The Lord had a very high estimation of the affections of the damsels of Vrajabhūmi (Vṛndāvana) for Kṛṣṇa, and in appreciation of their unalloyed service to the Lord, once Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted the holy names of the gopīs (cowherd girls) instead of the names of the Lord. At this time some of His students, who were also disciples, came to see Him, and when they saw that the Lord was chanting the names of the gopīs, they were astonished. Out of sheer foolishness they asked the Lord why He was chanting the names of the gopīs and advised Him to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa. The Lord, who was in ecstasy, was thus disturbed by these foolish students. He chastised them and chased them away. The students were almost the same age as the Lord, and thus they wrongly thought of the Lord as one of their peers. They held a meeting and resolved that they would attack the Lord if He dared to punish them again in such a manner. This incident provoked some malicious talks about the Lord on the part of the general public.
Cowherd girls
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Preface and Introduction
SB Canto 1
So all the different incarnations of the Lord indirectly or directly manifested different features, but Lord Kṛṣṇa, the primeval Lord, exhibited the complete features of Godhead, and thus it is confirmed that He is the source of all other incarnations. And the most extraordinary feature exhibited by Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was His internal energetic manifestation of His pastimes with the cowherd girls. His pastimes with the gopīs are all displays of transcendental existence, bliss and knowledge, although these are manifested apparently as sex love. The specific attraction of His pastimes with the gopīs should never be misunderstood. The Bhāgavatam relates these transcendental pastimes in the Tenth Canto. And in order to reach the position to understand the transcendental nature of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs, the Bhāgavatam promotes the student gradually in nine other cantos.
Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devakī, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of Vṛndāvana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.
Teachings of Queen Kuntī,
Chapter 4: Approaching Kṛṣṇa, the All-pervading Truth
The Lord, being thus unapproachable by any material assets, out of unbounded and causeless mercy descends on the earth as He is in order to show His special mercy upon His unalloyed devotees and to diminish the upsurges of the demoniac persons. Queen Kuntī specifically adores the incarnation or descent of Lord Kṛṣṇa above all other incarnations because in this particular incarnation He is more approachable. In the Rāma incarnation He remained a king's son from His very childhood, but in the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, although He was the son of a king, He at once left the shelter of His real father and mother (King Vasudeva and Queen Devakī) just after His appearance and went to the lap of Yaśodāmāyī to play the part of an ordinary cowherd boy in the blessed Vrajabhūmi, which is very sanctified because of His childhood pastimes. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa is more merciful than Lord Rāma. He was undoubtedly very kind to Kuntī's brother Vasudeva and the family. Had He not become the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, Queen Kuntī could not claim Him to be her nephew and thus address Kṛṣṇa in parental affection. But Nanda and Yaśodā are more fortunate because they could relish the Lord's childhood pastimes, which are more attractive than all other pastimes. There is no parallel to His childhood pastimes as exhibited at Vrajabhūmi, which are the prototypes of His eternal affairs in the original Kṛṣṇaloka described as the cintāmaṇi-dhāma in the Brahma-saṁhitā (Bs. 5.29). Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended Himself at Vrajabhūmi with all His transcendental entourage and paraphernalia. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore confirmed that no one is as fortunate as the residents of Vrajabhūmi, and specifically the cowherd girls, who dedicated their everything for the satisfaction of the Lord. His pastimes with Nanda and Yaśodā and His pastimes with the cowherd men and especially with the cowherd boys and the cows have caused Him to be known as Govinda. Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda is more inclined to the brāhmaṇas and the cows, indicating thereby that human prosperity depends more on these two items, namely brahminical culture and cow protection. Lord Kṛṣṇa is never satisfied where these are lacking.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so attractive for the living beings, especially for the devotees, that it is impossible for them to tolerate separation. The conditioned soul under the spell of illusory energy forgets the Lord, otherwise he cannot. The feeling of such separation cannot be described, but it can simply be imagined by devotees only. After His separation from Vṛndāvana and the innocent rural cowherd boys, girls, ladies and others, they all felt shock throughout their lives, and the separation of Rādhārāṇī, the most beloved cowherd girl, is beyond expression. Once they met at Kurukṣetra during a solar eclipse, and the feeling which was expressed by them is heartrending. There is, of course, a difference in the qualities of the transcendental devotees of the Lord, but none of them who have ever contacted the Lord by direct communion or otherwise can leave Him for a moment. That is the attitude of the pure devotee.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
The cowherd girls began to speak about Kṛṣṇa, but when they remembered His activities, O King, the power of Cupid disturbed their minds, and thus they could not speak.
