NOI – Nectar of Instruction—Part 12

Giriraj Swami: Page seventy-four [Cc Madhya 22]:

TEXT 160

kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya

preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam

tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau

kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā

TRANSLATION

A devotee should always reside in the transcendental realm of Vraja and always engage in kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭham, the remembrance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His beloved associates. By following in the footsteps of such associates and by entering under their eternal guidance, one can acquire an intense desire to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. [Brs 1.2.294]

COMMENT

So we may want to know how we can apply such instructions. Srila Prabhupada explains in relation to mother Yasoda. Devotees who want to serve Krishna with motherly affection should think of mother Yasoda - what she looks like, how she serves Krishna, how she thinks of Krishna, and so on. So according to the particular associate of Krishna that we want to follow, we will find descriptions of their service to Krishna and remember those descriptions.

This is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Nine, “Mother Yaśodā Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

TEXT 3 [Śb 10.9.3]

Dressed in a saffron-yellow sari, with a belt tied about her full hips, mother Yaśodā pulled on the churning rope, laboring considerably, her bangles and earrings moving and vibrating and her whole body shaking. Because of her intense love for her child, her breasts were wet with milk. Her face, with its very beautiful eyebrows, was wet with perspiration, and mālatī flowers were falling from her hair.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Anyone who desires to be Kṛṣṇa conscious in motherly affection or parental affection should contemplate the bodily features of mother Yaśodā. It is not that one should desire to become like Yaśodā, for this is Māyāvāda. Either in parental affection or conjugal love, friendship or servitorship — in any way — we must follow in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, not try to become like them.

COMMENT

In other words, we should not try to imitate them.

PURPORT (continued)  

Therefore, this description is provided here. Advanced devotees must cherish this description, always thinking of mother Yaśodā’s features — how she was dressed, how she was working and perspiring, how beautifully the flowers were arranged in her hair, and so on. One should take advantage of the full description provided here by thinking of mother Yaśodā in maternal affection for Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENT

So this is kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam thinking of Krishna with His associates but mainly of His associates and how they love Krishna and how they serve Him. And we should think of that form of Krishna in which He reciprocates with those devotees whose mood of service we cherish. In other words, if we want to follow mother Yasoda in the mood of parental affection, [then] we will think of Krishna as a baby dependent on the love and care of the parents as we read in the next verse.

TEXT 4

tāṁ stanya-kāma āsādya
mathnantīṁ jananīṁ hariḥ
gṛhītvā dadhi-manthānaṁ
nyaṣedhat prītim āvahan 

TRANSLATION

While mother Yaśodā was churning butter, Lord Kṛṣṇa, desiring to drink the milk of her breast, appeared before her, and in order to increase her transcendental pleasure, He caught hold of the churning rod and began to prevent her from churning.

PURPORT

Kṛṣṇa was sleeping within the room, and as soon as He got up, He became hungry and went to His mother. Wanting to stop her from churning and drink the milk of her breasts, He stopped her from moving the churning rod.

COMMENT

So we think of both - Krishna and His dear ones together, and especially the dear ones who we want to follow in their mood of service, and of Krishna's pastimes with them and in His features as He reciprocates with their mood of service. Krishna has three ages in Vrindavan - from the age of birth until the age of five, He’s kaumāra and in the feature of kaumāra, He is worshiped especially in parental affection. Then from the age of five to the age of ten, He’s paugaṇḍa, and He is served mainly in the mood of friendship, and then from the age of eleven to the age of sixteen, He's kaiśora and He's associated with the gopīs as kaiśora. So we think of Krishna and His dear ones in their service to Him and Him in His features as He reciprocates with them.

Page seventy-five:

sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa
siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā
vraja-lokānusārataḥ        [Brs 1.2.295]

TRANSLATION

In the transcendental realm of Vraja [Vraja-dhāma] one should serve the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with a feeling similar to that of His associates, and one should place himself under the direct guidance of a particular associate of Kṛṣṇa and should follow in his footsteps. This method is applicable both in the stage of sādhana [spiritual practices executed while in the stage of bondage and in the stage of sādhya [God realization], when one is a siddha-puruṣa, or a spiritually perfect soul.

