Gopalacampu 1.20

Now the twenty-first chapter:

The stealing of the maidens' clothes and the complete attraction of the tender girls.

[1] Then Snigdhakaṇṭha spoke again:

[2] Now, the desire from the end of their childhood of those numerous, blessed young maidens of Vraja, who were born after the time marked by Garga's classification of the people of Vraja, who were born in various families, and who naturally followed their loving feeling for Kṛṣṇa, is to be described as follows:

When the desire arose among those maidens that the conqueror of Agha should become their husband, / their minds, having found no means at every step, / like lunar splendors that continually reside in the dark fortnight, / alas, ever developed emaciation amid a universe plunged into darkness!

[3] And so, for that purpose, praying to various deities in secret, they wandered about as if in vain.

[4] And this was their prayer:

"May my residence be in the house of the two lords of Vraja, with those two as my foremost parents-in-law, / and may Kṛṣṇa alone be my husband birth after birth!"

[5] Then once, along the Kālindī, they met one another.

[6] And that was fitting, because—

If one single destination / is aimed at from every side by many, / their meeting does take place, / even though coming from diverse places, just like that of fellow pilgrims.

[7] When they met, an affection also arose among them. For—

Those who are tender and born in different directions, when meeting together, bear affection exceedingly; / for time and again it is seen to be so among masses of dense clouds.

[8] And when this friendship had arisen, their heart's secret also became revealed to one another. Because—

Even when concealed, the heart of those who have a single refuge / becomes manifest to one another; / but if it is intimately joined, / tell me, what concealment could there then be?

[9] And then, as they were pouring out their heart's tears and also shedding tears from their eyes, being regarded as having their limbs overpowered by the final stage [of love], Vṛndā, constantly desiring their happiness and assuming the special dress of an ascetic woman, went there. / [10] For she had previously thought thus: "Surely their passion alone is ascertained to possess an inconceivable power to bring about union with that gallant of Vraja.

[11] And since passion thrives all the more powerfully because of its vigilance arising from worldly-style love, the worship of another deity is what must be accomplished, not the worship of him."

[12] Then, having arrived, when the manner of their greeting and her greeting them in return had been performed properly, she said: / [13] "Living right here in this forest, seeing the conditions of you who are full of love, I have come with a heart torn by compassion. Therefore, let this perfected mantra-science of mine be received by your ears. And it will not require much exertion from you; rather, there will be only the semblance of toil for a month. / [14] For that compassionate Yogamāyā, who consists of mantras, has been propitiated by me."

[15] Thus, having deposited the syllables of the mantra into their ear-cavities like a treasure, and having also duly explained its ritual, she, being composed, joyfully disappeared. And then, clinging to her instruction, they were plunged into supreme happiness. Because—

The greatness of abundant love always turns everything into an ally; / but if it attains a suitable means, then it assumes a noble exultation. / For them, such a teacher was this supreme Vaiṣṇava power herself, / the object of worship and the excellent mantra fulfilled their desire—from this, what happiness could not be theirs?

[16] Therefore, having rested, they assembled and began their vow starting from the first lunar day that marks the beginning of the month of Mārgaśīrṣa. At the dawn that spreads the red glow of the sun, calling out to one another from house to house, holding hands, intent on going to the Yamunā, they were absorbed in singing, wherein, largely in the manner of mutual jest, they revealed their inner intention, as follows:

"O friend, the wearer of the forest-garland shall marry you, / he who is endowed with choice virtues, a mine of all auspiciousness! // Refrain

Where the lord of Vraja, his desire aroused, / will set in motion the fitting talk, heaped with joy; // a

Hearing that, your mother and father / will attain happiness, having distributed wealth; / and Hari too will conceal his joy in his heart here, / who will be made to feign anger by his friends in jest; // b

