One of the deity
Krishna's acquaintances and companions in Hindu mythology.
Uddhava is best renowned in devotional (bhakti) literature
for the mes sage he bears back from Krishna to the gopis, the cowherd ladies of
Braj (a northern Indian district on the Yamuna River south of the current city
of Delhi) who are Krishna's followers (bhakta) and adore him more than life.
Uddhava urges the gopis not to worry about Krishna's bodily
absence since, as the highest deity, Krishna is always with them, even if he isn't
visible.
The gopis respond that such language is wonderful for
intellectuals like Uddhava, but that such abstractions are pointless for
ordinary ladies like themselves who have had the pleasure of interacting with
Krishna in person.
Uddhava and the gopis represent two sorts of religious life:
one that is calm and abstract, focusing on a transcendent god, and the other
that is based on intense devotion for a specific deity.
Depending on the authors' preferences, several versions of
this tale have different ends.
The narrative ends in a standoff in some of the accounts,
including the oldest version in the Bhagavata Purana, with each side failing to
convince the other.
Uddhava, on the other hand, is transformed to the gopis'
point of view in at least one of the tales.
R. S. McGregor (ed. and trans. ), Nanddas, 1973, for more
information.
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