02/08/98 - 1588

The Importance of Hearing Krishna-katha

USA (VNN) - An anecdote from ISKCON history by Bhudhara das

Somewhere between 1972 and 1974 there was about 50+ brahmacaries living in the Boston temple on Alston Road. I was there at the time and Trai das prabhu was the temple president. There were only about 3 or 5 ladies living there at the time. It was a hot summer, in a big college town at the tail of the hippie "let your hair down" era. Most of the brahmacaries were aged between 17 and 23. We had a rigorous ashrama schedule of japa, puja, kirtan, classes, nagar sankirtan and book distribution taking us from 3:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Despite our very intense sadhana programme (for many of us) the hormones were flying high and were aggravated by the sight of the many young female students living in Boston.

Trai das was a loving and caring temple president. He showed a firm guiding hand that never caused offense or undue hardship to others. In this mood of loving support he wrote Srila Prabhupada to inquire as to what he could do to lessen the struggle of the brahmacaris during that hot season. Srila Prabhupada replied that autumn is the season of heightened passions, and that this is part of the natural cycles of things. Autumn was according to him particularly challenging to celibates. He was very supportive and loving in his letter and to read it we could only take heart from his words and mood. The letter was so important to all of us that Trai das made copies and posted it in various places around the temple. The letter was about us -- all 50 or so of us -- and our struggles. I have not been able to find the letter in the Vedabase, but its essential instruction is interesting in regards to the discussion of whether it is appropriate for those who are not completely pure to hear about rasa-lila.

Prabhupada specifically prescribed reading the Krishna book chapters on the Rasa Lila. He explained that it was the "cure for material lust", and that we would by association with those topics become free from the troubles of our youthful passions. His instruction was taken so seriously, that a programme of reading the Rasa Lila from the Krishna book was instituted every afternoon after sankirtana, just prior to our preparation for our evening programme. I remember sitting there reading out loud with the other brahmacaries Prabhupada's words and indeed -- magically -- finding relief from those urges and the mental troubles they may  bring to young celibates.

At that time Krishna Katha was the only currency of conversation in our temple. I can not remember hearing anything but Krishna topics, whether it was Lord Brahma stealing the cowherd boys and cows, Mother Yasoda viewing the world in the mouth of her dear baby Krishna, or Lord Balarama pulverizing Pralambasura -- we all discussed these topics with great attention to detail, even while passing each other in the halls.

When discussing the Rasa Lila in these situations there was inevitably a great respect, care and if you will -- delicacy in handling those most sacred confidential topics. There were two reasons for this, one primary  -- objective  and considerable, the other secondary and more subjective. The primary reason was Srila Prabhupada's presentation. Any honest hearing of his Rasa Lila could not misconstrue the essential care and respect he advises his readers when approaching the subject. In his Introduction to the Rasa Lila Prabhupada begins almost immediately to elaborate on the philsophical basis of understanding the Lila and this "discriminating" approach permeates his entire presentation. (I enclose the 3rd paragraph at the end of this article as one of many examples).

The secondary reason derives initially from the instruction of the primary one. With the knowledge given by our Guru we could clearly understand that approaching the subject from our material condition (consciously suffering from lust as we were) necessitated a concentrated conscious effort to discriminate and separate the mundane nature of our own experience from that of the divine, pure and unadulterated loving exchanges between the Lord and His devotees. ("The dancing of young boys and girls within the material world is in the kingdom of mahamaya, or the external energy.") One benefit of hearing the Lord's pastimes from a realized Vaishnava Guru is that we have a transcendental context within which we can begin our efforts to approach the Lord, His pastimes and His devotees.

I do not know if the letter can be found. There are many devotees who were there though who may be consulted to verify my story -- Trai das, Adi Kesava das, Niranjan Swami (although I think he joined after this period), so many were there.

In summary this anecdote illustrates a practical application of Srila Prabhupada's instruction referenced in the quote:

"Krishna book is our medicine."  tava kathamritam tapta-jivanam.

Vaishnava das'anudas
Bhudhara das

FOOTNOTE
"The words used in this connection in Srimad-Bhagavatam are bhagavAn api. This means that although Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus has no desire that needs to be fulfilled (because He is always full with six opulences), He still wanted to enjoy the company of the gopis in the rasa dance. BhagavAn api signifies that this is not like the ordinary dancing of young boys and young girls. The specific words used in Srimad-Bhagavatam are yogamAyAm upAzritaH, which mean that this dancing with the gopIs is on the platform of yogamaya, not mahamaya. The dancing of young boys and girls within the material world is in the kingdom of mahamaya, or the external energy. The rasa dance of Krishna with the gopis is on the platform of yogamaya. The difference between the platforms of yogamaya and mahamaya is compared in the Caitanya-caritamrta to the difference between gold and iron. From the viewpoint of metallurgy, gold and iron are both metals, but the quality is completely different. Similarly, although the rasa dance and Lord Krishna association with the gopis appear like the ordinary mixing of young boys and girls, the quality is completely different.  The difference is appreciated by great Vaishnavas because they can understand the difference between love of Krishna and lust."