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Symbolism Of Krishna's Leelas With The Gopikas
"Gopikas were only interested in the spiritual aspects and whatever actions they had actually indulged in, were only Leelas (sports)." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 121 "Krishna's sacred Leelas are infinitely deep and understandable. Unless you learn the significance of these teachings and put them into practice, all this description of Krishna's qualities would be waste. Krishna used to look upon all the creation with an equal mind. Here, you might get a doubt as to how he undertook to kill and exterminate 40 lakhs (4 millions) of the Kaurava army, if indeed he looked upon all creation with an equal mind." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 47 Significance Of Krishna's Breaking Of Gopikas' Pots "When Krishna went to visit a Gopika. Recognising that the Gopika was not at home, he broke the pot of the milk which was hanging from the roof and spilt the milk and went out of the house leaving footprints on the ground. The Gopika came back and found the footprints of Krishna. She followed the footprints of Krishna and found where he was. Then Krishna said: 'If you desire to reach me, then you must follow my footprints and that is only way by which you can reach me..' Thus, Krishna was showing the method or path by which the devotees can reach him. Krishna was the one who showed the path oftruth." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 122 Symbolic Meaning Of Piercing Holes In Milk Pots "On another occasion, the Gopikas tried to make Krishna speak untruth. They complained that when the cowherd women were carrying the pots of milk and curd, Krishna came and pierced holes in those pots. They accosted mother Yashoda by saying 'Ask your son if he had not done this.' Here also, we must understand the significance when Krishna explained by saying: 'Perhaps God came and pierced the pots; I do not know.' He is indirectly saying that the one who had pierced the pots was God Himself." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, pp. 122 & 123 Symbolic Meaning Of Stealing Butter From Gopikas' Homes "Krishna used to visit the houses of the cowherds and drink curds and milk. The symbolic meaning of this action is Krishna's preference for 'Satva', represented by the pure white curds and milk. Krishna explained to Yashoda the reason why he preferred the butter in their homes to the butter offered by Yashoda. The hearts of Gopikas were pure and filled with selfless devotion to Krishna. Their devotion was superior to the maternal affection of\ asnoda, wnich bore a taint of selfishness. Krishna told Yashoda: 'I am attracted to the hearts of those who are pure and selfless.' Krishna always eluded the Gopikas after playing his mischief." Sai Baba, SS, 10/96, p. 256 "On one occasion, Krishna stole butter. He was not available to his mother that day. Yashoda knew very well that if Krishna saw the big stick, he would not come. So she held the stick with one hand behind her back and held butter in the other hand and tried attract Krishna by showing him the butter. Here, we must notice that Yashoda realised that Krishna will come only if he sees a pure Chitta or mind as exemplified by butter in this analogy." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 19878, p. 123 "Once Yashoda appealingly asked Krishna as to why he was going to the Gopikas' houses to steal their butter when there was so much butter in their own house. The Child Krishna replied 'Mother, I am not stealing butter but the hearts of the Gopis.' 'Their hearts are pure and full of devotion,' said Krishna. 'Their butter is filled with devotion with which they churn the buttermilk. Their bangles keep time as they sing Krishna's name while churning. The butter that is got contains the essence of the Vedas.' Krishna asked Yashoda whether this kind of churning was taking place in her house. In this manner, every word of Krishna was replete with spiritual significance. Sai Baba, SS, 10/94, p. 262 Symbolic Meaning Of Tying The Hair Of The Gopikas "On one occasion, the Gopikas tried to go close to Krishna and they tried to find some excuse to do so. They joined together and came to Mother Yashoda with a long list of complaints. When Yashoda asked them for the cause of their visit, they all said: "Krishna came up to the terrace at midnight and tied up the hair of one Gopika with that of another.' The inner meaning of this has to be carefully understood. The Gopikas said that Krishna came at midnight. Here midnight means neither day nor night. The Gopikas are in a state of half knowledge. That is why they are neither divine nor human. To such Gopikas, Krishna came and tied their ignorance." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 122 Symbolic Meaning Of Krishna's Taking Away The Clothes Of The Gopikas "Another complaint Gopikas made (to mother Yashoda) was "When they were bathing in the river, he (Krishna) gathered all our Saris and went and sat on the top of a tree and would not come down even if we call him.' To this Krishna said: 'When they were bathing, there was big whirlwind, which gathered all these saris and put them on the tree.' Here, the whirlwind has to be identified as a form of God. The basic elements of creation are earth, fire, water, air and sky, and air is one form of the Divine. In truth, the Gopikas had very sacred heart." "God is one who is attracted by pure minds. The meaning of saying that he (Krishna) took away all the clothes is that he took away all your bodily attachments. The clothes are a cover to the body and in reality, the body is an attachment or a cover for the Atma that is residing inside the same. The body is therefore only a dress for this life. When we say that one is dead, we mean that the body is dead and discarded. Thus, it is to be interpreted as saying that so long as you have attachment to your body, you cannot find the real aspect of the Atma. We should not be under an illusion about the importance of the body." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 123
"The real meaning of story about Krishna taking away the clothes of the Gopikas while they were bathing is that to realise the Lord, they have to abandon the attachment to the body, which is the vesture of the spirit. These stories should not be treated in a spirit of levity or profanity." Sai Baba, SS, 10/96, p. 257 "Krishna Is Creating Trouble Between Husband And Wife" - The Inner Meaning "On one occasion, the Gopikas went to Yashoda and told her that the kind of mischief that Krishna was doing was indescribable. So they asked her to call him in their presence and take steps to see that he should never enter their houses again. They complained by saying: "Krishna is creating trouble between husbands and wives. He comes in the night and bangs the doors. If we open the doors, our husbands get angry. If we do not open the doors, Krishna gets angry. So we are put to constant trouble because of such situations. It is not possible to describe all our troubles to you. A situation has arisen when we have to either forget Krishna or abandon our husbands.' Faced with these allegations, Krishna replied: 'Mother, you are a very innocent lady and so, you are believing all these stories. I will give you a simple answer and you judge for yourself the truth of these stories. I have been sleeping silently in your bed. So, how can I go out in the nights without disturbing you? Now you can yourself see the truth.' Yashoda felt that all the complaints were false and she sent away all the Gopikas. The meaning of this is that in order to set right the husbands of the Gopikas, He (Krishna) played all this drama. There is one small fact that we have to notice here. Krishna was actually a seven-year old boy at that time while the Gopikas were much older. Under these conditions, there cannot be any chance for misunderstanding by the husbands. Such misunderstandings are simply because of the bad qualities and bad ideas which men have. Even if a wife is playing and spending too much time with her small son, the selfish husband does not like it and attempts to stop it. This can be recognised as unsacred behaviour. If he gets selfish ideas and doubts, even if a mother plays with her own son, will he not get doubts when she plays with other children? It is the bad quality of men to doubt everything that comes in the way of their own selfish interests. Krishna said that he was undertaking all these tasks only to purify the husbands and create a pure heart in them. Gopikas had very sacred minds and doubt them is a great sin and Krishna was a seven-year-old bov and to have any misunderstanding about his actions with regard to the Gopikas is even a greater sin. There is no room whatsoever for any bad interpretation here. Because the husbands did not fully recognise the aspect of divinity, they were having all kinds of doubts. The Gopikas, who were subjected to this kind of unnecessary blame and blemish, were being protected by Krishna. In this way, Krishna propagated the aspects of an Avatar. We should not try to understand and interpret all actions of divinity at the human level." Sai Baba, Summer Showers, 1978, p. 125 |