SB 3.16.13–14 – Part 01

Giriraj Swami:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Sixteen, “The Two Doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha, Jaya and Vijaya, Cursed by the Sages,”

TEXT 13

brahmovāca
atha tasyośatīṁ devīm
ṛṣi-kulyāṁ sarasvatīm
nāsvādya manyu-daṣṭānāṁ
teṣām ātmāpy atṛpyata

TRANSLATION

Brahmā continued: Even though the sages had been bitten by the serpent of anger, their souls were not satiated with hearing the Lord’s lovely and illuminating speech, which was like a series of Vedic hymns.

TEXT 14

satīṁ vyādāya śṛṇvanto
laghvīṁ gurv-artha-gahvarām
vigāhyāgādha-gambhīrāṁ
na vidus tac-cikīrṣitam

TRANSLATION

The Lord’s excellent speech was difficult to comprehend because of its momentous import and its most profound significance. The sages heard it with wide-open ears and pondered it as well. But although hearing, they could not understand what He intended to do.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It should be understood that no one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead in speaking. There is no difference between the Supreme Person and His speeches, for He stands on the absolute platform. The sages tried with wide-open ears to understand the words from the lips of the Supreme Lord, but although His speech was very concise and meaningful, the sages could not completely comprehend what He was saying. They could not even comprehend the purport of the speech or what the Supreme Lord wanted to do. Nor could they understand whether the Lord was angry or pleased with them.

COMMENT

So, the Lord is supreme in all qualities, and He is also supreme in speech. Although the sages were pleased by the speeches of the Lord and wanted to hear more, they could not understand what He meant to say or what He intended to do. But because of the beauty of the Lord’s speech and the beauty of the Lord’s mood, they wanted more and more and more. Sometimes, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura spoke in such high language that devotees could not understand him. Srila Prabhupada admits that even he could not understand his guru Maharaja in many cases, but still he wanted to hear from him. Whenever he got the opportunity, he would sit with him and hear. One time, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was on Vraja mandala parikramā, and they came to Shesashayi. So, at the time, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was in the room with his disciples. Then some other disciples came and announced that the devotees can come and have darshan of the Deities, and many of them left. But Srila Prabhupada did not leave; he remained behind to hear from his spiritual master. Then Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he commented that about the Srila Prabhupada that he hears very much, and he who hears nicely can preach nicely. So, although, even Srila Prabhupada could not understand the language of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, but he wanted to hear the words.

In the beginning of ISKCON in America, Srila Prabhupada instructed the devotees about Back to Godhead, and he suggested that they could include one article by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in each issue. The devotees argued that people will not be able to understand the language. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Even if they cannot understand the language, they will benefit by these vibrations, transcendental sound vibrations.” So here, the four Kumaras, although they could not fully comprehend the import of the Lord’s words, but they were enlivened by the Lord’s speeches, and they wanted to hear more and more. The Lord spoke in such a way they could not understand the intention. Although the Lord is God of gods, He is the worshipable deity for the brahminical class. But He presented Himself as the servant, He presented Himself as the worshiper, and He put forth the four Kumaras as representatives of the brahman class, and said that they were to be worshipped and they were to be served. He made so many statements about offenses, that His servants were offenders, and therefore He was also offended, and the four Kumaras were offended by His servants, who represented Him. But the four Kumaras were thinking that actually we are the offenders because we have cursed the Lord’s servants. Actually, they were only trying to serve the Lord, but we have cursed the Lord’s servants. We have created so much difficulty. Actually, we are the offenders. So they could not understand the purpose of the Lord’s speeches. Was He actually feeling that He was the offender and they were offended? Was He actually pleased with them, or was He thinking that actually they are the offenders because they cursed the gatekeepers who are My servants? Because the same words work both ways. The four Kumaras were extensions of the Lord Himself, as the Lord stated, but the gatekeepers were also extensions of the Lord. So although He was apparently chastising the gatekeepers and saying that by offending the brahmans, they had offended Him, was He also instructing the Kumaras that by offending the gatekeepers they were offending Him? So they were bewildered by the Lord’s speech. What was His actual intentions? And although they heard the speeches with wide-open ears, with tremendous eagerness, and although they pondered the meaning of the Lord’s words, they still could not understand. They could not reach any definite conclusion. They were bewildered.

