Posted on: 21 Oct 2006
[One converted Christian from Hinduism (Shri Shastri), who is a Sanskrit scholar, visited Swami on this festival day. He told that he was attracted to Christianity by the spotless character of Jesus and was very much repelled by the bad character of Krishna regarding Gopikas. Swami replied him, which is given below as the divine message on Deepavali. After hearing the reply from Swami, which was spontaneous discourse, Shri Shastri bowed to the divine lotus feet of Swami with tears and went away silently.]
Reply of Swami: If you are converting your religion just for the sake of your liking to Jesus, there is no objection, because liking has no reason. But, if your conversion is based on repulsion to Krishna, I will not agree to it. Similarly, if a Christian is converted to become Hindu, due to liking on Krishna, I have no objection. But, his conversion should not be due to repulsion to Jesus. Same God exists in Krishna and Jesus. Krishna and Jesus are like two shirts of the same person with different colours.
Christianity is represented by Jesus only. But Hinduism is represented by various forms of God like Rama, Shiva etc. Rama is equal to Jesus in all aspects. You can still remain in Hinduism by worshiping Lord Rama. Shankara was also a bachelor and preacher like Jesus. Some say that Jesus also was married. In such case Rama is like Jesus.
If you say that Krishna was a sinner by dancing with Gopikas and for His illegal affairs with them, Jesus also should be a sinner because He was a non-vegetarian. The ethical scriptures say that killing a living creature is the greatest sin (Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah). If you compare these two sins, the latter is more severe. Killing a living being by force is equal to rape, which is also done by force. Krishna did not rape Gopikas, where as a non-vegetarian kills the living being by force. The person, who eats the flesh of a killed living being is equal to the killer in sharing the sin because the killer is killing for the sake of the eater only (Karta Karayita Chaiva…). Kapalikas eat the flesh of a living being, which dies in natural way and thus there is no sin in it. I am not criticizing Jesus because Rama was also a non-vegetarian. Just for a counter argument only, I have raised this issue, because criticizing Jesus means criticism of God or Krishna or Rama only. You have to analyze properly to find out the truth in such cases of human incarnations of the Lord.
Infact, Parikshit also asked sage Shuka regarding this matter. The sage told that one can reach God even through bad qualities like Shishupala, who scolded Krishna. Shishupala was the gatekeeper of the Lord. Similarly, Gopikas were the sages, who were trying to cut the worldly bonds from the past three Yugas. By the end of the third Yuga, they have become all most successful in their spiritual efforts. They requested Lord Rama to give final salvation from all the worldly bonds. They were having still the effect of three bonds viz., caste, sex and knowledge. To remove these three effects, they were born as illiterate women in the backward caste as Gopikas by the will of Lord. The six strong worldly bonds (Eshanas) are with body (Deheshana), life (Praneshana), life-partner (Dareshana), children (Putreshana), wealth (Dhaneshana) and traditional justice (Dharmeshana). By saluting Lord in naked condition, they have cut the bond with body. After Krishna [left the body], they jumped into fire and thus could cut the bond with life. They left their husbands to dance with Krishna and thus could cut the bond with life-partners. They gave butter to Krishna even avoiding their children and this shows their detachment to children. Butter was their hard-earned wealth, which was sacrificed to Lord only and this shows their sacrifice of wealth to the Lord. They gave the dust from their feet to remove the head-ache of Krishna, even though the sage Narada told that they will go to hell for such act. They were prepared to go to hell, if the Lord is happy and this shows their lack of fear to hell and its concerned injustice. They could cross all these six charkas (illusions) due to the attraction to the Lord. They have sacrificed even the bond with salvation (Mokshena). The word salvation is used in the liberation from bonds to attain mental peace. Due to their love to Krishna, they faced torture from their husbands and elders, due to which they lost peace in their lives. When Krishna left them forever, they became fully mad and were constantly shedding tears for Krishna. The entire life became tragic and this shows that they have sacrificed even the salvation (liberation from pain) for the sake of Krishna. They refused even the advice of a Guru like Narada in giving the dust from feet. This shows their sacrifice of bond with Gurus (Guru-Eshana). Bali also refused his Guru Bhrugu and donated the land to Vamana after knowing that Vamana was Vishnu. For the sake of God even Guru is to be rejected. Therefore, the sacrifice of all the worldly bonds is seen in Gopikas for which, they were given Goloka by the Lord, which is the highest fruit.
