164 TEACHINGS OF QUEEN KUNTI

ourselves in Krsna consciousness always, we cannot be influenced by the
darkness of ignorance; rather, we shall always walk very freely in the
bright sunshine of Krsna. Kuntidevi therefore prays that Krsna continue
to be present with her and the Pandavas.

In fact, however, Krsna was not leaving the Pandavas, just as He never
left Vrndavana. In the sdstra, the Vedic literature, it is said, vrndavanam
parityajya no padam ekam gacchati: Krsna never goes even one step from
Vrndavana. He is so much attached to Vrndavana. How is it, then, that
we see that Krsna left Vrndavana and went to Mathura and then far away
to Hastinapura and did not return for many years? Actually, Krsna did
not leave, for all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, after Krsna left, were al-
ways thinking of Him and crying. The only engagement of mother
Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, Radharani, and all the gopis, cows, calves, and
cowherd boys was to think of Krsna and cry, and in this way they felt
Krsna to be present, because Krsna’s presence can be felt more strongly
in separation from Him. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teaching: to love
Krsna in separation. Sinyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu thought, ‘‘Everything is vacant without Govinda,
without Krsna.’ Everything was vacant, but Krsna consciousness was
there.

When we see everything as nothing, but have only Krsna conscious-
ness, we shall have attained the highest perfection. Therefore the gopis
are so exalted. Having attained this perfection, they could not forget
Krsna even for a single moment. When Krsna went to the forest with His
cows and calves, the minds of the gopis at home were disturbed. ‘‘Oh,
Krsna is walking barefoot,’ they thought. ‘‘There are so many stones
and nails on the path, and they must be pricking Krsna’s lotus feet, which
are so soft that we think our breasts hard when Krsna puts His lotus feet
upon them.”’ Thus they would cry, absorbed in these thoughts. The gopis
were so anxious to see Krsna back home in the evening that they would
stand on the path, looking to see Krsna returning with His calves and
cows. This is Krsna consciousness.

Krsna cannot be absent from a devotee when the devotee is intensely
absorbed in Krsna thought. Here Kuntidevi is very much anxious, think-
ing that Krsna will be absent, but the actual effect of Krsna’s physical ab-
sence is that He becomes more intensely present within the mind of the
devotee. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by the example of His actual
life, taught vipralambha-seva, service of Krsna in separation. Tears would
come from His eyes like torrents of rain, for He would feel everything to
be vacant for want of Krsna.
