Lord Keśava, seeing the gopīs too proud of their good fortune, wanted to relieve them of this pride and show them further mercy. Thus He immediately disappeared.

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COMMENTARY

This verse inspired the following dialogue:

Kṛṣṇa: “You good girls have ordinary affection for Me by your very natures, but any special affection which is contrary to the principles of religion should be given up. Illicit connections do not lead to Svargaloka (asvargyam)”

Vraja-gopīs: “We do not care for Svargaloka.”

Kṛṣṇa: “But it will also destroy your reputation (ayaśasyaṁ).”

Vraja-gopīs: “We don’t care for reputation.”

Kṛṣṇa: “You are speaking falsely” (phalgu mithyaiva).”

Vraja-gopīs: “No! What we are saying is not false, because we consider it to be of the utmost importance.”

Kṛṣṇa: “Such affairs are troublesome and full of difficulties (krcchraṁ) due to the prohibitions of your husbands and others.”

Vraja-gopīs: “That trouble is rather the cause of the greatest happiness for girls like us who are full of rāga. This is confirmed in the śāstra: vāmatā durlabhatvaṁ ca, strīṇāṁ ya ca nivāraṇā, tad eva pañca-bāṇasya, manye paramam āyudham, ‘Contrariness, difficulty of attainment and rejection by women, I consider Kāmadeva’s greatest weapons.’” (Prīti-sandarbha Anuccheda 279)

Kṛṣṇa: “This creates fear (bhayāvaham) for the body and for one’s next life on account of its being forbidden both by worldly custom and by scriptures.”

Vraja-gopīs: “How can that be? This so-called fear is rather a foundation for experiencing rasas, as stated in scripture:

yatra niṣedha-viśeṣaḥ, su-durlabhatvaṁ ca yan, mṛgākṣīṇām

tatraiva nāgarāṇāṁ, nirbharam āsajjate hṛdayam

“When love is forbidden and the doe-eyed beloved is difficult to attain, then the passionate lover’s heart becomes very attached to his beloved.” (Prīti-sandarbha Anuccheda 279)

Kṛṣṇa: “In all times and places, adulterous affairs (aupapatyam) are always condemned (jugupsitaṁ) for respectable women. Even if you readily consent to bear all condemnation to fulfill your desires, how can I do anything that will cause you, the objects of My love, to become condemned. Therefore I say, please return to Vraja.”

The alternate interpretation is as follows.

Kṛṣṇa: “Everywhere in the world illicit affairs are condemned. But you gopīs have heard from the mouth of Garga that I am equal to Nārāyaṇa. Thus there is nothing contemptible in having Me as a paramour, since I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I transcend ordinary auspicious and inauspicious activities.”

|| 10.29.27 ||

śravaṇād darśanād dhyānān mayi bhāvo ’nukīrtanāt

na tathā sannikarṣeṇa pratiyāta tato gṛhān

TRANSLATION

Transcendental love for Me arises by the devotional processes of hearing about Me, seeing My Deity form, meditating on Me and faithfully chanting My glories. The same result is not achieved by mere physical proximity. So please go back to your homes.

COMMENTARY

The Vraja-gopīs replied, “Why do You have such thoughts. We did not come for physical contact with You. Rather, we understand from the words of Garga Muni, that You are Nārāyaṇa Himself. Thus, we have come with the desire to attain devotion to You. Therefore, let us stay here tonight and serve Your lotus feet.”

Fearing this statement, Kṛṣṇa speaks this verse, “It is well known that the pure devotees do not even desire the perfections of sāmīpya (transcendental wealth), sālokya (residence on the same planet) or other benefits, but rather they desire to always hear and chant about the Lord. As devotees you must have heard about this.”

The alternate meaning is: “The processes such as hearing about Me do not give rise to intense conjugal love [bhāva] as much as direct contact with Me. Therefore do not go home, but go to the place with no houses, the groves.”

|| 10.29.28 ||

śrī-śuka uvāca

iti vipriyam ākarṇya gopyo govinda-bhāṣitam

viṣaṇṇā bhagna-saṅkalpāś cintām āpur duratyayām

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Hearing these unpleasant words spoken by Govinda, the gopīs became morose. Their great hopes were frustrated and they felt insurmountable anxiety.

COMMENTARY

Govinda means one who enjoys playing with words (gaḥ vindate). Bhāṣitam indicates manifest verbal expression. Taking the external meaning of Govinda’s words, the gopīs thought they indicated His lack of affection and thus they felt dejected. Even though they could fully understand with their intelligence that Kṛṣṇa’s unspoken words (avyakta-vākyam) were actually favorable.

The gopīs could not see a reason for Kṛṣṇa’s rough words, and they were doubtful of the hidden affection in His unspoken words. Due to the feelings of humility which arose from their sthāyi-bhāva, the gopīs became morose and lost in thought; “That person for whom we have neglected everything—our husbands and parents’ families, our religious duties, our gravity, fear and shame—-is now neglecting us because we are not good enough for Him.”

Seeing their aspirations smashed to pieces, the gopīs became very anxious, thinking, “Should we make a show of very humbly holding Kṛṣṇa’s feet and crying piteously, begging to remain here? Or should we try our best to remain sober, and feigning aloofness return to Vraja, and somehow force our minds to stay grave? Or perhaps we should just give up our lives, either in His presence or else secretly by drowning in the Yamunā or by some other means? But if we end our lives, how will we be able to see Kṛṣṇa’s sweet face again? Then again how will we be able, as He has ordered us, to eat the vomit of service to our husbands and other relatives? How can we maintain ourselves, where will we go and what will we do?”

The gopīs were like cātakī birds upon whom Kṛṣṇa poured the poison of His flute’s vibration. Becoming overwhelmed, the gopīs trusted Him and willingly drank that poison without hesitation. Did Kṛṣṇa suddenly give up His normal quality of being easily approachable?

|| 10.29.29 ||

kṛtvā mukhāny ava śucaḥ śvasanena śuṣyad

bimbādharāṇi caraṇena bhuvaḥ likhantyaḥ

asrair upātta-masibhiḥ kuca-kuṅkumāni

tasthur mṛjantya uru-duḥkha-bharāḥ sma tūṣṇīm

TRANSLATION

Their heads hanging down and their heavy, sorrowful breathing drying up their reddened lips, the gopīs scratched the ground with their toes. Tears flowed from their eyes, carrying their kajjala and washing away the vermilion smeared on their breasts. Thus they stood, silently bearing the burden of their unhappiness.

COMMENTARY

This verse expresses what the gopīs experienced in their anxiety. Their lowered heads indicate the gopīs’ shame. The gopīs felt, “We gave up our natural shyness at the invitation of prema, but now again shyness has returned. Prema made us cast away our shyness and such prema is praiseworthy. Prema is defined as that which controls the object of one’s love. If Kṛṣṇa, the object of our love, has not been conquered by our love, then our love must not be genuine. If that is the fact, then what is the purpose of our abandoning all shyness?”

In this way the Vraja-gopīs felt remorse and embarrassment, which was expressed in their faces. Their reddish lips were drying up because of the hot breathing that arose from their lamentation. When the hot sun dries ripe red bimba fruits, dark spots appear on them and they grow soft. The beautiful lips of the gopīs similarly changed in appearance.

