Chapter Six from the book Secret Truths of the Bhāgavatam, 2nd edition by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja

 

Again, come along with me. We should go to Mathurā. Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva are now there, having been invited by Kaṁsa through Akrūra. Kaṁsa wanted to murder Kṛṣṇa, and therefore, he made an arena in which to do so. When Kṛṣṇa came with His many cowherd boyfriends and heard the sound of the drums, He wanted to enter that arena. The elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa tried to kill Him there, but Kṛṣṇa quickly finished him. Stained with drops of blood and carrying the elephant’s tusk on His shoulder, He entered the arena. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma appeared very beautiful, like two baby lions. They had no fear at all when They entered the arena. Cāṇūra, Muṣṭika, and other wrestlers were waiting to fight Them, and they forcibly took Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva Prabhu and wrestled with Them. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma very quickly killed the wrestlers and went to jump on Kaṁsa’s throne. Nanda Bābā was there, and Vasudeva, Devakī, and Ugrasena Mahārāja were also brought there from jail. Previously, they had been very much afraid, thinking, “Now Kṛṣṇa will be killed because He is just a baby boy, and Baladeva is also a baby. Both of Them will be destroyed here.”

(The wives of the Mathurā Yādavas had also previously been upset.) At that time (Before the wrestlers were finally killed by Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma), these ladies stood up and said, “Kali has come here, and adharma (irreligion) has also come. We should not remain here. If we stay, it means we endorse these things. We should not accept this; otherwise sin will also come to us. We must give up our seats and leave this place. The gopīs are so fortunate, and we are unfortunate. Kṛṣṇa is really the most beautiful person in the whole world, the essence of all beauty. All madhurya (sweetness) is in Him. But we are unfortunate. We see Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva here, but Kṛṣṇa is now wrestling with these demons. He is somewhat angry, and He is in vīra-rasa (a chivalrous mood). We see Him like a lion in a cage. But oh, how fortunate are the gopīs, who see Him when He is in Vṛndāvana, where He is like a lion freely roaming in the forest.

puṇyā bata vraja-bhuvo yad ayaṁ nṛ-liṅga
gūḍhaḥ purāṇa-puruṣo vana-citra-mālyaḥ
gāḥ pālayan saha-balaḥ kvaṇayaṁś ca veṇuṁ
vikrīdayāñcati giritra-ramārcitāṅghriḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.44.13)

[“How pious are the tracts of land in Vraja, for there the primaeval Personality of Godhead, disguising Himself with human traits, wanders about, enacting His many pastimes! Adorned with wonderfully variegated forest garlands, He whose feet are worshipped by Lord Śiva and goddess Ramā vibrates His flute as He tends the cows in the company of Balarāma.”]

Puṇyā bata vraja-bhuvo means that in this world, Vrajabhūmi is certainly more exalted and glorious than any other place. Why? Because Kṛṣṇa is there in Vṛndāvana. This glory is not only due to Kṛṣṇa, but also due to the gopīs, especially Śrīmatī Rādhikā. She is the essence of everything. She is the essence of Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya – His beauty, His sweetness, and all His other qualities. In all the three worlds, therefore, Vrajabhūmi is supreme. Nṛ-liṅga gūḍhaḥ purāṇa-puruṣo vana-citra-mālyaḥ. The purāṇa-puruṣa (Original Person), Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is there. All this is written here in the following verse, in a hidden, secret way.

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Brahma-saṁhitā (5.1)

[“Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.”]

Kṛṣṇa moves here and there, walking and playing with the cowherd boys like friends. He also interacts with the Vraja ladies in a son-to-mother relationship. Gāḥ pālayan means ‘He always nourishes and supports the cows.’ Gāḥ has many meanings. One meaning refers to all the senses, and that is why Kṛṣṇa is called Hṛṣīkeśa. It also means ‘cows, Vedas, and all kinds of religious knowledge.’ Kṛṣṇa always supports and nourishes them all. Saha-balaḥ means ‘with Baladeva Prabhu.’ Kvaṇayaṁś ca veṇuṁ means ‘playing sweetly on the veṇu.’ By the sweet sound of this veṇu, Kṛṣṇa attracts the whole world. Vikrīdayāñcati means that He always plays in Vṛndāvana, Gokula, Nandagāon, and Varṣāṇa.

namāmīśvaraṁ sac-cid-ānanda-rūpaṁ
lasat-kuṇḍalaṁ gokule bhrājamānam
yaśodā-bhiyolūkhalād dhāvamānaṁ
parāmṛṣṭam atyantato drutya gopyā

Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam (1)

[“I worship the Supreme Controller, whose form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Upon His cheeks, makara-shaped earrings are swinging, and He shines most brilliantly in Gokula. Running away from the grinding mortar in great fear of Mother Yaśodā, He was ultimately caught from behind.”]

