Text 22

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.82.40) describes Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s conversation with the gopīs that occurred in a solitary place:

भगवांस् तास् तथा-भूता विविक्त उपसङ्गतः
आश्लिष्यानामयं पृष्ट्वा प्रहसन्न् इदम् अब्रवीत्

bhagavāṃs tās tathā-bhūtā vivikta upasaṅgataḥ
āśliṣyānāmayaṃ pṛṣṭvā prahasann idam abravīt

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa saw that the gopīs had attained oneness (tādātmya ) with Him, He went with them to a secluded place. After embracing them to His heart and inquiring about their well-being, He laughed and spoke as follows.

विविक्ते लैया, गोपी आलिङ्गिया, प्रेमे मर्म-कथा कय
कृष्ण गोपी प्रीति, महिषीर तति, देखिया आश्चर्य हय

vivikte laiyā, gopī āliṅgiyā, preme marma-kathā kaya
kṛṣṇa gopī prīti, mahiṣīra tati, dekhiyā āścarya haya

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard Śrī Rādhā’s anguished talks of separation, He remembered His unlimited, honest love for the Vrajavāsīs and became very restless. Considering Himself indebted to them, He began to console them by addressing Śrī Rādhā. “O most beloved, accept the following as truth. Remembering You, I burn day and night in a fire of separation. No one knows the extent of My unbearable pain. The Vrajavāsīs, My parents and the sakhās are My very life, and among them, the gopīs are directly My life. And You are the life of My life. What more can I say? I am always subservient to Your unconditional love. Misfortune is very strong, and no one can prevent it. This misfortune has separated Me from You, keeping Me in a distant country.

“It is true that the beloved cannot remain alive without the association of the lover, and that the lover cannot live without the beloved, but neither dies, because each thinks, ‘If I die, his condition of separation will be the same as mine.’ Aho ! The faithful beloved and the truly affectionate lover think of each other’s welfare even in separation. They never think of their own sorrows and sufferings, but always want their beloved to be happy. Such lovers meet each other again very quickly.

“You do not know that daily I worship Bhagavān Śrī Nārāyaṇa to protect Your life. By His power, I come to Vṛndāvana from this distant country every day to meet with You and engage in so many dalliances with You, but You think these are only visions. Beloved Rādhā, it is My good fortune that Your love for Me is unlimited and incomparable. This prema will quickly pull Me back to You in Vṛndāvana. In just a few days, after killing the remaining enemies of the Yādavas, I will return to Vṛndāvana. Consider that I have already come.”