Verse: Krishna's Pastimes in Vrindavan
Transcription: Vrajendrasuta Dasa
Editing: Hemavati Radhika Dasi
Lord Krishna’s Vrindavana pastimes lecture was given in 7 series.
The 1st series dealt mostly on Sri Advaita Acarya because the class on Lord Krisna’s Vrindavana pastimes was begun on the appearance day of Advaita Acarya.
The 2nd series begins with Lord Krishna’s Vrindavana pastimes as transcribed below.
The recording starts with reference to earlier description.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Maharaja began the class referring to what he has mentioned earlier.
So as I mentioned earlier, that this class will look into the compilations or collections of different pastimes from different puranas. Mainly, a lot of Krishna’s pastimes have been described in Brahma Vaivarta Purana and also in Harivamsa.
These are two of the Puranas which describe quite extensively Krishna’s pastimes. Brahma Vaivarta Purana has one section called Krishna Khanda which deals extensively with Krishna’s pastimes.
Rupa Goswami and Jiva Gowsami also dealt with Krishna’a pastimes quite extensively. Jiva Goswami in his Gopal Sampur describes about Krishna’s pastimes. And Rupa Goswami in his Vidharta Madhav and Lalita Madhav, the two dramas, dealt with Krishna’s pastimes quite extensively. These two are based on Krishna’s pastimes. Besides that there are other dramas also such as Danakeli Kaumudi by Rupa Goswami and Danakeli Cintamani by Raghunath Das Goswami. Sometimes we find that there are certain contradictions. Like in Brahma Vaivarta Purana the description is that Radharani actually appeared from the sacrificial fire. But in Lalita Madhava, Rupa Goswami described that Radharani was born as the daughter of Vindhya Mountain. There is also a very interesting story.
You all know that Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya Mountain is the wife of Lord Shiva. There is another Mountain called Vindhya. Vindhya Mountain became upset about that. He became envious. So he wanted to have a daughter who is better than the Himalayan’s daughter. Or he wanted to have a son in-law who is greater than Lord Shiva. So he performed great sacrifices and as a result of that he got the benediction that his daughter will be married to someone who is even greater than Lord Shiva. That daughter of Vindhya is Radha. He actually got two daughters. One is Radha and another is Chandra. Radharani and Chandravali are actually the daughters of Vindhya Mountain. When they were just babies Putana wanted to kill them. When Putana was flying away with these two daughters of Vindhya Mountain Brahmanas started chanting mantras that killed the witchcraft. So Putana’s life was in danger. So then Putana dropped these two children in order to save her own life. These two children fell in the Januma River. They began floating down the river and the king Vrsvabanu got one daughter that is Radha and the king Chandrabhanu got the other daughter, that is Chandravali.
Now there is an apparent contradiction between Rupa Goswami’s descriptions here, and the descriptions given in other Puranas. When Bhakti Sidhanta Saraswati was asked, ‘why there are such contradictions in the scriptures?’ his answers to that were; ‘Kalpa jnana’. We have to understand that in different kalpas, the pastimes take place in different names. So when we see some apparent contradictions in the scriptures we have to understand that they are actually narrating the pastimes from different kalpas. The details would differ but the underline principle is the same. And what is the ultimate objective of the scriptures? The ultimate objectives of the scriptures are to encourage us to become Krishna consciousness, to inspire us to become Krishna conscious. That is the ultimate objective and Krishna’s pastimes are like a play. Krishna’s pastimes are known as Lila. Lila means pastimes. Pastimes means the activities that are just done out of their own will, out of sweet will. It can be compared to a drama on the stage. Like somebody may play a role of a king on the stage but he may not actually be a king. Somebody may act as a villain on the stage but actually he may not be a villain but a saintly person. This way Krishna’s pastimes are like acts in live, acts on the stage. But what is the objective of that act or drama? The objective is to bring us closer to Krishna, make us attractive to Krishna. To make us Krishna conscious.
