The Rāsa Dance

Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has written the following verse about the rāsa dance:

“Lord Mādhava was situated between each pair of gopīs, and a gopī was situated between each pair of His manifestations. And Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī, also appeared in the middle of the circle, playing upon His flute and singing.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out that the gopīs, maddened by love, were unable to understand that Śrī Kṛṣṇa had expanded Himself so He could personally dance with each of them. Each gopī saw one manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. The demigods and their wives, however, could see all His different manifestations as they watched the rāsa dance from their airplanes, and thus they were completely astonished.

As stated here, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glory in dancing the rāsa dance is pure spiritual bliss. The demigods in heaven, in charge of maintaining propriety in the universe, ecstatically accepted the rāsa dance as the ultimate religious affair, completely different from the perverted reflection of romance we find in this mundane world.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states that Devakī, besides being the name of Vasudeva’s wife, is also a name of mother Yaśodā, as stated in the Ādi Purāṇa: dve nāmnī nanda-bhāryāyā yaśodā devakīti ca. “The wife of Nanda has two names — Yaśodā and Devakī.”

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that according to the analogy of lightning flashing in clouds, the perspiration on the lovely faces of the gopīs resembled drops of mist, and their singing resembled thunder. The word āgranthayaḥ may also be read agranthayaḥ, meaning “loosened.” This would indicate that although the gopīs began the dance with their hair and belts tightly drawn, these gradually slackened and loosened.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the gopīs were expert at exhibiting mudrās (precise hand gestures that express feelings or convey meanings associated with the theme of a performance). Thus sometimes Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs would artistically move their interlocked arms together, and sometimes they would separate arms and exhibit mudrās to act out the meaning of the songs they were singing.

The word pāda-nyāsaiḥ indicates that the gopīs artistically and gracefully placed the steps of their dancing feet in an enchanting way, and the words sa-smitair bhrū-vilāsair indicate that the romantic movements of their eyebrows, smiling with love, were most charming to behold.

According to an authoritative book on music called Saṅgīta-sāra, tāvanta eva rāgāḥ sūryāvatyo jīva-jātayaḥ, teṣu ṣoḍaśa-sāhasrī purā gopī-kṛtā varā: “There are as many musical rāgas as there are species of life. Among these rāgas are sixteen thousand principal ones, which were manifested by the gopīs.” Thus the gopīs created sixteen thousand different rāgas, or musical modes, and these have subsequently been disseminated throughout the world. The words yad-gītenedam āvṛtam also indicate that even today devotees throughout the world sing the praises of Kṛṣṇa, following the example of the gopīs.

The previous verse states that Śrī Kṛṣṇa honored the gopīs for their dancing and singing, and in this verse we see how the gopīs responded by dealing intimately and confidently with Him. Here a tired gopī held on to Kṛṣṇa’s shoulder with her arm, resting against Him.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the word gadā in this verse indicates a baton suitable for a dancing master. Lord Kṛṣṇa brought this item of paraphernalia to enhance His enjoyment of the rāsa dance. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that the gopī mentioned here is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, whereas the two gopīs mentioned in the previous verse are, in order, Viśākhā and Lalitā.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments as follows on this verse: “Lord Kṛṣṇa alone is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and His potencies are unlimited. All these potencies, taking personal forms, engage Lord Kṛṣṇa in His pastimes. Just as the opulent manifestation of His one supreme transcendental potency manifests all the countless potencies of the Lord, so in the rāsa dance Kṛṣṇa manifests Himself as many times as there are various potencies represented by the gopīs. Everything is Kṛṣṇa, but by His desire His spiritual energy Yoga-māyā manifests the gopīs. When His internal potency Yoga-māyā thus produces such pastimes for the enhancement of His transcendental emotions, it is just like a young boy playing with His own reflection. But since these pastimes are created by His spiritual potency, they are eternal and self-manifesting.”

As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out, it has already been explained that Lord Kṛṣṇa is eternally free from all material desire, perfect on the platform of spiritual self-satisfaction.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, it is implicit here that after playing in the water Lord Kṛṣṇa had His body massaged, and that He then dressed Himself in His favorite clothing before resuming His pastimes with the gopīs.

It is difficult to translate into English the word rasa, which indicates the spiritual bliss derived from one’s loving relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa. That bliss is experienced in the midst of spiritual pastimes with the Lord and His devotees. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that great Vaiṣṇava poets like Vyāsa, Parāśara, Jayadeva, Līlāśuka (Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura), Govardhanācārya and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī have tried in their poetry to describe the conjugal affairs of the Lord. These descriptions are never complete, however, since the Lord’s pastimes are unlimited; thus the attempt to glorify such pastimes is still going on and will go on forever. Lord Kṛṣṇa arranged an extraordinary season of beautiful autumn nights to enhance His loving affairs, and those autumn nights have inspired transcendental poets since time immemorial.

