SRI SANKALPA-KALPADRUMA

The Kalpadruma Tree That Fulfills All Desires

Srila Jiva Goswami

Chapter One

1. O Sri Krishna, O Lord who appears as Sri Krishna Caitanya, O Lord whose form is eternal, O protector of the cows, O Lord who appears as Sri Ramacandra, O beloved of Vraja, please protect us.
2+3. I offer my respectful obeisances to the Sri Krishna who is known as Nanda's son, who is the protector of the cows, who fills the three worlds with bliss, who is the master of the birthless and perfect gopis, who is as dark as a monsoon cloud, and whose eyes are lotus flowers.
4. A person gradually growing old in Vrndavan tells his mind: Fool, now you are close to death. Drink this nectar I give you.
5. O mind, as you drink this nectar, think of yourself as being in Gokula, and think of the loving service you wish to offer the Lord.
6. May the gopa-prince Krishna, who makes the devotees blossom with happiness, and who is the auspiciousness of all the worlds and the gopis' beloved, protect us.
7-9. What sensible person on this earth will not take shelter of Lord Krishna, who filled his parents with wonder, who is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead as described in SB 1.3.28, and whose glory is seen in SB 3.2.23, 10.14.38, 10.12.11, 10.9.20 and 10.47.60? O mind, O brother mind, O my protector, please take shelter of Him.  ("Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon (Putana) although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?" "There are people who say 'I know everything about Krishna.' Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my body, mind and words." "In this way, all the cowherd boys  used to play with Krishna, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jnanis desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for the devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their good fortune?" "Neither Lord Brahma, nor Lord Siva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the deliverer from this world, such mercy as received by mother Yasoda." "When Lord Sri Krishna was dancing with the gopis in the rasa lila, the gopis were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This transcendental favour was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the spiritual world. Indeed, never was such a thing imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily aroma and luster resemble the lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very beautiful according to material estimation?"
10. O mind, please understand what I will now teach you: Krishna is a monsoon cloud of nectar. He is a kalpa-vriksha tree that fulfills all desires.
11. The root of that kalpa-vriksha tree is the pastimes that begin with His birth. The trunk is His eternal pastimes. The branches are the verses describing His pastimes in the different seasons. The fruit is love for Him.

Chapter One: Janmadi Lila. Lord Krishna's Birth and other Pastimes
12. Sri Krishna, the son of Nanda, who, although He hides from the Vedic rituals and is not in the Vedic mantras, does happily appear before some persons in this world....
13. ...who, even though He is naturally Nanda's son, was said, out of duty, by Garga (in SB 10.8.14 “For many reasons, this beautiful son of yours sometimes appeared previously as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore, those who are learned sometimes call this child V€sudeva.”) to be the son of Vasudeva...
14. ...who first appeared in the hearts of Nanda and Yasoda and then was born like the moon from the milk ocean...
15. ...who, simply by being born brought to this world His own forest-garden home, Nanda's all-opulent cowherd village where many beautiful goddesses were also born...
16. ...the nectar of whose sweetness flowed everywhere, defeating even the form of Mohini on the milk ocean's shore...
17. ...who from the moment of His birth was very compassionate, who when He was a small child defeated Putana, purified her, and made her His nurse...
18. ...who, confident that His glory would remain hidden, with His soft toes kicked a great cart and made it collapse...
19. ...who with the sound of His kick and the glory of His smile filled many saintly girls with desire...
20. ...whose face eclipses the glory of the moon, who after receiving His names from Garga Muni, spoke the word Om (yes) in the broken words of an infant, and thus showered His relatives with happiness...
21. ...who made the Trnavarta whirlwind demon fall and gave him the opposite of what he expected...
22. ...who was King Nanda's lion-cub son, who, going to His own forest garden, delighted Balarama and the boys with many splendid pastimes...
23. ...who, wearing clothes splendid with gold and tilaka splendid with gorocana, sat on His mother's lap...
24. ...who, a small child playing in the mud, was suddenly picked up by Mother Yasoda, who then anointed both Himself and His mother with mud, affection, distress and happiness...
25. ...who, seeing that His mother became alarmed when He and His brother crawled in the muddy courtyard, quickly went to her...
26. ...who was embraced by His mother with a tear-filled smile, who without thinking of any other thing drank the milk of her breast, who, kissed by her again and again, smiled and gazed at her...
27. ...who, laughing and roaring, and His charming eyes like those of a lion cub, made His mother forget everything other than Him...
28. ...who when His mother wasn't looking ate clay, who was caught by her and gently asked, "What is this?", who was at once rescued by His yogamaya potency...
29. ...who, keeping time and pleasing His fortunate elders, expertly danced with Balarama's friends...
30. ...who, the grains He was about to give as payment slipping from His hand, purchased limitless fruits and gave the woman who was selling them many priceless jewels in return...
31. ...who, accompanied by Balarama and the boys, released the calves and enjoyed a game of pretending to milk them...
32. ...who, accompanied by Balarama, tugged at a calf's tail and was pulled here and there as His aunts laughed...
33. ...who stole milk and yoghurt to give a blessing and to enjoy the happiness of seeing the gopis argue over whether He had indeed been a thief...
34. ...who, hearing His mother affectionately call Him by the name "Damodar", would come, both embarrassed and happy, from His childhood play...
35. ...who was so rapt in playing that at first He would not come when again and again His mother lovingly called, "Krishna! Lotus-eyed Krishna!"...
36. ...who as He was leaving with Balarama for Vrndavan forest inspired Yasoda and Rohini to talk and joke and laugh...
37. ...who, imitating the bees and other creatures, played with Balarama, Sridama, and other friends in beautiful Vrndavan forest...
38. ...who, in Lord Balarama's company gazing at Vrndavan, Govardhana and the Yamuna's shore, became very happy...
39. ...who in the middle of His boyhood went to the forest with His father, asked the names of the different creatures, and became happy as He gazed at the different places...
40. ...who was the prince of Vraja, who without shyness played with His elder brother Balarama, talked with Him, and wrestled with Him hand to hand and foot to foot...
41. ...who herded the calves, who killed Vatsasura and the duck-demon Bakasura and gave them liberation...
42. ...who played the game of "stealing lambs" with His friends, who pushed His enemy Vyomasura into the impersonal void...
43. ...who killed Aghasura and pushed him into the Brahman effulgence, who led the creator Brahma to the glory of devotional service...
44. ...who, leaving behind the kaumara age, and now decorated with the handsomeness of the pauganda age, became the protector of the cows, even though He was already the protector of the rulers of the planets...
45. ...who, when the boys of Vraja fainted, their consciousness crushed by drinking poison, compassionately revived them with a shower of nectar from His eyes...
46. ...who placed His footprints on the Kaliya snake, footprints that declared, "This is My servant", who delighted the other snakes that took shelter of Him...
47 + 48. ...who, as Srila Sukadeva explained in SB 10.16.10, was the object of love for Vraja's people, for whose sake the gopis and gopas, young and old, left Gokula, lamenting and yearning to see Him...("When the members of the cowherd community, who had accepted Krishna as their dearmost friend, saw Him enveloped in the snake's coils, motionless, they were greatly disturbed. They had offered Krishna everything - their very selves, their families, wealth, wives and all pleasures. At the sight of the Lord in the clutches of the Kaliya snake, their intelligence became deranged by grief, lamentation and fear, and thus they fell to the ground.")
49. ...who, when He saw that the girls of Vraja had come in spite of all obstacles, thought that this activity was now a success...
50. ...who quickly swallowed the forest fire He expertly created to test Vraja's love for Him...
51. ...who by a single touch turned nectar to poison and made the Kaliya snake immortal, who even more so gave immortality to the devotees taking shelter of Him...
52 - 55. ...who went to Bhandiravana forest and enjoyed wrestling pastimes with His friends, the boys Subhadra, Mandalibhadra, Bhadravardhana, Gobhata, and Yaksendrabhata, who joked with the ten gopis Gopali, Palika, Dhanya, Visakha, Dhyananistika, Radha, Anuradha, Somabha and Taraka, declaring "I am a wrestler, and you are also wrestlers," and enjoyed with them as if drinking madhu liquor...
56. ...who went to beautiful Kamyavana forest and, pretending that a lake was the ocean and the shore was Lanka, played with His friends...
57. ...who when He attained adolescence yearned after the lotuslike gopis as a bumblebee yearns after a flowering vasanta vine...
58. ...who with the help of His pastime potency eagerly took the beautiful girls of Vraja, His eternal beloveds, to a secluded place and pleased them with many pastimes...
59. ...who in Balarama's company protected the cows, killed troublesome Dhenukasura and removed the fears of the demigods in heaven...
60. ...who in the evening returned to Vraja with the cows, exchanged sidelong glances with the young gopis, glances that were the beginning of their love....
61. ...who, throwing away the love-letter He had timidly written, made His sidelong glance the messenger of His love...
62. ...who, now passionately in love with the gopis and thinking everything else uninteresting, had the music of His flute send a message begging in charity the touch of their limbs...
63. ...who with His flute music at once attracted all conscious and unconscious entities although He could not attract the gopis, tightly bound with shyness...
64. ...who, again and again wandering in the banyan forest named Bhandiravana, and enjoying many pastimes there, gave a great festival of happiness to the birds in their nests...
