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God appears on Earth like an ordinary person, but in truth, He is without birth (He doesn’t have a beginning or an end; He is infinite). How can He take birth on Earth?
(Bhagavat Geeta 4.6)
Meaning: Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all sentient beings, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.
Although He is without birth and death, omnipresent in all beings, the ocean of nectarine bliss and the omnipotent Lord of the infinite universes, He appears on Earth and performs pastimes like an ordinary person. Why does God perform His pastimes?
(Bhagavat Geeta 4.9)
Meaning: One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.
His appearance and pastimes are transcendental. Why does He appear on Earth and perform His divine pastimes?
All Jivatmas are parts and parcels of God. We (mistakenly) think that God resides in an unreachable abode, far away from us. We Jivatmas are ordinary people entangled in Maya while God is divine and holy, and He resides in the blissful abode of Vaikuntha or Goloka Dham. How can He listen to our sorrow and miseries from such distance? It seems to us that we have no connection with Him in the past, present or future.
Therefore, some saints ask us to create a relationship with God. But this is foolishness. We eternally belong to God. The relationship between us and God always exists, there is no need to create one. But we are the ones who have forgotten this relationship! What we need to do is remember this eternal relationship with God. In any way possible, the Jivatma must immerse his mind in the contemplation of Krishna. Through any kind of sadhana or trick, he must devote his mind to Krishna, who is the nearest and dearest person to the Jivatma. This is the truth.
All other relationships in this world are temporary and fake. They start after birth and end with death. Initially, when we took birth, we came alone. Then, we started creating relationships with family, friends and relatives. We created so many relationships! But one day, when death comes, we will have to leave all these relationships and go alone. We will never return to meet these people!
According to our Karma, we might take birth in different kinds of bodies. If we take birth as animals, we again create relationships with our animal kin. Just like wild buffalos who roam in herds of their kind. But all these relationships are temporary. They neither existed before nor will they exist in future. They are only visible in the present. But we believe these relationships to be real and devote our heart, mind and intellect to please them. In this way, we ignorantly accept the fake relationships as real and keep wandering in the cycle of birth and death.
Presently, by the mercy of God, we have acquired this human birth which is the only opportunity to get enlightened and relieve ourselves from this cycle of birth and death. In this birth, we must realize our eternal loving relationship with God and attain our true form which is eternal and transcendental. This is why, this human body is the best body among all creatures on Earth.
God appears on Earth to enlighten the Jivatma about his true form and their eternal relationship in every Yuga.
(Bhagavat Geeta 4.8)
Meaning: In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.
When He appears on Earth, all His pastimes are divine. They are not imaginary. They are not influenced by Maya like the actions of an ordinary Jivatma. The Jivatma is ignorant of his eternal form when he takes birth and performs actions which are influenced by the three modes of nature. Whereas, God appears on Earth with the intention of performing His pastimes. These divine pastimes attract various Jivatmas to Him and they connect with Him through different relationships. By contemplating and engaging in His pastimes, they transcend the ocean of Maya and attain their eternal form. This is the simplest form of sadhana for a Jivatma. By singing, contemplating and engaging in His transcendental pastimes, they become free from the cycle of birth and death as the contemplation of Truth destroys the snares of illusory Maya.
There are various kinds of Avatāras (manifestations) of God: Purnāvatāra (complete manifestation of God), Anshāvatāra (a partial manifestation), Shaktyāvesha Avatāra (a manifestation with some of God’s potency), Āvesha Avatāra (a manifestation where God presides only sometimes to perform specific pastimes), etc. But in this Dwāpara Yuga, God appeared as His Purnāvatāra, Krishna. And in this very Kali Yuga, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the ultimate Purnāvatāra of God and is Prema Purushottam (the incarnation of the divine love), appeared on Earth to shower unprecedented mercy on us.
The pastimes of Krishna are transcendental. He gives immense pleasure to Jivatmas through His pastimes. The Jivatmas contemplate His pastimes and become free from the cycle of birth and death. How can the Supreme Truth, God, lie? How can the Lord of the infinite universes ever steal? “Satyam param dhimahi”, He is the ultimate Truth in all of infinite universes and beyond! But in the pastimes of Krishna, He speaks lies and steals butter from Gopis!
An ordinary Jivatma has 18 kinds of shortcomings like illusion, sleep, desire, anger, hankering, etc. In Krishna’s pastimes, we can see all these shortcomings in Him! How is this possible? The answer is that these pastimes are divine and beyond the intelligence of ordinary people. They are untouched by Maya and its three modes.
“Amritam chaiva mrityuśh cha sad asach chāham arjuna.”
(Bhagavat Geeta 9.19)
Meaning: I am immortality as well as death personified, O Arjun. I am the truth as well as the fake.
(Bhagavat Geeta 7.7)
Meaning: There is nothing higher than Myself, O Arjun. Everything rests in Me, as beads strung on a thread.
“Mayā tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-mūrtinā.”
(Bhagavat Geeta 9.4)
Meaning: This entire cosmic manifestation is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form.
