Chapter 29

In this chapter Lord Sri Krishna, intending to enjoy

the rasa dance, engages in arguments and counter-
arguments with the gopis. after this, the beginning of
the rasa dance and the Lord's pastime of
disappearing will be described.

Remembering the promise He had made to the

gopis at the time of stealing their clothes, Lord
Krishna resorted to His yoga-maya potency and
manifested within himself the desire to enjoy
pastimes during the spring night. Thus He began to
play His flute. When the gopis heard this sound of the
Lord's flute, which violently aroused the impulses of
Cupid within them, they immediately abandoned all
their household duties, even though their various
engagements were only half-finished or less, and
hastily went to Krishna. When some of the gopis,
whose bodies were purely spiritual, found
themselves prevented from going by their husbands
and other family members, Lord Krishna arranged by
His transcendental will for them to temporarily
exhibit material bodies, which they then left at the
sides of their husbands. In this way deceiving their
husbands, they went off to meet Krishna.

When the gopis arrived in His presence, Lord Krishna

inquired from them what was the reason for their
coming there, and began to confidentially advise
them that it is not good for women to travel in such a
place during the fearful night, full as it is with violent
creatures. He further told them that their husbands
and children would soon come searching after them
to come home and carry out their household duties,
and after all it is the prime religious duty of women
to serve their husbands, children and other relatives.
For women of respectable families to consort with a
paramour is worthy of all contempt and certainly
sure to obstruct their progress to heaven. Moreover,
it is not by physical proximity with the Lord that one
can develop the pure love of God that is actually
based on hearing topics connected with Him, viewing
His deity in the temple, meditating upon Him and
faithfully chanting His glories. Therefore, He told
them, you young cowherd ladies would do best to
return to your homes.

The gopis were simply brokenhearted upon hearing

this, and after crying a little they replied in slight
anger that He, Krishna, was very unfair to reject
young girls who had abandoned everything in their
lives with the exclusive desire of being able to serve
Him. By serving their husbands and children, they
went on, they only receive pain, whereas by their
serving Sri Krishna, the dearmost soul of all living
beings, the true religious duty of the self is perfectly
fulfilled. What woman is there who doesn't deviate
from her prescribed duties as soon as she hears the
song of Sri Krishna's flute and sees that form of His,
which enchants the three worlds? in the same way as
the supreme Lord Visnu is the protector of the
demigods, Sri Krishna is the destroyer of the
unhappiness of the people of Vrndavana. Krishna, the
gopis concluded, should take it as His is immediate
responsibility to relieve the torment of separation felt
by the poor, suffering cowherd girls.
 The always-satisfied Lord Krishna replied to these
outcries of the gopis by playing with them in various
pastimes to make them happy. But when this show
of attention induced them to pride, He removed that
pride by suddenly disappearing from the arena of the
rasa dance.

TEXT 1

sri-badarayanir uvaca
bhagavan api ta ratrih
saradotphulla-mallikah
viksya rantum manas cakre
yoga-mayam upasritah

TRANSLATION

Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

full in all opulences, yet still He became attracted by
the sight of the autumn nights, with jasmine flowers
blossoming in the cool night air. Taking help of His
yoga-maya potency, He turned His mind toward
loving affairs.

Sridhara Svami

In the twenty-ninth Chapter are related the

arguments and counter-arguments of Lord hari and
the gopis, which were meant for inspiring the rasa
dance, and the Lord's curious pastime of
disappearing from the midst of the cowherd girls.

All glories to the master of the goddess of fortune,

who is now decorated by the surrounding circle of
gopis in the rasa dance! Cupid has become overly
proud by His defeating Brahma and other demigods,
but now Lord Krishna is taking away that pride of His.

But, it may be questioned, isn't there something

wrong with this situation, since we can ascertain the
victory of Cupid in this dallying with other men's
wives? no, we shouldn't speak thus, because Lord
Krishna is referred to as fully independent in such
words as yoga-mayam upasritah, a`tmaramo 'py
ariramat (text 42), and a`tmany avaruddha-sauratah.
Consequently this pretense of sporting in the rasa
dance serves in fact to declare conquest over Cupid.
And furthermore, in the guise of presenting topics of
conjugal love, this Pancadhyayi (five chapters of the
rasa-lila) aims at the conclusion of renunciation, as
we intend to demonstrate herein. “Those nights" are
the ones mentioned by the Lord in His promise,
yatabala vrajam siddha/ mayema ramsyatha ksapah
(10.22.27).

Jiva Gosvami

By the words bhagavan api are implied as an

amalgamation (those nights) which were very dear to
Him. Those (nights) which, by their own sweetness,
attract our minds (Sukadeva speaking); this is
established by the fact, due to it being the autumn
season, that this is the time for pastimes filled with
such rasa as is manifest by the jasmine flowers
blossoming. Yoga-maya is the potency which makes
the impossible possible; He is closely (upa = samipe)
resorting to her. The idea implied is that that
particular potency of His is present at that time
because of there being an opportunity to render her
particular kind of service.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

First I lovingly offer my obeisances to my spiritual

master, Srila ramakrsna Gangacarana, and my
respects to Srila Narottama dasa Thakura and Lord
Sri Gauranga. I then bow down to Sri Krishna, the
ultimate spiritual master.

Let me take shelter of sri Lokanatha Gosvami, the

eye of this universe, and Srila Sukadeva Gosvami. I
offer myself and everything I possess to the darling
of the life of the young cowherd women, the almighty
Personality of Godhead, with the hope of attaining
servitude to Him. now the sage Sukadeva relates in
five chapter, which can be compared to the five airs
of life, the rasa-lila of Lord hari. This pastime is the
prize jewel to be found in the treasury of all His
pastimes. all glories to the rasa dance! By the good
fortune the cowherd damsels acquired for
themselves by participating in it, they, even while
present on this earth, took to their own lips the
supermost manifestation of all divine tastes. in this
twenty-ninth Chapter, the gopis are inundated with
the harshly poisonous shower of the sound of Lord
Krishna's flute. But these gopis become like cataki
birds eagerly drinking up this rain. Also described in
this chapter is the playful disappearance of the Lord.

Herein (iha), during His seventh year, the Lord

enacted the stopping of indra's sacrifice, by
proposing the philosophy of karma-vada, on the new
moon day of the month Karttika. On the first lunar
day of the bright fortnight of that same month (I.e.,
the next day), He celebrated the sacrifice to
Govardhana, on the second day He observed the
festivity of accepting His lunch on the shore of the
Yamuna on the occasion of Bhratr-dvitiye (the
holiday on which sisters traditionally show honor to
their brothers); this latter pastime we may
understand took place even though it is not
mentioned by sri munindra, Sukadeva. On the same
day, it is described, indra spoke out in anger, and
then, from the third tithi to the ninth of the bright
fortnight, the Lord held up Govardhana hill. On the
tenth day the cowherd men discussed much in
surprise about Krishna, on the eleventh Lord Govinda
received abhiseka, and on the twelfth He traveled to
the planet of Varuna. On the full moon day (the
fifteenth tithi of the sukla-paksa), He went to
Brahmaloka.

And then, it now being His next year because of the

fall season reaching its conclusion (with this
purnima), now being in His eighth year He
performed, on this a=svina-purnima, the celebration
of the rasa-lila, which is the crest-jewel of all His
pastimes. In order to describe this, Sukadeva begins
with this verse. Even though He is bhagavan, full in
six varieties of opulences, He turned His mind toward
enjoying, because the time, place and participants,
namely the autumn night, Vrndavana and the
damsels of Vraja, served to enflame the passion of
enjoyment by their supreme capacity to attract the
mind with their sweetness. That is to say, He became
desirous of relishing with His own ears and other
senses the variegated charms of the topmost experts
among billions of women in the arts of amorous love;
He wanted to enjoy with His own senses the sweet
sounds of their voices, their beauty and gentleness,
their fine fragrance, tenderness, cleverness and skill
in playing music. He also became desirous of making
them relish with their own ears and other senses the
sweet sound of His voice, and so on.

His yoga-maya potency, under the influence of pure

love, and impelled to act by His other potency of
"perfectly effective desire" satya-sankalpa, brought
millions of other nights, which were all needed for
carrying out such loving pastimes, into that single
night of merely four praharas (twelve hours), and so,
by the manifestation of so many nights, the words ta
ratrih have been spoken here in the plural
grammatical number. along the same line the words
will later be spoken, brahma- ratrya upavrtte. The
use of the word tat in this verse (in the form tah) is in
the sense of "very well-known", and thus is
expressed the excellence of those nights on account
of their exhibiting many wonderful qualities. The
word sarada is carrying the inflection ta (the
instrumental singular ending -a), expressing “Those
nights of the autumn in which the jasmine flowers
are blossoming." these "jasmines" which are
appearing even during the autumn are actually
kunda flowers, as follows from the words, kunda-
srajah kula-pater iha vati-gandhah. In accordance
with another verse, reme tat- taralanandi-
kamalamoda-vayuna, this is the superexcellence of
Vrndavana, that there lotuses open their flowers
even during the night. If we take an alternate
reading, saradotphulla- mallikah, the idea is that
both the sarada flowers and the mallikas were
blooming.

The Lord got ready to enjoy those nights; the word

reme in this regard may be interpreted by some as
meaning that since He is actually self-satisfied and
innately full in all desires, this apparent enjoyment
on the part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
with young women is only an external show, a false
imitation of human life. It is in reply to such a
possible interpretation that the words rantum manas
cakre are given, to inform us that this enjoyment is
indeed internal and not just a superficial appearance.
Very well, someone may say in agreement, this
enjoyment is internal, but only for the young girls of
the cowherd village, because they are devotees. To
answer such an idea the word cakre (a`tmanepada
instead of parasmaipada) is intentionally used to
express that this enjoyment is for His own
satisfaction. This moreover shows just how much
pure love of God these young girls of Vraja had, that
the supreme Lord himself, although already fulfilled
in all possible pleasures, was thinking of enjoying
with them. By the words ittham-bhuta-guno harih in
the a`tmaramas ca munayah verse, the supreme
excellence of the vraja-sundaris is thus established.

We also have the following two verses, the first from

sri Visnu Purana, and the other from hari-vamsa:

so 'pi kaisoraka-vayo
manayan madhusudanah
reme tabhir ameyatma
 ksapasu ksapitahitah

"The Lord madhusudana, even though free from all

flaws of passion and imperfect qualities, fulfilled His
youth by enjoying with these young girls in the
night."

yuvatir gopa-kanyas ca
ratrau sankalya kala-vit
kaisorakam manayanah
saha tabhir mumoda sah

"The Lord brought together in the night all the young

cowherd girls, both unmarried and married, and
fulfilled the purpose of His youth by enjoying with
them." here manayan means "showing honor to." if
He failed to enjoy with them His youthfulness would
become subject to contempt, and therefore great
authorities have made such statements in this regard
as, kaisoram saphali- karoti kalayan kunje viharam
harih ("Lord hari perfects His youth by arranging
loving pastimes in the bushes of Vrndavana Forest"),
which subtly hints at the topmost supremacy of the
young ladies of Vraja. And finally everything
contradictory is reconciled and everything left unsaid
is made explicit, by the word yoga-mayam, indicating
the action of His personal, inconceivable cit-sakti.
Resorting fully (upa = a`dhikyena) to her. The fact
that He resorted to her out of all the potencies that
lie at His disposal shows that in this pastime she is
getting special good fortune.

TEXT 2
 tadodurajah kakubhah karair mukham
pracya vilimpann arunena santamaih
sa carsaninam udagac chuco mrjan
priyah priyaya iva dirgha-darsanah

TRANSLATION

The moon then rose, smearing with the reddish hue

of His own comforting rays the face of the western
horizon. He dispelled the pain of all who watched His
rising just as a beloved husband returning from a
long absence adorns the face of His beloved wife
with red kunkuma. Sridhara Svami

Then, at that very moment, for His satisfaction, the

king of the stars, the moon, arose (udagat = uditah).
Doing what? Just as a beloved (husband) who is
being seen again for the first time after a long
absence smears the face of His beloved (wife) with
red kunkuma powder, similarly the moon was
smearing, making reddish by the hue of His rising,
the face of the western direction with His most
auspicious, most comforting, rays (kara = rasmi).
The word sah indicated the already mentioned moon.
and in the same way He (the moon) was was wiping
away, removing, the unhappiness, the heat and
languor, of those who were watching Him.

Jiva Gosvami

With His rays, with the redness, with the hue of His
rising.

Visvanatha Cakravarti
 And at that time there also appeared another cause
for the enflaming of passionate desires, as stated:
The moon (udurajah = candra) then arose.
Furthermore, this moon is not merely a stimulater of
conjugal feelings, but also serves as an example to
prove the fact of the condition of the Lord who enjoys
the cowherd girls. A dear lover is appearing after a
long absence, and He smears the face of His beloved
consort with red kunkuma held in His own hands; in
the same way (the moon) smears, reddens, the face
of the western direction with the reddish hue of the
moonrise which is being carried by His own rays
(kara = kirana). The word sah expresses that He has
already been mentioned. Washing away, removing,
the unhappiness, the discomfort, of the carsanis,
which word in the genitive case means means "of
humankind," according to the verse,

aryamno matrka patni

tayos carsanayah sutah
yatra vai manusi jatir
brahmana parikalpita

"The sons of the mother and the wife of the demigod

a=ryama are called the Carsanis. Lord Brahma
arranged for these Carsanis to be the forefathers of
the human race."

The idea of this verse is as follows: The moon-god--

although the original personality of the dynasty in
which Lord Krishna appeared and the most ancient
leader of the brahmana community, and although
already possessing many wives of His own who were
all quite fit to be enjoyed-- is touching with His hands
the face of the western direction, who is another's
wife, namely indra's. and by touching her, while
being attracted to her, He is also making her
attracted to Him. If this is the case then certainly
there is no blame in Krishna, the descendent of His
dynasty, enjoying with the gopis, since He is in His
new youth a yet unmarried member of the cowherd
community, and thus has no wife of His own, and
since indeed by His personal beauty He gives joy to
all women of the human race.

TEXT 3

drstva kumudvantam akhanda-mandalam

ramananabham nava-kunkumarunam
vanam ca tat-komala-gobhi ranjitam
jagau kalam vama-drsam manoharam

TRANSLATION

Lord Krishna was inspired to see the unbroken face

of the moon glowing with the red effulgence of newly
applied vermilion as if it were the face of the goddess
of fortune, the kumuda lotuses opening in response
to the moon's presence, and the forest being gently
illuminated by the its rays. Therefore the Lord began
to play sweetly on His flute in such a way as to
attract the minds of the beautiful-eyed gopis.

Sridhara Svami

Kumudvantam means that place (the face of the

moon) where (or rather in the presence of which) the
kumut (or, more commonly, kumuda) flowers can
blossom (this kind of lotus opens at night). Whose
(the moon's) effulgence is like the complexion of the
face of the goddess of fortune Laksmi, and is
reddened as her face is reddened by newly-applied
kunkuma. Seeing the moon like this, and also seeing
the forest colored by the moon's gentle rays, He
sang (jagau = agayata) sweetly. In what way? in
such a way as to charm those girls whose eyes were
so charming (vama = manohara).

Jiva Gosvami

(The moon) appearing with the form of mahalaksmi,

or else, because she is the actual cause of Sri
Krishna's pleasure Rama in this context means sri
radha; this is as has been stated previously
(10.21.6), iti venu-ravam rajan sarva-bhuta-
manoharam ("When the young girls of Vraja heard
Krishna play His flute in such a way as to attract all
living creatures, they all began to chant His glories
and embrace one another"). The special quality (of
the sound of His flute) is stated by the words vama-
drsam manoharam, implying that this is a special
song which enhances the feelings of transcendental
conjugal love a`di-rasa.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

And then Lord Krishna, experiencing a

transformation of lust inspired by the sight of the
moon's rising, and by remembering the words yad
yad a`carati sresthas tad tad evetaro janah
recognizing within himself the behavior of the
founder of His own dynasty, thus felt free to make a
definite effort to bring others' wives there to enjoy
with himself.

Kumut is the same as kumuda, as stated in the

Visva-kosa, kumude 'pi kumut proktam. that moon in
whose presence the kumuda lotuses can open.
Another interpretation can also be given for this:
Seeing the moon, whose presence served to give
pleasure (mud) to the earth (ku), and also seeing
himself as such, since actually in this context the
specific antecedent modified and modifier are left
unstated. That full moon whose image, manifest
form, was an unbroken disk.

Rama is Laksmi, since the moon, being her brother

(because both of them were born from the churning
of the milk Ocean), has a face which resembles hers.
Or, alternately, Rama is sri radha, as we find in the
smrti, sarva-laksmi-mayi sarva-kantih sammohini
para (Brhad-gautamiya-tantra, quoted in C.c., a=di
4.83). The gopis are also ramah because they enjoy
(ramante) and give pleasure ramayanti), giving the
meaning that by seeing that moon which resembles
their faces the Lord became absorbed in
remembrance of them. According to one possible
interpretation, the complexion of the faces of those
ramas was a total effulgence which revealed their
inner transformations of Cupid and consequently (the
Lord saw) himself as red, just like a ball of kunkuma
powder, by the pervasiveness of the rising moonlight
of that moon (of the gopis' faces). According to
another, that moon (of their faces) was red due to
the recent application of kunkuma and His face (?)
had become smeared (ranjitam = mraksitam) by the
gentle rays (gobhih = kiranaih) of that moon; or else,
the compound can be otherwise broken down to give
the word abhiranjitam. According to yet another
interpretation, the path of His walking was
illuminated (abhiranjita) by the well-known rays of
His own bodily effulgence, or else by the cows whom
He was tending (gobhih = gavibhih). The absence of
the expected inflectional ending t`aj is poetic license
of the sages.

