Rāsa-pañcādhyāyī II - The Search for Kṛṣṇa

Chapter-summary verse

In the thirtieth chapter, the gopīs, scorched by separation, wander unrestrained from forest to forest like madwomen as they search for Kṛṣṇa.

Bhāgavata 10.30.1

Śrī Śuka said: When Bhagavān suddenly disappeared, the women of Vraja, unable to see Him, burned with anguish like female elephants deprived of their herd leader.

Śrīdhara's commentary

"Unable to see Him" means that He was no longer visible to them.

Bhāgavata 10.30.2

Their minds captivated by the Lord of Lakṣmī's gait, loving smiles, playful glances, charming speech, pastimes, and many graceful gestures, the women became wholly identified with Him and enacted His various movements.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Their minds were drawn by His gait; glances filled with the play of loving smiles; delightful conversations; games; and other charming gestures. Because He alone had become their very self, they took up His diverse actions and played by imitating Him.

Bhāgavata 10.30.3

Their forms absorbed in their beloved's manner of walking, smiling, looking, speaking, and all the rest, the women, filled with His nature and displaying Kṛṣṇa's playful gestures, told one another, "I am He."

Śrīdhara's commentary

Their bodies were penetrated and possessed by their beloved's gait and other features. Therefore Kṛṣṇa's own playful movements appeared in them, and they declared to one another, "I alone am Kṛṣṇa."

Bhāgavata 10.30.4

Gathered together and singing loudly only of Him, they searched from forest to forest like madwomen. They questioned the trees about the Supreme Person who, like space, dwells both within and without all beings.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Going from one forest to another, they searched. Their madness is shown by their questioning the trees. The Supreme Person exists inside beings, in their midst, and also outside them.

Bhāgavata 10.30.5

O aśvattha, plakṣa, and banyan trees, have you seen the son of Nanda pass this way? He stole our minds with His loving, smiling glances.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Their ninefold questioning is developed from here. Thinking that these great trees might have seen Him, they address them first: "He stole our minds with glances bright with loving smiles and left like a thief. Did you see Him?"

Bhāgavata 10.30.6

O kurabaka, aśoka, nāga, punnāga, and campaka trees, have you seen Rāma's younger brother pass this way, His smile destroying the pride of proud women?

Editorial note 26

An alternate reading explicitly adds "has gone."

Śrīdhara's commentary

Because these trees were both great and generous through their flowers, the gopīs asked them. His smile removes pride: did they see Him go by?

Bhāgavata 10.30.7

Blessed Tulasī, so dear to Govinda's feet, have you seen your most beloved Acyuta carrying you together with swarms of bees?

Śrīdhara's commentary

Did you see your dearest Lord bearing you together with the swarms of bees?

Bhāgavata 10.30.8

O mālatī, mallikā, jāti, and yūthikā flowers, did you see Mādhava pass this way, delighting you with the touch of His hand?

Śrīdhara's commentary

Although these flowers possess surpassing virtues, they are humble, so the gopīs thought they might have seen Him. Did He pass while giving them joy with His touch? Mālatī and jāti should be understood as distinct varieties.

Bhāgavata 10.30.9

O mango, priyāla, jackfruit, āsana, kovidāra, rose apple, arka, bilva, bakula, another variety of mango, kadamba, and nīpa trees, and all others who live near the Yamunā solely for the good of others, please show us, whose hearts are empty, the path Kṛṣṇa took.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Because these trees nourish every creature with fruit and other gifts, the gopīs thought they might have seen Him. Mango varieties are distinguished from one another, as are kadamba and nīpa. They are born solely for others' benefit and dwell near the sacred bank of the Yamunā. Let them tell the path of Kṛṣṇa to those whose consciousness has been emptied by His absence.

Bhāgavata 10.30.10

O Earth, what austerity did you perform that you shine with bodily hairs thrilled by the festival of Keśava's foot-touch? Is this joy newly born from His feet, from Urukrama's stride long ago, or from the embrace of His boar form?

Śrīdhara's commentary

O Earth, what austerity made you the site of the festival of Keśava's touch? You shine with hairs erect in ecstasy. Is this festival caused now by His feet touching one region of you? Or is it older, from Trivikrama's foot covering all worlds? Or older still, from the embrace of the Lord's Varāha body? Surely you saw Him; show Him to us.

Bhāgavata 10.30.11

Friend, wife of the deer, did Acyuta come here with His beloved, expanding the supreme delight of your eyes through His beautiful limbs? The fragrance of the jasmine garland belonging to our clan's Lord drifts here, colored by the breast-kuṅkuma of His beloved through bodily contact.

