Kettledrums then resounded in the sky while flowers rained down and the chief Gandharvas and their wives sang Lord Kṛṣṇa’s spotless glories.

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TRANSLATION

One gopī took the Lord through the aperture of her eyes and placed Him within her heart. Then, with her eyes closed and her bodily hairs standing on end, she continuously embraced Him within. Thus immersed in transcendental ecstasy, she resembled a yogī meditating upon the Lord.

COMMENTARY

Hṛdi-kṛtvā means “leading into her heart,” which indicates this gopī was thinking, “May this fickle lover, Kṛṣṇa, whom I have found by great fortune, not leave me again.” Thinking Kṛṣṇa would escape through her eye holes, she closed her eyes. Her body then erupted in goose bumps of ecstasy because of the unobstructed enjoyment of union with Kṛṣṇa. She stood there in a pose of embracing Kṛṣṇa to her breasts with her arms. All her gravity was lost due to the intense hankering she felt now that the period of intense separation was over. Her shyness also failed to manifest due to the absence of any outsider’s curious gaze.

The three gopīs mentioned in verses six, seven and eight, because they did not go to the side of their beloved, are understood to be of the uncooperative type (vāma, “left-wing gopīs.”) They thought, “Kṛṣṇa should come to us, we should not go to Him.” This mentality shows that these three gopīs are full of possessiveness (madiyata-bhāva) toward Kṛṣṇa, and this quality transforms their affection into madhu-sneha “honey-like affection” for Kṛṣṇa. Because these gopīs think, “Kṛṣṇa belongs to me,” they are very intimate companions of Kṛṣṇa who have fully brought their lover under their control. Among these three, Śrī Rādhā, the leader of all the gopīs, is mentioned in verse six. Verses seven and eight describe Rādhā’s principal sakhīs, Lalitā and Viśākhā.

The Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī says the gopīs mentioned in verses 4-8 are Candrāvalī, Śyāmalā (v.4), Padmā, Śaibyā (v.5), Śrī Rādhā (v.6), Lalitā (v.7) and Viśākhā (v.8). The eighth is understood to be Bhadrā as mentioned in the Viṣṇu Pūrāna:

kācid āyantam alokya, govindam aii-harṣitā

kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti kṛṣṇeti, prāha nānyad udairayat.

“One gopī looking at Govinda became extremely joyful and began to repeatedly sing His name, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” She could say nothing else.”

Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī itself quotes a verse from the Skanda Purāṇa (Dvārakā-māhātmya section of the Prahlāda-saṁhitā) that declares these eight gopīs to be the principal among the three billion gopīs. Detailed information about the hierarchy of gopīs is available in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi.

The Padma Purāṇa confirms that Śrī Rādhā is the foremost of the gopīs:

yathā rādhā priyā viṣṇos tasyāḥ kuṇḍaṁ priyaṁ tathā

sarva-gopīṣu saivaikā viṣṇor atyanta-vallabhā

“Just as Rādhā is most dear to Kṛṣṇa, so also is Her kuṇḍa (Radha-kuṇḍa). Of all the gopīs, Rādhā is the most beloved of Kṛṣṇa.”

The Bṛhad-gautamīya-tantra also names Rādhikā as Kṛṣṇa’s foremost consort:

devī kṛṣṇa-mayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā

sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva kāntiḥ sammohinī parā

“Śrī Rādhā is the most beautiful, supremely worshipable goddess. Rādhā is always totally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. Rādhā is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. Rādhā fulfills all of Kṛṣṇa’s desires, and completely enchants His mind. Rādhā is the inseparable internal potency of Kṛṣṇa.”

The Ṛg-parisiṣta (a supplement to the Ṛg Veda) says: rādhayā mādhavo devo mādhavenaiva rādhikā vibhrājante janeṣu “Mādhava together with Rādhā, and Rādhikā together with Mādhava are the most radiantly attractive persons in the whole universe.”

|| 10.32.9 ||

sarvās tāḥ keśavāloka-paramotsava-nirvṛtāḥ

jahur viraha-jaṁ tāpaṁ prājñaṁ prāpya yathā janāḥ

TRANSLATION

All the gopīs enjoyed the greatest festivity when they saw their beloved Keśava again. They gave up the distress of separation, just as people in general forget their misery when they gain the association of a spiritually enlightened person.