COMMENT

Here the question may arise that we are already supposed to be under the guidance of our spiritual master, so what is the relationship between placing ourselves under the guidance of a particular associate of Krishna and following in his footsteps and serving our spiritual master?

Every morning we sing in Śikṣāṣṭakam, nikuñja-yūno rati-keli-siddhyai

yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣaṇīyā. Does anyone know the meaning?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, but what about the rest of the verse?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: “The spiritual master is very dear, because he is expert in assisting the gopīs, who at different times make different tasteful arrangements for the perfection of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa's conjugal loving affairs within the groves of Vṛndāvana. I offer my most humble obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.”

So Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura is praying to his spiritual master but in the other verses, he prays to his spiritual master in the form in which one would see the spiritual master in the world, but here he's praying to his spiritual master as he envisions his spiritual master in his eternal service in the spiritual world.

So serving the spiritual master sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa, we serve him as we see him here as a sādhaka. And in the spiritual world, we serve him in his spiritual form, in the spiritual world. Therefore, we say that the relationship with the spiritual master is eternal. There is one incident described in Jaiva-dharma by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, where the spiritual master had two disciples and they were hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā from him. When he saw that the disciples were mature enough or ready enough, he met each one and asked each one separately, “By which pastimes of Krishna are you attracted? By which service to Krishna are you attracted?” So one said that, “I'm attracted by the service of Subala - how he helps Krishna take care of the cows when Krishna goes to pasture, and I would like to assist Subala by taking the cows to the Yamuna or Manasi ganga or wherever to drink water, and then I will bring the cows back to Subala.”

So the spiritual master said, “Very good. You can become the assistant to Subala.” And the other disciple said that, “I'm attracted by the pastimes of Krishna with the gopīs, and I would like to assist Lalita devi by collecting flowers to be strung into garlands to offer to Radha and Krishna.” The spiritual master blessed him and said, “Yes, you can become an assistant of Lalita devi.” Thereafter by the causeless mercy of the spiritual master, the first disciple started to see the spiritual master as a manifestation of Subala, and the other disciple began to see the spiritual master as the manifestation of Lalita devi. And of course externally they serve the spiritual master as they saw him as a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and internally each served the spiritual master as he perceived him in Krishna’s pastimes.

Of course, the question may be asked as to how the spiritual master could appear differently to each disciple?

Of course, here the spiritual master was actually in mādhurya-rasa, and since all the other rasas are included in mādhurya-rasa, sākhya-rasa is also included. So he could, by the arrangement of Krishna or by the mercy of Krishna, be manifest to his disciples differently. And so they can they continued their service to him both internally and externally. Both as an associate of Lord Chaitanya, a devotee of Lord Chaitanya and as an associate of Krishna.

So to understand a little more about Text Eight, we will discuss another prayer that we sing every day, I'll just read the translation to save time.

“O Tulasi! Beloved of Krishna, I bow before you again and again. My desire is to obtain the service of Sri Radha Krishna.”

COMMENT

So the activity is the same, everyone bows down to Tulasi-devi. In vaidhī-bhakti, we bow down to Tulasi-devi because we're supposed to bow down to Tulasi because she's a pure devotee and we will make advancement. And in rāgānugā-bhakti, we bow down to Tulasi-devi because we have a special desire which we want her to fulfill. “I bow before you again and again, My desire is to obtain the service of Sri Sri Radha Krishna.” But why bow down to Tulasi-devi in particular? The author says whoever takes shelter of you has his wishes fulfilled, so I want my wish fulfilled. So I'm taking shelter of you. Bestowing your mercy on him you make him a resident of Vrindavana because this is one of the items tiṣṭhan vraje - to always reside in Vrindavan - at least mentally if not physically. And to reside in Vrindavan either mentally or physically requires some mercy, but Vrindavan is a very big place - there's Gokul, Nandgaon, Varsana, Govardhan, Shyam-kunda, Radha-kunda - where in Vrindavan?