Cutting the bond with the life-partner is only a part of their total sacrifice. Such part itself is not the total sacrifice. You are talking as if that particular part of the sacrifice is the only spiritual way. If that were so, a prostitute should get the salvation very easily, who surrenders her body and not anything else. The Lord did not give Goloka, just because they have danced with Him leaving their husbands. Such dance indicates only a part of their total sacrifice and it is cutting of one of several bonds. If you are tied by several ropes, you cannot get liberation by cutting only one rope. Therefore, you need not fear that the society will be spoiled by such dance. Such dance alone cannot give the salvation. In analyzing the divine case, you have to search the divine background also. Only special cases like Shishupala, who was the gatekeeper of the Lord, could get the salvation by enmity and not every atheist, who also scolds the Lord. Similarly, any lady who can dance with Krishna will not get salvation because the total sacrifice in all other aspects is absent.
If you think that Krishna is a fan of such illegal relationships, since Krishna is a form of God, all the other forms of God like Rama, Vamana, Parasurama etc., should also exhibit such quality atleast to some extent. Except the case of Krishna, no other form of God exhibited such quality. Even in the life of Krishna, you cannot see this quality anywhere except in the case of Gopikas. If Krishna has such habit, He should have shown this elsewhere also. If you say that Krishna is very fond of Gopikas only, such assumption is also totally wrong. Krishna never returned back to Brundavanam even to see Gopikas atleast once. This shows clearly that Krishna is having a special background of this event, which is explained as above. If you believe the dance of Krishna with Gopikas based on the scriptures, you must also believe the background of it from the same scriptures. You cannot take the scripture partially to suit to your prejudiced conclusions only.
We accept the case on Krishna straightly without any diversion or coverage. When a case is filed against you, you should accept it, if it is true. You should not try to cover the case by concealing the fact or you should not try to mislead the court into wrong path by misinterpretation of the truth. You will face the double punishment for the double sin. Therefore, we accept that Krishna had illegal relationship with Gopikas, who were married. The Gopikas say that they have come to Krishna even by neglecting their husbands, who were opposing them. The tenth Skandha of Bhagavatam clearly explains the illegal secret sexual act of Krishna and Gopikas in the five chapters (29th to 33rd). The words like Surata, Jara were used very clearly. Even the sage Narada mentions this in his Bhakti Sutras (Jaravachcha, Yatha Vrajagopikanam etc.,). One scholar interprets the word Surata in the sense of good devotion by Yoga. There is no support of usage of this word in such sense anywhere. The word is fixed in the meaning of sexual union only (Yoga Rudha). Even if you take the sense by Yoga, you cannot avoid the sense of Yoga Rudha. For example, the word Brahman is used in the scripture (Veda) by Yoga and the usage in such sense is seen in Gita (Brahmaakshara Samudbhavam…). Even then, this word can be used to mean the God also. Some scholars are covering the case by saying that Krishna was between five and nine years age only (Pauganda), while the stealing of the clothes of Gopikas took place. Gopikas were praying Goddess Katyayani at that time to get Krishna as their husband. This means Gopikas must be younger to Krishna. In such case, such prayer was impossible since Gopikas must be between three to four years of age only. If you say that Krishna danced with Gopikas in the subsequent season of full moon (Mayaimah Ramsyadha Kshapah—Bhagavatam), this is also impossible. In such dance, how Gopikas told that they came to Krishna by neglecting their husbands and children (Ativilanghya…Rasapanchadhyayi -Bhagavatam)? The clear description of sexual union in the same place is also impossible. The stealing of clothes took place in the month of Margasirsha. Hence, the subsequent season of full moon is impossible for the Rasa dance. Krishna meant the future by the word “Mayaimah”. He assured Gopikas in the near future only and not in the very next year. The verb “Ramsyadha” need not mean the future tense of next year only. It means only the future in general. After the Rasa [dance], Krishna went to Madhura and killed Kamsa. Vasudeva was pained that Krishna became late for Upanayanam. The scripture says that the Upanayanam should be before 16th year. This means Krishna was above 16 years. Infact, Krishna danced with Gopikas between 16 and 18 years of age.