Kṛṣṇa always plays there like a boy, not like God, not like the four-handed Kṛṣṇa of Dvārakā and Mathurā. Giritra means ‘Śaṅkara’ (Lord Śīva). Śaṅkara, Brahmā, Ramā, and Lakṣmī herself want to serve the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Lakṣmī wants to worship Kṛṣṇa, but she does not have the chance. She has to remain on the other side of the Yamunā, in Baelvana. There was no entrance at all for her (to participate in rāsa-līlā). Although she was charmed by Kṛṣṇa, and although she left her husband Nārāyaṇa in Vaikuṇṭha and came to Baelvana with a greed to be in Vṛndāvana and to play, dance, and sing in rāsa-līlā, she was stopped by Yogamāyā, who said, “Oh, you cannot enter. First you will have to become a gopī, marry a gopa, and then you can enter; otherwise not.”

Lakṣmī replied, “This is a very big problem. I cannot change my husband. I am a brāhmaṇī.”

“Then you should remain here,” Yogamāyā declared.

Śaṅkara also wanted to worship that (Vṛndāvana) Kṛṣṇa. He was somewhat tricky. He came to the border of Vṛndāvana and worshipped Yogamāyā, who appeared there and asked, “What do you want?”

“O Mother Yogamāyā, I want to see Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa dance in Vṛndāvana.”

She asked, “Have you performed any austerities to achieve this?”

“No, I have not done anything,” he responded.

By her causeless mercy, she quickly took Śaṅkara and dipped him in Brahma-kuṇḍa. When he came out, his form was that of a very beautiful gopī, a teenager of sixteen years. Yogamāyā said, “You may remain here and watch rāsa-līlā.”

Later, while rāsa was being performed, Kṛṣṇa told the gopīs, “Today My interest in rāsa is not so great. I do not have much enthusiasm.”

The gopīs replied, “Why? Is there some defect? Has a vijātīya (an outsider) come?” They began searching for that person, and at last they saw a new gopī in a grove. They caught hold of her and asked, “Who are you? What is your name?” Yogamāyā had never given her a name, so that new gopī could not answer. “What is the name of your husband?” She had not been married to any gopa, and again she could not reply. “Who is your father?” Yogamāyā had not given this information; therefore the new gopī could not answer any of their questions.

All the gopīs began to slap her. Her cheeks became swollen, and she began to cry, “O Yogamāyā, save me, save me!”

At once Yogamāyā came there and requested Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, “She is my disciple. Please be merciful to her.” That gopī then became known as Gopīśvara Mahādeva. She was allowed to view the rāsa-līlā from very far away, but she was not allowed to participate.

These pastimes and others indicate that Kṛṣṇa is so much greater than His manifestations in Mathurā, Dvārakā, and Vaikuṇṭha. Your gurudeva has given you a relationship with that Kṛṣṇa (Gopījana-vallabha). You are so fortunate. Simply by chanting the gopāla-mantra and kāma–gāyatrī with a mood of having a relationship with Kṛṣṇa, you can become a gopī and go to Vraja; otherwise there is no way. This was explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda, Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, and all His disciples.

You are so fortunate to come in this line. So do not be weak; never be weak. Many problems will come, but be like the Himālayas, Mount Everest, and the Alps (meaning “remain fixed like a mountain”). Do not go here and there. Always serve Kṛṣṇa.

gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ
lāvaṇya-sāram asamordhvam ananya-siddham
dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam
ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śriya aiśvarasya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.44.14)

[“What austerities must the gopīs have performed! With their eyes they always drink the nectar of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s form, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equalled or surpassed. That form is the only abode of beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever-fresh and extremely rare.”]

