Devanagari
न पारयेऽहं निरवद्यसंयुजां
स्वसाधुकृत्यं विबुधायुषापि व: ।
या माभजन् दुर्जरगेहशृङ्खला:
संवृश्च्य तद् व: प्रतियातु साधुना ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
na pāraye ’haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ
sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ
yā mābhajan durjara-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ
saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
pāraye
—
am able to make
;
aham
—
I
;
niravadya
—
saṁyujām — to those who are completely free from deceit
;
sva
—
sādhu — kṛtyam — proper compensation
;
vibudha
—
āyuṣā — with a lifetime as long as that of the demigods
;
api
—
although
;
vaḥ
—
to you
;
yāḥ
—
who
;
mā
—
Me
;
abhajan
—
have worshiped
;
durjara
—
difficult to overcome
;
geha
—
śṛṅkhalāḥ — the chains of household life
;
saṁvṛścya
—
cutting
;
tat
—
that
;
vaḥ
—
of you
;
pratiyātu
—
let it be returned
;
sādhunā
—
by the good activity itself .
Translation
I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.
KB 10.32.22
“I cannot repay your continuous love for Me, even throughout the lifetimes of the demigods in the heavenly planets. It is impossible to repay you or show enough gratitude for your love; therefore please be satisfied by your own pious activities. You have displayed exemplary attraction for Me, overcoming the greatest difficulties arising from family connections. Please be satisfied with your highly exemplary character, for it is not possible for Me to repay My debt to you.”
The exemplary character of devotional service manifested by the devotees of Vṛndāvana is the purest type of devotion. It is enjoined in authoritative śāstras that devotional service must be ahaitukī and apratihatā. This means that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa cannot be checked by political or religious convention. The stage of devotional service is always transcendental. The gopīs particularly showed pure devotional service toward Kṛṣṇa, so much so that Kṛṣṇa Himself remained indebted to them. Lord Caitanya thus said that the devotional service manifested by the gopīs in Vṛndāvana excelled all other methods of approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Thirty-second Chapter of Kṛṣṇa, “Kṛṣṇa Returns to the Gopīs.”
Purport
The translation and word meanings for this verse are taken from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of
Śrī
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
(
Ādi
4.180)
.
In conclusion, the
gopīs
became eternally glorious by their behavior in the Lord’s temporary absence, and the mutual love between them and the Lord was wonderfully enhanced. This is the perfection of Kṛṣṇa and His loving devotees.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Thirty-second Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “The Reunion.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Please listen as I tell what has been coming into my mind. You have this faultless, unconditional relation (niravadya samyujam) with me, not depending on kama, karma, loka, dharma or sastra, Your actions are naturally the most proper and excellent (sva sadhu krtyam), not produced by contact with some other object. Even living for the lifetime of the devas, I could not repay you for your deeds." The word krtyam is in the singular in order to suggest that even one such action of the gopis can never be repaid. "Cutting completely (samvrsca) the chains of famly life (husband, children, in laws) which should not be cut, you worshipped me (ma abhajan, ma is taken as mam, me)."
Another meaning of ma abhajan is as follows. Ma is used as a negative in this case: "you do not worship". "Having given up family, you do not again respond to them, or reestablish connection, unlike the immature yogis."
Another meaning is as follows. "I, however, am worshipping you without giving up affection for father, mother, brother and friends. Though I promise "ye yatha mam prapadyanate..." I have failed in this promise in regards to you, for I did not give up my father, mother, brother and friends as you did.(this meaning is obtained from the same phrase samvrsca ma abhajam (as you gave up family, I did not respond in the same way abhajan is taken as abhajam, I did not respond, changing to abhajan by rules of sandhi.) Therefore it is impossible for me to repay what you have done. Therefore let you own pure character be the payment. That is, your good character makes you forgive me for my fault, and that way I have no debt. But still, I remain indebted to you."
Then the gopis began to consider in their minds, "Though as the Supreme Lord, he is full of all qualities, though he is devoid of all faults, though he knows all about our love for him, in order to establish our superiority, in order to make himself a debtor to us, he has performed this act of giving us up. We, who wanted to defeat him and criticize for his conduct with our riddles, have been most unvirtuous in intent, whereas he desired to establish our excellence. We can never be like that! We have finally been defeated by his prema."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Vaḥ means “unto you.” I cannot return the favor (sva-sādhu-kṛtyam) to you. Or, I am not able to suitable compensate your own extraordinary deed (sva-sādhu-kṛtyam). He shows the extraordinary deeds. Though it appears that you had lust, your association (samyujām) with me was faultless since you had pure prema (niravadya), with complete concentration on me alone, and no contact at all with your husbands. You offered yourselves to me with the highest anurāga (mām abhajan), cutting off respect for dharma and public opinion which give happiness in this life and the next related to the house-- difficult to cut because of being women of good families. I, on the other hand, am engaged in prema elsewhere also. Thus I cannot repay you. The second vaḥ is related to the last clause. The last clause is in the third person, with the subject yā (who). Let your good character be the repayment for your good deed.