65. ...who on the pretext of playing with Sridama, Sudama, Bhadrasena, Arjuna and the others, arranged for the killing of Pralambasura...
66. ...who, far away and after a long time, arranged that Balarama use His great power to push Pralambasura far from life...
67. ...who during the summer spent long days enjoying pastimes in the forest and then later in the day gave pleasure to His gopi-beloveds, as described in SB 10.19.16....
68. ..."For the gopis seeing Krishna was the only happiness. A moment without Him was like a hundred yugas"...
69. ...who ended the monsoon night of their separation and became an autumn sunrise that restored the sight of His beloved gopis...
70. ...who gave love for Govardhana Hill to His own family and to His associates, living by the treasure of love for Him, who taught about that love to the other saintly devotees...
71. ...who lifted Govardhana Hill like an umbrella, broke Indra's pride, and showed that His dear gopa associates are the most exalted people...
72. ...who was the happiness of the cows and the entire world, who offered friendship and happiness to Indra's followers...
73. ...who by bringing His father, who was His mother's very life, back from Varuna's kingdom, saved the life of Vraja, which had been almost dead in King Nanda's absence...
74. ...who comforted the sufferings of His own people of  Vraja, people who always kept Him in their hearts, who showed them His own realm of Goloka...
75. ...who stole the young gopis' garments, gave them a great blessing, and bound their hearts with unprecedented eternal love for Him...
76. ...who with the sound of His flute enchanted Sri Radha, who enchanted the Pulinda girls, as is described in SB 10.21.17...("The aborigine women of the Vrndavana area become disturbed with lust when they see the grass marked with reddish kunkuma powder. Endowed with the colour of Krishna's lotus feet, this powder originally decorated the breasts of His beloveds, and when the aborigine women smear it on their faces and breasts, they give up all their anxiety.")
77. ...who in the summer called one by one His gopa friends, eager to play with Him, who delighted them by saying...
78. ..."Stokakrishna! Amsu! Sridama! Subala! Arjuna! Visala! Vrsabha! Ojasvi! Devaprastha! Varuthapa!"...
79. ...who after calling them joked about the exalted position of the unmoving trees of Vrndavan...
80. ...who to increase the yajnika brahmanas' wives love for Him sent His friends begging for food...
81. ...who, enjoying pastimes in a beautiful asoka garden with His friends and the brahmanas' wives, is described in SB 10.23.22...("His complexion was dark blue and His garment golden. Wearing a peacock feather, coloured minerals, sprigs of flower buds, and a garland of forest flowers and leaves, He was dressed just like a dramatic dancer. He rested one arm on the shoulder of a friend and with the other twirled a lotus. Lilies graced His ears, His hair hung down over His cheeks, and His lotuslike face was smiling.")
82. ...who, taking lunch and expertly joking with Madhumangala, His minister of jokes, delighted His friends...
83. ...who, as a cloud is the life of cataki birds, is the very life of the beautiful-eyebrowed gopis...
84. ...who, His messenger-flute speaking to numberless gopi-beloveds, eclipses the tiny power of all other messengers...
85. ...who, seeing that after a long time His flute had concluded its teachings to His gopi beloveds, became perfectly happy at heart...
86. ...who, pretending to be a renunciant, joked with His gopi-beloveds and enjoyed their joking replies...
87. ...who always takes help from His yogamaya potency, the renunciant named Paurnamasi in Vraja...
88. ...who with the help of this divine potency enjoys pastimes of joking with numberless beautiful-eyebrowed gopis...
89. ...who in the rasa dance enjoyed happiness that doubled again and again, who appeared before each delighted gopi...
90. ...who left them all and enjoyed with someone else, who inspired them to speak SB 10.30.11, a verse that is nectar to the ears...("O friend, wife of the deer, has Lord Acyuta been here with His beloved, bringing great joy to your eyes? Indeed, blowing this way is the fragrance of His garland of kunda flowers, which has been smeared with the kunkuma from the breasts of His girlfriend when He embraced Her.")
91. ...who, hearing their lament recorded in SB 10.31.1 became agitated and again appeared before them, as the wise have described in SB 10.32.2...("The gopis said: O beloved, Your birth in the land of Vraja has made it exceedingly glorious, and thus Indira, the goddess of fortune, always resides here. It is only for Your sake that we, your devoted servants, maintain our lives. We have been searching everywhere for You, so please show Yourself to us." "Then Lord Krishna, a smile upon His lotus face, appeared before the gopis. Wearing a garland and a yellow garment, He directly appeared as one who can bewilder the mind of Cupid, who himself bewilders the minds of ordinary people.")
92. ...who, as the moon shone on the riverbank, sat on the gopis' cloth, glorious with the kunkuma of their breasts...
93. ...who, speaking in riddles, declared Himself conquered by them, and in SB 10.32.22 declared Himself in debt to them...("I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.")
94. ...who, His own complexion dark, was glorious and handsome in the company of the golden-complexioned gopis, as is described in SB 10.33.6...("In the midst of the dancing gopis, Lord Krishna appeared most brilliant, like an exquisite sapphire in the midst of golden ornaments.")
95. ...who, when they became exhausted by again and again enjoying these pastimes, lovingly wiped their lotus faces with His soothing hand, as is described in SB 10.33.20... ("Seeing that the gopis were fatigued from conjugal enjoyment, my dear King, merciful Krishna lovingly wiped their faces with His comforting hand.")
96. ...who played with them in the forest and the water, comforted them, and then left them to return home...
97. ...who on the pretext of going on pilgrimage to Ambikavana with the people of Vraja, cheated the gopis of their clothes and ornaments...
98. ...who is the life of all, who saved His father's life, who with the touch of His foot delivered a snake from a sage's curse...
99. ...who transformed the terrible snake into handsome Sudursana Vidyadhara, who is kind, even to His enemy, and is never cruel to anyone...
100. ...who celebrated the Holi festival, killed the yaksa Sankhacuda, and is present as the Supersoul in all village festivals...
101. ...who enjoyed pastimes from morning to night, pastimes that the gopis daily praised in songs of many verses...
102. ...who, yearning to enjoy a rasa dance, met the gopis on Govardhana Hill and enjoyed with them a great battle of joking words...
103. ...who, hearing Aristasura roaring in Vraja, met, defeated, and happily killed him...
104. ...who quickly went to Govardhana Hill and enjoyed a splendid rasa dance with the beautiful and graceful gopis...
105. ...who, intelligently, playfully joking, and His eyes like lotus flowers, made a glorious pond for Himself and another one for Sri Radha...
106. ...who, when the horse-demon Kesi entered Vraja on Kamsa's order, sent Kesi to the house of death...
107. ...who, overcome with love for his father and the other people of Vraja, became stunned, standing motionless like a painted picture and forgetting everything else about His mission on the earth, who for this reason did not want to leave Vraja and kill Kamsa...
108 - 109. ...who with His affectionately smiling glances, words sweet as nectar, pure and noble character, and transcendental form that is the goddess of fortune's home, delighted the land of Vraja and the entire world, who enjoyed many pastimes, giving a festival of happiness to the gopis' eyes...
110. ...who is the prince of Vraja, who enjoyed many pastimes with the gopis, in whose absence the gopis thought a single moment was like ten million years...
111. ...who, plunged in a great ocean of love whipped with great waves by the moonlight of His beloved gopis' faces, had no power to escape...
112. ...who, carried by waves of embarrassment, pushed by the winds of the gopis' love, came to a shore that was His own voluntary wish to kill Kamsa...
113. ...who, walking on that shore, came to Mathura City...
114. ...who went to Mathura and left the people of Vraja in a condition that was like.... Oh! How can it be described?...
115. ...who is full of all transcendental virtues, who does not have the power to abandon His devotees of Vraja, whom the devotees of Vraja would never abandon, who in Vraja is the great hero of love, whose loving relationship with the people of Vraja is proclaimed in all the worlds...
116. ...whose many eternal virtues, which were described by the earth to the bull Dharma in SB 1.16.26-29, should be heard by the devotees...("In Him reside truthfulness, cleanliness, intolerance of another's unhappiness, the power to control anger, self-satisfaction, straightforwardness, steadiness of mind, control of the sense organs, responsibility, equality, tolerance, equanimity, faithfulness, knowledge, absence of sense enjoyment, leadership, chivalry, influence, the power to make everything possible, the discharge of proper duty, complete independence, dexterity, fullness of all beauty, serenity, kindheartedness, ingenuity, gentility, magnanimity, determination, perfection in all knowledge, proper execution, possession of all objects of enjoyment, joyfulness, immovability, fidelity, fame, worship, pridelessness, being (as the Supreme Personality of Godhead), eternity, and many other qualities which are eternally present and never to be separated from Him.")
117. ...who is the root of all bliss, who has all transcendental virtues, who is a great festival of all transcendental bliss, who for this reason is declared to be the original Supreme Personality of Godhead...
118. ...whose opulence always increases, who is worshipped by all, whose transcendental form possesses all virtues and piety, whose pastimes are all blissful and auspicious...
119. ...whose glorious handsomeness showers nectar on the eyes, whose words fill the ears with bliss...
