Understanding Context

“Dear Krishna, You are known as Hari. You destroy all the miseries of all living entities, specifically of those who have left their homes and family attachment and have completely taken to You. We have left our homes with the hope that we shall completely devote and dedicate our lives to Your service.” (Gopis speaking to Lord Krishna, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 29)

Though the most pleasurable of Shri Krishna’s pastimes, the rasa-lila is generally not discussed in public forums, even amongst devotees. The most intimate of the Lord’s interactions with His pleasure potency expansions depict divine love in its highest form. To the outsider accustomed to material attachment and the pursuit of temporary rewards, which vanish at the time of death, the interactions between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana seem like ordinary dealings between boys and girls. In fact, under this mindset Krishna is taken to be a defiler of women, someone who enjoyed in a way that went against the standard codes of conduct. But through enough education on the subject, especially on the real position of the hero of the situation, the purpose of the interaction is learned. In addition, that which was previously considered sinful or to be imitated gets understood to be a beautiful exchange indicative of how the Supreme Lord will grant anything to His dearest servants.

The fact that Krishna is the Supreme Lord is the most important, the point from which to begin learning about the highly confidential subject matter. Without this knowledge the rest of the analysis is academic. We would not be talking about a young boy dancing with young girls if the boy in question wasn’t someone special. Men and women meet together all the time, sometimes through proper channels and sometimes through illicit means. The rasa-lila is famous because it involves someone who previously had lifted an entire hill from the ground and held it up above His head for seven days. Many years later, He would deliver the essence of Vedic wisdom to a despondent warrior on the eve of a war to end all wars. Thus His intermediate pastimes became equally as noteworthy, worth hearing about and remembering.

By the way, Krishna held up that hill as a young child. Not to be confused with the mother who suddenly finds the strength to lift a car in an emergency situation to protect her child, Krishna can do anything while in any of His forms. Through His impersonal energy which pervades through the material nature He holds all of the massive planets in orbit and controls the heat and the rain. Through His deputies the system of fairness known as karma is instituted, which fuels the engine of reincarnation, or the changing of bodies.

In Vrindavana as a young child some five thousand years ago Krishna held up the mighty Govardhana Hill after there was an onslaught of rain instigated by a vengeful Lord Indra, the deity in charge of the clouds and the thunder. The residents of Vrindavana were not overly powerful, and they were not prepared for the flash flood. They were set to be washed away until Krishna stepped in and remedied the situation. He took the neighboring hill that was just worshiped at His insistence and held it up above His head to act as an umbrella. Everyone gathered around and took shelter under Krishna and His hill, and thus Indra’s plot was foiled.

Krishna, as an adult in terms of years passed since His initial arrival in Vrindavana, delivered the essence of Vedic wisdom to His cousin Arjuna. The Pandavas were looking to regain a kingdom that rightfully belonged to them. In order for that to happen, they had to defeat the opposing army consisting of their cousins, spiritual guide and other close friends and family members. Arjuna, the best fighter for the Pandavas, was hesitant to fight, not wanting to cause harm to people he cared about. Krishna used this uncertainty borne of misplaced affection as an opportunity to speak on the glories of action without attachment, on the need for following prescribed duties without giving attention to the result. Most importantly, Krishna revealed that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that worship of Him is the highest dharma, or system of religion. Arjuna would go on to fight under Krishna’s direction and not only succeed but remain free of sinful reaction at the same time.

To understand the rasa-lila, the interested party is advised to first study the first nine cantos of the sacred Shrimad Bhagavatam, which explain in detail Krishna’s superior position, which is presented scientifically and also through accounts of historical events. The idea is not to accept Krishna on a whim or a matter of blind faith. Rather, the intelligence and corresponding reasoning ability of the sincere listener are appealed to. The mind of the listener is asked to ponder the meaning of life and what should actually be accomplished between the time of birth and the time of death.

So many analogies can be used to understand the importance of context with respect to learning about foreign concepts. Think of an ice hockey game where there is a fight. In ice hockey, the fights are a little strange to see because, for starters, they are actually allowed. In other professional sports, if you fight you get kicked out of the game and likely suspended for subsequent games. In hockey, a fight is meant to occur fairly, with both participants willing to drop the gloves. There are codes to the fisticuffs as well, such as only punching someone when they are up to the challenge and looking directly at you. Also, once the fight is over, there should be no cheap shots or any other type of ill will harbored. Sometimes the fighters will even acknowledge the opponent’s fighting prowess after the bout is over.

To the casual spectator watching all of this going on, the fighting seems ridiculous. Why would people settle their disputes in this barbaric way? But to those who know and follow the game, the fighting serves a viable purpose. There are the star players, who are more skilled than they are physical. This means that if someone should take a run at them or check them with intensity, they will have no way to defend themselves. The designated enforcers on the team serve as a sort of protection, a way to guard against aggressors on the opponent’s side taking runs at the star players. It is also believed that sanctioning fighting helps to prevent other types of illegal attacks, such as those made with the hockey stick, which can be more violent in nature.

Krishna is intimately linked to the cowherd damsels of Vrajubhumi. They are considered His greatest devotees because they follow devotion to Him unflinchingly and through the most difficult circumstances. It is one thing to excel in a particular endeavor when your environment is conducive to that success. For instance, if you become an expert lawyer after having attended a prestigious law school, the feat is not that surprising. If, on the other hand, you grew up in circles where education was limited, where you basically had to teach yourself, and you still reach the same end, the achievement is more noteworthy.

The gopis of Vrindavana did not have time to sit in quiet meditation or study Vedanta philosophy. They were not formally educated, as the tradition of the time called for girls to get married at a young age. After marriage they would tend to the household affairs. It is said that many of the gopis were brahmanas in a previous life. They desired the intimate association of Lord Rama, an incarnation of the same Krishna, but the Lord’s vow in that appearance was to have only one wife. Thus the brahmanas were granted the benediction of taking birth in Vrindavana and gaining Rama’s association in His original form of Shri Krishna, whose name references the Lord’s all-attractiveness.

Though the gopis were married and involved in household affairs throughout the day, they never could stop thinking about Krishna. They didn’t care about the law codes of society. Their only objective was to stay connected with Krishna through love. That being the case, how could Shyamasundara ever deny their requests? If they wanted to dance with Him, Yashoda’s son would not only dance, but He’d expand Himself into so many identical forms so that each gopi could dance with Him individually.

“But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.22)

In the progressive march towards enlightenment, there is no pressing need to understand the rasa-lila right away. Rather, the beginning period is better spent learning about Krishna, an understanding best accelerated through hearing. That hearing is created by the constant chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Chanting is the authorized method of worship for the modern age because it calls to Krishna in a mood of love and it also references the gopis and their leader, Shrimati Radharani. Thus one gets the association of the same participants of the dances that took place on the moonlit nights in Vrindavana, but in a purified way. To the surrendered soul sincerely desirous of learning about the Supreme Lord and His real position, all the knowledge necessary for attaining the highest end is gradually revealed.

In Closing:

To enjoy with Krishna gopis never to miss a chance,

Into the forest on a moonlit night they go to dance.

 

Enjoying with Him they together move hand in hand,

By mundane wisdom these pastimes we can never understand.

 

That same Krishna previously Govardhana Hill lifted,

And then later on sublime Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna gifted.

 

Sacred Shrimad Bhagavatam dedicates cantos numbering nine,

To explain Krishna’s position as Supreme Lord, both yours and mine.

 

To study details of rasa-dance no need to be eager,

Krishna to reveal all knowledge to divine pleasure seeker.

Sum of Its Parts

“When love of Godhead is attained, love for all other beings automatically follows because the Lord is the sum total of all living beings.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, Introduction)

The best way to adopt universal brotherhood, the harboring of good will towards every other life form, including those beyond the human species, is to have a full appreciation for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the fountainhead of all energies. For there to be appreciation, there must be knowledge, and for there to be knowledge, there must be an authorized source of information. An invalid source will provide faulty information, and thus the recipient will wrongly consider themselves to be learned. An education which is not rooted in information about the Supreme Person and the living entity’s inherent link to Him will be deficient in its effectiveness. On the other hand, proper knowledge of the Supreme Person can leave the knower fully appreciative of the many component aspects of creation.

What is the effect of substandard knowledge? Moreover, isn’t this a rather harsh assessment of the teachers of targeted items of focus, which help students attain skill in a particular venture? When information passed down through the teacher-student paradigm is not rooted in understanding of the Supreme Person, the aim of the disciplinary system will be focused on finding satisfaction for some aspect of the body. To use an example, let’s take something as simple as instruction in cooking. If a person takes a class to learn how to cook elegant dishes, the underlying aim is to satisfy the taste buds with the sumptuous food that results. At the same time, we know that the animal community doesn’t have the opportunity to become immersed in the culinary arts. Rather, they are satisfied with the allotment of food items provided by nature, which operates under intelligence. If nature just functioned randomly, then the movements of the sun and the seasons it causes could never be predicted. For there to be regularity of function, there must be intelligence.

A person may take a cooking class for other reasons. Perhaps they are looking to work as a cook, or maybe they want to satisfy the members of their family with tasty dishes every day. Yet once again the onus is placed on the body, which is considered temporary by the Vedic seers, those who take divine instruction passed down from the original Personality of Godhead at the beginning of creation. The sense demands can never be fully satisfied, and the more one tries to find happiness through this channel, the less they learn to appreciate others. The pursuit of sense gratification is entirely personally related; therefore happiness for oneself doesn’t necessarily bring happiness for another person. Moreover, there will be competition in this area, as someone else’s success in a particular venture can be detrimental to the person seeking out their own satisfaction.

The defects in the example of the cooking class can be rectified pretty quickly, provided that the aim of the instructor and the students shifts in the right direction. If the object of focus is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then even something as simple as cooking can be both appreciated and excelled at. The devotee understands that their inherent link to the spiritual world means that if the Lord is made happy through devotional efforts, that pleasure will be shared with those who are intimately associated with Him.

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.26)

In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna states that anyone who offers Him a leaf, flower, fruit, or some water with devotion will have their offering accepted by Him. Krishna is the same God that everyone worships, ignores or decries. He is the original form of Godhead, the most attractive entity to be found in any realm. In whatever room Krishna walks into, He is the most beautiful person. The same applies for His strength, knowledge, fame, level of renunciation, and wisdom. Since He is in full possession of these attributes He is also known as Bhagavan.

Service to God is to be enacted voluntarily, for the loving spirit cannot blossom when there is fear or coercion due to impending punishment. Krishna is so wonderful that one who gains His association becomes fortunate. By this very definition, someone who falls out of the graces of the Lord and His land becomes the biggest loser. If on one side you have the greatest gain and on the other you turn your back to that benefit, naturally the latter condition will be the worst possible one. In this way anyone who is forgetful of Krishna already suffers the worst punishment. There is no need for worry about further punishment after the initial turn from spiritual life is made, for the misery continues to arrive without cessation.

If God doesn’t explicitly want to punish us once we forget Him, why do we have such horrible things like rape, incest, murder and natural disasters? In the realm divorced of its direct relationship to the Supreme Person, every interest will be directed at pleasing the senses. Since each person will look to fulfill this need first, fierce competition must follow. The decried practices of racism, bigotry and caste distinctions only exist because they further the interests of specific parties. If everyone understood that they are inherently linked to God, there would be no reason to make such distinctions, or at least they wouldn’t matter as far as human interactions went.

“O Partha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, unborn, eternal and immutable, kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.21)

When operating under the competitive spirit, there must be some temporary gains and setbacks. Hence we see economic booms, depressions, wars, famines, periods of prosperity, and other temporary conditions. The soul of the living entity is eternal, so even the worst act perpetrated on the body cannot do anything to alter the makeup of the spiritual spark, the essence of identity. Therefore the pains and miseries of the material world are not directly related to God, as the miserable conditions are concomitant with forgetfulness of the Supreme Person.

