Description of the Rāsa Dance
217
pure devotees, the more the  gopīs  enjoyed Krṣṇa's company, the more they became enlightened with His glories, and thus they reciprocated with Him. They wanted to satisfy Krṣṇa by glorifying His transcendental pastimes. Krṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all masters, and the  gopīs  wanted to worship Him for His unusual exhibition of mercy upon them.
Both the  gopīs  and Krṣṇa entered the water of the Yamunā just to relieve their fatigue from the  rāsa  dance. The lily flower garlands around the necks of the  gopīs  were strewn to pieces due to their embracing the body of Krṣṇa, and the flowers were reddish from being smeared with the  kuṅkuma  on their breasts. The bumblebees were humming about in order to get honey from the flowers. Krṣṇa and the  gopīs  entered the water of Yamunā just as an elephant enters a water tank with his many female companions. Both the  gopīs  and Krṣṇa forgot their real identity, playing in the water, enjoying each others' company and relieving the fatigue of  rāsa  dancing. The  gopīs  began to splash water on the body of Krṣṇa, all the while smiling, and Krṣṇa enjoyed this. As Krṣṇa was taking pleasure in the joking words and splashing water, the demigods in the heavenly planets began to shower flowers. The demigods thus praised the super-excellent  rāsa  dance of Krṣṇa, the supreme enjoyer, and His pastimes with the  gopīs  in the water of Yamunā.
After this, Lord Krṣṇa and the  gopīs  came out of the water and began to stroll along the bank of the Yamunā, where a nice breeze was blowing, carrying the aroma of different kinds of flowers over the water and land. While strolling on the bank of the Yamunā, Krṣṇa recited various kinds of poetry. He thus enjoyed the company of the  gopīs  in the soothing moonlight of autumn.
Sex desire is especially excited in the autumn season, but the wonderful thing about Krṣṇa's association with the  gopīs  is that there was no question of sex desire. It was, as clearly stated in the  Bhāgavata  description by Śukadeva Gosvāmī,  avaruddha-saurataḥ , namely the sex impulse was completely controlled. There is a distinction between Lord Krṣṇa's dancing with the  gopīs  and the ordinary dancing of living entities within the material world. In order to clear up further misconceptions about the  rāsa  dance and the affairs of Krṣṇa and the  gopīs , Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the hearer of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , told Śukadeva Gosvāmī, "Krṣṇa appeared on the earth to establish the regulative principles of religion and to curb the predominance of irreligion. But the behavior of Krṣṇa and the  gopīs  might encourage irreligious principles in the material world. I am simply surprised that He would act in such a way, enjoying the company of others' wives in