Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.46.45
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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rajjūḥ-vikarṣat
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pulling the (churning) ropes
Rajju (rope) + vi-karṣat (pulling). Same rajju-vocabulary as SB 10.9.3 and 10.9.18 (the rope that could not bind Him). The chapter binds itself to the Dāmodara-līlā by lexical echo: the women now pull ropes He once defied.
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bhuja - kaṅkaṇa
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bangles upon their arms
Compound: bhuja (arm) + kaṅkaṇa (bangle). The ornament that marks the married Vraja-woman. Gauḍīya: the gopīs preserve their śṛṅgāra in His absence — viraha does not become disheveled neglect.
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maṇibhiḥ-virejuḥ
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shone with jewels
Instrumental of maṇi (jewel) + verb of shining (vi-√rāj). The Bhāgavatam's gopī-section opens with the verb of brilliance. The verse's first impression is light, not lament.
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kuṅkuma - ānanāḥ
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faces (anointed) with kuṅkuma
Compound: kuṅkuma (saffron paste) + ānana (face). The red-orange forehead-paste of married women. Gauḍīya: the gopīs are dressed as for Kṛṣṇa's reception; their morning toilette assumes His return.
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kuṇḍala
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earrings
Nominative of kuṇḍala. Kṛṣṇa Himself wears kuṇḍalas (the makara-kuṇḍalas described in 10.32); the gopīs wear matching ornaments. Gauḍīya kāvya: lovers in separation wear the same jewelry, the body as the only available copy of the beloved.
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calan
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moving
Present participle of √cal (to move). The verse describes the moving hips, moving necklaces, moving cheeks — every part of the body is in churn-motion. Gauḍīya: rasa is bodily; the gopīs' bhāva expresses itself through every kinetic detail.
The gopis shone by the jewels embedded in their bracelets and anklets, reflecting the lamp light. In fact, they had rows of bracelets on their arms pulling the ropes, and their waists, breasts, and necklaces were quivering while churning the yogurt. Their earrings lit up their cheeks, and their faces shone with kumkuma from the province of Bahlika.
They shone especially (vi—rejū) with their jewels reflecting the light of the lamps. Of course they were naturally radiant and because of the jewels because more radiant. Or they especially shone because of the light from the lamps. They were also more radiant because burning lamps are considered auspicious. They were thus radiant with the auspiciousness of the burning lamps. They had groups (srajaḥ) of bracelets on their arms. Because of the moving earrings their cheeks red with kuṁkuma glowed. The red kuṁkuma came for the place called Vāhlīka.
They shone because of the light from lamps. Or they shone with light more than lamps. They shone by their nature. They also became more beautiful by their jewels. There was another reason for their shining. They made noise when they moved their arms with bracelets to pull the ropes. This also caused their hips, breasts, and necklaces to move. Their cheeks were lit by their earrings. Or their hips, breasts, necklaces and earrings moved. Or their cheeks shone from drops of perspiration from pulling the ropes. Their faces anointed with kuṁkuma became red from the effort of churning. The gems were naturally there on their limbs. Or they wore ornaments sent by Kṛṣṇa to please him.
- Where do you treat your laboring body as ugly when it might be radiant in service?
- What ordinary domestic act could you let be beautiful?
The gopīs at the churn are not described as grieving — they are described as radiant. Bangled arms, jeweled earrings, kuṅkuma-glow, bodies swaying with the rope's pull. The Bhāgavatam refuses to make their viraha visually ugly; the very ornaments of vipralambha-rasa are described in detail. Beauty is not subtracted by separation; if anything, it is intensified.
My note
Source: vedabase.io