So today I will give a brief background to who are acting in that stage in Krisna’s pastimes. First of all we have to remember Vasudeva and Devaki. They are Krishna’s father and mother. Before that we can also take into consideration why Krishna has decided to appear and play His pastimes here. This is because the earth became very much burdened with the sinful activities of the demoniac people headed by Kamsa. The mother earth could not bear the torture of Kamsa. So the mother earth went to Brahma and pleaded to him to do something. “I could not tolerate the burden anymore’. Brahma replied that he won’t be able to do anything because Kamsa is a very terrible person. He said that even the demigods do not have power to do anything to put down Kamsa.
Now who is this Kamsa? Kamsa is a demon called Kalveni who was actually the son of Hiranyksha. He was the uncle of Ravana. Kamsa performed great austerities in order to become immortal. Putting his head down and leg upwards he offered oblations, ahuti into the sacrificial fire to please lord Shiva. He did that many thousands of years. As a result of this, Lord Shiva came to him and asked, ‘Kamsa, what do you want?’. Kamsa said; ‘I want to become immortal, please bless me so that I can become immortal’. Shival replied; ‘I can’t give you that benediction, because, in the material nature no one can become immortal’. So indirectly Shiva told him thus, ‘okay only one person will be able to kill you’. ‘The only person is that, the eighth son of someone who is very dear to you. He will be the only one who can kill you,’ Shiva replied. Kamsa thought; how can a son of my dearest one kill me?. Thinking like that he accepted the deal. Kamsa became a sort of immortal like Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksha. They became immoral with the blessings of Brahma but here Kamsa became immortal by the blessings of Lord Shiva. So there was no one who can kill him. When mother earth along with the demigods went to Brahma, they were reminded that nothing can be done about Kamsa but to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then they went to Ksirodakasayi Vishnu and started to offer prayers to Him. After hearing the prayers Ksirodakasayi Vishu woke up from His yoganindra and enquired what has happened to them. Then the demigods headed by Brahma told Him what had happened. He said, ‘why the demigods give all kinds of benedictions to the demons and create disturbances on the earth planet? Then you all are coming running to me for rescue’. So He said who is this Kamsa? I will kill him just with the Sudarshan Chakra! Then Brahma appealed to the Lord that the Sudarshan Chakra would not be able to kill him. ‘The only way that Kamsa can be killed is that, if you take birth in the womb of Devaki and become her eighth son, then you will be able to kill him’, said Brahma. So Krishna assured Brahma that He will come and also asked the demigods to take birth on the earth planet in order to assist Him. So being instructed by the Lord many demigods took birth on the earth before the appearance of Krishna. There is also another underlying principle behind those instructions of Krishna.
When Krishna came to this earth planet, He gave actually the opportunities to the living entities to develop loving relation with him and get free from the material bondage and then go back home. From other planets one cannot get out of the material nature and go back to the spiritual sky. Only when there will be annihilation, at the end of Brahma’s day, some living entities may go back to the spiritual sky. Otherwise there is no way to get out of the material nature. The only way to get out of the material nature and go back to the spiritual sky is through this earth planet. This earth planet is like a doorway or a gateway to the spiritual sky. So when Krishna comes to the earth planet He actually invites the qualified people, qualified living entities to take part in His pastimes and develop loving relationship with Him and go back to Godhead.
We know that initially we perform Vaidhi bhakti. We practice devotional service. By practicing devotional service we can develop some attachment to Krishna. But this attachment cannot be fully developed. Unless our attachment to Krishna is fully developed we cannot go back to the spiritual sky. Therefore when Krishna performs His pastimes He gives us the chance, the opportunities to the living entities who are quite qualified and developed their love for Krishna to the extent that their final attachment is Krishna only, being fully Krishna conscious while on this earth, and then only they are considered as qualified, to go back to the spiritual sky. So when Krishna comes to the earth planet he allows different living entities to participate in His pastimes. Also He brings many of His eternal associates from the spiritual sky to participate in His pastimes. So in this way Krishna comes with the crew to play on the earth planet and also recruits some qualified candidates to act in His pastimes, from this material nature. Some of the demigods are recruited in Krishna’s pastimes. Just to give an example, Indra came as Arjuna. Yamaraja came as Vidura. Vayu came as Bhima. Another expansion of Dharmaraja was Yudhisthira. Asvinikumaras came as Nakula and Sahadeva. Laksmidevi became Pancali or Draupadi. Similarly many demigods came and took part in the pastimes and got qualified to go back to Godhead. So before Krishna came He commanded some superiors to appear on the earth planet. Those who are elders- like father and mother are Vasudeva and Devaki. Vasudeva is actually Kasyapa Muni. And Devaki is Aditi. Rohini is called Thuri ? Another wife of Kasyapa Muni. So Kasyapa Muni is the son of the Demigods. So he came to appear as the father of Krishna and Aditi as the mother.
