Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.42
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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govindaḥ
—
Kṛṣṇa
From go (cow, sense) + √vid (to obtain, please). Go-vinda — pleaser of the cows, finder of the senses. The gopīs use the most Vraja-rooted name precisely when asking if He still remembers Vraja. The name is itself the test.
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pura-strīṇām
—
of the city women
Compound: pura + strīṇām. The contrast-class again. Gauḍīya rasa-shastra distinguishes svakīya (married wives — pura-strī) and parakīya (paramours — vraja-yoṣit), holding parakīya the higher rasa.
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grāmyāḥ
—
village girls
From grāma (village). The gopīs use the diminutive — half-mocking, half-proud. Grāmyā is also the word for 'vulgar, rustic' — they wear the insult as a badge.
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svaira-kathā-antare
—
during free conversation
Compound: svaira (free, casual) + kathā (talk) + antare (in the middle of). The intimate gossip with one's lover — the moment when stray names slip out. The gopīs ask whether their names ever slip from Kṛṣṇa's tongue.
The gopīs were so completely in love with Kṛṣṇa, without selfish motive, that even in their great disappointment they never considered giving their love to another. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī interprets their feelings as follows. The gopīs might say, “Surely Kṛṣṇa has abandoned us because we deserve to be abandoned. Indeed, we are the most insignificant women in the world and have been rejected after having been enjoyed. Still, do we sometimes enter into His memory on account of some good quality of ours, or even because of something we did wrong? Kṛṣṇa must speak very freely with the city women. He and they must sing, joke, make riddles and talk about so many things. Does Kṛṣṇa ever say, ‘My dear city women, your sophisticated singing and speech is unknown to the gopīs in My home village. They couldn’t understand these things.’ Does He ever speak about us even in that way?”
" Dear sir, certainly we deserve to be rejected, therefore we were abandoned by him. But we ask you, though we are the lowest in this world, does he sometimes think of us women that he has rejected after enjoying, whether it is our good points or bad points? Does he remember us uncouth women (avidagdhah) in casual talks--in singing, joking, writing poetry, in making riddles? 'O women of Mathura, the women of my village know very little of the songs you sing.' 'They do not know anything about this, because they are from the village.' Does he mention us even in this way?"
They inquire sarcastically with longing. On some occasion—in an assembly of those city women—while talking on various subjects according to his desire (svaira-kathāntare) does he remember us village girls? He should remember us, since he is the king of Gokula (govindaḥ). O honest Uddhava (sādho)! You should not speak lies at all. Or kvacit can be supplied to other words in the sentence as well. Does he ever remember us on other occasions? Does he ever remember us while in the company of the city women? Does he ever remember us during free conversations?
- Where do you most want simply to be named in someone's conversation with another?
- Could you trust that Kṛṣṇa speaks of you when you cannot hear?
Does Govinda ever mention us — village girls — when He talks with the city women? The gopīs ask the question every devotee asks: am I in His remembrance? The answer they already have, but they need to hear it again.
My note
Source: vedabase.io