Seeing these two opulent manifestations of the

enflaming power of Cupid, the Lord played sweetly
(kalam = madhuram), "on His flute" being the
unspoken completion of the idea, as stated later on
(text 40) the words ka stry anga te kala-padamrta-
venu-gita-. in what manner? in such a way as to
enchant even those young girls whose eyes are most
enchanting (vama = manohara), in accordance with
the statement of sruti, gayantam striyah
kamayantah. Coincidentally, the word kalam
indicates the two consonants ka-kara and la-kara,
while if we remove the grammatical inflection from
vama-drsam we get vama-drk, which is name for the
fourth vowel (I). Together with that vowel He sang
the fifteenth sound of the alphabet (m), giving the
kama-bija mantra (klim). This mystery (of His
vibrating the kama-bija) is enchanting because of its
power of drawing the mind, this mantra being the
original mantra of Cupid.

TEXT 4

nisamya gitam tad ananga-vardhanam

 vraja-striyah krsna-grhita-manasah
a`jagmur anyonyam alaksitodyamah
sa yatra kanto java-lola-kundalah

TRANSLATION

When they heard the song of Krishna's flute the

young gopis felt their minds captured as the sound
evoked the influence of Cupid over them.
Immediately they each went forward to find their
lover Krishna, trying to keep their separate
endeavors secret from all the others, and as they ran
their earring rolled to and fro.

Sridhara Svami

In order to avoid rivalry they went forward

unbeknownst to each other, without informing each
other. They came by the path of the flute's sound to
the place where He, their lover, was. By their speed
(javena = vegena) whose earrings were moving
unsteadily (lolani = cancalani).

Jiva Gosvami

"Came" means "arrived."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Just like puppets strung on the thread of the sweet

song (of the flute), they went into the presence of
Krishna, as stated in this verse. That song, while
most enchanting, also increased the influence of
Cupid (manoja). Furthermore, Krishna has instigated
a terrible act of thievery in Vraja, namely the playing
of His flute, by which (this song) openly enters the
inner treasury chamber of the ears of the young girls
of Vraja and steals all their most valuable
possessions-- their sobriety, shyness, fear and
discrimination, as well as their very minds-- and in a
split second delivers all these goods to Krishna; this
is stated: Those girls whose manasani-- meaning not
only their minds (manamsi) but also their qualities of
determination, remembrance, discrimination,
shyness, fear and thoughtfulness, which all are in
relation with the mind (manasani)-- had been seized
by Krishna, they went in order, it is implied, to each
beg for the return of their personal property from
Krishna, the great king of thieves. While they were
thus anxiously thinking, "I have to capture that great
thief," they went forward each unknown to the
others; they each followed behind the thief in pursuit
of Him. To where? to the place where He, their
boyfriend, was. Those girls whose earrings-- which
word kundala also indirectly indicates their bracelets,
foot bells and other ornaments-- were moving about
because of their speed; by this is also implied that
that thief did not take the external goods of their
homes, thinking them to be insignificant.

TEXT 5

duhantyo 'bhiyayuh kascid

doham hitva samutsukah
payo 'dhisritya samyavam
anudvasyapara yayuh

TRANSLATION
 Some of the gopis had been engaged in milking the
cows at the moment they hear Krishna's flute, yet
they simply abandoned their duty and went. Some
left milk curdling on their stoves and others ignored
cakes which were burning in the ovens.

Sridhara Svami

Upon hearing the sound which hinted at the

presence of Sri Krishna, they immediately went,
leaving all their duties half-finished, as if they whose
minds were so inclined to absorption in that sound
were announcing their complete renunciation of all
trai-vargika activities (in the three categories of
dharma, artha and kama). This is spoken by the
verse beginning duhantyah. Some of them had
placed milk in cooking vessels and put it on the stove
to cook, but now, without waiting for the milk to start
curdling, they went away. samyava is wheat flour;
without taking out (the cakes) which they were
cooking.

Jiva Gosvami

duhantyah is equivalent to dohayantyah. abhiyayuh

means “They set off."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

At the time when they went forward to join Him,

because in their great eagerness they could not
stand to wait, they neglected all their duties based in
material "I"-ness and "mine"-ness. This is described
in three verses, and in particular how some of them
left aside the particular duties of their social class is
stated in the present verse. While engaged in milking
the cows they abandoned their milking duties and
went off (abhiyayuh = abhisasruh). (the next
sentence repeats Sridhara Svami.)

TEXTS 6-7

parivesayantyas tad dhitva

payayantyah sisun payah
susrusantyah patin kascid
asnantyo 'pasya bhojanam

limpantyah pramrjantyo 'nya

anjantyah kasca locane
vyatyasta-vastrabharanah
kascit krsnantikam yayuh

TRANSLATION

Some of them were just then getting dressed,

feeding milk to infants or rendering various services
to their husbands, but they immediately put
everything down and went to meet Krishna. Other
gopis were in the middle of their evening meals,
which they abandoned without a thought, while still
others stopped in the middle of washing themselves,
decorating their faces with cosmetics or applying
collyrium to their eyes, and went out, even though
their clothes and ornaments were in complete
disarray.

Sridhara Svami
 Others of them were performing the washing of their
bodies with oil and so forth. The word kasca is the
same as kascit. indicating that work done for the
satisfaction of Krishna has its result for those whose
minds are attached to Him even if executed
imperfectly, the words beginning vyasta- are spoken.
Whose clothing and ornaments became disordered,
the upper being put below and vice versa, becoming
disordered both by items being put in the wrong
place and by the wrong items being used.

Jiva Gosvami

"Infants" means the children of their sisters, sisters-

in-law and so on. The word payah means cow's milk,
since it would be incongruous to the situation for
them to be breast-feeding the children, and since it
would contradict the transcendental mood which is
later (10.33.25) going to be described in the words,
sarvah sarat-kavya-katha-rasasrayah (“The gopis
were all absorbed in the moods which are found in
the springtime and in poetry"). The word
susrusantyah we should understand as meaning that
some of them were engaged in household affairs,
whereas other gopis had rejected such household
life, as stated (text 32 of this chapter), yat paty-
apatya-suhrdam.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

How they abandoned the basic duties of women is

described in this verse. While engaged in dressing,
(abandoning) that business of dressing, and while
serving their husbands by bring warm water for them
and so on. Some of them failed to dress themselves
adequately, as stated: while anointing themselves,
applying sandalwood paste and so forth to their
bodies, and while bathing themselves, cleansing
their bodies with oils, etc. Some of them were in such
a rush that they were failed to recognize which parts
of their bodies were which, as stated by the words
beginning vyasta. This is as is elsewhere described,

vallabha-prapti-velayam
madanavesa-sambhramat
vibhramo hara-malyadi-
bhusa-sthana-viparyayah

TEXT 8

ta varyamanah patibhih
pitrbhir bhratr-bandhubhih
govindapahrtatmano
na nyavartanta mohitah

TRANSLATION

Their husbands, fathers, brothers and other relatives

tried to stop them, but Krishna had already stolen
their hearts. Entranced by the sound of Krishna's
flute, they refused to turn back.

Sridhara Svami

And neither can any disturbances have effect over

those whose minds are attracted to Krishna, as
stated by the verse beginning varyamanah.
Visvanatha Cakravarti

But, it may be questioned, it is quite proper that

they forgot everything, because of the predominance
of their pure love of God, but why would their
husbands and other relatives give up concern about
them? this is replied to in this verse. Although they
were being checked-- those of them who were
respectable young wives by their husbands and
those who were respectable unmarried girls by their
fathers and other family members-- still they would
not turn back. The reason for this is stated by the
words beginning govinda: why should we even
consider the question of their fear, shame and so on
remaining, since everything they had, even their
very souls, had been taken away by Govinda?
mohitah means "stunned" (murcchitah), like
marionettes pulled by strings.

But their husbands and other relatives, out of fear of

lose of reputation, would never allow their wives,
even their wives' dead bodies, to go alone outside
the house. Granted, but we should understand that
this contrary situation is reconciled by Yogamaya
herself; specifically she has arranged that at that
time each of the gopis left with their own husbands
and relatives imaginary forms which those relatives
perceived as being them, and thus it seemed to their
husbands and relatives that they had gone back into
their houses. _le young wives by their husbands and
those who were respectable unmarried girls by their
father
 TEXT 9

antar-grha-gata kascid
gopyo 'labdha-vinirgamah
krsnam tad-bhavana-yukta
dadhyur milita-locanah

TRANSLATION

Some of the gopis, however, could not manage to

get out of their houses, and instead remained home
with eyes closed, meditating in pure love upon Him.

Sridhara Svami

Those who had not gotten the opportunity to go out;

even previously they were absorbed in love for Him,
but now they meditated especially fervently upon
Him.

Jiva Gosvami

The following eight verses, beginning antah, go

together.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

In this context we will make our analysis according

to the method described in (rupa Gosvami's) ujjvala-
nilamani. There are two categories of gopis-- the
eternally perfect and those perfected by practice.
The sadhana-siddhas are furthermore of two
categories--those who belong to special groups and
those who do not. And their are two classes of these
gopis belonging to special groups, namely the sruti-
caris, who come from the group of the personified
Vedas, and the r`si-caris, who come from the group
of sages.

There is also another four-fold categorization of

these gopis given in the Padma Purana:

gopyas tu srutayo jneya

r`si-ja gopa-kanyakah
deva-kanyas ca rajendra
na manusyah kathancana

"Some of the gopis should be understood to be

personified Vedic literatures, while others are
daughters of sages, daughters of cowherds and
demigod maidens. But by no means, my dear King,
are any of them ordinary humans." By these words
we are informed that although they are appearing as
human beings on account of being cowherd girls,
they are not actually such, and thus is refuted the
contention that they are mortal humans. The gopa-
kanyas referred to here are eternally perfected, since
we never hear of them having executed any
sadhana. Their apparent sadhana of executing the
worship of goddess Katyayani in the role of gopis
merely manifests their manner of playing like human
beings, and the topic of this worship is only narrated
to exemplify how they had fully taken on the role of
cowherd girls (since Katyayani is a goddess
traditionally worshiped by cowherd girls). Their being
actually nitya-siddha, on the other hand, is
established by the statement of Brahma-samhita,
a`nanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhavitabhih, which
proves that they are the Lord's spiritual pleasure
potency. Similarly, we have the words of the
Gautamiya-tantra, hladini ya maha-saktih, and
further corroboration of their eternal perfection is
given by the fact they, being coeternal with Lord
Krishna, their lover, are mentioned along with Him in
the eighteen-syllable (klim krsnaya govindaya gopi-
jana-vallabhaya svaha) and ten-syllable mantras, and
furthermore because the worship of these mantras,
and also the srutis which present them, have been in
existence since beginningless time.

The daughters of the demigods who are understood

by the evidence of the verse sambhavas tv amara-
striyah are explained in sri ujjvala-nilamani to be
partial expansions of the gopis who are eternally
perfect. We understand that the sruti-cari gopis are
sadhana-siddha from the words of the Brhad-vamana
Purana,

kandarpa-koti-lavanye
tvayi drste manamsi nah
kamani-bhavam a`sadya
smara-ksubdhanya-samsayah

yatha tval-loka-vasinyah
kama-tattvena gopikah
bhajanti ramanam matva
cikirsajanis tatha

"After seeing Your face, which possesses the beauty

of millions of Cupids, our minds have become lusty
after You like young girls, and we have forgotten all
other bewilderments. We have developed the desire
to act toward You as do the gopis who dwell on Your
transcendental planet and who manifest the nature
of Cupid by worshiping You with the idea that You are
their paramour."

And the r`si-cari gopis are also sadhana-siddha, as

stated in ujjvala-nilamani, gopalopasakah purvam
apraptabhista-siddhayah. Previously they were all
maharsis living in the dandakaranya. We find in the
Padma Purana, uttara-khanda:

drstva ramam harim tatra

bhoktum aicchan su-vigraham
te sarve stritvam a`pannah
samudbhutas ca gokule

harim samprapya kamena

tato mukta bhavarnavat

In this verse it is said that upon seeing Lord

ramacandra, they developed the desire to enjoy Lord
hari (Krishna), which means that the sight of Lord
Rama's beauty reminded them of the Lord hari,
Gopala, their personal object of worship, and they
then wanted to enjoy with Him. But out of
embarrassment they did not act out that desire,
whereupon Lord sri Rama, who is like a desire tree,
gave His mercy to them, even though they had not
spoken their request. Thus they fulfilled their desire,
as stated by the words beginning te sarve. Getting
the association of hari in conjugal love as a
coincidental result, they then by means of their lusty
attraction became freed from the ocean of material
existence, the cycle of birth and death, which was
the actual direct result.

In this current verse it was gopis who had children

who were kept forcibly in their homes, in accordance
with the verses yet to come, matarah pitarah putrah,
yat-paty-apatya-suhrdam anuvrttir anga and pati-
sutanvaya-bhratr-bandhavan. this fact is pointed out
in Srila Kavi-karnapura Gosvami's commentary on
the tenth Canto. Without trying to repeat His original
thoughts on this verse in their entirety, we will
summarize the basic gist of His purport: The sages
who were worshipers of Lord Gopala, upon seeing the
personal form of Lord sri ramacandra, immediately
became elevated to the full-blown platform of
spontaneous devotion, automatically reaching the
stages of firm faith, attraction and attachment. But
they had not yet completely freed themselves of all
material contamination; therefore sri Yogamaya-devi
arranged for them to take birth in the wombs of
gopis and become cowherd girls. Some of these new
gopis, by the association of the eternally perfect
gopis, fully manifested their preliminary loving
attraction for Krishna (before actually meeting Him)
as soon as they reached puberty; then, by getting
the direct audience of Krishna and physically
associating with Him, all their remaining
contamination became burned up and they achieved
the advanced stages of prema, sneha and so on.
Even though in the company of their cowherd
husbands, by the power of Yogamaya they remained
unsullied by sexual contact with them, being rather
situated in purely spiritual bodies which became
enjoyed by Krishna. That night, when they heard the
sound of Krishna's flute, their husbands tried to stop
them, but by the merciful assistance of Yogamaya,
they were able to go forth to their beloved together
with the nitya-siddha gopis.

Others of them, however, because of not getting the

good fortune of associating the nitya-siddha and
other advanced gopis, had not achieved the stage of
prema, and so their contamination was not
completely burned away. They entered the company
of their cowherd husbands, and sexually enjoyed by
them, they gave birth to children. But even they soon
after also developed their purva-raga by the
excessively hankering to have the bodily association
of Krishna which they acquired by associating with
the nitya-siddha and other advanced gopis.
Becoming worthy recipients of the mercy of the
perfected gopis, they assumed transcendental bodies
fit to be enjoyed by Krishna, and when Yogamaya
failed to help them overcome the attempts of their
husbands to keep them from going out, they felt
themselves cast into the worst calamity because of
their inability to go to Krishna. Viewing their
husbands, brothers, fathers and other family
members as enemies, they came close to dying. Just
as other women might remember their mothers or
other relatives at the time of death, they
remembered the sole friend of their very life,
Krishna, as stated in the words beginning antah.

Those ladies were not able to exit, because, it is

implied, they were held back by their husbands, who
were standing before them scolding and with sticks
in their hands. Although they are perpetually
absorbed in love for Him, at that particular time they
meditated upon Him. "alas, alas, O only friend of our
life! O ocean of the artistic skills of Vrndavana
Forest! Please let us become your girlfriends in some
future life, because at this time we cannot see with
our own eyes Your lotus-like face. So be it; we shall
look upon You with our minds." Each of them
lamenting to themselves in this way, they stood with
their eyes closed shut and meditated deeply upon
Him.

TEXTS 10-11

duhsaha-prestha-viraha-
tivra-tapa-dhutasubhah
dhyana-praptacyutaslesa-
nirvrtya ksina-mangalah

tam eva paramatmanam

jara-buddhyapi sangatah
jahur guna-mayam deham
sadyah praksina-bandhanah

TRANSLATION

Their intolerable separation from Lord Krishna

caused the gopis an intense agony which burned
away all traces of accumulated impious karma, and
by meditating upon Him they realized His embrace,
which gave them a great feeling of joy and thus
depleted whatever material pious reactions they had
previously amassed. although He is in fact the
supreme soul of all existence, these girls simply
thought of Him as their boyfriend. As they associated
with Him in that intimate mood, all their karmic
bondage became nullified and they spontaneously
abandoned their gross material bodies.

Sridhara Svami

Furthermore, at that time they attained Krishna, the

supersoul, by meditation, and gave up their material
bodies, as stated by the two verses beginning
duhsaha. But, it may be asked, how did they give
them up, since they were ignorant of the fact that He
is the Paramatma? anticipating this objection the
words jara- buddhyapi are spoken. The reality of a
situation does not depend on one's knowledge of it,
or otherwise it would be like a person claiming to
have actually drunk nectar when He has only
imagined doing so.

(text 11) But how can their reactions of past

activities have become nullified without their
experiencing them, since only by one's enjoying or
suffering karmic results can they be used up? this
question is answered by the words beginning
duhsaha. From the separation they felt from their
beloved they experienced a severe pain, which
further drove away everything inauspicious in their
hearts; thus by experiencing the greatest distress on
account of failing to attain Him their impious
reactions became nullified. And similarly by
meditation they obtained the embrace of Lord
acyuta, which caused them to experience great
happiness (nirvrti = parama-sukha-bhoga). This
further caused the nullification of their auspicious
karma, their bondage of ordinary piety. In this way,
when they realized the supersoul by their meditation,
they experienced both happiness and distress at the
same time. All their karma being thus reduced to
zero, they gave up their material bodies.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

In this verse beginning duhsaha-, (Sukadeva

Gosvami) is speaking in a peculiar way, keeping
secret from outsiders the intimate object which is
attainable by the gopis, presenting it to them as with
an external idea, while at the same time revealing to
the confidential devotees who are well-versed in the
scientific conclusions of devotional service the
internal meaning that is His real desired purport.
Thus to the outsiders Sukadeva says that Krishna
gave the gopis liberation: From the intolerable
separation from their beloved that they experienced
there arose a great pain, by which all of their
inauspicious contamination became washed away,
used up. By meditation they achieved the embrace
of Lord acyuta, which gave rise to an ecstasy, by
which furthermore their auspicious pious karma
became diminished (used up). Then, all the bondage
of their past accumulated karmic reactions being
reduced to nill, they, even while thinking of Him as
their paramour, realized Him as the supersoul and
left their bodies.

