Gopas
Gopa · go-pa, “the protectors of the cows”
The gopas are the cowherds of Gokula and Vraja, the herdsmen of Nanda‘s settlement among whom Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma grew up. Their life is go-pālana, the tending of the cows: they have, as Śrī Kṛshṇa says, no countries, cities, villages or houses of their own, but live in the forests and on the mountains with their herds. Nanda is their chief, and they are his kinsmen and guards. Śuka Maharshi, telling the Bhāgavata Purāṇa to King Parīkshit, says that the gopālakas of Gokula led by Nanda, and their women led by Yaśodā, were almost all devas, born to serve Śrī Hari in his avatāra; in the games of the forest he calls them devatās in the form of gopas.
Their whole life turned on Śrī Kṛshṇa. They had offered themselves, their kin, their wealth, their wives and their pleasures to him alone, and given up every enjoyment for lotus-eyed Kṛshṇa. They saw him slay Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta and Pralamba, wept on the bank when Kāliya held him, took shelter under Govardhana when he held the mountain up on one hand, and were shown by him the Vaikuṇṭha dhāma of Parabrahman. When he left for Mathurā they followed with their carts, and when Uddhava came from him they prayed that in every birth their minds might stay at his feet. Even at Kurukshetra, long after, they could not draw back their minds from his lotus feet.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 1, 16, 18, 24–26, 28, 47, 65, 84
Devas born as gopas
When Bhūdevī took refuge in Brahmā, Brahmā gave the devas the word of the Purushottama: before Śrī Hari came down to remove the earth’s burden, they were to be born with their aṃśas among the Yadus. Śuka tells Parīkshit that the gopālakas of Gokula beginning with Nanda, their women beginning with Yaśodā, the Vṛshṇis beginning with Vasudeva, the Yādava women beginning with Devakī, the kinsmen and friends of Nanda and Vasudeva, and even the followers of Kaṃsa, were almost without exception devas; and Nārada Maharshi explained this to Kaṃsa. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 1)
In the summer games of Vṛndāvana, when Śrī Kṛshṇa danced and the others sang, played their instruments, flutes and horn-trumpets, and clapped, Śuka says that the gopālakas were devatās who had taken the form of gopas, and that they praised Balarāma and Śrī Kṛshṇa as actors praise an actor. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 18)
When Uddhava came to Gokula, he saw it shining with the homes of the gopālakas, where the Agnis, Sūrya, guests, cows, the knowers of the Veda, the Pitṛ-devatās and the devatās were worshipped with incense, lamps and garlands. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 46)
In Śrī Kṛshṇa’s childhood
The night of his birth. When Vasudeva carried the newborn Śrī Kṛshṇa across the Yamunā to Nanda‘s settlement, he found all the gopas asleep by the power of Yogamāyā. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 3)
The birth festival. At the festival of the birth of Nanda‘s son, the gopas came in costly garments, jackets, turbans and ornaments, bearing gifts. In their joy they sprinkled one another with milk, ghee and water, smeared one another with butter and threw curd. Nanda gave garments, ornaments, cows and wealth to the gopīs and gopas, to the paurāṇikas, the praisers and the musicians. Later Nanda and the gopas went to Mathurā with the yearly tribute, took leave of Vasudeva and returned to Gokula on their bullock carts. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 5)
Pūtanā. At the roar of the dying Pūtanā the hearts, ears and heads of the people of Gokula seemed to burst, and seeing her vast body they were more afraid. Nanda and the gopālakas, coming back from Mathurā, were astonished at the body and said: “Vasudeva must have been a maharshi or a great yogī in a former birth, for the very ill omen he spoke of has come.” The people of Gokula cut the body to pieces with axes and burned it, and because Śrī Kṛshṇa had drunk her milk and her life, the smoke had the fragrance of aguru. The gopālakas who had stayed in Gokula smelt it and asked, “What is this? Where is it coming from?”, and they told Nanda’s party of Pūtanā’s coming, her death and the child’s safety, and all were amazed. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 6)
