DEVOTION TRANSFORMING TO SUPREME LOVE TOWARDS GOD (contd…)
Commencement of Rasa Lila
Krishna once promised the Gopis that
they shall enjoy His company in the coming nights.
Seeing those autumnal nights, Lord
Krishna wished to enjoy
Himself with the help of the inconceivable power of
Yoga Maya and to satisfy the long craving of the Gopis. The moon appeared on
the horizon. He played on His flute so sweetly as to enchant the Gopis and to
steal their hearts.
Hearing that sweet music which kindles
the fire of divine love and intensifies the desire to meet God, the Gopis with
their hearts captivated by Lord Krishna, unperceived by one another in their
attempts to meet Him, hastened to the place where their beloved Lord was, with
their ear-rings rocking to and fro.
When Sri Krishna, the most generous and
the Almighty Lord thus honored the Gopis by sporting with them, they were
elated with pride. They thought that they were superior to all women in the
world.
Perceiving their arrogance produced by
their good fortune and also their great pride, Keshava (Krishna) suddenly
disappeared from the spot to curb their pride and to bless them as well.
Gopis’ Love
Gopis’ love for Krishna was not a
physical passion. It was supreme love. For them Lord Krishna was the living
God. He was the moving image of the Supreme Lord. Their faith was intense. When
they thought of Lord Krishna they forgot their worldly activities. They were
merged in the love of Krishna.
Lord Krishna attracted their hearts
from His very boyhood. He was a very beautiful child. He was beauty incarnate.
So the Gopis began to love Krishna from His very birth.
Gradually the love for Krishna assumed
the shape of intense Prema (divine love). They thought of Krishna alone when
they churned the curd, when they took water from the well. They sang His
praises when they took bath. They remembered Him when they took food and at all
times. Their minds became Krishnamaya by incessant practice of Smarana
(remembrance) of the Lord.
At the time of Rasa Lila, He multiplied
Himself into so many Krishnas. The Gopis were struck with wonder and amazement.
All their idea of physical love entirely vanished due to this miracle.
They
witnessed the showers of flowers poured from the skies by the Devas. They saw
the Vidyadharas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Charanas, etc., singing the praise of the
Lord.
They enjoyed the blissful company of the Lord at the time of Rasa Lila, a
bliss millions of times greater than the bliss they would enjoy through sense
objects. They enjoyed the bliss of Samadhi or union with God.
This wonderful and unprecedented
experience made the Gopis firmly believe that Krishna was not an ordinary
mortal. They had firm conviction that Krishna was the Lord Himself, though
sometimes they saw Him as the son of Nanda and Yasoda only.
The idea of Lord
Krishna as God was not strong in them till the time of Rasa Lila due to the
Yoga Maya of the Lord.
The superhuman miracles of Krishna in
his childhood made them believe in his Omniscience and Omnipotence.
Would there
be a worse fool in this world who would have lower passion towards the Lord who
is the bestower of all desires of men?
Rasa Lila is divine sport (Kreeda) with
the devotees for bringing about their union with the Lord through Prema or pure divine love.
Rasa is the sweetest juice of Prema. It is the manifestation of divine love or
higher emotion which takes the devotee to the magnanimous height of holy
communion with the Lord.
Lord Krishna’s Rasa Lila is the mystery
of mysteries. It is the secret of secrets. It is not a matter for intellectual
discussion. It is a holy matter for silent meditation for devotees.
It should
not be divulged to insincere critics or those who have no devotion to the Lord.
It should be studied with reverence and faith.
It contains Madhurya Rasa,
the crowning glory of Bhakti, which leads to absolute self-surrender and
absorption in the Lord.
Sri Krishna performed the Rasa Lila to
destroy carnality by means of pure love or Prema.
He showed that through Madhurya
Rasa one can effect total self-surrender or Atma-Nivedanam, and attain
Sayujya or absorption in the Lord or husband of our hearts.
Rasa Lila was a sport (Kreeda) which
was meant to build up the faith, to strengthen spirituality towards holiness,
to improve the minds of the Gopis in particular and humanity in general.
Krishna was ten years old when he
performed the Rasa Lila. During the dance, the Gopis saw Krishna only, within,
without, around and everywhere.
They forgot all about their homes, husbands,
children and parents. Their hearts melted in Lord Krishna, the Supreme Soul.
The fire of devotion brought about a fusion of hearts.
The glue of Prema cemented their hearts
with Krishna. The Gopis were not ordinary women. They were exalted personages.
The whole Rasa Lila is pervaded by only
pure divine love, or culmination of Bhakti. It is a sacred Yajna. The
individual souls (Gopis) melt themselves in the Supreme Soul or Lord Krishna in
their highest devotion. The two become one.
It is the realisation of oneness of
Vedanta through Para Bhakti. The relation between Sri Krishna and the Vraja
Gopis was most sacred. There was not a tinge of carnality in it.
Can there be a
tinge of carnality in one who is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the
three worlds who is the womb of all created beings, who is an embodiment of
purity itself, who is the protector of Dharma and who is the world-teacher?
The Rasa Lila had for its object
spiritual unification with the Lord. Absorption in the Lord or oneness, is only
possible through pure love and love alone, which the Gopis of Brindavan had.
The tie between Lord Krishna and the Gopis was divine love wherein there was
not the least tinge of physical passion.
Love.
surrenders himself to Me, I will ask My brother Bharatha to step down and make Ravana, the king of Ayodhya, I never asked any one for anything, so I am sure, if I ask Bharatha for this, he will gladly offer Ayodhya to Ravana”.
