S'rî
S'uka said: 'When
the Supreme Lord so suddenly disappeared were the young ladies
of Vraja just as sorry not to see Him as she-elephants missing
their bull.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: When Lord Krishna disappeared so
suddenly, the gopîs felt great sorrow at losing
sight of Him, like a group of female elephants who have lost
their mate. (Vedabase)
Text
2
The
smitten ones who in their hearts were overwhelmed by the
movements, affectionate smiles, playful glances, charming talks
and other games of enticement of the husband of Ramâ,
enacted absorbed in Him each of those wonderful
activities.
As
the cowherd women remembered Lord Krishna, their hearts were
overwhelmed by His movements and loving smiles, His playful
glances and enchanting talks, and by the many other pastimes
He would enjoy with them. Thus absorbed in thoughts of
Krishna, the Lord of Ramâ, the gopîs
began acting out His various transcendental pastimes.
(Vedabase)
Text
3
The
dear ones lost in the movements, smiles, beholding, talking and
so on of their Beloved - who factually thus was speaking
through the women their bodies - doing so intimated intoxicated
by Krishna's ways: 'He's all in me!'
Because
the beloved gopîs were absorbed in thoughts of
their beloved Krishna, their bodies imitated His way of
moving and smiling, His way of beholding them, His speech
and His other distinctive features. Deeply immersed in
thinking of Him and maddened by remembering His pastimes,
they declared to one another, "I am Krishna!"
(Vedabase)
Text
4
So
all together singing aloud about Him, searched they like mad
hither and thither in the forest and inquired they with the
trees for the Original Personality present alike the sky inside
and outside:
Singing
loudly of Krishna, they searched for Him throughout the
Vrindâvana forest like a band of madwomen. They even
asked the trees about Him, who as the Supersoul is present
inside and outside of all created things, just like the sky.
(Vedabase)
Text
5
'O
as'vattha [holy fig tree], o plaksha [waved-leaf
fig tree], o nyagrodha [banyan], have you seen the
son of Nanda, who has gone away after He with His loving smiles
and glances stole our minds?
[The
gopîs said:] O as'vattha tree, O plaksha, O
nyagrodha, have you seen Krishna? That son of Nanda
Mahârâja has gone away after stealing our minds
with His loving smiles and glances. (Vedabase)
Text
6
O
kurabaka [red amaranth], as'oka, nâga,
punnâga and campaka, have you seen passing by the younger
brother of Balarâma who with His smile removes the pride
of each girl that is too haughty?
O
kurabaka tree, O as'oka, O nâga, punnâga and
campaka, has Balarâma's younger brother, whose smile
removes the audacity of all proud women, passed this way?
(Vedabase)
Text
7
O
sweet tulsî, loving Govinda's feet so much, have you seen
our dearest Acyuta who carries you with swarms of bees around
Him?
O
most kind tulasî, to whom the feet of Govinda are so
dear, have you seen that infallible one walk by, wearing you
and encircled by swarms of bees? (Vedabase)
Text
8
O mâlati,
jâti, yûthikâ and mallikâ jasmine, have
you seen Mâdhava pass by, with His touch giving you
pleasure?
O
mâlati, O mallikâ, O jâti and
yûthikâ, has Mâdhava gone by here, giving
you pleasure with the touch of His hand? (Vedabase)
Text
9
O
cûta [mango creeper], priyâla, jambu
[jackfruit], âsana, o kovidâra
[mountain ebony], rose-apple, arka, bel-fruit, bakula
[mimosa], and âmra [mango tree]; o
kadamba and nîpa and who else of you who for the sake of
others live here near the bank of the Yamunâ, please be
so kind to tell us, bewildered of mind, the path that Krishna
took.
O
cûta, O priyâla, O panasa, âsana and
kovidâra, O jambu, O arka, O bilva, bakula and
âmra, O kadamba and nîpa and all you other
plants and trees living by the banks of the Yamunâ who
have dedicated your very existence to the welfare of others,
we gopîs have lost our minds, so please tell us
where Krishna has gone. (Vedabase)
Text
10
O earth, what
austerity is it that you have performed to have been touched by
Kes'ava's feet with a joy that made your bodily hair [her
grasses and such] stand on end? Or do you maybe owe your
beauty to the feet of Vâmanadeva [see
8.18-22]
or are you so beautiful because you were trodden and embraced
by the body of Varâha [3.13]?
O
mother earth, what austerity did you perform to attain the
touch of Lord Kes'ava's lotus feet, which has brought you
such great joy that your bodily hairs are standing on end?
