Madhya 9.108–Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained at the house of Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa and constantly talked with him about Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this way He was very happy.
Madhya 9.109–Being a Vaiṣṇava in the Rāmānuja-sampradāya, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa worshiped the Deities of Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa. Seeing his pure devotion, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very much satisfied.
Madhya 9.113-“Just to associate with Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī abandoned all transcendental happiness in Vaikuṇṭha and for a long time accepted vows and regulative principles and performed unlimited austerities.”
Madhya 9.114–Caitanya Mahāprabhu then said, ” ‘O Lord, we do not know how the serpent Kāliya attained such an opportunity to be touched by the dust of Your lotus feet.Even the goddess of fortune, for this end, performed austerities for centuries, giving up all other desires and observing austere vows. Indeed, we do not know how the serpent Kāliya got such an opportunity.”‘
Madhya 9.122-“But can you tell Me why the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, could not enter the rāsa dance? The authorities of Vedic knowledge could enter the dance and associate with Kṛṣṇa.
Madhya 9.123–” ‘Great sages conquer the mind and senses by practicing the mystic yoga system and controlling the breath. Thus engaging in mystic yoga, they see the Supersoul within their hearts and ultimately enter into impersonal Brahman. But even the enemies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead attain that position simply by thinking of the Supreme Lord. However, the damsels of Vraja, the gopīs, being attracted by the beauty of Kṛṣṇa, simply wanted to embrace Him and His arms, which are like serpents. Thus the gopīs ultimately tasted the nectar of the lotus feet of the Lord.Similarly, we Upaniṣads can also taste the nectar of His lotus feet by following in the footsteps of the gopīs.’ “
Madhya 9.124–Having been asked by Caitanya Mahāprabhu why the goddess of fortune could not enter into the rāsa dance whereas the authorities on Vedic knowledge could, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa replied, “I cannot enter into the mysteries of this behavior.”
Madhya 9.128–“By following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of the planet known as Vrajaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana one can attain the shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.However, in that planet the inhabitants do not know that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Madhya 9.131–“One who worships the Lord by following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi attains Him in the transcendental planet of Vraja, where He is known as the son of Mahārāja Nanda.”
PURPORT-The inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi, or Goloka Vṛndāvana, know Kṛṣṇa as the son of Mahārāja Nanda. They do not accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as people in general do. The Lord is the supreme maintainer of everyone and the chief personality among all personalities.In Vrajabhūmi Kṛṣṇa is certainly the central point of love, but no one knows Him there as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.Rather, a person may know Him as a friend, son, lover or master.In any case, the center is Kṛṣṇa.The inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi are related to the Lord in servitude, friendship, parental love and conjugal love.A person engaged in devotional service may accept any one of these transcendental relationships, which are known as mellows. When such a person reaches the perfectional stage, he returns home, back to Kṛṣṇa, in his pure spiritual identity.
Madhya 9.133–“The authorities in the Vedic literature who are known as the śruti-gaṇa worshiped Lord Kṛṣṇa in the ecstasy of the gopīs and followed in their footsteps.
PURPORT-The authorities in the Vedic literature known as the śruti-gaṇa desired to enter into Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa dance; therefore they began to worship the Lord in the ecstasy of the gopīs. In the beginning, however, they were unsuccessful. When they could not enter the dance simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa in the ecstasy of the gopīs, they actually accepted bodies like those of the gopīs.They even took birth in Vrajabhūmi just like the gopīs and consequently became engrossed in the ecstasy of the gopīs’ love.In this way they were allowed to enter into the rāsa-līlā dance of the Lord.
Madhya 9.134–“The personified authorities on the Vedic hymns acquired bodies like those of the gopīs and took birth in Vrajabhūmi. In those bodies they were allowed to enter into the Lord’s rāsa-līlā dance.
Madhya 9.136–“The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, wanted to enjoy Kṛṣṇa and at the same time retain her spiritual body in the form of Lakṣmī. However, she did not follow in the footsteps of the gopīs in her worship of Kṛṣṇa.
Madhya 9.137–“Vyāsadeva, the supreme authority on Vedic literature, composed the verse beginning ‘nāyaṁ sukhāpo bhagavān’because no one can enter into the rāsa-līlā dance in any body other than that of a gopī.”
Madhya 9.158–“The transcendental pastimes of the Lord are unfathomable, and I do not know anything about them. Whatever You say I accept as the truth.
PURPORT-This is the way to understand the truth about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.After hearing the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna said very much the same thing:sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava na hi te bhagavan vyaktiṁ vidur devā na dānavāḥ“O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me.Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can understand Your personality.” (Bg. 10.14)
It is not possible to understand the truth about the pastimes of the Lord simply by using our own logic, argument and academic education.We must receive bona fide information from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as Arjuna received information when Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā.We have to accept the Bhagavad-gītā or any other Vedic literature in good faith.These Vedic scriptures are the only source of knowledge about the Lord. We must understand that we cannot comprehend the Absolute Truth by the speculative process.
Some Conclusions—This is a very interesting pastime with the Lords eternal confidant from Vaikuntha Laksmi Devi who tried aftercenturies of austerityto enter the Rasa Lila of Radha Krsna-but was unsucessfull. On the other hand the Peersonified Vedas called the Sruti gana,followed in the footstepsof the gopis of Vrndavana and in that way they were succesful.
So we can see from this pastime how important it is to follow in the footsteps of those authorities who have preceded us on this path of pure bhakt.
Who wants to do centuries of austerity with no profit?
And finally as Srila Prabhupada says and sums up the essence of this lila as…
Madhya 9.158–“The transcendental pastimes of the Lord are unfathomable, and I do not know anything about them.Whatever You say I accept as the truth.
PURPORT-This is the way to understand the truth about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Soalmost everyone in this material world, especially now in the kali yuga is a fool, myself included and we know almost nothing about God-Krsna other than what we read in the literatures produced by Srila Prabhupada, an authority we can trust. And when devotees concoct, change, and speculate about guru tattva, what to speak of Gopi lila with Krsna Himself, they are only admitting their own foolishness. and are doomed to rot in this material world.
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das