Some of these leelas (Divine pastimes) look very simple, right? Radha Krishna sitting on a swing and gopis (cowherd maidens) pushing. Krishna demanding makhan (butter) from Maiya (mother).
“I’m hungry, Maiya, give Me the makhan now!”
Maiya says, “I’m churning the curd right now! When the curd gets churned, then the makhan comes out. How can I give You the makhan until I churn the curd?”
“Mother, you churn the curd after. Give Me the makhan now! I’m hungry now!”
So these private leelas seem so simple, but they’re full of the ras (Divine nectar), Shri Krishna’s prema ras (nectar of Divine love). So these also shouldn’t be analyzed with the material mind. They should be taken lovingly,
“Oh, if Kanha (Krishna as a little boy) was my child, He would demand makhan from me. How sweet that would be! I could hold Him in my arms. He would fight to get into my lap, even when I’m doing my chores.”
That’s how those antarang leelas (intimate Divine pastimes) should be taken. Just with love.
“Oh, when will Krishna be mine like that?”
No analysis, only love.
And asambhav leelas (supernatural and impossible pastimes), again, no analysis, just accept on faith that everything is possible for Shri Krishna. And then the lok shiksha leelas (instructional pastimes), those are the boring ones (like) Krishna’s doing something simple that we could do in our life. That’s easy to understand. But nobody gets very fascinated with those leelas. Krishna getting up every morning and giving charity. Are you going to do roopdhyan (visual meditation on Divine form) of that? No, you want to do the roopdhyan of Kanhaiya (beloved child Krishna) fighting with Maiya (mother) to get into her lap.
“Maiya, why won’t you pick Me up?”
That you’ll do roop dhyan of. You’ll do roopdhyan of Krishna stealing butter from gopis. This is also antarang leela. Why is God stealing? No, it’s not a lok shiksha leela. He’s not teaching “do this.” It’s an antarang leela. It’s a private matter between Krishna and the gopis. So with the help of a rasik Mahapurush (God-realized Divine Saint) like Jagadguru Shree Kripalu Ji Maharaj, we can gain some framework to understand these leelas.
‘Understand’ them doesn’t mean analyze and intellectualize. ‘Understand’ means know how to take them, how to get the benefit of those leelas.