The cart and Tṛṇāvarta. When the cart turned over at the festival, the children said that the crying baby had kicked it over; the gopālakas did not believe them, not knowing Śrī Kṛshṇa’s inconceivable power, and they set the cart up again with the curd and offerings on it. When the child was brought back from the rākshasa Tṛṇāvarta, freed from the mouth of death, the gopīs and gopālakas with Nanda rejoiced greatly. “The wicked one has died by his own pāpa; for a good person, sama-dṛshṭi frees from fear,” they said, and they asked what tapas, what ārādhana, what wells, yajñas, dānas or acts of compassion of theirs had brought the child back to them. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 7)
Brahmā‘s year. When Brahmā hid the calves and the cowherd boys, Śrī Kṛshṇa himself became every boy and every calf for a year, and the love of the people of Gokula for their children grew without limit. Five or six days before the year was out, the cows grazing on the peak of Govardhana saw the calves far off and ran to them, heedless of the gopas who tended them and of the path. The gopas tried to stop them and failed, and felt shame and great anger. Crossing the hard path, they came there and saw their own sons too; at once the stream of love woke in their hearts, their anger left them, and they lifted the children, hugged them and kissed them again and again on the forehead. The aged gopas went away from there only with difficulty, and when they remembered the children tears welled up. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 13)
Kāliya. When Śrī Kṛshṇa went to the Yamunā without Balarāma and the serpent Kāliya wrapped him in his coils, his friends the gopālakas could not see him move; they wept in great pain and fell to the ground, their minds numbed by grief and fear. In Gokula, Nanda and the gopālakas saw ill omens and feared that death itself had come, for Kṛshṇa was their life and their minds were on him, though they did not know his power. Balarāma, knowing the greatness of his younger brother, laughed and said nothing. They followed Kṛshṇa’s footprints, among the footprints of the cows and the other gopas, to the Yamunā, and from afar saw him motionless in the hoods in the middle of the pool, the gopa boys stunned on the bank and the cattle crying. Nanda and the gopālakas were about to go into the pool when Balarāma stopped them. When Śrī Kṛshṇa came out of the water, all the gopālakas rose up like the senses when prāṇa returns, and embraced him in joy. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 16–17)
Pralamba. In the forest, Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma, with Sudāma and the gopālakas, adorned themselves with shoots, peacock feathers, flower clusters, garlands, mineral colours and gold ornaments, and sang, danced and wrestled. When Śrī Kṛshṇa proposed a game of two teams, the gopālakas made Balarāma and Kṛshṇa the leaders, and carriers and carried went on to the banyan Bhāṇḍīraka. When the asura Pralamba was slain by Balarāma, the gopālakas cried “Well done!”, and they blessed and embraced Balarāma as though he had come back from death. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 18)
Govardhana
The yajña for the mountain. Śrī Kṛshṇa saw the gopas preparing for the Indra-yāga and asked Nanda and the elders what it was for. He told them that for the gopas the livelihood is always the tending of the cows, that they have no countries, cities, villages or houses and live in forests and on mountains, and that they should offer the yajña to the cows, the brāhmaṇas and Govardhana instead. Nanda, Sunanda and the others accepted his words. They had the brāhmaṇas perform svasti-vācana; with the very materials of the Indra-yāga they offered dhūpa, dīpa and naivedya to Govardhana, the brāhmaṇas and the cows, and grass to the cows; and with the herds in front they made pradakshiṇa of the mountain and received the brāhmaṇas’ blessings. To give them faith, Śrī Kṛshṇa took another, vast form on the mountain, saying “I am the mountain”, and ate the naivedya, and with the people of Gokula he himself bowed to that form. The gopas said: “Wonder! This mountain has taken a form and blessed us! It takes any form it wishes and harms those who dishonour it; let us bow to it for our welfare and that of the cows.” Then they went back to Gokula with Śrī Kṛshṇa. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 24)
The refuge under the mountain. Indra said that the forest-dwelling gopas, proud of their wealth and relying on a mere man, Kṛshṇa, had insulted him, and sent the Sāṃvartaka clouds against Gokula. Shivering with cold, the cattle, gopas and gopīs took refuge in Śrī Kṛshṇa: “O Kṛshṇa, Mahātmā, tender to your bhaktas, protector of Gokula, save us from the angry Indra!” Śrī Kṛshṇa lifted Govardhana and told his father and the people of Gokula to enter the hollow under the mountain with their herds and rest, without fear of the mountain falling or of the wind and rain. With faith they went in with their goods in carts and their servants, without crowding. When the rain stopped and the rivers had gone down, he told the gopas to come out with their women, wealth and children; they came out slowly with their herds and carts, embraced Śrī Kṛshṇa and clasped his hands in love, and he went to Gokula with Balarāma, surrounded by the gopas. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 25)
