very different from his rapturous encounters with them in the forest and
the fact that his later career involves so sharp a separation from them
indicates that the whole episode was somewhat frowned upon. This is
especially evident from the manner in which Krishna addresses the cowgirls
when they meet him during the eclipse of the sun. By this time he has
become an ardent husband constantly satisfying his many wives. He is very
far from having abjured the delights of the flesh. Yet for all his former
loves who long for him so passionately he has only one message. They must
meditate upon him in their minds. No dismissal could be colder, no
treatment more calculatingly callous. And even the accounts of Krishna's
love-making reflects this bias. The physical charms of the cowgirls are
minimized and it is only the beauty of Rukmini which is stressed. It is
clear, in fact, that however much the one tradition involved a break with
morals, the second tradition shrank from countenancing adultery and it was
this latter tradition which commanded the authors' approval. Finally, on
one important issue, the _Purana_ as a whole is in no doubt. Krishna's
true consort is Rukmini. That Krishna's nature should be complemented by a
cowgirl is not so much as even considered. The cowgirls are shown as
risking all for Krishna, as loving him above all else but none is singled
out for mention and none emerges as a rival. In this long account of
Krishna's life what is overwhelmingly significant is that the name of his
supreme cowgirl love is altogether omitted.




V

THE KRISHNA OF POETRY