Attachment

The following is a transcription of a discourse delivered by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja in Badger, California, on June 4, 2002

[During his six-day visit to New Vraja in Badger, California, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja continued his translation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi; he gave darśana to hundreds of devotees who had come from around the world to hear from him; he wrote letters to hundreds more, and in the evenings he gave a series of discourses on Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Śrī Bhajana-rahasya. Each of the eight chapters of Bhajana-rahasya corresponds to the successive eight divisions of the twenty-four-hour daily pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa; it also corresponds to the successive ślokas of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam, and to the successive stages of sādhana-bhakti, beginning with śraddhā. On June 4th, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja discussed the fifth stage of sādhana (Bhajana-rahasya – Pañcama-yāma-sādhana, Part 2), called kṛṣṇa-aśakti (attachment to Kṛṣṇa). This stage corresponds to the following Śikṣāṣṭakam śloka:]

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

Śrī Śikṣāṣṭakam (5)

[“O My Lord, O Kṛṣṇa, son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts I have fallen into this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.”]

Now I want to explain something from Śrī Bhajana-rahasya by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. This subject matter is the object and mission of Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, our guru-paramparā, and especially of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is rūpanuga-śreṣṭha, the best of the rūpanugas (followers of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī). He is the embodiment, the manifestation, of gaura-śakti Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Bhajana-rahasya will inspire you so much that even when you return to your homes, you will give more importance to bhajana, to thoroughly reading and remembering the books of Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja, and to developing your Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Always engage yourself in the process delineated by Rūpa Gosvāmī and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura:

kṛṣṇārthe akhila-ceṣṭā, tat-kṛpāvalokana
janma-dinādi-mahotsava lañā bhakta-gaṇa

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.126)

[“(31) One should perform all endeavours for Kṛṣṇa. (32) One should look forward to His mercy. (33) One should partake of various ceremonies with devotees — ceremonies like Lord Kṛṣṇa’s birthday or Rāmacandra’s birthday.”]

kṛṣṇa-prītye bhoga-tyāga, kṛṣṇa-tīrthe vāsa
yāvan-nirvāha-pratigraha, ekādaśy-upavāsa

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.116)

[“The next steps are as follows: (6) One should be prepared to give up everything for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction, and one should also accept everything for Kṛṣṇa’s satisfaction. (7) One must live in a place where Kṛṣṇa is present — a city like Vṛndāvana or Mathurā or a Kṛṣṇa temple. (8) One should acquire a livelihood that is just sufficient to keep body and soul together. (9) One must fast on the Ekādaśī day.”]

What is the meaning?

Prema-prayojana dāsa: Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda has given two instructions by following which our lives can become perfect. Kṛṣṇārthe akhila-ceṣṭā parāyaṇa. This means that every endeavour should be done exclusively for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa and His service. Conversely, kṛṣṇārthe akhila bhoga-tyāga. For the service of Kṛṣṇa, a person should be ready to give up all material sense gratification and comforts.

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Do the senior devotees remember how your gurudeva came to this country without a farthing, how he began his preaching from Tompkins Square Park in New York, and how he turned hippies into ‘happies’? Do you remember how he preached his mission, established preaching centres around the world, and distributed his books?

(Devotees sing Ĵe Ānilô Prema-dhana)

Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja: Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is remembering how Caitanya Mahāprabhu came, how He gave up His old mother and His newly married wife, how He never had daughters or sons, how He became ‘cruel-hearted’ and took sannyāsa, and how He went to Jagannātha Purī and preached here and there. At that time, Advaita Ācārya was present along with Mahāprabhu, but where is he now? Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura is weeping bitterly in this song.

Prema has two sides: meeting and separation. For us sādhaka jīvas, the mood of separation is more glorious than the mood of meeting. It is very favourable for us. Where does separation come from? When there is a strong attachment to a person, a feeling of separation may come towards him. If there is no attachment, there will be no feeling of separation. If you have a strong attachment to your gurudeva, the mood of separation toward him may arise. Your heart will continually melt, and tears will flow from your eyes. However, those who have no attachment to gurudeva, those who have not served him, cannot feel separation from him. Love and affection for Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu, and also the moods of separation from Them, are very far away from such persons. Charity begins at home, and all advancement in bhakti begins with attachment to the guru and pure Vaiṣṇavas. You should therefore try to become attached to your bona fide, pure guru.

