174 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 8

4nanda-cin-maya-rasa-pratibhavitabhis
tabhir ya eva nija-rupataya kalabhih

goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhdto
govindam 4di-purusarn tam aham bhajami

“| worship Govinda, the primeval Lord. He resides in His own realm, Goloka, with
Radha, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic
potency [hladini]. Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody exten-
sions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful
spiritual rasa.”

The gopis are also of the same spiritual quality (nija-rdpataya) because they are
expansions of Krsna’s pleasure potency. Neither Krsna nor the gopis have anything
to do with lumps of matter or the material conception. In the material world, the
living entity is encaged within a material body, and due to ignorance he thinks
that he is the body. Lusty desire, enjoyment between male and female, is all mate-
rial. One cannot compare the lusty desires of a materialistic man to the lusty
desires of Krsna. Unless one is advanced in spiritual science, he cannot understand
the lusty desires between Krsna and the gopis. In Caitanya-caritamrta the lusty
desire of the gopis is compared to gold. The lusty desires of a materialistic man, on
the other hand, are compared to iron. At no stage can iron and gold be compared.
The living entities—moving and nonmoving—are part and parcel of Krsna;
therefore they originally have the same kind of lusty desire. However, when this
lusty desire is expressed through matter, it is abominable. When a living entity is
spiritually advanced and liberated from material bondage, he can understand
Krsna in truth. As stated in Bhagavad-gita:

janma karma ca me divyam
eva yo vetti tattvatah

tyaktva deharm punar janma
naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does
not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains
My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” (Bg. 4.9)

When one can understand the body of Krsna as well as the Lord's lusty desires,
one is immediately liberated. A conditioned soul encaged within the material
body cannot understand Krsna. As stated in Bhagavad-gita:

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye

yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mar vetti tattvatah
