Verse 2.1.203

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.203:

यदा वा लीलया स्थाणु-भावं भजति कौतुकी ।
प्रीणन्त्य् अथापि साश्चर्यास् ते तल्-लीलानुसारिणः ॥ २०३ ॥

yadā vā līlayā sthāṇu-bhāvaṃ bhajati kautukī |
prīṇanty athāpi sāścaryās te tal-līlānusāriṇaḥ || 203 ||

yadā–when; vā–or; līlayā–by His pastime; sthāṇu-bhāvam–perfectly motionless; bhajati–He would become; kautukī–being playful; prīṇanti–feeling love; athāpi–then; sa-aścaryāḥ–astonished; te–they; tat-līlā–of His pastimes; anusāriṇaḥ–following in the mood.

Thus engaged in this loving play, the frolicsome Lord would sometimes become perfectly motionless. His servitors, becoming astonished at this wonder, would follow in the mood of those pastimes and thus attain supreme bliss.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

Śrī Gopa-kumāra says, “Only sometimes would the Lord perform His loving pastimes, not always.” This is the purport of the word karhicit [from the previous verse].

The brāhmaṇa might then ask, “If the Lord did not always perform those loving pastimes, how can one understand that His regular servants were supremely happy?”

To address this doubt, Gopa-kumāra says, “Although Śrī Jagannāthadeva would be motionless and accept a mood of silence, still the playful Lord would engage in various jovial amusements with His beloved personal servants. In other words, when the Lord, as a pastime, would sometimes accept a silent mood or would become motionless, even then with great wonder, His beloved servants would follow in the moods of all those pastimes and become immersed in paramount bliss. This is because, in amazement, they would think, ‘Just now the Lord exhibited the pastime of a restless child, which filled our hearts with amazement, but now, here He has assumed His stationary, silent disposition.’”

The brāhmaṇa might now wonder, “If this is the case, in spite of losing their previous happiness, did the distress of the Lord’s servants become mollified?”

Gopa-kumāra replies, “The devotees always follow the Lord’s pastimes. Whatever pastimes the Lord performs, the devotees reciprocate with those same pastimes. Therefore, they experience only great joy in their hearts by the loving behavior of their Lord.”

Alternatively, it can be said, “How did the devotees act in this situation?”

Gopa-kumāra answers, “The devotees acted in a manner suitable to those pastimes. Whenever the Lord enacted His static, silent pastime, the devotees acted in a manner appropriate to that pastime.”