Lord Krishna’s Message and Actions Are for Kali Yuga
You should not cover or misinterpret the truth to defend the Lord. That shows your ignorance about the Philosophy of the Lord in such incident. This incident took place in the end of Dwapara Yuga only. Therefore, the message of the Lord (the Gita) and actions of the Lord were meant for Kali Yuga only, which is immediately coming. The message and the life of the Lord were not for Dwapara Yuga, which has almost ended with Him only. If you analyze the standards of Kali Yuga without any trace of hesitation, one can easily understand that the society is not spoiled by the Lord, whereas, it is already spoiled. The sin comes by the feeling itself. Mind is the main reason of the sin. The inert body without mind cannot have the sin. Even though Sita was touched by Ravana through body, she was sinless as per the certificate given by the Fire God. Renuka was punished for her mental sin even though her body did not even touch the other person. In such case, can anyone say frankly that he or she is not a sinner at anytime of the life? I have to be very frank because the case that you have moved is very delicate and is of critical nature. I have to expose the facts of this case from all angles without any shy. Therefore, the sin is already prevailing in the society, when Krishna entered this world. He did not generate the sin in the sinless society. He became close to the sinners, through such common sin. To uplift a fellow from the mud pond, you have to jump into it and become close to him. The Lord gave a new divine direction to the already existing sin in the society. When the sin is inevitable, you cannot advise to come out of the sin, because such advice is useless atleast in the majority, provided we are frank. Everybody speaks about the justice and good qualities but when the practice comes, hypocrisy is followed. This is clear to everybody because the self is the real witness. We cannot condemn such souls because these qualities are precipitated from millions of previous births and are like hard diamonds.
Even the top most spiritual preacher like Veda Vyasa wrote that he was attracted by Ghrutachi, a dancer from heaven. The sage wrote this truth very frankly and this shows his sincere exposure of truth without any hypocrisy. If somebody else is in the place of the sage, he should have censored this fact! It is foolish to think to get rid of the bad qualities completely. By spiritual efforts, you can control these bad qualities (Rajas and Tamas) to certain extent and this is also essential because uncontrolled bad qualities disturb the balance of the society. In such case God will punish them. Control is possible but complete eradication is impossible in the case of these bad qualities. Control is boasted as eradication. Therefore, after achieving the control by the detachment from the worldly bonds, these qualities remaining in the soul should be diverted towards the Lord. The Lord is pleased by the basic love existing in these qualities. The selfless love is like sweet milk and the bad quality is like a ceramic cup. The selfish love is like salt water and the good quality is like a golden cup. The milk is paid but not the golden cup. The sage Shuka says that if the devotion exists, the nature of the quality is not important at all. This was the answer given by the sage to Parikshit in this context (Jarabuddhyapi…, Kimutadhokshajapriyah… Bhagavatam). Here you must be very careful to understand that the already existing sin is diverted by the Lord and the Lord did not generate the sin. Wealth from waste means extraction of wealth from the existing waste. It does not mean that to extract wealth, waste must be created!
Similarly, you can explain the non-vegetarian food of Jesus. People cannot be controlled to avoid the non-vegetarian food. It is already existing, which is uncontrollable. Jesus tried to divert this atleast towards the God. He advised that one should thank God for providing such non-vegetarian food instead of taking it directly. He showed the dry fish to God with gratefulness. The Veda says that you should offer the flesh of the killed animal to God in the sacrifice (Yajna). This does not mean that the Veda is asking you to kill the animal. Anyway you are going to kill the animal to eat it and you cannot be controlled under any circumstances. In such case, the Veda says that you should offer the flesh to God and eat it. Shankara says that the scripture is based on the existing nature of the human being and is not generating the same nature (Jnapakam Natu Karakam). Even if Krishna did not exist, such nature is existing in Kali Yuga. Even if Jesus did not exist, such non-vegetarian habit is existing in the world. God comes through a medium having the same common qualities of human beings to be close with them. By such common qualities, the Lord encourages them also to have a straight path to God from their qualities without any change. If such encouragement is not given, the sinners will go deeply in the path of sins only, since the path to God is opposite to the sin (Apichet Sa Duracharah, Apichedasi Papebhyah, Sarva Dharman –Gita). The society will not be spoiled by the Lord and in such point, you are assuming as if the society is not spoiled already. The Lord is trying to uplift the spoiled people in their own inevitable way. If you are not spoiled, you have your own path of purity and you need not come to the path of the spoiled people. When you insist that the spoiled people should rectify themselves and should come through your path only, some of them may succeed. But a large majority is unable to change their bad qualities and such people are dejected forever due to their inability. Such people resort to the path of sin only further and further since the divine path of good people is closed to them forever. For such people, there should be a path to God. The path is to divert their sinful nature towards God instead of applying it towards the world (Tepi Yanti…Gita). If you are with mud on the body and if you are unable to wash it by any amount of effort, you have a path by which you can also reach God with the same mud. This gives hope to such dejected people. When they turn towards God, atleast the society is saved from their involvement.
