Thus spring ripened into summer and autumn, and again the rolling
seasons touched upon the heels of one another; and Krishna grew into
greater beauty with each season of His earthly career.
More and more the people of Brindāban became absorbed in Him. The young
and old, those near and far, looked upon Him as one without whom they
could not exist.
And so it was, the complete whole was He of whom they were but parts,
and ever were they reaching to again find the Heart out of which they
had sprung.
His smile was to them the sun that warmed, His words the flowers which
filled them with joy, His deeds the fruits which satisfied the hunger of
their hearts.
The very quick of their lives He was; and nothing lived, breathed,
bloomed, or grew in Brindāban, from the people to the cattle, creeping
things and all that grew, that did not draw life from the Lord that
dwelt as Youth among them.
And the milk-maids, who in loving companionship oft with him roamed to
the hillside where with the other boys he tended the cattle, would in
fond love contemplate the Youth, knowing not what the potency was that
drew them, forgetful of all duties, to His side.
And among themselves they would speak thus: "Oh, how sweet is the
hillside, when Krishna is near, how sublime is His countenance and His
eyes how beautiful with piercing love-light filled! Serene doth He
stand, yet bewilderingly entrancing is the joy that comes to our souls
by His glances that seek us in softness and kindness."
"Was aught as beautiful," they were wont to say, "as our Krishna,
clothed in blue and gold, with the crown of peacock feathers on His brow
and a garland of fresh flowers festooned from His shoulders? Why is it,
that flowers that girdle Him thus never fade or wither or die, but
deeper their colors and stronger their petals and sweeter their
fragrance are, when in contact with Him they have come? And the fields
where He walketh, see how they smile and give their treasures in greater
abundance! And the rivers close by, they rise high on our land, as if to
dwell longer on our banks, because our Krishna is here.
"At the notes of his flute, all exquisite, whose potent spell must charm
all the living, see how His cattle do greet Him and tremble and thrill
at the sound of the music! And even the untamed things of the forest,
with wistful look and nostrils spread, unbidden and unafraid, do stand
on the crest of the hill, as if drawn and subdued by the influence of
His love-sound!
"Oh, the sound of His flute is proof against the iron-moulded mind and
can soothe a very giant of fierceness into gentleness by its sweetness!
Checked is every fear, and rebellion is laid low in every heart, and a
kingdom of love every home becomes wherein that sound hath pierced.
Ofttimes it seemeth that time itself doth suit its step to keep pace
with its rhythm, for, note ye not, how the sun doth stand, loath to
move, lest the sight and sound it loseth?
"Oh, why are we not the flute He holds to His lips! Blessed beyond all
things it is, for His kisses it receives, and drinks the nectar of His
love to its fill. What wonder that it joys to give the sound forth that
His breath doth make!
"Or, why are we not the trees, under which He sitteth and whose branches
He counteth with happy gaze, or even the grass, where He reclineth, that
hath the dear privilege to caress His sweet body in lowly love? But we
can only look on His face and die with longing, when from Him we go."
Thus spake the maids, but their tongues could not tell what bliss
overflowed the heart, welling up with love for Him, who wakened in every
heart the love that was all divine,—from the babe's first smile to the
man who looked first on the glorious earth, and then to the arched sky,
and then in His heart, and found there a sum of love that was all bliss.
In Krishna, the Youth, who played the flute in the forests by night, on
the hillside by day, in Him, who charmed all that was, they beheld the
fulness of Love.
He gave them and received all bliss. He was the Spring of Love that had
the more for the giving. He satisfied the most when many did draw from
His well-spring.
To the heart of all mothers He came as a child, and in tenderness and
joy they caressed Him as such. Like a flower dropped untouched from
heaven they held Him.
The men He approached as a friend and a son, and gave and received the
love that they craved and felt.
The servant too He met in the way He sought to be known, and by Him he
was served and did serve.
Thus to all He gave what they craved to have. Unstinted, unfettered He
was in the giving, and none was there in all that land that sought and
could not find what their hearts did seek.
And to the maids who opened their pure young hearts for the all-enduring
mysterious love. He gave, of His inexhaustible source, the sweet touch
that harmonized all things and made the heaven and earth to meet.
All kindred were they, for He was their Parent, and their love was but
part of His holy flame.
And with the light from that flame there awakened within them that which
knew but Love, which was but Love; and Krishna it was who filled all
their being, and outward consciousness to them was lost.
Hail to thy maiden-love, O Gopi! Thy love the triumph of man and God!
The crown of Time's blessedness it was! O climax of Happiness Complete!