Prabhupada 0251 - The gopis are Eternal Associates of Krsna
Lecture on BG 2.6 -- London, August 6, 1973
So our the whole instruction of Bhagavad-gītā is that: You should not act for yourself; you should simply act for Kṛṣṇa. So even fighting for Kṛṣṇa, or even doing something still abominable for Kṛṣṇa... Just like the gopīs. The gopīs were captivated by Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa was a young boy, very beautiful, and the gopīs were young girls. That is the superficial... Actually, the gopīs are eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa. Ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ (Bs. 5.37). They are expansions of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency expansion. They are meant for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure. They are not ordinary women. But superficially, just to teach us how to love Kṛṣṇa at the risk of anything... Therefore gopīs, when they were attracted by Kṛṣṇa at midnight... Kṛṣṇa was playing flute, and they became attracted and they left home. Some of them were locked up. They gave up their life even. They were so much attracted. Now this kind of behavior, if youngs girls... According to Vedic civilization, they cannot go out from the protection of father, husband or brother. No, they cannot go. Especially at midnight. So this was against Vedic principle. It is openly a kind of prostitution. But because it was done for Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He recommends, ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhubhiḥ kalpitā: "There is no more better type of worship than it was conceived by the vraja gopīs. Vraja-vadhu. The most abominable. For a young girl to leave the care of husband, father, and go to another young boy, according to Vedic culture, it is the most abominable. So still, because, it was, the center was Kṛṣṇa, it is accepted as the highest type of worship. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We have to learn how to act only for Kṛṣṇa, how to love only Kṛṣṇa. Then our life is successful. And the human life... Because we have also come down from Vaikuṇṭha some millions and millions of years ago. Anādi karama-phale. Anādi means before the creation. We living entities, we are eternal. Even the creation is annihilated after millions and trillions of years, the living entities, they are not annihilated. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20). They remain. So when this whole cosmic manifestation will be annihilated, the living entities will remain in the body of Viṣṇu. Then when again another creation will take place, they will come out again to fulfill their desires. The real desire is how to go to home, back to Godhead.
So this chance is given. So if this chance is misused, this life, human form of life, it is very, very risky. Again we will have to accept the cycle of birth and death. And not only that, if we do not fulfill the mission of life, then again there will be annihilation of the whole creation and we will have to stay within the body of Viṣṇu for millions and trillions of years. Again we will have to come. So therefore it is called anādi karama-phale. Anādi means "before the creation." This is going on. And to teach the befooled living entities, Kṛṣṇa personally comes. Kṛṣṇa is very much anxious to take us back to home, back to Godhead. Because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Suppose if your son is loitering in the street, are you not anxious, "Oh, there may be some accident, and the poor boy will be killed." So you go, try to find out. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa's position is like that. We are in this material world simply suffering life after life. Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15). This place is miserable. But māyā's illusion, we are taking this miserable condition of life as happiness. This is called māyā. there is no happiness in this material world. Everything miserable. The sooner we understand that everything is miserable in this material world and the sooner we prepare ourself to leave this material world and go back to home, back to..., that is our sense. Otherwise, whatever we are doing, we are simply being defeated. Because we are missing the aim. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Durāśayā. We are, by hope against hope—it will never be fulfilled—we are trying to adjust things here to become happy without God consciousness. It will never be accompli... Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā. Durāśayā means "the hope which will never be fulfilled."