20260203 Śrī Caitanya-śīksāmṛta 7.7. Conjugal Bhakti-rasa

Seventh Shower — Rasa vicāra (Analysis of the mellows)

Seventh Stream — Conjugal Bhakti-rasa

Note: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.19

kṛtvā tāvantam ātmānaṁ
yāvatīr gopa-yoṣitaḥ
reme sa bhagavāṁs tābhir
ātmārāmo ’pi līlayā

Expanding Himself as many times as there were cowherd women to associate with, the Supreme Lord, though self-satisfied, playfully enjoyed their company.

In one aspect of kṛṣṇa-tattva lies ātmārāmatā—self-delight. In the opposite aspect lies the pinnacle of līlārāmatā manifested as parakīya-bhāva. When the hero and heroine, though entirely unrelated and externally distant, unite through attraction (rāga), the astonishing rasa that arises is known as parakīya-rasa. The more one is drawn toward ātmārāmatā, the more rasa dries up. The more one is drawn toward līlārāmatā, the more rasa blossoms in joy. Where Kṛṣṇa alone is the hero, parakīya-rasa is never contemptible. When an ordinary living being assumes the role of hero, then the distinctions of dharma and adharma arise, and parakīya-bhāva is completely contemptible.

Even the mere conversation between a paramour and a married woman is decided to be completely contemptible by poets. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī states that the inferiority attributed to the upapati (paramour) in the scriptures of ordinary poetic ornamentation is spoken only in relation to mundane heroes but applied in relation to the transcendental Kṛṣṇa, who is directly the object of rasa-extraction and divine relish.

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is explaining how Kṛṣṇa is the only hero, He is the Supreme Person, He is the Supreme Enjoyer. So, if He is participating in this parakīya-rasa, it is transcendental and nothing to do with the material world. So, it is something that people cannot easily understand. That is why Śrīla Prabhupāda told one congregational member that I am not qualified, when the congregational members wanted to tell them about the loving pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. So he said, you are not qualified and they said, no, no, we are not qualified. Then he said I am not qualified. Because people misunderstand unless they are practicing devotees, they will not understand. I mean, who else can expand Himself into millions of forms and dance with every gopī?! So, for Kṛṣṇa this is very transcendental. And people consider it mundane is very contemptible!

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The women of the city are svakīyā (lawfully wedded).

One who accepts a maiden's hand in marriage is called a pati (husband).

Note: Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi

uktaḥ patiḥ sa kanyāyā yaḥ pāṇigrahako bhavet

He is called the pati (husband) of a maiden who becomes the acceptor of her hand in marriage.

When one becomes agītāted by intense love (anurāga) and transgresses the religious principles of marriage in order to attain a paramour heroine, surrendering everything to that love, such a person is described by learned scholars as an upapati.

Note: Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi

rāgeṇollaṅghayan dharmaṁ parakīyābalārthinā
tadīyaHH-prema-sarvasvaṁ budhair upapatiḥ smṛtaḥ
atraiva paramotkarṣaḥ śṛṅgārasya pratiṣṭhitaḥ
laghutvam atra yat proktaṁ tattv tu prākṛta-nāyake
na kṛṣṇe rasa-niryāsa-svādārtham avatariṇi

When one, impelled by passionate love (rāga), transgresses the religious codes of marriage in pursuit of a paramour heroine (parakīyā), and surrenders everything to that love, such a person is called an upapati by learned scholars. In this very mood, the supreme excellence of conjugal love (śṛṅgāra-rasa) is established. The inferiority sometimes attributed to this mood applies only to mundane lovers—not to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who descends to relish the essence of transcendental mellows.

A woman who disregards both worldly and spiritual religious principles, and violates the sanctity of marriage by surrendering herself to a man other than her husband, is known as a parakīya-nāyikā (paramour). Parakīya is of two types—those who are unmarried girls (kaṇyakā) and those who are married women (paroḍhā).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa wants our intense love. So, if a person gives up her religious principles, social obligations to her husband and dedicates it to Kṛṣṇa, that is transcendental! So that is why the parakīya-rasa is something that Kṛṣṇa enjoys. Actually, Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s husband. And it is artificial that there are other husbands. But He creates this kind of situation so that people can naturally be attached to their husbands, but their attachment to Kṛṣṇa is more. Also, all of us, we should want from our inner heart, that we want to serve Kṛṣṇa! All the material duties, other things, our desire to serve guru and Kṛṣṇa is supreme. We are also learning the system of following the gopīs’ footsteps. That for us we do everything very dutifully but really Kṛṣṇa’s service is our supreme desire! What do you think?

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Note: Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi

kaṇyakāś ca paroḍhāś ca parakīyā dvidhā matāḥ
vrajeśa-vrajavāsinya etā-prāyeṇa viśrutāḥ
pracchanna-kāmatā hy atra gokulendrasya saukhyadā

The parakīya mood is of two types: involving unmarried girls (kaṇyakā) and married women (paroḍhā). The Vraja-gopīs, under the rule of Mahārāja Nanda, are renowned for this mood. Their hidden amorous desires (pracchanna-kāmatā) bring great pleasure to the King of Gokula.

A woman who is united with her husband through the rite of marriage (pāṇigrahaṇa-vidhi), who remains devoted to following his instructions, and who does not deviate from the path of chastity (pātivratya-dharma)—she is known as svakīyā.

The ladies of Vraja are often in a paramour relationship (pārakīyā)

Kṛṣṇa’s queens in Dvārakā are svakīya (wedded consorts), whereas the ladies of Vraja are often in the parakīya mood (paramour lovers). From the conversations between Vijaya and Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī, this has been accepted up to this point, with certain omissions here and there.