As Śukadeva Gosvāmī was speaking, King Parīkṣit noticed that some persons seated in the assembly on the bank of the Ganges were harboring doubt about the Lord’s activities. These doubtful persons were karmīs, jñānīs and others who were not devotees of the Lord. To clear up their doubts, King Parīkṣit asks this question on their behalf.

It is clear to the enlightened that these doubts will arise in the minds and hearts of persons unfamiliar with the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. Therefore since time immemorial great sages and enlightened kings like Parīkṣit Mahārāja have openly raised these questions to provide the authoritative answer for all posterity.

Great, potent personalities are not ruined by an apparent transgression of moral principles. Śrīdhara Svāmī mentions the examples of Brahmā, Indra, Soma, Viśvāmitra and others. A fire devours all that is fed into it but the fire does not change its nature. Similarly, a great personality does not fall from his position by an irregularity in behavior. In the following verse, however, Śukadeva Gosvāmī makes it clear that if we try to imitate the great personalities ruling the universe, the result will be catastrophic.

Lord Śiva, or Rudra, once drank an ocean of poison, and the result was that an attractive blue mark appeared on his neck. But if we were to drink even a drop of such poison, we would die immediately. Just as we should not imitate this pastime of Śiva’s, we should not imitate Lord Kṛṣṇa’s activities with the gopīs. We should clearly understand that while Lord Kṛṣṇa certainly descends to demonstrate religious principles, He also descends to demonstrate that He is God and we are not. That also must be demonstrated. The Lord enjoys with His internal potency and thus attracts us to the spiritual platform. We should not try to imitate Kṛṣṇa, for we will suffer severely.

The word īśvara is usually defined in Sanskrit dictionaries as “lord, master, ruler,” and also as “capable, potent to perform.” Śrīla Prabhupāda often translated the word īśvara as “controller,” which brilliantly synthesizes the two fundamental concepts of īśvara, namely a master or ruler and a capable or potent person. A master may be incompetent, but a controller is a master or lord who in fact makes things happen. The parameśvara, the supreme īśvara, the supreme controller, is of course God, Kṛṣṇa, the cause of all causes.

Although people in general, especially in the Western countries, are not aware of the fact, powerful personalities control our universe. The modern, impersonal concept of the universe depicts an almost totally lifeless cosmos in which the earth floats meaninglessly. Thus we are left with the dubious “ultimate purpose” of preserving and reproducing our genetic code, which has its own “ultimate purpose” of adding another link to the meaningless chain of events by again reproducing itself.

In contrast to this sterile, meaningless world concocted by ignorant materialists, the actual universe is full of life — personal life — and in fact full of God, who pervades and supports all that exists. The essence of reality is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His personal relationship with the innumerable living beings, of whom we are samples. Some of the living beings are trapped in the illusion of materialism, or identification with the material body, while others are liberated, aware of their eternal, spiritual nature. A third class comprises those progressing in self-realization from the materialistic state of ignorance to the enlightened state of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Reality is ultimately personal and divine, and therefore it is not surprising that, as the Vedic literature reveals to us, our universe and other universes are managed by great personalities, just as our city, state and country are managed by empowered personalities. When we democratically award a particular politician the right to govern, we vote for him because he has exhibited something we call “leadership” or “ability.” We think, “He’ll get the job done.” In other words, it is only after an individual acquires the power to govern that we vote for him; our vote does not make him a leader but rather recognizes a power in him coming from some other source. Thus, as Lord Kṛṣṇa explains at the end of the Tenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, any living being exhibiting an extraordinary power, ability or authority must have been empowered by the Lord Himself or by the Lord’s energy.

Those directly empowered by the Lord are devoted to Him, and thus their power and influence spread goodness throughout the world, whereas those who are empowered by the Lord’s illusory potency are in an indirect relationship with Kṛṣṇa because they do not directly reflect His will. Of course, they do reflect His will indirectly, since it is by Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement that the laws of nature act upon ignorant living beings, gradually persuading them, through their journey of many lifetimes, to surrender to the Supreme Lord. Thus as politicians create wars, false hopes and innumerable passionate schemes for the materialistic persons who follow them, the politicians are indirectly carrying out the Lord’s program of allowing the conditioned souls to experience the bitter fruit of godlessness.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura has translated the word īśvarāṇām as “those who have become powerful through knowledge and austerity.” As one understands the nature and will of God and makes the personal sacrifice required to achieve excellence in spiritual life, one becomes empowered by the Supreme Lord to represent His will, which one has intelligently recognized and accepted.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead kindly descends to earth to show a vivid example of religious behavior. As Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (3.24), “If I did not execute standard duties, the whole world would be misled and in fact destroyed.” Thus the Lord showed, in His different incarnations, how to act properly in this world. A good example is Lord Rāmacandra, who behaved wonderfully as the son of King Daśaratha.

