280 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

the damsels of Vrindaban worship Sri Krishna, being bitten by Him as a person
is bitten by a snake, because Krishna’s body is compared with the body of a
snake. The snake’s body never goes straight but it always curling, and as Krishna
stands always in three-curved postures, He is compared to the snake. This
snake, Krishna, had bitten the Gopis with transcendental love, and they were
in a better position than all the mystic Yogis or the persons who desired to
merge into the Supreme Brahman. Therefore, the sages of Dundakarannya
also follow in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja, in order to achieve a simi-
lar position. By a simple execution of the regular principles one cannot achieve
that position; not unless and until one is seriously following the principles of the
Gopis. This is confirmed in the Srimad Bhagwatam, Tenth Canto, 9th Chapter,
by a verse in which it is stated that Lord Sri Krishna, the Son of Srimati Yasoda,
is not so easily available to persons following the principles of mental spe-
culation. But He is very easily available for all kinds of living beings who
follow the path of devotional service.

There are many pseudo devotional parties claiming to belong to Lord
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sect. Such pseudo devotional parties in the sect of
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, dress themselves up artificially as the damsels
of Vraja. This sort of dressing is not approved by advanced spiritualists or
advanced students of devotional service. Such dressing of the outward material
body is another foolishness of the concept of the body being the soul. They
are mistaken in considering that the spiritual body of Krishna and Radharani
and their associates, the damsels of Vraja, are of material Nature. One should
know perfectly that all such manifestations are expansions of eternal bliss and
knowledge in the transcendental world. They have nothing to do with this
material body. Therefore, the body, the dress, the decoration, and the activi-
ties of the damsels of Vrindaban do not belong to this material cosmic mani-
festation. Such damsels of Vrindaban are not subject matter for the attraction
of persons who are in the material world. They are the transcendental attrac-
tion for the All-Attractive. Krishna is All-Attractive—therefore His name is
“Krishna.” But the damsels of Vrajabhumi, Vrindaban, are attractive even
to Krishna. Therefore, they are not anything of this material world.

If somebody wrongly thinks that this material body is as perfect as the spiri-
tual body, and thus begins to worship by imitating the damsels of Vrindaban,
he becomes part and parcel of the Mayavadi or impersonal philosophy. The
impersonalists also recommend a process of Aham Grahapasana. This process
recommends that one should worship his own body as the Supreme. By
this material way of thinking, the pseudo transcendentalists dress themselves
