Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Narada Bhakti Sutra 21

yatha vraja-gopikanam

SYNONYMS

yatha -- as; vraja -- of Vraja; gopikanam -- of the cowherd women.

TRANSLATION

The cowherd women of Vraja are an example of pure bhakti.

PURPORT

In Sutra 19, Narada gave the ultimate definition of bhakti. This has led him inevitably to mention the topmost of all devotees, the gopis of Vraja. Narada might have mentioned other renowned bhaktas, such as Uddhava, Arjuna, Prahlada Maharaja, or mother Yasoda, but he has chosen to give the singular example of the gopis. Narada's opinion is shared by all realized Vaisnavas, because the gopis are renowned as the best lovers of Lord Krsna. The gopis are most exalted because they gave everything, and sacrificed everything, for their beloved. As Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja writes in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 4.167-69),

Social customs, scriptural injunctions, bodily demands, fruitive action, shyness, patience, bodily pleasures, self-gratification on the path of varnasrama-dharma, which is difficult to give up -- the gopis have forsaken all these, along with their families, and suffered their relatives' punishment and scolding, all for the sake of serving Lord Krsna. They render loving service to Him for the sake of His enjoyment.

The gopis' rasa with Krsna is madhurya, or conjugal love. But even bhaktas who worship the Lord in other rasas acknowledge the supermost place of the gopis in the kingdom of bhakti. Narada Muni, for example, usually associates with Lord Krsna in His opulent features in Vaikuntha or Dvaraka. In his exchanges with Lord Krsna, Narada often praises the Lord's inconceivable opulence. For example, once when Narada visited Krsna in many of His sixteen thousand palaces, he was astonished to see how the Lord had expanded Himself so He could be alone with each of His queens. "Your transcendental position is always inconceivable to everyone," said Narada. "As far as I am concerned, I can simply offer my respectful obeisances to You again and again" (Krsna, p. 603). Since Narada is one of the Lord's learned and intimate devotees, he is aware that the gopis exemplify the topmost expression of love for Krsna. Similarly, devotees such as Sukadeva Gosvami, Bhismadeva, and Vyasadeva appreciate the gopis' exalted position.

Even the impersonalists are attracted to Krsna's loving affairs with the gopis, although they cannot understand them. Attempting to praise the gopis of Vrndavana, one impersonalist "Swami" said, "Gopi-lila is the acme of the religion of love, in which individuality vanishes and there is communion." But it's not a fact that "individuality vanishes," either for the gopis or for any other living entity. As we have pointed out above, Lord Krsna clearly and repeatedly states that both His individuality and the living entities' are eternal. The gopis did, however, completely lose their selfish interest -- their interest became entirely one with Lord Krsna's. To consider the gopis' rasa dance with Krsna merely a stage leading to merging into the impersonal Brahman is a great insult to the gopis and to gopi-lila, even though one's intent is to praise. When they appeared before Krsna in the moonlit forest of Vrndavana, the gopis certainly did not want Him to instruct them about "merging" with Him through jnana-yoga, nor did they see the rasa dance in that way. Speaking in the mood of Srimati Radharani as She met with Krsna at Kuruksetra, Lord Caitanya once complained to Him about His attempt to teach yoga and meditation to the gopis:

My dear Krsna, formerly, when You were staying at Mathura, You sent Uddhava to teach Me speculative knowledge and mystic yoga. Now You Yourself are speaking the same thing, but My mind does not accept it. There is no place in My mind for jnana-yoga or dhyana-yoga. Although You know Me very well, You are still instructing Me in dhyana-yoga and jnana-yoga. It is not right for You to do so. I would like to withdraw My consciousness from You and engage it in material activities, but even though I try, I cannot do so. I am naturally inclined to You only. Therefore Your instructions for Me to meditate on You are simply ludicrous..... It is not very good for You to think of Me as a candidate for Your instructions. [Cc. Madhya 13.139-40]

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari