Krishna Steals the Gopi's Clothes

This chapter describes the worship of Katyayani, the stealing of the gopis’ clothing, Krsna’s conversation with the gopis and Krsna fulfilling the wishes of the gopis, as well a Krsna praising the trees. After describing the attraction of the married gopis such as radha to Krsna in the autumn season, there is a description of the unmarried nitya siddha gopis such as dhanya, who were absorbed in talk of Krsna. According to local custom they performed the Katyayani vrata during the hemanta season, in order to obtain Krsna as their husband.

The distinction between these gopis in the first month of the hemanta, margasirsa, and those like Radha is made in the Harivamsa, Visnu Purana and Brahma purana in such verses as the following : The young, umarried gopis gathered together while it was still dark (yuvatir gopakanyas ca ratrau sankalya kalavit ).

balibih means that they worshipws using cloth, ornaments, and food offerings.

“Oh Katyayani! Make the son of the gopa Nanda our husband.”

“But why are you making this request to me independently? I can only do this by inspiring your parents to do it. Through them I can do this.”

Fearing this response, they say in anxiety, “O great Yogini, you yourself must unite us with Krsna without the obstacles caused by parents interference. Being so eager, we cannot bear any delay. Because Krsna has not yet got his upanayana thread, he is not yet suitable for marriage. Therefore , without the normal wedding, but in the gandharva style, let us marry him. Oh adhisvari, you who have all powers, nothing is impossible for you.”

“If you want to marry Krsna without your parents knowing, how are you going to carry out married life together with him?”

“Oh Mahamaya, supreme bewilderer, you should bewilder our parents, so that they do not think of marrying us with anyone else, and so that they do not know of our association with Krsna. Oh Devi, one who carrries out pastimes, or helps engage us in the lord’s pastimes, make the son of Nanda our husband and no one else. Thus even if we marry someone else, there is no harm.”

In this way thinking of the meaning of each mantra, the gopis worshipped Katyayani. (ananda vrndavana campu says: o worshipabledevi please accept this foot wash. Make our breasts cool with the water from Krsna’s feet. Please give us Krsna’s association. We offer you this arghya. Give us association with Krsna who is mahargha, most worshipable.)

The object of their worship was yogamaya, coming from the cit sakti. She was not the material maya. In the Narada pancaratra, in the discussion of Srutividya, it is said,”This durga is the supreme, principle energy of mahavisnu, ad non different from him. By her assistance, in one second one can attain bhagavan. This chief energy of the lord is the ruler of Gokula, and is endowed with the highest prema. By her mercy one can easily attain the Lord. Her avarika sakti is mahamaya, the mistress of infinite material universes. This mahamaya bewilders all the souls of the universe who think they are material bodies.”

Thus, in all the mantras for Krsna, the spiritual Durga is the presiding deity. She is worshipped in meditation when reciting the mantras. To confuse the yogamaya durga with the mahamaya durga is a mistake. And also, because the pastimes of Vraja are very similar to material pastimes in appearance there is no fault in the worship of maya devi. Independent thinkers who think otherwise have no chance of getting even a touch of the breeze of holding the scent of prema on their body. (this is from vaisnava tosani)

They worshipped bhadra kali with the vow, “May the son of Nanda be my husband.”

This verse is a continuation of the thought of verse two describing how the gopis went to bath in the waters of the Yamuna. They called each other by name (svaih gotraih). “O Dhanya, where are you? Why are you late?”

Kadacit (some time) here means on the full moon day when the vrata was completed after one month. This was mentioned in the fifth verse. These unmarried gopis also invited Radha and others who were objects of Krsna’s love, and could help fulfil their wishes. After completing the worship, the unmarried gopis sported with them in the water, as bathing is part of the yajna rites.

Krsna is the master of all masters of yoga. That means he is omniscient. That means he can fulful each of the desires of each gopi. He was capable of stealing the clothing of all the gopis who had left their clothing within his sight. He was capable of bringing those gopis who had decided to give up their lives out of embarrassment out of the water, and make them each pay him respects. Though he had brought them under control even though they were determined to keep their bodies secret, he could still refrain from enjoying with them. This is the import of the word yogesvaresvara.

