A theological dance

"Bhagavata Purana" is an early medieval Indian scripture, regarded as normative by many Hindu traditions. Attributed to Vyasa (who else), the 12-part work contains mythological material dealing with the gods, the creation of the world, and various fictitious royal dynasties. In the West, the purana (under the alternative title "Shrimad Bhagavatam") is mostly known thanks to the ISKCON (the Hare Krishna movement), which considers it one of its central scriptures. I actually read the First Canto in Swedish, together with ISKCON guru Prabhupada´s rather voluminous purports. Prabhupada constantly warns his followers *not* to read certain chapters of the famous Tenth Canto without very careful spiritual preparations, and after reading them (in English without said preparation), I can well see why! 

The ISKCON is an off-shot of the "Krishnaite" Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which regards Krishna as the supreme personality of godhead. The founder or inspirator of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, 16th century devotionalist preacher Chaitanya, is seen by his followers as a double incarnation of Krishna and Krishna´s consort Radha in one body. It´s somewhere here that the scenario becomes very, very strange (and presumably in need of spiritual preparations). In the Tenth Canto, Radha is associated with the gopis (cow-herd girls) of Vrindavan (an area in northern India traditionally associated with Krishna). Radha and the gopis have illicit relationships with Krishna, which are clearly erotic in nature. Both Radha and the gopis are married, yet they run away with the amorous Krishna in the enchanted forest on a moonlit night. This despite the fact that their husbands try to stop them! The high point of these "pastimes" is the so-called rasa dance, when Krishna and his female companions dance in a ring, with Krishna mysteriously being both in the center and at the side of each girl. "Rasa" is apparently difficult to translate, but perhaps "ecstasy" comes close. A further scandal is that Krishna is supposed to have been only eight years old at the time, while Radha and the gopis are clearly grown women!  

That low-caste females have an extra-marital affair with a high-caste human claiming to be God is problematic on most metrics in a cast-ridden patriarchy like India, and both "Vyasa" and Prabhupada tries out various strategies to domesticate Krishna, Radha and the gopis, who are clearly engaged in some kind of Dionysiac fairy dance. Prabhupada´s purports constantly refers to Krishna´s relation with the dancing girls as "conjugal", when it´s very obvious that it isn´t (unless he really didn´t know the usual meaning of the English word). Another strategy is to claim that the erotic dance is really spiritual and hence completely pure of any base human desires. But if so, why is it described as an extended sexual foreplay? Yet another attempt is to claim that God, of course, isn´t bound by human laws, and that everything he does must be right simply for that reason. The rasa dance could also be explained away as an illusion: since everything emanates from Krishna, he is really just dancing with himself! (At least from a Christian perspective, the distinction between "creation" and "emanation" isn´t obvious in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, or indeed in most Hindu systems.) 

I noticed these strategies in other Hindu traditions, as well. For instance, the idea that Krishna and Radha are really a married couple, Radha being a goddess. Or the idea (also found in Gaudiya Vaishnavism) that Krishna and Radha are really the same deity, Radha being the shakti or creative energy of Krishna. Or Radha and the gopis being symbols of the human soul longing for God. Prabhupada comes close to the latter notion when arguing that since everything in material creation *somehow* reflects higher divine realities, this must be true even for love and sex, strange as that may sound to "materialists". ISKCON is extremely ascetic and borderline anti-sex, so the combination between a celibate or near-celibate lifestyle and reflections on the erotic pastimes of Krishna does sound weird in extreme, and frankly downright Freudian. 

I didn´t bother reading all of the Tenth Canto, let alone all of the purana, but I couldn´t help noticing the gender-bending aspect. Yes, gender-bending. According to another myth, referenced by Prabhupada in his purports, the gopis are really reincarnated male sages! The sages once met Rama and became filled with intense spiritual longing for him. (In "main stream" Hinduism, Rama and Krishna are both regarded as avatars of the god Vishnu.) For this reason, the sages were permitted to be reborn as lowly cow-herd girls, since these girls would one day unite with Krishna in the rasa dance! This is not a mere theoretical curiosity, since there are extreme male Krishna devotees (not associated with ISKCON) who dress like females in imitation of Radha and the gopis. Since god is male, presumably the human soul must become "female" to unite with him...

With that, I end my reflections on "Shrimad Bhagavatam".