If you realize that the entire responsibility of sin is only on the mind, there will be hardly any person left over in this world, who is not a sinner. When Jesus asked the people to punish the prostitute in case they have not committed any sin, all went back because if anybody comes forward with hypocrisy, Jesus will reveal the sins of such person. You can fool another human being by your hypocrisy but not God. Any amount of effort cannot eradicate the sinful nature but can control it. Therefore, the effort is certainly appreciable but nobody can claim that the nature is completely destroyed. Even the unimaginable torture cannot do it and the soul returns to the earth with reduced nature (Karma Sesha) only. In the spiritual path, fooling others has no use because it becomes fooling yourself. Therefore, you should not criticize the sin of any other soul since any soul is in such state of inevitable sin only atleast in the mental plane. Only the sinless God can criticize any soul. But God comes down to uplift the souls from the sins. First He advised to get rid of sins and reach Him. A few could succeed and when they became proud, God showed the inherent sin hiding in them! Every soul is made of the three qualities (Good Sattvam and bad Rajas and Tamas). Good quality may predominate and the bad qualities may exist as invisible traces of impurities. Any single quality of these three cannot exist in isolated way. When the human being boasts that he is completely good, the boasting itself is a bad quality (Rajas)! In some or other time, Rajas and Tamas predominate even in the case of top most devotees. Therefore, diverting the bad quality also towards God is the best and is the really expected way also. Any quality diverted to God is good and any quality diverted to worldly bonds with selfishness is bad. Gopikas were sages in the previous births and wrote all the ethical scriptures for the society. But when they entered the field of God, they have realized the real aim of ethics. Then, they thought that all those ethical scriptures written by them were useless because the real aims of bad and good were not realized in such scriptures. Now they have defined good and bad in a single statement like this: Whatever pleases God is good and whatever is disliked by God is bad (Hareh Kopakaram Papam, Punyam tasya Priyapradam). This truth was also acknowledged by God in the Gita (Sarva Dharman…). All the three qualities are created by God only to help the spiritual effort of the soul (Yechaiva ...Gita) and are good if they are diverted towards God. When they are diverted to the world, the purpose of their creation is lost and they become bad. To divert them to God, God comes down in human form possessing the bad qualities also and shows such diversion practically.
The soul is constituted by the three qualities; where as the medium (human form) of God is constituted by the three qualities and not God. You are a cloud and God is the Sun existing in another cloud. The cloud is criticizing the sun for the black colour of the cloud! God is unimaginable and no quality can be His characteristic (Nachaham…, Natvamteshu… Gita). He has chosen such similar medium so that He can become close to us by mixing with us freely. For the demonstration of the diversion of all the three qualities to God, He also requires those three qualities associated with Him. From such demonstration, you should learn the concept but not criticize God foolishly with hypocrisy. The original pure path is best and if you are in the best path, proceed in it. The next middle path is better, which is control of the sins. The third path is to divert the inevitable bad qualities to God by detaching the self from the worldly bonds completely. All the three paths lead the self to God. If you are in the best path, you can expect the soul in the middle path to come to you, but you cannot imagine the third path to come and merge with your path under any circumstances. What is the fate of those people, who are in the third path? Should they be condemned forever? No no. If their goal is God, they can reach the goal in their own path. The difference is only in the path but not in the goal. Whether the river takes straight path or curved path, it reaches the sea (Payasamarnava Iva… Mahimnah Stotram). You have gone to the city in a car. I have also come to the same city by a donkey. Both of us have reached the same city. You might have reached the city early, but you should not say that I will never reach the city. The only reason is that the same city is the goal for both of us. Even if you have car, if you are traveling in the opposite direction, you will never reach the city, where as I am certain to reach the goal. Similarly, if your goal is God, you can reach Him by any quality you have. Gopikas got the highest fruit by the worst path of Tamas. “How this is possible?” Parikshit asked (Tasam Mohadhyam Katham? Bhagavatam). If the goal is correct, even My donkey will take Me to the city and I need not waste all My time to procure a car, which is impossible for My capacity. Instead of wasting My life time to change the donkey and get the car, let Me travel towards the city on My donkey itself and spend the time properly without wastage. Infact, the soul itself is a donkey even if it sits in the car. Such donkey in the car is mocking another donkey, which is walking towards the same city! Here the greatest fun is that when a person is traveling by the donkey, the donkey in the car is mocking at the person. Similarly, God comes with Rajas and Tamas to show that they can also lead you to God. The soul is made of Rajas and Tamas inherently and is traveling by Sattvam (car). Now the soul is mocking the God, who came with Rajas and Tamas for demonstration!
