CHAPTER XXXII.
SHREE SHOOKDEO JEE said,--O great king! all the cowherdesses, sitting on the bank of the Jumna, and intoxicated with love, began to sing the exploits and virtues of Huri: "O most beloved! since you came to Bruj, you have diffused new pleasures there. Luchmee in the hope of your protection, has corn and taken up her fixed abode. We, cowherdesses, are your slaves; show compassion, and quickly take thought of us; since we have seen your elegant, dark-coloured, beautiful form, we have become your slaves without purchase. The arrows of your eyes have pierced our breasts. Beloved! in what way and manner are we not yours? Have mercy on us, as our lives are ebbing out. Lay aside relentlessness, and be pleased to present yourself soon to our sight. If your wish was to destroy us, why did you save us from the poisonous serpent, from fire and from inundation; why not have allowed us then to die? You are not merely Jusodha's son. Bruhmù, Roodrù, Indrù and all the gods, humbling themselves before you, have brought you on the earth for the protection of the world.
"O lord of life! it is a subject of great wonder to us, whom you will preserve, if you destroy your own! Beloved! your are acquainted with the secrets of the heart; why do you not put
Having told so much of the story, Shree Shookdeo Jee said, O great king! the cowherdesses, distressed at their separation from Krishnù, continued in this disconsolate manner to sing his exploits, and were worn out by their exertions in doing so; but still Beharee did not come.
At length, being utterly without hope, and giving up all expectation of living, they became quite senseless from total want of resolution; and falling down, wept so violently and with such lamentations, that all things, animate and inanimate, on hearing them, were very much afflicted.
