[Advaita-l] Shridhar Swami on Raslila (continued)

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

"The Bhagavata begins [this katha] with vikShya ra.mtu.m manashchakre
yogamAyAmupAshrita.h[1] It goes on to say Atmanyavaruddhasaurata.h[2] and
krtvA tAvantamAtmAna.m yAvatIrgopayoShita.h | reme sa
bhagavA.mstAbhirAtmArAmo'pi lIlayA ||[3] and in the same manner, reme
ramesho vrajasundarIbhiryathA'rbhaka.h svapratibimbavibhrama.h ||[4]
>From many statements like these the relationship between parabrahman and
mAyA is revealed."

[1] This is the second pada of 10.29.1.  "Bhagavan decided in His mind to
play with the aid of his yogamaya."

Bhaskar wrote:

> Krishna, through his yOga mAya, appeared as many
> krishna-s just to make gOpika-s happy with their beloved krishna's
> exclusive presence to them !!...is this not what we understand from that
> verse?

Shridhar Swami thinks (and I agree) that from the position of this shloka
and the wording, it should be understood as applying to the whole lila.

[2] 10.33.26 "but He didn't let His chastity be compromised"

[3] 10.33.20 "As many gopis as there were, that many times He multiplied
His form and played"

[4] 10.33.17 "As a young child plays with his shadow, thus Ramesha
[Husband of ramA i.e. lakShmi] enjoyed himself with the beautiful maidens
of Vraja."

Murali Mohan wrote:
> my doubts is why it had to be with married women?
> Even unmarried one could have justified as bigamy was quite common those
> days. In Hinduism it is said a married women should consider her husband as
> god himself and serve. So why could not the gopis see the same God in their
> husband itself?

Shridhar Swami wonders the same thing and looks at vikShya ra.mtu.m
manashchakre yogamAyAmupAshrita.h for a clue.  (The followin ix a
paraphrase not a literal translation.)  Why would the omniescent
Lord "decide in His mind" to do anything?  We know the purpose of an
avatar is to overthrow adharma and establish dharma
(dharmasa.msthApanArthaya sa.mbhavAmi yuge yuge | "I am born in every yuga
in order to establish dharma" as the Gita says.) What dharmic purpose was
acheived by such a, on the surface, adharmic act?

kAmadeva had boasted that the entire universe upto Indra and Brahma were
under his sway.  In order to humble Kamadeva and show it is only the bliss
of Brahman which is the root and cause of all mundane bliss.  Of the kind
of love that men and women can show each other, the pinnacle is the
conjugal variety.  Even that is but a shadow of the bliss of Brahman.[5]
By means of the rAsalIlA BhagavAn demonstrates this.

[5] See Anandamimamsa in Taittereyopanishad

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>