COMMENTARY

As people (janāḥ) who are suffering the pains of material existence give up suffering on meeting a topmost devotee (prājñaṁ), so the gopīs got released from their suffering by seeing Kṛṣṇa. This is similar to the Bhāgavatam’s description of the rainy season: gṛheṣu tapta-nirviṇṇā yathācyuta-janāgame, “Those feeling the distress of household life become blissful when the Lord’s topmost devotees visit them.” (SB 10.20.20)

|| 10.32.10 ||

tābhir vidhūta-śokābhir bhagavān acyuto vṛtaḥ

vyarocatādhikaṁ tāta puruṣaḥ śaktibhir yathā

TRANSLATION

Encircled by the gopīs, who were now relieved of all distress, Lord Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, shone forth splendidly. My dear King, Kṛṣṇa thus appeared like the Supersoul encircled by His spiritual potencies.

COMMENTARY

Śaktibhiḥ means with the potencies of all the senses. A person attains splendor when endowed with the power of all his senses, and appears miserable if there is a disorder of his senses. In the same way, when the gopīs were distressed, Kṛṣṇa Himself also felt distressed and did not shine forth so much. But when the gopīs were relieved of all their unhappiness of separation and felt renewed attraction to Him, Kṛṣṇa looked even more beautiful than ever. Just as a person experiences pleasure when his own senses feel pleasure and feels distress when his own senses feel distress, similarly, Kṛṣṇa feels happy when the gopīs are happy and sad when they are sad. This establishes the truth that Kṛṣṇa had pure transcendental love for the gopīs, and that they were direct emanations from Kṛṣṇa’s personal form (svarūpa-bhūta).

This point is described in the Prabhāsa-khaṇda of the Skanda Purāṇa: “There were sixteen-thousand gopīs assembled at the rāsa dance. In their midst, like the best of swans, was the Paramātma, Janardana Kṛṣṇa. O Pārvati-devī! These gopīs are glorified as the sixteen śaktīs, personal potencies of Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is compared to the moon and these sixteen principal gopīs are His phases. When they come together they are like a garland of the sixteen phases of the moon. These sixteen parts are each further divided into sixteen more gopīs, each existing with separate bodies and emotions.”

The āgamas say: “At the rāsa maṇḍala, Kṛṣṇa appeared most splendid surrounded by three billion beautiful gopīs.” Among them sixteen thousand were prominent. Of those, one thousand were more prominent. Out of these one thousand, eight gopīs were the most principal, and among these eight, two, namely Rādhā and Candrāvalī, were by far the best. Of these two, Śrī Rādhā is the most superexcellent. This is the conclusion of the devotional scriptures.

|| 10.32.11-12 ||

tāḥ samādāya kālindyā nirviśya pulinaṁ vibhuḥ

vikasat-kunda-mandāra surabhy-anila-ṣaṭpadam

śarac-candrāṁśu-sandoha-dhvasta-doṣā-tamaḥ śivam

kṛṣṇāyā hasta-taralā cita-komala-vālukam

TRANSLATION

The almighty Lord then took the gopīs with Him to the bank of the Kālindī, who with the hands of her waves had scattered piles of soft sand upon the shore. In that auspicious place the breeze, bearing the fragrance of blooming kunda and mandāra flowers, attracted many bees, and the abundant rays of the autumn moon dispelled the darkness of night.

COMMENTARY

Holding the hands of the gopīs and laughing, Kṛṣṇa looked especially wonderful as He approached the bank of the Yamunā. The splendor of the riverbank is described in one and a half verses. The breeze along the Yamunā’s bank was fragrant with blossoming kunda and mandāra flowers. We can infer that the wind, coming off the river, was cool and it was also gentle because bees were circling within it. The abundant rays of the autumn full moon dispelled the darkness. The river bank was most auspicious and gave great pleasure (śivam). With the hands of her waves Yamunā-devī had spread out soft sand for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa.

|| 10.32.13 ||

tad-darśanāhlāda-vidhūta-hṛd-rujo manorathāntaṁ śrutayo yathā yayuḥ

svair uttarīyaiḥ kuca-kuṅkumāṅkitair acīkÿpann āsanam ātma-bandhave

TRANSLATION

Their heartache vanquished by the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs, like the personified Vedas before them, felt their desires completely fulfilled. For their dear friend Kṛṣṇa they arranged a seat with their shawls which were smeared with the kuṅkuma powder from their breasts.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes the gopīs’ services rendered to Kṛṣṇa in pure love befitting their attitude of intimate friendship (ātma-bandhave). All the distress in the minds the young girls of Vraja was removed by the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa. They arranged a seat for their dear friend by using their shawls, which were sprinkled with the kuṅkuma from their breasts. The śrutis attained the highest platform of desire fulfillment (mano-rathāntaṁ). Upon seeing Kṛṣṇa enjoying with the gopīs, the śrutis thought, “When will we become Vraja-gopīs, and offer the kunkuma tinged shawls from our breasts as seats for Kṛṣṇa?” The Bṛhad-Vāmana Purāṇa says the śrutis, following in the footsteps of the gopīs, executed severe austerities in order to attain bodies of gopīs.