The position of Kṛṣṇa’s consorts in the unmanifest pastimes—whether svakīya or parakīya—is now being expressed. The unmanifest līlā in Goloka is eternal; just as there are daily eternal pastimes in this earthly Vraja (bhauma-vraja), so too are they present in Goloka in the same manner. Those who are seers in Goloka can see these līlās as it is, because they are beyond māyā, and thus possess vision that transcends the modes of nature.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa is manifesting His līlās in the Bhauma Vṛndāvana and those līlās are eternally manifest in the spiritual world. So, we find this, when Brahmā stole all the cowherd boys and hid them in a cave, it was a moment for him but here a year went by. That year, Kṛṣṇa manifest Himself as all the cowherd boys! So then in India, there was rampant child marriage, it was the custom. And so, at that time all the cowherd boys married all the girls. Actually the cowherd boys were Kṛṣṇa. So actually Kṛṣṇa was their husband but officially the cowherd boys were their husbands. After one year when Brahmā came back the cowherd boys returned to their families. The cowherd girls grew up and moved with their husbands, actually the cowherd boys they were married to, actually it was Kṛṣṇa, but the cowherd girls  thought that they were married to someone else. Anyway, apparently they were more attached to Kṛṣṇa than their husbands. So, like that, we see that the gopīs are glorified in this description because of their unalloyed attraction to Kṛṣṇa. we heard about all the other rasas and naturally the parents, servants, the friends are all devoted to Kṛṣṇa. But here we see in the mādhurya-rasa it is more intense. In Dvārakā, there is svakīya, they are married to Kṛṣṇa. He has 16,108 forms entering into 16,108 palaces, associated with His wife in each palace! Like that Kṛṣṇa dances in the rasa-līlā, with millions of gopīs or trillions of gopīs, He can expand Himself to that many forms. I mean, He is present in all Your hearts as the Supersoul. In your heart, you may be thinking something, I don’t know what you are thinking but He knows. We cannot compare our love, our situation with Him. So this gives us an idea what mādhurya-rasa. Who knows, some of you may be in the mādhurya-rasa and someone in one of the other rasas!

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The parakīya-bhāva of the gopīs is faultless.

The eternal pastimes that manifest within the material realm are of the same nature as those in the spiritual world. However, due to the influence of the modes of illusion, the eyes and ears of the seers here are covered, and thus they perceive these pastimes with certain flaws in vision, tinged by a sense of illusion. The conception of parakīya (paramour love) that eternally exists in Goloka may appear in the material world to resemble mundane relationships. In Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, there is no trace of inferiority or material contamination but perception of inferiority and materiality is inevitable due to the senses that are composed of the modes of nature. This very truth was revealed by Kṛṣṇa to the gopas of this material world.

Note:

iti sañcintya bhagavān
mahā-kāruṇiko hariḥ
darśayām āsa lokaṁ svaṁ
gopānāṁ tamasaḥ param

satyaṁ jñānam anantaṁ yad
brahma-jyotiḥ sanātanam
yad dhi paśyanti munayo
guṇāpāye samāhitāḥ

Thus deeply considering the situation, the all-merciful Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari revealed to the cowherd men His abode, which is beyond material darkness. Lord Kṛṣṇa revealed the indestructible spiritual effulgence, which is unlimited, conscious and eternal. Sages see that spiritual existence in trance, when their consciousness is free of the modes of material nature.

There is no shame or fault whatsoever in the parakīyatva (paramour mood) of the gopīs, because the criticisms heard regarding married women and courtesans among ordinary worldly literary portrayals do not apply here. The women of Gokula, though being Kṛṣṇa’s eternal energies, relish the parakīya-rasa in Goloka, and that rasa is the highest. Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra brought His Goloka consorts to Gokula in order to bring that supreme rasa into the world—what fault is there in that? He is not a mundane hero; this has happened solely for the welfare of the jīvas. Otherwise, how would the jīvas become eligible to taste the highest madhura-rasa and attain the supreme rasa? To serve Kṛṣṇa through madhura-rasa in the mood of a gopī is the devotee’s duty. One who tries to relish this rasa by becoming Kṛṣṇa—he will certainly go to hell immediately. Only deceitful, wicked, and crooked-minded people commit this offense.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we understood that someone was wanting to take the position of Kṛṣṇa and was dancing with married women. His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura challenged him and finally had him put in jail. But he suffered a lot by curses and things but he kept determined to do the needful, to stop this kind of wicked, deceitful expressions. Like this there may be some people in the material world who want to imitate Lord Kṛṣṇa. But we see that in the spiritual world there is Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. So Kṛṣṇa creates different circumstances so that the love of His devotees is intensified. So we should appreciate that and we should not compare with the material illusion. And Kṛṣṇa wants to reciprocate love, so this parakīya-rasa, mādhurya-rasa is most intense love. Lord Caitanya, He revealed this secret! Lord Caitanya’s parama-guru Mādhavendra Purī, he was the one who revealed this ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. When Lord Caitanya was visiting Vṛndāvana, He saw a low caste brāhmaṇa who was dancing and very ecstatic. So then He thought he must have some connection with Mādhavendra Purī. On inquiring it turned out that Mādhavendra Purī had visited his house, taken prasāda and gave him initiation! So, like that, Lord Caitanya came to reveal to all of us the confidential knowledge about the mādhurya-rasa. Some people may like svakīya-rasa but the parakīya-rasa which is most abominable in the material rasa. But in the spiritual world parakīya-rasa is the most elevated. It is very confidential to understand. Haribol!

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My voice is giving up, Kṛṣṇe matir astu!

I would like to thank the devotees, yesterday I could distribute 200 books and day before I think 380 books. Sometimes I distribute only 70 books. I am very appreciative that by your efforts I am able to distribute more books! Thank you very much! Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to distribute 10,000 big books and 100,000 small books every month.