Bhagavatam siddhanta

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At the beginning of Bhaktivedanta Swami's translation of the Bhagavat Purana, "Srimad-Bhagavatam", he warns the reader on the danger of skipping ahead to the Rasa lila

pastimes of Sri Krishna in Vrndavana in the tenth canto.

 

why ?

 

He states that in order for the true import of those confidential pastimes to be properly understood, first

you must read the previous cantos 1-9.

 

otherwise ,he warns , the pastimes of rasa lila will be misunderstood and taken to be the same thing as the

mirror image that occurs in the material world.

 

what does that mean ?

 

It means that what appears to be relationships of love

between Radha,Krishna and the cowherd boys and girls

of Vrndavana are not what they appear.

 

to understand the reality of that situation without

properly being educated on the transcendental nature

of those involved ,is not possible.

 

without first being educated on the true nature of that

lila, you will misunderstand what you read, this is

situation.

 

when you read of the love between Radha and Krishna,

and between krishna and the gopis, you can misunderstand

the import of those descriptions, they will mislead

the uneducated reader. The descriptions taken

literally and and without knowledge of the true

nature of those involved, will be insufficient

to illuminate the transcendental nature of

rasa lila.

 

this is very important, this is why the bonafide

Guru has stipulated that jumpimg to the rasa lila,

the confidential pastimes, without sufficient

previous tattva-jnana, will be a detriment

to the developement of suddha bhakti.

 

why ?

 

Because you will misunderstand what is written and form

an immature and faulty conception of yout

ultimate goal and eternal relationship

with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

you will see Krishna and Radha and the gopis

and not understand their eternal identity,

you will not see the reality ,the truth

of their position and ultimate oneness,

all being expansions of the One supreme

being, which is essential in understanding

rasa lila, the hidden truth of their identity

is not spoken of in the tenth canto, without

understanding that basic truth, all will be misunderstood, and you will percieve Radha and the gopis to be seperate individuals , and Sri Krishna as a seperate

individual to them, which is not the case.

 

Radha and Krishna are the one supreme eternal person,

eternally one, having seperated into male and female

forms for pastimes, the gopis are all personal

expansions of Radha, this is the truth that is absolutley

essential in order to reap the benefit of the tenth canto.