Posted on: 14 Nov 2019
[This question is part of a mahā satsaṅga or a great spiritual discussion between Swami and several devotees who had come from various places, seeking the clarification of their doubts.]
Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Yoga means the first meeting with God. Yoga ends after meeting God in human form once. After that, continuously staying close to the Human Incarnation will bring negligence to any human devotee because the properties of external human medium are common to both the human devotee and God-in-human-form. The devoted soul observes that the Human Incarnation of God also possesses a human body similar to his own and that the Incarnation’s body too, exhibits all the usual properties of a human body such as birth, hunger, thirst, sleep, illness and death. Observing the commonality in the external medium of God, the devotee begins to think that God is also a human being like him.
Both Rukmiṇī and Rādhā met God Krishna and became His climax devotees. But Rukmiṇī, being His wife, always stayed with Krishna whereas Rādhā stayed away from Krishna in Bṛndāvanam. One day, Rādhā came to see Krishna. Rukmiṇī offered hot milk to Rādhā. Rukmiṇī too used to drink hot milk every day. The hot milk given to Rādhā that day was not at all hotter than the milk that Rukmiṇī used to drink every day. After Rādhā finished drinking the hot milk, both went to the room of Krishna. They found that Krishna was uncomfortable. When Rukmiṇī asked Him the reason for His discomfort, Krishna replied that His whole body was burning due to the hot milk. He explained that it had happened because He resided in the heart of Rādhā and hence, He got burnt when she drank the hot milk! Rukmiṇī asked Krishna why he was unaffected even though she (Rukmiṇī) used to drink the same hot milk every day. Krishna told her that it was because Rādhā had immense love for Him since she lived far away from Him. It meant that Rukmiṇī did not have as much love for Him since she was very close to Him. Realising this truth, Rādhā went back to Bṛndāvanam and never came back to see Krishna till her death.
Rādhā, along with seven other Gopikās, including Citrā, Lalitā, Viśākhā etc., who had passed the three tests of Krishna, reached Goloka. Rādhā became the queen of Goloka. Goloka is the highest world, which lies even above the abode of God. Krishna created this world especially for Rādhā and the Gopikās, so that the dust from Rādhā’s feet would continuously fall on His head! Rukmiṇī, along with seven other wives of Krishna, reached the abode of God and sat near the feet of God as servants pressing His feet! This story reveals that closeness always brings negligence, whereas staying far away causes love to grow to its climax. When devotees are trying to reach God for the first time (yoga), that yoga does not lead to any negligence in the devotees’ mind since they are not continuously staying with God. It is only after attaining yoga that staying close to God continuously, leads to negligence due to the repulsion between the common human media of God and the devotee. The Veda declares the same concept “Parokṣa priyā iva hi devāḥ pratyakṣadvishaḥ”.
| Shri Dattaswami | Rukmini Radha Chitraa Lalitaa Vishaakhaa Paroksha priyaa iva hi devaah pratyakshadvishah