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Krsna's flute and the gopis

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 6

SB 6.16.34, Purport:

The Lord and the devotees both conquer. The Lord is conquered by the devotees, and the devotees are conquered by the Lord. Because of being conquered by one another, they both derive transcendental bliss from their relationship. The highest perfection of this mutual conquering is exhibited by Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. The gopīs conquered Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa conquered the gopīs. Thus whenever Kṛṣṇa played His flute, He conquered the minds of the gopīs, and without seeing the gopīs Kṛṣṇa could not be happy. Other transcendentalists, such as jñānīs and yogīs, cannot conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead; only pure devotees can conquer Him.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1 Summary:

Chapter Twenty-one contains twenty verses, describing how Kṛṣṇa entered the forest of Vṛndāvana in the autumn, playing His flute, and how He attracted the gopīs, who were singing His glories. The Twenty-second Chapter contains thirty-eight verses, describing how the gopīs prayed to the goddess Kātyāyanī to obtain Kṛṣṇa as their husband and how Kṛṣṇa later stole the garments of the gopīs while the gopīs were bathing in the Yamunā. The Twenty-third Chapter contains fifty-two verses, describing how the cowherd boys, being very hungry, followed Kṛṣṇa's directions by begging some food for Him and themselves from brāhmaṇas engaged in performing yajñas. The brāhmaṇas refused to give food to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, although the boys begged for it, but the wives of the brāhmaṇas agreed, and therefore Kṛṣṇa bestowed His mercy upon them.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.15.42, Translation:

Lord Kṛṣṇa's hair, powdered with the dust raised by the cows, was decorated with a peacock feather and forest flowers. The Lord glanced charmingly and smiled beautifully, playing upon His flute while His companions chanted His glories. The gopīs, all together, came forward to meet Him, their eyes very eager to see Him.

SB 10.21.9, Translation:

My dear gopīs, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.

SB 10.29.3, Translation:

Lord Kṛṣṇa saw the unbroken disk of the full moon glowing with the red effulgence of newly applied vermilion, as if it were the face of the goddess of fortune. He also saw the kumuda lotuses opening in response to the moon's presence and the forest gently illumined by its rays. Thus the Lord began to play sweetly on His flute, attracting the minds of the beautiful-eyed gopīs.

SB 10.29.5, Translation:

Some of the gopīs were milking cows when they heard Kṛṣṇa's flute. They stopped milking and went off to meet Him. Some left milk curdling on the stove, and others left cakes burning in the oven.

SB 10.30.18, Translation:

When one gopī perfectly imitated how Kṛṣṇa would call the cows who had wandered far away, how He would play His flute and how He would engage in various sports, the others congratulated her with exclamations of "Well done! Well done!"

SB 10.35.2-3, Translation:

The gopīs said: When Mukunda vibrates the flute He has placed to His lips, stopping its holes with His tender fingers, He rests His left cheek on His left arm and makes His eyebrows dance. At that time the demigoddesses traveling in the sky with their husbands, the Siddhas, become amazed. As those ladies listen, they are embarrassed to find their minds yielding to the pursuit of lusty desires, and in their distress they are unaware that the belts of their garments are loosening.

SB 10.35.6-7, Translation:

My dear gopī, sometimes Mukunda imitates the appearance of a wrestler by decorating Himself with leaves, peacock feathers and colored minerals. Then, in the company of Balarāma and the cowherd boys, He plays His flute to call the cows. At that time the rivers stop flowing, their water stunned by the ecstasy they feel as they eagerly wait for the wind to bring them the dust of His lotus feet. But like us, the rivers are not very pious, and thus they merely wait with their arms trembling out of love.

SB 10.35.16-17, Translation:

As Kṛṣṇa strolls through Vraja with His lotus-petal-like feet, marking the ground with the distinctive emblems of flag, thunderbolt, lotus and elephant goad, He relieves the distress the ground feels from the cows' hooves. As He plays His renowned flute, His body moves with the grace of an elephant. Thus we gopīs, who become agitated by Cupid when Kṛṣṇa playfully glances at us, stand as still as trees, unaware that our hair and garments are slackening.

SB 10.44.16, Translation:

When the gopīs hear Kṛṣṇa playing His flute as He leaves Vraja in the morning with His cows or returns with them at sunset, the young girls quickly come out of their houses to see Him. They must have performed many pious activities to be able to see Him as He walks on the road, His smiling face mercifully glancing upon them.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.155, Translation:

(The gopīs 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."

CC Adi 17.233, Translation:

In ecstasy the Lord asked Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura to deliver His flute, but Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura replied, "Your flute has been stolen away by the gopīs."

CC Adi 17.237, Translation:

Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura extensively explained how the gopīs were attracted to the forests of Vṛndāvana by the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute and how they wandered together in the forest.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.5, Translation:

May Gopīnāthajī, who attracts all the gopīs with the song of His flute and who has begun the most melodious rāsa dace on the bank of the Yamunā in Vaṁśīvaṭa, be merciful upon us.

CC Madhya 1.84, Translation and Purport:

The gopīs continued, "Dear Kṛṣṇa, the fragrance of the mellows of Your pastimes is spread throughout the forests of the glorious land of Vṛndāvana, which is surrounded by the sweetness of the district of Mathurā. In the congenial atmosphere of that wonderful land, You may enjoy Your pastimes, with Your flute dancing on Your lips, and surrounded by us, the gopīs, whose hearts are always enchanted by unpredictable ecstatic emotions."

This is a verse from the Lalita-mādhava (10.38), by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

CC Madhya 2.29, Translation and Purport:

“Of what use are the eyes of one who does not see the face of Kṛṣṇa, which resembles the moon and is the birthplace of all beauty and the reservoir of the nectarean songs of His flute? Oh, let a thunderbolt strike his head! Why does he keep such eyes?

The moonlike face of Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of nectarean songs and the abode of His flute. It is also the root of all bodily beauty. The gopīs think that if their eyes are not engaged in seeing the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, it would be better for them to be struck by a thunderbolt. For the gopīs, to see anything but Kṛṣṇa is uninteresting and, indeed, detestable. The gopīs are never pleased to see anything but Kṛṣṇa. The only solace for their eyes is the beautiful moonlike face of Kṛṣṇa, the worshipful object of all senses. When they cannot see the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, they actually see everything as vacant, and they desire to be struck by a thunderbolt. They do not find any reason to maintain their eyes when they are bereft of the beauty of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 17.214, Translation and Purport:

The male parrot then said, "My dear śārī (female parrot), Śrī Kṛṣṇa carries a flute and enchants the hearts of all women throughout the universe. He is specifically the enjoyer of the beautiful gopīs, and He is the enchanter of Cupid also. Let Him be glorified!"

This verse is also found in the Govinda-līlāmṛta (13.31).

CC Madhya 19.210, Translation and Purport:

“"Dear Kṛṣṇa, we gopīs have neglected the order of our husbands, sons, family, brothers and friends and have left their company to come to You. You know everything about our desires. We have come only because we are attracted by the supreme music of Your flute. But You are a great cheater, for who else would give up the company of young girls like us in the dead of night?"

This verse, quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 10.31.16), describes how the gopīs went to the forest for Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment in the dead of night. The gopīs approached Kṛṣṇa to enjoy themselves with Him in the rāsa dance. Kṛṣṇa knew this very well, but He was superficially trying to avoid them. He is therefore addressed by the gopīs as kitava, a great cheater, because He first attracted them to come dance with Him, and yet when they actually came, neglecting the orders of their friends and relatives, He tried to avoid them by giving them so-called good instructions. These cunning instructions were too much for the gopīs to tolerate; they therefore had a right to address Kṛṣṇa as kitava, a great cheater. They were all young girls, and they had come to Him to be enjoyed. How could He avoid them? The gopīs therefore expressed great disappointment in this verse. They came voluntarily, but Kṛṣṇa was so cunning that He wanted to avoid their company. The gopīs' lamentation was certainly very appropriate, and in this way Kṛṣṇa tested their sincerity.

CC Madhya 21.113, Translation:

“The bodily beauty of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is like a wave in the ocean of eternal youth. In that great ocean is the whirlpool of the awakening of ecstatic love. The vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute is like a whirlwind, and the flickering minds of the gopīs are like straws and dry leaves. After they fall down in the whirlwind, they never rise again but remain eternally at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.

CC Madhya 21.143, Translation:

“The vibration of His flute slackens the knots of their underwear even in front of their husbands. Thus the gopīs are forced to abandon their household duties and come before Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this way all social etiquette, shame and fear are vanquished. The vibration of His flute causes all women to dance.

CC Madhya 21.144, Translation and Purport:

"The vibration of His flute is just like a bird that creates a nest within the ears of the gopīs and always remains prominent there, not allowing any other sound to enter their ears. Indeed, the gopīs cannot hear anything else, nor are they able to concentrate on anything else, not even to give a suitable reply. Such are the effects of the vibration of Lord Kṛṣṇa's flute."

The vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute is always prominent in the ears of the gopīs. Naturally they cannot hear anything else. Constant remembrance of the holy sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute keeps them enlightened and enlivened, and they do not allow any other sound to enter their ears. Since their attention is fixed on Kṛṣṇa's flute, they cannot divert their minds to any other subject. In other words, a devotee who has heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute forgets to talk or hear of any other subject. This vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute is represented by the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. A serious devotee of the Lord who chants and hears this transcendental vibration becomes so accustomed to it that he cannot divert his attention to any subject matter not related to Kṛṣṇa's blissful characteristics and paraphernalia.

CC Madhya 23.84-85, Translation:

“"Above Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa has four specific transcendental qualities—His wonderful pastimes, an abundance of wonderful associates who are very dear to Him (like the gopīs), His wonderful beauty and the wonderful vibration of His flute. Lord Kṛṣṇa is more exalted than ordinary living beings and demigods like Lord Śiva. He is even more exalted than His personal expansion Nārāyaṇa. In all, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has sixty-four transcendental qualities in full."

CC Madhya 24.207, Translation and Purport:

“"My dear friend, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are passing through the forest leading Their cows with Their cowherd boyfriends. They both carry ropes with which, at the time of milking, They bind the rear legs of the cows. When They play on Their flutes, all moving living entities are stunned, and nonmoving living entities experience ecstatic jubilation by Their sweet music. All these things are certainly very wonderful."

