Devotion of the Gopees

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, March 1963
Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust
Web posted at Jan 13, 2001

The meaning of the Krishna Avathaar is beyond your understanding; why, all the Avathaars (divine incarnations) are inexplicable, in the language of this world, in the vocabulary of common men. To attempt it is to encase the ocean in a canal by its side. You can understand it only when you become lost to the world and its attachments through the expansion of your sympathies and the purification of your motives. The One God-head was experienced by the Gopees as immanent in every being; they steadied their minds and installed Him therein. Veerabhadra Shaasthry said just now that the Lord will not stay in the heart unless it is maintained, fixed and unagitated. Of course, when you place a child in the cradle, it must be firm and unmoving; but, once the child is laid, the cradle can be swung, for it is only when it is swung to song that "I am glad and you are glad." Remember, the Lord too is a child, personified Sath Chith Aanandha, devoid of Gunas (qualities).

When Uddhava came to Gokula, Shaasthry said, "The cows were fat and full, the Gopees were happy and joyful and the place was full of fragrance and music." But, the facts were different. The place was forlorn and the men and women, disconsolate and helpless; the cattle too was overcome with grief. Uddhava brought them all a fresh lease of life. Krishna told him, "Their hearts are merged in Mine; their minds think only of Me; they have forsaken even bodily needs and they exist only because they hope to see Me again, some day." So how could the Gopees be as happy and gay as Shaasthry described. Uddhava himself was humbled at the sight of their complete surrender and the pangs of separation which consumed them. That is the very reason why He sent Uddhava to them.

The simple Gopees were wiser than Yogis

Every act of Krishna had a meaning and a purpose and a sweet aptness. The Gopees were convinced that Krishna was the Lord. Many Yogis and ascetics, many Raajas and Mahaaraajas among whom Krishna moved had not realised that truth. The unlearned simple cowherds and cowherdesses were wiser. When you too feel so, affected by those pangs, you can understand the Gopees, not till then. For that pain, the message of Krishna is the antidote. "Your grief is caused by your limited artificial outlook; you take Me to be a limited bound entity and so you feel I am far away, I am absent, I am by your side, etc. You are hugging a delusion, awake to the truth and establish yourself in joy."

The One does not, of its own Free Will, desire to become many. It has no desire. It has no likes and dislikes. It is immanent and transcendent. It is all this and more. What then is the reason for this manifold appearance? The reason lies in the mind of Bhaktha (devotee). You declare: "Baaba appeared before me in this form; I saw Baaba in this form." But, what happens is you desire that vision. I do not change into that form. The Lord is sugar, sweetness. You may drop it into tea or coffee or milk or water. Into whatever thing you put it, it will make it sweet. That is My nature, sweetness; My signature. Once It has melted, what remains is neither water nor sugar, but a third thing, Sherbeth (syrup). But, when your tongue is bitter through envy, hatred and pride, how can you taste the sugar?

Seek God just as you seek Food

The Lord cares for the motive, not the object offered. The tiny leaf from the cooking vessel that Dhroupadhi gave Him satisfied His hunger and the hunger of the universe, along with His - for, she saturated it with her Bhakthi. The Thulasi leaf placed by Rukmini in the scale was able to balance the weight of Him who has all the 14 worlds in His belly, for, her intent added so much weight to it. The handful of flattened rice that Kuchela took to Krishna was worth less than a paisa but, it was suffused so heavily with the devotion and faith of his wife that it brought great good fortune. It is possible to fill in an atom of deed, a world of Feeling and the Lord will value and appreciate that.

Krishna is the causeless conditioning; you cannot discover the causes for His acts or deeds; it is sheer waste to search for them. If you go on searching for causes and then trying to tread the path, you may not get the chance at all. You have come as men in order to reach God, remember that. "Why do you go to Madhura-Brindaavan, to Thirupathi, to Puttaparthi?" people stop you on the way and ask. Nobody asks you "Why do you take food?" In fact, one has to seek God just as one seeks food. Both are necessary for happiness. Man seeks happiness, for he is originally and truly free; he is immortal and so he seeks to overcome death.

Everyone must rise to the Level of the Gopees

Do not blame the Lord for your failure in Saadhana (spiritual practice); examine yourself. You set the alarm clock at 6 a.m. and go to bed; if it rings only at 10 a.m. you infer that something is wrong with its nuts, bolts, springs, wheels, etc. So too, when the expected results do not materialise, infer that something is wrong in you, yourself, your habits of food, drink, sleep or conduct or behaviour or attitude to others. Everyone, be he a Brahmin or Pandith or Student or Artist, has to adhere to a strict code of discipline. Without that, victory is beyond reach. You must become master of the senses and attain the Mahaashakthi (supreme energy) from this basic Maayashakthi (deluding power). In short you to must rise to the level of the Gopees.

The body is assigned to you as a boat to cross the ocean to Samsaara (worldly life) but you use it for storing things which give worldly joy and do not launch it on the waters; misusing it like that, it comes in the way of all activity that is really conductive to happiness; use it in the way of Dharma (righteousness) and success will be yours. Bheema asked Dharmaraaja whether, if Dhuryodhana invited him for another game of dice after the 12 years of forest and the one year of incognito were over, he would agree and he replied, "I can never deviate from the path of Dharma." Since that was his attitude, the Paandavas were helped by the continuous grace of Krishna and the blessings of sages like Maarkandeya and Vedhavyaasa. The Kauravas, on the other hand, were debilitated by curse after curse from enraged sages and by one ill-omen after another.

Gopees are best Examples of Yearning for the Lord

Your Saadhana involves not reading or writing so much as actual experiencing. Raavana was a pastmaster in the four Vedhas and the six Shaasthras (spiritual sciences); his ten heads were full of them. But, of what avail? He had no Shaanthi (peace), nor could he give shaanthi to his kith and kin. What is the profit if you simply repeat, "Delicious food, delicious food" a thousand times? You have to eat, digest and assimilate. You have no deposits on your account in the Bank of Bhagavaan's grace and yet you dare issue cheques, expecting His grace when in distress! Have the deposits or, at least have some property on hand (like service to others, Prema (love) towards all, Ahimsa (non-violence), etc.) so that you can mortgage it and get help. If you have neither, why blame the Bank?

Through your daily avocations and activities you can realise the Lord, believe Me! The Gopees are the best examples of this, the best proofs. Remember ever the name of the Lord with agony of unfulfilled search and remember ever the beauteous form with the agony of being forced to be away - and, you too can see Krishna in your midst. That yearning must be there; then, the result is certain.

The Lord wants Sincerity, not Imitation

Prahlaadha was immersed in that Bhaava (thought); when he was thrown downhill, trampled by the elephant and tortured by the minions of his father, he paid no heed, for he heeded only his Lord; he needed only his Lord. The Gopees too when they listened to the Murali (flute) lost all attachment to the world and to the senses and to the manifold objective phenomenal things; they yearned for the sublimest spiritual merging with the Infinite that was always calling on the finite, to realise its finiteness.

By the purification of impulses one gets into the higher stage, when the Mystery of the divine is grasped - the Saalokya (realm of spirituality) stage. Then, by contemplation of the divine, the Saameepya and the Saaruupya (proximity to the divinity and likeness of the form of divinity) stages are won. Many great mystic poets attained this height. Jayadheva sang in that strain, but, if you sing that song in the same way, Krishna will not appear. He wants sincerity not imitation. The name uttered with sincere faith was the flower-offering of the Gopees; that was the bead of their rosary.