Gopi

(feminine of gopa, “cow-keeper”) In
Hindu mythology, the gopis are the cowkeeping women who are the god
Krishna’s companions in Braj, the
region south of Delhi in which Krishna is
believed to have spent his early life. The
gopis are the simple village women of
Braj, who keep the village cows, churn
the milk into butter for sale, and provide
Krishna with an adoring and familiar
presence as he grows up. They exclaim
over his beauty as an infant and they
endure his boyhood pranks—particularly his continual theft of their hardearned butter. When he becomes an
enchanting adolescent, they respond
to the nightly call of his flute to join
him in the circular dance (ras lila) on
the shores of the river Yamuna.
Although the gopis are completely
devoted to Krishna and love him above
all else, their relations with him are
also devoid of any affectation or awe.
The gopis are simple country women,
and they treat Krishna as one of their
own. For example, they feel no qualms
about scolding him when he has stolen
their butter. Their intimate but unaffected
relationship with Krishna makes them
paradigms for the ideal devotee (bhakta).
For his part, Krishna is said to prefer this
sort of natural and spontaneous relationship to any sort of calculated worship. Krishna loves Braj more than any
other place on earth because the people
there treat him as one of their own.