Retold by DKM Kartha
नीतं यदि नवनीतं
नीतं नीतं किमेतेन ?
आतप तापित भूमौ
माधव ! मा धव, मा धव ! [उद्भट कवि]
nītaṁ yadi navanītaṁ
nītaṁ nītaṁ kimētēna ?
ātapa tāpita bhūmau
mādhava ! mā dhava, mā dhava ! [Udbhaṭa Kavi]
Once child Kr̥ṣṇa was escaping from the wrath of a Gōpikā from whose storage room He had stolen some butter. He was running away at the speed of light and the Gōpikā called out, “O Kānhā, you little rascal, stop, you little butter thief!”
The child who was relishing the taste of fresh butter would not stop as even He was scared of capture by an angry and strong-muscled cowherdess!
Suddenly, the Gōpikā saw how the earth was burning hot because of sunlight and she saw how tender Kānhā's feet were. She was filled with a myriad of emotions including empathy as was the First Poet Vālmīki at the sight of one of the bird pair that had been shot dead by a hunter. Similar to the Sage Poet, the Gōpikā uttered poetic lines prompted by her emotion and her Pratibhā śakti -- creative genius -- set to āryā meter:
नीतं यदि नवनीतं
नीतं नीतं किमेतेन ?
आतप तापित भूमौ
माधव ! मा धव, मा धव ! [उद्भट कवि]
nītaṁ yadi navanītaṁ
nītaṁ nītaṁ kimētēna ?
ātapa tāpita bhūmau
mādhava ! mā dhava, mā dhava ! [Udbhaṭa Kavi]
"If you have taken butter, let it be! No big deal! What is taken has been taken! The earth is hot, made so by the blazing sunlight! O Mādhava, don't run, don't run.”
The suggested meaning here is: don’t burn Your tender feet! I forgive you!
Kr̥ṣṇa, who had not halted at the Gōpikā’s shouts to stop, immediately stopped running, hearing the enchanting stanza full of the magical power of the Vedic meter āryā and filled with wordplay and the music of alliteration! Even a Full Incarnation had to be totally enchanted by the mesmeric power of metrical poetry!
The Gōpikā's sweet Kānhā pivoted around then and ran fast to the waiting Gōpikā’s open arms and blessed her by His divine embrace! Perhaps she fed Him more butter or sang Him another lyric with His flute accompaniment—but that we can only guess.
(Our thanks to the great Udbhaṭa Kavi)