120. ...whose breath is sweetly fragrant, whose lips touch water or other liquids, liquids that the goddess of fortune then yearns to taste with her own tongue...
121. ...whose touch removes the sufferings of the world, whose sacred name and transcendental abode are glorified in all the worlds...
122. ...whose form is limitless, splendid, eternal and full of knowledge and bliss, whose handsome form and glorious garments eclipse the splendour of Visnu and Laksmi...
123. ...who is splendid with all ornaments, who decorates the ornaments He wears, who has all splendours, virtues, and powers, who can be present in many places at once according to His wish...
124. ...whose transcendental virtues make the goddess of fortune blink, who does not hold the conchshell, disc and other paraphernalia...
125. ...who is so powerful He can defeat even Himself again and again without tiring, whose youthfulness enchants the worlds and steals the hearts of the great souls...
126. ...whose face filled with splendid smiles and laughter is more graceful than the most artistic dancing, whose transcendental form never changes, who displays the symptoms of ecstatic love...
127. ...who the Puranas say is the ancient Supreme Person, who is like a fresh youth, whose handsome and glorious form is the oldest although He is like a fresh youth eternally...
128. ...who makes everyone's heart blossom, who appears before the wise...
129. ...who gives intelligence to all living entities, who gives all perfections, who teaches all, who is the wisest and the most expert...
130. ...who, even though He is great like an ocean, is grateful for the smallest drop of service, who strictly keeps his vow always to protect they who have vowed to serve Him...
131. ...who creates the rules of the Vedas by His own wish, whose glance bestows all virtues...
132. ...who knows the truth about sacrifice, who understands all times and places, who is the crown of they who know everything, who does not consider His potency of knowing everything to be very important, who by His supreme intelligence knows everything...
133. ...who is virtuous with perfect thoughtfulness, steadiness, handsomeness, splendour, self-control and peacefulness...
134. ...who is saintly, generous, glorious, heroic, playful, happy at heart, respectful to all...
135. ...who is always humble, shy, honest, famous and powerful, who manifests His transcendental form before the saintly devotees...
136. ...who fills the devotees with sweetness, who is the devotees' eternal shelter, who gives impersonal liberation to His enemies, who is an ocean of transcendental qualities that attract even the liberated souls...
137. ...who is supremely eloquent in all languages, who is more glorious than the demigods, who is most expert in debate, whose words are glorious with love and truth...
138. ...who is so intelligent that He easily silences the most eloquent philosophers, who with only a glance enlightens the wise...
139. ...who gives appropriate benedictions to the right persons, who brings happiness to the poor and downtrodden, who protects those who approach for shelter, whose activities are auspicious and sublime...
140. ...who cannot be loved with even a tiny drop of love by they who do not engage in devotional service, who is deep like an ocean, who is equal to all, who loves His devotees, who is equal to all His devotees...
141. ...who is pleased by the service of His devotees, who is conquered by love, whose forms, qualities and pastimes are all wonderful...
142. ...who showers love on all living entities, who is worshipped by great kings, who is a new cloud eternally showering the nectar of love on all living entities...
143. ...whose nectar flute music fills Vraja village and Vrndavan forest and makes everyone intoxicated with love for Him, who earnestly desires the welfare of His beloved gopis, who is worshipped by Lord Vishnu's beloved Laksmi...
144. ...about whom what is the need to say many words?, about whom what is the need to hear many words?, about whom it may be said, "Krishna is Krishna", about whom it may then also further be said, "Krishna is Krishna",...
145. ...who is filled with all transcendental virtues, who, bound with love for His saintly devotees there, is not able to leave Vrndavan...
146. ...about whom it was said, "O Nanda, why is it that we people of Vraja cannot give up our love for your son, and why does He love us so sincerely?"...
147. ...who rested on Kaliya's lap, who, aware that the people of Vraja had become anguished at heart, emerged from Kaliya's lap and thus showered them all with sweet nectar...
148. ...who, being very wise, being conquered by the love of Vraja's people and wishing their welfare, and seeing that Indra had become crooked-hearted, revealed the desire in His heart with these words:...
149. ..."With My mystic power I will protect the people of Vraja, who have taken shelter of Me, who consider Me their Lord, and who are all My relatives. This is My vow."...
150. ...who after making this vow lifted Govardhana Hill for 7 days and nights...
151. ...who, when Brahma stole His friends and calves, expanded Himself into many forms like theirs, forms that were exactly Him and not anyone else...
152. ...who, unhappy with what Brahma had done, expanded Himself into the forms of the boys and calves, who in this way increased the love of the people of Vraja for Him, who became conquered by their love...
153. ...who was swallowed by Bakasura, who, seeing that because of this the actions and lives of His friends, who lived only for His sake, were now also swallowed up, suddenly broke the Baka demon...
154. ...who was stunned when Aghasura swallowed the gopas, who, thinking the gopas as dear as life, entered Aghasura to rescue them...
155. ...who remembered how Nanda and Yasoda, the king and queen of the gopas and gopis, dearly loved Him with a very wonderful love...
156. ...who is best of they who know everything, who knows everything like the Vedas, whose glories are loudly sung by Sukadeva Goswami and other great saints...
157. ...who, speaking to the gopis in SB 10.32.22 said He was a debtor who could not repay His debt...("I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.")
158. ...who killed a host of demons beginning with Kamsa and ending with Dantavakra, who thought that until He returned the people of Vraja would never be peaceful at heart,...
159. ...who visited the people of Vraja, and, comforting them again and again, stopped their great sufferings,...
160. ...in whose absence the people of Vraja almost left their bodies, who promised them they would return to His spiritual abode, ...
161. ...who was glorified by Sukadeva Goswami, who loved the gopis as much as they loved Him, ...
162. ...who, leaving for Mathura, and seeing the gopis were in great distress, consoled them with the loving words, "I will return," ... SB 10.39.35....("As He departed, that best of the Yadus saw how the gopis were lamenting, and thus He consoled them by sending a messenger with this loving promise: 'I will return.' ")
163. ...who killed Kamsa, who in the Hari Vamsa spoke words that had never before been spoken, who created the Vedas from His breath, who certainly returned to Vraja (for how could it be otherwise?)...
164. ...who said, "Like an elephant free to go as he likes, I will happily wander in the forest with many cows and gopas."...
165. ...who, after Kamsa was dead, approached His father, Nanda, who was reluctant to return to Vraja without Him, and said, "Father, why do you lament?...
166. ..."Please return to Vraja. As soon as we give some happiness to our friends in Mathura, We will return to Vraja and see our relatives, who dearly love Us and are always unhappy in our absence"...
167. ...who spoke these words to His relatives, relatives tormented with love for Him, relatives He loved without limit, relatives He promised to see again...
168. ...who, in promising that His relatives would see Him in the future, meant that they would see Him eternally...
169. ...who grasped the feet of His father and relatives and said that He would stay in Mathura a little longer to give happiness to His friends there...
170. ...who spoke the word "friend" which implies one person helping another, for one is always happy to help a friend...
171. ...who, with the word "giving" hinted at His impending separation from the people of Vraja...
172. ...who said "after killing My enemies I will give happiness to you, My affectionate relatives"...
173. ...who urged the people of Vraja to be patient, who told them that He would make them happy after He had killed Jarasandha and a host of other demons...
174. ...who said that if Jarasandha and the other demons attacked Him, He would have to put His attention to stopping the trouble they would make...
175. ...who promised His relatives that He would return to Vraja, who said to them "Don't come to Mathura. I will return"...
176. ...who said to them "if you come back and forth to visit Me, My enemies will know that I love you. Then they will destroy the village of Vraja to spite Me"...
177. ...who said to them "Please be patient. Once again we will meet and exchange our feelings of love"...
178. ...who, after He left His guru's home, remembered Vraja and sent Uddhava with a message for the people of Vraja...
179. ...whose message said "Now that in the wrestling arena He has killed the devotees' enemy, Kamsa, Lord Krishna will fulfill His promise to you and return to Vraja" in SB 10.46.35...
180. ...whose message said "Infallible Krishna, the master of the devotees, will soon return to please His parents" (SB 10.46.34)...
181. ..who is the master of the gopis, who, tears in His eyes, took His dear devotee Uddhava to a secluded place and spoke confidential words to him...
182. ..who relieves the sufferings of His devotees, who took Uddhava by the hand...
183. ...who said (in SB 10.46.2-6) "Gentle Uddhava, please go to Vraja. Make My parents happy. Bring a message to the gopis and relieve the sufferings they feel in My absence"...
184. ...who said "The gopis always think of Me. They have dedicated their lives to Me. For My sake they have renounced everything. They always think of Me as their dearmost beloved. I will protect anyone who renounces his reputation and duty for My sake"...
185. ...who said "The girls of Gokula think of Me as their dearmost beloved. Always remembering Me, who am so far away, they are overcome with the anxiety of separation"...
186. ...who said "My gopis have given their hearts to Me. They are like My very self. Because they have heard that I will return they struggle somehow or other to remain alive'...
187. ...who said "Convince them of My words. Make them see the truth of My message. Then all their bewilderment will disappear"...
188. ...who, when He said (in SB 10.46.4) that He was the gopis dearmost beloved, revealed that although to the external vision of the people of the world the gopis were married to others, He was actually the Lord of their hearts...