The ladies of Mathurā glorified the gopīs: “The gopīs are so fortunate. What sacrifices and tapa (austerities) must they have performed in their past lives? If we find out, then we must also perform them.”

Do you know what some gopīs did in the past to have become gopīs? Nothing. They are kāya-vyūha (bodily manifestations) of Rādhikā. They are not siddha-bhaktas (devotees who became perfect). Other gopīs, however, are not kāya-vyūha. For hundreds of thousands of births they were practising austerities and chanting the gopāla-mantra and kāma-gāyatrī in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to this world, He said that this (the body of a gopī) can be attained in one birth. You will not have to practice for hundreds of thousands of births. He therefore sent Śrī Rūpa-Raghunātha, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja, and others to teach us that if you want to be like this (a gopī), you will not have to do so many austerities, as the ṛṣis did in Daṇḍakāraṇya. Anyone whom Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu glanced upon began to chant, “O Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Rādhe, Rādhe.” So you are very fortunate (to have come in this line). But be fortunate. Try to take advantage of your good fortune.

The Mathurā ladies continued, “Certainly the gopīs are the most glorious persons in the whole world, because they are tasting the honey of Kṛṣṇa’s beauty – lāvaṇya sāram (His lustre).” Even if one is black, no harm. If there is a lāvaṇya (lustre) coming from within, as it does from pearls, this is beauty. Kṛṣṇa is blackish, but lāvaṇya sāram (the essence of beauty) was emanating from within His body. In India we say mukha kā pānī, which means lustre. There is no need for Kṛṣṇa to wear ornaments or beautiful garments. Nothing is needed (to make Him look beautiful). If there is a spot of ink here and there on Kṛṣṇa’s body, it will look very beautiful, and it will make Him appear more beautiful.

If He is covered with the powder-like dust that is kicked up by the cows, He becomes still more beautiful. And if He is naked, oh, He is even more beautiful. In any condition, Kṛṣṇa’s beauty always increases.

Dṛgbhiḥ pibanty. The gopīs always drink the sweetness of the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s beauty. Anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śrīya aiśvarasya. Kṛṣṇa is the abode of all yaśa (glories and fame); śrīya (beauty); and aiśvarya (all varieties of opulence), which include sweetness, mercy, and every other good quality.

You should know that your bhajanīya (worshipful deity) is not an ordinary person. The Mathurā ladies say, “For us, the gopīs are the most worshipful, as they drink all of Kṛṣṇa’s honeylike beauty. But here in Mathurā, we see Kṛṣṇa surrounded by so many enemies, and He is in a somewhat angry mood, wrestling with others. We are not fortunate to be able to see Kṛṣṇa as the gopīs see Him. The gopīs are so glorious that their mind and tongue are the chariot of Kṛṣṇa.” How is this?

yā dohane ’vahanane mathanopalepa
preṅkheṅkhanārbha-ruditokṣaṇa-mārjanādau
gāyanti cainam anurakta-dhiyo ’śru-kaṇṭhyo
dhanyā vraja-striya urukrama-citta-yānāḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.44.15)

[“The ladies of Vraja are the most fortunate of women because, with their minds fully attached to Kṛṣṇa and their throats always choked up with tears, they constantly sing about Him while milking the cows, winnowing grain, churning butter, gathering cow dung for fuel, riding on swings, taking care of their crying babies, sprinkling the ground with water, cleaning their houses, and so on. By their exalted Kṛṣṇa consciousness they automatically acquire all desirable things.”]

Try to follow what the gopīs are doing. Yā dohane. When they milk the cows, they sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” Avahanane. When they thresh any grain like rice or wheat with a mortar and pestle, they do it with rhythm. When the pestle is pushed down, it sounds like a mṛdaṅga. Their bracelets sound very sweet, like karatālas, and they sing very sweetly, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” They are churning plenty of milk that has been made into dahi (yoghurt), and kept in big vessels, and are singing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” They have no problem at all. For them, nothing is a problem.

The elderly gopīs are similarly engaged. Absorbed in singing, they simply remember the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and churn butter. Even if Kṛṣṇa enters at that time, they do not notice Him, so He says, “O Maiyā, Maiyā, Maiyā! What are you doing?” As they churn, tears fall due to love and affection, all their bodily hairs stand on end, and their heart melts. All the gopīs are like this.

