Ananda Vrindavan Champu

Chapter Seventeen The Rasa Dance Begins

After breaking the pride of all the devatas headed by Brahma, Krsna conquered the god of love. Seeing the beautiful full moon night of the sarad season, Krsna desired to enjoy the rasa dance. In this transcenden­tal pastime, Krsna tested the enchanting power of His coveted compan­ion the flute, embraced all the young gopis in His arms, and relished the pure love of the Vraja kumaris, who had previously worshiped Katyayani without deviation.

By this time, the Vraja kumaris' attraction to Krsna flowed like a rush­ing stream of nectar. The fruit of their prema had been maturing from the day that Krsna accepted them. Understanding that their prema had rip­ened, Krsna thought, "Tonight I will enjoy rasa-lila with My dearest Radhika, the gopis, and all of these young girls." To facilitate His pastime, He lengthened the night to the equal the duration of Brahma's night.

He strengthened the determination of the young girls who had been kept in their parents' houses on previous nights. On that night, the young girls, being maddened with the desire to please Krsna, easily overcame all obstacles and took shelter of the forest. Those effulgent, well-behaved young gopis, whom He had already accepted, quickly ran into the forest. Seeing them standing before Him like the presiding deities of the full moon night, eager to satisfy His desires, Krsna said, "You have come here with great endeavor."

After saying this, Krsna thought how to keep His promise to them. Know­ing their intentions and Krsna's desire to enjoy intimate pastimes with them, Yogamaya, the Lord's own internal potency, made all necessary arrangements. The nights in which Krsna enjoyed His rasa-lila surpassed the splendor of the spring, summer, and autumn seasons combined. The best flowers of those three seasons simultaneously bloomed and inun­dated the forest with incomparable aromas. The pleasing, indistinct sounds of cuckoos vibrated in all directions. The south wind blew gently carrying the fragrance of honey-laden madhavi blossoms. Swarms of intoxicated young bees moved among the mallika creepers drinking the nectar from the half-opened blossoms. Their loud buzzing resembled the trumpeting conchshell of the spring festival. Lazy herons and love-crazed ducks swam about in the various lakes. Bees played in the blooming clumps of lotus flowers.

The bright full moon rose quickly and moved into position for its ser­vice. Rising in the pink sky, it looked like a round dye tub for Cupid to color the cloth of the hearts of young men and women. It looked like a golden earring reflected on the passion-flushed cheeks of the goddess of fortune. The rising moon appeared like a copper clock in the sky an­nouncing the time for relishing the sweet rasa dance. The moon appeared like the blissful face of the wife of Indra, the Lord of the eastern direc­tion.

As the moon, anxious to see Krsna, continued rising it turned yellow in color like fresh sprouts. Millions of stars twinkled attractively in the clear autumn sky. The moon appeared like a swan dyed yellow from touching the pollen of the golden lotus flowers growing in the lakes of the eastern direction. It appeared like an offering of butter churned from the ocean of yogurt by the embodiment of time.

As the moon continued its upward journey, it turned more and more white in color. It looked like a white pavilion of the king of seasons sup­ported by the ropes of its fine rays. Just as lovers burning in separation often look through half-closed eyes, similarly, at this time due to its bril­liant rays, one could only view the moon through squinting eyes. The full moon looked like a plump white dove sitting in his nest of the sky fixed in the pavilion of the universe.

The moon and its spots looked like a crystal box with reflections of betel nuts on it. But if you say that a crystal box does not move, then we say that the moon appears like a sparkling silver boat crossing the ocean of the sky under the direction of the captain of time. If you say that the spots on the moon make it inauspicious, then we say that it is still beautiful and auspicious. It is just like a silver pot decorated with ornamental leaves, belonging to the bride of the night.

The moon glitters like the diamond earring of the playful Lord Balarama. It is like an egg produced by the swan of fame of the autumn season. The moon is like a cool, soft pillow to relieve Cupid's fever caused by his own pride. It is like a malati mala tied in the hair of the spotless effulgence of the goddess of twilight. This indicates that chaste women worship the Moon. Against the dark blue sky the white moon appears like the Pancajanya conchshell hanging on the darkened body of Visnu. It is the silver umbrella of Cupid. Materialists are satisfied with the successful harvests produced by its nourishing rays.

It looks like a splendid crystal bowl holding ghee for a.yajna. The moon, situated in the milky ocean of the sky, is like an oyster-shell box filled with priceless pearls. It is the looking glass of the goddess of auspiciousness, the candana tilaka on the maiden of the night, or a city of camphor to soothe the eyes. The beautiful full moon appears like a huge white lotus floating in a lake of bliss, a pile of foam on the ocean of sweetness, or the palace of the goddess of beauty.

The full moon looks like a sandy bank of the Akash Ganga (milky way). Just as love-intoxicated cuckoos are always ornamented with sweet coo­ing, the moon is decorated with fifteen attractive phases. Just as a pious king is endowed with treasures collected from His circle of followers, the moon possesses an orb of radiance. Just as Rama always accompanies Laksmana and the sarasa bird always stays with his wife, similarly, the moon always exists with its spots. Just as a devotee removes misery and gives joy to the earth, the moon relieves suffering and gives happiness. Just as a sadhu's good instructions act as medicine to cure a person's faulty intelligence, similarly, the moon gives herbs and plants as medi­cines to cure all diseases.

Just as Kamadeva stimulates desires, the moon increases mutual attrac­tion. As a man of discrimination destroys the darkness of ignorance, the moonlight removes the darkness from the earth. As Sugriva is the master of his wife named Tara, similarly, the moon is the lord of the stars (tara). Though the ocean is always filled with sharks and snakes (sada ahi makara), the moon is always full of cooling rays (sada hema kard). In this way, the moon, replete with all good qualities and auspiciousness, illuminated Vrndavana with its rays of light.

In the splendid sarad season the king of the stars gradually rose to the top of the sky. The moonlight filtering through the leaves and creepers created a wonderful combination of shading and lighting. The moon rays seemed to be coming through a sieve and spreading in a thousand pencil rays across the forest floor. Acting as a skillful light designer, the moon produced a perfect atmosphere for the auspicious rasa dance.

The moon hung from the umbrella of the sky, which was embellished with the pearl-like stars. The effulgent rays of the moon seemed like the filaments of a huge camara belonging to the demigods. The moon re­sembled a white lotus flower strung on a white silk thread through the center of an umbrella of pearls formed by the stars in the sky. Eager to enliven the earth, the moon emanated a unique radiance, which soothed and satisfied the minds of the people, and churned the hearts of all beau­tiful ladies. The intoxicating nectar of the full moon maddened the world with desire.

Encouraged by the splendor of the full moon, Krsna took shelter of His effulgent, all-enchanting flute. Endowed with matchless fame, Krsna's flute pleases the minds of everyone, and forcibly attracts the young gopis 01 Vrndavana. Without making any distinctions that flute enthuses every­one in heaven and earth. Though Krsna's flute has the power to attract al living entities, by the will of the Lord only certain ones such as the deer, cows, birds, and young gopis can hear it.

Seeing the rising moon, Krsna vibrated captivating tunes on His sweet murali. Hearing it, each gopi thought that Krsna called her alone. As they absorbed themselves in the blissful vibration, the gopis became oblivious to all other sounds. Manifesting its own personality, the flute sound tran­scended all obstacles and impediments in order to bring supreme fortune to the gopis. The flute's sweet song uprooted the gopis' hearts, drank up their intelligence, liquidated their self-control, and blurred their vision. Their minds entered a state of insanity and their bodies shook in ecstasy. They thought only of the path leading to Krsna. The flute sounded a death-blow to proper conduct and family reputation. It was the Agama sastra for destroying one's patience and self-control.

It cast an unbreakable spell upon the Vraja. gopis. Suffering intense pains of lust from hearing the seductive calling of Krsna's murali, the gopis de­sired only to meet Krsna. Though soft and sweet, the sound of the flute acted like a mad elephant intent on enjoying his pastimes. Showing great skill, he broke through the fences of their families, destroyed their self-restraint, and turned the innocent young girls into wanton ladies.

The flute sound created extraordinary effects when it touched the ears of that excellent gopi Radhika. It turned Her into an intoxicated person. Becoming dizzy, Radharani lost all shyness and self-control. Her intelli­gence bewildered; She uttered nonsense words. This state of intoxication differed from the type caused by wine, which reddens the eyes. Radhika's eyes did not turn red from the intoxicating sound of the flute, but they filled with tears instead. But will the eyes not become red from wiping away the tears of love?

The sound of Krsna's flute is the joy of all joys, the secret of all secrets, the festival of all festivals, and the impeller of all impellers to force one to meet with Him. Upon hearing their own names blended in the melody of Krsna's flute, the Vraja kumaris, though far away from Krsna, felt very close to their object of love. Although they had no prior arrangement for a rendezvous, and though engaged in their daily chores, all the gopis at once decided to go to Krsna. Immediately upon hearing the dancing notes of the flute, the gopis left the village of Vrndavana. They moved as if under the influence of a malefic star, or like puppets strung on a single thread, or rain falling from a cloudless sky. Their irrepressible prema flashed like lightning within them. The unexpected appearance of their cherished object of love baffled their intelligence.

The gopis resembled golden creepers that had been broken and thrown into a lake of intense attraction. They looked like land lotuses crushed by the intoxicated elephants of their desires. Verily, they existed as the embodiments of loving hankering. Due to their acute longing for Krsna, the gopis lost all fear of criticism. The young girls looked immensely beautiful with their earrings swinging as they moved hastily along the path. They totally concentrated on the object of their desire. Pursuing the sound of the flute, they appeared like golden lights shaking in the wind, or flames spreading light in all directions.

The sadhana siddha gopis (sruti-caris & muni-caris) were one group among the many famous Vraja gopis attending the rasa dance. These gopis happily spent their days obeying their parents and performing their daily duties. But upon hearing Krsna's flute song, they immediately abandoned their engagements of cooking, milking cows, fetching water and so on. That alluring sound made them fly in the sky on the wings of their anxious hearts. Some gopis left rice boiling on the stove and quickly went to Krsna.

Others abruptly left the circle of their relatives and ran out to the forest path. Some lotus-eyed gopis, who were feeding milk to the babies of the married gopis, put them on the ground and raced away. The muni-cari gopis, who had been the sages of Dandakaranya, maintained parakiya bhava for Krsna within the core of their hearts. Although carefully attending their husbands, they left them immediately upon hearing the sweet melody of Krsna's flute. They felt each moment away from Krsna to be like mil­lions of years. Some of the muni-cari gopis were taking their evening meals and joking with their families, but upon hearing Krsna's flute song they instantly stopped eating and rushed off to Krsna.

When beckoned by the murali, the sruti-cari gopis, although having painted sandal pulp designs on only one of their breasts, fled rapidly from their houses. Forcibly attracted by the vibration of Krsna's flute, the older sruti-cari gopis left the massaging of their maid servants aside and has­tened to the forest without even buttoning their blouses.

If the sadhana siddha gopis felt such affliction, one can just imagine the condition of the eternal consorts of Krsna. The nitya-siddha gopis pos­sessed totally auspicious, eternal spiritual bodies. Permeated with joy, all their limbs longed for the sweet festival of Krsna's loving embrace. In their anxiety to meet Krsna they dressed and ornamented themselves in haphazard ways. They fastened their necklaces on their waists, diamond belts on their chests, anklets on their arms, and bracelets on their ankles. They set their hip ornaments in their hair and their hair ornaments on their hips. Losing all sense of reality, the gopis applied kajala to only one eye, aha to one foot, and kunkuma to one breast. In this condition, their bodies looked even more attractive, and clearly indicated their hearts’ burning desire for Krsna. Some gopis draped their upper garments around their legs, and their under garments on their arms. It appeared their limbs behaved as close friends exchanging clothes with each other. They tied their sas around their ankles. As they walked, the tassels on the ends of these saris slid along on the ground. The gopis looked like freed elephants dragging their chains behind them. Some gopis held their untied sashes in their lotus-bud hands as they ran excitedly down the footpath to meet Krsna.

An excited gopi, who had applied wet lac dye to only one foot, stained one side of the path as she raced down the path to Krsna. The young gopis appeared as beautiful as Parvati, the daughter of the Himalayas. With their veils flapping in the pleasant breeze, the gorgeous bodies of the gopis seemed like moving flags of Cupid, advertising their willingness to submit to Krsna. The tinkling of anklets tied on one foot appeared to be talking to a mute, since their constant clatter met no response from the other foot. Their armlets haphazardly placed on only one arm made their arms look more beautiful and auspicious. Even a branch from a celestial tree could not compare with the loveliness of their limbs.

Though the sound of Krsna's flute entered both ears, some of the gopis hung earrings on only one ear. They could not be blamed for this mistake caused by the flute. After infatuating their hearts the flute song goaded them quickly on the path to their beloved. Shot by the arrow of Cupid, their minds reeled in agitation and their throats choked from the rapid expulsion of their life airs. Swelling with expectancy and desire, the gopis hastily left their houses. They looked like prisoners released from a life sentence as they happily hurried into the forest. Darting here and there, the restless glances of the gopis looked like a shower of blue lotus petals initiating the festival of meeting Krsna.

Although desirous, some groups of gopis could not meet Krsna. The husbands of the married rsi-cari gopis prevented them from leaving the village. The sruti-cari gopis, previously the personified Upanisads, were kept home by their fathers, brothers and friends. Posing as well-wishers, these relatives acted as their greatest enemies. Some of these gopis, how­ever, who burned with attraction for Govinda, could not be stopped by anyone. Of course, no one could stop the all-worshipable nitya-siddha gopis who forever display the highest degree of ecstatic love, mahabhava. There are two types of love seen in the rsi-cari gopis. Those gopis who had attained perfection in their love for Krsna after intense practice en­countered no impediments in meeting the Lord. Other gopis who had not quite perfected their love of Krsna could not get out of their houses. Even though they used ladders to escape from their houses, their cruel l^sbands still stopped them. Tolerating the obstructions caused by their "wn imperfection, these unfortunate gopis entered a deep state of medi­ation on Krsna. Such mental absorption brought them inconceivable good tortune. Seeing that they could not go the forest with all their friends, they felt totally useless and burned with unbearable sorrow in separation from Krsna. This repentant mood exhausted their bad karmas and freed them from all material contamination.

By fully surrendering to Krsna they no longer felt the unhappiness caused by depending on their husbands and friends. As the materiality of their bodies diminished to nil, they experienced pralaya (devastation or the final stage of developed emotions). Now that their karmic bonds were cut, they gave up their bodies made of the three qualities of material nature, just as a snake casts off its old skin. To attain the direct associa­tion of Krsna, who is sought throughout the Vedas, they received gor­geous spiritual bodies endowed with all auspicious attributes meant for serving the Lord. Immediately, they joined the nitya-siddha gopis and bliss­fully approached Krsna. Thus they achieved Krsna's association without giving up their bodies or taking another birth.

It is not surprising that those with strong desires for material enjoyment cannot attain liberation. Spiritual desires, however, are of a different na­ture. Though spiritual desires are indestructible, they have the power to completely destroy one's material qualities. By desiring to serve the Lord the gopis received non-material bodies. Without following any other pro­cess, these gopis proved that attraction to Krsna is the greatest power in the universe.

Seeing the approaching gopis, Krsna, the younger brother of Balarama who embodies all arts, decided to bewilder them by acting deceptively. Dressed in shimmering yellow cloth, Krsna stood in an attractive three­fold bending form on the bank of the Yamuna. Krsna spoke to discourage the gopis with His words while simultaneously encouraging them with the hidden meaning of His language.

Noticing the joy and anticipation on their faces, Krsna said, "Please come! Welcome! All good fortune to you! What can I do for you? Why have you come here? Why don't you speak?"

Seeing their worried countenances, He continued, "0 lotus-eyed girls! You seem to be wandering about as if still trapped in your houses. If you say that you have come here out of curiosity, I cannot believe you because of your disarrayed clothing. It is not proper for women to look so odd in public. Your beautiful ornaments are all in the wrong places on your bod­ies. It seems you have decorated yourselves in a thoughtless way.

"0 lotus-eyed girls, I am worried that your health is in great danger. By running here so hastily, you appear on the brink of exhaustion. The drops of perspiration hanging from your earrings seem like pearls. The artful designs on your foreheads have become smeared. Due to heavy breathing your soft lips appear dried out and your bodices are heaving."

Reading their minds, Krsna spoke more frankly, "Has something disas­trous happened? If it had, your wanton actions would have made your husbands unhappy. How am I to tell whether your actions are beneficial or harmful? Did you half-ornament your bodies for fun? Or is everything disarrayed due to your haste and longing to see Me?

"Actually it is not possible for someone trapped in a cave to suddenly come out independently. I doubt your husbands gave you permission to go to the forest. Maybe you gopis have come because of your desire to enjoy independently. But how could that be, because this is not the proper time for pleasure. Just see the inauspicious twilight is quickly approach­ing! The forest is full of dangerous beasts. I feel no fear, but this is no place for women to look for fun. It is certainly astonishing that you have fearlessly come here. Please listen to Me. It will be better for you to im­mediately leave this place."

[There are inner meanings to the words Krsna speaks here to the gopis. These hidden meanings reveal Krsna's heartfelt intentions to enjoy with His eternal consorts. For example, in the previous section Krsna means to say, "There is no cause to fear this forest. In Vrndavana there are no ferocious and dangerous animals. Whether I am alone or with others, this forest gives great pleasure. Since You have come to Me, You should have no fear of this forest. Therefore, I recommend that you stay here with Me."]

Krsna: "0 restless-eyed gopis\ Perhaps you have come here with a de­sire to see the forest flowers and smell their fragrance."

[Krsna really means, "Smelling the natural fragrance of your bodies has excited My attraction. Now I do not know what will happen by looking at you. Although you have seen the forest, you have not seen the creepers in detail. Now listen to Me and understand all these things."]

Krsna: "Look! It seems that the intoxicated bees, humming within the flowering creepers, are criticizing you, like close friends. Therefore, you should not stay here but go back to your homes. With their smiling flow­ers the trees are also hinting that you should go home."

[Here Krsna means to say, "The bees are criticizing you for returning to your houses. Though you desire to leave this place, the trees are prevent­ing you with their flower smiles."]

Krsna: "Look! The rays of light passing through the leaves of the trees and mixing with the shade at their bases looks so picturesque. The birds, mistaking them for sesame seeds, are pecking at those spots of light. Oh! Look there! Vrndavana is fragrant with sandalwood trees and filled with the drawn out sounds of cuckoos. The gentle wind carries the sweet scent of blue lotuses picked up from embracing the waves of the Yamuna. Though we deep forest is very attractive on account of its variety of trees and ^ngbirds, it is not proper for women to come here alone in the dead of "^ht to see them. You should accept my words, go serve your husbands, snd respect your in-laws. Therefore go back to Vraja!"

[Krsna intends to say, "It is good that you have come here to see the forest. Now just stay here with Me and do not go back to Vraja."]

After speaking to the married ladies, Krsna addressed the unmarried gopis, "0 young girls with beautiful smiles, please hear Me! The helpless babies, and the young boys and girls are crying at home. Go feed them milk the cows, and let the calves drink their fill. Do not let your broad intelligence fall into illusion."

[The inner meaning here is, "Do not go feed the children or milk the cows, and do not have doubts about My fulfilling all your cherished de­sires."]

Then Krsna spoke to all the gopis, "Your mothers, fathers, brothers and husbands are looking for you everywhere. Therefore You must return home. Do not pretend to be ignorant by saying, 'We do not know any­thing.' "

[Krsna is really saying, "You should not fall into illusion and forget your desired goal. Please stay here and realize all your desires."]

Krsna continued, "Please go! Do not stand here any longer! 0 lotus-eyed gopis. I do not know why you are not moving from this forest. Why did you come here in the first place? If you intended to see Me, then it has already been fulfilled. You can see Me at any time. It is not right that chaste women like yourselves see Me like this."

[Here Krsna intends to say, "Do not leave My forest grove but stay here a long time. 0 lotus-eyed gopis. If you ask the reason for your coming here, then I will tell you. You think I do not know your motives? I know everything. Just by seeing you I am not satisfied, so we must engage in more confidential affairs. If a person comes to you out of attraction, it is wrong to ask him to leave."]

