Krishna smiled and gave the excuse that He had not brought His flute. But seeing Neeraja’s yearning, He plucked a reed from the vamsi kunj and broke it right, and in a trice converted it into a flute. With Neeraja on his lap, Krishna played so melodiously on the flute that the entire Gokula and even the whole world, was bathed in ecstatic joy. When He stopped, Neeraja had attained final beatitude and was no longer a limited individual Gopi separate from Him.

Krishna laid aside His flute and said He will not play on it again. That is the story of one Gopi; the story of every Gopi will be interesting, each in its own way, for they were all so transmuted by the Bhakti they bore towards the Lord. The Gopis were declared by Narada in the Bhakhi Sutras (aphorisms on devotion) to be the greatest among the Bhaktas (devotees).

Radha is the most well known among the Gopis. The Radha-thathwam (principle) is a deep, inscrutable one. She was ever in the contemplation of the Lord and His Glory. She saw the child Krishna as the Divine manifestation, separate from the human form.