Now there is another consideration. There was some questions. Like, Parikshit Maharaja raised. Krishna, right after his birth left Devaki and went to Nanda Maharaja’s house because Nanda Maharaj took him there. Thus Devaki did not get the chance to take care of Krishna as her own baby. So Parikshit Maharaja asked why Devaki, inspite of getting the Supreme Personality of Godhead as her son, could not get the real chance to shower her paternal affection. So in response to that, Sukadeva Goswami told to Parikshit Maharaja that in the previous kalpa, in Treta yuga when the Lord appeared as Ramachandra, His father Dasharatha has three wives- Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Sri Rama’s mother was Kausalya. When Rama was about to be enthroned, Kaikeyi became very envious. She was fond of Ramachandra, but she has a maidservant named Manthara who was ugly both outside and inside and instigated Kaikeyi. She told her that since Ram will be coronated, His mother, Kausalya will be glorified and her position will be nothing more than a maidservant. ‘Actually your son Bharata should become the king’ she said! Kaikeyi at first objected to that idea saying Rama is the eldest son and has the right to the throne but Manthara continued provoking her. She said, ‘there is one way that her son can become the crown prince and after the death of Dasaratha he can become the king’.
She reminded Kaikeyi a war in which Dasaratha was injured and was treated carefully by Kaikeyi and saved him. Owing to that service Dasaratha gave her two boons. At that time the boon was not taken. Now Manthara advised Kaikeyi to make use of that opportunity and ask Dasaratha. ‘With the first boon you ask Rama to be banished to the forest and as the second boon ask Dasaratha to install Bharata as the crown prince’, she told. Similarly Kaikeyi asked the two boons in the same way to Dasaratha. She demanded Rama to be banished to the forest for 14 years and wanted Bharata to become the king. Dasartha tried many ways to make Kaikeyi understand that it is not the right thing to do! When Rama learnt that, he volunteered to go to the forest in order to keep the vow of the father and let Bharata become the king. When Sri Rama left for the forest, Dasaratha calling His name- Rama, Rama, Rama, left his body.
After returning from the 14 years exile, Sri Rama came back and paid His obeisances to Kaikeyi and treated her as His own mother in a very, very respectful way. She felt embarrassed. Actually she was broken-hearted at the banishment of Rama. When Rama treated her so nicely she expressed her only desire is to get Him as her own son at some day. Lord Ramachandra said, ‘yes, in my next pastimes you will be my mother, but, I won’t drink your milk’. So that’s why Kaikeyi in the Lords next pastimes as Krishna, became Devaki. But Krishna did not drink her milk. So right after His birth, Krishna was transported to Nandagrama, Gokula, at Nanda Maharaja’s house. Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda treated Him as their own child there.
