FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.30.23

बद्धान्यया स्रजा काचित्तन्वी तत्र उलूखले । बध्नामि भाण्डभेत्तारं हैयङ्गवमुषं त्विति । भीता सुद‍ृक् पिधायास्यं भेजे भीतिविडम्बनम् ॥ २३ ॥
baddhānyayā srajā kācit
[baddhaanyayaa srajaa kaachit]
tanvī tatra ulūkhale
[tanvee tatra ulookhale]
badhnāmi bhāṇḍa-bhettāraṁ
[badhnaami bhaanda-bhettaaram]
haiyaṅgava-muṣaṁ tv iti
[haiyangava-musham tv iti]
bhītā su-dṛk pidhāyāsyaṁ
[bheetaa su-drik pidhaayaasyam]
bheje bhīti-viḍambanam
[bheje bheeti-vidambanam]
baddhā — tied up anyayā — by another gopī srajā — with a flower garland kācit — one gopī tanvī — slender tatra — there ulūkhale — to the grinding mortar badhnāmi — I am binding bhāṇḍa — of the storage pots bhettāram — the breaker haiyam - gava — of the butter saved from the previous day’s milk muṣam — the stealer tu — indeed iti — thus speaking bhītā — afraid su - dṛk — with beautiful eyes pidhāya — covering āsyam — her face bheje — assumed bhīti — of fear viḍambanam — the pretense .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
baddhānyayā srajā kācit
baddhā
tied up
anyayā
by another gopī
srajā
with a flower garland
kācit
one gopī
tanvī tatra ulūkhale
tanvī
slender
tatra
there
ulūkhale
to the grinding mortar
badhnāmi bhāṇḍa-bhettāraṁ
badhnāmi
I am binding
bhāṇḍa
of the storage pots
bhettāram
the breaker
haiyaṅgava-muṣaṁ tv iti
haiyam - gava
of the butter saved from the previous day’s milk
muṣam
the stealer
tu
indeed
iti
thus speaking
bhītā su-dṛk pidhāyāsyaṁ
bhītā
afraid
su - dṛk
with beautiful eyes
pidhāya
covering
āsyam
her face
bheje bhīti-viḍambanam
bheje
assumed
bhīti
of fear
viḍambanam
the pretense .
  • ulūkhale-badhnāmi — I am binding to the grinding mortar
    Phrase: ulūkhala (mortar) + badhnāmi (I bind). Yaśodā's exact action of SB 10.9. Dāma-bandhana is the supreme proof in Gauḍīya theology that love-rope alone holds Bhagavān; the gopī here speaks Yaśodā's verb in the first person.
  • bhāṇḍa-bhettāram — the breaker of pots
    Compound: bhāṇḍa (pot) + bhettṛ (breaker, from √bhid). Kṛṣṇa's signature offense in Vraja — breaking the gopīs' yogurt-pots to steal butter. The gopīs love Him for this crime; in re-enactment they recite it like a litany.
  • haiyam-gava-muṣam — the stealer of the freshly-churned butter
    Compound: haiyaṅgavīna (fresh butter, from hyas-go-pīna 'yesterday's cow-milk') + muṣ (thief). The technical word for the previous day's butter — the most-prized prize. Kṛṣṇa is mākhana-cora, the butter-thief; this verse names His sacred crime.
  • bhīti-viḍambanam — the pretense of fear
    Compound: bhīti (fear) + viḍambana (mockery, imitation). The fear is not real — Kṛṣṇa in Vraja is never genuinely afraid. The Gauḍīya teaching: even His seeming-fear before Yaśodā is rasa-display, not weakness. The gopī enacts this with bhakta precision.
One gopī tied up her slender companion with a flower garland and said, “Now I will bind this boy who has broken the butter pots and stolen the butter.” The second gopī then covered her face and beautiful eyes, pretending to be afraid.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
One gopī tied up her slender companion with a flower garland and said, "Now I will bind this boy who has broken the butter pots and stolen the butter." The second gopī then covered her face and beautiful eyes, pretending to be afraid.
Commentary