But when Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself descends, He also demonstrates the ultimate religious principle, namely that the Supreme Lord is beyond all other living beings and that no one can imitate His supreme position. This foremost of all religious principles — that the Lord is unique, without equal or superior — was clearly demonstrated in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s apparently immoral pastimes with the gopīs. No one can imitate these activities without incurring dire consequences, as explained here by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. One who thinks that Lord Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary living being subjected to lust, or who accepts His rāsa dance as admirable and tries to imitate it, will certainly be vanquished, as described in text 30 of this chapter.

Finally, a distinction must be made between the Lord and His empowered servants. An empowered servant of the Lord, as in the case of Brahmā, may experience a remnant of reactions to previous activities, according to the law of karma. But the Lord is eternally free from any entanglement in the laws of karma. He is on a unique platform.

As explained in text 32, even great personalities empowered by the Lord are free from the laws of karma. Then what to speak of the Lord Himself. After all, the law of karma is created by Him and is an expression of His omnipotent will. Therefore His activities, which He performs out of His own pure goodness, are never subject to criticism by ordinary living beings.

We certainly do not assume our bodies to enjoy transcendental pastimes, as the Lord does. We eternal souls have accepted material bodies by force because of our foolish attempt to enjoy this material world. The Lord’s forms are all eternal, spiritual existence and cannot be reasonably equated with our temporary flesh.

Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord dwelling within the gopīs, their so-called husbands and all other living beings, what possible sin could there be on His part if He embraces some of the beings He Himself has created? What fault could there be if the Lord goes with the gopīs to a secret place, since He already dwells within the most secret part of every living being, the core of the heart?

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains in this connection that when Lord Kṛṣṇa descends to this world in His original two-handed form, out of kindness He manifests that form in a way His devotees conditioned in human society can perceive and understand. Thus here it is stated, mānuṣaṁ deham āsthitaḥ: “He assumes a humanlike body.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura glorifies the Lord’s conjugal pastimes, stating that these romantic affairs have an inconceivable spiritual potency to attract the polluted heart of conditioned souls. It is an undeniable fact that any pure- or simple-hearted person who hears narrations of the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa will be attracted to the lotus feet of the Lord and gradually become His devotee.

Because the gopīs loved Kṛṣṇa exclusively, Yoga-māyā protected their relationship with the Lord at all times, even though they were married. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes from the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi as follows:

“The gopīs’ jealous husbands consorted not with their wives but with doubles manufactured by Māyā. Thus these men never actually had any intimate contact with the divine ladies of Vraja.” The gopīs are the internal energy of the Lord and can never belong to any other living being. Kṛṣṇa arranged their apparent marriage to other men simply to create the excitement of parakīya-rasa, the love between a married woman and her paramour. These activities are absolutely pure because they are the Lord’s pastimes, and saintly persons since time immemorial have relished these supreme spiritual events.

In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.17) Lord Kṛṣṇa explains, “By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.” Thus one thousand ages entered within a single twelve-hour night when Lord Kṛṣṇa performed His rāsa dance. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī compares this inconceivable impression of time to the fact that many universes fit neatly within the forty-mile range of earthly Vṛndāvana. Or one may consider that mother Yaśodā could not encircle the small abdomen of child Kṛṣṇa with numerous ropes, and that at another time He manifested many universes within His mouth. The transcendence of spiritual reality above and beyond mundane physics is concisely explained in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Laghu-bhagavatāmṛta:

“Nothing is impossible for the Lord, His dear devotees, His transcendental abode or the time of His pastimes, for all these entities are inconceivably powerful.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī further explains that the word vāsudevānumoditāḥ indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa advised the gopīs, “To assure the success of these pastimes, you and I should keep them secret.” The word vāsudeva, a name of Kṛṣṇa, also indicates Lord Kṛṣṇa’s plenary expansion who acts as the presiding Deity of consciousness. When the word vāsudeva is understood in this context, the word vāsudevānumoditāḥ indicates that the presiding Deity of consciousness, Vāsudeva, manifested embarrassment and fear of their elders within the gopīs’ hearts, and therefore it was only with great reluctance that the young girls returned home.

The extraordinary power of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal pastimes is clearly revealed here. Qualitatively, the Lord’s spiritual, loving pastimes are the diametric opposite of material, lusty affairs, so much so that simply by hearing about the Lord’s pastimes a devotee conquers sex desire. By reading pornographic literature or hearing about material romance, we certainly do not conquer sex desire but rather increase our lust. But hearing or reading about the Lord’s conjugal affairs has exactly the opposite effect because they are of the opposite nature, being purely spiritual. Therefore it is by the causeless mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa that He exhibits His rāsa-līlā within this world. If we become attached to this narration, we will experience the bliss of spiritual love and thus reject the perverted reflection of that love, which is called lust. As nicely put by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.59), paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate: “Once having directly experienced the Supreme, one will not return to material pleasures.”