bathing, the Lord's wives, all goddesses of fortune, hugged Him in the water, and the vermilion red of kunkuma, which enhanced the beauty of their breasts, embellished the Lord's chest with reddish hues.

The impersonalists would not dare to believe that the spiritual world offers such a variety of pleasures, but in order to prove the reality of the eternal pleasures of the spiritual realm, Sri Krishna appeared on Earth and demonstrated that existence in the spiritual world is not devoid of amenities. The only difference is that in the spiritual world, these pleasures are eternal, they know no end, while the material universe offers only distorted and temporary reflections. When Sri Krishna indulged in these joyful entertainments, the Gandharvas, the celestial singers, as well as professional musicians praised him by fine concerts where he joined the sound of percussion instruments, drums, timpani, strings and drums. brass, and the whole atmosphere then took on a festive air. At times, taken by the game, the queens sprinkled water on the Lord's body with instruments that looked like long syringes, and the Lord returned the favor. When Krishna and his wives indulged in these amusements, one would have said Yaksaraja, the monarch of the heavens, who was rejoicing with his many wives. (Yaksaraja, also known as Kuvera, acts as the treasurer of the Edenic kingdom). When Sri Krishna's wives were all wet, the grace of their breasts and thighs on their long hair, was increased thousands of times. The queens then lost the beautiful flowers they wore and, seemingly exhausted by the Lord's game, approached Him under the pretext of removing the long syringe He used to sprinkle them. This maneuver thus gave the Lord the opportunity to embrace them as they intentionally approached Him. During these embraces, the wives of the Lord received on the mouth a manifest sign of his love, which created an atmosphere of spiritual bliss. When the garland of flowers hanging from the Lord's neck touched the queen's chest, their whole body was covered with yellow saffron. Absorbed in their celestial diversions, the queens lost their sense of self, and their hair, which was undone, resembled the undulating waves of a river. When Krishna and her queens were splashing each other, the scene was reminiscent of the water games of an elephant and its many companions.

Filled with these pleasures, the queens and Sri Krishna came out of the water and left their wet clothes, all of great value, to professional singers and dancers. These, in fact, had no other wages than the ornaments and rich clothes left on such occasions by kings and queens, as a reward. The organization of society was so well conceived that each in his respective position, whether spiritual guide, administrator, merchant, or workman, had no difficulty in making a living; no competition opposed the social classes. The original caste system was so designed that a class of men engaged in a specific occupation did not compete with another of different occupation.

This is how Sri Krishna loved to rejoice in the company of his 16 108 wives. The devotees of the Lord who desire to express their love to God, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, through the sweet, loving feeling, are raised to the condition of Krishna's wives, and God Himself keeps them forever attached to His Person