Upalepa (‘smearing,’ or ‘smearing the walls and floors with cow dung’). And they are brooming (marjana) their houses. What are their minds and tongues doing? Chanting, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” Some boys are weeping, “Mother, Mother!” Their mothers at once pick them up, put them to bed, and sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” They do not tell them, “You should sleep, you should sleep, you should sleep.” They do not tell them a story or sing a lullaby. They simply sing Kṛṣṇa’s names. Hearing their mothers singing this very good song, the children fall asleep, and again the gopīs begin to churn and sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti, Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.”

Anurakta-dhiyo. Their hearts were quite absorbed in remembrance of Kṛṣṇa. Aśru means ‘continuous tears,’ and kaṇṭhyaḥ means ‘choked voice.’ Dhanyā vraja-striya. Referring to the young gopīs, the ladies of Mathurā are saying, “Oh, how glorious are these gopīs.” Dhanyā means ‘very fortunate.’ “We are not fortunate. We do not see Kṛṣṇa the way the gopīs do. We cannot be like that here.” Urukrama-citta-yānāḥ. Urukrama refers to Kṛṣṇa’s always sitting very happily on the throne or chariot of the gopīs’ minds. It also means that the gopīs are always sitting on the throne of Kṛṣṇa’s mind. Kṛṣṇa always remembers them. Why? He must be where the bhakta sings (of Him), and therefore, He is always there with the gopīs. “The gopīs are always there in the mind of Kṛṣṇa. How fortunate they are.”

prātar vrajād vrajata āviśataś ca sāyaṁ
gobhiḥ samaṁ kvaṇayato ’sya niśamya veṇum
nirgamya tūrṇam abalāḥ pathi bhūri-puṇyāḥ
paśyanti sa-smita-mukhaṁ sa-dayāvalokam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.44.16)

[“When the gopīs hear Kṛṣṇa playing His flute as He leaves Vraja in the morning with His cows or returns with them at sunset, the young girls quickly come out of their houses to see Him. They must have performed many pious activities to be able to see Him as He walks on the road, His smiling face mercifully glancing upon them.”]

(The wives of the Mathurāvāsīs are saying:) “Oh, how fortunate the gopīs are. Very early in the morning, at about nine o’clock, Kṛṣṇa comes out of Yaśodā’s house with hundreds of thousands of friends and hundreds of thousands of cows and goes to the forest for cow-grazing.

“At that time, the gopīs are on the roofs of their houses, at their windows and doors, or here and there in the groves of their gardens. They are very anurakta (absorbed) in Kṛṣṇa, and (as He enters the forest) they take darśana of Him. When He returns from cowgrazing in the evening, they see Him again and become so happy.” What is Kṛṣṇa doing? Sometimes He comes nearby them and touches their chins with His muralī or veṇu (flute). Having taken their whole heart, Kṛṣṇa then enters Vraja. At that time Yaśodā Maiyā performs ārati. With their eyes, all the (young) gopīs perform a better ārati than Yaśodā Maiyā, and Kṛṣṇa accepts their āratī, smiling. Therefore the gopīs are so glorious.

Who is glorifying whom? Mathurā is glorifying Vraja. The gopīs have never gone to Mathurā, and none of the ladies of Mathurā has ever come to Vraja. Kṛṣṇa only sent one Mathurāvāsī (Uddhava) to see the glories of the gopīs, Nanda Bābā, Yaśodā, and all the other Vrajavāsīs.

After killing Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika, Kṛṣṇa at last killed Kaṁsa. Then Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva came to where Nanda Bābā was sitting on his bullock cart, in a town just outside Mathurā. While waiting for Them, he had been thinking, “When They come I will take Them both back to Vṛndāvana.”

On the day after Kaṁsa was killed, all the Mathurāvāsīs were with Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva. Although Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were always thinking about Nanda Bābā, They had no chance to meet him, so Nanda Bābā and the cowherd boys remained waiting. In this way, one day passed, and then two days. On the third day, Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva somehow came to Nanda Bābā at night. Baladeva Prabhu sat on Nanda Bābā’s right side, and Kṛṣṇa sat on his left. Nanda Bābā was weeping bitterly. “What have You decided to do?” he asked. “Have You decided that You are the son of Vasudeva and Devakī?”

“No, father; We cannot decide that. How could We decide that? Even in Our dreams We cannot think like this.” Both Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were weeping loudly, and Nanda Bābā was also weeping.

At last Baladeva Prabhu said, “Bābā, I want to come to Vraja with Kṛṣṇa and you.”

Nanda Bābā said, “Oh, I cannot take You. I am not so cruel. You must remain here for some days. All of Devakī and Vasudeva’s sons have been killed by Kaṁsa. Now You alone are alive, so You should remain here.”

Baladeva replied, “Without Kṛṣṇa I cannot live anywhere for a moment. I will die.”

Nanda Bābā asked Kṛṣṇa, “What should I do? What should I do?”

Kṛṣṇa answered, “Father, if you request Me, I will remain here for some days with Baladeva Prabhu. If Baladeva leaves now, then His father and mother, Vasudeva and Devakī, and all the Mathurāvāsīs will die. So I think it is better that I remain with Him here. After some time, when everyone is pacified, I will quickly return. They are your friends. I have no relationship with them other than that they are your friends and you are My father.”

Here Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura puts forth a pūrvapakṣa (a question a person asks before he himself answers it): “If Kṛṣṇa is the son of Nanda and Yaśodā and not the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, how could He remain there in Mathurā?” A person wants to live in a place where he receives the most love and affection, regardless of whether or not he is the son of the persons there. Such a consideration is secondary. A person likes to be wherever he receives high-class love and affection. Undoubtedly all the Vrajavāsīs love Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva so much more than anyone else does, from anywhere else. Yet it has been stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that Nanda Bābā returned to Vraja without Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva. This is true, and it is also true that Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana. How can we reconcile this?

As Nanda Bābā wept, Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva each assumed two forms. One was for prakaṭa-līlā (manifest pastimes) and the other for aprakaṭa-līlā (unmanifest pastimes). In prakaṭa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were in Mathurā, but Their aprakaṭa-līlā forms returned with Nanda Bābā to Vṛndāvana. The son of Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā (Vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa) returned with Nanda Bābā. Actually, that Vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa never goes to Mathurā. His manifestation as Vāsudeva-Kṛṣṇa goes. So Nanda Bābā took Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva with him on his bullock cart, but that scene was not observed by anyone. In another bullock cart, a manifestation of Nanda Bābā was feeling great separation and was weeping and weeping. He returned to Vṛndāvana without Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has reconciled all these very secret truths, and only the most exalted devotees can realise them. Otherwise, without this reconciliation, all the gopas and gopīs would have died at once, in a moment; Yaśodā Maiyā as well. So there are two līlās (pastimes) there simultaneously: aprākaṭa-līlā and prakaṭa-līlā.

Now I am coming to the point. What I have told you over these past six days was only an introduction. I want to give you some nectar about the love of the gopīs, which even Uddhava could not taste. He could only return to Kṛṣṇa (in Mathurā) and glorify the gopīs.

As I have already explained, Kṛṣṇa went to the gurukula. One day, after He had left the gurukula, He was sitting on the roof of His palace. Devakī and Vasudeva and all of His other relatives were in the palace, but Kṛṣṇa went alone to the roof and looked toward Vṛndāvana, north of Mathurā. He became so sad and began to weep bitterly. Through the eyes of His emotions, He saw that His mother was also weeping so bitterly that she had become blind. All the cows were dying, and many were on the verge of death. None of the calves was taking milk from the udders of their mothers. The cuckoos were not singing, and even the peacocks were not dancing, all because Kṛṣṇa was not there. Looking at all this, Kṛṣṇa began to cry, “O Yaśodā Maiyā! O Nanda Bābā!” He became immersed in separation, crying, “O gopīs, O Rādhe, O Lalite!”

In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa’s bosom friend Uddhava came. He had been searching for Kṛṣṇa, and now he saw Him sitting there, weeping very bitterly.