189. ...who (in SB 10.45.21) affirmed that His real parents are Nanda and Yasoda, the king and queen of the gopas, who thus declared the great glory of the gopas and gopis...
190. ...who by speaking the word "Us" (in SB 10.45.21) affirmed that He and Balarama are the two sons of Nanda and Yasoda...("O father, you and mother Yasoda have affectionately maintained Us and cared for Us so much! Indeed, parents care for their children more than their own lives.")
191. ..who (in SB 10.46.6) called the gopis "My gopis" and thus affirmed that they were all His wives...
192. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said the gopis were "Like My very Self", thus affirming that they were His wives and His transcendental potencies, in one sense not different from Him, the master of all potencies...
193. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said "The gopis always think of Me " and thus showed that the gopis were very exalted and were not at all like anyone else...
194. ...who (in SB 10.46.6) said "Because they have heard that I will return, the gopis struggle somehow or other to remain alive' and thus affirmed that He would return to them, who used the term "My gopis" and in these words also affirmed that He would return to them...
195. ...who promised "Soon I will return to Vraja. Then I will formally marry all the gopis"...
196. ...who, thinking that the message of transcendental knowledge He sent the gopis was not successful in appeasing them, decided that He would visit them and teach them personally...
197. ...who said to the gopis "Because your hearts and minds are fixed on Me, Sri Krishna, because you have renounced everything for My sake, and because you always think of Me, very soon you will attain My company"...
198. ...who said to the gopis "Even the gopis in Vrndavan village that could not go to the rasa dance I was enjoying at night in the forest became very fortunate. Always thinking of My glories, they attained Me"...
199. ...who, when He spoke these words, became agitated at heart and said to Himself "O heart, please listen. Please understand the value of this carefully hidden treasure"...
200. ...who said to the gopis "You have renounced everything for My sake. You always think of Me. You will attain Me very soon. I am under your dominion. I am not independent"...
201. ...who said to the gopis (in SB 10.47.36) "Because your hearts and minds are fixed on Me, Sri Krishna, because you have renounced everything for My sake, and because you always think of Me, very soon you will attain My company", who with these words affirmed that the gopis would attain His abode, the abode of Sri Krishna, and they would attain the company of Sri Krishna Himself, and not another form of the Lord...
202. ...who, speaking the word "Me" again and again in SB canto 10, Chapters 46 and 47, made it very clear that the gopis would attain His company...
203. ...who said to the gopis (in SB 10.47.36) "Your hearts and minds are fixed on Me, Sri Krishna", who thus identified Himself with two words (Me and Krishna)...
204. ...who by again and again speaking in these verses the words "for Me, Krishna" and "to Me, Krishna" and by describing the gopis as "fortunate" made the gopis aware of the actual truth...
205. ...who said that the gopis who were stopped from going to the rasa dance and at that moment died did not give up their bodies and attain new bodies, but rather in their very same bodies attained Him, who therefore urged the gopis to think of Him always...
206. ...who sent with Lord Balarama a message to the gopis, a message explaining the feelings in His heart, a message described by Parasara Muni in the Visnu Purana...
207. ...who sent with Lord Balarama a sweet, humble, beautiful, comforting message that greatly consoled the gopis...
208. ...who on the pretext of going on a pilgrimage to Kuruksetra, slipped away from the Yadavas and visited His mother and the other people of Vraja, bringing them great happiness
209. ...who killed the demons who prevented His return to Vraja, returned to Nanda's Vraja, and then went to Dvaraka...
210. ...whose thoughts the Vrajavasis captured, bound, and forcibly dragged to the land of Vraja...
211. ..who, even though He had riches greater than the greatest kings, felt drawn to Vraja by the calls of Nanda and the others...
212. ...whose thoughts were captured and drawn away only by the people of Vraja and by no-one else...
213. ...who is all-attractive, who has lotus eyes, who is glorious in the company of His devotees, who fulfills the desires of His devotees who have given up everything for His sake...
214. ...whose promise, sent through Uddhava, that "Krishna will return very soon" was accepted, with other promises, by the people of Vraja...
215. ...who after He had killed the enemies of who Dantavakra was the last, returned to Vraja...
216. ...who said to the gopis "Friends, do you remember Me? I was gone for a long time, My heart intent on protecting My relatives and killing the demons" (in SB 10.82.41)...
217. ...who said to the gopis "Devotional service rendered to Me by the living entities revives their eternal life. O My dear damsels of Vraja, your affection for Me is your good fortune, for it is the only means by which you have attained My favour" (in SB 10.82.44)...
218. ...who tried to pacify the gopis by teaching them transcendental knowledge, although they themselves asked (in SB 10.82.49) for something other than what He taught them...
219. ...who heard the gopis request that they may always remember His lotus feet, who heard the gopis request that He return to Vraja...
220. ...who in SB 10.46.5 described the gopis constant meditation on Him and their yearning to see Him...("My dear Uddhava, for those women of Gokula I am the most cherished object of love. Thus when they remember Me, who am so far away, they are overwhelmed by the anxiety of separation.")
221. ...whose fulfillment of the gopis' desires was described by the sage Sukadeva in the words (SB10.83.1) "Then Lord Krishna, their master, teacher and goal, gave His mercy to the gopis"...
222. ...who in SB 10.82.44 and 10.47.36 promised that He would return to Vraja... ("Because your minds are totally absorbed in Me and free from all other engagement, you remember Me always, and so you will very soon have Me again in your presence.")
223. ...who is full of good qualities beginning with truthfulness, who is true to His promise, about whom how could it be said that He did not keep His promise and return to Vraja?...
224 + 225. ...who spoke to Uddhava words recorded in Srimad Bhagavatam's Tenth Canto and in other places in the scriptures, words that said "Please deliver this message to the people of Vraja, the king of Vraja and the gopis"...
226. ...who returned to Vraja, as the people of Dvaraka explained in the prayer recorded in SB 1.11.9...("O lotus-eyed Lord, whenever You go away to Mathura, Vrndavana or Hastinapura to meet Your friends and relatives, every moment of Your absence seems like a million years. O infallible one, at that time our eyes become useless, as if bereft of sun.")
227. ...who grants His auspicious presence to the people of Vraja eternally, as is described in the Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda...
228. ...who, staying in Vraja, assumed another form and went to Dvaraka, this action clearly recorded in the scriptures...
229. ...about who Uddhava said "Krishna will very soon return to Vraja" (in SB 10.46.34), who must have returned to Vraja, for otherwise Uddhava would have spoken a lie...
230. ...who, as He was about to depart, eagerly described (in SB 11.12.10) to Uddhava the nature of the gopis desires...
231. ...who (in SB 11.12.10-11) described the gopis' suffering in separation from Him, who after speaking these words explained that the gopis were never actually separated from Him...("The residents of Vrndavana, headed by the gopis, were always completely attached to Me with deepest love. Therefore when My uncle Akrura brought My brother Balarama and Me to the city of Mathura, the residents of Vrndavana suffered extreme mental disturbance because of separation from Me and could not find any other source of happiness."  "Dear Uddhava, all of those nights the gopis spent with Me, their most dearly beloved, in the land of Vrndavana seemed to them to pass in less than a moment. Bereft of My association, however, the gopis felt that those same nights dragged on forever, as if each night were equal to a day of Brahma.")
232. ...who in SB 10.46.5-6 explained the gopis' feelings in separation from Him...
233. ...who had Uddhava, on the first day of his meeting with the gopis, speak His message of love for them...
234. ...who in SB 11.12.12 explained that the gopis were rapt in meditation on Him and their love for Him was greater than the greatest love...("My dear Uddhava, just as great sages in yogic trance merge into self-realization, like rivers merging into the ocean, and are thus not aware of material names and forms, similarly the gopis of Vrndavana were so completely attached to Me within their minds that they could not think of their own bodies, or of this world, or of their future lives. Their entire consciousness was simply bound up in Me.")
235. ...into whom the gopis, rapt in meditation, seemed to enter with their names and forms, although they did not actually enter but kept their individuality (SB 11.12.12)...
236. ...who spoke in this verse (SB 11.12.12) two examples: the example of the great sages and the example of the rivers entering the ocean, examples that do not confirm the impersonalist theory because river water is very different from the water in the ocean, ...
237. ...who spoke in this verse the example of the great sages in spiritual trance, an example that also does not prove the impersonalist theory because a single limb can never equal the whole body, and therefore the limb and the body are different, ...
238. ...who said in SB 11.12.13, "desiring Me as their handsome lover, and unaware of My true identity, the gopis attained the company of Me, the perfect Supreme Personality of Godhead." ...
239. ...whose true nature the gopis did not understand, as is seen in SB 10.24.26 and other verses, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead attained by the gopis, ...
240. ...about whom the question is asked "What is the nature of the Supreme?" about whom the answer is given "The Supreme is the supreme abode" who affirms that He is Himself the Supreme, who uses the word "Me" to describe the Supreme...
241. ...who, speaking SB 10.82.44 and 10.46.6, revealed that He is the perfect Supreme Personality of Godhead...
242. ...who, saying "Giving up their lives thinking of Me, the gopis attained Me", "The gopis thought of Me alone and no one else," and "The gopis desired Me as their lover" described how the gopis attained Him...
