Krishna Leela purushottam- a doubt

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Sanjana

@Siya-Ram

Voyager

Posted: 9 years ago

guys sorry for this is not related to Ramayan

My question what is the significance of krishna stealing the gopis clothes. What is the metaphorical significance? Many krishna bakths are here pls help me clear this doubt I request u

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 9 years ago

Krishna stealing the gopis' clothes was significant as it was the Lord's leela to remove the ego of his devotees. The gopis were some of Lord Krishna's most ardent devotees, but even they had some ego in their hearts at times, which the Lord removed.

Krishna was a very small child at this time, around eight years of age give or take a few years. The gopis used to bathe naked in the yamuna river, the same river which people used to drink water and use for cooking. It is considered sinful to bathe naked, as it makes the water unsanitary for those who drink it and use it for cooking, so Krishna wanted to teach the Gopis a lesson by stealing their clothes. The Gopis had ego that no one would stop them from bathing naked, so Krishna in the form of a small mischievous child stole their clothes and hid them on top of the tree.

When the Gopis begged Krishna to give them back their clothes, Krishna asked them impertinent questions just like a child would. He asked them to come get the clothes themselves, and when the Gopis said they could not leave the river naked, he asked them why they were bathing naked in the first place.

Finally, the gopis' ego was broken and they realized their mistake. They plead forgiveness from Krishna and promised him never to bathe naked in the river again, thereby destroying the cleanliness of the river for everyone else.

So Krishna stealing the Gopis' clothes was not wrong. So many people today take it way out of proportion but 1) Krishna was a small child when he did it (so his relationship with the Gopis was like a mother-son) and 2) it was to teach the world a lesson about keeping the environment clean.

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 9 years ago

In the Bhagavat Purana, there are two sets of Gopis mentioned. The first set, which were present when Krishna was a child, shared a motherly relationship with him. They viewed him as they would their own child, and Krishna stealing the Gopis' clothes was during this phase, so there was nothing sexual or insulting in his actions.

The second set of Gopis were present during Krishna's adolescence, and headed by Shrimati Radharani, they viewed Krishna as their Lord, their husband, their lover.

People generally mix both sets of Gopis, but the second were vastly different from the first.

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shruthiravi

@shruthiravi

Stunner

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

@Sanju Janaki has explained it. Even my knowledge of Krishna taking gopis clothes is the same. And yes stealing clothes is part of Krishna's bala leelas as far as I know.

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Krishna

Krishna Leela purushottam- a doubt

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