SrI: SrImathE satakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama: SrI vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
Among the krishNa leelAs, another important leelA is his rAsa krIdA with the gOpikAs. rAsa krIdA means holding hands and blissfully dancing in the night in the moonlight.
One night, krishNa remained in the forest and started playing his flute. Hearing the sound of that flute, many gOpikAs left their tasks and came running towards krishNa. They all prayed to krishNa saying “Let us engage in rAsa krIdA. We would like to hold your hands and joyfully dance”. But krishNa did not agree to that first. He said “You have abandoned our duty and come here. This is not correct. Immediately you return to your homes”. They became sad hearing that and started crying. They said “More than our family, you are everything for us. Even lakshmi who is affectionately prayed by all the dhEvathAs due to her being the one who bestows wealth, remains inseparable from you, with the intent to enjoy you and serve you. It is our desire to remain in your company and give pleasure to you”.
krishNa agreed and started dancing with them. He assumed many forms and placed in between two gOpikAs, so that there was one gOpikA, one krishNa, again another gOpikA, another krishNa and so on. In this manner, they danced blissfully.
Due to dancing with krishNa, their bliss started increasing (it is also said that their pride started increasing). krishNa thought “What will happen if they are unable to bear this bliss and lose their lives” and hid himself. Due to his sudden disappearance, the gOpikAs became shocked. They were surrounded by great sorrow. They went searching for krishNa all over the forest. They asked the trees “Have you seen krishNa?”. Subsequently, they spoke amongst themselves. One gOpikA suggested saying “To handle the separation from krishNa, let us enact his pastimes. In this manner, we will forget the sorrow of separation”. At once, one gOpikA laid herself down as pUthanA and another gOpikA pretended to be krishNa drinking her milk and killing her. One girl pretended to be vathsAsuran, another girl as kapiththAsuran and another girl as krishNa. One girl pretended to be kALiya and another girl as krishNa. In this manner, they sustained themselves somehow and again started searching for krishNa. They observed the footprints of krishNa and another girl. They thought “krishNa must have left with a gOpikA” and felt sad. They felt very sad, cried and sang in great sorrow.
Subsequently, krishNa appeared amidst them and consoled them. He then joyfully spoke with them and subsequently danced with them assuming multiple forms. The dhEvathAs witnessed this amazing dance and became blissful. After dancing for a long time, having become tired, krishNa submerged into yamunA river and played water sports with those gOpikAs.
In this manner, emperumAn’s rAsa krIdA happened in a wonderful manner.
AzhwArs have enjoyed this leelA naming it to be “kuravaik kUththu“. poygai AzhwAr in his mudhal thiruvandhAdhi says “aravam adal vEzham … kuravai kuda … kOththAdi” (Enjoying the dance of rAsa krIdA and dance with pots). nammAzhwAr in his thiruvAimozhi, while enjoying krishNa leelA in a detailed manner, starts with “kuravai AychchiyarOdu kOththadhum” (Danced with the gOpikAs in rAsa krIdA). kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, in his perumAL thirumozhi, says “kunRinAl kudai kaviththadhum kOlak kuravai kOththadhuvum” (Holding the hill as umbrella and enjoying the beautiful rAsa krIdA). thirumangai AzhwAr, in his periya thirumozhi ,in the pAsuram starting with “pEyth thAyai“, enjoys saying “kuruavai munnE kOththAnai” (One who previously enjoyed rAsa krIdA).
Essence in this incident:
- krishNa’s rAsa krIdA is not just lustful dance of a man and woman of this word. This is the spiritual bliss derived from the union of jIvAthmA and paramAthmA.
- Whether it is joy or sorrow, it cannot be handled when it goes beyond a certain limit. Thus, krishNa gave this joyful experience to gOpikAs in a step by step manner for them to handle it easily.
- Hearing the sound of krishNa’s flute, a gOpikA named chinthayanthi tried to step out of her home. In the main hall, her family elders were sitting. She became frightened and remained in her room with great sorrow. Due to that sorrow, all her sins were exhausted. Due to the great joy of enjoying his flute music, all her virtues were exhausted. Having exhausted both the virtues and sins, she left her body and reached paramapadham.
Source – https://granthams.koyil.org/2023/09/26/krishna-leela-21-tamil/
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