In the Gopāla-campū the account returns to Nanda's home. Vraja followed its peaceful evening rhythm. Yashoda finished the work of the household. At the end of the day, weariness led her to sleep. She did not yet know what joy was drawing near.
Nanda was close by, with the cares of their home. The courtyard and herds awaited another morning. But this night held an unusual quiet. Within it Yashoda's dream began. The scene comes before the celebration of the birth.
She saw a young boy and a girl in her dream. The boy was lovely and full of gentle radiance. The girl stood beside him in the vision. Their arrival did not seem an ordinary dream. Yashoda felt them drawing close.
The account connects their movements with the parents' hearts. The boy entered Nanda's heart. Then he drew near to Yashoda's heart. Nanda too experienced the unusual scene. Neither could fully understand its meaning yet.
Wonder and joy were mingled in the dream. Yashoda had not yet held a child in her arms. Still, a mother's affection was already awakening. Nanda shared the closeness of that expectation. Their home was filled with quiet hope.
Jīva Gosvāmī tells the scene in poetic language. It is no list of signs to be decoded. Yashoda and Nanda remain at its center. They receive the news through dream and feeling. Their love comes before their understanding.
Morning and the birth will follow the night. Here we stay with the moment just before them. There is no procession through the village. There are no voices filling the courtyard. Only parents sensing that life is changing.
The dream prepares a place for little Krishna. Before seeing Him, they are already waiting for Him. Before hearing His voice, their thoughts turn toward Him. A tender secret is entrusted to Yashoda. The same hope is entrusted to Nanda.
As the story moves on, Vraja will rejoice. Friends and relatives will come to the house. Yet their happiness begins quietly here. A dream carried in the hearts of two parents. This chapter lets us return to that beginning.
The memory of the dream does not replace later events. It gives them a prelude of their own. Yashoda will look at Krishna with a mother's love. Nanda will care for Him as a father. In the night vision we hear the first note of that closeness.