But to the confidential hearers Sukadeva is saying

that at that time, by experiencing separation from
their beloved, there arose in them immeasurable
unhappiness and happiness both, and gradually their
achieved their desired goal, as stated: Due to their
intolerable separation from their beloved, they
developed a terrible pain, by which they caused to
tremble (dhutani = kampati-krtani) all inauspicious
things. In other words, seeing the sharpness of the
gopis' agony in separation from their beloved, other
persons abandon thousands of inauspicious things--
even as fearsome as the subterranean fires of
millions of universes or the great poison which was
swallowed by Lord siva. More specifically, they give
up their terrible false ego and, think themselves
defeated, begin to tremble. By the gopis' meditation
Lord acyuta became manifest and personally came
to them, and by embracing that body, full of
transcendental love for them, and exhibiting
personal characteristics and a sense of identification
appropriate for such love, they experienced great
joy. That joy diminished, made seem paltry by
comparison, all their good fortune, both material and
spiritual. The implied idea is that when (other
persons) see how happy the gopis became upon
embracing Krishna when He manifested himself
directly before them, they (the other persons) feel
that thousands of so-called auspicious objects
become diminished, insignificant in comparison--
even all the sense-gratificatory pleasures to be found
in millions of universes, and even the trans-sensory
pleasure of spiritual bliss (brahmananda). By the
distress and the joy that arose, respectively, from
separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead
and union with Him, all the reactions of their past
activities, sinful and pious as well, are eradicated.
The Vaisnavas certainly do not agree with the
opinion that such sinful and pious reactions can only
be destroyed by being lived out, since, after all,
separation from the supreme Lord and direct
association with Him are not in either category of
sinful or pious results of past activity. this kind of
elimination of the resultant reactions of past activity
occurs rather in the stage of bhajana, for those who
have come to the level of anartha-nivrtti.

And thus, thinking of Him, the Paramatma or

supreme worthy object of all love, as being their
paramour, even though such a concept is
contemptible, they achieved Him in even a fuller
sense than did such personalities as Queen rukmini,
who thought of Him in the most respectable way, as
their husband. That thinking of the Lord as one's
paramour is superior to thinking of Him as one's
husband is proven by the fact of the superiority of
this kind of unbridled pure love, as born out by the
words of sri uddhava, ya dustyajam svajanam a`rya-
patham ca hitva (Bhag. 10.47.61).

And in this incarnation of the Lord we find His

pastimes turning the most lowly things into the most
elevated, as Bhisma described, that Krishna's
pastime of acting as arjuna's chariot driver was even
more elevated than any pastime of acting in the
status of a mighty king of kings: vijaya-ratha-
kutumba a`tta-totre/ dhrta-haya-rasmini tac-
chriyesksaniye (Bhag. 1.9.39, "I concentrate my mind
upon the chariot driver of arjuna, who stood with a
whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left,
who was very careful to give protection to arjuna's
chariot by all means"). Similarly (in the Lord's
appearance as Krishna), we see that the inferior
conjugal rasa becomes better than the normally
superior mood of santa-rasa, as also the attitude of
loving a paramour becomes superior to the loving
exchange between legitimate spouses, and lowly
conchshell necklaces, red oxide paste and peacock
feathers become better than the most excellent
jewelled ornaments.

We can coincidentally deduce that some of the

gopis, with the help of Yogamaya, were able to
escape the bonds holding them back and went out
on that night to meet Krishna, the enjoyer of the rasa
dance, whereas others had to wait until another
night.

But, it may be objected, it is not fitting for the

supreme Lord to sport with such women whose
bodies had already been enjoyed by other men; this
is replied to by the words beginning jahuh. the word
deham is used here in the single form to indicated
unity of category (even though they are plural).
Some authorities say that by the power of Yogamaya
these bodies disappeared in a way unnoticed to
everyone, but other authorities say that the "body"
referred to in this context is the inferior body
composed of the modes of material nature; thus, by
the prominence of the adjective guna-mayam, it is
understood that before the gopis heard the sound of
Krishna's flute, their bodies had been two-fold,
material and spiritual. Thereupon they gave up the
material bodies, which their husbands had enjoyed.
We may analyze this as follows: Begin from the point
devotees enter the stage of prosecuting devotional
service in accord with the instructions of a bona fide
spiritual master, and as they engage their ears and
other senses in pure devotion by the means of
hearing, chanting, remembering, offering obeisances,
giving personal attendance and so forth, the
devotees make the Lord's transcendental qualities
the objects of their own ears and other senses, as
stated by the Lord himself, nirguno mad-apasrayah
(Bhag. 11.25.26, describing the different kinds of
workers). in this way the devotees' bodies transcend
the material modes, but at the same time when they
take as their sense objects mundane sounds, etc.,
that is material. Thus a devotee's body can have two
partial aspects, transcendental and material.

And further, by the logic of the verse bhaktih

paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra ca (11.2.42), which
states, tustih pustih ksud-apayo 'nughasam,
according to the different level which one's
devotional may have evolved to, the transcendental
aspects of one's body to that degree become
prominent, while simultaneously the material
portions of one's body become diminished. When
complete pure love is achieved, the material portions
are eliminated and the body becomes completely
spiritual. Nonetheless, the supreme Lord has His
illusory energy exhibit the demise of the gross body,
in order not to disturb the false opinions of atheists
and in order to protect the confidentiality of
devotional service, as, for example, in the
disappearance of the Yadavas during the mausala-
lila. Sometimes, on the other hand, in order to make
known the superexcellence of bhakti-yoga, this is not
exhibited, as in the cases of dhruva maharaja and
others. Evidence for this point can be cited from the
twenty-fifth Chapter of the Eleventh Canto (text 32),
describing material and spiritual varieties of faith and
so forth:

yeneme nirjitah saumya

guna jivena citta-jah
bhakti-yogena man-nistho
mad-bhavaya prapadyate

By this verse the Lord states that the defeat and

destruction of that which is composed of the modes
of material nature can be brought about only by the
process of devotional service.

Therefore the idea of this verse we should construe

is that the inauspicious, material bodies of those
gopis were removed, burned up, and by the ecstasy
of embracing Krishna their auspicious, spiritual
bodies, far from being destroyed, simply grew more
prominent. Thus their bondage became completely
undone; by the help of Yogamaya they got free from
the bondage of ignorance and also from the
prohibitions of their husbands and other relatives.

And we should not try to give the explanation that

this falling away of their bodies is due to their dying;
the Lord himself states (10.47.37),

ya maya kridata ratryam

vane 'smin vraja a`sthitah
alabdha-rasah kalyanyo
mapur mad-virya-cintaya

"Even those of the all-auspicious gopis who could not

directly join me in enjoying the rasa dance on that
night in this forest of Vrndavana still achieved my
association by remembering my transcendental
pastimes." By this use of the word kalyanyah in this
verse, (the Lord is implying that) "even though they,
because of the prohibitions of their husbands and the
torment of being separated from me, wanted to give
up their bodies, for them to die at the very beginning
of the most auspicious festival of the rasa dance
would be displeasing to me and thus inauspicious.
therefore they remained auspicious (by not dying)."
By this implied thought of the Lord's and also by the
statement of sri Sukadeva, tatha ta u`cur uddhavam
pritas tat-sandesagata- smrtih (“Then they replied to
uddhava, feeling satisfied that His message had
reminded them of Krishna"), since we understand
that these gopis speaking to uddhava had previously
not had the chance to directly participate in rasa-lila
while being held captive in their houses, the
conclusion is that they gave up their material bodies
without dying. Parched by the intense heat of
separation, their material bodies gave up their
materiality and became purely spiritual, just like the
bodies of such great devotees as dhruva maharaja.
We should understand that this is the meaning of
their "giving up their bodies."

Thus in this verse we have the phrase alabdha-

nirgamah and in the other verse quoted above we
find the words vraja a`sthitah (implying that they
went out in their spiritual bodies?). similarly, in the
first verse are the words dhyana- praptacyutaslesah,
while the other verse says mapur mad-virya-cintaya,
which two phrases mean in effect the same thing.
But in this first verse we find the word sangatah, in
contrast to the word alabdha-rasah in the other, by
which manifest difference it can explained that there
are two different classes of the gopis who were kept
trapped in their houses. this is just as from the
observable fact of seven or eight fruits being ripe we
can ascertain “The fruits of this mango tree are ripe."
at this point we can pick all the fruits off the tree,
and if we bring them home the fruits will each in due
course of time, by the effect of the sun's rays and so
forth, become fine-looking, fragrant and delicious--
attractive and fit to be offered to the king for His
enjoyment. When the time comes for the king's meal,
the discriminating servant can choose those which
are ready for offering to the king, whereas He can
see that those fruits which may be ripe in the middle
but are still raw on the outside do not yet have the
best taste, as He can tell from their lack of proper
physical appearance, and thus they are not yet fit for
the king. By one's applying special heating to these
remaining fruits, they will become ripe and in two or
three days will be ready to offer to the king.
Similarly, among the muni-cari gopis who took birth
in Gokula, those who completely gave up the
materiality of their bodies and very early in life
achieved purely spiritual bodies were able to remain
untouched by any other man and were allowed by
Yogamaya to join the nitya-siddha and other
advanced gopis when they went to meet Krishna.
And those who still retained some connection with
the external material body, even they, after
obtaining the parching heat of separation from Sri
Krishna, gave up the material nature of their bodies
and assumed bodies which were perfectly
transcendental and purified of all taint of contact
with other men. Some of these latter gopis were sent
out by Yogamaya on that same night behind those
who had already gone out, while others, who she saw
still had a slight amount of contamination, Yogamaya
chose to send out instead on some other night,
keeping them back to further apply the heat of
separation on them.

And then these gopis, after experiencing the

pleasures of the rasa dance and other pastimes with
Krishna, went back when the night was over,
together with the nitya-siddha and other advanced
gopis, to their husbands' houses. But now they were
protected by Yogamaya from the material
association of their husbands and devoid of any
selfish attachment for husband, children and the
rest. Thoroughly submerged in the great ocean of
love for Krishna, their breasts dried up so that they
could not feed their infants and they appeared to
their family members as if haunted by ghosts. In this
way there is no unseemly contradiction (in the gopis
who were previously in material association joining in
the rasa dance).

Some other authorities, however, maintain that the

gopis who were kept back in their houses actually did
not have children. according to them, whenever, in
verses yet to come, such words as apatya are used,
these refer to the children of co-wives, adopted
children or nephews and nieces.

Bhaktisiddhanta sarasvati
 The gopis are eternal associates of the supreme
Lord, and thus certainly they never have any
connection with a material body made of the three
modes. But nevertheless, we hear of them giving up
the material body, the reason for which is that the
divine damsels of Vraja fall in two categories-- the
eternally perfect and the aspiring candidates. The
class of candidates have not yet achieved their
perfect spiritual bodies. Thus we can understand that
talk of "giving up the material body" is in regard to
these candidate gopis who have yet to obtain their
siddha-dehas.

In this verse the word asubha indicates such

obstacles to getting the association of Krishna as fear
of elders and so forth. mangala means the eagerness
to achieve Sri Krishna, and also to achieve servitude
to the intimate gopis, which is the means of
achieving Krishna. It is said in this verse that their
bondage was immediately broken, which "bondage"
is namely their having to live with their elders, thus
preventing them from having the association of
Krishna. These definitions are from the Krishna-
sandarbha.

TEXT 12

sri-pariksid uvaca
krsnam viduh param kantam
na tu brahmataya mune
guna-pravahoparamas
tasam guna-dhiyam katham

TRANSLATION
 Sri Pariksit maharaja said: O sage, the gopis only
thought of Krishna as their boyfriend, ignoring the
fact that He is the supreme absolute truth. So how
could these girls, their minds caught up in the
unceasing flow of the material modes, free
themselves from such attachment?

Sridhara Svami

But, it may be objected, even if one's husband, son,

etc., is actually the absolute truth, one cannot obtain
liberation just by serving Him, since one does not
know Him to be the supreme. So how can the gopis'
association with Krishna have been the cause of their
liberation if they didn't recognize Him as Brahman?
this question is anticipated by the verse beginning
krsnam viduh. Param means "only," and kantam
means "desirable."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

King Pariksit, looking at the expressions on the faces

of some of the more materialistic persons present
there, took note of the doubt lurking in their hearts.
Although He already knew the intended meaning of
sri Sukadeva's statements by Sukadeva's mercy, still
He spoke as if experiencing doubt himself for the
purpose of eradicating the doubt of those others, in
the verse beginning krsnam. O sage, O knower of
everything, they knew Krishna, although He is the
Paramatma, the Supreme Personality, to be their
own boyfriend (kantam = sva-ramanam). They did
not know Him as the absolute truth. Therefore if they
were actually of material intelligence, if they were in
a degraded mentality of material sense gratification
when they thought, "let us enjoy with Krishna," how
could have the mighty current of the material modes
stopped for them? this is corroborated by statements
of both sruti and smrti to the effect that only
knowledge of the supersoul can award liberation,
such as tam eva viditvati mrtyum eti/ nanyah pantha
vidyate 'yanaya and a`tmanam a`tmatmatmataya
vicaksate (“The individual soul can only realize the
supreme soul when He recognizes His transcendental
position").

TEXT 13

sri-suka uvaca
uktam purastad etat te
caidyah siddhim yatha gatah
dvisann api hrsikesam
kim utadhoksaja-priyah

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: I have already explained

this matter to you before. Since the evil sisupala was
able to attain salvation even while maintaining an
attitude of hatred toward the transcendental Lord, Sri
Krishna, there should be no doubt that liberation is
easily attainable by pure devotees who are very dear
to Him.

Sridhara Svami
 This objection is refuted by Sukadeva in the verse
beginning uktam. The idea is as follows: The
Brahman-hood of jiva souls is covered, but Krishna,
because He is hrsikesa, is uncovered. Therefore (His
influence) does not depend on whether someone
understands Him or not.

Madhvacarya

krsna-kamas tada gopyas/ tyaktva deham divam

gatah
samyak krsnam para-brahma/ jnatva kalat
param yayuh
"At that time the gopis, who were full of desire for
Krishna, gave up their bodies and went to the
spiritual world. Because they properly understood
Krishna to be the supreme absolute truth they
transcended the influence of material time.

purvam ca jnana-samyuktas/ tatrapi prayasas

tatha
atas tasam param brahma/ gatir a`sin na
kamatah
"In their previous lives most of the gopis were
already fully endowed in transcendental knowledge.
It is due to this that they were able to attain the
supreme Brahman, not simply on the basis of lust.

na tu jnanam r`te mokso/ nanyah pantheti hi

srutih
kama-yukta tada bhaktir/ jnanam cato vimukti-
gah
"Without spiritual knowledge there is no valid path to
liberation, as is declared by the Vedas. Because
these apparently lusty gopis possessed devotion and
knowledge, therefore they achieved liberation.

ato mokse 'pi tasam ca/ kamo bhaktyanuvartate

mukti-sabdodito caidya-/ prabhrtau dvesa-
bhaginah
"Thus even in their attainment of liberation, 'lust'
follows as the manifestation of their pure devotion.
What we call 'liberation' was after all experienced
even by envious persons like sisupala.

bhakti-margi prthan muktim/ agad visnu-

prasadatah
kamas tv asubha-krc capi/ bhaktya visnoh
prasada-krt
"A follower of the path of devotional service
incidentally gains liberation by the mercy of Lord
Visnu, and lusty desires, which are otherwise
inauspicious, instead invoke the mercy of Visnu when
they are exhibited in pure devotion.

dvesi-jiva-yutam capi/ bhaktam visnur vimocayet

aho 'ti-karuna visnoh/ sisupalasya moksanat
"A devotee who may be in an envious body and
mentality is sure to be saved by Lord Visnu. Just see
the extreme mercy of the Lord, as evidenced by His
granting liberation to sisupala!"

this passage is from the skanda Purana.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

The king of sages, although knowing in His mind that

“This is actually not the king's own question," uses
Him as the example for chastising the others for their
foolishness with the idea, "you must have no
intelligence at all to be asking such a question." thus
He speaks the verse beginning uktam.

"Previously" means in the seventh Canto. dvisann

api means "even in an unfavorable attitude
symptomized by hatred"; if even in that manner the
liberation of merging with the Lord can be attained,
then what to speak, it is implied, of the favorable
attitude characterized by conjugal desire? the word
hrsikesam indicates that He personally descends to
this world by His unconditional, causeless mercy, and
even though He is inaccessible even to the senses
(hrsika) of such persons as Brahma, nevertheless He
makes himself visible by His inconceivable divine
potency, allowing himself to be seen by the senses of
even the most lowly. He does this to deliver them,
and thus this is simply the power of His merciful
compassion. These girls, on the other hand, are the
objects and the subjects of affection priyah = priti-
visayasraya-bhutah for Him, the transcendental Lord
who lies beyond the material senses. Instead of
saying in this verse, "just as aghasura achieved
perfection," aghasura is passed over and the most
degraded Caidya is mentioned. By this example of
sisupala, Sukadeva said the following confidentially
to the king: Caidya became released from His
material body by His total absorption in hatred for
Krishna, which accrued to Him due to the curse of a
sage. But actually, His spiritual body as a personal
associate of the Lord was always present hidden
within, as is stated, visnu-cakra- hatamhasau, which
states that only His sins became destroyed by the
disk of Lord Visnu, and the words yayor tau, which
state that He achieved perfection, namely His
desired goal of being a personal associate of the
Lord. This is also stated:

vairanubandha-tivrena
dhyanenacyuta-satmatam
nitau punar hareh parsvam
jagmatur visnu-parsadau

TEXT 14

nrnam nihsreyasarthaya
vyaktir bhagavato nrpa
avyayasyaprameyasya
nirgunasya gunatmanah

TRANSLATION

My dear King Pariksit, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead manifests himself in this world for the
purpose of granting everyone the highest possible
benefit. Thus He makes His personal appearance,
even though He is inexhaustible, immeasurable, and
completely non-material, the ultimate creator and
controller of the modes of material nature.

