CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE The Gopīs’ Songs of Separation

ŚB 10.31.1

Translation

The gopīs said: O beloved, Your birth in the land of Vraja has made it exceedingly glorious, and thus Indirā, the goddess of fortune, always resides here. It is only for Your sake that we, Your devoted servants, maintain our lives. We have been searching everywhere for You, so please show Yourself to us.

Purport ▼

Those who are familiar with the art of chanting Sanskrit verses will be able to appreciate the especially exquisite Sanskrit poetry of this chapter. Specifically, the poetic meter of the verses is extraordinarily beautiful, and also, for the most part, in each line the first and seventh syllables begin with the same consonant, as do the second syllables of all four lines.

ŚB 10.31.2

Translation

O Lord of love, in beauty Your glance excels the whorl of the finest, most perfectly formed lotus within the autumn pond. O bestower of benedictions, You are killing the maidservants who have given themselves to You freely, without any price. Isn’t this murder?

Purport ▼

In the autumn season, the whorl of the lotus has a special beauty, but that unique loveliness is surpassed by the beauty of Kṛṣṇa’s glance.

ŚB 10.31.3

Translation

O greatest of personalities, You have repeatedly saved us from all kinds of danger — from poisoned water, from the terrible man-eater Agha, from the great rains, from the wind demon, from the fiery thunderbolt of Indra, from the bull demon and from the son of Maya Dānava.

Purport ▼

Here the gopīs imply, “O Kṛṣṇa, You saved us from so many terrible dangers, so now that we are dying of separation from You, won’t You save us again?” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that the gopīs mention Ariṣṭa and Vyoma because, although Kṛṣṇa had not yet killed these demons, the fact that He would kill them in the future was well known, having been predicted by the sages Garga and Bhāguri at the time of the Lord’s birth.

ŚB 10.31.4

Translation

You are not actually the son of the gopī Yaśodā, O friend, but rather the indwelling witness in the hearts of all embodied souls. Because Lord Brahmā prayed for You to come and protect the universe, You have now appeared in the Sātvata dynasty.

Purport ▼

The gopīs here imply, “Since You have descended to protect the entire universe, how can You neglect Your own devotees?”

ŚB 10.31.5

Translation

O best of the Vṛṣṇis, Your lotuslike hand, which holds the hand of the goddess of fortune, grants fearlessness to those who approach Your feet out of fear of material existence. O lover, please place that wish-fulfilling lotus hand on our heads.

ŚB 10.31.6

Translation

O You who destroy the suffering of Vraja’s people, O hero of all women, Your smile shatters the false pride of Your devotees. Please, dear friend, accept us as Your maidservants and show us Your beautiful lotus face.

ŚB 10.31.7

Translation

Your lotus feet destroy the past sins of all embodied souls who surrender to them. Those feet follow after the cows in the pastures and are the eternal abode of the goddess of fortune. Since You once put those feet on the hoods of the great serpent Kāliya, please place them upon our breasts and tear away the lust in our hearts.

Purport ▼

In their appeal, the gopīs point out that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet destroy the sins of all surrendered conditioned souls. The Lord is so merciful that He even goes out to herd the cows in the pasturing ground, and thus His lotus feet follow them about in the grass. He has offered His lotus feet to the goddess of fortune and has placed them upon the hoods of the serpent Kāliya. Therefore, considering all this, the Lord should place His lotus feet on the gopīs’ breasts and satisfy their desire. That is the logic the gopīs employ here.

ŚB 10.31.8

Translation

O lotus-eyed one, Your sweet voice and charming words, which attract the minds of the intelligent, are bewildering us more and more. Our dear hero, please revive Your maidservants with the nectar of Your lips.

ŚB 10.31.9

Translation

The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.

Purport ▼

King Pratāparudra recited this verse to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during Lord Jagannātha’s Ratha-yātrā festival. While the Lord was resting in a garden, King Pratāparudra humbly entered and began massaging His legs and lotus feet. Then the King recited the Thirty-first Chapter of the Tenth Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the songs of the gopīs. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta relates that when Lord Caitanya heard this verse, beginning tava kathāmṛtam, He immediately arose in ecstatic love and embraced King Pratāparudra. The incident is described in detail in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 14.4-18), and in his edition Śrīla Prabhupāda has given extensive commentary on it.