The best approach for finding pleasure is to take directly to understanding the fountainhead of energy, Shri Krishna, as this will lead one towards the necessary educational pursuits to keep the soul satisfied. With the soul satisfied in full Krishna consciousness, appreciation for the other aspects of life will increase. The process can be likened to the results that come from appreciating a completed product versus just admiring its various components. Let’s say we have a brand new motorcycle sitting in the garage. To enhance our appreciation, we could try to take the bike apart and study the various aspects. We could admire the different parts and appreciate the fine craftsmanship and how vital the components are towards the machine as a whole. The other option is to appreciate the entire machine itself, riding it around, enjoying our time. With appreciation of the motorcycle, the component parts are automatically paid homage. The same appreciation could come by studying each of the individual parts, but this process is much more difficult.

In a similar manner, just by knowing Krishna, so much of nature can be noticed, appreciated and honored without any added effort. The gopis of Vrindavana illustrated this concept very nicely. Aside from being the original Personality of Godhead residing in the spiritual sky, Krishna is also the best friend of the devotees, who He is kind enough to visit every so often in the material world. In reality, the distinction between worlds applies only to the conditioned souls deluded by a false ego. Wherever Krishna goes is a spiritual land, but since His personal presence typically goes unnoticed in the phenomenal realm, it is considered a separated area.

The gopis loved Krishna the most during His time on earth some five thousand years ago. Their love is of the transcendental variety, not the kind that can turn into hate at a moment’s notice. Even if the gopis did get angry at Krishna, they never hated Him. On the contrary, they only thought of Him more and more. Even if they were envious of other gopis being more favored by Krishna, their jealousy was not material in any way. Never did they associate with their body, and never did they seek the full satisfaction of anyone besides Krishna.

When the gopis would think of Krishna and the flute He would play, they would automatically appreciate the tree that produced the flute that touched Krishna’s lips. Lest they stop their meditation here, they increased their appreciation by honoring the flowers that surrounded the tree that produced the flute that touched Krishna’s lips. They went further by appreciating everything around the same tree. In this way their knowledge of production of goods was perfect, and so was their overall attitude. They carried the attitude of universal brotherhood without explicitly seeking it. They loved Krishna, so naturally they would love everything about His creation. If they ever were really disappointed about something not tied to Krishna, it was that the creator gave them eyelids that periodically obstructed their vision of the beautiful Shyamasundara, Shri Krishna who is the most attractive and has the complexion of a dark raincloud.

What does this mean for us? How can we know Krishna? How can we get authorized information about Him? The saints have kindly passed on to us the confidential wisdom found in the sacred Vedic texts like the Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. By helping ourselves to their gifts, the proper attitude in life can be adopted. What’s so wonderful is that one who takes on the mood of devotion, or bhakti, can go into any situation and extract nectar from it. The devotee enrolled in the cooking class can take the information learned and use it to prepare delicious items to be offered to Krishna, which then subsequently turn into prasadam. The devotee with the appreciated motorcycle can use their vehicle to travel from town to town to chant the Lord’s glories, especially those found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

The traits exhibited by the gopis and the saints also serve as a nice barometer for how well one is progressing in their practice of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Hating someone or something else is very easy; it requires no effort whatsoever. Only one who knows God can see the good in all people and their potential to become devotees who enthrall the Supreme Lord with their heartfelt acts of devotion. If this potential is there in all of us, why wouldn’t we wish for every one of our fellow brothers and sisters to attain full enlightenment and reach the spiritual sky at the end of life?

Without loving Krishna, or God, it is practically impossible to reach the state of mind where every other life form is appreciated. Through acts of charity and sacrifice, perhaps our fellow man can be more appreciated, but the millions of other creatures may go neglected. Krishna is also known as Govinda and Gopala because of His connection to cows. The cow is a sacred animal in the Vedic tradition because of the milk that it provides. A person can be destitute, living on a tiny plot of land, but if they have one or two cows, they will not have a problem finding food to eat. The cow doesn’t require much either; just the promise of protection and the ability to roam the fields to eat. And for that small amount of attention, the cow provides so much in return.

Not just limited to cows and human beings, spirit souls are found in all spheres of life. One who knows the nature of the soul and its relationship to Krishna will thus refrain from needlessly inflicting violence on others, especially when its purpose is just to satisfy the taste buds. In this way the Vedic knowledge passed down about God and devotion to Him is complete, not lacking anything that we might need to know. The devotee following bhakti is never bereft of anything important, including requisite knowledge. Knowledge of Krishna is sufficient for acquiring every beneficial trait imaginable.

In Closing:

When knowledge of Krishna one has understood,

Comes easily to them universal brotherhood.

Want to love God’s creatures, every single one?

And the wonders of creation, the moon and the sun?

Studying each component separately is hard,

Takes time to become familiar with each part.

Of knowledge and wisdom Krishna is the source,

At beginning of creation Vedas did He bring forth.

From devotion to God appreciation does grow,

Of integral aspects of creation we come to know.

The gopis gave to Shri Krishna all of their love,

His beautiful smile and flute always thinking of.

When bhakti in our lives we do incorporate,

The amazing creation we will appreciate.

Nothing To Do

“O son of Pritha, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in work.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.22)

“Why should I worship Krishna? Why not give attention to another deity or even the abstract sound vibration om, which doesn’t directly address any specific person?” Since God’s transcendental qualities are impossible to fully enumerate, the task of convincing others why they should abandon every form of dharma except bhakti, devotional service, is a difficult one. Despite His being described as neti neti in the Vedas, which means “not this, not that”, the glories and transcendental qualities held by the Supreme Person are still worth mentioning, as the more we know about Him, the more the seed of devotional service found within the heart grows into a creeper, ideally culminating in the development of a full blown tree holding every tasty fruit imaginable. One of the more noteworthy qualities found in the Supreme Person in His original form of Lord Krishna is that He doesn’t have to do anything. No one can tell Krishna what to do, nor is He obligated to perform any work. Whatever He does is for His own pleasure, thus proving that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The initial impulse for the maturing human being is to find a condition where life’s necessities are met to a satisfactory level, where necessary goods continually arrive without worry. The fact that the animal kingdom already has such needs met without any conscious thought given is overlooked, for the more possessions a human being acquires, the stronger the urge to protect and defend becomes. To ensure that a comfortable shelter is erected, that food is regularly supplied to the dinner table, and that clothing and other delights are available in sufficient quantities, the adult human being goes to work. He either starts his own business, becomes an independent contractor in a specific field, or goes to work for someone who runs their own business.

Irrespective of the specific path chosen, there is both service and obligation. The obligation itself entails service. The boss of a successful company must ensure that his customers are happy. Whether he is delivering a product or service, if there are no patronizing customers, the autonomy and power of the proprietor end up being meaningless. The most successful companies often have the hardest working owners. The employee can clock out when their shift is over, but to the proprietor the worry over profit and loss never ceases. If hard times are encountered, the workers can look for jobs elsewhere, but the owner must figure out a way to earn a profit, else risk losing his business, which is his life and soul.

After many years of working, the ideal end is retirement, the time in life when there is no longer an obligation to work. Enough money has been earned to provide for a sufficient standard of living, one that no longer requires the obligation of running a business or showing up to the jobsite. This time is highly coveted because of the relief of stress and pressure that it brings. Who wouldn’t want to live a life where you didn’t have to go to work? The only other time when such obligations are absent is during childhood, especially the years before schooling. Even while attending school during youth, there are vacations and time off, extended breaks not available to the adult worker. There are vacations and holidays sparsely populating the calendar for the busy business owner and laborers, but since adult workers are involved in a profit/loss game, not too much time can be missed from the business without a negative consequence resulting.

If we study the issue a little more closely, however, we’ll see that even retirees have to work. They have some sort of obligation they must meet. Either they have to tend to their children and grandchildren, travel to different places, or manage their finances. Even the “trust fund babies”, children born into wealth, make up obligations and duties for themselves. If they didn’t follow such obligations, there would be consequences that they would find unpleasant.

For one person, however, there is never any obligation. This is true for Him at any stage of life, which is a pretty significant fact considering that the length of His life is longer than any other person’s. Though the spirit soul travels through different species through reincarnation, its constitutional position never changes. The soul, or atma, is described as sanatana, or eternal, in the Vedas. This fact is difficult to comprehend from only using the known outward perceptions gathered in a particular stint in a particular form. The qualification is placed on “known” perceptions because not all sense observations are remembered or accounted for. During our childhood the length of time of one year was the same as it is during adulthood, but since consciousness wasn’t fully developed back then, the memories of those days and nights are almost all forgotten. Yet, just because we remember one event and forget another doesn’t mean that there are any differences between the two lengths of time.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

Just as we can’t remember the specific details of events in our life that took place many years ago, we have no memory of our experiences prior to the current life. Therefore the concept of sanatana needs identifying and explaining; otherwise the ignorant soul would simply associate with their present body, a form that is constantly changing. This association is silly because we know from our past that our body has constantly changed. An adult doesn’t consider themselves a kid, for they would never think of playing on slides and running through children’s parks as an adult. But surely during the time of childhood the identity was based on age and the makeup of the outer covering of the soul. Since this outer covering eventually completely changed, that past basis for identity was incorrect.

Similarly, the adult basing their identity off of their outward features makes a grievous error, for the entire covering will be discarded in favor of a new one at the time of death. Therefore the soul is accurately described as sanatana, though it has a choice as to which realm to occupy and what activities to adopt. When choosing in favor of the turbulent waters of the ocean of material existence, there must be obligations relating to such things as work, school and family interests.

The Supreme Person, the entity who’s realm is actually our natural home, is also sanatana, but in a different way. He remains in His body, unchanged for all of eternity. Even when He makes appearances in His material creation, His spiritual body is still unchanging, even though it seemingly goes through the natural shifts like from boyhood to youth, to adulthood, and so on. Along with His sanatana form comes a lack of obligation. Since the laws of karma, the effects of action and reaction, and the influences of the threefold miseries of life cannot ever touch Him, He never has anything to do.

Most of us refer to this person as God, but His specific features may not be as well known. Since in His original form His attributes are most fully represented, the name used to address Him in a loving way is Krishna, which means “all-attractive”. It must be noted that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, has many expansions, which include even the living entities. From one come many, but the many aren’t always equal to the one. When the one makes a personal expansion, the new form is identical in potency and supremacy to the original. When there are separated expansions, the qualities found in the Supreme Person are replicated only to a percentage, thus creating an inherent relationship between the two parties. The superior is always the same in quality as the inferior, but the inferior can never become superior. Where they are tied, however, is in interests. When the inferior becomes fully aware of their standing, they never leave the superior’s side.

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 4.7)

Whenever there is a decline in religious practice and a steady rise in irreligion, Krishna descends to earth either personally or in a non-different form. Based on this information it seems that Krishna has created an obligation. Since His appearance is tied to a specific condition on earth, it must mean that as soon as that condition is present, the Lord is compelled to appear. For instance, if we have a building equipped with a sprinkler system to deal with fire emergencies, as soon as the detector goes off, the sprinklers will turn on. Therefore the sprinklers are essentially obligated to act once a condition is met.

This actually isn’t true with the Supreme Lord. His appearing on earth to redress discrepancies in religious practice is simply out of His own whim, and it is not automatic. Rather, the statement relating to when and why He appears is made to give the unintelligent spiritual fragments trapped in a cycle of reincarnation a rudimentary understanding of why Krishna is sometimes visible and why He is sometimes not.

When the incarnations come, when Krishna personally remains in the spiritual sky but descends as an avatara, or non-different form, some obligations are seemingly put into place. For instance, as the warrior prince Lord Rama, Krishna assumed the role of a pious son, one following the tremendous example of virtue and dedication to righteousness passed down by the rulers of the Ikshvaku dynasty. Rama agreed to limit His activities to kingly duties and the exhibition of strength in defense of the innocent. Since Krishna can never hide His natural beauty, Shri Rama enthralled everyone with His stunning good looks and His kind nature. Therefore many people wanted to associate with Him intimately, but since He voluntarily abided by righteousness to set a good example, He only took one wife in His life, the glorious Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka. Shri Rama also abided by the orders given by His superiors, such as the guru Vasishtha and the father King Dasharatha.

