Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists

"As"The Dance of LoveKans did him honour by fear; the Pandavas found him athe Yaduvamslsfriend; Shishupal honoured him as a foe;thought he was one of themselves ;the yogis and rishispondered upon him as God ;but all these alike attainedsalvation. What wonder, then, if one herd-girl, fixingher heart upon him, should reach the farther shore ofexistence ?At last the gopls, following the sound of the flute, cameupon Krishna deep in the forest, and stood gazing uponhis loveliness, astonished and abashed. Then Krishnainquired of their welfare and blamed them for leavingtheir husbands ;and he said :have seenit is, youthe dense forest, the silvery moonlight, the beautiful banksof the Jamna so now; go home to yourthe gopls,when they heard these cruel words, were strickensenseless and sank in a boundless ocean of thought, andhusbands." Allthe tears fell from their eyes like a broken necklace ofpearls. At last they found words to reproach him. OKrishna," they said, "youare a great deceiver. You ledus away by yourflute and stole our hearts and minds andwealth, and now you are cold and unkind and would putan end to our lives. We have abandoned clan and homeand husband, and despised the reproach of the world ;nowthere is none to protect us but you, O Lord of Braj.Where shall we go and make our home, for we areenwrapped in love of you?"Then Shrl Krishna smiled and called them near, and askedthem to dance with him, and made them glad. Then byhis skill he formed a golden terrace in a circle on theJamna bank, and it was plantedall about with plantaintreeshung with wreaths and garlands of all manner offlowers. Then the gopls went to a pool named Manasarowar,and decked themselves from head to foot, and were233