196 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

both embraced mother Yagoda. They said, “Dear Queen Yasodadevi, both
you and Nanda Maharaja have been great friends to us, and when we re-
member you we are immediately overwhelmed by the thought of your
friendly activities. We are so indebted to you that even if we were to return
your benediction by giving you the opulence of the King of heaven, it
would not be enough to repay you for your friendly behavior. We shall
never forget your kindly behavior toward us. When both Krsna and
Balarama were born, before they even saw Their real father and mother,
They were entrusted to your care, and you raised Them as your own
children, fostering Them as birds take care of their offspring in the nest.
You have nicely fed, nourished and loved Them and have performed many
auspicious religious ceremonies for Their benefit.

“Actually They are not our sons; They belong to you. Nanda Maharaja
and yourself are the real father and mother of Krsna and Balarama. As long
as They were under your care They had not even a pinch of difficulty.
Under your protection, They were completely out of the way of all kinds
of fear. This most affectionate care which you have taken for Them is
completely befitting your elevated position. The most noble personalities
do not discriminate between their own sons and the sons of others, and
there cannot be any personalities more noble than Nanda Maharaja and
yourself.”

As far as the gopis of Vrndavana were concerned, from the very begin-
ning of their lives, they did not know anything beyond Krsna. Krsna and
Balarama were their life and soul. The gopis were so attached to Krsna that
they could not even tolerate not seeing Him momentarily when their
eyelids blinked and impeded their vision. They condemned Brahma, the
creator of the body, because he foolishly made eyelids which blinked and
checked their seeing Krsna. Because they had been separated from Krsna
for so many years, the gopis, having come along with Nanda Maharaja and
mother Yasoda, felt intense ecstasy in seeing Krsna. No one can even
imagine how anxious the gopis were to see Krsna again. As soon as Krsna
became visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their
eyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were
embracing Krsna only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed
with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The
ecstatic trance which they achieved simply by mentally embracing Krsna
is impossible to achieve even for great yogis constantly engaged in
meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna could under-
stand that the gopis were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds,
and therefore, since He is present in everyone’s heart, He also reciprocated
the embracing from within.
