"Dear gentle Uddhava, go to Vraja and give pleasure to My parents. And also relieve the gopis, suffering in separation from Me, by giving them My message." SB 10.46.3
"Krishna wanted to send a message of love to his dear devotees, His father Nanda Maharaja, His mother Yasoda-mata and the most beloved gopis headed by Radharani. Krishna thought "Who will take this message? Whom shall I send?" He chose Uddhava." Mathura meets Vrindavana pg129
The recurring visualization that inspired this poem is of Krishna feeling desperate in separation from Vraja and the Vrajavasis, and taking Uddhava's hand in His hand, speaking His heart. He was his friend and could carry this message of love to His beloved devotees suffering from separation. But when Uddhava returned he was not the same person, he had experienced pure love.
When His heart needed telling,
He sent a messenger of love
to feel with His heart,
to speak with choked voice
to soothe the aching hearts,
to carry His love,
to place His message
in His Beloved's ears
along with His shivers;
He took His friend's hand
in His to hold,
then He spoke
a secret, never told,
about His love, its waves, (1)
the nights not being the same,
about the Gopis and their pangs,
their love places on the riverbanks,
this just to reassure them,
He would be back ~
and His love for the girl
now on the verge of death,
kept alive by one rope,
a feeble hope,
because He promised,
"I will return".
Once back,
holding an ocean of tears
his heart flooded
by pure love, (2)
Uddhava, His messenger spoke :
"O Krishna, my friend,
return one time to Vraja!
Your sweet words
were only drops
for those burning in dunes
of Your absence,
roving in madness,
wondering where are You,
nothing else I could do!...
Seeing Nanda Baba's empty barns,
the cobwebs on the stoves,
as Yasoda stood still, staring,
her glance lost on a distant point,
her glance lost on a distant point,
brooding over their milk-fed boy.
My comforting attempt
went unheard, - failed ...
now how can I retell
the river of words
that gopi spoke
maddened by love...
I was left dumbstruck,
I am not the same person of the past,
I wish to become
a blade of grass
to catch some dust
falling from the feet
of Radha,
as the gopis rush
as the gopis rush
in ecstatic love through the
forests
of Vraja."
1) "From the quality of variegatedness, love of God takes the form of waves and appears with various emotions." pg 67 Sri Krishna Samhita by Bhaktivinoda Thakura
2) Garga Samhita 5.14.3 "I will return to Mathura City, tell Lord Krishna how you suffer in His absence, and soften His heart by placing my tears at His feet."
"Krishna had also another intention in sending Uddhava to Vrajabhumi. He wanted that Uddhava would come to the platform of pure love. Krishna knew this would happen when he saw the gopis, especially Radharani, then he would understand the love they had developed. Therefore Krishna sent Uddhava there. "
2) Garga Samhita 5.14.3 "I will return to Mathura City, tell Lord Krishna how you suffer in His absence, and soften His heart by placing my tears at His feet."
"Krishna had also another intention in sending Uddhava to Vrajabhumi. He wanted that Uddhava would come to the platform of pure love. Krishna knew this would happen when he saw the gopis, especially Radharani, then he would understand the love they had developed. Therefore Krishna sent Uddhava there. "
Excerpt from a lecture of Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja
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