The sign of their shame is indicated by their scratching on the earth with their left big toes. The gopīs thought, “O mother earth, please open up so that we can enter within you.”

The gopīs’ sorrow and remorse are further described: The gopīs’ tears mixed with their kajjala, and fell in two parallel lines to smear the kuṅkuma on their breasts. It was as if the increasing torment of separation, like a saw, was cutting the gopīs in two with those black lines. By using the plural form in the word asraiḥ (tears) and the present tense in the word mṛjantyaḥ (washing away) indicates that excessive tears were flowing.

It can be surmised, though it has not been stated, that all these tears did not soak their inner garments. This is because the rivers of tears from their eyes and the fire of remorse raging in their hearts started a war opposing the functions of wetting and drying up. Overcome with great sadness, the gopīs stood silently (tūṣṇim). Because they could not bear the burden of sorrow, they began to lose consciousness. Thus they stood still like lifeless puppets.

|| 10.29.30 ||

preṣṭhaṁ priyetaram iva pratibhāṣamāṇaṁ

kṛṣṇaṁ tad-artha-vinivartita-sarva-kāmāḥ

netre vimṛjya ruditopahate sma kiñcit
saṁrambha-gadgada-giro ’bruvatānuraktāḥ

TRANSLATION

Although Kṛṣṇa was their beloved, and although they had abandoned all other objects of desire for His sake, He had been speaking to them unfavorably. Nonetheless, they remained unflinching in their attachment to Him. Stopping their crying, they wiped their eyes and began to speak, their voices stammering with agitation.

COMMENTARY

“O gopīs, what is the use of crying in the forest? Why don’t you just put a smile on your faces and return home.” As if Kṛṣṇa was shouting this in their ears, the gopīs woke up from their dazed state and began to plead with Kṛṣṇa in these verses.

The gopīs addressed Kṛṣṇa as preṣṭham (beloved) on account of their previously having had frequent physical contact with Him. Yet still, without any reason, Kṛṣṇa was now speaking as if just the opposite of a beloved (priyetaram), harshly saying such unfavorable things as “You should just go serve your husbands.” This would be impossible because for Kṛṣṇa’s sake the gopīs had put aside all objects of material pleasure in such a thorough way that they could never again have any relation with them.

The phrase sarva kāmāḥ nivartita indicates that the gopīs did not have even a trace of material lust or desire. Their desire to please Kṛṣṇa was not based on kāma, selfish material desire. That is Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s intention by using sarva in this phrase.

The statement that the gopīs rubbed their eyes which had been blinded with tears implies they were thinking; “Now our end has come. Let us take a good look at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus face before we die.”

The gopīs were agitated, thinking, “Alas, alas! Even though we were supposedly dear to Kṛṣṇa and have not committed any offense, how could He bring us to the stage of death?” If it is imagined that the gopīs were not upset, but rather thought, “Because we have no suitable beauty or qualities, we are not fit to associate physically with Kṛṣṇa. Let us simply give Him up,” Śukadeva Gosvāmī states to the contrary that their voices were stammering with agitation.

It may be said that in either case we deduce that the gopīs lacked pure love of Godhead, and thus should have desisted. This objection, however, is refuted by the word (anuraktāḥ), implying that those who are blinded by ecstatic attraction (anurāga) cannot tolerate logical arguments. In other words, the gopīs were totally saturated with intense love for Kṛṣṇa, and were thus beyond any mundane considerations.

|| 10.29.31 ||

śrī-gopya ūcuḥ

maivaṁ vibho ’rhati bhavān gadituṁ nṛ-śaṁsaṁ

santyajya sarva-viṣayāṁs tava pāda-mūlam

bhaktā bhajasva duravagraha mā tyajāsmān

devo yathādi-puruṣo bhajate mumukṣūn

TRANSLATION

The beautiful gopīs said: O all-powerful one, You should not speak in this cruel way. Do not reject us, who have renounced all material enjoyment to render devotional service to Your lotus feet. Reciprocate with us, O stubborn one, just as the primeval Lord, Śrī Nārāyaṇa, reciprocates with His devotees in their endeavors for liberation.

COMMENTARY

“Kṛṣṇa is instructing us in religious principles, while He Himself indulges in all kinds of sinful activity.” With this intention the gopīs speak this verse.

The gopīs said, “You should not speak such cruel words, since You are the son of Nanda Mahārāja, who is famous everywhere for his religiousness.” Rather, the gopīs imply, “Only someone who has a reputation among everyone as a murderer might properly speak like this.” The Amara-kośa Sanskrit dictionary says nṛ-śaṁsaṁ means “murderous” or “cruel.”

The gopīs continued, “Though we are numbering in the millions, You have fired Your arrow-like words upon all of us, so that we will now give up our bodies and go to the abode of Yamarāja, rather than the cowherd village You have advised us to return to. You, on the other hand, can go back to Vraja, taking with You the sinful reactions for murdering millions of women. If You don’t want to be implicated in the sinful reaction of killing women then You should reciprocate with us, who have given up everything to serve Your lotus feet.” By using the phrase sarva-viṣayāṁs (all sense objects) instead of anya-viṣayā (other sense objects), the gopīs indicate that the physical association of Kṛṣṇa is not an object of sense gratification.

“But,” Kṛṣṇa may ask the gopīs, “My dear desirous ladies! Have you come here to worship Me because your husbands have not satisfied your lust?”

Vraja-gopīs: “O duravagraha (stubborn one)!” The famous grammarian Pāṇini says avagraho vrsṭi pratibandhaḥ, “The proper usage of the word avagraha is to mean ‘the stopping of rain.’” Thus the word duravagraha can only be explained as metaphorically comparing Kṛṣṇa to something else, namely a rain cloud, which is faulty for not providing rain. This explanation is further corroborated by the presence of the prefix dur.

Thus we get the meaning, “O cloud that rains only poison. Even though You are far away, You, the Kṛṣṇa cloud, are the friend of us cātakī birds. But today You happen to be raining poison. If, because of drought (avagraha), You are not giving rain, then go ahead and don’t give rain. We shall instead drink the poison You rain down and die. But we will not drink the water of the lakes or any other reservoir, even though they are close by. Indeed You know that this is our nature. Consequently please do not reject us, if You have any sense of gratitude at all.”

Kṛṣṇa: “O gopīs! The cātakīs depends on the cloud, as you have said, but the cloud does not depend on the cātakīs. For the cloud, it does not matter whether the cātakī birds live or die.”

Vraja-gopīs: “All right, but You are not a lifeless cloud! Rather You are the most exalted of chivalrous persons, just like Nārāyaṇa Himself. (They indicate this by the word deva). Therefore You should act as Nārāyaṇa acts. Nārāyaṇa reciprocates with those who have given up everything by awarding liberation, because He is under the control of His devotee. But You do not reciprocate with us, who have renounced all kinds of sense gratification for Your sake.”

|| 10.29.32 ||

yat paty-apatya-suhṛdām anuvṛttir aṅga

strīṇāṁ sva-dharma iti dharma-vidā tvayoktam

astv evam etad upadeśa-pade tvayīśe

preṣṭho bhavāṁs tanu-bhṛtāṁ kila bandhur ātmā

TRANSLATION

Our dear Kṛṣṇa, as an expert in religion You have advised us that the proper religious duty for women is to faithfully serve their husbands, children and other relatives. We agree that this principle is valid, but actually this service should be rendered to You. After all, O Lord, You are the dearmost friend of all embodied souls. You are their most intimate relative and indeed their very Self.

