Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: During the first month of the winter season, the young unmar-ried girls of Gokula observed the vow of wor-shiping goddess Kātyāyanī. For the entire month they ate only unspiced khichrī. (1) My dear King, after they had bathed in the water of the Yamunā just as the sun was rising, the gopīs made an earthen deity of goddess Durgā on the riverbank. Then they worshiped her with such aromatic substances as sandalwood pulp, along with other items both opulent and simple, in-cluding lamps, fruits, betel nuts, newly grown leaves, and fragrant garlands and incense. (2-3) Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship while chanting the following man-tra. “O goddess Kātyāyanī, O great potency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power and mighty controller of all, please make the son of Nanda Mahārāja my husband. I offer my obeisances unto you.” (4) Thus for an entire month the girls carried out their vow and properly worshiped the goddess Bhadrakālī, fully absorbing their minds in Kṛṣṇa and medi-tating upon the following thought: “May the son of King Nanda become my husband.” (5) Each day they rose at dawn. Calling out to one another by name, they all held hands and loudly sang the glories of Kṛṣṇa while going to the Kālindī to take their bath. (6)

One day they came to the riverbank and, put-ting aside their clothing as they had done be-fore, happily played in the water while singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa. (7) Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Su-preme Personality of Godhead and master of all masters of mystic yoga, was aware of what the gopīs were doing, and thus He went there sur-rounded by His young companions to award the gopīs the perfection of their endeavor. (8) Tak-ing the girls’ garments, He quickly climbed to the top of a kadamba tree. Then, as He laughed loudly and His companions also laughed, He addressed the girls jokingly. (9) [Lord Kṛṣṇa said:] My dear girls, you may each come here as you wish and take back your garments. I’m telling you the truth and am not joking with you, since I see you’re fatigued from executing austere vows. (10) I have never before spoken a lie, and these boys know it. Therefore, O slen-der-waisted girls, please come forward, either one by one or all together, and pick out your clothes. (11)

Seeing how Kṛṣṇa was joking with them, the gopīs became fully immersed in love for Him, and as they glanced at each other they began to laugh and joke among themselves, even in their embarrassment. But still they did not come out of the water. (12) As Śrī Govinda spoke to the gopīs in this way, His joking words completely captivated their minds. Submerged up to their necks in the cold water, they began to shiver. Thus they addressed Him as follows. (13) [The gopīs said:] Dear Kṛṣṇa, don’t be unfair! We know that You are the respectable son of Nanda and that You are honored by everyone in Vraja. You are also very dear to us. Please give us back our clothes. We are shivering in the cold water. (14) O Śyāmasundara, we are Your maidservants and must do whatever You say. But give us back our clothing. You know what the religious principles are, and if You don’t give us our clothes we will have to tell the king. Please! (15)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: If you girls are actually My maidservants, and if you will really do what I say, then come here with your innocent smiles and let each girl pick out her clothes. If you don’t do what I say, I won’t give them back to you. And even if the king becomes angry, what can he do? (16) Then, shivering from the painful cold, all the young girls rose up out of the water, covering their pubic area with their hands. (17)

When the Supreme Lord saw how the gopīs were struck with embarrassment, He was satis-fied by their pure loving affection. Putting their clothes on His shoulder, the Lord smiled and spoke to them with affection. (18) [Lord Kṛṣṇa said:] You girls bathed naked while executing your vow, and that is certainly an offense against the demigods. To counteract your sin you should offer obeisances while placing your joined palms above your heads. Then you should take back your lower garments. (19) Thus the young girls of Vṛndāvana, considering what Lord Acyuta had told them, accepted that they had suffered a falldown from their vow by bathing naked in the river. But they still desired to successfully complete their vow, and since Lord Kṛṣṇa is Himself the ultimate result of all pious activities, they offered their obeisances to Him to cleanse away all their sins. (20) Seeing them bow down like that, the Supreme Person-ality of Godhead, the son of Devakī, gave them back their garments, feeling compassionate to-ward them and satisfied by their act. (21) Alt-hough the gopīs had been thoroughly cheated, deprived of their modesty, ridiculed and made to act just like toy dolls, and although their clothing had been stolen, they did not feel at all inimical toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Rather, they were simply joyful to have this opportunity to asso-ciate with their beloved. (22) The gopīs were addicted to associating with their beloved Kṛṣṇa, and thus they became captivated by Him. Thus, even after putting their clothes on they did not move. They simply remained where they were, shyly glancing at Him. (23)