So, the Lord, He has the power to bewilder. We find in one verse in the Tenth Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs say, madhurayā girā valgu-vākyayā budha-manojñayā puṣkarekṣaṇa, that the sweet sound of Your voice and the deep meaning of Your words attracts the mind of the intelligent and bewilder them. So here also, the Kumaras were bewildered by the speeches of the Lord. Sometimes, the Lord’s speeches are so confidential that no one can understand them, except for some persons who can understand, who are practically on the same level. Just like, sometime, Krishna and Balarama would speak in such an intimate way that although everyone was hearing them, nobody could understand them, what they were saying to each other. So I thought of two examples of the Lord’s speeches, which meanings, it is difficult to understand. One is from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Chapter Nineteen, “The Inconceivable Behavior of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” Every year, Lord Chaitanya used to send Jagadananda Pandit to Navadvipa to bring prasāda and remanent to His mother. And he would stay for about a month, and then return. When Jagadananda Pandit was about to leave Navadvipa, he went to Advaita Acharya, and Advaita Acharya gave him a message for Lord Chaitanya.

TEXT 17

ācāryera ṭhāñi giyā ājñā māgilā
ācārya-gosāñi prabhure sandeśa kahilā

TRANSLATION

When he went to Advaita Ācārya and also asked His permission to return, Advaita Prabhu gave him a message to deliver to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

TEXT 18

tarajā-prahelī ācārya kahena ṭhāre-ṭhore
prabhu mātra bujhena, keha bujhite nā pare

TRANSLATION

Advaita Ācārya had written a sonnet in equivocal language with an import that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could understand but others could not.

COMMENT

Advaita Acharya is also the Supreme Lord, Maha-Vishnu.

TEXT 19

“prabhure kahiha āmāra koṭi namaskāra
ei nivedana tāṅra caraṇe āmāra

TRANSLATION

In His sonnet, Advaita Prabhu first offered His obeisances hundreds and thousands of times unto the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He then submitted the following statement at His lotus feet.

TEXT 20

bāulake kahiha, — loka ha-ila bāula
bāulake kahiha, — hāṭe nā vikāya cāula

TRANSLATION

“Please inform Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is acting like a madman, that everyone here has become mad like Him. Inform Him also that in the marketplace rice is no longer in demand.

TEXT 21

bāulake kahiha, — kāye nāhika āula
bāulake kahiha, — ihā kahiyāche bāula”

TRANSLATION

“Further tell Him that those now mad in ecstatic love are no longer interested in the material world. Also tell Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that one who has also become a madman in ecstatic love [Advaita Prabhu] has spoken these words.”

TEXT 22

eta śuni’ jagadānanda hāsite lāgilā
nīlācale āsi’ tabe prabhure kahilā

TRANSLATION

When he heard Advaita Ācārya’s statement, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita began to laugh, and when he returned to Jagannātha Purī, Nīlācala, he informed Caitanya Mahāprabhu of everything.

TEXT 23

tarajā śuni’ mahāprabhu īṣat hāsilā
‘tāṅra yei ājñā’ — bali’ mauna dharilā

TRANSLATION

After hearing the equivocal sonnet by Advaita Ācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu quietly smiled. “That is His order,” He said. Then He fell silent.

TEXT 24

jāniyāo svarūpa gosāñi prabhure puchila
‘ei tarajāra artha bujhite nārila’

TRANSLATION

Although he knew the secret, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī inquired from the Lord, “What is the meaning of this sonnet? I could not understand it.”

COMMENT

When Krishna played his flute on the full moon night of the Sharad season to call the gopīs, they came, and Krishna spoke in such a way as to bewilder them. We read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Twenty-nine, ‘Kṛṣṇa and the Gopīs’ Meet,”

TEXT 17

tā dṛṣṭvāntikam āyātā
bhagavān vraja-yoṣitaḥ
avadad vadatāṁ śreṣṭho
vācaḥ peśair vimohayan

TRANSLATION

Seeing that the girls of Vraja had arrived, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the best of speakers, greeted them with charming words that bewildered their minds.