COMMENTARY

This verse is spoken by some of the more guileless gopīs hoping to defeat Kṛṣṇa with His own statements.

The Vraja-gopīs said, “You have said that a woman’s duty is to serve her husband and other relatives. This remains valid as far as it applies, and we have no argument against this. We have been doing that all the time.”

Kṛṣṇa asks, “In what way?”

Vraja-gopīs: “We are always engaged in serving You, the originator of instructions on dharma meant for us. This is according to the reasoning that first one should serve the ācārya who teaches dharma, and then one should execute the instructions given. The scriptures state that only by following the ācārya without duplicity can one’s religious duties be successfully prosecuted. Furthermore, if the ācārya is the Supreme Lord Himself, how much more we should follow? On account of Your being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are also the Soul of all embodied beings (tanu-bhṛtāṁ). On account of Your being the Supreme Soul, You are also the dearmost, and because of being the dearmost You are one’s true relative.

“In other words, the scriptures say that the wife should serve the Paramātmā who resides within one’s husband and others. When the Paramātmā leaves, the body is taken out of the house and burned on the river bank. Therefore by following You, who are the personal manifestation of the Paramātmā, the following of one’s husband and other relatives is automatically accomplished. What need do we have of other husbands and relatives, who are devoid of their souls because they stand in opposition to our following You, and who have thus already had their faces burned in the funeral pyre?”

The preliminary manifestations of pure love of God (pūrva-prema) cover a devotee’s awareness of Kṛṣṇa’s Godhood. Therefore, one may question, since the gopīs were certainly experiencing such pūrva-prema, how was it that they thought of Kṛṣṇa as God (Paramātmā)? The characteristics of prema mentioned in the Nārada-pañcarātra and other scriptures are explained in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Prema constantly manifests natural symptoms, both hot and cold, which reflect the devotees’ simultaneous experience of both union with and separation from the Lord. Prema that is due to the waves of bliss brings about tears, shivering and other symptoms in the body.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.38):

brahmānando bhaved eṣa, cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ,

naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ, paramāṇu-tulām api

“If brahmānando, the bliss of merging in the Brahman effulgence, were multiplied one hundred trillion times, it would still not equal even an atomic fragment of the ocean of transcendental bliss felt in devotional service.”

This verse indicates that the bliss tasted in devotional service is infinitely greater in magnitude than the bliss of Brahman realization. The pain experienced by the premi-bhakta during separation (viraha) from Kṛṣṇa burns with more brilliance than millions of sun-rays. This all-illuminating sun of separation reveals all of Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful transcendental qualities, including those related to Kṛṣṇa’s opulence (aiśvarya-guṇa) as well as those related to His sweetness (mādhurya-guṇa). Thus the experience of devotion in separation does not cover any of Kṛṣṇa’s qualities.

Devotion in union (sambhoga), on the other hand, is more pleasure-giving than millions of nectar-filled moonbeams, and reveals only those qualities of Kṛṣṇa which manifest His tasty sweetness (mādhur-ya). Since direct association with Kṛṣṇa is like the nectar-rays of the moon, that intoxicating nectar covers Kṛṣṇa’s opulence (aiśvarya).

But in a case when even in union or meeting with Kṛṣṇa His opulences remain revealed; we must assume that the devotee’s love is not yet mature. Prema shrinks or becomes less perfect during union or meeting if Kṛṣṇa’s opulence (aiśvarya) is revealed. Although in this instance the gopīs are meeting with Kṛṣṇa, they are expecting separation, and thus they have a realization of Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya caused by their perfectly pure love. This is the mysterious working of prema itself. Even when love is imperfect it reveals Kṛṣṇa’s glories, then what to speak of when it is completely perfect. Thus the magnitude of the gopīs’ experience of Kṛṣṇa’s greatness is the measure of the greatness of their love.

This same idea is exemplified in Śrī Jīva Gosvāmīpāda’s commentary on the history of the original King Bharata in his Prīti-sandarbha; “The Vraja-gopīs’ ecstatic love (prema) for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the most exalted love. But love mixed with awareness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s power and opulence (aiśvarya-jñāna) is not the most exalted.”

|| 10.29.33 ||

kurvanti hi tvayi ratiṁ kuśalāḥ sva ātman

nitya-priye pati-sutādibhir ārti-daiḥ kim

tan naḥ prasīda parameśvara mā sma chindyā

āśāṁ dhṛtāṁ tvayi cirād aravinda-netra

TRANSLATION

Expert transcendentalists always direct their affection toward You because they recognize You as their true Self and eternal beloved. What use do we have for these husbands, children and relatives of ours, who simply give us trouble? Therefore, O supreme controller grant us Your mercy. O lotus-eyed one, please do not cut down our long-cherished hope to have Your association.

COMMENTARY

Some other gopīs strengthen their argument by citing the behavior of saintly persons in this verse.

Vraja-gopīs: “Anyone who develops love for You, who are endowed with the eight good qualities, is not defeated by the enemies such as lust, just as the followers of Viṣṇu are not defeated by the demons. We heard this from Garga Muni:

ya etasmin mahā-bhāgāḥ prītiṁ kurvanti mānavāḥ

nārayo ’bhibhavanty etān viṣṇu-pakṣān ivāsurāḥ

“Demons cannot harm the demigods, who always have Lord Viṣṇu on their side. Similarly, any person or group attached to Kṛṣṇa is extremely fortunate. Because such persons are very much affectionate toward Kṛṣṇa, they cannot be defeated by demons like the associates of Kaṁsa (or by the internal enemies, the senses).” (SB 10.8.18)

“Those who have faith in this statement are truly intelligent, and those who are intelligent have love for You. This love is natural and eternally present in their hearts. You are the object of possession for them (sva), and You (ātman) are eternally the object of affection (nitya-priya) for them. Whereas the affection they have for husbands, sons and family are only conditional and therefore temporary.

“But we do not have any such affection for these relatives. They only give us misery and trouble by preventing us from meeting You. What is the need of them at all? Therefore be merciful and save our lives. You may not want to let the married gopīs live, but why make the unmarried gopīs cry? You already granted their desire when you stole their clothing and promised: saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo bhavatīnāṁ mad-arcanam... “O saintly girls I understand your vow to attain Me, and I will enjoy with you on future nights.” (SB 10.22.25)

But Kṛṣṇa may reply, “I gave them mercy because of their worship of Katyayani. For what reason can I give mercy to you? You are telling Me to be merciful without good reason.”

The gopīs pitifully beg, “Then give us Your mercy even without any reason. O Paramesvara! You are under no one’s control but Your own, and are thus free to do anything You wish. At the very beginning of our youth when we first caught sight of You, the seed of this creeper of our hopes, known as bhāva, was sent by Your lotus-like eyes (aravinda-netra) and entered through the openings of our eyes to become planted in the field of our hearts. This creeper of desire grew by the process of hearing about Your qualities and seeing Your beautiful form.” According to the rasa śāstra, love develops in stages beginning with attraction by glancing, then meeting in the heart, and then anticipating desire develops.

