Canto 10, Chapter 82, Verse 39
śrī-śuka uvāca
gopyaś ca kṛṣṇam upalabhya cirād abhīṣṭaṁ
yat-prekṣaṇe dṛśiṣu pakṣma-kṛtaṁ śapanti
dṛgbhir hṛdī-kṛtam alaṁ parirabhya sarvās
tad-bhāvam āpur api nitya-yujāṁ durāpam
Sage Sukadev says, While gazing upon their beloved Krishna, the young gopis used to denounce the creator of their eyelids, which would temporarily block their vision of Him. Now, seeing Krishna again after such a extended separation, with their eyes they took Him into their hearts, and there they embraced Him to their full contentment. In this way, they became completely absorbed in ecstatic meditation on Him, even though those who constantly practice mystic yoga find such absorption difficult to achieve.
Once there was a great gathering at Kurukshetra for the occasion of a sun eclipse. Krishna, all His wives as well as all the Yadavas (including the Pandavas and Kauravas), joined all the sages, the chiefs of many villages, kings and royalty from all the surrounding kingdoms during that particular occasion. Nanda, Yashoda, all the gopis and gopas also came to participate in this gathering.
A long time had passed since Krishna had left Vrindavan. However, the gopis were still longing for Krishna. They were not young girls anymore like when the Maha Raas had happened. They had grown up.
Later on, Kurukshetra would become well known as the place where the war of the Mahabharat took place, and where Krishna gave the Gita to Arujuna. That would be the third time Krishna would go there. In His childhood, Nanda brought Krishna there to do the Mundan (the first shaving of His hair). It’s said that after the Mundan, the hair of Krishna, together with the hair of Balarama, as well as of many others, was thrown into a well. This well is still there and is part of a famous Bhadrakali Temple, one of the 52 Shakti Peethas (where the right ankle of Sati Ma fell).
However, even before Krishna had gone there physically for the first time, the land of Kurukshetra was already a very blessed and holy place.
The people from Vrindavan were very excited with this opportunity to meet Krishna after so many years. The gopis were busy preparing for the occasion, making all the arrangements to meet their little Krishna.They cooked lots of food always thinking, “Oh, our little Krishna”. In their minds, they were not yet imagining the grown up Krishna, as the ruler. For them, He was still the little Krishna they had known.
Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva, who gave birth to Krishna, met Yashoda for the first time. They started talking. Yashoda was feeling deep joy while telling Devaki about all the pranks and mischiefs Krishna used to do when He was a child. She also told Devaki in detail how Krishna had killed each demon.
So they all anxiously waited for Krishna to come with His 16,008 wives. Finally, Krishna arrived. The people from Dwarka were also longing to meet Yashoda and the gopis. They had heard the stories of Krishna’s childhood, but they wanted to meet these people. You can hear or read a story, but when you meet that person in front of you, it’s a completely different feeling. Krishna also longed to see His friends the gopas, as well as the gopis. Now the gopis were not these young girls who were giggling around, shyly anymore. They were grown up women, responsible, mature, yet inside them, there was only Krishna.
At times, they would say, “Now, He is married, and the prince of Dwarka. He has left us for so long. He cheated on us.” They tried their best to behave like responsible women. But at the very sight of Krishna, their minds were again back to the old times of how they used to be. So their foolishness arose, their Love for Krishna arose. Then, all the gopis started running towards Krishna. When Krishna saw them, He just smiled to Himself seeing that for them He was not a grown up Krishna. Thus, with the power of His Yogmaya, He showed them the same Krishna that they knew: Bala Krishna.
Here you have three Krishnas in one. You have the Bala Krishna, the Dwarka Krishna, and then, the Gita Krishna. Now, due to the love of the gopis, all the other two Krishnas disappeared. Krishna melted and appeared back as the Bala Krishna. They saw the same Krishna who had taught them about the sublime, supreme state of Love. So they could not resist Krishna. They took Krishna in their hearts and embraced Him lovingly.
First, however, before they met Krishna, in their minds they said, “No, we will not go to Him! This cheater has left us! If He expects that we will also act the same way and welcome Him, forget about it!” However, He was the indweller inside them. There was not a single time that Krishna would not think about the gopis. Even if He had 16,008 wives, every single day the gopis were present in His mind. Every single day He would love the gopis. And the same would happen with the gopis. They would love Krishna with all their hearts. Even if they had grown up, and even if they would say, “We are grown up, we will not act like children. We were fools to listen to Him.” However, here they were again doing the same thing.
The wives of Krishna were amazed to see that Love of the gopis. Even the dearest one, Rukmini, was amazed to see that Love. She said, “My Lord, I love You. I am eternally Your consort. But these gopis are supreme, they are even more dear to You than Me.” Krishna also embraced the gopis and they talked about their pastime.
Draupadi as well as all the wives of Krishna sat around Yashoda and pleaded, “Mother, please reveal to us how Krishna was when He was small!” Yashoda with great delight revealed the Bala Leela to them. As Rukmini listened, She visualized everything. Like this, She was falling more and more in Love with Her Beloved, feeling the same Love that the gopis had. They were drinking the nectar from Yashoda’s lips. The queens of Krishna said, “We married Krishna, how lucky are we?! These gopis, they have not married the Lord, yet they love Him so much. We live with Him, yet we take Him for granted.”
Each gopi had their own personal story to tell. In the same way, each queen also had a story about how they met Krishna. The gopis listened to the wives of Krishna and thought, “Wow, how lucky you are!” The wives of Krishna listened to the gopis and said, “Wow, we have married Him only externally, but you have Him eternally seated inside of your heart. Your soul has married Him.” In this way, one whole month passed and they all were very absorbed in that Love of Krishna again.