18
TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTĪ
His childhood He enjoys the company of mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja. This is Kṛṣṇa's pastime.  Ānanda-līlāmaya-vigrahāya : Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are all jubilant.  Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt  ( Vedānta-sūtra  1.1.12): He is by nature full of bliss. We shall never find Kṛṣṇa unhappy. Kṛṣṇa is always happy, and whoever associates with Him is also happy. Therefore He is known as Govinda. The word  go  means “senses.” We are looking for sense gratification, and if we associate with Kṛṣṇa we shall enjoy our senses abundantly, just like the  gopīs  who are dancing with Kṛṣṇa. Thus there is no scarcity of sense gratification, but this sense gratification in association with Kṛṣṇa is not gross sense gratification; rather, it is the spiritual sense gratification enjoyed in the spiritual world.  Ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya . That  ānanda , or pleasure, is not the third-class  ānanda  we enjoy with our bodily senses. Such bodily enjoyment is not  ānanda  but illusion. We are thinking, “I am enjoying,” but that  ānanda  is not factual, because we cannot enjoy this material pleasure of the senses for long. Everyone has experience that this material pleasure comes to an end. Spiritual enjoyment, however, does not end; rather, it increases. That is the difference.  Ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya govindam ādi-puruṣam tam aham bhajāmi  ( Brahma-saṁhitā  5.32). Therefore we have to associate with Govinda.
Here also it is said,  govindāya namo namaḥ : “I offer my respectful obeisances to Govinda.” The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is so sublime that it puts one directly in contact with Govinda. The worship of the Deity of Kṛṣṇa in the temple is also direct contact with Govinda.  Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śrīngāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau  ( Śrī-gurvaṣṭaka  3). The  vigraha , the Deity of Kṛṣṇa, appears by Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Because Kṛṣṇa is  alakṣya , invisible, He becomes visible to give us the facility to see Him. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is stone, wood, or metal. Kṛṣṇa is always Kṛṣṇa, but because we cannot see anything beyond material elements like wood, stone, and metal, He appears in a form made of these elements. But He is neither wood, metal, nor stone. When we associate with the Deity, we associate with Kṛṣṇa personally. Because Kṛṣṇa is invisible, He very kindly takes a form that is visible to us. This is Kṛṣṇa's mercy. Do not think, “Oh, here is a stone Kṛṣṇa.” Kṛṣṇa is everything, and therefore Kṛṣṇa is stone also, but He is not the kind of stone that cannot act. Even in the form of stone or metal, Kṛṣṇa can act as Kṛṣṇa, and one who worships the Deity will perceive that.  Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ . The Deity, although apparently stone, may speak with a devotee. There are many instances in which this has happened.
I am very pleased, therefore, when my disciples nicely dress the Deity,