Gopi-Gita
Sri Chaitanya taught that kirtana is the most efficacious means of spiritual attainment in this age, sarvatma-snapanam. Jiva Goswami has explained in Bhakti-andarbha that in Kali-yuga all of the other limbs of bhakti enunciated by Sri Prahlada in Srimad Bhagavatam must be accompanied by kirtana to be effective.
Sri Chaitanya also taught that the method of worship conceived of by the gopis is paramount, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita. The Srimad Bhagavatam's Gopi-gita describes an instance in which the gopis themselves performed kirtana with a view to be reunited with the high note of their life.
Krsna had left the gopis after inviting them with his flute song to dance with him in the moonlit forest of Vraja. Searching for him everywhere, in madness they began to sing. In nineteen songs they heralded their heart's necessity to dance with their love. In so doing, they repaired their broken heartstrings that had frayed from his separation. In their param kirtana, one gopi sang in praise of the song itself. This song is in praise of songs about the source of all sound, the source of all sound himself, and those who sing his virtues in the ears of the spiritually deaf. It was this gopi's song that so much pleased Sri Chaitanya. When he heard it, he lost all sense of socioreligious convention.
In Puri, in a trance of ecstasy, Sri Chaitanya heard the Gopi-gita of the Bhagavata from the lips of Maharaja Prataparudra, the king of that oceanside city of Sri Jagannatha. The king had been fine-tuned by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, a recent convert of Sri Chaitanya's who abandoned his drone of logic (nyaya) for a symphony of love (prema). The king learned from the Bhattacarya how to make harmony with the inner sentiments (bhava) of Sri Chaitanya by reciting the songs of the gopis. When he reached the song of songs, Sri Chaitanya awoke from his trance as if answering to a trumpet. “ Go on reciting! Go on reciting!” he cried to the king, bala, bala' bali' prabhu bale bara bara.
Before the king reached this verse, he began to sing jayati te 'dhikam janmana vrajah.' This is the first of nineteen songs that constitute the Bhagavata's Gopi-gita. This thirty-first chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam is very melodious. In each line the first and seventh syllables begin with the same consonant, as do the second syllables of all four lines, with but one or two exceptions.
In the first verse, the gopis praise the land of Vraja, which has become glorious due to Krsna's birth therein. It is because of this that the goddess of fortune forever resides in Vraja. She resides here, however, as just one of many waiting her turn to associate directly with Krsna. In Vraja, Laksmi takes refuge, something she does not do in Vaikuntha. In the spiritual world with Narayana as her husband, Laksmi holds a special position, but in Vraja her pride is diminished. Such is the superexcellence of Vraja. Thus Vraja is jayati, victorious in the most complete sense of the term. Vraja is the best of places, superior even to Vaikuntha, the spiritual world itself.
Krsna appeared in Vraja to make that land glorious. But what is a country without its people? Thus a gopi implies in this first song that Krsna must make the gopis glorious as well by fulfilling their desire to untie with him. After all, Vraja is the gopi's village. Is it proper then that they should have to look here, there, and everywhere for him, when they demigods such as Brahma are getting his darsana? Should not the local people have the
first consideration, and amongst them the gopis who have risked so much for his company? The the first gopis sings, “O most merciful one, look upon us just once. We are holding our breath (stopping our life) in anticipation of your return. We could have returned to our homes, for it is indeed quite late. We could have thought, 'Our purpose will be better served if we wait and continue our pursuit in the morning.' But there is no morning for us, if we do not find you on this night!”
Continuing his recitation, the king sang the words of the gopis, accusing Krsna of murder for not glancing upon them. “By his glance he steals away the beauty of the autumn lotus. He is therefore a thief, and a thief is often a murderer as well, especially a big thief. Only a very big thief can steal that which is protected on all sides, as is the autumn lotus, seated in the water. So also is the treasure of our heart carefully protected, yet this thief cares not for that. Such a thief is capable of anything!”
They reminded Krsna of his killing of various demons, and again petitioned him to protect them now from the demon of their inner passion, which burned due to their separation from him. The gopis identified Krsna as the one that Brahma petitioned to protect the earth's inhabitants, surely therefore he should now protect them.