The cowherd girls said: O friends, those eyes that see the beautiful faces of the sons of Mahārāja Nanda are certainly fortunate. As these two sons enter the forest, surrounded by Their friends, driving the cows before Them, They hold Their flutes to Their mouths and glance lovingly upon the residents of Vṛndāvana. For those who have eyes, we think there is no greater object of vision.
Surrounded by His loving cowherd boyfriends and Lord Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa then went off to the place where He had been tending His cows. The cowherd girls returned to their homes, singing joyfully about the lifting of Govardhana Hill and other glorious deeds performed by Lord Kṛṣṇa, who had so deeply touched their hearts.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When the cowherd girls heard the Supreme Personality of Godhead speak these most charming words, they forgot their distress caused by separation from Him. Touching His transcendental limbs, they felt all their desires fulfilled.
Now Kṛṣṇa is standing somewhere counting His cows on a string of gems. He wears a garland of tulasī flowers that bear the fragrance of His beloved, and He has thrown His arm over the shoulder of an affectionate cowherd boyfriend. As Kṛṣṇa plays His flute and sings, the music attracts the black deer's wives, who approach that ocean of transcendental qualities and sit down beside Him. Just like us cowherd girls, they have given up all hope for happiness in family life.
The chastisement of the serpent Kāliya; the rescue of Nanda Mahārāja from a great snake; the severe vows performed by the young gopīs, who thus satisfied Lord Kṛṣṇa; the mercy He showed the wives of the Vedic brāhmaṇas, who felt remorse; the lifting of Govardhana Hill followed by the worship and bathing ceremony performed by Indra and the Surabhi cow; Lord Kṛṣṇa's nocturnal pastimes with the cowherd girls; and the killing of the foolish demons Śaṅkhacūḍa, Ariṣṭa and Keśī—all these pastimes are elaborately recounted.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Preface and Introduction
Due to a poor fund of knowledge, the Māyāvādī philosophers cannot go beyond the Brahman effulgence, which may be compared to the sunshine. The Upaniṣads confirm that one has to penetrate the dazzling effulgence of Brahman before one can see the real face of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya therefore teaches direct worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the foster child of the King of Vraja. He also teaches that the place known as Vṛndāvana is as good as Lord Kṛṣṇa because, Lord Kṛṣṇa being the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Him and His name, qualities, form, pastimes, entourage and paraphernalia. That is the absolute nature of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya also teaches that the highest mode of worship in the highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of Vraja. These damsels (gopīs, or cowherd girls) simply loved Kṛṣṇa without any motive for material or spiritual gain. Lord Caitanya also teaches that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge and that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There are different stages of devotional service and God realization. Strictly speaking, anyone who accepts the existence of God is situated in devotional service. To acknowledge that God is great is something, but not much. Lord Caitanya, preaching as an ācārya, a great teacher, taught that we can enter into a relationship with God and actually become God's friend, parent or lover. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa showed Arjuna His universal form because Arjuna was His very dear friend. Upon seeing Kṛṣṇa as the Lord of the universes, however, Arjuna asked Kṛṣṇa to forgive the familiarity of his friendship. Lord Caitanya goes beyond this point. Through Lord Caitanya we can become friends with Kṛṣṇa, and there will be no limit to this friendship. We can become friends of Kṛṣṇa not in awe or adoration but in complete freedom. We can even relate to God as His father or mother. This is the philosophy not only of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta but of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as well. There are no other scriptures in the world in which God is treated as the son of a devotee. Usually God is seen as the almighty father who supplies the demands of His sons. The great devotees, however, sometimes treat God as a son in their execution of devotional service. The son demands, and the father and mother supply, and in supplying Kṛṣṇa the devotee becomes like a father or mother. Instead of taking from God, we give to God. It was in this relationship that Kṛṣṇa's mother, Yaśodā, told the Lord, “Here, eat this or You’ll die. Eat nicely.” In this way Kṛṣṇa, although the proprietor of everything, depends on the mercy of His devotee. This is a uniquely high level of friendship, in which the devotee actually believes himself to be the father or mother of Kṛṣṇa.
