Lament of the cowherdesses - part 1
Mathura, Gokula, Vrindavan
When Vishnu incarnated as Devaki’s and Vasudeva’s eighth child Krishna, in Mathura, his parents had to give him up, in order to protect the infant from Kamsa, Krishna’s maternal uncle. Although it was predicted that he would meet his death at the hands of Devaki’s eighth child, not wanting to take any chance, Kamsa had killed one infant after another.
Krishna was switched at Gokula but the replaced baby, back in Mathura was a divine being herself, and did not die when Kamsa attempted to kill her. Instead she slipped away and announced that the one in whose hands he (Kamsa) was destined to die, lives on. Meanwhile, Krishna came to be known as Nanda Gopa’s and Yashoda’s son in Gokula.
A terrified Kamsa constantly sent demons and demonesses to rid all nearby places including Gokula of all its infants. Of course all of them met their ends at the hands (feet and mouth) of baby Krishna.
As Gokula became increasingly unsafe, the Gopas (cowherds) and their families moved to Vrindavan (about 25 km away). The rest of Krishna’s childhood and boyhood was spent in Vrindavan..
Krishna and the gopis
Stories abound of the playful interactions of Krishna with the gopis (cowherdesses) of Vrindavan. The gopis were constantly troubled by Krishna stealing butter (representing their hearts) from their homes The secretly pleased gopis, in mock anger, would go to Krishna’s house to complain to Yashoda, but in reality, only to steal another look at their beloved Krishna.
Such was their attraction to Krishna that when he played his flute, the gopis abandoned whatever they were doing and rushed to be close to him.
When the gopis were bathing in Yamuna, Krishna ‘stole’ their clothes left on the banks and granted them their desire but not before making them surrender completely (by forcing them to lift their hands in prayer, thus exposing themselves).
Perhaps the most famous of all of Krishna’s interactions with the gopis is the ‘Raas leela’. On moonlit nights, Krishna played his flute and danced with the gopis. The speciality of this divine dance was that each gopi felt that Krishna was dancing with her alone (indicating the special connection between the individual and the divine).
The gopis were besotted with Krishna, completely immersed in his divine play, forgetting their families, their tasks and their very selves.
An excerpt from Jagannatha Daasa’s Harikathaamruthasaara, shows that the gopis are just two kakshas (grades) below the wives of Krishna, in the hierarchy of devathes.
The Ajaanaja devathes who are equal to each other are the Apsaras and Gandharvas. The 16100 sons of Agni who became the wives of Krishna are equal to the Ajaanaja devathes.
In the descending order following the Ajaanaja devathes are: Anakhyatha apsares, Gopis, Chira Pitrus, Deva Gandharvas, Manushya Gandharvas, rulers of men followed by the best among men.
As one can understand from these lines, the Gopis of Vrindavan were no ordinary women.