Srimati Radharani- Part 1   29.09.2012

A lecture given by Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja, 23 September 2012 (Radhastami) in Durban, South Africa

 jaya jaya sri- caitanya jaya nityananda
jayaadvaita- candra jaya gaura bhakta-vrnda

 We’re reading from the Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya Lila, Chapter 13, text 150:

vraja-vasi yata jana, mata, pita, sakha-gana,
sabe haya mra prana-sama
tanra madhye gopi-gana, saksat mora jivana,
tumi mora jivanera jivana

 Translation: All the inhabitants of Vrndavana-dhama — My mother, father, cowherd boyfriends and everything else — are like My life and soul. And among all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, the gopis are My very life and soul. And among the gopis, You, Srimati Radharani, are the chief. Therefore You are the very life of My life.

(Invocatory Prayers)

A prayerful time

In this verse it is explained that all the residents of Vrndavana are like the life force of Krsna. Without them, what reason is there to exist? That Krsna makes very clear. But then He points out that when it comes to Srimati Radharani, She is His very life force itself. Without Her there is no life. She is therefore the centre of all of Vrndavana’s activities. It is said that Krsna is simply the instrument of Radharani. So Krsna is just completely controlled by Srimati Radharani. This is Krsna, who is purchased by the love of His devotee. Krsna is atmarama, He is satisfied within Himself. But then it is said in the 10^th canto of Bhagavatam, like a boy who is playing with His reflection, prati bimba, He is playing with His own energies. Krsna is manifesting so many different energies and the most amazing of all is His pleasure potency. Srimati Radharani is that hladini sakti, that pleasure potency of Krsna.  Krsna says that, ‘so many are praying to Me and I give them pleasure. But who gives pleasure to Me? Who can really give pleasure to Me, unless one who is a hundred times qualified more than I am.’ So like this Krsna is looking upon Srimati Radharani as unlimitedly qualified, unlimitedly pure, unlimitedly dedicated and of course today, we are looking at Srimati Radharani, the emblem of pure devotion.

And here we are…the little bit of devotion that we have, we received by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada was of course flooding the world, was giving everything but we are not very fertile ground and therefore all his good instructions have only produced very little results in us. But still, some results are there. Something is there, amazing enough- not because of the ground which was not favorable at all but it’s because of the potency of what Prabhupada implanted. It’s so powerful that even this harsh and barren ground of our heart could not withstand the mercy and something touched us. That is why today we are approaching Srimati Radharani, first of all.

Radhastami is a prayerful time- different than Janmastami. Janmastami is a time of abundance, of celebrating Krsna’s unlimited qualities and just reciprocating with that unlimited nature of Krsna, by unlimited glorification. On Radhastami, it is the festival of the devotees who are trying to serve Krsna. Janmastami is the glorious day where we are making in known to the world at large that, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam, Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no doubt about it. His appearance after all was not at all ordinary because Krsna appeared in Mathura, in the jail, in His four handed form, fully grown, fully decorated with jewels and helmet and so on. Krsna’s birth therefore- the janma- was not a janma in the true sense.

 The eternal consort of Krsna

But Srimati Radharani is, in all respects, His perfect counterpart. Therefore as Krsna’s appearance was not an ordinary appearance (an appearance in this world) in the same way Srimati Radharani’s appearance was also not an ordinary appearance. One day, Maharaja Vrsabhanu was approaching the Yamuna and as he was approaching the Yamuna, within the waters of the Yamuna, there was one particular, extremely effulgent lotus flower. The effulgence of that lotus flower was so attractive that Maharaja Vrsabhanu felt like taking that lotus flower. So he went into the water of the Yamuna and approached that lotus flower. And then, he saw that in the whorl of that lotus flower, there was a cause of that effulgence. It was not just that lotus flower itself that was so effulgent but it was a little girl of golden complexion, who was lying there in that lotus! He forgot all his ideas about taking that lotus and he just picked up that little girl with great joy in his heart and brought Her home. In this way, Kirtida conceived a child- somewhat unusual, but a divine appearance just like Krsna’s appearance.

