Krishna's pastimes with the gopis are purely spiritual bliss, not material desire—understand correctly to reach perfection.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Lecture after Manipur Dancing — March 29, 1975, Māyāpur 750329LE-MAYAPUR [16:01 Minutes] LE-750329LE-MAYAPUR Prabhupāda: [chants maṅgalācaraṇa prayers] ...-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur-unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ śrī-caitanya-mano 'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam he kṛṣṇa karuṇā-sindho dīna-bandho jagat-pate gopeśa gopīkā-kānta rādhā-kānta namo 'stu te Kṛṣṇa is gopīka-kānta, rādhā-kānta. That is Kṛṣṇa's real identification. He is gopīka-kānta, and He is rādhā-kānta. This relationship with Kṛṣṇa and gopīs, that is the highest perfectional realization of the Absolute Truth. ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi [Bs. 5.37] Kṛṣṇa's real identification means ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ.
He is ānanda, sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], and His expansion of ānanda are these gopīs, ānanda-cinmaya. But that is not this material thing. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa, that mellow, that taste, that humor, that is completely spiritual. We should not misunderstand this līlā, or pastimes of Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs, that material lusty affairs. Then we'll be misled.
It is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ. The activities of the Vraja-vadhu, the damsels of Vṛndāvana, vikrīḍitam, activities, vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ śraddhānvito 'nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ, bhaktiṁ parāṁ pratilabhya hṛd-roga-kāma apahinoti [SB 10.33.39]. Our material existence is due to our lusty desires in the heart. That is hṛd-rogam. That is our heart disease.
And we are suffering in this material world for this heart disease life after life. People have lost their intelligence that they cannot understand that there is life after death. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13]. They have become so fools and rascals that they do not understand this simple truth as it is said in the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ.
We are seeking after this pleasure of Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs or with the cowherds boys. Kṛṣṇa has got many associates, and the topmost associates are the gopīs. So we are seeking after that happiness, but we are being misled by the lusty desires. So I am very glad to see the dance, Manipuri dance, but it should be properly utilized.
It should not be utilized as lusty dance. It is ānanda-cinmaya, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs. 5.1], His expansion. So people are hankering after happiness because he's part and parcel of sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, Kṛṣṇa. So naturally, we are seeking the same spiritual happiness, but we are being misled by māyā. That we should be very much cautious under the guidance of proper spiritual master.
This morning we're discussing this verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta, rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir ahladini-śaktir asmat [Cc. Ādi 1.5]. This rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtiḥ, loving affairs between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and the gopīs are expansion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. That is ānanda-cinmaya-rasa. That is not material thing.