This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.21.19). As Kṛṣṇa wandered in the forest with Baladeva and the two of Them wonderfully played Their flutes, all the gopīs became very much attracted. Thus they praised the Lord's activities, describing how He was enthusing all the plants, birds, hills, water—everything.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.162, Translation and Purport:

“"My dear friend the flute, it appears that you have been born of a very good family, for your residence is in the hands of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By birth you are simple and are not at all crooked. Why then have you taken initiation into this dangerous mantra that enchants the assembled gopīs?"

This verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 5.17) is spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
CC Antya 7.42, Translation and Purport:

“"O dear Kṛṣṇa, we gopīs have neglected the order of our husbands, sons, family, brothers and friends and have left their company to come to You. You know everything about our desires. We have come only because we are attracted by the supreme music of Your flute. But You are a great cheater, for who else would give up the company of young girls like us in the dead of night?"

This verse is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.16).
CC Antya 14.49, Translation:

“The gopīs of Vrajabhūmi always taste the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's attributes, His beauty, His sweetness, His aroma, the sound of His flute and the touch of His body. My mind's five disciples, the senses of perception, gather the remnants of that nectar from the gopīs and bring them to the yogī of My mind. The senses maintain their lives by eating those remnants.

CC Antya 14.108, Translation:

“Hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and all Her gopī friends came there to meet Him. They were all very nicely dressed.

CC Antya 16.133, Translation:

"Therefore, My dear Kṛṣṇa, please give up all the tricks You have set up so expertly. Do not try to kill the life of the gopīs with the vibration of Your flute. Because of Your joking and laughing, You are becoming responsible for the killing of women. It would be better for You to satisfy us by giving us the charity of the nectar of Your lips."

CC Antya 16.140, Translation and Purport:

“"My dear gopīs, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa"s lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant. The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.’”

This verse, quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.21.9), is part of a discussion the gopīs had among themselves. As the autumn season began in Vṛndāvana, Lord Kṛṣṇa was tending the cows and blowing on His flute. The gopīs then began to praise Kṛṣṇa and discuss the fortunate position of His flute.

CC Antya 16.145, Translation:

“"Although the nectar of Kṛṣṇa"s lips is the absolute property of the gopīs, the flute, which is just an insignificant stick, is forcibly drinking that nectar and loudly inviting the gopīs to come drink it also. Just imagine the strength of the flute's austerities and good fortune! Even great devotees drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's lips after the flute has done so.

CC Antya 17.28, Translation:

"Because you brought Me back here, I could no longer hear the nectarean voices of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, nor could I hear the sounds of their ornaments or the flute."

CC Antya 17.31, Translation and Purport:

“(The gopīs said:) "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, where is that woman within the three worlds who would not be captivated by the rhythms of the sweet songs coming from Your wonderful flute? Who would not fall down from the path of chastity in this way? Your beauty is the most sublime within the three worlds. Upon seeing Your beauty, even cows, birds, animals and trees in the forest are stunned in jubilation."

This verse is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.29.40).
CC Antya 17.40, Translation and Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “"My dear friend, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has a voice as deep as a cloud resounding in the sky. With the tinkling of His ornaments He attracts the ears of the gopīs, and with the sound of His flute He attracts even the goddess of fortune and other beautiful women. That Personality of Godhead, known as Madana-mohana, whose joking words carry many indications and deep meanings, is increasing the lusty desires of My ears."

This verse is found in the Govinda-līlāmṛta (8.5).

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

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.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 1:

When Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the scene of the rāsa dance, all the gopīs began to repent, saying, "Dear Kṛṣṇa! We have come here and left aside our husbands, sons, relatives, brothers and friends! Neglecting their advice, we have come to You, and You know very well the reason for our coming here. You know that we have come because we are captivated by the sweet sound of Your flute. But You are so cunning that in the dead of night You have left girls and women like us! This is not very good of You."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 9:

Among Kṛṣṇa's innumerable pastimes, however, the most important are His humanlike activities—frolicking in Vṛndāvana, dancing with the gopīs, playing with the Pāṇḍavas on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and playing in Mathurā and Dvārakā. And His most important pastimes in the human form are those in which He appears as a cowherd boy, a newly grown youth who plays a flute. Just a partial manifestation of His pastimes in Goloka—in Gokula, Mathurā and Dvārāvatī, or Dvārakā—can overflood the whole universe with love of Godhead. Everyone can be attracted by the beautiful qualities of Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

Kṛṣṇa is known as Madana-mohana because He conquers the mind of Cupid. He is also known as Madana-mohana due to His bestowing favors upon the damsels of Vraja and accepting their devotional service. After conquering Cupid's pride, the Lord engages in the rāsa dance as the new Cupid. He is also known as Madana-mohana because of His ability to conquer the minds of women with His five arrows of form, taste, smell, sound and touch. The pearls of the necklace hanging on Kṛṣṇa's neck are as white as ducks, and the peacock feather decorating His head is colored like a rainbow. His yellow garment is like lightning in the sky, and Kṛṣṇa Himself is like a newly arrived cloud. The gopīs are like food grains in the field, and when the cloud pours rain on those grains, it appears that Kṛṣṇa is nourishing the hearts of the gopīs by calling down His pastime rain of mercy. Indeed, ducks fly in the sky during the rainy season, and rainbows can also be seen at that time. Kṛṣṇa freely moves among His friends as a cowherd boy in Vṛndāvana, and when He plays His flute, all living creatures, mobile and immobile, are overwhelmed with ecstasy. They quiver, and tears flow from their eyes.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

The body of Kṛṣṇa, the ocean of the eternal beauty of youth, can be seen to move in waves of beauty, and there is a whirlwind at the sound of His flute. Those waves and that whirlwind make the hearts of the gopīs flutter like dry leaves on trees, and when those leaves fall down at Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, they can never rise up again. There is no beauty to compare with that of Kṛṣṇa, who is the origin of Nārāyaṇa and all other incarnations, for no one possesses beauty equal to or greater than Kṛṣṇa's. Otherwise, why would the goddess of fortune, the constant companion of Nārāyaṇa, give up His association and engage herself in penance to gain the association of Kṛṣṇa? Such is the superexcellent beauty of Kṛṣṇa, the everlasting mine of all beauty. It is from that beauty that all other beautiful things emanate.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 10:

The devotee increasingly feels the absence of Kṛṣṇa, for without Him one cannot drink the nectar of His beauty. When the transcendental sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute vibrates, the devotee's anxiety to hear that flute penetrates the covering of the material world and enters the spiritual sky, where the transcendental sound of the flute enters into the ears of the gopīs and their followers. The sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute always resides within the ears of the gopīs and increases their ecstasy. When they hear it, no other sound can enter their ears, and they are unable to reply properly to their family members' questions, for all these beautiful sounds are vibrating in their ears.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16:

One who becomes attracted by the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa begins devotional service. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.15.8) Kṛṣṇa glorifies the land of Vṛndāvana as He addresses Balarāma in this way:

dhanyeyam adya dharaṇī tṛṇa-vīrudhas tvat-
pāda-spṛśo druma-latāḥ karajābhimṛṣṭāḥ
nadyo ’drayaḥ khaga-mṛgāḥ sadayāvalokair
gopyo ’ntareṇa bhujayor api yat-spṛhāśrīḥ

"This land of Vrajabhūmi is made glorious by the touch of Your feet. Being touched by Your fingers, the creepers have also become glorious. When You look on the hills, rivers and lower animals, they too are all made glorious, and the gopīs, being embraced by Your transcendental arms, are also made glorious." The gopīs glorified Vṛndāvana in the following words: "Dear friends, all these inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi—everyone, including the birds, beasts and trees—are glorified when they see Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma singing on Their flutes as They go to the pasturing ground with Their friends."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 31:

In the Brahma-saṁhitā the transcendental land of Vṛndāvana is described as being always spiritual. That spiritual land is populated by goddesses of fortune, who are known as gopīs. These are all beloved of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is the only lover of all those gopīs. The trees of that land are all desire trees: you can have anything you want from any tree. The land is made of touchstone and the water is nectar. In that land all speech is song, all walking is dancing, and the constant companion is the flute. Everything is self-illuminated, just like the sun and moon in this material world. The human form of life is meant for understanding this transcendental land of Vṛndāvana, and one who is fortunate should cultivate knowledge of Vṛndāvana and its residents. In that supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa are surabhi cows who overflood the land with milk. Since not even a moment there is misused, there is no past, present or future. An expansion of that Vṛndāvana is present on this earth, and superior devotees worship the earthly Vṛndāvana as nondifferent from the supreme abode. No one can appreciate Vṛndāvana without being highly elevated in spiritual knowledge, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. According to ordinary experience, Vṛndāvana appears to be just like an ordinary tract of land, but in the eyes of a highly elevated devotee, it is as good as the original Vṛndāvana. A great saintly ācārya has sung: "When will my mind be cleared of all dirty things so I will be able to see Vṛndāvana as it is? And when will I be able to understand the literature left by the Six Gosvāmīs so that I will be able to understand the transcendental pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa?"

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 22:

In the Tenth Canto, Thirty-fifth Chapter, verse 15, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs tell mother Yaśodā, "When your son plays on His flute, Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Indra—although they are supposed to be the greatest learned scholars and personalities—all become bewildered. Although they are all very great personalities, by hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute they humbly bow down and become grave from studying the sound vibrated."

Nectar of Devotion 22:

Regarding the attractiveness of Kṛṣṇa's bodily beauty and the sound vibration of His flute, in the Tenth Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, verse 40, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs address Kṛṣṇa as follows: "Although our attitude toward You resembles loving affairs with a paramour, we cannot but wonder at how no woman can maintain her chastity upon hearing the vibration from Your flute. And not only women, but even stronghearted men are subject to falling down from their position at the sound of Your flute. In fact, we have seen that in Vṛndāvana even the cows, the deer, the birds, the trees—everyone—has been enchanted by the sweet vibration of Your flute and the fascinating beauty of Your person."

Nectar of Devotion 26:

In this connection, in the Tenth Canto, Twenty-first Chapter, verse 5, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells King Parīkṣit, "My dear King, I shall try to describe how the minds of the gopīs became absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs would meditate on Kṛṣṇa's dressing Himself just like a dancing actor and entering the forest of Vṛndāvana, marking the ground with His footprints. They meditated on Kṛṣṇa's having a helmet with a peacock feather and wearing earrings on His ears and yellow-gold colored garments covered with jewels and pearls. They also meditated on Kṛṣṇa's blowing His flute and on all the cowherd boys' singing of the glories of the Lord." That is the description of the meditation which the gopīs used to perform.