Other avataras have also followed obligations created based on the time and circumstance. Lord Narasimhadeva came for a brief period of time to specifically kill the demon king Hiranyakashipu, who was harassing his five-year old son Prahlada Maharaja. Lord Parashurama was only interested in killing, in wiping out the kshatriya race over and over again. Lord Vamanadeva came to liberate Bali Maharaja, and Lord Varaha came to save the earth when it was submerged in water.

With Shri Krishna, however, the self-imposed obligations are virtually absent. Instead of abiding by dharma, travelling to certain places, or following orders so that society’s dedication to virtue can remain strong, Krishna simply plays on His flute. This is His most natural activity, as it gives Him tremendous pleasure. If He likes, Krishna enjoys with His cowherd friends, the cows, or even Mother Yashoda. Krishna is actually celebrated for His act of stealing butter from the stockpiles found in the neighbors’ homes. Shri Krishna is the wealthiest person in the world and lives under no one’s obligations, yet He steals from others because it gives Him pleasure. Since Krishna is the reservoir of all pleasure, anything He does to provide Himself happiness automatically brings pleasure to those who are connected with Him.

If someone were to come into our cupboard or pantry and take away our food that we had safely tucked away, obviously we wouldn’t be too happy. Yet the gopis of Vrindavana, while outwardly feigning anger and disappointment, were so thrilled to have the young Krishna, who was living with His foster parents Mother Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja in Vrindavana at the time, come and steal their butter. When they would complain to Mother Yashoda, the elderly gopis still would ask her not to punish Krishna, for they could not remain angry at Him, despite what He had done.

When the cows in Vrindavana would sometimes start running around uncontrollably or when the crowd of friends roamed away from Krishna’s side, the Lord would ascend a hill and start playing His flute. The sounds that emanated from this magical instrument had never been heard before, nor can they be found in any place in the material world. That flute sound is actually heard constantly in the spiritual sky of Goloka Vrindavana, which is the permanent residence of the Krishna devotees who think of Him at all times in their life, and especially at the time of death. As soon as Krishna would play His flute, everyone would settle down and fix their gaze upon their beloved Shyamasundara.

Since Krishna is not obligated to do anything, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His most complete form. If the Lord does seemingly take up an activity out of duty, it is done to simply provide pleasure to those who have abandoned hopes for enjoyment in material life. Krishna stays with those who want His association, who enjoy chanting His names found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, more than any other activity. Even the avataras and incarnations that follow obligations only do so because of the Lord’s love for His devotees. In this way, even though Krishna has no obligations and never has to worry about providing for Himself, when He sees others who need help finding their forgotten constitutional positions, innocent souls sincerely interested in adopting bhakti-yoga as a way of life, Krishna brings His beautiful image and pleasurable pastimes to the forefront of their consciousness. Though He has nothing to do, Krishna has everything to bring to the surrendered soul. To those who think of Him in a mood of pure love and devotion, Krishna runs at the speed of the mind to their location and gives them the pleasure they most certainly deserve.

In Closing:

At the jobsite the dedicated worker tries his best,

To complete his tasks, to one day find real rest.

Retirement is seen as the panacea, for the dream of peace one hopes,

For reaching that end with the trouble of life the worker copes.

But obligations do never end, one must have something to do,

One needs activity, to keep the mind from feeling blue.

One person is so wonderful that He never has to act,

He is happy within Himself, that is a fact.

He is known as Shri Krishna because He is all-attractive,

At winning the hearts of the pious He is most effective.

He comes to earth to play on His flute,

His youthful figure so beautiful and cute.

From the neighbors’ homes does He steal butter,

Complain do the gopis to Yashoda His mother.

But once they see Krishna, their anger do they forget,

“Let Him come to our homes, a glance at His smile we’ll get.”

For Krishna there is nothing to do, no obligations,

For the devotees He comes to earth, to relieve their frustrations.

For this He is ever worthy of love and adoration,

Chant His name always and you will get liberation.

God Loving

“The gopis have set the standard of devotion for the whole world. By following in the footsteps of the gopis by constantly thinking of Krishna, one can attain the highest perfectional stage of spiritual life.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 46)

The self-described “God-fearing” citizens have an interesting realization, as they explicitly attempt to distance themselves from those who do not fear God. If I say that I love my country, inherently implied in the declaration is that others don’t love their country or that my patriotism is in doubt in the minds of others. The very existence of God-fearing citizens indicates that some people don’t fear a higher power at all, that they don’t believe there are unseen negative reactions to behavior. Perhaps they don’t believe in God or they think that everything happens automatically as a result of visible cause-and-effect; so what need is there to fear a higher power? Though having a fear of receiving punishment from the highest authority figure, the person from whom everything in this world emanates, indicates an advanced consciousness, an even higher realization is to transcend fear and develop love towards that same person. A God-loving person is one who has truly developed their consciousness and made the most of the valuable human form of body.

Are there people who really don’t fear God? The most visible examples are those people who commit heinous acts such as theft and murder. After all, how could someone who really believes in God condone the acts of violence perpetrated against the innocent, such as the killing of a child in the womb? To justify their viewpoint, the religiously inclined proponents of abortion rights will either say that it is up to the woman to choose how to deal with her body or that life itself doesn’t begin until birth. If life starts at birth, what would cause the fetus in the womb to ever grow? We know that with living entities there is life inside of the body as long as there is autonomous movement seen, functions which no one else can control. The necessary ingredient to life, the essence of individuality, is the spirit soul residing within. As long as the soul is present, no one can validly claim that a particular lump of matter is dull and lifeless.

The fetus within the womb, which started off as a tiny pea in size, can only develop when the presence of life, the indication of a spiritual spark, is inside. In the absence of this vital force, the fetus would never emerge from the womb. Indeed, just the fact that the fetus needs to be killed/aborted is indication enough of its autonomous growth. If the fetus weren’t a life, there would be no reason to kill it, as ending something is only possible when it is in a continuous, active state of existence.

With respect to the other argument of having free will to choose what to do with one’s body, the same can be said of any person and their actions even outside the scope of abortion. Let’s say that the baby finally makes it out of the womb. Now, all of a sudden, it’s not okay to kill the child? Free will is always there, as human beings are more than open to perform the worst kinds of acts, even against their fellow man. The concept of crime is introduced when the natural rights of others are infringed upon by the exercise of freedom. Indeed, a crime cannot be committed unless and until the freedom of at least one individual is exercised.

“They [the demoniac] believe that to gratify the senses unto the end of life is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus there is no end to their anxiety. Being bound by hundreds and thousands of desires, by lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 16.11-12)

The God-fearing person acknowledges that there are sinful activities. The term “sin” usually connotes religion and the violation of an edict found within a particular scripture. Because of this general definition, the atheists and those who are not God-fearing will discount the concept of sin as being sectarian or a matter of faith. “Well, what if I don’t believe in that book? Then obviously piety and sin don’t apply to me.” But sin is actually just a negative reaction to a particular action. For instance, if we are building a house and we decide to make up our own plans, ignoring those created and handed down through tradition and the input of authority figures, our actions will indeed be sinful. The sin will become obvious once the negative reactions to the incorrect construction techniques manifest. Depending on the degree of deviation from the system of maintenance, i.e. how improperly the house was built, the severity of the sin can be large or small. In spite of our lack of acknowledgement of the sin, the negative reaction will come forward nonetheless.

The same principle applies in spirituality. Books on religion are there for informational purposes, as the laws of nature are governed by higher authorities. In addition to governing human behavior, these same people manage the population of animals and aquatics as well, even though such species have no concept of piety and sin. Reactions will always be present to actions. With the human species, however, there is a higher potential for intelligence, so the results of sin and piety carry over into the next life as well. Indeed, the present circumstances are the result of past activities performed, either in the current life or previous ones. Whether one is ignorant of the laws of karma or wholly aware of them makes no difference as far as the reactions manifesting.

So what is the benefit of being God-fearing then? If the reactions come regardless, is not the person who refuses to acknowledge God in the same boat as the person who regularly attends church? While knowledge of piety and sin have no bearing on the reactions to work, it can alter behavior. If I know the right way to do something, I will have a better chance at avoiding pitfalls and mistakes. If a person understands that there is a higher authority managing the results of action, there will be greater care taken to avoid sinful behavior. This is the entire benefit to being God-fearing. One who fears the powerful hand of the Almighty will try to avoid sinful acts like killing innocent life, stealing from others, telling lies, and refusing to honor one’s parents. In this sense the acknowledgement of God’s existence turns out to be a blessing, as beneficial results can be found, which is reason enough to remain on the righteous path.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.20)

The temporary gains resulting from following pious behavior represent neither the summit of existence nor the height of pleasurable experience. The spirit soul is the essence of individuality in all forms of life, so it has distinct properties that remain unchanged through the passage of time and the workings of nature. Irrespective of the body type assumed and the circumstances endured resulting from actions falling under the jurisdiction of karma, the spirit soul remains eternal, primeval, ever-knowledgeable, blissful and wholly tied to the Supreme Spirit. God is not just a punisher; He is a person who has distinct properties, features which are effused in a smaller proportion on the innumerable spiritual sparks, the living entities residing in the material and spiritual worlds. The real benefit to having a higher level of intelligence is being able to understand the properties of the soul and its relationship to God.

Better than fearing God is loving Him. Who could argue against this? One who loves God actually doesn’t have to fear Him in any way. When there is fear of God or a study performed on His ability to punish others for transgressing the laws put forth in various scriptures, an element of knowledge is present. But with knowledge comes discrimination, as that is the benefit to increasing intelligence. If we didn’t use our knowledge to discriminate, our expanded brain power would be useless. With knowledge we can understand that placing our hand into a fire will cause a severe negative reaction. Hence there is discrimination in the viewing of objects, a surveying which subsequently alters behavior.

“Thus the inhabitants of Vrindavana do not care who is God, and who is not. They love Krishna, that’s all. Those who think of first analyzing Krishna to determine whether He is God are not first-class devotees. The first-class devotees are those who have spontaneous love for Krishna.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Teachings of Queen Kunti, Ch 14)

Discrimination can be used to learn about God in the beginning stages, but on the platform of love there is no need for such assessment. Does the good mother decide whether or not her small child is worthy of her affection? Do we consider whether or not our parents have treated us well before deciding to take care of and love them? On the highest platform of spiritual consciousness, one that is at the constitutional level, there is not even attention paid to God’s status as the Almighty. The mood of pure love is there, and that is all that is required to maintain one’s spiritual existence and thought processes.

Since this sounds like a theoretical analysis about a plane of consciousness not capable of being reached, we can study the example of the gopis of Vrindavana to understand just how real loving God can be. The gopis are cowherd girls, and though they reside eternally in the spiritual land of Goloka Vrindavana, they descended to this earth some five thousand years ago along with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna. While the ignorant may take Krishna to be a sectarian figure, the wise understand that if God is to be the Almighty, He must be all-attractive as well. If He is forever blissful and beautiful, He most certainly must be able to enchant the hearts and minds of everyone He encounters. If He is a “He”, He must also be a personality. If He creates a realm, He can most certainly appear in it whenever He chooses.

When Krishna appeared on earth, He gave every indication of being the Supreme Person. Short of actually declaring it openly to everyone, Krishna showed that as Bhagavan He is the richest, wisest, strongest, most famous, most beautiful, and most renounced person to have ever graced the earth. Evidence of the abundance of these features is documented in many Vedic texts, especially the Shrimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. Despite His stature, Krishna doesn’t ask anyone to fear Him, nor does He want simple adherence to rules of propriety. Fearful emotions and fealty to law codes are present in even those who don’t know Krishna, so what need would there be for the Lord to demand something that is already being followed by many around the world?

