Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.22.20
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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acyutena
—
by the infallible Supreme Lord
Instrumental of Acyuta — 'the one who never falls.' The name appears here precisely as the gopīs admit their falldown (vrata-cyutim). The verb cyut is the same root: He who does not fall instructs those who have.
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vrata-cyutim
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a falldown from their vow
Compound: vrata (vow) + cyuti (falling). They concede the technical offense without protest. Bhakti includes honest accounting; the gopī does not minimize her fault before her Lord.
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sākṣāt-kṛtam
—
to the directly manifest fruit
Compound: sākṣāt (directly, manifestly) + kṛta (made). Kṛṣṇa Himself is the sākṣāt-phala of every dharmic act. The vrata's stated reward was a husband; its true reward is the Person standing before them — and they understand this in this moment.
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nemuḥ
—
they offered their obeisances
Perfect of √nam (to bow). Pra-ṇāma is the act of bhakti par excellence — bending the body before the Lord. Here it is also the prāyaścitta of verse 19; one gesture serves both functions because He is both Lord and remedy.
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avadya-mṛk
—
the cleanser of all sins
Compound: avadya (blameworthy / sin) + mṛk (wiper, cleanser). Etymologically, the one who wipes away all blame. Same theological role as in Ajāmila and Gajendra: Hari is the cleanser of pāpa for those who turn toward Him.
The transcendental position of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is clearly described here. The gopīs decided that it was better to renounce their so-called family tradition and traditional morality and simply surrender unto the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. This does not mean that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement advocates immoral activities. In fact, the devotees of ISKCON practice the highest standard of restraint and morality, but at the same time we recognize the transcendental position of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa is God and therefore has no material desire to enjoy young girls in sexual affairs. As will be seen in this chapter, Lord Kṛṣṇa was not at all attracted to enjoying the gopīs; rather He was attracted to their love and wanted to satisfy them. The greatest offense is to imitate the activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In India there is a group called prākṛta-sahajiyā, who imitate these affairs of Kṛṣṇa and try to enjoy naked young girls in the name of worshiping Kṛṣṇa. The ISKCON movement sternly rejects this mockery of religion, because the greatest offense is for a human being to ludicrously imitate the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the ISKCON movement there are no cheap incarnations, and it is not possible for a devotee of this movement to promote himself to the position of Kṛṣṇa. Five hundred years ago Kṛṣṇa appeared as Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who practiced strict celibacy throughout His student life and at the age of twenty-four took sannyāsa, a lifelong vow of celibacy. Caitanya Mahāprabhu rigidly avoided contact with women in order to carry out His vow of loving service to Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa personally appeared five thousand years ago, He exhibited these wonderful pastimes, which attract our attention. We should not become envious or shocked when we hear that God can perform such pastimes. Our shock is due to our ignorance, because if we tried to perform these activities our bodies would be afflicted by lust. Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, is the Supreme Absolute Truth and is therefore never disturbed by any material desire whatsoever. Thus, this incident — in which the gopīs gave up normal standards of morality and, raising their hands to their head, bowed down in compliance with Kṛṣṇa’s order — is an example of pure devotional surrender and not a discrepancy in religious principles. In fact, the gopīs’ surrender is the perfection of all religion, as Śrīla Prabhupāda describes in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “The gopīs were all simple souls, and whatever Kṛṣṇa said they took to be true. In order to be freed from the wrath of Varuṇadeva, as well as to fulfill the desired end of their vows and ultimately to please their worshipable Lord, Kṛṣṇa, they immediately abided by His order. Thus they became the greatest lovers of Kṛṣṇa, and His most obedient servitors. “Nothing can compare with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness of the gopīs. Actually, the gopīs did not care for Varuṇa or any other demigod; they only wanted to satisfy Kṛṣṇa.”
Deciding that the results of their vrata should not be useless, even if they had to sacrifice their modesty, they decided to do as their beloved Krsna said. This is explained in this verse. When krsna had pointed out that bathing naked was an offense, they decided that their vow had become useless. Desiring the results of their vrata, they offered respects to Krsna who can bestow the results of all actions, not just this vrata. If the sum of all results, Krsna, is satisfied, what else remains to be gained? You may gain the results, but what about the sin incurred? To answer this the verse says: avadya mrg. Krsna is the purifier (mrj) of all sins. For those who obtain the mercy of the Lord, there is no fault.
The gopīs had never deviated in the least from the true meaning of his words. Thus the word acyuta indicates their true intentions. Because they were young girls of Vraja (abalāḥ), they could not understand his words. They obeyed him out of prema. Because there was actually no fault since they were young girls and local customs permitted it, Kṛṣṇa had deceived them. They offered respects to he who was the result (sākṣāt krṭam), their husband. Because of that, their sin was absolved by him (avadya-mṛk). That was how they saw him.
The gopīs had never deviated in the least from the true meaning of his words. Thus the word acyuta indicates their true intentions. Because they were young girls of Vraja (abalāḥ), they could not understand his words. They heard what he said (abhihitam) and then considered the fault in their vrata (vrata-cyutim). Actually they did not have any fault in bathing naked at the place of the vow since they were children. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains this later in verse 22. Or desiring fulfillment of their unlimited actions of worshipping Kātyāyanī they offered respects because Kṛṣṇa could destroy faults (avadya-mṛk) in unlimited acts of bathing naked.
- Where am I performing rituals when the direct bow to the Person would settle everything?
- What 'fall' am I still trying to clean up the long way when His feet are the short way?
A pilgrim who has noticed she stepped wrongly during the ritual and now turns to the deity itself, knowing that the only one with power to remove the fault is the very Person the ritual was meant for. The gopīs bow to Kṛṣṇa not despite the offense but precisely as its remedy: He is avadya-mṛk — the cleanser of all sins.
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: 'The transcendental position of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is clearly described here. The gopīs decided that it was better to renounce their so-called family tradition and traditional morality and simply surrender unto the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. This does not mean that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement advocates immoral activities. In fact, the devotees of ISKCON practice the highest standard of restraint and morality.'
He explicitly names the prākṛta-sahajiyā heresy that imitates this līlā with worldly women — and rejects it. Gauḍīya orthodoxy: hear the līlā, do not imitate it. Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān; the human being is not.
My note
Source: vedabase.io