"I WILL RETURN ...."

SB 10.39.35 - 36 "As He departed, that best of the Yadus saw how the gopis were lamenting, and thus He consoled them by sending a messenger with this loving promise : " I will return..."

"Sending their minds after Krishna the gopis stood as motionless as figures in a painting.  They remained there as long as the flag atop the chariot was visible and even until they could no longer see the dust raised by the chariot wheels."

The ruts on the ground

are scars on our souls;

if the wheels had rolled

over our bodies,

that pain would soothe

the one in our hearts.

Frantic footprints in the mud

are puddles of tears

as also the stones

have melted in rivers,

but nothing will dry

even if the moonlight ⁽¹⁾

is now burning

in this Vraja without You.

Your absence

 has silenced the birds,

the rustling of foliage,

the humming of bees,

and the colors of flowers

have disappeared,

belonging now only to the one garland

 gone with You.

Even though the mind can keep running

behind those wheels,

 the hope of stopping You

has vanished in a cloud of dust. 

 Because of despair

our gaze has become a stunned still stare,

of what use are our eyes now

if we cannot see you? ⁽²⁾

Does the sun still hold its light?

And the air still have the power of life?

The sole breath of the Gopis 

is a keepsake of air

fragranced by Your limbs,

while waiting for Your return.

1)Uttara Campu 5.83: "For the gopis, sandalwood and moon produces heat. In separation from You, will not fire (death) bring relief?"

2) C.C.Madhya Lila 2.29 : "What is the value of these eyes if one cannot see the all-beautiful Syamasundara?"