Rohiṇī and Devakī, their hearts overflowing with emotion, approached the Queen of Vraja. They embraced her warmly, recalling the deep friendship she had shown them in times past. Tears welled in their eyes and choked their voices as they spoke to her. “O Queen of Vraja,” they said, “who could ever forget your unwavering friendship? Even if one were to attain and relinquish the sovereignty of Indra, there would be no way in this world to fully repay your kindness.” They continued, “We have witnessed how your parents delighted in you, prospered, nourished, and protected you. In doing so, they fulfilled their duty, just as eyelashes protect the eyes. Truly, the virtuous have nothing to fear, for heaven is not their ultimate goal.” At that moment, Śuka described how the gopīs, finally beholding their beloved Kṛṣṇa again, were so overwhelmed with longing that they cursed their own eyelashes for obstructing their vision, even for a moment. With their eyes, they embraced him, drawing him into the very core of their hearts. In this way, they attained a state of devotion so rare that even those who are always united with him seldom achieve it. The Blessed Lord, seeing the gopīs gathered in solitude, approached them with affection. He embraced them, inquired after their well-being, and, smiling gently, spoke: “Do you remember our friendship? Do you recall how, intent on fulfilling our own purposes, we departed for so long, our minds absorbed in destroying our enemies? Did you perhaps resent us, suspecting us of ingratitude? Know that it is the Lord who unites and separates all beings.” He continued, “Just as the wind gathers and scatters clouds, grass, cotton, and dust, so too does the Creator unite and disperse all beings. Among all beings, devotion to me leads to immortality. By good fortune, your love for me has arisen, dispelling every obstacle.” Kṛṣṇa then revealed, “I am the beginning and the end, the inner and outer essence of all beings, just as space, water, earth, air, and light are the essence of the material elements. All beings exist within beings, through the Self and the Supreme Self. Both are seen in me and in the transcendent, by those who perceive the imperishable.” Śuka explained that, thus instructed by Kṛṣṇa in the highest spiritual knowledge, the gopīs, their very life-energies dissolved in remembrance of him, transcended their individual selves. Filled with devotion, they prayed: “May the lotus-footed Lord, whose feet are contemplated in the hearts of the yogic masters endowed with profound wisdom, and who is the support for deliverance from the well of worldly existence, always arise in our minds, even as we dwell in our homes.” Thus concludes the eighty-second chapter, “The Meeting of the Vṛṣṇis and Gopas,” in the tenth book of the glorious Bhāgavata Purāṇa, scripture of the supreme paramahaṃsa. Śuka then continued, describing the events that followed. Having blessed the gopīs, the Lord—who is both teacher and refuge—turned to inquire after Yudhiṣṭhira and all his steadfast friends. Those who were questioned by the Lord of the worlds, and honored by his presence, replied with joyful hearts, their sins destroyed by the very sight of his lotus feet. They said, “O great one, how could anything inauspicious arise from the nectar of your lotus feet, or from the words that flow from your mouth? Those who drink this nectar with the cups of their ears find it sufficient to sever the bondage of embodied existence and the forgetfulness born of the body. Having abandoned the threefold states of self and purified of all actions, we have attained uninterrupted bliss and unimpeded knowledge. Through yoga, established by the scriptures and time, we bow to your form—the supreme path of the paramahaṃsa—though it is fashioned by māyā.” The sage Śuka narrated that the wives of the Andhaka and Kaurava clans, having gathered together, praised Kṛṣṇa, the crown-jewel of the noble. In their assembly, they recounted to one another the celebrated stories of Govinda, which are sung throughout the three worlds. Draupadī, eager to hear their tales, addressed them: “O Vaidarbhī, O Bhadrā, O Jāmbavatī, O Kauśalā, O Satyabhāmā, O Kālindī, O Śaibyā, O Rohiṇī, O Lakṣmaṇā—O wives of Kṛṣṇa, please tell us: how did the Lord Himself marry you, imitating the ways of the world by His own divine power?” Rukmiṇī replied first: “When warriors with drawn bows sought to offer me to the king of Cedi, Kṛṣṇa swept me away as a lion seizes his share from a herd of goats, while the dust of His feet crowned the heads of the king’s soldiers. May the feet of that Lord, the abode of Śrī, ever be worshipped by me.” Satyabhāmā spoke next: “To wipe away the curse smeared upon me by my co-wife, He defeated the king of the earth and brought the precious jewel. He frightened my father and others, and even though I was promised to another, He claimed me for Himself.” Jāmbavatī recounted: “Recognizing Him as the maker of bodies and my destined Lord, the husband of Sītā fought with my father for twenty-one days. Knowing Kṛṣṇa was being tested, my father offered me to Him, and I became His servant, grasping His feet along with the jewel.” Kālindī shared her story: “I was performing austerities, longing to touch His feet. He approached me as a friend, took my hand, and I became the sweeper in His house.” Mitravindā recalled: “He came to my svayaṃvara, defeated the assembled kings, and carried me away as an elephant takes his mate from the herd. He drove away my brothers and brought me to His own city, the abode of fortune. May I ever serve His feet.” Satyā described: “My father, to test the strength and valor of the kings, presented seven fierce, sharp-horned bulls. Kṛṣṇa, the destroyer of the pride of heroes, subdued them with ease, binding them as a child binds calves. Thus He won me, given as a prize of valor, along with my maidservants and army, having defeated the kings on the road. May I become His servant.” Bhadrā then said: “My father, inviting my maternal uncle, gave me to Kṛṣṇa, the dark one, whose mind was fixed on Him, along with an army and companions. May I have the touch of His feet in every birth, for by that touch, one wandering in the cycle of karma attains the highest good for the soul.” Lakṣmaṇā spoke: “Hearing again and again from Nārada the stories of the king’s birth and deeds, my mind was drawn to Mukunda, the lotus-handed one, forsaking even the guardians of the world. Knowing my heart, my father, the affectionate Bṛhatsena, devised a way for my marriage. As in the svayaṃvara of the princess, a fish was set up as the target, visible only in the water below. Hearing of this, kings from all sides—skilled in every weapon—came by the thousands to my father’s city. All were honored according to their strength and age, and those who desired me took up bows and arrows to compete. Some could not even string the bow; others, drawing the string to their chest, were struck down by its force. Some heroes, like the kings of Magadha, Ambashṭha, and Cedi, as well as Bhīma, Duryodhana, and Karṇa, managed to string the bow but did not understand the true challenge. Arjuna, seeing the image of the fish in the water, carefully released his arrow, but it merely touched the target. When the kings had withdrawn, their pride broken, the Lord took up the bow, strung it effortlessly, and with a single glance at the fish’s reflection, struck it down with his arrow as the sun stood in the Abhijit constellation.” Thus, in the company of Kṛṣṇa’s wives and noble queens, the stories of the Lord’s wondrous marriages and divine play were sung, filling the hearts of all with devotion and joy.