However, Lord Caitanya's greatest gift was His teaching that Kṛṣṇa can be treated as one's lover. In this relationship the Lord becomes so much attached to His devotee that He expresses His inability to reciprocate. Kṛṣṇa was so obliged to the gopīs, the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, that He felt unable to return their love. "I cannot repay your love," He told them. "I have no more assets to give." Devotional service on this highest, most excellent platform of lover and beloved, which had never been given by any previous incarnation or ācārya, was given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, quoting Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, writes in the fourth verse of his book, "Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa in a yellow complexion, and He is Śacīnandana, the son of mother Śacī. He is the most charitable personality because He came to deliver kṛṣṇa-prema, unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, to everyone. May you always keep Him in your hearts. It will be easy to understand Kṛṣṇa through Him."
To learn how Kṛṣṇa enjoys pleasure, we must study the first nine cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and then we should study the Tenth Canto, in which Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency is displayed in His pastimes with Rādhārāṇī and the damsels of Vraja. Unfortunately, unintelligent people turn at once to the sports of Kṛṣṇa in the Daśama-skandha, the Tenth Canto. Kṛṣṇa's embracing Rādhārāṇī or His dancing with the cowherd girls in the rāsa dance are generally not understood by ordinary men, because they consider these pastimes in the light of mundane lust. They foolishly think that Kṛṣṇa is like themselves and that He embraces the gopīs just as an ordinary man embraces a young girl. Some people thus become interested in Kṛṣṇa because they think that His religion allows indulgence in sex. This is not kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love of Kṛṣṇa, but prākṛta-sahajiyā—materialistic lust.
In the spiritual world of Vṛndāvana the buildings are made of touchstone, the cows are known as surabhi cows, givers of abundant milk, and the trees are known as wish-fulfilling trees, for they yield whatever one desires. In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of gopīs, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Kṛṣṇa descends to the material world, this same Vṛndāvana descends with Him, just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Kṛṣṇa comes His land also comes, Vṛndāvana is considered to exist beyond the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vṛndāvana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Vṛndāvana. Although one may complain that no kalpa-vṛkṣa, wish-fulfilling trees, exist there, when the Gosvāmīs were there, kalpa-vṛkṣa were present. It is not that one can simply go to such a tree and make demands; one must first become a devotee. The Gosvāmīs would live under a tree for one night only, and the trees would satisfy all their desires. For the common man this may all seem very wonderful, but as one makes progress in devotional service, all this can be realized.
When Kṛṣṇa played upon his flute, all the gopīs, or cowherd girls, were attracted by the sound and left their household duties, and when they came to Him, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These gopīs were childhood friends of Kṛṣṇa, and many were married, for in India the girls are generally married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before eighteen, so Kṛṣṇa, who was fifteen or sixteen at the time, was not married. Nonetheless, He called these girls from their homes and invited them to dance with Him. That dance is called the rāsa-līlā dance, and it is the most elevated of all the Vṛndāvana pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is therefore called Gopīnātha because He is the beloved master of the gopīs.
