bhagavatam discusses. Although ten subjects are

mentioned, there is at the same time only one subject about which the

Bhagavatam speaks. That subject is nondual consciousness

(advaya-jnana). How can this apparent contradiction be resolved?

Sukadeva first lists the ten topics of the Bhagavatam in one verse and

then in the following verse he explains how all of them are actually

only describing advaya-jnana, which is listed in the first verse as the

tenth subject, the asraya-tattva (ultimate shelter).

 

"Sukadeva Goswami said, 'In the Srimad-Bhagavatam there are ten

subjects: creation of the universal constituents, sub-creation of the

planetary systems, maintenance, protection by the Lord of his devotees,

the creative impetus, the Manus, the Lord's incarnations, annihilation,

liberation, and the shelter of these nine categories-the asraya-tattva,

Sri Krsna. Through Vedic reference, great sages describe the first nine

subjects both directly and also indirectly through the narration of

histories, in an effort to shed light on the tenth category, the

asraya-tattva.' " (SB 2.10.1-2)

 

The true nature of the tenth subject will be understood by way of

analyzing those aspects that are under its shelter. The tenth subject,

being Bhagavan Sri Krsna, is difficult to understand, absorbed as he is

in pastimes that resemble in outward appearance the activities of a

young boy. The Bhagavatam describes Krsna as dark like the rain cloud,

wrapped in glittering golden dress, and crowned with a peacock feather.

He carries a flute in his hand, and glances playfully with his

lotus-like eyes at the cowherd girls. He is the friend of the cows, and

the trees bow their branches in respect as he passes them in the

forest. Those trees are like the hair of the earth that stands on end

at the thought of being touched by the soles of Krsna's tender feet. In

the land of Vrindavana, the river Yamuna flows only for Krsna's sake,

nourishing the land where animate and inanimate alike live a

transcendent life of love, with him alone as their love's object.

Surrounded by friends, lovers, and family members, Krsna brings joy to

all. Who is this Krsna? Is he a mere metaphor for divine love or a

reality more tangible than the illusory world of our experience?

Srimad-Bhagavatam stresses the latter--this ever-youthful boy is no

ordinary person, he is the asraya tattva, the ultimate shelter.

 

To help us understand this boy properly, subjects relevant to our

lives, such as creation and so on, are also described in the

Bhagavatam. For this reason the Gaudiya sampradaya insists that without

understanding its first nine cantos one should not jump to the tenth

canto where the lilas of the asraya-tattva are the main subject and

Krsna's dancing with his gopis is center stage. First one should try to

understand the ultimate shelter through discussion of that which he

oversees within our present world of experience.

 

Just how these ten topics appear in Srimad-Bhagavatam is a discussion

in and of itself. Jiva Goswami takes this discussion up in brief in his

Tattva-sandarbha. He says that the ten topics are not found in a

sequence from one to ten, beginning with the first canto and ending

with the tenth, for the Bhagavatam consists of twelve cantos. Neither

are these topics found sequentially from the third canto on. Sri Jiva

concludes that all ten topics are discussed throughout all twelve

cantos. He sees that this notion is confirmed by Sukadeva's statement

cited earlier, in which he explains that these topics (the first nine)

are described either directly or indirectly, since direct and indirect

speech is found throughout the Srimad-Bhagavatam. At the same time it

is clear that the tenth canto deals primarily with the lila of Sri

Krsna and thus its principal subject is the asraya-tattva, whereas the

other nine subjects are given stress in the earlier and later cantos.

 

Q. I was taught that the sages transmitted spiritual knowledge to the

masses by relaying it as historical events while codifying it

allegorically for those more qualified to understand it. Therefore the

real meaning of the Krsna stories in the Bhagavatam would be available

only to those who understand them as allegories. However, followers of

Caitanya Mahaprabhu insist the opposite, that the best way to

understand the Bhagavatam is to take the stories found in it as events

that actually took place in time. This baffles me, as I just don't

understand how a literal approach to the Bhagavatam could be superior

to the allegorical approach promoted by so many modern spiritual

philosophers. Can you explain how this could be so?

