Wisdom of the Sages

How does meditating on Krishna's romantic pastimes conquer lust? Not through repression — through a higher meditation. In classical yoga, the very first demand is to root out every vestige of erotic thought. With the meditators on Krishna, the romantic mood became the queen of all meditation. The gopīs' love is the diametric opposite of lust — being entirely selfless. Meditating on something so pure reprograms the heart from within — the counterfeit simply loses its pull. Raghunath and Kaustubha complete all five chapters of the Rāsa Līlā. Krishna's pastimes are not the product of material desire. They are its antidote. And anyone who hears them faithfully will attain pure devotion and quickly conquer the disease of the heart.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.35-39
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Sixty years ago Śrīla Prabhupāda arrived in New York City — not by accident, but by design. He understood that what happens in New York radiates out to the world. In this special episode Raghunath and Kaustubha are joined by Aditya Devi Dasi from the Brooklyn Temple to talk about the ISKCON 60th anniversary weekend — a full three days of festivities in the city where it all began. The Wisdom of the Sages community will be there. And as Raghunath says — when devotees gather in the spirit of service, they don't just attend a park. They turn it into a holy place.
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When we first find the spiritual path, we imitate. It's natural. We put on the costume before we've done the inner work. We adopt the style before we've absorbed the substance. We copy what we see in the saints and the sages — the dress, the language, the mood. But it's been said: "No man was ever great by imitation. Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble." Raghunath and Kaustubha take that insight into one of the most important questions in the Bhagavatam: how could Krishna, the original speaker and guardian of morality, have a romantic relationship with so many girls? The answer extends to reframing who we are and what our purpose in life is. On the broadest level, the material world itself is the result of us imitating the Divine. That imitation produces absurdity and suffering. Returning to our natural position can be found through bhakti.

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.26-34
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"Love separates all things from the soul." Meister Eckhart — fourteenth century Christian mystic, so radical the Pope investigated him for heresy — arrived at the same place as the Bhakti Vedāntins. Both jñāna and bhakti dissolve material attachment. Jñāna does it through relentless intellectual negation. Bhakti does it through love. And love, as the Rāsa Dance shows, does it beautifully. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha continue through Canto Ten, Chapter Thirty-Three — Krishna caressing the tired gopīs' faces, the demigods showering flowers from their airplanes, Krishna and the gopīs entering the Yamuna together under the autumn moon. The highest object of meditation, delivered into this universe so we would stop looking for love and beauty in all the wrong places.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.12-25
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A first reading of the Rāsa Līlā might suggest the gopīs' love is selfish, irresponsible, even unethical. But looking closer one can find the highest transcendence attained not through grinding austerity but through love so real and complete that everything else simply fell away. In this episode Raghunath and Kaustubha arrive at Canto Ten, Chapter Thirty-Three — the Rāsa Dance itself. Krishna expands between each pair of gopīs. The demigods crowd the sky. The gopīs sing, creating sixteen thousand musical ragas. Rādhārāṇī, tired from the dance, places her arm around Krishna's shoulder. His arm carries the fragrance of blue lotus and sandalwood. Her hair stands on end. She kisses his arm. This beautiful scene is what Vyāsadeva was told to meditate on and share with the world.
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.33.1-11
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