Their words to Nanda. Astonished by his līlās and not knowing his power, the gopas gathered and spoke: “That he is born among us village folk is a birth unworthy of him. How did a boy of seven years hold up a great mountain with one hand, with ease, as a great elephant holds a lotus?” They recalled one by one Pūtanā, the cart, Tṛṇāvarta, the twin trees, Baka, the calf-asura, Dhenuka, Pralamba, the forest fire and Kāliya. “O Nanda, all of us who live in Gokula have a love for your son that cannot be let go, and he has a natural love for us. What is the reason? Where is a boy of seven years, and where the holding up of a great mountain? Doubt arises in us about your son.” Nanda told them the words of Gargācārya: that the child takes avatāras in every yuga, that he was once born to Vasudeva and is Śrīmān Vāsudeva, that he has many names and forms, and that he will delight the gopālakas and the cows and do them great good, and through him they will cross all dangers. Their wonder gone, the people of Gokula joyfully worshipped Nanda and Śrī Kṛshṇa. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 26)
The vision of Vaikuṇṭha
On the Dvādaśī after the Ekādaśī fast, Nanda entered the Yamunā to bathe at the hour of the night that belongs to the rākshasas, and a servant of Varuṇa carried him off. The cowherds who were his guards could not see him and cried out, “O Kṛshṇa! O Balarāma!” Śrī Kṛshṇa went to Varuṇa, who worshipped him, and brought his father home, and his kinsmen rejoiced to see Nanda. When Nanda told them of the splendour of Varuṇa’s loka and of the humility all its beings showed to Śrī Kṛshṇa, the cowherds knew that Śrī Kṛshṇa was Īśvara, and a longing rose in them: “Will he show us his own dhāma, beyond the reach of our senses?” Śrī Kṛshṇa, the witness of all, perceived the wish of his own people and in his compassion resolved to fulfil it. He showed the cowherds his dhāma, which lies beyond ignorance, the infinite Parabrahman, self-luminous consciousness beyond time. He took them to the pool where he had shown his svarūpa to Akrūra; they plunged into it and saw the Vaikuṇṭha dhāma of Parabrahman, and he brought them up again. Nanda and the cowherds saw that in that loka even the Vedas were praising Śrī Kṛshṇa, and they were immersed in supreme wonder and bliss. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 28)
The rāsa and Ambikāvana
After the rāsa, the people of Gokula found no fault in Śrī Kṛshṇa: deluded by his Yogamāyā, each saw his own wife beside him. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 33)
Once, at Śivarātri, the gopas yoked oxen to their carts and went on yātrā to the kshetra of Ambikāvana for the pūjā of Mahādeva. They bathed in the Sarasvatī, offered upahāras and did pūjā with bhakti to Mahādeva, the all-pervading, the supreme master (adhīśvara) of all jīvas, and to Pārvatī Devī, the mother of the world. To please Mahādeva they gave cows, gold, cloth, honey and sweet food to the brāhmaṇas with śraddhā. Nanda, Sunanda (Nanda‘s younger brother) and the other gopas, great puṇyātmās, took up the dīkshā of the Śivarātri vrata, took only water and spent the night on the bank of the Sarasvatī. A great python seized the sleeping Nanda; the gopas woke at his cry and beat the serpent with burning torch-sticks, but it did not let him go until Śrī Kṛshṇa touched it with his foot. Amazed at Śrī Kṛshṇa’s greatness, the people of Gokula completed the Śivarātri vrata at Ambikāvana, returned to Gokula and told the account to one another. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 34)
In the song the gopīs sang while Śrī Kṛshṇa was in the forest, they tell how, when he calls the cows by name on his flute with Balarāma and the gopas, the rivers stop flowing and their waves tremble with love; how the gopas who follow him in Vṛndāvana describe his prowess; and how at evening, as he returns with the herd playing the flute, the gopas sing his glory and the elders bow at his feet on the path. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 35)
The journey to Mathurā
When Akrūra came to take Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā, Nanda ordered the gopālakas to bring all the milk, curd, butter and other gifts for the king and to yoke the carts. The gopīs, in their grief, called the gopālakas proud for hurrying Śrī Kṛshṇa away while the elders kept silent. Nanda, Sunanda and the other gopālakas followed Śrī Kṛshṇa on carts with presents and pots of milk. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 39)
