Book excerptsPinnacle of DevotionThe Gopīs' Selfless Love

The Gopīs’ Selfless Love

By His unconditional mercy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to this world to give unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam. I have explained that although the affection and service Kṛṣṇa receives from His friends and Yaśodā-maiyā and Nanda Bābā is very elevated, it is not unnatojjvala-rasa.

I have discussed the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam pastime wherein Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s queen, Rukmiṇī, fully gave her heart to Him. The following story illustrates a pastime of Satyabhāmā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s most dearly beloved queen. Although very exalted, her love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is still not unnatojjvala-rasa.

Satyabhāmā’s Transcendental Anger

Once, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and all His queens were sitting in His assembly hall; some fanned Him with a peacock fan, others with a cāmara, and others served Him in various other ways. At that time Nārada Muni[1] arrived, holding a pārijāta flower from heaven. The pārijāta was so beautiful, so aromatic, and so sweet that it made all of Dvārakā fragrant. Nārada Muni approached Śrī Kṛṣṇa and requested, “I am giving this flower to You. Right now, in my presence I would like You to give it to Your most beloved queen.”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, “Nārada is very tricky, and now he wants to create a problem for Me.” He knew that if He would give the flower to any queen, the others would be upset and angry with Him. He wondered, “Why is Nārada doing this? What shall I do?”

Nārada Muni repeatedly requested Kṛṣṇa to give the flower to His favorite queen, saying that this would make him very happy. Seeing no means of escape, Kṛṣṇa considered, “I cannot cheat Nārada, because he is so expert at cheating others.” He took the pārijāta flower and looked towards all His beautiful queens, who were all thinking, “Kṛṣṇa loves me the most.” They were all sure of this, because whenever He met with any queen, He told her, “Oh, you are My dearest queen.” Each was convinced that she would receive the flower.

Because Rukmiṇī was the seniormost queen, Kṛṣṇa placed the pārijāta flower in her hand, and she became very happy. “I am so fortunate to be Kṛṣṇa’s most beloved,” she thought. “Now it is clear that I am His favorite.”

Seeing this, the lips of the other queens began to quiver, especially Satyabhāmā’s. She became like a very poisonous snake that becomes highly disturbed and begins to hiss when provoked with a stick.

While Nārada Muni relished this scene, Kṛṣṇa considered that He was in very big trouble and wondered what to do.[2] Satyabhāmā was so angry that she could not control or hide her emotions. She immediately left the assembly and, removing her very beautiful royal garments and ornaments, stormed into the ‘anger room.’

Previously in India, the king’s palace had a kopa-bhavana (anger room). In this way, when any queen was in an angry, sulky mood, she would take off her royal garments, dress in old, dirty, worn and torn garments, and enter that room. Sitting or lying down, not on a bed but on the ground, she would weep and lament. Then, if the king heard her, he would come to her, find the cause of her anger, and appease her.

Satyabhāmā wept loudly in the palace kopa-bhavan, taking many long breaths. Kṛṣṇa was aware of the seriousness of the problem, and therefore He left the assembly and silently entered the room. Then, sitting by her side He tried to caress her feet, but she reacted like a furious lady snake and kicked His hands away.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa was very expert at pacifying angry ladies, because He had had so much experience in Vṛndāvana with the gopīs. Because He had pacified Śrīmatī Rādhikā so many times, it was easy for Him to pacify Satyabhāmā. He did not need His flute in Dvārakā, because the queens’ sulky mood was not so high that Kṛṣṇa would need it to pacify them. If He simply showed some anger in response to theirs, they would become submissive.

Once, when Kṛṣṇa was glorifying the gopīs in the royal assembly, Satyabhāmā could not tolerate this, and she left. Kṛṣṇa became angry and announced to the entire assembly, “She should get out of My palace. I don’t want to see her. Her father, Satrājit, is wicked, and she is also wicked.” Someone went to Satyabhāmā and told her what Kṛṣṇa had said, and she immediately returned to Him, in a mood of submission, her anger subsided.