This is because Srimati Radharani is not of this world, She is not a conditioned soul or one who is bound by the laws of nature and then comes and trapped in a material body and has to take birth under the dourest of having to be squeezed out of the material body and staying in the womb…and all those things that we, ordinary mortals, went through. Srimati Radharani is always transcendental. She is not jiva tattva, She is not in the category of an ordinary living being. She is in the category of sakti tattva, a different energy of Krsna altogether. She is part of the internal energy of Krsna- there is Krsna’s antaranga sakti, bahiranga sakti and His tatastha sakti. So the antaranga sakti is the internal, spiritual energy of Krsna. The bahiranga sakti is the material energy, where we are now in this world and the tatastha sakti are we, the living beings. So Srimati Radharani is to be taken as a divine being, a divine expansion of Krsna, Krsna’s internal energy, the hladini sakti– Krsna’s pleasure potency.

So just as Krsna is govindam adi purusam, or the original purusa, that so many forms from Krsna emanates- Balarama emanates- and then we see that Krsna expands Himself into 16 108 forms in Dvaraka and Krsna expands Himself in the form of Narayana. But all along Krsna is never alone. As Krsna expands Himself into Balarama, Revati is also there, His consort is there. As Krsna expands Himself into 16 108 forms, His female consort is there again in 16 108 queens in Dvaraka. And when Krsna is expanding Himself as Narayana, then Laksmi is also there. It is said that the origin of all the various Visnu forms of Krsna is Maha Visnu. It is from Maha Visnu that all these various expansions of Krsna manifest and the counterpart of Maha Visnu, as is described in the Visnu Purana, is Maha Laksmi, who is an expansion of Srimati Radharani.

So as Krsna expands, Radharani also expands. Then eventually, Maha Visnu transforms and sambhu tattva appears. And along with sambhu tattva there is Parvati. So when Krsna transforms, Radharani transforms. So They are the root of the divine couple, which manifests in so many ways. In this way, just as Krsna is the origin of so many forms, in the same way, Radharani is the origin of so many forms.

 No other interest but Krsna

Kirtida was very pleased that her husband brought this child. She was absolutely beyond herself! Such an extremely beautiful girl! But there was only one issue: the girls eyes were closed. Somehow or other no matter how much they tried, they wouldn’t open. With two hands they tried but by no means they would open. This was a cause of concern, that there was something wrong with the eye. But at the same time, sill they were so pleased. So therefore they organized for a jata karana ceremony, a celebration or ritual to celebrate the birth and invoke auspiciousness. So for such a ceremony everyone was invited. So the neighbors were also invited and Krsna happened to be the neighbor.

It happened to be so, that in the area there were two hills- one hill is Nandisvara, where Krsna resides in Nandagrama and the other hill is the hill of Varsana, where Srimati Radharani resides. Previously, Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda lived in Vrndavana but there was too much disturbance there, so they had moved. Maharaja Vrsabhanu also moved. So they were neighbors before and they were neighbors after once again. Now they lived there next to each other and therefore when they invited everyone, Krsna’s parents also came and brought their child. As Srimati Radharani was lying in the cradle, they lifted up little Krsna, who then saw the little child and She opened Her eyes! Everyone understood and everyone noted that She had no other interest than seeing Krsna. That was all that She wanted to see.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura explains like that and says, ‘don’t look at that form of Krsna at Kesi ghata, who stands therein His three-bend form (tribhanga rupa) because He will make you blind! He will steal your sensual power. The power to see He will steal! The power to hear He will steal! The power to taste, to touch….He will steal all sensual functions!’ This was exactly the situation, which Srimati Radharani had already had before She saw Krsna. It was already stolen; it was not that Her sense of sight and all Her sensual power was stolen at that time when She saw Krsna for the first time. But it was already stolen. There was purva-raga, a previous connection. There was eternal connection. She appeared in this world like that, now in the form of a child. But in the spiritual world of course, Radha and Krsna are not appearing in child forms.

The embodiment of compassion and mercy

It is said that for the first period of life up to pauganda, Srimati Radharani was particularly the embodiment of compassion, of mercy. That particularly is Her focus and for us, of course is our focus. Everyone is kind of excited about Radhastami. Some came from far to celebrate here, from all over the country because after all, these are the presiding Radha-Krsna deities for South Africa as a whole. That is not ordinary and that was Srila Prabhupada’s desire. It was Srila Prabhupada who desired that this temple would be erected here and therefore it was by Srila Prabhupada’s invitation and desire that Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha became the presiding deities for us. Prabhupada gave names like that- Radha Parisvara…I mean who gives such names! (Laughter) Radha Londonisvara! Which acarya gave such names! But these names also are so meaningful because they make it really clear that yes, these deities are looking after a particular area. So we are very much in South Africa under the care of Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha. So surely, Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha are our Lord’s and in the hearts of all of us, undoubtedly. We are therefore approaching through the deities because with the deities we get the opportunity to render some direct service.