Nanda and the people of Gokula reached Mathurā first and waited in a garden, where Śrī Kṛshṇa said they would unload the carts. Akrūra asked Śrī Kṛshṇa to come to his house with the gopālakas and his friends. In the evening Śrī Kṛshṇa, with Balarāma and surrounded by the gopālakas, entered Mathurā to see the city; when he took the washerman’s garments, he and Balarāma put on the pairs they liked and gave the rest to the gopālakas. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 41) After Kaṃsa was slain, Śrī Kṛshṇa honoured Nanda and the people of Gokula with garments, ornaments, bronze milking vessels, carts and more, and sent them home. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 45)
Their prayer to Uddhava
When Uddhava, having stayed in Gokula, took leave of the gopīs, Yaśodā, Nanda and the gopālakas and mounted his chariot, Nanda, Sudāma and others came to him with many gifts in their hands, tears of love in their eyes, and said:
“May our mind’s workings stay at the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛshṇa; may our speech speak his words; may our bodies bow to him and do pradakshiṇa to him. Because of our karmas, by the will of Īśvara, we may take whatever births; whatever acts of puṇya and dāna we do, by the power of that puṇya may we have love for Śrī Kṛshṇa, the Sarveśvara, Īśvara of all.”
So the gopālakas, out of their bhakti for Śrī Kṛshṇa, honoured Uddhava, and he went back to Mathurā and told Śrī Kṛshṇa of the surpassing bhakti of the people of Gokula. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 47)
Balarāma comes to Gokula
When Balarāma came to Gokula from Dvārakā, the gopas and gopīs, who had long waited, embraced him. He bowed to the elders among the gopas, and the younger ones bowed to him, each as fitted their age, friendship and relation. He took the gopas’ hands, joked with them and embraced them, and sat among them. Those gopālakas had given up all enjoyments for lotus-eyed Śrī Kṛshṇa. They asked: “O Balarāma, are all our kinsmen well? You who live with wives and children, do you remember us? You killed Kaṃsa and freed your friends and kin, conquered your enemies and made your home in Dvārakā, which others cannot enter. All this is auspicious.” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 65)
The meeting at Kurukshetra
At the solar eclipse, when the Yādavas came to Kurukshetra, Nanda learned of it and set out with the gopas, their goods packed on carts, and the Yādavas saw Nanda, the gopas and the gopīs who had long waited eagerly to see Śrī Kṛshṇa. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 82) There Śrī Kṛshṇa’s queens said that they longed for the touch of his feet as the gopas, the gopīs, the hunter women and even the grasses and creepers had longed for it when he grazed the cows. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 83) The Yādavas gave the people of Gokula costly ornaments, silk and priceless goods. Nanda, the gopas and the gopīs could not draw back their minds from Śrī Kṛshṇa’s lotus feet; at last they went back to Gokula. (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 84)
Remembered in the Purāṇa
Uddhava, remembering Śrī Kṛshṇa to Vidura, tells how he grazed the cows and calves in the forests of the Yamunā, full of calling birds, surrounded by the cowherd boys (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 2). In Sūta‘s summary of the whole Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa saved the cowherds from the forest fire that spread all around them (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 12).
Per Bhavishya Purāṇa
The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa says that Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa looks only for bhakti with love. The gopas, with the gṛdhra (vulture), the vaṇik, the vyādha, Hanūmān, Vibhīshaṇa, Vṛtrāsura and other daityas, reached the presence of Nārāyaṇa and live by his grace in joy even today.
In the Uttara Parva, Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira of the Malla Dvādaśī, begun by the mallas when he was eight years old, on the bank of the Yamunā. The gopas who performed this vrata received cows, buffaloes, farmland and the like in abundance.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 27; Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 2; Skandha 10, Chapters 1, 3, 5–7, 13, 16–18, 24–26, 28, 33–35, 39, 41, 45–47, 65, 82–84; Skandha 12, Chapter 12
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 27; Uttara Parva, Chapters 73–74