Therefore the śrutis, or personified Vedas, prayed in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.87.23) as follows:

striya uragendra-bhoga-bhuja-daṇḍa-viṣakta-dhiyo

vayam api te samāḥ sama-dṛśo ’ṅghri-saroja-sudhāḥ

“The women of Vraja attained the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet after having their intelligence vanquished by the sharp poison of His beautiful serpentine arms. By following in their footsteps, we too will become gopīs and serve Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.”

The śrutis had seen Kṛṣṇa during His appearance in the previous day of Brahmā and had become full of the most intense desire to associate with Him. Then in this kalpa they became gopīs. Since the Vedas are eternal in human society, the srutis in this kalpa also become full of desire for Kṛṣṇa and in the next kalpa they too will become gopīs.

|| 10.32.14 ||

tatropaviṣṭo bhagavān sa īśvaro yogeśvarāntar-hṛdi kalpitāsanaḥ

cakāsa gopī-pariṣad-gato ’rcitas trailokya-lakṣmy-eka-padaṁ vapur dadhat

TRANSLATION

Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for whom the great masters of mystic meditation arrange a seat within their hearts, took His seat in the assembly of gopīs. His transcendental body, the exclusive abode of beauty and opulence within the three worlds, shone brilliantly as the gopīs worshiped Him.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa sat upon the various seats laid out by the successive groups of gopīs. But, it may be questioned, how could Kṛṣṇa sit upon so many seats with only one body? Because Kṛṣṇa is the controller (īśvara), He expanded His form into many without anyone noticing, in order to fulfill His desires (bhagavān). The word bhaga means desire (kāma) as well as wealth and glory according to the Amara-kośa dictionary. Therefore, here the word bhagavān means kāmavān, one who possesses desires. As soon as Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya-śakti (īśvara) noted His desire to sit on all the seats, these forms were manifested by His yogamāyā potency.

The indestructible, most valued sitting place of the Lord which is difficult to attain by anyone in the three worlds is established deep in the hearts of the masters of mystic meditation like Śiva and Ananta Śeṣa. The Vraja-gopīs, however, having conquered the Lord by their intense, selfless love, arranged a seat for Kṛṣṇa outside of their hearts with their own garments, which were fragrant with the perfumes they had used. Kṛṣṇa accepted those seats and appeared most resplendent (cakāsa) as He sat on them. He who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and whom even such personal associates as Brahmā and Śiva must approach with prayers at the shore of the Milk Ocean, whereupon He mystically appears within their minds for a single moment, has now become the personal associate of the gopīs (gopī pariṣad gata).

The word arcitas means that Kṛṣṇa was honored by presentations of betel nut, joking words, smiles and sidelong glances. In some cases the word arcitas (worshiped) is replaced by the word acyuta, which means that Kṛṣṇa sat there for a long time accepting worship.

Why did Kṛṣṇa appear among the gopīs? He whose transcendental body (vapuḥ) is the exclusive (ekaṁ) reservoir (padaṁ) of the manifold opulences of beauty (laksmī), wealth, power and fame, which are found in His own infinite expansions throughout the lower, middle and upper regions (trai-lokya) of the material and spiritual worlds was nourished by immersing in the sweet ocean of the gopīs’ radiant beauty, soft smiles and sidelong glances.

Another meaning: From the very moment Kṛṣṇa sat shining amongst the gopīs on the bank of the Yamunā, the masters of mystic yoga like Lord Śiva brought Kṛṣṇa into their own hearts by meditation (yogeśvarāntar-hrdi kalpitāsanaḥ), characterized by Kṛṣṇa appearing beautifully in the midst of the gopīs and exhibiting various talks and joking gestures.

