Maha Raas

‘To understand Gita, let us understand Krishna’

The cosmic dance of opposites!
The attraction of male and female for each other is what brings them together. Here the latent energies flow into stream of love and life. Separated and alone they feel tense and anxious, coming together they feel the lightness as feather. Without the cosmic factor love, the modern institution of marriage is failing rather miserably. Life’s play cannot be institutionalized without this cosmic factor called love. Krishna’s Raas does not have an order or system; it is utterly spontaneous and pure, though it may look chaotic.
 

Raas, the interplay of energies, Krishna and (gopi’s) milk maids, cease to be individuals. They move as pure energies. And this dance of two different energies brings deep contentment and bliss. This bliss expands and permeates every fibre of universe. Although millennia have passed since the Maharaas, the vibes of Maharaas are still with us.
 

In my humble view, the Maha Raas- the dance of Krishna with all gopis at the same time symbolizes the outpouring, overflowing of the primal energy as divided between man and woman. And if we can understand this, the Raas is as relevant today as it was in times of Krishna. It is everlastingly relevant. In this world the entire structure of life is based on the togetherness of the opposite forces. The more natural and spontaneous this togetherness, the more beneficial it is to the humanity.
 

The significance of Raas, the dance of celebration, is everlasting, it issues from the fundamental principle of life. If this man and woman togetherness happens unconditionally, it will complete these two in an extraordinary and unearthly way. On the other hand, if the union is conditional, if it has an ulterior motive, it is bound to lead to enormous difficulty and trouble in the process of its completion. However, so long as men and women exist on earth, the Raas will continue to be vogue in them. May be it does not attain the height and depth it had with Krishna, but if we grow in understanding and wisdom it is not impossible.

More or less every primitive community is aware of the beauty and significance of Raas, of their own kind. They work hard through the day and by dusk they dance under the open sky with abandon till they are tired to sleep. It is for this reason that the peace of mind and joy of life of them is unknown to most of our so called affluent modern society. Some where we are erring very grievously, the earlier we understand Krishna, the better we will understand Gita.
 

Wishing you all good health and happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath,

Director, MITRAN foundation- the stress management people