Gurudeva and ISKCON

Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja : On Raganuga-bhakti – Don’t ever joke with ladies. Don’t laugh with them or make them laugh
Nanda Baba concluded, “But in my opinion, He did not do it; it was actually our Deity of Narayana, our grha-devata.
Burijana dasa: The worshipful Deity of our home.
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: Yes, the Deity of our home. It was He who lifted Govardhana upon hearing our prayer. We prayed to Narayana, and therefore He answered our prayers. It only appears that Krsna has done this.
He is my son. If for argument’s sake we say that He is God, still He is my son. I will rebuke Him, I will discipline Him, and I will do whatever else is needed to make Him behave properly. I will keep him by my side.”
Here, Nanda Maharaja is actually seeing that all of Krsna’s virtues make Him appear like God, but even though Krsna had performed an act of God, Nanda Baba still cannot give up his belief that Krsna is his son.
Vasudeva and Devaki have a different conception. After killing Kamsa, Krsna and Balarama went to them in prison and untied their hathakari berhi
Sripad Tamal Krsna Gosvami and Sripad Dhanurdhara Maharaja: Shackles.
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: Shackles and handcuffs. The two boys wanted to offer obeisances to Their mother and father, who were standing with folded palms and praying, “Oh, You are God. We saw You…
Sripad Tamal Krsna Gosvami: In the wrestling arena?
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: We saw You when You originally appeared to us in a four-handed form, and now You have also come here before us.”
Krsna thought, “My pastimes will be…”
Sripad Tamal Krsna Gosvami: Spoiled?
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: “My pastimes will be spoiled by their mood of aisvarya.” He therefore called for Yogamaya to come. Yogamaya came, and at the same time Krsna climbed onto Devaki’s lap and began to weep. Then, by the effect of Yogamaya, Devaki also began to weep; and Baladeva fell at the feet of Vasudeva, who began to weep as well. But Vasudeva and Devaki never saw Krsna as their son; they always considered Him as God.
Here we see the aisvarya mood of Vasudeva and Devaki. It is accompanied with some madhurya, but so little that that madhurya cannot cover the aisvarya. But in Vraja, even if there is an abundance of aisvarya, Yasoda and Nanda do not forget that He is their son; they always remember this. For example, their breasts swell with pride as they observe, “Oh, Krsna has lifted Govardhana Hill. My son has done this? Oh, now all of Vraja can see how strong and powerful is my son.” *[See endnote 2]
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given these good examples, as he has also given examples for madhura-rasa. Regarding the gopis, he gives the example of the occasion that Uddhava went to Vraja to give them consolation. At that time Uddhava heard Radhika telling the bumblebee, “O bee, go at once! Get out of here. We will have no sandhi with Krsna. What is the meaning of sandhi?
Burijana dasa: Connection, no connection.
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: When two parties come to some agreement in court, what is that called?
Sripad Dhanurdhara Maharaja: Settlement.
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: Mutual settlement.
Sripad Giriraja Maharaja: I looked it up in the Brahmara-gita, and it means ‘reconciliation.’
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: Yes. “We cannot make any reconciliation with Him. We know who He is. We know who this person is, from His many previous births; not just from this birth.”
This is the ‘aisvarya’ mood of Radhika and the gopis. This is how they ‘realize Krsna’s Godhood.’ They say, “Paurnimasi has told us about Krsna, and we have faith in her words. She told us that in His previous birth He was Rama, and He had the same blackish color as Krsna [deep green is also called ‘syama’] He loved Sita so much that He became Her servant; when He went to the forest He even took Her with Him and became her order-supplier. He cannot live alone, just as Krsna cannot live alone. Krsna always has to keep some lady with Him.
“Sita once told Him, ‘Oh, look at that golden deer! Please go and bring it to me, either dead or alive. If it is alive I will take it to Ayodhya when our time of exile is finished, and at that time I will give it to Kaikeyi Ma or Bharata. And, if it is dead, I will make a mrgachalla from it.” Do you know the meaning of mrgachala? It is used as an asana.
Burijana dasa: Deerskin.
Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja: “‘Or, I will make a very soft deerskin asana. In either case, I want it.’
“Laksmana warned Rama, ‘I think this is the maya (illusory creation) of demons. You must not go.’
“But we know that even Lord Brahma cannot change the mind of a lady once she has determined something, and what to speak of Rama, who is a servant of that lady. So Rama went to capture the deer.
“At another time Surpanakha (a man-eating demoness) came disguised to Rama, saying, ‘I am so beautiful, and You are so handsome. I want to marry you. Your wife is not as beautiful as I. I am available for you.’ Rama replied, ‘Better to go to Laksmana. He is unmarried. My wife is here, so I cannot accept you; but He is single, so you can go to Him.’ Surpanakha then went and told this to Laksmana, who asked her, ‘Do you want to be a maidservant or do you want to be the queen?’ She answered, ‘I want to be the queen.’ Laksmana replied, ‘I am the servant of Rama. If you wed Me, you will be a maidservant. Rama can have many marriages and every wife will be a queen. So return to Rama.’ Again Surpanakha went to Ramacandra, who directed her back to Laksmana. Finally she became furious and was ready to eat Sita. At that time Rama told Laksmana, ‘Don’t joke with her. Great harm will come of this.’”
Don’t ever joke with ladies. Don’t laugh with them or make them laugh.