Krishna’s primary purpose in coming to earth is to grant His association to others and allow future generations to get a glimpse into what eternal spiritual life is like. While Krishna is the object of worship, the gopis are the standard bearers for how that worship should be practiced. They loved Krishna so much that they didn’t even care that He was God. They were not interested in following rules of social morality and virtue, for their motivation was to be in Krishna’s association and gain pleasure from interactions with Him. As mentioned before, piety is meant to bring about a favorable condition in a particular venture, so the gopis viewed mundane piety as being meant to keep them in line with dharma and maintain their good standing in the town of Vrindavana. But piety of this kind would also keep them away from Krishna’s association, so for this reason they sometimes bypassed the standard rules that apply to others.

The gopis, as God-loving residents of Vrindavana, did everything for Krishna and felt tremendous pain when separated from Him. Whether they were punished or not was not important to them, for they just thought of Krishna all day and appreciated His beauty and the wonderful sound that emanated from His flute. The yogis, mental speculators and fruitive workers are never given the same reward of intimate association with Krishna that is granted the gopis. Other systems of piety rooted in reverence for God can ideally lead one to the pure love, or bhakti, platform, but bhakti itself is so powerful that it does not depend on anything else. In the heightened state of consciousness, there is no discrimination made over whether Krishna is God; there is just pure love. Bhakti automatically brings knowledge of the rules necessary for maintaining the transcendental link and also the proper level of renunciation required for keeping away unwanted elements, things like gambling, intoxication and illicit sex, which only keep one further separated from God in consciousness. Sinful behavior not only increases forgetfulness of God, but it also increases the likelihood of invoking discrimination when hearing about Krishna from authorized sources like the Vedas and those who follow Vedic teachings.

One who is self-identified as God-loving proclaims to everyone that their highest object of worship is the Supreme Lord and that this assignment was made not out of fear, but pure love. The love is exclusive and not tainted in any way, as there is no expectation of reciprocation, material benefit, or reward of protection from calamity. Surely such benefits are easily acquired, but the point to the existence, the reason for even being a vital force, is realized and enjoyed through the bhakti mindset. To keep the fire of devotion alive, the devotee regularly chants, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, and maintains their “God-loving” title up until the time of death.

Muralidhara

“The deep vibration of Krishna’s flute surpasses the thundering of new clouds and attracts the aural reception of the entire world. Thus the inhabitants of Vrindavana rise and pursue that sound, drinking the showering nectar of Krishna’s bodily luster like thirsty Chatak birds.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Antya 19.42)

Question: “Krishna is often depicted holding and playing a flute. Is there any special significance to this flute?”

Answer: There are certainly different forms of the original Personality of Godhead, the almighty entity that we know as God. The varieties in appearance speak to the different natures of man. Not only are there varieties in the human species, but in fact there are up to 8,400,000 different forms of life, each of which has its own tendencies, desires, and activities that bring it pleasure. Only one person is the father of every species, and hence only one person knows how to please everyone. This entity is so potent that by taking to self-pleasing activities, He can attract the hearts and minds of those who are dying to offer their service in a pure and loving way. As the ultimate reservoir of pleasure, the Supreme Lord simply has to engage in one of His innumerable sports to give pleasure to those who are intimately associated with Him, the devotees. Of all the forms of Godhead, only the original, Lord Krishna, is capable of instigating the highest transcendental mellow, or rasa, from the purified soul. Not surprisingly, Krishna’s flute plays an integral role in this divine enchantment.

Why are there different forms of Godhead if Krishna can just play His flute and attract everyone? Depending on the time and circumstance, mankind will not be so willing to bring forth his natural loving propensity. The loving propensity is a quality derived from the natural properties of the spirit soul. This shouldn’t surprise us, for though it manifests in different ways, love is all around. Love in the mundane sense is directed towards one’s neighbor, friend, countrymen, government leaders, parents, or paramour. Even hate is a product of the loving propensity, a total inversion of the emotion. When intense love gets reversed, it turns into hatred. As individual autonomous units of energy, we have free will in our actions. But this doesn’t mean that we have independence as far as results go, for every other individual has their own free will to act upon their desires.

The power of the individual comes from the soul, which is an expansion of the Supreme Spirit. Not surprisingly, this most powerful spiritual entity is the Supreme Lord. Depending on the time, circumstance, and understanding of the members of society, the Divine Entity is addressed by different names. In the Vedic tradition, the name Krishna is considered the best because it speaks to the Divine’s most important feature: attractiveness. Only God can attract everyone; hence the name Krishna, which means all-attractive, becomes most appropriate. Nevertheless, Lord Krishna, in His original all-attractive form, doesn’t necessarily remain in the material world at all times. His presence is certainly felt everywhere, as not a blade of grass can move without His sanction, but this influence is of the secondary variety. Krishna is in everything, but not everything is in Krishna.

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.4)

How is God’s influence felt on earth? As mentioned before, the individual spirit soul, which is part and parcel of Krishna, forms the basis of identity and action. Yet the results of action are distributed by the Supersoul, a non-different expansion of Krishna which resides within the heart, next to the individual soul. They say that the size of the individual soul, or jivatma, is akin to a tiny fragment of the tip of a human hair, and that the size of the Supersoul is akin to the size of a thumb. Both of these measurements are relative to the particular body, for every living entity, even a tiny ant, has the Supersoul residing within. The size of the Supersoul is proportionate to the size of the individual.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bg. 4.5)

Irrespective of size, both souls are very powerful; yet the Supersoul has greater capabilities. The Supersoul is responsible for the memory of previous experiences and the awakening of divine consciousness. Since the soul is similar in makeup to God, it is ever-existing; it cannot be destroyed in any way. The outer covering of the soul, the body, is temporary; thus the soul can travel from different body types, one after another, life after life. Once a new body is assumed, i.e. when the event known as birth takes place, experiences from previous lives are forgotten. Moreover, when entrapped in a particular outer covering, the individual only remains conscious of its own activities. An individual might become aware of what others are thinking and feeling, but this is only accomplished through external interaction. The soul never travels into another person’s body. Even in the case of powerful yogis who can travel through space with their souls, there is no way to become conscious of what every single person is thinking.

The Supersoul, on the other hand, resides within every individual, and since it is non-different from God, the Supreme Lord automatically becomes the most knowledgeable entity. He is conscious of the thoughts, activities, and desires of every single viable living entity past, present, and future. When the individual soul takes to connecting with the Supersoul, the activity is known as yoga. When yoga is achieved in a perfect state, the individual is taken back to the spiritual realm, their original home. Once having returned, the purified spiritual sparks remain forever in Krishna’s association, enjoying His company by playing an active role in the Lord’s sportive exploits.

Achieving perfect yoga is not easy, so for the benefit of the conditioned souls illusioned by their contact with material nature, the original personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna Himself, descends to earth in various visible forms. Generally the difference between the Supersoul and the incarnations is described in terms of nirguna and saguna. Nirguna means without material qualities and saguna means with material qualities. The Supreme Lord, as the creator of matter, can never become subject to its influence; hence He is never saguna. Nirguna and saguna are from the perspective of the conditioned entity, who is unable to properly conceive of the Lord’s immensely powerful and gigantic transcendental form. The avataras, or saguna forms, are representations of the same Supreme Lord residing within the heart as the Supersoul.

So what functions do these avataras perform? Depending on time and circumstance, specific activities are taken to. Sometimes there is a particular devilish character running around causing havoc, so the Lord takes to diminishing the effect of this cancer on society. Sometimes there are issues pertaining to evil kings who are enslaving innocent people. The Lord then personally appears, or sends one of His authorized representatives, to free the oppressed people and provide them a roadmap for spiritual enlightenment. Sometimes there is a particularly demoniac king disturbing the activities of the saintly people. Depending on the capabilities of the king and the boons previously given to Him, the Lord will take on a form that meets the criteria necessary for eradicating such a miscreant.

Lord Krishna Himself, the original Personality of Godhead, appeared on this earth some five thousand years ago. On the surface, there seemed to be an outward cause, that of the influences of a monarch named Kamsa. According to a prophecy told to him, Kamsa was to be killed by the eighth son of his sister Devaki. After killing her first seven children, Kamsa eagerly anticipated the birth of the eighth. To fulfill the prophecy and to rid the world of the harmful effects of Kamsa, Shri Krishna, in a diminutive form, appeared from the womb of Mother Devaki as her eighth child. Through a series of interconnected events, Krishna made His way to Vrindavana in His youth, where He would remain for some years until the time was right for Kamsa’s demise. Eventually Kamsa would be killed directly by Krishna in a fight, and the primary purpose for the Lord’s advent would be fulfilled.

What’s unique about Krishna’s personal appearance on earth is that although there were outward purposes, the primary driving force of the Lord’s activities was pleasure. In previous incarnations, the Lord was duty-bound to specific forms, rules, and regulations. This isn’t to say that the Supreme Lord can ever be compelled to do anything, but in order to pay respect to the wishes of close associates, the Lord voluntarily abided by certain codes of conduct. In His incarnation as the warrior prince Rama, God adhered to the rules of chivalry and honor assigned to the kshatriya, or warrior, caste. In His incarnation as the half-man/half-lion, Narasimhadeva, the Lord killed the demoniac king Hiranyakashipu in a way specific enough to not break any of the boons previously given to the king by the demigod Lord Brahma. In His incarnation as Lord Buddha, Krishna purposefully spoke against the authority of the Vedas in order to stop the degraded practice of animal sacrifice. As Parashurama, Krishna took to extreme violence, killing the entire kshatriya race many times over.

In His original form, Krishna is only interested in pleasurable activities. Therefore, the pastimes and actions most remembered by devotees, those events that evoke the strongest transcendental loving feelings, are the ones enacted in Vrindavana during Krishna’s youth. Though Krishna appeared from the womb of a woman married to a member of the warrior caste, Krishna’s foster parents were of the mercantile order, vaishyas. Thus Krishna grew up on a farm, tending cows with His fellow friends and neighbors. It is seen that since in the country children have much more room to play, they will spend a large portion of the day running around on various fields and enjoying playful activities. Krishna was no different in this regard; the only difference was the effect of His activities. Krishna was no ordinary boy, and neither were His friends any ordinary children. Krishna’s associates were of the highest consciousness, yogis practicing the ancient art of bhakti. Their level of devotion was so great that they didn’t even know what bhakti was. Oftentimes there are debates as to which type of yoga is superior. Some take to yoga through intense meditation, while others take to the analytical study of the differences between matter and spirit. Bhakti, however, is always superior because it is the only form of yoga that never stops and never diminishes. Bhakti is the essence of spiritual life, the natural disposition of the soul. Only in bhakti does the yogi forget even what yoga is. When in the presence of superior company, all mundane rules, regulations, and distinctions are immediately forgotten.

“My dear sir, Krishna’s form was most wonderful when He appeared on this planet and exhibited the potency of His internal energy. His wonderfully attractive form was present during His pastimes on this planet, and by His internal potency He exhibited His opulences, which are striking to everyone. His personal beauty was so great that there was no necessity for His wearing ornaments on His body. In fact, instead of the ornaments’ beautifying Krishna, Krishna’s beauty enhanced the ornaments.” (Uddhava speaking to Vidura, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.2.12)

Krishna’s beautiful form is enough to bring supreme pleasure to the eyes. In fact, they say that Krishna’s body is so beautiful that the ornaments He wears actually become enhanced in appearance because they are placed on the Lord’s exquisite body. Normally ornaments work the other way around; they enhance the beauty of the objects they are placed onto. Goswami Tulsidas, our favorite Vaishnava poet, makes a similar observation in his Gitavali, a devotional poem which includes descriptions of the childhood activities of Shri Rama, Krishna’s incarnation in the Treta Yuga as a handsome prince. Lord Rama, whose body is similar in complexion to Krishna’s, was also nicely decorated with ornaments and jewelry in His childhood, as is the custom for mothers of the Vedic tradition to do. Rama’s ornaments were slightly different, as He wore a necklace with a lion’s toenail on it for protection. Nevertheless, the effects were still the same, as the jewelry and accessories took on their true value once they dangled from the transcendental body of the Lord.

