FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.1

श्रीशुक उवाच अथोषस्युपवृत्तायां कुक्कुटान् कूजतोऽशपन् । गृहीतकण्ठ्य: पतिभिर्माधव्यो विरहातुरा: ॥ १ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
athoṣasy upavṛttāyāṁ
[athoshasy upavrittaayaam]
kukkuṭān kūjato ’śapan
[kukkutaan koojato ’shapan]
gṛhīta-kaṇṭhyaḥ patibhir
[griheeta-kanthyah patibhir]
mādhavyo virahāturāḥ
[maadhavyo virahaaturaah]
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said atha — then uṣasi — the dawn upavṛttāyām — as it was approaching kukkuṭān — the roosters kūjataḥ — who were crowing aśapan — cursed gṛhīta — being held kaṇṭhyaḥ — whose necks patibhiḥ — by their husbands (Lord Kṛṣṇa in His multiple manifestations) mādhavyaḥ — the wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa viraha — over separation āturāḥ — agitated .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
athoṣasy upavṛttāyāṁ
atha
then
uṣasi
the dawn
upavṛttāyām
as it was approaching
kukkuṭān kūjato ’śapan
kukkuṭān
the roosters
kūjataḥ
who were crowing
aśapan
cursed
gṛhīta-kaṇṭhyaḥ patibhir
gṛhīta
being held
kaṇṭhyaḥ
whose necks
patibhiḥ
by their husbands (Lord Kṛṣṇa in His multiple manifestations)
mādhavyo virahāturāḥ
mādhavyaḥ
the wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa
viraha
over separation
āturāḥ
agitated .
  • mādhavyaḥ — the wives of Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
    The queens are named not by their personal names here but by their relation to Mādhava — their identity is constituted by belonging to Him. In Gauḍīya reading, the suffix marks tādātmya with the Lord that mahiṣī-bhāva shares with the gopīs.
  • viraha — separation
    Vipralambha — separation — is for the Gauḍīyas the deeper rasa, because in it longing intensifies and tastes the Lord more thickly than in union. The queens' grief at dawn is the seed-form of mahā-bhāva.
  • patibhiḥ — by their husbands
    Plural: Kṛṣṇa simultaneously embraces each of His 16,108 queens in His own form in each palace. The grammar itself testifies to His acintya-śakti — one Bhagavān, many simultaneous līlās.
  • kukkuṭān — the roosters
    The cursing of the rooster is a stock motif of love-poetry: that which calls one to dharmic duty is hated by the lover. Bhakti reframes dharma itself — the queens' 'curse' is their refusal to let dawn count as auspicious without Him.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: As dawn approached, the wives of Lord Mādhava, each embraced around the neck by her husband, cursed the crowing roosters. The ladies were disturbed that now they would be separated from Him.

This description of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s daily activities starts with the crowing of the rooster. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wives knew that the Lord would dutifully get up and perform His prescribed morning rituals, and thus they were agitated at their coming separation from Him and cursed the roosters.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: As dawn approached, the wives of Lord Mādhava, each embraced around the neck by her husband, cursed the crowing roosters. The ladies were disturbed that now they would be separated from Him.
Commentary

In the seventieth chapter there is a description of Krsna’s morning activities as well as consideration by the assembly of what action to take on hearing from the messenger and Narada. In the previous chapter it was stated that Krsna had faith in artha, dharma and kama. Now starting the the brahma muhurta, what type of dharmic conduct did Krsna have? This is now described. When the dawn had obviously arrived (upavrayam), with the crowing of the roosters, the wives such as Rukmini (madhavyah) embraced by their husbands (Krsna in his many forms), cursed, "O roosters!You are the cause of bringing the dawn which brings separation from Krsna. You should immediately die."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Related to Kṛṣṇa’s performance of duties that Nārada saw, his daily activities are now described until verse 22. Sleeping on the lap of Kṛṣṇa, they used his left arm as a pillow. This indicates their great happiness. They were filled with pain when the morning came because of separation. They cursed the pet cocks when they crowed, because by the crowing of the cocks they knew it was morning. They said to the birds, “You should die. You should become mute.” Their husband would now get up and take a bath. “Husbands” is in the plural since he manifested many forms.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)
Related verses
Kṛṣṇa's wives cursed the rooster whose crowing meant their separation from the Lord. Love does not love what pulls the beloved away, even when it is duty. The wish for more time is itself a form of bhakti.
Reflection Questions
  • What 'rooster' in my day pulls me from intimacy with the Lord?
  • Can I bring loving reluctance, not just compliance, into my morning routine?

The roosters' crowing is the same dawn-bell every householder hears, but here it tears the queens from Kṛṣṇa's neck. The auspicious hour becomes inauspicious for those whose only wealth is His embrace — a glimpse of how a devotee feels even routine duty as exile from the Lord.

The gopīs cursing the night

In the rāsa-līlā (SB 10.29-33), the gopīs experience the opposite distortion of time — the night of Brahmā felt to them as an instant, and any moment apart from Kṛṣṇa felt as a yuga.

The Dvārakā queens here inherit that same mood. Vraja-viraha and Dvārakā-viraha share one heart: separation from Mādhava is the only real misfortune, and the bird who announces dawn is therefore the worst of messengers.

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