The Supreme Lord understood the determi-nation of the gopīs in executing their strict vow. The Lord also knew that the girls desired to touch His lotus feet, and thus Lord Dāmodara, Kṛṣṇa, spoke to them as follows. (24) [Lord Kṛṣṇa said:] O saintly girls, I understand that your real motive in this austerity has been to worship Me. That intent of yours is approved of by Me, and indeed it must come to pass. (25) The desire of those who fix their minds on Me does not lead to material desire for sense grati-fication, just as barleycorns burned by the sun and then cooked can no longer grow into new sprouts. (26)

Go now, girls, and return to Vraja. Your de-sire is fulfilled, for in My company you will en-joy the coming nights. After all, this was the purpose of your vow to worship goddess Kātyāyanī, O pure-hearted ones. (27)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus instructed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the young girls, their desire now fulfilled, could bring themselves only with great difficulty to return to the village of Vraja, meditating all the while upon His lotus feet. (28)

Some time later Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī, surrounded by His cowherd friends and accompanied by His elder brother, Balarāma, went a good distance away from Vṛndāvana, herding the cows. (29) When the sun’s heat became intense, Lord Kṛṣṇa saw that the trees were acting as umbrellas by shading Him, and thus He spoke as follows to His boy-friends. (30) [Lord Kṛṣṇa said:] O Stoka Kṛṣṇa and Aṁśu, O Śrīdāma, Subala and Arjuna, O Viśāla, Vṛṣabha, Ojasvī, Devaprastha and Varūthapa, just see these greatly fortunate trees, whose lives are completely dedicated to the benefit of others. Even while tolerating the wind, rain, heat and snow, they protect us from these elements. (31-32)

Just see how these trees are maintaining every living entity! Their birth is successful. Their behavior is just like that of great person-alities, for anyone who asks anything from a tree never goes away disappointed. (33) These trees fulfill one’s desires with their leaves, flowers and fruits, their shade, roots, bark and wood, and also with their fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp and shoots. (34) It is the duty of every liv-ing being to perform welfare activities for the benefit of others with his life, wealth, intelli-gence and words. (35) Thus moving among the trees, whose branches were bent low by their abundance of twigs, fruits, flowers and leaves, Lord Kṛṣṇa came to the Yamunā River. (36) The cowherd boys let the cows drink the clear, cool and wholesome water of the Yamunā. O King Parīkṣit, the cowherd boys themselves also drank that sweet water to their full satis-faction. (37) Then, O King, the cowherd boys began herding the animals in a leisurely way within a small forest along the Yamunā. But soon they became afflicted by hunger and, ap-proaching Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, spoke as fol-lows. (38)

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Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thus the Vṛndāvana forest was filled with transparent autumnal waters and cooled by breezes per-fumed with the fragrance of lotus flowers growing in the clear lakes. The infallible Lord, accompanied by His cows and cowherd boy-friends, entered that Vṛndāvana forest. (1) The lakes, rivers and hills of Vṛndāvana resounded with the sounds of maddened bees and flocks of birds moving about the flowering trees. In the company of the cowherd boys and Balarāma, Madhupati [Śrī Kṛṣṇa] entered that forest, and while herding the cows He began to vibrate His flute. (2) When the young ladies in the cowherd village of Vraja heard the song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which arouses the influence of Cupid, some of them privately began describ-ing Kṛṣṇa’s qualities to their intimate friends. (3) The cowherd girls began to speak about Kṛṣṇa, but when they remembered His activi-ties, O King, the power of Cupid disturbed their minds, and thus they could not speak. (4) Wear-ing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karṇikāra flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayantī garland, Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibited His transcenden-tal form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vṛndāvana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories. (5) O King, when the young ladies in Vraja heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which captivates the minds of all living beings, they all embraced one another and began describing it. (6)

