anya dehe nÄ pÄiye rÄsa-vilÄsa
ataeva 'nÄyaá¹' Å›loka kahe veda-vyÄsa
anya dehe - in a body other than those of the gopÄ«s; nÄ - not; pÄiye - one gets; rÄsa-vilÄsa - the pastimes of the rÄsa dance; ataeva - therefore; nÄyam - beginning with the word nÄyam; Å›loka - the Sanskrit verse; kahe - says; veda-vyÄsa - DvaipÄyana VedavyÄsa.
“VyÄsadeva, the supreme authority on Vedic literature, composed the verse beginning ‘nÄyaá¹ sukhÄpo bhagavÄn’ because no one can enter into the rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ dance in any body other than that of a gopÄ«.â€
This verse confirms a verse of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.25):
yÄnti deva-vratÄ devÄn pitá¹n yÄnti pitá¹›-vratÄḥ
bhÅ«tÄni yÄnti bhÅ«tejyÄ yÄnti mad-yÄjino ’pi mÄm
Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods, those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors, those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings, and those who worship Me will live with Me.â€
In the material world, every conditioned soul changes his material body again and again, but when the spirit soul is purified of all material coverings, there is no longer a chance of his accepting a material body. Such a soul then remains in his original, spiritual identity, a state that is possible to achieve only by understanding Kṛṣṇa in truth through the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.9),
janma karma ca me divyam evaṠyo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvÄ dehaá¹ punar janma naiti mÄm eti so ’rjuna
“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.â€
Only when one regains his original spiritual body can he enter into the spiritual kingdom. As far as the rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ pastimes of the Lord are concerned, it is futile for one who is within the material world to attempt to imitate the Lord’s dances. One has to attain a spiritual body like that of a gopÄ« to enter into the pastimes of the rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ. In the nÄyaá¹ sukhÄpo verse, the devotees are referred to as bhaktimat, that is, fully engaged in devotional service and devoid of material contamination. One cannot enter into Kṛṣṇa’s rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ dance simply by artificially imitating it or artificially thinking oneself a sakhÄ« and dressing up like one. Kṛṣṇa’s rÄsa-lÄ«lÄ dance is completely spiritual; it has nothing to do with material contamination. Therefore no one can enter into this pastime by artificial, material means. That is the instruction of the nÄyaá¹ sukhÄpo verse, and it must be strictly understood.
