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Brahmin Wives: Karmas are prescribed by shastras in order to cleanse our
accumulated karmas so that we can perform Bakthi or Gnana Yoga to attain the
Lord. Karmas like Yagams shouldn’t be
performed as a mindless ritual. We must understand the reason for performing
Yagams, poojas etc. If we understand the reason for performing these prescribed
acts, we will not fall prey to plain ritualism. The Brahmins had become purely
ritualistic. They were so obsessed by ritualism that they failed to see the
object of performing these rituals, the Lord standing before them. Thus the
Brahmins failed to reap the true benefit of performing the Yagam while their
wives received the blessing as they had true knowledge.
Nanda Gopan was kidnapped by Varuna’s servants: This shows that even
other deities are after Bagawathas to get a chance to be with them.
Rasa Lila: The
gopis are considered to be Sati. The word Sati is used to represent a chaste
married woman but Sayana in his commentary of the Taitriya Aranyaka explains
that the word “sati” refers to “realized souls”. Krishna plays the flute to
call the gopis. The flute is given the status of a teacher, Acharya. The music
is knowledge which is Brahma-Vidhya. The
gopis are the jeevatmas. All jeevatmas are feminine in nature while the Lord
alone is the true male. The music flowing from the flute awakens the thirst for
spiritual knowledge in the gopis. This also shows us that we can only learn
Brahma-Vidhya through an Acharya. Krishna prefers to use an Acharya as an
intermediary to teach us Brahma-Vidhya. Once Brahma-Vidhya is awakened, the
gopis abandon their husbands to reach Krishna. The husbands represent our
selfish materialistic desires. True knowledge kills these selfish desires. The
gopis want only that which is true and approach Krishna. The Raasa dance takes
place in a circle. The gopis represent the jeeva atma. There is one Krishna in
the middle surrounded by the gopis. Not only is there a Krishna in the middle
but He also appears as a partner for each and every gopi. There are as many
Krishnas as there are gopis. The Krishna in the middle represents Paramatma in
His absolute form. The Krishna dancing with each and every gopi represents
His Antaryami form. As antaryami He exists as our soul. He is always with us.
He exists in each and every one of us. Thus the entire Raasa dance represents
the Vishwaroopa Swaroopa of God; He exists as antaryami (soul of every soul) as
well as the Absolute God head.
The
Raasa dance is performed with the gopis who are women. This represents that all
jeeva atmas are feminine. The only male in this entire Universe is Paramatma
Sri Krishna. He is known as the Para Purusha or the great Purusha. The Raasa
dance shows us one of the nine relationships we share with Paramatma which is
that of a husband & a wife. He is our husband. This relationship is a
spiritual relationship and differs from the type of spousal relationships we
are familiar to.
The
gopis encircling Krishna on either side represent students and Krishna is the
object of knowledge sought by them. If we look at the two Krishnas encircling a
gopi then we see the student in the middle. Knowledge gains importance only
when there are students to learn. The two Krishnas encircling a gopi show us
the importance of the student or the jeeva atma. The two gopis encircling a
Krishna show us the supremacy of the knowledge or Paramatma.
The
Raasa dance has deep esoteric meaning and has nothing to do with sensual
indulgent. When the esoteric meaning of the dance is illuminated, it helps us
to shed our desires for materialistic sensual pleasures. It awakens the thirst
to learn Brahma-Vidhya in us; with the help of this knowledge we can reach the
feet of Paramatma. The dance takes place at night when the boundaries are not
visible to show us that the union with Paramatma is beyond time and space. At
nighttime the normal boundaries of time and space are not illuminated. Night
here represents the transcendental nature of the union of a jeeva atma
with Paramatma.
Anyone
who understands the above esoteric meaning will not question the Lord’s
conduct. To the Lord all jeevatmas are equal. He doesn’t differentiate between
the cattle or the gopis. He played with the cattle and He played with the
gopis. He sees no difference between the cattle or the gopis. While stealing
butter He showed us that He is interested in only the atma and not the body by
breaking the butter pots. Thus the Rasa-Dance is Him enjoying the jeevatmas and
there is nothing materialistic or sensual about the dance. A very high Vedantic
concept has been explained in a poetic form to us.
Azhwar
sings with Nayika Bhavam that the Lord looked with love at the girl(Azhwar’s)
eyes, tiny waist and breast. Here the Azhwar’s eyes denote knowledge, tiny
waist reveals Azhwar’s vairagyam as he has controlled his senses and does not
give in to mindless enjoyment of food which in turn has resulted in a tiny
waist. A woman’s breasts are dedicated by her to feed her children. A woman as
a mother lives for the sake of her children. Like that the Azhewar lives to
serve other devotees of the Lord and this is appreciated by the Lord when He is
shown as admiring the girl’s breasts. As all jeevatmas are female in nature,
the Azhwar’s use Nayika Bhavam to show the shringara rasam in their divine
poetry.
Continued On:
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