|| 10.32.15 ||

sabhājayitvā tam anaṅga-dīpanaṁ sahāsa-līlekṣaṇa-vibhrama-bhruvā

saṁsparśanenāṅka-kṛtāṅghri-hastayoḥ saṁstutya īṣat kupitā babhāṣire

TRANSLATION

Śrī Kṛṣṇa had awakened romantic desires within the gopīs, and they honored Him by glancing at Him with playful smiles, gesturing amorously with their eyebrows, and massaging His hands and feet as they held them in their laps. Even while worshiping Him, however, they felt somewhat angry, and thus they addressed Him as follows.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes the actions of gopīs who did not want to submit to Kṛṣṇa’s advances for conjugal love. Glancing with explicit movements of their eyebrows expressing their individual feelings, the gopīs honored Kṛṣṇa, who incites lust (anaṅga-dīpanam) within them. Sabhājayitvā means that the gopīs were honoring Kṛṣṇa with appropriate emotions in order to conceal their affectionate anger, thinking, “Previously Kṛṣṇa abandoned us, and now He has come for His own enjoyment.” To hide their anger they began to praise Kṛṣṇa while taking His feet and hands in their laps. Āṅka-kṛtā can also indicate that the gopīs placed their hands and feet on Kṛṣṇa’s lap.

Pleased with the touch of Kṛṣṇa’s hands and feet, the gopīs praised Him: “Ah! Your feet and hands are extraordinarily cool. Having relieved us of the painful fire of separation, You are truly the pleasing moon, who knows no distress or sorrow.” After praising Kṛṣṇa with such sarcastic words, the gopīs became slightly angry. Even though their anger had somewhat reduced due the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa, still a trace remained in their minds. In this mental state they began to speak.

|| 10.32.16 ||

śrī-gopya ūcuḥ

bhajato ’nubhajanty eka eka etad-viparyayam

nobhayāṁś ca bhajanty eka etan no brūhi sādhu bhoḥ

TRANSLATION

The gopīs said: Some people reciprocate the affection only of those who are affectionate toward them, while others show affection even to those who are indifferent or inimical. And yet others will not show affection toward anyone. Dear Kṛṣṇa, please properly explain this matter to us.

COMMENTARY

Each of the gopīs personally considered within her mind, “Since Kṛṣṇa has put us, who are the crest-jewel of all His loving devotees, into such an unfortunate condition we should ask Him why He did it.”

Other gopīs thought, “O Kṛṣṇa, do you have love for us, indifference to us, or enmity towards us? Even though there are these three possibilities, we cannot ascertain which is the fact. Moreover, is Your love conditional or unconditional? It cannot be conditional, because the person with conditional love gratifies those who help him fulfill his desires, and therefore does not neglect them or subject them to misery. You however, have tried to kill us by burning us in the fire of separation from You.”

“And neither is Your love unconditional, since You abandoned us in the dense, fearful forest in the middle of the night. Though seeing our suffering, You were not at all bereaved. In that we see some motive, so it cannot be unconditional. We can also understand that You are not indifferent to us, because we see that You try to make us both happy and sad. Neither is it enmity, which would have to be either permanent dislike or enmity in a particular connection with some unfavorable reciprocation. It is not permanent dislike, because we don’t see it in You. Neither is it from unfavorable actions, because we have done nothing inimical toward You.”

“Rather, You serve as the example of a person who has that sort of perverted enmity symptomized by the vicious desire to harm those who trust one. We should not state this openly with our own mouths, but we will ask such questions in the form of riddles, so that Kṛṣṇa Himself will give the appropriate answer, and thus the truth of this matter will become evident.”

Because the gopīs were feeling the same sentiment within each of their hearts, they all reflected in a similar way. Then these gopīs of similar mind spoke: “O most intelligent one, O Kṛṣṇa, please answer this riddle of ours. There are some people who only respect those who respect them. Their respect is conditional. They give respect expecting something, and if they do not get that, then they no longer give respect. This is conditional love. Quite to the contrary of this, there are those who give respect to those who do not respect them. They have unconditional respect. Not expecting any results for themselves, they have unconditional love.”

“The third type of people are those who do not respect anyone, whether that person respects them or not. There is no question of conditional or unconditional love here. Those persons are indifferent. Hatred and enmity are also non-reciprocation, so persons who are hateful and inimical also fall in the category of non-respect.”

Though not clearly mentioned here, it will become somewhat evident in Kṛṣṇa’s answers. The gopīs said, “Kṛṣṇa, Please say something to explain this matter as to who reciprocates with whom and who fails to do so? You should answer correctly (sādhu) without deviating from the subject.”

|| 10.32.17 ||

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

mitho bhajanti ye sakhyaḥ svārthaikāntodyamā hi te

na tatra sauhṛdaṁ dharmaḥ svārthārthaṁ tad dhi nānyathā

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: So-called friends who show affection for each other only to benefit themselves are actually selfish. They have no true friendship, nor are they following the true principles of religion. Indeed, if they did not expect benefit for themselves, they would not reciprocate.

