Verse 1.7.104-106

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.7.104-106:

षोडशानां सहस्राणां स-शतानां मद्-आप्तये ।
कृत-कात्यायनी-पूजा-व्रतानां गोप-योषिताम् ॥ १०४ ॥
निदर्शनाद् इव स्वीयं किञ्चित् स्वस्थयितुं मनः ।
तावत्य एव यूयं वै मयात्रैता विवाहिताः ॥ १०५ ॥
अहो भामिनि जानीहि तत् तन् मम महा-सुखम् ।
महिमापि स मां हित्वा तस्थौ तत्रोचितास्पदे ॥ १०६ ॥

ṣoḍaśānāṃ sahasrāṇāṃ sa-śatānāṃ mad-āptaye |
kṛta-kātyāyanī-pūjā-vratānāṃ gopa-yoṣitām || 104 ||
nidarśanād iva svīyaṃ kiñcit svasthayituṃ manaḥ |
tāvatya eva yūyaṃ vai mayātraitā vivāhitāḥ || 105 ||
aho bhāmini jānīhi tat tan mama mahā-sukham |
mahimāpi sa māṃ hitvā tasthau tatrocitāspade || 106 ||

I noticed all of you here who were eager to obtain Me and who performed the Kātyāyanī-vrata similar to those sixteen thousand, one hundred cowherd girls, therefore I married all of you simply to pacify My mind somewhat by your darśana. Alas, impassioned lady, surely you should understand that all those divine pleasures and glories of Mine have forsakened Me, left behind in Vraja, that place alone being actually fit for those pleasures and glories.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

There were sixteen thousand, one hundred and eight gopa-kumārīs residing in Vraja that had begun the Kātyāyanīvrata to obtain Me. Although in the Gopī-tīrtha section of the Śrī Mathurā-māhātmya a description of the vrata, dancing, singing and so forth mentions sixteen thousand gopa-kumārīs, still in its original verse —gopyo gāyanti nṛtyanti, sahasrāṇi ca ṣoḍaśa—by the addition of the conjunctive indeclinable ca the number of cowherd girls who performed the Kātyāyanī-vrata suggests more.

Although all the beautiful, young ramaṇīs living in Vraja were attached to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, namely, many more ramaṇīs than even the above-said number, nonetheless, they chanted (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.22.4):

कात्यायनि महामाये महायोगिन्य् अधीश्वरि
नन्द-गोप-सुतं देवि पतिं मे कुरु ते नम

kātyāyani mahāmāye mahāyoginy adhīśvari
nanda-gopa-sutaṃ devi patiṃ me kuru te nama

“O Kātyāyanī, Mahā-māye, Mahā-yogini, Adhīśvari, O Devi! Please make the son of Māhārāja Nanda our husband! We offer our obeisances unto you.”

Thus by chanting this mantra with a saṅkalpa or vow of great determination, namely, with the desire that Śrī Kṛṣṇa alone should become their husband, with this aspiration only, by offering their minds unto Him with such intense eagerness, they adhered to their vows. All those cowherd girls who followed the Kātyāyanī-vrata were very much devoted; for that reason Śrī Kṛṣṇa is especially glorifying them. ‘Seeing their similarity, I married them to appease My mind to a certain degree and thus acknowledge a certain resemblance with all those gopīs who started the vow of worshipping Kātyāyanī-devī to obtain Me as their husband." The suggestion in the term nidarśanad iva is that this instance also does not completely apply due to the lack of similarity of those mahiṣīs with all the gopa-kumāris. Only the quantity is the same, namely, sixteen thousand one hundred and eight;this is the subtlety here.

In such a way, the unaccounted for number of one hundred and eight mahiṣīs is celebrated everywhere and is automatically included in the previously mentioned multitude of loving queens. “Alas, impassioned lady (aho bhāmini), it is true that I married all of you here, but I did not obtain even a slight bit of happiness by doing so! My happiness and glories have especially left me in separation from those Vraja gopīs. In other words, the indescribable glories related to Vraja-bhūmi have also disappeared. Those glories abandoned Me also, having returned to the land of Vraja, their rightful place of residence.”