RĀYA RĀMĀNANDA SAṂVĀDA · 37
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The rāsa-līlā begins of itself: Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa and the sakhīs are the toy that prema winds up
rāsotsavaḥ sampravṛtto gopī-maṇḍala-maṇḍitaḥ"The festival of the rāsa dance began, adorned by the circle of gopīs" (SB 10.33.3)
The rāsa-līlā begins of itself: Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa and the sakhīs are the toy that prema winds up
rāsotsavaḥ sampravṛtto gopī-maṇḍala-maṇḍitaḥ
"The festival of the rāsa dance began, adorned by the circle of gopīs" (SB 10.33.3)
Listen to Gurudev
"It does not say Rādhā Kṛṣṇa began the rāsa-līlā, it says the rāsa-līlā itself began. Rāsa-utsava, that is the essence of prema, is the kartā — and Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs are all the instruments of that prema."
Kṛṣṇa speaks the words "na pāraye 'ham" — I am unable to repay you — and He weeps, and with that the last heat of separation goes out. From that moment Kṛṣṇa and the vraja-gopīs emerge in great joy, and the rāsa begins. Gurudeva stops us at the grammar of the verse: the subject here is not Kṛṣṇa. The rāsa-utsava, the essence of prema, winds up Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa and the sakhīs the way a child's toy is wound, set on the table, and moves on its own. The players of the greatest līlā turn out to be its instruments.
Let prema-bhakti wind you up as well.
Source: Rāya Rāmānanda Saṃvāda · part 7
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