Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.29.28
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vipriyam
—
unpleasant (words)
Vi-(against) + priya (dear). The opposite of priya. From the Beloved's mouth, vipriya words. Rūpa Gosvāmī's poetics: this is mānāvasthā, the lover's contrived displeasure — one of vipralambha's modes.
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viṣaṇṇāḥ
—
morose, dejected
Past participle of vi-√sad. Viṣāda is one of the thirty-three vyabhicāri-bhāvas in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu — fleeting moods that color the sthāyī-bhāva. Bhāgavatam names the emotion in technical rasa-vocabulary.
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bhagna-saṅkalpāḥ
—
with broken resolve
Compound: bhagna (broken) + saṅkalpa (resolve). Their saṅkalpa was 'we will reach Kṛṣṇa.' The saṅkalpa appears broken — but verse 30 will show it was not. Broken-then-restored saṅkalpa is the chapter's micro-architecture.
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cintām-āpuḥ
—
they fell into anxiety
Compound: cintā (anxiety) + āpuḥ (they obtained, from √āp). The verb āp is significant — they 'attained' cintā as if it were a state. Gauḍīyas note: in mādhurya even cintā is an attainment, because every state is filled with Him.
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duratyayām
—
insurmountable
Dur-(hard) + atyaya (crossing over). The anxiety is described as un-crossable. Kṛṣṇa is the crosser of the un-crossable — and verse 42 will show Him crossing it Himself by smiling.
The gopīs did not know what to do. They considered falling at Kṛṣṇa’s feet and crying for His mercy, or perhaps remaining aloof and going back to their homes. But they could do neither of these things and so felt great anxiety.
Govinda means one who enjoys playing with words (gah vindate). Hearing the external meaning of words of Govinda, thinking them signs of his lack of affection, (though taking the internal meaning of the words, the affection was quite evident) the gopis became dejected. Not seeing a cause for the roughness of his words, and being doubtful of the hidden affection in the words, out of dainya arising from their sthayi bhava, they thought "We are unqualified, therefore Krsna is indifferent to us." Therefore they became dejected. They became lost in thought, their aspirations smashed, "He for who we rejected husbands, fathers, religion fear and sense control has rejected us. We could very humbly hold his feet and cry. Or we could just follow the desire of Krsna, which is hard to understand, and unnaturally return to Vraja by controlling our minds with great effort. Or we could give up our lives. Should we do that in front of him, or away from him? Should we drown our selves in the Yamuna? But if we end our lives, how will we be able to see his sweet face again? After hearing this from him, should we stay here, or should be follow his order and eat vomit in the form of serving our husbands?" They became totally bewildered where to go and what to do. Attracting the cataki birds with the sound of his flute, Krsna then poured the rain of poison upon them. They readily drank the poison and felt completely depressed. Did Krsna give up his normal quality of being easily approachable?
They heard the clear words of Govinda, who, as the king of Gokula, should give benefit to all the people Gokula, what to speak of the gopīs. Those words seemed to express indifference to the gopīs because they had eager natures and the words with two meanings created uncertainty in their aspirations. They experienced pain within (viṣaṇṇāḥ) since their long cherished desire to meet with him was now thwarted. They began to think deeply how to attain their beloved. Though Kṛṣṇa by nature is soft with prema, by our bad fortune he has become most callous. Now maybe we should pacify him by touching his feet. Maybe we should reply to him or maybe we should just be patient for a while. Or maybe we should pretend to go home. Can we understand his deep intentions? Or maybe we should immediately give up our lives in front of him or out of his sight, by entering the Yamunā. In this way they thought.
- When the Lord has 'refused' me, do I fall at His feet or retreat?
- Where am I paralyzed between two responses, and what would unfreeze me?
The gopīs have walked through fire to reach the door — and at the door, words like cold water. They stand silent, heads down. This is not defeat; this is the bhāva of viṣāda the moment before prema speaks back.
My note
Source: vedabase.io