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C7^[^A.NDEBING in the cities of India requires a certain
'\ T flexibility of mind. One city may be purely of
the living present; another, of the historical present;

and. yet another may belong to the epic past and, at the
same time, be a city of our India. Ohitorgrah, Delhi,
and Agra belong both to the historical present and the
present; Muttra, Brindhavan, and Grokul belong to the
epic ages and to the present. Between Delhi and Agra
lie these three towns, and the Jumna that flows alongside
the Tajmahal, flows from Delhi through Muttra
towards Agra.

u In the days when the gods came to the earth in
human form", as a Brahmin priest would tell you,
Krishna was born in Muttra. His childhood he spent
in Gokul, and a hundred happy days of boyhood in
BrindhavaiL The Song of the Cowherd—the Gita
Govinda—narrates the lyrical life of Krishna; of the
milkmaids who danced to his flute, and of the
miracles he performed. In Krishna's childhood days,
Brindhavan was a garden of forests, today it is a town of
temples.

The three towns of Muttra, Brindhavan, and G-okul
attract thousands of devotees from all parts of India,
for here is the land where Krishna stole butter, grazed
his cows, killed demons and played his flute for the
entertainment of his playmates, the G-opikas.

"Where Krishna sported, on its banks, to the Hindus
the river Jumna is especially holy and sacred. Of the