This is the lila order:

Shri Krishna sees what is appropriate and then acts. The Gopi's true intention are now clearly before Him. Shri Krishna is called All Capable. He understands what is lila-appropiate and whatever He does becomes perfect. He undertands both the source and appearance of things and this allows Him to penetrate the situation.

He knows that the Gopis did not come to Him for a worldly marriage or sensuous enjoyment, nor do they contradict the ways of the world or desire wisdom. Those blessed girls contemplated the situation from every angle and arrived there only for love. They confirm this by longing to touch His feet.

They desired, through bhakti yoga, only Krishna. They crave the devotion of touch and now have no interested in even hearing about Him. There is no longer any appeal to practice anything else, not even the devotion of being His friend. All they want is His personal touch, His contact.

It is not merely a longing, they also desire to employ their bodies and senses in the sacred act. They worshipped Katyayani Devi to attain Shri Krishna as their husbands and that vow is still in place. If they had completed their pledge, they would no longer be Holders of the Vow.

Their Krishna oath encompasses a constant engagement of their minds and hearts. All of their capacites are infused into exalted bhakti. When Shri Krishna sees this, He addresses them is a way that will remedy and perfect their adoration.

If it be asked, "Why is Krishna addressing the Gopis?" It is because He is Damodar. As Damodar He falls under the Gopis control as He fell under His mother's hold when she tied Him up after He feed curds to the monkeys." The Gopis know, "Now He is under our thumb."

Krishna address the Gopis as Abala, women who have no strength to resist Him. By calling them Abalas, He assures them that this is only about ras. Now they will fall under each others control As Damodar, Krishna is under their domain.

As Abalas, they are too weak to resist Him.

BHAGAVATA 25 ½

Virtuous Gopis I know of your Desire to adore Me Through your worship.

It is worthy of Emanation

SUBODHINI

The Gopis heart's desired to reveal their inner intentions. Shri Krishna understood this and before they could say anything, to accomplish all ends mentions, "I already know."

There is a good reason for the Gopis not to speak directly of their desires. If they did, the loving ras would no longer be nurtured.

If you question the purity of their intentions and that is why Shri Krishna does not address them directly, look again. Shri Krsihna calls them "Sadhavis", extremely virtuous. The Gopis are pure-hearted and free of impurities. They are loyal to their husband, the amazing Shri Krishna.

Their motive to adore Him qualified them. Their divine desires will be fulfilled from the stamina of their devotional oath. The Gopis now have no use for anything anyone could offer them.

Krishna explains, "You have come to know Me. Even if you first worshipped Devi Katyayani, it was really just to attain Me. In your second round of worship, you adored Me directly.

I could question that real worship is offered to the awaken deva, the deva who responds and you Gopis did not even touch Me. Therefore, even though your worship was earnest it is make-believe. Also it could be questioned that worship done without the deva's permission bears no fruit. But none of this applies to you blessed Gopis. I am delighted with you, with your beings as well as with the reward you have choosen. I totally approve. Understanding your lila aspirations exhilarates Me; I am ecstatic."

Someone else continues to doubt the Gopis, "It is well know that the puja you offered to Shri Krishna with loving glances, flowers and other items of worship was useless because He never appeared to accept them." This doubt is erased with Shri Krishna's own words, "I approve of your puja and now perfect it by appearing before you and fulfilling your inner-most desires. Your loving glances and bhava are the complete and final offerings. Everything you have done up to this point is now perfectly poised. Your sequence of pujas have brought you to this devotional position."

When the form of desire, The inner intention As well as the puja is pure, Then the fruit is always True and worthy.

It is proper that from truth the authentic reward arrives and now there is no doubt, the Gopis will receive it. This is the bhava. The Gopis pure puja actions are under their command and this insures that the reward is also under their control. Shri Krishna's addresses the Gopis to remove their concerns.

TIPPANI

There are two types of wisdom.

One is to know something's virtues, The other is to know the inner form.

When Shri Krishna refers to the "Gopis desires" in those two words He shows that they understand the virtues of their oath but have not yet grasped its inner form. That procedure is comprised of pure ras and can only be known by direct experience. It will come to them in a later lila.

When Shri Krsihna explains to them "Now I understand you." He is really speaking about their relationship of initmate love and said in a way to increase the intensity of the play. The Brahma Sutra says, "His lila only appears to be worldly". In fact everything Shri Krishna's does is perfectly divine. His words keep the exchange within the confines of the rules of ras. He also indicates that they will experience the complete form of their desires when they are blessed by direct contact with Him.

"HE TOOK MY CLOTHS" BHAGAVAT 27 ½

Gopis Return to Braja. Your vows Are completed. Virtuous ones The purpose of your Katyayani worship, The pledges you undertook have ripened. Now you will dance with Me During those autum nights That I am showing you Right now.

SUBODHINI

"From now on dear Gopis wherever you are, you will never be touched by anything mundane."

When Shri Krishna commands them to return home, His words reveal that they are now His own as well as His loving affection for them.

To wander about is An activity of strength and You are Abalas, now devoid of power. It is time to return.

Krishna begins, "O Gopis, the earth does not move. Only grass and other small particles upon it do. Now there is no other place you can go besides me."

If someone questions, "As the earth is prepared by plowing it, in a similar way, doesn't Shri Krishna now have to prepare the Gopis?"

To this Shri Krishna replied, "Of course not, you are perfected, you have attained, there is nothing left for you to do."

Because they are spiritually accomplished Shri Krishna tells them go home. Just before that, He allowed them the darshan of the Braja lila they would later enter as He said, "You will play with Me during those nights."

The moment He says "those nights" was when they received lila darshan of themselves by the banks of the Yamuna river dancing with the immortal Hari. The actual event did not occur until much later that year.

That divine night Always resides with Him.

When Krishna says "During those nights you will make lila with Me" He reveals to those blessed Gopis a condition of extreme union. Now there can be no further doubts, they have had the darshan.

If you ask, why didn't Shri Krishna give them the reward of His eternal connection instead of a few nights of union? The answer is that they undertook the vow specifically for nights of dalliance. It was why they worshipped Katyayani Devi. Their adoration of Shri Krishna was pure and provided them an ultimate reward.

Krishna lila was the true gift of their month long Devi worship. Because their pujas concluded at the end of night, that event decided that their lila with Shri Krishna would also take place at night.

"Virtuous women"

They don't not make dalliance during the day or whenever they desire. Their dalliance arises according to the decrees of marriage. If the Gopis came when He first called them, that reward would have been indestructible. The fruit of all other karmas is perishable.

TIPPANI

Although he Gopis had the desire to go everywhere with Shri Krishna, that would not have nourished the ras and so Shri Krishna told them to return to Braja.

Like a plow goes to the earth, the earth does not go to the plow, so when necessary, Shri Krishna in the evening comes to Braja for a night of dalliance.