Nectar of Devotion 26:

Kṛṣṇa used a buffalo horn as a bugling instrument. This instrument was always highly polished and circled with gold bands, and on the middle there was a hole. Regarding these instruments, there is a metaphorical statement about a gopī named Tārāvalī. It is said that Tārāvalī was bitten by the most venomous snake of Kṛṣṇa's flute. Then, in order to neutralize the poisonous effect, she drank the milk produced by the buffalo horn in the hand of Kṛṣṇa. But instead of decreasing the poisonous effect, it increased it a thousand times. The gopī was thus put into the most miserable poisoned condition.

Nectar of Devotion 27:

A gopī once said to Kṛṣṇa, "My dear son of Nanda Mahārāja, by the sound of Your flute Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has become full of lamentation and fear, and thus, with a faltering voice, She is crying like a kurarī bird."

It is described that by hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute, Lord Śiva becomes very puzzled and begins to cry so loudly into space that the demons become vanquished and the devotees become overwhelmed with joy.

Nectar of Devotion 28:

When several such ecstatic symptoms are visible, the condition is called blazing. For example, one of Kṛṣṇa's friends told Him, "My dear friend, as soon as I heard the sound of Your flute from within the forest, my hands became almost motionless, and my eyes became full of tears—so much so, in fact, that I could not recognize Your peacock feather. My thighs became almost completely stunned so that I could not move even an inch. Therefore, my dear friend, I must acknowledge the wonderful vibration of Your transcendental flute."

Similarly, one gopī said to another, "My dear friend, when I heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, I tried to hide myself from the reaction of the vibrations. But still I could not check the trembling of my body, and therefore all of my friends in the house could detect my attachment for Kṛṣṇa without any doubt."

Nectar of Devotion 30:

In the Tenth Canto, Twenty-first Chapter, verse 13, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is an appreciation by the gopīs of the inertia of the cows in Vṛndāvana. The gopīs saw that the cows were hearing the sweet songs vibrated by Kṛṣṇa's flute and were appearing to be drinking the nectar of these transcendental sounds. The calves were stunned, and they forgot to drink the milk from the milk bags. Their eyes seemed to be embracing Kṛṣṇa, and there were tears in their eyes. This is an instance of inertia resulting from hearing the transcendental vibrations of Kṛṣṇa's flute.

Nectar of Devotion 30:

There is another statement in the Tenth Canto, Thirty-first Chapter, verse 16, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When all the gopīs came out of their homes to meet Kṛṣṇa in the Vṛndāvana forest, Kṛṣṇa refused to accept them and asked them to go home, giving them some moral instruction. At that time the gopīs spoke as follows: "Dear Kṛṣṇa, there is extreme distress in being out of Your presence, and there is extreme happiness simply in seeing You. Therefore we have all left our husbands, relatives, brothers and friends and have simply come to You, being captivated by the sound of Your transcendental flute. O infallible one, You had better know the reason for our coming here. In plain words, we are here simply because we have been captivated by the sweet sound of Your flute. We are all beautiful girls, and You are so foolish that You are rejecting our association. We do not know anyone, other than Yourself, who would miss this opportunity to associate with young girls in the dead of night!" This is another instance of indirect insults used against Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love.

Nectar of Devotion 30:

One of the gopīs said, "May Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute be washed away by the waves of the Yamunā, and let it fall into the ocean! The sweet sound of that flute is so impudent that it makes us lose all composure before our superiors."

Nectar of Devotion 30:

One night Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was talking in a dream. "My dear Kṛṣṇa," She said, "please do not play any more jokes on Me! Please stop! And please don't touch My garments either. Otherwise I shall inform the elderly persons, and I shall disclose all of Your naughty behavior." While She was talking like this in a dream, She suddenly awoke and saw some of Her superiors standing before Her. Thus Rādhārāṇī became ashamed and bowed Her head. This is an instance of alertness after awakening from sleep.

There is another instance of this. A messenger from Kṛṣṇa came to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī while She was sleeping, and Rādhārāṇī immediately awakened. Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa began to blow on His flute in the night, all of the gopīs, the beautiful daughters of the cowherd men, immediately got up from their sleep. There is a very beautiful comparison made in this connection: "The lotus flower is sometimes surrounded by white swans, and sometimes it is surrounded by black wasps who are collecting its honey. When there is a thundering in the sky, the swans go away, but the black wasps stay to enjoy the lotus flowers." The gopīs' sleeping condition is compared to the white swans, and the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute is compared to a black wasp. When Kṛṣṇa's flute sounded, the white swans, which represent the sleeping condition of the gopīs, were immediately vanquished, and the black wasp sound of the flute began to enjoy the lotus flower of the gopīs' beauty.

Nectar of Devotion 44:

In the Padyāvalī of Rūpa Gosvāmī it is stated that when the gopīs hear the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, they immediately forget all rebukes offered by the elderly members of their families. They forget their defamation and the harsh behavior of their husbands. Their only thought is to go out in search of Kṛṣṇa. When the gopīs meet Kṛṣṇa, the display of their exchanging glances as well as their joking and laughing behavior is called anubhāva, or subecstasy in conjugal love.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 14:

After finishing their lunch, Kṛṣṇa and His friends and calves began to return to their Vrajabhūmi homes. While passing, they enjoyed seeing the dead carcass of Aghāsura in the shape of a gigantic serpent. When Kṛṣṇa returned home to Vrajabhūmi, He was seen by all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana. He was wearing a peacock feather in His helmet, which was also decorated with forest flowers. Kṛṣṇa was also garlanded with flowers and painted with different colored minerals collected from the caves of Govardhana Hill. Govardhana Hill is always famous for supplying natural red oxides, and Kṛṣṇa and His friends painted their bodies with them. Each of them had a bugle made of buffalo horn and a stick and a flute, and each called his respective calves by their particular names. The cowherd boys were so proud of Kṛṣṇa's wonderful activities that, while entering the village, they all sang His glories. All the gopīs in Vṛndāvana saw beautiful Kṛṣṇa entering the village. The boys composed nice songs describing how they were saved from being swallowed by the great serpent and how the serpent was killed. Some described Kṛṣṇa as the son of Yaśodā, and others as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. "He is so wonderful that He saved us from the clutches of the great serpent and killed him," they said. But little did they know that one year had passed since the killing of Aghāsura.

Krsna Book 15:

When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma entered the village of Vṛndāvana along with Their friends, They played Their flutes, and the boys praised Their uncommon activities in the forest. Their faces were decorated with tilaka and smeared with the dust raised by the cows, and Kṛṣṇa's head was decorated with a peacock feather. Both He and Balarāma played Their flutes, and the young gopīs were joyous to see Kṛṣṇa returning home. All the gopīs in Vṛndāvana remained very morose on account of Kṛṣṇa's absence. All day they were thinking of Kṛṣṇa in the forest or of Him herding cows in the pasture. When they saw Kṛṣṇa returning, all their anxieties were immediately relieved, and they began to look at His face the way drones hover over the honey of the lotus flower. When Kṛṣṇa entered the village, the young gopīs smiled and laughed. Kṛṣṇa, while playing the flute, enjoyed the beautiful smiling faces of the gopīs.

Krsna Book 19:

In the evening, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, along with the boys and cows, returned to Vṛndāvana, playing Their flutes. As they approached the village, all the gopīs became very joyous. Throughout the day the gopīs used to think of Kṛṣṇa while He was in the forest, and in His absence they were considering one moment to be like twelve years.

Krsna Book 21:

With the arrival of the beautiful autumn season, the waters in the lakes and rivers became as clear as crystal and filled with fragrant lotus flowers, and breezes blew very pleasantly. At that time Kṛṣṇa entered the forest of Vṛndāvana with the cows and cowherd boys. Kṛṣṇa was very much pleased with the atmosphere of the forest, where flowers bloomed and bees and drones hummed very jubilantly. While the birds, trees and plants were all looking very happy, Kṛṣṇa, tending the cows and accompanied by Śrī Balarāma and the cowherd boys, began to vibrate His transcendental flute. After hearing the vibration of the flute of Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs in Vṛndāvana remembered Him and began to talk amongst themselves about how nicely Kṛṣṇa was playing His flute. When the gopīs were describing the sweet vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute, they also remembered their pastimes with Him; thus their minds became disturbed, and they were unable to describe completely the beautiful vibration. While discussing the transcendental vibration, they remembered also how Kṛṣṇa dressed, decorated with a peacock feather on His head, just like a dancing actor, and with blue flowers pushed over His ear. His garment glowed yellow-gold, and He was garlanded with a Vaijayantī necklace. Dressed in such an attractive way, Kṛṣṇa filled up the holes of His flute with the nectar emanating from His lips. So they remembered Him, entering the forest of Vṛndāvana, which is always glorified by the footprints of Kṛṣṇa and His companions.

Krsna Book 21:

Kṛṣṇa was very expert in playing the flute, and the gopīs were captivated by the sound vibration, which was attractive not only to them but to all living creatures who heard it. One of the gopīs told her friends, "The highest perfection of the eyes is to see Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma entering the forest and playing Their flutes and tending the cows with Their friends."

Krsna Book 21:

Persons who are constantly engaged in the transcendental meditation of seeing Kṛṣṇa, internally and externally, by thinking of Him playing the flute, entering the Vṛndāvana forest and tending the cows with the cowherd boys have really attained the perfection of samādhi. Samādhi (trance) means absorption of all the activities of the senses in a particular object, and the gopīs indicate that the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are the perfection of all meditation and samādhi. It is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā that anyone who is always absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa is the topmost of all yogīs.

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī expressed her opinion that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, while tending the cows with the cowherd boys, appeared just like actors going to play on a dramatic stage. Kṛṣṇa was dressed in glowing garments of yellow, Balarāma in blue, and They held new twigs of mango tree, peacock feathers and bunches of flowers in Their hands. Dressed with garlands of lotus flowers, They were sometimes singing very sweetly among Their friends. One gopī told her friends, "How is it Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are looking so beautiful?" Another gopī said, "My dear friends, we cannot even think of His bamboo flute—what sort of pious activities did it execute so that it is now enjoying the nectar of the lips of Kṛṣṇa, which is actually the property of us gopīs?" Kṛṣṇa sometimes kisses the gopīs; therefore the transcendental nectar of His lips is available only to them. So the gopīs asked, "How is it possible that the flute, which is nothing but a bamboo rod, is always engaged in enjoying the nectar from Kṛṣṇa's lips? Because the flute is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord, the mother and the father of the flute must be happy."

