Prabhupada 1018 - In The Beginning We Should Worship Radha-Krsna in the Level of Laksmi-Narayana
730408 - Lecture SB 01.14.44 - New York
Pradyumna: Translation: "Or is it that you are feeling empty for all time because you might have lost your most intimate friend, Lord Kṛṣṇa? O my brother Arjuna, I can think of no other reason for your becoming so dejected."
Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa was the intimate friend of Arjuna. Not only to Arjuna, all the Pāṇḍavas. So they cannot tolerate separation from Kṛṣṇa. This is the sign of Kṛṣṇa devotee. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "I have no love for Kṛṣṇa." That verse, just now I forget... Na prema-gandho ’sti (CC Madhya 2.45). "So You have no love for Kṛṣṇa? You are always crying for Kṛṣṇa, and still You say that You have no love for Kṛṣṇa?" "No, I am crying just to make a show. Actually I am not devotee of Kṛṣṇa." "Why?" That "Because if I could have been a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, how could I live without Him? I have not died, still. That means I have no love for Kṛṣṇa." This is the sign of love— that a lover cannot live for a moment without being associated with the beloved. This is sign of love.
So this love can be appreciated only between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, or between the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa; not otherwise. Actually we do not know what is the meaning of love. Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, that
- āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
- adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
- yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
- mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ
- (CC Antya 20.47, Śikṣāṣṭaka 8)
- yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa
- cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
- śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ
- govinda-viraheṇa me
- (CC Antya 20.39, Śikṣāṣṭaka 7)
Govinda-vira. Vira means separation. Meant, Rādhārani… Caitanya Mahāprabhu was playing the part of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa, when He could not understand Himself… Kṛṣṇa is unlimited. He is so unlimited that Kṛṣṇa Himself cannot understand. That is unlimited. The unlimited cannot understand about His unlimitedness. Therefore Kṛṣṇa took the ecstasy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and that is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That picture is very nice: Kṛṣṇa, taking the ecstasy, love of Rādhārāṇī, appears as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya (Śrī Guru-paramparā 6). So by worshiping Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you simultaneously worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to worship. So whatever we are worshiping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, that is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in His Nārāyaṇa form—Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. In the beginning we should worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the level of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, with awe and veneration, very strictly following the rules and regulations. Otherwise, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, they, the devotees, they do not worship Kṛṣṇa because He is God, but they worship Kṛṣṇa. Not worship; He is above worship. It is simply of love. Just like loving your lover: it does not mean worship. It is spontaneous, heart's business. So that is the Vṛndāvana position. So even though we are not on the highest standard of the Vṛndāvana level, still, if we do not feel separation of Kṛṣṇa, then we must know that we are not still perfect devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That is wanted: feeling separation.