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Gopis Suffer Pangs of Separation and Search for Lord Krishna
“A gopi whose mind was absorbed in Krishna placed her arm on the shoulder of another lady and began to walk and said to the others present, ‘I am Krishna: behold my graceful gait.’ Another Gopi said, ‘O people of Vraja, do not be afraid of this rain and storm. See I am providing you with shelter.’ So saying she imitated the act of uplifting the Govardhana hill, by lifting up her upper cloth with one hand.
“One Gopi said, ‘O cowherds! Behold this terrible forest conflagration. Shut your eyes soon. I shall quickly bring about your welfare.’
“One Gopi climbed on the shoulder of another, placed her feet on the other’s head and said, “O wicked serpent; getaway; do you not know that I have been born as a chastiser of the wicked?’
“One Gopi acted the part of Yasoda, and tied another who acted as Sri Krishna to a third, who stood for the wooden mortar and said, ‘Here I find the thief who has stolen the butter after having broken the pot.’ The Gopi who acted the part of Sri Krishna covered her face with her palms and began to tremble like one in fear.
“Having thus questioned the trees and creepers of Brindavan about the whereabouts of Krishna, they noticed that footprints of the Lord in a certain part of the forest. Then they said, ‘evidently these are the foot-prints of the high-souled son of Nanda, as they show the marks of a flag [1], a lotus [2], a mace [3], a thunderbolt [4], goad [5], barley [6], etc.’ Tracing those footprints a little further, they found they were mixed up with the footprints of a girl. Then they were very much afflicted in their hearts.
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