243. ...whom the saintly gopis, unaware of His true nature and thinking Him to be their paramour, attained, who is the eternal lover of His eternally dear gopis...
244. ...who described in SB 11.12.13 the nature of the gopis' passionate love for Him...("All those hundreds of thousands of gopis, understanding Me to be their most charming lover and ardently desiring Me in that way, were unaware of My actual position. Yet by intimately associating with Me, the gopis attained Me, the Supreme Absolute Truth.")
245. ...who in SB 11.12.13 spoke the word "mat-kamah" which means "as girls passionately desire their lover, so the gopis desired Me"...
246. ...who thought again and again about the words Radha spoke to the bee (SB 10.47.21)...("O Uddhava! It is indeed regrettable that Krishna resides in Mathura. Does He remember His father's household affairs and His friends, the cowherd boys? O great soul! Does He ever talk about us, His maidservants? When will He lay on our heads His aguru-scented hand?")
247. ...about whom (in SB 10.47.21) Sri Radha used the word "arya-putra" (son of an exalted father) a word properly used only by a wife addressing her husband, even though She also referred to Herself and the gopis as His maidservants...
248. ...of whom the gopis affirmed they were the maidservants (SB 10.22.15)...("O Syamasundara, we are Your maidservants and must do whatever You say. But give us back our clothing. You know what the religious principles are, and if You don't give us our clothes we will have to tell the king. Please!")
249. ...who Sri Radha, saying in SB 10.47.21, "When will Lord Krishna place His hand on the heads of us, His maidservants?" yearned to marry...
250. ...who, following His promise in Bhagavad Gita 4.11, fulfilled that desire...
251. ...who spoke the words (in SB 10.46.6) "ballavyo me mad-atmikah" which mean "the gopis have given their hearts to Me", who with these words explained that the gopis stand at the head of all exalted persons...
252. ...who in SB 11.12.13 explained that the gopis did attain Him and their desires were all fulfilled...
253. ...who in the fourth line of SB 11.12.13 said that hundreds of thousands of gopis attained Him...
254. ...who quickly fulfilled the predictions Garga Muni made in SB 10.8.16 and 10.8.18...
255. ...who stopped the troubles caused by Kamsa and a host of demons, who stopped the obstruction caused by the gopis' so-called husbands, who gave Himself to His dear gopis...
256. ...who showed the people of Vraja His abode named Goloka, who gave them Goloka as their home...
257. ...who said in the Brhad Gautamiya Tantra "I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the demigods, never leave the forest of Vrndavan...
258. ...who said in the Brhad Gautamiya Tantra "Millennium after millennium I appear in Vrndavan and then again I disappear, Vrndavan cannot be seen with material eyes"...
259. ...whose abode named Goloka is elaborately described in Brahma-samhita...
260. ...whose words "I never leave Vrndavan" may be interpreted in two ways: either "I am always present in Vrndavan, even when it seems I have left" or "If somehow I leave Vrndavan I always quickly return"...
261. ...who eternally stays in His two cities (Mathura and Dvaraka) as SB 10.1.28 explains "The city and district of Mathura are very intimately connected with Krishna, for Lord Krishna resides there eternally"
262-263. ...about whose abode of Dvaraka SB 11.31.23-24 explains "O great king, the moment Lord Krishna left, the ocean flooded the city of Dvaraka, leaving only the Lord's palace. Lord Krishna eternally resides in Dvaraka. Simply by remembering Dvaraka, a person becomes free of all sins and attains auspiciousness"...
264. ...who eternally stays in both places (Mathura and Dvaraka) as Srila Sukadeva Goswami explained to King Pariksit in SB 10.90.48....
265. ...and who, as the Supersoul in Jiva Goswami's heart, made the final portion of Sri Gopala-campu present the same conclusion...
266. ...killed Dantavakra on the open road, and then returned to live in Vraja. King Nanda and the other people of Vraja went to Him like hungry cakora birds gazing at the moon.
267. Seeing His father and the people of Vraja were withered and dry from not having seen Him, Lord Krishna splashed them all with the nectar of His presence. Pretending to stand with the hairs of their bodies erect, the trees that were the cowherd people again and again sprouted new shoots of joy.
268. Then Lord Krishna, showing the same features as before, approached the doe-eyed gopis. Wondering whether Lord Krishna had actually come before them, the gopis were bewildered, not bewildered, and bewildered again, moment after moment.
269. As He entered Vraja the people offered arati to Him with many jewels, showered Him with flowers, called out "Jai! Jai!" and greeted Him with auspicious words.
270. Pleasing them with graceful and humble words, Lord Krishna gave His association to the people of Vraja. Then, to shower His mother with happiness, He quickly entered His home.
271. For a long time He pleased her. Then, with her permission He lay down on a splendid bed and, surrounded by all His friends, slept at night.
272. Rising from bed, glorious Krishna brought great happiness to His eternal friends. His lotus face blossoming with happiness, He began a great festival of nectar for the bumblebee eyes of His friends.
273. Day after day the people of Vraja loved Krishna with a love greater than before. Day after day they saw that Krishna's handsomeness was greater than they had seen before.
274. Yearning to see King Nanda after some days, Lord Krishna took Rohini, Uddhava, and many others and quickly went by chariot to Vraja.
275. Goddess Yogamaya created a Deity form of Krishna. The beautiful-eyed gopis who yearned to marry Krishna worshipped that Deity with the honey of their passionate love.
276. When Lord Krishna assumed a different form and went to the city of the Yadavas, His original form was visible only to the people in the glorious village of Vraja. O mind, please always think of that form of the gopa Krishna.

CHAPTER TWO
Nitya Lila
Eternal Pastimes

Text 1
Within the realm of Vrndavana manifested on the earth, an unmanifested realm of Vrndavana, invisible to the ordinary eyes, exists. In that invisible realm Lord Krsna eternally enjoys blissful pastimes with the people of Vraja.
Text 2
That realm is very splendid, beautiful and glorious with forests, hills, streams, the friends of Vraja’s prince, and a great ocean of milk.
Text 3
That realm is splendid with wonderful mountains around Govardhana, with many streams around the Yamuna, and with many lakes around the Manasa-ganga.
Text 4
That realm is splendid like a cintamani-jewel sun. The splendid and opulent trees there bring great pleasure to Lord Krsna.
Text 5
In the courtyard of the realm is a thousand-petal lotus shining like the sun. In each of its petals is a garden where Lord Krsna enjoys with the His gopi-beloveds.
Text 6
Between the petals of this lotus are many splendid paths, paths invisible to the material senses, paths known only by the Vedas.
Text 7
In that jewel lotus is a place of many beautiful and virtuous surabhi cows filled with nectar milk.
Text 8
In the middle of the circle of petals is the splendid palace of Vraja’s king. In the circle around are the splendid palaces of all the gopas.
Text 9
In the middle of that glorious place is the king of Vraja’s palace, filled with the royal opulences and royal assemblies, and splendid like the sun.
Text 10
Although that palace is the most beautiful, its inner inner part is even more wonderfully beautiful. O heart, if you wish to know all about that place; then please remember my Gopala-campu.
Text 11 and 12
Surrounded by the stars and cakora birds of His friends, gently smiling, the moonlight of His glories shining, happy with the words of the poet devotees, never tiring of giving a great festival of happiness to the lotus flowers of His devotees, surrounded by His father and elders, and enjoying great festivals with the dear gopis, in that place the moon of Gopa Krsna enjoys blissful pastimes.
Text 13
His limbs worshipped by sapphires, His garments eclipsing the land of gold, and His Self the home of eloquence and a host of virtues, the ruler of Vraja shines with great splendor.
Text 14
In this place Lord Krsna enjoys pastimes. Please listen, and I will tell them to you in detail. They are not different from His manifest pastimes. I will not say anything that is not true. Now it is not right to say anything like that.
Text 15
I will only point the direction to all that has been said of Lord Krsna’s pastimes. Even the smallest part of His pastimes is a great wonder. What wise man will ever tire of hearing Lord Krsna’s pastimes?
Text 16
When the night had ended and the poets expert at composing prayers stood at the door, the people of Vraja awakened and became very happy at heart when Lord Krsna appeared before them.
Text 17
The sounds in Vraja of the cowherd people talking and singing, the cows being milked, and the butter being churned, sounds like the churning of a nectar ocean, filled Lord Krsna with happiness.
Text 18
Overcome with love for their son, the king and queen of Vraja again and again gave limitless charity to the poets reciting virut poems praising Him.
Text 19
In that place are many pastime cottages and many beautiful and exalted gopis dear to Lord Krsna. On what forest path are there not gopis, cottages, and pastime couches?
Text 20
Lord Krsna went to each gopi’s bed. The beautiful slender gopis embraced Him. For the whole night He tightly held the gopis in His arms.
Text 21
Sri Radha, the supreme goddess of fortune shines like a moon surrounded by stars. The gopis follow Her and praise Her virtues.
Text 22
She is a beautiful goddess born from King Vrsabhanu, who is a jewel ocean of the pastimes of saintly deeds in Vraja. She is the first of Lord Krsna’s beautiful beloveds. She is charming and playful in the pastimes of love.
