Category:Thoughts of the Gopis
Theme Analysis
The thoughts of the gopīs represent the pinnacle of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that their minds are so absorbed in Kṛṣṇa that they cannot think of anything else. When Kṛṣṇa is in the village, they think of Him; when He goes to the forest, they think of His soft lotus feet walking on sharp stones, feeling pain in their own hearts. Their love is so intense that in His absence, they sometimes imitate His pastimes or address the trees and plants in madness (divyonmāda). This absorption is not self-centered; even when they decorate their bodies, they think, "Kṛṣṇa will be pleased to see me." Their anxiety in separation is so acute that a moment feels like twelve years (yugāyitam nimeṣeṇa). Uddhava, the great devotee and cousin of Kṛṣṇa, was astonished to see this level of constant remembrance, realizing that even the great sages cannot compare to the simple cowherd girls of Vṛndāvana.
- Separation as Union: The gopīs feel Kṛṣṇa's presence most intensely in separation (vipralambha-seva). Thinking of Him constantly, they feel they are directly associating with Him.
- Anxiety for Kṛṣṇa's Comfort: Their primary thought is for Kṛṣṇa's pleasure. They worry that His soft feet are being pricked by thorns or pebbles in the forest.
- Selfless Decoration: Unlike worldly women who dress to attract attention for themselves, the gopīs decorate their bodies only because they think it brings joy to Kṛṣṇa.
- The Standard of Perfection: Śrīla Prabhupāda holds up the gopīs as the ultimate example for all devotees. To be perfect means to have no other desire than to please Kṛṣṇa and to think of Him 24 hours a day.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Thoughts of the Gopīs - The Perfection of Absorption.
Pages in category "Thoughts of the Gopis"
The following 72 pages are in this category, out of 72 total.
A
- Absorbed in thoughts of Krsna, the gopi who was carrying her friend began to boast that she was Krsna herself: "All of you just see my movement!"
- All the gopis conjectured that Akrura might have come again to fulfill another cruel plan. But they thought, "We are now dead bodies without our supreme master, Krsna. What further act can Akrura perpetrate against these dead bodies?"
- All the gopis in Vrndavana remained very morose on account of Krsna's absence. All day they were thinking of Krsna in the forest or of Him herding cows in the pasture
- All the ropes in the house combined together might have been hundreds of feet long, but still He (Krsna) was impossible to bind, for all the ropes together were still too short. Naturally mother Yasoda and her gopi friends thought - How is this possible
- Another gopi said, "My dear friends, we cannot even think of His bamboo flute - what sort of pious activities did it execute so that it is now enjoying the nectar of the lips of Krsna, which is actually the property of us gopis?"
- As the gopis were thinking of Krsna in separation twenty-four hours a day, so Krsna was also always thinking of the gopis, mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja and the other residents of Vrndavana
- As they (Krsna and the cowherd boys) approached the village, all the gopis became very joyous. Throughout the day the gopis used to think of Krsna while He was in the forest, and in His absence they were considering one moment to be like twelve years
B
- Because the gopis were fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna, they were imitating His different postures and pastimes
- Being greatly disturbed by the absence of Krsna, they (the gopis) simply thought all day and night about His pastimes and thus derived some consolation
- By the arrangement of yogamaya, all the gopis and gopas thought that the accident (of the cart) had taken place because of some bad planet or some ghost, but in fact everything was done by Krsna and enjoyed by Him
K
- Krsna continued, "The gopis are the most dear. They always think of Me (Krsna) in such a way that they remain overwhelmed & almost dead in anxiety due to separation from Me. They are keeping alive simply by thinking that I am returning to them very soon"
- Krsna is generally known to be blackish, but when He is absorbed in the thought of the gopis, who are all of fair complexion, Krsna Himself also becomes fair
L
- Like the gopis, one who is always absorbed in thought of the Lord is beyond the material platform and will not remain in this material world
- Lord Caitanya’s heart was always filled with separation from Krsna, but as soon as He had the opportunity to visit the Jagannatha temple, He became fully absorbed in the thoughts of the gopis who came to see Krsna at Kuruksetra
O
- One gopi said, "We are losing our senses in deciding whether we shall continue as chaste women or be victimized by the beauty of Krsna. My dear friend, I think that we have lost all hope of life!"
