Text 23

Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke the following words to give the gopīs consolation.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.82.44) states:

मयि भक्तिर् हि भूतानाम् अमृतत्वाय कल्पते
दिष्ट्या यद् आसीन् मत्-स्नेहो भवतीनां मद्-आपनः

mayi bhaktir hi bhūtānām amṛtatvāya kalpate
diṣṭyā yad āsīn mat-sneho bhavatīnāṃ mad-āpanaḥ

Sakhīs, it is greatly fortunate that you have developed prema for Me, by which one can attain Me. Loving devotional service unto Me qualifies living entities to attain My supremely blissful eternal abode.

आमाते ये प्रेम-भक्ति परम अमृत
तव स्नेहे निरवधि तव दास्ये रत

āmāte ye prema-bhakti parama amṛta
tava snehe niravadhi tava dāsye rata

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

After a long separation, the gopīs met with Śrī Kṛṣṇa at Kurukṣetra. There, in a solitary place, Śrī Kṛṣṇa consoled the beautiful, lotus-eyed women of Vraja by embracing and kissing them, wiping the tears from their eyes, and inquiring about their health and well-being. He said, “O sakhīs, in this long separation you have remembered Me! You are convinced that I am ungrateful, but you do not consider Me cruel, do you? Without doubt, Bhagavān is the cause of the living entities’ meeting and separating. Just as blades of grass, cotton f luff and granules of dust meet and again separate due to the wind, similarly everyone meets and parts according to the desire of Īśvara, the Supreme Controller. If you say that I am that Īśvara who arranges meeting and separation, then there is no reason for your sorrow, because by good fortune you have achieved that prema by which I can be attained. Devotion performed unto Me is capable of giving living entities the eternal supreme abode, but your loving affection for Me makes Me unable to remain far away from you. Rather, it pulls Me to you.”

In his Krama-sandarbha commentary, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says, “Through the practice of sādhana-bhakti, the living entity can attain the abode of the Supreme Lord, according to his desire and constitutional nature. Being pleased with such devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa accepts their service. The sneha, rāga, anurāga and mahābhāva of the vraja-devīs assume the highest excellence and therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is controlled by the gopīs. Pure devotional service, affection, etc., which are endowed with possessiveness, attract Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One should understand that affection for the Supreme Lord is the topmost way to attract Him.”

Śrī Kṛṣṇa again speaks. “The sky and the other four primary elements are in all material objects in their beginning, middle and end stages. Similarly, I exist in the beginning and end of all objects, and inside and outside of them also. I am not, therefore, separated from you in any way. You are suffering from a false pain of separation–due to a simple lack of discrimination. Your bodies and life airs are all situated in My svarūpa. Try to realise this truth and in your hearts, meditate as yogīs do, then your pain of separation will be removed.”

Upon hearing this spiritual teaching from the lotus mouth of their prāṇa-vallabha Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs began to speak, their lips quivering in anger born of affection. “O Nalina-nābha (one with an extremely beautiful lotus-like navel), You want to appease our hearts by instructing us in knowledge of bhagavat-tattva, but this knowledge does not enter our ears. We are already engaged in relishing the nectar of Your beauty through our eyes. Where is the time to hear these truths?”

Or by use of the word nalina-nābha the vraja-devīs insinuate, “O Kṛṣṇa, a lotus has grown from Your navel. This is a good thing, but just as the root of the lotus is connected with water and mud, Your intelligence has also become soiled. Please give these instructions to ignorant persons only, not to us. Does one give animal food to human beings? Now You are claiming Yourself to be Bhagavān. If the Vrajavāsīs hear this, You will become a laughing stock. Agādhabodhair yogeśvarair hṛdi vicintya. Please give this jñāna-yoga to profoundly intelligent yogīs, endowed with tattva-jñāna, who are unable to meditate on Your feet.”

Or the gopīs speak reproachfully, saying, “O Kṛṣṇa, we have heard from Paurṇamāsī that Brahmā was born from the lotus emanating from Your navel. By the association of that jñānī, Brahmā, Your intelligence has also greatly decreased.” (“Yasya yat-saṅgatiḥ puṃso maṇivat syāt sa tad-guṇaḥ–a person develops the qualities of the company he keeps, just as a crystal reflects the colour of those objects that are brought into its proximity.” [Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 8.51, quoted in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.229])

Or the gopīs angrily say, “O Kṛṣṇa, only great yogīs endowed with profound intelligence are capable of meditating on Your lotus feet. We are ignorant cowherd girls with restless minds, and it is impossible for us to meditate on Your lotus feet.”

Or the gopīs reveal the inner feelings of their hearts to Śrī Kṛṣṇa: “O Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of meditating on Your lotus feet, now the mere memory of them distresses us. We fear placing Your lotus feet, which are softer than a newly-blossomed lotus, on our hard breasts.