The cowherd girls said: O friends, those eyes that see the beautiful faces of the sons of Mahārāja Nanda are certainly fortunate. As these two sons enter the forest, surrounded by Their friends, driving the cows before Them, They hold Their flutes to Their mouths and glance lovingly upon the residents of Vṛndāvana. For those who have eyes, we think there is no greater object of vision. (7) Dressed in a charming variety of garments, upon which Their garlands rest, and decorating Themselves with peacock feathers, lotuses, lilies, newly grown mango sprouts and clusters of flower buds, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma shine forth magnifi-cently among the assembly of cowherd boys. They look just like the best of dancers appear-ing on a dramatic stage, and sometimes They sing. (8) My dear gopīs, what auspicious activ-ities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body. (9)

O friend, Vṛndāvana is spreading the glory of the earth, having obtained the treasure of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī. The pea-cocks dance madly when they hear Govinda’s flute, and when other creatures see them from the hilltops, they all become stunned. (10) Blessed are all these foolish deer because they have approached Mahārāja Nanda’s son, who is gorgeously dressed and is playing on His flute. Indeed, both the doe and the bucks wor-ship the Lord with looks of love and affection. (11)

Kṛṣṇa’s beauty and character create a festi-val for all women. Indeed, when the demigods’ wives flying in airplanes with their husbands catch sight of Him and hear His resonant flute-song, their hearts are shaken by Cupid, and they become so bewildered that the flowers fall out of their hair and their belts loosen. (12) Using their upraised ears as vessels, the cows are drinking the nectar of the flute-song flowing out of Kṛṣṇa’s mouth. The calves, their mouths full of milk from their mothers’ moist nipples, stand still as they take Govinda within them-selves through their tear-filled eyes and em-brace Him within their hearts. (13) O mother, in this forest all the birds have risen onto the beautiful branches of the trees to see Kṛṣṇa. With closed eyes they are simply listening in silence to the sweet vibrations of His flute, and they are not attracted by any other sound. Surely these birds are on the same level as great sages. (14)

When the rivers hear the flute-song of Kṛṣṇa, their minds begin to desire Him, and thus the flow of their currents is broken and their waters are agitated, moving around in whirlpools. Then with the arms of their waves the rivers embrace Murāri’s lotus feet and, holding on to them, present offerings of lotus flowers. (15) In the company of Balarāma and the cowherd boys, Lord Kṛṣṇa is continually vi-brating His flute as He herds all the animals of Vraja, even under the full heat of the summer sun. Seeing this, the cloud in the sky has ex-panded himself out of love. He is rising high and constructing out of his own body, with its multitude of flower-like droplets of water, an umbrella for the sake of his friend. (16)

The aborigine women of the Vṛndāvana area become disturbed by lust when they see the grass marked with reddish kuṅkuma powder. Endowed with the color of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, this powder originally decorated the breasts of His beloveds, and when the aborigine women smear it on their faces and breasts, they feel fully satisfied and give up all their anxiety. (17) Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, along with Their calves, cows and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities-water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. In this way the hill of-fers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant. (18) My dear friends, as Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma pass through the forest with Their cowherd friends, leading Their cows, They carry ropes to bind the cows’ rear legs at the time of milking. When Lord Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute, the sweet music causes the moving living entities to become stunned and the nonmoving trees to tremble with ecstasy. These things are certainly very wonderful. (19)

Thus narrating to one another the playful pastimes of the Supreme Personality of God-head as He wandered about in the Vṛndāvana forest, the gopīs became fully absorbed in thoughts of Him. (20)

