338 The Nectar of Devotion

was decorated with a silk turban covered with gold lace, and in His
hand He carried a stick about fifty-six inches long.* Seeing this ex-
quisitely beautiful dress of Krsna, one devotee addressed his friend
in this manner: “My dear friend, just look at Krsna! See how He is
carrying in His hand a stick which is bound up and down with golden
rings, how His turban with golden lace is showing such a beautiful
luster, and how His dress is giving his friends the highest transcen-
dental pleasure!”

At the end of Krsna’s pauganda age, Krsna’s hair sometimes hangs
down to His hips, and sometimes it becomes scattered. In this age
His two shoulders become higher and broader, and His face is always
decorated with marks of tilaka. When His beautiful hair scatters over
His shoulders, it appears to be a goddess of fortune embracing Him,
and this embracing is highly relished by His friends. Subala once ad-
dressed Him in this way: “My dear KesSava, Your round turban, the
lotus flower in Your hand, the vertical marks of tilaka on Your fore-
head, Your kunkum-flavored musk and all of Your beautiful bodily
features are defeating me today, although I am usually stronger than
You or any of our friends. Since this is so, I do not know how these
features of Your body can fail to defeat the pride of all the young
girls of Vrndavana. When I am so defeated by this beauty, what
chance is there for those who are naturally very simple and flexible?”

At this age Krsna took pleasure in whispering into the ears of His
friends, and the subject of His talks was the beauty of the gopis,
who were just tarrying before them. Subala once addressed Krsna
thus: “My dear Krsna, You are very cunning. You can understand
the thoughts of others; therefore I am whispering within Your ear
that all these five gopis, who are most beautiful, have been attracted
by Your dress. And I believe that Cupid has entrusted them with the
responsibility of conquering You.” In other words, the beauty of the
gopis was capable of conquering Krsna, although Krsna is the con-
queror of all universes.

* The specific pastimes in this period took place in the forest known as Bhan-
diravana. This Bhandiravana, along with eleven other vanas, or forests, is still
existing in the Vrndavana area, and devotees who circumambulate the whole area
of Vrndavana can know the beauty of these forests even today.
