CHAPTER THIRTY The Gopīs Search for Kṛṣṇa

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura describes the following charming exchange between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs:

“Kṛṣṇa said to a gopī, ‘My dear land lily, are you going to offer your honey to this very thirsty honeybee or not?’

“The gopī replied, ‘My dear bee, the husband of the lilies is the sun, not the bee, so why are You claiming that my honey belongs to You?’

“But My dear lily, the very nature of you lilies is that you don’t give your honey to your husband, the sun, but rather to your paramour, the bee.’ The gopī, defeated by the words of Kṛṣṇa, laughed and then gave Him her lips as honey to drink.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also describes the following conversation:

“Kṛṣṇa said to a gopī, ‘Ah, I can understand that as you approached this nīpa tree standing here, you were bitten by an audacious snake. Its venom has already reached your chest, but since you are a respectable maiden you haven’t asked Me to cure you. Still I’ve come, being merciful by nature. Now, while I massage your body with My hands, I’ll chant a mantra to counteract the serpent’s poison.’

“The gopī said, ‘But, my dear snake charmer, no snake has bitten me. Go massage the body of some girl who actually has suffered a snakebite.’

“‘Come now, My dear respectable girl, from your trembling voice I can tell that you are experiencing a feverish reaction to poisoning. Knowing this, if I don’t take care of you I’ll be guilty of killing an innocent woman. So let Me treat you.’

“With this, Kṛṣṇa applied His fingernails to the gopī’s chest.”

Spontaneously, the gopīs began moving like Kṛṣṇa: they smiled as He would smile, glanced boldly as He would and spoke as He would. The gopīs were completely absorbed in the existence of Kṛṣṇa and mad with love at their sudden separation from Him, and thus their dedication to Him attained absolute perfection.

Lost in the madness of love for Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs inquired about Him from even the trees in Vṛndāvana. Of course, there is no actual separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa, since He is the all-pervading Supersoul.

As soon as the gopīs saw that a particular tree would not answer them, they impatiently left it and rushed off to another to make further inquiries.

The ācāryas explain here that the word caraṇa is a term of respect, as in the expression evaṁ vadanty ācārya-caraṇāḥ. The bees humming around the garland worn by Śrī Govinda were attracted by the fragrance of the tulasī mañjarīs offered to Him. The gopīs felt that the trees had not replied because they were male, but that tulasī, being female, would sympathize with their plight.

When even tulasī herself did not answer the gopīs, they approached the fragrant jasmine flowers. The gopīs, seeing the jasmine vines humbly bowing down, assumed that these plants must have seen Lord Kṛṣṇa and were therefore showing humility in their ecstasy.

According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the cūta is a mango creeper, whereas the āmra is a mango tree. He goes on to explain that the nīpa, though not a very prominent tree, bears large flowers, and that the gopīs’ desperation to find Kṛṣṇa is clearly shown by the fact that they approached the insignificant arka plant.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives the following information about Vṛndāvana’s trees: “The nīpa is ‘the dust kadamba,’ and it has large flowers. The kadamba proper has smaller flowers and a very pleasant fragrance. The kovidāra is a particular kind of kañcanāra [mountain ebony tree]. Even though the arka plant is very insignificant, it always grows near Lord Gopīśvara [the Śiva deity in Vṛndāvana forest] because it is dear to him.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains the thoughts of the gopīs as follows: “‘Perhaps the trees and plants [mentioned in the previous verses] did not hear our question because they were in trance, meditating on Lord Viṣṇu. Or perhaps, since they will not tell us where Kṛṣṇa has gone, they are hardhearted even though they live in a holy place. Anyway, what is the use of unnecessarily criticizing the residents of a holy place? We cannot tell if they really know where Kṛṣṇa has gone. So let us find someone who definitely knows where He is.’ Thus the gopīs concluded that since Lord Kṛṣṇa had to be somewhere on the earth, the earth herself must know His whereabouts.

“Then the gopīs thought, ‘Since Kṛṣṇa always walks on the earth, she is never separated from Him and thus cannot understand how much His parents, girlfriends and servants suffer in His absence. Let us ask her what austerities she has performed to gain the great fortune of being constantly touched by the feet of Lord Keśava.’”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī provides the following charming commentary on this verse:

“The gopīs spoke to a doe, ‘O friend, wife of the deer, from the bliss in your clear eyes we can tell that Śrī Kṛṣṇa has expanded your joy with the beauty of His limbs, His face and so forth. You are eager to realize the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa, and thus your eyes are following Him. In fact, He is never lost to you.’

