14 The purpose of this avatara [Chaitanya] was to taste the sweetness of the juice of prema-rasa, and to propagate among people the bhakti of the raga-marga. 15 Krishna, the crest-jewel of rasikas, the epitome of mercy and grace, [descended] in the desire to be the source of these two things. 16 “All the world is caught up in [the desire] to know my majesty; but I am not satisfied with prema toward my lifeless majesty. 17 When one considers me as Ishvara and himself as insignificant, I am not subject to control by his prema. 18 For in whatever bhava a bhakta worships me, I reciprocate to him in that same bhava–for this is my nature.
Shloka 2. Bhagavad Gita 4.11:
In whatever way one worships me, I honor him in that same way, for in all their various ways men do follow my path, Partha. (CC 1.4)
This passage from the Chaitanya Charitamrita is one of the most important for practitioners of natural devotion to understand. Krishna Chaitanya incarnated to experience the love of Radha-Krishna as their devotee and show people how to love them passionately. Raga-marga means passionately loving Radha-Krishna with desire, joy, and delight in an amorous mood. Rather than suppressing sexual passion, practitioners increase it and direct it to Radha-Krishna following the ideal behavior of their girlfriends in Braj as they prepare themselves to become girlfriends too.
Krishna is the transcendental cupid, and Radha is his pleasure potency who completely controls him by her love. Followers of Rupa Goswami practice entering the mood of Radha-Krishna’s girlfriends. Their love is not bound by rules. They break the Vedic rules to be with Krishna and serve him with their bodies and souls.
As long as our devotion is bound by rules and we view Radha-Krishna as God-dess, it does not satisfy them. When we come to know Radha-Krishna as friends and lovers who are our intimate equals, they become controlled by our love and reciprocate in that manner. Lovers are driven by passion–not rules. Therefore, we best stop following religious rules and cultivate passion. The more passionate our love the more it binds Radha-Krishna to us.
We can practice this by meditating on Radha-Krishna’s pastimes as I describe in my book. We can also practice becoming more loving and free in our outer lives. Developing a deep, intimate loving relationship with another person who we see as a partial manifestation of Radha or Krishna is the best way to develop passionate love and get in that mood. Practice being human lovers and direct that powerful sexual loving energy to Radha-Krishna the ultimate lovers. Eternity is now. Start living the eternal life you desire. Passionate love is the answer.
Steve
I find these blog post every educational and inspiring.
Thanks for posting them
Robert