Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.5-6
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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valgu - smita - apāṅga - visarga - vīkṣitaiḥ
—
by her casting her smiling sidelong glances
Long compound: valgu (charming) + smita (smile) + apāṅga (sidelong) + visarga (release) + vīkṣita (glance). The grammar piles up the seductive details to show how the senses are taken by stages. Gauḍīya note: the gopīs' real apāṅga-vīkṣita is for Kṛṣṇa alone; the counterfeit copies the form but not the object.
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śriyam
—
the goddess of fortune
Accusative of Śrī (Lakṣmī). The gopīs' kindly misreading: they see Pūtanā and assume Lakṣmī has come to see her Lord. In Gauḍīya rasa-vicāra, only Kṛṣṇa's hlādinī-śakti (Rādhā and the gopīs themselves) holds the topmost place in Vraja; the Vaikuṇṭha-Lakṣmī cannot enter Vraja's mādhurya — yet māyā can mimic Her form.
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patim
—
her husband
Accusative — Kṛṣṇa as Lakṣmī's Lord, the husband of Śrī (Nārāyaṇa). The gopīs' assumption is theologically literate, which is precisely what makes them slow to suspect: a wife coming to see her divine husband is the most innocent possible reading.
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ambhoja
—
(holding) a lotus flower
The traditional iconographic mark of Lakṣmī. Pūtanā has not actually shown a lotus; the gopīs project it because the rest of the costume fits. Māyā works by completion — give the eye enough cues and it will draw the missing one in.
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vraja - okasām
—
of the inhabitants of Gokula
Compound — vraja (pasture-land) + okas (dweller). The Vrajavāsīs, the highest devotees in Gauḍīya rasa-tattva, are still capable of being momentarily charmed by a counterfeit Lakṣmī. The verse is not a critique of them; it is a warning to us: if even the Vrajavāsīs needed Kṛṣṇa's intervention, we certainly do.
Seeing that beautiful woman with marks of lotus on her hands, the gopis concluded that she was the embodiment of all wealth and jewels. She must have come to see her husband, Narayana, the istadeva of Nanda Maharaja. Putana had broad waist and breasts contrasted to her thin waist. She was attractive (vanita). She was so attractive that the Vrajavasis let her enter the inner chambers of their houses without obstruction.
Jasmines bound together were tied in her hair, making her very beautiful. He face was decorated with locks of hair shining with the effulgence of her swinging earrings. She was acting attractively (manoharantīm). The gopīs thought she was the wealth of the universe (śriyam), since she held lotuses in her hands. Why would she come? She seemed to be looking for her husband, or to bless someone pious person who had taken shelter of her. That person was Kṛṣṇa alone. Thus she could not be stopped from approaching him. Pati means a husband but Śrīdhara Svāmī does not accept that meaning since later she is described as having motherly affection. Her waist was thin as if being squeezed between her wide hips and her huge breasts. The word kṛcchra (pain) is used instead of kṛśa(thin) since the cause (pain) and effect (thinness) are equated. Because she was so attractive, the gopīs became most attracted. There is no redundancy in the description (saying manoharaṇīm vanitām and sriyam) since the first phrase applies to Pūtanā and the second applies to the gopīs’ perception of her beauty.
Jasmines bound together were tied in her hair, making her very beautiful. He face was decorated with locks of hair shining with the effulgence of her swinging earrings. She was acting attractively (manoharantīm). The gopīs thought she was the wealth of the universe (śriyam), since she held lotuses in her hands. She held play lotuses in her hands to produce great beauty. Why would she come? She seemed to be looking for her husband. The word iva (as if) indicates it was not actually so. Or like Lakṣmī she had come to see the protector (patim) of the gopīs, since Kṛṣṇa was the son of Nanda. Or the gopīs thought that the woman was like Lakṣmī coming from her planet to see Nārāyaṇa. This appearance was possible because of her astonishing beauty and skillful dress.
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- Notice today one 'attractive' offering — a person, a feed, a deal — and ask whether it carries Kṛṣṇa within it or only borrows the look of śrī.
- Refuse to judge people or proposals by surface beauty alone; pause and check the intent behind the smile before you let it into your home or heart.
- Before opening your phone or door, chant Kṛṣṇa's name once and ask Him to give you the gopīs' eyes — quick to see Him, slow to be charmed by what merely resembles Him.
Pūtanā walking into Vraja in mallikā garland and earrings is like counterfeit currency printed so well that even the priests stop to admire the seal. The gopīs mistake her for Lakṣmī coming to see her husband — the lie is so close to the truth that only Kṛṣṇa's own glance can finally tell them apart.
When Śūrpaṇakhā approached Lord Rāma in the Daṇḍaka forest (Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya-kāṇḍa), she had assumed a form of disarming loveliness. Only when her actual intent rose — possessive lust, then murderous fury at being refused — did her true nature break through the disguise.
The Vraja gopīs in 10.6.5–6 stand at exactly that earlier moment: the surface is still intact, the smile is still working, and only the Lord's own protective potency will let the disguise come apart in time.
My note
Source: vedabase.io