One night I had a dream. The landscape was delightful and serene, and the moon was smiling up above, showering the little hill amidst forest with its calming silver rays. I was approaching the beautiful place. Couldn’t see myself though. I was hiding aside, in shadows, behind a screen of leaves, flowers and a tree. Krishna was on the hill, and several of his beloved gopis, all dressed differently and beautifully. They were all smiling and it seemed that a moonlight is trying to beautify their glow, body luster and their happiness. In Krishna’s eyes they seemed even more charming and he was more enchanted. After few whispers they started to dance together. Krishna was dancing with every girl at the same time. It was a breathtaking, most wonderful sight.
As girls were moving graciously, they’ve observed each other too, with their beautiful, restless eyes, and were smiling both to Krishna and to each other. Then, they’d touch their moist lips with gentle finger tips and blow the kiss toward the other girl and smiled cheeringly even more. In such a charming way each party exchanged kisses and loving glances, and thus, as I understood, they were exchanging their feelings, loving sentiments. And when another girl would reach such a kiss traveling graciously through the air, and put it on her lips, then a new mixture of love would be tasted and both the girl and Krishna in the company of that girl would enjoy even further. They were increasing the love in each other and pleasing him even more.
“Oh that sweet bhavaâ€, darling Syama said then smilingly, almost unaddressed, but as if he was conveying it to me, knowing I’m there. “Without such bhava, the joyful and overwhelming love sentiments between each other, between each one of you, there’s no love divine. There’s no experience of the most beautiful taste of life.â€
And they’ve continued to dance, closing together, circling in smaller circles until they all stopped, intermingled and embraced each other, sharing loving glances, kisses and touching each other’s cheeks, shoulders, arms and bosoms, removing tiny drops of enervation.
The image started to fade and for a few moments it seemed charming Krishna and gopis are looking towards me, making certain I hold this close to my heart. I’ll never forget this adoring vision, coming from a place … where the streets have no name.
— Zvonimir Tosic
(1) Where the Streets Have No Name is more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP, because it’s a sketch — I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location. I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustrophobic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don’t hold you down.
An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they’re making — literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side of that street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name.
— Bono Vox, U2 lead vocals, in 1987
What a wonderful dream! You are truly blessed. It’s the love between all the residents of Braj that makes it Braj.
So beautiful! It is such an inspiring vision!