Then the gopis put forth a fourfold petition to experience the lotus hand, lotus face, lotus feet, and lotus lips of Krsna. Following this, one gopi sings of the virtue of song itself, song, that is, that is about Krsna. King Prataparudra sang this song and Sri Chaitanya responed as described above.
tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam kavibhir iditam kalmasapaham
sravana-mangalam srimad-atatam bhuvi grnanti ye bhurida janah
“Song about you is like the nectar of immortality (kathamrtam) that gives life to those who are suffering in the world of birth and death (tapta-jivanam). It therefore possesses the opulences of knowledge and detachment. Such song is praised by poets (kavibhir iditam) who know the value and meaning of words and their arrangement. Composers themselves are amazed at the beauty and efficacy of those songs about you, which are original and not of human origin. Great thinkers and speakers offer homage to your praise that appears from the lips of your devotees, having been infused within their hearts by you yourself. The by-product of your praise is the sum and substance of knowledge and detachment (jnana vairagya).
“Song about you destroys the effects of sin (kalmasapaham). It is therefore virtuous and heroic, the very essence of dharma or righteousness, which is real strength (viryasya). Those who hear it become fortunate (sravana-mangalam), and fame (yasasah) accompanies them wherever they go. Thus their lives become spiritual and auspicious, for this good fortune and fame are not ordinary. This is so because by singing this song one attracts the attention of Sri, the Lord's consort, who blesses such devotees. Thus the song is full of beauty, wealth, and spiritual power (srimad). Furthermore, this song spreads itself all over the world (atatam), yet never diminishes itself, and it is thus the greatest wealth and power (aisvaryasya). Just as you are full of opulences, so is song about you. Those who herald it throughout the land are not mere mortals. They are the greatest benefactors of human society. They represent you in every respect.” (Bhag. 10.31.9)
The gopis reasoned that certainly Krsna would fulfill the desires of his devotees. The fact that he was not appearing to fulfill their desires was perhaps because he felt that they were not his devotees. After all, if they were devoted to him, how could they maintain their lives in his absence? The fact that they were still living was thus evidence of their lack of devotion.
Sri Chaitanya also exhibited this sentiment when he said na prema-ghando 'sti darapi me harau, “Not a scent of love of Krsna can be found in me,” and vamsi-vilasy-anana-lokanam vina bibharmi yat prana-patangakan vrtha,”Without seeing the face of the flute player, I continue to live my insect-like life.” This is the sentiment of the maha-bhagavata. While the kanistha-adhikari (neophyte devotee) thinks he or she is a real devotee while all others are in some way lacking, the superlative devotee thinks just the opposite, “All are devoted save and except me.”
This song of the gopis praising the virtue of song about Krsna is the answer to the self-doubt they project as Krsna's reason for not appearing. “If he is not coming to us because he thinks we are not devotees, having maintained our lives in his absence, we say this: 'It is not that we are making any effort to maintain our lives. We are not doing that. But song about you which flows spontaneously from our lips is keeping us alive in your absence, such is its virtue. Although you are killing us, your katha is giving us life. Therefore, you must come to us who are your devotees and are in great need.'”
Sri Chaitanydeva came to life upon hearing this song from the king, for song about Krsna is what kept the gopis alive in his absence. Such is its' virtue. The gopis' kirtana of nineteen songs produced an intense yearning for the company of Krsna that ultimately caused him to reappear before them. Thus in the beginning of the following chapter, Sukadeva Goswami says, iti gopyah pragayantyah pralapantyas ca cirtadha ruruduh su-svaram rajan krsna-darsana-lalasah “Having thus sung and spoken their hearts in words full of charm, the gopis began to weep loudly, hankering for the darsana of Krsna.” (Bhag. 10.32.1)
Our kirtana should produce such an effect. When our chanting the name of Sri Krsna awakens this intense longing, our life's perfection is not far off. Let us pray for the day when we can actually lament as Sri Chaitanya did in the Gambhira in Jagannatha Puri. Narottoma Thakura has sung in the spirit of Sri Chaitanya's lamentation thus: gauranga balite habe pulaka sarira hari hari balite nayane ba'be nira, “When, while engaging in Krsna kirtana as conceived of by Sri Chaitanya, chanting Hare Krsna, which is synonymous with the holy name of Sri Chaitanya himself, will I experience transformations of ecstasy, such as hairs standing on end, incessant crying, faltering of the voice, and so on?” Without the transformations of ecstasy mentioned in this song occurring in our life, our kirtana is lacking, our hearts like stone.
tad asma-saram hrdayam batedam
yad grhyamanair hari-nama-dheyaih
na vikriyetatha yada vikaro
netre jalam gatra-ruhesu harsah
“In spite of repeatedly chanting of the holy name, if transformations of ecstasy such as incessant crying and hairs standing on end do not occur, it is to be understood that our hears are like stone.” (Bhag. 2.3.24)
Kirtana is most efficacious in this age, and the method of worship that was conceived by the gopis is the best. We should understand the spirit of that worship, and aspire for it while engaging in kirtana, for this kind of kirtana can melt even stone. Hari-katha has such power to melt the heart that it belittles even the sruti itself. The Upanisads consist of many concise sounds, all of which shed light on the nature of Brahman. Yet these high sounds that take us far from the material realm remain at a distance offering respect to hari-katha.
