(female form of gopa,
"cowkeeper") The gopis are cowkeeping women who are the deity
Krishna's companions in Braj, the area south of Delhi where Krishna is said to
have spent his early life, according to Hindu legend.
The gopis are Braj's modest rural ladies who look after the
village cows, knead milk into butter for sale, and give Krishna with a loving
and familiar presence as he grows up.
They extol his baby beauty and put up with his childhood
antics, particularly his constant stealing of their hard-earned butter.
They answer to the nightly call of his flute to join him in
the circle dance (ras lila) on the banks of the river Yamuna as he becomes an
exquisite teenager.
Despite the fact that the gopis are entirely committed to
Krishna and adore him beyond all else, their interactions with him are free of
affectation and awe.
Krishna is treated as one of their own by the gopis, who are
plain rural ladies.
They have no qualms about punishing him when he steals their
butter, for example.
They are models for the perfect devotee because of their
close yet unaffected connection with Krishna (bhakta).
Krishna, for one, is supposed to favor this kind of genuine,
spontaneous love than any other kind of premeditated love.
Braj is Krishna's favorite location on Earth since the people there regard him like one of their own.
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