So according to the particular devotee whose mood of service we want to follow, we will choose our residence. For example, if we want to assist mother Yasoda in her service to Krishna, we will want to be with her in Gokul or later when she and Nanda Maharaja move to Nandagram so Nandagram, because there vātsalya-rasa is more. If we want to serve Krishna as a cowherd boy, then we will want to be Vrindavan or Govardhan, where  Krishna used to take the cows. And if we want to serve Srimati Radharani then we will want to be in Varsana or Seva-kunj, or Govardhan, or Radha-kunda. So we will want to reside in Vraja near the associate of Krishna whose mood and service we want to follow.

So here the author says, “My desire is that you also grant me a residence in the pleasure groves of Sri Vrindavan dhāma. Thus within my vision I will always behold the beautiful pastimes of Radha and Krishna.” Similarly, another devotee could pray to take residence have residence in Nandagram, or Gokul, or any place according to the mood of service and the pastimes of Krishna in which he wants to serve.

“I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant,” because Tulasi-devi in the material world is an expansion of Vrinda devi in the spiritual world and Vrinda devi is one of the gopīs, one of the girlfriends of Sri Krishna, and she always makes arrangements to decorate the Vrindavan forest for the pleasure of Radha and Krishna, and she makes arrangements for the meetings of Radha and Krishna.

We have Vrinda-kunda near Nandagram - it is the residence of Vrinda devi and every morning Vrinda devi, Paurnamasi, and others would meet there and plan the arrangements for the day - how Radha and Krishna will meet.

“So please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant,” means he wants to be the maid servant of the other sakhīs. “This very fallen and lowly servant of Krishna prays, ‘may I always swim in the love of Sri Radha and Govinda.’”

PURPORT (continued)

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has commented as follows upon this verse: “One who has not yet developed interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should give up all material motives and train his mind by following the progressive regulative principles, namely chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa and His name, form, quality, pastimes and so forth. In this way, after developing a taste for such things, one should try to live in Vṛndāvana and pass his time constantly remembering Kṛṣṇa’s name, fame, pastimes and qualities under the direction and protection of an expert devotee. This is the sum and substance of all instruction regarding the cultivation of devotional service.

“In the neophyte stage one should always engage in hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā. This is called śravaṇa-daśā, the stage of hearing.

COMMENT

Yesterday there was some discussion at what stage can we begin?

So here is the answer. The different stages or different practices can begin in different stages and the first stage of hearing can begin anytime. As soon as one has a taste, he can hear.

PURPORT (continued)

This is called śravaṇa-daśā, the stage of hearing. By constantly hearing the transcendental holy name of Kṛṣṇa and hearing of His transcendental form, qualities and pastimes, one can attain to the stage of acceptance called varaṇa-daśā. When one attains this stage, he becomes attached to the hearing of kṛṣṇa-kathā.

COMMENT

The stage of acceptance means that the devotee develops some particular inclination in Krishna's service, then he becomes attached to hearing the pastimes of Krishna with the devotees whose service he covets.

PURPORT (continued)

When one is able to chant in ecstasy, he attains the stage of smaraṇāvasthā, the stage of remembering, (smaraṇam in other words). Recollection, absorption, meditation, constant remembrance and trance are the five items of progressive kṛṣṇa-smaraṇa.

COMMENT

So recollection is simply called smaraṇam. Absorption is called in Sanskrit dhāraṇā. Meditation is called dhyāna. Constant remembrance is called anusmṛti.

Rupa Gosvami uses the word anusmṛti, the word anusmṛti in the verse. And trance is called samādhi.  

PURPORT (continued)

At first, remembrance of Kṛṣṇa may be interrupted at intervals, but later remembrance proceeds uninterrupted.

COMMENT

Obviously, these are very advanced stages.