The superpower is exhibited to show the divinity. Hanuman is born to Anjani, who is the wife of Kesari. The story says that Vayu (air) carried on the sperm of Lord Shiva to Anjani and then Hanuman was born. Some other story says that Vayu was attracted to Anjani and Hanuman was born to both of them. Here Shiva is invisible. Vayu (air) is inert. Anjani has given birth to Hanuman without any contact with Kesari, which shows the invisible divine interaction. This shows that Hanuman is the divine incarnation. The super natural part in this story has such purpose only. If you realize the divinity of Hanuman, there is no need of this story. You can say that Hanuman is born to Anjani and Kesari and here Hanuman means only the body and not God in it. For the generation of body no superpower is required because the body can be generated in a natural way itself. It is foolish to use superpower, when the natural alternative is possible. The superpower enters only, when all the natural alternatives are closed. Similarly, Jesus is born to Mary without the interaction of her engaged bridegroom. This story reveals the divinity of Jesus. But if you have realized the divinity of Jesus through His knowledge, such story is not necessary. To draw the attention of ignorant people, who cannot realize the divinity of Hanuman or Jesus, such story is created. To create the human body for God, superpower is not necessary for realized souls. For realized souls, these stories are not at all required. You can straightly say that the body of Hanuman or Jesus was generated by the union of the parents. In the case of Jesus, you need not criticize Mary who was not married. The engagement itself is marriage as per the ethical scripture of Manu (Vacha Datta...). These stories are certainly required for the ignorant people who cannot recognize Hanuman or Jesus otherwise. Therefore, miracles are required only for the ignorant people and not for the realized souls.
Real Interpretation of Worship of Krishna and Radha
Krishna and Radha are worshiped very much in North India. Whenever you are taking Krishna with Radha, the only concept that you have to realize is to divert all your good and bad qualities to God without wasting your lifetime to convert bad qualities in to good qualities, which is impossible (Prakrutim Yanti Bhutani…Gita). The Lord says in the Gita clearly that any amount of control of the nature of the soul is useless in complete eradication of the nature of the soul, atleast in some occasions and atleast in mental plane (Nigrah Kim Karishyati? Gita) [control fails]. The only person who can throw away any quality completely is God, because He is associated with the qualities and not constituted by the qualities. God is like a colourless person having a red shirt on His body. The soul is that very red shirt itself. Now the red shirt is mocking at the person for the red colour! Your criticism to any human incarnation like Krishna or Jesus is similar to this. What is the use of the worship of Radha and Krishna, who are not existing now? Such worship of idols through out the life without realizing and practicing their messages increases the wealth and fame of the priests and preachers only. If the words ‘Krishna and Radha’ mean God and divine soul, they are always permanent because God and divine souls exist even now and will exist in the future. But if you mean these words as specific human bodies, they were limited to one generation only in the past. Idols and their worship along with the help of priests and preachers are certainly helpful provided the concept for which the idols stand is realized atleast sometime in the life. When the purpose is not served at any time, all this is a total waste and then Bhagavatam is only equal to a romantic film which gives you some entertainment for sometime. In such case the result is that one inspired by Bhagavatam or a romantic film intensifies his romance with his lover. A romantic film is meant for such purpose. But Bhagavatam is meant for intensifying your attention to God and not to the world.