There is also another interesting consideration. Apparently it seemed that mother Yasoda gave birth to a daughter and that daughter was exchanged by Vasudeva with Krishna. Vasudeva kept Krishna in the lap of mother Yasoda and brought the daughter to the prison of Kamsa. But Jiva Goswami pointed out in the Harivamsa and also in the Brahmavaivarta Purana that, mother Yasoda actually gave birth to two children. One son and one daughter. That son is Krishna and the daughter is Yogamaya. So mother Yasoda actually gave birth to original Krishna and Vasudeva Krishna, the son of Vasudeva came to become one with Krishna, the son of mother Yasoda. Jiva Goswami gave many proofs to that. One proof given in this relation is that Krishna Himself said, ‘Vridavana parityaja kadapi kuchhana’, or “I never leave Vrindavana. I always stay in Vrindavana’’. So Krishna always stays in Vrindavana. He never leaves Vrindavana. And it’s also mentioned that, Krishna, the son of Yasoda. Krishna the son of Nanda. Krishna the moon of Vrindavana. So this Krishna must be the original Krishna of Vrindavan and so the original Krishna must be the son of mother Yasoda. So mother Yasoda gave birth to a son and that son is Krishna, but when Vasudeva brought his son, the son of Devaki, to the house of Nandamaharaja, that Nanda Maharaja’s son Krishna- the Nandanandana Krishna and Vasudeva Krishna became one. So the daughter was taken to the prison of Kamsa who was Yogamaya.
Now who are these two personalities, Yasoda and Nanda- Nanda and Yasoda? A Vasu named Drona was Nanda maharaja in his previous life. His wife was Hara who became mother Yasoda. Now how they became the father and mother of Krishna in these pastimes? In the previous pastimes as Drona and Dhara they performed great austerities in the Gangamadan mountain. They wanted to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. They performed many years of austerities. When Krishna did not appear, they felt so dejected that they wanted to give up their lives. They lit a huge fire and wanted to enter into the fire and give up their body. At that time there was an announcement from the sky that Drona and Dhara do not give up their body untimely. ‘Just be patient. You will be able to get the Supreme Personality of Godhead as your son in due course of time’; the voice announced. ‘When he would appear in Gokula, you will be the father and mother’ the voice pronounced. Then Drona and Dhara became very happy and came back to their house. In due course of time they left their body and in the next life they became Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna appeared as their Son.
The next personality we come to know is Sri Balarama. Who is Balarama? Balarama is Anantadeva. In Ramchandra’s pastimes Balarama was Lakshmana. When the Lord Rama came back to Ayodhya after killing Ravana and rescuing Sita, the residents of Ayodhya were very happy. They all glorified the Lord Ramchandra. He did a very wonderful act that He killed Ravana. At that time the great sage Agastya Muni was there and said that credit actually goes to Lakshmana. Everyone asked how was that possible! Sri Rama killed Ravana and did so many wonderful deeds and rescued Sita.
Besides, it is noteworthy that Ravana’s son Meghnatha was undefeatable. No one can defeat him. He was so powerful that even the demigods could not do anything. He was invincible. So conquering Ravana was impossible if Meghnatha was alive. But Meghnatha was killed by Lakshmana. Lakshmana could kill him because he was a perfect brahmacari. Not only he was a brahmacari, for fourteen years when they were in the forest, he did not eat anything. So the Lord Ramchandra Who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Who knows everything, exclaimed how was that possible? Sita was there and one Who is a perfect Brahmacari means one who doesn’t even look at the face of any women. Sita was there in the forest along with them and how could it be possible he did not have looked into her face and remained as a perfect brahmacari? The Agastya Muni replied, ‘Lakshmana did not look at the face of Sita. He all the time used to look at her lotus feet only’. Lakshmana admitted that it was true. He always looked at the feet of mother Sita and never looked at her face. Lord Rama said, ‘you claim that he did not eat anything for fourteen years, but I used to share with him the fruits! How can you say that he did not eat throughout fourteen year?’ Then Agastya Muni replied; ‘why don’t You ask Lakhsmana himself what he did with the fruits’.
Lakshmana said, ‘when you gave me some fruits I used to keep that in the forest’. Lord Rama said, ‘is it true? Hanuman, you go and see if the fruits were kept in the forest’. ‘Whether Lakshmana is telling the truth!’. So Hanuman went to the forest and brought all the fruits back. At this everyone were excited. How wonderful it is that for fourteen years he did not eat anything! Then Lord Rama said, ‘let me see whether he did not eat a single day. He counted all the fruits and five were missing. ‘How come that five fruits are missing? So you did not remain fasting all the fourteen years! Lord Ram told.
