FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.39.24

తాసాం ముకున్దో మధుమఞ్జుభాషితై- ర్గృహీతచిత్త: పరవాన్ మనస్వ్యపి । కథం పునర్న: ప్రతియాస్యతేఽబలా గ్రామ్యా: సలజ్జస్మితవిభ్రమైర్భ్రమన్ ॥ ౨౪ ॥
tāsāṁ mukundo madhu-mañju-bhāṣitair
[taasaam mukundo madhu-manju-bhaashitair]
gṛhīta-cittaḥ para-vān manasvy api
[griheeta-chittah para-vaan manasvy api]
kathaṁ punar naḥ pratiyāsyate ’balā
[katham punar nah pratiyaasyate ’balaa]
grāmyāḥ salajja-smita-vibhramair bhraman
[graamyaah salajja-smita-vibhramair bhraman]
tāsām — their mukundaḥ — Kṛṣṇa madhu — like honey mañju — sweet bhāṣitaiḥ — by the words gṛhīta — seized cittaḥ — whose mind paravān — subservient manasvī — intelligent api — although katham — how punaḥ — again naḥ — to us pratiyāsyate — will He return abalāḥ — O girls grāmyāḥ — who are rustic sa - lajja — shyly smita — smiling vibhramaiḥ — by their enchantments bhraman — becoming bewildered .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tāsāṁ mukundo madhu-mañju-bhāṣitair
tāsām
their
mukundaḥ
Kṛṣṇa
madhu
like honey
mañju
sweet
bhāṣitaiḥ
by the words
gṛhīta-cittaḥ para-vān manasvy api
gṛhīta
seized
cittaḥ
whose mind
paravān
subservient
manasvī
intelligent
api
although
kathaṁ punar naḥ pratiyāsyate ’balā
katham
how
punaḥ
again
naḥ
to us
pratiyāsyate
will He return
abalāḥ
O girls
grāmyāḥ salajja-smita-vibhramair bhraman
grāmyāḥ
who are rustic
sa - lajja
shyly
smita
smiling
vibhramaiḥ
by their enchantments
bhraman
becoming bewildered .
  • abalāḥ grāmyāḥ — (we) helpless village-women
    Abalā = without strength; grāmya = of the village. Self-deprecation as rasa-tool: by calling themselves powerless rustics they emphasize the asymmetry — and intensify the longing that is their actual power.
  • madhu - mañju - bhāṣitaiḥ — by honey-sweet pleasing words
    Triple-compound: honey + pleasant + speech. The Mathurā women's threat is rhetorical — sweet talk, not beauty. Gauḍīyas hold that Kṛṣṇa is conquered by speech-of-love, never by physical advantage.
  • vibhramaiḥ — by alluring gestures / coquetries
    Vibhrama = the practiced flutters of court-women, listed in classical rasa-śāstra (Bharata's Nāṭya-śāstra). The gopīs fear precisely the polished arts they have never cultivated.
  • manasvī — thoughtful / intelligent
    They admit He is manasvī — intelligent — but pair it with paravān (controlled by others). The intellect they trust is the very faculty that may be captured by city-charm.
O gopīs, although our Mukunda is intelligent and very obedient to His parents, once He has fallen under the spell of the honey-sweet words of the women of Mathurā and been enchanted by their alluring, shy smiles, how will He ever return to us unsophisticated village girls?
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O gopīs, although our Mukunda is intelligent and very obedient to His parents, once He has fallen under the spell of the honey—sweet words of the women of Mathurā and been enchanted by their alluring, shy smiles, how will He ever return to us unsophisticated village girls?
Commentary

"Perhaps he will stay there a few days, and then being attracted by our love, will be brought back by his parents." "O foolish woman! You do not know the truth. Listen. Though obedient to his parents, being overwhelmed by the sweet words of the women of Mathura, how will he return to us? Why do you give useless hope to the minds of us village women who are devoid of beauty, arts and strength (abalah)?’ "But though that is so, you should have faith that he will return, intelligently remembering his parents and sense of duty." "But he will become bewildered by their amorous suggestive actions and shy smiles, and forget all of that."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He will completely forget everything (bhraman) because of the women of Mathurā. Though he is obedient to his parents (para-vān) he will fall under their control (gṛhīta-cittaḥ). Or, because he falls under their control (gṛhīta-cittaḥ) he will be dependent on those women (para-vān). mathurāṁ prāpya govindaḥ kathaṁ gokulam eṣyati / nagara-strī-kalālāpa-madhu śrotreṇa pāsyati // vilāsi-vākya-pāneṣu nāgarīṇāṁ kṛtāspadam / cittam asya kathaṁ bhūyo grāmya-gopīṣu yāsyati // grāmyo harir ayaṁ tāsāṁ vilāsa-nigaḍair yutaḥ / bhavatīnāṁ punaḥ pārśvaṁ kayā yuktyā sameṣyati // If Govinda goes to Mathurā, why will he return to Gokula? He will drink the honey of the city women’s arts and speech with his hears. How will his heart, relishing their words and gestures, taking shelter of them, return to rustic gopīs? This village boy will be bound by the chains of their flirting. By what logic will he return to you women of Gokula? Viṣṇu Purāṇa This shows that falling under their control (gṛhīta-cittaḥ) he will be dependent on those women (para-vān).

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Brahmacharya (Self-discipline / Restraint)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)
Related verses

Like a country boy who has been sent to the king's court and is fed on the city ladies' honey-words and shy smiles — how will he ever come back to the rough cowherd-girls in their plain saris? The gopīs cast themselves as unsophisticated and Mathurā's women as the deadly polish.

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