Difference Between Gopikas and Worldly Souls

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

There are several scholars, who are unable to implement their right knowledge in practice. Knowledge is the seed, which should be transformed in to practice-tree. The force of inspiration required for this transformation like fertilizer is devotion. Mere knowledge and mere devotion are inefficient to cause the transformation. The man has natural instinct to practice the worldly procedures. For example, one serves his family members with natural instinct. The person has all the knowledge about the service to his family members. He has sufficient inspiration to implement his knowledge in doing the service to his family. No preacher is required for anyone to love and serve his family members, but to love and serve God preachers are required! Even if the preacher preaches, the person fails to develop real love and real service to God. In this divine love and service also, which are developed through a preacher, reality is not seen. The person loves and serves God so that his family gets protection from God. Therefore, this love and service to God are not real because they are not natural. They are not natural because they are developed by a preacher. When you love and serve your family members, you do not expect your family to help somebody who is dearer than your family. This does not arise because your family is already dearest to you.

When you love and serve God, God is not dearest to you. God is only dearer to you than some neutral person, who is dear to you. The neutral person is dear to you but that person is unable to help your family. God is dearer to you than that neutral person because God can help your family. Your family is dearest to you and hence, you do not expect your family to help somebody, who is more dear than the dearest. Therefore, the love and service to your family is real and natural since your family is dearest. If you claim that God is dearest to you, you must love and serve God without aspiring any help from the God as in the case of your family. Therefore, the essence of all this analysis is only that the dearest love and service are characterized by only one aspect, which is that you do not expect anything in return from the dearest.

Suppose a person is having ten grams of love. He has six grams of love to God and the rest four grams of love to the family. When God tests this devotee, he is having relatively highest quantity of love to God which is about six grams. He has three grams of love to his children and one gram of love to his wife. His love is high on his wife and his love is higher on his children. But, his love on God is relatively highest. This is the first case of a devotee.

A second case of another devotee having the same ten grams of love is considered. He has six grams of love to his children and four grams of love to his wife. When God tests this devotee, he does not show any love to God and therefore, this is the worst case.

The third case of the devotee is expressing all the ten grams of real love to God without hiding anything.

The fourth case of devotee is also showing externally six grams of love to his children and four grams of love to his wife. When God tests this devotee, he shows all the ten grams of love to God only. Such a devotee is having all his full love to God only, but it is hidden in his heart. The family members are satisfied with his apparent ten grams of love. But, when the test is conducted, the reality comes out. The devotee who is hiding his total love to God is called as Gopika. Gopika means the soul hiding its total and real love to God in its heart till the test is conducted (Gopayati bhagavat prema iti). Such a devotee satisfies his family, which is under the impression that the person is treating the family as his dearest. If the devotee exhibits all the ten grams of love to God all the time, the family gets disturbed and problems will crop up.

Gopikas showed the entire love to their family members in the day time. In the night, when the Lord sings on His flute, they ran to Him secretly. They were prepared even to die if the Lord rejects them. In fact, when the Lord rejected them, first time, they were prepared to jump in to the river. These Gopikas showed unreal love towards their family members in the day time to the same extent. They told that they will die for the sake of their husbands and children to give the impression that they were the dearest. But in fact, if the proof were to come, they will not certainly jump into the river. By this, they were equally pleasing the Lord as well as the family members.

The difference between the Gopika and the ordinary worldly soul is that the worldly soul will really jump in to river for the sake of its family, whereas the Gopika will really jump into the river for the sake of the Lord. The worldly soul will also say that it will jump in to the river for the sake of the Lord. But, if the poof is demanded, it will not certainly jump. Similarly, the Gopika will also say that she will jump into the river for the sake of her family but if the real proof is demanded, she will not jump into the river. Therefore, Gopikas looked like ordinary worldly souls only in the outward level and hence, nobody could recognize their inward level. Uddhava thought that Gopikas were ignorant worldly souls. But, when he recognized their inner level, he was shocked with surprise and became all most unconscious. The Gita says this point that an ignorant soul and scholar behave in the same way for the outward vision. Both appear to be attached to the world to the same extent. But, in the inner level, the scholar is completely detached, whereas the ignorant soul is completely attached (Saktah karmanya vidvaamsah...). The first case of devotee, who has six grams of love to God and four grams of love to family, is better than the second case of devotee, who has all the ten grams of love to the family only. The devotee (third case) exhibiting ten grams of real love to God is better than the first and second devotees. But, the highest than these three devotees is he (fourth case), who hides his ten grams of love to God and exhibits ten grams of unreal love to the family keeping the family also equally in happy state. The real love is exhibited only in the occasion of test. Gopikas did not jump into fire even though their husbands died by killing each other. But, when they heard that the Lord left His body they jumped in to the fire.

Difficulties in Practice of Knowledge

The practical difficulties in implementing the real divine knowledge in to practice are of two types. The first type comes when the right knowledge does not clear the wrong knowledge since the doubts are not fully cleared. Only the Lord in the human form, called as Sadguru, can clear all the doubts and create the perfect knowledge, which removes all the wrong knowledge. If the doubts are not completely cleared, the wrong knowledge exists in the mind with its force. Therefore, the first type of difficulty can be cleared by meeting the Sadguru, who is the human incarnation of the Lord. Even though you have received the right knowledge from Sadguru, if you do not revise it frequently, the right knowledge is not perfectly impressed in your mind. The wrong knowledge, which is impressed in your mind from millions of births, makes you love your family in real sense. The second type of difficulty can be removed only by your effort, which is the frequent revision of right knowledge imparted by Sadguru in your mind. When both the difficulties are removed, the wrong knowledge and its force disappear and only the right knowledge remains with its force.

The knowledge is in the hand of Sadguru and force of impression (Samskara) is in your hand. Therefore, a scholar may have right knowledge but fails to implement it due to lack of its force in the absence of its revision. Therefore, meeting the Sadguru and hearing the right knowledge from Him is not sufficient. The frequent revision of the right knowledge is also essential as said by the Veda (Shrotavyo mantavyo...).

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