don't imitate them
|
A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Śrī Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rāsa-līla with ordinary men. Some of them think that to hear about the pastimes of the Lord means to hear about His activities with the gopis or about His pastimes like uplifting the Govardhana Hill, etc., and they have nothing to do with the Lord's plenary expansions as the purusavataras and Their pastimes of creation, maintenance, or annihilation of the material worlds. But a pure devotee knows that there is no difference between the pastimes of the Lord, either in rasa-lila or in creation, maintenance or destruction of the material world. Rather, the description of such activities of the Lord as purusavataras are specifically meant for persons who are in the clutches of the external energy. Rasa-lila, etc., are meant for the liberated souls and not for the conditioned souls. The conditioned souls, therefore, must hear the Lord's pastimes in relationship with the external energy with appreciation and devotion, and such acts are as good as the hearing of rasa-lila in the liberated stage. A conditioned soul should not imitate the activities of liberated souls. Lord Sri Caitanya never indulged in hearing the rasa-lila with ordinary men.
(More...) Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/?qg=881
|