Raasleela

What Is Raas Lila

Raas is divine pleasure and Lila (as per Sanskrit) is play or sport.

According to Vaishnavas, Lila means activities of God and Devotees.

According to Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Maha Raas was performed by Lord Krishna for his devotees when he was just six years old kid.

Lord Krishna performed Raas Lila. According to Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Lila means Lord Krishna’s playful dance with his devotees (gopis). Gopis were same saints and sages who performed Tapasya* for Yugas** to become devotee of Lord Krishna in their Dwaparyuga reincarnation. These were saints and sages who met Lord Rama in his exile(when he had to undergo 14 years Sanyasa*** Dharm to fulfill his father’s wishes). Lord Rama interacted with many sages in his way to Sri Lanka, He was unable to spend ample time with them. Most of them got saddened. Then all these sages requested Lord Rama (Lord Vishnu) to being reborn as Gopis in their next birth to become  devotees of Lord Krishna. These Gopis dance with joy when they see playful Lord Krishna, a divine kid of six year old and dance with him.

The rasa lila takes place one night when the Gopis of Vrindavana, upon hearing the sound of Krishna's flute, sneak away from their households and families to the forest to dance with Krishna throughout the night, which Krishna supernaturally stretches to the length of one Night of Brahma, a Hindu unit of time lasting approximately 4.32 billion years. In the Krishna Bhakti traditions, the rasa-lila is considered to be one of the highest and most esoteric of Krishna's pastimes. In these traditions, romantic love between human beings in the material world is seen as merely a diminished, illusionary reflection of the soul’s original, ecstatic spiritual love for Krishna, God, in the spiritual world.