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Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: To the ladies of Vṛndāvana, the cowherd boys then related in full detail Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s wonderful activities of delivering them from the forest fire and killing the demon Pralamba. (1) The elder cowherd men and ladies were amazed to hear this account, and they concluded that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma must be exalted demigods who had appeared in Vṛndāvana. (2)

Then the rainy season began, giving life and sustenance to all living beings. The sky began to rumble with thunder, and lightning flashed on the horizon. (3) The sky was then covered by dense blue clouds accompanied by lightning and thunder. Thus the sky and its natural illu-mination were covered in the same way that the spirit soul is covered by the three modes of ma-terial nature. (4) With its rays, the sun had for eight months drunk up the earth’s wealth in the form of water. Now that the proper time had ar-rived, the sun began releasing this accumulated wealth. (5) Flashing with lightning, great clouds were shaken and swept about by fierce winds. Just like merciful persons, the clouds gave their lives for the pleasure of this world. (6)

The earth had been emaciated by the sum-mer heat, but she became fully nourished again when moistened by the god of rain. Thus the earth was like a person whose body has been emaciated by austerities undergone for a mate-rial purpose, but who again becomes fully nour-ished when he achieves the fruit of those aus-terities. (7) In the evening twilight during the rainy season, the darkness allowed the glow-worms but not the stars to shine forth, just as in the Age of Kali the predominance of sinful ac-tivities allows atheistic doctrines to over-shadow the true knowledge of the Vedas. (8) The frogs, who had all along been lying silent, suddenly began croaking when they heard the rumbling of the rain clouds, in the same way that brāhmaṇa students, who perform their morning duties in silence begin reciting their lessons when called by their teacher. (9) With the advent of the rainy season, the insignificant streams, which had become dry, began to swell and then strayed from their proper courses, like the body, property and money of a man con-trolled by the urges of his senses. (10) The newly grown grass made the earth emerald green, the indragopa insects added a reddish hue, and white mushrooms added further color and circles of shade. Thus the earth appeared like a person who has suddenly become rich. (11) With their wealth of grains, the fields gave joy to the farmers. But those fields created re-morse in the hearts of those who were too proud to engage in farming and who failed to under-stand how everything is under the control of the Supreme. (12) As all creatures of the land and water took advantage of the newly fallen rain-water, their forms became attractive and pleas-ing, just as a devotee becomes beautiful by en-gaging in the service of the Supreme Lord. (13) Where the rivers joined the ocean it became ag-itated, its waves blown about by the wind, just as the mind of an immature yogī becomes agi-tated because he is still tainted by lust and at-tached to the objects of sense gratification. (14) Just as devotees whose minds are absorbed in the Personality of Godhead remain peaceful even when attacked by all sorts of dangers, the mountains in the rainy season were not at all disturbed by the repeated striking of the rain-bearing clouds. (15) During the rainy season the roads, not being cleansed, became covered with grass and debris and were thus difficult to make out. These roads were like religious scrip-tures that brāhmaṇas no longer study and that thus become corrupted and covered over with the passage of time. (16) Though the clouds are the well-wishing friends of all living beings, the lightning, fickle in its affinities, moved from one group of clouds to another, like lusty women unfaithful even to virtuous men. (17) When the curved bow of Indra [the rainbow] appeared in the sky, which had the quality of thundering sound, it was unlike ordinary bows because it did not rest upon a string. Similarly, when the Supreme Lord appears in this world, which is the interaction of the material quali-ties, He is unlike ordinary persons because He remains free from all material qualities and in-dependent of all material conditions. (18) Dur-ing the rainy season the moon was prevented from appearing directly by the covering of the clouds, which were themselves illumined by the moon’s rays. Similarly, the living being in material existence is prevented from appearing directly by the covering of the false ego, which is itself illumined by the consciousness of the pure soul. (19) The peacocks became festive and cried out a joyful greeting when they saw the clouds arrive, just as people distressed in household life feel pleasure when the pure dev-otees of the infallible Supreme Lord visit them. (20) The trees had grown thin and dry, but after they drank the newly fallen rainwater through their feet, their various bodily features blos-somed. Similarly, one whose body has grown thin and weak from austerity again exhibits his healthy bodily features upon enjoying the ma-terial objects gained through that austerity. (21) The cranes continued dwelling on the shores of the lakes, although the shores were agitated during the rainy season, just as materialistic persons with contaminated minds always re-main at home, despite the many disturbances there. (22) When Indra sent forth his rains, the floodwaters broke through the irrigation dikes in the agricultural fields, just as in the Kali-yuga the atheists’ false theories break down the boundaries of Vedic injunctions. (23) The clouds, impelled by the winds, released their nectarean water for the benefit of all living be-ings, just as kings, instructed by their brāhmaṇa priests, dispense charity to the citizens. (24)