On the auspicious day indicated by the astrologer, / he will put on his attire for his own wedding: / fair silk garments strewn with a blue luster, / like the source of the beauty of clouds and lightning; // c

a yellow jacket worn over his inner garments, / surrounded by the luster of a variegated upper cloth, / resplendent with a crown, diadem, and tiara, / possessing locks of hair and painted jewel-tilakas; // d

cheeks adorned with earrings, / the lovely red of his lower lip surpassing the hue of betel, / a cloth held in his hand to cover his lip, / a necklace resembling a cluster of jewels; // e

hands with armlets, bracelets, and rings, / well-formed with the wearing of wrist-guards, / the king of gems worn upon a chest entwined with necklaces, / an assemblage of garlands such as the forest-garland; // f

a waist shining with a bejeweled chain, / immersed in the brilliance of a host of foot-ornaments— / and in this attire, this unprecedented thing / that has never been seen anywhere before: // g

every limb of his is indeed an ornament, / and he takes pride in thinking, 'I myself am every ornament!' / Then they will behold him seated on a jeweled cart, / accompanied by his friends; // h

surrounded by the carts of the bridegroom's party, / they will shower him with flowers along with song; / and with hundreds of musical instruments combined with the sound of the carts, / he himself will also attain delight through that." // i

“Upon hearing that sound, my friend, your heart, / though held with effort, will be broken. / When he arrives near the doorway, / my friend, you may surrender to an swoon of bliss. ||j

That troop of your female companions from the cowherd settlement, / having gone to meet him, with lips like bimba fruit, will sing. / His arrival will be a spread of instruments, / and yet that singing will consist mostly of playful insults. ||k

They will gaze [upon him] with an offering of waving lights / accompanied by a shower of flowers. / When the dark youth is brought into the magnificent canopy, / there will be an exhilarating crush of joy in lovely Rāma. ||l

Following the worship of the lord of the cowherds and the other elders, / playful curiosity will arise, O fair-formed one! / Having previously performed the auspicious rites properly, / they will lead you here, together with your bridal treasure. ||m

In front of the bridegroom they will seat you, / your limbs trembling, the vessel of your beloved’s pleasure. / Then your father, taking your frail hand, / will place it, wet with tears, into the hand of the bridegroom. ||n

And there, O fair-faced maiden, through bliss, / who can know what you will become? / What need is there to say more? I see as it were the charming holding / of your hand already performed by him!” ||o|| (7) Thus [she sang].

Thus, having reached the Yamunā, having quickly concluded their singing at that time, and with the fickleness of childhood in the early morning, casting off their garments and gathering together on the bank, they plunged into the water. Having plunged in, considering that because the cloth was silk it should not be discarded even without washing, they put on that very cloth, performed worship of the sandy image of the goddess to be worshipped, repeated their mantra, and returned home.

Having acted in this way for a month, on the day that completed the month, since it also marked the completion of the vow, because of a fullness of supreme bliss, beside the stream of the Yamunā, feeling shameless due to the remote seclusion, they played for a moment.

Knowing all this earlier, the son of the king of Vraja, his mind delighted, took four young boys along as his companions, departed for that place, and watched them secretly with his mind absorbed.

Those [boys] named Dāman, Sudāman, Vasudāman, and Kiṅkiṇi, who are known by the knowers of Tantra as named after the outward manifestations of his intellect, ego, mind-stuff, and mind—these very boys, four or five years of age, rejoicing in being of equal age with one another, daily showered with love from Kṛṣṇa, asking right from the start of their walk, “Where are we going?” and going along, joined his company. Then:

Taking the four clever young boys in his company, / having arrived there, restraining their laughter with his hand, / stooping down and becoming completely unnoticed, / Hari immediately snatched away that heap of their garments. (8)

Having taken them and quickly climbed the kadamba tree, / he laughed aloud along with the troop of boys. / Hearing that loud laughter, the troop of cowherd girls, / all at once, in fear, cast their glances upward. (9)

Recognizing that laughter accompanied by a deep voice, / possessing a splendid beauty not manifested in any other, / bound by childhood, they looked at one another; / not seeing their clothes kept there, / keeping their chests low in the water and holding their faces high, / they made the lotus flowers look down in shame. (10)

Here their faces did not produce the illusion of dense lotus thickets, / because that would be unfitting in the winter season; / rather, they simply caused them humiliation. (11)

And then:
For a moment they remained in the middle of the water with downcast eyes; / as the cold arose once more, they looked up at the kadamba tree. / Even though Hari had previously concealed his form on the branch, / he once more became uncovered so that he would be noticed by them. (12)

