Text 4.93

[This shows a meaning implied from the padāṃśa called sambandha (relation):]

गोप्यः किम् आचरद् अयं कुशलं स्म वेणुर् दामोदराधर-सुधाम् अपि गोपिकानाम् |
भुङ्क्ते स्वयं यद्-अवशिष्ट-रसं ह्रदिन्यो हृष्यत्-त्वचोऽश्रु मुमुचुस् तरवो यथार्याः ||

gopyaḥ kim ācarad ayaṃ kuśalaṃ sma veṇur dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām |
bhuṅkte svayaṃ yad-avaśiṣṭa-rasaṃ hradinyo hṛṣyat-tvaco'śru mumucus taravo yathāryāḥ ||

Hey girls, what meritorious act did this flute perform, because it enjoys by itself the nectar of Dāmodara’s lips, although that nectar belongs to us gopīs? The rivers enjoy the remainder of the flute’s relishment (they listen to Kṛṣṇa’s flute song) and experience horripilation in the form of blown lotuses. The trees shed a tear like venerable elders do. (Bhāgavatam 10.21.9)

atra kṛṣṇādhara-sudhā gopībhir eva pātuṃ yujyate na tu dhūrtena veṇuneti gopikānām iti sva-svāmi-bhāva-sambandhasya.

In the word gopikānām (it belongs to the gopīs), the category of sambandha called sva-svāmi-bhāva (the relation of owner and owned) suggests the following: The nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips should be drunk only by the gopīs, not by the crafty flute.

Commentary:

The padāṃśa called sambandha, which denotes one usage of the genitive case, is a subcategory of vibhakti-viśeṣa (a particular case ending).

Moreover, a new category of a suggestive padāṃśa is apparent in this verse: the gender (liṅga). Usually the name of the flute, such as muralī and vaṃśī, is feminine. For instance: vaṃśī priya-sakhī, “The flute is a dear sakhī” (Brahma-saṃhitā 5.56). Here, however, the flute is denoted with veṇu, a masculine word. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa expounds: gopikānāṃ dhanam api dāmodarādhara-sudhāṃ bhuṅkte, strī ced atyanurāgeṇāparāsāṃ patyur adhara-sudhāṃ bhuṅktām nāma, ayaṃ khalu veṇuḥ puruṣaḥ kathaṃ tāṃ bhuṅkte iti veṇu-śabdābhiprāyāt tatropahāsaḥ, ““It enjoys the nectar of Dāmodara’s lips although that nectar is the gopīs’ wealth.” The drift is: “If it were a woman, it might enjoy, even very passionately, the nectar of the lips of a husband of other women. But it’s just a male flute! How can it enjoy that nectar?” There is derision in that, due to the intention in using the word veṇu” (Vaiṣṇavānandinī 10.21.9).