So many people have come and have put bottles of milk on the altar and some fruits and I don’t know what else and what other service has been done…but we can connect, we can do service, that is the unique feature that we have here. Otherwise we can pray of course to Srimati Radharani, but how do we know that She will really hear our prayer? How can we be sure that our service is reciprocated with? We can have faith…yes She is very merciful, She is extremely compassionate, so surely She will give us the mercy. But here we can serve directly. In this form, Srimati Radharani can be directly approached. So today if we get any opportunity to render some service to the deity, to bring a gift or something- anything we can think about, there’s still a lot of time to think about giving something. Some give jewelry, some give baskets of fruits…whatever may be, that is our saving grace- service.

It is through service that we can be sure that our prayer is answered. Service is such a thing that it attracts mercy. Therefore this is our unique relationship here, so it is our good fortune that we came on this day to celebrate here.

Radha and Krsna grew up and when They came to youth, They became Kishor-Kishori. They became youthful and at that kaisora age, Their relationship changed because at that time particularly, the madhurya rasa, or the conjugal pastimes or attraction between Them began to manifest. It began with stolen, hidden meetings, different messengers were being sent…I read in scripture that sometimes Radha and Krsna would sometimes communicate with each other through smoke signals. So the original smoke signals come from there! Not from the red Indians and so on but actually Radha and Krsna would communicate with each other through smoke signals! Of course there were many other means of communicating: through pet parrots…and these parrots were quite well-versed. They were not just your kind of parrot that can also say, ‘haribol!’ but these parrots were absolutely well-versed and eloquent parrots that could not only speak but they could take initiatives. Not only would they repeat a message, but they were real messengers who could speak according to the need of the situation. So these parrots were very intelligent parrots, fully conscious parrots- not parrots of this world.

The flute of Krsna

So in this way, we see that between Radha and Krsna, there are four particular aspects that exist with Krsna in Vrndavana. It is rupa madhurya, venu madhurya, lila madhurya…so venu madhurya, the flute is a major ingredient in the connection between Radha and Krsna and this flute is again and again appearing there in the pastimes of Radha and Krsna. Krsna went to vamsi-vata and at vamsi-vata, He was blowing that flute and that flute, it was just penetrating the layers of the universe and penetrating the entire three worlds! The flute of Krsna was agitating the various demigods; Lord Siva spontaneously began to dance and has this little drum (the din din drum), a tiny drum with cords and stones on the cords and (makes drum sound.) So in this way, Lord Siva, with his little drum in his hand, was playing on the rhythm of the flute.

There are so many references to the rhythm session. It is said that in the monsoon season, the thunder clouds are also rhythmically producing thundering sounds to imitate the sound of the mrdanga, to accompany Krsna’s flute playing. So Krsna’s flute playing certainly attracts the attention of the entire universe, although the dull condition living beings don’t know that they are influenced by Krsna’s flute. But for the residents of Vrndavana, Krsna’s flute playing was just something that would completely capture their mind and they would forget al activities! Everyone would just stop and listen to this flute playing. The cows would become completely overwhelmed. Their ears were cupped and they are completely drawn to this sound and it was too much! They couldn’t bear it, it was so intense that at one point the cows stood on their hind legs and covered their ears with their legs, trying to block that sound! And they begged Krsna, ‘stop!’ but Krsna continued. Then the cows put a blade of grass, as a sign of humility and prayed to Krsna, ‘please stop,’ and Krsna still didn’t stop. Then the cows froze like statues! Everyone in Vrndavana was completely affected by the flute. The gopis, when they heard that flute, they could hear that Krsna was speaking through this flute and that Krsna basically said, ‘drop everything! Drop everything and just come now, immediately!’ But when Srimati Radharani heard that flute, She heard something else. And that is the interesting thing because although everyone heard Krsna’s flute playing, everyone heard something else. But when Srimati Radharani heard Krsna’s flute playing, what She heard was, ‘You are the only one! You are the only one in My life!’ that is what She heard and nothing else!