TEXT 18

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
svāgataṁ vo mahā-bhāgāḥ
priyaṁ kiṁ karavāṇi vaḥ
vrajasyānāmayaṁ kaccid
brūtāgamana-kāraṇam

TRANSLATION

Lord Kṛṣṇa said: O most fortunate ladies, welcome. What may I do to please you? Is everything well in Vraja? Please tell Me the reason for your coming here.

COMMENT

So, first He greets them, svāgataṁ, which is a very formal type of reception; O svāgataṁ! Then He thought because when they heard the sound of the flute, they became so anxious to meet Krishna that without considering if they were dressed properly, or ornamented properly, or decorated properly, they just ran to meet Krishna. So, some of them put the upper cloth on the bottom portion. Some put the eye cosmetics on their lips, and some put their foot ornaments on their arm. So Krishna saw that they had come in a great hurry. So he says, vrajasyānāmayaṁ kaccid, “Is everything all right in Vraja? Perhaps some demon has come, and you have all quickly fled away to take shelter of Me for protection. Or is there anything wrong with Vraja? Or if nothing is wrong, then priyaṁ kiṁ karavāṇi vaḥ, what can I do for you?” We go to meet some rich man to get some donation. Actually, he doesn’t really want to do anything, but as a formality, he says, “What can I do for you? Can I get you a glass of water? Or maybe you would like leave upon.”

TEXT 19

rajany eṣā ghora-rūpā
ghora-sattva-niṣevitā
pratiyāta vrajaṁ neha
stheyaṁ strībhiḥ su-madhyamāḥ

TRANSLATION

This night is quite frightening, and frightening creatures are lurking about. Return to Vraja, slender-waisted girls. This is not a proper place for women.

COMMENT

So the gopīs think that, Krishna has shattered our attachments to our families. He has taken away our soberness and our shyness, and He has been enjoying with us day after day. And now He is asking us, Why have you come? Seeing that the girls were looking in all directions, hearing the Lord’s equivocal words, He said, “Oh, you must have come to enjoy the scenery in the forest.” And they would look up at the moon, He would say, “Oh, you must have come to see the moon.” If they would look up in the tree, He would say, “Oh, you must have come to see the tree.” Because they would look at Yamuna, He would say, “Oh, you must have come to see the Yamuna.” But there is another meaning. You see, Sanskrit actually comes with so many words joined together, and according to how you divide the words, the words have different meanings. Like prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ, Srila Rupa Gosvami mentions six items that destroy devotional service. niyamāgrahaḥ means to follow the rules and regulations, and the other meaning is not to follow the rules. Of course, here, to follow the rules and regulation means fanatically, without understanding the actual purpose. Therefore, following fanatically is against the bhakti, and acting independently and not following is also against bhakti. But according to how the words are divided, the meaning can be quite different, just the opposite.

TEXT 19

rajany eṣā ghora-rūpā
ghora-sattva-niṣevitā
pratiyāta vrajaṁ neha
stheyaṁ strībhiḥ su-madhyamāḥ

TRANSLATION

This night is quite frightening, and frightening creatures are lurking about. Return to Vraja, slender-waisted girls. This is not a proper place for women.

COMMENT

So here, He is saying that the night is quite frightening, and frightening creatures like tigers, snakes, scorpions, are lurking about, so return to Vraja. This is not a proper place for women. But the other meaning is that the night is not frightening. There are no frightening creatures lurking about. There are only peaceful creatures like deers, or even if there are tigers, because we are in Vrindavan, all creatures are naturally peaceful, so there is no need to fear. Therefore, do not return to Vraja. Or there is no need to be afraid of your relatives, that they will come and search for you, because the night is very frightening, and frightening creatures are lurking about. But they won’t dare come out of their houses to look for you, so you should not be afraid, and you should not return to Vraja. You should stay with Me.