Lakshmana replied at this saying, ‘my Lord, you forgot to give me fruits in those five days’. Those five days were thus the days when you got the news of our father, Dasaratha’s death. The day Sita was stolen. The day I was struck by the saktisen of Ravana and I was made unconscious for which state Hanuman had to bring Visalakarani from the Gandhamadava hill and brought me back to life. The day He went to Patalaloka to kill Mahiravana. The fifth day was the day Sita was tested in the fire. So these are the five days Lord Rama forgot to give fruits to Lakshmana. Therefore those five fruits are in short. At this everyone started glorifying Lakshmana. Lord Rama was moved at the sacrifice of Lakshmana and declared to make him as His elder brother in His next pastimes. So as a result of that, in Krishna’s pastimes Lakshmana appeared as Balarama.
‘I have earlier mentioned about Radharani’, said Guru Maharaja and explained further. Radharani is the daughter of the king Vrsabhanu. In his previous life Vrsabhanu was the sun god Prabhakara. Prabha means radiance. Effulgence. The one who gives out light. Who gives out the light? The sun. Therefore another name of sun is Prabhakara. Sun wanted to have Srimati Radharani as his daughter. He performed great austerities and ultimately the Lord blessed him that when He would come for the next pastimes with Radharani, Radharani will appear as his daughter. That Prabhakara became the king Vrsabhanu and his wife is Kirtida or Kalavati. Radha was born as their daughter. Now Vrsabhanu has four other daughters.
King Krishnanu had five sons. They are: Vrsabhanu, Chandrabhanu, Subhanu, Maharbhanu and Bhanu. These five brothers had twenty children. Vrsabhanu had two children, one son and one daughter, Radha and Silabha. Chandrabhanu also has one son and one daughter, ie. Subahu and Chandravali. He also gave birth to four other children. They have names as Krishna, another friend of Krishna, Mahavali, Chitra and Champakala. Subhanu gave birth to Basudhama, Dhaam, Manibala, Lalita and Visakha. Bhanu gave birth to Madhumati, Kinkini, Rangadevi and Citralekha. And Mahabhanu gave birth to Stoka Krishna, Kapila, Gandhava and Tungavidhya. These are the eight principal gopis and twelve principal friends of Krishna. So these asthasakis are actually Radharani’s servants. The twelve friends of Krsna are also Radharani’s servants. Sridhama is her own brother and others are her cousins. So in this way we can see that all the immediate members are Radharani’s family. The 8 Gopis and 12 Gopa’s are the immediate family members of Srimati Radharani.
Rohini, the mother of Balarama gave birth to five sons. They are Balarama, Sarana, Sauva, Durgama and Kusinatha. She also gave birth to two daughters. These daughters are Citra and Subhadra. This Citra is not the Gopi Citra. She is Vasudeva and Rohini’s daughter and actually the first daughter of Rohini died soon after her birth. But after death she started to lament; that Krishna is coming to perform His pastimes and I am going to miss that! So she wanted to come back and she appeared as Subhadra. These are the brothers and sisters of Balarama.
There are some interesting descriptions about Radharani. Right from birth she was extremely beautiful. Everybody could acknowledge that she is the most beautiful baby in the world. King Vrishabhanu was very happy to have such a beautiful daughter. But they found that the eyes of this beautiful child are not opening. They were sad that the child was born blind although she is very beautiful. They accepted this as their destiny. In the Vedic culture one learns to accept everything as Krishna’s arrangement. So they do not lament much and accept everything as their destiny. They try to adjust their lives with that, for example if someone is very poor, he accepts that as his destiny. When we read the Puranas or the Vedic literatures we can see that everything is due to some previous arrangements. Noting happens by chance, so it is useless to try to change the destiny. Because everything has been arranged by the divine arrangement of the Supreme, also called the Vidhata. So the intelligent person does not take trouble to change his destiny. On the other hand he flows with the destiny and tries to reach the ultimate goal of life. What is the ultimate goal of life? The ultimate goal of life is to develop love for Krishna. So the Vedic culture teaches one to flow in the stream of time to reach the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. Instead of going against the current he flows with the current and reach the ultimate goal of life. Isn’t this intelligent? In the material nature what people do? They try to go against the current. As a result of that they become exhausted and they do not make any progress. Did you ever try to swim against the current? Go to the Ganga river and try that! So Vrishabhanu accepted the way his daughter was born and gradually he was happy.