Krsna was surrounded by friends who were younger boys. This is understood from other sources. These boys were about two or three years old , who could not distinguish between men and women, and went about naked. They could not separate themselves from Krsna even while he went out herding the cows. Krama dipka says: he was surrounded by babies who spoke in broken language, who wore tiger claws around their necks, who were bound with jingling with bells around the waist and had fat thighs. The vaisnava tosani quoting from gautamiya tantra, lists the names of the boys: Dama, Sudama, Vasudama, and Kinkini. They were the very personification of Krsna’s heart.

The small boys laughed without reason. Krsna laughed loudly (prahasan), calling their attention to himself. He joked with the young girls.

“O young girls of Vraja! Do you know who has put all of these clothes on the branch of the kadamba tree? I was herding the cows and from far off I saw them and thought, “Today the kadamba tree is very colorful with flowers and fruit.” To see this astonishing spectacle I came running here and climbed this tree.”

The young girl said, ”Those are our clothes.”

Krsna said, “Tthat cannot be. If they were yours, how did they get up in this high branch of the tree?”

They answered, “You have stolen them and put them there.”

“Are you blaming me? I am the son of King Nanda. Am I a thief? I can guess that today you want to go to Kamsa in Mathura.”

The young girls said, “Don’t get angry. Just look closely at the clothing and see if they are women’s or men’s clothing.”

Krsna said, “According to my intelligence, because these are so colorful, they must be women’s clothing. But so what? In this universe you are not the only women. Are there no other women?”

They said, “That is so, but who else except us can come to this isolated forest? “

Krsna said, “O girls who like to wander in lonely places, are you the only women that wander in lonely places and play secretly?”

They said, “O fool, we did not come here to play. We came to worship Durga, the deity of this kadamba tree.”

Krsna said, “Are you the only young women worshipping Durga? Are there no others?”

The young girls said, “There are no others.”

Krsna said, “O foolish ones, every night the deva women come on celestial vehicles and perform worship of Durga here.”

They said, “Even if they did perform worship here, why would they leave their clothing here and go away?”

Krsna said, “Oh young girls, you do not know anything. Tonight they will come again and perform worship. After bathing they will don these clothes. That is why they set them aside here. “

The girls said, “You do not know the truth. Today we will perform worship. The deity of the forest has placed those clothes high up in the tree for us to wear after bathing.”

This verse illustrates how he joked with the girls. His joking was mentioned in the previous verse.

“If these clothes are really yours, then come here if you like and recognize your own clothes. Take them after paying me one small necklace each in order to satisfy me after you have insulted me. You must come each individually, not all at once or two or three together, because out of greed for the cloth one woman will take more than one cloth.”

The young girls said, “We cannot go.”

Krsna laughing said, “O girls (weak ones abala) ! Because of your intense austerities you have become weak and cannot come here.“ Another implication of the word abala is”if you do not do this, I will not give the clothing because I am strong (bala). What can you weak women do?”

The young girls said, “We do not trust your cheating words.”

Krsna said, “I am speaking the truth to you.” Satyam can also mean , “True I am making a vow to you.” Satyam can mean truth or vow according to amara kosa dictionary.

“I am not joking (narmano). Because of your vows, you have undergone difficulties (vrata karsita). I show mercy and devotion to you, and respect for dharma because of your austerities.”

The gopis said, “Because you are a liar, we don’t believe your promise.”

Krsna then answered, biting his tongue. “I have never told any lies. From birth till now, I have not had any occasion to lie. What is the proof? These young boys are the witnesses. They are reliable as witnesses, because they naturally report whatever they see.”

The gopis said, “From far off, please throw the clothes to us in the water, or have the young boys bring them here. “

Krsna said, “How am I to know which is your clothing and which is someone elses.? How can I give them to you if I don’t know. As I am very religious, I don’t touch others things even with my fingernail. You must come here, and, recognizing your own clothes, take them. I do not take, give or touch others things. That is my rule.”

