Delivery of the Message of Krsna to the Gopis 305

of all thoughts is actually a wise man, and he surrenders unto Krsna. The
gopts are the typical example of this perfectional stage of knowledge. They
are not simple mental speculators. Their minds are always in Krsna. The
mind is nothing but the energy of Krsna. Actually, any person who can
think, feel, act and will cannot be separated from Krsna. But the stage in
which he can understand his eternal realtionship is called Krsna conscious-
ness. The diseased condition in which he cannot understand his eternal
relationship with Krsna is the contaminated stage, or maya. Since the
gopis are on the platform of pure transcendental knowledge, their minds
are always filled with Krsna consciousness. For example, as there is no
separation between fire and air, so there is no separation between Krsna
and the living entities. When the living entities forget Krsna, they are not
in their normal condition. As for the gopis, because they are always
thinking of Krsna they are on the absolute stage of perfection in know-
ledge. The so-called empiric philosophers sometimes think that the path of
bhakti is meant for the less intelligent, but unless the so-called man of
knowledge comes to the platform of bhakti, his knowledge is certainly
impure and imperfect. Actually, the stage of perfecting one’s eternal
relationship with Krsna is love in separation. But that is also illusory
because there is no separation. The gopis were never separated from
Krsna. Even from the philosophical point of view, there was no separation.
The cosmic manifestation is also not separate from Krsna. ‘Nothing is
separate from Me; the whole cosmic manifestation is resting on Me and is
not separate from Me. Before the creation, I was existing.” This is con-
firmed in the Vedic literature: before creation, there was only Narayana.
There were no Brahma and no Siva as assistants. The whole cosmic
manifestation is manipulated by the three modes of material nature.
Brahma is the incarnation of the quality of passion. It is said that Brahma
created this universe, but Brahma is the secondary creator; the original
creator is Narayana. This is also confirmed by Sankaracarya: ndr@yanah
pero vyaktat. Narayana is transcendental, beyond this cosmic creation.
Krsna creates, maintains, and annihilates the whole cosmic manifesta-
tion by expanding Himself in different incarnations. Everything is Krsna,
and everything is depending on Krsna, but He is not perceived in the
material energy. Material energy is called maya, or illusion. In the spiritual
energy, however, Krsna is perceived at every step, in all circumstances.
This perfectional stage of understanding is present in the gopis. As Krsna
is always aloof from the cosmic manifestation, although it is completely
dependent on Him, so a living entity is also completely aloof from his
material conditional life. The material body has developed on the basis of
