Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.46.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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preyasām-preṣṭhe
—
the dearmost among all dear
Genitive plural + locative: 'In the most dear of (all) loved ones.' The phrase functions like a superlative-of-superlatives. Among the many priya beings the gopīs know, Kṛṣṇa is the One whose dearness exceeds the entire set.
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smarantyaḥ
—
(women) remembering
Feminine plural present participle of √smṛ. Smaraṇa is the third of the nine limbs of bhakti, but for the gopīs it has become not a sādhana but a condition — they cannot stop. This is rāgānugā-smaraṇa in its native habitat.
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vimuhyanti
—
they become stunned
Third-person plural present of vi-√muh (to be utterly bewildered). Not ordinary moha — vi-moha, the kind that bhakti-rasa-śāstras catalogue as a sāttvika-bhāva of the highest grade (stambha).
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viraha
—
separation
From vi- + √rah (to part). Synonym of viyoga in 46.3 but with a more searing register; viraha is the term Gauḍīya kāvya prefers for the gopīs' specific agony. The verse uses both words across two lines, marking the rasa's two faces.
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autkaṇṭhya
—
the anxiety, intense longing
Abstract noun from utkaṇṭha (one whose neck is upraised — stretching toward what is absent). Visceral image: the heart is craning toward Mathurā. Utkaṇṭhā becomes a near-synonym of bhāva itself in later Gauḍīya manuals.
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vihvalāḥ
—
overwhelmed
From vi- + √hval (to stagger, to be unsteady). Bodily symptom of mahābhāva — the gopīs literally cannot keep their feet. Same word will recur at verse 27 for Nanda overcome by prema-prasara — the chapter is binding gopī-rasa and vātsalya-rasa with one vocabulary.
Whatever is dear to us becomes an object of our possessiveness. Ultimately the most dear object is our very soul, or our self. Thus things in a favorable relationship to our self also become dear to us, and we try to possess them. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, among countless millions of such dear things, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the most dear of all, even dearer than one’s own self. The gopīs had realized this fact, and thus they were stunned in separation from the Lord because of their intense love for Him. Although they would have given up their lives, they were kept alive by the Lord’s transcendental potency.
"If you are their mind, prana, the dearmost and their soul, why do they not come here to Mathura? What can they do remaining in Vraja?" This verse answers the question. "These women of Gokula fix their minds on me, dressed as a cowherd boy and ornamented with peacock feather, flute, gunja berries and clay. I also do not desire to bring them here. Why should they come to Mathura?" "Objects of attachment are dear. The object of self identity, the soul, is dear. If the one soul becomes many, among millions of souls, there is the dearmost. If there are some objects dear among millions of souls, among those dear objects, I am the most dear. Thus if I, dearmost among all dear objects, am in a far off place, the gopis become bewildered and faint. Though, by my inconceivable yoga maya energy, they maintain their lives, it appears not possible for them to continue living."
“Since they have absorbed their minds in you, they have attained you. Why should you worry about them?” Internally they are absorbed in me but externally they have become very disturbed. That is described in this verse. As women of Gokula, they can maintain their lives only by seeing me. That is their extraordinary nature. The superlative degree in preṣṭha indicates an object which surpasses all others (Pāṇini 5.3.55.) That is priya or dear which is the object of complete possessiveness. That is dear (preyān) which is ātmā, with identity as “I.” If there are many such objects, among them all, that which surpasses them all--which is dearer than all things related to me--is dearest (preṣṭhe). When I am close, they express sentiments like “We can eagerly look upon your beautiful face, so lovely with its adornment of curly locks.” (SB 10.31.15) However, now I am far away. They remember that I am far away. On thinking about it, they faint (vimuhyanti). They think for a short time and faint for a long time. Ah! What misfortune! They cannot even think of me! The present tense is used to show that repeatedly they think and faint. The cause of fainting is their exhaustion from longing in separation. They drool. This is a symptom of the vyabhicārī-bhava called apasmara or epileptic fit. Previously they displayed various clear symptoms. Na vidāmaḥ kaśmalena kavaraṁ vasanaṁ vā: we are unaware that our hair and garments are slackening. (SB 10.35.17) However, now with their extreme symptoms known everywhere, I am embarrassed to go there. In distress Kṛṣṇa calls out aṅga. Also it means “Uddhava you are like my limb.” This gives courage to Uddhava to console the gopīs.
Their pain is more than mine. That is expressed in two verses. These women of Gokula have indescribable love, and are dedicated fully to me. Being women living in Vraja, their love is greater than mine. Among all dear persons, I am dearest to them but live far away in Mathurā. In great pain of separation, longing to see me, they remember me or the rāsa dance. Or they softly chant “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” since it is impossible to forget me. They become completely bewildered or faint. They fall on the ground and remain there. O friend with limbs similar to mine (aṅga)! O dear friend! You alone understand this.
When a child wakes in the night calling for a mother who is not in the room, the very name 'mother' becomes both the wound and the medicine. The gopīs' remembering of Kṛṣṇa is exactly this — smaraṇa is the cause of the agony and the only relief from it. Vipralambha-rasa pivots on this paradox.
In His final years at Jagannātha Purī, Mahāprabhu lived inside the room called the Gambhīrā in the state these very gopīs are in: smarantyaḥ ... vimuhyanti viraha-autkaṇṭhya-vihvalāḥ. He would scrape His face against the walls, fall into the sea mistaking Caṭaka Hill for Govardhana, sing the verse 'yas tvayā dvārakā-nāthena…' until dawn (CC Antya 14-20).
Gauḍīya theology reads Mahāprabhu's last years as the lived experiment of SB 10.46.5: He took the gopī-bhāva into His own body to show what this verse looks like from inside.
My note
Source: vedabase.io