Krishna stealing the clothes of Gopis & asking them to come naked - Is it justified?

Courtesy:Smt.Dr.Saroja Ramanujam

Question:

 Lord Krishna's act of stealing the sarees of the women who came to bathe in the water and the Lord's refusing to give back the dress unless they came out of the water with their hands raised, is something I cannot still reconcile ... Can the Revered Mami please explain.

Answer:

Utthamur swami comments on this sloka saying that first it was koola dhukoola sangamam the garments, dhukoola, had the contact with the bank and then there was kundhamukundha sangamam, the contact with the branch of the kundha tree and with Mukundha.The kooladhukoola sangamam denotes leaving the old vasanas and bathe in Krishnanubhava and the kundhamukundhasangamam implies mukthi as the word Mukundha means the one who gives mukthi,mukthim dhadhAthi ithi mukundhah, Kum, sin, dhyathi, destroys ithi kundhah. So kundha -mukundha sangamam
When they requested him to give back their garments he made them come out and pray to him with folded hands This was to make them cast off their dhEhAthmabuddhi only when they become qualified for mukthi. The Lord has already willed to give them mukthi after their present life and only wanted to create the desire in them.He says in Gita 'vAsAmsi jeerNAni yaTHA vihAya ---thaTHA sarirANI vihAya jeerNAni anYANi samyAthi navAni dhEhee,just as one casts off the old clothes and put on new ones the soul casts off the old body and takes a new one.' But until there is total surrender this changing of bodies will go on. When the soul surrenders the Lord gives a new awareness under the pretext of giving back their garments which have undergone change on account of kundhamukundha sambandha.This is the significance behind the episode of gopivasthrApahaharaNam.

Sense of possession,body consciousness and physical love were all robbed by Krishna which is implied by his stealing the clothes. Once the mind is absorbed in Krishna it will not stray anywhere.

The one who told the story was Suka , the realised soul, and those who listened were rishis who had renounced everything. So there cannot be any vulgarity in this.Moreover Krishna in Brindavan was just ten year old.

He laughed as though saying What are you going to hide from me who is your antharyamin.