“Then the gopīs, seeing the doe continue to walk in her natural way, exclaimed, ‘Oh, are you telling us that you have seen Kṛṣṇa? Look! As this deer walks she constantly turns her head back to us, as if to say, “I will show Him to you; just follow me and I will show you Kṛṣṇa.” In this merciless Vṛndāvana, she is the only merciful person.’

“As the gopīs follow the doe they happen to lose sight of her, and they cry out, ‘Oh, why can’t we see the deer who is showing us the way to Kṛṣṇa?’

“One gopī suggests that Kṛṣṇa must be somewhere in the vicinity and that the deer, being afraid of Him, must have hidden herself to avoid the possible mistake of revealing His presence. Conjecturing in this way, the gopīs detect a fragrance that has by chance blown their way, and they repeatedly declare with great joy, ‘Yes! Yes! This is it! By Kṛṣṇa’s physical contact with His girlfriend, His jasmine garland was smeared with the kuṅkuma powder on Her breasts, and the fragrances of all these things are reaching us.’ Thus the gopīs smelled the aroma of the two lovers’ bodies, of Kṛṣṇa’s jasmine garland, and of the cosmetic powder on the breasts of His lover.”

The gopīs saw that the trees, bent over with abundant fruits and flowers, were offering obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs supposed Kṛṣṇa must have recently passed that way, since the trees were still bowing down. Because Śrī Kṛṣṇa had left the gopīs to go with His favorite consort, they were jealous and thus imagined that He had become fatigued from His loving affairs and was resting His left arm on the soft shoulder of His beloved. The gopīs further imagined that Kṛṣṇa must have been carrying a blue lotus in His right hand to drive away the bees eagerly trying to attack His beloved’s face after smelling its aroma. The scene was so beautiful, the gopīs imagined, that the maddened bees had left the tulasī garden to follow the two lovers.

The gopīs reasoned that the creepers would not show signs of rapture merely by physical contact with their husband, a tree. Thus the gopīs concluded that although the creepers were embracing the strong limbs of their husband, they must have been touched by Lord Kṛṣṇa as He moved through the forest.

The gopīs started imitating all of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, beginning from His earliest activities as a baby.

Here a gopī enacts Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill.

Here the gopīs enact Kṛṣṇa’s chastisement of Kāliya.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, in his commentary on this verse, gives the following scriptural information about the symbolic markings on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa:

“In the following verses the Skanda Purāṇa states the particular places on His feet where Kṛṣṇa carries the mark of the flag and also other marks, and the reasons for these 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.’

“The Skanda Purāṇa also states:

‘A thunderbolt is found on the right side of His right foot, and an elephant goad below that.’

“The ācāryas of the Vaiṣṇava sampradāya explain that since the particular feet under discussion are Lord Kṛṣṇa’s, we should know that the thunderbolt is at the base of His small toe and the elephant goad below the thunderbolt. An elephant goad on the heel belongs rather to Lord Nārāyaṇa and other viṣṇu-tattva expansions.

“Thus the Skanda Purāṇa describes six marks on Kṛṣṇa’s right foot — the disc, flag, lotus, thunderbolt, elephant goad and barleycorn. And the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī mentions even more marks — a vertical line beginning at the middle of His foot and continuing as far as the juncture between His big toe and second toe; an umbrella below the disc; at the base of the middle of His foot, a group of four svastikas in the four cardinal directions; at the four points where each svastika meets the next, four rose apples; and in the middle of the svastikas, an octagon. This makes eleven marks on Kṛṣṇa’s right foot.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī describes the marks on Kṛṣṇa’s left foot as follows: “At the base of the large toe is a conchshell with its mouth facing the toe. At the base of the middle toe are two concentric circles, representing the inner and outer sky. Below this mark is Cupid’s unstrung bow, at the base of the bow is a triangle, and surrounding the triangle is a group of four waterpots. At the base of the triangle is a half-moon with two more triangles touching its points, and below the half-moon is a fish.

“All together, then, there are nineteen distinguishing marks on the soles of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.”

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that the word ārādhitaḥ refers to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He comments, “The sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī has tried with all endeavor to keep Her name hidden, but now it automatically shines forth from the moon of his mouth. That he has spoken Her name is indeed Her mercy, and thus the word ārādhitaḥ is like the rumbling of a kettledrum sounded to announce Her great good fortune.”

