In the early morning in Vraja, the women, adorned with shining bracelets and fragrant garlands, gathered to churn curds. As they pulled the ropes, their hips and breasts swayed, necklaces and earrings danced, and their radiant cheeks glowed, faces beautifully marked with red kumkum. While they worked, their voices rose in song, glorifying Krishna, the lotus-eyed one. Their singing, mingling with the rhythmic sound of churning, seemed to reach the heavens and dispelled all inauspiciousness from every direction. As the sun rose, the Lord appeared, and the residents of Vraja, gathered at Nanda’s door, noticed a golden chariot. They wondered aloud, “Whose chariot is this? Has Akrura returned, or is it someone else sent to fulfill Kamsa’s purpose—the one who took Krishna, our beloved lotus-eyed one, to Mathura?” They spoke anxiously about what atonement this visitor could possibly offer for the pain caused to their master, and as their conversation continued, Uddhava arrived, having completed his morning rituals. The women of Vraja beheld him—Krishna’s companion, long-armed, with fresh lotus eyes, dressed in yellow, adorned with a garland of lotuses. His face shone like a blooming lotus, and his earrings sparkled. Recognizing him, they said, “We know you as the attendant of the Yadu lord, sent by our master to do something dear for his parents. Otherwise, we cannot imagine any reason for Krishna to be remembered in Vraja; the bonds of affection among kin are so hard to renounce, even for sages.” They reflected on the nature of relationships: “Friendship with others exists only as long as there is a purpose, just as men seek women, and bees seek flowers. The destitute are abandoned by prostitutes; subjects forsake a powerless king; students leave a teacher once knowledge is learned, and priests depart after receiving their fee. Birds leave a tree once its fruit is gone; guests depart from a house after eating; deer abandon a burned forest; lovers leave a woman after enjoying her.” Thus, the gopīs, whose words, bodies, and minds were completely absorbed in Govinda, renounced all worldly concerns upon Uddhava’s arrival. They sang of Krishna’s beloved deeds and wept openly, recalling again and again his childhood and youthful acts. One gopī, seeing a honeybee and meditating on union with Krishna, imagined the bee as a messenger sent by her beloved and spoke to it: “O bee, companion of the deceitful, do not touch the feet of my rival. Her garland, smeared with pollen from her breasts, stains your whiskers. Let your lord carry the favor of those proud women, for you are his messenger, fit to be mocked among the Yadus. After enchanting us with the nectar of his lips just once, he abandoned us like a flower is left behind. How does Padmā serve his lotus feet, whose mind is stolen by his praises?” She continued, “Why do you, six-legged one, sing here of the lord of the Yadus, the ancient master of our homes? Go sing of his exploits among his friends in victory, for he has healed their pain, granting them their desires. What women, in heaven, earth, or the underworld, are unattainable to him, whose charming smile and playful brows deceive? We are humble, our fortune is to worship the dust of his feet; even among the wretched, his glorious name is heard.” “Leave his foot from your head; I know his sweet words. He sends you, skilled in persuasion, as his messenger. He has abandoned his wives and children here, whom he created himself, and left without concern. What trust can be placed in him? Like hunters pursuing the king of monkeys, he wounded women who were unprotected and deformed by love, conquered by desire. Even Bali, though powerful, was bound like a bird. Enough of friendship with the dark one; the topics of his deeds are hard to abandon.” “Those who once tasted the nectar drops of his playful acts, hearing them just once, were freed from all dualities and abandoned their homes and families, though destitute. Many here, like birds, wander as mendicants. We, trusting his crooked words as nectar, ignorant as chicks listening to their mother’s call, are Krishna’s wives, like deer. Again and again we recall the intense pain from his nail’s touch. Let other news be told, O messenger.” “Dear friend, have you returned, sent by the beloved? Tell me, what do you seek? You are worthy of honor, O gentle one. How can you bring us to the side of the one who cannot be abandoned, when Lakshmi, his bride, always dwells upon his chest? Is the noble son now in Mathura? Does he remember his father’s house, his kin, and the cowherds? Does he ever speak of us, his servants? When will he place his mighty, fragrant arm upon our heads?” Śuka then narrates that Uddhava, hearing their longing for Krishna’s presence, comforted the gopīs with loving messages and spoke: “Ah, you are truly fulfilled and honored in the world, for you have devoted your minds entirely to Vāsudeva, the Lord. By vows, austerity, sacrifice, recitation, study, self-restraint, and various other means, devotion to Krishna is attained. By your good fortune, you have established supreme devotion to the Lord of exalted fame—a devotion that is difficult even for sages to attain. By destiny, you have abandoned sons, husbands, bodies, relatives, and homes, and chosen that Supreme Person known as Krishna. The state of complete absorption in the Transcendent, O greatly fortunate ones, has arisen in you through separation; by this, you have bestowed a great favor upon me.” “Listen to the dear message, bringing you happiness, which I have brought in secret from your beloved husband. The Blessed Lord says: My separation from you is never complete, for I am present in all beings, just as the elements—space, air, fire, water, and earth—are present in all things; so too am I the foundation of mind, life-breath, elements, senses, and their qualities. By Myself, within Myself, I create, destroy, and sustain Myself, through My own power, as the essence of elements, senses, and their qualities.” “The Self is made of knowledge, pure, distinct, and not bound by qualities; yet, through the workings of illusion, it appears to move through deep sleep, dream, and waking states. By which one contemplates the objects of the senses—arising falsely like a dream—let one restrain the senses, remaining ever wakeful and self-possessed. This is the inner teaching, the yoga and discriminative wisdom of the wise: renunciation, austerity, self-control, and truth, like rivers flowing to the ocean.” “Indeed, though I, your beloved, appear to be far away from you, it is for the purpose of drawing your minds closer to Me, out of your longing for constant remembrance. Just as, when a beloved is far away, the mind dwells upon him, so too, for women, the heart is not as absorbed when he is near and visible to the eyes. Fixing your entire mind on Me, freed from all other attachments, and remembering Me always, you will soon attain Me. Those blessed ones who, while I played at night in this forest of Vraja, could not join the dance, did not fail to attain Me, for they meditated on My heroic deeds.” Thus, in the midst of longing and separation, the gopīs’ devotion to Krishna is revealed as the highest, and Uddhava brings them the Lord’s profound message of unity, wisdom, and assurance.