Every Play a Play Within the Play
The Ras Lila Performances of Brindavan
Keywords:
Vaishnava tradition, rās līlā, Vrindavan, Vraja, Lord Krishna, sacred space, lila, maharas līlā, divine play, māyā, gopis, religious drama, Hindu theology, performance studies, Mircea Eliade, crossdressing, reversal, bhakti aesthetics, spiritual pilgrimage, Krishna consciousnessAbstract
John Stratton Hawley’s “Every Play a Play Within the Play: The Rās Performances of Brindavan” explores the layered theatrical and theological dimensions of rās līlā enactments in Vrindavan. Central to this study is the idea that each performance is not just a representation of Krishna’s divine pastimes but a recursive “play within a play,” where performers and spectators alike are drawn into the sacred drama. These reenactments—especially the maharās līlā—blur the boundaries between illusion (māyā) and reality, human and divine, performer and devotee. Drawing on Mircea Eliade’s concept of sacred space, Hawley highlights how Vrindavan itself becomes a transformative, mythic space where these dramas unfold, expressing the aesthetics of bhakti (devotion) and challenging conventional perception through reversal, crossdressing, and playful deception. The essay ultimately positions rās līlā not just as religious storytelling, but as immersive, ontological experiences central to Vaishnava theology and practice.