TEXT 20

mātaraḥ pitaraḥ putrā
bhrātaraḥ patayaś ca vaḥ
vicinvanti hy apaśyanto
mā kṛḍhvaṁ bandhu-sādhvasam

TRANSLATION

Not finding you at home, your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands are certainly searching for you. Don’t cause anxiety for your family members.

COMMENT

So again, the second meaning is that because the night is frightening and frightening creatures are lurking about, even if they come searching for you, they won’t find you. They will be afraid and will return. So don’t be in anxiety; you can stay with Me.

TEXT 21–22

dṛṣṭaṁ vanaṁ kusumitaṁ
rākeśa-kara-rañjitam
yamunānila-līlaijat
taru-pallava-śobhitam

tad yāta mā ciraṁ goṣṭhaṁ
śuśrūṣadhvaṁ patīn satīḥ
krandanti vatsā bālāś ca
tān pāyayata duhyata

TRANSLATION

Now you have seen this Vṛndāvana forest, full of flowers and resplendent with the light of the full moon. You have seen the beauty of the trees, with their leaves trembling in the gentle breeze coming from the Yamunā. So now go back to the cowherd village. Don’t delay. O chaste ladies, serve your husbands and give milk to your crying babies and calves.

COMMENT

But the other meaning is because here is another point about Sanskrit, that there are words like na, which means “not,” and na can be applied to so many words in the same verse. So now he says, na, “Don’t be late.” He says, “Go back to the cowherd’s village. Don’t be late.” But the same ‘don’t’, putting it in English, the same “don’t” can be applied to the verb “go back.” So instead of saying, “Now go back and don’t be late,” the “don’t” is applied to “don’t go back, but delay for some time more, at least for the rest of the night.” And then the same thing, “Serve your husbands and give milk to your crying babies and calves.” Because one na, can apply to so many ways, there is actually no limit to how many words. So the same “na” can apply, “Don’t serve your husbands. Don’t give milk to your crying babies and calves. Don’t waste your time with such nonsense, but stay with Me. You are meant for better things than that.”

TEXT 23

atha vā mad-abhisnehād
bhavatyo yantritāśayāḥ
āgatā hy upapannaṁ vaḥ
prīyante mayi jantavaḥ

Because Krishna has exhausted every other possibility why they could have come. Because there was some demon in Vraja, and they came running. There was some disturbance, or they came to see the beautiful night, to see the moon, to see the trees, to see the flowers, and so on. Then the gopīs would have said, “No, no, no, not for this, not for this.” So then, having had all the other reasons refuted, He would say,

TRANSLATION

On the other hand, perhaps you have come here out of your great love for Me, which has taken control of your hearts. This is of course quite commendable on your part, since all living entities possess natural affection for Me.

COMMENT

Now here, He is saying that “Every living entity possesses natural affection for Me. Even the mothers, the fathers, the cowherd boys, the cows, the calves, the trees, the creepers, they all have affection for Me, and you also have affection for Me. So now you have seen Me, now you can go back.” Because affection is of two types, general, as he is saying in the word in general, and the other is specific, in mādhurya-rasa. So here, He is saying means the general meaning, which is the translation of the verses. So the general meaning is that all living entities have love for Me, so you also have love for Me. So now, you have seen it, so now you can go back. But the hidden meaning or the alternative meaning is that you have come here out of your great love for Me, which has taken control of your heart. But the hidden meaning is that you have come here out of your great love for Me, not in the general sense but in the specific sense, and therefore you have taken control of My heart.

TEXT 24

bhartuḥ śuśrūṣaṇaṁ strīṇāṁ
paro dharmo hy amāyayā
tad-bandhūnāṁ ca kalyāṇaḥ
prajānāṁ cānupoṣaṇam

TRANSLATION

The highest religious duty for a woman is to sincerely serve her husband, behave well toward her husband’s family and take good care of her children.

