Krishna’s being “situated in the effulgence of the sun” also indicates that he is situated in Vraja. Out of compassion for the cows, Govinda resides among them as a cowherd.

There are two beautifully plumed birds making their home in this body, which, like a tree, is meant to be felled. The lesser of the two is the fragmentary portion of Brahman who enjoys and suffers; the other is merely an observer.

Spiritual emotion, bhava, is constituted of Sri Krishna’s internal energy, svarupa-sakti. Its awakening in the devotee’s heart signals the first ray of the sun of prema, ecstatic love of God.

How could Durvasa be said to have fasted after eating what they had offered him, and how could Krishna be a brahmacari? What was the mystic truth behind the apparently contradictory statements made by both Durvasa and Krishna?

Although the gopis had not fully understood the import of Krishna’s contention that he was celibate, being inspired by the affirmation of his prowess, they nonetheless uttered the words “Krishna is a brahmacari” as he had told them to. The Yamuna then immediately gave them passage.

In various forms his reality overflows into the world of our experience, and sacred texts such as the Bhagavata try to capture and relate to us the essence of that expression.

One should meditate upon Krishna, one should relish him, and one should engage in his worship with a desire to serve. Om tat sat.

Krishna alone is the jagad-guru, or the macrocosmic expression (samasti) of the guru principle (guru-tattva), because he is the source of the knowledge that all gurus disseminate; indeed, he is that knowledge.

Brahma prays: Salutations to the cowherd who is addicted to playing his flute, who defeated the snake Aghasura, who enjoys playing on the banks of the Kalindi, and who wears swinging earrings.

For those who aspire for Krishna’s abode, his eternal associates are more important than Krishna himself because they embody the love that is sought. This love is nondifferent from Krishna, for his appearance in his form of eternity, knowledge, and bliss in Vrindavana is in reciprocation with that love.

Times change and with new information new opinions form, and if they are spiritually reasonable, the task for devotees is to support them with scriptural logic—sastra-yukti—or the logic that supports the essential conclusions of revelation.