Krsna Book 21:

The lakes and the rivers are considered to be the mothers of the trees because the trees live simply by drinking water. So the waters of the lakes and rivers of Vṛndāvana were in a happy mood, full of blooming lotus flowers, because the waters were thinking, "How is it that our son, the bamboo rod, is enjoying the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's lips?" The bamboo trees standing by the banks of the rivers and the lakes were also happy to see their descendant so engaged in the service of the Lord, just as persons who are advanced in transcendental knowledge take pleasure in seeing their descendants engage in the service of the Lord. The trees were overwhelmed with joy and were incessantly yielding honey, which flowed from the beehives hanging on their branches.

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī spoke thus to her friends about Kṛṣṇa: "Dear friend, our Vṛndāvana is proclaiming the glories of this entire earth because this planet is glorified by the lotus footprints of the son of Devakī. Besides that, when Govinda plays His flute, the peacocks immediately become mad, as if they had heard the rumbling of a new cloud. When all the animals and trees and plants, either on the top of Govardhana Hill or in the valley, see the dancing of the peacocks, they all stand still and listen to the transcendental sound of the flute with great attention. We think that this boon is not possible or available on any other planet." Although the gopīs were village cowherd women and girls, they had extensive Vedic knowledge. Such is the effect of Vedic civilization. People in general would learn the highest truths of the Vedas simply by hearing from authoritative sources.

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī said, "My dear friends, just see the deer! Although they are dumb animals, they have approached the son of Mahārāja Nanda, Kṛṣṇa. Not only are they attracted by the dress of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, but as soon as they hear the playing of the flute, the deer, along with their husbands, offer respectful obeisances unto the Lord by looking at Him with great affection." The gopīs were envious of the deer because the deer were able to offer their service to Kṛṣṇa along with their husbands. The gopīs thought themselves not so fortunate because whenever they wanted to go to Kṛṣṇa, their husbands were not very happy.

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī said, "My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa is so nicely dressed that He appears to be the impetus to various kinds of ceremonies held by the womenfolk. Even the wives of the denizens of heaven become attracted after hearing the transcendental sound of His flute. Although they are traveling in the air in their airplanes, enjoying the company of their husbands, on hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, they immediately become perturbed. Their hair is loosened, and their tight belts are slackened." This means that the transcendental sound of the flute of Kṛṣṇa extended to all corners of the universe. Also, it is significant that the gopīs knew about the different kinds of airplanes flying in the sky.

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī said to her friends, "My dear friends, the cows are also charmed as soon as they hear the transcendental sound of the flute of Kṛṣṇa. It sounds to them like the pouring of nectar, and they immediately spread their long ears just to catch the liquid nectar of the flute. As for the calves, they are seen with the nipples of their mothers pressed in their mouths, but they cannot suck the milk. They remain struck with devotion, and tears glide down from their eyes, illustrating vividly how they are embracing Kṛṣṇa heart to heart." These phenomena indicate that even the cows and calves in Vṛndāvana knew how to cry for Kṛṣṇa and embrace Him heart to heart. Actually, the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be culminated in the shedding of tears from the eyes.

Krsna Book 21:

Another young gopī told her mother, "My dear Mother, the birds, who are all looking at Kṛṣṇa playing on His flute, are sitting very attentively on the branches and twigs of different trees. From their features it appears that they have forgotten everything and are engaged only in hearing Kṛṣṇa's flute. This proves that they are not ordinary birds; they are great sages and devotees, and just to hear Kṛṣṇa's flute they have appeared in Vṛndāvana forest as birds." Great sages and scholars are interested in Vedic knowledge, but the essence of Vedic knowledge is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). Through the knowledge of the Vedas, Kṛṣṇa has to be understood. From the behavior of these birds, it appeared that they were great scholars in Vedic knowledge and that they took to Kṛṣṇa's transcendental vibration and rejected all branches of Vedic knowledge. Even the river Yamunā, very much desiring to embrace the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa after hearing the transcendental vibration of His flute, broke her fierce waves to flow very nicely with lotus flowers in her hands, just to present flowers to Mukunda with deep feeling.

Krsna Book 21:

The scorching heat of the autumn sunshine was sometimes intolerable, and therefore the clouds in the sky appeared in sympathy above Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and Their boyfriends while They engaged in blowing Their flutes. The clouds served as a soothing umbrella over Their heads just to make friendship with Kṛṣṇa.

The aborigine girls became fully satisfied when they smeared their faces and breasts with the dust of Vṛndāvana, which was reddish from the touch of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. The aborigine girls had very full breasts, and they were also very lusty, but when their lovers touched their breasts, the girls were not very much satisfied. When they came out into the midst of the forest, they saw that while Kṛṣṇa was walking some of the leaves and creepers of Vṛndāvana had turned reddish from the kuṅkuma powder which fell from His lotus feet. His lotus feet are held by the gopīs on their breasts, which are smeared with kuṅkuma powder, but when Kṛṣṇa travels in the Vṛndāvana forest with Balarāma and His boyfriends, the reddish powder falls on the ground. So the lusty aborigine girls, while looking toward Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, saw the reddish kuṅkuma on the ground and immediately took it and smeared it over their faces and breasts. In this way they became fully satisfied, although they were not satisfied when their lovers touched their breasts. All material lusty desires can be immediately satisfied if one comes in contact with Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Another gopī began to praise the unique position of Govardhana Hill in this way: "How fortunate is this Govardhana Hill, for it is enjoying the association of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who are accustomed to walking on it. Thus Govardhana is always in touch with the lotus feet of the Lord. And because Govardhana Hill is so obliged to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, it is supplying different kinds of fruits, roots and herbs, as well as very pleasing crystal water from its lakes, in presentation to the Lord. The best presentation offered by Govardhana Hill, however, is newly grown grass for the cows and calves. Govardhana Hill knows how to please the Lord by pleasing His most beloved associates, the cows and the cowherd boys."

Krsna Book 21:

Another gopī said, "Everything appears wonderful when Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma travel in the forest of Vṛndāvana playing Their flutes and making intimate friendship with all kinds of moving and nonmoving living creatures. When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma play on Their transcendental flutes, the moving creatures become stunned and stop their activities, and the nonmoving living creatures, like trees and plants, begin to shiver with ecstasy. These are the wonderful reactions to the vibration of the transcendental flutes of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma."

Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma carried binding ropes on Their shoulders and in Their hands, just like ordinary cowherd boys. While milking cows, cowherd boys bind the cows' hind legs with a small rope. This rope almost always hangs from the shoulders of cowherd boys, and it was not absent from the shoulders of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. In spite of Their being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, They played exactly like cowherd boys, and therefore everything became wonderful and attractive.

Krsna Book 29:

On the mahāmāyā platform, dances take place on the basis of sense gratification. But when Kṛṣṇa called the gopīs by sounding His flute, they very hurriedly rushed toward the spot of the rāsa dance with the transcendental desire to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. The author of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, has explained that lust means sense gratification, and love also means sense gratification—but for Kṛṣṇa. In other words, when activities are enacted on the platform of personal sense gratification, they are called material activities, but when they are enacted for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, they are spiritual activities. On any platform of activities, the principle of sense gratification is there. But on the spiritual platform, sense gratification is for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, whereas on the material platform it is for the performer. For example, on the material platform, when a servant serves a master, he is trying to satisfy not the senses of his master but rather his own senses. The servant would not serve the master if the payment stopped. That means that the servant engages himself in the service of the master just to satisfy his own senses. On the spiritual platform, however, the servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead serves Kṛṣṇa without payment, and he continues his service in all conditions. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and material consciousness.

Krsna Book 29:

The appearance of the moon increased Kṛṣṇa's desire to dance with the gopīs. The forests were filled with fragrant flowers. The atmosphere was cooling and festive. When Lord Kṛṣṇa began to blow His flute, the gopīs all over Vṛndāvana became enchanted. Their attraction to the vibration of the flute increased a thousand times due to the rising full moon, the red horizon, the calm and cool atmosphere and the blossoming flowers. All the gopīs were by nature very much attracted to Kṛṣṇa's beauty, and when they heard the vibration of His flute, they became apparently lustful to satisfy the senses of Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 29:

While all the gopīs were hurriedly leaving their respective places, their husbands, brothers and fathers were all struck with wonder to know where they were going. Being young girls, they were protected either by husbands, elder brothers or fathers. All their guardians forbade them to go to Kṛṣṇa, but they disregarded them. When a person becomes attracted by Kṛṣṇa and is in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he does not care for any worldly duties, even though very urgent. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so powerful that it gives everyone relief from all material activities. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has written a very nice verse wherein one gopī advises another, "My dear friend, if you desire to enjoy the company of material society, friendship and love, then please do not go to see that smiling boy Govinda who is standing on the bank of the Yamunā and playing His flute, His lips brightened by the beams of the full moonlight." Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī indirectly instructs that one who has been captivated by the beautiful smiling face of Kṛṣṇa has lost all attraction for material enjoyments. This is the test of advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness: a person advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness must lose interest in material activities and personal sense gratification.

Krsna Book 30:

Actually, Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive: He is in the sky, and He is in the forest; He is within the heart, and He is always everywhere. The gopīs therefore began to question the trees and plants about Kṛṣṇa. There were various types of big trees and small plants in the forest, and the gopīs addressed them: "Dear banyan tree, have you seen the son of Mahārāja Nanda passing this way, laughing and playing on His flute? He has stolen our hearts and gone away. If you have seen Him, kindly inform us which way He has gone. Dear aśoka tree, dear nāga flower tree and campaka flower tree, have you seen the younger brother of Balarāma pass this way? He has disappeared because of our pride." The gopīs were aware of the reason for Kṛṣṇa's sudden disappearance. They could understand that when they had been enjoying Kṛṣṇa they thought themselves to be the most fortunate women within the universe, and since they were feeling proud, Kṛṣṇa had disappeared immediately just to curb their pride. Kṛṣṇa does not like His devotees to be proud of their service to Him. He accepts everyone's service, but He does not like one devotee to proudly consider himself better than others. If sometimes there are such feelings, Kṛṣṇa ends them by changing His attitude toward the devotee.