 

A. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the pastimes of Krsna as told in

the Bhagavatam and other scriptures are not merely stories for the less

intelligent or narratives that the scriptures turn to when speaking to

the masses to explain an ultimate reality that is abstract and

impersonal. All great Vaisnava Vedantists, such as Ramanujacharya and

Madhvacharya, agree with Caitanya Mahaprabhu on this point, and even

celebrated Advaita Vedantins like Sankaracarya and his latter-day

follower Madhusudana Saraswati, a contemporary of Mahaprabhu, accepted

Krsna lila as historical events occurring within time and space, while

not limited by them. Sankaracarya prayed for the opportunity to retire

on the banks of the Yamuna and relish visions of Krsna lila, and

Madhusudana Saraswati prayed similarly. These great Adwaita Vedantins

acknowledged the eternality of Krsna lila but differed with their

Vaisnava counterparts in that they taught that contemplation of Krsna

lila is partaken of only up to and throughout jivan mukti (liberation

within the material body), not in videha mukti (liberation after one

leaves the material body). This differs from the opinions of Vaisnava

acaryas like Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who taught that after the liberated

soul in prema leaves the body, the soul takes an active part in the

pastimes of Krsna and remains with him eternally. These differences

aside, the point is that the greatest of Advaitins held Krsna lila in

the highest regard, and unlike many neo-Advaitin philosophers of today,

they never dared to deconstruct Krsna lila into mere mythology. If

anything is real within the material world for Sankara, it is Krsna

lila.

 

Also worth noting is that our Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas, such as

Sanatana Goswami and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, were well aware

that the seeming impossibility of certain aspects of Krsna lila might

lead one to consider them as stories from which to draw lessons and

nothing more. According to the Bhagavatam, even the inhabitants of

Vrindavana found much of Krsna lila unbelievable, even as it unfolded

before their eyes! Prominent Gaudiya commentators on Srimad Bhagavatam

address the so-called impossibilities within Krsna lila by referring to

Sri Krsna's acintya-sakti, his inconceivable potency. Through this

potency the impossible becomes possible in a realm not limited by time

and space. Krsna lila appears within time and space (our material frame

of reference) with the express purpose of taking us beyond it. Thus one

must be careful not to allow the mind, a material element, to take the

life out of Krsna lila in an effort to understand the transcendental on

mundane terms. Overcoming this tendency of the mind is called yoga.

 

Although Krsna lila instructs us on many levels regarding important

philosophical truths, this in no way invalidates the lila itself in

terms of its being the highest ontological reality. Krsna lila does not

end with philosophy; it has a transcendent life of its own, one that

saints tell us is more real then the mythic realm of the materially

conditioned soul's world of the mind. Indeed, Krsna lila heard from the

lips of realized souls has the power to dethrone the oppressive rule of

the mind and to liberate the soul. Spiritually progressive devotees

draw important truths from the lila and apply it in their lives such

that eventually they come to experience Krsna lila eternally as the

emotive spiritual reality that it is. This experience conducted under

the influence of Krsna's internal energy (svarupa-sakti) is heralded in

Srimad Bhagavatam as "the highest truth" and "reality distinguished

from illusion for the welfare of all."

 

Purity, meditation, and spiritual practice are the only ways to know

the reality of Krsna lila, as philosophy alone cannot take one there.

Words and thought can never adequately describe that which lies beyond

their reach, thus any explanation of ultimate reality will eventually

fail to entirely satisfy one's intelligence. No spiritual tradition

that I know of stresses this more than Gaudiya Vaisnavism, thus its

emphasis on Sri Harinama, the emotional appeal to the Absolute. Real

knowing comes from one's heart, not one's head. Far more possibilities

lie within the realm of the heart than within the realm of the mind. We

must use our intelligence, no doubt, but we should use it to soften our

heart.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu emphasizes that prema is the prayojana (goal),

and that it bears fruit in the realization of Krsna lila. If one

carefully studies Krsna lila through the teaching of Sri Caitanya, it

will become clear that it speaks to us of self-forgetfulness in love.

When self-sacrifice turns to self-forgetfulness, as it only can when

the perfect object of love is the repose of our love, then Krsna lila

is realized. Love without reservation is possible only in relation to

the ultimate shelter of love. Thus our acaryas explain their experience

of the Absolute as "the supreme enjoyer," krsnas tu bhagavan svayam.

What is the nature of their experience? Through absolute giving and

unalloyed love, one gains entrance to Krsna lila, where knowing and

loving are synonymous. One who truly embraces self-forgetfulness in

love experiences Krsna lila, the poetic love life of the Absolute. In

this experience all doubts and contradictions are resolved.

 

Questions or comments may be submitted at the Q&A Forum:

http://www.swami.org/sanga/ or email sangaeditor (AT) swami (DOT) org.

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