Meanwhile, all the gopis heard, ‘come! Come! Drop everything and all of you come immediately!’ So they all came immediately and there of course, Krsna said, ‘oh, what are you young girls doing here, all alone in the dead of night in the forest? Don’t you know that the forest is a very dangerous place?’ They said, ‘we came to pick flowers.’ Krsna said, ‘oh flowers? This is not a time to collect flowers, this is a time you should be home. The reputation of a girl is all she has and is her true wealth. And wandering alone, so late at night n the forest, without any company and then in the association of a young boy? No, it’s better you go back right now.’ No, the gopis were not going. They were not planning to go back but they were shocked, ‘how could Krsna say this!’ after He had pierced their heart, completely, with His flute playing, they could not believe that He was telling them to go back! They were so shocked that they could not believe that He was saying it. ‘How is it possible that Krsna is saying such a thing?’ it didn’t register. But then they decided, ‘we are not going!’ and Krsna tried in various ways, appealing to morality, appealing to dangers in the forest but nothing could deter them! They stayed but Krsna kept on staying to go back home. So they didn’t know what to say anymore and they got into anxiety. So with their toes they started to scratch the ground and left marks on the ground. In this way, Krsna was calling the gopis by flute playing.

So this flute is remaining eternally as an important ingredient in the pastimes between Radha and Krsna and the gopis. At one point Srimarti Radharani said, ‘this flute has just completely captured Krsna.’ In Sanskrit the word for flute is a male word. So She said, ‘this flute has stolen our property- the lips of Krsna. And although he’s male, I’m ashamed to say that he is constantly touching the lips of Krsna, which are our property.’ This is described in Caitanya Caritamrta.

So Srimati Radharani was very upset about this flute. At one point She said that, ‘if this flute is the dear most to Krsna, then I will now go to the kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling desire tree at Govardhana and I will now request this tree that I will become a flute. Then I will become a flute if that is what is required. I will be a flute.’ This is the mood of Srimati Radharani. She is completely eager to satisfy Krsna and every single one of His desires. That is Her aim and nothing else.

Hidden moments between Radha and Krsna

In due course of time it was decided to arrange for the marriage of Srimati Radharani. Somehow or other Nanada Mukhi said, ‘never ever before was there such an unsuitable match in this world! I mean it has not ever happened! My God, how is it possible?’ And Srimati Radharani who cannot bear the touch of any other man but Krsna, how can She get married to this Abhimanyu? So that of course became a whole thing and many times Abhimanyu became the sores of everyone’s laughter. For example, when Krsna took the place of Abhimanyu, dressed up like Abhimanyu, looked like Abhimanyu, went just boldly and walked right into the house of Abhimanyu, greeted His ‘mother’ Jatila and then went straight to His ‘wife’ and was enjoying with Srimati Radharani in various joking pastimes, when just then…the real Abhimanyu was coming home! And Krsna said, ‘look! That is that rascal Krsna, he is dressed up like me! See that! That’s incredible!’ And Jatila went after him with a stick and said, ‘you rascal! Get out of here!’

‘Mother, mother what are you doing? Why are you beating me?’

‘Out you rascal!’

In this way, the coast was clear- not only was Abhimanyu gone but Jatila as well!

So in this way so many arrangements were there for the pastimes, absolutely. In Yavat, the place where Srimati Radharani stayed after Her marriage, in the house of Her in-laws, in that place in Yavat, we can understand that the mood of separation became more acute. Previously the meetings between Radha and Krsna, as I said, were stolen moments, hidden moments, parakiya rasa- not in a marital relationship, a relationship of a paramour. Why a relationship of a paramour? Well, you know how it is nowadays- I’m looking for a moment on the male side- and when you have that ring on your finger then something has changed. You know what I’m talking about? Now, you have obligations. Krsna had no ring on His finger- well, at least not that ring. Rings He had but not a wedding ring, oh no, no, no. There was no obligation. There was no such thing that Radharani could put any claim on Krsna and say that it’s your duty.

Krsna You are Mine!

 aslisya va padaratam pinastu mam
adarsananmarmahatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

(Siksastakam, vs 8 )

Krsna is the lampato, He is unreliable! That is exactly what Radharani said to the bumblebee, ‘you unreliable servant of an unreliable master! You go from flower to flower and steal some honey just like your master! Just see…you unreliable servant of an unreliable master!’ It is interesting that as a devotee becomes fixed in devotional service, that that devotee comes to the stage where he says, ‘Krsna, I am Yours! The point where a devotee says, ‘Krsna I am Yours,’ is rare in this world. Who is doing that? It is very rare. But when it comes to the gopis and Srimati Radharani, they don’t say, ‘Krsna I am Yours,’ they say, ‘Krsna You are mine! You are my property!’ That mood is there, ‘Krsna is my property, Krsna is completely mine!’ That is the whole meditation- how to attract Krsna, how to somehow or other keep Him captured. Oh yes, never can it be taken for granted, ‘now Krsna You are mine, I have got You in my pocket.’ And then next moment He is gone! ‘Oh Krsna, I cannot walk anymore. I am so tired, we danced for a long time…Krsna I cannot move my limbs! Please, please You’ll have to carry me. There’s no other way, I can’t move, You’ll have to carry me.’ And at the moment Krsna disappeared!

