Yâma is the Death-god. The river Yamunâ is his sister. _Kâliya_ is from kala or time. Kâliya with its one hundred hoods is the lifetime of one birth, represented by one hundred years. The serpent could not be killed but only sent away from Vrindâvana. The devotees got over the periodic death-transformation. _The conflagtation and Pralamba._ As the followers of Krishna were saved from death on the one hand, so they were saved from conflagration (annihilation of form) and loss of the Ego (Balarâma) on the other hand. In the kingdom of Divine Bliss, everything now was divine. The purified mind did not go astray. It remained entirely attached to Sri Krishna. Personality was now thoroughly conquered. The Jiva had acquired matter congenial to the plane of the first Purusha, and he no longer ran the risk of death or annihilation. The Gopis completed their homeward journey and they knew nothing except their Lord Krishna. They gave up all for the sake of the Lord. The Lord was all in all to them. They were bound to Him by the most sacred ties of devotional love. We shall now see how they became united to the Divine Lord. _The Gopis and the stealing of their clothes._ The rains followed the summer and there was a flow of spirituality all around. The autumn followed and it was calm, clear and transparent. When the water is pure, transparent and calm and the sun is over it can anything prevent the reflection of the sun’s image on its bosom? The Gopis drew unto themselves the image of Sri Krishna. There was no muddiness in them as in ordinary mortals; they had not the calls of other desires. It is not till the ear ceases to hear the outside world, that it is open to the music in the heart, the flute of Sri Krishna. The Rupa of Krishna becomes manifest when all worldly Rupas lose their charm. The Gopis even smelt the divine fragrance of Sri Krishna; they felt his divine touch and they tasted the honey of Sri Krishna’s lips. The charms of the world all dead and gone, there remains only one attraction, that of Sri Krishna, the only Purusha in Vrindâvana. The Gopis now had a right to approach Sri Krishna as their lover. They became full of Him (_tanmaya_), and they worshipped Kâtyâyani (Yoga Mâyâ) to gain their object. (X. 21.) It was then that Sri Krishna stripped them of their clothes (X. 22.) No false shame, no false considerations should now deter the Gopis. They should lay themselves bare before Sri Krishna. No hiding, no half speaking. "Virtuous girls, I know your resolve. It is to worship me. I also approve of it and so it must succeed." This was the long and short of the whole affair. The Gopis saw they were found out. So it was to be a matter of open love now. We shall pass over a few digressions before we come back to the Gopis and the consummation of their love (Râsa Lilâ). _Vedic Brahmâns and their wives._ Those that were under the influence of Vedic Yajnas could not easily accept the self-sacrificing path of compassion.