Chapter Two of the book The Origin of Ratha-yātrā, by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja

 

You have now heard the first history, but it does not fully explain why Jagannātha desired to manifest in a form that appeared to be incomplete. That explanation is contained in a somewhat different history, which the Gosvāmīs in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s line discovered. A full written description of this is not available anywhere; it exists only in the hearts of pure devotees, especially those who have received Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy. There are two histories like this, not just one, and they are both very beautiful. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has included part of the first of these histories, which is most interesting, in his Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.

Kṛṣṇa took birth in Gokula. He manifested Himself partially in Mathurā as well, but He Himself is fully the son of Mother Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā. In Mathurā, He did not appear as a son – He appeared with four hands, and was sixteen years old. He was wearing golden ornaments, a golden crown, and very opulent clothing, and His wavy hair was very long. In Gokula, on the other hand, He emerged from the womb of Yaśodā as a baby, along with His younger sister. He was actually the son of Nanda and Yaśodā, not their adopted son. Sometimes it is written that He was the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, but the Vrajavāsīs do not accept that idea. They personally saw Him come from the womb of Yaśodā, so how could they believe He took birth in Mathurā? There was no birth ceremony in Mathurā, but in Vraja, Nanda Bābā gave thousands of cows to the brāhmaṇas on Kṛṣṇa’s birthday. He donated everything and kept nothing in his house, but his house still filled up with wealth again. It was such a good festival.

Kṛṣṇa was raised in Gokula, where Yaśodā bound Him to the grinding mortar by her love and affection, and where so many other sweet pastimes took place. When Kṛṣṇa became older, He went cowherding with His friends, playing sweetly on His flute. Over a period of time, He killed Tṛṇāvarta, Bakāsura, Aghāsura, and other demons. He performed the rāsa-līlā in Vṛndāvana, and He played at Vaṁśīvaṭa and Keṣī-ghāṭa. Then, after some time, Akrūra came to Vṛndāvana and told Kṛṣṇa, “Kaṁsa wants to kill Your father and mother, Vasudeva and Devakī.” Kṛṣṇa replied, “My father is Nanda Bābā, and My mother is Yaśodā-maiyā. But Vasudeva and Devakī are friends of My father and mother, so I should save them.” He immediately went with Akrūra, killed Kaṁsa, enthroned Ugrasena as the king, and after some time, He went to Dvārakā.

Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta relates the following pastime that took place while Kṛṣṇa was residing in Dvārakā. You have heard of Śrī Nārada Muni, who is very expert in performing many unfathomable pastimes to please Kṛṣṇa. He is very near and dear to Kṛṣṇa, and he always discovers new ways by which he can glorify Kṛṣṇa’s various manifestations and pure devotees. It may be said that Nārada Muni is “tricky,” because no one can comprehend his actions, motivations, methods, or where he is going. Kṛṣṇa is “tricky,” and so are His gopīs, His mother, His Vraja, His Yamunā, and His devotees. Similarly, wherever Nārada goes, it is only to serve Kṛṣṇa; he is always busy inventing unique ways to glorify his holy master Kṛṣṇa, along with Rādhikā, the gopīs, and the devotees.

Once Nārada went to Dvārakā to see the ever-increasing glories of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. No one would understand who the greatest devotees are if Nārada had not revealed this knowledge. He went to Dvārakā to discover a scheme to glorify them.

In the palace of Rukmiṇī, Nārada saw a big festival taking place. All the 16,108 queens were present, headed by the eight prominent queens, such as Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Jāmbavatī, Bhadrā, Mitravindā, and Nāgnajitī; and other Dvārakāvāsīs were also there. Nārada approached Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, and the other queens and said in their assembly, “You are very fortunate to serve Kṛṣṇa. You are the best servants of Kṛṣṇa. You are His queens. You are the most glorious in this entire world. I pay my respects to you.” What Nārada was really conveying to the queens was: “Kṛṣṇa does not love any of you. I know that He only and always remembers the gopīs. He does not really want to be with you – really, He wants to return to Vṛndāvana and taste the love of the gopīs.”

Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā became unhappy and informed Nārada, “You are glorifying us, but we know well that we have not made Kṛṣṇa happy since the time He married us. Our love cannot control Him. There are so many of us; we are very beautiful and qualified in all the arts, but still we cannot satisfy Him.”

Rukmiṇī said, “When He sleeps in my room, on my bed, He cries continually. Sometimes when He dreams, He takes hold of my veil and pulls on it, crying, ‘O Rādhikā! O Rādhikā! Where are You? I will die without You! O Lalitā, where are you? O Viśākhā, where are you?’ Sometimes He weeps piteously and calls, ‘Mother Yaśodā, where are you? I want to eat bread and butter! I want to sit in your lap! I want to drink your breast milk! Where are you?’ Sometimes He calls His friends, ‘O Śrīdāmā! Subala! Madhumaṅgala! Kokila! Bhṛṅga! Where are you? Come on! Come on! I cannot maintain My life without you. Where are you? The cows are waiting, and you aren’t coming. Now it’s time for cowherding. You must come.’ And sometimes He even calls His cows, ‘Śyāmalī, Dhavalī, Kālindī, Gaṅgā, Piśaṅgā! Where are you? Where are you?’ He weeps like this throughout the night, and the entire bed becomes wet with His tears. And this did not happen on just one night – He is always like this. He never sees where we are or who we are. We are just ‘there.’