Finally Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī offers his blessings to his readers in the name of the Gopīnātha Deity, who is Kṛṣṇa as master and proprietor of the gopīs. When Kṛṣṇa played upon His flute, all the gopīs, or cowherd girls, were attracted by the sound and left their household duties, and when they came to Him, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These gopīs were childhood friends of Kṛṣṇa, and many were married, for in India the girls are generally married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before eighteen, so Kṛṣṇa, who was fifteen or sixteen at the time, was not married. Nonetheless, He called these girls from their homes and invited them to dance with Him. That dance is called the rāsa-līlā dance, and it is the most elevated of all the Vṛndāvana pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is therefore called Gopīnātha because He is the beloved master of the gopīs.
CC Adi-lila
"When Lord Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by groups of cowherd girls, began the festivities of the rāsa dance, the Lord of all mystic powers placed Himself between each two girls."
"When the cowherd girls and Kṛṣṇa thus joined together, each girl thought that Kṛṣṇa was dearly embracing her alone. To behold this wonderful pastime of the Lord's, the denizens of heaven and their wives, all very eager to see the dance, flew in the sky in their hundreds of airplanes. They showered flowers and beat sweetly on drums."
But with the eyes of love of Godhead one can see its real identity as the place where Lord Kṛṣṇa performs His pastimes with the cowherd boys and cowherd girls.
A devotee, therefore, must be attracted by the behavior of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, who live in a relationship with Kṛṣṇa. The land, water, cows, trees and flowers serve Kṛṣṇa in śānta-rasa, His servants serve Him in dāsya-rasa, and His cowherd friends serve Him in sakhya-rasa. Similarly, the elder gopīs and gopas serve Kṛṣṇa as father and mother, uncle and other relatives, and the young gopīs, the cowherd girls, serve Kṛṣṇa in conjugal love.
CC Madhya-lila
Whenever Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī leaves Her house, She is always well dressed and attractive. It is Her womanly nature to attract Śrī Kṛṣṇa's attention, and upon seeing Her so attractively dressed, Śrī Kṛṣṇa desires to touch Her body. The Lord then finds some fault in Her and prohibits Her from going to a river crossing and stops Her from picking flowers. Such are the pastimes between Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Being a cowherd girl, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī regularly carries milk in a container and often goes to sell the milk on the other side of the Yamunā.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Lord Caitanya also recommended that the highest mode of worship in the highest perfectional stage is the method practiced by the damsels of Vraja. These damsels (gopīs, or cowherd girls) simply loved Kṛṣṇa without a motive for material or spiritual gain. Caitanya also recommended Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the spotless narration of transcendental knowledge, and He pointed out that the highest goal in human life is to develop unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Lord Caitanya's greatest gift was His teaching that Kṛṣṇa can be actually treated as one's lover. In this relationship the Lord is so much attached that He expresses His inability to reciprocate. Kṛṣṇa was so obliged to the gopīs, the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, that He felt unable to return their love. "I cannot repay your love," He told them. "I have no more assets to return." Thus devotional service is performed on this excellent platform, and knowledge of the devotee's relationship to Kṛṣṇa as lover and beloved was given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Unfortunately, unintelligent people turn at once to the sports of Kṛṣṇa in the Daśama-skandha, the Tenth Canto. Kṛṣṇa's embracing Rādhārāṇī or His dancing with the cowherd girls in the rāsa dance are generally not understood by ordinary men because they consider these pastimes in the light of mundane lust. They incorrectly think that Kṛṣṇa is like themselves and that He embraces the gopīs just as an ordinary man embraces a young girl. Some people thus become interested in Kṛṣṇa because they think that His religion allows indulgence in sex. This is not Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, love of Kṛṣṇa, but prākṛta-sahajiyā—materialistic lust.
In the spiritual world of Vṛndāvana the buildings are made of touchstone, the cows are known as surabhi cows, givers of abundant milk, and the trees are known as wish-fulfilling trees, for they yield whatever one desires. In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshiped by hundreds and thousands of gopīs, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Kṛṣṇa descends to the material world, this same Vṛndāvana descends just as an entourage accompanies an important personage.