PURPORT (continued)

When remembrance is uninterrupted, it becomes concentrated and is called meditation. When meditation expands and becomes constant, it is called anusmṛti. By uninterrupted and unceasing anusmṛti one enters the stage of samādhi, or spiritual trance.

COMMENT

There are more vivid descriptions of the stages and other books like Hari-nāma Cintāmaṇi.

PURPORT (continued)

After smaraṇa-daśā or samādhi has fully developed, the soul comes to understand his original constitutional position. At that time, he can perfectly and clearly understand his eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is called sampatti-daśā, the perfection of life.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta advises those who are neophytes to give up all kinds of motivated desires and simply engage in the regulative devotional service of the Lord according to the directions of scripture. In this way a neophyte can gradually develop attachment for Kṛṣṇa’s name, fame, form, qualities and so forth.

COMMENT

This is called Vaidhī-bhakti. Actually yesterday, someone asked at what stage we can begin rāgānugā-bhakti and how to proceed, but actually vaidhī-bhakti should never be abandoned. Vaidhī-bhakti should always be followed, and according to our taste or our eagerness, we will have some spontaneous inclination beyond just the regulative principles of vaidhī-bhakti, but we should always follow vaidhī-bhakti. If we think that we can supersede the regulations of vaidhī-bhakti, we’ll fall down.

PURPORT (continued)

When one has developed such attachment, he can spontaneously serve the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa even without following the regulated principles.

COMMENT

But that’s if someone has extremely strong greed or lobha, such greed burns like fire in the heart and the devotee can’t eat or sleep or do anything. He’s only thinking of Krishna and how to serve Krishna following His dear associates. So that greed we don’t have, therefore we have to follow vaidhī-bhakti but to whatever extent we have a little greed we can have some spontaneous attraction and hear and pray. According to the description in the purport mostly we can just hear, śravaṇa-daśā and to some extent accept a particular mood to a small extent maybe which is varaṇa-daśā, and sometimes very rarely we might be able to remember some pastime of Krishna which is the beginning stage of smaraṇa-daśā, but of course each person is individual, I'm just speaking in general.

PURPORT (continued)

At that stage the devotee can follow in the footsteps of one of the eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. This is called rāgānuga-bhakti. Rāgānuga-bhakti, or spontaneous devotional service, can be executed in the śānta-rasa when one aspires to be like Kṛṣṇa’s cows or the stick or flute in the hand of Kṛṣṇa, or the flowers around Kṛṣṇa’s neck. In the dāsya-rasa one follows in the footsteps of servants like Citraka, Patraka or Raktaka. In the friendly sākhya-rasa one can become a friend like Baladeva, Śrīdāmā or Sudāmā. In the vātsalya-rasa, characterized by parental affection, one can become like Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, and in the mādhurya-rasa, characterized by conjugal love, one can become like Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī or Her lady friends such as Lalitā and Her serving maids (mañjarīs) like Rūpa and Rati. This is the essence of all instruction in the matter of devotional service.

Are there any questions?

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: What do you think? Yes, yes. But if we give up everything else, for how long will we be able to hear before we fall asleep and our mind starts wandering? But actually today, I was remembering one statement that I heard when I first joined where Srila Prabhupada said that if he had one qualified disciple, he would just sit down under a tree and speak to him Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I just remembered today.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: But we can, as Srila Prabhupada prescribed for us, attend class in the morning one-hour class, in the evening two hours, and in several letters, he said read for two or three hours in the day, so five hours is enough. Reading is also in the same category as hearing - yes, exactly that is true.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Then Krishna can arrange for śikṣā-guru like we discussed Shyamananda prabhu, when he came to Vrindavan, he took shelter of Jiva Gosvami, and although previously he had been inclined to sākhya-rasa he ultimately found his perfection in mādhurya-rasa.

