Krishna Govinda.

The Gopikas continued, “O Krishna! You have said that it is the duty (swadharma) of every woman to serve her husband, his relatives, and her children. You have now, in accordance to that rule, aptly advised us. Although your advice is true and faultless, O Lord, let it remain with you alone”.

This advice which you have given is supremely wonderful, however, the good advice should always remain with the person who is advising. Hence let it remain with you- said the Gopikas, who angry at being rejected, were now mildly admonishing the Lord. They were revolting.

“You are the ultimate objective for every form of preaching. You, the inner Self, are the dearest for every living entity. You are the dearest relative. O Supreme Lord, intelligent spiritual practitioners are eternally soaked in feelings of love towards You, who exist as the inner Self and eternal mate. As such, of what use are the husband, son, daughter and other relations who ultimately leave us grieving? “

It is the Lord and not the worldly relations who can give real happiness, bliss, and liberation. At all times, our relations leave us grieving. This samsara is a mire wherein one showers only sorrow upon another.

“Therefore, O Lord, be pleased with us. O lotus-eyed one, for a long time we have been longing for You. Please do not let our desire go in vain. When this mind was engrossed in completing the household chores, the hands co-operated in completing them. But being a personification of love, You have effortlessly stolen our minds. Our minds have merged into You and hence they no longer focus upon the household matters”.

Now that our minds have been drawn towards You, O Lord, the limbs refuse to complete the chores. The senses have lost the ability to function properly. We are now misfits for those roles.

“Our steps refuse to retrace back to our homes. They refuse to distance from you. We no longer seek to go back to those situations that only end in agony”.

O Lord, how then can we go back to our homes? Will it be right on our part to go back? All our movements are based on You who are everything to us.

“O dear friend, seeing Your tender bewitching smiles and hearing Your melodious voice, the fire called passion is raging in our heart. Please douse this fire with the nectar from Your lips. In the event this fire is not doused, then the fire of separation from You is sure to burn down our body.

O Lord, through meditation we shall reach Your feet. O lotus-eyed Lord! The cowherd boys are very dear to you, aren’t they? They too hold You in high esteem. O Lord, we were very fortunate to touch those lotus feet of Yours which even Mother Goddess Lakshmi finds rare to obtain. From the moment we touched those feet, we are unable to even stand in the presence of others”.

These hands, which have touched Your holy feet refuse to touch anything else. How can we go home then?

“O Lord! All the Devatas strive enormously to ensure that the gaze of Mother Lakshmi falls upon them. Desirous of wearing the dust from Your lotus feet which are served by ardent devotees, such supreme mother, who has obtained a place in Your chest, competes with Tulasi (basil leaves). We too seek to wear the dust from Your lotus feet.

O Supreme Lord! O destroyer of sins! Abandoning husbands, children and homes, we have assembled at Your lotus feet with the sole intent of serving You. Hence, we beg of You to be pleased with us. In their intense eagerness to witness the charming smile on Your lips, our minds are extremely anxious. Please permit us to be Your servants.

Your bright face which illumines radiantly due to the reflection of the earrings falling on Your cheeks, is covered by Your curly locks. Your face which is bedecked with Your nectarous lips illumines due to Your bewitching, tender gazes. Your long firm arms offer protection to all devotees. Your chest is the sole residence for Goddess Lakshmi wherein She wanders leisurely. Enchanted by these factors, we have become Your slaves.

Your music is filled with tuneful ascending and descending notes and various melodious pieces. This form of Yours surpasses the beauty of every plane of existence. Having witnessed this extra-ordinary form of Yours and having heard Your melodious singing, the cows, birds, trees and animals experience horripilation throughout their bodies.

In the three planes of existence, can there be any woman who, deluded after listening to Your heavenly music and seeing Your enchanting form, can resist from deviating from her swadharma?

vyaktaḿ bhavān vraja-bhayārti-haro ‘bhijāto devo yathādi-puruṣaḥ sura-loka-goptā

tan no nidhehi kara-pańkajam ārta-bandho tapta-staneṣu ca śiraḥsu ca kińkarīṇām

O protector of the agonized! Just as Lord Srihari, who is the cause for this creation and who is complete in every aspect is the protector for the heavenly planes, You have incarnated to dispel the agony, sufferings and fear of the residents of Gokula”.

We are now convinced that you are the Supreme Lord who has incarnated for our well-being. How then can you ask us to leave You and go away, O Lord?

“We, the Gopikas, are longing for You. Place Your lotus hands on the chests and heads of us, your servants’- said the Gopikas.

Srikrishna, the master of Yoga and the Lord of all the supreme Yogis, heard the pleas of the Gopikas and laughed compassionately. He decided to delight them”.

They were supreme ascetics who in their previous births had desired to touch the Lord. They wanted to fulfill that desire. When the Lord rejected their demand, they were angered.

Krishna Krishna