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As the followers of Krishna were saved from death on the one hand, so they were saved from conflagration (annihilation of form) and loss of the Ego (Balarama) on the other hand. In the kingdom of Divine Bliss, everything now was divine. The purified mind did not go astray. It remained entirely attached to Sri Krishna. Personality was now thoroughly conquered. The Jiva had acquired matter congenial to the plane of the first Purusha, and he no longer ran the risk of death or annihilation. The Gopis completed their homeward journey and they knew nothing except their Lord Krishna. They gave up all for the sake of the Lord. The Lord was all in all to them. They were bound to Him by the most sacred ties of devotional love. We shall now see how they became united to the Divine Lord. The Gopis and the stealing of their clothes. The rains followed the summer and there was a flow of spiritu- ality all around. The autumn followed and it was calm, clear and transparent. When the water is pure, transparent and calm and the sun is over it can anything prevent the reflection of the sun’s image on its bo- som? The Gopis drew unto themselves the image of Sri Krishna. There was no muddiness in them as in ordinary mortals; they had not the calls of other desires. 334 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana It is not till the ear ceases to hear the outside world, that it is open to the music in the heart, the flute of Sri Krishna. The Rupa of Krishna becomes manifest when all worldly Rupas lose their charm. The Gopis even smelt the divine fragrance of Sri Krishna; they felt his divine touch and they tasted the honey of Sri Krishna’s lips. The charms of the world all dead and gone, there remains only one attraction, that of Sri Krishna, the only Purusha in Vrindavana. The Gopis now had a right to approach Sri Krishna as their lover. They became full of Him (tanmaya), and they worshipped Katyayani (Yoga Maya) to gain their object. (X. 21.) It was then that Sri Krishna stripped them of their clothes (X. 22.) No false shame, no false considerations should now deter the Gopis. They should lay themselves bare before Sri Krishna. No hiding, no half speaking. "Virtuous girls, I know your resolve. It is to worship me. I also approve of it and so it must succeed." This was the long and short of the whole affair. The Gopis saw they were found out. So it was to be a matter of open love now. We shall pass over a few digressions before we come back to the Gopis and the consummation of their love (Rasa Lila). Vedic Brahmans and their wives. Those that were under the influence of Vedic Yajnas could not easily accept the self-sacrificing path of compassion. The students of Bhagavat Gita know very well that Sri Krishna raised his voice against Vedic karma and preached the performance of unselfish karma in its stead. The Vedic Brahmanas did not follow Him for a time. But the tide overtook their unselfish wives who were attached to the path of unselfishness and compassion blended as it was with the path of devotion to the Lord Sri Krishna. The wives brought their husbands round and the cause triumphed in all India. The raising of Govardhana. The raising of Govardhana is only a sequel to the suppression of Vedic Yajnas. Why are the gods, headed by Indra, worshipped? Be- cause the Indriyas are their channels of communion with men and they can influence men through those channels. They are there- fore called Adhi-Devas. They are also the hands of providence and through them we get all the things of the earth. But can they give us Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 335 anything that is not allotted to us by our own karma? If a prolonged and unhindered connection with the manasic world or a prolonged Svarga experience is brought about by the performance of Vedic Ya- jnas it is on account of the superior force exerted over the Devas, acquired by such performances, and is therefore due to karma. The Devas cannot override karma. But still men have to depend upon the gods in their everyday lives. They are the hands of the karmic dispenser. True they deal out things according to the karma of men. But they give to men the desired objects of life and in return they expect yajna-offerings to them. This is the old law of the existence of beings. The universe itself is the outcome of sacrifice and inter-dependence, the law of giving and taking. If men broke that law, what wonder that the gods should resent it! But there was a higher law, governing men and Devas alike, the law of direct communion with the lord of all, the supreme karmic dispenser, the Adhi-yajna of Bhagavat Gita. If men placed themselves and their karma entirely at the service of the Lord, where was room left for the Devas? Against such men the gods themselves lost all power. The Hill Govardhana is the accumulated karma of the Gopis, which gives