From the lotus mouth of Sri Caitanya, in his Siksastakam, the unparalleled efficacy of hari-katha has been explained. Si Caitanya wrote down only these eight verses. Yet Jiva Goswami has told us of another verse spoken directly by the greatest advocate of kirtana. In Bhakti-sandarbha, Sri Jiva has said that Sri Caitanya himself uttered the following:
srutam apy aupanisadam dure hari-kathamrtat
yan na santi dravac-citta kampasru pulakadayah
“The utterances of the sruti and Upanisads are distant from the nectar of hari-katha. From such utterances one cannot experience ecstatic transformations, such as the melting of the heart, ecstatic tears, trembling, and the standing of one's hairs on end.” Experiencing these transformations that amount to prema-bhaki is possible by the grace of Sri Caitanya, and such is the goal of the sadhaka's chanting. With Sri Caitanya as our guide and the gopis' love as our goal, chanting the holy name is second to no other as both the means and the end of all spiritual culture.
The Gopi Gita
Aanada vrindavan campu
Kavi karnapura
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, "O 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? O beloved! Be merciful, and please show Yourself to us."
[The gopis, forlorn over not finding their beloved Krishna, held the following fanciful conversation with Him in His absence.]
The gopis imagined Krishna 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."
Krishna: "What have I done to make you so sad?"
Gopis: "O beloved! You have pierced our hearts with the sharp arrows of Your glances."
Krishna: "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?"
Krishna: "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? O 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."
Krishna: "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 notafraid of killing cowherd women. Even ordinary people take care of their family members and distant relatives."Krishna: "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 Krishna.]
Gopis: "O Lord! You release men from the fear of material existence, and fulfill the desires of those who love You. O 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. O 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. O 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."
Krishna: "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. O 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. O 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."Krishna: "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. O 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: "O 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 Krishna.]
Gopis: "O 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. O 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?"
Krishna: "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: "O 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 Krishna's lack of compassion.]
Gopis: "It is very unjust that simultaneously You are murdering many women. Acting without reason always brings misfortune. When our life airs try to leave, You obstruct them with great force. What mercy do You show! You give more misery than death itself, for You make us suffer continuously without letting us die.
"We remain alive due to Your presence within our hearts. You act as an expert magician to suddenly appear in our hearts and prevent our life airs from leaving. That is Your trick. By disappearing externally You try to vanquish our life airs, and a moment later You appear internally and prevent them from leaving. Still You will not be able to save our lives. O Lord! Though we searched for You, we could not find You. Our life airs, angry with this, are now coming out to search for You. You have said, 'No one can attain Me without My sanction. What then is the use of endeavor?' If what You say is true, then we know very well that You will never grant such sanction. Therefore stop appearing in our hearts, and let our life airs leave in search of You."
[The gopis speak reasonably to conclude their song of lamentation, gopi gita.]
Gopis: "O Lord of our lives! When our life 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 to reveal the pain of their separation from Krishna, 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 Krishna did not come, and the joy of regaining their lives if He did appear. Understanding their condition, Krishna reappeared before His greatest devotees, the beloved gopis of Vrndavana. Then Krishna, a smile on His lotus face, stood in front of the gopis like a feast of enjoyment to uproot their anguish. Krishna dispelled the darkness of the gopis' anger with a merciful glance from His reddish lotus eyes and the moonlight of His gentle smile.
Krishna 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. Krishna came to fix their intelligence on His perfectly formed, beautiful body from the beginning of their meeting until the end. Merciful Krishna 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.
Krishna replaced the emaciated bodies of the gopis, which had been burned by the fire of separation, with fresh, cool bodies full of pleasure. Krishna's return put their escaping life airs back in their proper places. To make them believe they had never heard the word "separation," Krishna appeared so that He could embrace each one of the gopis simultaneously, and to 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. Krishna 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 Krishna.
