Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
गोप्यश्च कृष्णमुपलभ्य चिरादभीष्टं
यत्प्रेक्षणे दृशिषु पक्ष्मकृतं शपन्ति ।
दृग्भिर्हृदीकृतमलं परिरभ्य सर्वा-
स्तद्भावमापुरपि नित्ययुजां दुरापम् ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
gopyaś ca kṛṣṇam upalabhya cirād abhīṣṭaṁ
yat-prekṣaṇe dṛśiṣu pakṣma-kṛtaṁ śapanti
dṛgbhir hṛdī-kṛtam alaṁ parirabhya sarvās
tad-bhāvam āpur api nitya-yujāṁ durāpam
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
gopyaḥ
—
the young cowherd women
;
ca
—
and
;
kṛṣṇam
—
Kṛṣṇa
;
upalabhya
—
sighting
;
cirāt
—
after a long time
;
abhīṣṭam
—
their object of desire
;
yat
—
whom
;
prekṣaṇe
—
while seeing
;
dṛśiṣu
—
on their eyes
;
pakṣma
—
of lids
;
kṛtam
—
the maker
;
śapanti
—
they would curse
;
dṛgbhiḥ
—
with their eyes
;
hṛdī
—
kṛtam — taken into their hearts
;
alam
—
to their satisfaction
;
parirabhya
—
embracing
;
sarvāḥ
—
all of them
;
tat
—
in Him
;
bhāvam
—
ecstatic absorption
;
āpuḥ
—
attained
;
api
—
even though
;
nitya
—
constantly
;
yujām
—
for those who engage in yogic discipline
;
durāpam
—
difficult to attain .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While gazing at their beloved Kṛṣṇa, the young gopīs used to condemn the creator of their eyelids, [which would momentarily block their vision of Him]. Now, seeing Kṛṣṇa again after such a long separation, with their eyes they took Him into their hearts, and there they embraced Him to their full satisfaction. In this way they became totally absorbed in ecstatic meditation on Him, although those who constantly practice mystic yoga find such absorption difficult to achieve.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While gazing at their beloved Kṛṣṇa, the young gopīs used to condemn the creator of their eyelids, [which would momentarily block their vision of Him]. Now, seeing Kṛṣṇa again after such a long separation, with their eyes they took Him into their hearts, and there they embraced Him to their full satisfaction. In this way they became totally absorbed in ecstatic meditation on Him, although those who constantly practice mystic yoga find such absorption difficult to achieve.
KB 10.82.39
As far as the gopīs of Vṛndāvana were concerned, from the very beginning of their lives they did not know anything beyond Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were their life and soul. The gopīs were so attached to Kṛṣṇa that they could not tolerate not seeing Him even momentarily when their eyelids blinked and impeded their vision. They condemned Brahmā, the creator of the body, because he foolishly made eyelids which blinked and checked their seeing Kṛṣṇa. Because they had been separated from Kṛṣṇa for so many years, the gopīs, having come along with Nanda Mahārāja and Mother Yaśodā, felt intense ecstasy upon seeing Kṛṣṇa. No one can even imagine how eager the gopīs were to see Kṛṣṇa again. As soon as Kṛṣṇa became visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their eyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were embracing Kṛṣṇa only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The ecstatic trance they achieved simply by mentally embracing Kṛṣṇa is impossible to achieve even for great yogīs constantly engaged in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa could understand that the gopīs were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds, and therefore, since He is present in everyone’s heart, He reciprocated the embracing from within.
Purport
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, just then Lord Balarāma saw the
gopīs
standing a short distance away. Seeing them trembling with eagerness to meet Kṛṣṇa, and apparently ready to give up their lives if they could not, He tactfully decided to get up and involve Himself elsewhere. Then the
gopīs
attained the state described in the current verse. In referring to the
gopīs’
intolerant disrespect of Lord Brahmā, “the creator of eyelids,” Śukadeva Gosvāmī is giving vent to his own subtle jealousy of the
gopīs’
favored position.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī offers an alternate understanding of the phrase
nitya-yujām,
which may mean “even of the Lord’s principal queens, who tend to be proud of their constant association with Him.”