I could not repay you even after a long time, the life of the devatās. Or, I could not repay you in years that the intelligent at counting give up counting (vi-budha) because they are unlimited. Another vision has śṛṅgkhalām in the singular. You cut off ties with your daily household duties as cowherd women and your close ties with friends but I did not serve (abhajan—first person) you (yā). The bonds are compared to difficult chains because one cannot cut them by one’s own efforts. Though one can to some degree give up attachments externally, they are impossible to give up completely. However you gopīs completely (sam) cut (vṛścya) those ties. I am unable to repay you since I, unlike you, lack such service which disregards all else.
I offer respects to the feet of Śrīdhara Svāmī who, being satisfied, will always protect me, being nourished by receiving his remnants of unlimited rasa, since I am obedient to him.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Vaḥ means “to you.” I cannot return the favor (sva-sādhu-kṛtyam) of or to you. Or, I am not able to suitable compensate your own extraordinary deed (sva-sādhu-kṛtyam). He shows the cause. Your association (saṁyujām) is faultless (niravadya), because it is not dependent on anything, is devoid of deceit and is an expression of pure prema. It is free of desire for liberation and free of the faults of base desires. Desire for me is a great quality since association with me is faultless. Cutting the chains of attachment to house and activities for sons and husbands, difficult to cut, since they are the unbreakable bonds of saṁsāra, you (bhavatī) worshipped (abhajat) me. The use of the verb form with bhavatī indicates great respect for their prema. Since I do not do this, I cannot repay you.
Or I cannot repay even your cruel actions towards me (su asadhu-kṛtyam), what to speak of your favorable actions. He says this with a greed for continual pastimes with them in a favorable way. He cannot repay them because they offer their spotless limbs or selves (niravadya-saṁyujām). Moreover you cut the invincible chains of serving friends related to serving the cows. Thus I do not serve you. Another version has śṛṅkhalām with the same meaning. The bondage is compared to unbreakable chains. This means by one’s own powers one cannot overcome them.
Though one can break the attachment, one cannot reject the external relationships, even though one wishes to do so. Saṁvrścya means that they cut the attachment and the external relationships completely. I cannot respond properly giving myself completely like you, without regard for anything else. I am in debt to you because I fail to keep my own promise. Ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: accordingly as they surrender, I response. (BG 4.11)
Or let some gentle devotee (sadhu nā) follow and serve you (vaḥ pratiyatu), as the payment. This is a blessing. Or let the gentle devotee imitate (pratiyātu) your great activities (sva-sādhu-kṛtyam), but I cannot do that. I cannot repay you at all. Later Kṛṣṇa speaks of Rukmiṇī’s trust in him. pratinandayāmaḥ: I can do nothing to reciprocate except joyfully thank you for your devotion. (SB 10.60.57) There also he says he is a debtor, unable to repay by his joy. But the actions of the gopīs are even harder to repay.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A . C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Thirty-second Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Reunion."
10.33: The Rāsa Dance
verses: Summary, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26-27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39
Chapter Summary
This chapter describes Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's rāsa dance, which He enjoyed with His beloved girlfriends in the forests along the Yamunā River.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is most expert in the knowledge of transcendental moods. In the company of the gopīs, who were tightly bound to Him by the ropes of affection and totally dedicated to His service, the Lord expanded Himself into numerous forms. The gopīs became intoxicated with their enthusiasm to enjoy the rāsa dance, and thus they began satisfying Kṛṣṇa's senses by singing, dancing and gesturing amorously. The sweet voices of the gopīs filled all the directions.
Even after Lord Kṛṣṇa manifested Himself in numerous forms, each gopī thought He was standing next to her alone. Gradually the gopīs became fatigued from the continuous dancing and singing, and each of them placed her arm on the shoulder of the Kṛṣṇa standing beside her. Some gopīs smelled and kissed Kṛṣṇa's arm, which bore the fragrance of the lotus and was anointed with sandalwood paste. Others put Kṛṣṇa's hand on their bodies, and yet others gave Kṛṣṇa pleasure by embracing Him lovingly.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, being the Supreme Absolute Truth, is the only actual enjoyer and object of enjoyment. Although He is one without a second, He expands Himself into many forms to increase His personal pastimes. Therefore great scholars say that Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā is like a child's playing with His own reflection. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is self-satisfied and fully endowed with inconceivable, transcendental opulences. When He exhibits such pastimes as the rāsa-līlā, all living beings, from Brahmā down to the blades of grass, become merged in the ocean of astonishment.
When Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard the narration of Kṛṣṇa's conjugal pastimes with the gopīs, which superficially resemble the activities of lusty, wanton persons, he expressed a doubt to the great devotee Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Śukadeva dispelled this doubt by stating, "Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the absolute enjoyer, such pastimes as these can never be contaminated by any fault. But if anyone other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead tries to enjoy such pastimes, he will suffer the same fate that someone other than Lord Rudra would suffer if he attempted to drink an ocean of poison. Moreover, even one who only thinks of imitating Lord Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā will certainly suffer misfortune."
The Supreme Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is present within the hearts of all living entities as their indwelling witness. When out of His mercy He exhibits His intimate pastimes to His devotees, these activities are never besmirched by mundane imperfection. Any living being who hears of the spontaneous loving attraction the gopīs felt for Lord Kṛṣṇa will have his desires for material sense gratification destroyed at the root and will develop his natural propensity for serving the Supreme Lord, the spiritual master, and the Lord's devotees.