While Sage Suka narrates the episode of Rasa Lila, Parikshit wonders if dharma is not transgressed when the Gopis seek Krishna with single-mindedness to revel in His divine music and dance to the extent of forgetting their daily chores. Is not Krishna conniving with them to err from their dharma which is to serve their family? Suka’s explanation that the Lord is beyond any such intransigence should be understood in the proper perspective, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse. The Supreme Lord, who is untouched by self-interest and ego-sense, which are strong influences in human beings, cannot be a cause of any iniquity. His own actions whether perceived right or wrong do not bring forth any gain or loss to Him. Neither does any karma attach itself to the Lord who takes birth out of divine Sankalpa. Only mortals are affected by good or evil and are bound by their individual karma. Fire can consume anything, be it dirt or poison, and yet it remains pure and unaffected. If ordinary beings try to imitate the Lord it would be as disastrous as a person foolishly taking poison following Siva’s example.
When the Gopis leave their homes and their families to be with Krishna, their abandonment represents the spirit of a Jivatma in the final stage preceding salvation — a stage attained by one in his final birth when all karma, good or bad, is shed. When dissuaded by Krishna to get back to their duties, they argue that they have come seeking surrender at His feet, and that all other aspects of worldly dharma (Samanya) are no longer relevant in their case.
Krishna then bestows special attention on each one of them, and this awakens the ego sense in them. Noticing this, He disappears from their midst, leaving a void. Only after they realise their mistake, does He reappear, once again enabling the Gopis to revel in their experience of the Lord. A Jivatma becomes eligible and mature for mukti only when divested totally of ego.
Scriptures describe the Lord as the very essence of Rasa or blissful experience. Jnanis and yogis aim for this state in which the Self is realised as no different from the Supreme Lord.