The gopīs, on the other hand, were not living in Kṛṣṇa’s palace, nor was He supporting them with food, clothing, or any material facility. Therefore, they were not in any way subordinate to Him. Rather, like Him, they were independent. They could chastise Him, whereas He could not chastise them. They would say, “Go from here. You do not support us. We take nothing from You. We are not obliged to You.” He could not pacify them very easily.

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa would fail in His attempts to pacify Śrīmatī Rādhikā, He would take the help of Lalitā and Viśākhā. If this also failed, He would take the help of Subala. If that failed as well, He would take His flute and play a tune steeped in pitiable lamentation due to a mood of separation from Her. Through His flute He would tell Her, “I cannot live without you. I am dying, I am dying,” and then Rādhikā would accept Him.

Once, because of Kṛṣṇa’s behavior, Śrīmatī Rādhikā was experiencing so much māna (Her sulky mood) that She would not come to meet with Him. Many days passed. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was grievously lamenting and wanted to find a way to pacify Her. He therefore took shelter at the lotus feet of Lalitā and Viśākhā, who whispered some suggestions into His ear. Following their advice, He came in the morning to Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s home in Yāvaṭa, dressed as a student begging alms. Wearing a sacred thread and wooden sandals, and carrying an umbrella made of palm leaves, He called, “I am a brahmacārī, a disciple of Gargācārya. I remain at a house only as long as a person would take to milk a cow. If I leave empty-handed, many calamities may befall you. Your cows may die, or the master of your cows may die along with all the members of your household.”

Jaṭilā, Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s mother-in-law, saw this very beautiful student, as brilliant as the sun, calling out, as māyāvādī-sannyāsīs do, the name of impersonal, powerless, qualityless Brahman: “Alaka nirañjanaAlaka nirañjana!”

Seeing that He was begging alms, Jaṭilā wanted to give Him a donation, but He refused to take anything from her. “I cannot tell if you are married, unmarried, or if you are a widow,” He said. “If there is a chaste lady who has the symptoms of being married[3], only then will I accept any alms.”

Jaṭilā went inside the house and told Śrīmatī Rādhikā, “Dear daughter, a very powerful student yogī has come, and the rays emanating from His body are like the effulgence of the sun. He looks like a scholar of the Vedas. Perhaps He is the student of Gargācārya. Do not disobey or dishonor Him. Please, give Him some alms.”

Śrīmatī Rādhikā refused: “Because you always accuse Me of being unchaste and speaking with boys, I will not go to Him, even if He is a scholar or a yogī, or even if He has all other good qualities.”

Jaṭilā repeatedly requested Her, but Śrīmatī Rādhikā was not willing to comply. Jaṭilā then told Lalitā and Viśākhā, “She refuses to obey me. If She does not give alms to that boy, all of our cows will die, and my son Abhimanyu will also die. Please help me.”

Lalitā and Viśākhā approached Śrīmatī Rādhikā and told Her, “You should obey your mother-in-law and give alms to that scholar.” Somehow they convinced Her to agree, and therefore She took some grains, flour, gheedahl, gold coins, and other valuable objects and placed them in a golden pot. Then, completely covering Her face with Her veil so that it could not be seen, She came out of Her room with the help of Her sakhīs and very slowly approached the place where Śrī Kṛṣṇa was standing. She began to place the alms in His begging cloth, but Kṛṣṇa refused. “I cannot accept this,” He said, “My sole reason for coming here from afar is to beg You to put Your anger in My cloth. If You simply smile and give Me Your anger, I will be satisfied. Otherwise, I will die.”

A very slight smile appeared on Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s face as She upturned the pot, not in His begging cloth but on His head. Laughing along with Her sakhīs, She immediately returned home with them and Kṛṣṇa was satisfied.

In this way, Kṛṣṇa had to try in so many ways to pacify Śrīmatī Rādhikā and the gopīs. If His flute-playing failed, if Lalitā and Viśākhā failed, if Śrīdāma and Subala failed, and if He Himself failed, He had to discover a new method.

In Dvārakā, however, He had no use for His flute, for Lalitā and Viśākhā, or for Subala or Śrīdāma. His chastising words were threatening enough for the queens, but that was His final weapon. Here, He spoke to Satyabhāmā in a very mild voice.

