What is Ras Purnima and its significance in Hinduism, The path shown by Lord Krishna
Ras Purnima is an important celebration for both Hindus and Vaishnavas. According to the Bengali calendar, this festival is celebrated on the full moon night of the month of Kartik. According to popular belief in Hinduism, it was on this day that Lord Krishna performed the divine dance with his gopis in the holy land of Vrindavan. On this day the devotees of Lord Krishna connect with him through love and devotion and surrender all the troubles of life to the Lord. Lord Krishna was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, an important Hindu deity, and he had a divine flute that he used to call all the Gopis to Vrindavan and dance with them. This Nitya of Lord Krishna was no ordinary dance, it was the connecting medium of Prem Bhakti through which a devotee could easily reach the God. It is heard that Lord Krishna was not only attracted by the sound of that strange resident but also the gods and goddesses from every part of the universe rushed to see the pastime of Lord Krishna. He called all the saints of the universe that day in the land of Vrindavan. This Param Leela of Lord Shri Krishna is popular among Hindus today as his extraordinary divine dance which is called Ras Leela.
The word Rasa means sweetness. It is so named because Lord Krishna’s dance was very sweet. It is said that this dance leela is the best of all the leelas composed by God. But many people misinterpret this Rastila as there was no desire in this Rastila was a combination of pure love and devotion to God. In fact this Nritya Leela was the meeting place of Jivatma with Paramatma which is of great spiritual significance. Rasleela is to leave the illusion of this earthly world and surrender oneself completely to God. It is indeed a liberating joy that every heart feels with joy. It is said that Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, a tribal king of Manipur, saw in a dream the pastime of Radha and Krishna. Then he presented the dance of Rasalila in the light of a dream. He performed dreamlike rasalila with some virgin girls. His own daughter Kumari Vishwati played the role of Sri Radha and Sri Govinda of the temple played the role of Krishna in the rasalila and he himself was the mridanga player in that rasa. He uses his own rhythm in it. His rhythm is still going on. Although many consider it to be only a festival, Rasleela is actually a very high level of spiritual characteristic which many people do not easily understand. One who is on the path of devotion can easily realize the greatness of this rasalila. Wherever various forms of worship become secondary, only love and devotion to God becomes paramount, through which liberation from this material world is possible. God has always called the path of love and devotion as the easiest path to reach salvation and God’s work, so through this Rasleela God has actually instructed his souls how souls can be freed from this world of suffering forever.
