Hare Krsna,
This topic about the Vraja-vasis loving Krsna more than their own children is a philosophically deep subject matter. It needs a proper understanding of the body, soul, Supersoul and the Supreme Lord Krsna. We also need a proper understanding of the constitutional position of the living entity with respect to the Supreme Lord.
The basic and lowest level of consciousness is identification with the body. There are people who are extremely undiscriminating, thinking the body to be the self. They take the self (body) as most dear. By identifying the self with the body, the body becomes dearest. The attachment of such people for their own body is more than for their sons, wealth and house. We see people who are so addicted to drinking that they will resort to doing anything to satisfy their urge to drink. They will neglect their family and try to siphon off money from family budget to satisfy their needs.
SB 10.14.52: Indeed, for persons who think the body is the self, O best of kings, those things whose importance lies only in their relationship to the body are never as dear as the body itself.
The wise person sees the body as the possession of the self, and not as dear. The body does not last long. It dies. When one becomes afflicted by disease, the desire to love in the body becomes weaker. By discriminating a person understands that the body is not the self and thus it is no longer dear.
When a little knowledge has developed, one can understand that he is not the body but the spirit soul. For those who understand that they are atma, not the body, there is affection for the atma.
“When a person who thinks “I am this body” becomes a little wise, he begins to understand, “I am not this body. Rather, this body is mine.” At that time the soul becomes dear to him. Then the material body is not as dear as the soul to him. This means the body is only dear because it has a relationship with the soul.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.53)
SB 10.14.53-54: If a person comes to the stage of considering the body “mine” instead of “me,” he will certainly not consider the body as dear as his own self. After all, even as the body is growing old and useless, one’s desire to continue living remains strong. Therefore it is his own self that is most dear to every embodied living being, and it is simply for the satisfaction of this self that the whole material creation of moving and nonmoving entities exists.
The highest understanding is that Krsna is the soul of all living entities; He is the Paramatma. He is the only object of our love.
“When one sees the truth, he realizes that the individual spirit soul is only an intermediate object of love. The final, highest object of love is Sri Kṛṣṇa alone.” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)
Thus, there are different degrees of love. First a person loves his body as he sees the self as the body. Accordingly, he loves his children and other persons because they bring pleasure to his own material body. Next degree is when a person loves his material body because it brings pleasure to himself, the spirit soul. A higher degree is when a person loves his true self, his spiritual identity, because he brings pleasure to the Supersoul. The highest degree is when loves Krsna directly. He is directly realized as the highest cause in which all things reside. He is the reservoir of all pleasure; the active principle in everything (movable and immovable).” (Excerpts from SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)
A logical question would be how we can love the Supreme Lord when He is not directly visible to our mundane senses.
“How can the conditioned souls, who have no love and devotion for Kṛṣṇa, and whose knowledge is covered by māyā, directly perceive Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is revealed only by bhakti?” (SVT commentary on SB 10.14.55)
The answer is that Kṛṣṇa appears by His causeless and inconceivable mercy to be an ordinary conditioned soul and to benefit the living entities in the material world. Though Kṛṣṇa is eternally unmanifest, He becomes visible by His own desire. He has appeared in this world as Krsna to destroy the suffering of the world and give it the highest bliss. There is no difference between His body and soul. Due to the covering of maya, conditioned living entities are not able to perceive the Lord. Without the covering, one will have affection for the Lord. That covering, however, is completely destroyed by bhakti. By the intensity of bhakti, one develops intensity of prema. The people of Vraja have the most intense prema because of their special intense mode of worship. This shows they are completely on the liberated platform and beyond the mundane conception of “I” and “mine”. All they know is Krsna and how to serve Him for His complete pleasure.
SB 10.14.55: You should know Kṛṣṇa to be the original Soul of all living entities. For the benefit of the whole universe, He has, out of His causeless mercy, appeared as an ordinary human being. He has done this by the strength of His internal potency.
Therefore, we should try to chant the Holy Name with intensity and love so that the covering of ignorance is completely destroyed, and we can safely progress on our journey to attain Krsna prema.
“In essence, those who think the body is the self are not good. Those who understand the atma (soul) are good. Those who understand the Lord are better. Those who have affection for Krsna alone are the best. Thus you are the best king (Pariksit Maharaja)” (Sanatana Goswami’s commentary on SB 10.14.52 in Brhad Vaisnava Tosani)
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
[Note: I have tried to put together another simple chart to better understand the concepts discussed in this lesson]
Krsna Katha 