Krsna: "Direct association with Me does not give as much pleasure as meditating upon Me, hearing about Me, and seeing My Deity form; There­fore You should go home. 0 lotus-eyed gopis! It is not proper for persons such as you to steal love from someone like Me."

[The inner meaning here is, "Direct association with Me is far superior to meditating upon Me, hearing about Me, or seeing My Deity form-Therefore do not go! 0 lotus-eyed girls, just stay with Me and plunder My love."]

Krsna: "0 all-attractive gopis, you should not renounce your service to your husbands. You are all following the path of morality. Women who love their husbands should not act like persons addicted to sin."

[The inner meaning is, "The service you are giving to your husbands should be rendered to Me. Now that I have seen you, I have lost interest in anything else. Since you desire Me only and not your husbands, you should not reject Me."]

Krsna: "A intelligent woman should never reject her husband even if he is full of faults, misbehaved, deaf, dumb, diseased, penniless, or like a vine dropping all its flowers and about to die. What to speak of a husband who is faultless. Certainly, he can never be given up. This is law of the Vedas and the common tradition. Your pure character is imbued with these two norms of conduct, yet you stand here fearlessly. Attraction to a man other than one's husband is always dangerous. It is contrary to both norms, Besides bringing defamation, it is condemned, especially for persons like you."

[inner meaning, "Since you are adhering to both standards on this ex­traordinary night, you are safe and should stay here with Me. The attrac­tion you have for Me will give peace of mind and deliver you from all fear. You will not be criticized at all because you are not acting against any principles."]

Krsna: "A proper wife has only one husband, and should not even look at another man. Chaste women do not do what you are now doing. Re­specting My words, you should accept this beneficial instruction and im­mediately leave this forest."

[inner meaning, "Ordinary women cannot even see Me, the best of hus­bands, what to speak of touching Me! Nothing in the universe can com­pare with your good fortune. Now follow My instructions and do not go home!"]

In this way, Krsna, the full moon of all sixty-four arts, stood beautifully bedecked with a garland as He tested the gopis' love with His clever riddles. His outer remarks directly opposed His inner motives. Krsna's speaking resembled the autumn season where one gets relief from the hot sun by entering the cool water of a deep lake. Krsna's behavior resembled a jack-fruit, which is externally rough and prickly, but sweet inside, or like a juicy coconut with a hard shell.

Knowing His nature, one should not give up thinking that He is too difficult to attain. The intelligent and determined person can easily pen­etrate His hard shell and taste the delicious interior. Krsna resembles a banana flower that is soft and sweet within but hard on the outside. Fear-"^ the hard skin, one should not abandon the honey nectar within.

One should bear whatever hardships come from external causes. Just we a saskuli pistaka. sweetmeat, Krsna concealed His soft interior with a rough exterior. Whether for testing or joking, such instructions are al­ways perfect when coming from the master of comedy. Through the special usage of words, Krsna conveyed His inner attraction and attachment to the gopis with external expressions such as, "Welcome, welcome," "It is wrong to be attracted to other men," and "You should go."

Krsna spoke in a tricky way with the gopis in order to solve a difficult problem. He wanted to create unity among the opposing parties of Radha and Candravali so that everyone could fully taste the rasa. Superficially He seemed indifferent, but within He relished the essence of sweetness. Blinded by their attachment, the gopis only took the outer meaning. They could not perceive the hidden reality of His words.

As their prospects for pleasure dried up, the gopis' suffering reached intolerable proportions. On hearing Krsna's disheartening words, the gopis felt as if they were stabbed by a million swords, stung by scorpions, bitten by black snakes, burnt by raging fires, cut by lethal razors, afflicted by high fevers, pierced by spears, or poisoned in every limb of their bodies. The whole planet seemed empty, the three worlds hopeless, the universe devoid of bliss, the directions burned with pain, and the earth was a taste­less pile of ashes. They felt like they were dying a slow death.

In those difficult moments, they lost consciousness and appeared like dolls made only of hard bones. Within a few minutes they recovered from fainting with the help of the goddess of consciousness. But due to the emotions swirling in their hearts, they were hurled into an even more extreme state of suffering. Tears streamed from their eyes, their faces faded, their lips trembled, and drops of perspiration formed on their cheeks. They breathed erratically, their limbs hung limply, and their beau­tiful armlets slipped off their arms.

The gopis felt ashamed of their love since they did not give up their lives after hearing their lover's indifferent words. Having accepted Krsna as their one and only shelter, they now wanted to enter the lowest planet out of shame. They drew lines on the ground with the toes of their lotus feet that shined like brilliant five-pronged engraving instruments.

The life airs of the gopis, which were already fragile by nature, were now broken to pieces by the axe of Krsna's harsh words. Although immensely disturbed, their life airs could not escape because vapor blocked their throats. As this vapor condensed, it poured from their eyes as tears. Dead silent, the gopis looked like figures painted on the canvas of the sky.

The halahala poison of suffering, incapable of being contained within the gopis' throats, dripped out of the doors of their eyes as tears mixed with their kajala. Astonishingly, those tears disappeared when they fell upon their tortured breasts. Did those tears enter their hearts that were previously poisoned by the loss of their life airs? The hot breath rushing out of their noses wilted their flower garlands and the delicate flower petals of their lips.

Tears, stained black with kajala and looking like juice squeezed irona the essence of beauty, fell incessantly from the lotus faces of the gri61 stricken gopis. Somehow this did not discolor their nose pearls. Although their nose pearls resembled drops of liquid beauty, they did not fall bk6 their tears. Like seeds they waited to produce the fruits of prema rasa.

Eager to reveal their individual emotional moods of pride or submis­sion, and to transform the anxiety of love, the gopis replied to Krsna. Like the sweet humming of bees mad to taste the honey of His face, the gopis tried repeatedly to convey their exact desires. Filling the darkness with the sparkle of their blackened tears, some submissive gopi group leaders such as Bhadra spoke quietly conveying their sadness.

Padma and other submissive leaders, who have rows of radiantly white bud-like teeth, darkened the night with their half-closed eyes that seemed like blind bees supported by the fragrance of their faces. They spoke im­pudently to Krsna. Some bold sakhis like Visakha spoke sweet words with ornamental intonation. Her words, saturated with intense attraction, es­caped the comprehension of Sarasvati.

Creating a forest of blue lotus flowers in the sky with their furtive glances, and clusters of golden lotuses with their forms, some bold leaders like Radhika spoke with ferocious anger. Overcome with pride and posses-siveness, Radhika, Lalita, and Syama, their eyes reddened and their faces sprinkled with hot drops of perspiration, spoke to Madhava in an angry mood.

The beautiful Candravali and other submissive sakhis hesitatingly di­vulged their strong desires in soft voices full of entreaty. Their breasts moistened with blackened tears, some of the Vraja kumaris like Dhanya-sakhi, spoke in choked voices due to their infatuation and uncontrollable attraction for Krsna.

Gopi Gita

As much as possible we will try to present what each of the distraught gopis spoke to reveal their natural sentiments. Of course, even Brhaspati, the guru of the devatas, would not attempt such a task, which requires realization of smgara-rasa, the highest form of transcendental love. 0 rasika Vaisnavas\ Please do not make fun of my boldness. This is an at­tempt to curb the pride of the so-called scholars of rasa. I commit no offense in doing so, for though a person may be very unqualified, insig­nificant, and prematurely eager, he can still aspire to taste that rarest sweet substance of love.

The most beautiful of all the gopis spoke first. "Alas, 0 Krsnacandra! You should not deliberately hurl us into lamentation with your harsh words, ^ich burn our hearts like a painful ulcer. To please the earth, the cloud showers rain not poison. Your words are illogical and senseless. When it Ssts a chance to drink water from a cloud, even a lowly cataki bird gives u? his friends and relatives just as one vacates a dark hole."

Though angry, some other gopis spoke pleasing words in a humorous tone. "You have taught us that the proper duty of a woman is to serve he husband, sons and friends. As a siksa-guru, may You keep that instruction to Yourself. For Your teaching does not apply to women like us."

[As Krsna previously spoke with hidden meanings, the gopis also have inner meanings to their statements given here. The inner meaning to the previous sentence is "First, You lure us innocent girls into a lonely forest at night. And then You act like a guru, giving instructions about duty."]

Then Krsna replies, "Are you telling a hidden joke?" The gopi responds, "This is not a joke!"

One gopi said, "0 Madhusudana! The aspersions You cast on us are simply comical. Who is the lord of one who rejects her husband? You could say that the son of another wife would take that role. But we will never accept that, 0 lord of all creation. 0 ocean of perfect qualities whose feet are worshipped by Laksmi, You are the real master of all women. No one but You can kill the enemy of our mental anguish."

Another gopi said, "0 dear one! Any intelligent person is attracted you, the soul of the three worlds. What intelligent woman will worship her husband, sons, or friends, who are merely temporal beings producing vari­ous miseries? Worshiping You is the best path both for a simple or cul­tured person.

"0 remover of misery! You manifest unlimited variety in Your person­ality. You alone attract our minds and should be our master. In compari­son with You, the sweetest nectar means nothing to us. Be pleased with us, for those who have surrendered unto You should not lose spirit and sink into lamentation. We have come to You in the prime of our youth. Do not cut down the tender creepers of our desires which are as fresh as lotus petals covered with dew."

Someone else said, "0 Hari! After stealing our hearts You have brought us here. How can we return to Vraja? 0 Lord, our feet refuse to move one step from Your lotus feet. 0 gallant thief! It is not proper for You to create a drought, for it will dry up the crops of dignity in the minds of the married women."

One other gopi said, "Wash off the dirt of this duplicitous joking. Sprinkle nectar on our lips, which are burning like fire and as red as ripe bimba fruits. Quickly extinguish the fire caused by Your cruel, exasperating words. By giving up our bodies in the fire of disappointment, which were kindled by the wood of Your indifference toward us because of our improper de­sires, we will receive new bodies to attain Your association. Then You will repent for murdering innocent women. In any case, whether we are ac­cepted or rejected by You, we will experience suffering because of the fear of separation from You."

Some other gopi said, "0 one crowned with a peacock feather! Since we have already felt unlimited bliss from touching Your lotus feet once be­fore we have no attraction for any other man. You are eternally situated with a perfect form and shelter of matchless beauty. We attained so much pleasure upon meeting You that we cannot think of touching another person. Therefore please accept us! After crossing the material realm in order to enjoy with You, we do not deserve to suffer in agony. Being dear to the residents of Vrndavana, You should protect Your loving servants."

In the mood of reverential servants, the sruti-cari gopis said, "In this Vrndavana, married women are attracted to Your lotus feet, just as Laksmi-devi in Vaikuntha, though situated on Your chest, must compete with Tulasi-devi to worship You. 0 deliverer of distressed and surrendered souls, do not abandon us!"

Having similar desires, the muni-can gopis said, "0 ocean of mercy! We left our houses and came to You. Be pleased with us, whose minds are agitated due to the intoxicating bliss of tasting the petals of Your lotus feet. 0 crest-jewel of all men! You have purchased us with Your reddish lips, sparkling smile, pleasing youthful appearance, and Your nectarean words, which have the power to destroy any amount of pain. Now engage us in Your service. Our minds have become strong from receiving the merciful sidelong glances of Your reddened eyes."

Other gopis with desires similar to the sruti-cari gopis said, "We have become very greedy to please You after seeing Your sweet lips, nectarean smile, and the swinging jeweled earrings reflected on Your cheeks. Our hankering to serve You has been further enhanced by seeing Your pink lotus hands and splendid arms which extend to Your knees, and which can deliver anyone from fear. Please restore our lives with the honey of Your sweet smile. Immediately embrace us in Your mind, as we are filled with love in the mood of Your servants."

Then the nitya-siddha gopis said, "0 opulent one, who bestows all auspi-ciousness! 0 jewel among men! You are the abode of all good qualities. Since You are all-attractive, what fault is there then if we are attracted to You? Upon hearing the sound of the flute, what woman in the three worlds would not become attracted? 0 glorious and beautiful one! Who would not be lured from their position of chastity? Who would not sacrifice their character, and give up the reputation of their family?

"Since You are the cause of all wonder in the eyes of the three worlds, the reservoir of all auspiciousness, the shelter of absolute beauty, the sweet-^t of the sweet, and the pleasurable object of all the endeavors of young women, even the female deer, birds and animals become struck with love snd show goose bumps on their bodies upon seeing You."

Again the sruti gopis spoke, "0 great one! It is well known that you destroy the suffering of the inhabitants of Vrndavana. You are the origin of Narayana and the protector of the devatas. You cannot reject us, there­fore, after we have come to You in the middle of this forest.

"0 friend of the distressed! Do not be so stubborn! 0 ocean of mercy! Please place Your cooling lotus hands on our burning breasts and heads and remove the pain in our hearts. Delight our minds. May You be suc­cessful in removing all of the pain from our hearts caused by Your indif­ference. What more can be said?"

Then Radhika's inner circle of friends spoke to Krsna, "After putting the bait of conjugal affairs on the hook of Your flute song, You pulled us here with the rope of Your good qualities. Then after piercing us with the rod of harsh words. You roasted us in the fire of indifference. Please tell us why You did this."

Krsna replied, "My dear gopisi I play on My flute because of the bound­less nature of My bliss. It is not My fault if married women become agi­tated by the sound. Why are you finding faults in My flute which comes from a pure family? It is not crooked but naturally straight and free from knots throughout its length."

The gopis said, "You are at fault! Because when playing the flute, You call out each of our names."

Krsna defends Himself by saying, "No, I do not blow into the flute at all. The wind blows through the flute by itself and makes a sound. On its own, the'flute clearly calls out your names because it knows all of you."

The gopis reply, "Even so, it is Your fault. As You are a respectable personality, You should not associate with this unworthy flute. The flute has many holes (faults), its limbs are hard, and it is hollow inside. Obvi­ously Your flute is not born in a good family, and with its extremely talk­ative nature it ruins the reputation of others. Therefore, Your flute is not qualified to talk with cultured persons such as ourselves."

Krsna said, "0 gopisi I see your great boldness in belittling the constant companion of My lotus hands. This flute is the very form of bliss and knowledge. It is the essence of all sound, the goddess of music, and the cream of the Vedas and Upanisads. Out of great love for Me, it has taken on a curious body with nine holes."

Although the word play of Radhika's associates had reached its limits, Krsna, brimming with the greatest eagerness, persisted in delivering clever retorts. When the gopis, the perfect embodiments ofrasa, detected a slight smile on Krsna's face they understood that the indifference of the crest jewel of wit had come to an end. Full of desire to enjoy, that conqueror of a thousand Cupids used the limit of intelligence to present crazy, illogical arguments.

Feeling self-satisfied, Krsna smiled and immediately caressed the best of the gopis. Following the elephant of desire. He entered the midst of the gopis and sported here and there in the ocean of their attraction. At that time the birds loudly sang, "Victory! Victory!" The creepers smiled and the leaves of the trees stood on end. Eager to talk among their friends, the female deer gathered in groups to marvel at the scene. The joyous flowers moistened the earth with their tears of dripping nectar.

In the battle of love, the gopis, being completely endowed with prema, served as wish-fulfilling gems satisfying Krsna's every desire for rasa. Be­ing free from anger and full of all wonderful qualities, the selfless gopis united in friendship. Seeing Nandanandana anxious to play with the gopis, Vrnda-devi and her vanadevis, the birds, beasts, and trees submerged in an ocean of nectarean rasa. It seemed they now emerged from that ocean with new bodies after having perished in the fire of separation from Krsna.

Appearing like a powerful new cloud surrounded by a garland of light­ning, Krsna and the sweet-faced gopis flooded all directions with waves of bliss as they played together. Bedecked with a beautiful garland extend­ing to His feet and fanned by the wind from buzzing bees, Damodara walked amongst the trees and creepers while the gopis enthusiastically praised His character with sweet voices full of love. To increase their plea­sure, Yogamaya acted invisibly and inconceivably to miraculously create the perfect setting.

In great happiness, Yogamaya provided the gopis with dresses and orna­ments just suitable for their evening pastimes in the forest. Until now the gopis' clothes and ornaments appeared in disarray due to hastily dressing and rushing from their homes upon hearing Krsna's beckoning flute. Be­ing jewels in the battle of love, they qualified to be reborn in all splendor. Ornamented in this way, Krsna blissfully milked the gopis' pride.

Using His fingernail, Krsna wrote love messages on a leaf and gave it to His beloved sakhis. Then He showed His expertise in personally decorat­ing them. He picked the best flowers and creepers to make their bodices, armlets, and other ornaments. Quickly He fashioned malati flower neck­laces, kadamba forehead ornaments, sthala padma (land lotus) earrings, kunda flower chokers, and waist-belts made from bakula, kesara, and naga-kesara flowers. He tossed pollen over their hair, and colored their cheeks with pollen from lodhra flowers. Then the gopis decorated their cherished one. They hung kesara flowers on Krsna's ears, ketaki flowers in His hair, 'and mallika necklaces on His chest. Some gopis put asoka flowers on His turban. Other gopis offered Him yuthi flower bangles and bracelets, and bound His belly with a belt of bakula flowers.

Krsna's remarkable rasa-lila, which had now commenced, included four different kinds of activities—forest pastimes, lovemaking, dancing, and water sporting, which distinguished it from all other lilas.

In a lonely place in the forest, Krsna relished intimate pastimes with the beautiful gopis of Vrndavana. As the maudlin sound of maddened bees and cuckoos echoed through the trees, the gopis lost themselves in Cupid's enchantment. Those beautiful ladies, whose brilliant golden complexions conquered the pride of the moonlight, merrily sprinkled Krsna's body with fine golden pollen from white lotus flowers. The jingling of the gopis' bangles initiated a fresh battle of love.

Krsna retaliated by making some flower bombs and firing them at the gopis. Although the gopis bombarded Him from all directions with flower pollen, Krsna easily defeated them. Parrots and other birds shrieked, "Jaya! Jaya! Jaya!" to announce Krsna's victory. Filled with a hero's pride, Krsna then pounded Radhika and Her sakhis with a volley of flower bombs. But Srimati's angry sidelong glances crushed Him into submission. Then Radhika's pet sarika birds warbled incessantly, "We have won! We have won!"

In this way, Krsna engaged in newer and newer pleasure pastimes at every moment. Radha plucked some fragrant, honey-filled punnaga flow­ers. When startled bees darted from the flowers, She quickly pulled back Her lotus hands and trembled in fright. Noticing this, Krsna shouted, "Hey there! No wonder You are shaking since You have defeated the punnaga (best of men, or white lotuses)!" As Krsna laughingly said this, Radhika shyly lowered Her head and smiled.

Then the clever gopis, piercing Krsna's heart with the arrows of their loving glances, took the flowers they had collected for making ornaments, and pelted the Lord while shouting at Him with sweet voices. Meanwhile, Radhika stood on Her tiptoes, and stretched up Her vine-like arms to pick a special flower from a tree. Suddenly Her lower garment slipped off. As She looked nervously, Krsna seized the opportunity to sneak up behind Radhika and lift Her up. At this, Radha blushed in embarrass­ment.

The intense unlimited happiness the gopis felt spread to the flowers. As a result, the bees went mad from the naturally sweet scent of the flowers and would not leave them. Similarly, the gopis became addicted to the sweet pastimes they relished with the lord of their life.

Feigning a calamity, one gopi said, "Oh some pollen has fallen in my eye!" Her bangles chimed as she pretended to rub her eye with her lotus hands. With a look of concern, Krsna quickly approached her and said, "Oh no! Do not be disturbed. Let Me see!" On the pretext of blowing away the pollen, Krsna moved close to her face and planted a tender loving kiss on her eye.

In this festival of flowers, Krsna churned the waves of love in the hearts of those gopis already overcome with love. Pleased by their bold glances, Krsna desired to enjoy with them. The perfect time had come for delighting in endless pastimes of love. When Radha tried to pick flowers beyond Her reach, the trees behaved like close friends, and bent down their branches so She could easily pluck them.

