From Love Universal to Bhakti Confidential – Gaudiya Vaishnavism Glories 7 – Love in separation is the culmination of love

[Chaitanya Charitamrita class on Madhya 8.111 at ISKCON, Denver, USA]

Transcription of  Summary : 

I spoke about how whatever is present in the material world is present in the spiritual world also. So, here Kama and Krodha is talked about being present. So, Kama I talked elaborately. Kama can refer to lust. It can also refer generally to desire, and Kama can also be purusartha, one of the goals of life and the Kama is used in the positive sense also in the scriptures.

So, when we say that the gopi’s are attracted to Krishna through Kama, what does it mean? It means that specifically all their power of desire is concentrated on Krishna, and further it means that the power of their attraction to Krishna is supreme, and because they in the female form they serve Krishna in a particular way. The important thing is the attitude of service; some of the gopi’s were rishis in previous life, and they were also serving Krishna at that time.

So, whatever is present in this world is there in the spiritual world but it is in its pure form. So, Krodha is also there but the Krodha is in such a way that it is increases Krishna’s… it is for pleasure. So, the devotee gets angry because that anger will please Krishna. I talked about the different moods in which Satyabhama and Rukmini serve, and correspondingly Radharani and Chandravali also serve, and so this… Kama and Krodha which are considered to be undesirable in the material world, but they are actually… if they enhance the remembrance of Krishna, they are desirable. Like that, same way separation from our loved one is undesirable in this world, but in the spiritual world separation intensifies remembrance, and in that sense the separation means that we are getting no reciprocation from our Lord, neither material reciprocation nor spiritual reciprocation… Lord is not present, but still we keep loving Him. That means that the love is totally selfless, it is supremely exalted, and the gopis exhibit that kind of love for Krishna, and separation is like fire.

Separation is to Love, what Wind is to Fire. So, when the fire is small it will gets extinguished, but when the fire is big it will blaze further.

So, for the gopis His love is big…. separation intensifies their love, for us it will actually suppress our love. So, but inevitably when we cannot do nama-dhyana, rupa-dhyana, lila-dhyan… instead of simply feeling separation from Krishna, we can see our service also as a contemplation on Krishna. So, dhyan of Krishna… and through service we become absorbed in Him and if we are doing our sadhana bhakti nicely, then even if our service seems to be external circumstances, but our consciousness will shift from where we are serving to whom we are serving, and thus we will become more and more Krishna conscious even when we are not in a Krishna Conscious  setting, and that absorption in Krishna in separation from Him is the test of our love and is ultimately the Zenith of pure love for Krishna.

Thank You very much.

(Transcription by Sadananda Krishnaprema Prabhu)