UDDHAVA AND THE GOPIS

Sharing one of my favourite story from Srimad Bhagwatam. It is one of the most revered puranas and contains the very essence of Vedanta literature. It was written by Ved Vyasa in Sanskrit and propagates Bhakti or devotion for Lord Krishna as a means to attain self-knowledge, liberation and bliss.

Once Krishna sent his close friend Uddhava to Vrindavan, he was one of the intellectuals but was devoted to Krishna. He was highly learned and could give endless discourses on philosophy. So very skilfully Krishna sent him to meet the Gopis, the milk maids of Vrindavan who were simple women who operated from the level of the heart. He asked Uddhava to carry his message, "the gopis will be yearning for me, please convey my well being to them. Tell them I am very busy and will send for them soon."

Honoured to be of service to the Krishna, he went to Vrindavan. As soon as his chariot reached there, all the gopis surrounded him. Overcome with the joy of seeing Krishna's messenger, they all talked at the same time and he tried his best to answer their queries. Lost in the thoughts of Krishna, they were questioning him constantly.

"Is he okay? Does he sleep on time? Are his shoes comfortable? Who cooks for him?  How much does he eat? Did he marry?"

"No he hasn't married yet, he is very busy?"

"Why is he busy? What's happening?"

Uddhava thought he must give the gopis some knowledge so he started giving them a lecture on Jivatama and Paramatma. They listened patiently, being very polite since he was Krishna's messenger.

After they heard the lecture for over two hours, they said, "Uddhava ji, pardon us. We did not understand a word of it. We know only one thing, we love Krishna. Please speak to us of Krishna, what time does he wake up and what does he do throughout the day? Does he drink milk? Does he still go to people's house to have butter? Does he laugh the same way like he used to?

"Does he play flute?"

"No, it seems he hasn't had the time to play flute since he left Vrindavan."

"So he does not play the flute anymore? Oh he does not play the flute anymore! You are all missing something. When my lord played the flute it was mesmerising",  gushed out a gopi. And then all of them started discussing the inexpressible through their eyes and smile.

Uddhava had never seen such an expression of unconditional love and concern.

While the plight of Uddhava after giving discourse to gopis is quite funny and makes me giggle, my heart goes out to the Gopis. I can feel their pain of not being able to see or know or hear Krishna. Without any whatsapp, social media or phone those days, their excitement on seeing Uddhava is so understandable. How could they discuss Vedanta knowledge when their heart and mind could only think about Krishna?

(pic courtesy: Wikimedia Commons, excerpts from the Srimad Bhagwatam by Rajima Ratan)
Copyright @ Kannu Priya