The glance from the corner of Kṛṣṇa’s eye, having ascended the kadamba tree, / suddenly fell upon the faces of those [maidens] whose bodies were in the water; / it assumed the role of the sun drinking the lotuses, / while their glance assumed the manner of the cātaka bird toward that cloud. (13)

And then:
The boys laughed loudly, and the girls cried out in distress; / and they said, “This deed of yours / will surely be brought to the notice of Vraja!” (14)

Then the boys, repeatedly instructed by Kṛṣṇa, spoke:

There, first of all, as follows:

“Whether it is proper to do or improper to do, we do not know even in the least; / but we have arrived for your instruction, and having seen you, we have come to know that again.” (15)
Then all of them, looking at one another with embarrassment, spoke again:

“Whoever your teacher is, you have been taught very well by him; / and you practice that in Vraja to increase your guru’s prestige!” (16)

Again the boys, instructed by him, said:

“For what purpose is this reproach? We do not understand anything of it. / You are wanderers in the water, and we are travelers in the treetops.” (17)

They said:
“The prowess fitting for plunderers is that you travel in the treetops; / the helplessness fitting for the plundered is that we plunge into the water.” (18)

Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself, as if with anger and astonishment, said, “What of yours has been plundered?”

They said, “Alas, how is it that our garments, hard to cover because of our countless number, have come to be covered up?”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “You are indeed covered by the sky, so how can that garment/sky undergo concealment by theft?”

They said:

“You possess the power even to turn garments into the sky [and sky into garments]; / but here, O Dāmodara, how much heroism does theft bestow?” (19)

Then Kṛṣṇa said with a smile: “These [girls] immersed in the water are not naked. This was only my joke. You have seen what was done by these whose nature is wicked though endowed with beauty in mere form; for my own fine garments, dropped here and there in playing, collectively and individually, have slipped away. Clearly recognizing and collecting them unjustly, wearing them, these daughters of paupers, wishing to hide from the sight of someone like me, have indeed plunged into the water. For they are seen quite unveiled within the waters of the daughter of the sun, which are exceedingly clear; and clinging to every limb of theirs immersed in the water, their colours, having the hue of gold, are observed like letters [in an inscription]. Therefore, swimming out, take hold of each of them by the hand and bring them back!”

Taking note of this, stepping down as far as the bank, having waited a short time in hurry, the boys who obeyed Kṛṣṇa's command said to them: “Why do you take to standing motionless? Cross over without any hesitation!”

And to their female friends they said: “Bring them right here, and give these plunderers of the delight of water-dwelling an unreserved [thrashing]!”

Then to them also:

“Since you constantly intend an action: ‘Seize the garments, seize the women!’ / by the grace of Kātyāyanī, we shall drag even him into the water!”

Then, as soon as they heard this, running away as if stumbling, approaching the base of the kadamba tree, they immediately climbed that very tree.

Kṛṣṇa, however, clearly declared with a laugh: “Aha! Let there be pride in you who are becoming fortunate; let us see the power of the goddess in your ladyships! As long as you remain accepting this dwelling in the water, so long shall we also remain right upon the tree, having resolved upon dwelling in the sky!”

Then, receiving that reply, all of them brought forth with a pun the thought within their hearts:

“He who stays in a tree has no fear of the river, / but the river-worthiness of those whose bodies have been surrendered to a worthy recipient must be questioned again.”

And then, as they were shivering from the cool rays of his face and from the multitude of icy waves, he spoke to them with playful compassion:

“O extremely weak girls whose bodily joints are slackened by the cold! Come forward, every one of you!”

Accompanied by a knitting of the brows, they said: “Why do you ask us to come again?”

Kṛṣṇa said: “The garment was stolen by the forest goddess, but forcibly recovered by me from her; come and receive it.”

They said: “What is left for us to look for beyond this?”

Having said this, staying inside the water, they bowed slightly with outstretched hands. But Kṛṣṇa said with an insinuating gesture of his finger: “O lotus-petal-eyed ones! Come near to this place.”

They said: “How is this ‘come-here’ action of yours [proper]?”

Kṛṣṇa said: “My seeing and distributing will attain distinction.”

They said: “Then what would be fitting?”

