A Dialogue Between Uddhava And The Gopikas

"Once, Uddhava went to Gokulam with a message from Krishna to the Gopikas. Uddhava told them: 'I have brought for you a remedy for the pain you are suffering as a result of separation from Krishna. You must take this medicine. Through this Yoga you will be relieved of the Roga(the ailment) from which you are suffering.'

The Gopikas replied: '0 Great One! We do not suffer from any malady. Hence, we do not need any Yoga. It is enough to know the Yoga by which we can get back Krishna.

Uddhava asked: 'What is this Yoga?' A Gopika replied: 'The ordeal we enjoy on account of renunciation itself is a kind of Yoga.'

Uddhava observed: 'How can there be anything common between renunciation and enjoyment? The one who enjoys is not concerned about renunciation. As the two are irreconcilable, how can you regard the enjoyment of separation as a form of Yoga?'

The Gopikas said: 'You simpleton! Is this all you have learnt from your nearness to Krishna? When a person gives up egoism in his doings and attachment to the enjoyment of their fruits, then Tyaaga (sacrifice). Yoga (spiritual austerity) and Bhoga (enjoyment) become one. First get rid of the conceit that 'I am the doer.' Then free yourself from the 'desire to enjoy the fruits of your actions and have no sense of ego in which you do, then there is no difference between Yoga and Bhoga (enjoyment).'

In this world, you have rains and rivers, which enable crops to grow. The sun and the moon illumine the sky. For whom does all this happen? All this is not for the sake of any single individual. It is for the benefit of all mankind. Everyone is entitled to benefit from these phenomena. All beings in the natural state are entitled to enjoy the benefits provided by the nature. But only a few can acquire the competence to experience the Divine. Only those who have firm faith in God can secure this blessing.

Uddhava asked the Gopikas: 'If you are not prepared even to listen to Krishna's message, what sort of devotion do you have towards Krishna? What is the form of your devotion? The Gopikas gave the essence of Yoga in one sentence: 'Uddhava! We have only one mind. That mind is no longer with us. It has gone to Mathura along with Krishna. As we have no mind of our own and are totally mindless, how can we receive your message? If we had ten different minds like you, we could listen to your message, think about Krishna, attend to the commands of our mothers-in-law and husbands and do other things.

The essence of all the Shastras (scriptures) can be declared in one sentence: we have to believe firmly that the same Divinity dwells in all beings. The mind is the cause of all worries. Even the yearning for God is through the mind. Man is pursued by worries from birth to death, all through his life. There is only one means by which all worries can be banished and that is love (Prema)." Sai Baba, SS, 9/89, pp. 228 & 229