“We are very sad. We are not near and dear to Him at all. If we’re near and dear, why does He not call out, ‘Rukmiṇī! Satyabhāmā!’? He never calls out our names.”

Then Satyabhāmā said, “O sakhī, you speak the truth. Last night, He wept bitterly and pulled my veil, calling out, ‘O Rādhā! O Rādhā!’ He fell unconscious, and I could not think of what to do. What is the history behind this? Why does Kṛṣṇa never look upon us, although we are married to Him? We are so sweet and beautiful and expert in all the arts, yet we cannot please Kṛṣṇa. We want to know how we can please Him.”

Meanwhile, Kṛṣṇa was sitting in His assembly hall named Sudharmā. This hall was equipped with all kinds of facilities. Sometimes it was large, sometimes small, sometimes cool, sometimes warm, and sometimes air-conditioned. It would provide whatever one desired simply by the power of his mind. Sometimes one hundred people would be present there, and sometimes thousands. It expanded and contracted, like Kṛṣṇa Himself. While the queens were talking, Kṛṣṇa’s associates sat in the council chamber, discussing various problems and how to solve them. Ugrasena Mahārāja sat on the throne in the middle, and Akrūra, Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, Uddhava, and others sat beside him.

Kṛṣṇa was not His normal self. He was somewhat upset, absorbed in worrying about something. In the Padma Purāṇa, it is said:

nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe
yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā
tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktā

[“I am not in Vaikuṇṭha nor in the hearts of the yogīs. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities.”]

Kṛṣṇa once told Nārada, “I never live in Vaikuṇṭha, nor do I live in the hearts of the yogīs. I live in the hearts of pure devotees. I live wherever they remember me, and I rest very comfortably there. I do not live anywhere else.” It was for this reason that Kṛṣṇa was upset. Being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could understand that the following pastime was taking place in Rukmiṇī’s palace:

Mother Rohiṇī entered amid the queens. As she was Baladeva Prabhu’s mother, she had lived in Vṛndāvana with Yaśodā for many years and had nourished and supported both Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva. As soon as she came in, all the queens present offered her praṇāma and gave her a good seat. Then, when she was comfortably seated, they all approached her and said, “O Mother, we know you were in Vraja when Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were babies, and you stayed there for eleven years. You know the history of all the gopīs. You know about the love and affection of the gopīs, of Mother Yaśodā, and of all the Vrajavāsīs. We want to know the importance of Vraja. We want to know what it is about the nature of the Vrajavāsīs’ love that makes Kṛṣṇa unable to forget them. Many years have now passed. We have been serving Kṛṣṇa for over fifty years, but still He is not controlled by our loving service. He never calls out, ‘O Rukmiṇī! O Satyabhāmā!’ Rather, He always calls, ‘Rādhā! Rādhā! Lalitā! Viśākhā!’ What is the reason for all this?

“Sometimes His heart melts so much that He calls out, ‘Mother! Mother Yaśodā! Where are you? Give Me bread and butter. My cows are hungry. I must go out cowherding at once. The boys are calling Me – Dāmā, Sudāmā, Śrīdāmā, and others are calling Me. They are waiting for Me by the door, and all the cows are loudly mooing. They are not giving milk to their calves, because they are all hankering for Me; so I must go at once.’

“He does not think, ‘I am in Dvārakā with My beloved Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā.’ Why? What is there in Vraja? They do not have any wealth, as we do here. The gopīs have no ornaments like us and are not as beautiful. They live in the forest and can only decorate themselves with flowers, not gold and jewels as we do. Kṛṣṇa used to go cowherding there, and here He is like a king, so why does He always remember them? Why has He given His heart to them? We want to know. Do they know some magic? Do they know an enchanting mantra? They must know one, which is why Kṛṣṇa always remembers them and weeps for them.

“We are Kṛṣṇa’s 16,108 queens. We are the most beautiful ladies worldwide, and our qualities and expertise in everything are unique and unparalleled. Still, all of us together can never control Him. Mother, what is the reason that He never looks toward us? Why can we not satisfy one Kṛṣṇa although we are so many? We serve Him in innumerable ways and love Him so much, but we cannot satisfy Him. He is only worried about the gopīs – and about calling out to them. What is the reason? We want to know everything.”