the pasture ground for their cows. Krishna bears the burden of His Bhaktas’ karma, and He lifted up the karmic hill of his devoted band with very little effort of his own. And when Sri Krishna bears the karma of His Bhaktas, the Devas are powerless against them. It is karma that nourishes the senses and hence the hill is called Govardhana (nourisher of the cows). The Installation. When the gods were displaced from their position of leadership, whom were the cows, the senses, to follow? Surabhi, the heavenly mother of the cows, said:—"Now that thou hast taken the place of Indra, we shall call thee our Indra, or GOVINDA." Sridhara says, go means a cow, as well as Svarga. Govinda is one who acquires supremacy over the cows or over Svarga. So the word means Indra as well. But the peculiar significance of the word Govinda has been elaborated in the Brahma Sanhita and other works. The plane of the first Purusha, which is the common plane of in- numerable solar systems, with their sevenfold planes, has two broad 336 A Study of the Bhagavata Purana aspects Vaikuntha and Goloka. Vaikuntha has reference to the solar systems as a whole. The energies that guide the Brahmandas pro- ceed from the plane of Vaikuntha. Both Siva and Vishnu are aspects of the first Purusha, but not Brahma. Siva Loka or Kaildsa is there- fore included in Vaikuntha. The plane of Brahma is Satya Loka or Brahma Loka, the highest plane of the Brahmanda. The worshippers of Brahma or Hiranya-garbha reach the plane of Brahma Loka. There they remain till the Brahmanda becomes dissolved at the end of the life period of Brahman. Vaikuntha is the plane of Vishnu as the first Purusha. He has four aspects on that plane—Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. His female aspect is Lakshmi. The worshippers of Vishnu, Preserver of the Universe, reach this plane. Goloka is a higher aspect of the plane of the first Purusha. There Krishna is not the Lord of the Universe. He is the Lord of only His followers—those that give up everything for His sake. The highest spiritual life is on this plane. In Vaikuntha there is the majesty of power. In Goloka there is the sweetness of love. Love is a surrender which we all owe to Krishna, who makes the greatest sacrifices for us. Ishvara gives us existence, consciousness and bliss, so that we may develop new centres that approach the state of Ishvara, and when we do that we have no right to keep them to ourselves, but should give them back to Him from whom we owe them. Nothing can please the Lord so much as when we pay this willing homage to Him. He has full control over the senses and experiences of the Gopas and Gopis that dwell in Goloka. He can turn them to any use He likes. They are His own property, and the dwellers of Goloka form His own household. He is one with them as they are with Him. The highest spiritual life is in Goloka. Every kalpa adds to the number of the devoted band. Vaikuntha is represented in the Dvaraka Lila. The acts of Sri Kr- ishna that constitute the Vrindavana Lila are constant (nitya). They are reproduced in all Kalpas and on all the Dvipas or globes for the benefit of all Bhaktas. When there is the full manifestation of Krishna in any Kalpa, the Gopas and Gopis also appear with Him. But His relations with them are meant to serve as a guide only for the initiated Bhaktas, and not for the world at large. Sri Krishna as an Avatara is different from Sri Krishna as the beloved and the lover. Purnendu Narayana Sinha, M. A., B. L. 337 As an Avatara, He forces allegiance, and expects it as of right. As a lover, He seeks His Bhaktas as they seek Him. The Lord of Goloka is Govinda. When Sri Krishna was installed as Govinda, he had a right to the company of the Gopis, and not be- fore. The Gopis became the property of Govinda, as soon as Krishna asserted himself as such. The Installation precedes the Rasa Lila. The significance of this Installation will never be lost sight of by those who want to make a critical study of the Rasa Lila, or to apply the ordinary canons of morality to this most sacred, most sublime, and most soul-enchanting act of Sri Krishna the RASA LILA. THE RASA. Who can presume to explain Rasa! What mortal mind can approach, even in conception, the divinity, the sublimity of the five chapters on Rasa! The Gopis were on the field of action. They had their hus- bands, their parents, their sons; they had their worldly duties to per- form, some of them arduous enough to require constant attention. When the time came, however, for union with the Purusha of the Heart, when the signal music was heard, every Gopi threw aside all Karma, all actions, all attachments, all bonds and offered herself up completely to the Lord. Where is the glory of those that give up the world, that give up all duties in life, of those that force themselves out of all actions that they may be devoted to the Lord within and the Lord without?