Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.32.13
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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darśana
—
due to seeing
From √dṛś — to see. Darśana in Bhāgavata is mutual: the devotee sees Bhagavān and is seen by Him. The compound tad-darśana-āhlāda names the specific joy that floods at the moment of mutual sight, distinguishable from anticipatory or remembered joy.
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manaḥ - ratha
—
of their desires
Compound: manas (mind) + ratha (chariot). The mind's chariot — the heart's wished-for course. When manorathāntam (the end of the chariot) is reached, every wish is fulfilled. Bhakti's goal, Gauḍīyas note, is exactly this: the heart's chariot ends at His feet.
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śrutayaḥ
—
the revealed scriptures
Plural of śruti — the personified Vedas. SB 10.87 (Veda-stuti) describes them as approaching Kṛṣṇa after performing penance to taste His prema. The gopīs are here compared to them — and Gauḍīya commentary glosses: 'compared, but in fact higher, for the gopīs need no tapas.'
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kuca - kuṅkuma
—
with the vermilion powder of their breasts
Compound: kuca (breast) + kuṅkuma (red vermilion powder). The kuṅkuma the gopīs wore on their bodies has rubbed onto their upper cloths during the night's separation. That the very cloth marked by their longing becomes Kṛṣṇa's seat is the verse's central image.
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ātma - bandhave
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for the dear friend of their souls
Compound: ātman (soul) + bandhu (friend, kinsman). Bandhu is the term of intimate kinship — closer than mitra (friend). For Gauḍīyas, Kṛṣṇa as ātma-bandhu is the eternal kinsman of every jīva, but the gopīs are the realized exemplars of that relationship.
In the Eighty-seventh Chapter of this canto (text 23), the śrutis, or personified Vedas, pray as follows: striya uragendra-bhoga-bhuja-daṇḍa-viṣakta-dhiyo vayam api te samāḥ samadṛśo ’ṅghri-saroja-sudhāḥ “These women fully absorbed their minds in meditation on Lord Kṛṣṇa’s powerful arms, which are like the bodies of great serpents. We want to become just like the gopīs and render service to His lotus feet.” The śrutis had seen Kṛṣṇa during His appearance in the previous day of Brahmā and had become full of the most intense desire to associate with Him. Then in this kalpa they became gopīs. And since the Vedas are eternal in human society, the śrutis in this kalpa also become full of desire for Kṛṣṇa and in the next kalpa will also become gopīs. This information is given by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.
This verse describes the service of love offered by the gopis in friendly affection. These women of Vraja whose suffering was removed by the blissful sight of Krsna who bewilders the whole world, served their dear friend by spreading out their cloth covering their breasts as a seat for him. Seeing them, the upanisads fulfilled their highest desire (manorathantam). Or, seeing them the upanisads were full of longing. "When will we be able to become women of Vraja and enjoy with Krsna by spreading out or cloth tinged with kumkum from our breasts?" In the Brhad Vamana Purana it is said that the Upanisads, in order to attain bodies of gopis, performed severe austerities following after gopis’ passions. The Upanisads themselves say, "The women of Vraja attained the nectar of his lotus feet, having their intelligence vanquished by the sharp poison in the form of the beauty of his arms appearing like snakes. We will take bodies of gopis and attain his lotus feet, following after the gopis." Sb 10.89.23 Seeing Krsna in a previous yuga, all the Upanisads became eager to enjoy with Krsna, and in this present cycle attained bodies of gopis. Those upanisads in this yuga cycle who desire to enjoy with Krsna will become gopis in the next yuga when Krsna appears in Gokula. It should be understood that the Upanisads are unlimited in number.