Krsna Book 35:

The gopīs used to discuss Kṛṣṇa amongst themselves, and their talks were as follows. "My dear friends," one gopī said, "do you know that when Kṛṣṇa lies on the ground He rests on His left elbow, and His head rests on His left hand? He moves His attractive eyebrows while playing His flute with His delicate fingers, and the sound He produces creates such a nice atmosphere that the denizens of the heavenly planets, who travel in space with their wives and beloveds, stop their airplanes, for they are stunned by the vibration of the flute. The wives of the demigods who are seated in the planes then become very much ashamed of their singing and musical qualifications. Not only that, but they become afflicted with conjugal love, and their hair and tight clothes immediately loosen."

Krsna Book 35:

Another gopī said, "My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa is so beautiful that the goddess of fortune always remains on His chest, and He is always adorned with a golden necklace. Beautiful Kṛṣṇa plays His flute in order to enliven the hearts of many devotees. He is the only friend of the suffering living entities. When He plays His flute, all the cows and other animals of Vṛndāvana, although engaged in eating, simply take a morsel of food in their mouths and stop chewing. Their ears raise up and they become stunned. They do not appear alive but like painted animals. Kṛṣṇa's flute-playing is so attractive that even the animals become enchanted, and what to speak of ourselves."

Krsna Book 35:

Another gopī said, "My dear friends, not only living animals but even inanimate objects like the rivers and lakes of Vṛndāvana also become stunned when Kṛṣṇa passes with peacock feathers on His head and His body smeared with the minerals of Vṛndāvana. With leaves and flowers decorating His body, He looks like some hero. When He plays on His flute and calls the cows with Balarāma, the river Yamunā stops flowing and waits for the air to carry dust from His lotus feet. But the river Yamunā is unfortunate like us; it does not get Kṛṣṇa's mercy. The river simply remains stunned, stopping its waves, just as we also stop crying for Kṛṣṇa in expectation." In the absence of Kṛṣṇa the gopīs were constantly shedding tears, but sometimes, when they expected that Kṛṣṇa was coming, they would stop crying. But when they saw that Kṛṣṇa was not coming, then again they would become frustrated and begin to cry.

Krsna Book 35:

One gopī said, "My dear friends, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are nicely dressed with earrings and pearl necklaces. They enjoy Themselves on the top of Govardhana Hill, and everything becomes absorbed in transcendental pleasure when Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute, charming the whole created manifestation. When He plays, the clouds stop their loud thundering out of fear of Him. Rather than disturb the vibration of His flute, they respond with mild thunder and so congratulate Kṛṣṇa, their friend."

Krsna Book 35:

Another gopī said, "My dear friends, when Kṛṣṇa returns home with His cows, the footprints of the soles of His feet—with flag, thunderbolt, trident and lotus flower—relieve the pain the earth feels when the cows traverse it. He walks in a stride which is so attractive, and He carries His flute. Just by looking at Him we become lusty to enjoy His company. At that time, our movements cease. We become just like trees and stand perfectly still, unaware that our hair and clothes are loosening."

Kṛṣṇa had many thousands of cows, and they were divided into groups according to their colors. They were also differently named according to color. When He would prepare to return from the pasturing ground, He would gather all the cows. As Vaiṣṇavas count 108 beads, which represent the 108 individual gopīs, so Kṛṣṇa would also count on 108 beads to count the different groups of cows.

Krsna Book 35:

"When Kṛṣṇa returns, He is garlanded with tulasī leaves," a gopī described Him to a friend. "He puts His hand on the shoulder of a cowherd boyfriend and begins to blow His transcendental flute. The wives of the black deer become enchanted upon hearing the vibration of His flute, which resembles the vibration of the vīṇā. The deer come to Kṛṣṇa and become so charmed that they stand still, forgetting their homes and husbands. Like us, who are enchanted by the ocean of the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa, the she-deer become enchanted by the vibration of His flute."

Krsna Book 39:

The gopīs prayed to the demigods to create some natural disturbance, such as a hurricane, storm or heavy rainfall, so that Kṛṣṇa could not go to Mathurā. They then began to consider, "Despite our parents and guardians, we shall personally stop Kṛṣṇa from going to Mathurā. We have no alternative but to take this direct action. Everyone has gone against us to take away Kṛṣṇa from our sight. Without Him we cannot live for a moment." The gopīs thus decided to obstruct the passage through which the chariot of Kṛṣṇa was supposed to pass. They began to talk among themselves: "We have passed a very long night—which seemed only a moment—engaged in the rāsa dance with Kṛṣṇa. We looked at His sweet smile and embraced Him and talked with Him. Now, how shall we live even for a moment if He goes away from us? At the end of the day, in the evening, along with His elder brother Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa would return home with His friends. His face would be smeared with the dust raised by the hooves of the cows, and He would smile and play on His flute and look upon us so kindly. How shall we be able to forget Him? How shall we be able to forget Kṛṣṇa, who is our life and soul? He has already taken away our hearts in so many ways throughout our days and nights, and if He goes away, there is no possibility of our continuing to live." Thinking like this, the gopīs became more and more grief-stricken at Kṛṣṇa's leaving Vṛndāvana. They could not check their minds, and they began to cry loudly, calling the different names of Kṛṣṇa, "O dear Dāmodara! Dear Mādhava!"

Krsna Book 44:

The gopīs give a perfect example of how one can execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness even while performing various types of material engagements. By constantly being absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa, one cannot be affected by the contamination of material activities. The gopīs, therefore, are perfectly in trance, samādhi, the highest perfectional stage of mystic power. In the Bhagavad-gītā, it is confirmed that one who is constantly thinking of Kṛṣṇa is a first-class yogī among all kinds of yogīs. "My dear friends," one lady told another, "we must accept the activities of the gopīs to be the highest form of piety; otherwise, how could they have achieved the opportunity of seeing Kṛṣṇa both morning and evening—in the morning when He goes to the pasturing ground with His cows and cowherd boyfriends, and in the evening when He returns with them, playing on His flute and smiling very brilliantly?"

Krsna Book 46:

Since Kṛṣṇa had departed from Vṛndāvana and gone to Mathurā, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, especially Mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the gopīs and the cowherd boys, were simply thinking of Kṛṣṇa at every step. They were thinking, "Here Kṛṣṇa was playing in this way. Here Kṛṣṇa was blowing His flute. Kṛṣṇa was joking with us in this way, and Kṛṣṇa was embracing us like this." This is called līlā-smaraṇa, and it is the process of association with Kṛṣṇa most recommended by great devotees; even Lord Caitanya, when He was at Purī, enjoyed līlā-smaraṇa association with Kṛṣṇa. Those in the most exalted position of devotional service and ecstasy can live with Kṛṣṇa always by remembering His pastimes. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has given us a transcendental literary work entitled Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta, which is full with Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Exalted devotees can remain absorbed in Kṛṣṇa-thought by reading such books. Any book of kṛṣṇa-līlā, even this book, Kṛṣṇa, or our Teachings of Lord Caitanya, is actually solace for devotees feeling separation from Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 47:

The gopīs were so much attracted to Kṛṣṇa that when they heard the vibration of His flute they instantly left their homes, families, children, honor and feminine bashfulness and ran toward the place where Kṛṣṇa was standing. They did not consider whether they were passing over the road or through the jungles. Imperceptibly, the dust of their feet was bestowed on small grasses and herbs of Vṛndāvana. Not daring to place the dust of the gopīs' feet on his own head in this life, Uddhava aspired to have a future birth in Vṛndāvana in the position of a clump of grass or herbs. He would then be able to have the dust of the gopīs' feet.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973:

So our the whole instruction of Bhagavad-gītā is that: You should not act for yourself; you should simply act for Kṛṣṇa. So even fighting for Kṛṣṇa, or even doing something still abominable for Kṛṣṇa... Just like the gopīs. The gopīs were captivated by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, very beautiful, and the gopīs were young girls. That is the superficial... Actually, the gopīs are eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). They are expansions of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency expansion. They are meant for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure. They are not ordinary women. But superficially, just to teach us how to love Kṛṣṇa at the risk of anything... Therefore gopīs, when they were attracted by Kṛṣṇa at midnight... Kṛṣṇa was playing flute, and they became attracted and they left home. Some of them were locked up. They gave up their life even. They were so much attracted. Now this kind of behavior, if youngs girls... According to Vedic civilization, they cannot go out from the protection of father, husband or brother. No, they cannot go. Especially at midnight. So this was against Vedic principle. It is openly a kind of prostitution. But because it was done for Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He recommends, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhubhiḥ kalpitā: "There is no more better type of worship than it was conceived by the vraja gopīs. Vraja-vadhu. The most abominable. For a young girl to leave the care of husband, father, and go to another young boy, according to Vedic culture, it is the most abominable. So still, because, it was, the center was Kṛṣṇa, it is accepted as the highest type of worship. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have to learn how to act only for Kṛṣṇa, how to love only Kṛṣṇa. Then our life is successful.

