08 April | MYSTERY OF THE GOPIS BUTTER!!! | What compels God to become a butter-thief ??

 

Let’s examine some specific characteristics of this "butter" to deepen our understanding of the path of Bhakti. We discussed earlier ( refer to the link https://nandulaljoshi.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-secret-meaning-of-krishnas-cows.html)  that the cows represent the simplicity of the heart and total dependence on their master. By serving the cows we can imbibe these most beneficial qualities of the cows into our personal Bhakti. We will go more into these qualities in detail later. Now let’s concentrate on the Divine poetry these cows and their butter represent. Let’s delve in deeply.

The cows graze on the universally abundant humble grass and produce nutritious milk. In the realm of Spirit, this Milk represents the process of "gathering", "chewing" and "digesting" of the Truth. Most interestingly the cow is specially endowed with four stomachs to do this “chewing and digesting” efficiently. Thru the regurgitating process, the cow chews the same cud again and again as the Sadhaka must deeply ponder upon and digest aspects of the Truth again and again. Thus we have the saying in English “chew on it” as in “think about it”. There are also scientific studies that prove that chewing gum improves concentration and can boost a student's memory and learning capacity. Basically, milk represents the process of “chewing” which is very good for the Sadhakas meditation. Most definitely here is something interesting to chew on. Oh, seekers of Divine Love chew on it!

This humble grass or grass of humility (Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also equates grass with humility—trinad api suneechena), when chewed up and turned into delicious milk, is then brought home by the cows to the Gopis. The Gopis here represent the supreme Gurus of Love who then milks these cows. Milking here represents the process of extraction thru Satsanga or association. with saintly

beings. When the Sadhaka sits with higher, more elevated Vaishnavas and shares his/her digested realisations in confidentiality, then this process of extraction of “milk” or essence by our Guru Gopis is put in action.

Now comes the third part of this butter-making process. After the milk is extracted from the cows

thru the process of Guru Sanga or Sanga with more elevated, more qualified Vaishnavas, this milk is then boiled. Here boiling represents purification of the heart from any final traces of Anarathas or unwanted character flaws such as material Lust. As the Gopis are the Gurus of Love wherein there is no question of any trace of material lust, they put the Sadhaka thru to the final stage of purification by the painful process of boiling so we may enter higher stages of pure,.material lustless Love.

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Once the boiled milk is cooled to the right temperature then by the grace of the Gopis or Shri Gurus, this milk is then turned into Yoghurt (Yoga-of-hurt = Yoga of Viraha = Yoga of the heart) over a period of some time. This process of the “Yoga of heart” is what Yoghurt represents (the etimólogy is mind-blowing). This gradual process of milk-jellifying signifies patience in the heart's journey towards our Beloved. This is when the memory of our Beloved starts to gradually get intense and thicken.

Now the fluid milk is jellied into Yoghurt and love for our Beloved starts becoming our natural state of consciousness. Many many new nuances of love are born in this thickened yogurt.

Now comes the most intense, joyful, and heart-wrenching part. Once the Yoghurt is fully formed, or in other words, the Sadhakas mood in love is solidified, then the Gopis or Shri Guru comes and churn our pot of yogurt or churns our minds within our pot like skulls. Now, these moods of yearning or feelings of deep separation are intensely brought under an intense churning process. The heart is wrenched, squeezed, and beat. The Sadhakas Love becomes Supreme Love or Mahabhaava. Symptoms such as horripilación, shaking, constant tearing of the eyes, and even madness are results of this churning at the hands of the Gopis, within the vessels of our hearts. From all this emotional churning a certain butter then rises to the top. This butter is the very essence of our pure love. Maakhan-Chor Shri Krishna then comes and steals this essence of the Sadhakas heart from the homes of the Gopis or our Guru Varga. Shri Krishna who needs nothing as He is Atmaraam or Self-satisfied now comes to steals this “butter” as if He is starving for it. How sweet; God the "Butter-Thief"

As you can see this "butter" represents a particular process of Essence extracting. It represents the "gathering" ( of knowledge), "chewing" (on the instructions), "digesting" (letting the instructions sink in), "milking" (extraction of realisations), "boiling" (purification of our essence in the "fire" of personal realisations) "souring" (the sufferings that come after the full surrender and total dependence on Krishna; Divine growth pains), "waiting as the yogurt forms" (patience which solidifies faith into reality), "churning" (the mercy quotient of Shri Krishna thru Shri Guru for us to reach Him). This whole process of “butter extracting” is called Bhakti. The fruit of our Bhakti is what Shri Krishna then comes and steals from the Gopis - Shri Gurus Vargas "homes" however much they try to hide their "butter". You don't get better poetry than this. This is REAL poetry as it unfolds in Shri Krishnas Lilas with His beloved devotees.