There is a common saying that men fall in love with their eyes and women fall in love with their ears. Though the validity of such a statement can be debated, the effect that Krishna had on the ears of His transcendental associates cannot. Through the sweet, melodious sounds emanating from His flute, Krishna enraptured the hearts and minds of His gopa friends, the cowherd boys of the neighborhood. But the reach of sound is far greater than the reach of sight, so the playing of the Lord’s flute would touch all the residents of Vrindavana, including the cowherd women, the gopis. Though most of these women were married, they fell completely in love with Krishna simply by seeing Him and hearing the sound of His flute. In fact, the gopis represent the upper limit of devotion, the highest perfectional stage that anyone – be they a yogi, karmi, or jnani – can ascend to. The gopis’ minds are always fixed on Krishna, irrespective of the task they are engaged in.

“My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krishna’s lips independently and leave only a taste for the gopis for whom that nectar is actually meant. The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river, on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.” (Gopis glorifying the song of Krishna’s flute, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 10.21.9)

Even when taking part in household chores, the gopis could meditate on Krishna by remembering His form and hearing the sound of His flute. Their level of devotion was so high that simply by hearing the music produced by Krishna’s flute, they could perfectly understand the intricate workings of economics. The gopis would think that the flute itself was extremely benefitted by being able to touch Krishna’s lips. Even the tree that created the flute was benefitted. Keeping the chain of causation going, the ground that held the tree that created the flute that touched Krishna’s lips was also spiritually uplifted due to the role it played in the final outcome. Going even further, the flowers that surrounded the tree that created the flute that touched the lips of the wielder of the flute, Muralidhara, who gave transcendental pleasure to the residents of Vrajabhumi, were also forever spiritually benefitted. Our everyday material products are created through a similar chain of action; with numerous unrelated individuals performing independent actions driven by self-interest that eventually lead to the benefit of the end-user of the product. The gopis took this simple, yet often overlooked, reality of economics and went one step further. They not only understood how the flute was made, but they realized how the resultant object could be used to bring spiritual merit to the actors and activities responsible for its creation.

Is there any special significance to the flute? Why the flute over any other type of instrument? The shortest answer is a question: why not the flute? Shri Krishna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the only person in the world that doesn’t have to listen to anyone. If He takes pleasure in playing the flute, who are we to say that He should take to any other instrument? The flute is actually always with Krishna, even in the spiritual world. Penetrating the material elements that cover the soul, transcendental sound vibrations serve as the most effective way to liberate one from the clutches of material existence. These sound vibrations can take the form of words of instruction from the devotees and songs of praise directed at the Supreme Lord, but the most potent sound vibration is that emanating from the flute of the Supreme Lord.

Lord Krishna, though growing up in a farm community, later took on the role of a king and married many princesses. Sometimes Krishna was fighting enemies in His adult years, but sometimes He played a more passive role, as He did on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where He served as His cousin Arjuna’s charioteer. Though Krishna is the worshipable object of the brahmanas, brahmanya-devaya, sometimes He took instruction from spiritual masters to set a good example for the rest of society. Though Krishna was a family man engaged in various daily functions pertaining to home and society, He was the most renounced person, as was exhibited by His separation from His loving associates in Vrindavana. Not only were the gopas and gopis firmly attached to Krishna in an unbreakable bond of transcendental love, but so was Krishna attached to them in the same way. Yet due to the outward cause of having to deal with miscreants, Krishna left Vrindavana behind and spent the rest of His years on earth as a king in Mathura and Dvaraka.

“My dear lotus-eyed Lord, Your statement that we are not a fit combination is completely right. It is not possible for me to come to an equal level with You because You are the reservoir of all qualities, the unlimited Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can I be a fit match for You?” (Rukmini speaking to Krishna, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 5)

Shri Krishna once mentioned many of these apparently contradictory qualities in a conversation with His principal wife, Rukmini. Wanting to play with Rukmini a little bit, Krishna sarcastically asked her why she was attracted to Him, for He was not qualified in any way to have such an exalted princess for a wife. Though Krishna was joking, Rukmini retorted that Krishna was indeed correct in His assertions, for as the Supreme Lord, no material designation could accurately be tagged to Him. No one could figure out what caste He belonged to, for even other kings would ridicule Krishna for having tended to cows in His youth. No one could understand His financial disposition either, for although He was the protector of Dvaraka, He wasn’t necessarily the acknowledged ruler of the community. Lord Krishna did not belong to any of the modes of material nature – goodness, passion, or ignorance – because as the Supreme Lord, He was transcendental to all of them; something understood perfectly by Rukmini Devi.

In this way, Rukmini firmly established Krishna as the most complete manifestation of the eternal Personality of Godhead to ever appear on this earth. Not only is Krishna not beholden to any rules and regulations, but neither are His closest associates. The highest transcendental mellow, that of madhurya-rasa, can only be tasted with Krishna, the wielder of the transcendental flute. In the spiritual sky there is the original realm of Vrindavana, the ever-existing land where the sounds of Krishna’s flute are heard every day. Only those with a pure mind and heart can go there. By always remembering the images of the Lord holding His flute and enjoying with His best friends, one can ensure that the required purification will be achieved, and that at the time of death, the return ticket to Muralidhara’s realm will be kindly given as a reward.

Dousing the Fire

“All the gopis were solaced by the instruction of Uddhava, and they requested him to stay in Vrindavana for a few days more. Uddhava agreed to their proposal and stayed with them not only for a few days, but for a few months. He always kept them engaged in thinking of the transcendental message of Krishna and His pastimes, and the gopis were feeling as if they were experiencing direct association with Krishna.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 46)

Everyone is burning from the fire of separation from the Supreme Lord, even though they may not realize it. The root cause of every pain and every discomfort is this separation, a consciousness where the purified soul feels that it is alone and that it is lacking that one thing in life that will give it solace. The fire of separation can be doused by words describing the transcendental activities, pastimes, and features of the Divine Entity. These words can be put forth by anyone, but when they come from a devotee, one who knows wherefrom the fire of separation ignites, they gain true efficacy. The most powerful solution to all of mankind’s problems, the only way to douse the fire of separation from God, is to hear about and remember His activities.

Does God have activities? He most certainly does. In order for activities to be performed, there must be a form. It is in this area that the Vedas stand out amongst all other spiritual disciplines. Popular scriptures may give information about a divine entity and the need for human beings to render service unto such a person, but the necessity for this surrender is often neglected or at least not explained in any detailed way. Often times the divine entity is described as being angry and jealous and one who insists that others bow down to Him exclusively. Yet even though the Lord is described in this way, He is deemed to be formless; one who is absent of activity and attributes.

It is sometimes asked what is needed to convert to Hinduism. The reality is that Hinduism, which is really just the modern term that describes the spiritual discipline emanating from the Vedas, doesn’t necessarily contradict any other system of spirituality. Moreover, the Vedas are not something you believe in or convert to. Rather, they simply represent law codes and detailed descriptions of the Divine’s nature, form, activities, attributes, and relationship to His subjects. In this way, non-Vedic spiritual disciplines can be thought of as first and second grade education, which by itself certainly isn’t invalid or unnecessary, while the Vedas represent a high school or college level education on spirituality. The human brain can never truly comprehend the nature of the Divine, for that is one of the primary differences between God and ordinary living beings. However, the Vedas provide as much detail as required to get the picture on what the purpose, or dharma, in life should be.

In the Vedic tradition, the original Divine Entity is known by the name of Krishna. More than just God, Krishna is Bhagavan, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is not an angry, spiteful, or jealous God, but rather an all-blissful, eternally full of knowledge divine being. The living entities, represented by any life form that has a soul in it, are His tiny fragmental sparks. This means that all forms of life – animals, plants, humans, ants, insects, trees, etc. – are similar to Krishna in quality. The difference lies in the area of quantitative powers. Living entities have no memory of when they were put into their current situation, nor do they know how to put an end to their future fortunes and misfortunes. The Supreme Lord, however, is conscious of every activity performed in the past, present, or future.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

Since the living entities are one with and different from God, there is an intimate relationship that exists at all times. Currently, we living entities in the human species, who are the most advanced in terms of knowledge, are unaware of this relationship. Hence there is a separation of consciousness. God can never be separated from anything that He creates, but Mother Nature is considered a separated expansion in the sense that the living entities under her control remain unaware of their relationship to the divine. Thus ignorance serves to facilitate the appearance of separation between God and His dearmost devotees. This separation results in a burning sensation which causes the living entities to always struggle through feelings of hankering and lamentation.

The Vedic seers, the representatives of the Lord on earth, tell us that every single problem that we think exists is due simply to this fire of separation. The more we become aware of the real problem, the greater our chances are at putting out the fire. Some of the more common problems in society are poverty, war, famine, high prices for commodities, and unemployment. Yet we know from studying history that each of these problems has been solved to some degree or another at some point in time. People living in America may feel that their economic situation suffers from time to time, but when compared to other nations around the world, there is really no such thing as poverty in America. In addition, when economic times are good, do people’s worries and fears cease? Absolutely not, for new issues are sure to crop up. Even during the greatest economic booms, there is concern about the plight of the poor and the down-trodden, those who are deemed to be not taking part in the economic largesse. No amount of service to humanity, regardless of the sincerity or lack thereof of the participants involved, can douse the fire of separation which is at the root of all miseries in this world.

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.6)

The devotees, those who acknowledge the presence of a God who is full of form and bliss, realize that association with the Divine Entity is the only path towards salvation. Devotees try their best to link up their consciousness with the Supreme Consciousness. The Vedic tenet, as told by Krishna Himself, is that a person’s consciousness at the time of death determines their fate in the next life. Through this system, we see that no one is more benevolent than Krishna. The idea of accepting God through some formalized ritual and then focusing one’s thoughts, words, and deeds towards sense pleasures is not enough to guarantee salvation. If the living entity is happy in a temporary and miserable world, where their consciousness remains separated from the Supreme, the Lord is not so unkind as to remove such a person from their “comfortable” home. The spiritual world is open to entry for any sincere soul, provided that they want to go there. The genuineness of this desire is measured at the time of death in the form of one’s consciousness.

Thoughts and actions serve to change one’s consciousness, so by practicing devotional service through the chanting of the Lord’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, the devotees aim to always be connected with Krishna. Goswami Tulsidas, a great devotee of Lord Rama and all-time favorite historical personality of our humble self, compares the activities of a true devotee to that of the Chatak bird. Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, and other vishnu-tattva forms are the same original form of Godhead just appearing in different guises. Devotees of Krishna will argue that since He is the original, other forms are not as powerful. Yet for devotees like Tulsidas and Hanuman, such statements don’t resonate. Even if told that Lord Rama, Vishnu, or Narasimha isn’t as potent as Krishna, such devotees still would never change their object of worship, so staunch is their affection. And in the grand scheme of things there is no difference between worshiping different Krishna forms, as they all can rescue the sincere soul from the cycle of birth and death.

The Chatak bird is unique in that it only drinks rainwater. It stares at the raincloud at all times, regardless of what else is going on around it. This is a wonderful comparison made by Tulsidas because Lord Rama’s body is the same in complexion as the dark raincloud. The same goes for Krishna and Vishnu. The pure devotees are like the Chatak bird in that they never want anything else except Krishna’s association. Even if they only get a little rain, the level of devotion doesn’t change. Yet just because the devotees are always thinking of Krishna, staring at the cloud if you will, it doesn’t mean that the fire of separation isn’t there. In fact, once a person becomes Krishna conscious, the fire only intensifies since they desperately crave Krishna’s association at all times. If the raincloud should somehow disperse or not appear for a few days, the devotees feel extreme pain.