When the Vṛndāvana forest had thus be-come resplendent, filled with ripe dates and jambu fruits, Lord Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by His cows and cowherd boyfriends and accompa-nied by Śrī Balarāma, entered that forest to en-joy. (25) The cows had to move slowly because of their weighty milk bags, but they quickly ran to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as soon as He called them, their affection for Him caus-ing their udders to become wet. (26) The Lord saw the joyful aborigine girls of the forest, the trees dripping sweet sap, and the mountain wa-terfalls, whose resounding indicated that there were caves nearby. (27) When it rained, the Lord would sometimes enter a cave or the hol-low of a tree to play and to eat roots and fruits. (28) Lord Kṛṣṇa would take His meal of boiled rice and yogurt, sent from home, in the com-pany of Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa and the cowherd boys who regularly ate with Him. They would all sit down to eat on a large stone near the water. (29) Lord Kṛṣṇa watched the contented bulls, calves and cows sitting on the green grass and grazing with closed eyes, and He saw that the cows were tired from the burden of their heavy milk bags. Thus observing the beauty and opulence of Vṛndāvana’s rainy season, a perennial source of great happiness, the Lord offered all respect to that season, which was expanded from His own internal potency. (30-31)

While Lord Rāma and Lord Keśava were thus dwelling in Vṛndāvana, the fall season ar-rived, when the sky is cloudless, the water clear and the wind gentle. (32) The autumn season, which regenerated the lotus flowers, also re-stored the various bodies of water to their orig-inal purity, just as the process of devotional ser-vice purifies the minds of the fallen yogīs when they return to it. (33) Autumn cleared the sky of clouds, let the animals get out of their crowded living conditions, cleaned the earth of its covering of mud, and purified the water of contamination, in the same way that loving ser-vice rendered to Lord Kṛṣṇa frees the members of the four spiritual orders from their respective troubles. (34) The clouds, having given up all they possessed, shone forth with purified efful-gence, just like peaceful sages who have given up all material desires and are thus free of all sinful propensities. (35) During this season the mountains sometimes released their pure water and sometimes did not, just as experts in tran-scendental science sometimes give the nectar of transcendental knowledge and sometimes do not. (36) The fish swimming in the increasingly shallow water did not at all understand that the water was diminishing, just as foolish family men cannot see how the time they have left to live is diminishing with every passing day. (37) Just as a miserly, poverty-stricken person overly absorbed in family life suffers because he cannot control his senses, the fish swimming in the shallow water had to suffer the heat of the autumn sun. (38) Gradually the different ar-eas of land gave up their muddy condition and the plants grew past their unripe stage, in the same way that sober sages give up egotism and possessiveness. These are based on things dif-ferent from the real self, namely, the material body and its by-products. (39) With the arrival of autumn, the ocean and the lakes became si-lent, their water still, just like a sage who has desisted from all material activities and given up his recitation of Vedic mantras. (40) In the same way that the practitioners of yoga bring their senses under strict control to check their consciousness from flowing out through the ag-itated senses, the farmers erected strong mud banks to keep the water within their rice fields from draining out. (41) The autumn moon re-lieved all creatures of the suffering caused by the sun’s rays, just as wisdom relieves a person of the misery caused by his identifying with his material body and as Lord Mukunda relieves Vṛndāvana’s ladies of the distress caused by their separation from Him. (42) Free of clouds and filled with clearly visible stars, the autumn sky shone brilliantly, just like the spiritual con-sciousness of one who has directly experienced the purport of the Vedic scriptures. (43) The full moon shone in the sky, surrounded by stars, just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of the Yadu dynasty, shone brilliantly on the earth, surrounded by all the Vṛṣṇis. (44) Except for the gopīs, whose hearts had been stolen by Kṛṣṇa, the people could forget their suffering by embracing the wind coming from the flower-filled forest. This wind was neither hot nor cold. (45) By the in-fluence of the autumn season, all the cows, doe, women and female birds became fertile and were followed by their respective mates in search of sexual enjoyment, just as activities performed for the service of the Supreme Lord are automatically followed by all beneficial re-sults. (46) O King Parīkṣit, when the autumn sun rose, all the lotus flowers blossomed hap-pily, except the night-blooming kumut, just as in the presence of a strong ruler everyone be-comes fearless, except the thieves. (47) In all the towns and villages people held great festi-vals, performing the Vedic fire sacrifice for honoring and tasting the first grains of the new harvest, along with similar celebrations that followed local custom and tradition. Thus the earth, rich with newly grown grain and espe-cially beautified by the presence of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, shone beautifully as an expansion of the Supreme Lord. (48) The merchants, sages, kings and brahmacārī students, kept in by the rain, were at last free to go out and attain their desired objects, just as those who achieve per-fection in this life can, when the proper time comes, leave the material body and attain their respective forms. (49)

