Jagannath-dev [Braja-rasa in Dwaraka]

They wanted to know about His pastimes there with the Gopis, and to hear the descriptions from His childhood.

Balaram’s mother Rohini had lived in Vrndavan during Krsna’s childhood, and although she is situated in vatsalya-rasa (parental relationship), she had heard many things about Krsna’s Lila with the Gopis. So meeting her privately the Queens requested her, “Please describe Krsna’s madhuryya-lila in Vrndavan to us. “Rohini was unable to avoid the Queens’ sincere request, and so posting Krsna’s sister Subhadra to keep watch, she began to narrate about His Lila with the Milkmaids of Vraja.

It so happened that at that same time, Krsna and Balaram were taking rest in a nearby room, and as Rohini was describing the Vrndavan-lila, They became aware of what was taking place. Coming to the door where Subhadra was standing guard, Krsna and Balaram could hear the talk of Rohini, and remembering Vrndavan, the Gopis and all these things, a great intensity of feeling came over Them. A great change of feeling came over Krsna and Balaram, so great that Their bodies also began to change; just as Mahaprabhu had shown when He fell at the gate of the Jagannath Mandir and His arms and legs entered into His body.

Such a change in the body is possible according to some particular feeling of ecstasy, and feeling the ecstasy of Vrndavan, Krsna and Balaram were undergoing such a transformation. And Subhadra, although She had not lived in Vrndavan, seeing Her Brothers in this way, She also experienced some sort of sympathetic transformation. Internally that feeling came to Her and externally She was also transformed. The cause of Their disfiguration was the Vrndavan statement of Rohini. Remembering that Vrndavan-lila and feeling that, such change came in Their goodies. Suddenly the group of Rohini could understand that Krsna and Balaram were there listening to their talk, and so immediately they stopped.

The Lila thus suspended, the disfigured formation of Krsna remained, and He fell into a trance. Nothing could be done to reverse the situation, and so in desperation Krsna was taken to the Nava-Vrndavan; a replica of Vrndavan that had been created in Dwaraka by Brahma for Krsna’s pleasure. Although Krsna was awake He could not come out of that mentality, that trance, until He could be taken to that Nava-Vrndavan. There in His trance He could only see Baladev, and all others present were eliminated from His vision. Seeing Baladev, Krsna was happy that He was in Vrndavan.

Then He was Rohini, “Oh yes, it is Vrndavan.” Mannequins of all the other residents of Vrndavan were also arranged there, and the Queens were following from a distance to see what will happen. After seeing Baladev, Krsna sees His cowherd friends Sridam and Sudam are also there. In another part the Gopis are there, and in one part Srimati Radharani is standing. Seeing Her mannequin Krsna ran and embraced Her, and when Satyabhama saw this, some disfigurement also came in Her body. While Krsna was in this temperament, Baladev was able to go to Him and gradually he was able to bring Krsna back to the consciousness of Dwaraka. The sudden stopping of His experience of Vrndavan caused His condition and only by a gradual process, His mentality was again taken to Dwaraka.

This sort of tale is there, and when Dwaraka and Vrndavan mix, that is Jagannath. He is mainly in Dwaraka, but the posing of Vrndavan is there. He has infinite forms of Lila, so what can we trace or know with our finite capacity? In Dwaraka-Samhita we find that there was an arrangement of Rasa-lila in Dwaraka also. The Queens had heard that in Vrndavan there was the Rasa-lila and that it is most wonderful. So when on one occasion the whole Vrndavan party was invited to Dwaraka, they privately approached Krsna and petitioned Him, “The Gopis have come, and for a long time it is our hearts’ desire that you will show Your Rasa-lila to us.

"Will You request them?” Krsna replied, “If they will give their consent then I have no objection.” The Queens made their request to the Gopis and the Rasa-lila was arranged. When it was complete, all that saw it were astonished, and the Queens went to the camp of the Gopis to express their wonder. “What we have seen is the most wonderful thing, it is impossible to conceive even. We cannot properly express such a thing.” And Srimati Radharani made this statement in reply, “What have you seen? That was nothing – an almost dead representation. Where is the Yamuna?

