Approximately 5,000 years ago on Sharat Poornima, the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna engaged in maharaas, and so today's festival is considered foremost. You all know quite a lot about the various festivals celebrated throughout the year, but one who is ineligible can never understand anything about this festival. So, what is maharaas? Perhaps this question has arisen in your mind ...

Who can possibly understand the secrets of the divine activities of the infinitely beautiful and blissful Shri Krishna? Just as God is divine so too are His leelas, and His most intimate and blissful leelas enacted with the gopis remain the most mysterious of all.

About 5,000 years ago, the Stealer of Hearts, the Supreme Rasik, Shri Krishna, along with Shri Radha Rani, showered their ultimate divine bliss on those most deserving souls during maharaas, the divine dance of Shri Radha Krishna and the gopis. Even Mahalakshmi, the eternal consort of Shri Krishna, was not permitted to participate, such is its exalted state. People have a natural curiosity to know who is eligible to participate in maharaas, and so Jagadguruttam Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj graciously explained it in this discourse from 1971.

There are two surprising additions towards the back of the book, treasures for anyone practising bhakti and meditation on Radha Krishna. The first is a series of spiritual questions, insightfully answered by Kripalu Ji Maharaj, relating to maharaas. The publication then concludes with what Kripaluji revealed on the subject in his encyclopedia of spirituality and devotion, Radha Govind Geet.