COMMENTARY

Understanding the intention of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa answered. “Those who reciprocate with one another based on expectation of return for their assistance are endeavoring exclusively for the sake of their own rewards in the present and future. They are indeed worshiping only themselves and no one else. Their mutual reciprocation would not occur otherwise. They are selfish persons with conditional love, and are full of lusty desires. Consequently these people have no love (sauhṛdam:prema). Nor do they have any dharma (faultless religiousness).”

|| 10.32.18 ||

bhajanty abhajato ye vai karuṇāḥ pitarau yathā

dharmo nirapavādo ’tra sauhṛdaṁ ca su-madhyamāḥ

TRANSLATION

My dear slender-waisted gopīs, some people are genuinely merciful or, like parents, naturally affectionate. Such persons, who devotedly serve even those who fail to reciprocate with them, are following the true, faultless path of religion, and they are true well-wishers.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa here answers the second question. “Those who honor those who do not honor them are showing unconditional respect. They are of two categories: those with family relationship, such as the father and mother, and those who are merciful by nature. Specifically, the “merciful” are the pure devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja who manifest unconditional mercy. Both these types are not concerned with personal gain. Whether they are happy or miserable, they continue to reciprocate with the other person, and even after death they do not give up their respect. Among these the pure devotees are the best, and the mother and father are second class. The religiousness (dharma) of both these classes is faultless (nirapavādaḥ), because it is free from expectation of material results. Their undying friendship and pure love (sauhṛda:prema) is also faultless.

“O slender-waisted ones (su-madhyamāḥ)!” The word su-madhyamāḥ implies indirectly that the middle (madhyama) question of the gopīs is the most excellent (su). Because they apply to dishonorable examples, the first and last questions are not as respectable.” Or it can mean, “This middle answer actually is directed towards you gopīs, who are the personification of the middle question’s answer.”

|| 10.32.19 ||

bhajato ’pi na vai kecid bhajanty abhajataḥ kutaḥ

ātmārāmā hy āpta-kāmā akṛta-jñā guru-druhaḥ

TRANSLATION

Then there are those individuals who are spiritually self-satisfied, materially fulfilled or by nature ungrateful or simply envious of superiors. Such persons will not love even those who love them, what to speak of those who are inimical.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa answers the third question of the gopīs in this verse.

“Since some persons do not respect or respond to those who respect them, what is the question of respecting those who do not respect them? There are of four types, mentioned in sequence from greater to lesser. The first is the ātmārāmā, who delights in the self alone and forever looks within. The second type is the āpta-kāmā, who though seeing externally, has satisfied all his material desires, and therefore does not seek enjoyment from others. The third type is the ungrateful person (akṛta-jñā). Even though they desire sense gratification from others, they do not recognize when others help them.”

The fourth type is the guru-druhaḥ, who is inimical to his superiors. He does not acknowledge what others have done for him, and rather shows excessive hatred towards them for no good reason. Those who have a reason for being inimical are called alpa-druhaḥ, a lower degree class of guru-druhaḥ. In addition, those who show hatred toward one who renders protection are guru-druhaḥ, and those who injure one who is faithful are guru-druhaḥ. These three types of guru-druhi are those who do not respect others.

In this way, we have had one example (the selfish person) for first question, two examples (Prahlāda, the mother and father) for second, and six examples for the third, making a total of nine examples.

|| 10.32.20 ||

nāhaṁ tu sakhyo bhajato ’pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye

yathādhano labdha-dhane vinaṣṭe tac-cintayānyan nibhṛto na veda

TRANSLATION

But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopīs, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else.

COMMENTARY

The gopīs said, “Kṛṣṇa, You are not among the examples given in Your answers to the first and second questions. For You are not a selfish materialist, not a merciful devotee, nor a mother or father. Please tell us then which of the four types of guru-druhi You belong to?”

Kṛṣṇa answered, “You want to hear My defeat from My own mouth? O sakhīs, smiling and glancing at each other in glee! Please hear Me. In as much as I am Nārāyaṇa, I am self-satisfied (ātmarāmā) and full in all desires (purna-kāma), but as the son of Nanda, I am neither of these. As a simple cowherd boy, not having studied the Nīti-sāstras, I am akṛta-jñā (ignorant), but as Nārāyaṇa I am kṛta-jñā, all knowing and also grateful. I am guru-drohi for having hurt you by once abandoning you after having shown favor to you many times by enjoying pastimes with you. Nevertheless, I am not guru-drohi, for I gave you the ecstasy of seeing Me again.”

Gopīs: “Then to which class do You belong?”

