Verse 1.1.5

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.1.5:

जयति जयति वृन्दारण्यम् एतन् मुरारेः प्रिय-तमम् अति-साधु-स्वान्त-वैकुण्ठ-वासात् ।
रमयति स सदा गाः पालयन् यत्र गोपीः स्वरित-मधुर-वेणुर् वर्धयन् प्रेम रासे ॥ ५ ॥

jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ priya-tamam ati-sādhu-svānta-vaikuṇṭha-vāsāt |
ramayati sa sadā gāḥ pālayan yatra gopīḥ svarita-madhura-veṇur vardhayan prema rāse || 5 ||

Śrī Vṛndāvana is the abode of residence dearer to Śrī Murāri than the lotus hearts of saintly persons, or Śrī Vaikuṇṭha. Here, Śrī Kṛṣṇa personally watches over and grazes every cow, resonating sweet melodies on His flute and forever increasing the love of all the gopīs with pastimes like rāsa-līlā. All glories to this Śrī Vṛndāvana in all her excellence!

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Vrajabhūmi within Śrī Mathurā maṇḍala is the place of Śrī Bhagavān’s extraordinarily sweet pastimes. And even within this Vrajabhūmi Śrī Vṛndāvana, Govardhana and the banks of the Yamunā are indeed celebrated for their transcendental līlās.

In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.11.36) it is stated:

वृन्दावनं गोवर्धनं यमुना-पुलिनानि च
वीक्ष्यासीद् उत्तमा प्रीती राम-माधवयोर् नृप

vṛndāvanaṃ govardhanaṃ yamunā-pulināni ca
vīkṣyāsīd uttamā prītī rāma-mādhavayor nṛpa

O King Parīkṣit, Śrī Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava) and Balarāma (Rāma) became extremely joyful to see Śrī Vṛndāvana, Govardhana and the banks of the Yamunā!

Therefore, these three pure places are extremely dear to Śrī Bhagavān. In order to receive their mercy, the author is describing the topmost excellence of Śrī Vṛndāvana with the words beginning with jayati jayati. Śrī Vṛndāvana is present in all her excellence. Due to exceptional joy, he repeats jayati twice. Moreover, the word etan (pl. for etat, this) indicates that at the time of composing the book the author was residing here in Śrī Vṛndāvana.

To Bhagavān, Śrī Vṛndāvana appears as a place more sacred than the spotless hearts of devoted sādhus that have become purified due to their devotional service and even more dearer than residence in Vaikuṇṭha. In other words, residence in Śrī Vṛndāvana is indeed more beloved to Śrī Kṛṣṇa than residence in Vaikuṇṭha. The reason is that in this Vṛndāvana, Śrī Bhagavān, by His own free will, undulates with various types of waves of sweet nectarlike pastimes that are always manifest, whereas in other holy places such as Śrī Vaikuṇṭha dhāma such carefree pastimes are impossible. For this reason alone, Śrī Bhagavān sometimes remains hidden in Śrī Vaikuṇṭha dhāma, but He always shines brilliantly forth in Śrī Vṛndāvana.

Thus Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.1.28, 10.44.13) proclaims, nityaṃ sannihito hariḥ and:

पुण्य बत व्रज-भुवो यद् अयं नृ-लिङ्ग गूढ पुराण-पुरुषो वन-चित्र-माल्यः
गः पालयन् सह-बलः क्वणयंश् च वेणुं विक्रीडयाञ्चति गिरित्र-रमार्चिताङ्घृइः

puṇya bata vraja-bhuvo yad ayaṃ nṛ-liṅga gūḍha purāṇa-puruṣo vana-citra-mālyaḥ
gaḥ pālayan saha-balaḥ kvaṇayaṃś ca veṇuṃ vikrīḍayāñcati giritra-ramārcitāṅghṛiḥ

Śrī Hari eternally resides in Śrī Vṛndāvana. Therefore Vrajabhumi is extremely sacred. The reason is as follows. That original personality Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose divine feet are worshiped by Śrī Śiva and Lakṣmī also, accepts humanlike characteristics, while wearing the charming Vaijayantī garland. Playing on His flute, He wanders about in the company of Śrī Balarāma on the pretext of tending the cows.

In the verse quoted above, the verb añcati (wander about) employs the present tense and establishes that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are eternal. Similarly in the original verse also, the verb ramayati indicates the present tense has been used. In this way, Śrī Murāri always tends the cows in Śrī Vṛndāvana, and He plays on His flute to increase the prema during the pastimes of the rāsa-līlā, giving happiness to Śrī Rādhika and the other gopīs.

To increase the prema of the gopīs in the pastimes of rāsa, He personally becomes intent upon resonating sweet melodies on His flute, and nourishing and protecting the cows. Though by His flute He often tends to the cows and enacts various other creative pastimes of enjoying with the gopīs, it is understandable that the main purpose of His flute is increasing the gopīs’ prema during rasa. Therefore, Śrī Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute which can attract the entire world, enhancing the śṛṅgāra-rasa in the hearts of the gopīs. For this reason, it is understandable that He descends simply to augment and distribute that prema. Therefore, such activities as giving nourishment to the cows (gopāla-pālana) and sporting with the gopīs (gopī-ramaṇa) are instrumental to the above-mentioned prema.