śrī-śuka uvāca
vṛṣṇīnāṁ pravaro mantrī
kṛṣṇasya dayitaḥ sakhā
śiṣyo bṛhaspateḥ sākṣād
uddhavo buddhi-sattamaḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.1)

[“(Śukadeva Gosvāmī said:) The supremely intelligent Uddhava was the best counsellor of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty, a beloved friend of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and a direct disciple of Bṛhaspati.”]

Kṛṣṇa took Uddhava’s hands and put them in His own. Uddhava wanted to pacify Him, but he had no words to do so. “Why is Kṛṣṇa weeping? For whom is He weeping?” At that time Uddhava did not know the glories of the gopīs; therefore, he could not realise the virahānala (fire of separation) within Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s heart was burning, and because no one was qualified to save Him, it only kept burning, burning, and burning. Uddhava asked, “O friend, why are You weeping?”

Kṛṣṇa said,

gacchoddhava vrajaṁ saumya
pitror nau prītim āvaha
gopīnāṁ mad-viyogādhiṁ
mat-sandeśair vimocaya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.3)

[“(Lord Kṛṣṇa said:) ‘Dear gentle Uddhava, go to Vraja and give pleasure to Our parents. And also relieve the gopīs, suffering in separation from Me, by giving them My message.’”]

Saumya means ‘soft and pleasing like the moon.’ Saumya pitror nau. Kṛṣṇa says, pitror nau, meaning ‘our father.’ He may say, ‘My father’, so why does He say, ‘our father’? It is because He thinks that Uddhava is His brother.

And who is their father? Pitror here means both mother and father and is used for Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā. Kṛṣṇa is in Mathurā, in the palace of Vasudeva and Devakī, and they are present there. But still He is telling Uddhava, “My father and My mother, Nanda and Yaśodā, are very unhappy, feeling the fire of separation from Me. You must go there”. Prītim āvaha: “You should pacify them.” If Kṛṣṇa is the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, why would He say this?

Now Uddhava is thinking, “I know that Kṛṣṇa is the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, but why is He speaking like this? It may be that He is only partly the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, but fully the son of Nanda and Yaśodā.”

Sometimes, at first, Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Mahārāja wrote that Kṛṣṇa was the adopted son of Nanda and Yaśodā. But later, he explained this understanding. He is a follower of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. He knew this fact from the beginning (that Kṛṣṇa was fully the son of Nanda and Yaśodā), and gradually, like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he disclosed it. All Vrajavāsīs know definitely that Kṛṣṇa is the son of Nanda and Yaśodā, not the son of Vasudeva and Devakī. Uddhava was astonished. “Oh, now Kṛṣṇa is admitting that He is the son of Nanda and Yaśodā. I must pacify them.”

Why has Kṛṣṇa first mentioned His mother and father? He wanted Uddhava to know that “My mother and father are so dear to Me, but a greater secret is that My gopīs are the most dear.” This is why He spoke in this way. Gopīnām mad-viyogādhiṁ mat-sandeśair vimocaya: “You should go and take My message to the gopīs. They are feeling so much separation from Me, more than Nanda and Yaśodā. So you should go and pacify them, not with your logic, not with your tattva, not with your intelligence, but with what? One can only pacify others by giving them My words, mat-sandeśair (My message). You should repeat it as it is, as I am telling it, without mixing it with anything else and without missing a single word. Go to the gopīs and give them My message. Then they may be pacified.”

Kṛṣṇa is admiring and glorifying the gopīs with His own words:

tā man-manaskā mat-prāṇā
mat-arthe tyakta-daihikāḥ
mām eva dayitaṁ preṣṭham
ātmānaṁ manasā gatāḥ
ye tyakta-loka-dharmāś ca
mad-arthe tān bibharmy aham

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.4)

[“The minds of those gopīs are always absorbed in Me, and their very lives are ever devoted to Me. For My sake they have abandoned everything related to their bodies, renouncing ordinary happiness in this life, as well as religious duties necessary for such happiness in the next life. I alone am their dearmost beloved and, indeed, their very Self. I personally sustain such devotees, who for My sake give up all worldly duties.”]