Where is the kadamba tree, the peacock, the deer, and all these things? There in Vrndavan that was a natural stage, and that was performed there in our youth. What you saw, that is nothing, a sham, a mere mockery.” Then the Queens began to reflect, “If what we saw is of such lower order, then what type of superior quality Lila must be found in the Original? It is totally inconceivable.” So the psychology of Vrndavan is all important. The attraction for that Vrndavan-lila – when that was suddenly stopped the result was a great change in the physical plane.

Of course it is not physical, but for the purpose of explanation we can say physical. That check caused the disfigurement of the external plane. It is something like when there is an earthquake. The internal movement of the Earth disfigures the surface, so the internal disturbance that was created by the recollection of Vrndavan-lila, that caused a great transformation in the superficial appearance. And when that was suddenly checked, that appearance remained. That has been pictured and shown in Jagannathdev. When the higher prospect is suddenly checked, then the reaction comes.

So Jagannath is a reactionary stage between Vrndavan and Dwaraka. The conflict between the emotion of Swayam Bhagavan and the Vaibhava-vilas of Krsna It is something like rasabhas. In higher ecstasy also, rasabhas is possible. The clash of two different waves of rasa. The train may be proceeding in a particular motion and the carriage along with it. But if suddenly the train should brake, then the contents inside the carriage will be thrown into a great disorder. It is something like that.

adau yad dvaro ‘plavate, sindhuh parer apaurusam

This verse says that the Jagannath murti has been there from the very conception, from the most ancient time. So every Lila of the Lord is eternal. Every part of the infinite is eternal. In the beginning of Mahabharat there is “Dhrtarastra-vilap”, and there Dhrtarastra is naming the main incidents of Mahabharat, and lamenting that, “Because of this incident and that incident I know that my party must be defeated”. But at this stage of Mahabharat none of these incidents had taken place. So how can Dhrtarastra speak of these incidents at the beginning of the narration?

It is because it is nitya, eternal. The beginning of the Lila and the end of the Lila cannot be differentiated. It is in a cyclic order and it is eternal. That is a very difficult thing to understand. To adjust to the eternal. Everywhere beginning, everywhere end. Everywhere there is centre and nowhere is there circumference. This is the meaning of infinite. This is Nitya-lila. Everywhere beginning, everywhere end, and all coexistent at the same time. Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami has represented this in a particular way. He has given the example that the sunrise is to be found always in one place or another. Not it is here, now there, and so on in this way.

So like the sun Krsna-lila is moving, the birth, the childhood, being shown here and then extended to another brahmanda, another universe. That is the aspect of Bhauma-lila. And in another aspect, in Goloka, we find that every Lila is also nitya. It is reflected here in this world and the reflection is revolving like the sun. It may be traced here, now here, now there – a question of space, but in Goloka, in the central place it is all there simultaneously. It is also no less in the heart of the devotees. When a devotee remembers a Lila, it may be Vraja-lila, and now Dwaraka-lila, but what is reflected in the heart of a devotee, that is also true. So in this way it is coexistent and it is continuing always. Every Lila and every part of Lila is always present, coexistent. Succession and coexistence both harmonized.

Devotee: Maharaj, is Guru-parampara also part of Lila?

Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Of course. It is the Lila of Krsna. But not only that, Maya and everything else is included in Lila from His standpoint. It is His sweet will, His independence.

maya tatam idam sarvam, jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani, na caham tesv avasthitah
(Bhagavad-gita 9.4)

koti-kamadhenu-patira chagi yaiche mare
sad-aisvarya-pati krsnera maya kiba kare?
(C.c.Mad. 15.179)

krsna-lilamrta-sara, tara sata sata dhara’
dasa-dike vahe yaha haite se caitanya-lila haya,
sarovara aksaya, mano-hamsa caraha’ tahate

He has no separate existence from the Nama, Guna, Rupa, and Lila of Krsna, Radha-Krsna, and this includes Yasoda and all others within the relativity of Krsna. If one is there then all others must necessarily be there. So Krsna-lila means Krsna with His group. Also Vrndavan – the water, the forest, the animals, the birds, all are included in Krsna-lila, Braja-lila. And that and nothing else is all coming from Sri Chaitanya. That is Radha-Krsna in self distributing nature. Whatever comes from Him – that is all Krsna. Even in Sri Chaitanya’s childhood, when one could not trace anything of Krsna, it was there, and in different ways He was creating the background for distributing Krsna-lila to others.

krsna-nama dhare kata bala
(Sri-Nama-Mahatmya – Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)