Kṛṣṇa said: “There would not be an excess in taking or an exchange of garments.”

And they said to one another: “O naive ones! This elaboration is only to deceive [us]!”

Kṛṣṇa, showing them and biting his tongue, said: “I speak the truth, not falsehood.”

Guessing an obstacle again, they replied alternately: “O fools in intellect! This is only his teasing, with an inner laugh that is very obvious!”

Kṛṣṇa, however, revealed his smile, though hidden. With an assumed manner of sweet speech, he also said: “Alas, no, no! Since you are the objects of great compassion because of being emaciated from vows, you do not deserve to suffer.”

They said:

“He who is desirous of others' clothing and fond of staying home— / if he is compassionate towards the cold, that is the height of wonder!”

“Be that as it may. Tell us honestly: when did your ladyship begin to speak the truth?”

Kṛṣṇa said: “Never have I put a lie into speech.”

They said: “Who says so?”

Kṛṣṇa said with a laugh: “O fabricators of deceit! If you think otherwise, ask these very ones assembled here, who are devoted to the highest virtue!”

They said with a laugh: “True, these appear to have found your secret and to share the same nature.”

Kṛṣṇa said: “Ah, you whose waists can be clasped in a fist, if you have bypassed trust, let it be perceived by direct perception! Either by all of you coming, or by even one who surpasses all!”

And then:
“Hearing that playful jest of his,
the girls, overwhelmed with love,
ashamed, and laughing as they looked at one another,
did not come out.”

Shame to go to the bank, and cold to remain in the water—
such double numbness arose simultaneously; therefore
those [girls] spoke a little right there:

“O jewel of the royal line of Vraja, you possess affection for Vraja
and are revered by the people of Vraja; therefore we beg:
with our minds gripped by anxiety from excessive cold,
give, give us our clothing, and do not commit an injustice!”

Kṛṣṇa said: “Has any injustice of mine been made the object of your sight? On the contrary, [thinking that] help must be rendered to you who are born of noble families, whose clothes have been taken away by the forest goddess, it was thus begun by me. But for someone like me, a desire to meet with your heap of garments cannot arise. Therefore, if you give even a little to nourish our satisfaction, then out of joy at that we shall even consider yielding to opposition against the goddess.”

[60] Then, realizing this fact in this way, those who observed the vow to Kātyāyanī reflected thus in their minds: "Oh, what we cherished in our hearts, that very thing he is trying to bring to light! Therefore, this is the very moment for us. But here some pretext must be shown, and even that is obtained naturally, since our extreme shivering from cold and the like is openly occurring here."

[61] Then they said to him: "Alas, alas! By this winter breeze, overcome with cold, we have quickly come to the brink of death. Therefore, do not carry on a useless joke that pierces our vital core, but give us our garments! Whatever you desire, we shall do even if it means accepting disgrace."

[62] Kṛṣṇa said with a smile: "Ah! If you give what I desire, then indeed accept servanthood!"

[63] Then they thought: "Oh! He has suddenly shown dexterity in striking at the core. Be that as it may, we too, resorting to humor, accept that very joy!"

[64] And they openly said: "O Śyāmasundara, we are your handmaidens!"

[65] And Kṛṣṇa said with a smile: "And in that regard, what I commanded, bring that into agreement before me."

[66] Then, after consulting with one another, with lowered eyes they said: "Very well, we will do your bidding."

[67] Even when it was so, though Kṛṣṇa still desired [more], he remained silent; so they spoke again: "Give the clothes, O knower of dharma!"

[68] And the purport here is that otherwise, through the breach of one's own promise, dharma itself should not leave itself unprotected against injury to the vital core.

[69] Even so, while he stood thus with a smile concealed in amusement, they spoke again: "If not, we will tell the king!"

[70] And here, this was spoken only to make him, who was free from fear, appear as if he were possessed of it, but not in reality.

[71] The intention was: "By the word 'king', which serves as a pretext, whatever special meaning he understands, let him understand just that to his heart's content."

