Madhura Bhakti (sweet devotion) was discovered, developed and dragged to climax by the devotees only and not by God. It is the main theme of the scripture Bhāgavatam. Without understanding the topic, some religions try to mock at Hinduism. For the first time in 5000 years, Shri Swami is explaining why this is the highest scripture that gives salvation to the soul in 7 days. The triad (Tripuṭī) of this topic is also highest since 1) Gopikas (Gantā) are the highest reborn sages, who were being worshipped even by angels, 2) Kṛṣṇa (Gamyam) is the highest form of incarnation (Paripūrṇa tamaḥ) and His highest abode is Goloka, which is higher than Brahma loka and 3) The path (Gamanam) adopted to reach the highest goal was liberation from all worldly bonds including the bond with life-partner in which even worldly justice is opposed (Sarvadharmān... Gītā).
Read these articles to know more on Madhura Bhakti.
[Prof J.S.R. Prasad asked:- Saashtaanga Namaskaaram Swami. I heard a professor saying that the Sanskrit book ‘Gita Govindam’ is full of eroticism and for some time, it was banned from the general reading in the medieval times. She also commented that it had an impact on the later Bhakti movement in India. Kindly enlighten me on this point.]
Swami replied:- Everybody reads a verse at the end of the most holy ritual called ‘Sandhyaa Vandanam’, which is done three...
[Ms. Bhanu Samykya asked:- Swami, by revealing about God creating His illusory forms for the sake of sweet devotion, does God want Madhura Bhakti devotees to continue in this path or change it? I mean what is the final message for the Madhura Bhakti devotees from God?]
Swami replied:- There are two types of advices. First type of advice aims at your welfare and its taste is sour to your mind. Second type of advice is not bothered about your welfare and aims to give sweetness...
Shri Anil asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, Swami, can we extend the concept of real Krishna having romance with real Radha and illusory Krishna having romance with Gopikas to the case...
Shri Durgaprasad asked: Paadanamaskaaram Swami, my question is related to Your new revelation about created forms of Krishna. I summarise from Your earlier discourse about sexual actions of Vyaasa and Shankara - "Sage Vyasa participated in the sex with the widow-wives of His brothers on the order of His mother for the extensio...
(Śrī Rādhā Viṣāda Yogaḥ)
25) Daiva pātre'pyahaṃ bhaktā – pātre tvaṃ bhakta dohade |
Mānavī mānava śreyaḥ – kṛte bhakti tamārthinī ||
[Since we both are in the roles of devotee and Divine Preacher, I have to treat you as a devotee only so that you can stand as the ideal devotee for all the other devotees. Therefore, there is necessity of My testing of your level in the devotion. I have to decide whether your devotion is in the human level or divine level. If your devotion...
(Śrī Rādhā Viṣāda Yogaḥ)
1) Ekadā vyathayā Rādhā, Tyaktvā Bṛndāvanaṃ vanam|
Mahārāsād gatā dūraṃ, Rudantī madhurasvarā ||
[Once upon a time, in the Dvāpara age, Śrī Rādhā left the Mahā-Rāsa dance taking place in the forest of Bṛndāvanam and went very far from the forest...
QA:48-53
48. Is sweet devotion cheap and fake because it is based on Arthavaada?
[Since the sweet devotion is based on the illusory forms of God and devotees are made to believe them as real forms of God based on Arthavaada, sweet devotion is appearing very cheap and fake to me. Also, God loses His credibility if a devotee learns about the concept of Arthavaada. To whatever God says, there exists a 50:50 probability with...
QA: 40-47
40. Why doesn’t God come as female and become the wife/darling for a male devotee in the path of sweet devotion?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked]
Swami replied:- God is bearing all the creation as supporter and He is called as Bhartaa (Supporter) for the entire creation. Bhaaryaa means the maintained (supported item). On a table, there are several items. The table is not only supporter for all the items, but also is the supporter for each item. Hence, God is the supporter (Bhartā – Bibharti iti Bhartā) of the entire creation and also is the supporter for each individual...
QA: 37-39
37. What is the main reason for God to encourage sweet devotion for reaching Him?
[A Series of Questions of Ms. Thrylokya]
Swami replied:- Only through the strongest bond with God, one can reach God. Some have sweet devotion bond as their strongest bond because the tastes of souls are always different (Loko bhinna ruciḥ). Hence, each soul has a different strongest worldly bond...
QA:32-36
32. Will Radha be upset by seeing the forms of Her husband satisfying thousands of His wives?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked: Due to permanently imposed ignorance, the knowledge given by God Krishna cannot stand in Radha for long time. Throughout her life, will Radha not feel upset again and again by seeing the forms of her husband satisfying thousands of His wives?]