So ‘Krsna is mine!’ and She was treating Him…’You’ll have to carry me!’ Nothing like, ‘I am Yours’ or ‘Your servant’ but no, ‘You are my servant and You have to carry me!’ That was the mood. But He doesn’t always. And then of course, Srimati Radharani is broken hearted, totally broken hearted! But even in that state of being neglected by Krsna, She will not forget Him for a moment. That is the interesting thing, how She is so much neglected.

They are never separated

So one day, in Yavat, at that time, Jatila wasn’t there. Even Kutila, the sister of Abhimanyu…the gopis say about her that she is the most beautiful girl in Vrndavana with her breast like string beans and a belly is like a pot! And because she is so extremely beautiful, therefore she is immune to the attraction of Krsna! That is Kutila, the sister of Abhimanyu. Anyway ,so both of them were not there- no Kutila and no Jatila. On that particular day, suddenly in the courtyard of the house, this amazing personality appeared there- a goddess apparently. It was a lady dressed with opulent clothing, a lady with bodily features as are not seen on this earth and this lady somehow or other sat down in the courtyard of the house of Srimati Radharani in Yavat. So Radharani looked out of the window and She was elated! She saw this beautiful, female form and was just surprised! ‘Who is this personality? She must be very exalted, she must be very pure because she has these amazing features! Who can have such features? We are greatly honored by such a guest.’ So therefore She sent some of Her servants to go and greet the lady and find out who she was. So the gopi maid servants went to find out who this personality was. But they didn’t get any answer because she didn’t reply. So they were a little shocked, ‘what’s going on…why is she not speaking? Are we not good enough for her?’ And then Radharani personally came out of Her quarters and said, ‘You must be upset with us that you are not speaking with us. But we are here at your service. You must have traveled a long way to come here. So please allow us to offer you some resting place. We will offer you a comfortable bed where you can lie down for a while and you can please allow us to serve you and we will massage your body.’ But again, this goddess, this lady did not answer! Then Radharani started to confer with Lalita and She said, ‘I think that she is very distressed and she is really like going through some great sadness.’  So then Radharani became very soft and gentle and She said, ‘oh My dear goddess, what is wrong with you? What calamity has happened to you? Please don’t remain quiet, you can trust us because we are girls like you. We are going through the same as you are going through. We are in the same position and you must know, that shared sorrow is immediately relieved. You will feel immediately relieved if you express your pain. So please speak of the matter that is in your heart.’

And then the goddess began to speak and the goddess said, ‘Yes, yes, yes You are right. You have understood indeed! Indeed I am going through a great sadness.’ And the gopis are like, ‘oh, great sadness?’ and everyone was getting ready for some family drama or some husband, some lover who had obviously mistreated her. They were ready to hear such a story. There are so many such stories in this world because men, they are of such a nature, they are not faithful. That is the difficulty. So they were getting ready for it but then, this goddess said that, ‘actually, I am greatly distressed! I am a demigoddess and you know we as demigods and demigoddesses are given a particular vision that we can witness the pastimes or the activities that are taking place here on earth. And I have witnessed everything- every moment! I haven’t missed anything! I have witnessed every detail of how Krsna has treated You!’ she said to Radharani. ‘and it is just incredible, it is incredible! How can He treat You like this! You are cent per cent fully dedicated to Him and He just ignores You and is just unfaithful and goes off with someone else! How can You tolerate it! I cannot tolerate it! I cannot tolerate it any longer and therefore I had to come here.’

And the whole thing came out, ‘what Krsna is doing to You, it is just too much! How can He plunge You, plunge You so cruelly into an ocean of separation! How can He! He is heartless!’ Srimati Radharani said, ‘enough! Enough! Don’t speak like that about Krsna! Krsna is full of love. He is always kind and merciful towards Me.’

(Goddess): ‘You call that merciful, when He just brutally, brutally leaves you like that with a bleeding broken heart? You call that merciful and kind? I think due to the pain and distress, you are losing your mental faculties.’