“Why are you so angry?” He asked Satyabhāmā. “I merely gave Rukmiṇī one flower. I will give you a tree full of pārijāta flowers and plant it in your courtyard. Please don’t be angry.”

Satyabhāmā said, “Go away, I don’t want to see You. You are a liar and a cheater. I cannot believe a word You say. Several times You have told each one of us that we are Your dearmost beloved. You say this, but You don’t mean it. You cheat us all.”

Kṛṣṇa replied, “I am not cheating you. Have faith in Me. Test Me. Please give Me another chance.”

“Yes, I will give You one more chance. If, as You have said, You can plant a pārijāta tree full of flowers in my courtyard, then I will be happy.”

“Come on,” Kṛṣṇa said.

He sat with Satyabhāmā-devī on the back of His bird-carrier Garuḍa, and together they traveled to Indra’s kingdom. On the way Kṛṣṇa killed the demon Narakāsura, and when He and His queen arrived He told Indra, “You always say that I am your friend, so now I am asking you for one pārijāta tree. I will take it to Earth and plant it in the courtyard of Satyabhāmā. Nandana-kānana is full of pārijāta trees. Be pleased with Me and give Me one tree from there.”

Indra replied, “Oh, You dare to speak like this to me? Leave heaven at once and return to Earth. Not even one flower from the pārijāta tree, what to speak of an entire tree, can be given to worldly persons. How is it that You were able to come here? One cannot enter heaven without performing austerities for hundreds of thousands of years. You should go now.”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “I have come here with the sole purpose of taking the tree, which I will now uproot.”

When Indra still refused, Kṛṣṇa, who was carried by Garuḍa, went to Nandana-kānana and uprooted a pārijāta tree. Kṛṣṇa then began His return journey to Dvārakā, but when He was halfway there, Indra and his son and all his soldiers attacked Him in an attempt to take back the tree. At that time Kṛṣṇa’s son Pradyumna came there and defeated the son of Indra, Jayanta. Kṛṣṇa Himself defeated Indra and his soldiers, and then returned to Dvārakā.

He then called all the queens to the home of Satyabhāmā, and in front of them all, He planted the pārijāta tree in her garden. Satyabhāmā became so happy, and she tried to honor all of Kṛṣṇa’s other queens. If Kṛṣṇa had given the tree to Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā would never have gone to Rukmiṇī’s palace, whereas here we see that Rukmiṇī was present at Satyabhāmā’s palace and was quite grave. Although she was thinking, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa is more pleased with Satyabhāmā, who is now His most beloved wife,” she did not reveal any symptom of her unhappiness.

Even though there seems to be some envy in Dvārakā, actually there is no chance of any inimical emotion there. Rather, this display of emotions is one of the stages of transcendental love, for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. At the same time, although Satyabhāmā’s affection and service to Kṛṣṇa is so glorious, it is not unnatojjvala-rasa. This most glorious love is unique to the gopīs.

Unique To The Gopīs

Though there are many varieties of groups of gopīs, they can be said to be in two categories: nitya-siddha and sādhana-siddha:

  1. Nitya-siddha: The nitya-siddha (eternally perfect) gopīs are also of two kinds:
    • kāya-vyūha, the direct bodily expansions of Śrīmatī Rādhikā.
    • nitya-siddha-jīvas, the eternally perfect living entities manifested from Baladeva Prabhu and having gopī forms. They never at any time come in contact with the material energy.
  2. Sādhana-siddha: These gopīs are also of two categories:
    • ayauthikī, those who are not in groups, but who came to prakaṭa Vṛndāvana (where Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are manifest in this world) either individually or in a pair.
    • yauthikī, those who came in groups. Yauthikī gopīs can be further divided into three categories:
      1. ṛṣi-cārī or muni-cārī, the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya forest.
      2. śruti-cārī, coming from the group of the personified Vedas and śruti-mantras.
      3. those coming from Janakapura. When Rāma went to Janakapura to marry Sītā, the unmarried princesses there had a desire to marry Him.

Having performed sādhana for many lifetimes, the sādhana-siddha gopīs had completely given up their anger, lust, greed, and worldly desires. Gradually they had received niṣṭhā (steadiness), then ruci (taste in chanting and other devotional practices), and then āsakti(natural attachment). Eventually, from the heart of the rāgātmikā-gopīsśuddha-sattva had entered their hearts and they attained bhāva and then prema. This position is very, very rare.