When Rohiṇī-maiyā remembered her friend Yaśodā and all the gopīs, she wept, and then she explained the reason. She related all of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, from boyhood to His twelfth year. Meanwhile, Kaṁsa’s mother came into their midst. She was over a hundred years old, used a walking stick, and was bent over with her head at an odd angle as she moved forward. “This is very dangerous,” she told them. “Why talk about the gopīs and gopas? They are very cruel, very cruel. Yaśodā could not nurture Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva properly. They are the sons of Devakī, but somehow they were sent to Gokula because their parents were afraid of Kaṁsa. Yaśodā never gave a drop of yoghurt or butter to Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva, so they were forced to steal them from neighbours’ houses. Then, when the neighbours complained to Yaśodā, she would immediately chastise Kṛṣṇa, and sometimes she would tie His hands and bind Him to a grinding mortar. Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā were so cruel that they never gave Kṛṣṇa any shoes or sandals, although the forests were full of many thorns and hard pieces of stone. Don’t talk about them.

“Kṛṣṇa used to herd the cows from morning to evening all over Vraja, with no pay and without shoes or an umbrella to shield Him from the afternoon sun. There are great quantities of butter in Vraja, but He did not receive any of it. Anyone would give butter even to a servant, but they never gave Him any.

“Yaśodā once tied Kṛṣṇa up with ropes. He was weeping bitterly, but that lady had no mercy. She took a stick and wanted to beat Him, although He was crying, ‘Mother! Mother! Please don’t beat Me! I will never do it again!’ He did nothing wrong, but still she wanted to beat Him. On the other hand, my husband, Ugrasena, is extremely merciful.

“I think Kṛṣṇa was there for twelve years, and during that entire time, He only received a small quantity of milk from Mother Yaśodā. Between the ages of five and twelve years, He and Balarāma were merely given some bread and butter. So we should count how much Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā spent on Kṛṣṇa during those twelve years. We should also count how many days He herded the cows there, and we also have to consider that sometimes He went to others’ houses and stole their goods. They should pay Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva some money for the cow-grazing they did.

But on the other hand, Kṛṣṇa received at least some clothing from them. Anyway, we will count everything up and call Gargācārya, because he is an expert accountant, as well as an astrologer. He knows everything. When he writes the accounts, he will make a statement regarding the salary owed to Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva for cowherding, and what was actually already spent on them.

“We will not pay for Rohiṇī, because she is a member of the party of Nanda, Yaśodā, and the gopīs. We will never pay for her. We can only pay for Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva. There should be a report. When the accounts are written and balanced, we will pay double if anything is owed to Yaśodā and Nanda.”

Rohiṇī became more and more angry as Padmāvatī continued, “My husband is extremely broadminded, generous, and merciful. If anything is owed to Yaśodā and Nanda, we can pay double. If something is owed because Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were herding the cows, we will immediately be compassionate and say, ‘We will take nothing.’ So we are going to call Gargācārya.”

Mother Rohiṇī became extremely angry and said, “I know who you are!” Padmāvatī was the wife of Ugrasena, but Kaṁsa was not Ugrasena’s son. Once, when Padmāvatī was very young, she played with her friends on the bank of the Yamunā in the evening. A demon named Drumila approached her in a lusty mood, and that is how Kaṁsa was conceived. Rohiṇī continued, “I know you are not a chaste lady, and that is why you can’t understand the glory of the Vrajavāsīs’ love and affection.”

Rohiṇī stopped speaking to Padmāvatī and now addressed the queens. One by one, she explained the moods of Nanda Bābā, Yaśodā, Subala, and Śrīdāmā; and at last she spoke about the gopīs. She said, “The Vrajavāsīs love Kṛṣṇa so much that they cannot live without Him. When Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva were still very young, they wanted to take the cows out to graze, so they told Mother Yaśodā again and again, ‘Mother, we want to go cowherding, because we are gopas. Please give us the order to go.’ When they were not given permission, they wept. At last, Mother Yaśodā told them, ‘You may go with the calves to a nearby forest in Vṛndāvana, but you must return home soon.’ She brought them very beautiful shoes and umbrellas to shade them from the sun, but Kṛṣṇa told her, ‘The cows are worshipable for us because they are like our mothers. If you want to give Me shoes, then bring shoes for all the 900,000 cows. You should bring 400,000 shoes for every 100,000 cows, because they each have four feet. Bring umbrellas for all of them, too, and then I will also take the shoes and umbrella; otherwise, I won’t. I don’t want to be their master. I want to be a servant of the cows, because I am a gopa. Gopa means maintainer, supporter, and nourisher of the cows (as their servant).’

“Yaśodā once told Kṛṣṇa, ‘My son, all the gopīs come to me and complain that You have been going to their houses and taking butter from their storerooms.’ Kṛṣṇa said, ‘Mother, why are you speaking like this? Maiyā, maiṅ nahīṅ makkhana khāya – Mother, why do you say that I have stolen butter? I have not stolen butter and eaten it. You sent Me cowherding in Madhuvana in the early morning, so I went there, and was always with the cows. Now it’s evening, so I have returned with the cows, and after this, I will go to bed. When did I have time to steal butter? If you think I’ve stolen it, it must be because I’m not your son. Either you’ve borrowed Me, or else I took birth somewhere, and My mother left Me, and that is why you think I’m a thief. I want to go to the Yamunā and jump in – I will not live with you anymore.’