Kṛṣṇa: “To none of these (nāham).” Here the word tu (on the other hand) expresses the introduction of a contrary idea. “I do not respond to any living entity that respects or worships Me.”

Gopīs: “But how is this different from the group (guru-drohi) You previously explained?”

Kṛṣṇa: “For those surrendered souls who worship Me through nāma-kīrtana and other means, I do not respond in order to make their worship more perfect. O gopīs (abalā-gana) who cannot understand My real intention! Not seeing Me, those surrendered souls develop deep humility, feeling, ‘Alas, alas, everything I have done has been useless. Because I am an offender, Kṛṣṇa has not shown even the slightest favor toward me. Let me be damned!’”

“By constantly thinking in this way, those who have not yet developed mature love for Me will become free from lust and anger and awaken pure devotion full of power and brilliance. However, the nature of those who already have mature love (kṛṣṇa-prema) for Me is different. For them, I do not respond in order to increase their attachment to Me. I appear and then disappear, in order to deepen their loving attachment.”

In this regard an analogy to those who already have prema is given by the words beginning yathā. When a poor man gains wealth and then loses it, he becomes filled (nibhṛtah) with thoughts of that wealth, and cannot think of anything else, such as eating and drinking. Those who have attained prema, and then lose the Lord react similar to this.

Kṛṣṇa: “In this way I am actually merciful. It is desirable for My worshipers to have this complete attachment to Me. Thus to increase that attachment more and more, I, even though externally failing to reciprocate with them, invisibly reciprocate very much with them.

“Although you gopīs are the ideal examples of those who worship even those who do not worship them, I too am actually very merciful, as much as you are, since I have given you the gift of My darśana. One should not think that only if I am present that I respond, and if I am absent I do not respond. For then My promise, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham, ‘I will respond accordingly as they worship Me’ (Bg. 4.11) would be broken.”

|| 10.32.21 ||

evaṁ mad-arthojjhita-loka-veda svānām hi vo mayy anuvṛttaye ’balāḥ

mayāparokṣaṁ bhajatā tirohitaṁ māsūyituṁ mārhatha tat priyaṁ priyāḥ

TRANSLATION

My dear girls, understanding that simply for My sake you had rejected the authority of worldly opinion, of the Vedas and of your relatives, I acted as I did only to increase your attachment to Me. Even when I removed Myself from your sight by suddenly disappearing, I never stopped loving you. Therefore, My beloved gopīs, please do not harbor any bad feelings toward Me, your beloved.

COMMENTARY

“It is true that You fully respond both to the devotees who have not achieved prema and to those have achieved prema. Now You have counted us among these ordinary living beings, since You are also acting in this manner with us.”

Anticipating these doubtful words of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa said, “O dearly beloveds! The dust of your lotus feet is more dear to Me than countless millions of My own lives. Please forgive My wickedness for treating you like ordinary persons today.” This is the meaning of evam. Or evam can mean “in this way.”

“For My sake You gave up worldly (loka) opinion by ignoring what is proper and improper, and also the Vedas (veda) by ignoring what is religious and irreligious. In addition, you gave up your affection for relatives (svānām), wealth and friends to come to Me. In order to increase your loving propensity (anuvṛttaye), I have responded to you invisibly as I do with My ordinary devotees. I disappeared from your sight with a desire to hear your love-filled lamentations.”

With such pitiful exclamations of repentance Kṛṣṇa states that He has done a great injustice. Kṛṣṇa said, “Devotees such as you have never existed either in the past, present or in the future. There are no other devotees like you, whose attraction for Me is so great that it never decreases even by one atom. Please, therefore, forgive this injustice of Mine, which I did to show the other premi-bhaktas the great glory of your love in separation. Please forgive Me for My lack of consideration of you. You should not be inimical (asūyitum) or find fault with Me because I am dear (priya) to you. Certainly lovers do not take to heart the faults of their beloved (priyam).”

|| 10.32.22 ||

na pāraye ’haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ

yā mābhajan durjara-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā

TRANSLATION

I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa said, “Now please hear what is going on in My mind. Your association with Me is faultless and unconditional (niravadya-saṁyujām). It does not depend on any condition of material desire (kāma), fruitive work (karma), worldly opinion (loka), religious codes (dharma) or the injunctions of scripture (sāstra). You are all saintly (sva-sādhu) simply by the good deeds (kṛtyam) you have done. It is not by coming into contact with something that you have become sanctified. I am incapable of properly reciprocating with you, even if I were to attain a lifetime of the demigods.” The word kṛtyam is in the singular to suggest that even one such action of the gopīs can never be repaid.

