Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls

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gauranga_nityananda

 

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 Krsna. 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, Krsna." 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 Krsna, 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 Krsna. The purport is that if Krsna 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 Krsna. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the

gopis. They worshiped goddess Durga completely for one month in order to have

Krsna as their husband. Every day they prayed for Krsna, 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 Krsna. 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 Krsna to become their husband, and Krsna wanted

to fulfill their desires.

 

At the end of the month, Krsna, along with His friends, appeared on the scene.

Another name of Krsna is Yogesvara, or master of all mystic powers. By

practicing meditation, the yogi can study the psychic movement of other men,

and certainly Krsna could understand the desire of the gopis. Appearing on the

scene, Krsna 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 Krsna, they began to

look at one another and smile. They were very joyous to hear such a request

from Krsna 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 Krsna, "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

Krsna 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, Krsna 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 Krsna 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 Krsna

immediately became pleased with them. All the unmarried gopis who prayed to

Katyayani to have Krsna as their husband were thus satisfied. A woman cannot be

naked before any male except her husband. The unmarried gopis desired Krsna 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

Krsna 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, Krsna, they immediately abided by His order.

Thus they became the greatest lovers of Krsna, and His most obedient servitors.

 

Nothing can compare to the Krsna consciousness of the gopis. Actually, the

gopis did not care for Varuna or any other demigod; they only wanted to satisfy

Krsna. Krsna became very ingratiated and satisfied by the simple dealings of

the gopis, and He immediately delivered their respective garments, one after

another. Although Krsna 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 Krsna, 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 Krsna.

Lord Krsna 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 Krsna, although seemingly

lusty, should not be considered to be like the lusty desires of ordinary women.

The reason is explained by Krsna Himself. Activities in devotional service to

Krsna are transcendental to any fruitive result.

"My dear gopis," Krsna 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, Krsna became very happy. While

walking He began to address the inhabitants of Vrndavana. "My dear Stoka Krsna,

My dear Varuthapa, My dear Bhadrasena, My dear Sudama, My dear Subala, My dear

Arjuna, My dear Visala, My dear Rsabha--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 Krsna 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 Krsna Himself, and those

who are engaged in the preaching of Krsna consciousness should learn lessons

from the teachings of Lord Krsna and Lord Caitanya through Their direct

disciplic succession.

 

 

While passing through the forest of Vrndavana on the bank of the Yamuna, Krsna

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, Krsna and

Balarama also drank. After seeing the young gopis taking bath in the Yamuna,

Krsna passed the rest of the morning with the boys.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Twenty-second Chapter of Krsna,

"Stealing the Garments of the Unmarried Gopi Girls."

 

 

 

 

 

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