Fatigued from the flower fighting, Damodara and His band of loving gopis walked to the Yamuna to sport in her refreshing waters. Under the rays of the full moon, the banks of the Yamuna looked as white as fra­grant camphor dust. The sandy banes were purified by the hand of Kalindi's waves and caressed by a lotus-scerted breeze. Admiring the pleasant set­ting, Krsna and His divine consorts wandered along the splendid banks of the Yamuna.

The brilliance of the riverbank, matching the effulgence of the lovely moonlit night, provided an ideal romantic atmosphere for a festival of love. The playful lotus-eyed Krsna, who is the embodiment of sweetness, totally fearless, ever blissful, and overwhelmed in love, mingled with the different gopi group leaders, whc murmured like affectionate parrots. Krsna dallied here and there in the decorative kunjas that sheltered vari­ous birds. Inside the flower cottages, Krsna freely enjoyed with His be­loved gopis, the crest jewels among all women. Far greater than either Rukmini or Laksmi, the Vraja gops alone are qualified to serve that aus­picious person with their auspicious bodies. Though the gopis' love radi­ated the essence of purity, Krsna tainted their love with overwhelming passion, in order to feel the pressure of their hard breasts and experience their biting and scratching.

There are varieties of vaidagdhi (cleverness in love) depending on the nature and age of the individual g)pis. This artful skill in love produced extraordinary joy in both Damodara and the gopis. For example, although internally the gopis had strong desires for Krsna, when they spoke they denied them. The unpredictable behavior of the gopis manifested natu­rally from a mixture of their willingness to serve Krsna and their obsti­nacy (yamya-bhava or stubborn reluctance).

Such actions as obstructing Krsna's advances with their hands to show their shyness, casting angry glances without redness in the eyes, and cry­ing without tears, which arose from their vamya-bhava, gave Krsna im­mense satisfaction. The gopis' incessant criticisms of Krsna hid their sweet smiles, and their knitted eyebrows communicated their false anger. In reality, these expressions revealed the intense attachment to Krsna they held in their hearts. The gopis'wu\d turn away when He tried to kiss them. And they would cover their ips with their hands when He tried to drink the nectar therein. They pushed Him away when He tried to em­brace them. All such displays of unwillingness actually indicated consent to their beloved.

Desiring to lock them in His heart, Krsna surrounded the gopis with His long, graceful arms and forcefully embraced them one by one. Holding their braids in His left hand and raising their chins with His right hand Krsna lovingly gazed at their gentle bashful faces. Relaxed as a lone bee engrossed in a cluster of lotus flowers, Krsna happily tasted the nectar of the gopis' lips. After being embraced and kissed by the supreme enjoyer the gopis, being controlled by the joyous fragrance of intoxicated love and filled with constant delight, acted like submissive lovers.

Now Krsna scratched their lotus-bud breasts with His fingernails, as if relieving the itch of attachment that had risen in their hearts. The breasts of the gopis looked more attractive when decorated with these nail marks shining with a copper hue. Their blossoming breasts seemed like sprouts arising from the long dormant seeds of attachment sown in their hearts. Krsna, whose touch bestows pleasure and removes all suffering, excited their beautiful limbs with the touch of His delicate petal-like fingers, which acted like a medicinal herb to cure all their afflictions.

When His lotus hand touched their breasts, it moved around in continu­ous circles. When His hand touched their thick braided hair, it caressed it from end to end. Coming to their waists, His hand seemed to tire from, the broad expanse, and took refuge in the lake of their navels, trying to open them to reveal something within. Due to the intensity of love, the gopis yielded to the fickleness of their minds, gave up all shyness, and submerged in ecstasy. Washed in waves of beauty, they captivated the mind of their beloved. With their sweet, tireless, vine-like arms the gopis held Krsna in a tight embrace of love strengthened by contacting His quali­ties.

Such playful combat is considered an aspect oiprema. It is not contrary to conjugal rasa, but rather essential to it, being one of the pure ingredi­ents of the total mixture. Immersed in this prema rasa, the gopis repeat­edly kissed Krsna with their sweetly smiling lotus faces. When Krsna lips were surrounded by the soft lips of the gopis and washed by the brilliant radiance of their teeth, His face appeared like a rising moon surrounded by thirsty cakora birds. Overwhelmed with the highest bliss, the Krsna bee went mad with the desire to play in the garden of creepers (the young gopis). He wanted to be tightly enveloped in the branches of their arms, pressed strongly by the flower buds of their breasts, and to be bruised by the thorns of their fingernails.

The rasa-lila cannot take place unless the minds of all the gopis are in harmony. To accomplish this and to make the a\l gopis of one mind through the fire of separation, Krsna once disappeared from the assembly of His conjugal lovers. In the battle of love the gopis had attained the highest good fortune of tasting madhurya-rasa in the association of Krsna. Thus the Vraja gopis showed indifference to the opulence of any women within in the three worlds.

They sailed in the turbulent currents of prema within the river of love-madness, which is the natural habitat of the God of love. When He broke the boat of the gopis' confidence, they had to bail out the water of pride from their hearts. He purposely bewildered them by His own will, as if placing them on a wheel and spinning them around. Just as badly digested food produces laziness, the gopis' attainment of good fortune weakened and withered away due the intoxication of pride. In treating the disease of consumption due to pride, a person must be treated with a nourishing herbal medicine to drive away the symptoms of disease.

There is nothing to compare with the purity of a piece of white cloth. Dyeing it with the juice of the lodhra plant will change its color. The pu­rity of the gopis' love had been colored by the pride of love, which is unfavorable for the growth of bliss. Krsna instantly created a situation of pain in separation, which acted as a solvent to remove the false color.

After spreading darkness amidst the moon light of the gopis' bliss, and producing deadly kalakuta poison in the newly created milk ocean of the gopis' love, Krsna, the embodiment of all arts, suddenly disappeared. The thought of this happening seemed as unlikely as throwing fire on delicate filaments of saffron, or lightning striking without clouds, or the pain of a snakebite without a snake.

Thus, the gopis experienced this torment in their hearts, which con­stantly flowed with a variety of praiseworthy and pleasurable pastimes.

Chapter Eighteen Krsna Disappears from the Gopis

Having bound Krsna in the core of their hearts, the gopis could not imagine that He had disappeared. Could it be a joke or some unbeliev­able event among friends? Deprived of the joy of their eyes, the gopis argued with each other.

"0 friend! Look, some gopi has taken the treasure of our hearts, who is the abode of all good qualities, to her private kunja to make her own hasty entreaties. Like a clever thief throwing dust in our eyes, she has stolen our jewel to behold Him with her own eyes. Let us find out where she is enjoying with Him alone."

Giving up all their fatigue, the gopis searched with great concentration from one bower to another. The gopis firmly believed that their dear most lover must be overly pleased with this gopi, since He had abandoned them to delight with her in a secluded grove. Influenced by pride, one gopi said, "I will find Him and bring Him here to enjoy with us in the same way!"

Another gopi said, "0, remover of distress for Your faithful devotees! The earth feels joy from the touch of Your lotus feet. You easy bewilder the wisest of men. Just for a little joking, You have hidden yourself in a bower. Why have you thrown us into such dreadful state?"

While searching for Krsna, the gopis meditated within themselves, "Though Krsna shows Himself, He is actually invisible. Though He may be touched, He is untouchable. Though we are aware that He is speaking, the material ear cannot hear Him. Though He exists externally, He can­not be realized externally. Though He is the lotus of the ear, He is situ­ated far from any ear. Though He is the ointment for the eye, He is far from any eye. Though He is like a sapphire on the breast, He is far from the breast."

After looking for some time and not finding Krsna, the gopis felt doubt­ful and indifferent about continuing the search. Losing hope, the gopis stopped checking the bowers. Finding the whole world void without Krsna, their lotus faces dried up in sadness. The forlorn gopis manifested a state of madness (unmada), which precedes the state of bewilderment (moha). While seeing Krsna in every direction, they simultaneously saw Him stand­ing in their hearts. They touched Krsna with their lotus hands, but He did not touch them in return. They embraced Krsna to their chests, but He did not return the embrace. They kissed Krsna, but He did not kiss them back.

Defeated, the gopis entered a pitiable state of bewilderment (moha)—They appeared like painted dolls standing picturesquely against the sky. Their lives totally uprooted, they felt they had embraced hot coals, or that their bodies had been smeared with a deadly poison which now burned into their breasts. Their distress exceeded the pain of lemon juice poured into an open wound, a knife piercing a sensitive nerve, or a sword jabbed in the stomach. Their minds felt like dry wood sizzling in a fire, and their bodies burned with intense heat as if a venomous snake had bitten their chests. The gopis became deaf, blind in both eyes, and totally numb to the sense of touch. They acted as if they were mentally deranged.

The sorrow of their love (mahabhava) devoured the ten directions. They had no shelter or support within the entire universe. It seemed darkness had enveloped all the planets. The earth cracked in half. Trees cried, creep­ers dried up, and all the deer burned in a forest fire.

Somehow regaining the power to speak, they conversed with one an­other. They appeared like statues talking by the mystic power of a ghost within. They resembled persons getting back the power of speech after hearing mantras to break a coma due to snakebite. The gopis said, "What happened? Has some clever woman taken Him as a sapphire and tied Him in her hair? Or did a powerful sadistic witch hold Him tightly and fly away with Him? How could someone suddenly snatch that living jewel from us while we drank the nectar of His elegant face with our doe-eyes?"

After posing different doubts and exhausting their intelligence, the gopis spoke again. "Coming to this forest, we saw the jewel among men. We mistook His harsh talks as words of compassion to facilitate the pastimes of conjugal love. Is it all a grand illusion or just a dream?"

After conjecturing like this for some time, they cleared their throats and continued, "Are we not the same gopis'? If that is so, then by what fault of ours has this man rejected us and gone away? Is this not some­thing illusory? Since He has taken our minds and everything else with Him, what is the question of His being away from us? But then, who is that rascal who has created another mind and senses to give us so much pain? We cannot understand it."

After considering various ideas they realized that Krsna had actually disappeared. To keep themselves from giving up their lives, they entered a state of divine madness for Krsna, which created a distance between their minds and the pain of separation. Temporary waves of solace from the ocean of madness entered the hearts of the gopis to alleviate their Pain of separation. This provoked them to perform actions to attain Krsna face to face.

Assuming an attractively unique condition, they imitated their previous Pastimes with Krsna. They remembered His enchanting talks. His bold actions impelled by conjugal love, and His wanton sidelong glances that seated the beauty of lotus petals. This incomprehensible state restored life to the gopis who now laughed loudly like fickle bees dripping white moonbeams of attraction to Krsna.

Searching the Forest

Rejuvenated but agitated with love, the gopis moved hastily like lotuses swaying in a breeze as they looked through the groves for the Lord of their hearts. Feeling the pangs of separation from Krsna, they sang loudly of Him as they searched for Him throughout the Vrndavana forest like a band of mad women. Invisibly, Yogamaya followed them like a shadow to prevent them from falling unconscious, or being injured by the thorns and pebbles on the forest footpaths.

Lost in the madness of Krsna prema, the gopis inquired about Him from Vraja's trees. They said, "0 asvattha tree, 0 kapitha, 0 fdmsuka, 0 ban­yan, Opakara, your fortune is unlimited. Please tell us, has the son of the king of the cowherds passed this way? Why are you remaining silent? Are you not cheating us? You must have seen Him, otherwise how could you be in such a stunned state, which results only from ecstatic bliss? Because of their internal absorption in Krsna, the humble trees do not hear our request, which exists in the external word. So let us go elsewhere and ask."

Going further, they said, "0 nagakesara tree, rasala, sola, devadarum, punnaga and campaka\ You are all pious souls! Have you seen Syama? Did He come this way after stealing our hearts? Are you answering 'No, no, no?' Do not speak lies while shaking your leaves. How can it be other­wise, for the hairs on your branches are all standing on end."

After getting no replies to their inquiries, the gopis said, "They are act­ing as a group, and out of cruelty they are not responding. Very well, we will go elsewhere and ask again." They asked a tamala tree, "0 tamala tree! Having the same color as you, Krsna is your friend. Out of affection it appears that your respected friend has embraced you. Although you are unaware of it, the bees are licking up His bodily fragrance, which is oozing from your bark. You have lost consciousness because of His em­brace; therefore, you do not understand our request. What is the use? Let us go somewhere else."

The gopis felt that the trees had deliberately kept silent because they are male, but that tulasi, being female, would sympathize with their plight. The gopis addressed tulasi, "0 auspicious tulasi. Has Madhava, impelled by the delight of love, gone by here giving you pleasure with the touch of His hand? 0 fortunate tulasi. No one in the universe compares with you. Please hear our request and tell us where we can find Krsna.

"Since you are devoid of creeper-like arms, you have no problem of rivalry from other women. You ornament the chest of Krsna as a garland hanging from His neck to His feet. But will you not permit any other garland to hang there too? Being non-envious and compassionate, please tell us where your lover has gone, having stolen our minds, life airs, and intelligence. In this world it is a law among friends that one should sacri­fice his own life to save a friend."

Hearing no answer, the exasperated gopis said, "We see that after being touched by Him, you fell into a state of separation and lost all strength of mind and intelligence. So how can we ask you? How can a distressed person help another distressed person? Therefore let us go elsewhere."

"0 friend malatii With your eyes did you embrace the one wearing gar­lands of you? You must have seen Him? Otherwise why are you proudly smiling with your flowers? 0 friend mallikal Do not hide. You must have seen the son of Nanda Maharaja because you have stolen the blackish color of Krsna's body with the swarms of bees encircling you.

"0 friend jati. You are truthful by nature so you will not deceive us. Your reddish flowers indicate that the fickle-minded Syama has marked your limbs with His nails. 0 yuthikal With the swarms of buzzing bees, you seem to be weeping. Why is that? Has Krsna, who steals one's heart just by seeing Him, stolen your mind as He has ours?"

Receiving no reply, the gopis, having lost all awareness of the external world, continued questioning the trees even though they could not an­swer. "0 kurubaka tree! 0 red asoka tree! Please destroy our lamenta­tion. Please tell us where Krsna has gone. Do not say that He has not come on this path! The young leaves clipped by His sharp nails reveal His whereabouts."

Looking in another direction, they said, "0 kovidara\ You are a learned tree, so please tell us which path Krsna has traversed? After seeing Him your inner attraction to Him is now manifesting as bright red flowers. 0 panasa (jackfruit) tree! Do not be afraid. Tell us where that thief has gone after stealing our souls and abandoning us. Due to His glance, you are feeling joyful and displaying your thorny fruits.

"0 fortunate jambu tree! You have certainly seen Krsna, because your fruits have become black as bumblebees by the influence of His elegant effulgence. 0 friend, pleasing bilva branch! You are fortunate. Krsna has held your beautiful fruit in His lotus hand. While thinking of Hari, whose complexion is the color of a rain cloud, the hairs on your fruits are standing on end.

"0 bakula! You are blissful from seeing the moon face of Hari who has willfully strung a garland from your fallen flowers. 0 friend, branch of the mango tree! It is appropriate that you drip tears of honey after having felt His nails as He broke off your new mango buds. .

"0 kadamba tree. It seems that while entering the forest Hari has taken shelter of you to engage in pastimes. Climbing on this branch. He picked your blossoms to use for flower bombs. We infer this from seeing the fallen leaves and buds scattered about your base. Having smelled the sweet scent of His body, the bees have left you to follow Him. Though you can­not go with us, please tell us where we can find that fragrant personality.

"0 trees living by the banks of the Yamuna who have dedicated your very existence to the welfare of others, please tell us where Hari has gone. 0 groves of creepers! With your crooked bodies filled with fruit, you seem to be offering new youthfulness to your beloved. Where has Krsna, the source of your good fortune, now gone?

"0 wives of the Krsna sara deer! You are famous for your beautiful wide eyes, which attract even the mind of the all-attractive Krsna, who is worshiped by those who have performed countless pious acts. Though your eyes are filled with the sweet form of His body, your minds are not satisfied. Being thus disturbed, your sleep is broken by His constant re­membrance.

"0 friend! Can you tell us which path Krsna took after satisfying the trees with His touch? He put us in sorrow by stealing our hearts, but did He look at you with the pink edges of His compassionate eyes? Be friendly and generous, and do not cheat us."

Seeing the doe moving fearlessly toward them, the gopis continued, "0 friends! This doe is the most merciful among all the animals, trees and creepers. She is walking along the path showing us the way to Krsna. Thus she is diminishing the burning pain in our hearts." As the gopis followed the doe they happened to lose sight of her. Full of anxiety, the gopis thought that Krsna must be nearby and that the doe, being afraid of Him, must have hidden herself. Then the gopis searched throughout the dense for­est.

Seeing a cuckoo, they said, "0 cuckoo! Krsna must have certainly glanced upon you while enjoying your song, for your artistic melody is imitating His tune. You have a close friendship with Krsna because you are sweet voiced; black with a red beak, fond of the forests, eager to relish mango sprouts, and completely remove the sorrow of separated lovers. In spite of this, you are not telling us about Him."

Saying this, they approached a swan waddling along the path and hap­pily said, "0 swan, please come here! Has merciful Yamuna-devi sent you here? We understand that our beloved is on her bank, therefore, she has sent you to bring us to Him. 0 friend, we are longing to see Krsna. Please show us the path."

After following the swan for some distance, they saw a female cakravaka bird and said, "0 cakravaka. After seeing Krsna, you have forgotten about your separation from your partner, and have kindly come to show us where He is. This is the proper conduct among pure-hearted friends." Coming before the cakravaki, they smelled an aromatic breeze and said, "The news that the cakravaki has come to deliver is now certain. The thief of our hearts is somewhere nearby."

Seeing swarms of bees, the gopis remarked, "The bees have gone mad from smelling the sandalwood scented breeze blowing from a distant source, namely the flower garland of some gopi whose body is exuding a divine fragrance." Beckoning the bees, they inquired, "0 gentle bumble bees! Tell us, why you have given up the nectar-filled flowers just to buzz madly around in the sky?" From the excited humming of the bees, the gopis understood that Krsna must be nearby.

Thinking thus, the gopis walked gingerly over the fresh grass. To con­firm their suspicion that the earth was shivering in ecstasy, the gopis asked, "0 mother earth! Can you tell us why your bodily hairs are standing on end? It cannot be due to the touch of Vamanadeva's feet, or the embrace of Varahadeva. Your good fortune causes the animals and plants to tremble, because at every step you get to kiss the lotus feet of Krsna. Because of this He has slowed down His gait."

Further along, the gopis saw a flock of cakora birds moving on the ground and said joyfully, "He who has stolen the jewel of our minds has certainly gone on this path because there are some male cakora birds over there. They are sitting in a line drinking the streams of nectar from the moon rays of His toenails. From this we conclude that He must be near."

Imitating Krsna's Pastimes

As the gopis reached the limit of their doubts, questions, and confirma­tions, their emotional state of unmada (divine madness in loving separa­tion from Krsna) gradually manifested the presence of Krsna within their hearts. With their hearts purified by perfect knowledge, the gopis remained fixed on the right path forever engaged in pleasing the Lord. No one but Krsna could control them. Changing their mood, the gopis entered a state of ecstasy by fully absorbing themselves in thoughts of Krsna's pastimes. Their distress of separation disappeared as they reenacted His various pastimes. Who would not be attracted to those pastimes that they had sither heard about or directly witnessed? The killing of Putana and the lifting of Govardhana, for example, caused wonder and astonishment.

In imitating Krsna's exploits, there are two types of pastimes. In the first type, all the ingredients are favorable such as stealing the gopis' clothes. In the second type there are both favorable and unfavorable elements as in the pastime of killing Putana. The favorable elements are conducive for developing an intense taste of Krsnaprema. The mind be­comes flooded with taste like a river overflowing its banks. Because con­trary or unfavorable elements give distaste, they do not absorb the mind. Therefore, one does not make a full effort to identify with those pas­times.