The Vraja-gopīs continue, “That creeper has now fructified, so why, while it is affording abundant fruits to be enjoyed and will give yet more fruits to enjoy in the future, should it be cut down with the axe of Your harsh words? Surely You must know the rule that one should never cut down a full-grown tree even if it is filled with poisonous fruits.” This thought is implied by the two words chindyā and cirād.

|| 10.29.34 ||

cittaṁ sukhena bhavatāpahṛtaṁ gṛheṣu

yan nirviśaty uta karāv api gṛhya-kṛtye

pādau padaṁ na calatas tava pāda-mūlād

yāmaḥ kathaṁ vrajam atho karavāma kiṁ vā

TRANSLATION

Until today our minds were absorbed in household affairs, but You easily stole both our minds and our hands away from our housework. Now our feet won’t move one step from Your lotus feet. How can we go back to Vraja? What would we do there?

COMMENTARY

Other gopīs reveal their intense love by saying, “O king of thieves! We did not come here with any other purpose than to recover the treasure that You stole from us. You have stolen our minds, but unlike other thieves You did not have to make any great endeavor. You did this simply by blowing on Your flute.”

“The treasure of our minds is not some cheap thing either. Our minds were absorbed completely in our household affairs, and by stealing them the whole house has been plundered.”

The actual subtle implication of this exaggeration by the gopīs is: “Because our minds are not at all absorbed in our homes we don’t care if they burn down or prosper. Actually our minds are absorbed in that which brings about the perfection of all our gṛhas (senses or homes), and without which all our senses become useless. Thus by stealing our minds You have stolen all of our senses, including our hands, which were absorbed in household work, and also (uta) our eyes and ears.”

Kṛṣṇa: “But My dear gopīs, just go home for now. Let Me consider the situation for a day or two, and then I will return your minds.”

Vraja-gopīs: “Our feet refuse to move even one step. Please give back our minds, accept us and then we will go.

|| 10.29.35 ||

siñcāṅga nas tvad-adharāmṛta-pūrakeṇa

hāsāvaloka-kala-gīta-ja-hṛc-chayāgnim

no ced vayaṁ virahajāgny-upayukta-dehā

dhyānena yāma padayoḥ padavīṁ sakhe te

TRANSLATION

Dear Kṛṣṇa, please pour the nectar of Your lips upon the fire within our hearts—a fire You ignited with Your smiling glances and the sweet song of Your flute. If You do not, we will consign our bodies to the fire of separation from You, O friend, and thus like yogīs attain to the abode of Your lotus feet by meditation.

COMMENTARY

At this time Kṛṣṇa thought, “Ah! When I desired to see the naked bodies of these beautiful young girls other than at the time of intimate association, I did so on the day I stole their clothing. Though now I want to hear them speak shamelessly like they do at the time of our directly enjoying conjugal nectar, I cannot hear them speak thus.”

“I have made them mad with the intoxicating music of My flute, and totally bewildered them with My clever words. I have even stolen their minds, by depending on which their shyness, discretion, sense of religious duty and soberness were sustained. But even after all that, they are still speaking with all shyness, not even now revealing their inner thoughts.”

While Kṛṣṇa was thus thinking, some of the leading gopīs, whose normal natures had become overturned by the predominant effect of the sañcāri-bhāva (transitory emotion) known as unmāda (transcendental madness), began to speak in a contradictory way.

Gopī: “O Kṛṣṇa! Please extinguish with the flood of nectar from Your lips the fire of lust in our hearts that has burst into flames from Your smiling glance and sonorous flute.”

The gopīs are implying that if the same person who has started a blazing fire regains his common sense and puts it out, he can cancel the effect of his offensive act. Otherwise he who has set the fire must accept the sinful reactions which accrue to such crimes as arson. Although the word kāmam (lust) is not used here, it is indirectly implied by the use of the word hṛt-śaya (sleeping in the heart). In other words, the gopīs are saying, “Our lust is lying dormant within our hearts and no one but You can awaken it.”

Gopī: “With the sound of the flute You have entered our hearts through our ears and awakened the dormant fire of our desire. Then with the ghee of Your smile and the honey of Your glance, as well as with the wind of the flutes’ melodious song, You inflamed that fire, threatening to devour our life airs.

“Therefore if You are afraid of the sinful reaction for starting such a fire, You should extinguish it. After all it is no labor for You to either incite it or extinguish it, since it is Your smiling glance which inflames that fire, and the nectar of Your lips that puts it out. Both these things reside in Your moon-like face. We have often seen the play of this mischievous prince, lighting and extinguishing fires. It is not just today that You are playing the game of starting fires.”

Kṛṣṇa: “This smiling glance and sweet flute-song of Mine arise spontaneously. If they have inflamed you young girls, then please tell Me how much of the remedy, which is the nectar of My lips, should I administer?”

Gopī: “Yes, after You have murdered thousands of other women, You may feel some remorse for Your crime and Your impudence may subside. If You do not extinguish the fire, we will consign our bodies to the fire of separation. While our bodies burn, we will meditate like yogis and instantly attain Your lotus feet.”

“We surmise that we have not been accepted by You because we did not perform any pious acts in our previous lives. Therefore, for the sake of doing austerities we will not resort to the external fires of this world. Rather, we will utilize the fire of desire and separation from You which already reside in our hearts. Of the two, the extremely powerful fire of separation has smothered the sleeping fire of our desire. Therefore, we will offer our life airs as oblations into that fire of separation with the following prayer:

“Oh fire of separation (viraha-agni) from Kṛṣṇa! We now throw our life airs into you with the aspiration of attaining the touch of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Without anyone’s notice, place our bodies on the path in such a way that Kṛṣṇa’s feet will step on our breasts instead of the ground (padayoḥ padavīṁ, pathway for His feet). With the touch of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, the fire of lust in our hearts will subside and our desire will be fulfilled.”

Another gopī addresses Kṛṣṇa: “Moreover, You will receive pleasure from touching our breasts with Your feet, even if You don’t want it. O friend, and though You do not desire it, You will get relief from Your sin of killing women, as we will be satisfied by the touch of Your feet on our breasts. If You torment Your girlfriends, then how can we refrain from tormenting You, our boyfriend? But the pain of remorse we make You feel will spoil our love, and will simply reflect back on us a million times magnified. Alas! What can we do, since this shame has been forced upon us by Providence? “Therefore, O You who disregard material consequences! O ocean of mercy! Why are You sowing the seed of the creeper of Your own remorse? Why are You making us eat its fruit? Give up your stubbornness and accept us.” In this way there are many inferences from this verse.

|| 10.29.36 ||

yarhy ambujākṣa tava pāda-talaṁ ramāyā

datta-kṣaṇaṁ kvacid araṇya-jana-priyasya

asprākṣma tat-prabhṛti nānya-samakṣam añjaḥ

sthātuṁs tvayābhiramitā bata pārayāmaḥ

TRANSLATION

O lotus-eyed one, the goddess of fortune considers it a festive occasion whenever she touches the soles of Your lotus feet. You are very dear to the residents of the forest, and therefore we will also touch those lotus feet. From that time on we will be unable even to stand in the presence of any other man, for we will have been fully satisfied by You.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa said, “Then you should go to your respective husbands, and they can extinguish the fire of your desire with the touch of their lips.” To this the gopīs reply, “O lotus-eyed one (ambujākṣa)! From the moment we saw Your lotus eyes, we have been residing there like honeybees.”