The Gopis Beckon for Pleasure
One gopi grasped Krishna'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 Krishna 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 Krishna 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 Krishna. One cakora-eyed gopi, in order to attract Krishna, 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 Krishna.
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 madhwya-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 Krishna.
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 Krishna's deceit, one gopi moistened all over with perspiration. As she trembled in the wind, the edge of her upper garment swayed back and forth. She looked like the personified flag of victory in the battle of love. One skillful gopi laughed loudly in order to catch Krishna's attention. It seemed 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 Krishna, one very young, doe-eyed gopi cried profusely. It seemed her mind said, "O eyes, you have seen Krishna. 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 Krishna firmly in her embrace, causing her eyes to overflow with tears.
One gopi, stunned by the sight of Krishna, stood like a golden statue. She defeated Krishna 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 Krishna were extracted by a special mystic jewel known as Krishna'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 Krishna, 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 Krishna, 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 Krishna. She resembled a melodious vina gone out of 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 Krishna 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 Krishna'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 Krishna 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 Krishna as if to ignore Him, while placing her left arm near the shoulder of her companion. To prevent Krishna 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 Krishna'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 Krishna. 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 Krishna under its control. For harvesting His highest enjoyment, the son of the king of Vrndavana broadcast a sweet mood in all directions. Then Krishna, 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.
Krishna 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 Krishna'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 Krishna 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 Krishna, 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 Krishna with their shawls that were as white as milk droplets or jasmine flowers, and fragrant with the kunkuma powder from their breasts. While smiling gently they said, "Let us sit here."
Krishna happily sat on those attractive asanas. They far surpassed the seats arranged 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, Krishna, 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, Krishna and the gopis looked like the moon encircled by the stars.
One group of gopis, adept at inducing the zenith of ecstatic rasa, massaged Krishna'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 Krishna'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 Krishna and the Gopis
[In this section the married gopis ask questions and Krishna answers.]
Gopis: "Who has spotless intelligence (ke amala buddhi)?" Krishna: "He who has a soft mind (ye komala buddhi)." Gopis: "Who is the greatest (ke mahita)?" Krishna: "One who is expert in love (ye kamahita)." Gopis: "What is wasteful (ki apacaya)?" Krishna: "Intense anger (kopacaya)." Gopis: "What is sweet (madhura ki)?" Krishna: "The full moon in spring is sweet (madhuraka)." [Hearing Krishna'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)?" Krishna: "The person who just worships (kebala bhajah)." Gopis: "Who is learned (ke santa eva)?"
Krishna: "Those who are not disturbed and remain happy always (ke santah)."
Gopis: "Who can enjoy the highest rasa (ka sara rasa vilasa yilasati)?" Krishna: "The lotus which stays in the lake (kasara rasa vilasa eva)."
[In this series, Krishna asks questions and the gopis answer.]
Krishna: "Who is to be worshipped?" Gopis: "He who is filled with rasa." Krishna: "Who is filled with rasa?" Gopis: "He who is the shelter of prema." Krishna: "What is prema?" Gopis: "That which knows no separation." Krishna: "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." Krishna: "What is sorrow?" Gopis: "Separation from a dear one." Krishna: "What is the dearest thing?" Gopis: "That which is rare and desired." Krishna: "What is the rarest thing?" Gopis: "What cannot be achieved even by any practice."
Being the rarest, most desired, and hardest to attain, Krishna is the dearest object for the gopis. The gopis felt sorrowful in separation from Krishna. 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 Krishna, 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, "O 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? O 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 Tjf 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, Krishna 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.Krishna said, "O dear slender-waisted gopisl 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 toreciprocate with them. O women with beautiful eyebrows! There are individuals who are self-satisfied (atma-rama), materially fulfilled (apta-kamd), or by nature ungrateful (akrta-jnah), or simply envious of superiors (guru-druhah). Such persons will not love even those who love them."
After saying this, Krishna laughed when He saw the gopis casting looks of disbelief at each other, rather than looking directly at Him. Then Krishna said, "O greatly intelligent ones, filled with pure friendship! What kind of upside-down questions are you asking? I cannot have offended anyone by My answers. O doe-eyed gopisl 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 Krishna'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 Krishna 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. O doe-eyed gopisl 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 a new, 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."
Krishna delivered a dexterous display of words simply to cover His own defeat. Then in a choked voice, Krishna spoke the highest truth, "O gopisl 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.
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