A Study of the Bhagavata Purana or Esoteric Hinduism Part 60

It is to those and those only that eagerly desire to make this inward journey that the Vrindavana Lila is addressed.

Nanda is bliss, he is spiritual Bliss the Bliss of an Antar Mukha. It is spiritual bliss that attracts spirit unto itself. It is the field for spiritual growth, the nursery ground of enthusiastic devotion and, what is more, of devotional love. The ideal spiritual bliss is that of Radhika and of her fellow Gopis. It is the Bliss aspect of isvara that in the Jiva causes mutual attractions and makes devotion a law, a necessity. Reflected in the Universe at large, it is the one bond that holds together all beings, and becomes a force of attraction on all planes. Man is guided by bliss in his relations to the Universe. He is guided by bliss in his relation to himself.

Nanda is located in the brain, in the thousand-petalled Lotus. The spiritual seat in the head is Gokul, the first abode of Nanda.

Krishna appears in Gokul. The devotee sets out on his devotional journey.

The first impediment of a devotee is Mala or impurity. In spite of himself, he cannot get the better of his pa.s.sions, his personal desires.

They have such a strong and apparent charm, there is such an hereditary and acc.u.mulated attraction toward them, that they easily overcome the devotional life in its infancy. The fascinating Putana overtook all by her charms and she found an easy access to Krishna himself. She made an attempt to nurse Krishna with poisoned milk. She was killed and Mala was removed (X. 6.)

The next impediment is Vikshepa or distraction. The mind, with its load of outside experiences always responding to the outside world, is so much distracted, thinking now of this and now of that, that it has to be set right before further development is possible. The cart has to be upturned, with its load of food-articles, the cart of mind with its load of experiences. That is, the man has to become Antarmukha (X. 7.) When this is done, the Asura of distraction, Trinavarta or whirlwind, is easily killed (X. 7.). The Gopis were now void of impurities and void of distraction; yet more they were being attracted to Krishna. Krishna favored them by stealing the fruits of their karma or action and accepting them for himself. Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, "You have a right to the Karma only and not to the fruits thereof." The senses of the Gopis used to roam about in the performance of daily duties, and they brought back perceptions and conceptions for the day which were worked out by the Gopis as duty required. The perceptions and conceptions are the milk-products and milk. They were churned into the karma of the Gopis. The senses are the cows; the outside objects of perception, their gra.s.s. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana says: - "_Ghrita_ is obtained from milk, _Yajna_ is performed with _Ghrita_, and all happiness arises out of the performance of Yajna." _Prakriti Khanda_.

The preparation of milk products is the karma or sacrifice of the Gopis.

(X. 8.).

The husk-stand is the discriminating faculty, that which separates the husk from the grains. When Krishna becomes fastened to the discriminating faculty (not that any one can fasten him with any effort of his own), when right and wrong are centered in him, self becomes abnegated and offered up entirely to Krishna, Egoism and ignorance, the pair of Arjuna trees disappear, though deeply rooted in man (X. 10).

When fruits are offered to Krishna, there is a rich return (X. 11.).

We have reached here a point in spiritual progress. Personality has been completely given up. Brain intellect is no longer congenial to spiritual progress. The head r.e.t.a.r.ds the spiritual man and does not carry him forward.

The elders of Gokula sat in council and they decided to leave Gokula for Vrindavana.

Vrindavana is the Heart. The eight-petalled lotus in the heart is the permanent abode of Sri Krishna. The twelve forests are twelve centres 4 x 3, the primary number being 4, the number of the sacred Tetraktys.

Within the heart, the only Purusha is Sri Krishna. AH others have to make themselves pa.s.sive to Him. The Gopis, the ideal devotees of the Purusha in the heart, left the world outside, their husbands and homes, and placed themselves entirely at the service of the Divine Lord. Let us approach the sublime truths of the Vrindavana Upasana with the utmost solemnity possible. Those who cannot bring themselves to an exalted appreciation of the Vrindavana Lila had better not read the Bhagavata at all.

The Gopas and Gopis went to Vrindavana. Rama and Krishna headed the Gopa boys and looked after the calves.

What are the cows and calves? Who are the Gopas, the Gopa boys and the Gopis?

Once more let us understand the triad - Adhyatma, Adhibhuta and Adhidaiva. Take sight.

The sense of sight comes in contact with the outside world and carries the perception of sight to the possessor of the eye, under the guidance of a conscious energy. The senses and the mind are Cows or Adhyatma. The outside world is gra.s.s or Adhibhuta. The possessor of the senses and the mind is the Gopi, the Ego or Jiva. In Vrindavana, the Gopis are the highest Jivas or Rishis, as explained in the Upanishads. The conscious energy is the Gopa or Adhideva.

The Adhidevas are the Vedic Devas, as we have already seen.

The Gopas are reincarnations of the Devas, as explained in the Upanishads.

Ordinarily the Gopas lead the cows or the Adhi-Davas lead the senses, but in Vrindavana the Devas surrender themselves entirely to Krishna.

The calves or the Vatsas are the modifications of the senses and the mind - the Vrittis.

In Vrindavana, Rama and Krishna first tended the calves. The Gopa boys were the attendants of Rama and Krishna, the parishads or companions who reached very near the state of divinity, the work-mates of Bhagavan in the preservation of the universe.