‘No,’ Radharani said, ‘Krsna is never separated from Me. Never ever! Krsna is always, always, at every moment, completely absorbed in thought of Me. In fact, we are never ever separated. Not even for a fraction of a moment because we are one. We are completely one and we are never separated.’

‘Well,’ the goddess said, ‘hmmm…it sounds nice, it sounds that You have found a way to deal with the distress and to somehow or other You have created some sort of illusion by which You can deal with the pain. But I’m sorry to say, I must be honest, I’m not convinced. If You and Krsna are really one, then You must prove it to me, that You will bring Him here right now.’

‘All right,’ Srimati Radharani said, ‘I will bring Him here right now.’

And she closed Her eyes and started to pray intensely for Krsna to appear. And the goddess quickly took off her disguise and took on the original form of Krsna! And then when She opened Her eyes, Krsna was present! Radharani was just overwhelmed! Suddenly Krsna was just there! And She said, ‘where did that goddess go?’ and Krsna said, ‘oh she said that She had to go back!’

In this way we should understand the inner secret of that separation, that Radha and Krsna cannot be separated. It is not possible. They are always one. So this separation is the most difficult thing to understand because here in this world, we think when two lovers are separated, then oh my god! Now the misery starts! And they stop to eat and they suffer, they lose weight. And Radharani is even worse; She is lying there knocked out, at the verge of death and totally emaciated! ‘How is this ecstasy? Is this the perfection of your movement? Is this what Sri Caitanya Maharprabhu came to give? No thanks, no thanks! You can keep it!’ This separation is so hard to understand. But Radha and Krsna are never separated- They are one. They are always completely absorbed in thoughts, in deep emotional waves towards one another. And there’s never a moment that They are not. So where is the question of separation? They are one!

This is explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura in his book, Prema Samputa, which is this story that I just told. This story is told to us by Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura, who explains in his book the nature of that separation being the highest sentiment in bhakti because within that the eagerness increases, the love increases, the intensity increases. Still it’s hard to understand. I think that after hearing from Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura such a beautiful story, we still can’t get it. It still appears that the meeting between Radha and Krsna is higher.

Krsna sacrifices for the happiness of His devotees

(phone rings) who’s calling? It’s Krsna trying to call Radharani! She must be in an angry mood, in mana, because She is not picking up the phone! (Laughter) She even switched it off now! I think Krsna must be in anxiety. Krsna must now be suffering tremendously and thinking of all His misdeeds. He must be thinking of what He had done to Her, ‘how I have mistreated Her! What a fool I am! Why have I acted in this way when I really have no other interest than to please Her? Why? Why did I neglect Her? Why am I such a fool?’ So Krsna is also speaking these same feelings of separation, then why did Krsna create that? Why? Why? Why? Why? This question will remain on the table for a while. (phone rings again) No Krsna, we will switch off the phone very surely and determinedly…off! (Laughter) Otherwise Kadamba Kanana Swami, who is the humble servant of the servant of the servant of Srimati Radharabni, will be sent as a constable and will have to personally confiscate that phone and donate it to the sankirtana movement! And you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you? (Laughter)

In this way, there are mysteries isn’t it? If He Himself suffers from the separation, then why is He creating in the first place? If He Himself cannot bear it, why is He creating it? All right, to increase the love of His devotees but he is suffering Himself. This is our Krsna who places the happiness of His devotees way above His own happiness. Krsna will at any time sacrifice His own happiness although it’s unbearable for Him to be in this separation from Srimati Radharani- it’s unbearable! But Krsna will at anytime sacrifice His own happiness for the happiness of His devotees. That is interesting.

So there’s a few minutes left before 8:30am, so are there any questions or comments so far? Yes?

Question: You said that Radha and Krsna’s baby forms are not present in the spiritual world, aren’t those forms eternal?

Maharaja: Yes, they are eternal but they are only manifest in the material world. So that is the unique feature of the material world, where Radha and Krsna, for Their pleasure, are performing pastimes where They take on the form of children. In the spiritual world, They are always in the form of Kishor-Kishori, in blooming youth. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Their parents aren’t still seeing Them like children. They treat Them like children. Mother Yasoda still wants to breast feed Krsna, whereas Krsna is not exactly acting like a baby. So that’s here in the material world.

Other questions? Well if there’s no other questions then we’ll just end now and there will be more opportunities in the day to hear and discuss and so on. 8:30 is supposed to be the darsana, so we’ll just end and start with a little kirtana.

Thank you very much. Sri Sri Radhastami maha mohotsava ki, jaya! Sri Sri Radha Radhanatha ki, jaya!