Sridhara Svami

But how can an embodied being be in an uncovered

state? that is answered by the verse beginning
nrnam. Gunatmanah means "of the controller of the
modes", the Lord manifesting himself in such an
aspect, and therefore it is not appropriate in this
context to describe (His devotees, the gopis) as
ordinary embodied living entities.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

The reason for this (great mercy the Lord shows to

devotees and demons alike) is the Lord's descending
to this world with the idea in mind, "I shall deliver all
those persons who have no access to the paths of
spiritual advancement but still somehow or other
have some personal connection with me." this is
described in the two verses beginning nrnam. “The
highest benefit" means for some merging into God's
existence, for some the liberations of salokya and so
forth, and for some pure love of Godhead. thus the
reason for the appearance in this world of Him who
can destroy millions of universes by moving His
eyebrows is only justified by the purpose of killing of
such demons as Kamsa, who are a great burden
upon the earth, and not otherwise. avyayasya means
of Him who is not depleted even after giving himself
away to each and every of His devotees. In what way
(is He so), some may ask, which is replied to by the
words beginning aprameyasya. This word means
impossible to measure, the implication being, "who
can understand the truth about Him?" this is because
He is nirguna, which indicates that this great ocean
of transcendental awareness and ecstasy can
certainly not be circumscribed.

TEXT 15

kamam krodham bhayam sneham

aikyam sauhrdam eva ca
 nityam harau vidadhato
yanti tan-mayatam hi te

TRANSLATION

Persons who maintain any constant attitude toward

Lord hari-- whether based on lust, anger, fear,
protective affection, impersonal oneness or
friendship-- are sure to become fully attached to Him.

Sridhara Svami

Therefore to become somehow or other attached to

Him is the cause of liberation, as stated by this verse
beginning kamam. aikyam means a relationship
(sambandha), and sauhrdam means bhakti.

Madhvacarya

tan-mayata means that those who are lusty remain

eternally full of lust and those who are angry remain
eternally so.

vimuktav api kaminyo/ visnu-kama vraja-striyah

dvesinas ca harau nityam/ dvesena tamasi
sthitah
"The women of Vraja remain lusty even after
attaining liberation, because their lust is for Lord
Visnu. Similarly those who are inimical to Lord hari
remain eternally in darkness because of their
hatred."
this is also from the skanda Purana.
 bhaktya hi nitya-kamitvam/ na tu muktim vina
bhavet
atah kamitaya vapi/ muktir bhaktimatam harau
"The kind of eternal lusty attraction that is expressed
in pure devotional service cannot occur for one who
is not already liberated. Thus even by expressions of
conjugal attraction those who are devoted in love to
hari can be liberated.

sneha-bhaktah sada devah/ kamitvenapsara-

striyah
kascit kascin na kamena/ bhaktya kevalayaiva tu
moksam a`yanti nanyena/ bhaktim yogyam vina
kvacit
"The demigods always have sentimental affection for
the Lord, and the heavenly apsaras for the most part
have lusty feelings toward Him, although sometimes
some of them have pure devotion for Him untainted
by material lust. Only these latter apsaras are ready
for liberation, because without bona fide devotional
service liberation is not possible."

this is from the Padma Purana.

yogyopasam vina naiva/ moksah kasyapi

setsyati
ayogyopasana kartur/ nirayas ca bhavisyati
tasmat tu yogyatam jnatva/ hareh karyam
upasanam
"No one can ever achieve liberation without
performing worship of the Lord properly. Rather one
who worships in an improper way is on His way to
hell. Therefore one should understand the proper
method before engaging in the worship of Lord hari."
This is a quotation from the Bhadrika.

patitvena sriyopasyo/ brahmana me piteti ca

pitamahatayanyesam/ tridasanam janardanah
"Lord Janardana is worshiped by the goddess Laksmi
as her husband, by Lord Brahma with the idea that
Visnu is His father, and by the other demigods as
their grandfather.

prapitamaho me bhagavan/ iti sarva-janasya tu

guruh sri-brahmano visnuh/ suranam ca guror
guruh
“Thus the common people in this universe should
think of the supreme Lord as their great-grandfather
and worship Him in that mood. Along the same line,
Lord Visnu is the spiritual master of Brahma and thus
the grand spiritual master of the demigods.

gurur brahmasya jagato/ daivam visnuh

sanatanah
ity evopasanam karyam/ nanyatha tu
kathancana
"Brahma is the spiritual master of this universe, and
Visnu is the eternal worshipable deity. Only bearing
this in mind should one worship the Lord, never
otherwise."

This passage is quoted from the Varaha Purana.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Therefore this general conclusion should be

appreciated, as described in the current verse: The
gopis and others always offered kama; persons like
Caidya anger, hatred; Kamsa and others fear;
devotees like nanda maharaja parental affection; the
self-satisfied sages oneness; and the Vrsnis,
Pandavas and others friendship. Thus all the persons
in these categories even nowadays achieve tan-
mayata by each maintaining their individual attitudes
toward Him. This tells us that the various pastimes of
all these persons are eternal. tan-mayatam meant
for the gopis total attachment to Him, just like the
feelings of a lusty woman-hunter. For the others tan-
mayatam meant sayujya.

TEXT 16

na caivam vismayah karyo

bhavata bhagavaty aje
yogesvaresvare krsne
yata etad vimucyate

TRANSLATION

You should not be at all surprised that the eternal

and unborn master of all masters of mystic power,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, can
arrange things like this. By His grace every single
living being in this universe can become liberated.

Sridhara Svami

And this is not too difficult for the supreme Lord, as

stated in the verse beginning na caivam. From Him,
Sri Krishna, this whole world, even the immobile
creatures, becomes liberated.
Visvanatha Cakravarti

The verse beginning na ca: Let others be amazed

about this matter, but you, who have been well
aware of His glories even beginning from the womb,
should not be be astounded. Even though the
supreme Lord is appearing as a tender of cows, as
the son of Devaki, still He is unborn. And even
thought He acts wantonly with the cowherd women,
Krishna is the master of all masters of yoga and the
original source of all incarnations. Because of whom
this entire universe, even the unmoving creatures,
becomes liberated, as is explained by sri svami-
carana. Or, as an alternate interpretation, although
this universe is distinct from the transcendental
paraphernalia of the Lord's pastimes, still by
remembering the moods of kama, sneha and so on of
His various devotees, it even today becomes freed
from the flux of the modes of nature.

TEXT 17

ta drstvantim a`yata
bhagavan vraja-yositah
avadad vadatam srestho
vacah pesair vimohayan

TRANSLATION

When Lord Krishna saw the arrival of the gopis of

Vraja, He, the best of eloquent speakers, greeted
them will finely decorated words that bewildered
their minds.
Sridhara Svami

Setting the scene, Sukadeva Gosvami speaks the

verse beginning ta drstva. Vacah pesaih means "with
playful words" (vag- vilasaih).

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Having thus reconciled a coincidental apparent

contradiction, now the actual subject matter is
introduced by this verse. Those girls who had been
drawn by His flute. The greatest among expert users
of speech in regards to proper time, place and party.
Pesaih means "with limbs" (different aspects of fine
speech), according to the definition pisa avayave,
where the suffix ghan (an artificial ending which
gunates the root's vowel) is applied (to the word
pisa). The different aspects of speech, the different
parts of expressions designating that which is
named, referenced or indirectly implied, which
aspects are varyingly "dry," (harsh) "moist"
(affectionate) and so on-- with those He was
bewildering them. Even though they were already
bewildered by the resonant sound of His flute, He did
so to especially bewilder them.

In this case the Lord is going to fulfill three of His

desires by speaking harsh words to them. (He thinks:
first of all) I want to demonstrate to the world the
purity of their love, that even when they see that I,
their beloved, the object of their affection, am
indifferent, still their affection does not decrease the
slightest bit. Also, when I meet with the gopis I will
be forced to submit to their headstrong duplicity, full
of the nature of courting women who pretend to be
unfavorable. To respond to this, I, showing how I am
also eager to behave like a valiant lover, am going to
make them accept my magnanimity by behaving
contrarily at our first meeting. Further, because of
the natural stiffness of young girls who are extremely
shy, which makes them behave just the opposite way
to how they actually feel, they are surely going to
make me listen to their interjected words meant to
forestall our association. Although, as is understood
by experts in the science of rasas, in the same way
as the breasts and other bodily parts of attractive
women make a more striking impression by being
covered by clothing and hidden, similarly the inner
hankerings of such women inspire more wonder
when they are kept covered by their contrary
behavior. When these are brashly exhibited they do
not make the same effect. Nonetheless, just as
sometimes a particular suitor may desire to see the
uncovered limbs of a women He is trying to enjoy,
similarly He may wish to hear them speak directly of
their eagerness, without any duplicitous
dissemblance. But if His contemporary friends or
other males are also present, He then does not want
to see or hear. In this manner Lord Krishna now
wishes to see all the invisible bodily features of the
gopis and hear their intimate words uncovered by
duplicity. Thus, we should understand, He did not
bring with himself on this occasion any of cowherd
boys who were His close friends.

TEXT 18
 sri-bhagavan uvaca
svagatam vo maha-bhagah
priyam kim karavani vah
vrajasyanamayam kaccid
brutagamana-karanam

TRANSLATION

Lord Krishna said: O most auspicious ladies,

welcome. What can I do to please you? is everything
well in Vraja? Please tell me the reason you have
come here to see me.

Sridhara Svami

Seeing how they had all come their in great haste,

He addressed them as if with apprehension in the
words beginning vrajasya ("is everything alright in
Vraja?").

Jiva Gosvami

The verses beginning sv-agatam describe a series of

replies and counter-replies.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

So it is the manner of women and men who know

rasas to act like this when they meet, that the
women do not like it when men men openly reveal
their eagerness for conjugal enjoyment. They
become angry at such. With this in mind Lord Krishna
is first addressing them in accordance with the
standard manner of mellow dealings, saying,
"Welcome. Was your trip here pleasant? You are
greatly fortunate ladies, in that in your whole lives
you have never had to look misery in the face." Or
else, this not a question but rather a reply:
“Therefore your coming here today is very
auspicious. Your having come is quite fitting because
you are greatly fortunate ladies, and thus everything
you do comes out successfully, resulting in happiness
both for yourselves and for others." He continues, "so
what can I do to please you? Please tell me what
gratifying hospitality I can offer to you young girls
who have to me when I am all by myself during the
night in this deserted forest. Kindly tell me in simple
terms what will give you pleasure, since I am indeed
eager to please you. Then I will without a doubt carry
it out." not receiving any appropriate answer such as,
"Our boy, you are too bold. You are very wanton to
speak to us, who are faithful to our husbands, in such
an audacious way. Don't you have any fear of God's
laws or of the king?", He takes their silence, caused
by their shyness, to be a sign of their compliance in
the intention to have physical contact, as He hinted
at in His words, "What can I do to please you?"

Thus the Lord thinks, "if these girls are not going to
resort to their normal tricks tonight, then I am going
to play a few tricks of my own, rather than revealing
my own actual eagerness. Furthermore, just as in
physical contact, which is one aspect of direct
association between lovers, contrariness is
attractive, similarly in the act of meeting, another
aspect of direct association, such contrariness is also
pleasing. But because these girls have lost control of
themselves due to having drunk the liquor of the
sound of my most enchanting flute, they are
behaving against their real natures. Therefore I
should be compassionate with them, since I have not
lost control of myself, and show them favor by
externally pretend to be contrary, while at the same
time inwardly retaining my natural eagerness to
enjoy with them."

Considering these ideas the Lord brings the

conversation to the level of contrariness by inquiring
from them with apprehension and concern, in the
words beginning vrajasya: "is everything alright in
Vraja? I do not know whether there is now some
disturbance going on in Vraja, created by indra or
someone else, which has sent you fleeing in fear and
coming into my presence to secure your own
protection." and then, when the girls look at each
other with mutual understanding and amazement,
silently conjecturing, "What is this new excessive
wickedness on His part?", the Lord (then thinks), "By
your silence I can understand that there is no
disturbance," (and says), “Therefore please tell me
the reason you have come. I will not be able to
refuse your desire."

TEXT 19

rajany esa ghora-rupa

ghora-sattva-nisevita
pratiyata vrajam neha
stheyam stribhih su-madhyamah

TRANSLATION
 This night is very frightening and populated by many
ferocious animals. I suggest you go back to Vraja, O
slender-waisted girls, because this is no proper place
for women.

Sridhara Svami

Noting that they were gently smiling with

embarrassment, the Lord spoke the words beginning
rajani.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

"Alas, alas, even after shattering our family

responsibilities, sobriety, shame and so forth and
enjoying us day after day, and after now dragging us
here by the sound of His flute, He is asking us why
we have come!" as the gopis thus glanced at one
another with sidelong movements of their eyes, the
Lord said, "if you try to tell me that you have come to
get night blooming flowers to use in the worship of
God, casting your eyes while you say this on the
flowering creepers, I will have to reject your alibi as
unacceptable, since the time, place, and persons
involved are none of them appropriate." this the Lord
states in the verse beginning rajani. Even though
there is abundant moonlight, this time of night is
very fearsome, because, it being night, there are
many snakes, scorpions and so forth too small for
you to see that are lying beneath the creepers, roots
and twigs. therefore, the Lord implies, this time is
unsuitable for gathering flowers. And the night is
inhabited by terrible creatures such as tigers,
indicating that by connection with the particular time
the location, Vrndavana, is also unsuitable. therefore
you should go back to Vraja.

But, the gopis may object, let us just rest for a few
minutes, and then we will go, but the Lord replies to
such with the words, "women shouldn't be present in
this kind of place." in other words, by connection with
the time and place, persons like yourselves are
unsuitable participants.

Furthermore the Lord says "O slender-waisted ones,"

indicating that "You are beautiful young girls, and I
am a beautiful young boy. Even though you are all
very chaste, and I am a brahmacari, as evidence by
sruti, in the Gopala-tapani upanisad with the words
krsno brahmacari, and thus there should be no fault
in our being in the same place, nonetheless the mind
can never be trusted, neither yours nor my own."

The inner eagerness of the Lord that is thus hinted

at is made obvious if we read between the lines, as
follows: "if because of shyness you cannot speak the
reason for your coming, then don't speak. I already
know it anyway, so just listen as I tell it to you;" thus
the Lord speaks the words beginning rajani. This
night appears not at all fearsome, because of the
pervasive moonshine, and therefore it is populated
by harmless creatures such as deer (aghora-
sattvaih), or else, on account of the non-violent
atmosphere natural to Vrndavana, by animals such
as tigers. Consequently this night should not frighten
you. Or else, as an alternate understanding, you
should not be afraid of your own husbands and other
relatives because the night is populated by fearsome
animals, so that your husbands and so forth are not
going to come near this place. Therefore please do
not go back to Vraja (na yata), but stay here in my
company (iha stheyam). How (are you staying here)?
the Lord answers, "with women." But are you
satisfied to keep just any women in your company?
the Lord replies to this with the word su-madhyamah,
meaning "Only women who are young and beautiful,
who have slender waists--namely yourselves--should
stay here with me, and no others." thus we can
appreciate these statements of Krishna as full of
neglectful sentiments and considerate ones as well.

TEXT 20

matarah pitarah putra

bhratrah patayas ca vah
vicinvanti hy apasyanto
ma krdhvam bandhu-sadhvasam

TRANSLATION

Certainly your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers must

be worried about your absence and are going out to
start searching for you. don't create unnecessary
anxiety for your families!

Sridhara Svami

Moreover, the verse beginning matarah. Vicinvanti

means "are searching for." Please do not make
trouble (sadhvasam = krcchram) for your relatives
(ma krdhvam = ma kuruta).
Visvanatha Cakravarti

But, the question may be raised, even if there is

anything improper about (our meeting), still--even
though during the night, even though in the forest
and even though we are young girls--people are not
going to make gossip about it, because we have
come all together in a large group. Granted, Krishna
replies, but your family members, worrying that
some evil may have befallen you, must right now be
searching for you. Don't put them in anxiety. This the
Lord states in the verse beginning matarah.

They are looking (vicinvanti = mrgayante) for you

(vah = yusman). In this regard, although their
children, being only two or three months of age, are
not expert in the skill of searching for lost persons, as
stated previously and about to be stated in phrases
such as payayantyah sisun payah and krandanti
vatsa balas ca (text 22), nonetheless, because the
Lord has caused each of them to forget this fact
about their children, He manages to plausibly make
this statement. therefore, He says, don't cause (ma
krdhvam = notpadayata) anxiety for your relatives
due to their not finding you. From another point of
view the idea is that "even while trying to look, they
do not see;" they will not find you in this dense
forest, even though it is not far away. Therefore don't
be fearful on account of your family members. Rather
you can enjoy freely with me in this night.

TEXTS 21-22

drstam vanam kusumitam

 rakesa-kara-ranjitam
yamunanila-lilaijat
taru-pallava-sobhitam

tad yata maciram gostham

susrusadhvam patin satih
krandanti vatsa balas ca
tan payayata duhyata

TRANSLATION

now you have seen this Vrndavana forest full of

flowers and resplendent with the light of the full
moon. You have seen the beauty of the trees, with
their leaves trembling in the gentle breeze coming
from the Yamuna. So now go back to the cowherd
village. Don't delay. O chaste ladies, serve your
husbands, and give milk to your calves and babies,
who are now crying.

Sridhara Svami

(text 21) Addressing them, who were looking at one

another with slight loving anger, He spoke the words
beginning drstam. Colored by the rays of the lord of
raka, the full moon (raka is the goddess presiding
over the full-moon day). Beautified by the leaves of
the trees, which are trembling (ejantah =
kampamanah) because of the play, the gentle
movement, of the wind, which is touching the
Yamuna.

(text 22) satih means "O chaste women."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

(text 21) And then, addressing them, who were

looking all around in embarrassment, He speaks the
words beginning drstam. "Oh, I see that you have
come here to see the forest." and thus, when the
gopis look upward, He speaks the words beginning
rakesa. When they look at the Yamuna and so forth,
He says that (the forest) is beautified by the
flowering buds of the trees, which are trembling
because of the gentle movement of the wind which
has touched the Yamuna. The implication in this
statement is "now you have carried out your seeing
of the forest and so forth, so don't tarry here any
longer."