With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of service, and therefore He is called the functional Deity. The Gopīnātha Deity is Kṛṣṇa as master and proprietor of the gopīs. He attracted all the gopīs, or cowherd girls, by the sound of His flute, and when they came, He danced with them. These activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These gopīs were childhood friends of Kṛṣṇa, and they were all married, for in India the girls are married by the age of twelve.
"This land of Vrajabhūmi is glorified by the touch of Your feet. Being touched by Your fingers, the creepers also glorify You. When You look on the hills, rivers and lower animals, they are all glorified, and the gopīs, being embraced by Your transcendental arms, are also glorified." The gopīs (cowherd girls) glorified Vṛndāvana in the following words: "Dear friends, all these inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi—including birds, beasts, and trees—are glorified when they see Lord Kṛṣṇa going to the pasturing ground with His friends and Balarāma."
Nectar of Devotion
When the great sage Nārada was chanting the glories of the Lord, the bluish line on the neck of Lord Śiva disappeared. Upon seeing this, Gaurī, the wife of Lord Śiva, suspected Lord Śiva of being someone else disguised as her husband, and out of fear she immediately left his company. Upon hearing the chanting of Kṛṣṇa's name, Lord Balarāma saw that His dress had become white, although He was generally accustomed to a bluish dress. And the cowherd girls saw all of the water of the Yamunā River turn into milk, so they began to churn it into butter. In other words, by the spreading of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or the glories of Kṛṣṇa, everything became white and pure.
At this age Kṛṣṇa enjoyed the rāsa-līlā, exhibiting His power of joking with the cowherd girls and enjoying their company in the bushes of the gardens by the bank of the Yamunā.
A pure devotee follows in the footsteps of the gopīs and worships the gopīs as follows: "Let me offer my respectful obeisances to all the young cowherd girls, whose bodily features are so attractive. Simply by their beautiful attractive features they are worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa." Out of all the young gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the most prominent.
While Kṛṣṇa was teasing Jaratī in this way, she replied that she was certainly aware of the fact that the King of the monkeys was trying to marry her, but she had already taken shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the killer of many powerful demons, and therefore she had already decided to marry Kṛṣṇa instead of the King of the monkeys. On hearing this sarcastic reply by the talkative Jaratī, all the cowherd girls present there began to laugh very loudly and clap their hands. This laughter, accompanied by the clapping of hands, is called atihasita.
Sometimes there are indirect sarcastic remarks which also create atihasita circumstances. An example of one such remark is a statement which was made by one of the cowherd girls to Kuṭilā, the daughter of Jaṭilā and sister of Abhimanyu, the so-called husband of Rādhārāṇī. Indirectly Kuṭilā was insulted by the following statement: "My dear Kuṭilā, daughter of Jaṭilā, your breasts are as long as string beans—simply dry and long. Your nose is so gorgeous that it defies the beauty of the noses of frogs. And your eyes are more beautiful than the eyes of dogs. Your lips defy the flaming cinders of fire, and your abdomen is as beautiful as a big drum. Therefore, my dear beautiful Kuṭilā, you are the most beautiful of all the cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana, and because of your extraordinary beauty, I think you must be beyond the attraction of the sweet blowing of Kṛṣṇa's flute!"
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
This kṛṣṇa-kathā will also be very much appealing to the most materialistic persons because Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs (cowherd girls) are exactly like the loving affairs between young girls and boys within this material world. Actually, the sex feeling found in human society is not unnatural because this same sex feeling is there in the original Personality of Godhead.
We know that Kṛṣṇa cannot live for a moment without the association of young women. That is His nature. He is finding difficulty in Mathurā because He is no longer in the village among innocent cowherd girls. He is in aristocratic society and must be feeling difficulty in making friendships with other young girls. Perhaps you have come here to canvass again or to take us there.
Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)
In pure devotional service there is no question of sense gratification. Some people mistake the loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs (cowherd girls) for activities of ordinary sense gratification, but these affairs are not lustful because there is no material contamination.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
So one who has learned to think of Kṛṣṇa always, he is already on the perfectional stage. Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim (Nārada Pañcarātra). If one has come to this stage, just to understand Kṛṣṇa the great, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he's surrendered soul, "Kṛṣṇa, whatever You like You do. I am surrendered."... This is ārādhana. Then he doesn't require to undergo any austerities or penance. His everything is finished. And nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim. And if he does not come to this stage, his so-called scholarship, learned argument, this or that—all nonsense, finished. Useless. One has to come to this stage. Therefore Lord Caitanya embraced the brāhmaṇa, "Yes, your study of Bhagavad-gītā is perfect." Because one has to come to this stage, thinking of Kṛṣṇa always. So if one does not come to this stage, simply by academic education, he says "It should be like this. The interpretation should be like this," he's simply wasting time. Frog philosopher. One has to come to this stage. Ārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim, nārādhito yadi haris tapasā tataḥ kim (Nārada Pañcarātra). So that is the perfection. Kṛṣṇa and gopīs. They were cowherds girl. Their father, mother, they were only ordinary village men, keeping cows. That's all. What was their education? They were not Vedantists. But they learned to love Kṛṣṇa. That was their qualification. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu certifies, ramyad upāsanā vraja-vadhu-vargeṇa va kalpita. "Oh, there is no better worship than that which was contemplated by the gopīs." Because they did not know what is Kṛṣṇa but they loved Kṛṣṇa. That's all. They loved Kṛṣṇa, that because Kṛṣṇa was God or Kṛṣṇa was something great? No. Their natural affection was for Kṛṣṇa. They could not stay even for a moment without seeing Kṛṣṇa. That was their qualification. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Unless one is exceptionally intelligent, he cannot take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is buddhi-yoga.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa has described in sāṅkhya-yoga that "This is your duty. You are kṣatriya. You have... Why you are rejecting fighting?" In this way, in so many ways... "The soul is immortal, the body is perishable, so your grandfather or your kinsmen, they'll not die." So this is analytical study from the material point of view. And as soon as one comes to the point of serving Kṛṣṇa with love, without any understanding... Just like fire. Fire, you accept it. Without studying fire, analytical, if you touch fire, it will act. It will act. It doesn't require to study fire, how, what is the composition of fire. This is knowledge, of course. But if you... Just like gopīs in Vṛndāvana. They did not study what is Kṛṣṇa. They did not care even to study. But they wanted to love Kṛṣṇa. That is their only qualification. They were ordinary village girls. Similarly, the cowherds boy. They were tending cows. They had no Vedānta knowledge or any higher education, not very nicely cultured gentlemen, village cowherds boy, cowherds girl, but they did not know any other business than to love Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection. Jñāna-śūnya, without any knowledge. They did not know. They... They saw Nārāyaṇa: "Oh, here is Nārāyaṇa. All right. I offer you..." But there is no love. Love is for Kṛṣṇa. Even Nārāyaṇa, four-handed Nārāyaṇa, there is no love for. They have got respect. You can offer respect to anyone, even you have no love. But love is different thing. That was... That is the typical examples in Vṛndāvana. That is the ultimate goal of buddhi-yoga.
Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
The Vedic injunction is that if you understand Kṛṣṇa, then all knowledge becomes revealed to you. Kasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. That is stated here. Yaj jñātvā neha bhūyaḥ anyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate. Then it is very nice to understand Kṛṣṇa. If by understanding Kṛṣṇa... One may say, "Oh, I have understood Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was born at Mathurā as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī, and then He went to Vṛndāvana. And He became a friend of the cowherd girls or the boys, and He was playing there. So I have understood Kṛṣṇa." Anyone can say like that. But Kṛṣṇa says that "I am not so easily understood." Kṛṣṇa says that it is not so easy.