Here is the glory of the gopīs. Kṛṣṇa Himself accepts and reveals their glories. I think there is no one in this whole world who can glorify the gopīs like Kṛṣṇa can. But even He cannot aptly glorify them. That is why, to understand their glories, He took the beauty and mood of Rādhikā. He made Viśākhā-devī His śikṣā-guru, and through her, He learned something. Then, in the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He could glorify Rādhikā and the gopīs even more than He could in His form of Kṛṣṇa. Only Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could do this. If Caitanya Mahāprabhu had not descended to this world, no one would have any idea how to glorify Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, especially Rādhā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave this gift, and we are so lucky to have come in His line. Kṛṣṇa describes all the gopīs as tā man-manaskā. “They have engaged their entire minds in Me. They are totally absorbed in Me and nothing else throughout the day and night, twenty-four hours a day.” How?

(To one devotee:) You should tell the story briefly.

(A devotee relates a story that appears in The Nectar of Govinda-līlā. A newly married gopī wanted to see Kṛṣṇa, but her mother-in-law would not allow her to, so she peeked at Kṛṣṇa from behind a door. Kṛṣṇa arranged for a calf to run in her direction. He followed that ‘stray’ calf, came close to the gopī, and stole her heart. After that she lost her mind. When she was asked to churn yoghurt, she churned mustard seeds. When she was asked to fetch water and given a small baby to look after, she went to put the baby in the well, thinking the baby to be the water pot, but someone stopped her.)

Man-manaskā mat-prāṇā. Mat-prāṇā means, “I am their prāṇa (life).” Because Kṛṣṇa is the life of the gopīs, they would have died without Him when He left Vṛndāvana for Mathurā, but they did not die. Why? Because He was indeed their very life (meaning, they lived for Him). Mat-prāṇā also means, “All the gopīs are My very life, My priya (dear ones).”

“Mad-arthe tyakta-daihikāḥ – for Me they have given up all deha and daihikāḥ (their bodily conception of life and all those things related to their bodies, like their decorations, their taking of food, and all other activities). Mām eva dayitam – I am their only beloved; no one else is. Preṣṭam – I am their dearmost. Manasā gatāḥ – they are totally absorbed in Me. Ye tyakta-loka-dharmāś ca madarthe tān bibharmy aham – they have given up all their shyness, dharma, varṇāśrama-dharma, husbands, and everything else for Me. Therefore, I must support and nourish them. I must nourish and serve at all times those who have left everything for Me.” 

This is Kṛṣṇa’s promise. Always remember this. If you are giving up all worldly things, always remembering Kṛṣṇa and remaining absorbed in Him, you should have no doubt that He will surely support and nourish you. Do not be worried about your support, nourishment, or anything else. We depend on our relatives, but at the time of death they cannot save us. Only Kṛṣṇa can save us. Kṛṣṇa is saying, “I must support and nourish them, Uddhava. That is why you must go there.”

mayi tāḥ preyasāṁ preṣṭhe
dūra-sthe gokula-striyaḥ
smarantyo ’ṅga vimuhyanti
virahautkaṇṭhya-vihvalāḥ

 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.5)

[“My dear Uddhava, for those women of Gokula I am the most cherished object of love. Thus when they remember Me, who am so far away, they are overwhelmed by the anxiety of separation.”]

“The gopīs wander here and there, feeling so much separation from Me. They cannot perform any household duties, and they do not even take any prasāda remnants. They are always waiting.”

What are they waiting for? Kṛṣṇa had promised, “I am coming the day after tomorrow.” They are all waiting only for that. They thought, “Oh, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Kṛṣṇa has said that He will return when the day after tomorrow comes… tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.” None of the gopīs entered their houses in Vraja. Where were they? In the forest of Nandagāon, Kadamba Ṭer, Kadamba-kyārī or Uddhava-kyārī. No one saw them there. It was only by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, or Yogamāyā, that Uddhava saw them.

dhārayanty ati-kṛcchreṇa
prāyaḥ prāṇān kathañcana
pratyāgamana-sandeśair
ballavyo me mad-ātmikāḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.46.6)

[“Simply because I have promised to return to them, My fully devoted cowherd girlfriends struggle to maintain their lives somehow or other.”]

The gopīs are keeping their life only because Kṛṣṇa has promised to come. They know that He must come. But when will He come? Tomorrow, tomorrow. That is why they are waiting and remaining alive. They consider, “If we die, then when Kṛṣṇa comes, He will not see us, and He will also die.” Only to please Kṛṣṇa, to ensure that He would not be unhappy, do they somehow keep their life.

