(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 7th March 2012, New York) Lecture: Caitanya-caritāmṛta Part 3
You cannot offer the Lord something ordinary! An ordinary apple will not do. It has to be the best apple! The Lord must have the best, and that is very much the standard of Vaikuntha, and that’s the rule – the best of the best to be offered. And that must be so, because after all He is the greatest, and the greatest must be given to Him!
But in Vrindavan it is different, since Krishna is everything. We just give him everything. There’s no more measuring, since you go to your limits. So therefore going back to the earlier point of how this spirit of Goloka is the love of God of the sankirtan movement, it is not limiting the personality but rather it is developing the personality! Vrindavan is filled with rugged individuals and why is this so? It is because one becomes stronger and stronger in using all one’s abilities. Therefore Krishna consciousness is about being oneself and developing oneself rather than oppressing oneself!