- One gopi said, "With all these exquisite features of His body, Krsna is too extraordinarily beautiful, and therefore I am always thinking of Him to protect me because He is the killer of all demons"
S
- Since Krsna had departed from Vrndavana and gone to Mathura, the inhabitants of Vrndavana, especially mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, Srimati Radharani, the gopis and the cowherd boys, were simply thinking of Krsna at every step
- Sometimes the gopis would think about His (Krsna's) soft nails, His moving eyebrows and His teeth, which were catechu-colored from chewing pan
- Sukadeva Gosvami tells King Pariksit: "My dear King, I shall try to describe how the minds of the gopis became absorbed in the thought of Krsna"
T
- The devotees cannot tolerate even the pricking of the Lord's lotus feet by a thorn. This was the attitude of the gopis when they thought of Krsna wandering in the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet
- The elder gopis said, "If They (Krsna and Balarama) cannot reach (the butter and yogurt), They make a hole in the pot. We think therefore that you’d better take all the jeweled ornaments from the bodies of your children"
- The gopis almost went mad due to Krsna’s suddenly leaving the rasa dance. Because the gopis were fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna, they were imitating His different postures and pastimes
- The gopis always thought of the Lord's lotus feet when He was walking in the pasturing grounds, and, as described in the previous verse (of SB 10.2.37), simply by thinking of the Lord's lotus feet, the gopis were fully absorbed in transcendence
- The gopis are always absorbed in thoughts of Me (Krsna). They have dedicated body, desire, life and soul to Me
- The gopis are so fortunate that they can see and think of Krsna twenty-four hours a day, beginning from their milking the cows or husking the paddy or churning the butter in the morning
- The gopis continued, "How we are afflicted simply to think that Your soft lotus feet are being pricked by the dry grass and the tiny stones in the forest! We are so attached to You (Krsna) that we always think simply of Your lotus feet"
- The gopis said, "In that condition, we shall simply think of You (Krsna) and Your beautiful features and give up our bodies immediately. In that way we think it will be possible for us to reside at Your lotus feet in the next life"
- The gopis said, "Krsna is the well-wisher of Vrndavana. He is as kind to you as to us; therefore after leaving us, He must have been present in your company. O fortunate trees, we are thinking of Krsna, the younger brother of Balarama"
- The gopis think that if their eyes are not engaged in seeing the beautiful face of Krsna, it would be better for them to be struck by a thunderbolt
- The gopis think: "I have offered this body to Lord Krsna. He is its owner, and it brings Him enjoyment"
- The gopis think: "Krsna finds joy in seeing and touching this body." It is for this reason that they cleanse and decorate their bodies
- The gopis think: "Krsna has obtained so much pleasure by seeing me." That thought increases the fullness and beauty of their faces and bodies
- The gopis thought that because all the trees must have seen Krsna pass by they were offering respectful obeisances to Him. To be certain, the gopis inquired from the trees
- The gopis thought, "Dear Lord, if Your lotus feet again come to our home in Vrndavana, our desires will be fulfilled"
- The gopis were envious of the deer because the deer were able to offer their service to Krsna along with their husbands. The gopis thought themselves not so fortunate because whenever they wanted to go to Krsna, their husbands were not very happy
- The gopis were very much afflicted because they saw Krsna walking on the sand and thought that Krsna's lotus feet were being pierced by broken chips of stone. Thinking of this, the gopis were affected, and they cried at home
- The gopis were very much afflicted because they saw Krsna walking on the sand and thought that Krsna's lotus feet, which they dared not place on their breasts because they thought their breasts not soft enough, were being pierced by broken chips of stone
- The gopis, however, soon began to feel very proud, thinking themselves to be the most fortunate women in the universe due to being favored by the company of Krsna
- The lady continued, "While engaged in cleaning their houses and washing their floors, they (the gopis) are always absorbed in thought of Krsna"
- The mystic expansions of Krsna were not perceived by the gopis because Krsna appeared alone to each of them. Each gopi thought that Krsna was dancing with her alone
