} 4
30 / Krsna’s Hiding from the Gopis

When Krsna suddenly disappeared from the company of the gopis, they
began to search for Him in every place. After not finding Him anywhere,
they became afraid and almost mad after Him. They were simply thinking
of the pastimes of Krsna in great love and affection. Being absorbed in
thought, they experienced loss of memory, and with dampened eyes they
began to see the very pastimes of Krsna, His beautiful talks with them, His
embracing, kissing, and other activities. Being so attracted to Krsna, they
began to imitate His dancing, His walking and smiling, as if they them-
selves were Krsna. Due to Krsna’s absence, they all became crazy; each
one of them began to tell the others that she was Krsna Himself. Soon
they all began to assemble together and chant Krsna’s name very loudly,
and they moved from one part of the forest to another searching for Him.
Actually, Krsna is all-pervasive; He is in the sky, and He is in the forest;
He is within the heart, and He is always everywhere.

The gopis therefore began to question the trees and plants about Krsna.
There were various types of big trees and small plants in the forest, and
the gopis began to address them. “Dear banyan tree, have you seen the son
of Maharaja Nanda passing this way, laughing and playing on His flute? He
has stolen our hearts and has gone away. If you have seen Him, kindly
inform us which way He has gone. Dear asoka tree, dear naga flower tree
and campaka flower tree, have you seen the younger brother of Balarama
pass this way? He has disappeared because of our pride.” The gopis were
aware of the reason for Krsna’s sudden disappearance. They could under-
stand that when they were enjoying Krsna, they thought themselves to be
the most fortunate women within the universe, and since they were feeling
proud, Krsna disappeared immediately just to curb their pride. Krsna does
not like His devotees to be proud of their service to Him. He accepts
everyone’s service, but He does not like one devotee to be prouder than

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