So what can be done to douse this fire? For the answer, we can look to Uddhava, the cousin-brother of Lord Krishna who had an appearance almost identical to the Lord’s. Around five thousand years ago, Krishna personally descended to earth and enacted wonderful pastimes while in the guise of a human being. For God, there is no such thing as a difference between body and soul. There is no hankering, lamentation, or fire of separation in His consciousness. Yet to kindly attract the hearts and minds of the purified souls of the world, the Lord roamed the earth in what appeared to be an ordinary body. Retaining His dark blue color, Krishna captivated the residents of the village of Vrindavana in His youth. Since there were many unwanted elements in the world at the time, to take care of these demons, the Lord had to shift to the towns of Mathura and Dvaraka when He grew up. Krishna’s birth parents were of the royal order, so the Lord felt duty-bound to become a king and fight off enemies.

The residents of Vrindavana were members of the farm community, so they had nothing to do with the opulences of royal life. When Krishna left them, they felt as if their life had been taken from them. Though Krishna’s foster parents, Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yashoda, felt especially pained, no one took the separation harder than the gopis, the young cowherd girls. Krishna is not only the name for God’s original form, but it is also a word which means all-attractive. This shouldn’t surprise us, for only God could be the most attractive person in the world. This attraction certainly isn’t a fatal one, except maybe in terms of material life. One who becomes attracted to Shyamasundara, the dark blue beautiful Lord, will certainly have their time in the material world put to a permanent end. Attraction to the most attractive Krishna is most beneficial.

The gopis, most of whom were already married, had surrendered life and soul to Krishna. They enjoyed intimate association with Him on many a night in Vrindavana during Krishna’s youth. From the example of the gopis, we see that the height of devotion to God has nothing to do with rituals, severe penance, the giving of charity, or the taking to any particular social order. While these different aspects of spiritual life can certainly be beneficial in terms of progressing towards the ultimate goal, the height of purified consciousness was already achieved by the gopis through pure love. Since they were on the highest devotional platform, mundane rules and mores of society didn’t apply to them.

Since they were so benefitted from intimate association with Krishna, the gopis couldn’t bear separation from the Lord. Krishna knew this of course, so a short while after leaving He sent Uddhava to deliver a message to the gopis. Uddhava was Krishna’s cousin and he had a similar appearance to the Lord. When the gopis knew that Uddhava had a message from Krishna, they took him to the forest where no one else could hear the confidential message. Uddhava read the nice message from Krishna, which offered wonderful praises to the gopis, but the gopis weren’t really interested in formalities. They simply wanted to know what Krishna was doing, how He was feeling, and if He remembered any of them and the enjoyable time they spent together.  Seeing the gopis in a distressed condition, Uddhava advised them to always meditate on Krishna and remember His pastimes.

The gopis were so happy to hear Uddhava’s words that they insisted he remain in Vrindavana longer. In this way, their pains of separation were alleviated by Krishna’s messenger always talking about the Lord’s activities. This is the primary duty of the guru, or spiritual master. The guru is the sublime teacher, one who teaches the fallen souls how to reclaim their prestigious position as servitors of the Supreme Lord. The instructions of the guru can be quite complicated and involve different activities and regulations, but more than anything else, the guru tries to alleviate the pains of separation felt by the devotee. As proved by Uddhava, this fire of separation can only be doused by hearing about and remembering Krishna.

We may not all be spiritual masters or exalted devotees, but the efficacy of the words of Krishna and discourses pertaining to His activities doesn’t change. Topics of Krishna not only douse the fire of separation felt by the devotees, but they also alleviate the pains felt by every other person in the world. Therefore the best elixir to cure life’s ailments is the distribution of Krishna’s names, fame, glories, and words which describe His activities and attributes. Not only does talking about Krishna make the people on earth happy, but it also pleases all the past great devotees residing in the spiritual world. No group of individuals is more exalted than the gopis, and from Uddhava’s example, we see that simply talking about Krishna is enough to gain their favor. One who is in good standing with the gopis will never have to worry about the fire of material existence ever again.

A Leg Up

“The gopis were not born of any highly cultured family; they were born of cowherd men, and yet they developed the highest love of Krishna. For self-realization or God realization there is no need to take birth in a high family. The only thing needed is ecstatic development of love of God. In achieving perfection in Krishna consciousness, no other qualification is required than to be constantly engaged in the loving service of Krishna.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 46)

In the Vedic tradition, the issue of spiritual masters, or gurus, and their disciples and descendants has always been a point of controversy. The Vedas, the original set of law codes on spirituality, government, science, and any other area of importance, were instituted by the Supreme Divine Entity, the person most of us refer to as God. Yet for this tradition to continue, highly qualified scholars – people dedicated to not only learning the truths about the Vedas, but also to practically applying them in their day to day lives – are required. Since such qualified men are few and far between, anyone who takes direct instruction from them or can trace their family heritage to them feels that they are in select company.

Everyone is looking for an edge in life, so it’s not surprising that someone who would bear such spiritual connections, either through association or family lineage, would feel they have a leg up in the pursuit for perfection in spiritual life. But the real benefit to learning from great sages and appearing in their family is that one is allowed to reacquaint themselves with their dearmost, original friend. Since this benefit cannot be matched, the boon of having a connection to a notable spiritual master takes on an added significance.

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.13)

Let’s first establish just what actually constitutes a member of the higher class and why there needs to be one. Life on earth is meant for the cultivation of spiritual knowledge. When this knowledge is acquired and put to use through actions in everyday life, a living being’s consciousness gradually changes. When this consciousness is completely purified and directed at the Supreme Being in the spiritual sky, the person is deemed to have succeeded in the mission of life. More importantly, when this mindset is there at the time of death, the spirit soul residing within whichever life form it has adopted at that time will immediately be transferred to the spiritual sky, where it will never have to leave again. Life in the transcendental realm is similar to life on earth, except that everything is purified. All the sources of misery and anxiety are removed. Therefore one of the names for this realm is Vaikuntha, meaning a place free of anxiety and misery.

So how does one go about acquiring this purified consciousness? At the time of birth, the human being is no different than the animal. Through the discovery process, and more importantly the instructions provided by authority figures, a child learns the essentials of life and what’s needed to survive in it. In a similar manner, in order to change one’s consciousness towards the spiritual path, a bona fide teacher is required. This instructor not only must know the truths relating to the difference between matter and spirit, but they must also be directly connected with the spiritual world. This means that their consciousness must have already been previously purified, an event which then forever altered their way of life and thinking. Only such a purified person can impart the essential instructions to the fallen conditioned soul who is looking for rescue from the ocean of nescience.

The Vedas give a name to such an instructor: guru, or spiritual master. The spiritual master belongs to a class of men known as brahmanas. The living entity, though it falsely identifies with its ever changing body at the time of birth, is actually Brahman. The transcendent Lord has multifarious aspects and energies, and Brahman is one of them. The combination of all things spirit – the driving force behind all activities in this world – can be thought of as Brahman. Each individual spiritual spark is an equal part of Brahman. When one understands this impersonal energy, that every living entity is equal on a spiritual level, they are worthy of the title of brahmana.

Brahmanas are required in a society because it is very difficult to come to the understanding that all living entities are equal. There are many equality-type movements in existence today, but they all focus on the outer dress of the soul. There is no thought given to the fact that one’s dress may change in the next life, or that the soul residing within may have existed in a different type of body in a previous life. Attention is given completely to the current, temporary condition of whichever group is deemed as down-trodden and in need of help. The brahmanas know that every living entity is in need of instruction since their consciousness is contaminated. One who acquires the status of a brahmana thereby has an inherent duty to teach the other classes of society – be they administrators, warriors, merchants, laborers, or farmers – on matters pertaining to spirituality and how one can go about shifting their consciousness to the spiritual realm.

Since the brahmanas understand Brahman and have successfully shifted their consciousness, they are given special favor in society. They are seen as the highest division in a system known as varnashrama-dharma. This system is the breakdown of societal and life maintenance for all individuals. Since the brahmanas are so exalted, anyone who associates with them will feel very fortunate. In the early days of creation, any person who took birth from a brahmana father was also deemed a brahmana. This designation was given because the birth was conceived according to specific ritualistic functions. Also, the child would be brought up and trained by its own guru, meaning that one didn’t keep the brahmana designation for life without acquiring the necessary training. In more recent times, anyone who descends from a spiritual master through a tradition of instruction also feels privileged. A brahmana teaches one disciple, who teaches another, and so on. Anyone who finds their way into this chain and obtains the proper information about spiritual life feels they are fortunate for having descended from a particular notable spiritual personality.

The more common issue of contention relates to persons who descend from a great brahmana of the past through a bloodline. In India especially, those who descend from spiritual masters of the past are known as Brahmins, which is simply the current vernacular for a person who claims brahminical status off birth. The scriptures, the authorized Vedic texts, don’t support the notion that one can become a member of the highest class of society simply by taking birth in an exalted family. After all, a brahmana must understand Brahman to have their consciousness changed. If a person is born a Brahmin, but then takes to activities of meat eating and intoxication, it certainly means they have not understood Brahman. A person’s consciousness is exhibited through several outward symptoms, i.e. their behavior. Meat eating and intoxication are considered impure activities because they are indicative of a lack of intelligence. A person who understands that all spirit souls are an equal part of Brahman sees no need to inflict unnecessary harm on any form of life. Similarly, one’s consciousness cannot be focused on the spiritual world when they are intoxicated.

“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge, and religiousness—these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.42)

A true brahmana is one who walks the walk in addition to talking the talk. Simply claiming to be religious is not enough; there has to be a change in consciousness manifested through activities and the exuding of specific qualities. Many modern day religious leaders proclaim that one must surrender unto a specific theistic personality in order to achieve salvation. If they neglect this surrendering, they will be punished severely, both in this life and the next. The method of acceptance involves a formal ritual and an open declaration of allegiance. Yet according to the Vedic definition, simply acknowledging the superiority of a specific spiritual personality is not enough. The key is to shift one’s consciousness. Lust, greed, and attachment to matter are so strong that many people will say or do anything to get what they want. In this regard, there is nothing to stop a person from going through perfunctory rituals, which give the appearance of surrender, but then afterwards focus their thoughts and activities on the service of some worldly entity. It also must be said that many of these spiritual leaders refuse to acknowledge the form, name, or propensity for activity of the Supreme Divine Entity. Moreover, they harshly condemn the practice of bowing down to or conceiving of a form for God. Yet from the example of the brahmanas, we see that the key ingredient in spiritual life is consciousness. This change in mindset involves surrender to a particular entity. If the form of Godhead is denied, the chances of worshiping something which does have a form – be it a woman, cat, dog, or political leader – increases.

“Especially in every brahmana’s house there must be a shalagrama-shila [stone representation of Vishnu] to be worshiped by the brahmana family. This system is still current. People who are brahmana by caste, who are born in a brahmana family, must worship the shalagrama-shila.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 13.86 Purport)

A bona fide brahmana is one who has shifted their consciousness and completely surrendered, both in thought and deed, to the Supreme Divine Entity, or God. A person claiming brahminical status simply off birthright can’t be considered a bona fide teacher. There is another side to this issue, however. While a person born as a Brahmin may be falsely puffed up by their stature, there are certain favorable elements to this mindset. Many Brahmins take their status in society very seriously. They thus take the necessary steps to cultivate spiritual knowledge. They perform religious functions on a daily basis, and more importantly, they worship Lord Vishnu. There are certainly innumerable forms of Godhead, but Vishnu is considered the original, equal to the Personality of Godhead who has a transcendental form, name, and pastimes. Vishnu is the same as Krishna or any other non-different expansion of the Lord. Those Brahmins who actually do take their status very seriously will be wholly dedicated to Vishnu worship from their birth. This not only helps the individual, but also any person related to them who grows up in such a purified environment. Brahmins have a much greater chance of refraining from eating meat, drinking alcohol, and taking to illicit sex than do others simply due to the perceived “high birth”. In addition, they have the greatest opportunity to take to chanting the Lord’s names found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

“O son of Pritha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth-women, vaishyas [merchants], as well as shudras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.32)

So we see that the importance of taking birth in a “high” family really lies with the issue of God consciousness. If one has a chance to associate with Krishna through their family life, they are deemed to be the most fortunate person. The family status isn’t necessarily the important issue, but rather the nature of the activities that the family performs. Any person, regardless of their family lineage, can reach the topmost status by having their consciousness changed through activities performed in their daily lives. The gopis of Vrindavana best illustrate this fact. Around five thousand years ago, Lord Vishnu Himself came to earth in His original form of Lord Krishna.