[72] And Kṛṣṇa said appropriately in reply: "Aho! When will you become handmaidens? Or when will you do what was spoken by me? We do not perceive that at all! If this is truly so, then having no other recourse, rising from the water, rising to all prosperity, approach me with a smile, not with even the slightest harshness! Otherwise, how can we extend assistance to those whose resolve consists of false words, and who on that very account are akin to the very core of adharma?"

[73] Still, noticing that they did not rise, he spoke with feigned hardness: "We do not heed our relation to you vile maidens whose hopes have been made in vain! But—

Understand this straightway as my sheer compassion! / Otherwise, if I do not give them back, what will an angry king do?"

[74] And here, he used the word 'king' as a pretext. And then, receiving their silence and recognizing their fear, that crest-jewel of compassionate gentlemen inspired confidence; and once confidence was somehow established, in order to gain relief from the affliction of the cold, they came out of the water, though their bodies were frozen and rigid with dense shame—so it is related. If that be so, then in truth, let this be the reason for it:

[Verse 27 missing]

"If what is prayed for bears fruit, then we would keep / our bodies; if not, then not"—if that very boundary of their vow / were to prove futile for them, where then is shame? / Going unclothed was for the sake of their destination, but the cold was the pretext.

[75] In that way, even though they were thus told [to come out] from the water, their limbs did not become fully visible; on the contrary—

Making front-cloths out of the sprouts of their hands, / holding rear garments with the spread of their hair, / the younger girls standing behind the older, / the maidens moved forward like hunchbacked women.

[76] And then, while the company of boys pranced about in loud laughter, chattering: "Look, Kṛṣṇa, look! Trembling on all sides, they have come, having slipped their stolen garments right into the water!"—Hari, pondering this, felt supreme compassion, as follows:

Although they attained comparison with the body of the moon because its marks were obscured, / nonetheless they swiftly surpassed it, for their signs of excellence remained unimpaired.

"These girls of noble birth would rather desire the death of their bodies / than the loss of their modesty; even so, they have reached this state before me. / But the seed of this is only the fear of my turning away; therefore, / longing, scattering my hesitation, casts me into their distress.

[77] Even so, to ascertain their devotion thoroughly and to make exceedingly clear a jest that looks through the mud and touches their heart's desire, this mind longs [to test them further], since even having come forward out of the plunge of embarrassment, their limbs remain concealed by one another.

[78] Openly he said: "Hey, you fickle boys, why are you laughing? These are indeed little girls; how could they be at fault for being unclothed?"

[79] Then, withdrawing the bundle of garments and placing it in a certain fork of the kadamba branches in full view of them so as to forge the bonds of love, he said to them with a smile: [80] "Because of your acceptance of servanthood, I will indeed give these garments. But this improper conduct of yours, which was previously impossible to ascertain, but now having observed is ascertained—of you who have attained veneration and respect from a good preceptor—at once makes me pale. Therefore, let this be reflected upon by you:

That water was entered, O bimbā-lipped ones, / was itself an offense against the water-god. / To cover that transgression in this vow of his, / let that god be bowed to with both hands placed on your heads!"

[81] But they, with minds abashed and broken by great fear, concluded that it had to be done thus, and misdirecting the boys' glances with the words, "Look, some people are making a noise!", they considered that their husband alone is their deity, and under the pretext of playful jest, they bowed down to him alone, saying, "O Lord, obeisance to You!"

[82] And then, beholding each part of their bodies with curious longing, and reflecting upon their tenderness as well as their cleverness, Kṛṣṇa, having gained a gathering of grace, handed over their garments individually along with playful banter. Whereupon, bestowing satisfaction, he displayed his ingenuity, saying: "Only by traversing the path of my sight did the plumpness, length, and other dimensions of you ladies come within the grasp of my fist; how otherwise could I have delivered them?" But—

A hostile word, through love,
becomes friendly and bestows happiness.
Behold: by stealing their clothes and the like,
Hari on the contrary brought them joy! ||

[83] And then, when he had descended from the tree,

The girls, greatly embarrassed, their charming beauty unchecked, to conceal their shame
then covered their limbs again and again, revealing—alas!—the inner yearning of their hearts;
they stood with their lotus faces turned slightly away from Kṛṣṇa, yet the corner of their eyes
returned back to him: ah, my dear, crooked is the path of desire for the fair-browed maidens of Vraja! ||

|| MISSING!