When I first met my gurudeva, He took me from my worldly position; he took me by my śikhā and dragged me. At that time, I did not know his real glories, but I’m gradually understanding how glorious he is. I have seen so many leaders here and there, and also in Vṛndāvana. They want to glorify their guru, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, but they cannot touch even his smallest glory.

I have explained Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja’s glory in other classes. His praṇāma mantra is ‘namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe.’

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

[“My respectful obeisances unto you, O servant of Sarasvatī Gosvāmī. You preach the message of Śrī Gaurāṅga and thus deliver the Western countries, which are filled with voidism and impersonalism.”]

Most of those leaders don’t know what gaura-vāṇī is, nor do they know how Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja was preaching gaura-vāṇī. What is gaura-vāṇī? It is the glories of the gopīs.

ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛṇdāvanaṁ
ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇā yā kalpitā
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalaṁ premā pum-artho mahān
śrī-caitanya-mahāprabhor matam idaṁ tatrādaro naḥ paraḥ

Caitanya-mañjuṣā

[“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is to be worshipped along with His transcendental abode, Vṛndāvana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopīs of Vṛndāvaṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless authority on everything, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life for all men. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”]

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended the affection of the gopīs in conjugal love as the highest perfection in life (ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇā yā kalpitā). There are many kinds of devotees, and they serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in different ways. The sakhās of Vraja, like Subala, Śrīdama, Madhumaṅgala, and all others, are very dear to Kṛṣṇa. Moreover, Mother Yaśodā can bind Kṛṣṇa with her ‘love’ rope. And still greater are the gopīs, who can bind Kṛṣṇa forever, simply by glancing at Him with the corners of their eyes. They can take Kṛṣṇa into their hearts and keep Him there, and Kṛṣṇa has also accepted this fact. He admitted at Kurukṣetra, “They took me in their hearts and embraced me forever. I will not be able to repay them.” The gopīs’ love and affection are extremely high, and this is gaura-vāṇī.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu came for the purpose of giving gopī-prema to the jīvas:

anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 1.4)

[“May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.”]

He came to give unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam. He did not come to give unnatojjvala-rasa sva-bhakti, because it cannot be given. He wanted to taste unnatojjvala-rasa. This is the wealth of only Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s heart, and only Mahāprabhu can taste it. The beauty of that unnatojjvala-rasa can be given, however, and He came for this purpose. Our guru-paramparā, Śrīla Prabhupāda (Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura), Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, my gurudeva, and my śikṣā-guru have not come only to preach kīrtana. You can also do kīrtana and preach here and there, and you are doing so. Caitanya Mahāprabhu also did this, but, along with kīrtana, He also gave the highest love and affection (gopī-prema). No one else can give it.

namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

[“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is more magnanimous than any other avatāra, even Kṛṣṇa Himself, because He is bestowing freely what no one else has ever given – pure love of Kṛṣṇa.”]

The same is said about Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhūtale
śrīmate bhaktisiddhānta-sarasvatīti-nāmine

[“I offer praṇāma to oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, who, in this world, is most dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”]

śrī-vārṣabhānavī-devī-dayitāya kṛpābdhaye
kṛṣṇa-sambandha-vijñāna-dāyine prabhave namaḥ

[“I offer praṇāma to Śrī Vārṣabhānavī-dayita dāsa, the manifestation of an ocean of mercy, who bestows realisation of our eternal relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa.“]

mādhuryojjvala-premāḍhya-śrī-rūpānuga-bhakti-da
śrī-gaura-karuṇā-śakti-vigrahāya namo ’stu te

[“O Śrīla Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, you deliver śrī rūpānuga-bhakti, which is enriched with ujjvala-mādhurya-prema. You are the embodiment of the mercy potency of Śrī Gaurāṅga. I offer praṇāma unto you.“]

Mādhuryojjvala-prema is unnatojjvala-rasa, and Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was an expert at this tasting and giving this. He is a very near and dear maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. He descended only to give this prema to sprinkle mercy. He wanted us to realise this prema.

This is the highest mood and the highest teaching or object of preaching by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, but most of the disciples cannot understand this. They think, “Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja is minimising him.” They think like this because they are ignorant of his real glory. I therefore want to give his real preaching objective. He came for this. Lame persons without devotion also preach kīrtana here and there, and at the same time make money and create good positions for themselves. They are also dancing. A new boy, just coming to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, can also dance vigorously for twenty-four hours, but this is not such a high thing. On the other hand, Your Prabhupāda is not dancing of his own will. He was dancing because the mood of love and affection fully controlled him. His love and affection made him dance. This is the main principle to understand. He wanted to give the highest love and affection of the gopīs. This was his mission, and we also want to give this. Your bhakti should be like the stream of the Ganges River; it should constantly be flowing. It should not stop at any place; otherwise, it will become contaminated and polluted, and you will be like others who fall down due to a lack of bhakti.

