Devanagari
प्रत्याक्रष्टुं नयनमबला यत्र लग्नं न शेकु:
कर्णाविष्टं न सरति ततो यत् सतामात्मलग्नम् ।
यच्छ्रीर्वाचां जनयति रतिं किं नु मानं कवीनां
दृष्ट्वा जिष्णोर्युधि रथगतं यच्च तत्साम्यमीयु: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
pratyākraṣṭuṁ nayanam abalā yatra lagnaṁ na śekuḥ
karṇāviṣṭaṁ na sarati tato yat satām ātma-lagnam
yac-chrīr vācāṁ janayati ratiṁ kiṁ nu mānaṁ kavīnāṁ
dṛṣṭvā jiṣṇor yudhi ratha-gataṁ yac ca tat-sāmyam īyuḥ
Synonyms
pratyākraṣṭum
—
to withdraw
;
nayanam
—
their eyes
;
abalāḥ
—
the women
;
yatra
—
in which
;
lagnam
—
attached
;
na śekuḥ
—
were not able
;
karṇa
—
the ears
;
āviṣṭam
—
having entered
;
na sarati
—
would not leave
;
tataḥ
—
thence
;
yat
—
which
;
satām
—
of the sages
;
ātma
—
in their hearts
;
lagnam
—
attached
;
yat
—
of which
;
śrīḥ
—
the beauty
;
vācām
—
of the words
;
janayati
—
generates
;
ratim
—
special pleasurable attraction
;
kim nu
—
what to speak of
;
mānam
—
the reputation
;
kavīnām
—
of the poets
;
dṛṣṭvā
—
seeing
;
jiṣṇoḥ
—
of Arjuna
;
yudhi
—
on the battlefield
;
ratha
—
gatam — on the chariot
;
yat
—
which
;
ca
—
and
;
tat
—
sāmyam — an equal status with Him
;
īyuḥ
—
they attained .
Translation
Once their eyes were fixed upon His transcendental form, women were unable to withdraw them, and once that form had entered the ears of the sages and become fixed in their hearts, it would never depart. What to speak of acquiring fame, the great poets who described the beauty of the Lord’s form would have their words invested with transcendentally pleasing attraction. And by seeing that form on Arjuna’s chariot, all the warriors on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained the liberation of gaining a spiritual body similar to the Lord’s.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Once their eyes were fixed upon his transcendental form, women were unable to withdraw them, and once that form had entered the ears of the sages and became fixed in their hearts, it would never depart. What to speak of acquiring fame, the great poets who described the beauty of the Lord’s form would have their words invested with joy. And by seeing that form on Arjuna’s chariot, all the warriors on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained the liberation.
This verse shows that he could not give up his body. The eternal wives like Rukminī could not withdraw their eyes which were attached to his form. That form entered the ears of the ātmārāma sages like you and remained there like a picture, and would not go away. The beauty of that form described by poets like Vyāsa produced special joy in their words. Seeing that form on Arjuna’s chariot in battle, the soldiers attained sāyujya. That body was directly Brahman, beyond the guṇas. By seeing a material form one cannot attain sāyujya. The personified Vedas say:
nibhṛta-marun-mano-’kṣa-dṛḍha-yoga-yujo hṛdi yan
munaya upāsate tad arayo ’pi yayuḥ smaraṇāt
Simply by constantly thinking of him, the enemies of the Lord attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses. SB 10.87.23
Nor would ātmārāmas remain attached to a material form. Nor would the Lord’s eternal wives such as Lakṣmī, hlādinī-śaktis, be attached to a material form. Therefore, sages who describe that the Lord gave up his body are bewildered by the Lord’s māyā.
Purport
Transcendental, liberated personalities such as the
gopīs
of Vṛndāvana and Rukmiṇī, the original goddess of fortune, were constantly meditating on the Lord’s spiritual body. Great liberated sages (
satām
), having heard about Lord Kṛṣṇa’s body, could not take it out of their hearts. The Lord’s bodily beauty expanded the love and poetic output of great liberated poets, and simply by seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa’s body, the warriors at Kurukṣetra achieved spiritual liberation with an eternal body similar to the Lord’s. Therefore it is impossible to imagine Lord Kṛṣṇa’s eternal form of bliss to be in any way material. Those who imagine that Lord Kṛṣṇa gave up His eternal form are certainly bewildered by the Lord’s illusory energy.