In plain words
Kṛṣṇa, who had gone to Mathurā, had not come to Bṛndāvana. They fell into despair. They lost heart. There was no strength in their bodies. But they ran, full of joy. Uddhava showed the note. ‘Kṛṣṇa has sent it,’ he said. One Gopī said, ‘Uddhava! We are Gopīs. We are village girls. We have none of this schooling. Our parents never sent us to any school. We do not even know our letters. How can we, such fools as we are, read Kṛṣṇa's letter?’ they asked. But one Gopī among them knew her letters; he handed the letter to her. But she did not touch it. ‘Uddhava! Salutations to you. I know: so many times we have talked with Kṛṣṇa. I know all about Kṛṣṇa. But I cannot touch it,’ she said. Uddhava asked, ‘Why should you not touch it? You hold Bhakti for Kṛṣṇa to be so great; you believe in it, you worship, you rejoice in it. Why should you not touch this?’ And again he said, ‘You do not understand Bhakti and surrender in the least.’ Then the Gopīs said, ‘Our bodies are burning in separation from Kṛṣṇa. If we touch that letter, the letter may burn up, who knows? We do not want to burn Kṛṣṇa's handwriting to ashes.’ How great their Bhakti was! Anyone else might have said, ‘I have learning,’ and read it out finely, but the Gopīs did not do that. ‘My body is scorching, from the nails to the crown of the head, in the fire of separation from Kṛṣṇa. It is in such a state that whatever it touches will burn. So we do not wish to burn to ashes Kṛṣṇa's sacred, golden letters,’ they said. He showed it to another Gopī. That Gopī said, ‘Uddhava! I bow to you. I know Kṛṣṇa's handwriting well. If we try to read it, we will not be able to bear the grief. The tears streaming from our eyes will fall on the letter, and the letters will all be smeared. Once the words are smeared, how are we to read them? So I will not read it,’ she said. In the end Uddhava himself read it. What he read was just three lines: ‘O dear Gopīs! I am sending our dear friend Uddhava. Follow his instructions.’ ‘For this much alone, why should we stay here? We are going,’ said the Gopīs, and went away.