Krishna met the Gopis in privacy. He embraced them all, and, after enquiry about their safety, said smilingly: — "Do you remember us, O friends? For the good of those whom we call our own, we have been long in putting down the adverse party. Or do you think little of us, feeling that we have been ungrateful to you? Know for certain, it is the Lord who unites and separates all beings. As the wind unites masses of clouds, grass, cotton and dust particles, and again disunites them, so the creator does with all beings. Devotion to me serves to make beings immortal. How glad I am that you have this love to me, for by that love you gain me back. I am the beginning and end of all beings, I am both inside and outside. As the material objects resolve themselves into the primal elements, (Akâsa, air, fire, water and earth), so (the material parts in) all beings resolve themselves into the primal elements. Âtmâ pervades all beings as the conscious Perceiver (Âtmâ). Know both (the Perceiver and the Perceived) to be reflected in me, the Supreme and the Immutable." The Gopis were taught this Adhyâtma teaching by Sri Krishna. Bearing this teaching constantly in mind, they cast off the Jiva sheath (Jiva Kosa) and they attained Krishna. And they said: — "O Krishna let thy lotus feet be ever present in our minds, home-seeking though we may have been. The lords of Yoga by their profound wisdom meditate on thy feet in their hearts. It is by thy feet that those that have fallen into the well of Sansara are raised." (Here we take a final leave of the Gopis. They had known Krishna as the Purusha of the Heart. They now knew him as the all-pervading Purusha. They were drawn back into the bosom of that Purusha, their Linga (Sûkshma) Sarira destroyed. They now entered the divine state, but even there they did not forget the lotus feet of Krishna. They became centres of devotional love in the bosom of the Universal Lord.) Yudisthira and other friends of Krishna addressed him as all-incarnating Purusha. The wives of Krishna related to Draupadi how they came to be married to him. The Rishis addressed Sri Krishna as Íshvara. They then took leave of him. Vâsudeva however detained them, saying they should instruct him as to how he could exhaust his Karma. Nârada said it was no wonder that he should ask this question of them and not of Krishna. For proximity is the cause of disregard. The Rishis, addressing Vâsudeva, said: —