The devotees in prakaṭa Vraja, the place in which Kṛṣṇa performs His manifest pastimes in the material world, are so rare. They have no worldly desires, pains, sufferings, or sorrows; they are not even aware of such desires or sufferings, having become freed from them in their stage of sādhana[4]. They had attained this freedom from material contamination while still in the stage of sādhana, many lifetimes previous to their having become perfect.

When they had reached the most advanced stage of bhāva, they took birth in Vraja and began to associate with the eternal associates of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Those who were already married had no connection with their husbands, because Yogamāyā was protecting them.

The kāya-vyūha (bodily expansions) of Śrīmatī Rādhikā directly and freely entered rāsa-līlā in the groves of Vṛndāvana. No obstacles prevented them, and Yogamāyā made all arrangements for them as well as for the nitya-siddha gopīs. The sādhana-siddha gopīs, however, who had for the first time taken birth in earthly Vraja during Kṛṣṇa’s manifest pastimes, were stopped.

Who are the sādhana-siddha gopīs? Some had worshiped Kātyāyanī with the hope of receiving a benediction that Śrī Kṛṣṇa would become their beloved. They had prayed,“kātyāyanī mahāmāyāmahā-yoginy adhīśvarinanda-gopa-sutaṁ devī patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ– Please give me the benediction that Kṛṣṇa will become my husband.” Actually, the gopīs were young and had no real idea of having Kṛṣṇa as a husband; they had no real idea of ‘husband.’ They had seen that their parents were married. They had seen that their relatives were living with their own husbands. Thus, being attacted to Kṛṣṇa’s enchanting beauty, they were simply thinking of Him as their ‘play husband.’ They wanted Him only as their beloved.

Some of the sādhana-siddha gopīs had taken birth in Vraja from the womb of gopīs. They were each married to one of the gopas, and due to hearing the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, they developed great affection for Him and a desire to meet with Him. On the night of the rāsa-līlā, when they heard the sound of His flute, they made an attempt to meet Him but were stopped by their husbands.

Other sādhana-siddha gopīs, those who had sufficient association of the nitya-siddha gopīs, went to meet Śrī Kṛṣṇa without restriction. Only those who had recently arrived there, and those who had taken birth for the first time in Krsna’s manifest pastimes on Earth, were checked.

Why were they checked? It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that a slight kaṣāya (obstacle) remained in their hearts, from which they had to become free. Thus, when their husbands checked them, their hearts burned in the fire of separation. The intensity of their feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa burnt any aśubha (inauspiciousness) still present in their hearts. In their meditation, they took Kṛṣṇa into their hearts and embraced Him there so tightly that in that meeting with Him their subha (auspiciousness) also disappeared.[5]

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu met the dacoits Jagāi and Mādhāi, He did not cut off their heads. No weapon was used. Rather, He changed their moods and they began a new life. They did not continue their past activities, because all results of their sinful and pious activities had been burned.

It is necessary to understand that worldly pious and impious activities are both binding because they both impede one in rendering service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In the stage of sādhana, reactions to both good and bad activities are destroyed. In Sanskrit, good and bad activities are called puṇya (pious activities) and pāpa (sins). With the reactions to these two types of activities awaiting us, we will have to take birth again and again. So they will have to be given up, and then we will attain āsakti and then bhāva.

The sādhana-siddha gopīs who had recently taken birth in Vraja had already passed through all these stages and entered into the wombs of gopīs. If there were no pious and impious activities, no puṇya or pāpa, then what was burned?

An analogy is given of ripe and unripe mangos. Ripe mangos may be eaten immediately, whereas unripe mangos require heating so that they may soon ripen. Similarly, those gopis who had sufficient eagerness could immediately join the rāsa dance, while others, feeling the intense burning heat of separation from Krsna when they were stopped by their relatives, became qualified to meet with Him on another night.