Yogamaya always accompanied the gopis to assist their mood. Antici­pating the presence of contrary elements in pastimes such as killing Putana which the gopis would imitate, Yogamaya skillfully harmonized all the contrary elements in order to favor the gopis. To do this Yogamaya de­cided to personally take the role of Putana and other demons. Under the influence of Yogamaya's illusory powers, one exalted gopi, acting like in­fant Krsna, saw Yogamaya as Putana manifesting all the contrary and favorable elements. Climbing on her lap, that gopi drank her breast milk while holding on to her in complete dependence. The attempts to capture the mood of Krsna were not artificial but spontaneous. The gopis did not just identify with Krsna, but Krsna Himself had entered into them to re-enact these pastimes.

Yogamaya also took the role of sakatasura (cart demon) while one of the beautiful gopis played Krsna. Pained by hunger, Krsna cried, kicked the cart and demolished it with His toes, delicate as new shoots. Krsna Himself had entered the minds of the gopis, and their minds had entered into Krsna. Completely identifying with Krsna, they lost all awareness of being women. Identifying fully as Krsna, the gopis appeared brilliantly effulgent, as if clouds surrounded by stationary lightning had entered their hearts.

Their hearts resembled intense moonlight within the clouds, or clumps of lotuses infested with slumbering bees, while their bodies shone bril­liant as powdered saffron. Conquered by the influence of identifying with Krsna, the gopis' senses submitted to Krsna in their hearts. Thus they fully absorbed themselves.

As with previous pastimes, Yogamaya attracted the joyful gopis to imi­tate the killing of Trnavarta. But Yogamaya did not take the form of Tmavarta, because assuming that form contradicted the mood of the lov­ing pastimes. But to enthuse that particular gopi, Yogamaya took the mood of Tmavarta, the demon sent by Kamsa to kill Krsna. Playing the role of Krsna, the gopi said, "I am Krsna and I will kill you." In this way Yogamaya showed her powers.

Then, one gopi, acting as baby Krsna, crawled about while Her jeweled belt tinkled. Sometimes she stopped briefly, turned her head, and looked around with worried eyes. With a frightened face like a sinful criminal, that gopi played the butter thief. Taking the role of mother Yasoda, Yogamaya tried to bind that butter thief with ropes. Feeling bound up by an irate mother, that gopi shed tears. Afterwards while crawling on the earth she got stuck between two yamala-arjuna trees created by Yogamaya, and then pulled them down.

As Krsna, one gopi said, "I will go play in the forest and herd the calves with Balarama and the other cowherd boys. At that time, I will kill Vatsasura." Yogamaya supplied the calves, the Vatsa demon, the cowherd friends, and His brother Balarama. Merged in that event, the gopi en­acted the killing of Vatsasura.

One gopi, holding a flute in her tender hands, produced sweet melodies by deftly moving her copper-colored fingers. Then she perfectly imitated how Krsna called the cows that had wandered far away. In a loud, affec­tionate voice she called out for the cows, "Savali! Dhavali! Dhumali! Kali! Nila! Please come here!"

Imitating Krsna's playful pranks with His boyfriends, one gopi walked about with her arm resting on the shoulder of a friend. Looking like a water lily stalk with long arms, she declared, "I am Krsna! Just see how gracefully I move!" At that she moved proudly.

The author says, "I think that Krsna actually entered the gopis' hearts and enacted each of these pastimes to enjoy the experience. Otherwise, how could the gopis speak and perform actions when their minds and consciousness had already stopped functioning?"

Unable to suppress her spontaneous mood, another gopi pretended to be Krsna standing on the bank of the Yamuna. Though lacking the proper ingredients she was itching to fight and smash the malevolent Kaliya. In that mood she said, "0 lowest of snakes! Do not spoil My Yamuna play­ground. Get out of here right now!" In this way she repeatedly uttered harsh words. Then that gopi danced on Kaliya's hoods. Yogamaya skill­fully arranged all these pastimes.

Another gopi gave up her own identify and achieved oneness with the Lord of her life. Upon seeing an accidental forest fire, she felt blissful by identifying as Krsna. By the influence of Yogamaya that gopi displayed the unique ability to extinguish the fire and save the cowherd boys. She said, "Do not fear this blazing forest fire, for I am the deliverer from all danger. Quickly close your eyes and I will protect you by swallowing this fire."

Meditating on Krsna, another gopi entered a humorous mood and moved about stealthily. Then she secretly stole the gopis' clothing and climbed up a kadamba tree. Overwhelmed with the joy of Krsna, she spoke affec­tionately to the innocent gopis. "Come to Me one by one, not all together! Each of you collect your own clothing. If you do not do as I say, then I will ,not give them back. What do I care if the king becomes angry?"

The gopis then manifested the auspicious pastime of the brahmanas’ wives giving charity. Identifying herself with Krsna, one leading gopi, full of bliss and expert in speaking, smiled sweetly as she greeted the other gopis who had arrived before her at the edge of town. "0 fortunate women! Welcome! The austerities you have performed in household life are faultlesss. I know that you have great devotion and faith in Me. Now that you have seen Me, you should return home. 0 fortunate women, you should not remain here. By hearing about My glories, chanting My name, and remembering My form, you can taste real love for Me. This is not accomplished by direct contact with Me."

One gopi, her heart totally one with Krsna, enacted the pleasing pastime of lifting Govardhana, the king of all mountains. Their faces full of worry, the cows, cowherd men and their wives took shelter from the heavy downpour. To dispel their fear, the gopi playing Krsna said, "0 cows, cowherd men and gopis, do not be afraid of the cruel wind and torrents of rain. Relax and be calm. I will lift the mountain with My hand, and turn the whole world into an umbrella to protect you. Do not fear that the mountain will slip from My hand, and do not distrust My words. If Ananta can hold up the earth with its heavy oceans, islands and mountains, why can't the crown jewel of the town hold up at least one mountain?"

To alleviate the anguish of the Vrajavasis, she raised her slender left hand that smelled more fragrant than khas khas. While holding her arm light up like a flagpole, she waved her shawl to remove their fear. Standing with her right hand on her waist, she said, "Come under this beautiful umbrella, which resembles a delicate lotus flower spreading for two hunred miles in all directions."

One gopi imitated Rasa-bihari who acted like the moon disappearing in an eclipse. She attracted all the Gokula gopis with the enchanting tune of her flute. Surmounting the obstacles of their families, they came to Krsna with desires for direct conjugal union. Playing the part of Krsna, that gopi said,”O chaste women! Welcome! Please come here! All auspiciousness to you! What may I do to please you? Please tell Me the reason for your coming here. Since your clothing and ornaments are all topsy-turvy, I infer that you came here in the greatest haste. Why did you do this?

This night is quite frightening, and dangerous creatures are lurking about. This is not a proper place for women. So I am telling you, please go home. Now you have seen this Vrndavana forest, full of blooming flowers, cooled by fragrant breezes, and washed by the light of the full moon. What more is there to see?

“O lotus eyed gopis. Women should not stay with a lusty man like Me. Direct association with Me is not nearly as enjoyable as meditating on hearing about My qualities, and glorifying Me."

[The gopi imitating Krsna has a hidden, inner meaning in her words which is, "Why shouldn't those who know the highest dharma stay with Me? Directly contacting Me is infinitely more pleasurable than associat­ing with Me through meditation, hearing, or chanting My glories."]

After speaking sweetly in imitation of Krsna, the gopi thought, "Now I will disappear." Before she could enact the pastime of Krsna's disappear­ance, however, all the gopis suddenly awoke from their trance of identify­ing as Krsna. Leaving the stage of unmada, they regained consciousness and experienced a different degree of ecstatic love. Upon opening their doe-eyes, the gopis again burned in the fire of separation. Anxious and worried, they frantically searched for Krsna in all directions.

Krsna's Footprints

The special beauty and pleasure the gopis had attained by imitating Krsna's pastimes gradually faded away. Though the gopis had extraordi­nary patience, their anxious eyes revealed the artificiality of their com­posed state. After remaining in that state for a short time, they suddenly saw Krsna's footprints in a comer of the forest. His footprints looked like a row of sprouts suddenly manifesting from the bosom of the earth. Those footprints appeared to have dropped from their eyes onto the earth after having been hidden in their own hearts. Now appearing as the signature of the goddess of the forest, they looked like they were drawn by the demigods headed by Brahma for worship, and had suddenly fallen from the sky. They looked like two new leaves sprouted from a creeper grow­ing on the path.

The gopis' hearts melted with bliss upon seeing Krsna's footprints. Their limbs broke out with tiny bumps of exhilaration as they spoke loudly and impudently amongst themselves. "0, just see our fortune. Hari's foot­prints, shining like the rays of the moon, have appeared here. Observing the marks of a flag, lotus, goad, and thunderbolt stimulate affection in the hearts of advanced devotees. 0 lotus-eyed gopis. Please examine these footprints with all your life.

"Studying the imprint on the soft sand, we see that the ball of the foot is deeper and the middle portion is raised. The trail of footprints with their different marks such as lotus flowers are decorations in the simanta (part in a woman's hair) of the earth. The distinguishing mark of the flag in these footprints attracts everyone, the lotus cools the earth, the thunder­bolt is for killing us, and the goad is for gouging out our hearts." As the gopis gave such contrary meanings to the marks on Krsna's feet, they bathed in a natural splendor of love that would capture the heart of anyone per­ceiving it.

They continued, "The sweetness of these footprints is astounding! Be­ing stupefied by it, even the bees are falling in the dust. They have re­jected flower pollen, but they will not give up the dust of Krsna's feet. Just like great devotees, the bees have become very fortunate and attractive by this attachment. The dust has become blessed by the touch of Govinda's lotus feet, which remove the agony of the earth and break the medita­tions of sober sages. Brahma, Siva, the goddess Laksmi, and all the devatas worship these footprints. Let us now take the relishable dust of the Lord of enjoyment to our bosoms to relieve our long-standing incessant pains of sorrow."

Radha's Footprints

Then one discriminating gopi spoke, "Stop taking the dust! Do not wipe out Krsna's footprints! Our eyes derive satisfaction just from looking closely at these wonderful footprints. Do not disturb them by smudging them with your hands!"

After saying this they- traced the line of footprints with their eyes and proceeded along the path. At one place they saw the footprints of Radha, who had attracted Krsna with Her sincere love, and attained the coveted position of being the only gopi engaged in His loving service. While Hari held Her tightly to His chest, Radhika felt proud that She had so easily won the affection of the Lord. Such an auspicious position is rarely at­tained even in the heavenly planets.

Admiring the footprints of the girl endowed with such good fortune, one gopi said, "0 look here, they appear like a group of buds twisted out of place on a fine creeper. It seems these footprints are thoroughly inter­mixed with those of Her lover. It seems that Radha must have put Her right arm on Krsna's shoulder, just as love-intoxicated she-elephant rests Her trunk on the shoulder of an accompanying bull elephant. Radhika's fortune is unrivaled. Being so pleased with Her and bound by Her love, Govinda pitilessly abandoned us, who are also trying to attain Him. Show­ing His loyalty to Her alone, He has brought Her to a secluded place for enjoyment."

Thinking for a moment, Syama-sakhi suddenly said, "Radha is the peer­less abode of all auspiciousness. She is the crest-jewel amongst millions of the best women in the universe, endowed with the pious results of their previous deeds. Just as there is no possibility of moonlight without a moon, a cuckoo's call without spring, or lightning without rain, similarly, it 1s impossible to imagine Radha existing without the moon of Krsna."

After Radha's intimate sakhis finished their glorification, Padma, a con­fidante of Candravali, who has a face more beautiful than a lotus, replied to dark-complexioned Syama-sakhi. She said, "0 Syame! Though you are partial to your own group, your Radha has completely given you up. She has thrown you away like an old garland, though She claims you are Her very life. After stealing the beloved of us all, Radhika has gone off alone to enjoy with Him in another forest. How astonishing! Radha's friendship toward you is only external, it is not from Her heart."

Syama-sakhi replied, "0 Padma, due to lack of intelligence you are satu­rated with envy! Give this up and just listen to me. Since Her childhood, Radhika has thrown Her body in the flowing river of Krsna's nectarean love. She has no control over Her own body. It simply races along in the huge currents of that river and She cannot protect Herself. Just like an aquatic plant, Radhika floats helplessly down that river.

"Therefore I say that Radha does not deserve to be criticized. She is praiseworthy in all respects. The campaka flower is bom with its covering and grows with it. They are not separate. Yet in time, when the campaka gives up the covering, it is not considered a fault. So what is the fault in Radha? Her friends are as dear as Her own life. Even if She appears to leave Her friends, Radhika never breaks the bond of friendship."

Another friend of Candravali said, "0 Syame! People on the same side never see their own faults. Because of that, your speaking about Radha sounds reasonable. But your assessment is not fair to all us gopis. The fact is that She alone is mercilessly drinking the nectar of Krsna's lips, which should be drunk by all of us. She is more skillful than the cakora bird. Thus, seeing Radha's footprints does not give us any pleasure at all."

Then the associates of Radhika gazed at Her footprints, the object of happiness for the eyes. This filled them with an emotional mixture of joy and pride, but they could not manifest the ecstasy because of their with­ered condition. Fixing their eyes on the dust, they walked forward with a graceful gait. Losing sight of Radhika's footprints, which remove all sorrow, they considered, "Oh, what is this? We cannot see Her footprints over here! We only see the attractive footprints of Hari. It is obvious that the sharp sprouts of grass hurt the tender soles of Her feet, so Hari car­ried Her on His chest."

Another gopi said, "What you say is correct. Because Krsna is going forward carrying Her on His chest, which She is relishing, His footprints are sinking down in the soft sand. 0 beloved of Krsna, your achievement of the highest love after many births of accumulated devotional actions is as relishable as the bee licking the honey dripping from the head of a love-maddened elephant. You must certainly have been overcome with the variety of ecstatic emotions fructifying from Your ripened attachment. Your lover has surely satisfied You by fulfilling all Your desires."

Seeing Candravali's face shriveling up from her comments, that gopi spoke an aside in order to create peace with Her. She said, "Together we came here, together we saw Hari, and together we heard His harsh words. Finally we all enjoyed together with Him. Now rejecting us like useless grass. He has put You on His chest and carried You away. This terrible act reveals the vast extent of Your pious deeds. Therefore I say, we should not look at Your footprints which only increase our suffering."

When the rival group of gopis saw Radhika's footprints again a little further on they said, "Here we see that Krsna, being tired from carrying the heavy weight, removed Radha, who is more beautiful than Laksmi, from His chest and put Her down. Look here! There are two pairs of footprints facing each other. They must have stood here speaking inti­mately. Look here! It appears that they have placed their arms on each other's shoulders and embraced. Being tired, they walked sluggishly here and there." Absorbed in such thoughts, the rival party of gopis, due to unwarranted envy, suddenly took on a harsh mood.

Being knowledgeable of spiritual love and endowed with friendship for Her, the gopis supporting Radha did not consider themselves the least bit unlucky. Seeing Radhika's extraordinary fortune filled them with satis­faction. Expecting the fire of separation to end soon, the gopis submerged in bliss.

Meeting again, all the gopis walked along while looking at the footprints. In a short time they arrived at the pleasant bank of the Yamuna, which appeared like the bosom of the earth washed by silvery water dripping from the moon. Not seeing the complete footprints of Krsna, they consid­ered, "We can no longer see the signs of a goad, flag, lotus, and thunder­bolt. Here Krsna has left the impression of only the front part of His feet because He stood on His toes to pick some flowers for His beloved."

Seeing a second set of footprints, they considered, "0 look here! On the path of white sand, sparkling like camphor, there are marks of His feet and the mark of a fine lower cloth between them. But Radha's foot­prints are not here. Certainly Krsna sat down here with His girlfriend on His lap to set flowers in Her hair."

Looking in another direction, they said, "How amazing! Krsna desired to heighten the pleasure with an unseasonal blossoming of bakula flowers and asoka flowers which was caused by Her tears of love and the touch of Her foot. On Krsna's entreaty, Radhika suddenly left His bosom with a desire to collect those flowers. See there, Radha's alta (red coloring on feet) has marked the root of the asoka tree, like a new sprout. Quitting the delightful taste of the bakula flowers, the bees are absorbed at the base of that tree, which has been moistened by Radha's tears. From these signs we understand that Radhika-Syama are nearby, so we should look for them here."

We will give the following explanation to destroy all false interpreta­tions and establish the correct meaning of the Srimad Bhagavatam verse (10.30.34):

reme tayd cdtma-rata, atmdrdmo 'py akhanditah kdmindm darsayan dainyam, stnndrh caiva durdtmatdm Sukadeva Gosvami said, "Lord Krsna enjoyed with that gopi, although He enjoys only within, being self-satisfied and complete in Himself. Thus by contrast He showed the wretched-ness of ordinary lusty men and hard­hearted women."

Elaborating on this, Krsna said, "In this material world lusty men are vile and lusty women are low. Though I am full of desire, I am not vile. I am not a lusty person bound up by karmic reactions like ordinary men. But I display seemingly lusty activities for the benefit of the fallen souls. The gopis are not ordinary women. Being fortunate, they have attained My direct association. Other than Me, all material sense enjoyers are vile. Other than the gopis all other women are low."

By Krsna's mercy the gopis had attained the treasure of His association, but then He renounced them and disappeared. Now that Supreme Lord, though self-satisfied, became conquered by the continuous affection of the surrendered gopis. He displayed His intimate conjugal pastimes in order to receive the offering of their love.

Radha Dispels the Sorrow of the Gopis

The generous and softhearted Radhika, who is the rarest personality in all time and space, waved like a victory flag among the fortunate women endowed with auspicious qualities. Radha's ecstasy quickly diminished when She thought that Her friends had been deprived of Krsna's associa­tion during Her private delight with Him. She considered, "The Lord of My life has shown attraction only for Me. How can My friends such as Lalita and Visakha maintain their lives in separation from Krsna? There­fore, I will play some tricks, so He will move slightly away from Me and then My companions will be able to come and meet Me."

With this in mind, good-natured Radhika spoke to Krsna, "0 ocean of unlimited enjoyment and love! I am completely fatigued and cannot go any further. I cannot walk anymore and I have no means to move for­ward. Please carry Me wherever You want to go. The night has also deep­ened. 0 supreme enjoyer! Let us just rest a while on the river bank."

To refute these words, Krsna pretended to be pained by them. Although by nature Radha's statements seemed to be devoid of pride, Krsna took wem externally as an exhibition of pride. Accepting that such pride befits an independent lover, Krsna thought, "This pleases My heart, but I will respond to this show of pride by disappearing from Her." To enact the pastime of trying to break Her pride, Krsna adopted a harsh mood. His eyes reddened as He delivered words meant to break Her composure. Krsna said, "Since we cannot find a palanquin here, please climb on My beautiful raised shoulders." While saying this Krsna suddenly disappeared from Radha's eyes.

Radha's Lamentation

The sweet clever talks of Radhika, which had engulfed the earth in a nectarean wave of happiness, now turned into a wave of poison. The fra­grant sandalwood pulp rubbed on Her body transformed into blazing coals. The kajala decorating Her eyes turned into contaminated water. The strands of Her pearl necklace lolled about like a snake. The betel nut packets, which give a pleasing taste to the mouth, seemed like leaves from a poison vine. The necklaces, belts and other artistically fashioned accou-terments on Her body resembled crooked piles of sharp poison. Her voice choked up and Her warm tears smeared Her kajala into a black line drip­ping down Her breasts. Krsna's teasing broke Radhika's heart. The pain was so sharp that She felt She was being sawed in half.

Then Radha spoke loudly, "0 Lord! 0 giver of pleasure! 0 ocean of love! Where are you? 0 beloved! Please be visible to Me! Though I know You are here, I cannot see You. Because of this My life is full of suffering. Hoping to attain You again, I cannot give up My life, yet out of separa­tion, I cannot maintain my life. The pain of separation is getting stronger and about to cut the shackles of hope maintaining My life. Please give up Your anger, and appear before My eyes so that My life air does not leave My body."

[In solitude, Radhika carried on the following imaginary conversation with Krsna.]

Radha: "Krsna, if You say, 'What does it matter to Me if You give up Your life?' Then I reply that You cannot say that, for You have great love for Me and cannot bear My separation. If You do not appear, then You will have to carry My dead body through the forests while weeping. This is the truth."

Krsna: "I disappeared because of Your proud words, therefore, I am not at fault."