I will now speak about the fifth stage of bhakti, called kṛṣṇa-aśakti. Suppose a man has left his wife, children, worldly position, and so on, but has not yet reached the point of ruci, what to speak of aśakti. He must fall down, and in fact, he has already fallen. Whether he is a sannyāsa, a brahmacārī, or in any other āśrama, it does not matter. External dress is not important; the mood is important. In the fifth stage of sādhana called kṛṣṇa-aśakti, the devotee bitterly weeps, and his heart melts:

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Antya-līlā 20.32)

[“O My Lord, O Kṛṣṇa, son of Mahārāja Nanda, I am Your eternal servant, but because of My own fruitive acts I have fallen into this horrible ocean of nescience. Now, please be causelessly merciful to Me. Consider Me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.”]

Caitanya Mahāprabhu is praying, “O Prabhu! O Nanda-tanuja! O Yaśodā-nandana! Don’t forget me. Don’t take me from Your lotus feet. I want to be there to serve You.” Do you know that the gopīs have prayed like this? The gopīs also serve Kṛṣṇa:

tan naḥ prasīda vṛjinārdana te ’nghri-mūlaṁ
prāptā visṛjya vasatīs tvad-upāsanāśāḥ
tvat-sundara-smita-nirīkṣaṇa-tīvra-kāma
taptātmanāṁ puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa dehi dāsyam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.29.38)

[“Therefore, O vanquisher of all distress, please show us mercy. To approach Your lotus feet, we abandoned our families and homes, and we have no desire other than to serve You. Our hearts are burning with intense desires generated by Your beautiful, smiling glances. O jewel among men, please make us Your maidservants.”]

Baladeva Prabhu also prays similarly, and Nanda Bābā also prays similarly when he is in a mood of separation. So kṛṣṇa-dāsyam is very beautiful, and it is of two kinds: the left side and the right side. Kṛṣṇa service is on the right side, and service to Śrīmatī Rādhikā is on the left. The left side is more rasavaha (full of mellow tastes).

At this time, in the fifth stage of sādhana, siddha-deha sometimes manifests as an ābhāsa (semblance). What is siddha-deha? Each jīva is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Kṛṣṇa has a beautiful body, beautiful sidelong glances, beautiful mellow relationships, and everything else about Him is complete and beautiful. In the same way, all the jīvas, though presently conditioned here in this world, have very beautiful forms in the seed of their constitutional positions. Their spiritual bodies are so very beautiful that they can even attract Kṛṣṇa. Very high-class moods are also present within each jīva, in seed-form, in a latent position, although they are now covered by māyā.

What is sādhana?

kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-
bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya
prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.105)

[“When transcendental devotional service, by which love for Kṛṣṇa is attained, is executed by the senses, it is called sādhana-bhakti, or the regulative discharge of devotional service. Such devotion eternally exists within the heart of every living entity. The awakening of this eternal devotion is the potentiality of devotional service in practice.”]

The entirety of the soul’s transcendental form and qualities is present in his constitutional position, although now it is latent, and it becomes manifest by sādhana. Sādhana will remove the soul’s covering of illusion, and then he will know himself. In this stage of sādhana, there is a semblance of the siddha-deha. The sādhaka sometimes sees himself as a cowherd boy, a servant, a dāsī of Kṛṣṇa’s associates (like Nanda Bābā or Mother Yaśodā), or a dāsī of Rūpa Mañjarī. At that moment, his heart melts, and he cries continuously. Caitanya Mahāprabhu describes this stage in His prayer.

I have also come to remind you that you are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, and in your constitutional position, you have a very beautiful form of Vraja. If you did not have this, you could not have come to the line of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Whether you know it or not, you are all eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa, and you have a very beautiful form and moods of a resident of Vraja. Otherwise, if you do not have that in your svarūpa, you would have gone to the Rāmānujācārya or Madhvācārya-sampradāya. Or, you would have gone to Christianity or Buddhism. At the stage of aśakti, a semblance of your siddha-deha will come. Don’t worry.