When the sudden appearance of strong unmada was pacified, the identification with Krsna also slackened. Returning to their identities as gopis, seeing one gopi showing enthusiasm in imitating Krsna’s stealing butter and breaking the yogurt pots, Yogamaya played the role of Yasoda and performed the required actions. "O naughty child, you have stolen butter and run away. I will tie you up." Yogamaya, playing the role of a gopi imitating Yasoda, bound up a gopi with a garland. The gopi hid her face with her two hands, enacting fear.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One gopī acted as Yaśodā as previously described. The other gopī who was slender because of suffering from separation acted as Kṛṣṇa. Another gopī acted as the mortar. The gopī made movements with her eyes to suggest fear (sudṛk). She covered her face with her two hands, acting like a fearful child. She imitated his trembling and crying. They also enacted other pastimes.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Now imitation predominantly mental is described. One gopīs, different from the others, a messenger who was more elderly (anayā), following behind acted as the mother. Or one gopīs who was most gentle, most outstanding acted as his mother. Previously his mother had bound him up with a very soft rope of cow hair. Or first with a garland, and then with another material (anayā) a gopī acting as Kṛṣṇa was bound. Attempting to tie him up many times, they were able to bind him with a garland. They acted according to their fancy. One gopī was thin. Because of the pain of separation she immediately became thin. Out of prema they imitated the Lord being controlled by his devotee. Tatra can mean “in that imitation” or among the gopīs (tatra) one became the mortar. One gopī imitated fear by moving her eyes and covered her face with her hands. This is a quality of a small child when he is afraid. She imitated his characteristics of fear: trembling, hairs standing on end, crying slightly and pitiful voice. By imitating fear, it is imitation of his mentality. Fear is a product of the mind. The Dāmodara pastime, which shows he is controlled by the devotee is the best of all pastimes. Thus it is at the end since one should conclude with sweetness: madhureṇa samāpayet. Since killing Dhenuka and Pralambha were done by Balarāma, they were not enacted. They did not imitate his stealing the gopīs clothing or attracting the wives of the brāhmaṇa, since they were shy. They did not consider the particular rasas of each pastime, since they concluded in the soul of the rasas (Kṛṣṇa) Breaking the Yamalāruna trees was not imitated as it was included in the Dāmodara pastime. The pastimes imitated are not in correct order because Śukadeva, in describing the gopīs bewilderment in separation attained a similar bhāva and gave up inspecting the sequence closely. Or the gopīs imitated the pastimes in the order written, for single to group enactments, and in that, from lesser to major pastimes. Or they manifested the pastimes from single to group enactments. Or because of pain in separation or absorption in the enactments they lost awareness of the correct order.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)
Related verses
Concepts
Bhava
Tying a friend with a flower garland echoes Yaśodā binding Kṛṣṇa. Love that binds is sweeter than power that compels — Kṛṣṇa lets Himself be tied by affection alone.
Reflection Questions
  • What loving 'rope' do I offer Kṛṣṇa that lets Him stay close?
  • Where am I trying to force what only tenderness can hold?

When the most-beloved story in the household is the time mother tied the boy to the mortar, the children will, decade after decade, re-tie each other with garlands and cower in mock-fear. One gopī binds another with a flower-rope and declares: now I will bind the butter-thief! Vraja's children play Dāmodara at the churn.

Dāmodara-līlā

Yaśodā tied Kṛṣṇa to the wooden mortar with rope after His butter-theft and broken pot — but every rope was two fingers short of the next, no matter how many she joined, until He accepted being bound (SB 10.9). Hence Dāmodara, 'bound at the belly.'

The gopī tying her slender friend with a flower-garland and playing the role of Yaśodā the binder is re-enacting Dāmodara-līlā. The second gopī, covering her face in mock-fear, plays Kṛṣṇa Himself — eyes shut, accepting being bound, the world's smallest captive. Sanātana Gosvāmī's Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta treats this as the supreme demonstration that prema binds Bhagavān when nothing else can.

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