Śrī Caitanya and the Existential Crisis of Kṛṣṇa
By Swāmī Śrī Bhaktivedānta Tripurāri Mahārāja, excepted from Śikṣāṣṭakam of Śrī Caitanya.
While pursuing the highest love during his earthly līlā, rasarāja Kṛṣṇa was dumbfounded to experience the measure of Rādhā’s love, for it exceeded anything that he had ever experienced. Because he always considered himself the king of love, this experience threw Kṛṣṇa into an existential crisis, forcing him to ask the difficult question, “Am I really the king of love, when it is apparent that Rādhā’s love exceeds anything that I have experienced?” When the primary reason for his descent—to taste the highest love was thus frustrated, this in turn affected his ability to accomplish his secondary purpose—to teach the world about love.
To resolve this twofold crisis, Kṛṣṇa, keeping with his nature, attempted to steal the emotions of Rādhā. A clever thief knows where to hide. Where did Śyāma go? That beautiful, dark-complected thief hid himself in the age of darkness, Kali-yuga, disguising himself as a sādhu. However, that which he stole was more brilliant than millions of suns. Thus when his devotees—the dearest of Rādhā—looked for him, he was not hard to find.
Realizing the likelihood of his capture at the hands of his devotees, Kṛṣṇa gave away the stolen goods in an effort to deflect attention, advising each person who received the goods to pass them on to another. This, however, only made matters worse, for seeing the distribution of prema, his devotees became suspicious. They knew that a love as brilliant as Rādhā’s could only be experienced in relation to Kṛṣṇa himself and that he must therefore be in their midst. Furthermore, although Kṛṣṇa had tried to distribute the goods, because of the nature of prema it only swelled within him that much more, turning his complexion golden. Attracted by his golden hue and seeing the measure of his prema, they dubbed him Gaura Kṛṣṇa and proceeded to broadcast the truth to the whole world. In the end, this golden Kṛṣṇa, in the captivity of Rādhā’s two best friends, wrote his confession in eight stanzas, begging for mercy. Only after receiving that mercy was he able to realize the consequences of what he had done and fully taste Rādhā’s love.
Gaura Kṛṣṇa, otherwise known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, is the answer to the existential crisis of rasarāja Kṛṣṇa. To maintain his sense of self as the king of love, Kṛṣṇa had to taste Rādhā’s love. Therefore he disguised himself as a devotee and pursued the experience of her love. As Gaura, Kṛṣṇa was able to taste the limits of this love. Having fulfilled his primary purpose, he was able to give proper attention to his secondary purpose. Having tasted, he taught and taught well.
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