Radha: "Neither am I at fault in this matter. You are angry because of My pride, but I did not speak from pride. I spoke so that My friends could catch up to us, not out of pride."

Krsna: "I disapprove such actions and cannot bear them."

Radha: "0 Lord! Show your moonlike face, so that the pitiful state of Your beloved will not be seen when My friends arrive at this spot. They will die if they see Me in this state. Do not kill them. Show Yourself as before, so that they do not condemn Your love. I cannot see any way that You will be able to answer their criticism."

Krsna: "I left You, just as I left them. The same action will not yield different results. I have equally rejected both You and them."

Radha: "Why have You acted so boldly, leaving Me alone in the forest? Leaving them only produces misery, but leaving Me alone will kill Me. They do not experience such misery because they are together, but I am all alone. They remain alive by comforting each other with sweet words."

Krsna: "Why do You want to give up Your body, the abode of beauty and sweetness?"

Radha: "Cursed is the night, without the moonlight. Cursed are the lotuses, without the sun. Unfortunate is a person ignored by the lord of Her life. The qualities You mentioned (beauty and sweetness) only dis­play their perfection when enjoyed by the lover."

Taking the form of a snake, the pain of separation from Krsna entered the cave of Radha's soft, sweet heart and bit that faultless person. Radha's heart pained like the sky afflicted by the scorching summer sun. The agony in Her body surged way beyond the breaking point. Her consciousness rapidly faded as She tried desperately to understand Krsna's intentions, As the tenth stage of ecstasy approached, Radhika succumbed to extreme fainting fits, appearing like untimely visits of friends.

Out of shame and fear caused by Her love for Krsna, lotus-eyed Radha restrained Her breathing and allowed only a little air to enter. Like a wilted lotus stalk. Her body fell on the sandy earth. People will criticize if one remains alive after being rejected by a lover. Radha's love found per­fection in thinking only of Krsna's happiness. If She died, He would la­ment. So to prevent that She kept breathing.

Then all the creepers of Vrndavana blew their sweet flower fragrances upon Her. Swarms of bees fanned Her with vibrating wings. Birds cried and the deer wept as they roamed about anxiously. In this way the forest dwellers served Radha's mood. Radha's shadow was a bed of lotus petals and the moonlight was a balm of sandalwood paste. Her lotus stem arms protected Her sides, and Her swoon was a best friend skilled at removing the pangs of sorrow.

The Gopis Meet Radhika

Meanwhile, the creepers indicated the anguished emotions of Radhika's friends. The leaves fluttered about, as if beating their chests in grief. The birds cried in loud voices and the flowers shed tears of honey. While continuing to search out Krsna's path, the doe-eyed gopis discovered their unhappy friend close by.

Bewildered by separation from Her lover, Radha was lying alone on the ground. She appeared like a lightning bolt fallen from a cloudless sky, or like a moonbeam dropped to the earth due to its heavy weight. Radha looked like a garland of gold and jewels fallen from the crown of the splendor of the three worlds, or like a wealth of gold ejected suddenly from the earth. She seemed like a self-manifesting bowl of fragrant kunkuma, or an attractive land lotus in the lap of the goddess of the Vrndavana forest. Radhika appeared like a garland of campaka flowers shot from Cupid's bow, the gorocana tilaka on the forehead of mother earth, the flame of an oil lamp inside the house of a forest goddess, or a celestial herbal creeper fallen on the earth.

Seeing Radhika lying there and considering various possibilities, they said, "0 look! There is the gopi whom the hard-hearted son of the king of Vrndavana took away after rejecting us. Then feeling such favoritism un­fair, He disappeared, leaving Her alone like a cloud without lightning, a moon without light, or a jewel without sparkle."

In choked voices, Lalita and other sakhis said, "If that is so, how could the son of the king of Vrndavana just reject Her? How could He just leave Her, helpless as a little plant and as delicate as the bud of apannarga, alone to suffer in separation? But it is not possible that He has left Her alone. It seems that after lengthy enjoyment, our friend has fallen asleep out of fatigue. He must be waiting nearby trembling in apprehension. Although He is close by, due to misfortune we cannot see Him."

One gopi said, "But if He was nearby, we could detect His presence by His fragrance."

Bhadra gopi replied, "Perhaps, He detected our quiet footsteps and left out of displeasure."

Syama-sakhi said, "Listen, if that is so, why didn't He take His beloved with Him as before?"

Finding fault in Radha, Candravali said, "On seeing Her pride and lack of good manners, our beloved did not take Her with Him."

Syama-sakhi replied, "That cannot be, for our beloved cannot be so crude and distasteful as to leave Her alone, burning in the forest fire of separation."

Doubting the identity of the gopi lying on the ground, and in order to break the argument over Radha's condition, some other sakhi spoke, "It seems that this is not Radha, for we cannot see Krsna here. We are mis­taken to think that this is Radha. In order to break our pride, a goddess named Madhuri, who spreads illusion over the world, has appeared here with all her attractiveness."

Saying this and moving closer, they gopis argued amongst themselves saying, "That cannot be Radharani, for She is lying there like a wilted lotus stem. Her heart does not seem to be beating, even slowly. Is this not the embodiment of karuna rasa (mellow of pity)? Is this not our friend Murccha (fainting), separated from Her beloved?"

Seeing them coming, Radha's friend Murccha, feeling somewhat upset at that moment, left Radharani. Standing nearby, the gopis thought what to do next. After Murccha-devi departed, Radha, like a person uncon­scious of her surroundings upon rising from sleep, exclaimed in a choked voice, "0 Lord, where are You?" Then She glanced at the assembly of friends surrounding Her.

"This is certainly Radha," said the gopis. They stood around Radhika feeling a mixture of joy, respect, astonishment, and disappointment. The gopis looked like silent ducks around a golden lotus, or like all the rivers meeting the Ganges. They resembled all the ingredients of rasa (vibhava, anubhava, sattvika bhavd) merging in sthayi bhava, or like all the srutis combining to make the seven notes. The gopis surrounding Radhika could be compared to the ornaments, qualities, and emotions evoked in a skill-ful poem, the metaphors used in a building up a comparison, cakori birds collecting rays of the moon, flocks of birds attracted to a fresh garden, or like lotuses blossoming in a lake.

Lalita fanned Radha with bunches of fresh leaves, while others bound up Radhika's hair and wiped the tears from Her face. Candravali said, "How did You fall into the same awkward position that we are in? Where is that cheater, the Lord who put our lives in danger?"

Then a neutral party of gopis, inclined to the opposite party, spoke in pure friendship, "Krsna rejected us because of You, and then took You away to this lonely place. However our fever of separation abated upon realizing You caused His disappearance. But now that fever of separation has doubled, seeing that He left You as well. It gives us great suffering to see You in this miserable condition."

Radhika's supporters said, "0 Sumukhi (beautiful faced one)! Neither Your thoughts nor Your words are deficient. You are famous throughout the universe as being the mine of all jewel-like qualities. The world knows the exalted state of love that You cherish for Krsna."

Dhanya-sakhi and other young gopis said, "0 Sumukhi! Seeing the ex­tent of Your torment, our suffering has diminished. It is well known that a greater poison destroys the potency of a poison, which cannot be coun­teracted by medicine. 0 Radha, what is the cause of Your suffering?"

Syama-sakhi said, "0 friends! Why should you interrogate Radha like this? Such love is Her very nature. Who has the power to understand that love? For those in love, this poison is equal to life-giving nectar. Simultaneously, it gives one the greatest suffering and the greatest en­joyment. It causes one to faint and restores one to life."

After the gopis had spoken, Radha, appreciating their sincere efforts, told them everything that had happened to Her in a soft sweet manner. While shedding warm tears, She revealed the intentions of Her heart, which is a golden bowl of prema. The gopis intently listened to Her in great astonishment. Then keeping Radha in front, all the gopis searched for Krsna in order to reduce the fever of their minds. They entered the forest as far as the. light of the moon shone. But when they found them­selves engulfed in darkness, they lost hope and decided to turn back.

While leaving the dense forest, the gopis absorbed their minds in thoughts of Krsna. They vowed to see Him as they loudly sang the glories of Krsna's transcendental qualities. Then they broke down crying and softly mur­mured about Him. The loud humming of a swarm of bees agitated from smelling Krsna's fragrant mouth suddenly broke their trance of love.

The gopis again came to the bank of the Yamuna. Walking along, they arrived at an auspicious strand of dazzling white sand, finer and softer than camphor dust. They sat down together and sang about Krsna for some time. The sweetness of their song, the essence of love in separation, could melt a heart of stone and attract the hearts of the mountains, trees and creepers. How else can that sweetness be described? Even if it could be described, the goddess of speech herself could not do it, because her voice would become choked up. As parrots imitate the words of humans without understanding the meaning, I simply repeat the words of Sukadeva.

Chapter Nineteen The Gopi Gita

The hearts of all the birds and beasts burned when they heard the gopis' sweet, gentle voices crying in grief. The weeping of the gopis as they glori­fied the good qualities of their beloved sounded like a graceful song to attract the hearts of all moving and non-moving beings. The sound of their soft crying distilled the essence of love in separation. Sympathizing with their sorrow, the musical notes, rhythms, and modulations personi­fied to enter their hearts and produce a song.

The gopis said, "0 beloved, the shelter of Laksmi, since the day You appeared You have been the center of attraction in Vrndavana. In the very place where the inhabitants became happy due to Your appearance, how can your lovers experience such persecution? Why did You abandon us after we fell in love with You and dedicated ourselves solely to You? 0 beloved! Be merciful, and please show Yourself to us."

[The gopis, forlorn over not finding their beloved Krsna, held the fol­lowing fanciful conversation with Him in His absence.]

The gopis imagined Krsna saying, "Why didn't you search for Me and find Me by force?"

Gopis: "We searched for You on every path, in every forest and bower, and under every tree and creeper until we had no more strength. Please appear before us and give pleasure to Your followers."

Krsna: "What have I done to make you so sad?"

Gopis: "0 beloved! You have pierced our hearts with the sharp arrows of Your glances."

Krsna: "What is wrong if a witty man just glances at some women?"

Gopis: "We are losing our lives at the expense of Your joking. You are killing the maidservants who have given themselves to You freely, with­out any price. If it is Your intention to kill us, then why did You repeat­edly save us from all kinds of danger—poisoned water, forest fires, and rainstorms?"

Krsna: "You were just there among all the other inhabitants of Vrndavana whom I protected from those calamities."

Gopis: "Then why did You maintain our lives with the medicine of Your sweet smile, making us forget Your harsh instruction to go home? 0 inde­pendent Lord! We cannot see any reason other than Your own pleasure in doing such things. It seems the only way You can have fun is by killing us and bringing us back to life."

Krsna: "Killing is easy, but reviving the dead is very difficult."

Gopis: "It is easy for You to restore a person to life. For us, who are at death's door, seeing You is life! Without seeing You, we have no life. For fun You disappear from us and kill us, and then You reappear and bring us back to life. How astonishing! Though You are born in a family of cowherds, You are not afraid of killing cowherd women. Even ordinary people take care of their family members and distant relatives."

Krsna: "Due to the prayers of Brahma, I have appeared as the Supreme Lord, therefore, I do not belong to any particular family."

Gopis: "You should not tell lies about Your own greatness. You did not appear due to Brahma's prayers for protection of the universe. If that is true, then why don't You protect us, for we are also within the universe."

[The gopis spoke like this due to the bewilderment caused by the in­tense pain of separation from Krsna.]

Gopis: "0 Lord! You release men from the fear of material existence, and fulfill the desires of those who love You. 0 lover, please place Your soft lotus hand, which is caressed by the goddess of fortune, on our heads. You like to break the pride of Your followers. You destroy the grief of Vraja's people. Your smile shatters the false pride of Your devotees. So please accept us as Your maidservants, and show us Your beautiful moon face.

"Your lotus feet destroy the sins of those who worship You. Those feet follow after the cows in the pastures and are marked with all auspicious symptoms. The effulgence of the jewels on Kaliya's hoods worships them with reverence. Please place them on our burning breasts. 0 Lord of our lives! Your sweet voice and charming words have soothed our ears and enthralled our minds. Since we have worshiped You for a long time, please pour the nectar of Your words into our hungry ears once again. 0 be­loved, Your face is washed by the nectar of Your sweet smile! Without seeing You, we are drying up with grief. Please return and revive us with the nectar of Your sweet red lips.

"It seems however that by taking the medicine that devotees use to counteract the severe pain of separation, our malady has become twice as bad. Every day we gopis recollect our previous conversations with You. Words spoken by You are supposed to destroy all sin. They are the elixir of life, the object of praise by the best of poets, and the savior of persons suffering from the three-fold miseries. But in our case. Your words pain our ears, increase our sorrow and suffering, and act to slowly kill us. When one becomes attracted to You, Your words bring both happiness and dis­tress. Is this nectar or poison? Therefore, we cannot understand anything about Your words."

Krsna: "You criticize, but yet you enjoy. If I am such a person, then how can you enjoy?"

Gopis: "Your pastimes and speech are nectarean on the outside but sharper than the sharpest razor within. Those who love You know this well. Though they know, they have fallen under the influence of Your words. At first Your pastimes give happiness, but finally they produce sorrow. Now we understand that. 0 best of men! Your sweet, loving glances, the intimate pastimes, and the confidential talks we enjoyed with You touched our hearts. But at the same time, they have brought us misery. 0 deceiver. You are devoid of love, yet we are filled love. We have become heartbroken by Your neglectful treatment.

"You do not have even a drop of love for us gopis, who are saturated with love for You. If You had any love, then You could understand our suffering. We, on the other hand, cannot tolerate seeing You suffer even a speck of grief! When You leave Nandagaon to herd the cows in the forest, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, softer and more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the rough grass and plants."

Krsna: "Many people walk on the forest path, so there is only pain for My feet? How to understand this? This must all be in your mind."

Gopis: "What to speak of hearing about and seeing You walk into the forest, just thinking about Your feet, which are soft as fresh lotus petals, and those sharp shoots of grass makes us want to give up our lives. 0 gallant one! All day we think of Your suffering in the forest. Such thoughts afflict us with pain just like an ulcer in the heart.

"At the end of the day, You repeatedly show us Your attractive lotus face, covered with dark locks of hair and thickly powdered with dust raised by the cows' hooves. Unseen, Cupid suddenly enters our hearts, arouses lusty desires in our minds and makes us go mad. Then we think that to­night our beloved will certainly come to our private chambers. All night long we dream of this, but upon waking we feel sorrow. Like this, You never give us happiness! We have always been friendly to You. But today, just for trying to invoke Your love for even a short time, we have ended up with such lamentation."

"Your lotus feet are the treasure of those who surrender to You. They are the ornament of the earth, and in times of danger they are the appro­priate object of meditation. Please put Your lotus feet upon our breasts. The small drops of perspiration on Your feet are like honey in a flower. Your moon-like toenails are like stamens and Your toes are like delicate petals. Please place those lotuses on the puma kumbha (full water pots) of our breasts." [In this way the gopis try to pacify the Lord, and also reveal their desire to enjoy with the Lord.]

Gopis: "0 treasure of love! Let us drink the nectar of Your sweet lips, which enhances conjugal pleasure and vanquishes grief. Your flute has become famous by continually relishing that nectar which makes people forget all other attractions! One should not think the lips touched by the flute are contaminated leftovers. Honey, which is the remnants of the bees, is famous for alleviating fevers and is therefore never rejected in this world."

[In contrast to this the gopis describe the intolerable pain they experi­ence.]

Gopis: "When You go off to play in the forest during the day, one frac­tion of a second becomes like a millenium for us because we cannot see Your beautiful, smiling lotus face. Even when we can eagerly gaze upon Your elegant face, which makes'the moon and the lotus look insignifi­cant, the blinking of our eyes is like the destruction at the end of the yuga."

[Next a complaint was spoken by the gopis who had been obstructed by their husbands, but then gave up their material bodies and received spiri­tual bodies to serve Krsna.]

Gopis: "0 best of men! Just to see You, we have completely rejected our husbands, friends and relatives. Who but a cheater like You would act so callously, and abandon young women who come to see Him in the middle of the night? Though we are clever, you perplex us. You did not protect any of us. Our minds are repeatedly bewildered as we think of the intimate talks we had with You in secret, feel the rise of lust in our hearts and remember Your loving glances, tender laugh, broad chest, and long arms. Thus we experience intense hankering to enjoy with You. You can save our self-respect while preserving Your own spotless fame. The only purpose of Your appearance on earth is to give bliss to the inhabitants of Vrndavana. So please destroy the affliction in our minds.

"With great difficulty You have rejected us, just to give us more suffer­ing. 0 Lord! Your lotus feet are so soft that we hold them gently on our hard breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Don't Your tender lotus feet feel pain from the pebbles and sprouts of grass as You roam about in the forest?"

Krsna: "By touching My feet didn't your hard breasts become soft as well? The grass and gravel are also soft. I do not feel any pain from them."

Gopis: "0 beloved, if You say that, it must be true. It cannot be false. By Your glance even a thunderbolt melts. But our minds are harder than a thunderbolt. So should our breasts not remain hard? You have responded to our hardness with equal hardness. Your mind is softer than a flower, but from association with our merciless minds, it has now become ex­tremely hard."

[Through false praise, the gopis speak again about Krsna's lack of com­passion.]

Gopis: "It is very unjust that simuultaieously You are murdering many women. Acting without reason alwyays "brings misfortune. When our life airs try to leave, You obstruct them' witt-i great force. What mercy do You show! You give more misery than i demth itself, for You make us suffer continuously without letting us die..

"We remain alive due to Your pressenc=e within our hearts. You act as an expert magician to suddenly appear t in o»ur hearts and prevent our life airs from leaving. That is Your trick. B3y disappearing externally You try to vanquish our life airs, and a momenht later You appear internally and pre­vent them from leaving. Still You \ will not be able to save our lives. 0 Lord! Though we searched for You,i, we could not find You. Our life airs, angry with this, are now coming out t to s-earch for You. You have said, 'No one can attain Me without My sanctidon. ""What then is the use of endeavor?' If what You say is true, then we knoow v~ery well that You will never grant such sanction. Therefore stop appeeariig in our hearts, and let our life airs leave in search of You."

[The gopis speak reasonably to conclude their song of lamentation, the gopi gita]

Gopis: "0 Lord of our lives! When ourlife airs leave to search for You, surely they will quickly find You. It is well known that the Lord never disregards His servant."

Thus having spoken in various charming ways in separation from Krsna, the doe-eyed gopis wept loudly in their despera­tion to reunite with their beloved. The sweetness of their voices, rivaling the song of the cuckoo, shattered the hearts of the trees and creepers. Standing nearby and pretending to be indifferent, the son of the king of Gokula could no longer tolerate their condition.

The gopis loudly sang the glories of their beloved. For a moment they experienced extreme bliss; caught between the happiness of giving up their lives if Krsna did not come, and the joy of regaining their lives if He did appear. Understanding their condition. Krsna reappeared before His greatest devotees, the beloved gopis of Vrndavana. Then Krsna, a smile on His lotus face, stood in front of the gopis like a feast of enjoyment to uproot their anguish. Krsna dispelled the darkness of the gopis' anger with a merciful glance from His reddish lotus eyes and the moonlight of His gentle smile.

Krsna reappeared in order to enlighten them, and make them forget the weeping and lamentation arising constantly in their hearts due to their sweetness, greatness, and gravity. Krsna came to fix their intelligence on His perfectly formed, beautiful body from the beginning of their meeting until the end. Merciful Krsna manifested before them to bathe their hearts in the ecstasy of rapturous love. Now they could regard their previous searching here and there for Him in separation to be just a dream

Krsna replaced the emaciated bodies of the gopis, which had been bum by the fire of separation, with fresh, cool bodies full of pleasure. Krsna’s return put their escaping life airs back in their proper places. To make them believe they had never heard the word "separation," Krsna appeared so that He could embrace each one of the gopis simultaneously, and kiss their cheeks without even touching their sweet lips.