Radha was the daughter of Vrushabhanu and was the wife of Ayanaghosha belonging to the dynasty of Yadavas. She was simply mad of Krishna and openly refused all the worldly bonds for the sake of Krishna. The details of Radha were censored from Bhagavatam for the fear of misuse in Kali Yuga. However, she was mentioned in one context (Anayaraadhito… Bhagavatam) to show that even Radha became proud and due to that Krishna left her. When Krishna was dancing with Gopikas, they felt that Krishna was attracted by their physical beauty. But, Radha did not think so. Therefore, the Lord took her on His back to a secret place and entertained her personally with the sexual union. But now, Radha also thought that Krishna was attracted to her only, due to her physical beauty excelling that of Gopikas. Immediately Krishna left her also and disappeared. She started weeping for Krishna and was traced by Gopikas. This story in Bhagavatam reveals that even the top most divine soul can never get rid of Rajas and Tamas. The pride is Rajas and the Sex is Tamas, which are the forms of ignorance and Radha showed both. This means that even the top most soul cannot be free from the three qualities which are the very constituting materials of the soul. Even knowledge is a quality (Sattvam) and it is neither God nor the inherent characteristic of God. It is only an indicator of God, being constantly associated with God. You can also find the constant association of Rajas and Tamas also with God. The Lord declared in the Gita that He is the absolute controller and this pride is Rajas, though it is the truth. To reveal the truth, He takes the help of Rajas. Similarly, the Lord is having blind love towards His devotees and this is Tamas. Therefore, all the three qualities are divine and good in association with God. They become bad only when they are diverted to the world (Soul). Soul is part of the world. When the soul attains the knowledge related to world (Physics etc.), such knowledge is also bad since it is not related to God. Similarly, the pride of the self and the lust for other souls are bad since they are diverted to the world. The same knowledge of Physics etc., can be diverted to God in analyzing the non-God items so that one can conclude that God is unimaginable. Now due to such direction towards to God, such knowledge becomes good. The Shastras like logic, grammar etc., were used by Shankara to analyze the non-God items in His commentary. The Same Shankara criticized a scholar in the grammar, who is trying to use it to earn wealth (Bhaja Govindam…) even in the last days.
Radha was the incarnation of sage Durvasa, the top most devoted soul. All the anger of Durvasa was for achieving God only and all this anger was converted into love, when he was born as Radha. Radha and Gopikas were well aware of Krishna as the Lord. Gopikas mentioned this in their songs (Akhila dehinam… Bhagavatam). Gopikas are well aware of themselves as devotees and Krishna as Lord. All the other worldly bonds with their husbands, children etc., were just dramatic in their eyes. Narada also tells in Bhakati Sutras that Gopikas were well aware of Krishna as God (Mahatmya Jnana…). For them. the Lord was the only goal of their lives. Suppose, an actress is acting as queen and another actor is acting as a king in the cinema shooting. Suppose the producer and director of the film calls the actress to come out side for a talk. Will the actress say that she has to take the permission of the actor acting as king, to come out of the shooting? The stage of Gopikas towards Krishna is like the relationship between the actress and producer of the film. Suppose, the actress is under the strong influence of the illusion of drama, she may say that she needs the permission of king to come out. This is the difference between the realized- liberated soul and ignorant soul grasped by the illusion.
We see three levels of devotees, who loved Lord Krishna and wanted His close association. The wives of sages went to Krishna and offered food even before the sacrifice (Yajna). Then, they requested Krishna to accept them to stay with Him because of the fear of their husbands if they return. Krishna did not allow them to stay with Him and assured them to go back without any fear. These devotees expressed love to Krishna, only when Krishna asked them to give the food. Their request to Krishna was due to the worldly fear. For their sacrifice of food even before the ritual, the Lord was pleased and protected them from the fear. Such love was momentary and had the worldly reason. The second level of devotees were the 16,100 girls of kings, who loved Krishna through marriage. Their love was better since they did not marry anybody even by any force. They had problem before marriage only. They wanted the licensed love with Krishna. Krishna married them as per their desire. The third levels of devotees were Gopikas, who were mad of Krishna and did not care for their families and social customs. Such love is the climax, which has crossed all the hurdles. The wives of sages went to heaven. The girls of kings went to the divine abode of the Lord. Gopikas went above the divine abode of the Lord and Lord became their servant. The wife of one sage was arrested in the house by her husband, who could not go to Krishna along with others. In the love of Krishna, she died in the house by constant weeping. Her love was also emotional, which came up by that incident only. She could not reach the Lord on the earth while alive and therefore, could go to Tapo Loka only, which is just below the divine abode of God.
