Verse 1.1.25

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.1.25:

দ্বৌ মাসৌ তত্র চাবাত্সীন্ মধুং মাধবং এব চ রামঃ ক্ষপাসু ভগবান্ গোপীনাং রতিম্ আবহন্ ॥ ২৫ ॥

द्वौ मासौ तत्र चावात्सीन् मधुं माधवं एव च रामः क्षपासु भगवान् गोपीनां रतिम् आवहन् ॥ २५ ॥

dvau māsau tatra cāvātsīn madhuṃ mādhavaṃ eva ca rāmaḥ kṣapāsu bhagavān gopīnāṃ ratim āvahan || 25 ||

dvau masau tatra cavatsin madhum madhavam eva ca ramah ksapasu bhagavan gopinam ratim avahan (25)

English translation:

(25) Lord Balarāma, the Personality of Godhead, resided there for the two months of Madhu and Mādhava, and during the nights He gave His cowherd girlfriends conjugal pleasure.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Balarāma’s rāsa-līlā is described by Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Bṛhad- vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī commentary as follows: “In this way Śrī Baladeva first solaced those gopīs who were attached to Kṛṣṇa and thus fulfilled the principle purpose of His visit. He thus exhibited His affection for the residents of Vraja. Thereafter He enjoyed spring pastimes with other gopīs.” He then says, “Regarding the words ratim āvahan, rati refers to the original mellow, ādi-rasa, or conjugal love, the prefix ā means

‘properly,’ and the word vahan means ‘having received.’ Because He is rāmaḥ, He is expert in conjugal affairs. He is also the Supreme Lord, so He is very expert in the various types of conjugal pastimes mentioned in the Kāma-śāstras. Or the word tāḥ (in the previous Bhāgavatam verse) can also refer to those gopīs who are greatly afflicted out of separation from Kṛṣṇa and whose only desire was to see Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Balarāma resided in Vṛndāvana for two months in order to please the gopīs of Vraja with conjugal pastimes at night. By the use of the word ca it is understood that Lord Balarāma remained in Vṛndāvana for more than two months, because the gopīs were greatly afflicted by feelings of separation and because Lord Baladeva is most merciful and gives happiness to everyone.”

In his Laghu-toṣaṇī commentary, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes: “The word gopīnāṃ in this verse refers to other gopīs, for the use of the word gopī does not always refer to Kṛṣṇa’s gopīs. If one says that both subject matters are the same—Kṛṣṇa enjoyed pastimes at night with the gopīs, and Baladeva also enjoyed pastimes at night with the gopīs—so there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s gopīs and Balarāma’s gopīs. In reply to this it may be said that no one should have such doubts, because the gopīs described in the previous rāsa pastimes are different from these gopīs.

Therefore one should understand that Balarāma’s gopīs are different. So Śrī Baladeva expertly pacified Kṛṣṇa’s beloved gopīs and then went to those gopīs in whose presence He was once teased by Kṛṣṇa, who said, ‘My dear older brother, the gopīs are desiring the touch of Your broad chest and the embrace of Your two arms.’ These joking words indicated that although Balarāma did not touch those gopīs at the time, it would take place in the future. There no mention that after Kṛṣṇa killed Śaṅkhacūḍa and played Holi with His beloved gopīs that these gopīs, described as subordinate to Kṛṣṇa’s beloved gopīs, received Kṛṣṇa’s touch, so it should be understood that Kṛṣṇa instructed these gopīs to carefully protect their chastity for the pleasure of Balarāma. According to this, it should be understood that Kṛṣṇa solaced these gopīs as explained

above. The word kṣapāsu means ‘most confidential.’ The word rāmaḥ in this verse refers to one who is qualified for enjoying.” In his Krama- sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī writes: “The gopīs refered to in this verse as Balarāma’s gopīs are those who played Holi along with Kṛṣṇa’s gopīs after the killing of Śaṅkhacūḍa. It should be understood at this point that these gopīs remained chaste under Kṛṣṇa’s instrutions. There is no mention of these gopīs receiving the touch of Balarāma in His earlier Vraja pastimes; there is only some mention of their strong attachment for Balarāma. Therefore Kṛṣṇa mercifully requested them to protect their chastity for the pleasure of Balarāma.” In his Bṛhat-krama-sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī writes: “‘He pleased His gopīs’ means that He pleased His own group of gopīs.”

In his Sārārtha-darśinī commentary, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has quoted Śrīdhara Svāmī as follows: “The conjugal affairs of the gopīs mentioned in this verse relate with those gopīs who had either not taken birth when Kṛṣṇa enjoyed His rāsa-līlā pastimes or who were too young to take part. This is the standard understanding of the previous ācāryas. Our Prabhupāda, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, has stated that these beloved gopīs of Balarāma were those who had joined Kṛṣṇa’s beloved gopīs in the Holi pastimes after the killing of Śaṅkhacūḍa.”