Krsna's pastimes (CC)
Expressions researched:
"Krsna performs His pastimes"
|"Krsna's rasa-lila pastimes"
|"Krsna's transcendental pastimes"
|"Krsna's wonderful pastimes"
|"krsna's pastimes"
|"pastimes of Lord Krsna"
|"pastimes of krsna"
|"pastimes of lord sri krsna"
|"pastimes of sri krsna"
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura actually entered into the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In the beginning of that book he has offered his obeisances to his different gurus, and it is to be noted that he has adored them all equally.
He explicitly mentions Bhagavān, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamaṅgala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, he states that Jayaśrī, the goddess of fortune, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Caitanya's movement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is full of dancing and singing about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is compared herein to the pure waters of the Ganges, which are full of lotus flowers. The enjoyers of these lotus flowers are the pure devotees, who are like bees and swans.
Some devotees think that Kṛṣṇa is eternally the enjoyer in Goloka Vṛndāvana but only sometimes comes to the platform of Vraja to enjoy parakīya-rasa. The six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, however, have explained that Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in Vraja are eternal, like His other activities in Goloka Vṛndāvana. Vraja is a confidential part of Goloka Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṇa exhibited His Vraja pastimes on the surface of this world, and similar pastimes are eternally exhibited in Vraja in Goloka Vṛndāvana, where parakīya-rasa is ever existent.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa cannot enjoy anything that is internally different from Him. Therefore Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are identical. The sandhinī portion of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's internal potency has manifested the all-attractive form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the same internal potency, in the hlādinī feature, has presented Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the attraction for the all-attractive. No one can match Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
The plenary expansions of Kṛṣṇa's personality are called vaibhava-vilāsa and vaibhava-prakāśa, and Rādhā’s expansions are similarly described. The goddesses of fortune are Her vaibhava-vilāsa forms, and the queens are Her vaibhava-prakāśa forms. The personal associates of Rādhārāṇī, the damsels of Vraja, are direct expansions of Her body. As expansions of Her personal form and transcendental disposition, they are agents of different reciprocations of love in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, under the supreme direction of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. In the transcendental realm, enjoyment is fully relished in variety
All the other gopīs help increase the joy of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with Rādhārāṇī. The gopīs act as the instruments of Their mutual enjoyment.
These two are one and the same identity. They differ only in form. Lord Balarāma is the first bodily expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and He assists in Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes.
Lord Balarāma is the original Saṅkarṣaṇa. He assumes five other forms to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa.
He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and He does the work of creation in four other forms.
The places of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, such as Dvārakā, Mathurā and Vṛndāvana, eternally and independently exist in Kṛṣṇaloka. They are the actual abodes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and there is no doubt that they are situated above the material cosmic manifestation.
From the authoritative evidence cited by Jīva Gosvāmī we may conclude that Kṛṣṇaloka is the supreme planet in the spiritual sky, which is far beyond the material cosmos. For the enjoyment of transcendental variety, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa there have three divisions, and these pastimes are performed in the three abodes Dvārakā, Mathurā and Gokula. When Kṛṣṇa descends to this universe, He enjoys the pastimes in places of the same name. These places on earth are nondifferent from those original abodes, for they are facsimiles of those original holy places in the transcendental world. They are as good as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself and are equally worshipable. Lord Caitanya declared that Lord Kṛṣṇa, who presents Himself as the son of the King of Vraja, is worshipable, and that Vṛndāvana-dhāma is equally worshipable.
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.
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhu, the teacher of the science of devotional service, wrote several books, of which the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta is very famous; anyone who wants to know about the subject matter of devotees, devotional service and Kṛṣṇa must read this book. Sanātana Gosvāmī also wrote a special commentary on the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam known as the Daśama-ṭippanī, which is so excellent that by reading it one can understand very deeply the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in His exchanges of loving activities.