Pravrutti deals with the ethics to be followed towards the other souls in the society. Nivrutti deals with the knowledge, devotion and service through sacrifice to God. Duryodhana is in the bottom, who does not know even the Pravrutti. He wanted to enjoy the wealth of his cousin brothers and never recognized Krishna as God. He is zero in Pravrutti and Nivrutti. Dhrutarashtra is just equal to Duryodhana in practice. He is a good scholar of Pravrutti and Nivrutti in theory only. Both these went to hell. Dharma Raja is very good in theory as well as practice in Pravrutti. His theory and practice in Nivrutti is also good but deficient in Nivrutti to some extent. He gave more importance to justice than God. He went to heaven for following the justice. This is the essence of Maha Bharatam, which could touch only the heaven at the maximum. All this is Pravrutti only.
Veda Vyasa was very good in Pravrutti and Nivrutti both in theory and practice. But, he could not overcome the worldly bonds, when he entered the family life. He was attracted by the dancer from heaven and was in blind love for his son. He went up to Tapo Loka. The sage Shuka avoided the family life for the fear of the attraction of worldly bonds. Bhagavatam says that he did not come out of the womb of his mother for a long time fearing for the world. He went to the divine abode of the Lord. Gopikas were in the climax of Nivrutti and violated even Pravrutti for the sake of Nivrutti. They went to Goloka which is above the divine abode of God. This is Bhagavatam which touched the divine abode of God and also above it. All this is Nivrutti.
In Ramayana also we find the same gradation. Vali was like Duryodhana. Ravana was like Dhrutarashtra. Sugriva and Vibhishana were like Dharma Raja. The sages in the forest, who served Rama as guest were like Veda Vyasa. Hanuman, Sabari, Sita, Lakshmana etc., were like Shuka. There was nobody like Radha and Gopikas in the Ramayanam. Infact, Krishna created the Goloka for the first time for Gopikas only. Rama was limiting Himself to the devotion, which is not madness. But the devotion of Gopikas was the madness, which was spontaneous and cannot be achieved by anybody by any effort. The state of Gopikas is beyond the human imagination.
The path of Gopikas is starting from the worst and is ending in the best. They have created a new history in the spiritual path. Rama rewarded good qualities and punished the bad qualities always with reference to Pravrutti. For the first time, Krishna paved the path from hell to Goloka by diverting all the bad qualities towards God and Gopikas helped the Lord in this venture. There was necessity for such new dimension in Kali Yuga because almost all the souls are polluted by bad qualities to the irreparable extent. When the conversion of bad to Good becomes impossible, this new path gives hope to all the souls in Kali Yuga. If the soul fails even in this last resort, the soul is condemned forever. Therefore, this aspect of Bhagavatam shows a special path, which is not found anywhere in the world. It is said that the divine knowledge of a scholar is tested in the explanation of Bhagavatam (Vidyavatam Bhagavate Pariksha).
Misinterpretation of the Divine Relation of Lord and Gopikas
One follower of Osho asked Me that Krishna was not only having illegal relationship with women but also deceived their husbands because Gopikas came to Krishna in the midnight while their husbands were sleeping. He charged Krishna as a double sinner. I asked a question in the line of the philosophy of his Osho. Let us assume an illegal relationship between a married woman and somebody else. I heard such cases frequently in the recent time. Osho says that the wife or husband should be frank to express the sin to the other life partner without hiding the truth. Suppose, both are in the same line. Then, they can understand each other and proceed in their lines with mutual co-operation. According to the Hindu ethical scriptures, both will go to hell and have to embrace the red-hot metallic statues. Both, may live with happiness in this world as per Osho. But, what is their fate after the death? Suppose one of these two is very chaste. By knowing the truth from other side, the life partner either will go for divorce or will be weeping through out the life. Now the sin is doubled and double punishment is given to the sinner in the hell. In the case of Gopikas and Krishna, the point is totally different. Such sinner in Pravrutti cannot be either Gopika or Lord Krishna. The divine background of Gopikas as sages and the total sacrifice of Gopikas are impossible in the case of any sinner in Pravrutti. Such sin is committed in Pravrutti for another co-soul and not for the Lord as in Nivrutti. Such sin is possible in Nivrutti also between a female thinking herself as Gopika and the male thinking himself as Krishna. Both the cases are ruled out because the total sacrifice of all the bonds in the world prevents any female devotee to become Gopika even if the real Krishna exists. Gopika is not simply an illiterate lady as we think. She is the sage, who is putting on continuous spiritual effort from the beginning of creation up to the last part of the Dwapara Yuga. Such background is impossible to any soul. The state of madness