Desiring for Kṛṣṇa - The Transcendental Ambition of the Gopīs
The philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not ask the living entity to achieve an impossible state of blank voidism. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the true path to perfection involves taking our natural, inherent capacity to desire and purifying it completely, shifting our ambition from selfish material enjoyment to the blissful service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Nature of Purified Desire
Attempting to artificially stop all desires is a futile endeavor for the eternal soul. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that we cannot become desireless, but we must change the quality of our desires; when the urge to gratify our own senses is replaced by the urge to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, we achieve spiritual perfection.
- Desire you cannot stop. That is not possible. So long you are, your desires are there. Desire should be purified. When I desire to gratify my senses, that is material. When I desire to satisfy Krsna, that is spiritual.
- Desire cannot be completely absent because I am living entity. So my desire should be not to forget Krsna. That's all, that one desire. That is real desire. All other desires, they are foolish. We cannot be desireless, but we should desire only bona fide.
- Kaviraja Krsnadasa, explains the distinction between lusty desire and the service attitude here: " 'Lusty desire' refers to the desire to gratify one's senses, and 'transcendental desire' refers to the desire for serving the senses of the Lord."
- The yogi should not have any desire for material sense gratification. If one is in Krsna consciousness, he has no desire other than Krsna.
The Supreme Standard of the Gopīs
The highest example of purified desire is found in Vṛndāvana. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that although the gopīs exhibited an intense eagerness to associate with Kṛṣṇa that superficially resembled mundane romance, their hearts were entirely devoid of selfish lust, desiring only to give pleasure to the Lord.
- Extreme desire to serve the Lord is manifest in the transcendental land of Vraja. And it is specifically manifested among the gopis. The gopis' love for Krsna is so elevated that for our understanding it is sometimes explained as being "lusty desire."
- Lusty desires are experienced when one is concerned with his own personal sense gratification. The mood of the gopis is not like that. Their only desire is to satisfy the senses of Krsna.
- Among the gopis, there is not a pinch of desire for sense gratification. Their only desire is to give pleasure to Krsna, and this is why they mingle with Him and enjoy with Him.
- Inhabitants of Vrndavana never desired anything like elevation to the heavenly planets or merging into the effulgence of Brahman to become one with the Absolute Truth because of their great desire to love Krsna.
Fulfillment of Transcendental Ambitions
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is intimately aware of the contents of His devotees' hearts. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when a soul harbors a genuine, pure desire for Kṛṣṇa's association, the Lord orchestrates miraculous circumstances—even manipulating time itself—to perfectly fulfill their transcendental ambitions.
- The gopis had prayed to the goddess Katyayani to have Krsna as their husband. Now Krsna was fulfilling their desire by expanding Himself in as many forms as there were gopis and enjoying them exactly like a husband.
- The rasa dance was performed during the long period of Brahma's night, but the gopis could not understand that. In order to fulfill their desire, Krsna extended the night to cover such a great period of time. One may ask how this was possible.
- When Krsna stole the garments of the gopis while they were taking a bath at Ciraghata on the Yamuna, He promised to fulfill their desire in some future night.
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, knowing the minds of the unmarried young gopis, blessed them with their desired objective. They had prayed for Krsna to become their husband, and Krsna wanted to fulfill their desires.
Power of Sincere Eagerness
Spiritual elevation is not determined by mundane qualifications like wealth or academic degrees. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the only price for entering the spiritual kingdom is a sincere, burning eagerness to serve Kṛṣṇa, which compels the Lord to guide the devotee to ultimate success.
- When you engage yourself in the service of Lord - Krsna, I want to serve You - this much wanted, qualification. No educational qualification, no Ph.D. degree or to take birth in very high family or to become rich. Nothing. Simply a true feeling, desire.
- If you are sincere, Krishna will help you in all respects. It is said that according to one's sincere desire to have Krishna, Krishna leads one to a bona fide pure devotee of Krishna, and that pure devotee, he is qualified to lead one to Krishna.
- These gopis, they were not supposed to be educated. Village girls - who is giving them education? They are not Ph.D.'s. But still, strong desire for Krsna. And that is called yesam nirbandhini matih.
- When one desires Krsna, the Lord takes special care and encourages one to desire in such a way that one can attain to Him and be eternally happy.
The Wives of Dvārakā
The queens of Dvārakā also exhibit the highest echelon of pure devotion. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that chaste princesses like Rukmiṇī and Satyā heard of Kṛṣṇa's transcendental attributes and developed an unshakeable, pure desire to attain Him as their husband, rejecting all material opulence.
- Rukminidevi, the daughter of King Bhismaka, had heard about Krsna's transcendental attributes, and thus she desired to get Krsna as her husband.
- For a long time she (Satya) had cherished the idea of marrying Krsna and was following the principles of austerities to obtain her desired husband.
- She (Satya) then began to think, "If I have performed any pious activities to the best of my ability, and if I have sincerely thought all along to have Krsna as my husband, then Krsna may be pleased to fulfill my long-cherished desire."
- Sincerely, seriously, they (young princesses) offered their hearts to Krsna's lotus feet with unalloyed devotional attitude. As the Supersoul in everyone's heart, Krsna could understand their uncontaminated desire, He agreed to accept them as His wives.
Previous Lives of Devotion
The Lord's reciprocation transcends the limits of a single lifetime. Śrīla Prabhupāda highlights how Kṛṣṇa fulfills the intense desires of advanced sages and devotees, allowing them to take birth in circumstances where they can directly associate with Him in their cherished relationship.
- They (the sages of Dandakaranya) knew that although Ramacandra was an ideal king and could not accept more than one wife, Lord Krsna, being the full-fledged Personality of Godhead, could fulfill the desires of all of them in Vrndavana.
- They (the sages) all took birth as women in the wombs of gopis at Gokula, and as they had desired in their previous lives, they enjoyed the company of Lord Krsna, who was present at that time in Gokula Vrndavana.
- Great sages who were the sons of fire-gods rigidly followed the regulative principles in their desire to have conjugal love for Krsna. As such, in their next lives they were able to associate with the Lord, the origin of all creation.
- All of them (great sages who were the sons of fire-gods and rigidly followed the regulative principles in their desire to have conjugal love for Krsna) got Him as their husband.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda completely dispels the impersonalist illusion that spiritual life requires the extinction of desire. Because the living entity is an eternal, conscious being, it must continually harbor desires; the only question is whether those desires are directed toward matter or spirit. True spiritual perfection is achieved when all ambitions for personal sense gratification are completely abandoned, leaving only the pure, burning desire to satisfy the senses of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This unalloyed, transcendental ambition is perfectly exemplified by the eternal residents of Vṛndāvana, especially the gopīs. Although their intense eagerness to associate with Kṛṣṇa superficially resembles mundane romantic lust, it is, in fact, the absolute pinnacle of selfless love, utterly devoid of material contamination. The Supreme Lord perfectly reciprocates with this pure eagerness. Whether granting the prayers of the queens in Dvārakā, fulfilling the long-cherished ambitions of the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya in their next lives, or miraculously extending the night to perform the rāsa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa guarantees that anyone who sincerely cultivates the exclusive desire to serve Him will be eternally sheltered at His lotus feet.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Desiring for Krsna. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.