The alternate explanation is as follows: “This

Vrndavana is the very best of places, and moreover
even this is a full-moon night. Furthermore we have
the Yamuna on all four sides, and even more there
are cool, gentle, fragrant breezes. In this way there
are these transcendental opulences (vibhavas) which
stimulate loving exchanges, and I am also here as
the ecstatic opulence of the object of love. So let us
now test how much expertise you can show in
relishing rasas."

(text 22) Therefore (tat = tasmat) don't wait a long

time before going, but go immediately. "Chaste"
means loyal to their husbands; thus they should
serve their husbands to help them accomplish their
religious duties, and thus also the gopis should be
considered worshipable because of their chasteness.
this much Krishna says to the gopis who are married
to other men, and now to the unmarried girls He
says, “The cow's calves are crying, so see to it that
they get milk." to the muni-cara- gopis He says,
"Your babies are crying, so feed them milk."

The alternate explanation of this is as follows:

Therefore don't go for a long time, for the entire
duration of this night, but rather stay here and enjoy
with me. Don't go serve your husbands and the
gentle women (your mothers-in-law and so forth), the
idea being that it would not be fitting to waste such
beauty and youth which have been granted as the
gift of the creator. In the same way, don't milk the
cows and don't give milk to the babies; what do you,
who are so full of ecstatic attraction for me, have to
do with these affairs? _means loyal to their
husbands;

TEXT 23

atha va mad-abhisnehad
bhavatyo yantritasayah
a`gata hy upapannam vah
priyante mayi jantavah

TRANSLATION

On the other hand, perhaps the reason you have

come here is the great love you have for me, which
has taken control of your hearts. This of course is
quite commendable on your part, since indeed all
living entities possess natural affection for me.

Sridhara Svami
 Addressing them, whose eyes were agitated by
anxiety, Lord Krishna speaks the verse beginning
atha va. Yantritasayah means "minds brought under
control." upapannam means "fitting," and priyante
means “They become pleased."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

The verse beginning atha va: alas, I have refuted all

their reasons for having come, but now I have
thought of a reason. this the Lord speaks in the
words mayi, etc. Because of your total affection your
hearts have been brought under subjugation.
therefore it is fitting that you have come here.
Perfection comes from getting the opportunity to see
me, because all living beings (jantavah = prani-
matrani) are affectionate to me, which implies that
"my fortunate condition is natural, and not
something externally acquired." thus you girls have
the same affection for me that everyone has, and
not, it is subtly implied, any special kind of affection
conditioned by Cupid.

Here is the alternate explanation: You have great

affection (abhisneha) for me, pure ecstatic love in
the mood of my being your boyfriend. For that
reason the heart has been brought under
subjugation, or in other words, you girls have drawn
me to you by the ropes of your minds manasa
yantrena. Therefore your having come is quite fitting,
and not without good cause. After all, all living
entities have affection for me, so what to speak of
yourselves, who possess transcendental bhava.
 TEXT 24

bhartuh susrusanam strinam

paro dharmo hy amayaya
tad-bandhunam ca kalyanah
prajanam canuposanam

TRANSLATION

The supreme religious duty for all women is to

sincerely serve their husbands, behave well toward
their husband's family and take good care of their
own children.

Sridhara Svami

Demonstrating visible and invisible causes for fear,

the Lord tries to stop them in the three verses
beginning bhartuh.

Jiva Gosvami

Or else, taking the alternate interpretation that the

Lord is making an entreaty here, the verse beginning
bhartuh means that you should serve only that
husband who is so amayaya, not falsely, as you have
indeed been serving me from your childhood, and
not a false husband. This is because, it is implied, sri
Bhisma, the best of knowers of the principles of
religion, refused to become anyone's husband when
a marriageable girl was unwilling (to marry His
father), and thus rejected His own opportunity to
marry amba.
Visvanatha Cakravarti

But if we, as You say, have great love for You, then
why are You repeatedly telling us "go back to the
cowherd village"? it is not possible for one who is the
loving subject to give up the person who is the object
of that love. True, Krishna replies, and a person of
Vraja who has love for me should do that which
promotes her religious principles. So I am telling you
what the opinion of the scriptures is; the Lord states
this in this verse beginning bhartuh. Para means
"excellent." amayaa means "not, on the other hand,
while flirting with other men." tad-bandhunam means
"of sisters-in-law and so on."

According to an alternate view, because the word

stri has already been used in a previous verse, here
it indicates the particular women who are beautiful
young girls of Vraja, namely "your good selves."
serving one's husband is someone else's duty (paro
dharmah) but not yours. Therefore, it is implied, you
need not carry it out. This is as stated (Bhag.
7.15.12),

vidharmah para-dharmas ca
a`bhasa upama chalah
adharma-sakhah pancema
dharma-jno 'dharma-vat tyajet

“There are five branches of irreligion, appropriately

known as irreligion vidharma, religious principles for
which one is unfit para-dharma, pretending religion
a`bhasa, analogical religion upadharma and cheating
religion chala-dharma. One who is aware of real
religious life must abandon these five as irreligious."
By this statement, because I am Visnu and you are
all Vaisnavis, worshiping me is alone your proper
religious duty, and anything else is simply para-
dharma. The implication, according to the verse
dharman santyajya yah sarvan mam bhajeta sa ca
sattamah (11.11.32), is that your prescribed duty is
to give up all other dharmas and worship me.

TEXT 25

duhsilo durbhago vrddho

jado rogy adhano 'pi va
patih stribhir na hatavyo
lokespsubhir apataki

TRANSLATION

Women who desire a good destination in the next

life should never abandon a husband who has not
fallen from His religious standards, even if He is
mean, unfortunate, old, unintelligent, sickly or poor.

Jiva Gosvami

And therefore the verse duhsilam. Thus the

connection of the two verses should be construed.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

But how can we, who have such great love for You,
continue to serve our unsuitable, unfavorable and
unattractive husbands? this Krishna replies to with
the verse beginning duhsila. apataki is said in
accordance with the injunction of smrti, patis tv
apatitam bhajet. In other words a fallen husband
should be abandoned because He will be a cause of
the wife's own falldown. Lokepsubhih means "by
those who want the happiness of achieving the same
planets in their next lives as their husbands." the
alternate explanation is that husbands should not be
rejected by lokepsubhih, women who are concerned
with the insignificant reputation, happiness and so
forth found in this world and the next, but you gopis,
because you have already given up as dead both
worlds, and are instead sporting in the vast ocean of
enjoying my sweetness, have already given up your
husbands.

TEXT 26

asvargyam ayasasyam ca
phalgu krcchram bhayavaham
jugupsitam ca sarvatra
hy aupapatyam kula-striyah

TRANSLATION

For any woman from a respectable family, illicit

affairs with paramours are always condemned. They
bar her from attaining heaven, ruin her reputation
and give her nothing but difficulty and fear.

Sridhara Svami
 Phalgu means insignificant, krcchram means difficult
to accomplish and aupapatyam means the happiness
of having a paramour.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

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. This the Lord states in the verse beginning
asvargyam. If they reply "so let us not go to heaven,"
He says ayasasyam. If they then say "so let us not
have any fame," He says "you are speaking falsely"
(phalgu = mithyaiva). "no," they answer, "what we
are saying is not false, because we consider it to be
of the utmost importance." “Then," He says, "it is
difficult, troublesome because of the prohibitions of
your husbands and others." "But," they answer,
“That trouble is rather the cause of the greatest
happiness for girls like us who are possessed of raga,
as is backed up by such statements of sastra as
vamata durlabhatvam ca strinam ya ca nivarana/ tad
eva panca-banasya manye paramam a`yudham ('the
cross behavior and exhibitions of being difficult to
approach on the part of women, together with their
prohibitions, simply constitute in my opinion the
strongest weapon of Cupid')."

To reply to this, Krishna used the word bhayavaham,

which means creating fear for this body and for one's
next life on account of being forbidden both by
worldly custom and by the scriptures. But, they may
say, this "fear" is rather a foundation for
experiencing rasas, as stated in scripture, yatra
nisedha- visesah su-durlabhatvam ca yan-
mrgaksinam tatraiva nagarinam nirbharam a`sajyate
hrdayam ("When association is explicitly prohibited
and when it is very difficult to arrange the situation
simply causes the hearts of doe-eyed prospective
consorts to become hopelessly entangled"). To
answer this Krishna says jugupsitam. In all times and
places aupapatyam, the activities of paramours, is
condemned for respectable women. thus any
respectable woman indulging in such is in all cases to
be condemned. Consequently even though you are
quite ready to bring condemnation on your heads by
carrying out your desires, I cannot do anything that
will cause you, the objects of my love, to become
condemned. So please go back to the cowherd
village.

But the alternate interpretation is as follows. Taking

the word sarvatra: This (association of paramours) is
contemptible, but still it is found universally
(sarvatrikam). You have heard, as originally spoken
from the mouth of Garga muni and passed down
indirectly to you, how I am equal in character to
Narayana. Thus there is nothing contemptible in
having me as a paramour, because, being the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, I transcend
ordinary auspicious and inauspicious activities.

TEXT 27

sravanad darsanad dhyanan

mayi bhavo 'nukirtanat
na tatha sannikarsena
pratiyata tato grhan
 TRANSLATION

Real transcendental love for me is cultivated by the

devotional processes of hearing about me, seeing my
deity, meditating on me and chanting my glories. The
same effect cannot be expected from mere physical
contact. Please, therefore, go back to your
homes.

Sridhara Svami

Furthermore, the verse beginning sravanat.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

But what other way is there in which we can think of

You? We have not come here to have bodily
association with You but rather, because we
understand from the evidence of the words of Garga
muni, Narayanasya samo nanyah, that You are
narayana himself, we have come with the desire of
attaining devotion to You. Therefore please take the
opportunity of this night to place us near You and
mercifully engage Your lotus feet in dancing. In
anticipation of this possible inquiry the Lord speaks
the verse beginning sravanat. Pure devotees are well
known not to desire even the perfections of samipya
and salokya, as you girls, who are also Vaisnavas,
must have heard.

The alternate interpretation is that bhava, Cupid,

does not arise from hearing and chanting as He does
from direct association. Therefore do not return to
your homes, where an extended application of the
word na (to pratiyata) is implied to make the logical
connection. Or else, by the elided prefix a-, the idea
is that you should go "not to your homes" (agrhan).

TEXT 28

sri-suka uvaca
iti vipriyam a`karnya
gopyo govinda-bhasitam
visanna bhagna-sankalpas
cintam a`pur duratyayam

sri-sukah uvaca-- Sukadeva Gosvami said; iti-- thus;

vipriyam-- unfavorable; a`karnya-- hearing; gopyah--
the gopis; govinda-bhasitam-- the words spoken by
Govinda; visannah-- becoming morose; bhagna--
thwarted; sannkalpah-- their anticipation; cintam--
anxiety; a`puh-- they experienced; duratyayam--
insurmountable.

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: after hearing these words

addressed to them by Govinda, the gopis became
morose. Because their expectation of enjoying with
Krishna was being denied, they could not avoid
feeling full of anxiety.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

He is "Govinda" because He has available (vindate =

labhate) for His utilization gah, meaning various
kinds of playful speech; what has been spoken by
Him. Here bhasitam indicates manifest verbal
expression, in accordance with the definition bhasa
vyaktayam vaci. Hearing those unpleasant (apparent
words of His). But at the same time if we accept the
subtle implication of the prefix a- standing before
vyakta, the idea is "even though they could fully
understand with their intelligence that His unspoken
words (avyakta-vakyam) were actually favorable."

Not seeing any reason for the unfavorableness of His

evident words, and being doubtful about the
favorableness of His unspoken words, they were
thinking, due to the rise of feelings of humility
manifest as a sthayi-bhava of their anuraga, "Yes, He
is neglected us because we are not good enough for
Him." thus they became morose, with the thought,
“That person for whom we have neglected
everything-- our husbands' and parents' families, our
religious duties, our gravity, fear, shame and so on--
He indeed is now neglecting us." in this way having
their anticipations shattered, they became very
anxious, thinking "should we make a show of
grabbing onto His feet with piteous cries, or should
we try our best to remain sober and, with false
aloofness going back to Vraja, somehow force our
minds to stay grave? Or perhaps we should just give
up our lives, either in His presence or else secretly,
by entering the Yamuna or some other means. But
alas, if we don't kill ourselves how will we see His
divine face, and if we don't kill ourselves how will we
ever be allowed to stay here? how 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, and where will we go? What will we do?"
thus they because bewildered about the proper thing
to do.

The gopis are like cataka birds upon whom Krishna

poured the poison of His flute's vibration, but they
were so astonished by this that they trusted Him and
willingly drank this poison without hesitation. How
can any lady who has developed faith in these gopis
abandon her devotional vows?

TEXT 29

krtva mukhany ava sucah svasanena susyad

bimbadharani caranena bhuvah likhantyah
asrair upatta-masibhih kuca-kunkumani
tasthur mrjantya uru-duhkha-bharah sma
tusnim

TRANSLATION

The gopis held their heads low and their heaving

breathing out of sorrow dried up their reddened lips,
while they scraped the ground with their toes. The
tears flowing from their eyes, carrying their
collyrium, washed away the vermilion which was
smeared on their breasts. Thus they stood, silently
experiencing the burden of their unhappiness.

Sridhara Svami

their situation after becoming full of anxiety is

stated by the verse beginning krtva. Those (faces),
comparable to bimba fruits, which were being dried
up by the sighing which arose in them on account of
their sorrow (sucah = sokat). turning them
downward (ava = avanci). And also tracing upon the
ground with their large toes, as well as washing away
the kunkuma on their breasts with their tears, which
carried the kajjala (from their eyes). In this manner
they stood silently, because they were feeling the
burden of great unhappiness.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

What they experienced in their anxiety is stated in

the verse beginning krtva. By the phrase “Turning
their heads downward (ava = adhah)" their shame is
tacitly implied. "Our abandonment of shame, which is
natural because it is in accord with pure love of
Godhead, has itself now become shameful, since the
very abandonment of shame on the part of
respectable girls who usually are full of shyness is
based on prema." (?) and this is commended rather
than criticized by those who know the science of
prema-rasa. The characteristic of prema is that it
excels and subdues even its own object, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is prema.
Thus "if Krishna, the object of our prema, has not
become subdued, then we do not have actual prema.
And if that is the fact, then what is the purpose of our
abandoning all shyness?" in this way they felt
remorse and worrisome embarrassment, which
remorse is elaborated upon by the description of
their faces. What were their faces like? the reddish
lips on their faces were drying up because of the hot
breathing that arose from their unhappiness. Just as
by the heat of the sun ripened bimba fruits dry up,
losing their solid appearance and manifesting dirty
spots, similarly their lips changed in appearance.

Their shame and anxiety are further described: They

were scratching the ground with their big toes. "O
mother earth, please open up so that we can enter
within you." their sorrow and remorse are described:
washing away the kunkuma on their breasts with
their tears, which carried the kajjala from heir eyes.
Thus is implied that by the effect our their increasing
torment of separation their tears deposited parallel
black lines upon their breasts. By the use of the
plural form in the word asraih and the present tense
in the word mrjantyah is indicated that their tears
were flowing out in a mighty downpour. this can be
surmised from it not being stated that all these tears
soaked their inner garments become. Because of the
quarrel between the dual Yamunas rising from their
eyes and the fire of remorse rising in their hearts
they felt a great burden of unhappiness as they
watched to see which of the contending parties
would be victorious over the other.

The word "silently" indicates that since they could

not tolerate this burden, their minds had left them.
Thus they stood still, from which we can understand
that they became like lifeless puppets standing
erect.

TEXT 30

prestham priyetaram iva pratibhasamanam

krsnam tad-artha-vinivartita-sarva-kamah
netre vimrjya ruditopahate sma kincit
 samrambha-gadgada-giro 'bruvatanuraktah

TRANSLATION

Although Krishna was their dearmost friend, He had

been speaking to them most unfavorably, despite
their having abandoned all objects of desire for His
sake. Remaining nonetheless unflinching in their
attachment to Him, they stopped crying, wiped their
eyes and then spoke, with some agitation showing in
their trembling voices.

Sridhara Svami

Furthermore, the verse beginning prestham. With

some agitation, in a mood of anger, they spoke, their
voices trembling. The reason for their agitation is
stated by the words beginning prestham: They
replied to Him who was speaking to them as if
unfavorably.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

And then the stunned girls were reawakened by the

loud statement of the Lord entering their ears, "What
is the use of crying in the forest? Why don't you just
put a smile on your faces and go back home
immediately?" they spoke something in reply to this,
as stated in this verses. He was prestha, most dear
on account of their previously having had frequent
physical association with Him, yet still, without any
reason, He was speaking as if just the opposite of a
dear friend, harshly saying such unfavorable things
as "You should just serve your own husbands." But
this is impossible, because for His sake they had put
aside all objects of material pleasure in such a
thorough way that they could never again have any
relation at all with them. in this context, because the
word anya is not used (to modify "desirable objects"),
and because the word sarva is used instead, we
should take it as the intention of Srila Sukadeva
Gosvami that the word kama here does not mean
things desired for the pleasure of the supreme Lord.

The statement that they ceased crying and wiped

their clouded eyes implies the thought in their minds,
"now our end has come. Let us look on His lotus face
and die." they were agitated, thinking, "alas, alas,
even though we were supposedly dear to Him, He is
punishing us even with death, although we have
committed no offense. How is this?"

And if it is imagined that they were not upset, but

rather thought "Because we have no suitable beauty
or qualities, we are not fit to associate physically with
Him. So let us simply give Him up," Sukadeva
Gosvami states to the contrary that they spoke with
some agitation, their voices choking up. But, it may
be again questioned, in either case we deduce that
they lacked pure love of Godhead, and thus should
have desisted. This objection, however, is refuted by
the word anurakta, implying that those who are
blinded by ecstatic attraction anuraga cannot
tolerate logical arguments.