“Yaśodā at once wept bitterly. She embraced Kṛṣṇa and said, ‘O Kṛṣṇa, You have not taken butter. I have not said this.’ Kṛṣṇa replied, ‘Mother, I have taken butter: Maiyā, maiṅ ne hī makkhana khāya,’ and Yaśodā replied to Him, ‘No, no, You have not taken butter.’ Then she caressed Kṛṣṇa. She wept and bathed Him in her tears, and milk flowed spontaneously from her breasts. Yaśodā cried, ‘I will never say such a thing again.’”

Rohiṇī-devī continued, “The Vrajavāsīs only know that Kṛṣṇa is their son, their beloved, or their friend. You sometimes think that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, and you can see His four hands, but this idea is never present in Vraja. The Vrajavāsīs see Kṛṣṇa as an innocent boy. He is always dancing and playing on His flute, His turban is decorated with a peacock’s feather, and all the gopīs are His beloveds. He is Gopījana-vallabha, the beloved of all the gopīs.

“The gopīs do not require a formal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Since childhood, they have given Him their hearts and everything else; therefore, He cannot repay them. Oh, listen attentively. The gopīs never want to gain anything from Kṛṣṇa. They always serve Him without any desire for self-gain. In Dvārakā, you, Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā, are Kṛṣṇa’s wives, but not His beloveds. Do you know why? Because your love and affection is divided into many fractions. Besides your husband Kṛṣṇa, you each have ten sons and a daughter. Your one husband plus these eleven make twelve, so your love and affection is divided into twelve parts. The gopīs’ love, on the other hand, is not divided. They have given up their husbands, they have no children, they do not take care of their houses, and they have no animals – they have nothing to look after. Their love and affection is akhaṇḍa – total, full, and undivided.

“In the relationship of a lover and beloved, a lady gives her entire time to her beloved, but her love and affection becomes divided if a child is born. She will give much more time to the baby than to her husband. If she has ten or eleven children, her love and affection will be further divided.”

Rohiṇī explained that when the gopīs perform any duty, such as sweeping in their homes, they always keep Kṛṣṇa foremost in their minds and hearts. They sweep, and at the same time they chant, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti,” and while cooking, they sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” If a gopī is looking after her elders’ small son and she wants him to sleep, she pats him and sings, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” The gopīs do not tell the babies, “Go to sleep, go to sleep.” Instead, they sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” If they are threshing corn, wheat, or rice, they sing, “Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.” There are some parrots in the gopīs’ homes, and very early in the morning, at four a.m., they teach those parrots, “Repeat after me: ‘Govinda Dāmodara Mādhaveti.’”

The minds and hearts of the gopīs are always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. Their minds and hearts are like a chariot on which Kṛṣṇa is always sitting, and His mind and heart are like a chariot on which the gopīs ride. Kṛṣṇa always thinks of the gopīs, calling, “Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe, Jaya, Jaya, Jaya, Śrī Rādhe…” He always remembers, “Rādhā, Rādhā! Lalitā! Viśākhā! Mother Yaśodā!”

Kṛṣṇa’s love and affection is divided into many parts. In the Gītā (4.11), He has promised, “ye yathā māṁ prapadyante – I will remember those who remember Me,” and He is bound to keep His promise. He will go to that place where His devotee remembers Him and chants His name. He is very loving towards the Vrajavāsīs, but at the same time, He cannot give up the devotees of Mathurā, Dvārakā, or other parts of India or the rest of the world. If anyone chants, He will go to that person. He always remembers them, and He always feels great separation from them. Consequently, His love is divided; but the gopīs’ love is not divided, which is why He is so attached to them.

Mother Rohiṇī continued, “Kṛṣṇa used to wipe the faces of the gopīs when they became tired from dancing and singing during the rāsa-līlā. The gopīs can sing more sweetly than He can. He can sing, ‘sā, re, gā, mā, pā,’ but the gopīs can do more than this. Kṛṣṇa will stop there, but they will sing, ‘sā, re, gā, mā, pā, dā, ni, sā.’ When Kṛṣṇa heard them, He became very happy and said, ‘Sādhu, sādhu! Very good! I cannot do as you have done.’ He always used to praise them.”

The gopīs’ rati (their love and affection for Kṛṣṇa in mahābhāva) is called samartha-rati. The word samartha means capable, suitable, and complete; therefore, samartha-rati means “capable of controlling Kṛṣṇa.” The rati of the queens of Dvārakā is called samañjasā, which means that it is doubtful that their love can control Kṛṣṇa. They are not like the gopīs, whose love can control Him. The gopīs’ prema is so elevated that the queens’ love can never be compared. The queens’ love reaches the stages of prema, sneha, māna, praṇaya, rāga, and anurāga. Sometimes they attain a shadow of mahābhāva, and sometimes they experience divyonmāda and citra-jalpa, but only slightly. Their aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāvas cannot go up to ujjvalita (blazing) and prajvalita (inflamed). Their bhāva may go up to dhūmāyita, which is compared to a flame covered with smoke. Sometimes their bhāva is also without smoke, which is more intense but never as high as the gopīs. The “smokeless” flame of the gopīs’ love increases to the highest extent.

