Devanagari
न खलु गोपीकानन्दनो भवान्
अखिलदेहिनामन्तरात्मदृक् ।
विखनसार्थितो विश्वगुप्तये
सख उदेयिवान् सात्वतां कुले ॥ ४ ॥
Verse text
na khalu gopīkā-nandano bhavān
akhila-dehinām antarātma-dṛk
vikhanasārthito viśva-guptaye
sakha udeyivān sātvatāṁ kule
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
khalu
—
indeed
;
gopikā
—
of the gopī, Yaśodā
;
nandanaḥ
—
the son
;
bhavān
—
Your good self
;
akhila
—
of all
;
dehinām
—
embodied living entities
;
antaḥ
—
ātma — of the inner consciousness
;
dṛk
—
the seer
;
vikhanasā
—
by Lord Brahmā
;
arthitaḥ
—
prayed for
;
viśva
—
of the universe
;
guptaye
—
for the protection
;
sakhe
—
O friend
;
udeyivān
—
You arose
;
sātvatām
—
of the Sātvatas
;
kule
—
in the dynasty .
Translation
You are not actually the son of the gopī Yaśodā, O friend, but rather the indwelling witness in the hearts of all embodied souls. Because Lord Brahmā prayed for You to come and protect the universe, You have now appeared in the Sātvata dynasty.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
You are not actually the son of the gopī Yaśodā, O friend, but rather the indwelling witness in the hearts of all embodied souls. Because Lord Brahmā prayed for You to come and protect the universe, You have now appeared in the Sātvata dynasty.
KB 10.31.4
“Dear Kṛṣṇa, dear friend, we know very well that You are not actually the son of Mother Yaśodā or the cowherd man Nanda Mahārāja. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul of all living entities. You have, out of Your own causeless mercy, appeared in this world, requested by Lord Brahmā for the protection of the world. It is by Your kindness only that You have appeared in the dynasty of Yadu.
Purport
The
gopīs
here imply, “Since You have descended to protect the entire universe, how can You neglect Your own devotees?”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"O gopis, you speak without thoroughly investigating. I, son of Nanda, am the source of all bliss. You accuse me of the sin of killing women and destroying faith. Therefore, I will leave this place and hide myself so that for many births you will not see me."
Fearing such response from Krsna, the repentant gopis began to praise him in order to please him.
"You are not the son of a cowherd woman, but rather the soul within each jiva, the form of Vasudeva who inspires the heart, who witnesses everything (drk). We have heard this from Baguri and Paurnamasi. Thus we speak under inspiration from you. Therefore do not be angry with us, but be pleased with us. We have also heard about the cause for your appearance. Please hear that. Because Brahma (vikhanas) prayed for you to protect the universe (visva guptaye), you appeared in the womb of Yasoda."
"If you know that, then by did you speak such harsh words to me?"
Fearing such comment by Krsna the gopis said, " O friend, (sakhe), you have smothered us in the ocean of sakhya rasa. As you protect the whole universe as a friend, you should also protect us who reside within the universe."
Another meaning : "One cannot find the such suffering of the gopis among all men, devatas, animals or birds, yet seeing our suffering you are blissful. Therefore we conclude, you did not appear in the womb of Yasoda, who is sensitive to a particle of suffering in others. We do not see any of her good qualities in you."
"Then who am I?"
"We think you are the soul pervading all entities (antaryami). The antaryami, though seeing all the sufferings of the jivas, resides there in the heart very comfortably. We do not know the reason for your appearing in this world, as you are so indifferent. Brahma, desiring the increase in the creation, prayed "Stay hidden (visva guptaye), because if you revealed yourself, all the jivas will get liberated by devotion to you, and will leave the universe. Though you appear, remain hidden, so that no one understands that you are the supreme Lord. What to speak of ordinary men, who disregard you as the Lord in your human like pastimes, even those surrendered to you will take on the role of demons (lika Jarasandha). Thus I will be able to carry out the creation." To fulfill this desire of Brahma, you accept actions contrary to dharma such as stealing wives and objects from others, showing envy, pride and violence, to hide your true nature. Giving up your true nature which is difficult to give up, your neutrality, you have appeared in Gokula. And in order to accept others wives, you became our friend (he sakhe)."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
From his powers they infer the following. They speak in order to praise him. Expressing their helpless condition with misery, they address him as the Lord, though he is also part of their family. There is no fault in this. You know that our hearts are suffering since you are the antaryāmī of all beings. What more can we say? They infer the cause of his appearance. By the prayers of your devotees, by appearing in our family, you protect the devotees in all conditions. You should not wait for certain conditions in relation to us, your beloveds. Now is the best condition. “But you are not my devotees.” Still we should be protected. Brahmā prayed that you should protect everyone (viśva-guptaye). But actually we are endowed with special love among all the devotees and therefore deserve special protection. Thus they exclaim “O friend!”