यत् ते सुजात-चरणाम्बुरुहं स्तनेषु भीताः शनैः प्रिय दधीमहि कर्कशेषु
तेनाटवीम् अटसि तद् व्यथते न किं स्वित् कूर्पादिभिर् भ्रमति धीर् भवद्-आयुषां नः

yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṃ staneṣu bhītāḥ śanaiḥ priya dadhīmahi karkaśeṣu
tenāṭavīm aṭasi tad vyathate na kiṃ svit kūrpādibhir bhramati dhīr bhavad-āyuṣāṃ naḥ

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.31.19)

[The gopīs said:] O beloved, fearing that Your tender lotus feet will be hurt, we carefully place them on our hard breasts. With those very same feet, You wander in the forest. Are Your feet not in pain, injured by needle-sharp stones and other sharp objects? You are our very life; thinking of all this fills our hearts with great distress.

Or they say, “O Kṛṣṇa, the nineteen signs on Your lotus feet have appeared on the screen of our hearts, evoking memories of our previous pastimes in the kuñjas. The flag on Your lotus feet reminds us of how Śrī Rādhā defeated You in amorous sports (keli-vilāsa). You said that You would take Her victory f lag on Your shoulder and wander here and there. The sign of the goad on Your feet reminds us that Śrī Rādhā, who is likened to an elephant-driver, brings such an intoxicated elephant as You under Her control with the goad of Her prema. You Yourself have admitted, ‘Na pāraye’haṃ niravadyasaṃyujām–O gopīs, I cannot repay you.’”

Or the gopīs say, “You assumed Your Mohinī form to cheat the demons out of nectar, and then You arranged for the demigods to relish it. Similarly, by instructing the yogīs on meditation, You deprive them of the secret of love. But we are not like the demon or yogī who is deprived of the confidential secret of prema-tattva.” Saṃsāra-kūpa-patitottaraṇāvalambaṃ te padāravindam–With affectionate anger, the gopīs say, “O Kṛṣṇa, You also sent Uddhava to Vraja with Your collection of tattva-jñāna, but instead of alleviating our pain of separation, Your message simply increased it. And now You again are giving us that same ridiculous instruction, which is suitable for a child. Brahmā and other great yogīs can be delivered from this material existence by meditating on Your lotus feet, but we have not fallen into the well of material existence. Rather, we have fallen into the ocean of separation from You and cannot even recollect our own bodies. We gave up attachment to our homes for Your happiness. How, then, is it possible for us to have fallen into the well of material existence? Rather, we have fallen into the ocean of separation, and the timiṅgila fish of lust wants to swallow us. Therefore, O crown jewel of experts in amorous sports (vidagdha-śiromaṇi), do not instruct us on jñāna-yoga. Please just give us the pleasure of Your association to deliver us from this ocean of separation. Our hearts run towards Vṛndāvana, because Vṛndāvana’s trees, creepers, fruits, flowers and every particle of dust are inseparably studded with memories of You. If Your lotus feet appear in Vṛndāvana, they will also appear in our hearts.”

Gehaṃ juṣām api manasy udiyāt–Distressed, the vraja-devīs say, “O Kṛṣṇa, we have again met with You here at Kurukṣetra, and our meeting with You is like a first meeting, but our minds are stolen away by memories of Vṛndāvana. Here is a lokāraṇya, a forest of people, and the uproarious sounds of elephants, horses and chariots. In Vṛndāvana there is puṣpāraṇya, a forest of flowers, where only the sweet sounds of bumblebees and cuckoos are heard. Vṛndāvana is very pleasant and filled with music and song. It resounds with the sweet sounds of śukas, sāris, peacocks and cuckoos. Here in Kurukṣetra, You are dressed in royal attire and are accompanied by kṣatriya warriors who are adorned with a variety of weapons. In Vṛndāvana, however, where You wore the attire of a gopa, You held a beautiful flute to Your lips. On Your head was a peacock feather crown, on Your ears were earrings made from the buds of campa flowers, and You were decorated with creepers, leaves and minerals like gairika (red ochre).”

Śrī Rādhā says, “O lotus-eyed one, the hearts of others are nondifferent from their minds, and they are unable to separate their hearts from their minds. But My mind is Vṛndāvana. They are one; there is no difference between them. Being Vṛndāvana, My mind is the playground for My prāṇakānta. Previously, as the topmost connoisseur of mellows (rasikendra-śiromaṇi), You performed playful pastimes, filled with the sweetness of rasa, with Me there. My mind is eager to meet with You again in that Vṛndāvana.”

prāṇanātha, śuna mora nivedana
vraja—āmāra sadana, tāhāṅ tomāra saṅgama,
nā pāile nā rahe jīvana

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 13.138)

[Śrī Rādhā said:] Prāṇanātha, hear My submission. My home is Vṛndāvana, and I wish to have Your association there. If not, it will be very difficult for Me to maintain My life.