KRISHNA: The Most Expert Lover – Shrimad Bhagavatam 1.11.31: The queens of lord Krishna rejoiced within their minds to see their husband home after a long period abroad. The queens got up at once from their meditations. As was socially customary, they covered their faves shyly and looked about coyly.
Lord Krishna had 16108 queens who were all extremely fortunate as they got to personally feed the lord and stay with him. Barring the 8 principal queens, the remaining 16100 actually some of them were sages in Dandakaranya during lord Rama’s time who had wanted to marry the lord. So every jiva has a specific rasa with the lord which on the perfection of the jiva, the lord personally manifests that rasa with them. So when the lord went away from Dwarka, these queens who constantly thought about the lord, their condition became unimaginable.
In previous times, ladies never moved out of the palace and so ladies sprinkled flowers from the top of the palace. So when the queens who were situated in samadhi as soon as they came to know that lord had come back they immediately got up and covered their faces out of shyness and looked coyly towards the lord.
Table of Contents
Why the Lord is called Yogeshwar?
When the lord entered the palaces of his 16108 queens, he expanded himself into those many forms. Lord can expand himself indefinitely. Absolute truth when desires expand himself into selfsame and separated expansions. The selfsame expansions are manifested out of his own bhava while separated expansions are manifested out of his energy. These are called Vaibhav and the lord is therefore called Yogeshwara as he can expand himself unlimitedly while yogis can expand at most 8 times.
Men with a poor fund of knowledge consider that a lord is an ordinary person marrying so many ladies. But that is not true. He actually expanded himself 16108 times and entered and stayed with each queen at the same time. Otherwise, it would not have been possible had Krishna been an ordinary person. And no one would have married him also. So Krishna is completely transcendental and his relationship with each queen is completely spiritual and based on the shringar rasa. And lord can marry not just 16000 but 16 billion women also even then we will not be able to scratch the surface of his opulence.
So we must try to understand Krishna in the proper tattva. Otherwise, Shukadev Goswami would not have spoken about him at length to Parikshit Maharaj as he was a brahmavadi from birth.
Teachings by the Lord’s Queens
So queens braced themselves immediately as service to lord was everything to them. That is why Krishna prema has been translated by Shrila Prabhupada as devotional service and not love. So how much we are ready to serve the lord and with how much enthusiasm that has to be considered. Sage Yajnavalkya says that women in the absence of their husbands should refrain from social mixing, decorating themselves, and laughing or joking. If one wants to become a chaste lady then she must follow these standards.
A woman must also dress nicely and come to the husband with a smiling face. And if the husband himself is Krishna then what to speak about it. Lord is actually everyone’s husband (Prabhu guru pati tuhu sarva moy (prayer of Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur)). Queens of Dwarka are the eternal entourage of the lord and therefore cannot be separated from the lord. Just like the gopis of Vraja, they remained in the lord’s thought thinking about his pastimes for 70-80 years. Until the lord came to take them back to the spiritual world. Mansarovar is a pond formed from Shrimati Radharani’s tears and is located north of Vraja.
Devotion to the Lord
The water of Vraja that’s why it became salty as the devotees of the lord in separation from him used to roll on the ground and shed tears. The gopis also were always apprehensive that the lord’s feet might not get hurt by the thorns and stones on the path to the forest. Mother Yashoda felt apprehensive that the lord might not be attacked by ghosts and hobgoblins in the forest and felt relieved only when lord came back home in the evening. All these pastimes can be heard and relished but never imitated. As our hearts are bombarded with sinful thoughts at the rate of 42 thoughts a minute. At least we can and must try to shed tears and privately pray to lord that why our hearts don’t melt while chanting his holy name.
Shrila Prabhupada says that when the lord left Dwarka, his queens, and their lifestyle became stagnant. And all their activities came to a standstill. And therefore their bodies became shrunken and disheveled. Shrila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur says that a wife never tries to see her husband face to face. As the lord came back, the queens became enlivened but out of shyness sent the children towards the lord.
Lord is the perfect lover
Lord is known as rasika nagara. He is the perfect lover. He is free from any tinge of material feelings. We can never even think of imitating him. He is the only perfect lover and husband and no one is equal to him. And lord can manifest himself in all five rasas simultaneously and that is his inconceivable potency. Absolute truth means who is always situated in bliss. And the divine relationship between lord and his devotees takes the shape of an ocean. And when lord is present within his devotee, how much bliss the lord must be experiencing. Shrila Prabhupada says that ordinarily husband and wife must never be alone together unless required for the purpose of garbhadana samskara.
But lord and his devotee’s relationship is supremely pure and divine. The lord pure devotees are expansions of his internal potency and they are free from any material contamination. They know Krishna consciousness fully well and always think of the broadcasting lord’s glories all over. In Goloka Vrindavan, these pure devotees must be receiving all sorts of news pertaining to Goloka itself, the Vaikuntha planets and also of lord’s pastimes happening in the innumerable material universes. Narada muni must be acting as the messenger as he can behold all of lord’s lila’s.
So there must be a divine newspaper also with news relating to the pastimes of lord and his devotees. So for eg if news of Prahlad maharaj being thrown into pit of snakes reaches there, a commotion immediately prevails. And all devotees in Goloka Vrindavan start crying and all start praying to protect the lord. So lord’s devotees are all connected to the lord through transcendental vibration. Just like we are connected when chanting the mahamantra according to Shrila Prabhupada. Spiritual world is full of transcendental bliss and devotees relish their own service so also those of other devotees. So devotees relish devotional service to the Supreme lord alone. The day when lord’s pastimes manifest within us naturally, that day we will become most fortunate. Until then we must learn how to cry and pray for the feeling with which we can bind the lord with love.
Frequently Asked Questions
🤔Queens of Dwarka are internal potency or kripa siddhas?
8 principal queens are internal potency of lord. Others are jivas who had perfected their existence and therefore joined the eternal pastimes of the lord.
🤔Is identity of mind coming from soul?
Yes, mind, intelligence and false ego are part of mahat tattva but soul permeates them with individuality in the form of false ego. So as to give material individuality. Mahat tattva although matter gets the identity of ‘I am’ when it comes into contact with the soul. Mahat tattva doesn’t have an identity of its own and so only the material identity is false.
🤔How to expose fake godmen?
Everyone wants to surrender to Krishna. And when we don’t preach, fake godmen exploit common men. So the more we preach the message of Bhagavad gita and more cleverly we can do that, the better.
🤔Can we pause Ekadashi fast due to health problems for some time?
No these things must never be stopped under any circumstances. We can take Ekadashi prasadam but must continue to fast.
🤔How to observe nirjala when on medication?
If one is spiritually advanced, they can skip medicine for a day. It all depends on one’s attachment to Krishna.
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