Contents
Radha’s Prem -Swami Sivananda
Scene 1
Act 1
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Prem Das:—Excuse me, Maharaj. I am a bit dull-headed. Were not the Gopis guilty of deserting their husbands and Krishna of seducing them with His music? Jnana Dev:—No, Sri Krishna performed the Rasa Leela to destroy carnality by means of pure love or Prema. When the Gopis approached their Lord, there was no human passion in them, no love of human flesh, no idea of material gratification. It was the attraction of the soul for the Oversoul. They placed themselves entirely at the service of the Lord. They were permeated with Madhurya Bhav. The Lord only cared for their yearning to unite with Him and not for their external status the worldly surroundings created by their Prarabdha Karma. The Vrindavana Leela is Nitya or constant. The Rasa Leela is for all time for the true Bhaktas. It was meant to build up faith, to strengthen spirituality, holiness, to improve the minds of the Gopis in particular and humanity in general. Prem Das:—May be. But how does it help us in our spiritual path? To a lay mind it all looks as one of the things which happen in a man’s life which had better be forgotten. Jnana Dev:—No. It was not merely a historical incident, but an eternal fact. The night is the time of rest when spiritual activity sets in. There is complete absence of Loka Vasanas. Man gets spiritual teachings and advancement during that period unconsciously. But it is only for a few who have a conscious union with the Lord who manifests Himself in the heart of man. Many will have dreamless and peaceful sleep but only few will enter the Turiya. Purusha is one Jiva Prakritis or Para Prakritis are many. To Purusha the Jiva must always be negative, however positive it may be towards the forms of Apara Prakriti. The Chaitanya is the Purushottama who generates bliss all round the Purusha. There is no sex here. Purushottama is always the male and to Him Jiva Prakriti is always a female. In devotional practice one should consider oneself a female, the male being the Lord of the Universe, as reflected in the heart of the Bhakta. The Gopis were not of the world. They had become purified by Tapas in their previous birth. In this birth they should merge in the Lord. For the sake of the blind man who will not learn anything from the Sastras, they took the bodies of gopis to show man how to love the Lord. |
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