
Krishna Book Chapter Twenty Two
Krishna
Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls
According
to Vedic civilization, unmarried girls from ten to fourteen
years of age are supposed to worship either Lord Siva or the
goddess Durga in order to get a nice husband. But the unmarried
girls of Vrndavana were already attracted by the beauty of
Krishna. They were, however, engaged in the worship of the
goddess Durga in the beginning of the hemanta season (just
prior to the winter season). The first month of hemanta is
called Agrahayana (October-November), and at that time all
the unmarried gopis of Vrndavana began to worship goddess
Durga with a vow. They first ate havisyanna, a kind of foodstuff
prepared by boiling together mung dhal and rice without any
spices or turmeric. According to Vedic injunction, this kind
of foodstuff is recommended to purify the body before one
enacts a ritualistic ceremony. All the unmarried gopis in
Vrndavana used to daily worship goddess Katyayani early in
the morning after taking bath in the river Yamuna. Katyayani
is another name for goddess Durga. The goddess is worshiped
by preparing a doll made out of sand mixed with earth from
the bank of the Yamuna. It is recommended in the Vedic scriptures
that a deity may be made from different kinds of material
elements; it can be painted, made of metal, made of jewels,
made of wood, earth or stone or can be conceived within the
heart of the worshiper. The Mayavadi philosopher takes all
these forms of the deity to be imaginary, but actually they
are accepted in the Vedic literatures to be identical with
either the Supreme Lord or a respective demigod.
The
unmarried gopis used to prepare the deity of goddess Durga
and worship it with candana pulp, garlands, incense lamps
and all kinds of presentations--fruits, grains and twigs of
plants. After worshiping, it is the custom to pray for some
benediction. The unmarried girls used to pray with great devotion
to goddess Katyayani, addressing her as follows: "O supreme
eternal energy of the Personality of Godhead, O supreme mystic
power, O supreme controller of this material world, O goddess,
please be kind to us and arrange for our marriage with the
son of Nanda Maharaja, Krishna." The Vaisnavas generally
do not worship any demigods. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura
has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone
who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopis,
who are beyond compare in their affection for Krishna, were
seen to worship Durga. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes
mention that the gopis also worshiped goddess Durga, but we
must understand the purpose of the gopis. Generally, people
worship goddess Durga for some material benediction. Here,
the gopis prayed to the goddess to become wives of Lord Krishna.
The purport is that if Krishna is the center of activity,
a devotee can adopt any means to achieve that goal. The gopis
could adopt any means to satisfy or serve Krishna. That was
the superexcellent characteristic of the gopis. They worshiped
goddess Durga completely for one month in order to have Krishna
as their husband. Every day they prayed for Krishna, the son
of Nanda Maharaja, to become their husband.
Early
in the morning, the gopis used to go to the bank of the Yamuna
to take bath. They would assemble together, capturing each
other's hands, and loudly sing of the wonderful pastimes of
Krishna. It is an old system among Indian girls and women
that when they take bath in the river they place their garments
on the bank and dip into the water completely naked. The portion
of the river where the girls and women take bath was strictly
prohibited to any male member, and this is still the system.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, knowing the minds of the
unmarried young gopis, benedicted them with their desired
objective. They had prayed for Krishna to become their husband,
and Krishna wanted to fulfill their desires.
At the
end of the month, Krishna, along with His friends, appeared
on the scene. Another name of Krishna is Yogesvara, or master
of all mystic powers. By practicing meditation, the yogi can
study the psychic movement of other men, and certainly Krishna
could understand the desire of the gopis. Appearing on the
scene, Krishna immediately collected all the garments of the
gopis, climbed up in a nearby tree, and with smiling face
began to speak to them.
"My
dear girls," He said. "Please come here one after
another and pray for your garments and then take them away.
I'm not joking with you. I'm just telling the truth. I have
no desire to play any joke with you, for you have observed
the regulative principles for one month by worshiping goddess
Katyayani. Please do not come here all at once. Come alone;
I want to see each of you in your complete beauty, for you
all have thin waists. I have requested you to come alone.
Now please comply."
When the girls in the water heard such joking words from Krishna,
they began to look at one another and smile. They were very
joyous to hear such a request from Krishna because they were
already in love with Him. Out of shyness, they looked at one
another, but they could not come out of the water because
they were naked. Due to remaining in the water for a long
time, they felt cold and were shivering, yet upon hearing
the pleasing and joking words of Govinda, their minds were
perturbed with great joy. They began to tell Krishna, "Dear
son of Nanda Maharaja, please do not joke with us in that
way. It is completely unjust to us. You are a very respectable
boy because You are the son of Nanda Maharaja, and You are
very dear to us, but You should not play this joke on us because
now we are all shivering from the cold water. Kindly deliver
our garments immediately, otherwise we shall suffer."
They then began to appeal to Krishna with great submission.
"Dear Syamasundara," they said, "we are all
Your eternal servitors. Whatever You order us to do, we are
obliged to perform without hesitation because we consider
it our religious duty. But if You insist on putting this proposal
to us, which is impossible to perform, then certainly we will
have to go to Nanda Maharaja and lodge a complaint against
You. If Nanda Maharaja does not take action, then we shall
tell King Kamsa about Your misbehavior."
Upon
hearing this appeal by the unmarried gopis, Krishna answered,
"My dear girls, if you think that you are My eternal
servitors and you are always ready to execute My order, then
My request is that, with your smiling faces, you please come
here alone, one after another, and take away your garments.
