In this world, people are greatly attracted by different kinds of sports. As of today, the top two people having the most number of followers worldwide on Instagram are footballers. In India as well, a cricketer tops the list of the most followed personality on Instagram.
In Sanskrit, play or sport is also called as krida. Sankaracarya says – balyavasthah kridasaktah – in childhood, one is attached to sports. We find not only children, but people in all walks of life are attached to some kind of sport or play. Obviously, the attraction for other things supersedes the attraction for sports, yet this attraction remains in many individuals. Disneyland in America, known as an amusement and adventure park, boasts of millions of visitors every single year. If one may not be able to perform or take part in some sport, one feels joyful in watching others play them.
The other kind of people whom people get madly attracted to is actors and actresses. They also top the lists in having maximum number of followers. And what do these personalities do? They also engage in sport – may it be romance, may it be adventure, may it be a thriller and so on.
Yet, the krida or sport of people ends with the end of their bodies. In fact, for sportspeople, the age of retirement is quite early, around 35-40 years. For some sports like swimming, it is as early as 25-30 years. The beauty, grace, and charm of actresses also fade over time. In India, in the olden times, an actress known as Madhubala, who had starred in top films and was widely known for her beauty, faced a tragic end to her life when she was just 36. Meena Kumari, another actress who was known as the “Tragedy Queen,” had a life that lasted just 38 years.
No matter how popular, no matter how beautiful, no matter how gracious the people of this world may be, their so-called fame, beauty and grace lasts for a very short while.
On the contrary, Krishna’s activities and pastimes are also referred to as play or sport—krida. When Krishna performed the rasa lila, Srila Sukadeva Goswami writes about the effect Krishna’s krida can have on a heart enchanted by material seductive sports and cinema.
He says,
vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ‘nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ
Anyone who faithfully hears or describes the Lord’s playful affairs with the young gopīs of Vṛndāvana will attain the Lord’s pure devotional service. Thus he will quickly become sober and conquer lust, the disease of the heart. SB 10.33.39
The meaning of “vikriditam” is given sporting herein.
Krishna’s pastimes don’t agitate, rather they purify the mind which is saturated with lust.
Krishna’s playful pastimes don’t last for a short while, rather they continue to exist eternally.
Krishna’s fame is not temporary like the sports people or entertainment stars, rather His fame continues to grow more and more.
Krishna’s beauty doesn’t deteriorate with time, rather Krishna’s every aspect increases in multifold with the passage of time.
Therefore, rather than getting ensnared by material sport, if we become captivated by Krishna’s sport or krida, it can make our life successful. In fact, such a life is already successful. Shrila Prabhupada writes, “If he is actually taking part in the movements of Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana activities and actually understanding what it is—he is taking sport in the waves of such devotional ocean—then such person is always liberated.”
The only people worth subscribing to are Radha and Krishna. Our life’s Instagram account is only meant for subscribing to the channel of Radha and Krishna. Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami very beautifully pens down,
vrajendra-nandana kṛṣṇa—nāyaka-śiromaṇi
nāyikāra śiromaṇi—rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī
Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is the supreme hero in all dealings. Similarly, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the topmost heroine in all dealings. CC Madhya 23.66
With all our hearts, we must simply dive in the ocean of the playful pastimes of Radha and Krishna. That only can purify us, satisfy us, beautify us and make us eternally happy.