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Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While the cow-herd boys were completely absorbed in play-ing, their cows wandered far away. They hun-gered for more grass, and with no one to watch them they entered a dense forest. (1) Passing from one part of the great forest to another, the goats, cows and buffalo eventually entered an area overgrown with sharp canes. The heat of a nearby forest fire made them thirsty, and they cried out in distress. (2) Not seeing the cows before them, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and Their cowherd friends suddenly felt repentant for having ne-glected them. The boys searched all around, but could not discover where they had gone. (3) Then the boys began tracing out the cows’ path by noting their hoofprints and the blades of grass the cows had broken with their hooves and teeth. All the cowherd boys were in great anxiety because they had lost their source of livelihood. (4) Within the Muñjāforest the cow-herd boys finally found their valuable cows, who had lost their way and were crying. Then the boys, thirsty and tired, herded the cows onto the path back home. (5) The Supreme Person-ality of Godhead called out to the animals in a voice that resounded like a rumbling cloud. Hearing the sound of their own names, the cows were overjoyed and called out to the Lord in reply. (6)

Suddenly a great forest fire appeared on all sides, threatening to destroy all the forest crea-tures. Like a chariot driver, the wind swept the fire onward, and terrible sparks shot in all di-rections. Indeed, the great fire extended its tongues of flame toward all moving and non-moving creatures. (7) As the cows and cowherd boys stared at the forest fire attacking them on all sides, they became fearful. The boys then approached Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for shelter, just as those who are disturbed by fear of death approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The boys addressed Them as follows. (8) [The cowherd boys said:] O Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Most powerful one! O Rāma! You whose prowess never fails! Please save Your devotees, who are about to be burned by this forest fire and have come to take shelter of You! (9) Kṛṣṇa! Cer-tainly Your own friends shouldn’t be de-stroyed. O knower of the nature of all things, we have accepted You as our Lord, and we are souls surrendered unto You! (10)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing these pitiful words from His friends, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa told them, “Just close your eyes and do not be afraid.” (11) “All right,” the boys re-plied, and immediately closed their eyes. Then the Supreme Lord, the master of all mystic power, opened His mouth and swallowed the terrible fire, saving His friends from danger. (12) The cowherd boys opened their eyes and were amazed to find not only that they and the cows had been saved from the terrible fire but that they had all been brought back to the Bhāṇḍīra tree. (13) When the cowherd boys saw that they had been saved from the forest fire by the Lord’s mystic power, which is man-ifested by His internal potency, they began to think that Kṛṣṇa must be a demigod. (14)

