Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.39.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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anudhyāna
—
constant meditation
Anu-dhyāna = uninterrupted, following-after meditation. The gopīs achieve through bhāva what yogis approach through technique — Rūpa Gosvāmī's bhāvāveśa.
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ātma - lokam
—
the world of the Self / one's own world
Double meaning: 'the world of the soul' (self-realization) and 'the world of Ātmā = Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Self.' Gauḍīyas read the second: their inner world IS Kṛṣṇa-līlā, not impersonal ātma-mātra.
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vṛttayaḥ
—
(mental) functions / activities
Same vṛtti vocabulary as Patañjali (yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ). The gopīs achieve nirodha spontaneously through prema — the supreme stilling Patañjali only systematizes.
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lokam
—
the (external) world
Loka here = the external visible world. They have not lost consciousness; they have changed objects of consciousness, from 'this world' to Kṛṣṇa within.
The gopīs were in fact already on the platform of self-realization. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Madhya 20.108) states, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa: “The self, or individual soul, is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.” Thus because they were rendering the most intense loving service to the Lord, the gopīs were situated at the highest stage of self-realization.
This verse describes the prema of Candravali and others. Absorbed in meditation, their senses could not recognize their proper objects, like people who have realized paramatma and lose consciousness of their bodies. However, the example is not raised to compare the gopis taste to that of the meditators, for the taste of prema is completely different from that of Brahman, like gold in comparison to glass.
Others such as Candrāvalī, after thinking of the meaning of the announcement, developed fear of separation and then, in a state of absorption, felt love for him. The mention of meditation in this verse distinguishes these gopīs from the previous ones. They were like persons who had attained their svarūpa (ātma-lokam), jīvanmuktas. The example shows that they forgot about their bodies. Or they meditated on Kṛṣṇa going. “How will he go there? How will he stay there? How will we continue to live?” And by that they stopped the functions of their minds. They were not aware of their bodies or things related to the body at all.
They were like persons who had attained their svarūpa (ātma-lokam), jīvanmuktas. The example shows that they forgot about their bodies. Or they meditated on Kṛṣṇa going. “How will he go there? How will he stay there? How will we continue to live?” And by that they stopped the functions of their minds. They were not aware of their bodies or things related to the body at all.
- When did your devotion last absorb your senses completely?
- Where do you keep meditation and emotional devotion separate when they can be the same depth?
Like yogis who have withdrawn the senses into the heart-lotus and gone still as a flame in a windless place — but unaccidentally, while standing at their courtyard doors — some gopīs go inward, fixed only on Kṛṣṇa. They reach in a heartbeat what aṣṭāṅga-yoga seeks for years.
My note
Source: vedabase.io