COMMENT

So this is the meaning. But the hidden meaning or the other meaning is that here, one word is, amāyayā, without duplicity. So the first meaning is that there should be no duplicity in you, that you have been married to your husband, so there should be no duplicity. You should go back to your husband. You should not spend time with any other person. But the hidden meaning is that, actually, you love Me from a very childhood. You love Me, and I love you. So you should not be duplicitous and go and serve your husband, but you should be sincere and stay and serve Me because I am the supreme husband. They are not real husbands. And another word here is paro dharmo. It is translated here, the highest religious duty. Dharma means religious duty, and para means highest, like sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje. Actually, the highest religious duty is to awaken bhakti for Krishna. But para, it can also mean others, like para-upakara, like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has instructed,

bhârata-bhûmite haila manujanma yâra
janma sârthaka kari’ kara para-upakâra

That anyone who has taken birth in Bharat-varsha should make his life successful and do good for others. So para-upakara means to do welfare for others, and para means others. So here, another meaning is of paromdharma is not of the highest religious duty, but paradharma means the duty of another person. In other words, serving your husband, behaving well towards your husband’s family, and taking good care of your children is not your duty; that is someone else’s duty; that is parodharma, that is someone else’s duty, and you should not do someone else’s duty because if you do someone else’s dharma, then for you, it is adharma.

TEXT 25

duḥśīlo durbhago vṛddho
jaḍo rogy adhano ‘pi vā
patiḥ strībhir na hātavyo
lokepsubhir apātakī

TRANSLATION

Women who desire a good destination in the next life should never abandon a husband who has not fallen from his religious standards, even if he is obnoxious, unfortunate, old, unintelligent, sickly or poor.

COMMENT

So the gopīs may say this: “Our dear Krishna, You are so qualified. We have fallen in love with You. How can we go back to our husbands?” So here, the first meaning will be, “But you, you must go back, even if your husbands are duḥśīlo—of bad characters, you should go back, durbhago-unfortunate, vṛddho-old, jaḍo-retarded, rogy-sickly, adhano-poor, even then, you should go back.” It doesn’t matter that you think that they are not as good as Me; but they are your husband, and it is your duty to serve them, so you should go. But the other meaning is loka, in the first meaning loka means a good destination in the next life. It says that women who deserve a good destination in the next day should never abandon a husband, whatever he misses. But here, loka, He is saying to the gopīs that you don’t care about any loka. You don’t care about this life or the next life. You are not interested in this world at all. And loka also means people, other people. You are also not worried about reputation. So persons who are worried about their present life and their next life and their reputation, they should never abandon their husbands. But you don’t care about such mundane things, so there is no harm for you.

There are a few more verses. The point here is that no one can excel the Lord in speech, and when the Lord wants to bewilder any person by His speech, He can easily do so. Even the gopīs, and after hearing the Lord’s words, just like the Kumaras, they couldn’t understand the purport of the Lord’s words. So the gopīs also could not understand the purport of the Lord’s words, whether He was just joking, or whether He was actually telling them to go back to Vraja, or whether He was actually telling them to stay with Him. They were bewildered. They couldn’t figure out what He was doing. So therefore, in the verse, the original verse from the Third Canto, one of word is gambhira, which means grave, one of Krishna’s qualities is grave. And in The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada gives the definition of grave that no one can understand His mind, no one can understand His thoughts. So here, the Kumaras, they could not understand the thoughts of Lord Narayana. Was He pleased with them, or was He displeased with them? And the gopīs also could not understand the thoughts of Krishna. Was He telling them to go back home, was He telling them to stay with Him, or was He just making jokes without any purpose?

Are there any questions?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:49:21]

Giriraj Swami: No. What you have said is true, that mundane anger comes under the influence of raja-guṇa and tama-guṇa. And then someone who is under the influence of raja-guṇa and tama-guṇa, he will be in the same angry mood like you said, for the rest of the day or the next day also. And not only in relation to the offender but in relation to anyone. Maybe there is no offender at all. Maybe he is just frustrated in his own material desires, and nobody has done anything wrong. But in transcendental anger, the anger is directed towards a particular object with a particular purpose, and it doesn’t extend beyond the time required, and it doesn’t extend to other persons. It only extends to the person involved. So you yourself have given me the answer

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:51:11]

