Uddhao (a friend of Shree Krishna whom He sent to Braj to meet gopis) is already in Braj and he’s standing in front of the gopis (cowherd maidens devoted to Krishna). The gopis see someone like Krishna has come, all decorated like Krishna, wearing orange robes, and with a complexion also very much like Shree Krishna, shyam-rang (dark Divine complexion). And seated in this glorious chariot, he has come from Dwarika (Krishna’s royal abode). So the gopis thought,
“Oh God, it seems he has come from the dham (Divine abode) of our Beloved.”
So they all gathered - all the gopis gathered.
You know, when you throw sweets, you don’t have to give personal invitations to the ants, do you? So likewise, when Uddho came, no personal invitation was needed. All the gopis just came. And they’re already in that intoxicated state all the time. So no gopi has even this mind to say,
“Hey sakhi (female friend), you come! Hey Lalita, you come! Hey Vishakha, you come!”
No, no. They all went in their own state of intoxication. And they are standing surrounding Uddhava. And Uddhava starts talking about his brahm gyān (knowledge of the absolute). And then the gopis could not tolerate it anymore. So they said:
श्याम तन, श्याम मन, श्याम ही हमारो धन,
आठों याम उधऔ हमें श्याम ही सों काम है ।
श्याम हिये श्याम जिये श्याम बिनु नाहिं तिये,
आँधेकी-सी लाकरी आधार श्याम नाम है ।
श्याम गति श्याम मति श्याम ही हैं प्रानपति,
श्याम श्याम रटत सखल ब्रज धाम हैं ।
…वगैरहShyam tan Shyam man Shyam hai hamaro dhan,
Āṭho yām Uddhau hameṇ Shyam hī soṇ kām hai.
Shyam hiye Shyam jiye Shyam binu nāhiṇ tiye,
Āṁdhekī-sī lãkrī ādhār Shyam nām hai.
Shyam gati Shyam mati Shyam hī haiṇ prānapati,
Shyam Shyam raṭat sakhal Braj dhām haiṇ
…etc.- Sur Sagar, Shree Surdas Ji
“Shree Krishna is our body, He is our mind, He is our wealth! O Uddhao! All the 24 hours we only have a concern with Him! Shyam is our heart! He is the very breath of our life! Without Him we can have no satisfaction. Like the walking stick of a blind man, the name of Shyam is my sole support. He is our ultimate refuge, Shyam is the guiding intellect, and Shyam alone is the Lord of life; The entire realm of Braj resounds with the ceaseless chanting of “Shyam, Shyam!”
So Udho says, “Where is Kanhaiya?”
And these gopis were crying. Literally, they were crying. They were totally out of control. They were rolling on the sands,
“Ha Shyam! Ha Shyam!”
And one moment I see this, and the next moment I am seeing them talking to Shyam Sundar. They are laughing. They are rolling in laughter. Again, they are rolling in the sands of Braj out of joy. And they are talking to Shyam Sundar.
“Shyam Sundar, can You pick up this basket for me and put it on my head?”
“Hey Kanhaiya, You dance, and then I will give You balls of butter!”
Etc., etc.
Uddho cannot see Kanhaiya. And then his head started reeling. Uddho is thinking,
“Where am I? Where have I come? Where has Krishna sent me to? To all these illiterate minds of Braj who are absolutely, absolutely mental cases? Crazy! They’ve got a disease, it seems, where they have started to see and talk with Shyam Sundar!”
