In a quiet moment of solitude, the Blessed Lord Kṛṣṇa approached the gopīs, enveloping them in a warm embrace. With a gentle smile, he inquired after their well-being and spoke affectionately: “Do you remember our friendship—how, intent on our own purposes, we parted for so long, our minds absorbed in the destruction of the enemy’s faction? Did you perhaps feel resentment, suspecting us of ingratitude? Surely, it is the Lord who unites and separates all beings. Just as the wind gathers and scatters clouds, grass, cotton, and dust, so too does the Creator unite and disperse all living creatures. But devotion to me among beings leads to immortality. By good fortune, your affection for me has arisen, dispelling all obstacles. Know that I am the beginning and the end, the inner and outer essence of all beings, just as space, water, earth, air, and light are for the material elements. Thus, these beings exist within beings—through the Self and the Supreme Self. Both are seen in me and in the transcendent, by those who perceive the imperishable.” Śuka then explained: Through Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual instruction, the gopīs, recalling him with all their vital energies, transcended their individual selves. With deep reverence, they prayed, “May the lotus-footed Lord, whose feet are contemplated in the heart by yogic masters endowed with profound wisdom, and who is the support for deliverance from the well of worldly existence, always arise in our minds, even as we dwell in our homes.” Thus concludes the eighty-second chapter, “The Meeting of the Vṛṣṇis and Gopas,” in the tenth book, second half, of the glorious Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Śuka continued: Having blessed the gopīs, the Lord, their teacher and refuge, then inquired after Yudhiṣṭhira and all his steadfast friends. Those who had been thus questioned by the Lord of the worlds, and honored, replied with joyful hearts, their sins destroyed by the sight of his feet. They said, “How could anything inauspicious arise from the nectar of your lotus feet, O great one, which sometimes flows from your mouth? Those who drink it with the cups of their ears, O Lord, find it sufficient to sever the bondage of embodied existence and the forgetfulness caused by the body. Having abandoned the threefold states of self, purified of all actions, we have attained uninterrupted bliss and unimpeded knowledge. Through yoga, established by the scriptures and time, we have bowed to your form, the supreme path of the paramahaṃsa, though fashioned by māyā.” The sage further described: The wives of the Andhaka and Kaurava clans, having gathered, praised Govinda, the crown-jewel of those with noble fame. Meeting together, they sang Govinda’s stories to each other, tales celebrated throughout the three worlds. Listen, I shall describe them to you. Śrī Draupadī addressed the gathering: “O Vaidarbhī, O Bhadrā, O Jāmbavatī, O Kauśalā, O Satyabhāmā, O Kālindī, O Śaibyā, O Rohiṇī, O Lakṣmaṇā—O wives of Kṛṣṇa, please tell us: how did the Lord Himself marry you, imitating worldly ways by His own divine power?” Śrī Rukmiṇī spoke first: “When warriors with drawn bows tried to offer me to the king of Cedi, the dust of whose feet crowned the heads of the king’s soldiers, He carried me away like a lion seizing his share from a herd of goats. May the feet of that Lord, the abode of Śrī, be worshipped by me.” Śrī Satyabhāmā said: “He, who wiped away the curse smeared upon me by my co-wife, defeated the king of the earth and brought the jewel, frightening my father and others. Even though I was given to another, He took me for Himself.” Śrī Jāmbavatī recounted: “Recognizing Him as the maker of bodies and my destined Lord, the husband of Sītā fought with my father for twenty-one days. Knowing Him to be tested, my father offered me to Him, and grasping His feet with the jewel, I became His servant.” Śrī Kālindī spoke: “Knowing I was performing austerities with the desire to touch His feet, He approached me as a friend, took my hand, and I became the sweeper of His house.” Śrī Mitravindā said: “He came to my svayaṃvara, defeated the kings, and carried me away like an elephant seizing his own mate from a herd. He drove away my brothers and brought me to His own city, the abode of fortune. May I have the privilege of serving His feet.” Śrī Satyā described: “My father, to test the strength and valor of the kings, had seven fierce, sharp-horned bulls. He, the destroyer of the pride of heroes, subdued them with ease and bound them as a child binds young calves. He thus won me, given as the price of valor, along with my maidservants and army, by defeating the kings on the road—may I become His servant.” Śrī Bhadrā said: “My father, inviting my maternal uncle, gave me to Kṛṣṇa, the dark one, whose mind was set on Him, along with an army and companions. May I have the touch of His feet in every birth, for by that, one who is wandering in the cycle of karma attains the highest good for the soul.” Śrī Lakṣmaṇā spoke: “Hearing again and again from Nārada the stories of the king’s birth and deeds, my mind was firmly drawn to Mukunda, the lotus-handed one, abandoning even the guardians of the world. Knowing my mind, my father, the affectionate Bṛhatsena, devised a means for my marriage. As in the svayaṃvara of the princess, a fish was set up for the sake of the Pāṇḍava’s desire, so here, one was concealed outside but could be seen in the water below. Hearing this, kings from all sides, skilled in the use of all weapons and missiles, came by the thousands with their teachers to my father’s city. All were honored by my father according to their strength and age; those who desired me took up bows with arrows to shoot in the assembly. Some, taking up the bow, tried to string it but were unable; some, drawing the bowstring to their chest, fell, struck by it. Other heroes, like the kings of Magadha, Ambashṭha, and Cedi, as well as Bhīma, Duryodhana, and Karṇa, managed to string the bow but did not understand the true challenge. Seeing the image of a fish in the water and understanding its position, Arjuna carefully released his arrow; it did not cut, but merely touched the target. When the kings had withdrawn, their pride broken, the Lord, taking up the bow, strung it effortlessly. Aiming the arrow at that target, seeing the fish just once in the water, he cut it down with his arrow and made it fall, while the sun stood in the Abhijit constellation. Then I entered the arena, my anklets tinkling softly, holding a radiant golden garland of gems in my hands, dressed in a new silk garment, with a bashful smile on my face, my hair adorned with a floral wreath. Lifting my face, with large earrings shining and cheeks glowing, casting gentle, smiling glances, I slowly looked around at the kings, and with a heart devoted to Murāri, I placed my garland on his shoulder. At that moment, drums, kettledrums, conches, trumpets, and other instruments resounded; dancers danced and singers sang. When the Lord, the master of Māyā, was thus chosen by me, the chiefs of men, burning with desire, could not tolerate the choice of Draupadī and competed with each other.” Thus, the wives of Kṛṣṇa recounted their stories, each revealing the Lord’s divine ways and their unwavering devotion to him.