of Gopikas is also unimaginable and cannot be achieved by any soul. In such a state of climax no hurdle can stand in the path. You cannot stop any mad person by any type of effort. The Lord arranged this type of scene just before the beginning of Kali Yuga so that the bad qualities can be diverted to God for salvation. The soul gets salvation by such diversion and at the same time the world will be also peaceful without any disturbance since the bad qualities were detached from the world. Therefore, Krishna and His message (Gita) are wonderful new dimensions especially for the dejected souls with inevitable bad qualities. Due to this reason Krishna is said to be the complete incarnation with sixteen kalas. The Kalas increase in living beings as we travel from animals to men to devotees and to the human incarnations. The number of Kalas is the estimation of the power of divine knowledge expressed by God. The most sinful Kali Yuga needs such highest power of knowledge. Rama expressed only twelve kalas of knowledge, since that much was sufficient in Treta Yuga. Krishna attracted almost all the souls in Kali Yuga. The Gita is His theory and Bhagavatam is His practical. Krishna means the Lord who attracts all (Krushyate Anena Iti…). Devi Bhagavatam says that the word ‘Krishna’ represents devotion and practical service through sacrifice. It says that “Krishi” means devotion and “Na” means practical service (krishih tat Bhakti Vachano, Nascha Taddasya Vachakah).
Concluding Remarks
Today Krishna killed Naraka or Bhauma, which represent the hell and materialism. Krishna has the colour of Shyamala, which is a mixture of bright and dark colours. Krishna was neither black nor bright. Today is darkest Amavasya representing ignorance? These lights represent knowledge. The Lord is associated with ignorance in order to show path to ignorant people. The Lord has to act like a soul and practically demonstrate the path. By knowledge (analysis) you can realize that He is beyond darkness. The crackers produce sound and light. Sound represents the speech through which, the knowledge-light comes out. All this is not necessary if you realize the internal meaning. You have to lit the knowledge-lights in the ignorant people through your speech. You need not waste money like this because all this is only a representative worship which is indirect. All this can be spent in divine mission of propagating knowledge and devotion in the people, which includes helping the poor practically (Social service) also in the name of God. This is not the direct service of the Lord so that you can justify that it is better than the divine mission or social service. When Jesus was alive, He supported the application of scent to Him instead of spending it to feed the beggars as suggested by His follower. That was direct service since the Lord is existing in His body. The practical worship, which involves spending of your hard-earned money, should be always to the living beings. Even in the direct service to God, the life as the receiver is important in such practical worship and therefore God in human form only should be worshipped practically. When the fruit of service is not received by life or awareness (Chit), everything is waste. Neither Krishna is pleased with the wastage of wealth like this through lights and crackers nor is Jesus pleased with a similar wastage on Christmas. People are burning the wealth, which is the real form of Goddess Lakshmi like this. Similarly, ignorant priests are burning ghee (food), which is the real form of Goddess Annapurna. By such acts, their husbands (Lord Narayana and Lord Shiva) become extremely furious. Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Narayana and He will not be pleased if His wife is burnt like this. You know the anger of Lord Shiva when His wife was burnt! For inspiration you can worship the statues by devotional songs etc., through theoretical devotion only. Today people worship Goddess Lakshmi who represents the wealth. If the wealth is not properly used and wasted, it means that She is insulted and not worshipped. I assuredly tell all of you that if you waste the wealth, you will suffer with severe poverty due to curse from Goddess Lakshmi. Similarly, if you waste food, you will suffer with diseases due to curse from Goddess Annapurna. You must use the food and wealth either to serve God directly or to serve His devotees or to serve the poor people in the name of God. Then only you will have the divine grace and will be happy with prosperity and health.
God in human form, devotee in human form and a poor fellow in human form should be the aim of your practical worship. Even you can select the soft natured animals and birds for such service in the name of God. In any case, life is essential. You are directly worshipping God in human incarnation. When you are worshipping His devotee, God is more pleased. When you serve the poor in the name of God, then also God is pleased. The first case is direct worship, whereas the second and third cases are indirect worship of God. All these are good because your hard-earned wealth is properly received by the life or awareness or soul. Therefore, Shankara stressed on the soul to be treated as God and not the inert objects (Jeevo Brahmaiava Naparah).