Text 23
She is like a glittering lightning flash by the monsoon cloud of Her beloved. She wears beautiful garments colored like Her beloved. The beautiful grace of Her limbs decorates Her sapphire locket and glistening ornaments.
Text 24
She can be compared only to Herself. Her limbs are very beautiful. Her glories have made all directions auspicious.  She is glorious with the most auspicious marks.
Text 25
The splendor of Her toenails defeats the beauty of the moon and the lotus. The beauty of each of Her limbs enchants the heart of Sri Krsna.
Text 26
She is the softness and delicateness of flowers descended to the three worlds. She is the fragrance of fragrances. She speaks sweet and graceful words to please Her beloved.
Text 27
She is the most intelligent of the intelligent, learned in all knowledge, artistic in all arts, humble at heart, and the giver of shyness, humbleness, righteousness, fame, happiness, and auspiciousness to Her devotees.
Text 28
Her virtues, beginning with kindness to all living beings, are equalled only by those of Lord Krsna Himself. She is affectionate and devoted to Her superiors. She is the well-wisher of all living beings, moving and inert. She is sprinkled with the nectar of happiness.
Text 29
In Her heart She again and again offers arati to a single ray of light from Her beloved’s toenail. Thinking a bumblebee to be His messenger, She speaks very wonderful words of love for Him.
Text 30
If the breeze moves as She approaches the rendezvous, She thinks Her lover must be coming. She enters the heart of a devotee that lovingly engages in nine kinds of devotional service.
Text 31
She is always decorated with incomparable loving pastimes. In a secluded place She happily jokes with Her gopi friends and Her beloved.
Text 32
Sometimes She knits Her eyebrows and sometimes She speaks sweet and humble words. In this way She brings Her beloved Krsna completely under Her control. How can I glorify Her properly? I do not have the power to glorify Her properly.
Text 33
Sri Krsna is splendidly manifest before each gopi in the rasa-dance circle. He is deeply in debt for the gopi’s love.  Radha is the first of the gopis. She is the first.
Text 34
Now please hear the pastimes of mercy Radha enjoyed on the night of the rasa dance. Lord Krsna took Her far away. With great happiness She did not know where He was taking Her.
Text 35
Unable to tolerate Radha’s good fortune, Her gopi rivals criticized Her. Radha still arranged for their meeting with Krsna.
Text 36
How can I describe Her peerless virtues? How can I describe the girl who is a flood of waves in an ocean of amorous pastimes with Lord Krsna? O heart, please hear a sweet pastime She enjoyed with Her beloved at sunrise.
Text 37
When She understood that very little of the night remained, Radha tightly bound Her lover with the ropes of Her arms and bathed His body with Her tears.
Text 38
Lord Krsna very gently wiped away Her tears, but then He bathed Himself again and again with His own tears.
Text 39
Then Radha’s two friends Lalita and Visakha came to Their side. With sharp words like a warm winter sun, the two girls broke the coolness of the divine couple’s motionless embrace.
Text 40
Radha became embarrassed. Again She embraced Her lover. Pretending to be asleep, She lay motionless for a moment. Frightened, She tried to cheat the wakefulness that had come.
Text 41
When daytime came, Krsna’s dear gopis remembered Krsna’s mother. In great haste they went to perform their duties.
Text 42
When night came She was happy to abandon Her favorite garment. Now that day has come, She again holds the garment to Her limbs. Ah, time has the power to take away what is most dear.
Text 43
With water from a beautiful cup again and again She washed her mouth, hands, and feet, and then threw the water to the ground, water that purifies the celestial worlds beginning with Bhuvar and Svar.
Text 44
No longer openly showing Her love, Lord Krsna’s beloved now kept that love hidden in Her heart. Taking the remaining oil, She massaged Lord Krsna’s limbs. She was His equal.
Text 45
After massaging Him, She bathed Him with scented water, and all the directions became filled with the sweet fragrance.
Text 46
Although She covered Krsna’s form with beautiful garments, She made the glory of His limbs increase. He became like a host of monsoon clouds and a brilliant sun filling all directions with rays of light.
Text 47
Or, it may also be said:
Although She carefully hid Her love for Krsna, it could still be seen manifested as Lord Krsna’s glory. The many jewel ornaments beautiful-eyed Radha placed on Him delighted Her gopi friends.
Text 48
By chanting the two-syllable mantra “Krs-na”, Radha drank the sacred water of the feet of Lord Krsna, King Nanda, and Mother Yasoda. Then She went to see Yasoda, Lord Krsna’s mother.
Text 49
Then Radha went to Lord Krsna’s mother, Yasoda. Accompanied by many friends, and not able to approach her directly, Radha went by a crooked path, finally placing Her forehead at Yasoda’s feet.
Text 50
With both hands touching Radha’s head, Mother Yasoda carefully picked Her up, smelled Her head, wept, enveloped Her in a great hug, and became very happy.
Text 51
By Yasoda’s order, Radha with the beautiful heart bowed down before the elder ladies and then sat down. Her face like the moon, She charmed everyone’s cakora-bird eyes.
Text 52
Again and again gazing at Her, the ladies melted with love for Radha. They became agitated like frogs troubled by summer heat when the cool night is over.
Text 53
O heart, I have told you something of Radha’s pastimes. Now I will tell you something of Lord Krsna’s pastimes. I have told you something of the glory of Lord Krsna’s abode. Now I will give to you the blissful description of that abode’s ruler.
Text 54
When Krsna’s most beloved Radha rose from bed to perform Her daily duties, Lord Krsna, rising for the same purpose, was served by His servant-friend.
Text 55
When Lord Krsna removed His night garment, the marks of His secret amorous pastimes became exposed. They were like a traitor telling His secrets. Seeing them, His servant friends smiled and laughted.
Text 56
O heart, gaze on Lord Krsna’s carefully washed face, hands, and feet, which defeat forests of lotus flowers. Goddess Laksmi, who is beautiful like a world of lotus flowers, has come to Vraja, become a poet, and taken shelter of the dust of His feet.
Text 57
Then Lord Krsnacandra allowed Goddess Radha to expertly anoint His limbs with many kinds of sweetly scented oil.
Text 58
Whoever accepts the remnants of this oil that massaged Lord Krsna attains intense love for Krsna. That is not surprising.  Whoever even once happily smells the fragrance of that oil also attains intense love for Krsna. That is surprising.
Text 59
With scented water Lord Krsna then washed His own limbs. O heart, please hear about the great splendor of Lord Krsna’s form.
Text 60
After massaging Lord Krsna’s body, the servant knew that Krsna’s form was now very soft and relaxed. Trembling, the servant removed Lord Krsna’s wet garments and dressed Him in two dry garments. He blossomed with happiness.
Text 61
The expert servant placed two garments splendid like gold on the monsoon-cloud limbs of Lord Krsna. Splendid, decorated with tilaka and graceful ornaments, and His hair expertly tied, Lord Krsna delighted the friends of splendor and mercy in the three worlds.
Text 62
Sitting on a golden throne, Lord Krsna performed acamana, accepted a new sacred thread, and chanted mantras. He shone with great splendor.
Text 63
Three times a day Lord Krsna bowed down to His father in Dvaraka. That was proper. It was not proper in Vraja. The father and son relationship in both places were different.
Text 64
O Krsna, as the king and queen of Vraja daily meditated on You, so we have given these pictures of You. We have not invented anything.
Text 65
Lord Krsna never deviated from His religious duties. Every morning He would please His father and mother by performing these duties.
Text 66
His ornaments tinkling, Krsna went to His mother. Seeing that the gopis had come, He went to the kitchen.
Text 67
When they saw Him, Yasoda and the gopis went to Krsna. A cow can approach her own calf but the other cows cannot.
Text 68
Krsna devotedly bowed to her from afar. She stumbled as she ran to Him.
Text 69
Mother Yasoda ran to Her son, held Him, smelled His head, and gazed at Him with tear-filled eyes.
Text 70
Seeing Rohini and the other women of Vraja, women that loved Him as His mother loved Him, Lord Krsna respectfully bowed before them, and they sprinkled Him with the tears from their eyes.
Text 71
Then Balarama, Madhumangala, and other friends came and worshiped Krsna. They were like a moon and many auspicious stars wonderfully shining in the daytime.
Text 72
Then Krsna, Balarama, Yasoda, and the others all happily sat down. Tears filled the eyes of the friends of Krsna and Balarama.
Text 73
Accompanied by their sons, the exalted brahmana ladies gave their blessings. Krsna and Balarama bowed before them, stood up, and did everything to please them.
Text 74
Day after day the brahmana ladies and their sons came, blessed Krsna, gazed on Him, and showered Him with rice and flowers.
Text 75
After worshipping the cows and calves, who all had silver hooves, gold horns, and many jewel ornaments, Lord Krsna gave them in charity to the brahmana boys.
Text 76
Then Lord Krsna gave to His guests splendidly beautiful golden plates decorated with the nine kinds of jewels, plates like mirrors that gave a clear reflection of the holder’s face.
Text 77
Then Lord Krsna bowed down before the saintly brahmana ladies and their sons, praised them with the sweetest of words, and fulfilled their desires. In this way He brought happiness and auspiciousness to His mother.
Text 78
Then Lord Krsna humbly bowed down before His aunts and cousins, worshipped them, gave them sitting places, and pleased them.