The gopis said, “Because you are so impudent, you can disgrace us. Out of this fear, being respectable women, we will not go near you.”

Krsna said, “One of the young girls among you can come forward. If she is not disgraced and returns to you, then others can come one by one. Or all can come together. Because if you are all together it would be impossible to disgrace you. The head is called the topmost part of the body. It is very beautiful. Please show me your heads. If you can show your heads, then you should not be embarrassed to show me your other beautiful limbs, including your beautiful waists (sumadhyama).”

Seeing Krsna’s secret joking, the gopis became overcome with love. “To make Krsna happy, I think we should not be so self conscious.” Thinking like this they all began to discuss among themselves in bliss. Glancing at one another they became embarrassed. Then one said to another, “O lotus eyed one, he is calling you. “ The other answered, “O beautiful faced one, you go and let him drink the nectar.” In this way they joked amongst themselves, but stood in the water and did not move.

In this way Govinda continued to joke. Govinda here means one who uses sweet words (ga). His words were as follows.

“O dark eyed girls, if you don’t come here, I will tie all these clothes to a branch of the tree and make a hammock and pillow, and I will lie down in it and go to sleep at night.”

Hearing this the gopis said, “O gopala! Your cows, greedy for grass, have gone into a mountain cave. You must go quickly to bring them back.”

Krsna said, “O gopabala! Cowherd girls! You should quickly leave here and go to Vraja to do your household duties. You should not make your parents and elders suffer.”

The gopis said, “For one month we will not go to our houses. At the order of our elders, after completing the Katyayani vrata, we will fast for one month (upavasa).”

Krsna said, “O austere girls! Seeing your austerity, I have become detached from the house also. For one month I will make a vow to live here in the air (nabho vasa). And if you are merciful to me, I will come down from the tree and do a vrata in the water with you (jala vasa vrata).”

Hearing these joking words, the gopis, becoming fearful, with water up to their necks, began trembling from the cold, and also from anxiety, joy, and eagerness.

The gopis first began to try to satisfy Krsna by “sama.”

“You should not do unworthy activities (unarya). “

Krsna said, “You do not respect me. You do not fear calling me bad names.”

The gopis said, “We do not know any other places of Vraja. And we know you, the son of King Nanda.” Gopa means king as well as cowherd. “Further more, you are praised by all the inhabitants of Vraja, and you are loved by all. “

Krsna said, “O foolish women! If I am a king’s son, what wrong can I do? If you say the king’s son should not do any wrong actions, then I say, if I am doing wrong, how can I be praised by all of Vraja and be so loved. It is not possible to praise or love a wrong doer.”

In reply to this the gopis said, “True, we women are ignorant of how to speak. Please forgive us and give us our clothing. We are shivering with cold.” With these words they invoke his mercy.

In this verse also the gopis try to pacify Krsna (sama). “O beautiful one, we will be your servants. (syama with dental s is citsukha’s reading of the word. With palatial s it is syama sundara.) O syama sundar being your servants, we will follow our instructions (tavoditam karavama). As you are the king, it is proper that we be your servants. Under the guise of being servants, we will offer to you our very selves. Then they use rough language to weaken him (bheda) . “ O knower of dharma! You will be irreligious by stealing the wealth from women and seeing them naked.” Seeing that it was futile to instill fear of adharma in him, they then resorted to threats to instill fear.”If you do not give the clothing, we will complain to the king (Nanda or Kamsa.)”

The gopis being defeated by their own words, then stood speechless. Krsna then spoke. “The truthfulness of your words will be tested by this. If you are truely my servants, then you will do whatever I say. Then , please come forward with a smile and take your clothes. If you are not true to your words, then I will not give them. If you fail this test of dharma , then I will not give you your clothing.”