If you do not come here, however, and if you lodge complaints
to My father, I shall not care anyway, for I know My father
is old and cannot take any action against Me."
When
the gopis saw that Krishna was strong and determined, they
had no alternative but to abide by His order. One after another
they came out of the water, but because they were completely
naked, they tried to cover their nakedness by placing their
left hand over their pubic area. In that posture they were
all shivering. Their simple presentation was so pure that
Lord Krishna immediately became pleased with them. All the
unmarried gopis who prayed to Katyayani to have Krishna as
their husband were thus satisfied. A woman cannot be naked
before any male except her husband. The unmarried gopis desired
Krishna as their husband, and He fulfilled their desire in
this way. Being pleased with them, He took their garments
on His shoulder and began to speak as follows. "My dear
girls, you have committed a great offense by going naked in
the river Yamuna. Because of this, the predominating deity
of the Yamuna, Varunadeva, has become displeased with you.
Please, therefore, just touch your foreheads with folded palms
and bow down before the demigod Varuna in order to be excused
from this offensive act." The gopis were all simple souls,
and whatever Krishna said they took to be true. In order to
be freed from the wrath of Varunadeva, as well as to fulfill
the desired end of their vows and ultimately to please their
worshipable Lord, Krishna, they immediately abided by His
order. Thus they became the greatest lovers of Krishna, and
His most obedient servitors.
Nothing
can compare to the Krishna consciousness of the gopis. Actually,
the gopis did not care for Varuna or any other demigod; they
only wanted to satisfy Krishna. Krishna became very ingratiated
and satisfied by the simple dealings of the gopis, and He
immediately delivered their respective garments, one after
another. Although Krishna cheated the young unmarried gopis
and made them stand naked before Him and enjoyed joking words
with them, and although He treated them just like dolls and
stole their garments, they were still pleased with Him and
never lodged complaints against Him. This attitude of the
gopis is described by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He prays,
"My dear Lord Krishna, You may embrace Me or trample
Me under Your feet, or You may make Me brokenhearted by never
being present before Me. Whatever You like, You can do, because
You have complete freedom to act. But in spite of all Your
dealings, You are My Lord eternally, and I have no other worshipable
object." This is the attitude of the gopis toward Krishna.
Lord
Krishna was pleased with them, and since they all desired
to have Him as their husband, He told them, "My dear
well-behaved girls, I know of your desire for Me and why you
worshiped goddess Katyayani, and I completely approve of your
action. Anyone whose full consciousness is always absorbed
in Me, even if in lust, is elevated. As a fried seed cannot
fructify, so any desire in connection with My loving service
cannot produce any fruitive result, as in ordinary karma."
There
is a statement in the Brahma-samhita: karmani nirdahati kintu
ca bhakti-bhajam. Everyone is bound by his fruitive activities,
but the devotees, because they work completely for the satisfaction
of the Lord, suffer no reactions. Similarly, the gopis' attitude
toward Krishna, although seemingly lusty, should not be considered
to be like the lusty desires of ordinary women. The reason
is explained by Krishna Himself. Activities in devotional
service to Krishna are transcendental to any fruitive result.
"My
dear gopis," Krishna continued, "your desire to
have Me as your husband will be fulfilled because with this
desire you have worshiped goddess Katyayani. I promise you
that during the next autumn season you shall be able to meet
with Me, and you shall enjoy Me as your husband."
Taking shelter of the shade of the trees, Krishna became very
happy. While walking He began to address the inhabitants of
Vrndavana. "My dear Stoka Krishna, My dear Varuthapa,
My dear Bhadrasena, My dear Sudama, My dear Subala, My dear
Arjuna, My dear Visala, My dear Risabha--just look at these
most fortunate trees of Vrndavana. They have dedicated their
lives to the welfare of others. Individually they are tolerating
all kinds of natural disturbances, such as hurricanes, torrents
of rain, scorching heat and piercing cold, but they are very
careful to relieve our fatigues and give us shelter. My dear
friends, I think they are glorified in this birth as trees.
They are so careful to give shelter to others that they are
like noble, highly elevated charitable men who never deny
charity to one who approaches them. No one is denied shelter
by these trees. They supply various kinds of facilities to
human society, such as leaves, flowers, fruit, shade, roots,
bark, flavor extracts and fuel. They are the perfect example
of noble life. They are like a noble person who has sacrificed
everything possible--his body, mind, activities, intelligence
and words--in engaging in the welfare of all living entities."
Thus
the Supreme Personality of Godhead walked on the bank of the
Yamuna, touching the leaves of the trees and their fruits,
flowers and twigs, and praising their glorious welfare activities.
Different people may accept certain welfare activities to
be beneficial for human society, according to their own views,
but the welfare activity that can be rendered to people in
general, for eternal benefit, is the spreading of the Krishna
consciousness movement. Everyone should be prepared to propagate
this movement. As instructed by Lord Caitanya, one should
be humbler than the grass on the ground and more tolerant
than the tree. The tolerance of the trees is explained by
Lord Krishna Himself, and those who are engaged in the preaching
of Krishna consciousness should learn lessons from the teachings
of Lord Krishna and Lord Caitanya through Their direct disciplic
succession.
While
passing through the forest of Vrndavana on the bank of the
Yamuna, Krishna sat down at a beautiful spot and allowed the
cows to drink the cold and transparent water of the Yamuna.
Being fatigued, the cowherd boys, Krishna and Balarama also
drank. After seeing the young gopis taking bath in the Yamuna,
Krishna passed the rest of the morning with the boys.
Thus
ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the
Twenty-second Chapter of Krishna,
"Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls."
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