Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.23.14
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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snigdhāḥ
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affectionate
From √snih — 'to be sticky with affection.' The wives' affection is the adhesive Kṛṣṇa Himself points to as the reason they will give. Sneha is the rasa-marker of vātsalya/madhura preceding prema.
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mayi
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in Me
Locative. Where the wives' intelligence resides. Gauḍīyas read this with Gītā 12.8 (mayy eva mana ādhatsva): the residence of buddhi in Kṛṣṇa is the operational definition of bhakti.
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uṣitāḥ
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residing
Past participle of √vas — 'to dwell.' Not visiting, dwelling. The wives are not yet seen by the world as devotees, but their minds have long since taken up permanent residence in Bhagavān.
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dhiyā
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with their intelligence
Instrumental of dhī. It is buddhi, not just emotion, that resides in Kṛṣṇa. Gauḍīyas resist the modern split between 'devotion' and 'intelligence'; in śuddha-bhakti, dhī goes where prema goes.
While physically the wives of the brāhmaṇas remained at home, within their minds they resided in the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa because of intense affection for Him. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that the reason Lord Kṛṣṇa did not have the cowherd boys tell the brāhmaṇas’ wives He was hungry is that He knew this would severely distress these devoted ladies. Simply out of affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, the wives would be happy to give all the food requested of them. They would not heed their husbands’ prohibitions, since they resided within the Lord through their transcendental intelligence.
"Just tell the wives of the brahmanas that we are coming. You do not have to tell them that we are hungry, for if they hear that we are hungry, they will become miserably thinking that we are suffering." "But how will they give us food, if we do not tell them you are hungry?" "Seeing that you are hungry, they will give for us." "But their husbands will prevent them." "They have great affection for me. They will not consider the obstructions of their husbands, for their minds dwell in me (mayi usita dhiya). They live in their husbands’ houses in body only."
Tell the wives that I have come, not about being hungry or asking for food, for just telling them that I have come, they will give food. The wives (patnībhyaḥ) were related to them because of the sacrifice. This word patnī indicates a wife qualified for sacrifice according to patyur naḥ samyoge. (Pāṇini 4.1.33) The wives are with their husbands because of dharma, not because of material attraction, since they have deep love of me. Since their love was for him, Balarāma is mentioned secondarily. He uses the name Saṅkarṣaṇa to indicate Balarāma’s glories. “How will they give without permission from their husbands? Though they may give a little they will be prevented by their husbands.” They are affectionate to me. They have no respect for their husbands.
The river has two banks; the boys have just been pushed off the harder bank, where ritual stands. Kṛṣṇa now sends them to the softer bank, where bhakti has been quietly waiting — the wives' minds already 'reside in Me alone.'
When Kṛṣṇa visited Hastināpura, Duryodhana spread out a royal feast and the Lord refused it. He went instead to Vidura's modest house where Vidurāṇī, hearing His voice, came out so absorbed that she served Him banana peels in place of the bananas — and Kṛṣṇa ate them with relish.
Kṛṣṇa's logic in this verse is the same: He bypasses the hall of professionals to reach the inner room of the bhakta. Mayi-uṣitāḥ — minds residing in Him — is the only credential He requires.
My note
Source: vedabase.io