The Lord tended the Vrittis of the mind. Therefore they could not go astray.

Now let us follow up the working of the divine in the heart of the individual and the killing of all obstacles.

_Vatsa, Baka, Agha and Brahma_. - The Vatsa Asura is a Vritti of the mind. If a non-spiritual Vritti becomes unconsciously mixed up with the spiritual Vrittis of the mind, it has instantly to be killed.

Baka or the crane, stands for religious hypocrisy. Spiritual life rejects all hypocrisy, all traces of untruth, in any form.

When these two Asuras are destroyed, a third Asura appears on the scene, the terrible Agha. Agha is sin, an evil deed. The sins of a man, his past evil deeds, stand up for a while and swallow up all that is divine in him. Even G.o.ds can not overcome Agha. Those who know the struggles of a devotee know very well how hard it is when all that is evil in man the acc.u.mulated tendencies of innumerable births, rise up in rebellion as it were at a certain stage of his progress. Who else but Sri Krishna can save a devotee at such a crisis. The flesh itself has to be destroyed and the whole nature changed. The devotee undergoes a second birth as it were. His Vrittis are not the Vrittis of yore; even the energies that guide these vrittis undergo change.

Every Brahmana knows the Mantra that is recited for the suppression of Agha (Agha-marshana). It goes back to the pre-manifesting period, when days and nights did not exist.

The serpent Agha swallowed up Krishna and his companions.

Krishna came out victorious and he revivified his companions.

The Vrittis underwent change by this process and also those that guided them. It was another creation altogether. The forms and varieties of Brahma's creation had no meaning now in them.

What if the Vrittis were now removed from the Gopis or the Gopa boys kept out in a body? They all lost their distinctive features; their differences were gone. All was become divine - the Vrittis and the Gopa boys.

So when Brahma concealed the calves and the Gopa boys, he only thought of his own creation. The Vrittis and the Gopa boys came out in divinity which was now their only reality. They were all parts of Sri Krishna himself. They were manifestly sparks or rays of atma itself. The senses and the mind were now irresistibly drawn towards their calves. The Gopas were more than ever attached to their boys. Balarama noticed this and spoke to Krishna. The query of Raja Pariks.h.i.t and the reply of Suka explain the whole position. This brings us to the end of the k.u.mARA LILa of Sri Krishna which prepares the way for the union of the human soul with the over-soul, of Jiva atma with Parama atma. We come next to the POUGANDA LILa when Krishna guided the mind itself and all were attached to Him.

_Krishna, the tender of the cows._

Rama and Krishna were now in charge of the cows themselves, the senses and the mind.

_The Kaliya serpent._

Yama is the Death-G.o.d. The river Yamuna is his sister. _Kaliya_ is from kala or time. Kaliya with its one hundred hoods is the lifetime of one birth, represented by one hundred years. The serpent could not be killed but only sent away from Vrindavana. The devotees got over the periodic death-transformation.

_The conflagtation and Pralamba._

As the followers of Krishna were saved from death on the one hand, so they were saved from conflagration (annihilation of form) and loss of the Ego (Balarama) on the other hand.

In the kingdom of Divine Bliss, everything now was divine. The purified mind did not go astray. It remained entirely attached to Sri Krishna.

Personality was now thoroughly conquered. The Jiva had acquired matter congenial to the plane of the first Purusha, and he no longer ran the risk of death or annihilation. The Gopis completed their homeward journey and they knew nothing except their Lord Krishna. They gave up all for the sake of the Lord. The Lord was all in all to them. They were bound to Him by the most sacred ties of devotional love. We shall now see how they became united to the Divine Lord.

_The Gopis and the stealing of their clothes._

The rains followed the summer and there was a flow of spirituality all around. The autumn followed and it was calm, clear and transparent.

When the water is pure, transparent and calm and the sun is over it can anything prevent the reflection of the sun's image on its bosom? The Gopis drew unto themselves the image of Sri Krishna. There was no muddiness in them as in ordinary mortals; they had not the calls of other desires.

It is not till the ear ceases to hear the outside world, that it is open to the music in the heart, the flute of Sri Krishna.

The Rupa of Krishna becomes manifest when all worldly Rupas lose their charm.

The Gopis even smelt the divine fragrance of Sri Krishna; they felt his divine touch and they tasted the honey of Sri Krishna's lips.

The charms of the world all dead and gone, there remains only one attraction, that of Sri Krishna, the only Purusha in Vrindavana.

The Gopis now had a right to approach Sri Krishna as their lover. They became full of Him (_tanmaya_), and they worshipped Katyayani (Yoga Maya) to gain their object. (X. 21.)

It was then that Sri Krishna stripped them of their clothes (X. 22.) No false shame, no false considerations should now deter the Gopis. They should lay themselves bare before Sri Krishna. No hiding, no half speaking. "Virtuous girls, I know your resolve. It is to worship me. I also approve of it and so it must succeed." This was the long and short of the whole affair. The Gopis saw they were found out. So it was to be a matter of open love now.

We shall pa.s.s over a few digressions before we come back to the Gopis and the consummation of their love (Rasa Lila).