Devotee: It says in The Nectar of Devotion [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Well, there is only one Nanda Maharaja and one Yasoda. No living entity can become Nanda Maharaja or mother Yasoda, like no living entity can become Srimati Radharani. So no living entity can become Nanda Maharaja or mother Yasoda, but we can serve Krishna in the same mood of parental affection. But just as it's Mayavada to become Krishna, it's Mayavada to want to become Nanda or Yasoda or Lalita or Visakha.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami:  There are many ways, there are many ways how you can fulfill vātsalya-rasa. Like in the case of Drona and Dhara. They did austerities to get Krishna as their son. Now this is a little hard to understand, but when the original eternal Nanda and Yasoda came with Krishna for Krishna's pastimes in the material world, Drona and Dhara who had done the austerities to get Krishna entered into the bodies of Nanda and Yasoda and combined with them to serve Krishna.

Another alternative is that one can be an elderly gopa or gopī in Vrindavan and have the same parental affection for Krishna as Nanda and Yasoda. Then in the year when after Brahma stole the boys and calves, Krishna expanded to become the duplicate set of cowherd boys, then all the elderly cowherd men and ladies had Krishna as their own son, living with them in their own houses.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: No, no, no. They didn't want to become Nanda and Yasoda they only wanted to have Krishna as their son that was the Lord's merciful arrangement for them to fulfill their desire.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is described in The Nectar of Devotion. I don't know if it applies to you but there's something in The Nectar of Devotion called sveta rati - means when a child is too young to have a fully developed relationship with Krishna, he becomes attracted to serving Krishna in different ways like a gem. It will reflect different colors of light according to the situation, and then when he matures, his real eternal rati will become manifest, but the situation you described sounds very nice.

Devotee: Is it possible that one wants both the rasas?

Giriraj Swami: It is possible. It would be an exceptional case but for you anything is possible. No, I will give an example that Baladeva Prabhu is in, and as the older brother of Krishna, He sometimes also has the mood of vātsalya-rasa, but in the mood of servant of Krishna He sometimes experiences dāsya-rasa, but no mādhurya-rasa. So he expands as Ananga Manjari so that He can serve Krishna in mādhurya-rasa. Then all of His desires to serve Krishna fully in every rasa are fulfilled.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, all the service to Lord Chaitanya is with dāsya-rasa because all the devotees of Lord Chaitanya are aware of the fact either that Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or that He is the Acharya. So they all have some awe and reverence with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Of course, Nanda and Yasoda, they come as Jagannatha Misra and Saci Mata. The eternal associates from Vrindavan also appear in Navadvīpa, but as far as serving as Rupa and Sanatana or any sādhaka, there is dāsya-rasa, there is dāsya-rasa as with Guru. We serve in dāsya-rasa, but by serving the guru in dāsya-rasa we realize our relationship with Krishna in Madhurya rasa or whatever. So by serving Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in dāsya-rasa, one realizes his eternal relationship with Krishna in whatever rasa.

So Rupa and Santana served Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They accepted Him as guru and they served Him and by His mercy they entered rāgānugā-bhakti and they aspired for the service of Srimati Radharani. But as Rupa and Sanatana, they're not thinking that they have eternal forms as Rupa and Sanatana. They're thinking they were fallen souls; they were saved by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they're trying to develop love for Radha and Krishna. That's their sentiment, but actually Rupa Gosvami is as eternal as Rupa Manjari.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, varaṇa-daśā means that we hear the descriptions of Krishna's pastimes with the devotees and descriptions of the service of the devotees, and we want to accept some mood of service. Like generally, we accept I'm the eternal servant of Krishna, generally.