Here the gopīs reveal a kind of pūrva-rāga called “lajjā-ccheda” (breaking the shyness). This is one kind of sambhoga, which has three features described in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Śṛṅgāra-bheda-prakaraṇa, Text 66: nayana-prītiḥ prathamaṁ, cintā-saṅgas tato ’tha saṅkalpaḥ—1. nayana-prīti (falling in love by seeing the beloved) 2. cintā (thinking of the beloved) 3. saṅkalpa (deciding to pursue the beloved).

Gopīs: “Seeing beautiful Your eyes has invoked our initial desire. But what will happen the moment that You place Your lotus feet upon our breasts in the groves of Govardhana or elsewhere? Just the touch of Your feet, which are desired even by Laksmī, Nārāyaṇa’s dearmost consort in Vaikuṇṭha, can create a festival full of desires for intimate pleasure.”

The gopīs understood this point by hearing from Garga Muni about the Nagapatnis, who said, yad-vāñchayā śrīr lalanācarat tapo, vihāya kāmān su-ciraṁ dhṛta-vratā: “To attain Your lotus feet, the goddess of fortune (Laksmī) performed austerities for centuries, giving up all other desires and taking austere vows.” (SB 10.16.36)

Gopīs: “Therefore these feet will also create a festival full of desires for us, who dwell in the forest. Then is it so surprising that we cowherd women would not be attracted to them?”

Kṛṣṇa: “What is your qualification to achieve the object which Laksmī hankered for?”

The Vraja-gopīs reply to Kṛṣṇa’s question in this verse. “Your feet are very dear to the cowherds who dwell in the forests (aranya-jana-priyasya). From the very moment that our breasts touch Your lotus feet, we will not be able to stand in the presence of our husbands. Just the sight of our husbands will fill us with contempt. Furthermore, not only will we touch Your feet, but we will be enjoyed in all ways by You (abhi-ramitā). You will bless us with the highest limits of enjoyment, and we will become completely fulfilled. Therefore, please do not send us away.” It is understood that the gopīs cried out pitifully with these words while falling at Kṛṣṇa’s feet.

|| 10.29.37 ||

śrīr yat padāmbuja-rajaś cakame tulasyā

labdhvāpi vakṣasi padaṁ kila bhṛtya-juṣṭam

yasyāḥ sva-vīkṣaṇa utānya-sura-prayāsas

tadvad vayaṁ ca tava pāda-rajaḥ prapannāḥ

TRANSLATION

Goddess Lakṣmī, whose glance is sought after by the demigods with great endeavor, has achieved the unique position of always remaining on the chest of her Lord, Nārāyaṇa. Still, she desires the dust of His lotus feet, even though she has to share that dust with Tulasī-devī and indeed with the Lord’s many other servants. Similarly, we have approached the dust of Your lotus feet for shelter.

COMMENTARY

The gopīs said, “In this way You have made us Your lovers, but we desire simply the service of Your lotus feet.” In this verse the gopīs cite the example of the goddess of fortune: “As Laksmī desires the dust from the lotus feet of Nārāyaṇa, we surrender unto the dust of Your lotus feet, since You are just like Nārāyaṇa (tadvat). According to Garga Muni’s words. You resemble Nārāyaṇa, therefore, we must be similar to Laksmī. Though Laksmī-devī attained the topmost place on Your chest, she hankered after the dust of Your lotus feet, which is the position of a co-wife, Tulasī, and which are served by crowds of male attendants.”

“Abandoning her shyness and her natural mood of a consort, Laksmī desired and accepted a position inferior to her own. Just as Laksmī desires to give up her position as the dear most to become Your menial servant, we feel likewise. Giving up all embarrassment, we desire to join Your servants like Raktaka, Patraka and others in massaging Your feet. Similarly, we are ready to accept positions lower than our own, like the Pulindas (aboriginal women) of Vṛndāvana, who rub the blades of grass tinged with the red kuṅkuma from Your feet on their foreheads.”

“Furthermore, Lord Nārāyaṇa, being satisfied with Laksmī-devī, granted her eternal residence upon His own chest, whereas You, the crest-jewel of all skillful lovers, have not allowed us to even remain in the vicinity of the soles of Your feet for even a moment. This is a great blow to our self-esteem. If You want the fame of being considered equal to Nārāyaṇa as per Garga Ṛsi’s words, You should also carry us on Your chest.” (A suggestion of deep love is also hinted here by the gopīs.)

Anticipating that Kṛṣṇa may jokingly object saying, “Just as Goddess Laksmī is unsteady, you should also become unpredictable by going from house to house among different pious persons.”

The gopīs reply, “Is Laksmī fickle like a fool? She is the most steadfast of ladies. For the sake of receiving her merciful glance, which is full of motherly compassion, Brahmā and other demigods, who are like her sons, make great endeavor. Yet still she hardly ever even glances upon them. Nevertheless, by one of her śaktīs (potencies) Laksmī delivers whatever they desire.”

|| 10.29.38 ||

tan naḥ prasīda vṛjinārdana te ’nghri-mūlaṁ

prāptā visṛjya vasatīs tvad-upāsanāśāḥ

tvat-sundara-smita-nirīkṣaṇa-tīvra-kāma

taptātmanāṁ puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa dehi dāsyam

TRANSLATION

Therefore, O vanquisher of all distress, please show us mercy. To approach Your lotus feet we abandoned our families and homes, and we have no desire other than to serve You. Our hearts are burning with intense desires generated by Your beautiful smiling glances. O jewel among men, please make us Your maidservants.

COMMENTARY

The Vraja-gopīs said, “Giving up our families, we desire to be Your servants like the devotees of Nārāyaṇa. As You are similar to Nārāyaṇa, You should be pleased with us.”

Kṛṣṇa: “But you girls have some bad karma which causes suffering, and stands in the way of My favoring you. Therefore, how can you receive My mercy? Does Lord Nārāyaṇa grant His mercy to just anyone?”

Vraja-gopīs: “O one who vanquishes distress (vṛjinārdana)! Please remove our suffering. It is well known in the scriptures that Nārāyaṇa takes away the suffering of those who take shelter of Him. Similarly, without any ulterior desire we have renounced our homes (visṛjya-vasatīḥ) to take shelter of Your lotus feet.”

Kṛṣṇa: “We surmise that you must be expecting some pleasure from Me in exchange for abandoning the happiness of your family life.”

Vraja-gopīs: “Our aspiration is only to worship You (tvad upāsanāśā) for Your pleasure not ours.” The idea underlying the gopīs’ argument is as follows: If, in the course of pleasing You, we circumstantially become happy by seeing Your face, what is the fault in that?

