Chapter Nineteen

 

The Gopi Gita

 

 

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."