Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj illustrates the proper approach to Kṛṣṇa’s Pastimes.
Today is Vasanta Pañchamī. Śrī Kṛṣṇa performed Rāsa-līlā today, but that chapter we are not reading actually because we are very afraid. Vedavyās exposed that līlā in such a beautiful way, but we are living in this mundane world, and our senses always controlled by māyā, the illusory environment. So, we cannot feel it, and instead the opposite of those transcendental feelings comes to us and destroys our devotional mood. Therefore, we are becoming qualified first. Before we are qualified, we are not reading about Rāsa-līlā, but sometimes we are hearing about it from an expert and qualified Vaiṣṇava. In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, after the Rāsa-līlā, Vedavyās explained,
naitat samācharej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ
vinaśyaty ācharan mauḍhyād yathārudro ’bdhi-jaṁ viṣam
(10.33.30)
You should not try to do what Kṛṣṇa has done. Never! And until the senses come to you in a transcendental form, you should avoid even hearing about it. If someone who has no power eats poison, they die. Descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s Rāsa-līlā are like poison for persons under the control of māyā. Lord Śiva drank poison, but he can digest that, and he became glorious as Nīlakaṇṭha [“He who has a blue throat”]. But you are not Lord Śiva! You do not have that power. So, you should not do that now.
You may ask, “Then why did Vedavyās compose this? For whom did he compose it?” His answer will be, “I composed this for you, but it will take time, space, and theory. And when you hear it from a proper person, then no problem.”
vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idañ cha viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty achireṇa dhīraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)
Our hunger never will stop. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s example is that when we were an elephant, we finished jungle after jungle, life after life. When we were a hog, we finished mountains of stool life after life. Still, we are not satisfied! So, what are we to do? If with a submissive mood you want to hear from the proper person, the qualified Vaiṣṇava, and try to catch that within your established spiritual platform, then you can hear. ‘Qualified Vaiṣṇava’ means a simple Vaiṣṇava. From a qualified Vaiṣṇava, you can hear it, and anuśṛṇuyāt, after hearing, you can also tell others about it, distribute it, atha varṇayed yaḥ. Then, devotion to Kṛṣṇa will increase.
After Brahmā stole all the cows and cowherd boys from Vṛndāvan, he returned and saw that Vṛndāvan was still full of cows and cowherd boys. “Where did they come from?” he wondered. “I have already stolen them.” He went to the cave where he had put them, and he saw that they were all still there. Then he came back again and saw that the field was full. Brahmā become puzzled, and finally Brahmā folded his hands and said to Kṛṣṇa,
jānanta eva jānantu kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vācho vaibhavaṁ tava gocharaḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.38)
“Someone may say, ‘I know Your glory’, but I cannot say that. It is impossible to know Your unlimited glories; Your glories cannot even be touched without devotion.”
So, our line is devotion, dedication. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said,
bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikāśrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvānāmṛtam: 1.35)
This is śaraṇāgati [surrender]. There is no question here. Be fully surrendered, do, and go through the proper channel: in the proper way under the guidance of the proper person. Then, you will get the result. There are so many universities in this world, but the subjects they teach are different. Our subject is bhakti-yoga, and our one and only line is,
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānañ cha yad ahaitukam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.7)
Everything comes to you through surrender and devotion.
bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā bhagavan yadi syād
daivena naḥ phalati divya-kiśora-mūrtiḥ
muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate ’smān
dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāh
(Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 107)
Everything will wait to assist with your service if you are fully surrendered and devoted to Kṛṣṇa. This is a simple thing.
Reference
Spoken 31 January 2009.
Verses
naitat samācharej jātu manasāpi hy anīśvaraḥ
vinaśyaty ācharan mauḍhyād yathārudro ’bdhi-jaṁ viṣam
(10.33.30)
[“Anyone who is not an īśvara should never, even mentally, act like one. Anyone who does so out of foolishness is destroyed, just as anyone who is not Lord Śiva is destroyed if they drink the poison produced during the churning of the ocean.”]
vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idañ cha viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty achireṇa dhīraḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)
[“A sober soul, who faithfully hears about and then describes Viṣṇu’s play with the wives of Vraja, quickly attains perfect devotion to the Lord and simultaneously leaves behind the heart disease of material desire.”]
bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikāśrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ
(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvānāmṛtam: 1.35)
[“Having faith that everything is attained by devotion to the Supreme Lord, abandoning subservience to even scriptural injunctions, and taking shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet exclusively is known as śaraṇāgati.”]
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ prayojitaḥ
janayaty āśu vairāgyaṁ jñānañ cha yad ahaitukam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.7)
[“Devotion to the Supreme Lord quickly produces detachment and self-revealed knowledge.”]
bhaktis tvayi sthiratarā bhagavan yadi syād
daivena naḥ phalati divya-kiśora-mūrtiḥ
muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate ’smān
dharmārtha-kāma-gatayaḥ samaya-pratīkṣāh
(Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 107)
[“O Lord, if our devotion to You were more steady, then Your divine, adolescent form would naturally appear (in our hearts), liberation would personally serve us with joined palms, and the ends of piety, wealth, and enjoyment would wait for orders.”]