As the midday sun blazed fiercely over the land of Vraja, its scorching rays beat down upon all. Yet, amidst this heat, the trees stood tall, stretching their branches wide to shelter the creatures beneath them. Their leafy canopies became umbrellas, offering cool shade and relief from the relentless sun. Witnessing this gentle generosity, the sage addressed the residents of Vraja, calling out to Stokakrishna, Aṃśu, Śrīdāma, Subala, Arjuna, Viśāla, Ṛṣabha, Tejasvin, Devaprastha, and Varūthapa. “Look upon these noble souls, these trees,” he said. “They live solely for the sake of others, enduring the wind, the rain, the sun, and the cold, yet always protecting us. Fortunate indeed is their birth, for all creatures depend upon them. Like the truly good, they never turn away those who seek their help. They fulfill our desires with their leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark, wood, fragrant resin, sap, ashes, and even their bones. This is the true fulfillment of birth among embodied beings: to always act for the highest good, using one’s life, wealth, intelligence, and speech.” With these words, the sage and the cowherds entered the lush groves along the Yamunā, weaving through low branches heavy with fresh shoots, clusters, fruits, flowers, and leaves. There, after watering the cows with the pure, cool, and auspicious water of the river, the cowherds themselves drank deeply, quenching their thirst with its sweet water. Within the groves, as the cattle grazed freely, Kṛṣṇa and Rāma approached. The cowherds, feeling hunger, spoke up, their minds turning to deeper thoughts. “Because of absorption in sense objects,” they mused, “a living being forgets his true self. Death becomes a 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 recall a dream or fantasy, so too, in each state, one sees oneself as new, not as before. The senses, their objects, and the mind—these three manifest in the substance. The division between inner and outer is created by people, just as actions are divided between the good and the wicked.” “Indeed,” they continued, “beings constantly come into being and cease to be. By the swift, subtle force of time, this is not seen. Just as flames, streams, and the fruits of a tree arise and pass, so too are the ages and stages of all beings established. We call a lamp a flame, water a stream, and a person a man, but 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.” They reflected on the nine stages of the body: conception, gestation, birth, childhood, boyhood, youth, maturity, old age, and death. These various bodies, higher and lower, are made of the stuff of fantasy, assumed through association with qualities. Sometimes one acquires them, sometimes abandons them. The coming into being and passing away of the self are inferred from the relationship between 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 remains distinct from the tree, so too is the witness distinct from the body. 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. Similarly, 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, and visions in dreams are unreal; so too 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. See the confusion born from grasping the self, and recognize the illusory error.” “Whether thrown out, insulted by the wicked, mocked, envied, beaten, restrained, or deprived of livelihood; spat upon, urinated upon by ignorant people, shaken in many ways—one who desires what is good, even in hardship, should uplift oneself by one’s own self.” Uddhava listened and asked, “How may I understand this, O best of speakers? Please tell us. This unbearable transgression against the self, I consider exceedingly difficult, O Soul of the Universe, even for the wise, for nature is powerful. Except for those devoted to your dharma, peaceful, and sheltered at your feet.” He continued, “Bṛhaspati, in the doctrine of Brahman, and Hari himself, in the state of self-realization, through devotion to cows, teachers, and Brahmins, follow Viṣvaksena. By praise and song, men throughout the three worlds, here and there, enter through the ear-holes of women, just as Rāma does among the virtuous. Through food and offerings, there is favor among the wives of the sacrificers.” At this point, the cowherds addressed Rāma and Kṛṣṇa directly, saying, “O Rāma, mighty-armed! O Kṛṣṇa, destroyer of the wicked! This hunger afflicts us; you ought to bring its relief.” Śuka continued the narration: Hearing the cowherds’ plea, the Lord, son of Devakī, kindly spoke for the devotee, the wife of the Brahmin. “Go to the sacrificial altar,” he instructed, “where the Brahmins, versed in Brahman, are performing the Angirasa sacrifice, desiring heaven. Go there, cowherds, and ask for cooked rice, sent by us, mentioning the names of the Lord, the noble one, and myself.” Thus instructed, the cowherds went as directed. With folded hands, bowing to the Brahmins, prostrating themselves on the ground, they spoke: “O lords of the earth, listen! We have come as those who carry out Kṛṣṇa’s command. Know that we are cowherds sent by Rāma; may good fortune be yours.