The Lord, knowing the pure intentions of the virtuous maidens, addressed them with gentle approval. “O noble ones, your desire to worship me is well known to me. I accept your devotion, and it shall certainly be fulfilled. For those whose minds are fixed upon me, even the arising of desires does not lead to binding passions, just as roasted or boiled grains do not sprout. “Now, girls, perfected in your vow, return to Vraja. In the nights to come, you will find joy in my company, for you have performed this vow with the aim of worshiping me.” Thus instructed by the Lord, the maidens, their hearts full and their wishes granted, returned to Vraja. Though it was difficult for them, they kept their minds absorbed in meditation upon his lotus feet. Soon after, the Lord, the son of Devakī, surrounded by his dear cowherd friends, departed from Vṛndāvana. Alongside his elder brother Balarāma, he led the cows to distant pastures. As the fierce midday sun beat down, the trees spread their branches wide, offering cool shade like umbrellas to shield them from the heat. Observing this, Kṛṣṇa spoke to the residents of Vraja. “O Stokakṛṣṇa, O Aṃśu, Śrīdāma, Subala, Arjuna, Viśāla, Ṛṣabha, Tejasvin, Devaprastha, Varūthapa! Behold these noble trees, who live only for the benefit of others. They endure the wind, the rain, the sun, and the cold, all to protect us. Truly blessed is their birth, for all beings depend upon them for life. Like the truly virtuous, they never turn away anyone who seeks their help. “With their leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, wood, fragrant resin, sap, ashes, and even bones, they fulfill the desires of all. This, indeed, is the highest fulfillment of life for all embodied beings: to work always for the highest good, using one’s life, wealth, intelligence, and words.” Having spoken thus, Kṛṣṇa entered the groves along the Yamunā, threading his way through the low branches of trees laden with fresh shoots, clusters, fruits, flowers, and leaves. There, by the river, they watered the cows with pure, cool, and auspicious water, and then the cowherd boys themselves drank deeply until their thirst was quenched. In the pleasant groves, as the cattle grazed freely, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma approached, and the cowherd boys, hungry, spoke up: “O Rāma, O mighty-armed, O Kṛṣṇa, destroyer of the wicked! Hunger troubles us—please provide us relief.” As they rested, a deep conversation arose. They reflected: “Because of absorption in sense objects, a living being forgets his true self. Death is nothing but the total forgetting of who one really is. Even birth, which is so intimately experienced, is simply the acceptance of sense objects, like a dream or a fantasy. Just as one does not recall a dream from before, so too, in each new state, one sees oneself as someone new, not as before. “This world of senses, sense objects, and mind appears in the substance of being, but the divisions of inner and outer are simply conventions, like the distinctions between the good and the wicked. Beings are constantly coming into existence and passing away, but the subtle, swift force of time makes this imperceptible. Just as flames, streams, and the fruits of a tree appear to have continuity, so too do the ages and stages of all beings. “We say, ‘this lamp is a flame,’ ‘this water is a stream,’ ‘this person is a man,’ but such speech is false, as is the notion of lasting life. Do not think that a person is truly born from his own actions, or that he truly dies; it is only an illusion, like fire appearing and disappearing with the wood. The body undergoes nine stages: conception, gestation, birth, childhood, boyhood, youth, maturity, old age, and death. “Through association with qualities, various higher and lower bodies are assumed and abandoned, as if fashioned from dreams. The coming and going of the self is inferred from the succession of father and son, but one who knows the true nature of things is not bound by such distinctions. Just as one who knows the seed and fruit of a tree understands its birth and destruction but remains distinct from the tree, so too is the witness of the self distinct from the body. “When one fails to distinguish the self from nature and is bewildered by contact, one enters into worldly existence. By association with sattva, one attains the gods; with rajas, the demons and humans; with tamas, the spirits and animals—driven by actions, one wanders among these states. Watching others dance and sing, one imitates them; so too, by observing the qualities of intellect, even the inactive are 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. The experience of sense objects through the mind’s imagination is false, like visions in a dream; so is worldly existence for the self, O descendant of Dasarha. Even when the object does not exist, the cycle of worldly existence does not cease; for one who meditates on sense objects, misfortune arises in dreams just as in waking life. “Therefore, Uddhava, do not indulge in sense objects with unreliable senses. Recognize the confusion born from grasping the self, and see the illusory error. Even if one is thrown out, insulted, mocked, envied, beaten, restrained, deprived of livelihood, spat upon, or urinated upon by the ignorant, or shaken in many ways—one who desires what is good, even in hardship, should uplift oneself by one’s own self.” Hearing this, Uddhava asked with humility, “O best of speakers, how may I truly understand this? Please instruct us. To endure such unbearable transgressions against the self seems exceedingly difficult, O Soul of the Universe, even for the wise, for nature is powerful. Only those devoted to your dharma, peaceful and sheltered at your feet, can do so. “Even Bṛhaspati, in the doctrine of Brahman, and Hari himself, in the state of self-realization, follow Viṣvaksena through devotion to cows, teachers, and Brahmins. Throughout the three worlds, men enter the hearts of women through praise and song, just as Rāma does among the virtuous. Favor among the wives of the sacrificers is won through food and offerings.” Thus, as the cowherds sat by the Yamunā, they addressed their beloved Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, “O Rāma, O mighty-armed, O Kṛṣṇa, destroyer of the wicked, this hunger afflicts us; you ought to bring its relief.