In the mean time a son was borne in the house of mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda gave birth to a son. They were related to each other. King Vrsabhanu and Nanda Maharaja were close friends. There is also a noteworthy aspect. Actually Nanda Maharaja arranged the marriage of Vrsnahanu with Kirtida. Kirtida was very, very beautiful. So one day Nanda Maharaja went to that kingdom and saw this daughter surrounded by her friends. He was struck at her beauty and asked others about her. They told that she is the daughter of the king. So Nanda Maharaja went to that king.
This is also one of the very wonderful aspects of the Vedic culture. Generally if you would see a beautiful girl, you will think to marry her, but in Vedic culture, it’s not like that. When Nanda Maharaja saw such a beautiful girl Kirtida he thought such a beautiful girl will be the perfect match for my friend Vrsabhanu. So he went to the king and told him: ‘Your daughter is very beautiful. She is endowed with so many good qualities. All the good qualities are present in her personality. You must be willing to find a perfect husband for her. So if you want her to get married to a right person I can help you’. He put forward the name of Vrsabhanu the son of Krishnanu and assured that he would be the perfect husband for her daughter. This is how they were married.
Nanda Maharaja and Vrsabhanu were very very close friends. When Krisha was borne, they got to know that Radha was also borne in the palace of Vrsabhanu. One day mother Yasoda went along with her associates from Vrindvana to see Kritida and her daughter. They became very happy to see the beautiful daughter of Kritida. They exchanged their children to keep in their laps. Mother Yasoda took the daughter of Kirtida in her lap and Kirtida took Yasoda’s son in her lap. They could see that both of them were showing great attachment with each other. So they playfully kept both their children on the bed. When they kept both the children on the bed they saw all of a sudden that Radha’s eyes got opened. Actually she kept her eyes closed because actually she did not want to see anyone else accept Krishna. She was waiting for Krishna to appear before her and then only she opened her eyes. Everybody wondered as if this child knew some mantras. Although the child of Kritida and Vrsabhanu was already showing wonderful qualities this time they found their child’s eyes open and began to glorify Krishna.
(Here the recordings is interrupted, for about a few minutes of lecture are missing, 45.36).
His Holiness began another chapter here. To come back to the earth planet go to Vrindavana and do sankirtan. Sankirtan means chanting the holy name of Krishna with genuine feeling from the heart. When you call out, O Krishna, O Gopal, it should not be just a tongue service. It should be from the heart. We should desire really from our heart and say; Krishna! I can’t exist without you. Then only one can develop intense relationship and feelings for Krishna. Gopakumara was chanting in Vrindavana in that way. So one day he fainted and fell in the river Jamuna. He became unconscious. And in that unconscious state he saw himself sitting on a vehicle and moving in tremendous speed. When he came back to his senses he found out himself in Goloka Vrindavan.
One devotee asked a question. What was the age at that time of Krishna and Radharani? [Recording not clear].