Mother Rohiṇī then glorified Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s affection for Kṛṣṇa. She said, “Once Śrīmatī Rādhikā was sitting on Kṛṣṇa’s lap. A bee came by, humming, thinking that Her feet were a very fragrant, sweet and tasty lotus flower. It wanted to enter Her lotus feet, and Rādhikā became frightened. She tried to chase the bee away, but it kept coming back.

Meanwhile, Madhumaṅgala came and drove it away with his stick. When he returned, he boasted, ‘Madhusūdana has gone. I have driven him away, and he will not come back.’ When Śrīmatī Rādhikā heard this, She forgot that She was sitting on Kṛṣṇa’s lap and being caressed by Him, and She wept. Taking the word Madhusūdana to mean Kṛṣṇa Himself, She cried out, ‘O Madhusūdana! Where have You gone? When will You come back? You must come, otherwise I will die.’ Speaking in this way, She became unconscious in Her mood of separation. Astonished, Kṛṣṇa thought, ‘What shall I do? How will I pacify Her?’”

Rohiṇī-maiyā continued, “Once Kṛṣṇa was going cowherding with Dāmā, Śrīdāmā, Madhumaṅgala, and all the other cowherd boys and His hundreds of thousands of cows. Some cows were black, some were golden, and some were white, and it looked as though the rivers Gaṅgā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī were mixing and separating again. All that could be seen for miles and miles were the heads and bodies of cows. Kṛṣṇa was just going to enter the forest, and Mother Yaśodā and Nanda Bābā were following Him. They could not leave Him easily, although Kṛṣṇa told them, ‘It is My wish that you return home now.’ Just then, Kṛṣṇa somehow saw Lalitā, Viśākhā, and all the other gopīs as they peered from their windows, groves, and doors here and there. Kṛṣṇa was at once attracted, and then He saw Śrīmatī Rādhikā.”

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

[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?]

In this verse (Śrī-Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (39)), Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is explaining that Kṛṣṇa saw Śrīmatī Rādhikā performing arcana from the corners of Her eyes, and He very lovingly accepted Her glance. He trembled, His flute fell from His hands, and His yellow garment fell from His shoulders. He was just about to faint when Madhumaṅgala pushed Him and said, “Don’t You see that Your father Nanda Bābā is here? What are You doing?”

This kind of love and affection controls Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs have so much affection that they think they only have a little.

dhanyāḥ sma mūḍha-gatayo ’pi hariṇya etā
yā nanda-nandanam upātta-vicitra-veśam
ākarṇya veṇu-raṇitaṁ saha-kṛṣṇa-sārāḥ
pūjāṁ dadhur viracitāṁ praṇayāvalokaiḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.21.11)

[Blessed are all these foolish deer because they have approached Mahārāja Nanda’s son, who is gorgeously dressed and is playing on His flute. Indeed, both the doe and the bucks worship the Lord with looks of love and affection.]

[The gopīs lamented:] The female deer are coming with their husbands. Their husbands are somewhat black, so they are called kṛṣṇa-sāra. Their husbands tell them, “You can happily see Kṛṣṇa. Don’t fear – we are with you.” Our husbands are just the opposite. They come and chastise us if they see us talking with Kṛṣṇa or looking at Him. We want to die and take birth again as deer.

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa becomes upset because He lacks the moods enjoyed by Śrīmatī Rādhikā, Lalitā, and Viśākhā. Therefore, He comes as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to learn those moods. Mahāprabhu went to Godāvarī and met Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda, who is Viśākhā-devī in his gopī-svarūpa, and there He underwent training for many days. After that, He went to the Gambhīrā, and only then was He able to taste something of Rādhikā’s love. The moods of the gopīs are thus very high.

Kṛṣṇa is the ocean of rasa (the mellows exchanged in transcendental loving relationships). He Himself is rasa, and He is also rasika, the taster of rasa. At the same time, He is eka-rasa (one rasa) and aneka-rasa (many rasas). When He is eka-rasa, there is nothing in all the three worlds, even in Goloka Vṛndāvana, that is not in Him. He is pūrṇatama, most complete. He knows everything; nothing is unknown to Him. When He is aneka-rasa, however, there is a certain mixture of rasas that He both knows and does not know. Although He knows the rasa (the taste that He experiences) in Himself, He does not know the rasa in Śrīmatī Rādhikā. He knows what He can taste as the enjoyer, but He does not know what is tasted by the enjoyed. The pastimes of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śacīnandana Gaurahari, are a mixture of eka-rasa and aneka-rasa. Eka-rasa is fully in Kṛṣṇa, but aneka-rasa is fully in Caitanya Mahāprabhu, because in Him Śrīmatī Rādhikā is present with Kṛṣṇa.

What are the moods in Rādhikā? They are of mahābhāva, and especially adhirūḍha and mādana.* Even if Śrīmatī Rādhikā is sitting on the lap of Kṛṣṇa, She may forget that She is with Him. She thinks, “Where am I? Where has Kṛṣṇa gone?” She feels such separation in meeting that Kṛṣṇa cannot imagine its depth. He thinks, “I am here, and She is on My lap. My hand is on Her shoulder, and yet She is searching for Me, crying, ‘Where is He? Where is He?’ Why is this so?”

