When the gopés were very young, they developed
an intense love for Krishna. Hankering to directly meet
Lord Krishna before actually meeting him is a kind of
love in separation called pürva-raga. The vraja-gopés
desired to have a relationship with Krishna as their
husband. Such was the desire of Dhanya Sakhi and
the other virgin girls of Vrindavan. Individually, they
secretly supplicated various deities with the object
of having Krishna as their husband, but they were
confused by the apparent failure of these efforts.
Each of them prayed to reside in Nanda Bhavan with
Nanda Baba and Yasodamayi as their parents-in-law
and Krishna as their husband birth after birth.
In
due course of time, these girls met each other near
the Yamuna. Though from different places, if many
people simultaneously seek out the same goal, they
come in contact with each other, just as students meet
at the residence of their guru. When these girls met,
they immediately felt a deep empathy for each other.
When this friendship was established, they revealed
their heartfelt desires to each other. Although the
hearts of those in love may be concealed, they are
clear to those who are experiencing the same feelings.
One day, as they were divulging their heart’s desire
to each other and weeping, their well-wisher Vrinda
arrived there in the dress of a female ascetic. Vrinda
had been thinking, “The mutual love between
these girls and the prince of Vraja possesses an
indescribable power to bring them together. This
love is far beyond the common affection of people
in this world. Therefore they should worship some
other god, other than Krishna personally.”
Upon arriving amongst the gopés, Vrinda accepted
their respectful greetings and gave them her blessings.
She said, “I am a resident of this forest and I couldn’t
help but see how you are suffering due to your
love. My heart has been torn with compassion, so I
have come here. I ask you to carefully listen to my
knowledge of magical ritual by which you will be able
to fulfill your desires. It will not require extreme effort
as you shall only have to exert yourselves for a month.
I learned of these things from the compassionate
Yogamaya, the reservoir of all spells and incantations,
after I entreated her through austerities.”
Thus thinking of the girls’ welfare, Vrinda initiated
the gopés by whispering a mantra into their ears and
by instructing them in the rules and regulations for
austerities meant to accompany the chanting of the
mantra. She then disappeared. As soon as she left,
the gopés joyfully began applying her instructions.
The mothers of these young girls wanted them
to get married and so encouraged them to perform
worship. But the mothers were worried that any
austerities would be too much for the girls due to their
tender and fragile young bodies. Thus their mothers
affectionately warned them, “How can your young
bodies endure austerities? And how will you get the
needed determination? We have never seen you do
such things before.” Their mothers’ doubts, however,
simply increased their determination to perform the
vrata. Their mothers also asked them, “O girls, who
will you worship? Will you worship Uma or Umapati
or maybe Lord Brahma? What type of püjä will you
do? Will you need any wealth to perform the püjä?
And who will be the äcärya to guide you in the
chanting of the Vedic mantras? Please consider all
these details and then tell us your decision.”
A vrata, vow, is specified by käla, deça, saìkalpa,
mantra and iñöa-deva. The vraja-gopés were
planning to perform a specific vrata, and, by the
mercy of Vrinda-devi, they knew all of the particulars
for that vrata. The time (käla) was set for the first day
of the waning moon at the beginning of the month
of Märgaçérña (November-December). The place
(deça) to perform it was also planned: the pristine
and beautiful banks of the Yamuna River. Their
saìkalpa, desired goal, was deeply established in
the core of their hearts: to attain the son of Nanda as
their husband. The iñöa-deva to whom they would
offer worship was to be goddess Katyayani, and the
mantra they were going to chant during the offerings
began with the words kätyäyani mahä-mäye.
It was the first month of the Hemanta season,
winter. The girls briefly told their mothers, “We are
going to worship Katyayani.” They did not tell their
mothers much more because they were afraid that
if their mothers would keep asking questions then
the secret in their hearts would be revealed.
That is
one of the meanings of the word gopé. The Sanskrit
root gup means “to hide”. Therefore, a girl who hides
her love for Sri Krishna is known as a gopé.
The gopés
knew that if one reveals the flavor of ones love to
others, it dissipates, just as spices lose their flavor if
the lids of their containers are not kept tightly closed.
The vrata required that they eat only boiled
rice and dal without any spices and to rise early
every morning and bathe in the cold waters of the
Yamuna River. There on the banks of the Yamuna
they would worship goddess Katyayani and offer
her prayers. They walked together every morning
at dawn to take their morning baths, and then they
worshipped goddess Katyayani. Every morning
they made a mürti of Katyayani from sand.
The bodies of the gopés revealed a special kind of
beauty during this time of austerity. They did not use
oil while bathing, and thus their skin and hair appeared
dry, clean and fresh like açoka leaves washed by rain.
They also did not chew any tämbüla, so the natural
hue of their lips was manifest. From eating only once
a day their bodies became thin and lost their natural
effulgence. Seeing their emaciated condition, the
vrajaväsés felt pity for them.
Their burning desire to obtain Krishna caused
them to often lay awake at night. And before they
took rest they would secretly discuss how and
where they would meet the following morning.
Then when they would meet in the morning they
would respectfully greet one another and lovingly
embrace. They would sometimes call out to each
other by name, “O fortunate girl, where are you?
Why are you wasting time? Come!” As they walked
together in the early morning toward the Yamuna,
they would hold hands and sing songs about
Krishna, teasing each other by exposing their own
goals in song. Because they were effulgent, they
appeared like a garland of lightening bolts moving
on the earth.
Yamuna Devi could directly perceive the desire in
their hearts. She knew that they all wanted Krishna
as their husband. She welcomed them with her
waves, desiring to embrace them, and respectfully
called, “Come, come sakhis! Welcome!” When the
eager gopés arrived at the bank of the Yamuna,
they immediately threw off their woolen cadars,
revealing their thin white underclothes for bathing.
Thus they appeared more beautiful than fallen snow.
Shivering and sighing due to the chill morning air,
the young girls smiled and giggled at one another
upon noticing that their friends felt the same way.
Their lips quivered, revealing their jasmine bud-like
teeth. They further reacted to the cold, making a
comic scene by slapping their arms together and
crossing their legs in a contorted, humorous fashion.
They offered obeisances to Yamuna Devi before
entering the river, and after bathing they gleefully
ran back up the river bank, feeling elated at having
bravely tolerated her icy waters.
After coming out, the water dripping from their
garments fell onto the earth. It appeared that their
garments were shedding tears after being tortured by
the cold water. As they gracefully dried themselves
with soft cloths, the gopés looked very beautiful. Their
beauty was enhanced by their chanting of the sweet
names of Krishna.
The sweetness from their breath
attracted bees that flew in front of their faces. But the
gopés became annoyed, blinking and twitching their
eyebrows, because the bees were creating a breeze
by flapping their wings. Feeling compassionate,
Suryadev gradually dispersed their chill by caressing
them with his gentle, warm rays. Thus Suryadev
offered more affection for the gopés than to his own
daughter Yamuna Devi. (To be continued.)
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