Another ridiculous story from Bhaktiratnakar.

[Jagannāth Miśra Dās]

HareKrishna. Assuredly we have all heard the story of Rupa Goswami chuckling and laughing to himself upon beholding a pastime of Radha-Govinda in his lila-smaran (apparently Rupa sees, in his meditative trance, how Radha was struggling to pick flowers from a branch just beyond her reach. Noting her predicament, Govinda lifts her up, and as she catches hold of the blossom laden branch, Krishna suddenly lets go of her, and Radha, still holding the branch, is raised into the air. She swings on the branch, her lotus-like feet gently and playfully kicking the air etc) Then as Rupa Goswami bursts into laughter as he witnesses this entertaining scene, a certain gentleman was supposedly walking by, who himself suffered a physical defect which caused him to walk in an awkward and unflattering manner. We are then causally informed that this gentleman took Rupa’s laughter as an affront (as he felt Rupa was laughing mockingly at his physical handicap) which results in Rupa’s trance being broken, and most remarkably, his consequent inability to re-enter the lila after this “offence” was inadvertently perpetrated. If Rupa Goswami was a four, maybe five year old school boy at the time, I could surely understand why the gentleman may have thought Rupa was laughing at him. Since when has a silly mockable manner of walking ever caused an adult to burst out laughing? Especially someone of Rupa’s gravity, who would have been in his late fifty’s or early sixty’s perhaps. Me thinks the gentleman does complain too much. It is of course baffling how this gentleman, helplessly spellbound by the illusory energy, tamas and rajas in particular, thinking “i am the cripple” absorbed in a blind stupor and false identification with his transitory carcass-like body, and the momentary so-called grief he experienced due to his ignorance, could have possibly ousted Rupa Goswami from the real world of nitya-lila smaran. The rest of the story is so unlikely and improbable it is merely ridiculous. I am of the opinion that this fanciful tale was invented by a guru who had some comical and conspicuous physical defect and was afraid of any personal satire. Some say there is a valuable lesson to be learned from this story; but such lessons belong in the primary school playground, “now remember boys and girls, it’s not nice to laugh at people who are less fortunate that ourselves.” Any thoughts?