Text 79
His auspicious morning duties now completed Lord Krsna took His friends to the breakfast room. Now He wished to eat.
Texts 80-86
O heart, please meditate on Krsna and Balarama, who are gracefully decorated with curly locks of hair, whose faces have no peer, who are splendidly fair and dark, the corners of whose playful eyes are reddish, whose foreheads are decorated with tilaka and curly locks of hair, whose noses are decorated with great pearls, whose cheeks are splendid with jewel earrings, who are glorious with jewel necklaces, whose handsome arms, decorated with jewel bracelets, armlets and rings, are flooded with waves of splendor, who wear belts glorious like Lord Nrsimhadeva Himself, who are decorated with hosts of flowers, who are more glorious than gold and dark monsoon clouds, who are flooded with the splendor of cintamani-jewel anklets, who sit facing each other, who glance at each other with eyes filled with festivals of happiness, whose forms are splendid like white camphor and dark clouds, whose backs are broad and graceful, who pleased Their mothers and friends with many wonderful joking words, whose handsome forms the young girls, pretending to look at other things, secretly gazed at from their windows, and who, having completed Their morning duties, now wished to eat breakfast.
Text 87
Every day in this way Lord Krsna quickly took the cows to pasture. Thinking, “The king of Vraja will send Our lunch,” Lord Krsnacandra ate only a light breakfast.
Text 88
Krsna and His friends ate sweet-rice seasoned with sugar, camphor, and pepper. Enjoying as He ate, Krsna praised every bite.
Text 89
Sri Radha cooked, Mother Rohini carried the finished dishes to Mother Yasoda, and Mother Yasoda served them to Krsna and His friends. For this reason Lord Krsna did not wish to leave the breakfast table for even a moment.
Text 90
Gently smiling and very gently talking, the two mothers also served scented water. Gradually Krsna and Balarama lost Their hunger.
Text 91
Speaking joking words, the two mothers encouraged the boys to continue eating. Lord Krsna gradually ended His breakfast pastimes and prepared to take the cows to the pastime forest.
Text 92
Then Krsna and His friends washed their mouths with scented water, anointed their limbs with sandal paste, and made their mouths fragrant with betelnuts and camphor.
Text 93
Dressing Him in the fine garments and ornaments used by His father, Mother Yasoda made her son very splendid in the eyes of the people.
Text 94
Mother Yasoda bathed Her son’s sapphire-splendid form in the golden color of splendid garments. As she gazed at how she had decorated Him, nectar flowed from her eyes and breasts.
Text 95
Wearing a peacock feather and holding a jewel flute and a golden stick, Krsna pleased everyone’s eyes.
Text 96
Whatever could be said about Krsna could also be said about Balarama. Yasoda and Rohini are equals. Look! The love they bear for their sons is the same.
Text 97
Every day as Krsna was about to go to the forest, Mother Yasoda would make offerings of a cup of water and a lamp, perform arati, and perform many auspicious rituals for His safety.
Text 98
In His heart eager to depart for the forest, Krsna approached His mother and with folded hands bowed before her. She touched Him with her hand. Nectar flowed from her eyes and breasts. She said:
Text 99
I will go with you to the forest. I will cook Your lunch and give it to You while it is still hot. Child, You are very wise. Why are You embarassed?
Text 100
If You say, “Who will take care of the house?”, Then I say one day Rohini will go with You and I will stay home, and the next day I will go and Rohini will stay home.
Text 101
Child, why do You say I should stay at home bound up by household duties? Why should I not go with You to the forest?  Ask the others what they think.
Text 102
Day after day our son goes to the forest and we, His parents, cannot leave this house. Child, Your parents are neither afraid nor embarrassed to follow You to the forest.
Text 103
Hearing Mother Yasoda’s words, Lord Balarama smiled, shed a tear, bowed His head, and gently said:
Text 104
O mother, if mother and father become young and fit again, then this would be a good arrangement. It is right for the young to stay both at home and in the forest.
Text 105
O mother, please know that herding the cows is only the pretext we use to go to the forest. The truth is that we boys go to the forest to play.
Text 106
O mother, we happily eat the four kinds of food you send to us in the forest. We go there to eat the forest-fruits sweeter than nectar.
Text 107
I go to the forest to kill Vraja’s enemies. Then I come back to the village of Vraja. No one in Vraja sees that I kill them. O mother, why should you be afraid?
Text 108
When I am gone the cows eat grass and wait for My return. They are very saintly and peaceful at heart.
Text 109
Then the noble ladies of the village, tears in their eyes, said to Mother Yasoda, “It is most auspicious that you perform your daily duties. That is the best thing for you to do.”
Text 110
Then the noble ladies blessed the boy Krsna. Mother Yasoda hugged Him and very gently let Him go.
Text 111
Mother Yasoda touched her son, taught Him, yearned after Him, approached Him, became stunned with love for Him, became happy in His company, and caressed Him in many ways. She never became tired of associating with her son.
Text 112
Bound with ropes of love, Mother Yasoda and the noble women of Vraja followed the boy Krsna as He left the palace.
Text 113
When Krsna departed, Mother Yasoda went back into the palace and passed the day engaged in her household duties. Now I will meditate on the pastimes of Sri Radha.
Text 114
From the time that Krsna was at His mother’s side to the time that He left for the forest, Radha and Her friends gazed at Krsna through the filigreed windows. Again and again they were overcome with love for Him and again and again they tried to hide the symptoms of their love.
Text 115
Approaching noble Yasoda, and becoming busy in cooking heavenly foods for Her beloved, Radha became filled with happiness. Her pastimes throw me into an ocean of sweet nectar. Ah! How can I swim in that ocean?
Text 116
Radha ate breakfast with Yasoda and the gopis. With both ears Radha heard Krsna’s pastimes. With smiling eyes Radha glanced at Her friends. These pastimes fill my thoughts.
Text 117
As He left for the forest the glory of many splendid garments covered Lord Krsna’s form. Sri Radha’s sidelong glance also covered Lord Krsna’s form. The garments and the glance competed for the right to cover Lord Krsna.
Text 118
As Krsna was going to the forest, the khanjana birds of Sri Radha’s eyes yearned to leave Her body and fly with Krsna to the forest.
Text 119
When lotus-eyed Krsna descended to the courtyard, His smiles showering nectar in all directions, peerlessly splendid Radha, hidden among Her friends, made Her eyes worship Him with folded hands.
Text 120
After Krsna had left the palace, Radha stayed with the older gopis. Then Radha and Her friends headed by Lalita returned to their own homes. The time passed with great difficulty.
Text 121
Radha was the first to see Krsna from the window. She told all Her friends. She was overcome with yearnings. Her eyes could find no peace.
Text 122
With Her friends help She made a garland for Lord Krsna.  Although She spent the time singing peerless sweet songs about Lord Krsna’s glories, She could find no peace.
Text 123
She wore musk tilaka, sapphire earrings, and garments dark like a monsoon cloud. Her complexion was Lord Krsna’s yellow garments. She burned with love for Lord Krsna.
Text 124
Lord Krsna had left His mother’s palace. With crooked words beautiful-eyebrowed Radha gave orders to the eunuchs that, anointed with friendship for Her, gaurded the women’s quarters.
Text 125
She said to them: Please go to Our master, Krsna, and worship His lotus feet for Us. You will be our representatives.
Text 126
One of you go to Our master, see His pastimes, and then return to Us. One of the gaurds fulfilled this request, saw Krsna, returned, and said to Radha:

(Here begins the report of the eunuch guard, which continues up to verse 167)
Text 127-130
Krsna went to His father’s assembly-house, which is praised by the brahmanas, which is a great sky filled with light by the suns of Vraja’s cowherd people worshiped by Lord Siva himself, where every direction is filled with auspicious sounds of sweet-voiced brahmanas reciting the Vedas and many poets reciting prayers, where there is great happiness created by singers, dancers and musicians learned in the arts taught by Bharata Muni, and where there are many relatives on Krsna’s father’s and mother’s side.  Accompanied by Balarama, Krsna flooded all eyes with the nectar of His splendid handsomeness. Then all the worlds became filled with sounds of “Glory! Glory! Glory!”
Text 131
When Krsna entered the elders rose from their seats. They became like a great river of love flowing to the ocean of Krsna.
Text 133
Krsna bowed down to everyone together and everyone individually, one by one. With both arms, with lotus hands, and with many glances, He embraced everyone.
Text 133
The people of Vraja humbly think themselves lowly and unqualified. Even so, the great demigod Brahma praised them, saying they were the friends of Lord Krsna.
Text 134
Because in the past they performed many pious deeds the people of Vraja are now able to gaze on the sapphire that is Lord Krsna and the diamond that is Lord Balarama.
Text 135
His throat choked with tears, King Nanda could not speak. Aware of the love in Nanda’s heart, Lord Krsna, His own smiling eyes also filled with tears, said:
Text 136
O father, even though there is no danger in the forest of Vraja, and even though the cows return from the forest of their own accord, We boys nevertheless continue to herd the cows in the forest. The real reason we go to the forest is so that we may play there.

Text 137
Headed by Upananda, the people of the assembly said to Lord Krsna: Your father is the life of Vraja’s people, and You are the life of him. What more need we say. You already know everything.