In
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Because they had been separated from Kṛṣṇa for so many years, the
gopīs,
having come along with Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā, felt intense ecstasy in seeing Kṛṣṇa. No one can even imagine how anxious the
gopīs
were to see Kṛṣṇa again. As soon as Kṛṣṇa became visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their eyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were embracing Kṛṣṇa only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The ecstatic trance which they achieved simply by mentally embracing Kṛṣṇa is impossible to achieve even for great
yogīs
constantly engaged in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa could understand that the
gopīs
were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds, and therefore, since He is present in everyone’s heart, He also reciprocated the embracing from within.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When Baladeva, crest jewel of cleverness, saw at a somewhat distant place obstructed from view, the gopis, their hearts bursting in longing, ready to give up their lives if they could not meet him,, he rose and left the room> The gopis then attained an ecstatic state described in this verse. In some text it seems it says rsir uvaca. By designating Sukadeva as rsi, there is indication that he will here reveal the highest truth. The word ca means tu, (but), to distinguish the special position of the gopis from all others. What gopis? Their extraordinary quality is then described: they cursed the creator for making eyelids which obstruct their vision of Krsna.. They could not tolerate the separation from seeing him caused by the moment the eyelid blinked. Though these women had the highest respect for all and any devata, they could curse the chief of all the devas. Such was their intolerance of their separation. This implies anger at Krsna for giving this separation to them (since he is the ultimate creator). Pulling him with their glances, with their eyes as doorways they made him enter their heart, embraced him, and attained rare mahabhava in relation to him (tad bhavam), with at sense of oneness with him "See, I am Krsna." (nityayujam)
Or : They attained at state rare even for the best of atma ramas (nitya yujam), the great masters of yoga such as Siva. In this case, there is another hint of anger at Krsna: Krsna will now teach the gopis adhyatma jnana (as in the message sent through Uddhava).
Or: they attained mahabhava, rare even to eternal wives (nitya yujam) such as Rukmini.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
With either meaning, Yaśodā did not answer Devakī’s statement. Rather, because she was absorbed in seeing her son after a long time, she did not hear at all and said nothing at all. After she did not speak, Śukadeva the sage endowed with all knowledge (śrī) spoke. He knew the bhāva of the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa. Thus one should firmly believe his words. It should of course be understood that even earlier, for a long time they were thin from experiencing separation from him and were burning up. Śukadeva now describes the arrival of the gopīs who had been brought to Kṛṣṇa’s private quarters by Uddhava.
The word ca indicates “not only them but others, the gopīs, also.” Or ca can mean “but.” But more than the others, the gopīs now attained intimately (upa—labhya) Kṛṣṇa whom they desired to see for a long time with complete bhāva (abhi—iṣṭam). Or, they attained for a long period Kṛṣṇa who they held dearer than a thousand lives (abhīṣṭam). Their superior prema is then show. They cursed the creator of eyelids for their eyes because they desired to glance at him without break (pra—īksaṇe). The plural is used in dṛśiṣu to indicate many gopīs with many eyes. Why did the creator not remove the eyelid from the eye? Or because of extreme thirst in prema the plural refers to all the glances. Why were eyelids made for seeing? The long vowel in hṛdī is for metrical reasons. They placed him in their hearts and there embraced him fully (alam), by their free will. All of them (sarvāḥ), though of many different types, filled with pain from long separation, became one with him (tad-bhāvam), forgetting themselves because of an appearance of his clear manifestation. This was rare even for perfected yogīs. Or they had always kept him in their hearts but now they embraced him with their eyes (they gazed at him intensely with the greatest attachment). They then attained the highest limit of prema (tad-bhāvam). This means for a long time they fainted in bliss. This state was rarely attained even by Rukmiṇī and others who were constantly with him (nitya-yujām).