FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.39.31

శ్రీశుక ఉవాచ ఏవం బ్రువాణా విరహాతురా భృశం వ్రజస్త్రియ: కృష్ణవిషక్తమానసా: । విసృజ్య లజ్జాం రురుదు: స్మ సుస్వరం గోవిన్ద దామోదర మాధవేతి ॥ ౩౧ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
evaṁ bruvāṇā virahāturā bhṛśaṁ
[evam bruvaanaa virahaaturaa bhrisham]
vraja-striyaḥ kṛṣṇa-viṣakta-mānasāḥ
[vraja-striyah krishna-vishakta-maanasaah]
visṛjya lajjāṁ ruruduḥ sma su-svaraṁ
[visrijya lajjaam ruruduh sma su-svaram]
govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
[govinda daamodara maadhaveti]
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said evam — thus bruvāṇāḥ — speaking viraha — by feelings of separation āturāḥ — distraught bhṛśam — thoroughly vraja - striyaḥ — the ladies of Vraja kṛṣṇa — to Kṛṣṇa viṣakta — attached mānasāḥ — their minds visṛjya — abandoning lajjām — shame ruruduḥ sma — they cried su - svaram — loudly govinda dāmodara mādhava iti — O Govinda, O Dāmodara, O Mādhava .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
evaṁ bruvāṇā virahāturā bhṛśaṁ
evam
thus
bruvāṇāḥ
speaking
viraha
by feelings of separation
āturāḥ
distraught
bhṛśam
thoroughly
vraja-striyaḥ kṛṣṇa-viṣakta-mānasāḥ
vraja - striyaḥ
the ladies of Vraja
kṛṣṇa
to Kṛṣṇa
viṣakta
attached
mānasāḥ
their minds
visṛjya lajjāṁ ruruduḥ sma su-svaraṁ
visṛjya
abandoning
lajjām
shame
ruruduḥ sma
they cried
su - svaram
loudly
govinda dāmodara mādhaveti
govinda dāmodara mādhava iti
O Govinda, O Dāmodara, O Mādhava .
  • viraha - āturāḥ — afflicted by separation
    Viraha-ātura — the technical state of being struck down by viraha. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra names this as the highest condition of bhakti, since prema is measured by capacity to bear (or fail to bear) separation.
  • visṛjya lajjām — having abandoned shame
    Lajjā-tyāga — the moment a gopī crosses out of social self-concern entirely. Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu lists this as a sign of mahā-bhāva, where conventional restraints simply dissolve.
  • govinda dāmodara mādhava iti — 'O Govinda! O Dāmodara! O Mādhava!'
    The three names: cow-protector, rope-bound, husband-of-fortune. Each name a Vraja-līlā compressed: Govardhana, Yaśodā's rope, Lakṣmī. The gopīs invoke His complete biography in three breaths.
  • viṣakta - mānasāḥ — whose minds are attached (to Kṛṣṇa)
    Vi-sakta = fastened to, glued. The minds of the gopīs are described as literally adhered to Kṛṣṇa — saṁyoga of the most intense kind. This is the seed-stage of mahā-bhāva proper.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After speaking these words, the ladies of Vraja, who were so attached to Kṛṣṇa, felt extremely agitated by their imminent separation from Him. They forgot all shame and loudly cried out, “O Govinda! O Dāmodara! O Mādhava!”

For a long time the gopīs had carefully hidden their conjugal love for Kṛṣṇa. But now that Kṛṣṇa was leaving, the gopīs were so distressed that they could no longer hide their feelings.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After speaking these words, the ladies of Vraja, who were so attached to Kṛṣṇa, felt extremely agitated by their imminent separation from Him. They forgot all shame and loudly cried out, "O Govinda! O Dāmodara! O Mādhava!"
Commentary

After discussing in this way, when they assembled in a group and began to go towards the chariot in order to bring Krsna down from it, their legs became paralyzed and all they could do was weep. Due to the pain of separation they could neither move a step nor utter clear words. "O govinda, take (vinda) all of our thousands of senses such as mind and eye (go). Mercifully take these gopis who are following you. Let our senses remain joined to the bull of your mind. Do not neglect them. If our bodies are not suitable for meeting with you, and you do not come to us, then right here we will leave our bodies. If you want, you may kill women, but you cannot kill your mother, from love of whom you accepted the bondage of the ropes (damodara). If you do not appear the day after tomorrow, then she will die. So do not be a killer of your mother. O husband of Laksmi (Madhava), you are not our husband, but a friend. As husband, you would not be at fault if you protected or destroyed us, because we would be your property. But we belong to someone else. Therefore do not do something which will be a cause of our destruction."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

By the power of their lamenting words caused by intense pain of separation, they wailed using his names which intensified their sorrow. The phrase “After speaking in this way” means that they spoke other words also. The cause was the uncontrollable pain caused by separation (virahāturā). The cause of this was that they were the women of Vraja (vraja-striyaḥ), famous for natural prema. Their minds were attached to Kṛṣṇa in prema. Giving up shyness they cried loudly and pitiably (su-svaram). Sma merely completes the meter. Because of the pain they could do nothing more. They cried out his names. O Govinda! You are the king of Gokula. Without you all of Gokula will be destroyed in a moment. O Dāmodara! The name makes Yaśodā recall her repentance at tying you up. Without you, what state will she be in, remembering that name? O Mādhava! Even Lakṣmī has secretly accepted you. Jayati te ’dhikaṁ janmanā vrajaḥ śrayata indirā śaśvad atra hi: by your birth the land of Vraja has become exceedingly glorious, and thus Lakṣmī always resides here. (SB 10.31.1) Satatam urasi saumya śrīr vadhūḥ sākam āste: Lakṣmī is always with him, staying upon his chest. (SB 10.47.20) Since you are the supreme lover, you are the object of our attraction. Remembering this, they say, “How will we spend our time?” Mādhava means “he who makes Lakṣmī agitated (mā dhunoti).” Therefore they utter this name suitably at this time. How will we live without you, though you are the Lord spread everywhere? But in dying, we will not be able to see you! They uttered many other names also.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses

Like daughters who, finding their elder brother about to leave for war, drop all decorum and cry his name aloud through the village — the gopīs, having lost shame, cry out 'Govinda! Dāmodara! Mādhava!' at the top of their voices. The names Caitanya Mahāprabhu would later chant for twelve years at Purī are first cried here by the gopīs.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu's Govinda-Dāmodara-Mādhava

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when overwhelmed by separation from Kṛṣṇa at Jagannātha Purī, would chant just three names — Govinda Dāmodara Mādhava — in the precise cadence given by this verse, sometimes rolling on the sand, sometimes silent for hours (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā).

Gauḍīya tradition identifies Caitanya as Kṛṣṇa Himself tasting the gopīs' viraha; the three names He chants are the three names this verse records. Govinda-Dāmodara-Mādhava is therefore both the gopīs' cry and the Lord's own answer to it — circularity of prema.

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