Verse 2.1.77

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.77:

गोपार्भ-वर्गैः सखिभिर् वने स गाः वंशी-मुखो रक्षति वन्य-भूषणः ।
गोपाङ्गना-वर्ग-विलास-लम्पटो धर्मं सतां लङ्घयतीतरो यथा ॥ ७७ ॥

gopārbha-vargaiḥ sakhibhir vane sa gāḥ vaṃśī-mukho rakṣati vanya-bhūṣaṇaḥ |
gopāṅganā-varga-vilāsa-lampaṭo dharmaṃ satāṃ laṅghayatītaro yathā || 77 ||

gopa-arbha–of cowherd boys; vargaiḥ–with the groups; sakhibhiḥ–with His friends; vane–in the forest; saḥ–He; gāḥ–the cows; vamśīmukhaḥ–the bamboo flute to His mouth; rakṣati–he tends; vanya–with forest flowers; bhūṣaṇaḥ–decorated; gopa-aṅganā–of the cowherds’ wives; varga–with groups; vilāsa–pastimes; lampaṭaḥ–greedy to enjoy; dharmam–religious principles; satām–of saintly persons; laṅghayati–He transgresses; itaraḥ–an ordinary man; yathā–as.

“Decorated with forest flowers and playing on His flute, my worshipable Deity takes the cows for grazing, going from forest to forest along with the cowherd boys. Because He is a playful philanderer, greedy to enjoy amorous pastimes, He forever roams about with the gopīs, the cowherd damsels, and like an ordinary person, He transgresses religious principles.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

After expressing his views on the Supreme Lord of the universe, in this verse beginning with gopa, the brāhmaṇa describes the characteristics of his worshipable Deity that he has perceived in his meditation. These characteristics are the antithesis of those of the Lord of the universe mentioned in the previous verses.

He says, “My worshipful Deity wanders from forest to forest with His cowherd friends while tending the cows. His flute rests on His lips and He is always absorbed in playing it. He is adorned with a peacock feather crown, guñjā berry earrings, a garland of kadamba flowers, and red mineral tilaka (an auspicious marking on the forehead). Saintly persons, in accordance with religious principles (dharma), never intimately associate with others’ wives. But in the same way that common people transgress religious principles, my Lord seems to transgress the laws of dharma. His friendship with the cowherd boys and other such behavior do not correspond to the status of the Supreme Lord of the universe.

“My Lord bears more resemblance to Gopāla-deva, the worshipable Deity of the sādhus of this place, because both hold a flute to Their lips and so on. Thus, it may be possible that my Lord is Jagadīśvara. However, my Lord’s activities of tending the cows and especially of appearing to transgress religious principles make it impossible for Him to be the Lord of the universe.”