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God is Ānandamaya (full of eternal bliss), Ānanda Ghana Vigraha (personification of condensed eternal bliss), Achintya (beyond mundane intelligence), Avyakta (imperceptible by material eyes) and Anirdeśya (who cannot be described by words). His names, forms, qualities and pastimes are all Achintya. The esoteric Ānanda Lila of God can be understood only by His mercy. He appears in the hearts of His dear devotees and mercifully gives them the ability to experience and relish His Ānanda Lilas. Otherwise, even if the sadhak engages in severe sadhana for innumerable lifetimes, he might achieve some divine experiences but he cannot achieve the ability to relish the sweetness of His Lilas. They are Achintya. Only by taking shelter of Bhakti Devi, surrendering oneself at the lotus feet of Yugal Kishore and by the mercy of Radharani, one can relish such divine and sweet pastimes of Vraja. Otherwise, it is impossible by one’s own efforts.
The pastimes of God seem like the actions of an ordinary human being (but it is not so). The activities of Yugal Kishore and Their divine associates seem just like we engage in various worldly activities and exhibit emotions like pride, ego, anger, jealousy, enmity, etc but in truth, such emotions (that are derivatives of ignorance) do not exist in the transcendental abodes. It is impossible for such emotions to exist in transcendental abodes! But, in Krishna’s pastimes, we can see similar emotions (that are, in fact, derivatives of Prema). They exist only to relish different kinds of pastimes (Lila Vaichitri). To relish the Chamatkriti of Vraja Lilas, Yugal Kishore accept Yogamaya (to become Mugdha) and manifest various pastimes through Lila Shakti.
(Bhagavat Geeta 7.25)
Meaning: I am not manifest to everyone, being veiled by My divine Yogamaya energy. Hence, those without knowledge do not know that I am without birth and changeless.
The Lilā Rasa (nectar of pastimes) of Vraja is a subject to be relished and it is extremely esoteric. It is not something to be discussed in public (or before people ignorant of Rasa). Usually, sadhaks of other Upāsanā paths have no insight into the transcendental pastimes and therefore, they misunderstand the divine pastimes of Krishna and allegate them as activities influenced by Maya. But the sweet pastimes of Vraja are manifested by Lila Shakti. They are beyond Maya and the three modes of nature, and can only be experienced by the mercy of Yugal Kishore. By Their mercy, when the heart of the sadhak becomes eligible to relish such transcendental pastimes, Radharani mercifully lets the sadhak experience and relish this Lila Rasa in his heart. Otherwise, it is impossible to relish Lila Rasa through imagination or contemplation. It is beyond imagination. It cannot be understood by logic or mundane intelligence.
For instance, Radharani and Krishna can never be separated from each other (like the sun and sunlight). Their relationship is Akhanda (continuous), meaning, They cannot be separated for even the blink of an eye. But still, to relish Nitya Navāyamāna Lila Rasa, They accept two different forms and identities through Lila Shakti. Only Yogamaya knows how a pastime will manifest. The pastime unfolds according to the plan of Yogamaya. Even Yugal Kishore don’t know how a pastime will start or end. Yogamaya creates new pastimes every day, replete with Lila Vaichitri and Nitya Navāyamāna!
Let me describe one such pastime. One day, Radharani made a garland for Krishna with the divine flowers of Vrindavan. She used different kinds of flowers, whose beauty cannot be described by words. She also marked each petal of the flowers with ‘Krishna’. Arranging various divine flowers marked with ‘Krishna’ on each petal in a beautiful fashion, She created an Achintya garland for Krishna. Then She wrapped the garland in a basket made of leaves and tied a thread around it so that the garland would not fall off. She handed it to a Manjari, saying, “Sakhi, go and give this garland to Krishna. He must be engaged in playing with His Sakhas or grazing His cows. Who knows when He will be able to come to the Kunja. You take this garland to Him.”
The Manjari took the garland and started searching for Krishna in the forests of Vrindavan. Eventually, she reached Girirāj Talhati (foothills of Girirāj) and saw Krishna playing with His Sakhas Sri Dāma, Sudāma, Dāma, Vasudāma, and elder brother, Balaram. How could she go to Krishna in front of them and say, ‘Radharani has sent a garland for you’? It would be shameful and indecent to do so. Elder brother Balaram and Sakhas would come to know about Krishna’s love affairs. The Sringāra Rasa pastimes are very secret pastimes of Krishna and are not publicly known among Vrajawasis (in eternal or earthly pastimes). Sometimes Krishna escapes from His Sakhas with the excuse of bringing back a stray cow and goes to the Kunja. [Some Sakhas know about Krishna’s love affairs and help Him escape to the Kunja. Even though Balaram knows about the love affairs of Krishna, as an elder brother, he remains aloof from them due to social boundaries.]
