Embracing Kṛṣṇa - The Ecstasy of Transcendental Affection
Spiritual life is not a static void; it is bursting with dynamic, blissful relationships. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the supreme perfection of the living entity is to exchange pure love with Lord Kṛṣṇa, an affection that frequently culminates in the ecstatic, transcendental act of embracing the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Ecstasy of Parental Love
In the spiritual realm, the Supreme Lord perfectly reciprocates the protective feelings of His devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the parental affection (vātsalya-rasa) of Nanda Mahārāja, Mother Yaśodā, and Devakī overwhelms them, causing them to constantly embrace Kṛṣṇa while shedding tears of spontaneous joy.
- The most fortunate Nanda and mother Yasoda placed their sons on their laps and began to embrace Them to their full satisfaction.
- Mother Yasoda embraced Krsna, allowed Him to sit down on her lap, and began to look upon the face of the Lord with great love and affection. Because of her intense affection, milk was flowing from her breast - SB 10.9.5.
- Mother Yasoda, mother Rohini, Nanda and Balarama, who is the strongest of the strong, embraced Krsna one after another and, from spontaneous feelings of affection, blessed Him over and over again.
- When the Supreme Personality of Godhead was speaking as an innocent boy in very sweet words, Vasudeva and Devaki became captivated by parental affection and embraced Him with great pleasure.
The Embrace of Friendship
Kṛṣṇa relates to His intimate friends as an equal, completely hiding His supreme majesty. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that in fraternal love (sakhya-rasa), the cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana and the elder Pāṇḍavas embrace Kṛṣṇa tightly with great jubilation, completely forgetting their material existence.
- As soon as they (the cowherd boys) saw Krsna coming toward them, they one after another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their chests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and began to return home.
- When Krsna was on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, all the cowherd boys came to see Him, wearing jeweled earrings in their ears. Becoming so greatly overjoyed, they extended their arms and embraced Krsna as their old friend.
- Arjuna and Bhima embraced Krsna with great jubilation, and the two younger brothers, namely Nakula and Sahadeva, touched the lotus feet of Krsna with tears in their eyes and offered their respects.
- Bhimasena, the second brother of the Pandavas, smiled and embraced Lord Krsna, thinking of Him as his own maternal cousin and thus he also merged in great ecstasy. Bhimasena was so filled with ecstasy that for the time being he forgot his material existence.
The Perfection of Conjugal Love
The most intense and intimate exchanges with Kṛṣṇa occur in mādhurya-rasa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the gopīs of Vṛndāvana and the queens of Dvārakā experience unparalleled bliss by embracing the Lord, an interaction that is purely spiritual and completely devoid of mundane lust.
- The damsels of Vraja, the gopis, being attracted by the beauty of Krsna, simply wanted to embrace Him and His arms, which are like serpents. Thus the gopis ultimately tasted the nectar of the lotus feet of the Lord.
- The lily-flower garlands around the necks of the gopis were strewn to pieces due to the gopis' embracing the body of Krsna, and the flowers were reddish from being smeared with the kunkuma on their breasts.
- Who can leave Krsna? If one has got Krsna . . . they (sixteen thousand wives of Krsna) know Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So they are embracing Krsna. How much happy they are.
- Krsna had so many girlfriends. There are so many nice descriptions of embracing, kissing, but there is no pregnancy or abortion.
The Power of the Mental Embrace
True love for Kṛṣṇa cannot be hindered by physical distance or social boundaries. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes how the queens and gopīs, often restricted by feminine shyness or separation, achieved the ultimate perfection simply by embracing Kṛṣṇa intensely within their minds.
- After entering Dvaraka, Krsna was received in different ways by different members of His family. Upon seeing their husband from a distance, the queens of Dvaraka immediately embraced Him within their minds and slowly glanced over Him.
- The insuperable ecstasy was so strong that the queens, who were shy, first embraced the Lord in the innermost recesses of their hearts. Then they embraced Him visually, and then they sent their sons to embrace Him (which is equal to personal embracing).
- The ecstatic trance they achieved simply by mentally embracing Krsna is impossible to achieve even for great yogis constantly engaged in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Krsna could understand that the gopis were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds, and therefore, since He is present in everyone's heart, He reciprocated the embracing from within.
The Desire of All Living Entities
Kṛṣṇa's beauty is so overwhelmingly attractive that every living entity desires to associate with Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda reveals that advanced sages desired to become women just to embrace Him, and even the sacred rivers and animals of Vṛndāvana constantly yearned for His physical touch.
- There were many advanced sages who were captivated by the beauty of Lord Ramacandra and who desired to become women in order to embrace the Lord. Later on, these sages appeared in Gokula Vrndavana when Krsna advented Himself there.
- Even the river Yamuna, being desirous of embracing the lotus feet of Krsna after hearing the transcendental vibration of His flute, broke her fierce waves to flow very nicely with lotus flowers in her hands, to present them to Mukunda with deep feeling.
- Their (cows and calves) eyes seemed to be embracing Krsna, and there were tears in their eyes. This is an instance of inertia resulting from hearing the transcendental vibrations of Krsna's flute.
- His nose (of the surrendered soul) is engaged in smelling the spiritual aroma of the lotus feet of the Lord (Krsna). Similarly, his ears are engaged in hearing messages from Vaikuntha, and his hands embrace the lotus feet of the Lord and His associates.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully elevates the concept of embracing far above the polluted, lust-driven interactions of the material world, revealing it as the pinnacle of spiritual ecstasy. In the transcendental realm, Lord Kṛṣṇa perfectly reciprocates the unique love of each devotee. Whether it is the protective, tearful embrace of Mother Yaśodā in vātsalya-rasa, the vigorous, joyful embrace of Arjuna and the cowherd boys in sakhya-rasa, or the intensely passionate, purely spiritual embrace of the gopīs in mādhurya-rasa, every interaction is an explosion of absolute, unalloyed bliss. The beauty of Kṛṣṇa is so supremely attractive that even the rivers, cows, and great sages long for His touch. Furthermore, the Lord's mercy is so boundless that even when physical contact is obstructed by distance or shyness, the sincere devotee can embrace Kṛṣṇa within the core of their heart. This mental embrace induces a level of spiritual trance that completely baffles the greatest mystic yogīs. Ultimately, the highest perfection for the surrendered soul is to engage all their senses—including their arms—in the eternal, ecstatic service of embracing the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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