Text 138
Seeing some beggars, and wishing to please his son, King Nanda gave them abundant charity. They responded by giving limitless blessings to Nanda’s son, Krsna. Even Krsna could not find blessings equal to what they spoke.
Text 139
With folded hands Krsna begged to be allowed to go to the forest. Seeing His eagerness, and after first having the brahmanas recite auspicious mantras from the Vedas, the people of Vraja brought Lord Krsna to the place where the cows stayed.
Text 140
From far away they could see the cows. The cows did not come.  Then Krsna and the gopas approached the cows. Seeing Krsna and the boys approach, the cows, thinking them to be like their own calves, mooed and ran to them.
Text 141
Making sounds of “jihi jihi”, the cows went to the forest.  Following the scent of Lord Krsna’s limbs, they happily walked behind.
Text 142
The older cowherd people followed behind. Krsna showed His anxiety at this. Understanding Krsna’s heart, the older cowherd people, tears choking their throats, turned back.
Text 143
After speaking words of instruction, Father Nanda turned to go. Nanda could not help but use his glances to worship Lord Krsna.
Text 144
King Nanda and the people of Vraja somehow returned to their homes. Still, they could not help turning their eyes to try and see Krsna.
Text 145
Gazing on Him with shining eyes, Krsna’s elders blessed Him.  Krsna bowed down before them, and then went deep into the forest.
Text 146
Wandering with His brother and friends in the forest, Krsna gave the cows a place to rest. Then, with the sweet sounds of His flute calling the cows, Krsna again wandered on whatever path pleased Him.
Text 147
Accompanied by Balarama and the boys, Krsna wandered in the delightful forest, where He met many trees, vines, deer, and cuckoos, as well as many other birds.
Text 148
Krsna, Balarama, and the boys imitated the movements of the bees, cuckoos, peacocks, birds, monkeys, deer, and other creatures. Then the boys played music and happily danced.
Text 149
With many different pastimes the boys pleased Krsna. Each boy pleased Him in his own way.
Text 150
The very intelligent boys worshiped Lord Krsna with many crooked pastimes. Poetically speaking the joking words of a buffoon, they made Krsna laugh.
Text 151
Sometimes, speaking sweet words and displaying good and noble character, they make Lord Krsna melt with fraternal love.  Other times, expertly propounding the most illogical views in long-winded mock debates, they fill Lord Krsna with wonder.
Text 152
Their hearts filled with love with a host of wonderful virtues, again and again, and in many different ways, the boys pleased Lord Krsna.
Text 153
On some days Your beloved Krsna goes to the Manasa-ganga on Govardhana Hill, and on other days He enjoys pastimes in the water and by the shore of the Yamuna.
Text 154
Sometimes Krsna and His friends go to Bhandiravana and sometimes they enjoy pastimes in other forests, by the Yamuna, or in other places.
Text 155
With the sweet music of his flute your beloved makes the demigods and the birds tremble. Even more wonderful, He makes the unconscious beings and the lifeless objects tremble also.
Text 156
If by sounding His flute Your master, Krsna, calls the cows to the water, the sweet flute-sound makes the cows stunned with ecstasy, and they stand motionless with half-chewed cud in their mouths.  The flute-sound even makes the water become stunned, and for a moment it is no longer liquid but hard like stone.
Text 157
Seeing that on a hill with no streams or lakes the cows have become thirsty, Your master plays His flute. The flute-music makes the hill melt in ecstasy, providing water for the cows.
Text 158
Lord Krsna calls the cows by playing their names on His flute. Do they come to Him because they recognize their names in the flute-music? or are they merely attracted by the sweet sound?
Text 159
One time, at midday, in the summer, in a place without any shade, Krsna played His flute and created clouds that gently sprinkled water on the cows.
Text 160
One day, His heart melting with kindness, Krsna played His flute. The flute music made the hills melt, and Krsna left His footprint in a momentarily softened stone there.
Text 161
Sometimes He turns His flute into a boat and ferries the cows and gopas across a river. The sweet flute-music makes the river become stunned and hardened, and then the cows and gopas wonderfully walk to the other side.
Text 162
Sometimes poets glorify this pastime of the melting stones and other pastimes like it. In this way the readers of sweet poetry become aware of Lord Krsna’s pastimes. Still, how is it possible to say everything about Lord Krsna’s pastimes.
Text 163
Sometimes Your beloved arranges for sporting fights, or between His friends, or between the bulls or the buffaloes.  One fighter defeats the other. Seeing the victory and the defeat, Your beloved smiles and laughts.
Text 164
Sometimes Krsna likes to wear colorful garments. Sometimes He likes a crown and royal upper and lower garments. Sometimes He likes the garments of a dancer. Sometimes He likes the garments of a wrestler.
Text 165
Sometimes Krsna enjoys wrestling pastimes and sometimes He gracefully dances with His friends. I do not think these two pastimes are different. They are both wonderfully graceful.
Text 166
They would play like deer, pretend to fight with beaks like birds, play games of closing their eyes, and hurl joking insults at each other. After they had played many games they would stop, eat lunch, and, for a moment, forget about playing.
Text 167
Tired after enjoying many games with His friends, Krsna enjoyed a nap. The boys fanned Him and served Him in many ways. He was happy and He made the boys happy.

(The report of the eunuch guard finishes here)
Text 168
As these pastimes of Lord Krsna entered their ears, Radha and the gopis could hear the sound of Krsna’s flute. Again and again they heard that music.
Text 169
Hearing the flute-music, Radha and Her friends were overwhelmed with love for Lord Krsna. Again and again and again they lamented their separation from Him.
Text 170
Then some of the gopis said: Why are we so dejected? Why, in our suffering, have we forgotten Yasoda’s request to us?
Text 171
Merciful Yasoda and Rohini gave us the way to fulfill our desires. We should adopt it.
Text 172
First there is breakfast. Then, at one and half praharas there is another meal, at four praharas there is another meal, and in the evening there is the last meal.
Text 173
His mother prepares His breakfast, His friends prepare the next meal, His father and elders prepare the meal at four praharas, and You prepare the evening meal.
Text 174
Krsna has now come to the outskirts of Vraja village. On some pretext he will meet with you all and make you happy.
Text 175
Quickly go and prepare His meal. King Nanda has already eaten.  Now he orders you to prepare a meal for his son.
Text 176
Thus, on King Nanda’s order the gopis prepared many delicious foods and carried them on their heads to the outskirts of Vraja village.
Text 177
The boys, who were born in the same families as the gopis, happily ran in front of, behind, and to the left and right of the gopis.
Text 178
O heart, look at these pastimes of Krsna’s happily eating lunch and playing in the forest! Do you see them? These pastimes make great sages speak words that are the sweetest poetry.
Text 179
Who are the great sages? The great sages are they who are at every moment enchanted by hearing about Krsna, who is Himself charmed by the virtues of Sri Radha.
Text 180
Krsna and His friends saw the gopis and the gopis saw Them.  The boys were immersed in playing and gave no thought to eating lunch.
Text 181
Seeing this, Madhumangala at once said: If you are not too immersed in playing games, then look before you. How can our hunger not be important?
Text 182
The boys smiled and said: We don’t need lunch. Lunch is a useless thing.
Text 183
Laughing again and again, Krsna and the boys formed a circle, washed their feet, hands, and mouths, and enjoyed the pastime of eating lunch.
Text 184
Dressed in splendid silk garments and surrounded by His friends, Lord Krsna was eager to enjoy His pastimes of lunch.
Text 185
Like lotus flowers worshipping the moon, the gopis worshiped Krsna. Like cakora birds gazing at the moon, the gopis gazed with smiling eyes at Krsna. They were filled with wonder.
Text 186
As the boys looked on, Madhumangala sat among them, spoke many joking words, and served them the six kinds of foods that comprised the lunch.
Text 187
Tears in their eyes, the women of Vraja fed the boys. With every bite He took or gave to His friends, Krsna became filled with bliss.
Text 188
With every mouthful of delicious food cooked with fragrant ghee they gave, the noble gopis became filled with bliss.

Text 189
The nimbas and other all-delicious fruits were brought for desert. In this way Krsna and the boys enjoyed moment after moment.
Text 190-197
Krsna and Balarama happily ate the lunch of delicious, fragrant, ripe coconut seasoned with pepper and other spices, warm, slightly salty mudga beans, splendid, fragrant rice cooked in fragrant ghee and mixed with fragrant saffron, many kinds of bitter, sour, and pungent foods, cooked in different ways and brought from home, pleasantly bitter soup of canaka, kalaya, masa, and mudga beans, many kinds of fruits, leaves, and vegetables, bitter amalaki fruits cooked in ghee and spiced with cumin seeds, many kinds of pleasantly bitter and sour foods, thick yogurt, capatis cooked with ghee, delicious thick sugared milk, mango juice that defeated the taste of nectar, and scented water, all of this mixed with the affectionately angry playful words of Mother Yasoda and the playful mock debate of the circle of friends. When everyone had finished eating, the servants happily ate what remained.
Text 198
Accompanied by His friends, Lord Krsna again and again enjoyed six kinds of delicious foods. In this way He satisfied everyone’s desire.