TEXT 31

sri-gopya ucuh
 maivam vibho 'rhati bhavan gaditum nr-samsam
santyajya sarva-visayams tava pada-mulam
bhakta bhajasva duravagraha ma tyajaasman
devo yathadi-puruso bhajate mumuksun

TRANSLATION

O all-powerful one, you should not speak in this

cruel way. Please do not reject us, who have
renounced all varieties of sense gratification to
render devotional service to Your lotus feet. Rather
you should reciprocate with us in kind, just as the
primeval Lord sri Narayana reciprocates with His
devotees in their endeavors for liberation.

Sridhara Svami

nr-samsam means "cruel." "O duravagraha, O you

who are independent, please reciprocate with us who
are rendering service (bhaktah = sevatibhih) to Your
feet; please don't reject us.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

The thought in the minds of the gopis, that "He is

instructing us in the principles of duty, and yet at the
same time is himself indulging in all kinds of sinful
activity," is expressed by them in the verse
beginning maivam. nr-sammsam means injurious,
the direct cause of death; You should not speak like
this, since You are the son of nanda maharaja, who is
known by everyone for His religiousness. Rather,
they imply, only someone who has a reputation
among everyone as a murderer might properly speak
like this. The amara-kosa gives the definition nr-
samso ghatukah krurah (“The word nr-samsa means
'murderous' or 'cruel'").

"You have shot millions of the arrows of your words

at us all at once, so that now we all have to give up
our bodies and go to the abode of Yamaraja, rather
than the cowherd village you have advised us to go
back to. You, on the other hand, can go back to the
cowherd village, taking with You the sinful reactions
for murdering hundreds of millions of women. If you
don't want to be implicated in this sinful reaction for
killing women then you should reciprocate with us,
who have given up all sense objects to render
devotional service to the base of Your feet." Because
in this context they do not say "other sense objects,"
but rather "all sense objects," the implication is made
that physical association with the Supreme
Personality of Godhead is not an object of sense
gratification.

"But," Krishna may ask the gopis, "my dear lusty

ladies, why can't you satisfy your lust with your own
husbands, that you have to leave them and come
worship me?" this they reply to: O duravagraha. As
stated by Panini in His grammar, avagraho vrrsti-
pratibandhah (“The proper usage of the word
avagraha is in to mean 'the stopping of rain'"). Thus
this word can only be explained as metaphorically
comparing Krishna to something else, a cloud, which
is faulty (dusta = dosa-prayukta) in not providing
rain. This explanation is further corroborated by the
presence of the prefix dur-. Thus we have the
meaning "O cloud who rains only poison." and
extrapolating further "Even though You are far away,
You, the Krishna-cloud, are the friend of us cataki
birds. 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. We
choose not to drink the water of the lakes and so
forth, 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."

"But," Krishna may say, "granted that the catakis

must depend on the cloud, but the cloud isn't
responsible to the catakis. Whether the cataki birds
live or die, there is no loss on the part of the cloud."
to this they reply, "alright, but you are not a lifeless
cloud. Rather you are the most exalted of chivalrous
persons, just like Narayana himself (Narayana-sama
= Narayana-vat)." this they speak in the words deva
and so on. Even those who are mumuksu, who desire
to give up all sense gratification for the sake of
worshiping Him, He reciprocates with them by
rewarding their desires, because of being controlled
by His devotees. But You do not reciprocate with us,
who have renounced all kinds of sense gratification
for Your sake.

TEXT 32

yat paty-apatya-suhrdam anuvrttir anga

strinam sva-dharma iti dharma-vida tvayoktam
astv evam etad upadesa-pade tvayise
 prestho bhavams tanu-bhrtam kila bandhur
a`tma

TRANSLATION

Our dear Krishna, you have advised us that the most

proper religious duty for women is to faithfully serve
their husbands, children and other relatives. We
agree that this principle is valid, but actually it
should be applied to You. After all, O Lord, You are
the dearmost friend of every embodied soul. You are
their most intimate relative and indeed their very
self.

Sridhara Svami

Furthermore, what was said by You about

"husbands, children and so on.": here the phrase "by
You, the great knower of religion" is spoken
ironically. Let this instruction you gave about
husbands, children and so on be applied to the real
object of instruction, Yourself. How He is the real
object of instruction is stated by the word I`sa, the
idea being that we find through the statements of
various logical disputants that all ethical instructions
ultimately point at the supreme controller. How He is
this I`sa is stated by the words a`tma kila bhavan:
The enjoyer of everything enjoyable, the a`tma, is
the I`sa. thus You are also the dearmost and the real
relative, which means "let whatever is due to all
different friends and relatives be given to You."

An alternate explanation is that "inasmuch as You

are acting as the abode of instruction on religion
(pade = sthane), or in other words, the giver of
instruction on religion, and we are also
dharmopadesa-sthana in the sense of being the
inquirers into such instruction, we grant that the
instructions You have spoken are true. But You are
not simply the giver of instruction; You are the very
atma."

Or another alternate explanation: “The instructions

You have spoken apply to any ordinary man we see
in this world, but do they apply to You the, supreme
master (I`se = svamini)?" they say this with pitiful
irony, implying "certainly not," since You are the
a=tma, the very goal (phala-rupa) of all embodied
beings.

Or yet another alternative: “This religious duty You

have described, of rendering service to husbands
and other relatives, should actually be applied to
You." Why? "Because You are upadesa-pada, the
underlying foundation (pada = adhisthana) of the
existence of those husbands and so on who are being
instructed about (upadisyamananam) as deserving of
personal service." and why is that? "Because You are
I`sa. Without the foundation of the supreme
controller, no one's husbands and other relatives can
even exist." the rest of the verse can be interpreted
in the same way as the first explanation; let us avoid
too much elaboration.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

And then some of the more outspoken gopis, hoping

to defeat Krishna with His own statements, speak the
verse beginning yat. that which you have said, that
following one's husband and other relatives is the
proper duty of women, is granted as true. It remains
valid as far as it applies, and we have no argument
against this. Actually we are carrying this out all the
time. "and in what way are you doing this?" this they
reply to by saying that as long as You are the
reservoir of instruction (pada = a`spada), the giver
of instruction on the principles of religion, then the
idea of rendering service to our husband and other
relatives appeals to us. First of all the giver of
instruction, the spiritual master, should be served,
and then those religious principles which He has
instructed about as obligatory; such is the correct
logic. Only by following the a`carya without duplicity
can one's religious duties be successfully prosecuted,
as we find stated in scripture. But You are the
supreme Lord, so what to speak of such a case when
the a`carya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead
himself? Furthermore, on account of Your being the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are also the
soul of all embodied beings, because of being the
supreme soul You are the dearmost, and because of
being the dearmost You are one's true relative.

The idea behind this argument of the gopis' is that

the sastra enjoins faithful following of husband and
other relatives only when they are joined by the
supersoul. If they are missing their soul (if they have
died), then immediately they are taken to the bank
of the river and their faces are burned; that is the
order of the dharma-sastras. Therefore by following
You, who are the personal manifestation of the
supersoul, the following of one's husband and so on
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 thus have
already had their faces burned in the funeral pyre?

But, one may question, preliminary manifestations

of pure love of Godhead cover over a devotee's
awareness of the Lord's opulences, and certainly
these gopis were experiencing such purva-prema. So
how did they have this awareness of His opulent
majesty? this is answered in terms of the
characteristics mentioned in the narada-pancaratra
and explained in sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, that
prema constantly manifests natural symptoms which
are both hot and cold, which reflect the devotees'
simultaneous experience of both separation from and
union with the Lord. Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu states,

brahmanando bhaved esa

cet parardha-guni-krtah
naiti bhakti-sukhambhodheh
paramanu-tulam api

Which indicates that (the experience of devotional

service) is countless times greater in magnitude than
the experience of the bliss of Brahman. That
experience of bhakti, when had in separation, burns
with more brilliance than millions of sun-rays, and
thus, by separation's being all-illuminating like the
sun, reveals all of the Lord's transcendental
qualities-- those related to His opulence as well as
those related to His sweetness. This experience of
devotion in separation thus does not cover any of His
qualities. Devotion in union, on the other hand, is
more pleasure-giving than millions of the nectar-
bearing rays of the moon, and reveals only those of
the Lord's qualities which manifest His sweetness.
Since direct association with the Lord is like the
nectar-rays of the moon, that intoxicating nectar
covers the Lord's opulence. Normally in a case when
even in union with the Lord His opulences remain
revealed, we must assume that the devotees' love is
not yet mature. But in this instance (of the gopis in
this chapter), the manifestation of His majesty is
caused by their pure love, which is in separation
because they are already feeling in anticipation the
separation from Him which is about to occur. Even
when love is imperfect it reveals the Lord's glories,
what to speak of when it is completely perfect. Thus
the magnitude of their experience of His greatness is
the measure of the greatness of their love. this
same idea is exemplified in Srila Jiva Gosvami-
carana's commentary on the history of the original
King Bharata, in His statement, kim va are
a`caritam tapas tapasvinvya yad iyam avanih.

TEXT 33

kurvanti hi tvayi ratim kusalah sva a`tman

nitya-priye pati-sutadibhir a`rti-daih kim
tan nah prasida paramessvara ma sma chindya
a`sam dhrtam tvayi cirad aravinda-netra

TRANSLATION

Expert transcendentalists always direct their

affection toward You because they recognize You as
their own true self and as their eternal beloved. What
use do we have for these troublesome husbands,
children and relatives? therefore, O supreme
controller, grant us Your mercy. O lotus-eyed one, we
have maintained our hope to have Your association
for so long; please don't cut it down.

Sridhara Svami

Fortifying this idea with the example of the behavior

of saintly persons, they entreat Him in the verse
beginning kurvanti. Kusalah means “Those who are
expert in the scriptures." and the sastra says, kim
prajaya karisyamo yesam no 'yam a`tma lokah
("What use do we have for our children if they will
not accept the supreme Lord as their ultimate self
and their source of enlightenment?").

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Some of them follow up this statement, fortifying it

by citing the behavior of saintly persons, in the verse
beginning kurvanti. Kusalah means those who are
expert by dint of the faith described in the words of
Garga muni (Bhag. 10.8.18),

ya etasmin maha-bhagah
pritim kurvanti manavah
narayo 'bhibhvanty etan
visnu-paksan ivasurah

("Demons (asuras) cannot harm the demigods, who

always have Lord Visnu on their side. Similarly, any
person or group attached to Krishna is extremely
fortunate. Because such persons are very much
affectionate toward Krishna, they cannot be defeated
by demons like the associates of Kamsa (or by the
internal enemies, the senses)"). But it should not
actually be said that they "make" affection for You,
because affection for You is automatic in those who
are kusala, as the gopis state: in their own (sve =
sviye), indicating that You are their basis of "my-
ness," and in their self a`tmani, indicated that You
are also their basis of "I-ness". Thus You are eternally
dear to them; their affection for You is eternal,
whereas the affection they have for husbands, sons
and so on is only conditional and therefore
temporary. We, however, do not have any such
affection for these relatives, which they state by the
word a`rti-daih, meaning that they give misery by
preventing us from going to see You. Therefore (tat
= tasmat) please show Your mercy on us in order to
keep us alive.

If You say to us, "You are married to others; it is

better you just die. But why are you crying for the
sake of these other gopis who are yet unmarried?",
we reply, "O giver of benedictions, You have offered
Your benediction to these unmarried gopis with Your
words sankalpo viditah sadhvyah (Bhag. 10.22.25).
"But," Krishna may reply, “The reason for their
receiving my mercy was their worship of Katyayani.
What is the reason for giving my mercy to you?"
“Then give us Your mercy even without any reason,"
they pitifully beg: "O Isvara, You who are under no
one's control but Your own and who are thus free to
do anything You wish, we have for a long time, since
our very births, maintained a creeper of hope (to
have Your association). now that creeper is finally
bearing its fruit, so please don't cut it down. A fruit-
bearing tree should never cut down by one who is a
gentleman." this thought is implied by the two words
cirat and chindyat.

"And this creeper of our hopes was originally planted

in the paddy field of our minds by Yourself," as they
state by the word aravinda-netra. “The seed of this
creeper of our hopes, known as bhava, was placed in
the field of our hearts at the very beginning of our
youth, when we first caught sight of You, and that
seed, sent by You from Your lotus-like eyes, entered
the apertures of our own eyes." this is the unspoken
implication. according to the pattern described in
the rasa=sastra, caksu-ragah prathamam
cittasangas 'tha sankalpah. ("First there is attraction
by glancing, then a meeting of minds, and then
anticipating desire develops"). This means that the
gopis' creeper of bhava grew by hearing and seeing
Krishna's personal characteristics and His beauty.
Now it has fructified, so why, while it is affording
fruits to be enjoyed and will give yet more fruits to
enjoy in the future, should it be cut down with the
axe of harsh words? You know the rule that "a
mature tree should never be cut down, even if its
fruit is poisonous." all this is subtly implied.

TEXT 34

cittam sukhena bhavatapahrtam grhesu

yan nirvisaty uta karav api grhya-krtye
padau padam na calatas tava pada-mulad
yamah katham vrajam atho karavama kim va
 TRANSLATION

Before today our minds were completely absorbed in

the affairs of our households, but You have stolen
them away, together with our hands, which were
busily engaged in household work. Now our feet
refuse to move one step from Your lotus feet. How
can we go back to Vraja, and even if we could what
will we be able to do there?

Sridhara Svami

Furthermore, You have told us "Go back," but that is

impossible, since You have taken away our hearts
and so on. The gopis state this in the verse beginning
cittam. Those hearts of ours which were for so long
happily merged in our households have been stolen
by You, and also our hands, which were absorbed in
household work. Alternately sukhena means "by You,
who are happy by nature."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Yet other gopis, exhibiting with transcendental rasa

their own pure love, declare, "O king of thieves, we
had no other desire for coming here than our
eagerness to regain our own property which You
stole from us." this they state in the verse beginning
cittam. You have taken away our minds, but unlike
other thieves You did not have to make any great
endeavor, which they state by the word sukhena.
The idea is that You did this simply by blowing into
holes of Your flute. And neither is that treasure of our
hearts so insignificant, as they state: which minds
were thoroughly (nih = nihsesena) absorbed in all
household affairs; thus, it is implied, by Your stealing
them, our entire homes were plundered. The actual
subtle implication of this exaggeration is that
because our minds our not at all absorbed in our
homes we don't care if they burn down or prosper.
What business have we with them? (actually our
minds were absorbed) in that which brings about the
perfection of all our grhas or senses, and without
which all our senses become useless. Thus by
stealing our minds You have stolen all of our senses,
which they state: even our hands, which were
absorbed in household work. The word uta implies
that also our eyes and ears were all stolen. "But my
dear gopis, just go home for now. Let me consider
the situation for a day or two and then I will give you
back your minds." in reply to such they say, "Our feet
refuse to move even one step," without, it is implied,
those minds. Therefore first give us back our minds
and then we will go.

TEXT 35

sincanga nas tvad-adharamrta-purakena

hasavaloka-kala-gita-ja-hrc-chayagnim
no ced vayam virahajagny-upayukta-deha
dhyanena yama padayoh padavim sakhe te

TRANSLATION

Dear Krishna, You must extinguish with the nectar of

Your lips the fire of lust in our hearts which You have
brought about by Your smiling glances and the sweet
song of Your flute. If you fail to do this, we will
consign our bodies to the other fire that we feel of
separation from You, O friend, and thus pass like
yogis by meditation to the abode of Your lotus feet.
Sridhara Svami

Therefore, O dear one, O Krishna, the fire within our

nah = asmakam hearts, the fire of lust, born from
Your smiling glances and the artful song of Your
flute-- please sprinkle that fire with the nectar of Your
lips. If not, we will take advantage of another fire
which will arise from our feelings of separation, and
place our bodies in it. Our bodies thus burned, we will
like yogis attain Your position, Your proximity; by
such meditation we will achieve You.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

"Ah, when, even at a time other than that of actual

physical contact, I desired to see the bodies of these
beautiful young girls naked, I was then able to see
them thus, namely on the day I stole their garments.
Yet when now I similarly want to hear the speak their
minds free from embarrassment at a time other than
that of our directly enjoying conjugal nectar, I cannot
hear them speak thus. Alas, alas, I have made them
mad with the resonant sound of my flute, and then
totally bewildered them with my skillful words. I have
even stolen their minds, by depending on which their
shyness, discretion, sense of religious duty and
soberness were able to sustain themselves.
Nevertheless they are still for all extents and
purposes speaking with all shyness, not even now
revealing their inner thoughts." While Sri Krishna was
making these observations to himself, some of the
principal gopis, whose normal natures had become
overturned by the predominant effect of the sancari-
bhava known as unmada, spoke the verse beginning
sinca.

In this verse we can deduce the tacit presence of the

word tava by its implied connection with the words
hasa. Thus, "Our dear, O Krishna, the fire of lust
residing in our hearts has been generated, fully
awakened, inflamed, by Your smiling glance and by
the melodious song (of Your flute). You should
sprinkle, extinguish, it with the flood of nectar that
comes from Your lips." the suffix -ka (in purakena) is
only an emphatic, not changing the word's meaning.
The gopis are implying that if the same person who
has started a blazing fire regains His common sense
and puts it out, He can undo the effect of His
offensive act. Otherwise He who has set the fire must
take on the sinful reactions which accrue to such
crimes as arson.

Although the word kamam is not used here, it is

indirectly implied by the use of the word hrc-chaya
("residing in the heart"); in other words, "Our lust is
lying dormant (sete) within our hearts. No one but
You can awaken it." Entering along with the sound of
Your flute into our hearts through the holes of our
ears, You awakened that fire of lust which was lying
there. 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 engulf in fire the living beings pranas
who were playing there. Therefore if You are afraid of
the sinful reaction for creating such a fire, You should
extinguish it. After all it is no labor for You to either
make it blazing or extinguish it, since it is rather Your
smiling glance which is the agent who inflames that
fire, and the nectar of Your lips which serves to put it
out. Both of these entities reside in Your face, so the
fact is, as we have extensively and repeatedly seen,
that You, the mischievous son of the king, like to play
at extinguishing fires; we don't see You making a
game of starting fires.