You appear very beautiful in this condition. Was it during
the Lord's current appearance that you acquired this
ecstatic symptom, or was it perhaps much earlier, when He
stepped upon you in His form of the dwarf Vâmanadeva,
or even earlier, when He embraced you in His form of the
boar Varâhadeva? (Vedabase)
Text
11
O
deer wife, o friend, have you encountered Acyuta with His
Beloved here, who with all His limbs is a festival to your
eyes; there's the fragrance in the air of the Master of the
Gopîs His garland colored by the kunkum of being in touch
with the breasts of His Girlfriend.
O
friend, wife of the deer, has Lord Acyuta been here with His
beloved, bringing great joy to your eyes? Indeed, blowing
this way is the fragrance of His garland of kunda flowers,
which was smeared with the kunkuma from the breasts of His
girlfriend when He embraced Her. (Vedabase)
Text
12
O
trees, when Râma's younger brother passed by, with His
arm placed on the shoulder of His sweetheart, holding a lotus
and with the tulsî flowers swarming with bees following
blindly of intoxication - did He with His loving glances
acknowledge your bowing down?
O
trees, we see that you are bowing down. When the younger
brother of Râma walked by here, followed by
intoxicated bees swarming around the tulasi
mañjarîs decorating His garland, did He
acknowledge your obeisances with His affectionate glances?
He must have been resting His arm on the shoulder of His
beloved and carrying a lotus flower in His free hand.
(Vedabase)
Text
13
Let's ask these
creepers, even though they embrace the arms of their master
tree; they sure must have noticed the touch of His fingernails,
just see how their skins erupt with joy!'
Let
us ask these creepers about Krishna. Even though they are
embracing the arms of their husband, this tree, they
certainly must have been touched by Krishna's fingernails,
since out of joy they are manifesting eruptions on their
skin. (Vedabase)
Text
14
The
gopîs thus speaking madly got, distraught in their
search for Krishna, fully immersed in Him, to which each of
them acted out a pastime of their Lord of
Fortune.
Having
spoken these words, the gopîs, distraught from
searching for Krishna, began to act out His various
pastimes, fully absorbed in thoughts of Him.
(Vedabase)
Text
15
One of them as
Krishna drank with another one as Pûtanâ like an
infant from her breast, while another acting for the cart was
kicked over by the foot of another gopî crying
[see chapters 10.6
and
7]
One
gopî imitated Pûtanâ, while another acted
like infant Krishna and pretended to suck her breast.
Another gopî, crying in imitation of infant Krishna,
kicked a gopî who was taking the role of the cart
demon, S'akathâsura. (Vedabase)
Text
16
One
gopî acting for Krishna was carried away by
another gopî imitating a Daitya
[Trinâvarta, see 10.7]
while yet another one crawling about was tinkling with her
anklebells as she dragged her feet.
One
gopî took the role of Trinâvarta and carried
away another, who was acting like infant Krishna, while yet
another gopî crawled about, her ankle bells
tinkling as she pulled her feet. (Vedabase)
Text
17
Two as Krishna
and Râma and some acting like the gopas killed one
doing Vatsâsura while another one with one more did
Bakâsura [see
10.11]
Two
gopîs acted like Râma and Krishna in the
midst of several others, who took the role of cowherd boys.
One gopî enacted Krishna's killing of the demon
Vatsâsura, represented by another gopî,
and a pair of gopîs acted out the killing of
Bakâsura. (Vedabase)
Text
18
Just like
Krishna calling for the cows far away was one, who playing in
imitation vibrated a flute, by the other gopîs
praised with 'Good so!'
When
one gopî perfectly imitated how Krishna would call the
cows who had wandered far away, how He would play His flute
and how He would engage in various sports, the others
congratulated her with exclamations of "Well done! Well
done!" (Vedabase)
Text
19
One of them
walked about with her arm placed over a shoulder and declared:
'Look, I am Him, moving so graciously!' and was thus keeping
her mind on Him.
Another
gopî, her mind fixed on Krishna, walked about with her
arm resting on the shoulder of a friend and declared, "I am
Krishna! Just see how gracefully I move!" (Vedabase)
Text
20
'Don't you fear
that wind and rain, your deliverance has been arranged by Me'
thus spoke one with one hand managing to lift up her upper
garment [like it was Govardhana Hill, see:
10.25]
"Don't
be afraid of the wind and rain," said one gopî. "I
will save you." And with that she lifted her shawl above her
head. (Vedabase)
Text
21
O master of
men, one that climbed on top of another one declared with her
foot on her head: 'O wicked snake, go away, I have taken birth
as the one to chastise the envious!' [see
10.16]
[S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued:] O King, one gopî
climbed on another's shoulders and, putting her foot on the
other's head, said, "Go away from here, O wicked snake! You
should know that I have taken birth in this world just to
punish the envious." (Vedabase)
Text
22
Then one said:
'O gopas, see the forest fire so fierce; quickly close
your eyes, I'll arrange for your protection as easy as
that!'