Krishna is the Creator of all Creations. He pervades the whole Creation. There is nothing other than Him. He poses as both the Truth and the illusory or fake. What is stealing? When we take someone else’s property without his permission, it is called stealing. Here, how can Krishna steal anything? Everything belongs to Him and He himself poses as everything. Similarly, there is nothing called a lie for Him. But to relish immense bliss with His devotees, He performs such pastimes where He seems to speak lies and steal things. In Vrindavan Lila, if Krishna hadn’t spoken lies, stolen things or performed Rāsa Lila with Gopis, the pastimes of Vrindavan would not have been so sweet and alluring.
Here, there is nothing called “para”, meaning “the other”. (When Krishna steals butter, there is no “others’ property” to steal. When Krishna performs Rāsa Lila, there is no “para-stri” or “para-purush”, meaning a paramour.)
(Bhagavat Geeta 9.18)
Meaning: I am the Supreme Goal of all living beings, and I am also their Sustainer, Master, Witness, Abode, Shelter, and Friend. I am the Origin, End, and Resting Place of creation; I am the Repository and Eternal Seed.
Therefore, one must understand that these actions of Krishna are His Lila or pastimes. Lila means a drama. To relish the immense bliss of Mādhurya Rasa and give extraordinary pleasure to His devotees, He performs such “Ananda Lila” (blissful pastimes).
Suppose a drama producer created a drama and he himself played the role of a thief or a villain in it. Isn’t it very exciting? If the drama does not involve any villains or everybody is a Sadhu (there is no plot twist, no intriguing details), will anybody watch it? No. A drama needs to involve a variety of characters that make it interesting. There should be a good person, a villain, a thief/dishonest person, a pure-hearted person, a joker to make everybody laugh, etc. This variety of characters, plots or moods is called Vaichitri. (In Vrindavan Lila, the variety of pastimes is called Lila Vaichitri.) If there is only one kind of character, say all pure-hearted people, then it cannot be called a drama! There will be no interesting plot in it.
Therefore, in Vrindavan Lila, Krishna performs a drama with His devotees and He is the main hero of the story! The Purna Brahma Sanatan, the Lord of the infinite universes and the ocean of the aggregate nectarine Mādhurya Rasa, Krishna, performs a drama in which he steals, speaks lies and engages in sweet pastimes with Vraja Gopis.
Gopis are not paramours. The worldly relationship of wife and husband is related to the material body. But Krishna is Jagat Pati (the Lord of the whole world). The word “Pati” means both a husband and a Lord. Krishna is the husband of Ātma. He is the husband of all husbands in the world and the Lord of all Lords. There is no word like “para” for Him. Those who don’t understand this often end up criticizing and blaspheming Him. They are fools.
If you think that God’s pastimes should be according to Dharma and the rules of society; His pastimes should be pure, Satvik, beautiful and untainted by any lies, dishonesty or unruly behaviour, then for such devotees, He performed such pastimes as Sri Rāma. Such devotees should not contemplate or hear Krishna’s pastimes! In Sri Rāma’s pastimes, there is no stain of any mistakes or improper behaviour. The pastimes of Rāma are the purest, the most beautiful, apt to be followed by all, admired by all and a source of inspiration for all. Sri Rāma never accepted a second wife. When Mother Sita was sent to the forest a second time, His court ministers advised Him to accept a second wife so that the nation could have a queen. They said that the royal throne did not look glorious without a queen. But Sri Rāma did not accept this advice. He created a statue of Mother Sita made of pure gold and established Her on the throne on His left side. He followed “Eka patni vrata”, meaning a vow to marry only one wife, at a time when it was very normal to have several wives, especially for kings.
If you want to follow the pastimes of God, follow Sri Rāma’s pastimes. Krishna’s pastimes should never be followed. They should only be contemplated and glorified. Even so, only eligible devotees who understand those pastimes can contemplate them. Everyone cannot understand them and hence, is not qualified to contemplate them. In Gopāla Champu, Srila Jiva Goswami has stressed that the pastimes of Sringāra Rasa like Rāsa Lila and so on are prohibited to be contemplated by people who do not understand them. They are very deep and mysterious pastimes. As long as a male devotee identifies himself as a male, he should never try to read, recount or contemplate the pastimes of Nivrita Nikunja. He is not qualified to do so. On contemplating his Manjari Swarupa given by his Gurudev day after day, one day, he will be able to relinquish his male identity and see himself as a Manjari. Only then he will become qualified to enter the realm of Nivrita Nikunja's pastimes. Otherwise, he will commit an Aparadha and impediment his bhajan.
The Jivatma is Parā Prakriti.
(Bhagavat Geeta 7.5)
Meaning: Such is My inferior energy. But beyond it, O mighty-armed Arjun, I have a superior energy. This is the jīva śhakti (the soul energy), which comprises the living beings who are the basis of life in this world.
Prakriti also means the feminine energy. Hence, irrespective of female or male bodies, all Jivatmas are feminine. Krishna is the only Purush, the masculine energy. The Jivatma can never be a Purush! Therefore, our Acharyas have given us this sadhana of contemplation of our eternal Swarupa. Through this, once we relinquish the identities of material ego, whether male or female and achieve our Manjari Swarupa, we can relish the mysterious pastimes of Nivrita Nikunja.
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