FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.30.35-36

ఇత్యేవం దర్శయన్త్యస్తాశ్చేరుర్గోప్యో విచేతస: । యాం గోపీమనయత్కృష్ణో విహాయాన్యా: స్త్రియో వనే ॥ ౩౫ ॥ సా చ మేనే తదాత్మానం వరిష్ఠం సర్వయోషితామ్ । హిత్వా గోపీ: కామయానా మామసౌ భజతే ప్రియ: ॥ ౩౬ ॥
ity evaṁ darśayantyas tāś
[ity evam darshayantyas taash]
cerur gopyo vicetasaḥ
[cherur gopyo vichetasah]
yāṁ gopīm anayat kṛṣṇo
[yaam gopeem anayat krishno]
vihāyānyāḥ striyo vane
[vihaayaanyaah striyo vane]
sā ca mene tadātmānaṁ
[saa cha mene tadaatmaanam]
variṣṭhaṁ sarva-yoṣitām
[varishtham sarva-yoshitaam]
hitvā gopīḥ kāma-yānā
[hitvaa gopeeh kaama-yaanaa]
mām asau bhajate priyaḥ
[maam asau bhajate priyah]
iti — thus evam — in this manner darśayantyaḥ — showing tāḥ — they ceruḥ — wandered gopyaḥ — the gopīs vicetasaḥ — completely bewildered yām — which gopīm — gopī anayat — He took kṛṣṇaḥ — Lord Kṛṣṇa vihāya — abandoning anyāḥ — the other striyaḥ — women vane — in the forest sā — She ca — also mene — thought tadā — then ātmānam — Herself variṣṭham — the best sarva — of all yoṣitām — women hitvā — rejecting gopīḥ — the gopīs kāma - yānāḥ — who are impelled by lusty desire mām — Me asau — He bhajate — is accepting priyaḥ — the beloved .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ity evaṁ darśayantyas tāś
iti
thus
evam
in this manner
darśayantyaḥ
showing
tāḥ
they
cerur gopyo vicetasaḥ
ceruḥ
wandered
gopyaḥ
the gopīs
vicetasaḥ
completely bewildered
yāṁ gopīm anayat kṛṣṇo
yām
which
gopīm
gopī
anayat
He took
kṛṣṇaḥ
Lord Kṛṣṇa
vihāyānyāḥ striyo vane
vihāya
abandoning
anyāḥ
the other
striyaḥ
women
vane
in the forest
sā ca mene tadātmānaṁ
sā
She
ca
also
mene
thought
tadā
then
ātmānam
Herself
variṣṭhaṁ sarva-yoṣitām
variṣṭham
the best
sarva
of all
yoṣitām
women
hitvā gopīḥ kāma-yānā
hitvā
rejecting
gopīḥ
the gopīs
kāma - yānāḥ
who are impelled by lusty desire
mām asau bhajate priyaḥ
mām
Me
asau
He
bhajate
is accepting
priyaḥ
the beloved .
  • vicetasaḥ — completely bewildered
    From vi- (without) + cetas (consciousness). The gopīs are out of their minds. The Gosvāmīs distinguish this divyonmāda from ordinary bewilderment — it is a vyabhicārī-bhāva, an intensifier of mahābhāva. Wandering distracted is part of the rasa, not failure of it.
  • ātmānam-variṣṭham — Herself the best
    Phrase: ātmānam (self) + variṣṭham (most excellent). The exact thought the rāsa cannot tolerate. Gauḍīya teaching: in mādhurya the gopī is at Her highest precisely when She thinks Herself unworthy; the moment She thinks Herself worthy, the līlā corrects.
  • kāma-yānāḥ — who are impelled by lusty desire
    Compound: kāma (desire) + yāna (going, impelled). The thought-bubble in the gopī's mind belittles the other gopīs as 'kāma-impelled' while exalting Herself. Gauḍīya commentators note this is the ahaṅkāra-seed; the Lord disappears precisely to extract it.
  • anayat — He took
    Imperfect of √nī (to lead). Kṛṣṇa was the agent of Her being led aside — but the verb is plain, not glorifying. The text does not aggrandize the choosing; the gopī's pride misreads what was given as gift as what was earned by superiority.
  • asau-bhajate-priyaḥ — He, the Beloved, is accepting Me
    Phrase: asau (He) + bhajate (accepts in worship) + priyaḥ (Beloved). Note the inversion: She thinks He is doing bhajana of Her. The verb of devotion (√bhaj) flowing in the wrong direction — the most subtle pride imaginable, and the one the rāsa must dissolve.
As the gopīs wandered about, their minds completely bewildered, they pointed out various signs of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. The particular gopī whom Kṛṣṇa had led into a secluded forest when He had abandoned all the other young girls began to think Herself the best of women. “My beloved has rejected all the other gopīs,” She thought, “even though they are driven by Cupid himself. He has chosen to reciprocate with Me alone.”