Hence, the Manjari could not give the garland to Krishna in person. She waved to Krishna frantically. Due to the distance, she could not understand whether Krishna noticed her or not. Standing beside a tree, she waved at Him again and again. Krishna looked once in her direction but it was not apparent whether he saw her or not. However, the Manjari thought that Krishna had seen her. She placed the basket with the garland in a nook of the tree and gestured to Krishna to wear the garland kept in the basket. Then, she went back to Radharani.
In truth, Krishna was engaged in playing with His Sakhas. He did not notice the Manjari at all! To make things worse, a crow flew to the tree where the basket of garland was placed. It is the nature of a crow to scavenge for food. Thinking the basket contained food, the crow stuck its beak in the knot of the thread wrapped around the basket and flew away carrying it. Coincidentally, the crow went to Chandrāvali’s Kunja. Chandrāvali is Vipakśā Sakhi. The crow sat on the roof of Chandrāvali’s Kunja and pecked repeatedly at the basket. The basket broke and the garland came out of it. The crow was unable to find anything useful for it and hence, it flew away. The garland fell from the roof to the ground near the door of Chandrāvali’s Kunja. As soon as Chandrāvali opened the door, she saw the garland. She was mesmerized to see such a beautiful and divine garland marked with ‘Krishna’ on every petal of its flowers.
‘Who can create such a mesmerizing garland? It must be my Prānanāth, Krishna, who created this garland for me!’ she thought and was overcome with Ānanda! She happily wore the garland and was walking around the forest along with her Sakhis (other Vipakśā Sakhis) when Radharani, too, came along with Her Sakhis and they met coincidentally. Radharani saw that the garland She had made for Krishna was worn by Chandrāvali! ‘I made this garland with such love and affection, but Krishna gave it to Chandrāvali? It means that He loves her more than me!’ thought Radharani and was engulfed in Tivra Māna. She went straight to the Kunja and sat in the corner in despair and anger. All the Manjaris became angry too (since the mood of Radharani gets induced in them a hundredfold). The ‘weather’ of the Kunja was ominous!
At that moment, Krishna came to the Kunja to meet Radharani. With one look at a Manjari, Krishna understood that the ‘weather’ of the Kunja was not good. It looked like the weather just before a cyclone! Krishna approached a Manjari at the gate of the Kunja and asked, “Sakhi, what happened? Why do you look so angry?” “Don’t talk, Shyamasunder! Go away from here! You cannot go inside,” said the Manjari, sourly. But Krishna pleaded humbly to at the least let Him know how He had wronged Radharani. So, one Manjari told Him how Radharani had sent a garland for Him and later, the same garland was seen worn by Chandrāvali. Krishna was perplexed. How to solve this problem? Radharani would not listen to His pleas as long as She believed that Shyamasunder had deliberately given the garland made by Her to Chandrāvali. She was extremely sad and sat crying in the corner of the Kunja. Her face was veiled and She would not show Her face or talk with anyone. Nobody could placate Her Tivra Māna!
There are three types of Māna: Sādhāran (general) Māna, Vishesh (special) Māna and Tivra (extreme) Māna. The Tivra Māna is extremely difficult to pacify. On seeing the garland made lovingly by her on Vipakśā Sakhi’s person, Radharani was extremely hurt and She wondered, ‘How could Krishna give this garland to her? I made it with so much love! Now Chandrāvali is so dear to Him? She is more dear to Him than me?’
But the truth is that Krishna did not even know about the garland until He reached the Kunja. All the unfortunate mishap was done by the crow! Therefore, Krishna went away from Radharani’s Kunja and disguised himself as a Gunin (Brahmin astrologer). There were books and scrolls of astrology under His arm and He was chanting, “Narayan, Narayan!” With His Achintya Shakti (inconceivable power), He did such an impeccable make-up that nobody had the ability to recognize Him! Krishna is an expert in disguises.