ŚB 10.31.10

Translation

Your smiles, Your sweet, loving glances, the intimate pastimes and confidential talks we enjoyed with You — all these are auspicious to meditate upon, and they touch our hearts. But at the same time, O deceiver, they very much agitate our minds.

ŚB 10.31.11

Translation

Dear master, dear lover, when You leave the cowherd village to herd the cows, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants.

ŚB 10.31.12

Translation

At the end of the day You repeatedly show us Your lotus face, covered with dark blue locks of hair and thickly powdered with dust. Thus, O hero, You arouse lusty desires in our minds.

ŚB 10.31.13

Translation

Your lotus feet, which are worshiped by Lord Brahmā, fulfill the desires of all who bow down to them. They are the ornament of the earth, they give the highest satisfaction, and in times of danger they are the appropriate object of meditation. O lover, O destroyer of anxiety, please put those lotus feet upon our breasts.

ŚB 10.31.14

Translation

O hero, kindly distribute to us the nectar of Your lips, which enhances conjugal pleasure and vanquishes grief. That nectar is thoroughly relished by Your vibrating flute and makes people forget any other attachment.

Purport ▼

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī’ s charming commentary on this verse is in the form of a dialogue between the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa:

“The gopīs say, ‘O Kṛṣṇa, You exactly resemble Dhanvantari, the best of physicians. So please give us some medicine, for we are suffering from the disease of romantic desire for You. Don’t hesitate to give us the medicinal nectar of Your lips freely, without our paying a substantial price. Since You are a great hero in giving charity, You should give it without any payment, even to the most wretched persons. Consider that we are losing our life and that now You can restore us to life by giving us that nectar. After all, You have already given it to Your flute, which is simply a hollow bamboo stick.’

“Kṛṣṇa says, ‘But the diet of people in this world is the bad one of attachment to wealth, followers, family and so forth. The particular medicine you’ve requested should not be given to those who have such a bad diet.’

“‘But this medicine makes one forget all other attachments. So wonderful is this herbal drug that it counteracts bad dietary habits. Please give that nectar to us, O hero, since You are most charitable.’”

ŚB 10.31.15

Translation

When You go off to the forest during the day, a tiny fraction of a second becomes like a millennium for us because we cannot see You. And even when we can eagerly look upon Your beautiful face, so lovely with its adornment of curly locks, our pleasure is hindered by our eyelids, which were fashioned by the foolish creator.

ŚB 10.31.16

Translation

Dear Acyuta, You know very well why we have come here. Who but a cheater like You would abandon young women who come to see Him in the middle of the night, enchanted by the loud song of His flute? Just to see You, we have completely rejected our husbands, children, ancestors, brothers and other relatives.

ŚB 10.31.17

Translation

Our minds are repeatedly bewildered as we think of the intimate conversations we had with You in secret, feel the rise of lust in our hearts and remember Your smiling face, Your loving glances and Your broad chest, the resting place of the goddess of fortune. Thus we experience the most severe hankering for You.

ŚB 10.31.18

Translation

O beloved, Your all-auspicious appearance vanquishes the distress of those living in Vraja’s forests. Our minds long for Your association. Please give to us just a bit of that medicine, which counteracts the disease in Your devotees’ hearts.

Purport ▼

According to the ācāryas, the gopīs repeatedly entreat Lord Kṛṣṇa to place His lotus feet on their breasts. The gopīs are not victims of material lust, but rather they are absorbed in pure love of Godhead and thus want to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet by offering their beautiful breasts to Him. Materialistic persons, who are victims of mundane sex desire, will not be able to understand how these conjugal dealings take place on a pure, spiritual platform, and that is the materialists’ great misfortune.

ŚB 10.31.19

Translation

O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.

Purport ▼

The translation of this verse is from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 4.173).

Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Thirty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Gopīs’ Songs of Separation.”