So in varaṇa-daśā we begin to accept generally I want to serve Krishna as a cowherd boy that is general. So you want to hear about Krishna's pastimes with the cowherd boys when they take the cows to pasture and so on. That is general. Then as we hear more and more and become more and more eager, we hear about the different specific services that the different cowherd boys offer, then we want to follow a specific cowherd boy, or category of cowherd and do a specific service, and it becomes more and more specific until it comes to what is our form, what is our name, what is our service, what is our dress, everything it becomes more and more specific, as we advance more.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: No, like we read. Mother Yasoda was churning butter. The flowers were falling from her hair, she was perspiring.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Well of course, kṛṣṇa-kathā is very best but when we talk about kṛṣṇa-kathā in relation to rāgānugā-bhakti we talk about kṛṣṇa-kathā about Krishna's associates in Vrindavan and their service in Vrindavan.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Krishna is playing on His flute. That is kṛṣṇa-kathā but the gopīs will hear in one way, the cowherd boys will hear in another way, Nanda and Yasoda will hear in another way, the cows will hear in another way, the deer will hear in another way. So in what mood will you hear Krishna playing on his flute? If we hear in a general way, Krishna is playing on His flute that is good, but that is not rāgānugā-bhakti. Rāgānugā-bhakti means Oh, Krishna is playing on his flute. So Nanda and Yasoda say, Krishna is returning from the pasturing ground, let us get ready and receive Krishna. So it will take different meanings in the minds of different devotees. So rāgānugā-bhakti means we hear the description that Krishna is playing on His flute, but how the gopīs are hearing Krishna's playing on His flute - what they are thinking or how the cowherd boys or how the deer - that makes rāgānugā-bhakti.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: That’s true. That’s true. So you should read books and when you find some devotees who have a similar interest, and you can get together and read and discuss.

Devotee: We don’t listen flute, we can listen conch shell to remember Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, that’s true.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: He says that we say that kaumāra is up to the age of five. Paugaṇḍa is up to the age of ten and kaiśora is up to the age of sixteen, but there is some mystery here, which Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti  Thakura has explained that, when after Krishna has passed maybe three years and four months, it is equal to five years, you understand?

In other words, Krishna doesn't stay in Vrindavan for fifteen years before He goes to Madhura. He’s only in Vrindavan for about ten years and eight months or whatever, but every say three years and four months He matures or grows as if He had grown five years. So that means after six years and eight months, He's as if He was more than ten years which means kaiśora.

Devotee: Another question is - can you explain about the service of the Vrinda devi?

Giriraj Swami: No, no. Paurnamasi is an elderly brahmini in Vraja. She is the mother of Sandipani Muni. Vrinda devi is a young girl, a girlfriend of Srimati Radharani. Paurnamasi is yoga-māyā. So yoga-māyā, in her way, arranges for the pastimes of Krishna, and Vrinda devi, in her way, also arranges for the pastimes of Krishna, but Vrinda devi especially is in charge of the forest of Vrindavana, making the forest very beautiful and decorative. Like in India there are six seasons. So, in each season different flowers bloom so there are different colors different fragrances, but by the arrangement of Vrinda devi all the flowers of every season can bloom at one time. So she makes so many arrangements to decorate and beautify the Vrindavan forest. That's one service of Vrinda devi and another service of Vrinda devi is that she acts as a messenger and goes between Krishna and the gopīs, the gopīs and Subala, and so on. Because Krishna is supposed to be a young boy. He's not supposed to be meeting girls, and Srimati Radharani is supposed to be a married lady. She's not supposed to be meeting boys. So how will they communicate with each other? Because they cannot communicate openly. So Vrinda devi acts as a messenger. As an example, she and Paurnamasi will decide that in the afternoon at 12 noon, Radha and Krishna should meet at Radha-kunda. So then say Vrinda devi will go to Nandagrāma and somehow pass the message to Krishna. There are so many intriguing methods required to arrange for the meetings of Radha and Krishna. So Vrinda devi is one of the main messengers because everything has to be done secretly. Nobody should know. And Paurnamasi also, because she's a very elderly brahman lady, she can go freely to Nandagrāma she can go to Barṣāṇā, she can go to Rāwat, she can go anywhere but because she's so senior although she wants to serve Radha and Krishna, but they can't ask her – Krishna can’t ask Paurnamasi to deliver a message, but He can ask Vrinda devi.

Devotee: How old is Vrinda devi?

Giriraj Swami: Vrinda devi may be around thirteen. They're young, they're all young.

Devotee: What’s the explanation Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gave?