It was now late in the afternoon, and Lord Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Balarāma, turned the cows back toward home. Playing His flute in a special way, Kṛṣṇa returned to the cowherd vil-lage in the company of His cowherd friends, who chanted His glories. (15)

The young gopīs took the greatest pleasure in seeing Govinda come home, since for them even a moment without His association seemed like a hundred ages. (16)

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Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Rāmacandra, accepted an ācārya and performed sacri fices [yajñas] with opulent paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods. (1) Lord Rāmacandra gave the entire east to the hotā priest, the entire south to the brahmā priest, the west to the adhvaryu priest, and the north to the udgātā priest, the reciter of the Sāma Veda. In this way, He donated His kingdom. (2) There after, thinking that because the brāhmaṇas have no material desires they should possess the en tire world, Lord Rāmacandra delivered the land between the east, west, north and south to the ācārya. (3) After thus giving everything in charity to the brāhmaṇas, Lord Rāmacandra re tained only His personal garments and orna ments, and similarly the Queen, mother Sītā, was left with only her nose ring, and nothing else. (4)

All the brāhmaṇas who were engaged in the various activities of the sacrifice were very pleased with Lord Rāmacandra, who was greatly affectionate and favorable to the brāhmaṇas. Thus with melted hearts they re turned all the property received from Him and spoke as follows. (5) O Lord, You are the mas ter of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our igno rance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation. (6) O Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of God head, who have accepted the brāhmaṇas as Your worshipable deity. Your knowledge and memory are never disturbed by anxiety. You are the chief of all famous persons within this world, and Your lotus feet are worshiped by sages who are beyond the jurisdiction of punishment. O Lord Rāmacandra, let us offer our respectful obeisances unto You. (7)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Once while Lord Rāmacandra was walking at night incog nito, hiding Himself by a disguise to find out the people’s opinion of Himself, He heard a man speaking unfavorably about His wife, Sītādevī. (8) [Speaking to his unchaste wife, the man said] You go to another man’s house, and therefore you are unchaste and polluted. I shall not maintain you any more. A henpecked husband like Lord Rāma may accept a wife like Sītā, who went to another man’s house, but I am not henpecked like Him, and therefore I shall not accept you again. (9) Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Men with a poor fund of knowledge and a heinous character speak non sensically. Fearing such rascals, Lord Rāmacandra abandoned His wife, Sītādevī, alt hough she was pregnant. Thus Sītādevī went to the āśrama of Vālmīki Muni. (10) When the time came, the pregnant mother Sītādevī gave birth to twin sons, later celebrated as Lava and Kuśa. The ritualistic ceremonies for their birth were performed by Vālmīki Muni. (11) O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Lord Lakṣmaṇa had two sons, named Aṅgada and Citraketu, and Lord Bharata also had two sons, named Takṣa and Puṣkala. (12) Śatrughna had two sons, named Subāhu and Śrutasena. When Lord Bharata went to conquer all directions, He had to kill many millions of Gandharvas, who are gener ally pretenders. Taking all their wealth, He of fered it to Lord Rāmacandra. Śatrughna also killed a Rākṣasa named Lavaṇa, who was the son of Madhu Rākṣasa. Thus He established in the great forest known as Madhuvana the town known as Mathurā. (13-14) Being forsaken by her husband, Sītādevī entrusted her two sons to the care of Vālmīki Muni. Then, meditating upon the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, she entered into the earth. (15) After hearing the news of mother Sītā’s entering the earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was certainly aggrieved. Although He is the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, upon remembering the ex alted qualities of mother Sītā, He could not check His grief in transcendental love. (16) The attraction between man and woman, or male and female, always exists everywhere, making everyone always fearful. Such feelings are present even among the controllers like Brahmā and Lord Śiva and is the cause of fear for them, what to speak of others who are at tached to household life in this material world. (17)

