46 / Delivery of the Message of Kṛṣṇa to the Gopīs
When the  gopīs  saw Uddhava, they observed that his features almost exactly resembled the features of Kṛṣṇa, and they could understand that he was a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa’s. His hands were very long, and his arms were just like the petals of the lotus flower. He was dressed in yellow colored garments and wore a garland of lotus flowers. His face was very beautiful. Having achieved the liberation of  sārūpya  and having the same bodily features as the Lord, Uddhava looked almost like Kṛṣṇa. In Kṛṣṇa’s absence, the  gopīs  had been coming dutifully to visit mother Yaśodā’s house early in the morning. They knew that Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā were always griefstricken, and they had made it their first duty to come and pay their respects to the most exalted elderly personalities of Vṛndāvana. Seeing the friends of Kṛṣṇa, Nanda and Yaśodā would remember Kṛṣṇa Himself and be satisfied, and the  gopīs  also would be pleased by seeing Nanda and Yaśodā.
When the  gopīs  saw that Uddhava was representing Kṛṣṇa even in his bodily features, they thought that he must be a soul completely surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They began to contemplate, “Who is this boy who looks just like Kṛṣṇa? He has the same eyes like lotus petals, the same raised nose and beautiful face, and he is smiling in the same way. In all respects he is resembling Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, the beautiful dark boy. He is even dressed exactly like Kṛṣṇa. Where has this boy come from? Who is the fortunate girl who has him for her husband?” Thus they talked among themselves. They were very anxious to know about him, and because they were simply unsophisticated village girls, they surrounded Uddhava.
When the  gopīs  understood that Uddhava had a message from Kṛṣṇa, they became very happy and called him to a secluded place to sit down. They wanted to talk with him very freely and did not want to be
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