Verse 2.4.1

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.4.1:

श्री-गोप-कुमार उवाच—
एकाकिनात्र भ्रमता मयास्य भूमेः श्रियं कुत्रचिद् अप्य् अदृष्टाम् ।
सम्पश्यता संवसता वनान्तः सर्वं विमोहाद् इव विस्मृतं तत् ॥ ४.१ ॥

śrī-gopa-kumāra uvāca—
ekākinātra bhramatā mayāsya bhūmeḥ śriyaṃ kutracid apy adṛṣṭām |
sampaśyatā saṃvasatā vanāntaḥ sarvaṃ vimohād iva vismṛtaṃ tat || 4.1 ||

śrī-gopa-kumāraḥ–Śrī Gopa-kumāra; uvāca–said; ekākinā–alone; atra–here; bhramatā–wandering; mayā–by me; asyāḥ–of this; bhūmeḥ–of the land; śriyam–beauty; kutracit–anywhere; api–also; adṛṣṭām–unseen; sampaśyatā–by beholding; samvasatā–residing; vana–the forest; antaḥ–within; sarvam–all; vimohāt–out of fascination; iva–as if; vismṛtam–forgotten; tat–that.

Śrī Gopa-kumāra said: O brāhmaṇa, I began to wander alone throughout this Vrajabhūmi and beheld its unprecedented splendor. Nowhere else had I ever witnessed such beauty. Residing in a forest there, I became so fascinated that I even forgot the spiritual practices required to reach Śrī Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual world.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

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

This Fourth Chapter describes the fundamental reality (tattva) of the true nature (svarūpa) of Vaikuṇṭha and its residents, as well as the glories of those residents. It concludes with the episode of Śrī Gopa-kumāra’s visit to Ayodhyā, which is situated beyond Vaikuṇṭha, and his subsequent departure for Dvārakā, which is above Ayodhyā.

The land of Vraja in the district of Mathurā is more glorious than the entire material realm and even more glorious than the abode of liberation. Gopa-kumāra first explains this fact in this verse beginning with ekākin, wherein he says, “O brāhmaṇa! I began to wander alone in this land of Vraja, where I observed unparalleled beauty and many other splendorous qualities. I had not seen such extraordinary beauty in the entire brahmāṇḍa, not even outside it in the abode of liberation, mukti-pada.

“Residing in this forest and beholding its beauty, I became so enchanted that I even forgot about the spiritual discipline (sādhana) and the rituals and other practices performed to achieve Śrī Vaikuṇṭha that had been taught to me by the Lord’s personal associates. Indeed, I had not experienced such beauty or joy anywhere else, and so the loveliness of Vrajabhūmi completely captivated my mind.” The implication of the name Mathurā (math, ‘to churn’) is that this land ‘churns’ everyone’s minds, making them forget everything else but itself.