Verse 1.7.74-75

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.7.74-75:

देवक्य् अरे पुण्य-हीने रे रे रुक्मिणि दुर्भगे ।
सत्यभामेऽवरे हन्त जाम्बवत्य्-आदयोऽवराः ॥ ७४ ॥
पश्यतेदम् इतोऽर्वाक् स्वम् अभिमानं विमुञ्चत ।
आभीरीणां हि दास्याय तपस्यां कुरुतोत्तमाम् ॥ ७५ ॥

devaky are puṇya-hīne re re rukmiṇi durbhage |
satyabhāme'vare hanta jāmbavaty-ādayo'varāḥ || 74 ||
paśyatedam ito'rvāk svam abhimānaṃ vimuñcata |
ābhīrīṇāṃ hi dāsyāya tapasyāṃ kurutottamām || 75 ||

Impertinent Devakī! Unlucky Rukmiṇī! O poor Satyabhāmā! Alas, O fallen queens led by Jāmbavatī! Can you not see these pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa? Give up your ego now and try to do intense austerities to become maidservants of the ābhīrīs.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

What did Padmāvatī begin to say? She speaks these two verses beginning with devaky are. The word hanta (alas!) is a vocative implying distress here. “O lowly Satyabhāmā, just see the activities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa! Before, you all used to possess the pride of being fortunate, namely, ‘We alone are fortunate, because Śrī Kṛṣṇa married us…’—give up this ego of yours. See the great affection of Śrī Kṛṣṇa towards the ābhīra-jāti, the cowherd community. Therefore, perform intense tapasyā to become the maidservants of the ābhīrī or cowherd women such as Śrī Yaśodā, Śrī Rādhikā, and others.”

Although Śrī Nanda and other gopas engage in the profession of herding cows and belong to the vaiśya class, they belong to the excellent community among the dvija or twice-born brāhmaṇa class. None the less, the ābhīra cowherd women are included among the lower class (antyajajāti), just as it mentions in the Second Canto (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.4.18):

किरात-हूणान्ध्र-पुलिन्द-पुक्कश आभीर-कङ्क यवनाः खशादयाः
ये’न्ये च पापा यद्-अपाश्रयाश्रयाः शुध्यन्ति तस्मै प्रभविष्णवे नमः

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pukkaśa ābhīra-kaṅka yavanāḥ khaśādayāḥ
ye’nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ

“Kirāta, Hūṇa, Āndhra, Pulinda, Pulkaśa, Ābhīra, Kaṅka (Śumbha), Yavana, Khaśa and other communities habituated to low-class acts can become purified by taking shelter of the devotees of Bhagavān. Therefore, I offer my obeisances unto the almighty Śrī Viṣṇu.”

Still, seeing the nature of cowherding by the gopas such as Śrī Nanda, and their similarity to the ābhīra (ahīra), she addressed the gopa-ramaṇīyās or cowherd women also as ābhīrī. On the other hand, due to the wicked nature of this foolish old woman, she addresses them as ābhīrī.