Swami replied:- What all you said is correct if Radha was in the state of full ignorance covering her since birth for the sake of her future role to act as devotee. But, God Krishna explained her the entire background...
QA: 27-31
27. Can Radha distinguish between real Krishna and unreal Krishna?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked: Can Radha distinguish between real Krishna and unreal Krishna? If she simply has to believe the words of Krishna that herself and Krishna are one and the same, she is just like every other Gopika, who is believing the same since Krishna says the same sentence to every Gopika. How did Radha believe Krishna? Didn’t she doubt Krishna at any point of time?]
Swami replied:- Assuming that Radha is not the incarnation of God Shiva and assuming that she is an ordinary Gopika, the understanding of true spiritual knowledge is based on both the preacher and disciple. If both are human...
QA 21-26:
21. Swami, what is the historical background of sweet devotion starting from the beginning of the creation or Kruta Yuga or Satya Yuga?
[A Series of Questions of Ms. Thrylokya]
Swami replied:- In Kruta Yuga, there was no sweet devotion. Even if sweet devotion existed, it was not against justice, which means that it was confined between husband and wife only. In that time, God never said that the devotee shall cross justice for the sake of God as said in the end of Dvaapara Yuga (Sarvadharmān parityajya… - Gita). Any type of justice was not crossed for the sake of sweet love...
(Today is my Birthday and Swami answered my question stating that His answer is my Birthday gift. - Thrylokya)
Ms. Thrylokya asked: Swami, You told that Madhumati embraced Sage Dattatreya with sweet devotion towards her husband only. You may say that her fault is to embrace her husband while Dattatreya is doing the worship of God and hence, she was cursed by Dattatreya to become a demon. But, Madhumati knows that Dattatreya...
QA:13-20
13. Did the Gopikas divert their uncontrollable lust towards God or transformed their true devotion into lust for God?
[Thank You for the wonderful answer given to Shri Phani Sir on his birthday. My question is whether the Gopikas divert their uncontrollable lust towards God or did they transform their true devotion for God into lust for God?]
Swami replied:- The sages have no lust at all. That is why, at the time of Rama, they had full confidence that they will pass the test for the bond with spouse very easily. They have rejected...
QA:9-12
9. Is my following hypothesis correct?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, the word 'Radha' is not mentioned in the entire Bhagavatam. After listening to Your answer about how Krishna created His unreal forms to satisfy Gopikas, I framed the following logical hypothesis:- Firstly, Radha is an imaginary character created by Krishna and described as His real female form. To satisfy all the Gopikas based on devotional justice, Krishna has to tell and prove...
QA: 4-8
4. Why did not the 12 Gopikas get the association of real form of Krishna?
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, You told that unreal Krishnas were dancing with all the Gopikas during the test of Daareshanaa. But, 12 Gopikas passed all the three tests and attained Goloka as reward. Since they are not married-women anymore, why didn’t they get the association of real form of Krishna in Goloka?]
Swami replied:- The soul does not change after leaving the gross body on the earth. Whatever objection is there for soul and God in this world, the same objection will apply to the same soul and same God even...
QA-3:
3. Swami, can You explain the contradiction between the following statements.
Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, can You explain to me the contradiction between the two statements:- i) God Krishna satisfied the sexual desire of sweet devotion of Gopikas to encourage them in the spiritual path to reach God for permanent association through the similar sweet devotion. ii) God Krishna while satisfying Gopikas did not lose His celibacy since God Brahma told that Krishna is the real celibate. Please don’t use the omnipotency...
QA-2:
2. Since we cannot distinguish between real and unreal forms of God, how can we believe this theory of illusory Krishnas?
Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, I have forwarded Your reply to the learned person. He shared the below text “Every political leader before elections, tries to bring an emotional angle while canvassing for votes. The answer about real Krishna and Gopikas as Father and daughters based on the Gita verse appears like that coverup only. God definitely did not realize the fact of being their...
(Some of my friends, who are atheists, have asked these questions on sweet devotion and related topics. I have sent those questions to H.H. Shri Datta Swami, who has answered these questions. - Ms. Thrylokya)
1) Why does God Krishna appear like having fascination for females and wealth?
Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Swami, God is misunderstood due to the topic of sweet devotion or Madhura Bhakti. Greater devotees like Hanuman exist even without Madhura Bhakti and Hanuman is not lesser than Radha. Draupadi loved Krishna as sister and surpassed all the romantic bonds through her sacrifice in tearing...
Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- When Rama and Sita or Krishna and Radha are meeting, Sita and Radha are getting the satisfaction that they got the union with the God-component. In the case of Gopika and illusory Krishna, the Gopika is not getting that satisfaction because the God-component is absent in illusory...