Suci smita means a smile expressing conjugal love. This revealed the gopis’ true mood to Krsna. “As I am stronger, you should use sama instead of bheda (creating fear in the opponent). If you make the king angry what can you accomplish.”

“Oh friends! Being defeated by our own words, if we delay any longer, some one may come here, and then we will be put into an ocean of disgrace. Our desire to attain the touch of his body also has also become even stronger, and cannot be put to death even by drowning in the water. Therefore it seems, fate has been written on our foreheads, and we cannot do otherwise. Yielding to his demands, and sending our own obstinacy to rasatala, bidding farewell to embarrassment, closing our eyes, in that darkness we cover our bodies and rise from the water.” Deciding on this among themselves, they then approached Krsna, rising from the water (pratteruh).

Seeing the devastated state of the gopis (a completely hata killed), understanding that they had followed his request, giving up all shyness, which was worse then death for those respectable girls, understanding that this arose from the pure unmotivated prema (sudda bhava ), he became pleased (prasaditah). He put all their clothing on his shoulder out of greed to smell the fragrance of their limbs. By doing this also he showed his love for them. With great boldness he then gave them advice (provaca). He thought: they have done something which is difficult for any woman, out love from me. But there is someething even more difficult to do. Will they do that or not? I want to see the amount of love they have for me. Therefore he spoke with a smile (sa smitam). “Oh gopis, you have accepted with your mouths, that you are my servants, and that you will follow my words. Now I am going to test your words. If you can come out, I will give you your clothing along with my soul, mind life air and body.”

19.”Oh you have made a great offense. If you have bathed without clothing in the water, then definiteley (u) you have offended Varuna, or Narayana (deva).”

The gopis said, “This is a local custom and therefore as very young girls, we have made no offense.”

Krsna said, “For those performing vrata, bathing naked is certainly an offense to the Lord.”

Considering thus that the fruits of their vrata had become nullified, they became afraid and said, “Oh, we have made such an offense and now we will not get any results. Motrified and more motified, we should give up our lives. “

Seeing the gopis who had performed such austerities, with worn bodies, pale and shivering, Krsna thought , “Oh, I should, being merciful, immediately prescribe some prayascitta so that they do not give up their lives.” Therefore he said, “o thin bodied gopis, do not fear.” He gave the remedy. “All women are servants of Narayana. This is the statement of scripture. Gargamuni has also said that I am similar to Narayana in qualities. Therefore I am now your Narayana. Therefore, turning towards me, you should offer respects to me to nullify your offense to Narayana, and then receive your lower garments. Because males don’t have any use for the lower garments of women I will give them all back. The upper garments however I will use myself as shawls.”

When the lowered their head as an obeisance, krsna said, “Oh no, offering respects with just the head is inferior.” When he saw them then using one hand, he objected again “this is also inferior.” Thus he made them offer both hands in prayer. When he saw them offering both hands, but low down to cover themselves, he said, “Hold your folded hands above your heads.”

Deciding that the results of their vrata should not be useless, even if they had to sacrifice their modesty, they decided to do as their beloved Krsna said. This is explained in this verse. When krsna had pointed out that bathing naked was an offense, they decided that their vow had become useless. Desiring the results of their vrata, they offered respects to Krsna who can bestow the results of all actions, not just this vrata. If the sum of all results, Krsna, is satisfied, what else remains to be gained? You may gain the results, but what about the sin incurred? To answer this the verse says: avadya mrg. Krsna is the purifier (mrj) of all sins. For those who obtain the mercy of the Lord, there is no fault.

Krsna then gave all their garments , including the top portions, because he was pleased that they had done as he wished.

Though they criticized him, they had done as he said, which was impossible for any others. More astonishing however, is that they became blissful. They had been deceived to the extreme by his words criticizing their nakedness. They had been made to give up their modesty. He mocked them, insisting that they come and get their clothing. They were made to dance like puppets when he said, “this is true, it is not a joke.” They did not find fault in him even when he told them to put their hands about their heads as prayascitta. Though all this was done by their beloved (priya) they became blissful because they could meet him. Because he was their beloved even actions causing suffering became causes of joy for them. They became more attached to him for doing that.