Although the gopīs spoke as if jealous of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, they were actually ecstatic to see that She had captured Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes the following detailed description of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s footprints, as given by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Śrī Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: “At the base of the large toe of Her left foot is the mark of a barleycorn, below that mark is a disc, below the disc is an umbrella, and below the umbrella is a bracelet. A vertical line extends from the middle of Her foot to the juncture of Her large and second toes. At the base of the middle toe is a lotus, below that is a flag with a banner, and below the flag is a creeper, together with a flower. At the base of Her small toe is an elephant goad, and upon Her heel is a half-moon. Thus there are eleven marks on Her left foot.

“At the base of the large toe of Her right foot is a conchshell, and below that a spear. At the base of the small toe of Her right foot is a sacrificial altar, below that an earring, and below the earring a club. Along the base of the second, third, fourth and small toes is the mark of a mountain, below which is a chariot, and on the heel is a fish.

“Thus all together there are nineteen distinguishing marks on the soles of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s lotus feet.”

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, who quotes from śāstra, each day in the late afternoon, as Kṛṣṇa returned from the cow pastures with His cowherd boyfriends, great demigods like Brahmā and Śiva would come down from heaven and take the dust of His feet.

Great personalities like the goddess Ramā (the wife of Viṣṇu), Śiva and Brahmā are not at all sinful. But in the ecstasy of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness they feel themselves fallen and impure. Thus, desiring to purify themselves, they blissfully take the dust of the Lord’s lotus feet on their heads.

The word vadhūm indicates that even though Śrī Kṛṣṇa was not officially married to Rādhārāṇī, He had in fact made Her His bride in the Vṛndāvana forest.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the gopīs use the word kāminaḥ here to indicate the following thoughts: “We actually love Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but still He has rejected us. Therefore His private dealings with Rādhārāṇī prove that this young prince of Vraja has carried Her away because of lust. If He were interested in love, He would have accepted us instead of that cowherd girl Rādhārāṇī.”

These thoughts reveal the mood of the gopīs who are rivals of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Of course, the gopīs who are Her direct allies were jubilant to see Her good fortune.

The ācāryas explain that Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to decorate Rādhārāṇī’s hair with the forest flowers He had collected. Therefore They sat down together facing the same direction, with Rādhārāṇī between Kṛṣṇa’s knees, and Kṛṣṇa proceeded to arrange Her hair with flowers and make a flower crown for Her, coronating Her as the goddess of the forest. Thus the romantic young boy and girl played and joked together in Vṛndāvana.

This verse directly refutes the superficial criticism materialistic people sometimes direct against Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. The philosopher Aristotle claimed that ordinary activities are unworthy of God, and with this idea in mind some people declare that since the activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa resemble those of ordinary human beings, He cannot be the Absolute Truth.

But in this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī emphatically points out that Lord Kṛṣṇa acts on the liberated platform of spiritual self-satisfaction. This fact is indicated here by the terms ātma-rata, ātmārāma and akhaṇḍita. It is inconceivable to ordinary people that a handsome young boy and a beautiful young girl enjoying romantic conjugal affairs in the forest moonlight can be engaging in pure activity, free from egoistic desire and lust. Yet while Lord Kṛṣṇa is inconceivable to ordinary persons, those who love Him can easily realize the absolute, pure nature of His activities.

One may argue that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and that therefore the devotees of Kṛṣṇa are only imagining the Lord’s activities to be pure. This argument ignores many significant facts. For one, the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, of developing love for Kṛṣṇa, demands that a devotee strictly follow four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no gambling, no intoxication and no eating of meat, fish or eggs. When one is freed from material lust and rises to the liberated platform, beyond material desire, one realizes the absolute beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This process is not theoretical: it has been practiced and completed by many thousands of great sages, who have left us their shining example and their brilliant teachings concerning the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Certainly beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, real beauty is perceived by the soul’s eye and not by the lusty eye of the material body. Therefore the Vedic literature repeatedly stresses that only those freed from material desire can see the beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa with the eye of the pure soul, anointed with love of Godhead. It may finally be noted that upon realizing the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa one becomes free of all tinges of sex desire, a state of mind that can hardly result from meditating upon material sexual affairs.

