When Sr Krepa sudlemly disapeared from the arena of herāsa danc,te ops, their minds fully absorbed in thoughts of Him, began looking for Him in the various forests. From the
moving and nonmoving creatures they asked for news of Kṛṣṇa's whereabouts. finally they became so distraught that they began imitating His pastimes.
Later, while wandering in a corner of the forest, the gopīs saw Śrī Kṛṣṇa's footprints, which appeared to be mixed with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's. Seeing these footprints perturbed them greatly, and they declared that surely Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī must have worshiped Kṛṣṇa with unusual excellence, since she had been privileged to associate with Him in seclusion. Further along the path, the gopīs came to a place where they could no longer see Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's footprints. They then concluded that Kṛṣṇa must have taken Rādhārāṇī onto His shoulders. In another place they noticed that Kṛṣṇa's footprints were showing only the toes, and thus the gopīs concluded that He had been picking flowers with which to decorate His beloved. In yet another spot the gopīs saw signs that led them to imagine that Śrī Kṛṣṇa had been tying the locks of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's hair. All these thoughts brought pain to the gopīs' minds.
Because of the special attention She received from Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Rādhā began to consider Herself the most fortunate of women. She told Him that she could walk no further and that He would have to carry Her on His shoulders. But just then Lord Kṛṣṇa disappeared from Her sight. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, extremely troubled, then began looking everywhere for Him, and when She finally met Her gopī girlfriends, She related to them what had happened.
While continuing to search out Kṛṣṇa's path, the gopīs discovered their unhappy friend close by. She was bewildered by separation from Her lover. She told them how Kṛṣṇa had given Her much respect, but how She then suffered dishonor because of Her misbehavior.
In search of Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs then entered the depths of the forest as far as the light of the moon shone. But when they found themselves engulfed in darkness, they decided to turn back.