The love between Krishna and the Gopis

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The love between radha and Krishna Or between Krishna and gopis were

not illicit. The upanishad says 'raso vai sah' He is the essence of

all emotions. The rasakrida is symbolic of the union with the Lord

and the infinite joy of it. The jivas are like a garland formed with

the Lord in the centre which is depicted by the circle of gopis and

Krishna in Rasleele . To a jnani the whole world is Brindavan and the

rasleele is the dance of the pure consciousness in and through

everything.

 

One must remember that Krishna was only ten year old at this

time. In fact King Parikshit to whom the Bhagavatha was told by

Shukha asked him as to how could Krishna commit paradharaabhimarsana,

the sin of coveting another man's wife, when He has taken avathara

for the sake of dharmasamsthapana, to establish dharma. Shukha

replied that the Lord, who is the inner self of not only gopis but

also their husbands, is playing with His own body and where has

paradharaagamana come into this!

 

Same answer is said to be given by Lord Siva to Parvathi who

asked the same question. Siva says 'svasariraparishvangaath

rathirnaasthi varaanane.' the embracing one's own body is not illicit

love.-( Padmapurana.)

 

The one who was relating the story was a realised master,

Sukha and one to whom it was told was Parikshit who was awaitng his

death. Those who heard it along with him were the sages. So that

explains the sanctity of the episode. The whole Bhagavatha was

supposed to be the sarira of the Lord while the five chapters

describing the rasakreeda are said to be the praanasthana. Hence this

is 'bhakthyaah paraa kaashtaa,' the utmost form of bhakthi and not

sringaramaya, a love poetry.

 

The gopis were with Krishna at the time of Rasakreeda but

they were not missed at their homes says Bhagavatha. It is only their

yogasariras were united with Bhagavan while their bogasariras were at

home. Gopisd saw only Krishna in their husbands and other relatives

and hence their love towards them increased and for the same reason

reciprocated.

 

I am giving below the significance of rasakreeda and the

Radhakrishna concept.

By contemplating on Him as a butter thief our dishonest desires

disappear. By imagining Him as bound to the mortar our bondage is

broken and by meditating on Him as the lover of gopis our lust is

destroyed.

 

When the mind is fully engaged in the Lord it becomes the flute in

His hand, a hollow tube with full of holes through which all the

impurities have been washed off. then His fingers move through the

holes and fills it with divine music. When the mind wants to unite

with Him but is not able to do so due to egocentric impulses that

separates it from Him , the resulting sorrow is depicted as the

viraha of the gopies and Radha.

The gopies went to meet Krishna but they were never missed at

home, says Bhaagavatha Puraana. Their union was one of spirit and not

of body. When the thought is centered on the object of love it is the

union of the spirit. When every thought that occurs is centered on

the Lord the devotee's mind becomes a stage for Rasleela. Each

thought is the gopi having Krishna as its object. this idea is

brought out beautifully in the sloka anganaam anganaam anthare

Maadhavo Maadhavam Maadhavam anthare anganaa there was a Krishna

between each gopi and there was a gopi between each Krishna. Then

what happens is the divine music played by Devakinandhana, When all

thoughts merge into one like the big fish swallowing the smaller ones

or like a big wave absorbing the small waves the mind is filled

with only one thought which is represented by the concept of Radha,

who is the jiva, the individual soul.

When the jiva turns towards the Lord it finds that it is unable to

do so blinded by ego born out of ignorance. Then the Acharya advises

the jiva to shed its ego and approach the Lord with humility and

love. This is the part played by he sakhi friend of Radha, in the

legends of Radha-Krishna. The Lord is ever merciful and ready to

receive the jiva with outstreched arms and He is as eager to unite

with the jiva, if not more, as the jiva itself

The story of Gitagovinda, a lyric by Jayadeva, depicts the above

idea beautifully. We go away from the Lord due to our ignorance and

start blaming Him or our troubles which are all due only to our

separation from Him. When He tries to contact us we spurn Him

thinking that He does not care for us. But He does not mind our

rebuff and patiently tries to bring us back to where we belong.

Finally we come to realize that He had been kind to us all along

though we were not aware of it till now.

 

The Lord says in the Gita to do our duty. He Himself will draw us

towards Him with His venugana making us leave everything. Then He

disappears after setting the glow of devotion in our hearts.

Primarily it is the desire to see Him and attain Him the jiva came to

this world because it is the goal and purpose of human life. This

world is a jungle full of thorns and stones and darkness. All jivas

are women and He alone is the Purusha. By searching Him and yearning

for Him all our sins dissolve. and by attaining Him, our merits will

also evaporate. This is salvation.