“Completely cutting off (saṁvṛścya) the chains of attachment to relatives (geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ) such as husbands, sisters-in-law, fathers and brothers, which should not be cut, you worshipped Me (mābhajan).” Another meaning of mā abhajan is as follows: Mā is used as a negative in this case meaning, “You cut off all bonds to your family and after attaining Me, you no longer reciprocate with them, unlike immature yogīs, who still maintain some family attachment.”

“I, on the other hand, worship you but at the same time continue having affection for My parents, brothers and friends. Even though I have promised to reciprocate equally with those who surrender unto Me (ye yathā māṁ prapadyante), I failed to carry out that promise in regards to you. I did not respond as you did by giving up My father, mother, brother and friends. It is impossible for Me to repay you for what you have done. Therefore let your own pure character be the reward. Although your good character makes you forgive Me for My fault and relieve Me of My debt, still I remain forever indebted to you.”

The gopīs then considered in their minds, “Even though Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is full of all transcendental qualities, devoid of the slightest trace of any fault, and knows all about our love for Him, in order to establish the superiority of our love for Him, and to make Himself indebted to us, He has performed this act of giving us up. We, who wanted to defeat Kṛṣṇa and criticize Him for His conduct with our riddles, have been most immoral in our intent, whereas He desired only to establish our exalted position. We could never act like that! Thus in effect we have become conquered by Kṛṣṇa’s love.”

Thus ends the commentary on the Thirty Second Chapter of the Tenth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.

Chapter Thirty-three

The Rāsa Dance

|| 10.33.1 ||

śrī-śuka uvāca

itthaṁ bhagavato gopyaḥ śrutvā vācaḥ su-peśalāḥ

jahur viraha-jaṁ tāpaṁ tad-aṅgopacitāśiṣaḥ

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When the cowherd girls heard the Supreme Personality of Godhead speak these most charming words, they forgot their distress caused by separation from Him. Touching His transcendental limbs, they felt all their desires fulfilled.

COMMENTARY

This chapter describes the rāsa dance, various amusements and playing in the Yamunā. There is also an exchange of questions and answers between Śukadeva Gosvāmī and King Parīkṣit.

The gopīs’ desires (āśiṣaḥ:kāmāḥ) were fulfilled by touching Kṛṣṇa’s limbs and by hearing His charming (su-peṣalāḥ) words. Another meaning: “The gopīs gave up their pain of separation upon hearing Kṛṣṇa’s enchanting words, and Kṛṣṇa increased His joy by touching their bodies.”

Thus it is implied that after hearing Kṛṣṇa’s replies to their questions, the gopīs’ minds were pacified, and the pastimes of embracing and kissing commenced.

|| 10.33.2 ||

tatrārabhata govindo rāsa-krīḍām anuvrataiḥ

strī-ratnair anvitaḥ prītair anyonyābaddha-bāhubhiḥ

TRANSLATION

There on the Yamunā’s banks Lord Govinda then began the pastime of the rāsa dance in the company of those jewels among women, the faithful gopīs, who joyfully linked their arms together.

COMMENTARY

When the actions of singing, dancing, kissing and embracing combine together they produce rāsa. Amusement composed of rāsa is called rāsa-krīḍām or the rāsa dance. Joyfully entwining their arms together, Kṛṣṇa played with those gopīs, the jewels among women, who were now favorably disposed (anuvrataiḥ).

|| 10.33.3 ||

rāsotsavaḥ sampravṛtto gopī-maṇḍala-maṇḍitaḥ

yogeśvareṇa kṛṣṇena tāsāṁ madhye dvayor dvayoḥ

praviṣṭena gṛhītānāṁ kaṇṭhe sva-nikaṭaṁ striyaḥ

yaṁ manyeran nabhas tāvad vimāna-śata-saṅkulam

divaukasāṁ sa-dārāṇām autsukyāpahṛtātmanām

TRANSLATION

The festive rāsa dance commenced, with the gopīs arrayed in a circle. Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself and entered between each pair of gopīs, and as that master of mystic power placed His arms around their necks, each girl thought He was standing next to her alone. The demigods and their wives were overwhelmed with eagerness to witness the rāsa dance, and they soon crowded the sky with their hundreds of celestial airplanes.