After mother Sītā entered the earth, Lord Rāmacandra observed complete celibacy and performed an uninterrupted Agnihotra-yajña for thirteen thousand years. (18) After com pleting the sacrifice, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍakāraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇṭha planet beyond the brahmajyoti. (19)

Lord Rāmacandra’s reputation for having killed Rāvaṇa with showers of arrows at the re quest of the demigods and for having built a bridge over the ocean does not constitute the factual glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra, whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes. Lord Rāmacandra has no equal or superior, and therefore He had no need to take help from the monkeys to gain victory over Rāvaṇa. (20)

Lord Rāmacandra’s spotless name and fame, which vanquish all sinful reactions, are celebrated in all directions, like the ornamental cloth of the victorious elephant that conquers all directions. Great saintly persons like Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi still glorify His characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Similarly, all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, worship the Lord by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obei sances unto His lotus feet. (21) Lord Rāmacan dra returned to His abode, to which bhakti yogīs are promoted. This is the place to which all the inhabitants of Ayodhyā went after they served the Lord in His manifest pastimes by of fering Him obeisances, touching His lotus feet, fully observing Him as a fatherlike King, sitting or lying down with Him like equals, or even just accompanying Him. (22) O King Parīkṣit, anyone who aurally receives the narrations con cerning the characteristics of Lord Rāmacan dra’s pastimes will ultimately be freed from the disease of envy and thus be liberated from the bondage of fruitive activities. (23)

Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī: How did the Lord conduct Himself, and how did He behave in relationship with His brothers, who were expansions of His own self? And how did His brothers and the inhabitants of Ayodhyā treat Him? (24)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied: After accepting the throne of the government by the fervent re quest of His younger brother Bharata, Lord Rāmacandra ordered His younger brothers to go out and conquer the entire world, while He personally remained in the capital to give audi ence to all the citizens and residents of the pal ace and supervise the governmental affairs with His other assistants. (25) During the reign of Lord Rāmacandra, the streets of the capital, Ayodhyā, were sprinkled with perfumed water and drops of perfumed liquor, thrown about by elephants from their trunks. When the citizens saw the Lord personally supervising the affairs of the city in such opulence, they appreciated this opulence very much. (26) The palaces, the palace gates, the assembly houses, the plat forms for meeting places, the temples and all such places were decorated with golden water pots and bedecked with various types of flags. (27) Wherever Lord Rāmacandra visited, aus picious welcome gates were constructed, with banana trees and betel-nut trees, full of flowers and fruits. The gates were decorated with vari ous flags made of colorful cloth and with tap estries, mirrors and garlands. (28) Wherever Lord Rāmacandra visited, the people ap proached Him with paraphernalia of worship and begged the Lord’s blessings. “O Lord,” they said, “as You rescued the earth from the bottom of the sea in Your incarnation as a boar, may You now maintain it. Thus we beg Your blessings.” (29) Thereafter, not having seen the Lord for a long time, the citizens, both men and women, being very eager to see Him, left their homes and got up on the roofs of the palaces. Being incompletely satiated with seeing the face of the lotus-eyed Lord Rāmacandra, they showered flowers upon Him. (30)

Thereafter, Lord Rāmacandra entered the palace of His forefathers. Within the palace were various treasures and valuable wardrobes. The sitting places on the two sides of the en trance door were made of coral, the yards were surrounded by pillars of vaidūrya-maṇi, the floor was made of highly polished marakata maṇi, and the foundation was made of marble. The entire palace was decorated with flags and garlands and bedecked with valuable stones, shining with a celestial effulgence. The palace was fully decorated with pearls and surrounded by lamps and incense. The men and women within the palace all resembled demigods and were decorated with various ornaments, which seemed beautiful because of being placed on their bodies. (31-34) Lord Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, chief of the best learned scholars, resided in that palace with His pleasure potency, mother Sītā, and en joyed complete peace. (35) Without trans gressing the religious principles, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet are worshiped by devotees in meditation, enjoyed with all the paraphernalia of transcendental pleasure for as long as needed. (36)

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