08 Jun 2018
Shri Balaji asked:- Kindly clarify on the Ashtapathi composition. Many people seem to enjoy the recitation and music, also with faith and devotion, but without necessarily knowing the meaning of the verses.
As You have elaborated in the previous discourses on Divine marriages, should we think of ourselves as Radha getting attracted to the Lord in human form? How to get inspired by and understand the Shrungara bhava in many verses, and lamenting/anger of Radha that Lord Krishna was attracted to other Gopis. Sincerely, Balaji
Swami replied:- Ashtapadis are written in Sanskrit and the knowledge of the song is in different angle, which is towards the real development of spiritual devotion. The angle of music of the same divine song is different, which is just for temporary happiness due to sweetness of music. If the knowledge of the song is received, it generates devotion and devotion leads to practice, which alone gives the real fruit. When devotees hear the song without knowing its meaning and enjoy it due to devotion on Lord, such enjoyment maintains their already existing devotion only and doesn’t improve it due to lack of knowledge of the song. It is just like reciting and hearing the Veda with the musical specifications (Svara). By this, the devotion on God is not improved in anyway except the already existing devotion. There is no spiritual progress in these activities except maintaining the already existing devotion.
Romance between man and woman is not necessarily the pious love. Romance with a prostitute is not love at all since the prostitute does romance for mere money without any trace of true love. Whatever love is expressed by her, all that is totally false. Romance need not result in love. Love need not result in romance. Let us take Draupadi in one pan and all the eight wives of Krishna in another pan of the balance. Draupadi is sister of Krishna with love on her brother whereas the eight wives of Krishna are with love in the form of romance. Now the competition is between pure love (Draupadi) and romantic love (eight wives) of Krishna. The weight of selfless love in any bond makes the weight of that bond. Krishna’s finger was wounded while He was eating a sugar cane. Immediately, the eight wives started running in all directions in search of a piece of cloth for the bandage of the finger. The wound on the finger happened due to His will only. That finger lifted huge hill on its nail! The will of the Lord was to test the weight of the love of sister and love of wives. Draupadi was sitting by the side of her husband, Dharmaraja, while doing Rajasuya sacrifice. She should not even stand in that position. She neglected that rule and ran to Krishna. She should not tear her sari on that occasion. If torn, all the wealth will go away. She knows also this rule, but, tore her sari for the required piece of cloth and used it for bandage immediately. In fact, due to this action, all her wealth went away in the immediate gambling with Kauravas! Her love on her brother is so high that she neglected all these factors before her love to Krishna. The eight wives were not facing those risky factors. Still, they did not tear their saris! Both Draupadi and each wife know that Krishna is God and their love on Krishna was always in climax due to this. Draupadi won in the test and Krishna sacrificed even His family (destroyed by the curse of Gandhari) to remove her pain given by Kauravas. Let us take Gopikas, who also surpassed His wives in a test. Krishna acted suffering with headache and told Narada that the medicine is the feet-dust of a devotee to be rubbed on His forehead. The eight wives refused to give their feet-dust fearing for the hell due to such sin. Narada went to Gopikas and told about the situation. Immediately, Gopikas gave lot of feet-dust. Narada warned them that they will go to hell for doing such sin of keeping the feet-dust of devotees on the forehead of God! Gopikas told that they are prepared to go to hell, if Krishna is cured and becomes happy.
Shri Paramahamsa wore a sari feeling that He is Gopika, while staying in Brundavanam for several days. It is female dress on the male body. When sages saw Rama, they were prepared to become females through their miraculous power to embrace Rama. But, Rama asked them to be born as Gopikas in the next birth to embrace Him since the male ego of the soul disappears only by birth as female. The Veda says that any soul is female and is wife of God (Striyah satiih) irrespective of its gender. This doesn’t mean the female body and romance. It only means that any soul is maintained by God. Maintainer is husband or Bhartaa (Bibharti iti) and maintained soul is wife or Bhaaryaa (bhriyate iti). Soul is said to be female, which does not mean the body, but the qualities. Generally, males are with ego and courage aspiring for somebody to surrender to them. Females are opposite having no or lesser ego and have fear aspiring to surrender to their male guardians. These same qualities of females are required by the male devotees before God to get His grace. The male devotees shall take this internal sense of the words like wife and female.