COMMENTARY

This verse describes how Kṛṣṇa consorted with the gopīs. The rāsa dance is called a festival (rāsa-utsavah) because it was full of music, singing and dancing, merrymaking and wonderful food in the form of blissful nectar for the cātaka birds of the devotee’s eyes and minds. The festival began in a perfectly arranged way (sampravṛtto: samyak) with Kṛṣṇa entering between each pair of gopīs who were standing in a circle. One should not think that this verse means that Kṛṣṇa initiated the rāsa-krīḍa. Kṛṣṇa was not the doer; the rāsa-līlā was the doer. Kṛṣṇa gave the rāsa-līlā the independence to initiate the action.

Kṛṣṇa was present as one of the ingredients of the festival. In this way, more than Kṛṣṇa Himself, more than all His energies and more than all His other pastimes, the supreme position of the rāsotsavaḥ is proclaimed throughout the universe. Therefore even such personalities as goddess Laksmī, though greedily hankering to achieve these pastimes, could not do so.

How was Kṛṣṇa positioned between the gopīs? Kṛṣṇa entered between the gopīs embracing their necks on either side. In this regard, the sixth verse of this chapter states, madhye maṇīnāṁ haimānāṁ mahā-marakato yathā, “Kṛṣṇa was like a great emerald among all the golden jewels.” Since the word madhye (middle) and also the singular form of the word marakata (emerald) are used, and since in the previous verse it is not explicitly stated that Kṛṣṇa was present in individual forms together with each gopī, we understand that Kṛṣṇa was actually present in the center of all the gopīs like the whorl of a lotus flower.

This demonstrates the dexterity of Kṛṣṇa’s movement that He was able to dance next to each pair of gopīs. In the flash of a second, Kṛṣṇa left the middle where He was standing, and danced with and embraced the three hundred million gopīs who were standing in the rāsa circle, and then again He returned to the middle. Kṛṣṇa’s movement was quicker than a fire brand, because at that time everyone could see Kṛṣṇa standing in the center, and also situated between the gopīs in the circle of the rāsa dance. In this connection, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has said:

aṅganām aṅganām antarā mādhavo

mādhavaṁ mādhavaṁ cāntareṇāṅganāḥ

ittham ākalpite maṇḍale madhya-gaḥ

sañjagau veṇunā devakī-nandanaḥ

“Mādhava was between each pair of gopīs, and also each gopī was between two Mādhavas. Devakīnandana (Kṛṣṇa) also appeared in the middle of the circle, playing upon His flute and singing.”

The basic cause for this extraordinary event is indicated by the word yogeṣvareṇa, meaning that Kṛṣṇa is the perfect master of all methods of artistic skills and the means of acting thus. The Amara-koṣa dictionary says that the word yoga means “method.” Or yoga can refer to yogamāyā, the great potency who is expprt in doing the impossible for her Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Knowing that Kṛṣṇa desired to embrace all the gopīs simultaneously, yogamāyā manifested a Kṛṣṇa for each gopī to solve this problem.

There are two ways of understanding the phrase “Kṛṣṇa entered between each pair of gopīs.” The first understanding is that Kṛṣṇa expanded as two forms on the two sides of each gopī. The second understanding is that one Kṛṣṇa entered between each pair of gopīs. In the first explanation, each gopī would have Kṛṣṇa on each shoulder, which would be contradictory for her. But this is not a problem, because the great yogamāyā-śakti made each gopī aware that only one Kṛṣṇa was touching her. There is however, no contradiction in the second explanation.

Being maddened by love, each gopī thought, “Kṛṣṇa is here embracing me alone. Even though we see Him dancing all around, it is simply because of His unique expertise in the art of dancing.”

The Vaiṣṇava ācāryas say that Devakīnandana stood in the center of the rāsa dance along with Śrīmati Rādhārani, because She is the most excellent of the gopīs, and the very cause of the rāsa-līlā as stated in the Rādhā Sata-nāma Stotra: rāsa-kṛīḍām kāraṇam.

At that moment (tāvat), the sky became crowded with hundreds of airplanes belonging to the denizens of heaven, headed by Brahmā. They eagerly watched Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa dancing, but they were not qualified to witness Kṛṣṇa’s confidential pastimes with the gopīs because they are dāsya-bhaktas, worshiping Him in the mood of servitude. Yogamāyā thus arranged everything so expertly that the men of heaven could see the dancing of Kṛṣṇa but not His beloved gopīs.

|| 10.33.4 ||

tato dundubhayo nedur nipetuḥ puṣpa-vṛṣṭayaḥ

jagur gandharva-patayaḥ sa-strīkās tad-yaśo ’malam

TRANSLATION

|| 10.33.5 ||

valayānāṁ nūpurāṇāṁ kiṅkiṇīnāṁ ca yoṣitām

sa-priyāṇām abhūc chabdas tumulo rāsa-maṇḍale

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