A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

460 THE SAGES OF INDIA.many people, nor do I want learning ; no, not even do 1want to go to heaven. Let me be born again and again,but Lord, grant me this, that I may have love for Thee,and that for Cove s sake."A great landmark in the historyof religion is here, the ideal of love for love s sake, wor^.for work s sake, duty for duty s sake, for the first time fellfrom the lips of the greatest of incarnations, Krishna, andfor the fL-st time in the history of humanity, uponthe soilof India. The religions of fear and of temptations were^gonefor ever, and in spite of the fear of hell and temptation toenjoyment in heaven, came the grandest of ideals, love forlove s sake, duty for duty s sake, work for work s sake.And what a love ! I have told you just now that it is verydifficult to understand the love of the Gopis. There -arenot wanting fools, even in the midst of us, who cannotunderstand the marvellous significance of that most marvellous of all episodes. There are, let me repeat, impurefools, even born of our blood, who try to shrink from thatas if from something impure. For them I have only tosay, first make yourselves pure, and you must rememberthat he who tells the history of the love of the Gopisisnone else but Suka Dev. The historian who records thismarvellous love of the Gopis is one who was born pure, theeternally pure Suka, the son of Vyasa. So long as thereis selfishness in the heart, so long is love of God impossible; it is nothing but shop-keeping. "I give you something,Oh Lord, you give me something."And says the"Lord, ifyou do not do this, I will take good care of you"when you die. I will rost |you all the rest of your lives,perhaps, and so on. So long as such ideas are in the brain,how can one understand the mad throes of the Gopis loveilOh for one, one kiss of those lips,one who has beenkissed by Thee, his thirst for Thee increases for ever, all