So night wore away, and in the early morning hours Akrura was ready to
start on the journey with Rāma and Krishna.
But great was the wail and heartrending the lamentations that came from
the hearts of the Gopis.
With tear-filled eyes they rushed to His home and pleaded and prayed
that He stay in their midst; for to them life seemed impossible without
Him, and Brindāban could not be blessed when He ceased to walk thereon.
And what would the cattle and flowers and trees do without the sound of
His love-touched flute?
"Oh, remain with us, Krishna, O Lord of our hearts! Oh, keep close to
our land, Most Beautiful One!
"Broken are our hearts, bowed low our spirit at the thought of our lives
without Thy presence to cheer us. Dull are our minds and leaden our
hearts by the pain of Thy going.
"Oh, leave us not in this ocean of sorrow, but stay where we ever may
look on Thy face.
"O Thou who shapest all that is, who hast knitted our hearts to Thyself!
how canst Thou tear it away from us who know the sweetness of its love
and the fruits that spring therefrom?
"Once having known Thy smile, O Krishna! how can we bear the dawning of
day without the light of Thy smile, in which the concentrated beauty of
Thy whole creation lies, to fill it and make each day whole?
"And how can we see the shadows of night thicken and darken, and know
that no more we will roam in forest and dance in the moonlight with
Thee, our Beloved?
"Oh! depart not from us, Thou in whom we are buried, Thou whose love
doth envelop us all, Thou whose universe-embrace around us is entwined!
Oh! go not from out our midst, we implore Thee!"
Thus, tearing their tresses and weeping, the Gopis clung to the wheels
of the chariot in which Krishna and Rāma sat ready to start on their
journey to Mathura.
Then Krishna arose, and looking deep in the eye of each, he waved his
hand in farewell, an€ left the smile of Bliss with them that filled each
soul to overflowing. Then forward the restless chargers plunged, the
dust rising high and quite covering the chariot.
The maids stood like hewn marble, still yet serene. And the cattle that
grazed on the hillside turned towards the road where the chariot
vanished, in their eyes a look of yearning love; while the deer on the
brow of the hill, with arched neck and wild, shy glance, heaved a quick,
short sigh, as if hurt.
And the soft breasts of the singing birds quivered, and a little sad
song burst from their throats; while the trees and the flowers hung limp
and wilted, as if the glad life had left their hearts.
A groan arose from the wild beasts in the forest, as if in the hand of
death they were trapped. The sun vanished from the skies, and all Nature
seemed clothed with the garment of sadness.
Then forth the sun burst in glorious splendor, as the joy of the smile
of the Lord of Love awoke in potency to bless all living things whereon
it had fallen.
And sweet Brindāban in silence lay, forever blessed and forever beloved,
for the Feet of Him, who was God, had walked there and made holy its
soil.