Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.21.6
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
veṇu-ravam
—
the vibration of the flute
Rava is a sustained vibration, not a note. In Gauḍīya śabda-tattva, Kṛṣṇa's flute-rava is non-different from Kṛṣṇa Himself — to hear it is to be in His presence; it is His sound-incarnation in Vraja.
-
sarva-bhūta
—
of all living beings
Sarva-bhūta — all beings, conditioned and liberated. The flute steals minds across the species barrier; Gauḍīyas read this as evidence that Kṛṣṇa-prema is not the property of any caste, gender or yoni, but the dharma of the ātmā itself.
-
manaḥ-haram
—
stealing the minds
Manaḥ (mind) + haram (one who carries off). Hari is literally 'the thief'; here the flute is doing what its master does — He steals butter from Yaśodā, He steals manas from gopīs. Bhakti is consenting to be stolen.
-
abhirebhire
—
embraced one another
Reduplicated perfect of abhi-√rabh — 'they took hold of, clung to.' Saṅga-bhakti: when prema cannot be contained alone, the devotee turns to the next devotee. The gopīs model what later Gauḍīyas formalize as kīrtana-melā.
The word iti here indicates that after becoming speechless by remembering Kṛṣṇa, the cowherd damsels then regained their composure and were thus able to ecstatically describe the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. As a few gopīs began to exclaim, and the other gopīs realized that they shared the same ecstatic love within their hearts, all of them started embracing one another, overwhelmed with conjugal love for young Kṛṣṇa.
When the gopis could not speak, Sukadeva, being omniscient, began the description of Krnsa’s pastimes according to mood of their intense love. Krsna was bedecked with peacock feather (barhapidam), had a body of a dancer (nata vara vapuh), with karnikara flower in his ears, in the singular whereas ears in dual form, to indicate that sometimes he wore one kanrikara flower in the left ear and sometimes in the right ear. Use of the word bibhrat (wore) indicates that he purposefully displayed his youthful charms in order to incite the extreme love of the gopis. He wore a vaijayanti garland, made of five different colors of flowers. Since the gopis may criticize the flute for having holes in it, Krsna filled the holes with the nectar from his lips. Though the flute is non-living, the touch of the nectar of his lips brought it to life, and thus it was able to madden the three worlds. Then, recognizing the flute as just unconscious wood and therefore not so capable, the nectar of his lips flowed out from the holes of the flute and entered through the gopis’s ears into their minds. In this way, that nectar from his lips, its mission accomplished, showed its prowess. Vrndavana particularly gave pleasure to his feet (svapada ramanam), more so than Vraja, as it was the place where his feet performed the rasa dance. When the disturbance caused by their remembrance of Krsna’s pastimes decreased after some time, the gopis were able to begin the description of the flute’s song, though they could not do it perfectly. Iti indicates cause as well as the end of a statement or chapter. The sound of the flute, like the rasa dance, attracted not only the gopis and Radha, but all living entities (sarva bhuta manoharam). The gopis embraced one another, with the realization of their common emotions. " O friend, talking about Krsna’s embrace, you have read my mind, for I also want to speak about this."
“All the gopīs” indicates all strengths of attachment such as deep, medium and light. They mentally embraced Kṛṣṇa who had overpowered their hearts. Or out of awakening of love they mistook their friends as Kṛṣṇa and embraced them. Or they embraced each other because their natural love had awakened. This was because the sound of the flute was attractive to all beings, what to speak of only the gopīs. Citsukha accepts the version with abhirebhire (they attained complete attraction). O king! Śukadeva addresses Parīkṣit for the same reasons mentioned previously.
Saying this, or in this way (iti), situated far away or close by, all of them (sarvā), with varying degrees of love, or all in a group, began to describe the sound of the flute since they had already described him. They should speak only what was not already mentioned. When later his form and dress are again described it should be understood that it is mentioned as an assistant to other statements. Or the statement describing Kṛṣṇa’s activities (kṛṣṇa-ceṣṭitam) can be correlated with the statement in verse 20, varṇayantyo mitho gopṣaḥ krīḍāḥ: they narrated to one another the playful pastimes of the Lord. (The playing of his flute is one of his activities). They mentally embraced (abhirebhire) Kṛṣṇa who had overpowered their hearts. Or they embraced each other because their natural love had awakened. Or they embraced the sound of the flute with affection: they became attached to the sound. This was because the sound of the flute was attractive to all beings, what to speak of only the gopīs. Citsukha accepts the version with abhiremire (instead of abhirebhire--they attained complete attraction). O king! Śukadeva addresses Parīkṣit for the same reasons mentioned previously. Or Śukadeva exclaims, “O king shining with this special bhāva.” He takes him by the hand, raises him up and embraces him
- Whose 'me too' have I been waiting to hear from a fellow devotee?
- Where could I be the first to exclaim and let the embrace start?
They ran out of words and ran into each other's arms. The flute had crossed the threshold of mind; only embrace could finish what speech began. So bhakti, when it ripens, becomes communal — the saṅga of devotees holding each other up under the weight of His name.
My note
Source: vedabase.io