1. The Silence Before Creation
Before the Raas…
There was only stillness.
The grove was not yet Nidhivan.
It was just a sacred space — a veil between the worlds.
Where Krishna walked… but hadn't yet danced.
Among the celestial spirits, one was different.
She wasn't Radha.
Not yet.
Her name was "Niyati."
The one who held time's thread.
She wasn't meant to dance.
She was meant to count the time of the Raas.
To make sure no one stayed too long.
2. The Day the Raas Began
The bansuri played.
The trees bent in rhythm.
The Raas began — the divine dance beyond time.
Everyone moved in perfect bliss.
Except…
Niyati.
She watched.
And longed.
Krishna saw her.
He walked to her and said,
"Why do you stand alone?"
She smiled softly.
"Because I was made to measure time…
Not to lose it."
Krishna nodded.
"Then you are the only one who can end the Raas when it's time."
She bowed.
But as the Raas continued…
Something shifted in her heart.
For the first time, she wanted to dance.
But she didn't know how.
3. The First Break
As the night went on…
Niyati stepped forward.
Just one step.
Into the edge of the circle.
The rhythm stumbled.
A second of silence fell.
And in that silence —
a shadow slipped in.
A being born of imbalance.
Not a demon.
Not a man.
But an echo of Krishna's form —
without love, without leela, without soul.
Krishna turned instantly.
The Raas stopped.
The bansuri turned cold.
And He whispered,
"The Imitator has entered."
"Because time forgot its place."
Niyati fell to her knees.
"Forgive me," she cried.
Krishna didn't speak.
He placed a tulsi leaf in her palm.
And said:
"Then you will wait.
Until a soul returns who can finish what you paused."
Niyati vanished into the trees.
And Vrinda was born.
4. The Curse Begins
Since that night, the Raas never played the same.
The forbidden hour became the moment after the bansuri stops…
when the soul still wants to dance, but the body must return.
And every few centuries,
a soul is reborn as the one who tried to step in late.
And another is born as the one who must forgive them.
And if they meet…
The Imitator will try to stop them.
Because if they complete the circle…
The Raas will return to what it was meant to be.