Guru Maharaja replied. Generally Lord Krishna looks of the age of sixteen and Radharani of fifteen years of age. This is their eternal age. Now appearance wise Radharani appeared before Krishna. Let me tell about their appearance from Brahmavaivarta Purana. In the Brahmavaivarta Purana it is described that Radharani was baby when Krishna came and then only she opened her eyes. In the same Purana there is another reference. One day Nanda Maharaja was tending the cows in Khandava-vana. Krishna was on his back. At that time, by the arrangement of Krishna’s Yogamaya, there appeared a thick cloud. Nanda Maharaja became worried, what to do! He has a child in his lap and cows were there dispersed. He was worried whether to take care of the child Krishna or the cows. At that time Srimati Radharani came there. There in this description, it is given that Krishna was still a baby in his father’s lap and Radharani is fully grown up. She was a already extremely beautiful young woman. At that time Nanda Maharaja told Radharani what Gargamuni has told him earlier that. ‘You are Mahalaxmi Devi and this child of mine is Narayana himself. I know that both of you are performing your pastimes, so now please open the sky for me and let me take care of the cows’, Nanda Maharaja said. Radharani was very pleased at Nanda Maharaja and said, ‘yes ask for any boon’. Nanda Maharaja said, ‘give me the boon that I can always maintain my attachment to you and to this child’. Radharani told Nanda Maharaj, ‘let that be’, and asked him to go back with his cows. When Nanda Maharaja was gone Radharani exhibited such intense love to this child that her whole mind was lost in this personality. That time the little child also could not play His role properly. (Laughter among the listeners). He appeared suddenly to a young boy of about fifteen years old and then from the body of Radharani all the Gopis appeared, rasamandali was arranged and they enacted their first rasa dance there. After performing the rasa dance Krishna became baby again. Radha became very sad. Krishna became baby and gain and ‘now I won’t be able to exchange with Him the way I wanted’, she thought. Then she heard a voice from the sky: ‘Don’t worry, every night I will come and dance with you’. ‘You will also leave your shadow behind in your house and come to me’ the voice said.
So you have to understand that actually these are Krishna’s pastimes. Krishna is not bound by time and space like the conditioned souls. Therefore even if there appear some contradictions and differences in the scriptures, one should take them as the truth.
In response to next questions that appear too low to understand to transcribe, His Holiness replied : ‘Yes there is Vaikuntha liberation and if you do Navadipa parikramam, (with the ISKCON devotees), he or she goes to Goloka Navadipa Dhaam’. Devotees of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will not be satisfied in Vaikuntha. They will get bored there. The ultimate consideration of liberation is sambandha jnana. Sambandha means relationship. Krishna manifests in three ways; Brahma, Paramatma and Bhagavan. If one understands the absolute truth to be brahma then he will go to Brahma-loka. If someone realizes only the Supreme Personality as the Pramatma or Supersoul, then he will attain Paramatma liberation. Those who know the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Bhagavan and become the devotee of that Supreme Personality they will go to Vaikuntha planet.
Generally the ultimate consideration is, if someone realizes the above they will attain the supreme position which is beyond the material nature, but that understanding of the Supreme position may be impersonal, localized or their understanding may be the supreme loving object where He allows after having developed loving relationship and having loving exchange with Him.
Paramatma liberation is the liberation attained by the Yogis. They see the Super soul and the Supersoul is inactive. It’s just like seeing Him as the Supreme witness Who is the cause of everything but they don’t develop a loving relationship with Him. Vaikuntha situation is purely a neutral mellow. There is no servitorship.
In response to another question, His Holiness said; yes some becomes trees, but the trees in Vridavana are not in neutrality. The trees in Vrindavana are either in friendship or in parental love. They are not in neutrality. They are not in santa rasa although they appear like that. Actually in Vrindavana everything is moving, nothing is static. Everything is dynamic.
The next answer to the question of a Mataji is as follows. In other ages developing love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead was not very easy. There are two types of liberations. One is pramamukti and the other is satyamukti- the gradual liberation and instant liberation. The gradual liberation is like going to the higher and higher region, to the Goloka Vrindavana. That is the consideration for the gradual liberation. Satyamukti is when one develops his love for Krishna and then after getting his body he is already 100% purified despite of being in the material nature. Then his body is no more material although it appears material and also situated in the earth planet. Because of his love for Krishna, as soon as his body’s term is over he immediately goes back to Krishnaloka. This is what is happening by Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. This is why Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy is so rare. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is allowing us to develop intense love for Krishna directly instead of going through different stages of elevation.
To the questions pertaining to not taking the teachings if Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Holiness denounced saying, ‘that is the bad luck’. You get something precious but do not make use of it then who can be blamed? Just like the other day I mentioned a story. One king got drunk and opened his treasury and distributed his most precious jewels to anyone and everyone who were coming there. But after getting it he did not know what is that or doubted the value of the jewels for being handed to him for free, what can be done! So we must understand the value of Mahaprabhu’s mission.
