CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE The Gopīs Sing of Kṛṣṇa as He Wanders in the Forest

Although the gopīs enjoyed direct association with Kṛṣṇa at night in the rāsa dance, during the day He went about His normal duties, tending His cows in the forest. At that time the minds of the gopīs would run after Him, but the young girls had to stay back in the village and do their own duties. Thus feeling the pain of separation, they would sing about Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental pastimes.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states that this chapter consists of a collection of statements the gopīs made at various times as they stood in small groups here and there in Vṛndāvana.

The word sthira-vidyut, “steady lightning,” refers to the goddess of fortune, who resides on the chest of the Supreme Lord. When the animals of Vṛndāvana hear the sound of the flute, they become stunned in ecstasy, and thus they stop chewing their food and cannot swallow it. The gopīs, in separation from Kṛṣṇa, marvel at the extraordinary effect of the Lord’s flute-playing.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the following explanation of the compound word hāra-hāsa, which compares Lord Kṛṣṇa’s smile to a necklace: “The word can mean ‘He whose smile is brilliantly clear like a jeweled necklace’ or ‘He whose smile is reflected from His jeweled necklaces,’ because while Kṛṣṇa plays the flute He bends His head down and smiles. The word can also mean ‘He whose smile, like a jeweled necklace, casts its effulgence upon His chest’ or ‘He whose necklaces shine brilliantly, just like a smile.’”

The gopīs state here that the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute causes even inanimate objects like rivers to become conscious and then stunned in ecstasy. Just as the gopīs could not always be in Kṛṣṇa’s physical association, the rivers could not come to the Lord’s lotus feet. Although they desired the Lord, their movement was checked by ecstasy, and their “arms,” their waves, trembled with love of Godhead.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has made several illuminating comments on these verses. He gives the analogy that just as when householder Vaiṣṇavas hear a saṅkīrtana party approaching they become ecstatic and offer obeisances, so the trees and creepers in Vṛndāvana became ecstatic when they heard Kṛṣṇa’s flute and bowed low with their branches and vines. The word darśanīya-tilaka in text 10 indicates not only that the Lord is “the most excellent (to see),” but also that He decorated Himself with attractive reddish tilaka taken from the mineral-rich earth of Vṛndāvana forest.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also points out that tulasī, although exalted in many ways, is not normally considered an especially fragrant plant. However, early in the morning tulasī emits a transcendental fragrance that ordinary people cannot perceive but that transcendental personalities fully appreciate. The bees who are privileged to swarm about the flower garlands worn by the Supreme Personality of Godhead certainly appreciate this fragrance, and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes from the Bhāgavatam (3.15.19) to the effect that the most fragrant plants in Vaikuṇṭha also appreciate the special qualifications of Tulasī-devī.

The word sandhita-veṇuḥ in text 10 indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa placed His flute firmly upon His lips. And the melody emanating from that flute is certainly the most enchanting of sounds, as the gopīs describe in this chapter.

The words tava sutaḥ sati, “your son, O chaste lady,” clearly indicate that at this point mother Yaśodā is among the young gopīs as they earnestly describe Lord Kṛṣṇa’s glories. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, among the demigods led by Śakra (Lord Indra) were Upendra, Agni and Yamarāja, among those led by Śarva (Lord Śiva) were Kātyāyanī, Skanda and Gaṇeśa, and among those led by Parameṣṭhī (Lord Brahmā) were the four Kumāras and Nārada. Thus the best collective intelligence in the universe could not definitively analyze the enchanting musical arrangements of the Supreme Lord.

Here mother Yaśodā is no longer in the company of the gopīs, who are confidentially describing their conjugal attraction to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It is clear from the comments of Jīva Gosvāmī and other ācāryas that the statements in this chapter were made at various times and places. This is natural, since the gopīs were always absorbed in thoughts of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, day and night.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that in the afternoon Śrī Kṛṣṇa dressed Himself in new clothing and then went out to call the cows home. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives the following information about the transcendental cows of Vṛndāvana: “For each of the four colors of cows — white, red, black and yellow — there are twenty-five subdivisions, making a total of one hundred colors. And such qualities as being colored like sandalwood-pulp tilaka [speckled] or having a head shaped like a mṛdaṅga drum create eight further groups. To count these 108 groups of cows, distinguished by color and form, Kṛṣṇa is using a string of 108 jewel-beads.…

“Thus when Kṛṣṇa calls out ‘Hey Dhavalī [the name of a white cow],’ a whole group of white cows come forward, and when He calls ‘Haṁsī, Candanī, Gaṅgā, Muktā‘ and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called Aruṇī, Kuṅkuma, Sarasvatī, etc., the blackish ones Śyāmalā, Dhūmalā, Yamunā, etc., and the yellowish ones Pītā, Piṅgalā, Haritālikā, etc. Those in the group with tilaka marks on their foreheads are called Citritā, Citra-tilakā, Dīrgha-tilakā and Tiryak-tilakā, and there are groups known as Mṛdaṅga-mukhī [mṛdaṅga-head], Siṁha-mukhī [lion-head] and so on.

“Thus being called by name, the cows are coming forward, and Kṛṣṇa, thinking that when it is time to bring them back from the forest none should be forgotten, is counting them on His jewel-beads.”

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the gopīs are again in the courtyard of mother Yaśodā, the queen of Vraja. They are trying to encourage her by describing Kṛṣṇa’s return to Vṛndāvana after He has spent the day herding cows and playing.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that the Upadevas, the minor demigods mentioned here, include the Gandharvas, who are famous for their celestial music and dancing.

According to the ācāryas, at this point the gopīs climbed into the watchtowers of Vṛndāvana’s houses so they could see Kṛṣṇa as soon as possible when He returned home. Mother Yaśodā was very anxious for her son to come back, and therefore she had the tallest of the beautiful young gopīs climb up to see when He would arrive. It is implied here that Kṛṣṇa was somewhat delayed on the way home because His lotus feet were being worshiped by great demigods along the path.

The word gavām is constructed from the Sanskrit word go, which means “cow” or “senses.” Thus Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by coming back to the village of Vraja, relieved the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana from the distress their eyes and other senses felt during the day because of being separated from direct contact with Him.

This verse definitely confirms that the so-called pain of the heartbroken gopīs is actually great spiritual bliss. On the material platform, pain is pain — period. But on the spiritual platform, so-called pain is simply a different variety of spiritual ecstasy. In the Western countries, people take pleasure in mixing different flavors of ice cream to produce wonderful combinations of flavor. Similarly, on the spiritual platform Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His devotees expertly mix the flavors of spiritual bliss, and thus every day was a treat for the gopīs.