Kṛṣṇa: “Then why are you gopīs improperly asking Me to extinguish the fire in your hearts?”

Vraja-gopīs: “This is not improper, it is the truth. You are the cause of that fire’s flaring up. Our souls burn with intense desires created by Your beautiful, smiling glances. To remove that fault, You should simply grant us the position of Your maidservants, rather than the status of wives.”

Śrīpada Vallabhācārya comments on this as follows: “The gopīs prayed for the position of maidservants, not Kṛṣṇa’s wives, because to be married Kṛṣṇa would need to have received upanayana saṁskāra (brahmin thread), which He got later in mathurā-līlā.”

Vraja-gopīs continue, “Thus there is no harm in our being unmarried maidens or being married to other men. For neither of these conditions preclude a relationship of servitude with You.”

Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda says in his commentary that service to the husband in married life does not give as much happiness as service to a paramour lover. This point is also corroborated in his Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta. Since being a servant is more desirable, the gopīs pray in this verse, “May we become Your maidservants.”

Vraja-gopīs: “Because You are a vast ocean of desires, the proper worship of You, who are a woman-hunter, by us young girls should be executed with our own bodies to bring You satisfaction. Consequently, our prayer to extinguish the fire in our hearts is actually a prayer to worship You. The fire of our lust is the chief instrument of that worship.”

Thus it is fitting that the Vraja-gopīs address Kṛṣṇa with the phrase puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa, “O jewel among men.” By this the gopīs meant to say, “O jewel of all males, please decorate our golden bodies with the dark blue gems of Your limbs.”

|| 10.29.39 ||

vīkṣyālakāvṛta-mukhaṁ tava kuṇdala-śrī

gaṇḍa-sthalādhara-sudhaṁ hasitāvalokam

dattābhayaṁ ca bhuja-daṇḍa-yugaṁ vilokya

vakṣaḥ śriyaika-ramaṇaṁ ca bhavāma dāsyaḥ

TRANSLATION

Seeing Your face encircled by curling locks of hair, Your cheeks beautified by earrings, Your lips full of nectar, and Your smiling glance, and also seeing Your two imposing arms, which take away our fear, and Your chest, which is the only source of pleasure for the goddess of fortune, we must become Your maidservants.

COMMENTARY

In this regard Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs had the following conversation.

Kṛṣṇa: “You want to become My servants; so do I have to buy you with some payment, or are you giving yourselves freely?”

Gopīs: “Since the beginning of our youthful womanhood You have been purchasing us with a payment millions and millions of times more than enough. That payment is the precious cintāmaṇi jewel of Your smiling glance, which we have never heard about or seen anywhere else. Thus purchasing us, You brought us home to Your palace among the bushes of Vṛndāvana. Then You showed us Your personal treasury filled with the priceless jewels of Your beautiful bodily limbs. Indeed, Your vast wealth far surpasses the opulence of Alakā, the capital of Kuvera.

“You possess great heaps of pearls and blue emeralds set in golden ornaments shaped like makaras (Kṛṣṇa’s shark-shaped earrings). There are many grand emerald pillars marking the hall where the goddess Laksmī sports (Kṛṣṇa’s chest and arms). The floors are made of cintāmaṇi gems (Kṛṣṇa’s face). Jewels of nīla-nidhi (blue sapphires) and padma-nidhi (rubies) cast their light in all directions (Kṛṣṇa’s eyes). Thus showing us these treasures, each day You make us partake of a nectarean sight unattainable even by the demigods.

“When You put Your golden turban on Your head, Your maidservant will serve as Your valet by arranging Your hair with a comb. With Your hands You will tuck in the curls of hair under Your turban. These curls are visible only on the left and right sides of Your forehead, and they do not cover Your face. Similarly, when You place the jewel on Your turban, Your maidservant will see the locks of hair pushed to the left and right sides of Your forehead. When whenever You are being massaged with oil, or engaging in intimate pastimes we will see Your face completely covered by Your hair. Thus we, Your maidservants, will relish Your abundant sweetness with our eyes.

“What is this face like? Sometimes the ear-rings (kuṇḍala) are completely visible, partially visible or completely covered by locks of hair. Sometimes the earrings are stationary, slightly moving, or completely agitated. In this way Kṛṣṇa’s earrings reveal various types of beauty (Śrī). Whenever Kṛṣṇa smiles and laughs, His cheeks become obscured by the widened corners of His mouth. Thus the nectar that normally comes from His lips seems to be coming from His cheeks as well.

“The cakorī birds of the gopīs’ eyes have climbed upon Your cheeks to drink the nectar of Your lips. At various intimate times, however, the nectar of Your lips appear on the cheeks of the gopīs. Sometimes the nectar from the gopīs’ lips appears on Your cheeks.”

An alternate interpretation is that Kṛṣṇa’s face accents the beauty and splendor of His shimmering earrings, and His face also exhibits the nectar from His lips. All these descriptions apply to Kṛṣṇa’s face as a compound adjective (namely kuṇdala-srī gaṇḍa-sthalādhara-sudhaṁ) modifying a single noun mukhaṁ, His face.

Gopīs: “Kṛṣṇa’s face is filled with smiling glances, which cause the blossoming of the gopīs’ smiles and the night-blooming lotuses.”

Kṛṣṇa: “Your husbands will not tolerate this behavior of ours. They will complain bitterly to King Kaṁsa, thus producing a fearful situation for Me and for you as well.”

Gopīs: “But Kṛṣṇa, Your two mighty arms make us fearless (dattam abhayam), just as they did when You held up Govardhana Hill to protect us from the pride of Mahendra. Those arms will certainly kill that beast Kaṁsa.” In this way their sṛngāra-rasa (conjugal love) is nourished by a hint of vīrya-rasa (chivalry).

Kṛṣṇa: “As I follow the path of dharma, I cannot make others’ wives My maidservants.” Pointing His index finger at Himself, Kṛṣṇa asks, “Do you understand who I am?”

Gopīs: “Yes, of course we do. You are the crest jewel of religious personalities. You may say that You refuse to make the cowherds’ wives Your maidservants, but by force You have already taken Laksmī, the wife of Nārāyaṇa, from Vaikuṇṭha and are carrying her around on Your chest. Out of modesty, she has assumed the form of a golden line and sports prominently (śrīyaika ramanam) on Your chest.”

“Besides, we know this for certain that within all the fourteen worlds and even above these worlds—in Vaikuṇṭhaloka, beyond this universe—You never reject any beautiful woman, no matter who she is or whom she belongs to.”

|| 10.29.40 ||

kā stry aṅga te kala-padāyata-veṇu-gīta-

sammohitārya-caritān na calet tri-lokyām

trailokya-saubhagam idaṁ ca nirīkṣya rūpaṁ

yad go-dvija-druma-mṛgāḥ pulakāny abibhran

TRANSLATION

Dear Kṛṣṇa, what woman in all the three worlds wouldn’t deviate from religious behavior when bewildered by the sweet, drawn-out melody of Your flute? Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Indeed, even the cows, birds, trees and deer manifest the ecstatic symptom of bodily hair standing on end when they see Your beautiful form.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa said, “Since You have given up as dead the path of duty, what effect will that have on other women who are faithful to their husbands? You will corrupt them by the logic of the statement, ‘A shameless person contaminates not only himself, but also everyone else he contacts.’ On seeing this splendid golden line which appears by chance on My chest, you insulted Laksmī herself, who is the most excellent of chaste women. Why are you offending Laksmī-devī?”