Standing before them, the dearest friend of the gopis, wearing a swaying garland of forest flowers and a yellow garment, looked like a newly ar­rived Cupid. Krsna had not appeared from their hearts, from the forest, from the earth, and not from anywhere. He just stood there. Out of their affection for Him the gopis stared at Him with excited, wide-open eyes All of the gopis looked as joyful as night-blooming lotuses at the sudden appearance of the full moon, or like youthful cataki birds looking at new clouds arising after a long dry spell. Their hearts swelled in happiness like deer looking at an unexpected downpour on a blazing forest fire, or like the air of life reentering a dead body. Forgetting all their pains as well as their own bodies, they stood up happily and eagerly approached Krsna.

The Gopis Beckon for Pleasure

One gopi grasped Krsna's lotus hands, another leading gopi placed His arms on her musk scented shoulders, and one gopi, inclined to service, respectfully took His chewed betel in her hands, which served as a golden spittoon. One leading gopi, burning with desire, put His lotus feet on her budding breasts. Decorated with the fresh young leaves of His toes, Her breasts looked like a pair of auspicious golden water pots announcing the upcoming rasa dance.

Standing at a distance, one gopi, beside herself with loving anger, bit her beautiful lips and glared at Him with frowning eyebrows. While cast­ing glances from her reddened eyes smeared with kajala, it seemed as if she shot arrows tipped with the poison of pride. Another gopi with un­blinking eyes drank the honey of His lotus face, but even after deeply relishing its sweetness she did not feel satiated. Only when Krsna looked into her eyes did she become satisfied.

One married gopi took the Lord through the aperture of her eyes and placed Him in the temple of her heart. Then fearing His departure, with her eyes closed and her bodily hairs standing on end, she continuously embraced Him within. Seeing Krsna standing in front of her, one gopi, like a golden flower bud, felt bashful, placed her hands down at her sides, and then shook and stretched Her body. One gopi became agitated upon beholding the pleasing form of Cupid personified standing at a distance. Then her pride took the form of a campaka bow to aim at Krsna.

One cakora-eyed gopi, in order to attract Krsna, interlocked her fingers and held them over her head. Shaking off her fatigue, she stretched her body. Her two arms framed her brilliant moon-like face decorated with a mild smile. One very bold gopi moved her hand around in a circle while snapping her fingers to rid herself of shyness. The effulgence emitting from her smile provided a pathway for the shyness to pass out of her body.

Taking her braid in her flower petal fingers, one doe-eyed gopi tucked it between her breasts. Then she forcibly pressed her breasts together with her two arms while closing her eyes. Her hairs stood on end as she em­braced the braid in this way for some time. By this she indicated her desire to enjoy with Krsna.

One lotus-faced girl, her forehead covered with perspiration due to the spread of ecstatic thrill bumps, joyfully gazed on a toy lotus flower and smelled it. Then brushing away the bees gathering about, she affection­ately kissed it. [This gopi reveals the wonder, the pretense of remorse in the competition between rivals, and a request to kiss the Lord that madhurya-rasa generates.]

One cakora-eyed gopi held the shoulder of a friend with her arm while casting a sidelong glance at the face of her beloved. The sidelong glance is a sign of her bashfulness in attempting to conceal her real desire. Holding the gopi's shoulder reveals her desire to embrace Krsna.

One gopi undid her hair and again rebound it while her glistening golden bangles chimed sweetly. In bewilderment, she thought her anger hid in her bound up hair, and so she searched there to quell it. Her actions indicate a complaint after enjoying with the Lord, and a display of obsti­nacy from Her proud nature.

One gopi put her little finger in her left ear and scratched it while shak­ing her left arm. The jingling noise from her bangles sounded like a vic­tory cry in the battle of love. One thin gopi, her bangles tinkling, aimlessly twirled a delicate lotus with her right hand. It appeared to be a giant whirlpool in the river of fresh beauty, whose sound announced victory in the battle of love.

Due to the bliss from intense desire and the ecstatic anger arising from discovering Krsna's deceit, one gopi moistened all over with perspiration. As she trembled in the wind, the edge of her upper garment swayed back Md forth. She looked like the personified flag of victory in the battle of love.

One skillful gopi laughed loudly in order to catch Krsna's attention. It denied like a shower of flowers from the creeper of desire growing within her, which had fallen down due to the force of the tempest of longing.

Simply by seeing Krsna, one very young, doe-eyed gopi cried profusely n seemed her mind said, "0 eyes, you have seen Krsna. The other senses such as the ears are not deriving such bliss. So I consider you fortunate." Then her mind, melting in love, pressed the two eyes of Krsna firmly in her embrace, causing her eyes to overflow with tears.

One gopi, stunned by the sight of Krsna, stood like a golden statue. She defeated Krsna by having more good qualities than the best of lovers in the three worlds. The whole body of one gopi broke out in goose bumps like a kadamba tree blossoming from top to bottom. It seemed as if the arrows of Cupid that had entered her heart during separation from Krsna were extracted by a special mystic jewel known as Krsna's kiss.

One doe-eyed gopi, perspiring in all Her limbs, appeared like a golden lotus covered with drops of dew. It appeared that upon seeing the moon face of Krsna, the Lord of afflicted life airs, the moonstone of her mind had become liquid and oozed out from reflecting that moon light.

One gopi, her eyes darting hither and thither like a cakora bird and her body continually trembling from the sight of Krsna, looked like a campaka vine blowing in the wind. It seemed as if the elephant king of desire had entered her body to shake the earth of her heart with his mad rampage. One moon-faced gopi with a voice sweeter than a cuckoo suddenly lost her voice upon seeing Krsna. She resembled a melodious vina gone outfit tune due to damp weather.

One doe-eyed gopi pulled her crooked hair braid over her shoulder. While moving her eyes as if in fear of a snake, her eyebrows frowned. Then she threw back her braid with her veil and ran away. By this she hinted that Krsna should place His arms on her shoulders. Seeing some bees flying in front of her, one gopi waved her hands playfully to shoo them away, and then gracefully covered her lips with the edge of her veil. This revealed her desire for Krsna's kiss.

On seeing the face of Her beloved, one lotus-eyed gopi did not speak, move away, nor show any signs of bliss. She bent her head to indicate; "I know who You are." Being angry that Krsna had come to give her more suffering, she peered at Him with reddish eyes. Feeling jealous, she placed her folded hands above her head as an offering of respect before leaving Him.

One gopi looked furtively at Krsna as if to ignore Him, while placing her left arm near the shoulder of her companion. To prevent Krsna from un­derstanding her desire, she did not put her arm directly on her friend s shoulder. With a maudlin smile and her moving eyebrows shining in an­ticipation, she mumbled monosyllables. Though meaningless, these sounds held great meaning. The sounds indicated her pride, insult, jubilation, and yearning.

In a mood of humility and adoration, one gopi, her bangles tinkling, fanned the lord of her life with the edge of her upper garment. Due to experiencing ecstatic emotions, the cloth fell from her hand, yet she con­tinued to wave her empty hand. "Lord of my life! How can You walk in the forest with Your tender feet, which are softer than lotus buds?" Say­ing this, one gopi took Krsna's feet in her hands and massaged them.

In these verses, the gopis display all the natural emotional states such as trembling, being stunned, scratching the ear, stretching the body, embrac­ing braided hair, and smelling a toy lotus to indicate their desires for conjugal enjoyment. Being submerged in the joyous lake of eternal el­egance, the gopis, though having bodies made of spiritual love, became even more beautiful on seeing Krsna. Even Sarasvati, what to speak of the less intelligent Brhaspati, could not describe their natural attractive­ness, which was filled with a powerful, variegated, and worshipable swell­ing sweetness. Revealing itself in delicious emotional states, this nectarean sweetness easily brought Krsna under its control.

For harvesting His highest enjoyment, the son of the king of Vrndavana broadcast a sweet mood in all directions. Then Krsna, the delightful crown jewel of all lovers, arrived on the bank of the Yamuna. The pleasurable sparkling sands and the streams of soothing moonlight, resembling the brilliance of liquid silver, provided the perfect setting. The bees hummed a gentle tune. The soft southern breeze, like a virtuoso, taught the blue and red lotuses how to dance.

Krsna looked like the full moon surrounded by the stars of the blissful gopis, who displayed the height of noble character. Completely imbued with all attractive qualities, the gopis were embodiments of Krsna's inter­nal potency. The pleasurable minds of the gopis swelled with currents of pride, greed, and jubilation arising from the waves of their youthful exu­berance. With a keen desire to have Krsna as their husband, the fortu­nate sruti-cari gopis, acquiring bodies suitable for that enjoyment, finally attained the fulfillment of their desires. Their heartache vanquished by the ecstasy of seeing Krsna, the nitya-siddha gopis like Radha acted as if unaware of their own eternally exalted positions and thought of them­selves in the same way.

The soft breezes cooled the bank of the Yamuna and artistically swayed the lotus petals, which were embraced by their lovers, the bees. The gopis, who are expert in amorous pastimes, arranged a seat for their friend Krsna ^th their shawls that were as white as milk droplets or jasmine flowers, &nd fragrant with the kunkuma powder from their breasts. While smiling gently they said, "Let us sit here."

Krsna happily sat on those attractive asanas. They far surpassed the seats banged within the lotus hearts of the great masters of mystic meditation.

Those seats defeated the opulence of the costly jeweled throne offered by the goddess of fortune of the three worlds, or the base created by Ananta Sesa, the turtle incarnation, or any other supporting energies. Sitting on those cloth seats spread on the sands of the Yamuna, Krsna, with His broad chest, appeared like a prince enthroned by the goddess of fortune in the kingdom of enchanting pastimes made from the rarest jewels in the three worlds. While sitting on the bank of the Yamuna, which flowed by with waters as black as ink, Krsna and the gopis looked like the moon encircled by the stars.

One group of gopis, adept at inducing the zenith of ecstatic msa, mas­saged Krsna's hands and feet with their loving lotus hands. Their soft hands showed drops of perspiration produced by the blows of sorrow caused by their unfathomable attachment. The fear, pride, and madness that recently attacked their hearts had disturbed their life airs. So while massaging Krsna's feet the gopis sought relief by asking Him some inti­mate questions. Speaking in sweet gentle voices, they indirectly referred to their condition though a series of questions and answers.

The Word Play of Krsna and the Gopis

[In this section the married gopis ask questions and Krsna answers.]

Gopis: "Who has spotless intelligence (ke amala buddhi)?"

Krsna: "He who has a soft mind (ye komala buddhi)."

Gopis: "Who is the greatest (ke mahita)?"

Krsna: "One who is expert in love (ye kamahita)."

Gopis: "What is wasteful (Id apacaya)?"

Krsna: "Intense anger (kopacaya)."

Gopis: "What is sweet (madhura ki)?"

Krsna: "The full moon in spring is sweet (madhuraka)."

[Hearing Krsna's clever answers, the gopis became disturbed. So squint­ing their eyes, they continued the dialogue.]

Gopis: "Although we are overcome by love, Your answers reveal that You have a harsh mind and are filled with anger. We can plainly see that in Your dealings. When Radha just said something trivial, You went away in anger. Today's full moon of the autumn season is much brighter than the full moon in spring."

Gopis: "Who is strong (ke balabhaja)?"

Krsna: "The person who just worships (kebala bhajah)."

Gopis: "Who is peaceful (ke santa eva)?"

Krsna: "Those who are not disturbed and remain happy always (ke santah)."

Gopis: "Who can enjoy the highestrosa (ka sararasa vilasa vilasati)?"

Krsna: "The lotus which stays in the lake (kasara rasa vilasa eva)."

[In this series, Krsna asks questions and thegopis answer.]

Krsna: "Who is to be worshipped?"

Gopis: "He who is filled with rasa."

Krsna: "Who is filled with rasa'?"

Gopis: "He who is the shelter ofprema."

Krsna: "What is premaT'

Gopis: "That which knows no separation."

Krsna: "What is separation?"

Gopis: "That by which one can no longer live. In separation from us, You did not show any grief at all. Therefore You must be without prema. Be­cause You are without prema. You are without rasa."

Krsna: "What is sorrow?"

Gopis: "Separation from a dear one."

Krsna: "What is the dearest thing?"

Gopis: "That which is rare and desired."

Krsna: "What is the rarest thing?"

Gopis: "What cannot be achieved even by any practice."

Being the rarest, most desired, and hardest to attain, Krsna is the dear­est object for the gopis. The gopis felt sorrowful in separation from Krsna. In this way, by playing with the various meanings of words, the gopis wove a fantastic fabric of bright syllables (colors) by moving the shuttle of clever questions and answers. Still even while worshiping Krsna, they felt some­what angry due to the intoxication of love. So very carefully they revealed their minds to the breaker of the cart.

The gopis said, "0 joy of our eyes, now please give us answers on one topic. Some people reciprocate the love only of those who show love to­ward them, while others show love even to those who are indifferent or inimical. Yet others will not show love toward anyone. What person is being described in these three statements? 0 wearer of yellow garments! You are the most knowledgeable among all moving and non-moving entities. Please consider and give Your reply."

The son of the king of Vrndavana, amazed at the gopis' effulgence and the respect they had given Him, understood that this question, which revealed their great pride, had arisen from the jealousy caused by their unbroken love. Knowing this, Krsna looked at them very sweetly with sidelong glances. Then just to satisfy them, He gave a humorous answer imbued with a special taste that could revive a person from death.

Krsna said, "0 dear slender-waisted gopis. People who show affection for each other only to benefit themselves are actually selfish. They have no true friendship. Indeed, if they did not expect benefit for themselves, they would not reciprocate. Some people are compassionate toward all souls, or like parents, naturally affectionate. They lovingly serve even those who fail to reciprocate with them. 0 women with beautiful eyebrows! There are individuals who are self-satisfied (atma-rama), materially ful­filled (apta-kama), or by nature ungrateful (akrta-jnah), or simply envious of superiors (guru-dnihah). Such persons will not love even those who love them."

After saying this, Krsna laughed when He saw the gopis casting looks of disbelief at each other, rather than looking directly at Him. Then Krsna said, "0 greatly intelligent ones, filled with pure friendship! What kind of upside-down questions are you asking? I cannot have offended anyone by My answers. 0 doe-eyed gopis\ Because I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of those who worship Me, nor do I show compassion to those who are indifferent, your first two clever questions do not apply to Me. I am also situated beyond the four types of people given in My an­swer to your third question. I am not atma-rami, completely self-satisfied and absorbed in meditation, for I have been attracted by your piteous conversations. Because of this I am also not apta-kami, free from any desires. For the above reason as well, I am not a guru-druhi, a cruel per­son hating those who help Me. For this reason too, I am not an akrta-jnah, an ungrateful person.

"If you want to know why I did not respond to you when you worshiped Me, then please listen attentively to My answer and hold it in your hearts forever. I do not immediately respond or show Myself to those who wor­ship Me, because I want to intensify their loving attachment to Me. They then become absorbed in remembering Me, just like a poor man, who has gained some wealth and then lost it, can think of nothing else."

As the lotus flower does not fade in the sunlight, the gopis did not wither in the presence of Krsna's statements. Being bound in love by the wearer of the flower garland, the lotus-eyed gopis with pure faces just stood there without revealing a speck of their hearts' pain.

Lotus-eyed Krsna said, "What We have spoken is for the ordinary per­son. It does not apply to you who are worshipable by all. One who has already achieved the limit of perfection cannot possibly go further. There is no one superior to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And there is no love greater than yours. 0 doe-eyed gopis. Just as rock candy is the final and finest product from processing sugar cane juice, similarly, can there be anything higher than the attraction that you have attained for Me? Though separated from your vision, I always remained within you. If that had not been so, then your life airs, which desired to leave your bodies, would not have been appeased.

"Please excuse whatever faults I have committed by acting too boldly. If sometimes the cloud does not serve the lightning (clouds sometimes ap­pear without lightning), does that mean that the lightning will disrespect the cloud? Sometimes, the obstacles created by the lover produce anew, more favorable situation for the beloved. Though the intense heat of the sun produces sweat, the lotuses always feel bliss to their very core by the same heat."

Krsna delivered a dexterous display of words simply to cover His own defeat. Then in a choked voice, Krsna spoke the highest truth, "O gopis. I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your remuneration."

Chapter Twenty The Rasa Dance

The burning pain in the hearts of those fortunate gopis, who were the very life of Krsna, had now been extinguished. Taking to heart the gentle, nectarean words flowing from the full moon of Krsna's mouth, the gopis went almost mad as they caressed Him with their trembling arms. They desired to enjoy their lover who displayed irresistible attraction. With His incredibly gorgeous form, looking more beautiful than a hundred thou­sand Cupids, Krsna served the gopis a continuous feast for their eyes. Then the enchanter the whole creation began His pastime of the rasa dance in order to fill the gopis' hearts with endless bliss. Krsna wanted the gopis to perform the joyful Hallisaka dance to display their talents and individual mellows. Bharata Muni, the authority on mundane dramatics, describes Hallisaka as a circular dance that girls perform while holding their hands on each other's shoulders. Desiring to enjoy this dance, Krsna spoke to His gopi lovers, who resembled the best jeweled flags.

Krsna said, "0 my beloved gopis. I derive great happiness from all of you. Now please hear My words with faith. See this auspicious expanse of naturally brilliant beach made by the Yamuna River, her heart bursting with pleasure. It is like a well-ploughed field devoid of pebbles and shin­ing like camphor. Although there are many of you, see if you can make a circle there."

Hearing this, the gopis replied, "If we stand in a circle we will be far away from You. Our hearts are all trembling at this thought. Being so far away from You, we will not be enthusiastic, nor can we endure the sor­row."

Krsna said, "Now just see the potency of My instructions. Though I will stand in the center of the circle with Radhika, I will also remain beside each of you rapidly twirling around in a playful mood."

Their doubts dispelled, the gopis became anxious to see the fun. In great happiness they joined hands and formed a circle around their beloved Krsna. Their bodies seemed to merge into one form that spread out over the beach like circular waves expanding in an ocean of moonlight. That circle of all-attractive ladies looked like a golden net spread over the wa­ters of eager love for catching the fish-like mind of Krsna with the bait of ripe tumbi fruits (their breasts). The rasa circle resembled a fortress of moonlight topped by the black flags of their swaying black braids, and decorated with golden pots shimmering in the reflection of their full moon faces.

The rasa circle looked like a huge earring decorating the ear of the goddess of the earth, or a golden bracelet of Manasottara Lake surround­ing Sumeru (Krsna), or like a giant bangle around the full moon of Krsna. It looked like a potter's wheel rotating from the touch of a potter expert in Cupid's sports. It appeared like a circular grove of interlocked golden desire creepers decorated with dew drops of perspiration, springing up instantaneously without any seed on the camphor dust beach beside the Yamuna.

As literature is decorated with essays called sarvatobhadra, all forms of auspiciousness and happiness ornamented this dance. Like skillful poetry that can be read forward and backward, the rasa dance sometimes went one way and at other times the opposite way. As poetry is marked by equal flowing syllables., the dance progressed with balanced steps and no stumbling. As poetry is written in both local and Sanskrit languages, vari­ous statements and counter statements punctuated the dance. As poetry is ornamented with puns, which compress two meanings in one sound, tight embraces ornamented the circular dance. As poetry is adorned in alliteration, similarly, during the dance the gopis wore suitable clothing to accentuate the various movements of their hands and feet. As poetry is ornamented with repetition, so in the dance one Krsna appeared as many. As poetry has both flowing and syncopated meters, similarly, the dance sometimes proceeded steadily and sometimes in a halting motion. As the eye has a black spot in the center, the circle of dancers had Krsna in the center.

Without anyone's notice, Yogamaya dressed the gopis in beautiful cloth­ing and ornaments perfectly suited for the rasa dance. Without knowing why, Krsna felt overwhelmingly attracted to the gopis. Just see how expert Yogamaya is at satisfying Krsna's heart!

At the beginning of the dance, the daughter of Vrsabhanu displayed the epitome of glory and beauty. Encouraged by the gopis, Radha stayed in the center of the circle with Krsna. Standing like a picture, Radhika bathed m bliss as She watched the dancing expertise of the other gopis.

Fearing that they had become too spread out, the gopis gathered to­gether again. As poetry may have the fault of looseness, the gopis placed their arms each other's shoulders in order to close up the gap between them. Then Krsna, the king of pleasure, left the center of the circle and quickly entered between each pair of gopis. Releasing their locked arms, Krsna placed His arms on the gopis' shoulders and danced with them, displaying fascinating poses.

