Shree Shookdeo Jee said,--O great king! all the cowherdesses,
sitting on the bank of the Jumna, and intoxicated with love, began to
sing the exploits and virtues of Huri: “O most beloved! since you came
to Bruj, you have diffused new pleasures there. Luchmee in the hope of
your protection, has come and taken up her fixed abode. We,
cowherdesses, are your slaves; show compassion, and quickly take
thought of us; since we have seen your elegant, dark-coloured,
beautiful form, we have become your slaves without purchase. The
arrows of your eyes have pierced our breasts. Beloved! in what way and
manner are we not yours? Have mercy on us, as our lives are ebbing
out. Lay aside relentlessness, and be pleased to present yourself soon
to our sight. If your wish was to destroy us, why did you save us from
the poisonous serpent, from fire and from inundation; why not have
allowed us then to die? You are not merely Jusodha’s son. Bruhmù,
Roodrù, Indrù and all the gods, humbling themselves before you, have
brought you on the earth for the protection of the world.
“O lord of life! it is a subject of great wonder to us, whom you will
preserve, if you destroy your own! Beloved! your are acquainted with
the secrets of the heart; why do you not put an end to our affliction,
and grant the accomplishment of our hopes! What, beloved! do you wish
to display your heroism towards us weak women? What pain do we not
suffer, when we behold your gentle smile, your affectionate glance,
the bend of your eye-brows, the coquetry of your eyes, the undulating
motion of your neck, and the splendour of your discourse? And when you
used to go to the jungle to give pasture to the cows, the stones and
thorns of the forest gave pain to our minds when we thought of your
soft feet. You went early in the morning, and returned in the evening:
but still these four puhurs appeared to us like four ages. When
sitting in your presence, we gazed on your elegant form, we thought in
our minds, that Bruhmù was very foolish in having formed the eye-lid,
to prevent our fixed and uninterrupted gaze.”
Having told so much of the story, Shree Shookdeo Jee said, O great
king! the cowherdesses, distressed at their separation from Krishnù,
continued in this disconsolate manner to sing his exploits, and were
worn out by their exertions in doing so; but still Beharee did not
come.
At length, being utterly without hope, and giving up all expectation
of living, they became quite senseless from total want of resolution;
and falling down, wept so violently and with such lamentations, that
all things, animate and inanimate, on hearing them, were very much
afflicted.