Verse 2.18.154

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.18.154:

আদ্যা-শক্তি-বেষে নাচে প্রভু গৌরসিংহ সুখে দেখে তাঙ্র যত চরণের ভৃঙ্গ ॥ ১৫৪ ॥

आद्या-शक्ति-वेषे नाचे प्रभु गौरसिंह सुखे देखे ताङ्र यत चरणेर भृङ्ग ॥ १५४ ॥

ādyā-śakti-veṣe nāce prabhu gaurasiṃha sukhe dekhe tāṅra yata caraṇera bhṛṅga || 154 ||

adya-sakti-vese nace prabhu gaurasimha sukhe dekhe tanra yata caranera bhrnga (154)

English translation:

(154) The lionlike Gaura danced in the dress of the supreme goddess, as His servants who were like bees at His lotus feet joyfully watched.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The phrase ādyā-śakti, “the supreme goddess,” is explained as follows: From the material point of view, the Lord’s original energy in the material world, which is born from His external energy, is called “ādyā- śakti.” The mother of the universe within the limited time factor is called “ādyā-śakti.” The eternal energetic Lord has three types of energies. The energy that produces, maintains, and destroys the perishable universe is the Lord’s bahiraṅgāśakti, or external energy. This energy has two propensities—covering and throwing. Apart from this, the Supreme Lord’s antaraṅga-śakti, or internal energy, manifests the eternal Vaikuṇṭha planets. In this material world, which is a product of the external energy, five types of miseries and three modes of nature are present in mutual contention, but in the eternal self-manifested spiritual world, which is a product of the internal energy, there is no interruption in its blissful state. Between the internal and external energies there is one other energy that sometimes comes under the control of the internal energy and sometimes eagerly pursues the external energy.

Accepting the activities of His ādyā-śakti, Lord Gaurasundara enacted the pastime of dancing as a female. By accepting the dress of Rukmiṇī, who is a manifestation of the internal energy, and by manifesting her worship of the Lord, Gaurasundara displayed her worldly connection through the material point of view.