Conjugal Lover - The Supreme Pinnacle of Transcendental Relationship
The Vedic literatures explain that the Absolute Truth is not a formless void, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who engages in eternal, loving pastimes with His devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that every soul has a unique, constitutional relationship with the Lord. While one can approach God as a servant, friend, or parent, the zenith of spiritual exchange is to relate to Him as a conjugal lover. This platform of mādhurya-rasa represents the most intimate, complete, and blissful state of existence, far beyond any material conception of romance.
Eternal Constitutional Relationship
The living entity is never separated from the Lord, but in the conditioned state, this connection is forgotten. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that recognizing and reviving our original, eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa—whether as a servant, friend, parent, or conjugal lover—is the true awakening of the soul, known as svarūpa-sthaḥ.
- We have eternal transcendental relationships with Krsna as His servants, friends, fathers, sons or conjugal lovers.
- The pure souls are eternally in love with Krsna, and this permanent love, either as a servant, a friend, a parent or a conjugal lover, is not at all difficult to revive.
- When one realizes something of his constitutional relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he understands his original position and wants to be reinstated in this position, either as friend, servant, parent or conjugal lover of Krsna.
- When one attains that stage he can understand how he is related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a servant or friend or as a parent or conjugal lover. This stage of understanding is called svarupa-sthah.
The Purification of Desires
To reenter the spiritual realm, the heart must be entirely cleansed of mundane attachments. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that when a devotee's mind becomes completely free from material desires (anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya), focusing only on serving Kṛṣṇa in their specific relationship, the material body and its related anxieties are totally spiritualized and vanquished.
- A devotee's mind is always calm, quiet and desireless because he is always anyabhilasita-sunyam (CC Madhya 19.167), having no desire other than to serve Krsna as His personal servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover.
- When a devotee is completely purified, he becomes anyabhilasita-sunya. In other words, all of his material desires become zero, being burnt to ashes, and he exists either as the Lord's servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover.
- Because one thinks constantly in this way (as the Lord's servant, friend, father, mother or conjugal lover), one's present material body and mind are fully spiritualized, and the needs of one's material body completely vanish from one's existence.
- If one is connected with Krsna in any of these transcendental relationships (as a supreme master, supreme friend, supreme son and supreme conjugal lover) , the course of one's material life is understood to have already ended.
The Supreme Happiness and Mellows
The happiness derived from material relationships is flickering and inevitably ends in frustration. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that when these exact same relational dynamics are transferred to the Supreme Lord, the devotee experiences an all-pervading, eternal ānanda (transcendental bliss) that eclipses the joy of impersonal Brahman realization.
- We can experience ananda perfectly in the association of Krsna. We can associate with Krsna as a servant, a friend, a father, a mother or a conjugal lover.
- When one advances through impersonal Brahman and localized Paramatma to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in relationship with Him as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover, one's happiness becomes all-pervading.
- Then (when one has a relationship with Him (Vasudeva) as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover) one automatically feels transcendental bliss, just as one becomes happy seeing the shining of the moon.
- When the same relationships (from the material world with a son, a wife, a friend and a conjugal lover) awaken in Krsna consciousness, one's spiritual life is revived, and one is guaranteed to return home, back to Godhead.
The Highest Stage of Love
Among all the transcendental mellows, conjugal love is considered the most complete, as it incorporates all the qualities of servitude, friendship, and parental affection. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the gopīs of Vṛndāvana perfectly exemplify this stage, and by following in their footsteps, a sincere soul can attain the ultimate perfection of bhakti.
- When one becomes a conjugal lover of Krsna, everything lacking in the other relationships is completely manifest. Love of Godhead lacks nothing in the conjugal stage.
- Although Lord Caitanya accepted the highest realization of the Supreme Lord as conjugal lover, He nonetheless requested Ramananda Raya to proceed further.
- The vrndavana-vasis - mother Yasoda, Krsna's friends and Krsna's conjugal lovers, the younger gopis with whom He dances - have very intimate relationships with Krsna, and if one follows in the footsteps of these devotees, Krsna is available.
- A devotee female said, "I have been so attracted by Your beauty that I wish that You accept me as Your conjugal lover."
Conclusion
In conclusion, the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is meant to elevate the living entity from the dry platform of philosophical speculation to the vibrant, ecstatic realm of personal relationship with God. As highlighted throughout the teachings, the soul possesses an eternal identity as a servant, friend, parent, or conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. By sincerely engaging in devotional service and cleansing the heart of all material desires, the practitioner's consciousness becomes fully spiritualized. While every relationship in the spiritual sky is absolute and completely satisfying, the relationship of a conjugal lover in mādhurya-rasa stands supreme, containing the full spectrum of divine love. Ultimately, by following in the footsteps of the pure devotees of Vṛndāvana, the conditioned soul can awaken this supreme affection, experience unlimited transcendental bliss, and permanently return home, back to Godhead.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Conjugal Lover. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.