Garden Conversation, Kṛṣṇa book, "Delivery of the Message of Kṛṣṇa to the Gopīs" – June 18, 1972, Los Angeles

720618GC-Los Angeles [13:10 Minutes]

In spite Krsna's all cruelty, I cannot withdraw

Prabhupada: ...what happened, not only this time; in previous [indistinct]. Let me explain. Previous to this he has also sinned. What is that? Oh [chuckles].

Devotee: [reading from Krsna book, 'Delivery of the Message of Krsna to the Gopis'] " ' So Lord Ramacandra, as a ksatriya, should have fought with Vali face to face but, instigated by His friend, He killed him from behind a tree. Thus He deviated from the religious principles of a ksatriya. Also, He was so attracted by the beauty of Sita that He converted Sūrpanakha, the sister of Ravana, into a ugly women by cutting off her nose and ears. Sūrpanakha proposed an intimate relationship with Him, and as a ksatriya He should have satisfied her. But He was so selfish that He could not forget Sita-devi and converted Sūrpanakha into an ugly women.

" 'Before that birth as a ksatriya, He took his birth as a brahmana boy, known as Vamanadeva, and asked charity from Bali Maharaja. Bali Maharaja was so magnanimous that he gave Him whatever he had, yet Krsna as Vamanadeva ungratefully arrested him, just like a crow, and pushed him down to the Patala kingdom. We know all about Krsna and how ungrateful He is, but here is the difficulty: In spite of His being so cruel and hard-hearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him. Not only are we unable to give up…' "

Prabhupada: This is the difficulty. "He is the most sinful, but we cannot give up His talking. That is our difficulty." This is love. [indistinct] all life for Him, I love him [indistinct] all life forms I love Him. Similarly here, gopis' position is they are finding out so many discrepancies in the life of Krsna, but they cannot give up. The difficulty is they cannot give up to stop this thought.

Devotee: " 'But here is the difficulty: In spite of His being so cruel and hard-hearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him. Not only are we unable…' "

Prabhupada: This is called real love-that the lover may be most cruel, but still the lover cannot withdraw the love. That is perfect love. Aslisya va pada-ratam [Siksastaka 8]. This is Vaisnava philosophy. "Krsna may be very cruel, but I cannot withdraw my love for Him." This is real love. "If Krsna benefits me, then I will love," then that is not love; that is business.

But "In spite Krsna's all cruelty, I cannot withdraw," this is real love. That is only possible with Krsna. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted that there is no better conception of worshiping Krsna than it was contemplated by the gopis. That is the topmost worship of Krsna. There is no comparison. There are different grades of devotees, but nobody can be compared with gopis, the topmost love for Krsna.

Go on.

Devotee: " 'But here is the difficulty: In spite of His being so cruel and hard-hearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him. Not only are we unable to give up this talk, but great sages and saintly persons are also engaged in talking about Him. We gopis of Vrndavana do not want to make any more friendships with this blackish boy, but we do not know how we shall be able to give up remembering and talking about His activities.' "

Prabhupada: That is [indistinct]. "We don't want this blackish. [laughter] But how to give up His thought? That is our problem. We don't want Him at all." One… There is a prayer. Krsna, great sages, yogis, they tried to capture Him within your heart-but they cannot do. "But our position is that we want to drive You away from our heart; we cannot do that." They want to capture Krsna within the heart, but they cannot. But "You are so strongly seated in our heart that we want to drive You away so that we can divert our attention to other things. But we cannot do it. So please go away from our heart." This is gopis [indistinct]. Ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhū-vargena ya kalpita [Caitanya-manjusa].

Go on.

Devotee: "Since Krsna is absolute, so-called unkind activities are as relishable as His kind activities. Saintly persons and great devotees like the gopis cannot give up Krsna in any circumstances. Lord Caitanya therefore prayed, 'Krsna, You are free and independent in all respects. You can either embrace me or crush me under Your feet, whatever You like. You may make me brokenhearted by not letting me see You throughout my whole life, but You are my only object of love.'

" 'In My opinion,' Srimati Radharani continued, 'we should not hear about Krsna, because as soon as a drop of the nectar of His transcendental activities is poured into the ear, one immediately rises above the platform of duality-attraction and rejection. Being completely freed from the attraction of material attachment, one gives up the attachment for this material world: family, home, wife, children and everything which is materially dear to every person. Being dispossessed…' "

Prabhupada: Once Krsna conscious, then he has no other thought. No duality. This is monism: one. According to gopis, this is monism.

Go on.