Coming between the pairs of gopis, Krsna first faced them and then hid behind their backs. Krsna held their necks between His arms and moved about. By this, the rasa. circle took on a spectacular appearance—like a firebrand twirling around, straight, then reverse, then zigzagging in mo­tion. Krsna's attractive dancing movements filled the gopis with desires to associate with Him.

Turning at full speed and putting His arms on the left and right shoul­ders of two gopis, Krsna simultaneously embraced both of them. Making a space between the two gopis whom He had just embraced, Krsna quickly moved behind them. Then taking His hand away from one, and using the shoulder of the other, He circled around again to face them. In this way the fun-filled rasa dance continued. Moving in this zigzag motion, Krsna rapidly and skillfully went around to embrace each gopi from front and back. Krsna's artistic dance of love filled His dearest gopi and all the oth­ers with ecstatic joy.

Overcome with impatience to witness the rasa dance, unlimited num­bers of demigods and their wives crowded the sky with their hundreds of celestial airplanes, which looked like planets hanging in the sky. The ho­rizon looked like an assembly hall filled with the Caranas, Kinnaras, Siddhas, Sadhyas, Gandharvas and Vidyadharas. The demigods played varieties of festive tunes and melodies to increase the pleasure of Radha and Krsna. They accompanied the rasa dance with muraja drums, shaped like poems of the same name. They beat drums (mrdanga), made from pure clay devoid of rocks and other debris from the earth (mrdanga). They rang small metal cymbals (panavas) as plentiful as an exchange of coins (pana) in buying and selling goods. The drummers held the beauti­ful alingya drums in close embrace (alinga). They played brilliant ankya drums suitable for the various acts of a drama. The anakadundubhi drums equaled the praiseworthy Anakadundubhi (Vasudeva) of the Yadu dy­nasty. The vibrations of numerous stringed instruments such as the vina (vitata) pervaded (vitata) the sky. The wind instruments (susiram) had needle-like holes (sasusiram), and the special drums (anaddha) were tied up (sanaddham) like precious jewels.

The celestial musicians showered so many flowers that the bees thought they were the kajala-tinged tears of the goddess of heaven. With hairs standing erect in ecstasy, the Gandharvas sang the glories of Yasodanandana. The rhythmic sounds of the anklets and bracelets of Krsna and the gopis poured nectar into the ears of the devatas accustomed to drinking ambrosia, and destroyed their desire to taste anything else.

Krsna submerged in unlimited bliss as He rapidly spun around between each pair of gopis and embraced them. When the circle of gopis combined with the single dark body of Krsna, it conquered the beauty of the combi­nation of moonlight and darkness, of lightning and storm clouds, of campaka and blue lotus flowers, and of gold and sapphires. Ceasing their zigzag movements, the dancers started turning in a circle. As they merrily danced, the gopis' veils rustled, their earrings swung on their cheeks, their coral necklaces swayed playfully on their shoulders, and their bracelets, waist-belts and ankle-bells tinkled delightfully. The gopis, flashing like stationary lightning, sent waves of light around the universe of cloud for­mations (Krsna) whirling around in the dance.

Then something extraordinary happened. Making smaller circles, Krsna danced close to Radha in the center, and then He expanded again to the circumference of the circle in order to dance close to the other gopis. Enjoying His pastime, Krsna appeared like a roaming sapphire necklace, freed from its thread, in the jewel box of the circle of gopis. Impelled by the festive sight and desiring to dance like the blissful gopis, the god­desses of dancing, singing, and playing instruments appeared personally at the rasa dance. The presiding deities of music and dance had attained expertise in these arts after long practice. In a blissful mood, the teachers of music and dance worshiped those skilled dancers. They welcomed the arriving demigods of hand positions (mudras) who assist them in their productions.

As the gopis expertly sang and danced to the beat of the music, they displayed various mudras and enchanting bodily poses. Mudras are hand postures that tell a story or act out the drama of the music. In the follow­ing list, the mudra is first defined and then explained with a metaphor. During the rasa dance the gopis exhibited all of these mudras to express their different moods.

1) Pataka Mudra (flag): like a beautiful flag flying from the mansion of a wealthy man.

2) Tripataka (three banners): like the smoke from the sacrificial arena, the flag of the sacrifice.

3) Hamsa Mastaka (swan's head): as tender .as the lotus stem touched by a swan.

4) Kartari Mukha (betel nut clipper): a curved blade, like the thin moon on the second day after dark moon.

5) Suka Tundaka (parrot's head): brilliant, like the beak of a parrot, the color of the palasa flower.

6) Sandamsa: compressed like pincers pulling out threads of molten gold.

7) Khataka Mukha (suspicious face): like Siva holding a khataka (musi­cal instrument) in His hands.

8) Padma Kosa (lotus bud): attractive as a lotus surrounded by eager bees.

9) Ahitunda Mudra: like a snake charmer skillfully holding a snake's head.

10) Suci Mukha (pinhead): like the head of the needle, plentiful in the tailor's shop.

11) Mrga-sirsaka (deer's head): like the constellation mrgasirsa during the full moon of the winter month.

12) Ardha Candra (half moon): like the moon on the eighth day.

After thanking the hand position devatas, the goddesses of the perform­ing arts welcomed the devatas of songs and ragas. The devatas in charge of various styles of prabandha and dhruva, and of irregular intonation such as harivilasa, svarartha, along with various rhythms such as caccatputa, caccaputa, hamsalila, gajalila, simhananda (extensive tolas), as well as ekatali, rupaka, pratimantha, nisaru, yati, triputa aduka, and adi tala were also in attendance. The music devatas of southern, tailanga, and western styles all gathered there. They received the devatas of ragas such as malara, mallara, bhairava, kedara, nata, karanta, kamoda, sama, desaga, gandhara, bangala, and vasanta; the devatas of raginis: gujjari, bahulagujjari, barati, desika, bhairavi, velavali, ramkiri, dhanasika, sri, pali, gori, todi, gondakiri, and kalyanika.

They greeted the Laksmi of singing and the devatas of text and music, the seven melodies (svaras), the twenty-one fading notes (murcchana), three scales (grama), eighteen scales (jati) and twenty-two marginal notes (sruti). They welcomed four types of instrumental devatas: wind instru­ments such vamsi, muralika, pavika, upanga; string instruments like vina, mahati, kavilasika, vipanci, svara mandalika, kaccapi, rudravina and kinnari, drumming instruments like mrdu, mrdanga, damaru, dampha; and percus­sion instruments like cymbals. They welcomed the different tempos: fast, slow and medium, and the body poses of dance. Among them appeared devatas such as svaramandalika, vipancika, mahati, rupavati holding lutes and others holding tamburas. Many singers with drummers, vina, and flute players joyfully appeared there. Many expert karatala players kept the rhythm. All these devatas, the embodiments of the performing arts, and the Upanisads of the arts, attended the rasa lila with smiling lotus faces and looks of astonishment.

The best dancers assembled there showing their expertise in both the improvised and the pure styles. They exhibited proficiency in all the se­crets of music and graceful movements like a person who turns ordinary words into songs. Something more may be added. There are two types of songs, marga (song, dance and music according to the rules laid down by Brahma) and desi (regional). There are thirty-four types of marga and forty types of desi songs. In musicology, the cancaputa beat is famous. The recitation of beats (bol) sounded most attractive: thaiya tatha-tatha-thaiya, tatha-tatha-thaiya-tathatti-tatha-thaiya, thaiya-tatha-tatha-thaiya, thaga-thaga-thaga-tattitha-diganathai. Following this recitation, the rhythm keepers kept karatalas in their hands. Moving them left, right, up and down, they sang an attractive new eighth note, though there are only seven notes in the scale, playing in different measures (laghu, guru, pluto, drat, and virago) sometimes with bol and sometimes without. ?

When the drummers raised a tumultuous sound by hitting the ends of the drums with their hands, their lips shone and their throats quivered. The female singers took on a splendor as they turned their ears towards the sound of the instruments thundering with great skill. The seven notes revealed their beauty in four ways according to their placement in the tune: anuvadi, vivadi, vadi and samvadi. The vadi is like a king; it is used frequently and defines the svarupa or essence of the raga. The samvadi acts like the fifth note and is called the minister. Any of the other four notes may be the vivadi, or enemy. The remaining notes of the raga are called anuvadi, the followers of the king and minister.

The constituents of the svaras are called srutis, which re twenty-two in number named tivra, kumudvati, and so on. When these combine they form three types of grama (scales): sadja, madhyama and gandhara. When a svara (melody) fades into a raga it is called a murcchana (fading note). Raga develops by using murcchana. There are a total of twenty-one murcchanas (seven svaras times three scales) such aspancama, rodri, and others. All these murcchanas appeared during the rasa-lila.

Playing the murcchanas in ascent is called tana. There are forty-nine tanas (key notes). From them minor tanas arise. It is impossible to count their varieties. In the rasa-lila 300,000 tanas appeared. Jatis are the arche­types of ragas. There are seven pure jatis and eleven secondary jatis, a total of eighteen. Though only eighteen in number, seventeen thousand nine hundred jatis appeared in this rasa dance. There are three types of complete ragas appearing in fifty forms. By omitting and retaining notes many forms of ragas resounded within the rasa dance. There are six main ragas such as sri and vasanta, and thirty-six raginis (wives of the ragas) or derivative forms such as mala, sri, and todi. Unlimited varieties of ragas and raginis arise by mixing those forms.

In order to sing the srutis, jatis, murcchanas and the fifteen gamakas (trills or making a melody pulsate), Brahma supplied fixed and change­able tuning on the vina. While sounding the vinos to regulate the pitch of the gopis' voices, one wondered about the accuracy of the vinas tuning. Proud of their ability to test the pitch of voices, the vinos themselves be­came tested by comparison with the gopis' voices. The gopis sang a type of song called suddha prabandha. There are nine types of suddha: adi, yati, nisaru, adda, triputa, jhampaka, manthaka and ekatali. Then the gopis sang dhruva and mantha songs of the salaga suddha style using various irregu­lar beats. They also sang prabandha songs.

Excitedly uttering the bol, "thaiya thaiya tatha tatha thaiya thaiya thaiya— tigara ta-thaiya, the gopis, stamping their feet on the ground and raising their arms in the air, danced sweetly from left to right, while going around the circumference of the circle. To further relish the singing the gopis made mudras to dramatize the words of the songs. As they gracefully turned their necks, their eyes darted from left to right glancing at Krsna with looks of love.

Raising their arms high and shaking their bangles while spinning around, the gopis danced with lightning speed. Because they tasted such ecstasy within, they could not stop. Being strung on the thread of Krsna's beauty within their hearts, they flawlessly and continuously moved their feet to the left and right. While stamping their feet to the beat "dhi dhidhi dhita dhidhi," their bodies swayed in time and their jeweled ankle-bells softly jingled. The cloth slipped from their breasts, and it seemed their thin waists would soon snap in half. But fearlessly, they swung their arms around and danced in joy, twisting left and right.

The vina and flute players also danced with precise steps. The singers and rhythm makers danced according to the beat of the song. The drum­mers played loudly and danced in unison. Their sound was like a thread tied to the bodies of the dancing gopis. When Krsna turned to the left while moving around in the rasa circle, the gopis turned to the right. And when Krsna turned to the right, they turned to the left. Dancing in this manner, they appeared as figures spotlighted by a moving lamp, which cast shadows first on one side then on the other side, as the combination of golden bodied gopis and dark blue Krsna repeatedly reversed their positions.

The instrumentalists, situated outside the circle, assisted the pastime of the Lord by playing according to the dancing of the gopis. The gopis sang various songs about the sweetness of Krsna, "the personification of all nectarean enjoyment." In response, Krsna sang about the beauty of the moon, "who brings pleasure to the night." In a gentle ragini, the gopis sang, "His face is the abode of sweetness..."

As the beat picked up and the gopis stamped their feet harder, drops of perspiration fell from their lotus feet like honey on the sand. Astonish­ingly, the fury of the dancing did not raise a speck of dust. The image of Krsna's dancing, which reflected on the gopis' tilaka, swayed to the rhythm of the dancing gopis as they rocked their heads. The gopis seemed to be saying to that reflected image of Krsna, "0 skillful dancer, Your dancing can never, never, never compare with the splendid dancing of the gopis in the rasa mandala."

At the end of the dance, all the lotus-eyed gopis tightly embraced Krsna. Trembling in ecstasy, they sang another raga in loud voices, conveying their intense longing. The devatas of music all fainted upon hearing this raga. One gopi, joining Krsna in His singing, sang pure melodious tones with full feeling in the gandharva scale made pleasant by suitable jati, sruti and gamakas. Pleased, Krsna showed great appreciation for her perfor­mance, saying "Excellent! Excellent!" She pleased Krsna by singing the seven notes of the scale embellished with twenty-two srutis presented with the principle ornaments in the introductory passages (alapa).

Hearing the mrdangas playing "ta dhik ta dhik" the dancers of the heav­enly planets filled with cheer. Though critical of any competition, they filled with delight on hearing that sound. The gopis kept dancing and the instruments kept playing. Due to intense attraction to Radhika, Mukunda, swelling with bliss and pride, performed a danced a solo exhibiting His eternal nature as the embodiment of rasa. Wearing a peacock feather in His hair, Mukunda showered the rasa dance in a cloudburst of nectarean prema by embracing Radha in His arms. Krsna looked like a tamala tree embraced by a golden creeper, a cloud flashing with lightning, or like a perfect medicine produced by the goddess of amusement herself to bring satisfaction and to dissipate all lamentation.

The splendor of Krsna's elegance conquered the pride of a million Cupids. Like a magnet, Krsna attracted the flower buds of Cupid's arrows of love. Seeing Radha dancing with Krsna, the other gopis wanted to en­hance Her expert dancing, but they could not keep up with Radha's pro­ficient playing, singing and dancing.

This performance was not simply a result of practice, nor a show of expertise in learning singing and dancing, nor a momentary display of enthusiasm based on a little talent cultivated through repetition. Radha's impeccable qualities are eternally present and eternally perfect. They do not depend on practice to manifest. Radhika's natural perfection far ex­ceeds that of all the famous women in creation. The dancing skills of Urvasi cannot be compared to Radha's. What to speak of the other Apsaras who hide themselves in the pleasant waters of bashfulness before Radhika. In front of Radha, the wives of the Caranas retreated to the edge of the forest, the wives of the Siddhas gave up their pride, and the wives of the Gandharvas lost their noble character. Fixing their minds on the great fortune of Krsna's intense love for Radha, the wives of the devas arid munis sprinkled flowers.

In a mixture of joy, enthusiasm, and a desire to outdo each other, Radha and Krsna, overcome with attraction, sang the alapa (introductory part) with the initial note (graha) and the sixth note. They sang all the notes of the ascending and descending scales withgamaka (trills or wavering). This invoked various tastes, induced more singing and dancing, and spread auspiciousness all around. It did not, however, appear to be a manifesta­tion of any material skill.

As the rhythms faded out jUast before the end of the song, Krsna concluded the song with the final note (rtyasa), extending His lotus hand (nyasa} to touch Radhika's breast. Although intrigued by Krsna's witty behavior, Radhika pretended to be angry and pushed Krsna's hand away with Her left lotus hand.

Merciful Krsna captivated all the gopis with the sweetness of His face and His broad, playful smiles, which ga\ye rise to selfless love. Though Krsna's heart overwhelmed with the desire for conjugal love, He contin­ued to dance a little more, while swingiiing His head. Sometimes Krsna moved to the outside of the circle and danced with the tribal Abhira women standing on the edge, and other times He moved to the center of the circle to dance with Radhika.

After relishing the dancing, Krsna wanted to see the expertise of the gopis in performing other intimate pastimes. He stood before them, show­ing His radiant face and attractive arms while interacting with each one according to her individual rapture. Krssna said, "0 my beloved gopis. Now take sufficient rest for some time. ' Then we will see how to enjoy ourselves."

Saying this, Krsna and the gopis relaxed j on the cooling, camphor-white sands along the bank of the Yamuna. The intelligent Yogamaya, Vrnda-devi, and her associates came there; knowing the time had come for their service. They brought plenty of elegant and appropriate things to give to the gopis. With great affection they offered wild flower honey, cooling fruit juice in palasa leaf cups more attractive than jeweled dishes, gar­lands, and betel nuts, with a taste so satisfying and perfect that no ordi­nary person could have made it.

Krsna forgot about His pastimes of eating on the riverbank with His cowherd friends. It occurred to Krsna that He had now fulfilled His de­sire to picnic directly with the gopis on the bank of the Yamuna. Krsna passed the time playfully eating with them in unlimited bliss. Intensely desiring to see the fun, Brahma and the other devatas did not go any­where. But since they had previously offended Krsna when He picnicked with His cowherd boyfriends, they did nopt have the courage to gaze on this secret picnic. Thus they raised their clqoths to cover part of their faces.

After savoring the ecstatic rasa dance, Krsna enjoyed in a different way in that solitary place, joking and laughing in the madness of love. Devoid of restraints, the ocean of prema in the rasa mandala swelled with high, unlimited waves. In that condition, Gopinatha and His lovers tasted the sweet fruits and nectar drinks. With great pleasure Krsna sipped the cool water brought by respectful vanadevis. He relished the betel nuts flavored with camphor and sara root, which He held before His mouth in a unique way.

The wind passing over the Yamuna carried the scent of lotuses and the blissful sound of cranes and ducks as it blew gently on Krsna's body. After drinking His fill of liquor before the battle, Krsna left His sitting pastime with a desire to dance again in the artful battle of love. Standing up, Krsna played an amazing raga in the gandharva scale on His flute. It so much surpassed His previous songs that even the expert musicians could not touch it. The devatas sang along accompanied by mrdangas.

Because it is impossible to describe the fantastic dancing of the indi­vidual gopis, the dancing of one gopi of Radha's group will now be de­scribed, from which everything can be understood.

As the voices and instrumental music blended in a pleasant way, one gopi, who embodied the essence of the art of dancing, stood up amidst the singers like the center of a flower surrounded by golden petals. When the beat fell off, she appeared like a deity making a sudden appearance to the clanging of musical instruments. That gopi had a very thin waist and heavy swollen breasts. While bending her delicate left and right hands to show the ardhendu (half-moon) and padmakosa (lotus bud) mudras, she glanced slowly from right to left. Perspiring profusely, her body seemed to be as soft as molten wax as she moved gracefully executing difficult dance steps. According to proper method, she extended and contracted her arms while touching her waist, forehead, neck and knees, and forming mudras such as hamsasya. Dancing in this way, her waist became even thinner and her breasts more firm. Her braid licked her heels and the three lines on her belly disappeared.

When the beat stopped, she waved her hands in the air and suddenly bent her back in such a way as to conquer the beauty of the campaka flower bow of Cupid. Fixing her knees firmly on the ground and stretch­ing her arms out to the sides, she twirled around with lightning speed. Her ornaments jingled, her necklace and earrings swung, and swarms of bees circled around, being attracted by the fragrance of her mouth. She appeared like a golden wheel spun rapidly by a mad potter. The combina­tion of the pale luster of her gold necklace, the redness of her lips, and the blackness of the bees made an extraordinary picture.

While contracting her belly, dropping her sash, and expanding her breasts, this gopi dug her toes into the earth, straightened her legs and raised herself on her feet. Clenching her fists and pressing her thumb against her breasts, she recited the bol "tathd td-thdi thai td-thai thai ta-thdi" in unison with the beat while ringing her bangles and ankle-bells. When the song finished she suddenly disappeared from the center of the circle and positioned herself on the circumference. While the voices, vinas, flutes, karatalas, and mrdangas resounded, this gopi stood behind the sing­ers and rested her arms on the shoulders of a friend. While chewing betel nut, she extended her legs so that a friend could untie the strings of her ankle-bells. To relieve her fatigue her friends stood around fanning her with their shawls. Her breasts heaving, she took a few deep breaths and fell asleep.