Previously all the gopīs had become proud of their association with Kṛṣṇa and then suddenly lost His association. Only Rādhārāṇī remained with Him. Now She has also become proud of that association and will suffer a similar fate. The Lord arranges all this to reveal the gopīs’ unparalleled devotion for Him, a devotion whose intensity fully manifests in moments of separation.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
As the gopīs wandered about, their minds completely bewildered, they pointed out various signs of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. The particular gopī whom Kṛṣṇa had led into a secluded forest when He had abandoned all the other young girls began to think Herself the best of women. "My beloved has rejected all the other gopīs," She thought, "even though they are driven by Cupid himself. He has chosen to reciprocate with Me alone."
Commentary

After showing the good fortune of Radha through the statements of the gopis, Sukadeva himself concludes with his own words. Though Krsna is self satisfied (atmarama), he enjoyed in the company of Radha, because he enjoys (ratah) with the most splendid soul (su atma =svatma), Radha. He does not enjoy as atma rama as much as he enjoys with Radha. There is another reading taya ca atamratah. However in that version atma ratah would have the same meaning as atmarama and thus there would be the fault of repetition or redundancy (punar ukti). Thus the phrase would have to be explained as follows. Ca means certainly, taya means with Radha and atma rata means to enjoy with eagerness. Atma means intellect, eagerness or effort, determination according to the Amara kosa. "Though Krsna is atma rama he enjoyed particularly and eagerly with Radha." "But if this is so, does this not indicate that Krsna is incomplete?" This is so, but Krsna is still complete (akhandita), because Radha is Krsna’s hladini sakti, arising form his very svarupa. Though she has the form of hladini sakti, during pastimes, her form transforms into the essence of joy, called prema, and prema reaches its highest pinnacle as mahabhava. Thus Krsna enjoys more happiness with Radha, the essence of all joy, than with the happiness arising from his quality as atmarama. Thus in the tantras it is said, "The great sakti called hladini is the supreme sakti. The essence of that sakti is in the form of mahabhava, embodied in Radha, who is supreme in all qualities." Thus, though Krsna is atmarama, he is eager to enjoy with Radha, and still he is perfect. By this display of enjoyment, he also gives benefit to the materialistic thinkers who are ignorant of the nature of the Lord, and hides from them his nature as an enjoyer. Krsna enjoyed with Radha to show the lowness of the lusty man and the hard hearted nature of the lusty woman. Because a person controlled by lust or woman cannot understand, he gave them instruction. If a man is controlled by lust, he becomes miserable. When he is in that miserable position, the woman becomes hard hearted. Krsna and his dear gopis show this through their actions, and thereby hide their nature of spiritual conjugal love while holding their conversations. This is the significance of ca in this verse. To show the miserable nature of man and the hard hearted condition of women, and (ca) to hide the nature of prema rasa, Krsna enjoyed with Radha in this way. Another meaning is: Krsna enjoyed with Radha so that all suffering lovers seeing Krsna’s condition could understand their miserable condition , and all women, seeing the nature of Radha, could see their own hard hearted condition, according to the principle of "As I experience, so does the whole world." Another meaning is : Krsna acted as he did to show those who appreciate rasa that the man becomes subservient in pleading for satisfaction and the woman shows reluctance. This is all done for the nourishment of rasa.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Śrīdhara Svāmī does not accept these two verses since the first verse does not match the first line of previous verse spoken by Śukadeva and the second verse does not match the second line of the previous verse. Having praised the love of the couple, Śukadeva now describes her pastime of māna and his attempt to please her in order to nourish the rasa. Now she began to think of her special position. Previously she did not have pride when staying amongst the other gopīs but now such thoughts arose. There are two types of māna: that which is permanently filled with great joy which manifests when the lover is present and that which is permanently filled with great pride which manifests when some other object appears. Rādhā developed great joy extending for a long period, when Kṛṣṇa appeared with her alone. Now that māna manifested somewhat externally. She felt superior because he (asau) had given up all other gopīs who were filled with desire. The word asau (that person) indicates a rare person, supremely independent, with inconceivable greatness. That great person, showing affection for only me (priyaḥ), serves me (bhajate). Though māna would appear to others also, it would be to other gopīs, not to other women. In that way, māna is special, just as prema is special.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

They showed the signs of the couple’s play one after the other or explained them. Or speaking in this way (iti) and showing the signs, filled with pain of separation (tāḥ), without intelligence or helpless because of separation (vicetasaḥ), since they had love only for him, they wandered about or went forward. Some say, “When she was among the others she did not have such pride. It arose at this time.” But actually tadā means “having such rati” she thought in this way. Or she thought herself most enjoyed by him (tad) among all the women of Vraja, because he gave up all gopīs, though loved by him (kāmayānā). He, having indescribable, wondrous glories, supremely independent and most rare (asau), who loves only me (priya), follows me. Or though he loves the others also, he follows me. The pride of the svādhīna-bhartṛkā, the best of skilful women lovers, nourishes rasa. His response and mercy will manifest later.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Udyama (Industriousness / Effort)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses
Concepts
Atma

When a queen, briefly seated on her king's own throne, begins to believe the throne is hers, the king must withdraw to teach. The most-loved gopī, having been led aside, thinks 'He has rejected all of them and chosen Me' — and the thought itself is the first signal that withdrawal must come. Pride at the rāsa is the gravest fall.

Lakṣmī's exclusion from rāsa

Tradition records (drawn out by Jīva Gosvāmī and others from the Bhāgavata's hints) that Lakṣmī herself once stood at Vraja's edge longing to enter the rāsa-dance — and could not, because she carried with her the consciousness of her own status as Viṣṇu's queen. Aiśvarya cannot enter mādhurya.

The special gopī's slip into 'ātmānam variṣṭham mene — She thought Herself the best' is exactly Lakṣmī's mistake re-played at the center of Vraja. Gauḍīyas note: the gopī is greater than Lakṣmī precisely insofar as She does not hold onto this thought; pride is corrected by separation in the next verses.

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