Canto Ten - Chapter 33

Śrī Śuka said: After hearing these most gracious words from Bhagavān, the gopīs gave up the anguish born of separation, for their cherished desires had been fulfilled by contact with His body.

There Govinda began the rāsa dance with those devoted, joyful jewels among women, who had linked their arms with one another.

The festival of rāsa began, adorned by the circle of gopīs. The master of all yoga, Kṛṣṇa, entered between every pair of them, embracing each woman around the neck, and every gopī thought that He stood beside her alone. The sky became crowded with hundreds of celestial aircraft bearing gods and their wives, whose hearts had been swept away by eagerness to behold the dance. Then celestial drums resounded, showers of flowers fell, and the foremost Gandharvas, accompanied by their wives, sang Kṛṣṇa's stainless glory.

Throughout the arena of the rāsa dance arose the tumultuous music of the women's bracelets, anklets, and waist bells as they danced with their beloved.

There Bhagavān, the son of Devakī, shone magnificently among the gopīs, like a great emerald set amid golden jewels.

With measured steps, sweeping movements of their arms, smiles, playful glances of their brows, bending waists, garments stirring over their moving breasts, and earrings swinging upon their cheeks, Kṛṣṇa's brides danced with perspiring faces and loosened braids and waistbands. Singing of Him, they shone like flashes of lightning within a mass of clouds.

Their throats vibrant with passion and their hearts devoted to love, the dancing gopīs sang aloud. Delighted by Kṛṣṇa's touch, they filled the whole world with their song.

One gopī sang pure notes in perfect harmony with Mukunda. Pleased, He honored her, exclaiming, 'Excellent! Excellent!' When she then sang the same melody as a sustained refrain, He bestowed still greater honor upon her.

One gopī, exhausted by the rāsa dance, placed her arm upon the shoulder of the club-bearing Lord beside her; her bracelets and jasmine flowers had loosened.

Another gopī smelled Kṛṣṇa's arm, fragrant like a blue lotus and anointed with sandalwood, as it rested upon her shoulder. Her hairs stood on end in joy, and she kissed it.

As one gopī pressed her cheek, encircled by the brilliance of earrings tossed by her dancing, against His cheek, Kṛṣṇa gave her the betel He had chewed.

Another gopī danced and sang while her anklets and waist bells chimed. Growing tired, she placed the auspicious lotus hand of Acyuta, who stood beside her, upon her breasts.

The gopīs had now attained Acyuta as their beloved, He who is the exclusive darling of the goddess of fortune. With His arms around their necks, they sang of Him and sported with Him.

With lotus flowers at their ears, curls ornamenting their cheeks, perspiration lending splendor to their faces, and bracelets and anklets sounding like musical instruments, the gopīs danced together with Bhagavān in the rāsa assembly. Their garlands slipped from their loosened hair while bees served as singers.

In this way the Lord of Ramā sported with the beautiful women of Vraja through embraces, the touch of His hands, affectionate glances, uninhibited play, and laughter, just as a child plays with the bewildering reflections of himself.

O foremost of the Kurus, the senses of the women of Vraja were overwhelmed by the joy of bodily contact with Him. With their garlands and ornaments slipping, they could not easily keep their hair, fine garments, or breast coverings in place.

Seeing Kṛṣṇa's play, the celestial women became utterly enchanted and afflicted with desire. The moon and his entire retinue were likewise struck with wonder.

Bhagavān expanded Himself into as many forms as there were cowherd women. Though He delights within Himself, He playfully enjoyed with them all.

The compassionate Lord saw that the gopīs' faces had grown weary from their loving play. O dear one, with His most soothing hand He lovingly wiped their faces.

The gopīs' cheeks were beautified by the luster of their gleaming golden earrings and curls. Honored by the chief of heroes through His nectarous smiles and glances and delighted by the touch of His fingernails, they sang of His holy deeds.

Accompanied by the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa entered the water to dispel their weariness. His garland had been crushed by contact with their bodies and stained by the kuṅkuma from their breasts, and hosts of Gandharvas followed Him. He resembled a weary lord of elephants entering the water with his she-elephants after breaking through an embankment.

O dear one, in the water the laughing young women splashed Him freely from every side and gazed upon Him with love. Praised by the celestials in their aircraft, who showered flowers upon Him, the self-delighting Lord sported there like a king of elephants.

Then Kṛṣṇa wandered through a grove on the bank where breezes carried the fragrance of flowers growing on land and water. Surrounded by swarms of bees and by the women, He resembled an elephant in rut attended by his she-elephants.

Thus the Lord whose desires are always true, attended by those devoted women, enjoyed all those nights radiant with moonbeams and filled with every flavor found in the poetic tales of autumn, while keeping the force of passion completely contained within Himself.

Śrī Parīkṣit said: Bhagavān, the Lord of the universe, descended with a portion of His power to establish dharma and bring its opposite to an end.

O brāhmaṇa, He is the speaker, practitioner, and protector of the boundaries of dharma. How, then, could He act contrary to them by touching other men's wives?

The Lord of the Yadus is completely fulfilled in Himself, yet He performed what appears reprehensible. What was His intention? O observer of sacred vows, please dispel this doubt of ours.

Śrī Śuka said: Powerful rulers are sometimes seen to overstep dharma and act with extraordinary boldness. Such conduct does not taint those endowed with transcendent potency, just as fire remains pure though it consumes everything.

One who lacks such sovereign power must never imitate this conduct, even mentally. A fool who does so is destroyed, just as anyone other than Rudra would be destroyed by drinking the poison born from the ocean.

The words of such sovereign beings are always true, though their conduct is not invariably to be imitated. An intelligent person should follow only that conduct of theirs which accords with their own instructions.

O lord, those who are free of ego gain no personal benefit by acting well in this world, nor do they suffer personal harm by acting otherwise.

How, then, could good or evil attach to the Lord of all beings, moving and unmoving, mortal and divine, when He is their sovereign and they are governed by Him?

Even sages who are satisfied by serving the pollen of His lotus feet, and who by the power of yoga have cast off every bond of karma, move freely without becoming bound. How, then, could bondage touch Him, who assumes a body solely by His own will?

He who dwells within the gopīs, their husbands, and indeed every embodied being is the witnessing ruler. Here He only appeared to possess a body while engaging in His divine play.

For the sake of bestowing grace upon His devotees, He assumes a human form and performs such pastimes that whoever hears of them becomes wholly devoted to Him.

The inhabitants of Vraja felt no jealousy toward Kṛṣṇa, for they were deluded by His Māyā and each believed his own wife to be standing beside him.

When the night, extended to the length of Brahmā's night, drew to its close, the gopīs, beloved of Bhagavān, returned to their homes with Vāsudeva's permission, though they did not wish to leave.

A sober person who faithfully and repeatedly hears or describes this play of Viṣṇu with the young women of Vraja attains supreme devotion to Bhagavān and quickly casts off lust, the disease of the heart.