Hare Krishna Narayana
Tenth Canto Chapter Thirty-two
In this chapter, Krishna re-appears in the midst of the Gopikas and consoles them.
Maharishi Śuka continued, “O Emperor Parikshit, absolutely determined to see Srikrishna, the Gopikas continued to sing songs for Him. The pangs of separation from Krishna, their beloved, turned unbearable for them. Their love for Krishna was filled with supreme devotion. They sang for Him, discussed about Him and then, in their melodious voices they began to weep sweetly at His non-arrival”.
The agony gushed forth from their hearts in the form of tears. Their anger had dissolved completely and now even their tears were sweet. Just as rain follows thunder and lightning, after calling Him out for hours, they simply shed tears which flowed profusely from their eyes.
“At such moment, all of a sudden, with a charming smile Srikrishna manifested amidst them. The lotus-faced Lord was draped in golden silken garments. With the garland of forest flowers (vanamala) that adorned His chest, He outshone even Manmatha, the Lord of love. The Supreme Lord was visible to them in His complete form.
Just as the senses are suddenly reinfused with energy when the departed life-force returns, the Gopikas were suddenly filled with vitality upon beholding their dearest beloved Krishna in their midst. Their eyes bloomed like the fully blown lotus. At once they sprang from their seats and stood before Him. In great elation one Gopika clasped the hand of the Lord with her joined palms while another placed His hand, which was smeared with sandal paste, around her shoulder. Another beautiful Gopika took into her joined palms the betel leaves chewed by Him, while another Gopika who was tormented by the pangs of separation placed His lotus feet on her chest. One Gopika however, in frenzy lost control over herself. Knitting her eyebrows together, biting her lower lip, she threw side-long angry gazes upon Srikrishna hitting Him with her angry looks.
Even after endlessly serving Srikrishna, the Supreme Lord, noble saints are never satiated. Likewise, these Gopikas, who in reality were noble saints, were not satisfied even after serving Him for a long time. One Gopika was drinking in the Lord’s beauty without even blinking her eyes, yet was not satisfied even after gazing at Him for a very long time. Another Gopika was drinking in the beauty of His golden yellow garments, while another picked the peacock feather that had adorned His hair and kissed it again and again in great bliss. In boundless excitement, one Gopika wore around her neck the garland of forest flowers, which adorned the Lord’s chest, and then put it back around His neck.
Thus, each Gopika expressed her happiness in her own way. The Gopikas were elated that the Lord, who had disappeared from their midst and who had remained invisible, had now made himself visible to them.
Through the door called her eyes, one Gopika welcomed the Lord into her house called her heart. Closing the door, she then embraced Him who was within her heart and experienced horripilation throughout her body. Akin to a Yogi, she was submerged in an ocean of divine unexplainable bliss.
Considering the darshan of the Supreme Lord Krishna as a moment of great festivity, all the Gopikas rejoiced in great exhilaration. Just as a householder seeks refuge under holy saints in order to dispel the agony caused by worldly bondages, with the darshan of the Lord the Gopikas dispelled the agony caused due to separation from Him.
Thereafter, all the Gopikas surrounded Srikrishna. Surrounded by them all, He illumined divinely. Accompanied by them, Srikrishna, the ever-competent Supreme Lord, reached the sandy banks of the River Yamuna. Drawn by the cool winds which carried the fragrance of the blooming hibiscus and jasmines, swarms of bees hovered around the river bank. The flooding rays of the Moon dispelled the darkness of that autumn night. The river with its waves, which appeared like its elongated soft arms, was gently washing the shore and wetting it.
The Gopikas, whose agony had been dispelled due to the reappearance of the Lord, celebrated in great delight. Akin to the Vedas which elaborately describe the Supreme Lord, these Gopikas too attained the end of their desires i.e. they obtained total fulfilment.
With their upper garments, they created a seat for Srikrishna, the friend of their soul. In those garments were turmeric and Kumkum, the signs of auspicious that had decorated their chests. Srikrishna, the Lord of the universe, sat on this seat prepared by the ladies. Accepting a single body within which the glory of all the three worlds is contained, the Lord who was seated amidst the Gopikas and who was reverentially worshipped by them all illumined divinely. Beholding the Lord who was illumining divinely in the assembly of the Gopikas, all the 33 crore Devatas obtained bliss. They experienced horripilation throughout their bodies. Their eyes were filled with tears of bliss. In great elation they too worshipped Him.
Through laughter, through charming, tender gazes and with the movement of their eyebrows, the Gopikas honoured the Lord who kindles feelings of love in one and all. One Gopika placed the lotus feet of the Lord on her chest while another placed His hand on her chest”.
Krishna Krishna