There is a class of devotees called Gaurāṅga-nāgarī, who stage plays of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes using a vigraha, or form, of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is a mistake that is technically called rasābhāsa. While Caitanya Mahāprabhu is trying to enjoy as a devotee, one should not disturb Him by addressing Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
As Vyāsadeva has compiled all the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa has depicted the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.
I also remember the six Gosvāmīs—Rūpa, Sanātana, Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa and Dāsa Raghunātha.
This is the process for writing transcendental literature. A sentimentalist who has no Vaiṣṇava qualifications cannot produce transcendental writings. There are many fools who consider kṛṣṇa-līlā to be a subject of art and who write or paint pictures about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs, sometimes depicting them in a manner practically obscene. These fools take pleasure in material sense gratification, but one who wants to make advancement in spiritual life must scrupulously avoid their literature. Unless one is a servant of Kṛṣṇa and the Vaiṣṇavas, as Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī presents himself to be in offering respects to Lord Caitanya, His associates and His disciples, one should not attempt to write transcendental literature.
Always chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and reminding Śrī Mādhavendra Purī about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the last stage of his life, Īśvara Purī gave the best service among his disciples. Thus Mādhavendra Purī, being very pleased with him, blessed him, saying, "My dear boy, I can only pray to Kṛṣṇa that He will be pleased with you." Thus Īśvara Purī, by the grace of his spiritual master, Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, became a great devotee in the ocean of love of Godhead.”
Rāghava Paṇḍita was formerly a confidential gopī in Vraja during the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, and his former name was Dhaniṣṭhā. This gopī, Dhaniṣṭhā, always engaged in preparing foods for Kṛṣṇa.
It is stated that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, an inhabitant of Navadvīpa, was Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's first companion in the saṅkīrtana movement. When Lord Caitanya returned from Gayā after initiation, He stayed with Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī because He wanted to hear from this devotee about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī collected alms of rice from the inhabitants of Navadvīpa, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took pleasure in eating the rice that he cooked. It is said that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was one of the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas during the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Lord Kṛṣṇa begged food from the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed a similar pastime by begging rice from Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī.
Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī compiled a book called Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, wrote a foreword to the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha and a commentary on the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, and installed the Rādhāramaṇa Deity in Vṛndāvana. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (184) it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa was Anaṅga-mañjarī. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guṇa-mañjarī. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya and Gopīnātha Pūjārī were two of his disciples.
Text 156 of the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā says that Candrāvalī, a most beloved gopī of Kṛṣṇa's, later took birth as Sadāśiva Kavirāja. In texts 194 and 200 it is said that Kaṁsāri Sena, the father of Sadāśiva Kavirāja, was formerly the gopī named Ratnāvalī in Kṛṣṇa's pastimes.
Śrīla Vyāsadeva described the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Vyāsa of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Vṛndāvana dāsa.
The twelfth generation of Vidyāpati's descendants is still living. Vidyāpati's songs about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa express intense feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu relished all those songs in His ecstasy of separation from Kṛṣṇa.
Thereafter a dramatization of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes was performed in the house of Śrī Candraśekhara Ācārya. The Lord personally took the part of Rukmiṇī, the foremost of Kṛṣṇa's queens.
The pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu are inconceivable and wonderful. His ecstasy is wonderful, His qualities are wonderful, and His behavior is wonderful.
CC Madhya-lila
The Vidagdha-mādhava is a drama of Lord Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī finished this book in the year 1454 Śakābda (A.D. 1532). The first part of this drama is called veṇu-nāda-vilāsa, the second part manmatha-lekha, the third part rādhā-saṅga, the fourth part veṇu-haraṇa, the fifth part rādhā-prasādana, the sixth part śarad-vihāra, and the seventh and last part gaurī-vihāra.
