Krishna and her Gopis
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Not many people are familiar with the term rash/raas leela. The term, raas means "aesthetics" and leela means "act," "play" or "dance" which is mainly a concept from Hinduism, that roughly translates to "play (leela) of aesthetics (raas)," or more broadly as "Dance of Divine Love". It is mainly a form of dance which were said to be performed by the Hindu god Krishna and her gopis. It depicts the traditional story of Krishna as described in Bhagavata Purana and literature such as the Gita, where he dances with Radha and her gopis. Lord Krishna performed this raas leela with Vrindaban gopis and these gopis were not merely the village girls actually they are the ones who had been appeared through the energy of Krishna’s own Hladini shakti (Joy-rendering power or mental companion potency),and Radha rani was the symbol of this Hladini Shakti. These gopis were nothing but the sages who were waiting for long.
The ages of these gopis varied from 12 to 25 and even 40 years old. they served their life to Lord Krishna and offered seva (service) to him in return of Krishnas company. the gopis were not only Brahm Gyani (knower of god) but they crossed the level and became Brahm premi (lover of god). growing above the material wealth these gopis only served themselves for the love of Lord Krishna. The Love of all those gopis were simply unconditional, they expected nothing in return from Krishna, all of them were waiting since many decades just to enjoy the company of Krishna in Raas leela. The traditional romantic world between human and materialistic world is declined and spiritual love is welcomed.
The rasa lila takes place one night when the gopis of Vrindavan, upon hearing the sound of Krishna's flute, sneak away from their households and families to the forest to dance with Krishna throughout the night, which Krishna supernaturally stretches to the length of one night. In the Krishna bhakti traditions, the raas-leela is considered to be one of the highest and most obscure or rarefied of Krishna's pastimes. The Bhagavata Purana states that whoever faithfully hears or describes the Raas leela attains Krishna's pure loving devotion.
The ages of these gopis varied from 12 to 25 and even 40 years old. they served their life to Lord Krishna and offered seva (service) to him in return of Krishnas company. the gopis were not only Brahm Gyani (knower of god) but they crossed the level and became Brahm premi (lover of god). growing above the material wealth these gopis only served themselves for the love of Lord Krishna. The Love of all those gopis were simply unconditional, they expected nothing in return from Krishna, all of them were waiting since many decades just to enjoy the company of Krishna in Raas leela. The traditional romantic world between human and materialistic world is declined and spiritual love is welcomed.
The rasa lila takes place one night when the gopis of Vrindavan, upon hearing the sound of Krishna's flute, sneak away from their households and families to the forest to dance with Krishna throughout the night, which Krishna supernaturally stretches to the length of one night. In the Krishna bhakti traditions, the raas-leela is considered to be one of the highest and most obscure or rarefied of Krishna's pastimes. The Bhagavata Purana states that whoever faithfully hears or describes the Raas leela attains Krishna's pure loving devotion.
