The internal reasons for Lord’s descent
“O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as
Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of
Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of
Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.” (Chaitanya
Charitamrita, Madhya Lila- 19.53)
If you love someone and want to know more about him, what’s the best
way you could find out? You may search his profile on Instagram or
check out his Face Book status. But is that sufficient? Can Google
tell you everything about a person? What about if the person decides
to reveal Himself to you on a tete a tete; what else can compare with
this source?
We could speculate and depend on the scientists to tell us about a
Supreme Creator, but if we depend on Him, to reveal His secrets, we
could access a lot more information. He has the prerogative to tell us
about Him- much more than what we could gather from our tiny efforts.
The six goswamis of Vrindavan and other special devotees like Krishna
das Kaviraj Goswami are the chosen ones who learnt about God from the
Lord Himself. They have then mercifully revealed to us on God’s
nature, and the reasons for His descent to this world.
Krishna has revealed to us: “One who knows the transcendental nature
of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take
his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode,
O Arjuna.” (Bhagavad Gita 4.9)
The esoteric or internal (and confidential) reasons for Krishna to
appear as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is revealed in the Chaitanya
Charitamrita (Adi Lila 4.230-269).
Krishna’s tender hearted feminine counterpart is Srimati Radha Rani.
No one loves Krishna more than she does. In fact, Radha Rani and her
other girlfriends, known as gopis, love Krishna so much that even
Krishna is bewildered! Seeing their pure and unconditional love, He
felt he lacked something and felt a vacuum- a transcendental one
though! The Vaishnava saints call this as Krishna’s transcendental
‘existential crisis’- He wonders: how can these girls, especially
Srimati Radha Rani, the chief of these gopis, love him so much.
Krishna began to ask about Srimati Radha Rani, ‘why does she love me
so much’, and ‘what’s in me that attracts her heart’. And to resolve
these doubts, He came in Radha Rani’s mood and complexion.
To relish the position of Radha Rani, to understand His own sweetness
that attracts Radha Rani to Him, and to taste the Supreme bliss that
Radha Rani enjoys- are the three reasons that made Krishna come as
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
He wanted to discover what the real happiness is, in loving Krishna as
experienced by Radha Rani. Thus He accepted the emotions and golden
bodily lustre of Srimati Radha Rani.
To be continued…
