cowgirls and thrilling them to the core. Like girls in tribal India today,
they know it is a call to love. They put on new clothes, brush aside their
husbands, ignore the other members of their families and hurry to the
forest. As they arrive, Krishna stands superbly before them. He wears a
crown of peacocks' feathers and a yellow dhoti and his blue-black skin
shines in the moonlight. As the cowgirls throng to see him, he twits them
on their conduct. Are they not frightened at coming into the dark forest?
What are they doing abandoning their families? Is not such wild behaviour
quite unbefitting married girls? Should not a married girl obey her
husband in all things and never for a moment leave him? Having enjoyed the
deep forest and the moonlight, let them return at once and soothe their
injured spouses. The cowgirls are stunned to hear such words, hang their
heads, sigh and dig their toes into the ground. They begin to weep and at
last turn on Krishna, saying 'Oh! why have you deceived us so? It was your
flute that made us come. We have left our husbands for you. We live for
your love. Where are we to go?' 'If you really love me,' Krishna answers
'Dance and sing with me.' His words fill the cowgirls with delight and
surrounding Krishna 'like golden creepers growing on a dark-coloured
hill,' they go with him to the banks of the Jumna. Here Krishna has
conjured up a golden circular terrace ornamented with pearls and diamonds
and cooled by sprouting plantains. The moon pours down, saturating the
forest. The cowgirls' joy increases. They beautify their bodies and then,
wild with love, join with Krishna in singing and dancing. Modesty deserts
them and they do whatever pleases them, regarding Krishna as their lover.
As the night goes on, Krishna 'appears as beautiful as the moon amidst the
stars.'

As the cowgirls' ecstasies proceed, Krishna feels that they are fast
exceeding themselves. They think that he is in their power and are already
swelling with pride. He decides therefore to leave them suddenly, and