A Trick of Yogamaya

As mentioned earlier, some of the sādhana-siddha gopīs had newly arrived in Vraja and had never personally met Kṛṣṇa; they had only seen Him from afar. Some had come originally from Indraprastha and were newly married to Vrāja gopas; thus they had lived in Vraja for only a few months or a few years. Some had come from other parts of Vraja and had recently come to Nandagāoṅ and Yāvaṭa through their marriages. Among these sādhana-siddha gopīs, those who had not had sufficient association with the nitya-siddha gopīs could not freely meet with Kṛṣṇa, although they wanted to. Then, when they took Him into their hearts by their intense feeling of separation from Him and strongly embraced Him there, they became qualified to meet Him on another night.

When the gopīs were still little children, Yogamāyā played a trick on Brahmā by entering his mind. She made him desire to personally induce Krsna to perform further pastimes. By her influence he thought, “If I steal His calves and cowherd boys, what will He do?” He skillfully stole them and placed them in a cave for one year. At the end of that time he came to see what Kṛṣṇa was doing, and he became quite puzzled. Kṛṣṇa was playing as usual. He had expanded into millions of calves and cowherd boys, and was playing with them daily as He always had, as if nothing had happened. He then gave Brahmā the mercy to realize that all the calves and friends were His own expansions.

Why did Śrī Kṛṣṇa perform this pastime with Brahmā? One reason was that all the cows had more affection for Krsna than for their calves, and desired that He would become their calf. They desired this, and He had to fulfill their desire.

When Kṛṣṇa would come home in the evening after cowherding, the elderly gopīs would kiss Him with great motherly love, but after a moment He would run into Mother Yaśodā’s home and disappear from their vision. They wanted Him as their son, so that they could unrestrictedly offer Him their heartfelt motherly affection. Kṛṣṇa had to fulfill their desire as well.

More importantly, all the girls of Vraja wanted Kṛṣṇa as their beloved. Therefore, when He took the individual forms of the millions of cowherd boys. Paurṇamāsī told everyone that that year was auspicious for everyone’s marriages. The young gopīs were thus married to thosegopas who were actually expansions of Kṛṣṇa.

To Reach That Goal

We should perform neither material pious nor impious activities. We must try to engage all our activities in Kṛṣṇa’s service. If we perform activities for ourselves or for the pleasure of others, in order to do good for them materially, this is called ‘pious activities,’ and this will create obstacles in our spiritual development. If we make a temple in order to show the world that we are performing great work, and think, “I am the creator of this temple. I will receive so much name and fame,” this will also be an obstacle for our bhakti. We must act only to please Kṛṣṇa, Gurudeva, and pure devotees.

If at the time of sādhana, we engage in activities other than pleasing Kṛṣṇa, our sādhana becomes hampered and we will not be able to enter Vraja. Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī explains the meaning of sādhana-bhakti, and it is necessary that we acquaint ourselves with its true meaning. Sometimes we chant harināma with our hearts full of worldly desires andanarthas[6]. We do not know what is sādhana-bhajana or what is love and affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We only chant because our guru has told us that by chanting harināma everything auspicious will be achieved. This is surely correct, but at the same time our harināmachanting should be pure and with some realization of our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. We must give up all worldly desires, all anarthas, and all offences, and even the desire for Kṛṣṇa to be our husband. That will be real sādhana.

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir-uttamā.

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.1)

Uttama-bhakti, or pure devotional service, is the cultivation of activities which are meant exclusively for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In other words, it is the uninterrupted flow of service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, performed through all endeavors of the body, mind and speech, and through the expression of various spiritual sentiments (bhāvas). It is not covered by jñāna and karma, and it is devoid of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

All kinds of worldly desires, as well as desires to achieve Vaikuṇṭha or Dvārakā, should be given up. The practitioner of pure sādhana-bhakti does not cover his bhakti by taking the help of karma (fruitive activities) and jñāna (the philosophy of impersonalism). He has no desire other than the desire to please Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees, and to attain pure bhakti. He engages his body, mind, and words in Kṛṣṇa’s service, and also serves Him by his moods. He avoids any activity that will create an obstacle in his bhakti. Such pure activity is called pure sādhana-bhakti.

Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja explains in Caitanya-caritāmṛta:

kṛti-sādhya bhavet sādhya-
bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya
prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā

(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtaMadhya-līlā 22.105)

When transcendental devotional service by which love for Kṛṣṇa is attained is executed by the senses, it is called sādhana-bhakti, or the regulative discharge of devotional service. Such devotion eternally exists within the heart of every living entity. The awakening of this eternal devotion is the potentiality of devotional service in practice.

Let us remember this philosophical truth, keeping it in our hearts. Let us pray to become qualified to understand it.

If you do not understand, you can inquire from senior Vaiṣṇavas, and if you are still not satisfied, you may come to me with your questions and I will try to answer them. These meetings are very good and rare opportunities to discuss these highest of topics. If you lose this opportunity, it may be lost forever. It is very rare to have this association, so try to make it successful. Do not miss even a word. By this, you will see yourself developing towards perfection in bhakti.

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[1] Śrī Kṛṣṇa ordered Yogamāyā to inspire Nārada to come and assist Him in performing new pastimes. Nārada was very pleased to come to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mission.

[2] Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to give away the flower after some time, and thus ‘cheat’ Nārada, but He allowed Nārada to ‘cheat’ Him. This increased His own pleasure because He is bhakta-vatsala, meaning that He always desires to please His devotee. He wanted to be ‘defeated’ by Nārada. Nārada knew that Kṛṣṇa wanted to create new pastimes; he wanted to fulfill Kṛṣṇa’s desire to kill Narakāsura and deliver the 16,000 imprisoned princesses, and he was also eager to see these pastimes.

[3] In Vedic culture sindūra, bindi, conchshell bracelets, and red lac painted on the feet are some signs that a lady is married.

[4]Sādhana-bhakti is of two kinds: vaidhī and rāgānuga. When uttamā-bhakti is accomplished through the medium of the senses of the conditioned soul, it is called sādhana-bhakti. That bhakti which is accomplished through the function of the senses, and by which bhāva-bhakti is obtained, is called sādhana-bhakti” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu-bindu, Verse 2, Śrī Bindu-vikāśinī-vṛtti).

[5] “Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī hides the confidential desired goal of the gopīs from materialistic people. By the words duḥsaha etc., he expresses the external meaning, as well as the deep inner meaning that is dear to devotees who have knowledge of confidential devotional service.

“First he speaks for materialistic people: ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa granted liberation to the gopīs.’ This means that when the gopīs experienced the acute pain of separation from their most dearly beloved, the inauspiciousness (aśubha) in their beings vanished. The result of their auspicious activity was also destroyed as they experienced the bliss of embracing Acyuta (Kṛṣṇa) in their meditation. Therefore, the bondage of past activity was destroyed, they attained the Supersoul by thinking of Him as their paramour, and they gave up their bodies made of three modes of nature.

“Now he speaks for devotees: At the time of intense meditation, the gopīs experienced extreme sorrow due to their fire-like separation from their beloved, and they also attained the unparalleled happiness of meeting with Him. In this way their desire was fulfilled. Furthermore, the immense suffering of separation from their dearmost beloved humiliated all inauspiciousness. The intolerable fire of separation from one’s beloved exceeds the power of all things that inflict death, beginning from the forest-fire and ending with the kāla-kūṭa poison (the severe and fresh poison of a serpent). In this fire, all inauspiciousness renounced its pride in its severity and, conceding defeat, began to tremble.

“As soon as Lord Acyuta came in the gopīs’ meditation, their transcendental bodies made of prema and endowed with appropriate self-conception manifested, and He embraced them. The relief the gopīs experienced at that time conquered all material and spiritual auspiciousness. That is, in comparison to the blissful embrace of their beloved who appeared in their meditation, the material happiness of millions of universes as well as the spiritual bliss of thousands of Brahman attainments appeared quite inferior” (Sārārtha-darśinī, Chapter 29, Verse 10, Bhāvānuvāda).

[6]Anarthas are of four kinds: (1) svarūpa-bhrama (illusions about spiritual identity); (2) asat-tṛṣṇā (thirst for that which is unreal, that is, material enjoyment); (3) aparādha (offenses); and (4) hṛdaya-daurbalya (weakness of heart)” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu-bindu, Verse 3, Śrī Bindu-vikāśinī-vṛtti).

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