"In Sri Vaikunta one can always be looking at Lord Lord Vãsudeva. Bhagavãn realized that though this may be enjoyable for yogis and for those who practice Dhyãna, those devotees who sing and dance in divine love would not relish this. So he created a 'Goloka' inside the Vaikunta. Sri Sri Swamiji used to say, "This Goloka is a place containing lots of little forests. I have had these visions in my dhyãna".

Goloka has beautiful houses, plants, creepers, deers, peacocks, rivers, moon etc., but not demons like Poothana, Kamsa, Kãliya or Jarãsandha. Those who live here do not experience hunger, sleep, old age, death or disease, nor do they have the memory of Bhooloka. You may question as to how these peacocks and deers came there. In order to make Bhagavãn's Rãsotsava more lively, among those fortunate beings who reach Golaka, some turn into peacocks, some into cuckoos, some into parrots, some into deer and some into plants. Everyday different Lilas are performed - those that have been narrated by Sri Suka and more. Is it not true that every one loves Krishna for his 'Rãsotsav'! So Rãsa is performed there everyday.

Thus once, in Goloka, Rãsotsav was celebrated on Rãsa Poornima. As is His character to take pleasure in making others weep for Him, Krishna, after the 'Rasotsav' just disappeared on that occasion, too! The Gopikaas were at a loss to know what to do. As usual they sang the 'Gopika Gitam'. Only one from amongst these Gopis knew that Krishna was deeply concerned over the dilapidated state of the Divya Desams (Temples of Lord Vishnu which have been sung by one or more Aazhwaars - the 12 prominent devotees of Lord Vishnu), the dwindling of the Maha Mantra kirtan ('Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare!') and the confounded mass not knowing the path to deliverance. Suspecting that Krishna must have left for the earth, particularly to Tamizh Nad in India, she quietly came to the earth. The other Gopis did not know this.

She searched for Krishna in many temples and other places. Krishna also, as usual, played hide and seek with her for a long time. At last, when she discovered Sri Premika Varadan, her Krishna, her happiness knew no bounds. She asked Him to return to Goloka and join the other Gopikas who were waiting for Him. Krishna requested her to wait for some more time as he had some more tasks that are yet to be fulfilled here. When she expressed her wish to go back, Krishna detained her on earth by saing, "At Goloka, you can do service only to me, while, here you can serve the Bhãgavatas, worship Perumãl in the form of many deities; you can also watch me struggling for the upliftment of mankind here." She lived dedicating her body, mind and soul in the service to Premika Varadan and Bhãgavatas.

She also built a place especially for Sri Premika Varadan. From the worldly perspective, she was not very affluent; but belonged to the middle class. With a bank loan, she built a separate and beautiful place for Krishna. From her retirement benefits, she expanded the place for Satsang. She lived worshipping only Premika Varadan, her Krishna. However, her thoughts about the other Gopikas, who lived in distress without Premika Varadan in Goloka, increased day by day. In the idea of providing them solace by narrating to them her experience of His divine plays on earth, she brought on herself a worldly disease. But what was the truth? When Bhagavan wanders in the hot sun, leaving behind the Gopikas, His feet is covered with dust and pricked by stones and poisonous thorns in the forest. The Gopikas pray that the pain suffered by Krishna be transferred to them.

In the same way, this Gopi took over all the sufferings experienced by the tender feet of our Premika Varadan. Is it not taking over the misery of the Beloved enjoyable? Even while unconscious, she never uttered a single inauspicious word nor did she express pain. Instead, uttering the divine names of the Lord and praising his divine form and qualities, this Gopi - Jayanti Janakiraman entered the Rãsa Mandalam effortlessly, on the Vaikasi Rãsa Poornima night. Sri Sri Swamiji exclaimed with tear-filled eyes that the loss of this true Bhaktai could never be compensated.

-A. Bhagyanathan

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