Narayana Srihari

Krishna addressed the Gopikas and said, “O Gopikas! Please come either alone or in groups and pick your garments. I have kept them here near the tree’. Noticing Krishna jeering them, the girls felt abashed. They were perplexed. They looked at one another and laughed but did not come out of the waters.

Krishna, the cowherd boy, again addressed the maidens and spoke jocularly. His humorous tone had already captivated their minds. Through His humour He had attracted their minds completely. The girls, who were shivering due to standing in neck deep waters, addressed Him and said,

“O Śrikrishna! Discard this injustice. You are the dearest son of Nanda, who heads our tribe. You are truly worthy of praise. Please return our garments. We are shivering in these icy cold waters. O dark-complexioned beautiful one! You are well-versed in the rules of righteousness. We, your servants, will abide by your commands. Please return our garments else we shall complain to King Nanda. Why do you tease us Krishna? To us, the residents of Gokula and Brindavana, you are the Lord. Please be merciful to us who are shivering in these waters”.

“Krishna replied, ‘O beautiful ones! Your charming smiles reflect your purity. If you, who are all elder to me, truly consider yourselves as my servants and truly desire to obey my commands, then please come here and collect your garments’.

Through these instructions, Krishna was indirectly asking them to give up egoism that exists in feelings of ‘I and mine’. Giving up bashfulness is equivalent of giving up egoism. They had to give up feelings of ‘I-ness’ towards their bodies. Only when feelings of ‘I-ness’ are discarded, the principle of non-dualism can be grasped. Although Krishna did not explain this truth to those girls, this was the hidden message.

The girls had addressed Him as the Lord of the universe. As the Lord of the universe, He naturally was their Lord too. Only He exists, isn’t it? The girls identified themselves as Gopikas only due to feelings of ‘I-ness’. More importantly, Krishna was a small boy and all the maidens were elder to him.

“The girls emerged from the waters. Their bodies were shrinking due to the biting cold. Covering their private parts with their hands, they walked. Śrikrishna, the Supreme Lord, was deeply pleased with their clean and pure minds. Addressing them, who were walking towards Him while shivering in that biting cold, Krishna, who was holding their clothes on his shoulders, said to them with a charming smile,

“All of you have been diligently abiding by the rituals of Kātyayani vrata for the past one month. Nevertheless, you have entered into the waters without any clothing on your bodies, which is against the rules. It amounts to sin”.

Those who are in vrata-deeksha should never be naked when bathing. Ladies who go on pilgrimage and who are performing the rituals for appeasing the fore-fathers should never be naked when bathing. In fact, the rule is equally applicable to men. When taking river bath, the person should never be naked. Touching the river waters during darkness is also incorrect. Plucking flowers prior to sunrise is wrong. After sunset we should not touch any tree. Only after 5 AM, we can touch the trees and pluck flowers. A person who is in vrata-deeksha should never be naked when bathing even at home. At least a small cloth should cover the body.

The girls who had diligently abided by all other disciplines had ignored this rule due to which they were afflicted with sin. The ever-compassionate Lord wanted to free them from this sin.

“Krishna continued, ‘By entering the waters naked, you were disrespectful to the God of water. To wash away that sin, please raise your hands above your head in obeisance, bend and pick your clothes’.”

If the girls did not expiate for their sin, they would land in the worst of hells. None of these rituals performed will destroy their sins.

“The girls now realized that bathing naked in those waters was in violation of the rules of that ritual. They were aware of this rule, but owing to oversight, had missed it. It was the last but one day before the conclusion of the ritual and this oversight of theirs had rendered their entire ritual futile. The girls were adamant that the ritual, which they had painstakingly undertaken, should bear the desired fruit. They raised their hands over their heads, fell to the ground and prostrated before Krishna, the Lord of their ritual, the sole witness for every action of all living entities and the Lord, who bestows upon the people the fruits for their actions”.

Who is there in this universe apart from us and the Lord? Only two beings exist- we and God. There is none else.

“Prostration offered to Śrikrishna destroys every form of sin. Krishna the son of Devaki, was pleased with this prostration offered. His happiness destroyed all their sins. With a compassionate heart, He returned to them their garments”.

It was not his intent to tease or ridicule them. In all paintings and movies, it is portrayed as if Krishna was playing a prank on them or teasing them. It is a sin to portray thus. More importantly, in all movies and paintings Krishna is depicted as an adult, when he was merely 6 years old.

Narayana Naryana Srihari