(4) Gopeswar Mahadev's Glory

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kadigachha, Lord Siva's Temple inauguration,
5 March 2019, morning, part 4
Translated from Bengali

So, I have told you about Sivji Maharaj. If you come for Sri Vrindavan Dham parikrama, you will see the place called rasa-mancha in Vamsivat. 'Vat' means a tree. Krishna climbed that tree (vat) and played His flute (vamsi). He came there on the day of rasa-purnima. Hearing His flute call, all the Vraja gopis came there to meet Him. This is when rasa-lila happened. One day, Sivji Maharaj wanted to come there, too.

'I want to go to the rasa-mancha,' he told Parvati Devi. 'Can you dress me as a gopi?'

'But you are a man! The only male who can be there is Krishna, the rest are only girls. How can you go there? No man has the right to enter there.'

'I will! Just dress me as a gopis.'

Parvati Devi dressed him as a beautiful girl – she put on him a nice sari, decorations, did his hair, and so on. Then, Lord Siva said,

'Please bless me so that I can go to the rasa-mancha.'

'Wait! Hold on. Have you dressed as a gopi or have you actually become a gopi?'

What does it mean? The question is whether we only dress as sadhus or have actually become sadhus. It is very easy to dress as a sadhu, but it is very hard to become a sadhu. In this world, many people dress as sadhus, but it is very difficult to actually become one. You do not become a sadhu just by wearing a sadhu's clothes.

'If you are to go there,' Parvati Devi continued, 'you must enter gopis' inner circle, then you can get entrance to the rasa-lila.'

Then, taking gopis' names ('Gopi, gopi, gopi'), Lord Siva went to Vrindavan. In this way, he entered the rasa-lila place. Seeing him, all the other gopis remarked, 'Oh, she is a new gopi! We have not seen her here before.' But Krishna could recognise who it was. He knows everything. He came and started talking to her, and He called her, 'Gopeswari (Gopis' Mistress).' Radharani heard this and got angry. She thought, 'I am Raseswari! I am the Mistress of the rasa-mancha, how can this new girl come and suddenly become Gopeswari?!' She left the rasa-mancha and went away. She stormed angrily away and sat on the bank of a pond. Because She sat sulking on the bank of that pond, the pond became known as Man Sarovar.

In the meantime, Krishna continued talking to the new gopis, and all the other gopis caught up with what was going on – they grabbed the new gopi, took off her clothes and decorations and, exposing Lord Siva, kicked him out. Then, Krishna said, 'Leave him! He has managed to come here, so let him be. He can stay outside the rasa-mancha but nearby.' From that time, Gopeswar Mahadev has been staying next to the rasa-mancha. If you go to Vrindavan, you can see his temple there. The Deity is very big. Gopeswar Maharaj lives there to this day.

— : • : —

{ 2001  |   2002  |   2003  |   2005  |   2009  |   2010  |   2011  |   2012 }
{ 2013  |   2014  |   2015  |   2016  |   2017  |   2018  |   2019  |   2020  |   2021 }