His Holiness appreciated another devotee’s question. It was told that Nanda Maharaja is one of the Vasus and he became Nanda Maharaja in Krishna’s pastimes. Now isn’t Nanda Maharaja an eternal associate of Krishna?
Yes there are two considerations. One is Krishna’s eternal associate as I mentioned. Another consideration is that living entities get the chance to get elevated to take part in Krishna’s pastimes. In this case the living entity who was in the material platform got the chance to be elevated to Goloka Vrindavana. This Drona was not the original Nanda Maharaja of Vrindavana. He got the chance to play the role of Nanda Maharaja in Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan. In the spiritual sky many personalities can be one and one personality can be many. It is inconceivable. Nanda Maharaja is the eternal father of Krishna and Drona also got the position of Nanda Maharaja. Original Nanda Maharaja also came and they became one. Before elaborating much on ‘merging’ I want to mention that these merging of the different personalities is not like merging into the Supreme Brahman. One must be pure in mind to understand this. Similarly we can see that the Gopis are also culminated from different personalities, if we see from the material point of view. But at the same time the Gopis are the eternal associated of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. How do we reconcile that? We have to understand this from the scriptures although it’s beyond our conception.
There are personalities with the same names. Name may be the same but the personalities are different. Like Arjuna, there is Arjuna in Vrindavana as the cowherd friend of Krishna and not the son of Pandu.
Gopa-kumara was going to higher planets, or higher position. That has been described in the Bhagavatam. Since his position in relation to Krishna in Dwaraka was not in that kind or relation, he was not satisfied with that. Krishna was there with him. Although Krishna showed to himself as the cowherd boy and Laksmidevi as Radharani, or to say, although Gopakumara saw Krishna in that Vrindavana way, but still he was not satisfied. Until the time he reached Vrindavana he was not satisfied. So that is the indication of where our eternal relationship is. A better example of this is about Anupama, Jiva Goswami’s father, Rupa Goswami’s brother. Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami to Anupama, who was Rama bhakta, to become the devotee of Krishna. They explained why it is better to become the devotee of Krishna. Anupama asked for one night to think it over. Throughout the night he thought about it and next morning he went to Rupa and Sanatana and said, ‘please forgive me. I can’t give up my devotion to Sri Rama’. Here we have to understand that his eternal relation will be with Lord Rama only. In Chaitanya Caritamrita we can find in that respect, that in whatever mellow one is; that is for him the highest. He considers that to be the highest. If someone’s original relationship is in neutrality, he considers that to be the highest. If someone’s original relationship is conjugal or servitorship etc, the respective mellow will be considered the highest.
Referring to another question, His Holiness said over the gradual elevation- Sadamukti Just like, you can take an airplane to travel overland. When you travel overland, you will be going across different places and levels. When you go by plane you go direct. So the sadamukti is just like taking a flight.
On Mahaprabhu’s special mercy. Mahaprabhu’s special mercy is that if you practice, or if you follow instructions given in the Gaudiya Vaisna Sampradaya, in this body itself, in this lifetime you can achieve the goal of life. Because, the ultimate consideration is to develop the love for Krishna. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu has directly given that love. So whoever develops that genuine love for Krishna will go back to Vrindavana or Goloka Navadipa Dhaam.
On Krsna’s pastimes. The original Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna’s pastimes was enacted in the earth planet of every universe. Every universe has 14 planetary systems. Every universe has the middle planet, the earth planet. Krishna enacted His pastimes in every universe’s earth planet. Bhurloka, Bhuvarloka, Swarloka, Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka are the upper plants. The lower planets are Tala, Atala, Bitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Mahartaal and Patala. The middle one is the Bhurloka and that Bhurloka is the earth planet. And in every earth planet there is a place called Bharatvarsa. In that Bharatvarsa there is a place called Vrindavana. Lord Krishna comes and takes pleasure in His pastimes there.
So I will stop now. Thank you all very much. Jay Srila Prabhupada.