Q. In Walden Henry David Thoreau refers to a quote from Damodara, “There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon.” Some scholars say Damodara is the same as Krishna. Is this true? Could this be a quote from the Bhagavad-gita?
A. Damodara is a name for Krishna. It means “One whose belly is bound (by a rope).” The name refers to one of Krishna’s childhood lilas, in which his mother binds him to a grinding mortar. In this lila, Krishna demonstrated that he “freely enjoyed a vast horizon,” for however much rope his mother gathered together to tie him with, it repeatedly came up two inches too short. Although Krishna remained the same childhood size, she could not tie him with all of the rope in the house. Until, that is, she conquered him by her love.
While it appeared that she was trying to bind him as a means of punishing him (for his having broken the butter pot), this was not actually her motive. It may have been at first, but as she considered that he might run away from home when she attempted to chastise Krishna, her thoughts turned to trying to bind him to prevent him from running away. At any rate, she wanted to tie him out of love.
When Krishna saw the intensity of her love, he agreed to be bound. Both the devotee’s effort and God’s mercy are required to capture the Absolute, “who freely enjoys a vast horizon” and willingly shares it with those who approach him in love.
This lila is from the Srimad Bhagavatam. Thoreau’s explanation of it is his own, but it does seem to work.
Q. Is it possible for you to give me a material comparison for understanding the happiness of pure devotion? How many times greater would the ecstasy of prema bhakti be in comparison to something we experience in this world?
A. It is said that the happiness experienced in heaven is 100 times greater than on earth. The king of heaven, Indra, experiences 100 time more happiness than everyone else there. Above Indra’s abode there are other material planets, each of which affords 100 times greater happiness than the other. However, when one attains Brahman, he experiences unlimited happiness. Rupa Goswami says that if one were to multiply the happiness of Brahman a trillion fold, it would not compare to an atomic particle of the happiness of pure devotion.
Q. In your books you frequently make references in the third person. I know what you write must also be coming from your own experience. Is there any reason why you don’t speak in the first person?
A. I often refer to the scriptures and other saints to demonstrate that my own experience corresponds with an objective spiritual criterion. I am not a renegade. My experience conforms with that of our lineage.
Q. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that once the soul reaches his eternal abode they never return to the material world. In a recent Q & A discussion, “Nitya-Siddha, Sadhana-Siddha,” there was mention of perfected beings returning to this world. How is that?
A. They might come for preaching in Gaura-lila, or participation in Krishna-lila, but otherwise not. Nor are they in the material world in terms of being in material consciousness when they do so.
As for the eternally conditioned souls, they appear in the material manifestation via Maha Visnu as participants in the srsti-lila, in which they are given the opportunity to return home. Their conditioning is without beginning, but it can come to an end if they choose to take advantage of God’s grace.
Q. In Krishna’s abode are we able to experience the conjugal love that the gopis have for Krishna?
A. The highest reach for the soul is to experience the intensity of Radha’s love for Krishna vicariously. This is called manjari-bhava. The manjari gopi is one who assists Radha in every way, and being so absorbed in service to her, they experience all that Radha does without directly interacting with Krishna and thereby competing with Radha. Some souls attain this bhava. It is the essence of Sri Caitanya’s experience.
Q. Is it possible to experience all five rasas with Krishna? If you cannot experience all five rasas, are there other beings in the spiritual kingdom that the other rasas can be experienced with?
A. Every soul has a dominant emotion (sthayi-bhava) that corresponds with the five dominant rasas. On the ladder of intensity of love each rasa contains all that the previous one does and more. All that is found in santa is found in dasya. All that is experienced in santa and dasya is found in sakhya, etc. Madhurya rasa contains the experience of all of the other four rasas and more. Therefore it is called mukhya-rasa, the full face of sacred aesthetic rapture.
In the spiritual world everyone is centered on God. Souls have relationships with one another that are entirely God-centered. Krishna is the object of their love. All are in agreement with this.