The service in prema of the overjoyed gopīs is described. All their worries were completely destroyed by seeing Kṛṣṇa. This means that their previous worry that he would again disappear had vanished. Thus with all worries vanquished, by coming to this place with him, they understood that they would remain there for a long time for the rāsa pastimes. Not only was their intense grief dissipated but they attained the highest joy: they attained their desire, the highest goal (manorathāntam). An example is given of the śrutis. The śrutis, revealing him with his attractive pastimes, give up their bad condition of revealing various philosophies and concluded with the ultimate meaning. The Lord says: yasyāṁ na me pāvanam aṅga karma sthity-udbhava-prāṇa-nirodham asya līlāvatārepsita-janma vā syād vandhyāṁ giraṁ tāṁ bibhṛyān na dhīraḥ O Uddhava! The wise do not accept useless scriptures in which there are no descriptions of how I create, maintain and destroy the universe, and in which there are no descriptions of my auspicious birth as Kṛṣṇa among all the līlāvatāras. SB 11.11.20 Suta says: sva-sukha-nibhṛta-cetās tad-vyudastānya-bhāvo 'py ajita-rucira-līlākṛṣṭa-sāras tadīyam vyatanuta kṛpayā yas tattva-dīpaṁ purāṇaṁ tam akhila-vṛjina-ghnaṁ vyāsa-sūnuṁ nato 'smi Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who destroys of all sin, and who, though fixed in his own bliss with no distractions, became attracted to the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and mercifully spread the Bhāgavatam which describes Kṛṣṇa and reveals the rasa of his pastimes. SB 12.12.69 Thus the final revelation of the śrutis is the rāsa pastimes filled with the highest prema. By this the śrutis become successful. The greatness of the rāsa dance is thus shown. The ornament is called sahokti. Being settled in heart, they made a seat in a very charming manner by using their upper cloths—cloths used for covering the whole body or their breasts, which were stained with kuṁkuma from their breasts because of their crying in separation. “How did they manage to give up their shyness and make a seat for him from their clothing?” They did this because they felt he was a true friend (ātma-bandhave). They all made seats using their fine cloth in groups.
The service in prema of the overjoyed gopīs is described. All their worries were completely destroyed by seeing Kṛṣṇa. This means that their previous worry that he would again disappear had vanished. Thus with all worries vanquished, by coming to this place with him, they understood that they would remain there for a long time for the rāsa pastimes. Not only was their intense grief dissipated but they attained the highest joy: they attained their desire, the highest goal (manorathāntam). Or it was as if they attained their goal, the rāsa dance, which was about to occur. An example is given of the śrutis. The śrutis, revealing him with his attractive pastimes, seemed to attain him. They did not directly attain him. tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ yad gokule ’pi katamāṅghri-rajo-’bhiṣekam yaj-jīvitaṁ tu nikhilaṁ bhagavān mukundas tv adyāpi yat-pada-rajaḥ śruti-mṛgyam eva My greatest possible good fortune would be to take any birth whatever in this forest of Gokula and have my head bathed by the dust falling from the lotus feet of any of its residents. Their entire life and soul is the Lord, Mukunda, the dust of whose lotus feet is sought even today by the Upaniṣads. SB 10.14.34 Or joyful on seeing the Lord, cleansed of the pain in their hearts, they attained the end of their desire, seeing him. With the disappearance of the intense pains of separation, from the gradual disappearance of the last impressions, even the śrutis, seeing the Lord, gave up the pain of desire. Or they gave up fixation in their desire because there was no superior desire. They attained him and desired the rāsa dance. The śrutis, on seeing the Lord, desired bhakti to him. They made a seat in a very charming manner by using their upper cloths—cloths used for covering the whole body or their breasts, which were stained with kuṁkuma from their breasts because of their crying in separation. “How did they manage to give up their shyness and make a seat for him from their clothing stained with kuṁkuma?” They did this because they felt he was a dearest to them (ātma-bandhave). They would be aggrieved at making him sit on the ground. Thus with friendly prema they made a seat, with great enthusiasm, inspired, without independent thought. Making the seat, they surrounded him, protecting him, fearing he would disappear. Or they asked about his comfort. Or they offered the seat to he who was dearer than themselves (ātma-bandhave). They were bewildered by great prema. They piled up their fine upper cloths to make a thick seat. Or each group made a seat.
The gopīs spread their own kuṅkuma-stained upper cloths as a seat for Kṛṣṇa — the same shawls that absorbed their viraha-tears now become His āsana. What the night spent receiving sorrow, the dawn spends offering hospitality. Service is what wounded cloth becomes once Kṛṣṇa returns.
Bhāgavatam 10.87 records the Veda-stuti — the personified Vedas (śrutis) approaching Bhagavān after long austerity, finally tasting the prema they had only described. The verse here explicitly compares the gopīs to those śrutis: 'manoratha-antaṁ śrutayo yathā yayuḥ.'
For Gauḍīyas this is one of the great gradations: the śrutis had to perform tapas to reach what the gopīs reach by love alone. The Vedas worship Kṛṣṇa; the gopīs seat Him.
My note
Source: vedabase.io