Gopīs: “We are not blaming Laksmī-devī at all. Rather it is You who have been sent by the Creator to destroy the religious principles th-roughout the three worlds.” The gopīs say this with angry naughtiness.

Gopīs: “O Kṛṣṇa, all women are bewildered by the sweet tones of Your flute.” Another version of this verse reads kala padāyata murcchitena which means “bewildered by the particular kind of drawn out melody of Your flute.”

“Thus a woman is not herself at fault, but rather the flute-song You have produced is to blame. Not only does she deviate from proper āryan behavior and her own prescribed duty of faithfulness to her husband, but she becomes deviant in all respects. Thus, You are the cause of her abandoning religious principles.”

“Not only do You have the bad quality of destroying our dharma, but Your beautiful form enchants all the people in both the spiritual and material world and destroys their dharma as well. This is no ones’ fault except Yours. The natural lust of women cannot be not said to be the cause of their bewilderment, because all moving and non-moving entities are also bewitched by Your form and flute song.”

“Therefore, what more can be said about this? Even the most expert knowers of the truth are astonished by Your fabulous flute song and gorgeous divine form. Lastly we understand that You also amaze Your own self.” This point is mentioned by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in the Bhāgavatam (3.2.12): vismāpanaṁ-svasya, “Kṛṣṇa even produces wonder for Himself.” [In chapter twenty-one, veṇu-gīta (song of the flute), it states that Brahmā, Indra and Śiva were totally enthralled by Kṛṣṇa’s flute.]

|| 10.29.41 ||

vyaktaṁ bhavān vraja-bhayārti-haro ’bhijāto

devo yathādi-puruṣaḥ sura-loka-goptā

tan no nidhehi kara-paṅkajam ārta-bandho

tapta-staneṣu ca śiraḥsu ca kiṅkarīṇām

TRANSLATION

Clearly You have taken birth in this world to relieve the fear and distress of the people of Vraja, just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the primeval Lord, protects the domain of the demigods. Therefore, O friend of the distressed, kindly place Your lotus hand on Your maidservants’ heads and burning breasts.

COMMENTARY

The Vraja-gopīs said, “Enough of this show of cleverness! Now stop trying to hide Your true feelings.’’ This statement is made directly without hidden intentions (vyaktaṁ).

“You removed the Vrajavasis’ fear of the forest fire, and their distress (arti-haraḥ) due to the rain storms. You appeared in the house of Nanda from the womb of Yaśodā (abhi jata), just as Nārāyaṇa took birth from the womb of Aditi (devo yathādi-puruṣa). Everyone in the world knows this fact. But if millions of these gopīs die today, their parents will experience great grief, thinking, ‘How have these girls, for whom there was only one worshipable God, met their death in the forest?’ They will feel very fearful over the fact that in just one day they all died in the forest.”

Kṛṣṇa: “Then what do you want?”

Gopīs: “O friend of the distressed! Please place Your lotus hands on our burning breasts.”

Kṛṣṇa: “But then My tender hands will get burned.”

Gopīs: “Though the breasts of Your servants (kinkarīṇām) are burning, these instruments of service will not burn Your hands, just as the scorching sun does not cause pain to the lotus. Rather they will fill Your hands with pleasure. Please place Your hand on our heads, and bless us that in the future we will have no fear of rejection by You.”

|| 10.29.42 ||

śrī-śuka uvāca

iti viklavitaṁ tāsāṁ śrutvā yogeśvareśvaraḥ

prahasya sa-dayaṁ gopīr ātmārāmo ’py arīramat

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Smiling upon hearing these despondent words from the gopīs, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme master of all masters of mystic yoga, mercifully enjoyed with them, although He is self-satisfied.

COMMENTARY

Having heard the words expressing their dejection, and having His own desires fulfilled, Kṛṣṇa smiled and said, “O My beloveds! Whenever we meet, you always show obstinacy. Today on this one occasion I boldly exhibited a little obstinacy, but actually even that bears the seed of My magnanimity toward you. Becoming disturbed like this, you have thrown away your modesty, and therefore I am smiling. In conquering you, I have turned the vast ocean of your obstinacy into a drop of water.”

“O girls, who think yourselves the best of intelligent persons, you should acknowledge your defeat and give up the shyness and sobriety which are checking you. You should become a garland of gold and jewels around My neck, and let Me drink the nectar of your sweet lips. For a long time I have been extremely thirsty for this.”

Even though Kṛṣṇa is self-satisfied, He derived great pleasure from joking affectionately with His beloveds. Just see how astonishing is the love of the gopīs! In the ātmārāmāś ca munayo verse of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.7.10), the line ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ glorifies the magnificent qualities of Kṛṣṇa. In the present verse the greatness of the gopīs’ prema is glorified. Because the gopīs are the hlādinī-śakti (manifestations of Kṛṣṇa’s internal pleasure potency) arising directly from Kṛṣṇa, they are also the ātma (manifestations of His own self) of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore it was possible for Kṛṣṇa to sport with them.

Thus although Kṛṣṇa is self-satisfied (ātmārāmā), He derives more joy from His devotees than even from His own self as confirmed in His own words: “My dear Uddhava, neither Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Saṅkarṣaṇa, the goddess of fortune nor indeed My own self are as dear to Me as you are.” (SB 11.14.15)

“O best of the brāhmaṇas, without saintly persons for whom I am the only destination, I do not desire to enjoy My transcendental bliss and My supreme opulences.” (SB 9.4.64)

Since the Vraja-gopīs are the supreme amongst all His devotees, Kṛṣṇa, though He is self satisfied, enjoys with them in order to increase His bliss. But, it may be objected, since such authoritative sources as the Krama-dīpikā state that there were millions of gopīs in the rāsa dance, how was it possible for one man at one time in one place to enjoy with many millions of ladies?

In replying, we must remember that Saubhari Ṛṣi and others were masters of mystic yoga, and personalities like Rudra were their masters. Saubhari expanded his body into fifty duplicate images in order to enjoy with fifty princesses. Kṛṣṇa is yogeśvareśvara, the topmost master of all masters of mystic yoga. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa is so unique that He need not expand Himself to enjoy millions of gopīs. This is confirmed in the words of Nārada Muni: “It is quite amazing that in a single body Lord Kṛṣṇa simultaneously married sixteen thousand women, each in a separate palace.” (SB 10.69.2)

|| 10.29.43 ||

tābhiḥ sametābhir udāra-ceṣṭitaḥ

priyekṣaṇotphulla-mukhībhir acyutaḥ

udāra-hāsa-dvija-kunda-dīdhatir

vyarocataiṇāṅka ivoḍubhir vṛtaḥ

TRANSLATION

Among the assembled gopīs, the infallible Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared just like the moon surrounded by stars. He whose activities are so magnanimous made their faces blossom with His affectionate glances, and His broad smiles revealed the effulgence of His jasmine-bud-like teeth.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa is called udāra-ceṣṭitaḥ, one with magnanimous activities, because by His pastimes (ceṣṭitaḥ means līlā) Kṛṣṇa generously (udāra) gave conjugal pleasure to the gopīs, and to the bhāva-bhaktas who hear these pastimes Kṛṣṇa liberally gives prema. Kṛṣṇa is called acyuta, infallible, because without failure He enjoyed individually with each and every gopī. Kṛṣṇa’s smiles (hāsa) were udāra, meaning either that they liberally gave joy to the gopīs, or they were broad revealing His teeth, which are brilliant white like jasmine flowers.

|| 10.29.44 ||

upagīyamāna udgāyan vanitā-śata-yūthapaḥ

mālāṁ bibhrad vaijayantīṁ vyacaran maṇḍayan vanam

TRANSLATION

As the gopīs sang His praises, that leader of hundreds of women sang loudly in reply. He moved among them, wearing His Vaijayantī garland, beautifying the Vṛndāvana forest.

