Save Yourself from Misery

There is absolutely no reason for you to continue suffering in the cycle of birth and death because all you have to do to escape is revive your original loving relationship with the Supreme Person, who is the source of all existence. It is not difficult. He has fully revealed how you can reconnect with Him in the Bhagavad-gita. All you have to do is read it carefully and follow His instructions. You will attain the supreme destination and will no longer see the repetition of birth and death.

Krishna Awaits You in His Wondrous Eternal Abode

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Which Rasa with Krishna Should I Seek?

Please advise me which rasa (relationship) with Krishna I should seek. This is based on following excerpt written in Srila Prabhupada's purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 4, Text 11:

"In the transcendental world also, Krishna reciprocates with His pure devotees in the transcendental attitude, just as the devotee wants Him. One devotee may want Krishna as supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Krishna rewards all the devotees equally, according to their different intensities of love for Him."

Should I choose the rasa which is the most rewarding? In other words is there an order between different love intensities associated to the following relationships:-supreme master, personal friend, son, lover?

Can I have all of the above relationships? Thus, based on day and time of my need I can experience Krishna differently? You can tell I am greedy, but frankly I am looking for a comprehensive return.

Thanks,

Vivek

Answer: His Eternal, Fully Surrendered Servant

You are asking if you should choose the relationship which is most rewarding after Srila Prabhupada has stated that he rewards all of his devotees equally. You need to read Srila Prabhupada's purports more carefully.

As long as one is still under the influence of the three modes of material nature there is no question of choosing one's rasa or relationship with Krishna. Even in the liberated state when one is completely free from the modes of nature there is no question of choosing one's rasa because one's rasa is already existing eternally. When one becomes a 100% pure devotee that rasa or relationship with Krishna is automatically revealed to him.

Any attempt of the neophyte devotee to choose a particular rasa is detrimental for the actual realization of his rasa. According the authoritative statement of Srila Rupa Goswami, the method for factually realizing one's rasa is to fully surrender oneself at the lotus feet of the bona fide spiritual and execute the regulative principles of sadhana bhakti under his orders. In this way, one's heart will become completely purified in due course of time, and he will automatically realize his rasa. This stage of spiritual realization is called svarupa-siddhi, the perfection of realizing one's eternal relationship with Krishna.

The pure devotee's mood is not, "What I can get out of my relationship with Krishna?". His mood is, "What can I give to Krishna?". As long as one is thinking about what he can get from Krishna, he is not on the platform of pure bhakti and he will not be able to realize what is his svarupa, his eternal relationship with Krishna.

So the final conclusion is that you should simply desire to be the completely sold out servant of Krishna. In other words, you should be unconditionally willing to serve Him in any way that the Lord wants you to serve Him. This full surrender at His lotus feet will naturally, gradually bring you to perfectional stage of svarupa-siddhi, in which you will automatically realize your eternal relationship with Lord Sri Krishna in any one of five primary rasas: adoring Krishna as the sublime great, serving Krishna as one's supreme master, enjoying Krishna as one's personal friend, taking Krishna as one's son, or relishing Krishna as one's lover.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari