Verse 1.1.22

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.22:

তান রাস-ক্রীডা-কথা—পরম উদার বৃন্দাবনে গোপী-সনে করিলা বিহার ॥ ২২ ॥

तान रास-क्रीडा-कथा—परम उदार वृन्दावने गोपी-सने करिला विहार ॥ २२ ॥

tāna rāsa-krīḍā-kathā—parama udāra vṛndāvane gopī-sane karilā vihāra || 22 ||

tana rasa-krida-katha—parama udara vrndavane gopi-sane karila vihara (22)

English translation:

(22) The narrations of Lord Balarāma’s rāsa-līlā pastimes with the gopīs in Vṛndāvana are most exalted.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The definition of rāsa-krīḍā is given by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his Bhāvārtha- dīpikā commentary on the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.33.1) as follows: “Rāsa-līlā refers to a particular type of dance involving many women dancers.” In his Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, Sanātana Gosvāmī gives the characteristics of the rāsa dance as follows: “When many women join hands in a circle and are embraced around the neck by male dancers it is

called a rāsa dance.” In the book named Saṅgīta-sāra it is stated: “When a male dancer performs, being surrounded by a circle of many women dancers moving about, it is called a hallīṣaka. When a hallīṣaka dance is accompanied by various refined tālas (tunes), dance steps, and gestures, it is called a rāsa dance. As it does not exist even in heaven, what is the question of it existing on earth?” In his Sārārtha-darśinī commentary on the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Viśvanātha Cakravartī states: “Rāsa-krīḍā refers to a rāsa dance in which there is a mixture of ingredients such as dancing, singing, kissing, and embracing.”

The word udāra in this verse means “great” or “exalted.”

Jīva Gosvāmī describes Balarāma’s rāsa-krīḍā in his Laghu-toṣaṇī or Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.65.16) as follows: “Śrī Baladeva, who is nondifferent from Saṅkarṣaṇa, solaced the damsels of Vṛndāvana by singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa’s names.

Sometimes Śrī Baladeva draws Kṛṣṇa from Dvārakā by His mind and presents Him before a particular gopī in a secluded place, therefore He is known as Saṅkarṣaṇa.” He then says, “In this way it is reasonable to say that Śrī Baladeva performed rāsa-līlā with His own gopīs. Because He is the all-knowing Supreme Lord and endowed with all potencies, He knows the internal feelings of His eternal beloved gopīs. If one explains this verse in another way it would dimish the prestige of Dvārakā, so there is no need to further elaborate on this.” He further says, “At this juncture, Baladeva’s mood as the older brother did not manifest in order to protect the pathetic gopīs.” He also gives a description in his Krama-sandarbha commentary as follows: “The all-attractive Baladeva, who is also known as Saṅkarṣaṇa, attracts Kṛṣṇa by His mind and reveals Him. The word tāḥ refers to Kṛṣṇa’s beloved girlfriends.” Also in his Bṛhat-krama- sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī says that the word tāḥ refers to Kṛṣṇa’s gopīs.

For an explanation of gopī-sane vihāra, see the purport of verse 25. There is a difference between the rāsa-krīḍā of Kṛṣṇa with His gopīs and the rāsa-krīḍā of Balarāma with His gopīs. The arenas of the two rāsa- līlās are situated in different places within Vṛndāvana. Such spiritually

variegated activities are of two types—maryādā, or awe and reverent, and mādhurya, or sweet. We must be extremely careful to protect our vision of spiritual variegatedness from the attack of monism. Although svayaṃ- rūpa Kṛṣṇa and svayam-prakāśa Baladeva are nondifferent, the distinction between Their pastimes must not be denied. Even though Śrī Baladeva belongs to the category of the supreme shelter, He is the prime example amongst the subordinates of the Lord.