Therefore Kṛṣṇa said to Uddhava, “You should go there.” He gave him His vaijayantī-mālā (garland), along with His golden crown, garments, saffron cloth, and also the golden chariot of Kaṁsa. He walked along the path with Uddhava, talking about the gopīs, Nanda Bābā, and other topics. Uddhava saw that it was becoming late, so he climbed onto the chariot, whipped the horses, and drove off. Kṛṣṇa simply stood there, looking toward the ratha (chariot). When the ratha was out of sight, He looked toward the dust that came from its wheels. And when the dust subsided, His only thoughts were of the gopīs. At that time, someone came and took Him back to the palace.

 Tomorrow we will discuss how Uddhava went to Vṛndāvana, what dialogue transpired, and what he saw there. You only have to hear and try to remember all these topics about the glories of the gopīs, and especially the glories of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came only to give this teaching. He gave it to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, and Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī explained it to Jīva Gosvāmī. Mahāprabhu also explained it to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura also received it. Then they expressed it in their explanations of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Try to remember all these things. This is called bhajana.

(Devotees then performed a drama about the life of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)

I think that our coming here to New Vraja, our classes, and the very sweet dramas have been successful. These classes and dramas, especially about the teachings of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, his life and his process of bhajana, will touch the hearts of all pure devotees. Take all we have discussed with you when you return to your home. You must return, but take this powerful nectar of hari-kathā. Remember it all, and try to do bhajana in the process of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. You can read his Manaḥ-śikṣā, along with the explanation of Śrila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and follow the instructions of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī:

tan-nāma-rūpa-caritādi-sukīrtanānu-
smṛtyoḥ krameṇa rasanā-manasī niyojya
tiṣṭhan vraje tad-anurāgi-janānugāmī
kālaṁ nayed akhilam ity upadeśa-sāram

Upadeśāmṛta (8)

[“The essence of all advice is that one should utilise one’s full time – twenty-four hours a day – in nicely chanting and remembering the Lord’s divine name, transcendental form, qualities and eternal pastimes, thereby gradually engaging one’s tongue and mind. In this way one should reside in Vraja (Goloka Vṛndāvana-dhāma) and serve Kṛṣṇa under the guidance of devotees. One should follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s beloved devotees, who are deeply attached to His devotional service.”]

Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī followed the teachings in this śloka, and you saw in the drama how he prayed to Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī:

śrī-rūpa-mañjarī-karārcita-pāda-padma
goṣṭhendra-nandana-bhujārpita-mastakāyāḥ
hā modataḥ kanaka-gauri-padāravinda
samvāhanāni śanakais tava kiṁ kariṣye

Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (72)

[“O Rūpa Mañjarī, when golden-complexioned Rādhikā is lying with Her head in Kṛṣṇa’s lap and Her feet in your lap as you massage them, will you, (with an indication) from the corners of your eyes, give me your mahā-prasādam sevā of gently massaging Her feet while you fan Her?”]

Śrīmatī Rādhikā was lying with Her head in the lap of Kṛṣṇa. In their siddha-deha (spiritual forms), Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī in the form of Śrī Rati Mañjarī, were there. Rūpa Mañjarī called Rati Mañjarī and gave her the remnants of her service. How glorious this is!

A strong desire, or greed, for the goal of life may come only by the association of exalted rūpānuga devotees. It will never come by performing regulative bhakti. So try to come in the process of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. Try to follow like my brahmacārīs here and in India. I am proud of them, and I will be proud if you are ideal brahmacārīs, sannyāsīs, gṛhasthas, and lady devotees.

Try to take this and follow it your whole life. Never deviate. Take it with you in your heart forever. Be very strong. If you are weak, remember Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, and your gurudeva, and remember how powerful your gurudeva is. In this way you will never deviate. Do not cause any problems for anyone. Always beat your mind with many daṇḍas (bamboo sticks). This mind is the root of all evil. Try to control the horse of the uncontrolled mind, and then everyone will be so happy, and you will be good devotees.

Source: Purebhakti.com

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org.in, Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo and / or Bhaktiart.net

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