Lord Krishna is a person, a Supreme Person, but nevertheless a personality just like the rest of us. Therefore, when He appears on earth, He retains His form as a person. Others mistakenly take Him to be an ordinary human being, but this is by design. Five thousand years ago, the Lord spent His childhood years in Vrindavana, which was a farm community inhabited by cowherds. The girls of the town also took part in tending cows, selling milk and yogurt, and churning butter. They performed these tasks in addition to maintaining their households. The gopis, the cowherd girls, weren’t educated in a formal setting, nor did they receive any direct training from a brahmana. Yet through their association with Krishna, they had their consciousness purified. They actually never thought of anything else except Krishna’s interests. Their love for Him remains the emblem of devotional consciousness, the high mark of spiritual practice. In fact, aspiring transcendentalists are advised to not even attempt to reach the level of consciousness of the gopis, but rather to seek their benedictions and help them in their service. One who is a sincere servant of Krishna is always willing to help one who wants to make progress in spiritual life.

The greatest benediction we can give to a child or family member is the association of Krishna at an early age. If we are born in a Brahmin family, the odds of achieving this association are certainly increased, but Krishna consciousness is something that can be taught by any person, provided that their thoughts are directed on the lotus feet of the sweet, all-blissful Lord. The gopis proved that a high birth is not necessary for achieving success in life. If we are fortunate enough to know about Krishna and chant His names on a regular basis, the greatest gift we can give to our family members and children is to pass on this tradition of devotional life. A child who grows up in an environment where devotional service is steadily practiced will certainly have a leg up on their journey towards the transcendental realm.

Thousands of Gitas

“Dear Krishna, we are always busy in our family affairs. We therefore request that You remain within our hearts as the rising sun, and that will be Your greatest benediction.” (Gopis speaking to Lord Krishna, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 27)

The Bhagavad-gita is the most well-known book of the Vedic tradition. It is the closest equivalent to a Bible or Koran in a religious sense, but since the topics discussed within cover the full spectrum of material and spiritual activities, many people outside the scope of the Vedic tradition take to reading it. Considered the introduction to Vedic philosophy, the “ABCDs” of spiritual life in the Indian tradition, the Gita appeals to every type of person. Followers of pretty much any philosophy can find a verse in the Gita that appears to support their position. Be it non-violence, violence, action, inaction, going for what you want, waiting for things to happen, taking to religious functions, rising above religious rituals, etc. – all topics are covered by Lord Krishna, the speaker of the Gita, a book which is also known as the Song of God. This last point is the most important one. The true potency of the Gita does not come from the words or the teachings found within, but rather from the source of the knowledge presented. That source is none other than Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is much more beneficial to develop an attachment to the Gita’s speaker than it is to take shelter of the words themselves. Argument and logic can only take us so far in life, while Krishna, being the fountainhead of all knowledge, can turn anyone who connects with Him in a loving mood into the wisest person in the world.

“This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.10)

How do we know that Krishna is God? For starters, the Lord tells us so in the Gita. Moreover, Krishna is often addressed as Bhagavan by the compiler of the Bhagavad-gita, Vyasadeva. Bhagavan is a Sanskrit word which refers to the most fortunate person. We usually equate fortune with the acquisition of money or some other beneficial circumstance. The Vishnu Purana, spoken by Vyasadeva’s father Parashara Muni, groups the different types of fortune into six distinct categories: beauty, wealth, strength, fame, renunciation, and wisdom. Anyone who possesses all of these opulences can be considered the most fortunate, or Bhagavan. Lord Krishna, a historical personality who appeared on this earth some five thousand years ago, is described as possessing all of these opulences at the same time and to the fullest degree. This means that He is God, the Supreme Controller and Ultimate Enjoyer.

Krishna exhibited these opulences through various pastimes. He proved He was the most beautiful by attracting the hearts and minds of all around Him, especially the residents of the town of Vrindavana. He proved to be the richest person in the world from the wealth He possessed while ruling as king of Dvaraka. Moreover, He also could acquire any beautiful item that existed in other worlds, such as the parijata flower which the Lord kindly took from the heavenly kingdom to give to one of His wives, Satyabhama. Krishna proved His strength on many occasions, the most notable of which was His lifting of the gigantic Govardhana Hill when He was merely a child. He not only lifted this hill, but He held it up with one finger for seven days. The fact that Krishna has been talked about and worshiped for at least the last five thousand years is enough to prove His fame. In fact, He has been worshiped since the beginning of time, with generations of devotees regularly chanting His names and offering their obeisances. Krishna’s renunciation was seen when He departed the town of Vrindavana which He grew up in as a child. He had many close associates in Vrindavana, including His eternal consort Shrimati Radharani. Yet His self-appointed duties called for Him to travel to Mathura and then to Dvaraka to battle various demons and deal with political matters relating to His family members. Only the most renounced person could voluntarily give up the association of the most exalted citizens of Vrindavana, people who were completely faultless and pure in nature.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 2.20)

Lastly, proof of Krishna’s unmatched wisdom is found in the words contained within the Bhagavad-gita, Ramayana, Puranas, and other important Vedic literatures. Out of all these books, the Gita has turned out to be the most widely read since it provides the key concepts of the Vedic tradition in a succinct and straightforward manner. The basic tenet of Vedic philosophy is that the living entities are not their bodies. The soul inside the body is the essence of life, the driving force of all activity. The body is simply a covering for the soul; a temporary manifestation of matter that constantly goes through changes. Birth and death represent the complete changing of bodies for the soul. The transmigration of the soul is an evolution of sorts, with the final destination hopefully being that of the spiritual realm. In the spiritual world, there is no such distinction between spirit and matter. The soul retains its identity and assumes a spiritual body. In this condition, the soul is free to associate with its progenitor, its ultimate reservoir of pleasure, Shri Krishna.

“The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.8)

The life cycle of the body is similar to the life cycle of the entire world. Just as the soul is the driving force behind the machine known as the body, the giant soul, or Supersoul, is the driving force behind the activities of nature. The material world constantly goes through cycles of creation, maintenance, and destruction. The temporary and perishable realm remains intact for as long as there are spirit souls who desire to imitate the activities of the Supreme. This desire lands the purified spirit soul in the temporary realm and upon assuming a temporary body, the resulting living entity takes to various fruitive activities. Working under the model of karma would not be so harmful were it not for collisions with other living entities. Each person, or life form, has independence in how they choose to act. Since every person has different desires, there are bound to be collisions in activities, and thus both favorable and unfavorable results. Regardless of the nature of work and the fruits that come to bear, the resulting enjoyment or suffering is temporary. Moreover, once a person’s desires are fulfilled, new desires immediately spring up. The ultimate desire is to become God, the supreme enjoyer and proprietor. Though this desire is the root of all fruitive activity, the title of God can never be acquired by a soul which wasn’t even capable of choosing the time and circumstance of its initial descent to earth. Therefore, the desire to become God remains forever unsatisfied, resulting in an endless cycle of misery and frustration.

“Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental and fruitive activities.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 7.29)

All hope is not lost, however. Lord Krishna spoke the famous Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra to His dear friend and cousin, Arjuna. This discourse touched on all areas of life, both material and spiritual, with Krishna providing the formula for getting out of the dreaded cycle of birth, old age, disease, and death. The Lord, being the original form of Godhead, kindly stated that anyone who thought of Him at the time of death – one whose consciousness was fixed on the Supreme Lord at the most critical of junctures – would immediately ascend to Krishna’s spiritual realm. Moreover, anyone who returned to such a realm would never have to accept a material body again. Thus Krishna not only explained the concept of reincarnation in the Gita, but He also provided the roadmap for how to escape it.

Though ultimate surrender unto God is the gist of the Gita, the teachings contained within are presented in a very logical way, for the Lord wanted to stay in line with the instructions provided by previous spiritual leaders of the Vedic tradition. Several times Krishna makes references to teachings put forth by learned men of the past. In this way, the Gita is not simply a sectarian or sentimentalist doctrine, but rather an authorized scientific breakdown of the various components of nature. The system of karma, or cause and effect, is a science that is extremely complex. The results of action can be thought of as a giant neural network of outcomes that are managed by elevated living entities known as devas. Krishna, as the creator of this system, is the only person capable of truly understanding it.

“According to one’s existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular kind of faith. The living being is said to be of a particular faith according to the modes he has acquired.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 17.3)

Since the Gita is presented as a scientific study, some choose to remove Krishna from the picture altogether. Those who do this usually have their own agenda going in. Such philosophers are looking to support their own mentally concocted theories which were crafted up through their own sets of logic and reasoning. Finding what they want in the Gita, they carefully try to cut Krishna out of the picture. This is certainly a grievous error, for Krishna can never be separated from His words. More importantly, Krishna is greater than the Gita. The teachings found within only represent a small fragment of the full scope of knowledge available to the conditioned soul. The human brain is not capable of thinking beyond time, space, logic, and reasoning. Therefore it is considered very dangerous to take complete shelter of argument. Since the concepts of “good” and “bad” are both relative to the scope of activities and the desired result of the performer, no argument can be considered an absolute truth simply based on the words contained within. Any argument can be negated simply through using various logical proofs and truths. Therefore, the end result of dry argument and logic is a position of voidism, or the absence of any truth. When there is void, there cannot be a God; hence it is not surprising to see that the atheists and agnostics, who have no interest in connecting with the Supreme Spirit, are often the greatest servants and devotees of argument and logic.

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 18.66)

The last instruction provided by Krishna in the Gita is the most important. After describing in detail the nature of the soul, matter, the universe, the Supersoul, and the living entity’s position in this complex world, the Lord tells Arjuna to abandon all other dharmas and simply surrender unto Him. Doing so would deliver him for all negative, sinful reactions. The Lord would personally see to it that Arjuna would not have to suffer ever again. Dharma is the Vedic term for religion or occupational duty. Religion is simply a person’s ultimate conclusion, the guiding force for their activities. Since every person has different inherent qualities, they are bound to come up with different ultimate conclusions, or religions. This means that they essentially create their own dharmas. One person is taking their dharma to be the saving of the environment. This leads to activities of planting trees, lobbying against oil drilling, and the promotion of the practice of recycling. Another person is taking their dharma to be the acquisition of material wealth, while another is seeking to eliminate poverty worldwide.

Since none of these occupational duties involve the soul and its future destination, they can all be considered bogus or sub-standard dharmas. In addition, it is seen that many of the followers of such dharmas pick and choose various sections from the Gita and other religious texts to support their ultimate conclusions. Lord Krishna, ever the wise seer, knew that people would try to mince His words and shape and mold the meanings to suit their particular dharma. It is for this reason that He made sure to definitively state His own ultimate conclusion. Lord Krishna, the origin of all knowledge, tells Arjuna, and everyone else for that matter, to abandon all irrelevant dharmas and simply surrender unto Him. By so doing, the living entities would be abiding by the highest dharma, the only occupational duty worth adopting.

What does surrendering to Krishna entail? Surrender in the military sense equates to giving up, or losing one’s will to fight. Surrender in the area of romance means making yourself completely vulnerable, putting another entity, the object of your affection, in charge of your emotions. The combination of these two concepts can help us understand surrender to God. As stated before, the soul remains in a conditioned state for as long as the desire to imitate God remains. So the first aspect of surrender involves recognition of Krishna’s supremacy and the fallacy of trying to excel Him in areas of creation, maintenance, and destruction. The second aspect of surrendering unto Krishna requires putting Him in complete charge of our emotions. Normally this right is reserved for our significant others or loved ones. It is the nature of the soul to serve, so when this service is directed at the Supreme Spirit, it becomes purified. This service, which represents true surrender, allows the soul to experience never before seen transcendental bliss.