And then:
Like swarms of bees around a lotus filled with nectar,
the maidens, desiring him as their husband,
then stood around Kṛṣṇa to choose him. ||

[84] Now, when those boys, with wide eyes, were joyfully tugging at both his hands and his bundle of garments and accessories, saying, "Come on, come on! What is there to be done here?", Hari, who had removed the burden of the garment theft, considered within himself the boon to be granted. And then—

Understanding the resolve of those who had undertaken the vow
with a desire for the touch of his hand,
Gopāla made it bear fruit. ||

Namely:
"One's own purpose is that which appears distinct from oneself, but the worship of me is one's very own;
and when the mind is absorbed in me, the disregard of proper conduct does not obstruct here.
In the first case I myself am always the standard of comparison, and in the second you are;
therefore this unconditioned resolve in you alone is regarded as most true." ||

"Just as parched grains fried in ghee and boiled in jaggery
are consumed by themselves and do not foster another desire like seed-grains,
so the worship performed by those who desire me alone does not tend toward any other desire;
and if you say that it becomes a form of delightful relish, what more need be said of you?" ||

[85] Hearing this, the fair-complexioned maidens had bashful eyes in the hope that the Gandharva marriage festival might take place immediately; and looking forward to the agreed-upon time, he, becoming their fulfiller, clearly addressed them again to grant their fulfillment, as follows:

"Mutual acceptance alone constitutes the rite of marriage;
other duties are its accessories, and that [rite] has itself awakened here.
Therefore, you have achieved success; return now to Vraja.
On a certain night our union will certainly take place soon." ||

[86] When he had thus given his promise to them, their absorption increased all the more. As Śrī Śuka said:

"Thus commanded by the Lord, the maidens, having attained their desire,
meditating on his lotus feet, entered Vraja with difficulty." [BhP 10.22.28]

To explain:
From the orb of his face, from his waist, from his hips possessing the radiance of his two arms,
from his two thighs, and from his pair of knees, the doe-eyed maidens with their eyes bowed in modesty
reached Murāri's two lotus feet; but alas, upon parting from him, each of those parts
that they had looked upon, foot by foot, remained lodged within their hearts! ||

Taking both their hearts and their clothes, he returned only the latter;
he did not return the former, which is formless and must be kept utterly concealed. ||
Since they, out of pure joy, forgot even the worship of the goddess to be completed on the final day
and went straight to Vraja, their rites were completed by that alone;
for when the direct fruit of whatever was desired with love—
the bliss of Kṛṣṇa's acceptance—embraced them, what other cherished desire remained? ||

[87] Madhukaṇṭha said: "Having enjoyed sweet after sweet during the monthly offering, why did the goddess give up appearing to grant their desire?"

[88] Snigdhakaṇṭha said:

"Realising that their passionate love alone brings about fulfillment,
and not our worship,
Durgā did not arrive here to bestow the boon;
rather, the object of their passionate love arrived in person!" ||

[89] Madhukaṇṭha said: "Surely they were kept away from Govinda by Garga alone!"
[90] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: "They were kept away, but not directly."

[91] Madhukaṇṭha said: "How so?"

[92] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: "Although his mind was not inclined to return to Vraja due to shrinking from the gaze of the distressed Rādhā and other women who are the crest-jewels of virtuous women, nevertheless, because of the stipulation made by the king and queen of Vraja that the two ceremonies—such as the sacred thread investiture—must not be undertaken without inquiry after him, and because of the obstacle in the minds of the brides such as Rādhā arising from his radiance, they were separated indirectly."

[93] Madhukaṇṭha said: "Then how were those maidens situated?"

[94] Snigdhakaṇṭha said: "Outwardly by maidenhood, but secretly by conduct as the wedded wives of Śrī Hari."

[95] Madhukaṇṭha said: "True; childhood indeed caused an obstruction to the awareness of the former ones, so an inverted state of affairs occurred. How could it happen to these maidens whose mature knowledge had arisen?"

[96] Having related this narrative, the storyteller enlightened Śrī Rādhā:

Thus, the delay resorted to by the younger brother of Bala [Kṛṣṇa]—
that strength became mighty without your union. ||21.44