Eraternal Devotion
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to accompany Him to the pasturing grounds. In the meantime, Krṣṇa would be dressed by Mother Yaśodā, and when she would see a boy standing at the door, she would call him: “Well, Viśāla, why are you standing there? Come here!” So with the permission of Mother Yaśodā, he would immediately enter the house. And while Mother Yaśodā was dressing Krṣṇa, he would try to help put on Krṣṇa’s ankle bells, and Krṣṇa would jokingly strike him with His flute. Then Mother Yaśodā would call, “Krṣṇa, what is this? Why are You teasing Your friend?” And Krṣṇa would laugh, and the friend would also laugh. These are some of the activities of Krṣṇa’s  sakhās . Sometimes the  sakhās  would take care of the cows who were going hither and thither. They would tell Krṣṇa, “Your cows were going off here and there,” and Krṣṇa would thank them.
Sometimes when Krṣṇa and His  sakhās  went to the pasturing ground, Kaṁsa would send a demon to kill Krṣṇa. Therefore, almost every day there was a fight with some different kind of demon. After fighting with a demon, Krṣṇa would feel fatigued, the hairs on His head would be scattered, and the  sakhās  would immediately come and try to relieve Him in different ways. Some friends would say, “My dear Viśāla, please take this fan of lotus leaves and fan Krṣṇa so that He may feel some comfort. Varūthapa, you just brush the scattered hairs on Krṣṇa’s head which have fallen upon His face. Vrṣabha, don’t talk unnecessarily! Immediately massage Krṣṇa’s body. His arms have become tired from fighting and wrestling with that demon. Oh, just see how our friend Krṣṇa has become tired!” These are some examples of the treatment given to Krṣṇa by the  sakhās .
One of the  sakhās , known as Devaprastha, is described as follows: he is very strong, a ready scholar, and is very expert in playing ball. He wears a white dress, and he ties his hair into a bunch with a rope. Whenever there is a fight between Kṛṣṇa and the demons, Devaprastha is the first to help, and he fights just like an elephant.
One of the  gopīs  once said to her friend, “My dear beautiful friend, when Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāj Nanda, was taking rest within the cave of a hill, He was keeping His head on the arms of Śrīdāmā, and He was putting His left hand on Dāmā’s chest. Taking this opportunity, Devaprastha, out of his strong affection for Kṛṣṇa, im-