Similarly, the Lalita-mādhava is a description of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes in Dvārakā. These pastimes were made into a drama, and the work was finished in the year 1459 Śakābda. The first part deals with festivities in the evening, the second with the killing of the Śaṅkhacūḍa, the third with maddened Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the fourth with Rādhārāṇī’s proceeding toward Kṛṣṇa, the fifth with the achievement of Candrāvalī, the sixth with the achievement of Lalitā, the seventh with the meeting in Nava-vṛndāvana, the eighth with the enjoyment in Nava-vṛndāvana, the ninth with looking over pictures, and the tenth with complete satisfaction of the mind. Thus the entire drama is divided into ten parts.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no one is greater than Him. He is the source of all incarnations. In the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta there are descriptions of His partial incarnations, a description of the impersonal Brahman effulgence (actually the bodily effulgence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa), the superexcellence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes as an ordinary human being with two hands and so forth. There is nothing to compare with the two-armed form of the Lord. In the spiritual world (vaikuṇṭha-jagat) there is no distinction between the owner of the body and the body itself. In the material world the owner of the body is called the soul, and the body is called a material manifestation. In the Vaikuṇṭha world, however, there is no such distinction. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is unborn, and His appearance as an incarnation is perpetual. Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are divided into two parts—manifest and unmanifest. For example, when Kṛṣṇa takes His birth within this material world, His pastimes are considered to be manifest. However, when He disappears, one should not think that He is finished, for His pastimes are going on in an unmanifest form.
The fourth Sandarbha is called Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, and in this book Kṛṣṇa is proved to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are discussions of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes and qualities, His superintendence of the puruṣa-avatāras, and so forth. The opinions of Śrīdhara Svāmī are corroborated. In each and every scripture, the supremacy of Kṛṣṇa is stressed.
The last twelve years were simply devoted to relishing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in separation within the heart of the Lord.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed the position of the gopīs in separation from Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa left the gopīs and went to Mathurā, the gopīs cried for Him the rest of their lives, feeling intense separation from Him. This ecstatic feeling of separation was specifically advocated by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu through His actual demonstrations.
In the morning, the Lord left and went to a place known as Kānāi Nāṭaśālā. While there, He saw many pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
In those days in Bengal there were many places known as Kānāi Nāṭaśālā, where pictures of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa were kept. People used to go there to see them. This is called kṛṣṇa-caritra-līlā. In Bengal there are still many places called hari-sabhā, which indicates a place where local people gather to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and discuss the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The word kānāi means “Lord Kṛṣṇa's,” and nāṭaśālā indicates a place where pastimes are demonstrated. So those places which at the present moment are called hari-sabhā may previously have been known as Kānāi Nāṭaśālā.
When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited all twelve places of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, He became very much agitated because of ecstasy. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya somehow or other got Him out of Mathurā.
“"My dear friends, unless I serve the transcendental form, qualities and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, all My days and all My senses will become entirely useless. Now I am uselessly bearing the burden of My senses, which are like stone blocks and dried wood. I do not know how long I will be able to continue without shame."
Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils. One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord should be considered to possess ears like the holes of snakes and a tongue like that of a frog.
Due to the immature understanding of such rascals, common men should not discuss Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with the gopīs. A nondevotee should not even discuss His stealing sweet rice for His devotees. It is warned that one should not even think about these things. Although Kṛṣṇa is the purest of the pure, mundane people, thinking of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes that appear immoral, themselves become polluted. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore never publicly discussed Kṛṣṇa's dealings with the gopīs.
Here is an example of a personal benediction by Kṛṣṇa's immoral activity. By Gopīnātha's stealing for His devotee, the devotee becomes the most fortunate person within the three words. Thus even the Lord's criminal activities make His devotee the most fortunate person. How can a mundane rascal understand the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and judge whether He is moral or immoral? Since Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, there are no mundane distinctions such as moral and immoral. Whatever He does is good. This is the real meaning of "God is good." He is good in all circumstances because He is transcendental, outside the jurisdiction of this material world. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by those who are already living in the spiritual world.
| Page Title: | Krsna's pastimes (CC) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Labangalatika |
| Created: | 21 of Mar, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=135, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 135 |