Lord Sri Krishna, the Majesty of the Almighty-2 : Swami Krishnananda.

-

12/2/2018
2.

The most intriguing and significant incident in the early life of Krishna is what has been called the Rasa Lila or his love-dance with the Gopis of Vrindavan. Commentators have tried to interpret the romantic seeking of Krishna by the Gopis and his response to their search in a dalliance that surpasses understanding as the eternal quest of objects for the Universal Subject which is present in every one of them as their Atman, the seeking of the individual for the Absolute in an ecstasy of feeling that the intellect cannot measure or estimate, a rapture of love for God in which all rationality is hushed, and the divine reaction from the Supreme Atman in a revelation of multiple immanence or a universal Self-manifestation, a state of spiritual superconsciousness in which one forgets one's own personality and becomes conscious only of God's existence everywhere in an emotion of love which bursts the bubble of individuality, which, indeed, was the condition, of the Gopis.

There was nothing of the human lust or physical passion in the immortal dance of Rasa, when especially the age of Krishna was only of a small boy who could not be expected to excite carnality in the minds of elderly women in such large numbers.

Another interpretation regards this incident as an occasion when Krishna, though to physical perception he was a small boy, appeared as a charming young hero in the eyes of every Gopi, with everyone of whom he was individually present by a multitudinous ness of form which he assumed in the majesty of the power of his Yoga.

To a doubt expressed by Parikshit on this question, sage Suka gives an adequate answer. The Lord, Suka replies, appeared in human form to shower his grace on those who came in contact with him and to create devotion in those who listen to the greatness of his deeds and of his life. It is strange that the husbands of the Gopis never missed their wives, having had them, by the power of the Lord, always by their sides, even when the Rasa dance was going on.

How, then, can human judgment of values be applicable here? Further, Suka prescribes a study of the Rasa chapters of the Bhagavata as a remedy for lust and a means to acquire self-control and mastery over all desires.

To be continued ...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Teachings of the Bhagavadgita - 8.1. Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday, March 21, 2021. 07:57. AM. Chapter 8: Creation and Life After Death -1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bhagavadgita is a moksha-shastra, a scripture on the science of the liberation of the spirit. Thus it follows the course of the return process along the same lines as the evolutionary process of the descent of the soul from the Supreme Being. The first six chapters may be said to be engaged in an exposition of self-discipline from the individual point of view, the integration of the human personality and the preparation of the whole man for the greater task which is yet to come – namely, the at-one-ment of the individual with the set-up of the universe. Some of the interpreters and commentators on the Bhagavadgita hold that the first six chapters have a relevance to the significance of the term 'twam' in the famous Upanishadic p...
Read more

Gita : Ch-3. Slo-43.

-
Image
Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-3. ( Karma-yogam ) Slokam-43. ( Thus, knowing the atma to be superior to intelligence, O brave and strong Arjuna, steady the mind by self-realisation and conquer this insatiable enemy, in the form of lust. ) evam  buddheh  param  buddhva  samstabhyatmanamatmana, jahi  satrum  mahabaho  kamarupam  durasadam. mahabaho  =  O,  strong  brave   Arjuna; evam  buddheh  param   =   thus  superior  of  intelligence; atmanam  buddhva  =  knowing  the  atma,  by  atma,  the   intelligence (the  vivekam/discrimination  and  vicharam/ realisation ); atmanam  samstbhya  =  keep  the  atma  steady  without  oscillations;  (controlling  the  mind   from,  vishayas)     kamarupam  du...
Read more

A Study of the Bhagavadgita : 33 - Swami Krishnananda.

-
Image
================================================================================= Saturday 01, June 2024 06:40. Chapter 7: The Entry of the Absolute into the Relative -3. Post-33. ================================================================================= There are endless connections of this type. The relationship of adhyatma and adhibhuta is involved in an infinite variety of degrees of ascent and descent. This imperative of the presence of a consciousness between adhyatma and adhibhuta in various degrees is the reason why you sometimes feel there are many gods. Sometimes the question arises: Are there many gods, or only one God? There is only one God, the Absolute, but inasmuch as it manifests itself as an interconnecting link between subject and object through millions of degrees of ascent and descent, it looks as there are millions of gods. It is as if there are millions of governments merely because there are millions of officials in a centrality of administration. There is...
Read more