Lecture on BG 2.26-27 -- London, August 29, 1973:

The gopīs, they were young girls, wife of somebody, sister of somebody, daughter of somebody, but when Kṛṣṇa was playing on His flute at dead of night, they gave up all their engagement and began to run, "Where Kṛṣṇa is present?" So from Vedic standard of view, this is immorality. They are going to another young boy and leaving family. Even somebody, some of the gopīs, they left their sons also, and went to Kṛṣṇa. From material point of view this is immoral. So you'll find in such a way that what is from material point of view immoral, it is the most magnificent morality in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And similarly, from material point of view, what is moral, that is most, I mean to say, abominable from the point of view... Just like Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja became very moral. Kṛṣṇa advised him, "Just go and tell Droṇācārya that 'Your son is dead,' " although his son was not dead. Because Droṇācārya will not die unless he hears the news of the death of his son. He'll not die. So he would not believe anyone, but Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja is famous, very moral. So Kṛṣṇa asked him that "You go, otherwise he'll not believe anyone." So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja hesitated, "How can I say lies?" So for this he had to see hell. He became immoral. Man-nimitte kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ puṇyāya eva kalpate.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- Geneva, June 1, 1974:

Now, Kṛṣṇa said in the last stanza, mad-bhāvam āgatāḥ. Mad-bhāvam means "My nature." So Kṛṣṇa's nature, you will find always Kṛṣṇa, He is enjoying with His flute and His associates, His consort Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs. You will never find Kṛṣṇa in morose condition. He is in jubilation always. And because we are also part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, we have got the propensity to dance with young girls or enjoy the company of the young girls. That propensity is not unnatural. It is natural, jubilation, but because it is in material contact, we cannot enjoy it fully. There are so many inebrieties. Those who have seen our temple, we worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in jubilation. They are, along with the gopīs, playing the flute and many musical instruments, dancing. That is the definition given in the Vedānta-sūtra. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt, means "by nature jubilant." There is no moroseness. There is no unhappiness. That is the kingdom of God.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

So we don't want monkey renouncement; we want real renouncement. We don't use anything for my personal comfort; everything for Kṛṣṇa. That is called renouncement, not a single farthing for my personal comfort, but millions of dollars for Kṛṣṇa. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the only enjoyer. So this is called renouncement. Anyone who has renounced everything... Therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended the renouncement of the gopīs as the highest renouncement. Gopīs. The gopīs in Vṛndāvana... When Kṛṣṇa was present, He was so attractive. Now, why? Because He was said... Yesterday I explained that the God's one qualification is that He has all the beauty. Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). Śriyaḥ means beauty. So when He was sixteen years old, so in village He had many friends, girl friends, who were of the same age, but in India the girls are married earlier. In those days also, they were married at the age of twelve years, thirteen years. But Kṛṣṇa was only sixteen years. So... But He was playing flute. His playing flute was so nice that even at night, when He was playing flute, all those girls, they'll leave their husband and father and mother and everything; they'll come at once to Kṛṣṇa. So this is an example how they don't care for anything but Kṛṣṇa. So that is the life. Therefore... Of course, that is not material association. That can be understood when one is a little advanced in the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the love between the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa. That is not ordinary thing. So anyway, that... They did not care anything. So that is renouncement. The father is asking, "Oh, where you are going?" The husband is asking, "Oh, where you are going?" The brother is... "No, Kṛṣṇa's flute is there." So Lord Caitanya recommended, ramya kecid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-varga-vīrya-kalpita:(?) "There is no higher type of worship than it was done by the gopīs of the Lord." They were not very learned. They were ordinary village girls. They were not educated. They were not Vedantists, philosophers. But they had the unlimited ecstasy and love for Kṛṣṇa. That is required. That is called sannyāsa. Everything. We should, twenty-four hours, we should think in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how we can advance the cause of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is renouncement. That is the first-class renouncement, how to engage people... The people are suffering.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- London, March 9, 1975:

And then ānanda. Ānanda means pleasure, blissfulness. He is always... Kṛṣṇa, while He was present on this planet, He showed how to dance with the gopīs. He was always full of ānanda. Here we have got Kṛṣṇa. He is ānanda-mūrti. He is not nirānanda, without blissfulness. He is always with His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And He is playing flute and Rādhārāṇī is dancing. This is ānanda. So where is our ānanda? We imitate Kṛṣṇa, but we are not able to enjoy because we are in this material body. In this way from Bhagavad-gītā, if we study Bhagavad-gītā nicely, then we can understand what is God. Otherwise you can go on speculating for millions of years or for many, many births, you cannot understand what is God. There are so many societies, theological societies, this, theosophical societies, but what do they know about God? They do not know, neither can know. It is not possible, because they are thinking with their imperfect senses? How you can have the idea of the perfect, of the unlimited, by your imperfect speculation? That is not possible.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Fiji, May 24, 1975:

When Kṛṣṇa was present He was not controlled by anyone. He was only controller. If you study the life of Kṛṣṇa, you will find He is always controller, never controlled by anyone. Therefore the śāstra says, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). And about His form? His form is sat-cit-ānanda. How it is? Now, you can distinguish. Your form, this body, is asat; it will not stay. But Kṛṣṇa's form is sat, just the opposite. And your form or my form is full of ignorance, not cit. But Kṛṣṇa's form is full of knowledge, just opposite. And ānanda. My form is so full of miserable condition of life that I have no ānanda, blissfulness. But Kṛṣṇa's form is blissfulness. You will find Kṛṣṇa's picture always smiling and playing on His flute with His cowherd boyfriends or the gopīs or His mother, Yaśodā, always jolly. Ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is, the Vedānta-sūtra says, "The Absolute Truth by nature is ānandamaya, always jolly."

Lecture on BG 16.2-7 -- Bombay, April 8, 1971:

So because Arjuna is Kṛṣṇa's very intimate and dear friend, immediately He says... As soon as He says that daivī sampad vimokṣāya nibandhāyāsurī matā (BG 16.5). Āsurī matā. This asurika fighting or asurika qualities, this is the cause of being entangled in this material existence. So Arjuna may be thinking that "I am fighting. I am also in asurika sampat." So Kṛṣṇa (is) immediately encouraging him, mā śucaḥ. Mā śucaḥ sampadaṁ daivīm abhijāto 'si bhārata: "Don't think that you are in the asurika sampat." Why? He was fighting, he was killing. Why Kṛṣṇa says that "You are in the daivī sampat"? The thing is that he is fighting not for himself; he is fighting for Kṛṣṇa. That is the secret. He was fighting for Kṛṣṇa.

Personally he was not inclined to fight. Nonviolent. "No, Kṛṣṇa. I cannot fight. I cannot kill my brothers and the grandfather and so many relatives on the other side. I cannot." That was his personal consideration. But when the consideration is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, fighting for Kṛṣṇa, that is daivī sampad. So the summary is that if anyone is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness actually, not by concoction, by imagination, actually, then whatever he does, that is daivī. Whatever he does, that is daivī sampat. Mā nimittaṁ kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ puṇyāya eva kalpate.(?)

There are so many examples. We can cite some of them. Just like the gopīs. The gopīs at dead of night, when Kṛṣṇa's flute was being played... The gopīs were young girls. So immediately they give up their all engagement. Some of them were taking care of the children, some of them were cooking, some of them giving food to the husband. So many engagement. But they gave up any, everything and immediately went to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa advised them, "Oh, at dead of night you have come here?" Those who have read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, these things are there. Now, for young woman to leave family and, I mean to say, home and go to the forest for another person, it is most abominable, sinful, in the ordinary eyes. Sinful. But because it was done for Kṛṣṇa, even Lord Caitanya says, ramya kecid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-vargeṇa ya kalpita(?): "What can be the best type of worship than what was comprehended by the gopīs?" So in the ordinary way, if a young man, young woman, goes to another person for dancing or some other purpose, that is most sinful. But this is to be understood.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is against all this rascaldom, all this rascaldom. We present, "Here is God." Here is God. Take His name. Take His address also. That is also... It is so perfect. They are searching after God. We are giving the name, address, activity, everything, quality, all. Nāma-rūpa-līlā-parikara-vaiśiṣṭhyam, everything. Nāma means name. Here is Kṛṣṇa, God's name. Form, here is the form. He is engaged in enjoyment with Rādhārāṇī and playing on His flute. Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ bar... (Bs. 5.30). We are not imagining. Not that this artist imagines, the poet imagines. No. We don't do that rascaldom. We don't do that. We take information from the Vedas. Kṛṣṇa, when He was present personally, He played on His flute. The gopīs saw and the cowherds boys saw five thousand years ago. And the ācāryas took information. Even if you don't believe in the history, then come to śāstra. The śāstra says veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam: (Bs. 5.30) "Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always engaged in playing on His flute." This is Vedic statement. Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam: (Bs. 5.30) "His eyes are just like lotus petals." Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam: (Bs. 5.30) "He has got a peacock feather on His head." These are the description in the Vedas. "He has got a peacock feather on His head." Barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda: "His color is blackish." What kind of blackish? Asitāmbuda: "Just like new cloud." Asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam: "But don't think because He is blackish, He is not beautiful. He is most beautiful." How much beautiful?

Lecture on SB 1.2.11 -- Vrndavana, October 22, 1972:

After many, many births, understanding the Brahman... Brahman understanding is certainly transcendental, but because Brahman is only partial realization of the Absolute Truth, only the eternity... The Absolute Truth is eternal, blissful, knowledgeable, cognizant. So Brahman realization means realization of the eternity portion. Paramātmā-realization is knowledgeable. Paramātmā knows everything. Paramātmā is present in everyone's heart, and He knows everyone's activities. But actual realization, complete realization, means ānanda, sac-cid-ānanda. That ānanda-realization is in Kṛṣṇa-realization. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Kṛṣṇa is by nature jolly, always full of bliss. You have seen the picture of Kṛṣṇa. He's always tri-bhaṅga-murāri, with two hands, with, playing on flute, surrounded by the gopīs, enjoying. That is blissfulness.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Los Angeles, August 15, 1972:

So some way or other, we should come in contact with Kṛṣṇa. Some way or other. Then we'll be purified. Kāmād bhayād dveṣyāt. Just like the gopīs... The gopīs came to Kṛṣṇa being captivated by His beautiful features. They were young girls, and Kṛṣṇa was so beautiful. So actually, they came to Kṛṣṇa being lusty, but Kṛṣṇa is so pure that they became first-class devotees. There is no comparison of their devotion. Because they loved Kṛṣṇa with heart and soul. That is the qualification. That is the qualification. They loved so much Kṛṣṇa that they didn't care for family, for reputation. When they were going at dead of night... Kṛṣṇa's flute was there, and they were all fleeing. Their father, their brother, their husband: "Where you are going? Where you are going in this dead of night?" They didn't care. They neglected their children, their family, everything: "We must go to Kṛṣṇa." So this is required. We must be very, very eager so that... And many gopīs who were forcibly stopped, going to Kṛṣṇa, they lost their life. Just see how much eager they are. So this eagerness is wanted. Then you can see God. Either you become lusty or a thief or a murderer or whatever it may be. Some way or other, if you develop this eagerness, that "I must see Kṛṣṇa," then Kṛṣṇa will be seen.

Lecture on SB 1.15.36 -- Los Angeles, December 14, 1973:

If in material thing like the sun-sun is a material thing; it has got so much potency—so how much potencies the Supreme Personality of Godhead got? That is called inconceivable potency. Acintya, beyond your perception. He has got that potency.