Just as Krsna had stolen the clothes of the gopis, he, whose heart was stolen by them, also stole their hearts. This verse describes them as the reservoir of prema. Just as Krsna understood that they were extremely attached to him, they also understood that Krsna was attracted to them by the mercy of Katyayani. Extending bashful glances, they could not return home because of their stunned state arising from prema. The bashfulness which they tried to hide, but which was revealed by Krsna, and was banished from their bodies, again returned in their eyes. By the assistance of this modesty, the gopis then approached near to Krsna, and attained his extreme mercy. There is the suggestion that the bashfulness pervaded their bodies more than even previously.

“Oh king of enjoyers, we have received the results of our vows. Though you caused us extreme difficulty by which our very life airs left, we agreed with what you requested. You made us leave the water, you made fun of us, and saw our bodies. You put our clothes on your shoulder, and wanted to give us only half of them back, and you spoke to us only as much as necessary. As an answer, we have given you a bashful glance only. Maybe we offend you by this, or maybe you are satisfied with this. We do not know. So you who are knowledgeable of all time and place and person, should speak to us foolish women. Hearing that, we will return home.” Desiring to answer them, the supreme, omniscient Lord then spoke in three verses.

“O chaste women! Though out of modesty, you have not spoke about your real desire (sankalpa) in worship of me to give me pleasure (mad arcanam). I know and I accept it. Because your desire was pure, , it must be fulfilled. What is not possible when it was done only for my pleasure--by prema , and when I am controlled by prema?”

At this point, the krpa sakti made the Lord’s power more evident among the gopis, though the power was still under the control of prema, and subject to the pastimes. By this power, he knew the gopis’ austerities in worship of Katyayani to attain him, and gave them the results. According to the words of Garga that Krsna was similar to Narayana, but the gopis now took Krsna as Narayana.

If someone worships me impurely or improperly, because I am full of good qualities I can make that offering pure. What then to say of your absolutely pure desire and pure love? For those who are absorbed in me, their material desires do not result in sense enjoyment. Because of the greatness of the object of love, it results in the disappearance of material desire. Just as barley corns if roasted in the hot sun are sown, and moistened by water, it is impossible (na isate) for them to sprout (bijaya). Praya here means “just as.” Another reading of nesate is nesyate. According to Citsukha this is a traditional usage.

Krsna indicates in this verse that the initial enjoyement will take place on the auspicious occasion of night. O women, you are perfected (siddha) beings but you have taken the role of sadhakas to increase the sweetness of the pastimes on earth. On nights in the near future (ima ksapa) you will enjoy (ramsyatha), for which purpose (yat) you under took austerities in worshiping Durga (arya), O worshipable, pure women (sati).

The gopis returned with great difficulty to Vraja, because Krsna had already stolen their hearts, eyes and other senses.

Keeping in mind the glory of mercy that Krsna showed to the young gopis, Sukadeva now wanted to tell about the mercy krsna gave to the wives of the brahamanas to Pariksit. Atha here indicates at some other time, in the summer.

With the intention of showing that being born as a generous tree is a worthy birth for a gentleman, whereas being born as a miserly brahmana is useless, Krsna began praising the trees, calling out to his friends. Eight cowherd boys beginning with Stoka Krsna protected Krsna on the eight sides and Devaprastha and Varuthapa functioning as overseer of the arrangement and lookout, served as the upper and lower directions. The eleventh person, Bhadrasena, the leader of the cowherd boys, paying attention to all the details, was situated at a distance. Krsna observed that the trees tolerated rain and other inconveniences, but sheltered others from rain and heat.

The trees were like persons who are intent on serving guests (sujana). Those who ask (arthinah) do not leave disappointed.

Niryasah means sap, asthi means pulp, and tokmah means the buds.

It is the perfection of birth up till now to serve others.

They passed among the trees with branches heavy with twigs fruit flowers and leaves.