To understand Rādhikā’s mood, Kṛṣṇa assumed the form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sometimes it is said that He stole it, and sometimes that He begged for it. Rādhikā gave Him something of Her mood, and in the form of Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita, She was testing to see whether or not He was playing Her part well.

In this way, there is something that Kṛṣṇa never knows, and that is the mood of Rādhikā, the nature of Her love for Him, and how She tastes the mādhurīs (sweet mellows) of His flute playing, His beautiful face, His form, His qualities, and His pastimes. Although those mādhurīs exist in Kṛṣṇa Himself, He does not fully know their sweetness – He cannot taste their sweetness fully. In aneka-rasa, therefore, Kṛṣṇa lacks something, and He has to go to the school of the gopīs. There, Śrīmatī Rādhikā is like the principal, and Viśākhā and Lalitā are like departmental heads, and there He learns something about love and affection.

You should know that if one performs bhajana of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Yugala, and at the same time worships Dvārakādhīśa and Rukmiṇī or Satyabhāmā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī will give him up. She will say, “Go to the queens in Dvārakā.”

An incident occurred one hundred and fifty years ago, in a place in India called Raṇavāḍī, a village in Vraja-maṇḍala. A very advanced devotee lived there, and he always remembered Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa and Their eternal pastimes throughout the eight praharas (periods) of the day. He was so absorbed that he almost forgot his body, senses, and everything else. One day, however, he desired to go to the places of pilgrimage. He had never been to Dvārakā before, so he especially desired to go there. In the meantime, a brāhmaṇa of his village came to him and said, “I am going to Dvārakā. If you want, you can come with me. I will pay the full fare and take care of everything.” The devotee replied, “Yes, I want to go with you.” So they travelled here and there together and finally arrived in Dvārakā.

There is a rule in Dvārakā that if one wants to enter its territory, one must be stamped with the hot firebrand of a cakra. The brand will remain throughout his life, but he will receive some medicine, so it will not be like a scar. That devotee from Vṛndāvana was branded, and then he entered the city and had darśana of many places there. After that, he returned to his own place in Vṛndāvana and tried to resume his bhajana. However, something strange occurred when he wanted to remember all of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes: the pastimes no longer came to his mind, and instead he remembered incidents from Dvārakā and other places. He became very anxious and disturbed because he could not chant and remember as he had done before. He wanted to know the cause of his misfortune, but he could not discern it. Although he practised for many days, the līlās did not manifest as before.

This Bābājī Mahārāja had a very dear friend who lived at Rādhā-kuṇḍa. He was called Siddha Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī, and he was always absorbed in remembering Kṛṣṇa and in chanting. Tears constantly fell from his eyes, and his heart was always melted. Bābājī Mahārāja went to visit his friend, but when Siddha Kṛṣṇadāsa saw him from a distance, he turned away and refused to converse with him. “Go away from here at once,” he said, “otherwise Śrīmatī Rādhikā will be displeased with me as well. I know you have gone to Dvārakā and accepted the firebrand there. Why have you come here? If Rādhikā knows you have come to me, She will be displeased with me. Go at once. At once!”

That devotee became very upset and thought, “If the pastimes of Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa do not come into my meditation, what is the use of my life?” He returned to his bhajana-kuṭīra and locked the door from inside in a mood of great separation from Śrīmatī Rādhikā. After three days, a fire emanated from his heart, and he was consumed, so that only some ashes remained. The villagers could not understand why he had not come out for three days, and finally they broke open the door and saw only the ashes remaining. “Perhaps Bābājī was in a mood of separation,” they said. When they put some wooden sticks in those ashes, the sticks burned at once, and thus they realised, “Yes, Bābājī has left his body in separation.” To this very day, the residents of that village celebrate his disappearance day.

Śrīmatī Rādhikā may give up a devotee if he worships Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa of Vraja, and is simultaneously remembering Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā, and offering praṇāma and arcana to them. You should know all these truths. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura have written that you should be one-pointed in your devotion to your gurudeva and your iṣṭadeva. You can honour everyone, including trees, creepers, animals, and devotees who are favourable to Kṛṣṇa, and even those who are not favourable. You can think that Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, and that all beings are His eternal servants in their constitutional spiritual forms. However, if one takes initiation into the rūpānuga line and is trying to be one-pointed, especially in trying to be a servant of Rādhikā, he cannot honour everyone in the same way. He cannot think that all are in the same category. Dvārakādhīśa Kṛṣṇa and Vrajeśa-Kṛṣṇa are not the same. They are the same, but at the same time, They are different.

If one is just entering bhakti, there is no harm in worshipping Jagannātha, Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Rāmacandra, Nṛsiṁhadeva, Gaura-Nitāi, and also Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. However, this is not for advanced madhyama-adhikārīs in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s line. One will have to be determined in one-pointed devotion; otherwise, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, the gopīs, and Yogamāyā will give him up. Though all incarnations and expansions are the same in tattva-siddhānta, there is some difference from the rasa perspective. One cannot remain a neophyte devotee forever. He should gradually learn all these truths and try to become one-pointed.