When Tulasidas refused Meera asking for shelter in his asylum saying that females are not allowed, Meera asked him very innocently “Are there males in the souls also? I am thinking that God Krishna alone is the male (Purusha)”. This again means that God alone shines with masculine qualities and souls shine with feminine qualities as mentioned above. Her statement means the internal essence and doesn’t mean the female body or romance.
Purusha (puri shete iti) means the awareness or soul existing in the body, which controls the movements of the body. In such case, both males and females have the same common awareness and hence, shall be called by the word ‘purusha’ only. If you take this world as the body, the God existing in this world as Eshwara is taken as awareness and can be called as purusha or the creator controlling the world. The soul or awareness is covered by the inert body, which is called as Prakruti or creation. Even the soul is a part of Prakruti only, called as Paraa prakruti, which is a part of the creation only and not the creator. If the soul eradicates its ego and surrenders to God fearing for the sin, such a soul is the female before God irrespective of its gender of the body. When the male soul shows its supremacy over a female soul, the male soul shall think that it is female before God, who is the ultimate real male. All this effort is only to suppress the ego of the soul due to gender and is not related to romance (shrungara). Similarly, ego due to caste, colour, beauty, knowledge, wealth, physical power etc., are to be suppressed by similar spiritual efforts. Gopikas were born in low caste to suppress their ego of caste. They were born as uneducated to suppress their ego of knowledge. They were born as villagers having not much beauty to suppress their ego of beauty.
Rama was so beautiful that He was told having beauty inspiring even males (pumsaam mohanaruupaaya). In fact, His beauty should be told in higher level since it inspired even the male sages also, who always controlled their senses! Embracing is a sign of love only and need not be given always the colour of romance. Rama embraced Hanuman, Bharata etc. The sages could have embraced Him directly without becoming females. But, the sages wanted to embrace Him after becoming females through their miraculous power. This shows the feeling of romance in their minds due to His boundless beauty. But, they developed all the feminine qualities like suppression of ego, surrender etc., through devotion from several births. This point of romance suddenly arose in their minds on seeing Rama’s beauty. Rama understood the feeling of the sages and asked them to take birth as females in the future birth so that He will come as Krishna and fulfil their desire. In this event, there is no homosexuality since sages wanted to become females. Heterosexuality alone is justified since the ultimate divine aim of sex is generation of issues for extending the humanity (prajaatantum... Veda). Shri Paramahamsa was in the dress of Gopika, not with the feeling of romance, but, with the feeling of suppressed ego and total surrender like a female to her male guardian. The female dress on the male body indicates this total surrender to God without any ego. Along with this attitude, sages developed attitude for romance also with God and hence, they wanted to change their bodies in to female bodies. This is one of the three strong worldly bonds (life partner, issues and wealth) called as eshanaas. God dancing with Gopikas, who were sages in previous births, is the test of the first bond. The female is not only wife of her husband, but also the mother of issues to whom wealth is given. The mother has more fascination towards issues than father. The wife has more risk than the husband in crossing the bond with husband. Due to both these reasons, Gopikas were tested not only in the bond as wife, but also in the bond as mother towards her issues regarding the wealth (butter) preserved for the sake of issues. Stealing such butter is the test for the fascination to issues and wealth. Total success lies in crossing these three bonds for the sake of God. Those Gopikas, who succeeded in dancing with Krishna and in liking the preserved butter to be stolen by Krishna were granted the top most position called as Goloka, which is above the abode of God so that their feet-dust always falls on the head of God! This was indicated when Gopikas gave their feet-dust as medicine to be rubbed on the head of God!
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