What’s interesting to note is that the more one surrenders unto Krishna, the more their knowledge increases. An example of this effect was seen with the gopis of Vrindavana. Lord Krishna spent His childhood years in the farm communities of Gokula and Vrindavana, where He enjoyed the company of His friends. The gopis, the cowherd girls, were especially devoted to Krishna. They always thought of Him, day and night. They weren’t formally educated, nor did they study the Vedas. They weren’t familiar with Vedanta philosophy or the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita, yet their knowledge on all subjects was perfect. This was due to their minds always remaining fixed on Krishna, even when they were separated from Him. They were completely surrendered to Krishna, so they only looked to Him for pleasure. The gopis went along with their prescribed duties as cowherd women, wives, and mothers, but they had no attachment to this work. Their only dharma in life was service to Krishna, taking Him to be the ultimate reservoir of pleasure.

Therefore it is more important to connect with Krishna than it is to merely take shelter of the postulates and aphorisms of the Bhagavad-gita or Vedanta philosophy in general. Lord Krishna is the fountainhead of all knowledge, so He can create thousands of Gitas in a second, with each being more profound than its predecessor. Similarly, when one is devoted to Krishna and tuned into the spiritual world, they can go on and on explaining spiritual life, seeing everything in terms of its relation to the Lord. The same can’t be said of material topics. We can only take in a certain amount of political, sports, or entertainment information before we get fed up. Topics relating to Krishna, or Krishna-katha, don’t suffer from this defect. The more one surrenders unto the beautiful Lord, the more their attachment for Him grows. Success in spiritual life has a linear relationship with affection for Krishna; the greater the attachment to the Supreme Spirit, the greater the knowledge that is acquired. The Vedic literatures represent the most comprehensive information about spirituality found in this world. Actually nothing can compete with Vedic wisdom; a fact that serves as a true testament to the infallibility and opulence of its greatest orator, expounder, and teacher: Lord Shri Krishna. Bhagavan is always more powerful than any set of words, theories, or truths. Therefore we should always stay connected with this powerhouse of energy, the Supreme Energetic Lord.

Gopi Jana Vallabha

“Gopi-jana vallabha, Giri-vara-dhari” (Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)

This is a line from the poem called Jaya Radha Madhava, composed by Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great saint in the line of spiritual masters descending from Lord Chaitanya. Glorifying Lord Krishna and His principle devotees, this poem, turned into a song, was made famous throughout the world by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and today is sung daily in hundreds of temple throughout the world.

Lord Krishna is the sustainer of the gopis. Around five thousand years ago, the Lord personally advented on this planet and spent His childhood in Vrindavana, a town in India. There are three primary forms of God which are interchangeable: Krishna, Narayana, and Vishnu. They are the same one and only God, above any other demigod, but according to the Shrimad Bhagavatam and other major Vedic texts, Krishna is the original. It is similar to the concept of a single candle lighting many others. All other candles are the same in their potency, but the original candle still stands out. Krishna’s expansions are known as vishnu-tattva. His incarnations as Rama, Narasimha, Vamana, etc. are all as good as God Himself. In essence when discussing and comparing His various names and forms and their various potencies, it’s really a matter of a distinction without a difference. When Krishna came to earth, it was in His original form, and He came to give protection to His devotees, to kill the demons, and to enact pastimes for future generations to relish in.

The gopis were the cowherd girls of Vrindavana. Krishna spent His childhood living in a vaishya family. Vaishyas are the third division or caste of society and their duty is to run businesses and engage in cow protection. Nanda Maharaja, Krishna’s foster father, was a cowherd man as were the rest of the inhabitants of Vrindavana. The gopis were mostly married girls who worked all day as milkmaids and who managed household affairs. Most of them were married but they still spent all their time thinking about Krishna and His welfare. He was their life and soul. This is the mood of a pure devotee. We may have family ties and friendships during our lifetime, but our eternal relationship with God trumps all others. He is the only reservoir of pleasure, and those who realize this fact have made their lives perfect. As a child, Krishna and His friends would go out and play or they would take the cows out to the pastures, and the gopis would worry all day about Him. “How is Krishna doing? Is He alright? Is He having fun? When He comes home, we will serve Him nice food and make Him happy.” In this way, their minds were completely fixed on the Supreme Lord in perfect meditation like perfect yogis. They obviously weren’t yogis, for they were uneducated girls, but through their service, their activities were better than that of any yogi. There are 108 primary gopis, and for this reason the japa mala, or set of chanting beads, has 108 beads on them with an additional primary bead representing Krishna. If one thinks of the gopis while chanting on these beads, then he or she will gradually be elevated to the state of pure Krishna consciousness.

The gopis in Vrindavana actually descended from the spiritual world. The kingdom of God has many spiritual planets, with the primary one being Krishnaloka. Vrindavana actually exists there in its original form, and the same pastimes are occurring their eternally. The gopis that took birth in Vrindavana did so to as to allow the same pastimes to occur on earth for others to see and hear about. Many of the gopis were also great sages in their previous lives, during the advent of Lord Rama.

"The gopis who were gathered there were mostly all followers of the Vedas. In their previous births, during Lord Ramachandra’s advent, they were Vedic scholars who desired the association of Lord Ramachandra in conjugal love. Ramachandra gave them the benediction that they would be present for the advent of Lord Krishna, and He would fulfill their desires. During Krishna’s advent, the Vedic scholars took birth in the shape of the gopis in Vrndavana; as young gopis, they got the association of Krishna in fulfillment of their previous births’ desire. The ultimate goal of their perfect desire was attained, and they were so joyous that they had nothing further to desire." (Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, 1970-1-31)

Lord Rama lived by the principle of eka-patni, having only one wife in Sita Devi. Being God Himself, He was highly sought after by many others, but He didn’t want to break His vow, so He accommodated those people by allowing them to take birth in the future where they could have association with Him.

The gopis didn’t look for pleasure from material things. We all tend to seek after the material comforts of a nice home, money, a nice husband or wife, and good children. These certainly aren’t bad things, for they provide security and happiness. However, that is not ultimate aim of life. Family relations and money are nonetheless temporary, for one has to give them up at the time of death. If one wants permanent happiness, they need only look to God. The gopis didn’t pray for anything material, for they only wanted Krishna to be happy. They were the greatest renunciates without even knowing it. Most of us initially approach God for some personal benefit. One of our friends or family members may be suffering from an illness, so we pray to God to cure their ailment. Other times we may fall victim to some bad luck, and we pray to God to lift us out of our difficult situations. This type of worship certainly isn’t bad, for at least we realize that there is a God, a higher power who has greater control over things than we do. At the same time, God is not our order supplier. Everything that happens in this material world is a result of the laws of nature and karma. If we ask God for something and He doesn’t give it to us, that doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist. The dualities of happiness and distress, good and bad fortune all come and go of their own volition without us seeking them. Our real business is to love God for who He is and not for what He can supply us.

Jaya Radha Madhava is a very nice song to sing, for it puts us in a good place. We can immediately think of the beauty of Vrindavana and the wonderful pastimes that occur there. Following in the path of the gopis, we can do no wrong.

Yogurt – Food for Krishna

  Yogurt is one of the staples of Indian cuisine. Known as dahi in Hindi, it is used in hundreds of dishes and is most often prepared directly at home. Aside from being included in palatable dishes, yogurt plays an essential role in the most important Vedic religious traditions.

Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has laid out the process of worshipping Him in the original Vedas. This religious tradition was instituted at the beginning of creation and it has been passed down ever since by the great sages of India. One of the integral components in the worship of Lord Krishna is the process of archana, or deity worship. The deity is the physical representation of God, and by worshiping Him this way, we purify ourselves and increase our God consciousness. Just as we bathe ourselves daily, deity care involves the bathing of the deity, known as abhishek, with various preparations. Yogurt plays a prominent role in these preparations. Yogurt mixtures, along with other preparations known as panchamrita, are poured onto the deity and then collected for consumption. These preparations are considered holy since they have directly touched the deity, so devotees partake of them afterwards.

One of Lord Krishna’s many names is Govinda, meaning one who gives pleasure to the cows. When He advented on this earth some five thousand years ago, Krishna spent his childhood in Vrindavana, living with his foster parents, who were cowherders. Lord Krishna, along with His brother Balarama, performed many naughty childish activities as part of their pastimes. In Vrindavan, the cowherd women, known as gopis, would prepare butter and yogurt in their homes. Lord Krishna would often steal the butter and yogurt. The gopi friends of Krishna’s mother, Yashoda, would often go to her and complain.

“…Also, your Krishna and Balarama find great pleasure in stealing our stock of yogurt and butter from wherever we keep it. When Krishna and Balarama are caught stealing the yogurt and butter, They say, ‘Why do you charge us with stealing? Do you think that butter and yogurt are in scarcity in our house?’ Sometimes They steal butter, yogurt and milk and distribute them to the monkeys. When the monkeys are well fed and do not take any more, then your boys chide, ‘This milk and butter and yogurt are useless—even the monkeys won’t take it.’ And They break the pots and throw them hither and thither. If we keep our stock of yogurt, butter and milk in a solitary dark place, your Krishna and Balarama find it in the darkness by the glaring effulgence of the ornaments and jewels on Their bodies. If by chance They cannot find the hidden butter and yogurt, They go to our little babies and pinch their bodies so that they cry, and then They go away. If we keep our stock of butter and yogurt high on the ceiling, hanging on a swing, although it is beyond Their reach, They arrange to reach it by piling all kinds of wooden crates over the grinding machine. And if They cannot reach, They make a hole in the pot. We think therefore that you better take all the jeweled ornaments from the bodies of your children." (Gopis complaining to Mother Yashoda, Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 8)

So from Krishna’s pastimes, we can understand just how much he likes butter and yogurt. He is the protector of the cows, so any milk preparation greatly pleases Him. This is one of the many reasons that cows are held in such high regard in Vedic culture.

Analyzing yogurt scientifically, we find that it is made by introducing a special form of bacteria into milk. This bacteria plays such an important role, that we see companies prominently advertising the presence of “live active cultures” in their yogurt as a way to persuade people to buy it. The presence of bacteria in yogurt appears to present a dilemma in the issue of morals and ethics according the rules of Vedic culture. The Vedas teach us that man should not be addicted to animal killing, or killing any living entity for that matter. We are all spirit souls at our core, but we are placed in various bodies according to our desires and work, or karma. Since we all have different karmas, God has created 8,400,000 different material bodies, or species, for our souls to be placed in. Since bacteria lives and grows, aren’t we committing a sin by using it in yogurt?

All religions have the concept of “sins” and various ways for people to be absolved from having committed them. The Vedas are no different. The Mahabharata lays out every kind of sin in detail, ranging from lying, drinking, to even getting married before one’s older brother has been married. There are many specific processes laid out for absolution, which usually involve some sort of austerity. While these processes are nice for people with limited spiritual understanding, the actual definition of a sin is little different. Any activity which has karma related to it, which keeps us bound to this material, which forces us to accept another material body after this life, that activity is sinful. Conversely, any activity that is performed for the satisfaction of Lord Krishna, God, that activity is completely spiritual and above any effects of karma. Sin cannot touch a pure devotional service to Krishna.

So in this vain, we see that almost any material activity can be made spiritual by dovetailing it with service to Krishna. Yogurt preparation and consumption is a material activity if we use it simply to satisfy our sense of taste. If we offer it to Krishna prior to eating, then we incur no sin. Lord Krishna states this Himself in the Bhagavad-gita.

“The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.” (Bhagavad-gita, 3.13)

When using yogurt in the abhishek of the Lord’s deity or in an offering to Krishna, we are performing a completely spiritual activity. We incur no sin whatsoever. Bacteria generally has a negative image associated with it, but if we use the bacteria in yogurt to serve Krishna, then we are giving the highest benediction to the living entity inside it. The “live active cultures” are guaranteed at least a human birth in the next life.

So the next time we eat yogurt, let us remember Krishna and His love for cows and for His devotees. In this way, we increase our God consciousness and take a step closer to going back home after this life, back to Godhead.

 

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