Giriraj Swami: Oh yeah, because according to the progression in ordinary time, kaumāra is up to age five, and paugaṇḍa is up to age ten, and kaiśora is up to age fifteen or sixteen and when Krishna left Vrindavan, He was in kaiśora, but He didn't actually leave Vrindavan after fifteen years, He actually left after I think ten years and eight months or something like that. So Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has explained that in three years and four months Krishna matures or ages as if He had passed through five years. So He was eight years old in terms of how long He had been in pastimes in Vrindavan, but He had matured into the age of kaiśora.

Devotee: He just grows so fast.

Giriraj Swami: You could say so.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: You could say so. Time doesn't affect Him. Certainly, time doesn't affect Him. He matures by His will to fulfill the desires of His devotees.  Yes, the same applies to Srimati Radharani.  

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: He is asking who Vasudeva Datta from gaura-līlā is, in kṛṣṇa-līlā? He is a singer. Isn’t he? I can check the exact name. It is mentioned in Caitanya-caritāmṛta from Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā.   No, I think his name is Madhuvrata something like that. I will have to see.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, this is true that because all the young gopīs of Vraja wanted to marry Krishna, so for Paurnamasi in order to fulfill their desires, during the year the Krishna had expanded as the cowherd boys, told all the cowherd community that this is a very auspicious year for marriages. So all the parents decided that they should follow Paurnamasi’s advice and get their boys married. So all the boys who were married in that year were actually Krishna. Yes, true. So Krishna fulfills everyone's desires.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, after the pastime of the stealing of the cowherd boys and calves, then the original cowherd boys came back, and then they became the false husbands of the gopīs. It's true, it's true.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Anyway nobody knew. You mean to say that nobody knew that the gopīs married Krishna. No they didn't know that they married Krishna. They thought they married the other boys. So they thought that their relationship with Krishna was outside of their marriage that is parakīyā-rasa, but that is completely transcendental. We can't even think of it. If we think of it, we will be finished.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes, yoga-māyā arranged.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes because Krishna is playing nara-līlā as a human being so He can only have one mother and one father, but He can have many friends. So it's true that, but you see we haven't really heard the descriptions of Krishna's pastimes more, but if we read books like Kṛṣṇa Bhavanamrta like we mentioned yesterday, we'll find there's so many other ladies in the house of Nanda Maharaja and mother Yasoda that serve Krishna in motherly affection. They can help. Like nurses - there are nurses in your Yasoda's house, but it can come elsewhere. If somebody wants to be Radha, then it also becomes Mayavada. So in I’m sure you know, in Indian families you might only have one mother and father but there are so many uncles, aunts, grandparents, teachers, even neighbors they can have a relationship like a parent. But anugāmī like we read in the verse anurāgi-janānugāmī - it means following insubordination. One doesn't want to become Radharani, or Nanda, or Subala. You can become Krishna's friend, but you can't become as near and dear to Krishna as Subala. So that type of ambition should not be there in rāgānugā-bhakti just to be dās dās dāsānudāsa - servant of the servant of the servant of the servant, but the last servant he experiences the same ecstasy. It's not that the ecstasy becomes less. He experiences the same pleasure in Krishna’s service, but he is the servant of the servant of the servants. Otherwise, you'll think you can surpass your guru also. So the guru is also the near and dear servant of Srimati Radharani or Subala or whoever. So we follow, follow.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Yeah, they will see their spiritual master in the spiritual world. These are mysteries for us – guru-tattva. Guru-tattva is inconceivable because guru exists both in the spiritual world and in the material world. So, it's inconceivable. Kṛṣṇa-tattva is not inconceivable because He's always in the spiritual world, but guru-tattva is inconceivable but anyways.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Tulasi as one of the plants in Vrindavan? But the residents of Vrindavan don’t worship Tulasi-devi.

Devotee: [Unintelligible]

Giriraj Swami: Blessing may mean that he prays to Krishna to give you bhakti, to help you to advance in bhakti, and because the spiritual master is dear to Krishna, Krishna wants to fulfill his prayer.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Gaura premānande Haribol!!