So that is the statement of Vedas.
na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate
na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate
parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate
svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

(Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport)

The is description of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Person. Because it is said, tasya. Tasya means He's a person. So what kind of person? Like me? Whole day working, for money? No. Na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vid... He has nothing to do. See here. Kṛṣṇa has nothing to do. Simply He is enjoying, playing on flute and enjoying with Rādhārāṇī. That's all. He hasn't got to go to office, to the factory. (laughter) He hasn't got. He is simply to enjoy. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). And we also take, imitate that enjoyment. We also want to mix, young boys and girls, dance together. Because we imitate Kṛṣṇa. The same thing is there. With gopīs Kṛṣṇa is dancing. Here also we are dancing, in nightclub, and this club, that club. But that will not give you satisfaction, because it is imitation. If you want real dancing, come to Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted.

Lecture on SB 1.15.36 -- Los Angeles, December 14, 1973:

So our point is that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is there, and He is working through His potencies. Just like a big man, he is sitting on his parlor. He hasn't got to go. Just like we have seen Mr. Birla in... Those who are with me, they have seen. He is sitting in his home, but he has got many potencies. He has got secretaries, clerks, and this and that, so many things. So they are doing all work. He hasn't got to work. A big man means he hasn't got to work personally. He has got so many assistants. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, He is the Supreme. He hasn't got to work Himself. He hasn't got to work. Vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya padam ekaṁ na gacchati. He is always engaged in His playing flute and dancing with the gopīs. That's all. Pleasure. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). That is pleasure. So His potencies are working. What kind of potency? That is described. I have given the example. Just like the sun is there and the sunshine is there, and the sunshine is working everything. By the sunshine, the trees are coming out, the leaves are coming out. They are dropping when there is no sunshine. Everything is depending on sunshine.

Lecture on SB 3.25.18 -- Bombay, November 18, 1974:

Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. If you simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa, sarva-dharmān... Sarva... There are many dharmas, or many activities or function. Some of them are pious; some of them are impious. There are two kinds. So Kṛṣṇa says, "You give up, pious and impious, both." That is sarva-dharmān. Because we are acting piously and impiously. So you can give up both pious activities and impious activities. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna was thinking that "Fighting with my brother, it is impious." So Kṛṣṇa was insisting that "You must fight." So how Arjuna could take impious activities? Because Kṛṣṇa's service is above these pious and impious activities. That is called sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66). Just like the gopīs. The gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa at mid..., midnight, by simply hearing the flute of Kṛṣṇa. So young girl, going to Kṛṣṇa at midnight, this is impious activities. According to śāstra, according to moral, it is impious activities. But because it was done for Kṛṣṇa, it is understood as the most pious. Recommends. Who recommends? Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was sannyāsī. He was very, very strict. And no woman could come near Him to offer respects. He was very strict about woman. And now, He's saying, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā: "What can be more wonderful process of worship than as it was conceived by the gopīs?" The six Gosvāmīs also: gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau. So, so although it looks apparently that gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa to dance with Him, that is not very moral, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that is the highest method of worshiping Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.36 -- Bombay, December 5, 1974:

So śrī-vigraha-darśanam. This temple is situated to give people the facility as it is described here. Tair darśanīya avayavaiḥ udāra. We have to see the Deity beginning from the lotus feet, not jumping over the smiling face. That is the way. First of all you try to see. And when you are practiced... Try to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and when you are practiced to this habit, even after visiting the temple if you go home, if you are practice to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is meditation. So darśanīya avayavaiḥ: "Different limbs." First of all feet, then the thighs, then the belt, then the chest, then you reach the smiling face. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's form... If you meditate on Kṛṣṇa's form, that is Kṛṣṇa. So we associate with Kṛṣṇa, His smiling face, His flute, His hand, His dress, His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, or any other, gopīs, surrounded by. In this way, practice this habit of observing the Supreme Lord. Therefore He has appeared, arcā-vigraha, so that we can see Him.

Lecture on SB 3.26.29 -- Bombay, January 6, 1975:

This body, material body, is asat. Everyone knows. It will not stay: temporary. Avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam. This body is vināśi, and the dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13), the dehinaḥ, the proprietor of the body, he is avināśi. He is sat, but this body is asat. Asad-grahāt. The śāstra says that sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt (SB 7.5.5). This living entity, although part and parcel of the Supreme Being, Kṛṣṇa, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, so why, instead of ānanda, we have got anxieties? Instead of ānanda... Actually, we should have been in ānanda. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12). Just like Kṛṣṇa is before us. He is ānanda, He is enjoying, He is playing on His flute, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is serving Him, and all the gopīs serving Him. And those who are devotees, they are also trying to assist Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs to give Kṛṣṇa pleasure. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ. All the expansion, Kṛṣṇa—Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs—they are expansion of ānanda-cinmaya-rasa; they are not material. They are all ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). They are also Kṛṣṇa's. Everything is Kṛṣṇa, separated and personal. So these are personal expansion. We are also Kṛṣṇa's. We are separated now in this material... Therefore we have forgotten Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 6.1.33 -- Honolulu, June 1, 1976:

So Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person... We are also. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa we have got the same quality. So you see Kṛṣṇa, He is enjoying with the gopīs, with the cowherd boys, friends, in Vṛndāvana, in the forest, with cows, with calves. This is enjoyment, variety. Zero is enjoyment? No. Zero is not enjoyment. Ānanda mayo 'bhyāsāt. This is the Vedānta-sūtra, that the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead, is simply enjoying. Everything enjoyment. You find Kṛṣṇa always, wherever He is, He is playing on flute with company, either gopīs or cowherd boy or somebody, somebody. This is enjoyment. And He comes personally on this planet to show His enjoyment life in Vṛndāvana—that place is Vṛndāvana; therefore Vṛndāvana is so important—to invite us that "Why you are not in here? Come with Me. Enjoy with My dance." Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also you see dancing. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityananda śrī-advaita-gadādhara śrīvāsādi... All dancing. Saṅgo-paṅgāstra-pārṣada. So the life is this enjoyment, dancing. That is life, not meditation, "For fifteen minutes' meditation I become God. That's all." (laughter) These are all rascals. Enjoyment is real life. Enjoyment. That enjoyment, not this material world, the sex. No. Above this. Transcendental. That we find information in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 6.1.37 -- Los Angeles, June 3, 1976:

There are three modes of material nature—goodness, passion and ignorance. Those who are in ignorance, they are animals, animals platform. Those who are in passion, karmī platform. And those who are in goodness, they're jñānī platform. But our aim is to transcend even the jñānī platform. Not to remain in the platform of ignorance, not to remain in the platform of passion, and not to remain even in the platform of goodness. That is transcendental. That is transcendental. Just like gopīs are going to Kṛṣṇa at dead of night, at midnight. And how they're going? Kṛṣṇa is playing the flute, and gopīs are running, giving up all their engagement in the family. Somebody was lying with her husband, somebody was engaged in the kitchen, somebody was taking care of the children, so on, so on. But they left everything and went to Kṛṣṇa. This is transcendental. When we go to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, giving up everything, that is transcendental platform. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66).

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

The jñāna system, the yoga system is by force they are trying to detach. That is not possible. It may be possible for the time being. Just like Viśvamitra, a great sage. These are the historical references. He was a very great king and he wanted to realize self, and he began to meditate in the forest alone, as it is, this yoga system, that "He must be in secluded life. He must make his seat in a very sacred place and sit in this posture." There are... So he followed everything completely, perfect yogi. But as soon as Indra saw that "This man is performing a great yoga system. He may not acquire my position," so he sent one beautiful girl, Menakā, to entice him. So she came, she began to dance before her (him), and there was tinkling sound, and at once his meditation broke. And she was very beautiful, coming from heaven, so he became attached, and the woman became pregnant. Then she got a child, Śakuntala, and then Viśvamitra came to this senses: "Oh, I left my kingdom, I came to forest for meditation. Again I am going to be another kingdom." So he decided that "I shall go away." So Menakā tried to entice him, "Oh, why you shall go? You just see how nice girl you have got. Just see." There is a picture. Perhaps you have seen. And Viśvamitra is doing like this: "Don't show me anymore. Let me go away." Of course, he was very much advanced. He could go. But this allurement is always there. But Kṛṣṇa is so beautiful and so nice that if you increase your love for Kṛṣṇa, then you have no more any attachment for anything, any beautiful thing of this world. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate. Just like Kṛṣṇa and these gopīs. They came to Kṛṣṇa, giving up their all engagements. Some of them were engaged in, I mean to say, loving children, some of them were engaged in serving their husband, or unmarried girls, they were engaged to serving her father, brothers. But as soon as Kṛṣṇa blew His flute, they came, all.

So similarly, if our attachment becomes very nice, very mature for Kṛṣṇa, then this viraktata, or detachment for material things, will automatically happen.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, December 26, 1972:

So these things take place in war, sometimes. There is no international law, no humanitarian... Everything goes on. Everything. Similarly, the point is that as people act, hooks and crooks, everything, for satisfying the senses, gaining some material profit, similarly, if need be, everything can be accepted for Kṛṣṇa's service. Everything can be, can be accepted. Otherwise, how Sanātana Gosvāmī is bribing? How Kṛṣṇa is advising Yudhiṣṭhira to speak lie? There is a verse, man nimitte kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ puṇya eva kalpate. Sometimes it appears that this is a sinful act, but if it is done for Kṛṣṇa, the, our bhakti is ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). We have to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. "Kṛṣṇa is asking me to tell lie. Yes, I shall tell lie." That is bhakti. If I consider, "Oh, I never spoken lies in my life. How can I speak lie?" that is not bhakti. Because it is prātikūla, against the desire of Kṛṣṇa. Common people cannot understand this. They'll be shuddered. (aside:) Why one candle is not burning? Get it. You should... They think, "Oh, oh, Kṛṣṇa is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira, such a nice man, religious person, and He's teaching him to speak lie." Avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam (BG 9.11). If sometimes one thinks like that, he becomes mūḍha. When Karṇa was repairing the wheel of his chariot, Kṛṣṇa asked Arjuna, "Kill him immediately. Kill him immediately." And Karṇa protested: "Arjuna, what you are doing? I am not in fighting now." So Kṛṣṇa said, "No, this is the time of... Otherwise, you cannot be able to kill him. This is the time. This is the opportunity. You kill him." Because Karṇa was greater hero than Arjuna. Dronācārya, Bhīṣma... That is explained by Parīkṣit Mahārāja, that "In the battlefield of Kuru, just like a ocean, and there were big, big crocodiles, animals, like Dronācārya, Bhīṣma, Karṇa. But by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, my grandfather was able to kill them." Arjuna was not so strong that he could kill Bhīṣma or Dronācārya, Karṇa. They were greater heroes. So these things are there.