But, Krishna may object, this smiling glance and

sweet flute-song of mine are spontaneous; if they
have inflamed you young girls then please tell me
where and how much to apply the remedy with the
nectar of my lips. Yes, the gopis reply, after You have
murdered thousands of other women You may feel
some remorse for Your crime and Your impudence
may subside. This they express by the words
beginning no cet. We will consign our bodies to the
fire of separation, and as our bodies burn up we will
go by meditation to the position of Your feet, we will
right now attain them. The idea behind this is as
follows: By dint of the austerities we performed in
previously lives we know enough about ourselves to
surmise that in this life You will not accept us.
therefore now, for the sake of executing our
austerities, rather than resorting to the external fire
of this world, we will utilize the fire of our hearts and
the fire of separation from You, which are
automatically present anyway. But even in that case,
since when the fire of separation from You becomes
extremely powerful it will slow down the fire of lust
residing in our hearts, we are going to offer our life
airs as oblations into that fire of separation,
expressing our intention as follows: Our dear fire of
separation from Krishna, we, desiring to touch the
feet of Krishna, offer into you our own lives.
Therefore please place us on the path of Krishna's
feet, which path other persons cannot even
ascertain, so that those feet may fall on our breasts
rather than on the ground. And thus the fire of lust in
our hearts will subside by the weight of Your feet,
and we will have attained our aspiration. You,
moreover, will enjoy the pleasure of touching our
breasts, even if You don't want it. Then, O friend, You
will feel all the more sorry for having been a
murderer of women. Out of friendship for Him we will
act like this. Implied is the idea: if You submit Your
girlfriends to torment then how can we refrain from
submitting You, our boyfriend, to the same? But this
pain of remorse we make You feel will spoil our love,
and will simply reflect back on ourselves a million
times magnified. What can we do, since this shame
has been sent upon us by Providence? Therefore, O
You who disregard material consequences, O ocean
of mercy, why are sowing the seed of the creeper of
Your own remorse? and why are You making us eat
its fruit? Give up Your impudence and accept us. All
these ideas are subtly implied.

TEXT 36

yarhy ambujaksa tava pada-talam ramaya

datta-ksanam kvacid aranya-jana-priyasya
aspraksma tat-prabhrti nanya-samaksam anjah
sthatums tvayabhiramita bata parayamah
 TRANSLATION

O lotus-eyed Krishna, the occasional contact of the

soles of Your lotus feet create a great festivity for the
goddess of fortune Rama. Since You consider as very
dear the cowherd residents of the forest, perhaps
You also allow us that privilege. When finally we have
touched Your lotus feet and have become thus fully
gratified by You, we assure You that from that
moment forward we will not be able to even stay in
the presence of other men.

Sridhara Svami

But you should go to your husbands; they can

extinguish this fire. In reply to such they speak the
verse beginning yarhi. Which (base of the feet) has
created a festival (datta-ksanam = dattotsavam) for
the goddess of fortune, or else, which has given her
an opportunity (to serve the Lord) (datta-ksanam =
dattavasaram). But that is only sometimes, not
always. Of You to whom the people who dwell in the
forest are dear. Because You hold the forest-dwellers
dear, if we can ever touch Your feet in the forest, we
will thus be afforded great joy by You (abhiramitah =
a`nanditah), and from that time forward we will not
be able to remain in the company of any other men.
That is to say, they will become insignificant and
unattractive to us.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

But then you should go to your respective husbands;

they can extinguish this fire. In reply to such they
speak the verse beginning yarhi. "O lotus-eyed one"
indicates that “The very moment we first saw your
eyes, we took the position of bees around them," in
accordance with the statement of the rasa-sastra,
caksu-ragah prathamam cittasangas tato 'tha
sankalpah ("First there is attraction by glancing, then
a meeting of minds, and then anticipating desire
develops"). The gopis' idea is, first there was eye-to-
eye glancing, which initiated our purva-raga. At the
very moment (yarhi = yasminn eva ksane) we touch
the base of Your feet, place Your feet upon Your
breasts, perhaps in the groves of Govardhana or
elsewhere. how will we then become? Which (feet)
give to Rama, the goddess Laksmi dwelling in
Vaikuntha who is the beloved of Narayana, a festival
full of desires for intimate pleasure. This is in accord
with the the statement of the nagapatnis,
transmitted through the mouth of Garga muni, yad-
vanchaya srir lalanacarat tapah.

Therefore these feet also afford a festival full of

desires to us, the cowherd women dwelling in the
forest, and what surprise should there be that we
have such desires? "But what is your qualification to
achieve the object which Laksmi hankered for?" they
reply to this question: (the feet) of You to whom the
dwellers of the forest, the cowherd community, are
very dear.

From that very moment (tat-prabhrti = tat-ksanam

a`rabhya) we will not be able to stay in the presence
of others, the cowherd men who are our own
respective husbands. Just by seeing them, the gopis
imply, we will feel contempt in our minds.
Furthermore, not only will we touch Your feet, but we
will be gratified by You thoroughly (abhi = sarvato-
bhavena). Enjoying to our satiation, we will become
completely fulfilled. Thus please do not send us
away, even though we have been previously enjoyed
by other men; the implication is that they cried out
pitifully with these words while falling at His feet.

TEXT 37

srir yat padambuja-rajas cakame tulasya

labdhvapi vaksasi padam kila bhrtya-justam
yasyah sva-viksana utanya-sura-prayasas
tadvad vayam ca tava pada-rajah prapannah

TRANSLATION

Goddess Laksmi, even after receiving her unique

position on the chest of her Lord, Narayana, hankers
after the dust of His lotus feet, which have to be
shared with a co-wife, tulasi-devi, and with many
servants who are rendering service to those feet.
This is her mood even though all the great demigods
headed by Brahma are striving to obtain her merciful
glance. In the same way as her, we also also fall
down in the dust of Your lotus feet to take shelter of
You as your maidservants.

Sridhara Svami

And the great auspiciousness of Your feet is very

wonderful, as they state in the verse beginning srih.
Even though she had attained a position on Your
chest without any rival co-wife, she desired the dust
of Your lotus feet in the company of a co-wife, tulasi.
The phrase "served by all Your servants" emphasizes
the great fortune of this position. For the sake of her
own glance, for the sake of the goddess of fortune
glancing upon them, persons like Brahma endeavor
with austerities. Just like her we are surrendered to
that dust of Your lotus feet.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Thus in this way You have made us Your lovers, but

we desire simply the service of Your lotus feet, which
they state with an example in this verse. Sri is
Laksmi, who desired the dust of the lotus feet of Him,
Narayana. And we are also surrendered to the dust of
the lotus feet of You, who are just like Him (tadvat =
tat-tulyasya). And thus, by Your being equal to
Narayana, which we learn from the statements of
Garga muni, we can naturally be understood to be
like the goddess of fortune. Furthermore, even after
obtaining her place, refuge (padam = a`spadam), on
Your chest, which is the most excellent of locations,
she hankered after the dust of Your lotus feet, which
is the position of a co-wife, tulasi, and which is
understood by the phrase "served (justam =
sevitam) by Your servants" to be crowded by many
males. Abandoning her natural mood of consort and
also her shyness, she accepted and desired a
position inferior to her own. Just as she preferred the
mood of a maidservant to her own attitude as
consort of the Lord, we feel likewise. We want to give
up our shyness and join Your friends raktaka, Patraka
and others in massaging Your feet. Similarly we are
ready to accept positions lower than our own by
smearing on our foreheads the blades of grass which
have been tread on by the aborigine Pulinda women
of Vrndavana in their labor and which are touched by
the red kunkuma from Your feet.

Furthermore, sri Narayanadeva, being satisfied with

goddess Laksmi, gave her the benefit of 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 short moment. This, they imply, is a great
blow to our self-esteem. If, being eager to secure
Your own good reputation, you want to be equal to
Narayana in accord with the evidential statements of
Garga r=si, You should also carry us on Your chest.
Such an implied idea touches on the gravity of their
ecstatic sentiment.

Anticipating the joking objection of His that "Just as

the goddess Laksmi is unsteady, you should also
become unpredictable by going from house to house
among all different pious persons," they reply, "Why
does this fool say that the goddess sri is unsteady?
she is the most steadfast of ladies." this they state:
For the sake of her, the goddess of fortunes', glance
upon themselves, , for the sake of receiving her
merciful glance, which is full of the mood of motherly
compassion, the other demigods headed by Brahma,
who are like her sons, make great endeavor, and still
she hardly ever even glances upon them. rather one
of her potencies gives them what they desire.

TEXT 38
 tan nah prasida vrjinardana te 'nghri-mulam
prapta visrjya vasatis tvad-upasanasah
tvat-sundara-smita-niriksana-tivra-kama-
taptatmanam purusa-bhusana dehi dasyam

TRANSLATION

Therefore, O vanquisher of all distress, please show

Your mercy upon us. We have approached Your lotus
feet after abandoning our families and homes, and
we have no other desire than to serve You. Our
hearts are burning with desires generated by Your
beautiful, smiling glances. O jewel among men,
please let us become your maidservants.

Sridhara Svami

O vanquisher of all dangers, O destroyer of

unhappiness, our aspirations have been for Your
devotional service (tvad-upasane = tvad-bhajane),
and we given up our homes (vasatih = grhan). thus
we have attained you just as yogis do. O jewel
among men, please grant the position of being Your
servants to (us) whose minds are tormented by the
intense desire brought about by Your beautifully
smiling and playful glances.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Therefore, giving up our homes, families and so

forth just like devotees of Narayana, we are desiring
servitude to You, as they state in the verse beginning
tan nah. Because You are equal to Narayana, You
should kindly be merciful to us. But, Krishna may
object, you girls possess unhappy karmic reactions
(adrsta) which stand in the way of my granting favor
to you. In other words, how can mercy be granted?
does even Lord Narayana grant His mercy to just
anyone? they reply with the word vrjinardana: O
vanquisher of all danger, then You should simply
destroy that misery. Lord Narayana certainly
destroys the miseries of those who surrender to Him.
We have similarly approached You lotus feet, and
moreover we are approaching free from any ulterior
desires, as they state by the words visrjya vasatih.

But, Krishna may again object, We surmise that you

must be expecting some pleasure from me in
exchange for abandoning the happiness of your
family life. They reply that our hopes are only for
Your devotional service and not for any fruit of that
worship; we are not such persons as hanker to gain
happiness from You. The idea underlying this
argument is as follows: if, in the course of pursuing
our intent to make You happy, we circum- stantially
are made happy by seeing Your face, what is the
fault in that? But then why are you gopis improperly
asking me to extinguish the fire in your hearts? Yes,
they reply, but you are the cause of that fire's
blazing up, as they state: you should grant servitude,
the status of maidservants, rather than the status of
wives, to us, whose selves have been tormented by
the intense desires created by Your beautiful, smiling
glances. In this connection we have the explanation
of srimad allabhacarya- carana, “Thus we are
hankering after servitude, not marriage. therefore
our desire should be considered in the same
category as spiritual initiation and similar affairs, and
not as a mundane transaction." and thus there is no
harm in our being unmarried maidens or being
married to other men. After all, the implication is,
neither of these conditions preclude a relationship of
servitude.

In His original edition of Vaisnava-tosani, sri

sanatana Gosvami-carana explains how this works:
"Worship in the mood of a paramour affords much
greater happiness than the worship of a devotee who
has married the Lord and is in the role of His spouse;
this is corroborated by the statements of sri
(Brhad-)bhagavatamrta (also by sanatana Gosvami).
Therefore the gopis are here requesting a special
kind of servitude, “Today we pray that we may
become Your maidservants."

Because you are the great ocean of desires, thus

indeed the proper worship of You, who are a woman-
hunter, by us young girls, should be executed with
our own bodies, and should be characterized by the
giving of pleasure to You. Consequentially our prayer
for the extinguishing of the fire in our hearts is
actually a prayer for being allowed to worship You.
The fire of our lust is the principle ingredient of Your
worship. Thus it is fitting that they address Him with
the phrase "O ornament in the form of a male
(purusa-rupa-bhusana)." Please decorate all the
limbs of us golden-limbed girls with dark-blue gems.

TEXT 39

viksyalakavrta-mukham tava kundala-sri-

ganda-sthaladhara-sudham hasitavalokam
 dattabhayam ca bhuja-danda-yugam vilokya
vaksah sriyaika-ramanam ca bhavama dasyah

TRANSLATION

After seeing Your face, enhanced by the beauty of

Your earrings, Your handsome cheeks, nectarean
lips, and smiling glances, and after seeing Your
mighty protecting arms and Your chest, the only
place of enjoyment for the goddess of fortune, we
have had no choice but to offer ourselves to You as
Your slaves.

Sridhara Svami

But, Krishna may object, for what purpose are you

putting aside your control over your households to
beg for servitude to me? this they answer in the
verse beginning viksya. alakavrta- mukham means
"face surrounded by hair." also on the cheeks of
which face there is the beauty of His earrings. Seeing
Your face in this manner and also seeing Your two
mighty arms, which give fearlessness, and Your
chest, which is the only source of loving attraction
(ramanam = rati-janakam) for the goddess of
fortune-- seeing these we become Your servants.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Since you want to become my servants, do I have to

buy you with some payment, or are you being given
as a free gift? the answer to that is that You have
already been purchasing us, ever since the beginning
of our youthful womanhood, with a price that it is
millions upon millions of times more than fitting for
us-- the great treasure, which we have never seen or
heard about anywhere else, of Your cintamani-gem
smiling glances. Thus purchasing us, You brought us
home to Your palace among the bushes of
Vrndavana and displayed to us Your personal
storehouse of treasures-- great heaps of blue
emeralds and of pearls set in golden ornaments the
shapes of makaras, several great emerald pillars
marking the hall where the goddess Laksmi sports,
and so forth-- which all are passed off in the disguise
of Your hair, etc. Thus showing us these treasures,
You are each day making us partake of a nectarean
sight unattainable even by the demigods. this they
describe by the verse beginning viksya.

When You put Your sloping golden turban on Your

head, Your maidservant will serve as valet, pulling
the turban bit by bit up into just the right position,
and even while You are trying hard to prohibit her
with Your chastising finger she will put her hand
underneath Your turban and take the opportunity to
glance at Your face covered with hair visible down to
their roots between the left and right sides of Your
forehead. Similarly, when You place the jewel on
Your turban she will see Your face only slightly
covered by Your very long hairs, which will be
pushed aside to the left and right of Your forehead.
And at such times as when You are having Your body
massaged or when You are engaging in intimate
association she will see Your face completely (a- =
samyak) covered by Your hair. Relishing thus with
our eyes Your abundant sweetness, we will be Your
maidservants.
 What is that face like? having earrings which are at
different times uncovered by His hair, slightly
covered or else completely covered, and which are
sometimes not shaking, sometimes shaking a little
and sometimes moving about greatly. In this way His
earrings show various kinds of beauty. When He is
smiling and laughing, because His very cheeks
become obscured by the widened corners of His
mouth, the nectar that normally comes from His lips
seems to be coming from His cheeks as well. Rising
from one cheek to another, and being drunk by the
cakora birds who are the eyes of the gopis, this
nectar of His lips is on His face. at various intimate
times, however, it is on the cheeks of the gopis that
this nectar from His lips appears, and sometimes it is
the nectar from the gopis' lips that appears on His
cheeks.

An alternate interpretation is that His face show the

beauty, the reflecting splendor, of His earrings, and
His face also exhibits the nectar from His lips; thus all
of these descriptions apply to His face as a
compound adjective (namely kundala-sri-ganda-
sthaladhara-sudham) modifying a single noun (His
face). His smiling glance upon that face, which
smiling creates through His glance the blossoming of
gopis' smiles and of the night-blooming lotuses.

But, Krishna says, your husbands will not tolerate

this behavior of ours. They will complain bitterly to
King Kamsa, thus producing a fearful situation for
myself and you as well. The gopis reply to this by the
words beginning dattam abhayam. the two mighty
arms which give fearlessness, as they did when You
held up the hill to protect us from the pride of
mahendra. Such being the case, You arms will
certainly be the slaughterers of that beast Kamsa. By
the rasa of chivalry which is thus hinted at, the
conjugal rasa becomes fortified.

But I am a religious person, and so cannot make

others' wives my own maidservants. Asking one
another while pointing at Him accusingly, "Who is
this?", they answer, "Granted, O dear crest-jewel of
religious personalities. You refuse to make the wives
of the cowherd Your maidservants, but You have
even taken Laksmi, the wife of Narayana, by force
from Vaikuntha and are carrying her around on Your
chest. This they speak with the words beginning
vaksah. (that chest) where Laksmi, who out of shame
has assumed the form of a golden line, takes her
only substantial pleasure. So therefore, how old are
You now? Within all the fourteen worlds and even
above these worlds, in Vaikunthaloka outside this
universe, You never reject any beautiful women, no
matter who she is or who she belongs to; we know
this quite well. Such is the implied idea.

TEXT 40

ka stry a`nga te kala-padayata-venu-gita-

sammohitarya-caritan na calet tri-lokyam
trailokya-saubhagam idam ca niriksya rupam
yad go-dvija-druma-mrgah pulakany abibhran

TRANSLATION
 Dear Krishna, is there any women in the entire three
worlds who does not come bewildered and can avoid
deviating from the religious principles of civilized
society when she hears the sweet, drawn-out melody
of Your flute? Your beauty makes auspicious every
planet in the three planetary systems. Indeed, on
seeing Your beautiful form even the cows, birds,
trees and deer experience the hair of their bodies
standing on end.