Devotee: " 'Being dispossessed of all material acquisition, one makes his relatives and himself unhappy. When he wanders in search of Krsna, either as a human being or another species of life, even as a bird, it is very difficult to actually understand Krsna-His name, His quality, His form, His pastimes, His paraphernalia and His entourage.'

"Srimati Radharani continued to speak to the black messenger of Krsna: 'Please do not talk anymore about Krsna. It is better to talk about something else. We are already doomed, like the black spotted she-deer in the forest who are enchanted by the sweet musical vibration of the hunter. In the same way we have been enchanted by the sweet words of Krsna, and again and again we are thinking of the rays of the nails of His toes. We are becoming more and more lustful for His association; therefore I request you not to talk of Krsna anymore.'

"This talk of Radharani with the bumblebee messenger and Her accusing Krsna..., and Her accusing Krsna, and at the same time Her inability to give up talking about Him, are symptoms of the topmost transcendental ecstasy called maha-bhava. The ecstatic maha-bhava manifestation is possible only in the persons of Radharani and Her associates. The ecstatic maha-bhava manifestation is possible only in the persons of Radharani and her associates. Great acaryas like Srila Rūpa Gosvami and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have analyzed these maha-bhava speeches of Srimati Radharani, and they been described…, and they have described the different sentiments such as udghūrna, bewilderment, and jalpa-pratijalpa, talking in different ways. In Radharani is found the science of ujjvala, or brightest jewel of love of God.

"While Radharani was talking with the bee and the bee was flying hither and nither, it all of a sudden disappeared from Her sight. She was in full mourning due to separation from Krsna and was feeling ecstasy by talking with the bee. But as soon as the bee disappeared, She became almost mad, thinking that the messenger-bee might have returned to Krsna to inform Him all about Her talking against Him. 'Krsna must be very sorry to hear it,' She thought. In this way She was very much overwhelmed with another type of ecstasy.

"In the meantime, the bee, flying hither and nither, appeared before Her again. She thought, 'Krsna is still kind to Me. In spite of the messenger carrying disruptive messages, He is so kind that He has again sent the bee to take Me to Him.' Srimati Radharani was very careful this time not to say anything against Krsna.

" 'My dear friend, I welcome you,' She said. 'Krsna is so kind that He has sent you. Krsna is so kind and affectionate to Me that He has sent you back, unfortunately, in spite of your carrying My message against Him. My dear friend, you can ask from Me whatever you want. I shall give you anything because you are so kind upon Me. You have come to take Me to Krsna because He is not able to come here. He is surrounded by new girlfriends in Mathura. But you are a tiny creature. How can you take Me there? How will you be able to help Me in meeting Krsna while He is taking rest there along with the goddess of fortune and embracing her to His chest?

" 'Never mind. Let us forget all these things about My going there or sending you. Please let Me know how Krsna is faring in Mathura. Tell Me if He still remembers His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, His affectionate mother, Yasoda, His cowherd friends and His poor friends like us, the gopis. I am sure that He must sometimes sing about us. We served Him just like maidservants, without any payment. Is there any possibility that Krsna will again come back and place His arms around us? His limbs are always fragrant with the aguru scent. Please put all these inquiries to Krsna.'

"Uddhava was standing near, and he heard Radharani talking in this way, as if She had become almost mad after Krsna. He was exceedingly surprised at how the gopis were accustomed to think of Krsna constantly in that topmost ecstasy of maha-bhava love. He had brought a message in writing from Krsna, and now he wanted to present it before the gopis, just to pacify them.

"He said, 'My dear gopis, your mission of human life is now successful. You are all wonderful devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; therefore you are eligible to be worshiped by all kinds of people. You are worshipable throughout the three worlds, because your minds are wonderfully absorbed in the thought of Vasudeva, Krsna. He is the goal of all kinds of pious activities and ritualistic performances, such as giving in charity, rigidly following the austerity of vows, undergoing severe penances and igniting the fire of sacrifice.

" 'He is the purpose behind the chanting of different mantras, the reading of the Vedas, controlling the senses and concentrating the mind in meditation. These are some of the many different processes for self-realization and attainment of perfection of life. But actually they are only meant for realizing Krsna and dovetailing oneself in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.'

"This is the last instruction of the Bhagavad-gita also. Although there are descriptions of different kinds of processes of self-realization, at the end Krsna recommended one should give up everything and simply surrender unto Him. All other processes are meant for teaching one how to surrender ultimately unto the lotus feet of Krsna. The Bhagavad-gita also says that this surrendering process…" [break] [end]