SB 10.33.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

उच्चैर्जगुर्नृत्यमाना रक्तकण्ठ्यो रतिप्रिया: । कृष्णाभिमर्शमुदिता यद्गीतेनेदमावृतम् ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

uccair jagur nṛtyamānā rakta-kaṇṭhyo rati-priyāḥ kṛṣṇābhimarśa-muditā yad-gītenedam āvṛtam

Synonyms

uccaiḥ — loudly ; jaguḥ — they sang ; nṛtyamānāḥ — while dancing ; rakta — colored ; kaṇṭhyaḥ — their throats ; rati — conjugal enjoyment ; priyāḥ — dedicated to ; kṛṣṇa — abhimarśa — by the touch of Lord Kṛṣṇa ; muditāḥ — joyful ; yat — whose ; gītena — by the singing ; idam — this entire universe ; āvṛtam — is pervaded .

Translation

Eager to enjoy conjugal love, their throats colored with various pigments, the gopīs sang loudly and danced. They were overjoyed by Kṛṣṇa’s touch, and they sang songs that filled the entire universe.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Eager to enjoy conjugal love, their throats colored with various pigments, the gopīs sang loudly and danced. They were overjoyed by Kṛṣṇa's touch, and they sang songs that filled the entire universe. KB 10.33.8 The necks of the gopīs became tinted with red due to their desire to enjoy Kṛṣṇa more and more. To satisfy them, Kṛṣṇa began to clap His hands in time with their singing. Actually the whole world is full of Kṛṣṇa’s singing, but it is appreciated in different ways by different kinds of living entities. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham [Bg. 4.11]. Kṛṣṇa is dancing, and every living entity is also dancing, but there is a difference between the dancing in the spiritual world and that in the material world. This is expressed by the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, who says that the master dancer is Kṛṣṇa and everyone else is His servant. Everyone is trying to imitate Kṛṣṇa’s dancing. Those who are actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness respond rightly to the dancing of Kṛṣṇa: they do not try to dance independently. But those in the material world try to imitate Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entities are dancing under the direction of Kṛṣṇa’s māyā and are thinking that they are equal to Kṛṣṇa. But this is not a fact. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, this misconception is absent, for a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness knows that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme master and everyone else is His servant. One has to dance to please Kṛṣṇa, not to imitate or attempt to become equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Purport

According to an authoritative book on music called Saṅgīta-sāra, tāvanta eva rāgāḥ sūryāvatyo jīva-jātayaḥ, teṣu ṣoḍaśa-sāhasrī purā gopī-kṛtā varā: “There are as many musical rāgas as there are species of life. Among these rāgas are sixteen thousand principal ones, which were manifested by the gopīs. ” Thus the gopīs created sixteen thousand different rāgas, or musical modes, and these have subsequently been disseminated throughout the world. The words yad-gītenedam āvṛtam also indicate that even today devotees throughout the world sing the praises of Kṛṣṇa, following the example of the gopīs.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The gopis danced and danced (nrtyamana), or were honored by Krsna for dancing, and sang and sang, with their throats tinged with various ragas (rakta kantha). Ragas are explained in the Sanita Sara. "There are as many ragas as there are species of life. Among those ragas the sixteen thousands produced by the gopis are best." They were attached to the affection showed by Krsna (rati priya). Being blissful because of the touch of Krsna, they did not feel any fatigue after dancing and dancing. The universe (idam) became filled (avrta) with this singing. Another meaning is "They were songs which even today all people of the universe sing."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Having described the prominent position of the gopīs’ dancing because of great joy, now the prominence of singing is described. While dancing they sang. This shows their skill in dancing since they could also sing at the same time. The goal of singing and dancing was Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure (rati-priyāḥ). One should not fear that they would become tired by singing and dancing for they were overjoyed by the touch of Kṛṣṇa. That was the only cause of their dancing. Their singing was so loud that it spread over the universe. Or, the universe became filled with their spontaneous rāgas, which made the universe prone to singing as well. The scriptures on music say that the gopīs’ rāgas numbers sixteen thousand. Saṅgīta-sāra says tāvanta eva rāgāḥ syur yāvatyo jīva-jātayaḥ teṣu ṣoḍaśa-sāhasrī purā gopī-kṛtā varā There are as many musical rāgas as there are species of life. Among these rāgas sixteen thousand principal ones were performed by the gopīs previously. Or, the gopīs were respected by Kṛṣṇa because of their dancing (nṛtyamānāḥ). Their throats were smeared with prema (rakta-kaṇṭhyaḥ). This indicates the great sweetness of their singing. The cause of the loud singing was their affection for Kṛṣṇa whose other name is Rati (rati-priyāḥ). They sang loudly because of Kṛṣṇa’s loud singing. Parāśara says: rāsa-geyaṁ jagau kṛṣṇo yāvat vyāyata-dhvaniḥ sādhu kṛṣṇeti kṛṣṇeti tāvat tad dviguṇaṁ jaguḥ When Kṛṣṇa sang at the rāsa dance the gopīs sang twice as loud, saying “Kṛṣṇa sings well. Kṛṣṇa sings well.” The reasons for their singing loudly are three: their voices were filled with prema, they were affection to him, and they were joyful with Kṛṣṇa’s touch. The related causes should be understood. Just as Kṛṣṇa became more beautiful because of the gopīs and the gopīs became more beautiful because of Kṛṣṇa, so the qualities of their singing and dancing became more attractive by Kṛṣṇa’s singing and dancing. This will be clear in later verses.