And if one understands Kṛṣṇa very easily, then he derides at Him. Just like generally, people remark against Kṛṣṇa, "Oh, He was so," I mean to say, "characterless that He, I mean to say, mixing with the cowherd girls. So many. He married 16,000 wives." In this way, there are so many remarks. As if they have understood Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa says that "I am not so easily understood." Of course, if anyone understands Kṛṣṇa, then his life becomes successful. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. Anyone who understands Kṛṣṇa, then he becomes immediately a liberated person. Janma karma me divyaṁ yo jānāti tattvataḥ. But one must understand in truth what is Kṛṣṇa. Tattvataḥ.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
So parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). He has got so many energies, subtle energies, that He appears to be doing nothing. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is at Vṛndāvana. He is playing as cowherds boy, or He is dancing with the cowherd girls, or He is going to the pasturing ground with the cows as if He has nothing to do. He is free. Why He is free? Because He has got so many energies to act that He hasn't got to see personally whether things are being done or not done. This is the Absolute Truth qualification.
Lord Caitanya says, abhidheya 'bhakti', 'prema'-prayojana. Prayojana means it is necessary. Puruṣārtha-śiromaṇi prema mahā-dhana. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's preaching was based on this principle: premā pumartho mahān. What is the objective of human life? He said that "Objective of human life is to attain love of God." That's all. That makes him perfect, nothing more. He..., His mission has been described by one of the ācāryas, Viśvanātha Cakravartī. He has studied. He said that the mission of Lord Caitanya is ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanaya: "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is ārādhya." Ārādhya means He is worshipable. He's the only worshipable personality. Ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanaya tad-dhāmaṁ vṛndāvanam: "And as Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshipable, similarly His place of pastimes, Vṛndāvana-dhāma, is also worshipable." Ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanaya tad-dhāmaṁ vṛndāvanam. And what is the best kind of worship for Kṛṣṇa? Now, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā-kalpitā: "The highest kind of worship is as demonstrated by the damsels of Vṛndāvana, the girlfriends of Kṛṣṇa." Yes. They had no adulteration. Simply they were always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is going outside of the village, and they were thinking at home, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa's," I mean to say, "sole is so soft. How He's wandering in the jungle? There are so many particles of stone. Must be pricking." In this way. Kṛṣṇa is there; they are at home, but they are thinking of Kṛṣṇa, how He's walking, how His soft foot is suffering. In this way they are always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are not Vedantists. They are not brāhmaṇas. They are not educated. They were cowherds girls. But their love of Kṛṣṇa was so intense that Lord Caitanya recommends, "Oh, there is no better worship than, than it was being demonstrated by the damsels of Vṛndāvana." Ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. Then what is the source of understanding Kṛṣṇa? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Amalaṁ purāṇam. If you study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then you attain all these things. Śrī-caitanya-mahaprabhor matam idam. And premā pumartho mahān.
Arrival Addresses and Talks
So śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda means Kṛṣṇa complete. Just like when we speak of a king, "king" does not mean king is alone. He, somebody says the king is coming here, it is to be understood that king with his associates coming. King does not come alone. Whenever a..., the king goes, he goes with his secretary, minister, commander, so many other people. King is never alone. There must be queen also, and queen's associates. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, the supreme king, how He can be alone? He's not alone. He's always with His associates. Therefore you see Kṛṣṇa's picture, Vṛndāvana picture. He's with His associates—a cowherds boy, a cowherds girl, Kṛṣṇa's father Nanda Mahārāja, Mother Yaśodā. But Kṛṣṇa is not alone. Supreme..., any person, he can not be alone. Just like we are here, we are not alone. We are so many friends, so many associates. So person does not mean alone. Person means with associates. This Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda, worshiping Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu means to worship Him with His associates, Pañca-tattva.