Then
another gopî spoke up: My dear cowherd boys,
look al this raging forest fire! Quickly close your eyes and
I will easily protect you. (Vedabase)
Text
23
One slender
gopî tied up by another gopî with a
flower garland said: 'There You are, I bind You to the mortar,
You potbreaker and butterthief!' and with that spoken covered
one her face and beautiful eyes pretending to be
afraid.
One
gopî tied up her slender companion with a flower
garland and said, "Now I will bind this boy who has broken
the butter pots and stolen the butter." The second
gopî then covered her face and beautiful eyes,
pretending to be afraid. (Vedabase)
Text
24
This way
engaged and asking everywhere in Vrindâvana the trees and
the creepers where He was, saw they at one spot in the forest
the Supreme Soul His footprints:
While
the gopîs were thus imitating Krishna's
pastimes and asking Vrindâvana's creepers and trees
where Krishna, the Supreme Soul, might be, they happened to
see His footprints in a corner of the forest.
(Vedabase)
Text
25
'Indeed these
are clearly the footprints of the son of Nanda as evidenced by
the flag, the lotus, the thunderbolt, the barleycorn and the
elephant goad [see footnote*].
[The
gopîs said:] The marks of a flag, lotus,
thunderbolt, elephant goad, barleycorn and so forth on these
footprints clearly distinguish them as belonging to that
great soul, the son of Nanda Mahârâja.
(Vedabase)
Text
26
Guided by the
various footprints following His trail noticed the girls to
their dismay that they all the way were accompanied by the
footprints of one of them, upon which
they
said:
The
gopîs began following Krishna's path, as shown
by His many footprints, but when they saw that these prints
were thoroughly intermixed with those of His dearmost
consort, they became perturbed and spoke as follows.
(Vedabase)
Text
27
'And to whom of
us belong these footprints next to the ones of the son of
Nanda; over whose shoulder has He as a bull with a she-elephant
placed His arm?
[The
gopîs said:] Here we see the footprints of
some gopî who must have been walking along with the
son of Nanda Mahârâja. He must have put His arm
on Her shoulder, just as an elephant rests His trunk on the
shoulder of an accompanying she-elephant. (Vedabase)
Text
28
He must have
been perfectly venerated [ârâdhitah, see
Râdhâ]
as the Supreme One Lord and Controller by Her since Govinda so
being pleased has turned us down and taken Her
separate.
Certainly
this particular gopî has perfectly worshiped the
all-powerful Personality of Godhead, Govinda, since He was
so pleased with Her that He abandoned the rest of us and
brought Her to a secluded place. (Vedabase)
Text
29
O girls, how
sacred are the particles of dust of Govinda's lotus feet that
by Brahmâ, S'iva and Ramâdevî
[Lakshmî] are taken on their heads to dispel the
sins.
O
girls! The dust of Govinda's lotus feet is so sacred that
even Brahmâ, S'iva and the goddess Ramâ take
that dust upon their heads to dispel sinful reactions.
(Vedabase)
Text
30
For us are
these footprints of Her more then unsettling because who of us
gopîs was taken aside to enjoy Acyuta's lips in
seclusion? Look, here we don't see Her feet, the blades of
grass and sprouts must have hurt the soles of Her tender feet
so that Her Love lifted His Sweetheart up.
These
footprints of that special gopî greatly disturb us. Of
all the gopîs, She alone was taken away to a
secluded place, where She is enjoying the lips of Krishna.
Look, we can't see Her footprints over here! It's obvious
that the grass and sprouts were hurting the tender soles of
Her feet, and so the lover lifted up His beloved.
(Vedabase)
Text
31
Carrying His
sweetheart pressed the footprints much deeper, just see o
gopîs, how, burdened by the weight, our so
intelligent object of desire Krishna has placed His girlfriend
down to pick some flowers.
Please
observe, my dear gopîs, how in this place lusty
Krishna's footprints are pressed more deeply into the
ground. Carrying the weight of His beloved must have been
difficult for Him. And over here that intelligent boy must
have put Her down to gather some flowers. (Vedabase)
Text
32
And see these
half footprints here; to gather flowers for His Sweetheart made
the Beloved this imprint standing on His toes.
Just
see how in this place dear Krishna collected flowers for His
beloved. Here He has left the impression of only the front
part of His feet because He was standing on His toes to
reach the flowers. (Vedabase)
Text
33
Further to
arrange the design of Her hair sat the affectionate one with
His longing girl down precisely here in order to make for His
Beloved from the flowers a crown.'