One final note: The conjugal pastimes of Kṛṣṇa perfectly round out His qualification as the Supreme Absolute Truth. The Vedānta states that the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, so certainly the Absolute cannot lack any of the beautiful things of this world. It is only because romantic affairs exist in a pure, spiritual form in the Absolute that they can manifest in a perverted, material form in this world. Thus the apparent beauty of this world is not to be absolutely rejected; rather, beauty should be accepted in its pure, spiritual form.

Since the beginning of time men and women have been inspired to poetic rapture by the art of romance. Unfortunately, romance in this world usually leads to crushing disappointment, brought about by a change of heart or by death. Thus although we may at first find romantic affairs beautiful and enjoyable, they are eventually spoiled by the onslaught of material nature. Still, it is unreasonable to totally reject the concept of romance. Rather, we should accept conjugal attraction in its absolute, perfect, pure form, as it exists within God, without a tinge of material lust or selfishness. That pure conjugal attraction — the supreme beauty and pleasure of the Supreme Truth — is what we are reading about here in the pages of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Previously all the gopīs had become proud of their association with Kṛṣṇa and then suddenly lost His association. Only Rādhārāṇī remained with Him. Now She has also become proud of that association and will suffer a similar fate. The Lord arranges all this to reveal the gopīs’ unparalleled devotion for Him, a devotion whose intensity fully manifests in moments of separation.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was exhibiting the pride of a beautiful girl who has brought Her boyfriend under control. Thus She told Kṛṣṇa, “Please carry Me wherever You want to go. I can’t walk anymore.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa now disappears from Her sight, intensifying Her ecstatic love more and more.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura describes the following moving exchange:

“Rādhā says, ‘My Lord, I am being burned in the great fire of separation from You, and My life air is about to leave My body. Even with the greatest endeavor I cannot maintain My life. But You are the Lord of My life, and so You can quickly save Me simply by glancing upon Me. Please do so immediately. I beg You to save My life, not for My sake but rather for Yours. After giving up all the other gopīs, You’ve brought Me so far to a secluded place in the forest just to enjoy special pleasure with Me. If I die You will not be able to find conjugal happiness anywhere else. You will remember Me and thus lament in Your sorrow.’

“Kṛṣṇa replies, ‘So let Me become unhappy. What does that matter to You?’

“‘But You are most dear to Me. I will feel Your unhappiness millions of times more than You. Even if I’ve already died, I still will not be able to tolerate the pain that even one spot on the nails of Your lotus feet may experience. Indeed, to prevent such pain I am ready to throw My life away millions and millions of times. So kindly show Yourself and drive away that unhappiness.’

“‘But if Your life air is on the verge of leaving Your body, what can I do to stop that?’

“‘Simply by the touch of Your arms, which are a medicinal herb with the power to revive the dead, My body will return to its healthy, normal condition, and My life air will automatically come back and remain in My body.’

“‘But You know the forest path Yourself without My help, so why did You order Me, the king’s son and a very young and gentle boy who is to be respected? Why did You command, “Take Me wherever You wish”? Why do You anger Me like this?’

“Rādhā cries out, ‘Please show Yourself to Your wretched maidservant. Be merciful to Me! Be merciful! When I ordered You, I was overcome by sleepiness. I was so tired from playing with You. Therefore please excuse what Your poor servant said. Please don’t be angry. It was only because You treated Me like such a close friend, though I am unworthy, that I spoke like that to You.’

“‘All right, My love, I am very pleased with You, so please come to Me.’

“‘But I’ve been blinded by lamentation. I can’t see where You are. Please tell Me where You are.’”

It was natural for Rādhārāṇī to ask Kṛṣṇa to carry Her, for this request was consistent with the loving mood of Their relationship. Now, however, in great humility She describes Her behavior as wicked. Hearing of these affairs, the other gopīs are astonished.

The gopīs entered a part of the forest so dense that even the light of the full moon couldn’t penetrate it. This scene is also described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

“One gopī said, ‘Kṛṣṇa has entered such a dark part of the forest that we cannot possibly see His footprints. Therefore let us turn back from this area, which even the light of the moon cannot reach.’”

Actually there is no separation from Kṛṣṇa for the pure devotees of the Lord. Although apparently abandoned by Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs were actually tightly connected to Him by the spiritual process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord.

As stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23), yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ: “The Supersoul can be realized by that person whom He chooses.” Thus the gopīs fervently pray that Kṛṣṇa come back to them.