After resting some time, she heard the singers expertly reciting the alapa to introduce a new song. Then she reentered the rasa mandala like Cupid personified. Illustrating the song with intricate mudras, she danced so enthusiastically that Siva became inspired to perform His tandava dance. Her thumb had the best of beauty, her forefinger excelled the pride of Cupid, her middle finger defeated the grace of the universe, her ring fin­ger defeated the pride of Cupid's wife, and her little finger established the meaning of colorful expression.

' This gopi with beautiful teeth, raised firm breasts, and nicely shaped buttocks, waved her hands, exciting her golden bracelets to jingle attrac­tively. She raised her knees and arms in turn to the beat of "tat-ta ta-thdi tiki-dd tiki-thai." This golden gopi appeared like a continually rising golden light as she twisted and turned higher and higher. She appeared like a stream of golden pollen stirred up by a storm amongst a group of lotuses composed of singers and musicians.

As she swayed in the sky like a glowing vine, she displayed many compli­cated movements. Indeed, this did not arise from dance lessons. As the essence of gracefulness, her feet never touched the ground. If a group of lightning bolts from a cloudless sky remained stationary for a long time swaying in the breeze and roaring with the beat "tat-td ta-thdi" it might compare with this gopi's dancing. As the beat subsided and her footsteps softened, this gopi with full breasts swayed her body back and forth, re­vealing the perfection of beauty in her upper limbs. Her friends feared that her thin waist, unable to bear the bending, would break like a tender lotus stem. When her golden ankle-bells signaled the beginning, she danced with great skill. Moving her feet to the different beats (laghu, guru, pluta, druta, drutata, and ardha drutapada), she rang all her ankle-bells. Some­times she jingled only a few, and sometimes not even one bell sounded. Pleased with her, Radha and Krsna cheered out, "Very good! Very goodF and embraced her. This gopi's spectacular performance astonished the assembly of Apsaras and devatas.

After watching each gopi dancing in this way, Krsna commenced His performance. Displaying inconceivable dancing prowess, He moved with abandon along with all the gopis. Abounding in joy, He sang and danced and induced the gopis to sing and dance. Dancing in this way the night passed in an instant, although it extended for the length of Brahma's night. In this extraordinary rasa dance, sometimes the gopis danced alone or in a group. Sometimes they danced singly in turns, or joined with Krsna to sing and dance a duet. Feeling both tired and extremely satisfied from the blissful rasa dance, the gopis opened their bodices and rested their arms on Krsna's shoul­ders. The gopis looked as gorgeous as golden creepers hanging on the branches of a tarnala tree caressed by the breeze. Embraced by the ex­hausted gopis, Krsna appeared to be the embodiment of conjugal rasa embraced by the embodiment of ecstasy.

One gopi, with swaying necklaces, lotus bud earrings, and an elegant dress, put her left arm on Krsna's shoulder. As her belt and ankle-bells chimed along, she sang and danced in a slow, artistic manner. Krsna danced after her, following her movements. One love-excited lotus-eyed gopi grabbed the border of Krsna's golden dhoti in her lotus hand, and danced back and forth while pulling it and making Krsna dance in response.

Another gopi, charged with emotion, sang and danced in an even tempo responding to the sweet sound of Krsna's flute. In a mood of jest, Krsna intentionally played some dissonant notes. With her glance that gopi chas­tised Krsna while at the same covering her own discordant notes. The gopi said, "Krsna! You are playing out of tune to distract me and point out my faults. I know Your tricks. Your gestures reveal Your intention to make me sing out of tune!"

After dancing for a while to His flute song, one gopi induced Krsna to dance proudly by singing and playing her vina. Just for fun, in the middle of the dance, Krsna moved with a complicated, irregular gait. Becoming very impatient, the gopi thought, "That Krsna is not going to make me laugh and miss the beat."

Thus Krsna gave pleasure to all the young ladies of Vrndavana by em­bracing them, glancing lovingly at them with His playful smiles, kissing them, and drinking the nectar of their lips. All the different gopis present at the rasa mandala got a chance to dance and individually enjoy with Krsna. In this way, the gopi group leaders, their followers, and maidser­vants all relished the greatest ecstasy in the rasa dance festival.

Fatigue personified as a friendly sakhi to decorate the gopis' foreheads with beads of perspiration that looked like attractive strings of pearls. Their limbs hung loosely from lethargy as if they were drunk from liquor. But even in their exhaustion the gopis looked elegant and effulgent. Her body drooping from weariness, one gopi draped her arms on Krsna's shoul­ders. Not being able to bear the weight of the mountain of her good for­tune, she had to load it on the shoulders of her lover in order to rest for some time.

After getting intoxicated on honey wine, one gopi completely discarded her bashfulness. Brimming with affection, she went mad to enjoy without restraint. She looked particularly beautiful due to shaking from the fa­tigue of bearing the weight of her heavy breasts. Upon her shoulders Krsna placed the jeweled batons of His arms, whose natural blue-lotus fragrance mixed with that of the sandalwood pulp anointing them. As the gopi rel­ished that fragrance, she submerged in an ocean of ecstasy. Then riding the high waves of satisfaction, she kissed Krsna's arms.

Next to Krsna's cheek one tired gopi put her own, beautified by effulgence of her jeweled earrings, which glittered as she danced. Admiring her soft splendid face, Krsna kissed her and slowly offered His chewed betel nut to Her honey sweet lips. Though they were exhausted, some exceedingly elegant gopis, inspired by the auspicious fragrance of Krsna's body, con­tinued to sing and dance. In doing so, their bodices heaved with their heavy breathing, their necklaces moved like billowing waves, and they moved in frivolous ways. While they danced like this, Krsna grabbed both their breasts with one hand. It appeared like a blue lotus covering two golden water pots. Being so closely set, touching one breast equaled touch­ing the other.

The ears of the lotus-eyed gopis moistened with drops of perspiration from the exertion of dancing and singing. As the intense dancing gradu­ally slowed down, the tinkling of their jeweled ankle-bells ceased. The.n another enthusiastic gopi stepped forward to dance with Krsna, accompa­nied by her pleasant singing, precise movements, and the delicate vibra­tions of her ankle-bells.

Although the long night of Brahma passed away, the joyous adventures of intimate love raged on. Krsna sported like an engrossed boy with mem­bers of the groups assisting the performance of the rasa dance. As expan­sions of their group leaders, these gopis embodied portions of individual - arts and skills. Krsna, the source of Narayana, smiled, talked to them, embraced them, kissed them, and drink the nectar of their lips. Krsna performed all these loving pastimes simply to fulfill the desires of the gopis. The doe-eyed girls with thin, creeper-like arms swam in the river of desire for Krsna, inundated by the delight of directly serving Him. In the gopis' ecstasy, their hair, bodices, and clothing had unknowingly loosened.

The devatas headed by Siva and Brahma praised the son of the king of Vrndavana, the Supreme Person, who stole the minds of all beautiful iwomen in the universe, who is endowed with all wonderful qualities, and who is always absorbed in His pastimes of love. The wives of the devatas fainted simply seeing Krsna from the sky. What an astonishing, incom­prehensible pastime! Even the stars in the sky, caught in the whirlpool of love manifested there, lost their intelligence, became attracted by the desires of their minds and fainted. From its very beginning, the rasa dance disturbed the movements of the moon. The night served Krsna's desire by lasting as long as Brahma's night.

Following the rasa dance, Krsna enjoyed with each gopi in separate solitary bowers. Krsna and the gopis were mutually attracted to each other. Thus Krsna satisfied each gopi to the limit of her desires. Krsna's love displays a wonderful sweetness in union. With His tender lotus hand Hari affectionately wiped the drops of perspiration from the beautiful faces of the smiling gopis, who had tired from the varieties of love sports. But the touch of Krsna's hand saturated their minds with ecstasy, and made the gopis perspire even more! Seeing His lack of expertise in this matter, the gopis themselves took pieces of cloth and wiped their own faces. Then the gopis, who had exhibited their talent in performing enthralling dances, sang some unique self-composed songs, which were charmingly sweet, evoking compassion, and endowed with exquisite beauty.

Playing in the Yamuna

To dispel the gopis' fatigue from dancing and exhaustive conjugal pas­times, Krsna entered the Yamuna, followed by swiftly moving, singing bees. Their lengthy pastimes on the bank had covered Krsna and the all gopis with dust. With great enthusiasm they entered the lotus-filled cur­rents of the Yamuna River. Krsna looked like a lordly elephant playing in the water with his consorts.

While bathing in the Yamuna the exquisite lotus faces of the gopis de­feated the beauty of thousands of lotus flowers, their thin arms defeated the lotus stems, their full, rounded breasts defeated flocks of cakravaka birds, and their graceful flowing movements defeated the flocks of swans gliding on the water. When the gopis submerged themselves up to their necks, the sky filled with the golden lotuses of their faces. Upon touching their pot-like breasts, the river rose in waves to serve those pairs of cakravaka birds. Their many slender arms hanging down in the river ap­peared like hundreds of lotus stems.

Smelling the fragrance of the gopis' bodies, the swarms of black bees gave up the lotuses and soared towards the gopis. It appeared as if the black Yamuna had come to respectfully greet them. When the swans flapped their wings, it appeared that out of affection the Yamuna fanned the tired gopis. When swarms of black bees gathered above them and the devatas showered white flowers, it appeared like strings of pearls sewn on a dark blue cloth, shaking in the wind.

Keeping their beloved in the center and making a circle around Him, the gopis hit the water while holding their hands together. This caused little waves to rise from the Yamuna, which in turn splashed against the chest of Krsna. The waves looked like the hairs of Yamuna's body stand­ing on end in ecstasy. Interlocking their fingers, the gopis gathered water in their hands and forcefully splashed Krsna.

It appeared that Hari had been wounded by the power of Cupid's water weapon. Knowing that Cupid's weapon could not be destroyed, but it could be counteracted, Krsna dove under the water. Moving His hands, Krsna playfully snatched the sashes of the gopis. Pretending to be afraid, they jumped up and ran away as Krsna pursued them splashing water. After quickly defeating the gopis in the water fight, Krsna grabbed all their necklaces as booty and stored them under His armpit. Radha se­cretly approached from behind, loosened Krsna's arm, and seized the necklaces.

Radhika tried to hide amongst some golden lotus flowers but was afraid of the deep water. Radha looked fearfully when Krsna discovered Her hiding place and swam toward Her. Coming up from behind, Krsna sud­denly placed His hands firmly on Radha's breasts and lifted Her up. The other gopis just stared in amazement at His behavior.

Radhika startled when some restless saphari fish (minnows) suddenly brushed against Her legs. Out of fear, She clutched Krsna's neck and embraced Him again and again. Then Radha glorified the genuine friend­ship of the saphari fish and broke out in a tender smile. While some gopis competed to pick lotus flowers and stems they laughed and felt no dis­tress. They faced but one difficulty—the desire born from the bliss of seeing Krsna, who happily witnessed their actions. Afflicted thus, they appeared to be stupefied from a beating.

When Krsna approached these gopis and tried to caress their cakravaka breasts, they crossed their arms in front. Their crossed arms looked like lotus stems embracing their throats. The gopis appeared to be sniffing lotuses as they shyly covered their faces with their lotus hands. In this way, by various gestures, the intensity of passion grew in the water games between Krsna and the gopis. While drenched in the ghana rasa (water, or smgara rasa) the gopis' kunkuma ran off their breasts, their necklaces broke, the kajala washed off their eyes, their lips lost their red color, their jeweled belts came undone, and their hair braids loosened. In this condi­tion, the luscious beauty of the gopis doubled. This is the nature of per­sons drowning in the pleasurable waters of madhura rasa.

After offering their precious gems and jeweled ornaments to the Yamuna River as a gift, the gopis fashioned earrings of spotless water lilies, hair ornaments of lotuses, necklaces of lotus stems, and belts of saivala plants. Their bangles tinkled when they scooped up water in their left hands and slapped them with their right hands to imitate the music of frogs. Thus the water pastimes met a fitting close.

After rubbing oil on their bodies, the golden-hued gopis bathed and then climbed up on the bank of the Yamuna. They looked very beautiful with their loosened undergarments and dark locks of hair dripping with water. It appeared as if the bright rays of the moon, pursued by dense darkness, now retreated and wept. The gopis towel dried their bodies and put on ornaments, clothing, and cosmetics supplied by the all-auspicious Yogamaya, who is always active and expert in supplying the right things at just the right time. While dressing themselves the gopis took on the role of women who dominate their lovers (svadhina bhratrka). With their pleas­ing complexions and dangling earrings, the gopis looked like the goddesses of fortune. Intelligence judges them as the topmost reservoirs ofprema and the abodes of sweetness covered with festive joy.

Surrounding the supreme enjoyer and Lord of their lives, who wore an elegant crown, a kaustubha necklace, and other effulgent ornaments, the gopis entered the courtyards of the forest kunjas along the Yamuna, which resounded with flocks of singing swans and other water birds. The vanadevis provided delicious, fragrant madhu (honey liquor made from flower ex­tracts) in jeweled pitchers. Intoxicated by the fragrance, swarms of bees flew in from all directions and circled overhead. Though lit by full moon­light, the evening sky appeared darkened by their presence. Illumined by the moonbeams, the strand of beach looked like a silver band and the crystal wineglasses looked enchanting. Because the moonlight and the crystal glasses glistened with equal intensity, one could distinguish them only by touch and not by sight.

Gazing at the intoxicating beverage in front of the gopis, Krsna paused a moment to ponder its specialty. To better understand how it causes intense madness and varieties of bewilderment, Krsna eagerly drank the madhu. Joking with the manjaris, Krsna said, "0 beautiful eyed women!

Fill the crystal cups and freely distribute this delightful drink to all the group leaders."

After giving Krsna His share, the manjaris distributed the rest. Krsna and the gopis sat on the bank of the Yamuna, which was purified by the lotus-scented wind and washed by the nectar of the full moon's rays. The madhu appeared to be all-attractive due to its reflecting the image of the moon in the crystal glasses, the presence of the intoxicated bees circling overhead, and the sweet fragrance of full-blooming lotuses emanating from the drink. It is a well-known fact that drinking madhu produces amazing effects. With the first sip the eyes become bloodshot, with the second sip words stop, and the third sip makes a person fearful of harm­less objects and fearless before danger. Knowing the characteristics of madhu, the assembled gopis were reluctant to drink it and show these amusing symptoms for Krsna's pleasure. Nevertheless, the gopis sipped the strengthening potion (madhu increases one's virility and amorous prow­ess) as they approached the battlefield of love.

The beautiful faces of Radha and Krsna looked like a combination of a nectar-filled moon and a honey-filled lotus. Drops of betel nut juice stained Their lips with an attractive reddish hue. While drinking the madhu, Radha and Krsna also sipped the nectar of each other's lips. As the festival pro­gressed, Krsna became as proud and uncontrollable as an intoxicated el­ephant. Krsna, who is the infinite ocean of bliss and the precious jewel of sweetness, abandoned all discrimination as He played madly with the gopis. Appearing intoxicated, Krsna listened to Himself without speaking. The gopis quenched their thirst with their first sip of madhu, and with the second sip they felt stupefied. They conversed with the manjaris in drunken voices. Noticing the reflection of the moon in her glass, one gopi asked, "Hey sakhi. Is the moon drinking up my liquor?"

While fanning her, a sober manjari replied, "He is not only drinking your madhu, but he is stealing the beauty of your face as well. It has already gone down his throat. Quickly bite him with your teeth, for he is immortal anyway."

The gopi replied, "Oh, I will not drink his leftovers!" Then she drank some madhu and threw away the glass.

Another garrulous gopi, with slurred incoherent words, tightly grasped Krsna and said, "Oh, look, the sky is f-f-falling! Ooh! The earth is t-t-turning! 0 Lord, please h-h-hold me! My body is shaking! I will fall o-o-over!"

Seeing the reflection of the bees swarming over her glass, one intoxi­cated gopi said, "This is the dregs of the wine." Then she poured the wine into another glass to remove the dregs before offering it to Radha.

Being totally intoxicated from drinking madhu and the nectar of Krsna's association, Radhika looked extremely attractive as She repeatedly ad­dressed Krsna as "0 lady friend!"

Radhika said, "0 lady friend!"

Playfully matching Her mood, Krsna replied, "Yes, 0 Lord of my life!"

Radha said proudly, "You are called Hari because Your are a thief and You take away all women."

Krsna said, "0 Krsna, be gracious towards Me." [Actually Krsna meant to say, "0 Radha, may You be happy."]

Becoming angry, Radha replied, "0 lady friend Syame, has Krsna met you?" [Radhika intended to say, "0 Krsna, has My friend met with You?"]

Krsna said, "0 Lord, I worship You." [He meant to say, "0 Radha, I worship You alone. There is no one else in this world but You."]

Radha and Krsna bewildered Cupid with Their inverted conversation caused by drinking madhu. After some time the intoxication of the liquor wore off and They recovered their self-awareness. The lethargy, dizzi­ness, and so on from being intoxicated caused a lessening of desires. Now Radha and Krsna entered a state of transcendental madness in love wherein inebriety decreased and desire increased. In this way the beauti­ful gopis of Vrndavana spent the night, which lasted as long as Brahma's day, intimately associating with the Lord of their lives.

Thus the crest jewel of enjoyment, whose body is made of intense bliss, revealed His playful pastimes of love in the company of the Vraja gopis who are expansions of His personal potency known as hiadini sakti. Since the conjugal affairs of materialistic men are devoid of spiritual rasa, the poetic works written about them are all useless productions. Therefore Krsna displayed His transcendental pastimes to show the perfection of such activities. Cupid also attained success by assisting Krsna's divine pastimes in Vrndavana.

The multitude of stars in the sky, which seemed like the remnants of flowers showered by the wives of the devatas, looked like the fading mor­sels of the moon's repast. The pearls of the night queen had been torn from their strings and scattered about in play by her consort the moon. Now, the night collected them again. The remaining stars in the sky looked like the last stray pearls, which gradually disappeared as the night drew to a close.

The moon appeared like a silver ship traveling from one continent to another on the ocean breast of the sky. Being trapped by the counter winds of the rasa-lila, that ship could not move forward for a long time. When the rasa-lila subsided, the ship again moved and soon arrived at its destination in the west. As the moon and stars gradually disappeared, the long night, feeling sorrowful due to its impending separation from the Lord, appeared ready to give up its body. The wives of the devatas, their hearts being pierced by the lance of separation, also disappeared from the sky.

Though the night had been as long as a day of Lord Brahma, upon the conclusion of the rasa dance at the end of that night, the gopis returned to the homes of their "so-called" husbands. Their husbands, however, did not find any fault in them, for Yogamaya had made duplicate copies of each gopi. The husbands took these forms to be their wives. These dupli­cate gopis spent the whole night sleeping next to their husbands. Thus the "so-called" husbands never actually had any intimate contact with Krsna's transcendental consorts known as the Vraja gopisi

For Krsna, the possessor of unlimited energies (saktiman), and the gopis, the embodiments of His hiadini sakti, there is no question of immorality in His enjoying His own svarupa sakti manifesting as the forms of the Vraja gopis. However, to nourish the taste of His pastimes, Krsna's rela­tionship with the gopis seems to be unchaste illicit love according to the conventions of mundane society. The deep attachment Krsna has for His beloved Vraja gopis is never seen in the Lord of Dvaraka and Rukmini, or the Lord ofVaikuntha and Laksmi. The full taste of rasa that Krsna expe­riences in the parakiya-bhava (paramour love) of the Vraja gopis far ex­ceeds the rasa tasted in the svakiya-bhava (wedded love) of His Queens in Dvaraka.

The parakiya bhava lila (the rasa-lila) is not simply a temporary manifestation. This perfectly pure transcendental pastime is eternally going on, even though it may be invisible to our eyes. Krsna displays this marvelous pastime in the material world just to bestow His mercy upon the conditioned souls. Anyone who faithfully hears or describes Krsna's rasa-lila with the gopis will attain inestimable good fortune. Among literary works, those about Hari are sweet, but those describing Krsna in Vrndavana are the sweetest quintessence of nectar! As the Ganga for­ever flows, among the topics of Krsna the rasa-lila is the ever-flowing embodiment of bliss. May my mind always swim in that river of nectar.