Devanagari
गोप्यो हसन्त्य: पप्रच्छू रामसन्दर्शनादृता: ।
कच्चिदास्ते सुखं कृष्ण: पुरस्त्रीजनवल्लभ: ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
gopyo hasantyaḥ papracchū
rāma-sandarśanādṛtāḥ
kaccid āste sukhaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ
pura-strī-jana-vallabhaḥ
Synonyms
gopyaḥ
—
the young cowherd girls
;
hasantyaḥ
—
smiling
;
papracchuḥ
—
asked
;
rāma
—
of Lord Balarāma
;
sandarśana
—
by the personal audience
;
ādṛtāḥ
—
honored
;
kaccit
—
whether
;
āste
—
is living
;
sukham
—
happily
;
kṛṣṇaḥ
—
Kṛṣṇa
;
pura
—
of the city
;
strī
—
jana — of the women
;
vallabhaḥ
—
the darling .
Translation
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Honored to have the personal audience of Lord Balarāma, the young gopīs smiled and asked Him, “Is Kṛṣṇa, the darling of the city women, living happily?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Honored to have the personal audience of Lord Balarāma, the young gopīs smiled and asked Him, "Is Kṛṣṇa, the darling of the city women, living happily?
KB 10.65.9
When the gopīs arrived, Lord Balarāma glanced over them with loving eyes. Being overjoyed, the gopīs, who had so long been mortified on account of Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s absence, began to ask about the welfare of the two brothers. They specifically asked Balarāma whether Kṛṣṇa was enjoying His life surrounded by the enlightened women of Dvārakā Purī.
Purport
According to the
ācāryas,
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s beloved girlfriends were smiling with divine madness, since they were feeling extreme unhappiness in separation from their beloved Kṛṣṇa. Lord Rāma deeply respected their great love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, His younger brother, and thus the term
rāma-sandarśanādṛtāḥ
carries the meaning that Balarāma honored the
gopīs,
as well as the given meaning, that they honored Him.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When the gopis smiled, it was a sign of their unmada, or madness in prema. Otherwise how would it it be possible for such extremely shy girls suffering such intense pain of separation from Krsna, smile in front of Baladeva? Baladeva, comprehending that it was a sign of their mahabhava, gave them great respect, rather than disregarding them. Thus they are described as being worshiped by him (adrtah), by his affectionate glance (rama sandarsana), as he understood that they were the dearmost of his younger brother, and were filled with love for Krsna.
Honored by him, they asked, "Is Krsna happy there?"
Balarama said, "How could he be happy there being separated from you?" They replied, "He has many beautiful women in the city. How could he suffer separation from us village girls? Certainly he must be happy."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The gopīs mentioned here are those who were dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. They would meet secretly together at all times in order to hear news of him. They went to Balarāma in a group to tell him to bring Kṛṣṇa as they had done when meeting Uddhava. Though they were still aggrieved, they laughed. This is a symptom of unmāda. They laughed in order to mock Kṛṣṇa. They inquired from his elder brother because of great longing for Kṛṣṇa who was also in a state of unmāda. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī they showed respect (ādṛtaḥ) on seeing Balarāma by offering obeisances. Or they were honored with the direct presence of Balarāma who was more intimate with Kṛṣṇa than Uddhava. This was better than previous internal sphūrtis. Though having full faith that Kṛṣṇa would return, they laughed with hatred because he had left them. Still, because of their natural pure prema, they just made the following inquire since he was their only happiness: Is he happy? “How can he be happy without you?” Having obtained city women, distant from country women, he can be happy. Or does he remember our worship, incidentally (anu), after associating with the city women?
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Being respected with direct meeting with Balarāma, who gave joy to the people of Vraja, in cowherd dress (sandarśana), they were overjoyed. They smiled or laughed. Or though honored with a meeting with Balarāma, they did not smile. Because of intense lamentation their faces were unhappy. Kṛṣṇa is full of the highest bliss. He must be happy. Or he attracted all our hearts. “But how can he be happy without you gopīs?” He is the lover of the city women. Or he has city women as lovers. Having obtained city women, distant from country women, he can be happy.