There, there are many instances. Just like gopīs. At dead of night, when Kṛṣṇa's flute was there, they left their husband, left their father, left their brothers, children, everything, and they went away. Now, according to our Vedic system, young girls, young women, leaving the protection of father, brother or superiors, and going in the forest for another boy—oḥ, it is very sinful. Socially, it is sinful. And Kṛṣṇa instructed them, "What you have done? You go back immediately." And they began to cry. That, this description is there. So now, from the social point of view, this is sin. This is sin when the gopīs went to Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja was standing without any protest and his father is being killed. Now can any sane man see that his father is being killed, and he's standing silently, without any protest?

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.164-173 -- New York, December 13, 1966:

In the rāsa dance, Kṛṣṇa performed the rāsa dance, not exactly the ball dance... But it is an imitation of that rāsa dance. Because you cannot have any idea of anything without its being originally in Kṛṣṇa. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). That is the version of Vedānta-sūtra. Any idea, whatever you... But they are simply perverted reflection. That's all. You cannot get anything, any idea, without its being situated in Kṛṣṇa. The rāsa dance, that is described in the Thirty-second Chapter of the Tenth Canto in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Five chapters, from Twenty-ninth Chapter to Thirty-fourth Chapter, Kṛṣṇa's rāsa dance is described there. The rāsa dance... The short history of rāsa dance is that Kṛṣṇa was sixteen years old, and the girls of the village, Vṛndāvana, and the boys, they were all friends. Naturally in India the girls were early married, some at the age of twelve years, some at the age of thirteen years, some at the age of ten years. The boys remain... So the girls who were friends of Kṛṣṇa, they always prayed to different demigods, Lord Śiva, that "Kṛṣṇa may be our husband." So that desire was there, but it was not possible to get Kṛṣṇa to become everyone's..., because He was only a boy. But they maintained that idea although they were married and some of them were mothers. Some of them were unmarried. So Kṛṣṇa, to fulfill their desire, He blew on His flute on a nice moonlight night, and all the gopīs, all those girls, they came. And Kṛṣṇa advised them, "Oh, you are now married. You have come at dead of night to Me. It is not good." In this way He advised so many things. They were very moral instruction. But the gopīs denied to go back, and they arranged that dancing. That is called rāsa dance.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.391-405 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

Now God's manifestation, fullest manifestation, is at Vṛndāvana. Fullest manifestation. Full freedom. In Kṛṣṇa, when He's at Vṛndāvana, He has full freedom. Now there was a question: When rāsa-līlā..., Kṛṣṇa performed rāsa-līlā. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit, he questioned. Mahārāja Parīkṣit was hearing the description of rāsa-līlā from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So he cleared out one question which is generally discussed about the character of Kṛṣṇa because He enjoyed these rāsa-līlā pastimes at dead of night, He played on His flute and all the gopīs of Vṛndāvana, they came into the forest and they had the rāsa dance. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit, or King Parīkṣit, inquired to his teacher, Śukadeva Goswami, that Kṛṣṇa is on this earth, He appeared on this earth for paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya... Dharma saṁsthāpanārthāya (BG 4.8), just to establish the process of religiosity. And India at least, still, the Vedic principle is that a, a lady or a girl who is especially married, or unmarried, she cannot mix with any other men. So that is against religious principles. So this question was raised that these girls who were already married, how they went to Kṛṣṇa for dancing with Him, and how Kṛṣṇa allowed them to dance with Him, because against religious principles. This question was raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja. Of course, you cannot imagine that a girl going to a friend and dancing with him, that is not against religious principles. But according to Vedic principles, this is irreligious.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 34 -- San Francisco, September 13, 1968 :

Prabhupāda: So just imagine the position of the Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Everyone is worshiping somebody. Somebody is worshiping his wife, somebody is worship..., worshiping his husband, somebody is worshiping the leader of the country, somebody is worshiping something, something, something. And if anyone has nothing, then somebody is worshiping a dog, a cat. But we are worshiping the original person, Kṛṣṇa. Just see our position. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. We are not flattering ordinary things. We have captured the original. Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. And why not? He is so...

Devotees: (all shout simultaneously, enthusiastically) Jaya, hari bol!

Prabhupāda: He is so beautiful. (laughter) Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ. And calling us, by playing on His flute, nice flute. When He was playing His flute, all the gopīs, they would give up all their family duties, everything, and go off to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa. Their fathers, their brothers, their husbands, who will call them, "Where you are going? It is dead of night!" "No, we are going to Kṛṣṇa."

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 20, 1968, San Francisco:

Devotee (3): You..., you told a story once about, there was one, the devotee of Lord Caitanya, where he had never met Lord Caitanya, but he had some water sprinkled on him from a Muslim, Muhammadan, and that, that astrologer told him to pour..., to drink lead, hot lead. And he said, I was (indistinct)...

Prabhupāda: Buddhimanta Khān.

Devotee (3): Yeah, Buddhimanta Khān. (pause) You've also said in the past that there is no reality of this material world save for, save Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, save...

Prabhupāda: Yes, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (says), nāma vinā kichu nāhika āra, cauddha-bhuvana-majhe. (pause)

Devotee (3): Kṛṣṇa is our only insurance, and you are the, you are the insurance representative.

Prabhupāda: People are so intelligent that when the representative of Kṛṣṇa speaks, they (indistinct) enemies, and sometimes they crucify, kill. So people are so kind that they are not killing. Otherwise, why Christ, (indistinct) was killed? What fault? What is his fault? Just see. Was there any fault in his words? He advised, "Don't kill," and he was crucified. We have to deal with such rascals. I may be representative, but he is directly son of God. People are so rascal that they did not believe even the son of God, what to speak of His representative. What is that? Why Jesus Christ was killed? What was his fault? People are (indistinct). What the Christians will ask? Therefore we are (indistinct) and not only that, they have been giving this idea that "For our sinful reaction Christ has taken contract, so let him suffer being killed(?)." Cow-killing is very, very sin, "That's all right; don't mind. Christ will suffer." How easy understanding they have.

Devotee (2): They...

Prabhupāda: Huh?.

Devotee (2): They call it love.

Prabhupāda: This is love? If you say, "Prabhupāda, I love you. Now I want to kill you. Now I will kill you." Please don't love me! (laughter) Please get out. "I love you so much that I will kill you."

Devotee (2): They like to keep the, Christ, the deity of Christ, they keep him nailed on the cross. They think that's very...

Prabhupāda: Therefore you see all the pictures in the Church, he is carrying the cross, and he is pushing, pushed by the government men. How miserable condition they show.

Devotee (2): They don't have any...

Prabhupāda: They do not have picture, just like we show Kṛṣṇa is enjoying. Such rotten things. That is going on in religion. They love, they love means they want to see their lovable suffering so much, you see. Only then (indistinct). This, we want to see our lovable object that He is enjoying. Young boy, (indistinct) gopīs, and nice night, playing flute, He's enjoying. That we want to see. And they want to see that lovable he is suffering. How they can see it, if there is love?

Devotee (2): If they loved him they would not be able to stand to look at that.

Prabhupāda: That is going on in the name of religion. Therefore so many rogues, rascals. Rascals. We say clearly (indistinct). Simply rogues.

Morning Walk -- March 20, 1968, San Francisco:

Devotee (3): You..., you told a story once about, there was one, the devotee of Lord Caitanya, where he had never met Lord Caitanya, but he had some water sprinkled on him from a Muslim, Muhammadan, and that, that astrologer told him to pour..., to drink lead, hot lead. And he said, I was (indistinct)...

Prabhupāda: Buddhimanta Khān.

Devotee (3): Yeah, Buddhimanta Khān. (pause) You've also said in the past that there is no reality of this material world save for, save Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, save...

Prabhupāda: Yes, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura (says), nāma vinā kichu nāhika āra, cauddha-bhuvana-majhe. (pause)

Devotee (3): Kṛṣṇa is our only insurance, and you are the, you are the insurance representative.

Prabhupāda: People are so intelligent that when the representative of Kṛṣṇa speaks, they (indistinct) enemies, and sometimes they crucify, kill. So people are so kind that they are not killing. Otherwise, why Christ, (indistinct) was killed? What fault? What is his fault? Just see. Was there any fault in his words? He advised, "Don't kill," and he was crucified. We have to deal with such rascals. I may be representative, but he is directly son of God. People are so rascal that they did not believe even the son of God, what to speak of His representative. What is that? Why Jesus Christ was killed? What was his fault? People are (indistinct). What the Christians will ask? Therefore we are (indistinct) and not only that, they have been giving this idea that "For our sinful reaction Christ has taken contract, so let him suffer being killed(?)." Cow-killing is very, very sin, "That's all right; don't mind. Christ will suffer." How easy understanding they have.

Devotee (2): They...

Prabhupāda: Huh?.

Devotee (2): They call it love.

Prabhupāda: This is love? If you say, "Prabhupāda, I love you. Now I want to kill you. Now I will kill you." Please don't love me! (laughter) Please get out. "I love you so much that I will kill you."

Devotee (2): They like to keep the, Christ, the deity of Christ, they keep him nailed on the cross. They think that's very...

Prabhupāda: Therefore you see all the pictures in the Church, he is carrying the cross, and he is pushing, pushed by the government men. How miserable condition they show.

Devotee (2): They don't have any...

Prabhupāda: They do not have picture, just like we show Kṛṣṇa is enjoying. Such rotten things. That is going on in religion. They love, they love means they want to see their lovable suffering so much, you see. Only then (indistinct). This, we want to see our lovable object that He is enjoying. Young boy, (indistinct) gopīs, and nice night, playing flute, He's enjoying. That we want to see. And they want to see that lovable he is suffering. How they can see it, if there is love?

Devotee (2): If they loved him they would not be able to stand to look at that.

Prabhupāda: That is going on in the name of religion. Therefore so many rogues, rascals. Rascals. We say clearly (indistinct). Simply rogues.

Page Title:Krsna's flute and the gopis
Compiler:Haripriya, Sahadeva, Visnu Murti, MadhuGopaldas
Created:18 of Sep, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=11, CC=23, OB=48, Lec=22, Con=2, Let=0
No. of Quotes:106