Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 4.31

dharma chādi' rāge duńhe karaye milana

kabhu mile, kabhu nā mile, — daivera ghatana

SYNONYMS

dharma chādi' — giving up religious customs; rāge — in love; duńhe — both; karaye — do; milana — meeting; kabhu — sometimes; mile — they meet; kabhu — sometimes; nā mile — they do not meet; daivera — of destiny; ghatana — the happening.

TRANSLATION

"Pure attachment will unite us even at the expense of moral and religious duties [dharma]. Destiny will sometimes bring us together and sometimes separate us.

PURPORT

The gopīs came out to meet Krishna in the dead of night when they heard the sound of His flute. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has accordingly composed a nice verse (see Ādi 5.224) that describes the beautiful boy called Govinda standing by the bank of the Yamunā with His flute to His lips in the shining moonlight. Those who want to enjoy life in the materialistic way of society, friendship and love should not go to the Yamunā to see the form of Govinda. The sound of Lord Krishna's flute is so sweet that it has made the gopīs forget all about their relationships with their kinsmen and flee to Krishna in the dead of night.

By leaving home in that way, the gopīs transgressed the Vedic regulations of household life. This indicates that when natural feelings of love for Krishna become fully manifest, a devotee can neglect conventional social rules and regulations. In the material world we are situated in designative positions only, but pure devotional service begins when one is freed from all designations. When love for Krishna is awakened, the designative positions are overcome.

The spontaneous attraction of Śrī Krishna for His dearest parts and parcels generates an enthusiasm that obliges Śrī Krishna and the gopīs to meet together. To celebrate this transcendental enthusiasm, there is need of a sentiment of separation between the lover and beloved. In the condition of material tribulation, no one wants the pangs of separation. But in the transcendental form, the very same separation, being absolute in its nature, strengthens the ties of love and enhances the desire of the lover and beloved to meet. The period of separation, evaluated transcendentally, is more relishable than the actual meeting, which lacks the feelings of increasing anticipation because the lover and beloved are both present.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness