Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.30.26
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vadhvāḥ
—
of His special consort
Genitive of vadhū — bride, wife, beloved. The text refuses to name Her. Gauḍīya tradition (Rūpa Gosvāmī, Jīva Gosvāmī, Viśvanātha Cakravartī) unanimously identifies this vadhū as Rādhā — the topmost gopī, the hlādinī-śakti personified. Her presence is encoded, not spelled.
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supṛktāni
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thoroughly intermingled
From su- (well) + √pṛc (to mix). The footprints are not merely beside each other — they are entangled. The Gosvāmīs read this as the visible trace of madhura-rāga: in mādhurya the lovers' selves are interwoven beyond extraction.
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ārtāḥ
—
distressed
From √ṛ (to be pained). One of the four classes of bhaktas Kṛṣṇa names at Gītā 7.16 — ārta, jijñāsu, arthārthī, jñānī. The gopīs here are pure ārta-bhaktas, but their distress is not material — it is viraha's specific anguish.
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anvicchantyaḥ
—
tracing out, seeking
Present participle of anu-√iṣ (to seek along, follow after). The Sanskrit verb whose noun is anveṣaṇa — the chapter's keyword. They are not merely searching; they are following His own choosing.
The gopis then saw the footprints of Krsna mixed (suprktani) with those of Radha.
They followed his path by the foot prints marked with the symbols. The repetition (tais taiḥ) suggests that the foot prints were scattered in many places, since some places were covered with grass. Because Kṛṣṇa was carrying Rādhā, her foot prints were not visible in the beginning. After some distance, they saw those foot prints. They were weak (abalāḥ) because of separation and searching. But still they followed his path. The consort was Rādhā since she will be established as the most fortunate of all.
They followed his path by the foot prints marked with the symbols. The repetition (tais taiḥ) suggests that the foot prints were scattered in many places or there were isolated footrpints. Thought weak (abalāḥ) from separation and searching, they searched in front for his path, or they saw in front his footprints mixed with those of another gopī (vadhvāḥ), or of a woman who was like a daughter-in-law, since the prints were delicate, because of her shyness. Or this means Rādhā, who was famous in Gokula as Kṛṣṇa’s wife, since Yāśodā had that desire and expressed it sometimes. Her name is not directly stated but simply written as vadhu. Kāpi tena samaṁ yātā kṛtapuṇyā madālasā padāni yasyāś caitāni ghanāny alpatanūni ca Someone with great piety, pride and laziness has gone with him. Her footprints are deep and thin. Viṣṇu Purāṇa His prints were very mixed (supṛktāni) with hers since her arm was on his shoulder. He had not left them because of anger, hatred or detachment, but to lead one of them away. She had been with them, but by some signal he left with her. His footprints appeared at a distance, and then after walking for some time met with hers. They were pained because he had accepted one of them and given up the others. Or though pained by separation, they spoke to each other while reflecting on the situation.
- When have I felt spiritually 'replaced' — and what did Kṛṣṇa want me to learn there?
- Can I bless another's intimacy with God without diminishing my own?
When two pairs of footprints are found running side by side in fresh sand, no further inquiry is needed — the heart already knows what the eye is only just confirming. The gopīs see Kṛṣṇa's prints intermixed with a single companion's and the search ends here; viraha sharpens into rivalry, and they speak in pain.
My note
Source: vedabase.io