Guest guest Report post Posted March 25, 2003 At the beginning of Bhaktivedanta Swami's translation of the Bhagavat Purana, "Srimad-Bhagavatam", he warns the reader on the danger of skipping ahead to the Rasa lila pastimes of Sri Krishna in Vrndavana in the tenth canto. why ? He states that in order for the true import of those confidential pastimes to be properly understood, first you must read the previous cantos 1-9. otherwise ,he warns , the pastimes of rasa lila will be misunderstood and taken to be the same thing as the mirror image that occurs in the material world. what does that mean ? It means that what appears to be relationships of love between Radha,Krishna and the cowherd boys and girls of Vrndavana are not what they appear. to understand the reality of that situation without properly being educated on the transcendental nature of those involved ,is not possible. without first being educated on the true nature of that lila, you will misunderstand what you read, this is situation. when you read of the love between Radha and Krishna, and between krishna and the gopis, you can misunderstand the import of those descriptions, they will mislead the uneducated reader. The descriptions taken literally and and without knowledge of the true nature of those involved, will be insufficient to illuminate the transcendental nature of rasa lila. this is very important, this is why the bonafide Guru has stipulated that jumpimg to the rasa lila, the confidential pastimes, without sufficient previous tattva-jnana, will be a detriment to the developement of suddha bhakti. why ? Because you will misunderstand what is written and form an immature and faulty conception of yout ultimate goal and eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. you will see Krishna and Radha and the gopis and not understand their eternal identity, you will not see the reality ,the truth of their position and ultimate oneness, all being expansions of the One supreme being, which is essential in understanding rasa lila, the hidden truth of their identity is not spoken of in the tenth canto, without understanding that basic truth, all will be misunderstood, and you will percieve Radha and the gopis to be seperate individuals , and Sri Krishna as a seperate individual to them, which is not the case. Radha and Krishna are the one supreme eternal person, eternally one, having seperated into male and female forms for pastimes, the gopis are all personal expansions of Radha, this is the truth that is absolutley essential in order to reap the benefit of the tenth canto. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
