Text 8

Agitated by separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs blame Vidhātā (Providence).

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.39.19) describes:

अहो विधातस् तव न क्वचिद् दया संयोज्य मैत्र्या प्रणयेन देहिनः
तांश् चाकृतार्थान् वियुनङ्क्ष्य् अपार्थकं विक्रीडितं ते’र्भक-चेष्टितं यथा

aho vidhātas tava na kvacid dayā saṃyojya maitryā praṇayena dehinaḥ
tāṃś cākṛtārthān viyunaṅkṣy apārthakaṃ vikrīḍitaṃ te’rbhaka-ceṣṭitaṃ yathā

O Vidhātā, you are the one who arranges everything, but there is not even a trace of mercy in your heart. First you unite living entities in this world in friendship and love, but before they can fulfil their desires and hopes, you pointlessly separate them while they are still unsatisfied. The truth is that, like the play of a child, this whimsical behaviour of yours is useless.

विधातः हे! नाहि दया किछुइ तोमार
मैत्र-भावे प्रणयेते, देही-देही-संयोगेते,
केन एत कैले अविचार?
अकृतार्थ-अवस्थाय, वियोग करिले हाय,
बालकेर चेष्टा ए व्यापार

vidhātaḥ he! nāhi dayā kichui tomāra
maitra-bhāve praṇayete, dehī-dehī-saṃyogete,
kena eta kaile avicāra?
akṛtārtha-avasthāya, viyoga karile hāya,
bālakera ceṣṭā e vyāpāra

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

The vraja-devīs, whose hearts have been seized by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, are distressed in fear of impending separation from Him. They have heard that Akrūra has come with a chariot to take their prāṇakānta Śyāmasundara to Mathurā. Tormented by the fear of impending separation, the vraja-devīs, speaking to like-minded gopīs, express their own special sentiments of love and afflictions of separation, and in doing so reveal their helplessness due to being in the grip of prema.

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa is going to Madhupurī!” Hearing this, the lustre of Bhadrā’s lotus face and the lotus faces of the other taṭasthā-gopīs^[1] withered and became dejected. Śyāmalā’s and other suhṛt-pakṣāgopīs’ dresses, belts, hair and so on loosened. In samādhi, Candrāvalī, who is vipakṣā, began to see Śrī Govinda in her heart, which was lost in meditation. The crown jewel of all the vraja-gopīs, mahābhāvavatī Śrīmatī Rādhikā, svapakṣā-gopīs like Lalitā and Viśākhā, and other beloveds of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, envisioned in their hearts their prāṇa-priyatama’s various amorous activities (prema-vilāsa)–His behaviour, dealings, laughter, glances, etc. Then, overwhelmed by the deep pain of separation from Him, they began to weep.

In different groups, the gopīs express their own innermost feelings according to their prema. Together in each group, they voice the agony of separation: “If our life airs leave our bodies due to the pain of separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Vidhātā is solely responsible. O Vidhātā, you rule the entire universe very well, but is there no arrangement for compassion in your kingdom? If you had ever just once contemplated justice or injustice, you would not be so harsh. You arrange for the meeting and separation of living beings according to a mere whim. You also establish affectionate friendships between jīvas, but only for a moment do you let them relish the happiness of meeting before you again submerge them in an ocean of separation. You are heartless and cruel, and we are witness to this. Your behaviour is like that of an ignorant child who makes toys and then destroys them. Therefore, O Vidhātā, you are not only merciless, unscrupulous and inconsiderate, you are also wicked. Your present behaviour is highly contemptible. First, you created the form of our prāṇakānta Mukunda, who embodies all beauty, sweetness and charm, and who fascinates the entire universe, and then you granted us darśana of that form, by which our hearts experienced boundless love. However, after placing this unprecedented form before our eyes, you again removed it and took our prāṇakānta far away. Such deceit is not proper; only a wicked person acts like this. Why do you behave sinfully even though you are so wise and learned? Are you not committing the sin of taking back what you have given?”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The four groups of gopīs are as follows: (1) taṭastha-pakṣā, those who are neutral towards Śrī Rādhā, (2) suhṛt-pakṣā, those who are friendly to Śrī Rādhā, (3) vipakṣā, Śrī Rādhā’s rivals and (4) svapakṣā, those who belong to Śrī Rādhā’s personal party.