I am very happy, because Mahāprabhu has attracted you. But don’t commit any offences. Don’t criticise any Vaiṣṇava. Otherwise:

yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā
upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi’ yāya pātā

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 19.156)

[“If the devotee commits an offence at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offence is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way, the leaves of the creeper are dried up.”]

If your guru is bona fide and qualified, do not doubt him. Someone may doubt and think, “He has some devotion, but he is not an expert like me. I’m an expert in worldly things, and I can make money. Oh, Prabhupāda cannot.” This is called guru-avajñā. Don’t criticise any Vaiṣṇava. Try to give honour to all the Vaiṣṇavas, even those who are not initiated. Try to be:

tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 17.31)

[“One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honour yet is always prepared to give all respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”]

Always remember this. Otherwise, you will also follow the same line as those who are deviating. You have collected sukṛtis for thousands and thousands of births, and now you have come to this process. Don’t go down again.

utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt
tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ
ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta (3)

[“There are six principles favourable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavouring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles (such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam – hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa), (5) abandoning the association of nondevotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.”]

If bhakti is not coming, you should have strong faith and patience and think, “It will come. It will certainly come.” The causes of fall-down are two: a lack of enthusiasm and committing offences. Besides this, there is no reason to fall down. So don’t commit offences to any Vaiṣṇava, or to anything related to Kṛṣṇa and Mahāprabhu and Their associates; and in that way you can develop in bhakti.

There are so many good things explained in Bhajana-rahasya, and I will tell you about them for your future realisations. Upon the manifestation of aśakti, the devotee thinks in the ways expressed by Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Yesterday I talked about Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s śloka in Kṛṣṇa-karanamṛta, and now I will discuss one of Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s ślokas. This śloka has within it a very elevated mood.

veṇuḥ karān nipatitaḥ skhalitaṁ śikhaṇḍaṁ
bhraṣṭaṁ ca pīta-vasanaṁ vraja-rāja-sūnoḥ
yasyāḥ kaṭākṣa-śara-ghāta-vimūrcchitasya
tāṁ rādhikāṁ paricarāmi kadā rasena

Śrī-Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (39)

[“When will I be engaged in the rasa-laden service to Śrī Rādhā, whose arrow-like sidelong glance causes Śrī Nanda-nandana to faint, the flute to fall from His hands, the peacock feather crown to slip from His head, and His yellow cloth to fall from His body?”]

Veṇuḥ karān nipatitam. Here, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is explaining the stage of prema called anurāga. Kṛṣṇa is nitya-navīna (ever fresh and new). Śrīmatī Rādhikā told Her sakhīs, “I’ve never seen this black person. Never in My whole life have I seen Him before.” Lalitā replied, “I saw you sitting in His lap just today.” Rādhikā then said, “Oh, I have never seen Him before. That was another person. I’ve never seen this one.” This is the stage of love and affection called anurāga. In English, there are only the words ‘love’ and ‘affection’, and the English language uses the same words for both good and bad. It uses the same word for both worldly and transcendental prema. In Sanskrit, however, it is not like this. Worldly prema is called lust, not prema. Transcendental prema begins with śraddhā and gradually develops into niṣṭha, ruci, aśakti, then rati, prema, sneha, māna, rāga, anurāga, bhāva, and mahābhāva. These are different gradations of love, and these are not all the same.

aparikalita-pūrvaḥ kaś camatkāra-kārī
sphurati mama garīyān eṣa mādhurya-pūraḥ
ayam aham api hanta prekṣya yaṁ lubdha-cetāḥ
sarabhasam upabhoktuṁ kāmaye rādhikeva

Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 4.146)

[“Who manifests an abundance of sweetness greater than Mine, which has never been experienced before and which causes wonder to all? Alas, I Myself, My mind bewildered upon seeing this beauty, impetuously desire to enjoy it like Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.”

This verse explains the mahābhāva in Śrīmatī Rādhikā.

In the fifth stage of sādhana, when the devotee has heard about this from great souls like Mādhavendra Purīpāda, Īśvara Purīpāda, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rāmānanda Rāya, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, and also Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, the seventh Gosvāmī, he can think about this. If anyone is in the association of these exalted personalities, he can think about this in the fifth stage, aśakti, not before. Here, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is giving an example of the absorption of a person situated in aśakti.

Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura prayed, “When will a time come that I can continuously serve Śrīmatī Kiśorījī with rasa (with my sthāyībhāva)? Here, Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī is glorifying the highest, topmost love in mādanākhya-bhāva of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Mādanākhya is only in Śrīmatī Rādhikā. It is not even in Lalitā or Viśākhā, nor is it in Kṛṣṇa. It was to taste Rādhikā’s love that Kṛṣṇa took Her mood in the form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It was only to realise the glory of mādanākhya-bhāva.

Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is explaining that mood. He writes that once Padma, the best sakhī of Candrāvalī, somehow tried to induce Kṛṣṇa to meet with Candrāvalī by telling Him, “Candrāvalī is very nearby. She will die if You do not meet her. If You delay, she will surely die. Come with me at once, and meet her.” She thus took Kṛṣṇa to the kuñja of Candrāvalī.

In the meantime, Rādhikā was waiting for Kṛṣṇa and waiting for death. She was grievously lamenting and crying, “Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa?” Her very intelligent and expert (catura) kiṅkarī, Rūpa Mañjarī, told Her, “Don’t lament. I will bring that cheater right away. He is a good person by nature, but Padma is very tricky and crooked, and she has somehow allured Him and taken Him. But I will bring Him very soon. Don’t lament.”

After some time, Rūpa Mañjarī arrived at Candrāvalī’s kuñja and told Kṛṣṇa, “O, here You are with Candrāvalī! A huge demon of the name Keśī has come, preparing to kill Your father and mother, all the Vrajavāsīs, and all the cows and calves, and You are here!”

Kṛṣṇa exclaimed, “What shall I do? O Candrāvalī, O Padme, you should remain here. I will return very soon, just after killing that demon. If I don’t go, he will kill everyone. So wait a little. I’m just coming.” And thus He left to meet Rādhikā.

Rādhikā had been piteously lamenting, but somehow, by a trick, Rūpa Mañjarī brought Kṛṣṇa to Her. However, although Rādhikā had been lamenting up till then, “When will Kṛṣṇa come? When will Kṛṣṇa come?” as soon as Kṛṣṇa came, Rādhikā became contrary. She told Him, “Where have You been? I don’t want to talk to You!” And She turned Her face away from Him. This is the nature of high-class love and affection. Rādhikā may be lamenting and weeping for Kṛṣṇa, but when He approaches Her, She will be contrary. Then, when Kṛṣṇa leaves, She will again lament and weep, crying, “Where has He gone?” This is the nature of prema.

And Kṛṣṇa is also tricky. If Rādhikā and the gopīs pray to Him in a dakṣiṇā (submissive) mood, Kṛṣṇa becomes contrary. And when they are in a leftist (contrary) mood, Kṛṣṇa will become ‘rightist’ (submissive). This is a symptom of the stage of mahābhāva.

Kṛṣṇa is extremely beautiful, charming, and ‘crooked’. His eyes are very crooked (looking stealthily with sidelong glances), and everything about Him is crooked.* He can attract all the gopīs, but when Rādhikā looks towards Him with Her sidelong glances, He Himself is attracted. At that time, being struck by Her arrow, Kṛṣṇa becomes mūrchita. He faints.

Śrī-Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (39)

Kṛṣṇa was standing, but now He could no longer stand. His veṇu fell from His hand, and His mora mukuṭa (peacock-feather crown) fell down, with a desire to get the touch of the lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. His pita-vāsanā (yellow cloth) became loose and also began to fall down, and Kṛṣṇa Himself became faint and also fell down. In this śloka, Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura expresses the supremacy of Rādhikā. That very Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, whose sidelong glances attract all the gopīs and force them to faint, now drops His flute, His peacock feather, and His cādar, and becomes unconscious. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura therefore prays, “When will I be fortunate enough to serve that Rādhikā’s lotus feet with rasa?”

A sādhaka in the fifth stage of aśakti can remember and somewhat realise these pastimes, whereas even those with ruci cannot do so. Soon, when this stage of aśakti develops further, the stage of rati will come, after that the sādhaka’s full siddha-deha will manifest, and he then will always serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Their aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā in his heart. Then, after that, he will go to Kṛṣṇa’s prakaṭa-līlā in Vraja, and very soon he will be fully perfect.

Gaura-premānande.

* ‘Everything’ refers to Kṛṣṇa’s paraphernalia (such as His cowherd staff, which is bent), His associates (like Mother Yaśodā, for example, who tricks Kṛṣṇa into eating when He is too shy to admit His hunger), His winding Yamunā River, and everything and everyone else in Vṛndāvana.

Source: Purebhakti.com

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Unless indicated otherwise, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)