Text 2

The gopīs praise the flute, which drinks the nectar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lips.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.21.9) states:

गोप्यः किम् आचरद् अयं कुशलं स्म वेणुर् दामोदराधर-सुधाम् अपि गोपिकानाम्
भुङ्क्ते स्वयं यद् अवशिष्ट-रसं ह्रदिन्यो हृष्यत्-त्वचो’श्रु मुमुचुस् तरवो यथार्याः

gopyaḥ kim ācarad ayaṃ kuśalaṃ sma veṇur dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām
bhuṅkte svayaṃ yad avaśiṣṭa-rasaṃ hradinyo hṛṣyat-tvaco’śru mumucus taravo yathāryāḥ

What pious activities has this flute performed to relish the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which is meant for us gopīs? He is drinking all the rasa and not even leaving us one drop. Sakhī, upon seeing the good fortune of the veṇu, the Yamunā, Mānasī-gaṅgā, and other rivers and ponds manifest the ecstatic symptom of horripilation in the form of blossoming lotuses and other flowers. The trees shed tears of love, delighted to have such a descendant in their dynasty, just as noble persons are delighted that a Vaiṣṇava has taken birth in their family.

ओहे सखि! किवा तप कैल कृष्ण-वेणु
गोपी प्राप्य मुखामृत पिये पुनः पुनः

ohe sakhi! kivā tapa kaila kṛṣṇa-veṇu
gopī prāpya mukhāmṛta piye punaḥ punaḥ

अवशेष-जले देय तरु अश्रु-छले
साधु-पुत्र-प्राप्त्ये येन पितृ-अश्रु गले

avaśeṣa-jale deya taru aśru-chale
sādhu-putra-prāptye yena pitṛ-aśru gale

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

One gopī says to another, “O sakhī, I do not know what kind of highly pious activities this veṇu, a dry piece of wood, has performed to profusely and independently relish the nectar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which is meant to be enjoyed only by us gopīs. He does not leave even a drop of this nectar for us. Seeing the good fortune of this veṇu, Mānasī-gaṅgā and other ponds secretly display their ecstasy through their blossoming lotus flowers. When family elders see that one of their descendents is filled with love for Śrī Bhagavān, they shed tears of joy. Similarly, since the trees have a relationship with the veṇu, they emit streams of honey, as if shedding tears of bliss.”

Now the vraja-ramaṇīs, already eager to meet with Kṛṣṇa, become even more restless. A vision of the sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beauty appears in their hearts, and in this vision, they see the veṇu on His lips. The gopīs ref lect on the flute’s rare good fortune. “O sakhī, this veṇu always relishes the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s association, so there is no doubt about his extreme fortune. But he has now become so proud and arrogant that we find it intolerable. The nectar of Dāmodara’s lips is meant for the pleasure of the gopikās, but the veṇu considers it his. Dāmodara was born in the gopa dynasty and so were we. From childhood we shared deep love for each other. He is our priyatama, so we alone have full rights to the nectar of His lips. But this impudent and shameless veṇu is depriving us of our birthright, and he drinks the nectar of Dāmodara’s lips just as he pleases. We have taken birth in the dynasty of gopas, but we are deprived of the nectar of Gopendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lips. Yet the veṇu, who has taken birth in the dynasty of inert trees, constantly drinks that nectar. He does so despite being masculine, thus mocking us.

“The day Yasodā-maiyā bound Kṛṣṇa with rope, He became celebrated as Dāmodara, and that very same day we gopikās began our loving relationships with Him. No one in Vraja knew anything about the veṇu then. It was when Kṛṣṇa started taking the cows out to graze that the veṇu’s relationship with Him began. By this meagre relationship, the veṇu became the complete heir to the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips. Even though we gopikās have loved Kṛṣṇa since childhood, we remain deprived of this right. Therefore, I say, O sakhī, birth as a veṇu is higher and more blessed than birth as a gopī.

“Seeing the great fortune of the veṇu, the trees, unable to contain themselves, become covered with fruits and flowers and ooze honey. It is as if they become ecstatic and their hair stands on end upon seeing the supreme good fortune of their own child, and they shed tears of love due to pride. And why not? The veṇu is made of bamboo, and bamboo is considered to be in the family of trees. Bamboo is nourished by the water of rivers and ponds, so for the bamboo, this water is actually milk, and the rivers and ponds are the bamboo’s mothers. Seeing the rare good fortune of their son, these mothers, such as the Yamunā, Mānasī-gaṅgā, Pāvana-sarovara, Māna-sarovara and Kusuma-sarovara, sometimes laugh by displaying blossoming flowers. Sometimes, in their great rapture, they express their joy through their undulating waves, and at other times they shed tears of happiness.”

In this way the gopīs, endowed with mahābhāva, deliberate upon the veṇu’s great fortune and on their own misfortune, and they display envy (asūyā ) and other sañcāri-bhāvas. They say, “In his previous life, this veṇu must have performed some severe austerity or pious activity. If we knew what it was, we would do the same and also attain such rare good fortune. Paurṇamāsī is a perfected ascetic who knows past, present and future. Let us go and ask her! By acting according to her instruction, we will attain that rare good fortune.”

According to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, this verse is spoken by Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī Herself, as She reveals Her bhāvas to Her dear Lalitā Sakhī. Upon analysing the various statements and indications in this verse, it is apparent that this prema is on the level of adhirūḍha-mahābhāva.