There is no harm in worshipping Jagannātha if one sees Him as Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, which is how He appears in the eyes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Whenever Mahāprabhu went to the Jagannātha Temple, He did not see Baladeva Prabhu and Subhadrā. He simply thought, “O Vrajendra-nandana!” He ran like a mad person to embrace Him. He never saw Jagannātha’s large, round eyes, and He never saw Him without His peacock feather and flute. He thought, “Kṛṣṇa is there, playing on His flute, His eyes are very attractive, and He is wearing a large peacock feather.”

Do you see that very Kṛṣṇa there in Jagannātha Purī? Do you see Rādhikā? You do not see Them; therefore, to achieve this vision, you should be one-pointed to your gurudeva. There may be many śikṣā-gurus, but one śikṣā-guru should be prominent so that we can follow him and give him our hearts. Even the cloud, the mountain, the earth, and the python may be our śikṣā-gurus, but one śikṣā-guru should be prominent, and he is similar to our dīkṣā-guru. There is no difference between the two. Sometimes the śikṣā-guru may be superior to the dīkṣā-guru, sometimes the dīkṣā-guru may be superior, or they may be on the same level.

From the beginning, we should be one-pointed to Vrajendranandana Kṛṣṇa. That Kṛṣṇa should not simply be Gopī-kānta, the beloved of the gopīs, because if He is, then He may also be Candrāvalī-kānta, Padmā-kānta, and Śaibyā-kānta. We should be one-pointed to Rādhā-kānta and pray, rādhā-kānta namo ’stu te. This is a very deep and high siddhānta. During the Ratha-yātrā Festival, Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in many elevated dialogues with His intimate associate, Svarūpa Dāmodara, about the difference between the love of the gopīs and that of the queens of Dvārakā. If one has some taste and greed to follow the gopīs, and his aim and object is samartha-rati, he can know something about these topics. This is the essence of the entire Chariot Festival.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu added to the meaning of the Ratha-yātrā Festival, turning it differently than previously performed. He made Guṇḍicā like Sundarācala, Vṛndāvana, while the Jagannātha Purī temple in Nilācala represented Dvārakā. All the gopīs were in a mood of great separation at their Guṇḍicā Mandira, just as they were in Vṛndāvana. That is why, after Jagannātha had been in the Purī temple for an entire year, He made an excuse to leave. He told His wife Lakṣmī, “I am so sick. I need to go somewhere else for ten days, for a change. I will go and then return very quickly.” That is how He got permission from Lakṣmī to go.**

Jagannātha-deva took Baladeva with Him, because Baladeva had taken birth in Gokula as Rohiṇī-suta, the son of Rohiṇī. His sister Subhadrā is a manifestation of Yogamāyā, and she always used to associate with Rohiṇī, so she knew the glories of the gopīs and gopas. She requested Kṛṣṇa, “Brother, I want to go with You. Please take me.” And He replied, “Yes, you can come.” Lakṣmī never knew where Kṛṣṇa desired to go. None of the queens ever knew. Vimalā-devī, who represents the queens of Dvārakā, never knew, and that is why she allowed Him to go.***

Kṛṣṇa was so engaged in playing in the groves with the gopīs that He forgot to return. On the fifth day, called Herā-pañcamī, Lakṣmī became very worried and wondered, “Where has my husband gone?” She searched here and there, but could not discover His whereabouts. Then, adorned with great opulence, she sat on a golden chariot and searched further with many associates holding sticks and other paraphernalia. When they arrived at the Guṇḍicā Mandira and saw Kṛṣṇa’s chariot there, the associates of Lakṣmī picked up their sticks and began to beat the chariot. They captured all the associates of Jagannātha, who were all actually associates of Mahāprabhu and who represented the gopīs. When Kṛṣṇa entered a room and locked it from the inside, Lakṣmī told the gopīs, “You must return Him; otherwise I will come again and punish you, and Kṛṣṇa as well.” After speaking like this, she returned.

rathera upare kare daṇḍera tāḍana
cora-prāya kare jagannāthera sevaka-gaṇa

saba bhṛtya-gaṇa kahe, — yoḍa kari’ hāta
‘kāli āni diba tomāra āge jagannātha’

tabe śānta hañā lakṣmī yāya nija ghara
āmāra lakṣmīra sampad — vākya-agocara

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 14.211–13)

[“All the maidservants began to beat the Ratha car with sticks, and they treated the servants of Lord Jagannātha almost like thieves. Finally all of Lord Jagannātha’s servants submitted to the goddess of fortune with folded hands, assuring her that they would bring Lord Jagannātha before her the very next day. Being thus pacified, the goddess of fortune returned to her apartment. Just see! My goddess of fortune is opulent beyond all description.”]

Mahāprabhu added this idea to the Ratha-yātrā Festival, that the gopīs brought Kṛṣṇa from the mandira in Nilācala – they brought Him from Dvārakā.