Certainly
Krishna sat down here with His girlfriend to arrange Her
hair. The lusty boy must have made a crown for that lusty
girl out of the flowers He had collected. (Vedabase)
Text
34
[S'rî
S'uka said:] 'He, even though He by the Soul was perfectly
contented and in Himself complete, had a good time with Her and
thus demonstrated the state of being fallen typical for people
in love, as also the self-centered of its
femininity.
[S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî continued:] Lord Krishna enjoyed
with that gopî, although He enjoys only within, being
self-satisfied and complete in Himself. Thus by contrast He
showed the wretchedness of ordinary lusty men and
hardhearted women. (Vedabase)
Text
35-36
This way thus
showing for which gopî Krishna had abandoned the
other women, the other gopîs who completely
bewildered wandered in the forest, thought She therefrom of
Herself: 'With Me as the best of all women, is He, rejecting
the gopîs that are lead by lust, accepting Me as
His Beloved!'
As
the gopîs wandered about, their minds
completely bewildered, they pointed out various signs of
Krishna's pastimes. The particular gopî whom Krishna
had led into a secluded forest when He had abandoned all the
other young girls began to think Herself the best of women.
"My beloved has rejected all the other gopîs,
"She thought, "even though they are driven by Cupid himself.
He has chosen to reciprocate with Me alone."
(Vedabase)
Text
37
Going then to
that spot in the forest said She, getting proud, to Krishna: 'I
cannot move on, please carry Me to wherever You
want'.
As
the two lovers passed through one part of the
Vrindâvana forest, the special gopî began
feeling proud of Herself. She told Lord Kes'ava, "I cannot
walk any further. Please carry Me wherever You want to go."
(Vedabase)
Text
38
Thus addressed
said He to His Beloved: 'Climb on my back' and with these words
Krishna disappeared to the pain of His consort.
Thus
addressed, Lord Krishna replied, "Just climb on My
shoulder." But as soon as He said this, He disappeared. His
beloved consort then immediately felt great remorse.
(Vedabase)
Text
39
'O Master, o
Lover, o Dearest, where are You, where are You? O mighty armed
One, please My friend show Yourself to Me, Your wretched
maidservant!'
She
cried out: O master! My lover! O dearmost, where are You?
Where are You? Please, O mighty-armed one, O friend, show
Yourself to Me, Your poor servant! (Vedabase)
Text
40
S'rî
S'uka said: 'The gopîs not far away following the
trail of the Supreme Lord discovered their unhappy friend in a
state of being bewildered about Her separation from her
Beloved.
S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî said: While continuing to search out
Krishna's path, the gopîs discovered their
unhappy friend close by. She was bewildered by separation
from Her lover. (Vedabase)
Text
41
To their utter
amazement heard they Her saying that She had received
Mâdhava's respect but that He also because of Her being
demanding had let Her down.
She
told them how Mâdhava had given Her much respect, but
how She then suffered dishonor because of Her misbehavior.
The gopîs were extremely amazed to hear this.
(Vedabase)
Text
42
They thereupon
entered as far as the light of the moon permitted into the
forest, but finding themselves in the dark desisted the
women.
In
search of Krishna, the gopîs then entered the
depths of the forest as far as the light of the moon shone.
But when they found themselves engulfed in darkness, they
decided to turn back. (Vedabase)
Text
43
Absorbed in
Him, discussing Him, imitating Him and filled with His presence
simply singing His qualities they no longer remembered their
homes [see also 7.5:
23-24].
Their
minds absorbed in thoughts of Him, they conversed about Him,
acted out His pastimes and felt themselves filled with His
presence. They completely forgot about their homes as they
loudly sang the glories of Krishna's transcendental
qualities. (Vedabase)
Text
44
Turning back to
the bank of the Yamunâ meditated they, all singing
together, on Krishna, eagerly awaiting His
arrival.'
The
gopîs again came to the bank of the
Kâlindî. Meditating on Krishna and eagerly
hoping He would come, they sat down together to sing of Him.
(Vedabase)
*
In the
Skanda Purâna is found an explanation of these [in
total nineteen] marks: 'At the base of the large toe on His
right foot, the unborn Lord carries the mark of a disc, which
cuts down the six [mental] enemies of His devotees. At
the bottom of the middle toe of that same foot Lord Acyuta has
a lotus flower, which increases the greed for Him in the minds
of the beelike devotees who meditate on His feet. At the base
of His small toe is a thunderbolt, which smashes the mountains
of His devotees' reactions to past sins, and in the middle of
His heel is the mark of an elephant goad, which brings the
elephants of His devotees' minds under
control.
The joint
of His right large toe bears the mark of a barleycorn,
representing all kinds of enjoyable opulences. A thunderbolt is
found on the right side of His right foot, and an elephant goad
below that.' see the Vedabase of 10.30:
25
for further info.