- The same gopi spoke, "We think that this boon (listening to Govinda's flute) is not possible or available on any other planet"
- Their (the gopis) thought is eternally absorbed in the lotus feet of Krsna. Great sages and we ourselves also try to be absorbed in meditation on the lotus feet of Krsna
- Their only thought is to go out in search of Krsna. When the gopis meet Krsna, the display of their exchanging glances as well as their joking and laughing behavior is called anubhava, or sub-ecstasy in conjugal love
- There are so many stones and nails on the path, and they must be pricking Krsna's lotus feet, which are so soft that we think our breasts hard when Krsna puts His lotus feet upon them. - Thus they (gopis) would cry, absorbed in these thoughts
- They (the gopis) consider their breasts a very hard place for the lotus feet of Krsna, yet those lotus feet wander in the forest, which is full of thorny plants. The gopis are absorbed in such thoughts at home, although Krsna is away from them
- They (the gopis) could understand that when they had been enjoying Krsna they thought themselves to be the most fortunate women within the universe, and since they were feeling proud, Krsna had disappeared immediately just to curb their pride
- They (the gopis) were simply thinking of the pastimes of Krsna in great love and affection. Being absorbed in thought of Him, they experienced loss of memory, and with dampened eyes they began to see the very pastimes of Krsna
- They were not very well educated, although they heard all sorts of knowledge from the brahmanas, the authorities of Vedic knowledge. The gopis' only purpose was to remain always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna
- Thinking of Krsna and of their imminent separation from Him, the gopis assembled together with heavily beating hearts
- Thinking that child Krsna had been saved from the mouth of death, they (the gopis and the cowherd men) looked upon His face with great love and affection. They were full of anxiety and could not turn their faces from the vision of Krsna
- This (CC Madhya 8.276) verse (SB 10.35.9) is one of the songs the gopis sang during Krsna’s absence. In Krsna’s absence the gopis were always absorbed in thought of Him
U
- Uddhava continued, "Your (gopis') minds are wonderfully absorbed in the thought of Vasudeva, Krsna. He is the goal of all pious activities and ritualistic performances"
- Uddhava understood that the gopis of Vrndavana were all simply absorbed in the thought of Krsna and His childhood activities
- Uddhava was standing near, and he heard Radharani talking in this way, as if She had become almost mad for Krsna. He was exceedingly surprised at how the gopis were accustomed to thinking of Krsna constantly in that topmost ecstasy of maha-bhava love
W
- We must always think of Krsna, just like the gopis. The Krsna consciousness of the gopis was perfect because they had no desire other than to try to please Krsna. That is perfection
- When Krsna is away from Vrndavana tending the cows in the forest, the gopis, in the madhurya-rasa, are always absorbed in thoughts of how Krsna walks in the forest
- When Krsna left the village for the pasturing grounds, where He tended the cows and calves, the gopis were very much afflicted because they saw Krsna walking on the sand and thought that Krsna's lotus feet were being pierced by broken chips of stone
- When Krsna spoke in such a discouraging way to the gopis, they became very sad, for they thought that their desire to enjoy the rasa dance with Krsna would be frustrated. Thus they became full of anxiety
- When Krsna went to the forest with His cows and calves, the minds of the gopis at home were disturbed. "Oh, Krsna is walking barefoot," they thought
- When the gopis saw her (Putana), they thought that the beautiful goddess of fortune, holding a lotus flower in her hand, had come to see her husband, Krsna - SB 10.6.5-6
- When the gopis saw that Uddhava was representing Krsna even in his bodily features, they thought he must be a soul completely surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- When they (the gopis) saw that it was getting gradually darker, they stopped. Their mind and intelligence became absorbed in thoughts of Krsna; they all imitated the activities of Krsna and His speeches
- When they still received no reply, the gopis thought, "These plants are all Krsna's maidservants, and out of fear they will not speak to us"
- While Krsna was engaged in tending the cows in the forest of Vrndavana or on Govardhana Hill, the gopis in the village were always absorbed in thinking of Him and discussing His different pastimes