The Yoga of Love

And we awaken to experience that love; we experience Krishna; we experience the whole creation as Krishna’s world; and we experience every living being as Krishna’s beloved. This the Gita tells as the perfection of yoga, the yoga of love within all of us.” – Radhanath Swami

Sri Radha is the Ashraya Vigraha; she is the abode of love. Krishna is the Vishaya Vigraha; he is the object of love. And we all are little Ashraya Vigrahas. This is Vrindavan! Sri Radha is Vrindavaneshwari. She is the presiding queen of Vrindavan. Her love is the energy that pervades everything and everyone. Even the plants, even the trees, the river, the kunds, the insects, the bees – buzz – the cuckoos, the birds, the peacocks, the cows, the calves, the buffalos, the goats – everyone in Vrindavan is simply immersed in that energy of Sri Radha’s love. Everyone is an instrument of her love. And therefore, everyone is conquering Krishna and Krishna is conquering everyone.

We read so many stories of how Krishna conquered Kamsa and he conquered Jarasandha and he conquered Shalva and he conquered so many. He is great in Vrindavan; he conquered Putana and Agha and all of these people. But his real happiness was when he was conquered by the love of his devotees. When Yashodamayi would tie him up and he would cry, when Radharani would not talk to him and he would cry and beg for her attention and for her affection, when the gopas would wrestle with him and they would defeat him in wrestling, this is where Krishna gets his greatest pleasure – to be conquered by the love of a devotee. And the devotee’s greatest pleasure is to be conquered by the love of Krishna.

You see, the ego of this world is we want to conquer. But in the spiritual world the greatest happiness is to be conquered by love.” – Radhanath Swami

 

That is the yoga of love that is within all of us.

(CC Madhya 22.107)

By chanting Krishna’s names, by associating with those who love Krishna, then that fog – that fog of illusion – is cleared by the sun of this grace, and then we see who we really are. And we awaken to experience that love; we experience Krishna; we experience the whole creation as Krishna’s world; and we experience every living being as Krishna’s beloved. This the Gita tells as the perfection of yoga, the yoga of love within all of us.