The young maidens of Vraja, shivering in the chill of the Yamunā, called out to Śyāmasundara, “O knower of dharma, we are your servants and will do as you say. Please return our garments, or else we will have to complain to the king.” Kṛṣṇa, the Blessed Lord, replied with a gentle smile, “If you are truly my servants and will do as I have said, then let these pure-smiling girls come here and receive their garments.” Gathering their courage, the girls, afflicted by the cold, emerged from the water, covering themselves as best they could with their hands. Seeing their helplessness, Kṛṣṇa, pleased by their pure-hearted devotion, placed their garments on his shoulder and, smiling with affection, addressed them: “You entered the water naked, maintaining your vow, but this is an offense against the gods. To dispel this fault, bow your heads with folded hands, and then you may take your clothes and put them on.” Hearing these words, the girls understood that bathing naked was a breach in their vow. Yet, since this instruction came directly from Acyuta, they accepted it as the completion of their ritual, knowing it was now blameless and fulfilled its purpose. When they bowed humbly as he had asked, the compassionate Lord, son of Devakī, returned their garments to them, pleased by their sincerity. Though they had been teased, embarrassed, and made to play as if in sport—even having their clothes taken—the girls bore no resentment. Instead, they found joy in the beloved company of Kṛṣṇa. After putting on their garments, their hearts still yearning to be near him, the girls stood with eyes cast down in modesty, reluctant to leave. Perceiving their deep desire to touch his feet, Lord Dāmodara spoke gently to these virtuous girls who had kept their vow. “Your intention to worship me is known to me, O noble ones. I approve of it, and it is destined to be fulfilled. For those whose minds are fixed on me, desire does not become lust, just as roasted and boiled grains do not sprout. Go now, girls, to Vraja, perfected in your vow. In the nights to come, you will enjoy with me, for your vow was performed with the aim of worshiping me.” Thus instructed by the Lord, the maidens, their desires fulfilled, returned to Vraja. Though it was difficult for them to go, they walked away, meditating deeply on his lotus feet. Meanwhile, Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by the cowherd boys, left Vṛndāvana with his elder brother, Balarāma, and drove the cows to graze at a distance. As the midday sun blazed fiercely, the trees stretched their branches to provide shade, sheltering Kṛṣṇa and his companions like umbrellas. Beholding this, Kṛṣṇa turned to his friends—Stokakṛṣṇa, Aṃśu, Śrīdāma, Subala, Arjuna, Viśāla, Ṛṣabha, Tejasvin, Devaprastha, and Varūthapa—and said, “See these great souls, the trees, who live solely for the sake of others. Enduring wind, rain, sun, and cold, they protect us all. How blessed is their birth, for all creatures live by them. Like the truly good, they never turn away those who seek their help. They fulfill desires with their leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, wood, fragrant resin, sap, ashes, and bones.” He continued, “This alone is the true fulfillment of birth for embodied beings: one should always act for the highest good with one’s life, wealth, intelligence, and speech.” Entering the midst of the Yamunā, passing through low branches laden with fresh shoots, clusters, fruits, flowers, and leaves, the cowherd boys led the cows to drink. After the cows had sipped the pure, cool, auspicious water, the boys themselves drank deeply, quenching their thirst. As the cattle grazed freely in the groves, Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, feeling hungry, listened as the cowherd boys began to speak about the nature of existence: “Absorbed in sense objects, a living being forgets himself, and death is but the total forgetting. Birth, though experienced as the self, is merely the acceptance of sense objects, like a dream or a fantasy. Just as one does not remember a dream or fantasy from before, so too, in a new life, one sees oneself as new, not as before.” They reflected further: “This threefold manifestation—of senses, their objects, and the mind—appears in the substance, and the division of inner and outer arises from people, just as the actions of the good and the wicked. Beings constantly come into being and cease to be; by the imperceptible, swift force of time, this is unseen. Like flames, streams, and the fruits of a tree, so too are the ages and stages of all beings.” “This lamp is called a flame, this water is called a stream, and this person is called a man—such speech is false, as is the notion of lasting life. Do not think that a person is born from the seed of his own actions, or that he truly dies; it is an illusion, just as fire appears to arise and cease with wood. Conception, gestation, birth, childhood, boyhood, youth, maturity, old age, and death—these are the nine stages of the body. These various higher and lower bodies are assumed through association with qualities; sometimes someone acquires them, sometimes abandons them.” “The coming into being and passing away of the self are inferred from father and son, but one who knows the true nature of things is not characterized by both. Just as one who knows the seed and fruit of a tree understands its birth and destruction, yet is distinct from the tree, so too is the witness distinct from the body.” They concluded, “When a person does not distinguish the self from nature, bewildered by contact, he enters into worldly existence. Through association with sattva, one attains the gods; through rajas, the demons and humans; through tamas, the state of spirits and animals. Driven by actions, one wanders among these. Watching others dance and sing, one imitates them likewise. In this way, observing the qualities of intellect, even one who is inactive is compelled to imitate. Just as trees appear to move when water flows, and the earth seems to spin when the eyes whirl, so too are perceptions distorted.” Thus, in the company of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, amidst the cows and their friends, the boys of Vraja reflected on the mysteries of life, guided by the wisdom and loving presence of the Lord.