[Śrīmatī Rādhikā said:]

“ ‘sei ta parāṇa-nātha pāinu
yāhā lāgi’ madana-dahane jhuri’ genu’ ”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 13.113)

[“ ‘Now I have gained the Lord of My life, in the absence of whom I was being burned by Cupid and was withering away.’ ”]

This singing of Rādhikā and the gopīs is the deep mood behind the Ratha-yātrā Festival. They were pulling the ropes of Jagannātha’s chariot by their moods of separation, and He was coming with them to Vṛndāvana. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in the mood of Rādhikā, and therefore, when He came in front of the ratha, it made a haḍa haḍa, haḍa haḍa (cracking) sound. It was coming – running – toward Guṇḍicā Mandira. In the mood of Rādhikā, Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not think, “I am Kṛṣṇa.” Rather, He saw Kṛṣṇa in the deity of Jagannātha.

Rohiṇī-maiyā related many pastimes, and all the queens were listening eagerly. As Kṛṣṇa sat in His Sudharmā assembly hall, He was aware that Rohiṇī was speaking in Rukmiṇī’s palace, and He could no longer remain where He was. He wanted to go to the place where Rohiṇī-maiyā was talking about Vṛndāvana, and at once, He arrived at her door with Baladeva. Subhadrā was already standing guard at the door, and as she heard Rohiṇī’s words, she said, “Brother, You cannot go in. Maiyā Rohiṇī will rebuke me if I let You enter. She told me, ‘Stay by the door, and make sure that no males come here, not even Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva. If they come, stop them.’ So please remain here. You can go in when the discussion is finished.”

Although Subhadrā stopped Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva from entering, they could hear through the door what Rohiṇī was telling the queens. Kṛṣṇa was standing at Subhadrā-devī’s left, and Baladeva Prabhu at her right, and together they listened very carefully. As Rohiṇī-maiyā continued to speak, her heart melted, and all the queens were struck with wonder. As she described the glories of the love and affection of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa became so absorbed that His own heart melted, and His fingers also melted in that love and affection. As all three heard about the glories of the gopīs and how they love Kṛṣṇa, they all melted. They wept, and as they wept, their hands melted, their feet melted, their mouths melted, and only the shapes of the Jagannātha deities remained. At that time, Rohiṇī-maiyā could not continue her description. She could no longer speak, for she had fainted from her bitter weeping.

Gradually, Kṛṣṇa returned to external consciousness, and His former shape came back, little by little. When His form had fully returned to its normal features, Kṛṣṇa entered the palace room and saw that Mother Rohiṇī had fainted. Then He saw Nārada, looking very guilty, thinking, “I am responsible for all these incidents. I said something to Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā, and then they called Mother Rohiṇī, and she spoke about all these topics. So I am guilty.” As he was thinking like this, Kṛṣṇa told him, “I think all this has happened only because of you; you are the main cause. Perhaps you said something to the queens to make them worry, so they began questioning Mother Rohiṇī. You are the root cause of these events. I am very happy – very happy. You reminded Me of Vraja, and I heard its glories. I want to give you a boon. You may ask Me for anything.”

Nārada then became very happy as well, and he told Kṛṣṇa, “I want this boon: all three of you melted when you heard about your pastimes, and the glories of the gopīs and Vrajavāsīs. I desire that You remain in those forms somewhere, and the world will see you. In that form, you will be patita-pāvana, the saviour of the fallen, and the entire world will be liberated by your darśana. That is what I want. Your hands and feet shrank, and you melted completely. Everything was melted, and you were absorbed in love and affection then. I want your three deities to manifest and be worshipped everywhere. People throughout the world will see you, they will learn this history, and they will develop pure love and affection for you.”

Kṛṣṇa replied, “Yes. Tato ’stu – it will be. I will manifest these three deities and Sudarśana cakra in Jagannātha Purī, on the bank of the ocean. We will always remain there. There is a mountain called Nīlādri, which is shaped like a tortoise or conchshell. I will always be there, and everyone can see us.”

Because of this incident, the deity of Jagannātha smiled when speaking to King Indradyumna. Jagannātha-deva had been remembering this pastime of Rohiṇī-maiyā speaking to the queens, and also His promise to Nārada Ṛṣi.

Why did Kṛṣṇa mention Sudarśana cakra here? Su means “very good”, and darśana means “vision.” If Sudarśana does not give you eyes, if he does not help you by purifying you and giving you transcendental vision, you cannot actually see Jagannātha, Baladeva, and Subhadrā. You will think they are made of wood, and not very beautiful. But if Sudarśana gives you this light, this vision, then you can realise, “He is Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara.” This history of the appearance of Jagannātha is very lovely, and you are fortunate to hear it.

* Please refer to the Glossary (The Origin of Ratha-yātrā) for explanations of these terms.

** This subject is more elaborately discussed in Chapter 7 (The Origin of Ratha-yātrā), Herā-pañcamī, wherein Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates enjoy seeing the enactment of this drama.

*** More information on Vimalā-devī can be found in the Appendix (The Origin of Ratha-yātrā).

Source(s): Purebhakti.com

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