The Manjaris at the gate of Radharani’s Kunja saw that a Brahmin from Mathura was passing by, chanting, “Narayan, Narayan!” Hearing His voice, Lalita and Vishakha also came to the gate of the Kunja. They were happy to see Him. “Pandit ji, Pandit Ji, please come inside the Kunja! We are all troubled and we need your assistance. Please give a solution to the misery of our Sakhi (Radharani),” said the Sakhis with respect. “Please look at the astrological chart, analyze the effects of planets and constellations and tell us a solution so that we can pacify Her! There is some planetary problem! What is the cause of Her misery? You are a seer of the past, present and future! Please sit here, Pandit Ji, and tell us a solution to Her misery! We are all very sad to see the misery of our Sakhi. There must be a solution to Her misery.” Krishna was only waiting for this opportunity. He went inside the Kunja with the Sakhis and sat down with His books and scrolls. He made various astrological charts and drew the positions of the planets. “Jupiter has entered the house of Saturn…” He said with a serious tone. “Saturn is inflicting a malicious look at Venus…furthermore, Mercury is inflicting a malicious look at Mars…” After much analysis, He said in a grave tone, “The situation is very dangerous! It is very difficult to solve the misery of your Sakhi! All the planets are in disagreement. The constellations are going the wrong way! Saturn is inflicting a malicious look at Jupiter!” “Pandit Ji, please tell us what we should do? What is the cause of misery of our Sakhi?” asked the Sakhis pleadingly. They all gathered around Krishna intently. “Alright! Let me see…” said Krishna and acted as if He had gone into deep meditation. After some time, He opened His eyes and said, “Yes, yes, now I understand! All this misery happened due to a garland! I can see a garland amidst all the unfortunate events!” “Yes, yes, Pandit Ji, you are absolutely right! There is indeed a garland involved! But what happened to the garland?” said the Sakhis excitedly. Krishna went into deep meditation again. After some time, He opened His eyes again and said, “Oho…Aha! A crow! A crow caused all the misunderstanding!” “A crow? What did the crow do, Pandit Ji?” asked the Sakhis curiously. “This crow flew away with the garland! Let me see, there is a person whose name starts with the letter ‘Cha’, according to my calculations. Is there a person named Chandra or something?” said Krishna. “Yes, yes, Pandit Ji, there is a Sakhi called Chandrāvali!” said the Sakhis excitedly. “This crow took the garland to this Chandrāvali’s Kunja and caused all the misery! This garland that the crow threw in Chandrāvali’s Kunja is the main subject of all misery! Now, let me see, I can chant some mantras and activate Yantras (astrological devices) to dissolve the negative energy created by the planets. The misery of your Sakhi is totally a misunderstanding! All this is really caused due to the disagreement of planets and constellations. Narayan, Narayan!”
Krishna again went into a deep meditation. On opening His eyes, He said, “Aha! I saw with my divine inner eye that a Sakhi took the garland and placed it on a tree. The crow then took it away to Chandrāvali’s Kunja. Is this true?” “Yes, yes, it is true! I placed it on a tree!” said the Manjari who was sent to deliver the garland. “Hmm, the truth is that all this is a misunderstanding. The garland was taken away by the crow. The black crow is the main cause of all misery. All this is caused by the malicious effects of the planets! Narayan, Narayan!” said Krishna.
Radharani was listening to all this. The Brahmin from Mathura was really able to calculate the exact events that happened. There must be some truth in it. She called the Manjari whom She had sent to deliver the garland to Krishna. “O Sakhi, what did you do with the garland I gave you? Didn’t you give it to Shyamasunder?” She asked the Manjari. “No, no, my Swamini, Shyamasunder was playing with His Sakhas. How could I go there? I placed it on a tree and gestured to Him to wear it. I don’t know what happened after that. Now what should I do?” said the Manjari. “Call Shyamasunder immediately! He must be very sad,” said Radharani.
The Manjaris always desire the reunion of Yugal Kishore.
“Kono chhale eka sange sakhire milāye,
Se ananda dekhi suni koti sukha pāye.”
Meaning: (The Manjari) unites her Sakhi (Radharani) with Krishna by any means. She gets crores of (immense) pleasures on beholding and listening to Their loving conversations upon Their blissful reunion.
By any means, the Manjari brings Krishna to Radharani. When They are seated together, both of Them become immersed in an ocean of Purnānanda (complete bliss). On beholding Their Ānanda, Manjari (and all other Sakhis) also becomes immersed in Ānanda.
So, Manjari went out of the Kunja to find Krishna. Here, the Brahmin of Mathura was also bid farewell respectfully. Krishna immediately removed His make-up in a solitary place and came back to the gates of the Kunja in His usual attire. The Manjari brought Him inside the Kunja holding His hand and let Him meet with Radharani.
This is one pastime among the infinite blissful pastimes of Yugal Kishore. Every day, there is an absolutely new Lila, an absolutely new Chamatkriti, an absolutely new relishable experience and an absolutely new wave of blissful Rasa! These Lilas are Nitya Navāyamāna! These Lilas are Achintya! When the sadhak dedicates himself to sadhana (upon complete surrender), gradually, Radharani mercifully lets him relish such blissful pastimes even in his sadhak stage (in stages like Ruchi and Bhāva Bhakti that precede the stage of Prema Bhakti).
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