Giriraj Swami: By bhakti, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti, that only by bhakti can one understand Krishna. There are so many meanings to the verses. So how can we understand so many meanings, or how can anyone understand so many meanings? Only by bhakti. Lord Chaitanya is Himself Krishna. He knows everything. But if we take the commentaries of the acharyas, generally in the Tenth Canto, of course, many have commented, but especially Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, he has commented on the verses, especially the verses spoken between Krishna and the gopīs. He has explained the full meaning and the double meaning. It is not only here in this conversation, it is throughout. There are so many double meanings; here. Krishna is speaking, but in the Thirty-first Chapter, in the songs of the gopīs in separation, there the gopīs speak. But again, the verses have two meanings. One of the most famous verses which was much appreciated by Lord Chaitanya when King Pratāparudra recited it to Him at the time of Ratha-yatra, tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ, that Your talks are nectar, that is one meaning. Your talks are nectar; because in the gopīs also there are different moods, especially there are two: one is dakṣiṇā and other is vāmya. dakṣiṇā means, they openly express their eagerness to meet Krishna and serve Krishna. And vāmya means that inwardly they are eager to serve Krishna, but outwardly they express contrariness. So, those in dakṣiṇā-bhāva, tava kathāmṛtaṁ, that Your talks are nectar, and those in vāmya-bhāva, they say tava kathā mṛtaṁ, that Your talks are death. Anyone who hears Your talks will die. If You are present and You speak to us, then it is nectar. But if You are not present, then talks about You are death, because anyone who feels separation from You, will be so miserable; he will be as good as dead, or he will want to die.

So the same thing in the songs of the gopīs, there too. tapta-jīvanaṁ, anyway, this could also be another whole discussion on tapta-jīvanaṁ. The general meaning is that Your talks are nectar for those who are aggrieved in this world. kavibhir īḍitaṁ. They are broadcast or transmitted by Kavis, great poets and learned scholars. That is for dakṣiṇā-bhāva. And for vāmya-bhāva, they are saying that yes, the scriptures have many statements about the glory of Your talks, but why? Because the scriptures are written by kavis, by poets. And kavis can say anything. For example, if a horse is galloping very quickly, they will say the horse is flying. Actually, the horse is not flying, but as poets, they say the horse is flying. So because poets have to give some exaggeration, so there are saying about kṛṣṇa-kathā, otherwise there is nothing in kṛṣṇa-kathā. Tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham.  Kalmaṣāpaham means that it destroys all sinful reactions. So the first meaning is that kṛṣṇa-kathā is so auspicious that just by hearing it, one becomes free of sinful reactions. But the other meaning is that by hearing kṛṣṇa-kathā and becoming attached to Krishna, and then being separated from Krishna, one feels so much pain that all of his sinful reactions are being used up by his suffering. By suffering, all of the sinful reactions are getting used up.

So like that, in the gopīs’ words also, there are more than one meaning. But now, coming to the point, how can we know the meaning? This comes from realization. This cannot come from scholarship or knowledge of Sanskrit rules. This comes from realization. So, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, they have realization, and therefore they are able to explain the different moods of Krishna and the different moods of the gopīs. They themselves are gopīs in kṛṣṇa-līlā, so they know. And we also, when we approach the scriptures, we should not try to understand through the intellect. We cannot actually understand through the intellect, but by chanting, by hearing, by remembering, we can get the ideas, not by intellectualizing, by bhajana.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 00:59:20]

Giriraj Swami: By bhakti, they can reciprocate with the Lord. And of course, bhakti comes in different qualities. The Kumaras were in śānta-rasa, so they have responded to the Lord that, “You have told us that the brahmans are worshipable by You, but actually, You are worshipful by the brahmans. If You worship us, it is not because we are worshipable by You; it is only because You want to set the example for others.” So they have given a direct because in Vaikuntha, everything is direct, but in Vraja, everything is the opposite. Everything is crooked. So when the gopīs reply, they reply in a crooked way. They will say that even though Krishna was giving them good moral instruction. So they will say to Krishna, “You have given us such good moral instructions. You are our Gurudeva. So first, we must serve our Gurudeva, and then we will go back to Vraja.” Or they will say, “You have given such good moral instruction, but You should also practice what You preach. Garga Rishi has told that You are just like. . .