Hearing and Glorifying the Sweetness of God's Pastimes
The pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are a boundless ocean of transcendental nectar. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that by attentively hearing and glorifying these divine activities, conditioned souls can easily cross over the miseries of material existence and awaken their dormant love of God.
The Absolute Nature of the Lord's Activities
The activities of the Supreme Lord are not forced by the laws of material nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches that the Lord's pastimes—whether creating the cosmos or dancing in Vṛndāvana—are absolute, eternal, and perfectly identical with His transcendental form.
- All the pastimes of the Lord are eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, just as the form of Krsna Himself is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge - sac-cid-ananda-vigraha - BS 5.1.
- His (God's) birth does not, like that of the living entities, take place under the influence of material nature and the bondage of the reactions of past deeds. His works & activities are independent pastimes and are not subject to the reactions of nature.
- Because He (the Supreme Lord) is the Absolute Truth, His name, fame, form, qualities and pastimes are all identical with Him. His pastimes, therefore, cannot be equated with the sufferings of humanity as the so-called swami contends.
The Cleansing Power of Hearing
Hearing about the Lord's pastimes is not ordinary entertainment; it is a profound spiritual process. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that giving aural reception to the narrations of the Lord's activities directly connects one with the Supreme and washes away all material contamination from the heart.
- By regular hearing of the glories and pastimes of the Lord, the impurities in the student's heart begin to be washed off. The more one is cleansed of impurities, the more one becomes fixed in devotional service.
- Hearing of the Lord's pastimes is itself transcendental association with the Lord because there is no difference between the Lord and His transcendental pastimes.
- If persons who are suffering in the forest fire of this material existence will only enter into the nectarean river of the description of the pastimes of the Lord, they will forget all the troubles of the miserable material existence.
Avoiding Poisonous Interpretations
To derive true spiritual benefit, one must hear from the right source. Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly warns against hearing descriptions of the Lord's pastimes from impersonalists or imitating them like the sahajiyās, as such actions are spiritually suicidal.
- Caitanya has clearly said, mayavadi-bhasya sunile haya sarva nasa: if anyone hears the Mayavadis' interpretation of the pastimes of the Lord, or their interpretation of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam or any other Vedic literature, then he is doomed.
- Nondevotees are considered to be like serpents; as milk is poisoned by a serpent's touch, so, although the narration of the pastimes of the Lord is as pure as milk, when administered by serpentlike nondevotees it becomes poisonous.
- Conditioned souls are naturally averse to understanding the spiritual existence of the Lord, & if they try to know the transcendental nature of the Lord's pastimes while they remain absorbed in materialism, they are sure to blunder like the sahajiyas.
The Ultimate Spiritual Destination
The perfection of human life is attained by constantly remembering the activities of the Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda states that those who become fully absorbed in the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are guaranteed transfer to the spiritual world to participate in them eternally.
- In the Padma Purana there is a statement about remembering the activities of the Lord, "A person who is always engaged in meditation on the sweet pastimes and wonderful activities of the Lord surely becomes freed from all material contamination."
- After giving up the material body, the devotee of the Lord returns home, back to Godhead. This means that the devotee is first transferred to the particular universe where the Lord is at that time staying to exhibit His pastimes.
- If there is some chance of entering such a immortal, eternal kingdom of God, why should I not take chance? - You should take chance at all risk in this life to enter into the nitya-lila, nitya-lila, eternal pastimes of the Lord.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are not mythological tales or mundane historical events, but eternal, transcendental realities. By submissively hearing and glorifying these divine activities from the lips of pure Vaiṣṇavas, one's heart is cleansed of all material impurities and the blazing fire of material existence is extinguished. It is crucial, however, to avoid the poisonous interpretations of impersonalists and the foolish imitations of the sahajiyās. Through pure, offenseless chanting and hearing, a sincere soul can conquer the cycle of birth and death, ultimately achieving the supreme perfection of entering into the eternal, blissful pastimes of the Lord in the spiritual world.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God's Pastimes. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.