Conversations and Morning Walks
1968 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena, māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ (SB 10.12.11). He is describing when Kṛṣṇa was playing with His cowherds boy. So he is describing that "These cowherds boy—who are they? They are living entities who have amassed volumes and volumes of pious activities." Kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. "After many, many lives Just like bank balance increases, similarly, one who has increased the balance of pious activities for many, many thousands of lives, oh, such persons are now playing with Kṛṣṇa. They have taken the body of His cowherds boy, transcendental spiritual body, and just they are playing with Kṛṣṇa. And who is Kṛṣṇa?" Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtya: "The great saints and sages who are trying to understand the Supreme Brahman, here is Kṛṣṇa. That Supreme Brahman is here, playing." Itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhanubhutya dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena: "The impersonalist Brahman is... Because Kṛṣṇa's effulgence is impersonal Brahman, so here is He." And dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ: "Those who are devotees, those who have accepted Kṛṣṇa as the master, for them here is Kṛṣṇa." And māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa: "And those who are materialistic—they simply think Kṛṣṇa is ordinary boy or man—He is also there. But who are these boys? They are playing with the same person who is Brahman, who is Bhagavān, or who is ordinary man, according to different calculation. But these boys who are playing with Him, they have accumulated many, many lives' heaps of pious activities." They are not ordinary men. So all these gopīs, all the cowherds boy in Vṛndāvana, they are not ordinary living entities. They have approached that stage after many, many pious activities. Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ. After brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54). Their position is different. Therefore they have reached that unalloyed stage: without any consideration, simply loving Kṛṣṇa. That stage they have passed already. There is no such consideration. Pure love. That is pure love. Pure love means anyābhilāśitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (Brs. 1.1.11). There is no question of knowledge. What these gopīs...? They were damsels, cowherds girls. They had no study of Vedānta or anything knowledge. Simply ordinary village girls. How they attained such love for Kṛṣṇa? That is not ordinary thing. So it is not a thing that one should attain the transcendental loving platform of Kṛṣṇa by studying. No. vinā mahat-pāda-rajo 'bhiṣekam. It can be achieved by the grace of Kṛṣṇa or by the grace of Kṛṣṇa's devotees. It is not that because one is very learned, he will become Kṛṣṇa conscious. Or because one is rich, therefore he will become Kṛṣṇa conscious, or because one is great mystic, therefore he will. No. That will come... vinā mahat-pāda-rajo 'bhiṣekam. It cannot be achieved without touching the dust of lotus feet of a great devotee. That is the affect. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended,
- sādhu saṅga sādhu saṅga sarva śāstra kaya
- lavamātra sādhu saṅge sarva siddhi haya
So this association is required. If you can make your Kṛṣṇa consciousness society perfectly Kṛṣṇa conscious, wherever you will go, they will become Kṛṣṇa conscious, simply by your presence. So you have to become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There should be no adulteration. That adulteration means that knowledge and fruitive activities and material desires. If Kṛṣṇa consciousness is freed from these three kinds of contamination, then that is pure.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: So why it is falldown? Kṛṣṇa, He kissed so many gopīs. He can defend like that.
Śrutakīrti: He may do that.
Prabhupāda: Do that. He is the same Kṛṣṇa. Now, formerly Kṛṣṇa used to kiss cowherd girls. And He is kissing American girls. Where is the wrong?
Śrutakīrti: But this was in public.
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa also do in public.
Correspondence
1969 Correspondence
Regarding your questions, yes, a woman can certainly reach the perfectional stage of devotion to Krishna. And the gopis of Vrndavana are the best example of this. They are simple cowherds girls, and Lord Caitanya has praised their worship of Lord Krishna as the highest form of worship. Krishna Consciousness is transcendental to all such mundane considerations as if one's body is male or female. This is the meaning of spiritual: Krishna Consciousness is beyond the limited bodily idea.
| Page Title: | Cowherd girls |
| Compiler: | MadhuGopaldas, Serene, Sahadeva |
| Created: | 29 of Oct, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=10, CC=11, OB=14, Lec=7, Con=2, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 45 |