COMMENTARY

Rādhā, Candrāvalī and other gopīs began to sing (upagīyamāna) in an especially pleasing way (upa) with rāga, svara (melody) and tāla (beat). They sang the following song in “tīn tāla” (three beats):

vadanaṁ madhuma-sadanaṁ, calanaṁ dalanaṁ kandra-kīrtīnām hasitam sudrgbhir lasitaṁ, tava savayaḥ pātu mām aniśsam

“O dear friend! Your face is the abode of sweetness. Your movements, which defeat the fame of the king of elephants, and Your gentle smiles are desired by all beautiful women. Please protect me always.”

Kṛṣṇa Himself, who protects thousands of groups of gopīs, the chief of whom are Rādhā and Candrāvalī, sang in the same pattern as they were singing, loudly glorifying each gopī. Sometimes they would sing back and forth in unison. As a reply to the verse above Kṛṣṇa sang:

tvad-vadanaṁ sadanaṁ madhumnāṁ, tatra hanta dṛganta-vilāsāḥ

teśv asamāṁ suṣamām upajagmuḥ, sunda kāma-kalāḥ sakalās tāḥ

“O beautiful one! Your face is the abode of all kinds of sweetness, and thereupon the corners of your eyes are sporting. Within those playful glances all the skills of Cupid have come to serve you, who are both contrary and submissive.”

The gopīs sang responsively:

kānte tvad-āsyodaya-dattam indu, mṛga-cchalād duryasa eva dhatte janopahāsā saha no ’tha vā kiṁ, dvijo ’pi mūḍho garalaṁ jaghāse

“O beloved! You hold some imperfection in Your moonlike face, like the image of the deer in the moon. But what do we care for the ridicule of people in general? Though Your teeth are twice-born (dvija), they are foolish because they are drinking poison.”

When Kṛṣṇa sang the word sunda, a gopī would reply singing the word sundara instead of sunda. When Kṛṣṇa sang the word kānte some gopī would sing kānta. In this way Kṛṣṇa’s girlfriends sang along with Him.

Kṛṣṇa’s Vaijayanti garland is made from five different colored flowers, since the word vaijayantīm means “five colors.”

|| 10.29.45-46 ||

nadyāḥ pulinam āviśya gopībhir hima-vālukam

juṣṭaṁ tat-taralānandi kumudāmoda-vāyunā

bāhu-prasāra-parirambha-karālakoru
nīvī-stanālabhana-narma-nakhāgra-pātaiḥ

kṣvelyāvaloka-hasitair vraja-sundarīṇām

uttambhayan rati-patiṁ ramayāṁ cakāra

TRANSLATION

Śrī Kṛṣṇa went with the gopīs to the bank of the Yamunā, where the sand was cooling and the wind, enlivened by the river’s waves, bore the fragrance of lotuses. There Kṛṣṇa threw His arms around the gopīs and embraced them. He aroused Cupid in the beautiful young ladies of Vraja by touching their hands, hair, thighs, belts and breasts, by playfully scratching them with His fingernails, and also by joking with them, glancing at them and laughing with them. In this way the Lord enjoyed His pastimes.

COMMENTARY

“Made joyful by the waves” (tarala ānanda) means that the wind afforded bliss by its coolness and gentleness, and by carrying the sweet fragrance of the night-blooming lotuses. Kṛṣṇa derived great pleasure from that wind. The word reme is sometimes seen in this verse instead of juṣṭaṁ. However, the word juṣṭaṁ logically connects this verse to the next wherein the main verb is ramayāṁ cakāra. Sometimes there are also alternate readings for the words taralā-nandi and kumudāmoda.

The gopīs had their arms crossed over their breasts in a svastika shape. The “throwing of arms” (bāhu prasāra) means that Kṛṣṇa opened up the gopīs’ arms and made them embrace Him. Besides embracing them, Kṛṣṇa touched their hands, hair, thighs, breasts and belts, and playfully scratched them, with His fingernails. With His glances, smiles and funny words Kṛṣṇa incited His and their amorous desires (rati-patiṁ). In this way, Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with each and every gopī.

It may be questioned, how was it possible for Kṛṣṇa to enjoy with millions of young women on the limited bank of the river where there was no privacy or love-beds available? It was definitely possible because the personal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the land of Vṛndāvana are both unlimitedly powerful. Even a piece of land in Vṛndāvana as small as a sesame seed can expand into a vast area, full of unlimited private pleasure groves, replete with fragrant flower beds, betel nuts, sandalwood paste, perfumes, cool drinking water and flower garlands. Everything was manifested by Kṛṣṇa’s Yogamāyā potency acting as the aghaṭana-ghaṭana-śakti, the power to make the impossible possible. When the pastimes were finished, Yogamāyā again withdrew everything. In this way everything was perfectly adjusted for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa and His premi-bhaktas.

|| 10.29.47 ||

evaṁ bhagavataḥ kṛṣṇāl labdha-mānā mahātmanaḥ

ātmānaṁ menire strīṇāṁ māninyo hy adhikaṁ bhuvi

TRANSLATION

The gopīs became proud of themselves for having received such special attention from Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each of them thought herself the best woman on earth.

COMMENTARY

The following situation was manifested by Kṛṣṇa’s līlā-śakti for the purpose of enhancing the sacred rapture in accordance with the logic presented in Bharata Muni’s Nātyaśāstra:

na vinā vipralambhena, sambhogaḥ puṣṭim aśnute,

kāsāyite hi vastrādau, bhūyān evābhivardhate

“Just as one cannot redden cloth or some other object without the use of red dye, in the same way the happiness of conjugal love (sambhogaḥ) cannot reach its fullness (puṣṭim) without the experience of separation (vipralambhena).”

The pretense for creating this separation is described in this verse. After having obtained the respect of Kṛṣṇa, the original form of the Personality of Godhead, who is the best among all men (mahā-ātmanaḥ), and because of being able to enjoy intimately with Him, each gopī became proud (māninyo) thinking, “I am the most fortunate woman on the surface of the earth.”

|| 10.29.48 ||

tāsāṁ tat-saubhaga-madaṁ vīkṣya mānaṁ ca keśavaḥ

praśamāya prasādāya tatraivāntaradhīyata

TRANSLATION

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