Sridhara Svami

But, the Lord says, isn't this business of taking a

paramour abominable? they reply to this by the
verse beginning ka stri. a=nga means "O Krishna."
(Bewildered) by the special kind of drawn-out (a`yata
= dirgha) melody (murcchita, svaralapa). if we take
the reading kala-padamrta-venu-gita) the idea is
"what woman who is bewildered by the song of Your
flute, full of sweet tones, will not deviate from
aristocratic behavior, from her prescribed duty?
Bewildered by that sound even men deviate thus.
Furthermore, the words beginning trailokya-
saubhagam. Yat here means "because," and
abibhran is an alternate form for abibharuh. It is
quite appropriate that simply by hearing a sound
which implies Your presence they abandon their
prescribed religious duties, what to speak of what
happens when they meditate upon You.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

But, Krishna may object, since You have given up as

dead the path of duty, what affect will that have on
other women who are more faithful to their
husbands? You will corrupt them, by the logic of the
statement vidusayati nirlajjah svayam dustam paran
api ("a shameless person contaminates not only
himself but also everyone else He comes into contact
with"). On seeing this particular mark, this golden
line which appears by chance on my chest, you
(gopis, by your comments) have insulted Laksmi
herself, who is the most excellent of chaste women.
Why have you allowed yourselves to blaspheme her?
But we are not harming anyone by this, the gopis
answer; rather it is You who has been sent forth by
the Creator for the ruination of the religious
principles of all the three worlds.

With angry naughtiness they speak the words

beginning ka stri. Our dear, O Krishna, by that song
of Your flute, while contains sweet tones and which is
nectarean, and, if we take the alternate reading kala-
padayata-murchitena, by that particular kind of
melody (murchita) which is drawn-out (a`yata =
dirgha)-- by that they become bewildered; 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 a=ryan behavior, from her
own prescribed duty of faithfulness to her husband,
but she becomes deviant in all respects; thus, it is
implied, You are implicated in the discrepancies due
to her abandoning her religious principles.

And not only do Your personal qualities have the

power to destroy religious principles, but also Your
personal beauty, as the gopis state by the words
beginning trailokya. Although He is the cause of the
destruction of religious principles, still He is not the
object of hatred for anyone among all the material
and piritual worlds situated in the high, middle and
lower regions. Such is His auspiciousness
(saubhagam) in all these worlds. Nor should it be
said that the cause of these women's bewilderment
is their natural lust, since Your beauty and personal
qualities bring about the loss of self-control on the
part of all living beings, stationary as well as mobile.
This is stated by the gopis: Since (yat = yatah) they
bore (body-hair standing on end) because of that
song and that beauty, therefore, O King. What need
do we have to justify this elaborately, since we have
the statement sakra-sarva-paramesthi-purogamah
kasmalam yayuh, ascribing to the song of Krishna's
flute the capacity to bewilder even the most expert
knowers of the truth. And by the words vismapanam
svasya, stated by sri Sukadeva Gosvami, we
understand that "You also amaze Your own self."

TEXT 41

vyaktam bhavan vraja-bhayarti-haro 'bhijato

devo yathadi-purusah sura-loka-gopta
tan no nidhehi kara-pankajam a`rta-bandho
tapta-stanesu ca sirahsu ca kinkarinam

TRANSLATION

Everyone knows that You have taken birth in this

world to relieve the fear and agony of the people of
Vraja, just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead
expands His avataras to protect the domain of the
demigods. Therefore, O friend of the distressed,
kindly place Your lotus hand on the burning breasts
and on the heads of us, Your maidservants.

Sridhara Svami

Vyaktam means "certainly."

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Therefore enough with Your exhibitions of

cleverness! Give up Your audacity, which they state
in this verse. Vyaktam means that “This explanation
is not secret from anyone." and what is that? that
You are He who takes away the fear of Vraja which is
due to such calamities as forest fires, and also their
pain (a`rti = pida) due to rain, wind and so forth.
There is also an alternate reading, vraja-janatarti-
hara. Perfectly (abhi = sarvato-bhavena) born in the
house of nanda maharaja, just like Narayana; this
fact is loudly declared by the whole world. If
hundreds of millions of these gopis die today the
people of Vraja, headed by Your parents, will
experience great torment, thinking, "how have these
girls, for whom there was only one worshipable God,
met their death in the forest?" they will also
experience fear.

Then what is the thing you gopis desire? this they

answer: therefore (tat = tasmat), O friend of the
distressed, please place Your lotus-like hand on our
burning breasts. But then my soft hand will catch
fire, which they answer by the word kinkarinam: For
us who are Your maidservants, even if Your hands
are burning hot, because they facilitate our rendering
of service to You, they will not burn us, just as the
lotus flower does not feel burned by the burning sun,
but rather feels pleasure. And place Your hand on our
heads in order to let us know, "You need not fear that
in the future I will abandon You."

TEXT 42

sri-suka uvaca
iti viklavitam tasam
srutva yogesvaresvarah
prahasya sa-dayam gopir
a`tmaramo 'py ariramat

TRANSLATION

Sukadeva Gosvami said: after hearing these words

of desperation from the gopis, Lord Krishna, the
supreme master of all masters of mystic yoga,
laughed. Even though He is self-satisfied in all
respects, He then mercifully enjoyed with them.

Sridhara Svami

Viklavitam means their uncontrolled prattle. He gave

pleasure (ariramat = ramayam asa) to the gopis.

Jiva Gosvami

Iti means "in the manner above described." thus

hearing their words of helplessness due to pure love
(viklavitam = prema-vaivasyam). The word
yogesvaresvara indicates that He is their controller
on account of facilitating by His inconceivable
potencies all their various supramundane activities.
"Even though He is self-satisfied" indicates the
powerful qualities of the gopis' love for Him, in
accord with the verse a`tmaramas ca munayah.
ariramat means that He arranged for their
enjoyment, which shows that the attraction He felt
toward them was of primary significance, just as
when children are playing together the one most
prominent child arranges the agenda.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Hearing the words which expressed their

devastation, and thus fulfilling His own desire by that
hearing. Laughing: "ah yes, you loving devotees have
subjected me day after day to endless contrariness
whenever we have met, so now I on this one
occasion today have audaciously exhibited some
little contrariness, but actually even that bears the
seed of my magnanimity toward you. Because you
have become so beside yourselves that you have
performed the sraddha ceremony for your shyness
and openly laugh at me, therefore I who am famous
for swallowing the vast ocean of your day-after-day
audacity have now defeated you gopis.

"O girls who think yourselves the best of intelligent

persons, you should acknowledge your defeat and
give up the shyness, sobriety and so on which are
checking you. You should become a garland of gold
and jewels around my neck and make me drink the
nectar of your lips. For a long time I have been
extremely thirsty for this." While thus joking
(parihasya san), He, in such a way as follows an
auspicious process (ayah = subhavaho vidhih), or
else in an affectionate manner, gave pleasure to the
cowherd women, even though He is self-satisfied;
this indicates the magnitude of the pure love of these
cowherd women. Just as is stated in the a`tmaramas
ca munayah verse, in the words ittham-bhuta-guno
harih, because the gopis are manifestations of His
internal pleasure potency they are His selves, so that
it is conceivable that He would enjoy with them who
comprise manifestations of His own self. Thus
although He is self-satisfied, still since, according to
the Lord's own words in such verses as na ca
sankarsano na srir naivatma ca yatha bhavan and
naham a`tmanam a`sase mad-bhaktaih sadhubhir
vina, He derives more joy from His devotees than
even from His own self. And since these gopis are the
most excellent of all devotees, thus He enjoys with
them in order to increase His joy.

But, it may be objected, since such authoritative

sources as the Krama-dipika state that the place of
the rasa dance was crowded with hundreds of
millions of women, it is not possible for one man at
one time in one place to enjoy with so many
hundreds of millions. This is replied to: Yogis such as
saubhari are the masters of yoga, and personalities
like rudra are their masters. Yogis like saubhari had
to expand their body into duplicate images in order
to enjoy (with many women), whereas Lord Krishna,
being the effector of inconceivable wonders, can do
the same without such expansion. This is as stated,
citram bataitad ekena vapusa (Bhag. 10.69.2

TEXT 43
 tabhih sametabhir udara-cestitah
priyeksanotphulla-mukhibhir acyutah
udara-hasa-dvija-kunda-didhatir
vyarocatainannka ivodubhir vrtah

TRANSLATION

The infallible Lord Krishna, whose activities are all

magnanimous, appeared in the midst of the horde of
gopis just like the moon surrounded by stars in the
sky. He made their faces blossom with His
affectionate glances and displayed broad smiles
which revealed the effluence of His jasmine-bud
teeth.

Sridhara Svami

With those whose faces were blossoming by the

glances of their beloved. (His face,) which showed
His broad smile, teeth, and upon those teeth an
effulgence like that of jasmine flowers. Enanka
means the moon.

Jiva Gosvami

How He acted as the arranger is described by the

four verses beginning tabhih. sametabhih means
with them who were joined by Sri Krishna himself.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

He whose pastimes (cestitam = lila) is udara in the

sense of giving them conjugal happiness, and also in
the sense of giving those devotees who are situated
in bhava pure prema when they listen to them. “The
infallible one" indicates that He did not fall from the
position of enjoying individually with each one of
them. He whose smiles were udara, meaning either
that they afforded pleasure to them or else that they
were broad, they revealed the effulgence of His
jasmine-like teeth.

TEXT 44

upagiyamana udgayan
vanita-sata-yuthapah
malam bibhrad vaijayantim
vyacaran mandayan vanam

TRANSLATION

As the gopis sang His praises He, the leader of

hundreds of women, also sang loudly in reply. He
moved among them, wearing His Vaijayanti garland
and making the forest appear all the more beautiful.

Jiva Gosvami

Upagiyamana means being sung about with

chanting of His names, in proper imitation of His
melodies and meters just as accompanying singers
follow in imitation of a main singer. This is is
described in sri Visnu Purana,

krsnah sarac-candramasam
kaumudim kumudakaram
jagau gopi-janas tv ekam
 krsna-nama punah punah

("Krishna sang in glorification of the autumn moon,

the moonshine and the lotus-bearing river, while the
gopis simply sang His name repeatedly.")

Visvanatha Cakravarti

Being very much (upa = a`dhikyena) sung about by

them, with fine melody-patterns, tones and meters.
Thus we have songs in triple meter, such as

vadanam madhurima-sadanam
calanam dalanam karindra-kirtinam
hasitam sudrgbhir lasitam
tava savayah patu mam anissam

("O dear friend, Your face is the abode of sweetness,

and Your manner of moving defeats the glory of the
king of elephants. those who are the most beautiful
envy Your smiles. Please keep me under Your
protection always.") and He himself, who protects
hundreds of hordes of women, the chief of whom are
sri radha and Candravali, sang in the same pattern
as they were singing, glorifying loudly in song each
one of them. Sometimes there would be singing back
and forth in unison, such as (in reply to the other
verse above)

tvad-vadanam sadanam madhurimnam

tatra hanta drganta-vilasah
tesv asamam susamam upajagmuh
sundari kama-kalah sakalas tah
("O beautiful one, your face is the abode of all kinds
of sweetness, and thereupon, indeed, the corners of
your eyes are sporting. Within those playful glances
all skills of Cupid have come to serve you, who are
both contrary and agreeable."), and also

kante tvad-asyodaya-dattam indu-

mrga-cchalad duryasa eva dhatte
janopahasa saha no 'tha va kim
dvijo 'pi mudho garalam jaghase

("O beloved, your teeth are showing the infamy of

your face brought about by its appearance before
me, and they are trying to pass your face off as the
moon with its marks resembling a deer. But what do
we care for the ridicule of people in general? still,
your teeth are foolish, despite their being twice-born
(dvija), because they are drinking poison.")

The manner here is that when He sang the word

sundari, a gopi would sing in reply in the same place
in the song sundara, when He sang kante some gopi
would sing kanta. in this way His girlfriends were
singing along with Him.

The Vaijayanti garland is strung together from

flowers of five different colors, since the word
vaijayanti indicates "five colors."

TEXTS 45-46

nadyah pulinam a`visya

gopibhir hima-valukam
 justam tat-taralanandi-
kumudamoda-vayuna

bahu-prasara-parirambha-karalakoru-
nivi-stanalbhana-narma-nakhagra-pataih
ksvelyavaloka-hasitair vraja-sundarinam
uttambhayan rati-patim ramayam cakara

TRANSLATION

Going with the gopis to the bank of the Yamuna,

where the sand was cooling and the wind, enlivened
by the rivers waves, blew carrying the fragrance of
lotuses, Krishna enjoyed the company of those
beautiful young cowherd girls. He incited their lusty
feelings by playing with them--by extending arms
and embracing, by touching hands, hair, thighs,
waists and breasts, by playfully scratching with
fingernails, and by amorous words, glances and
smiles.

Sridhara Svami

With the throwing of arms, embracing, touching of

hands and so forth, joking laughter, and fighting with
fingernails. Ksvelya means "with playing." also with
glances and smiles, He gave them pleasure, inciting
their lusty feelings.

Visvanatha Cakravarti

"Made joyful by the waves (tarala = taranga) of that

river" means that the wind afforded bliss by its
coolness and gentleness, and carried the fragrance
of the lotuses which were blossoming even during
the night; from that wind He took pleasure. If we take
the reading justam, this word becomes logically
connected with the following verb ramayam cakara.
sometimes we also have the alternate readings
kumudamoda and taralananda.

The “Throwing of arms" is the gopis' throwing of

their own arms, held in svastika shape, onto their
chests; together with this throwing of arms, as well
as embracing, touching of hands and so forth, joking
laughter and scratching with fingernails, and also
playful words (ksvelya = kridoktya), glances and
smiles, He was inciting, enflaming, Cupid, loving
desires, both for them and for himself. In this way He
manifested His own forms so as to give pleasure to
each and every one of them individually.

But, it may be questioned, since there was no

privacy to be found there on the river bank in the
midst of so many gopis, since their were no love-
beds available, isn't it incongruous for Him to be
engaging in conjugal pastimes with each one of
these hundreds of millions of women? Yes, but
because the personal form of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and the land of Vrndavana
are both unlimitedly powerful, even a piece of land
so small as a sesame seed can become a vast area,
full of various bushes for cover, and replete with
beds decorated with various kinds of fragrant flowers
and provided with perfumes, flower garlands, betel
nut and so on. All these are manifested by the Lord's
Yogamaya, who is expert in making the impossible
possible, and then, when the pastimes are finished,
she again withdraws everything. Thus the apparent
incongruity is reconciled.

TEXT 47

evam bhagavatah krsnal

labdha-mana mahatmanah
a`tmanam menire strinam
maninyo hy adhikam bhuvi

TRANSLATION

Becoming somewhat proud of themselves for

receiving such special attention from Krishna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, each of the gopis,
who were all great souls, began to think of herself as
the most exalted woman on the earth.

Sridhara Svami

"Great souls," because their minds were liberated.

Jiva Gosvami

"From the great soul" refers to His being the most

excellent of all divine and mundane lovers. "Feeling
proud" means that they were thinking themselves to
be the most important women in the whole world; in
other words they developed symptoms of pride as
part of their transcendental affection for Him. They
felt proud in comparison to other women, because no
other women had such a lover, and also because
even the other gopis in their same company were not
receiving as much good fortune as their own selves.
Visvanatha Cakravarti

Now the following situation is manifested by the

Lord's lila potency for the purpose of enhancing the
transcendental mellow, in accordance with the logic
presented in Bharata muni's natya- sastra,

na vina vipralambhena
sambhogah pustim asnute
kasayite hi vastradau
bhuyan rago 'bhivardhate

("Direct contact is not fully appreciated until

separation has been experienced. When the lover's
clothes and ornaments are disheveled out of her
anxiety then attraction reaches its peak").

The pretense for creating this separation is

described in this verse beginning evam. "Great
souls," having obtained the respect (labdha-manah =
praptadarah) of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
who is the best of all transcendental and mundane
lovers, and moreover of Him in His original form of
Krishna. Because of being able to enjoy intimately
with Sri Krishna, each of them was thinking herself
the most excellent of all women on the surface of the
earth. maninyah means that each of them became
proud, thinking "I have such good fortune!"

TEXT 48

tasam tat-saubhaga-madam
viksya manam ca kesavah
 prasamaya prasadaya
tatraivantaradhiyata

TRANSLATION

Lord Kesava could see that the gopis had become

puffed-up and proud on account of their good
fortune. To relieve them of this delusion and allow
His showing further mercy to them, He immediately
disappeared before their very eyes.

Sridhara Svami

Tat-saubhaga-madam means their lose of self-

control on account of their good fortune. manam
means pride. The name Kesava indicates He who
controls (vasayati) both Ka and I=sa.

Jiva Gosvami

Saubhaga-madam means their pride, which was due

to their good fortune; in order to subdue that, and
also in order to show favor to their pride. But in this
context "in order to subdue" does not indicate that
He was going to neglect their affection and introduce
other rasas. After all, a show of neglect here on His
part would not befit their state of pranaya-mana,
because that pride of love, being based on esteem
felt on behalf of His transcendental activities, is
superexcellent.

Visvanatha Cakravarti
 And thus, while all of them where equally enjoying
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the most
eminent of all of them, the young daughter of
Vrsabhanu, became (the remaining phrase I can't
translate). All the other gopis besides her were proud
of their good fortune. The Lord disapproved of this,
and what He did to rectify the situation is described
by the verse beginning tasam.

“Them and also her" is being indicated by the word

tasam functioning here as an eka-sesa (a word with a
compound referent having its inflection agreeing in
the singular with the one main referent), the idea
being, "of those young girls of Vraja and in particular
of the young daughter of Vrsabhanu."

Seeing, in order, first that intoxication caused by

their good fortune and then that pride. Or else we
can take (tat-saubhaga- madam) as a compound,
meaning (?). There is also the alternate reading tam
saubhaga-madam.

Prasamaya means "in order to put down their

intoxication based on receiving good fortune," and
prasadaya means "in order to show favor to that
proud (radharani). Kesava means that He rules
(vayate = prasasti) both Ka, or Brahma, and isa.
What effort is it, this implies, for Him to subdue their
pride in their good fortune? the name also means
that "He puts His hair in order," indicating that by
attending to His hair He shows His expertise in
gratifying her.
 The form antaradhiyata is poetic license of the
sages, substituting for antaradhat. Or else this form
fits the rule of the class of words known as daivadi,
cited as dhina anadare. In later verses herein we will
see how Krishna forcibly removes sri Vrsabhanu-
nandini from the midst of the other gopis, and how
this is without the others seeing her going elsewhere.
And this is arranged by her desire through His
Yogamaya.