Or, the words showing Kṛṣṇa’s lordship are expression of glorification they have heard from of sages. The aim of the gopīs is to have their desires fulfilled by appealing to those powers, even though they actually experience the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa as the son of cowherd with their conjugal love. This should be understood in later statements also.
Or, khalu indicates negation as in the expression khalu kṛtvā: stop doing that. Witnessing everything, you are not the son of a cowherd woman but that is not true (khalu). Why? Brahmā prayed that you appear and you have appeared in a cowherd family. Therefore you should protect us.
Or they speak with malice. You are not the son of Yaśodā, who is most merciful and gives us protection. You are Paramātmā, since you are indifferent to everyone. Controlled by Brahmā’s bhakti, you have appeared to protect the universe, using the pretext of being born as Nanda’s son.
But you made friends with us as part of your childhood play. Thus you should protect us.
Or the negative can be applied to all statements in the verse. You are not a friend (sakhe)! Perhaps (khalu) you are not the son of Yaśodā. Otherwise you would not be indifferent to us. You are not the antaryāmī of all beings. Otherwise you would know about our suffering. Brahmā did not pray for you to protect the universe. Otherwise you would have protected us. You did not take birth in a family of devotees. Otherwise you would display unconditional mercy.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
You not only exist externally as the performer of various pastimes, but internally as well. Since you are the witness in all beings, you know our suffering. How much can we describe? “Yes I know, but everything should be done at the proper time.” By appearing in the world among the devotees by the prayers of Brahmā, you must protect the devotees at any time. It is not proper to choose a favorable moment for us, your devotees. In this avatāra you depend on the devotees, and go beyond your own work. This is made clear when he rescues the son of his guru.
“You are not my devotees.” Still you should protect us, since Brahmā prayed that you should protect everyone during this avatāra. He prayed for the protection of the universe. Since you must fulfill the promise to your great devotee Brahmā, you should not ignore us. Moreover we should be especially protected because of special bhāva. You are our friend (sakhe).
Or though you are the inner witness, are you not the giver of bliss to the gopīs (gopikā-nandandaḥ)? Yes you are. You came when Brahmā prayed. Therefore you should give us bliss.
Or you are not Kṛṣṇa, who manifests his qualities as Bhagavān, with qualities like mercy, beautiful form and pastimes. You are Paramātmā. Taking the role of Vedāntists, they speak in great pain. You are certainly (khalu) not Kṛṣṇa. That is understood now. That is understood in the rest of the statements in the verse. Or in spite of the prayer of Brahmā you do not protect the universe, but destroy it (aviśva-guptaye). You were born in the family of Yadus, not the cowherds.
Or O friend! This is uttered with sarcasm. The na in the beginning of the verse is supplied for all the statements. Are you really a friend? You are not the son of Yaśodā. If you were, you would not ignore us, after showing you are controlled by your devotee in the Dāmodara pastime.
Or if you were the person who gives joy to all the women of Vraja (gopikā-nandandaḥ) you could not treat us in this manner. You are not the inner witness of all beings. If you were, you would know about our suffering. Brahma did not pray that you protect the world. If he did, then we would be qualified for your protection. You did not appear in the Yadu family. If you did, you would have unlimited mercy to persons related to them.
Or you were requested to appear in the family of devotees (sātvatām) by Brahmā to protect the world since you are the witness in all beings. You (sa) appeared as ākāsa (khe), being neutral. Thus you are not the one who gives joy to the gopis (gopikā-nandanaḥ).
Or u means O gopikā-nandanda! Vikhana means Kṛṣṇa’s grandfather. By your grandfather you were requested to protect the all people of Vraja (viśva-guptaye). You appeared in the family of cowherd devotees (sātvatām kule). What to speak of protecting us, you do not even know the suffering in our hearts. You are not the knower of what is in our hearts. You should destroy the great pain in our burning hearts. It is well known that his grandfather worshipped Viṣṇu for having the best son.