Raas Leela! What words describe it for you? Love, Divine, Magical, Happy, Bliss, Beautiful? Or perhaps, Interesting, Puzzling!?

What is the spirit of ra:s li:la? What was the experience like for go:pikas? Did they describe their experience? Did bhagava:n Sri Krushna reveal the secret of the night? We all heard its significance from the acharyas who based it on Srimad Bha:gavatham, Padma Pura:na etc.

It has been more than 5 thousand years and no matter how much we hear or think about it, it will continue to awe everyone. Delving in its magic…

Why did Sri Krushna choose sarad pu:rnima, the full moon night?

Long before sarad pu:rnima, Go:pikas wished and expressed to Sri Krushna that He bless them the fortune of blissful togetherness with Him. However, Sri Krushna put them waiting till sarad pu:rnima. Because the pleasant full-moon night of sarad pu:rnima is the right time for His krupa (grace). That is when the moon is complete (pu:rna). When the moon is seen full, the environment becomes suitable to sheds one’s ego and open the doors to experience God’s grace.

What does right time mean for me now?

Right time means the time when you shed your ego, surrender to God through Guru to receive God’s krupa.

Sunlight represents God’s krupa. Moonlight represents the same krupa through Guru. Remember that you are still experiencing the same light (i.e. God’s krupa) that originated from the Sun (represents God in this context). It is simply reflected via the moon.

Why not experience God’s krupa directly?

Direct Sunlight causes discomfort and restlessness from heat, therefore does not offer safer/secured protection. Whereas moonlight reflects the same light in a pleasant form and promises secured protection.

Are you saying God’s protection is unreliable, why?

We have been going up and down, round, and about in the cycle of countless births and deaths driven by karma. This is God’s way of trying to protect us. His ways are gol mal (unpredictable). It is akin to expecting an arrogant and ignorant person to learn from his mistakes by himself without any help. Whereas a Guru, through his wise words in soft and specially chosen and applied methods helps carve out ego without the disciple even realizing it as it’s happening. This is Guru’s way of protecting us. It is only through the means of Guru one can experience God’s krupa and find path to siddhi (the goal of life).

siddhirbhavathi va:ne:thi samsayaha achyutha se:vina:m
na samsayo:sthi thadbhaktha paricharya:rathathmana:m

It is doubtful (samsaya) that you can attain goal of life (siddhi) by relying on God. However, you can surely attain siddhi if you take route through bhakthas (devotees, and in this context the devotee is Guru).

What is siddhi, goal of life?

Siddhi, the goal of life is to serve God, because that is your true nature and will thus complete who you are. Serving God is like tasting warm milk (experiencing God’s divine qualities) carefully heated in the presence of moonlight (explained and demonstrated by Guru) thereby shedding ego and staying forever in the love of God.

In the joy of experiencing God’s qualities, devotees joyfully sing and dance together with no barriers, no selfishness, no egos. When devotees are together this way, God cannot hold Himself from being with them, with each and every one of them. This is the spirit of ra:s li:la.

– From the discourse of HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– and Maha:maho:padhya:ya, Sa:sthra Rathna:kara
– Sriman Samudrala Rangaramanujacharya Swamiji
– 20th October,2021 Sarad Pu:rnima
– Divya Saketham, JIVA, Hyderabad