Editorial note 27

The address "wife of the deer" humorously praises the doe as a sacrificial patron's wife by a grammatical allusion to deer as ritual performers in another birth.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Because a doe's vision is especially keen, the gopīs considered it likely she had seen Kṛṣṇa. Did He come near and delight their eyes with beautiful face, arms, and limbs? The drifting fragrance of the jasmine garland of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Lord of the clan, revealed that He was with His beloved, for the garland was stained by kuṅkuma from her breasts through their embrace.

Bhāgavata 10.30.12

O trees, did Rāma's younger brother pass here, resting His arm upon His beloved's shoulder and holding a lotus, followed by swarms of bees intoxicated by Tulasī's fragrance? Did He acknowledge your bows with loving glances?

Editorial note 28

His arm rested on the shoulder of His dear and affectionate beloved.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Seeing trees bent beneath fruit and imagining that they bowed to Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs asked about His graceful progress with His beloved. Swarms of bees, blind with intoxication from Tulasī's fragrance, followed Him as He wandered here.

Bhāgavata 10.30.13

Ask these vines, whose arms embrace their husband, the tree. Surely Kṛṣṇa's nails touched them, for, how wondrous, they bear the signs of horripilation.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Some gopīs said, "Friends, surely these vines have met Kṛṣṇa, so question them." One might object that union with Him is impossible while they embrace their own husband, the tree. Not so. What great fortune! His nails surely touched them, for they display horripilation unlike anything produced by union with their own spouse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.14

Speaking these mad words and utterly distraught in their search for Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs became filled with His nature and reenacted one after another of Bhagavān's pastimes.

Śrīdhara's commentary

The earlier statement that they questioned like madwomen has now been elaborated. This verse develops the prior statement that, identified with the Lord of Lakṣmī, they adopted His various actions. Their words were mad, their search for Kṛṣṇa made them utterly helpless, and they imitated His pastimes.

Bhāgavata 10.30.15

One gopī acted as Pūtanā, while another, acting as infant Kṛṣṇa, drank from her breast. Another became a crying infant and kicked a gopī who imitated the cart demon.

Śrīdhara's commentary

This and the next three verses detail their imitation; the following four portray their identification with Kṛṣṇa, and then another verse returns to imitation. One acted like Pūtanā, and one acting like Kṛṣṇa drank her breast. Another made herself an infant and kicked the one acting as the cart.

Bhāgavata 10.30.16

One gopī became a demon and carried away another who imagined herself as the child Kṛṣṇa. Another crawled, dragging her feet while her little bells rang.

Editorial note 29

She crawled while dragging her feet to the sound of the bells. The causative form is not intended to convey causation.

Śrīdhara's commentary

One made herself like the demon Tṛṇāvarta and carried off another who contemplated Kṛṣṇa's childhood form.

Bhāgavata 10.30.17, mūla-only supplement

Two gopīs became Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, while others acted as cowherd boys. One imitating Kṛṣṇa struck another who became a calf demon, and still another imitated Bakāsura.

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.18

One called the cows roaming far away as Kṛṣṇa would, played an imaginary flute, and sported as Him. The others followed her and praised her: "Excellent!"

Śrīdhara's commentary

"Far-roaming" describes cows at a distance. She called them as Kṛṣṇa did and acted in imitation of Him. An alternate reading explicitly says "imitating Him."

Bhāgavata 10.30.19, mūla-only supplement

One gopī placed her arm upon another's shoulder as she walked and said, her mind absorbed in Him, "I am Kṛṣṇa. Behold My graceful gait!"

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.20

"Do not fear the wind and rain; I have arranged your protection." Saying this, one gopī struggled to hold her upper garment aloft with one hand.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Making a great effort, she held her garment upward.

Bhāgavata 10.30.21, mūla-only supplement

O King, one gopī climbed upon another and placed her foot upon her head, saying, "Go away, wicked serpent! I have taken birth to punish the cruel."

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.22

One gopī said, "Cowherd boys, look at the raging forest fire! Quickly close your eyes; I shall immediately protect you."

Śrīdhara's commentary

"Close" means shut your eyes.

Bhāgavata 10.30.23

One slender, beautiful-eyed gopī was bound by another with a flower garland to a mortar. Covering her face in fear, she imitated Kṛṣṇa's frightened expression.

Śrīdhara's commentary

She covered her lovely-eyed face. Alternatively, sudṛk itself may mean "beautiful-eyed." She imitated fear.

Bhāgavata 10.30.24

Thus questioning the vines and trees of Vṛndāvana about Kṛṣṇa, they saw the footprints of the Supreme Self in a part of the forest.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Again questioning Vṛndāvana's vines and trees about Kṛṣṇa, they saw the prints in a region of the forest.

Bhāgavata 10.30.25, mūla-only supplement

These are clearly the footprints of the great son of Nanda, marked by the flag, lotus, thunderbolt, elephant goad, barleycorn, and other signs.

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.26

Following those footprints along His path, the distressed women soon saw them mingled with the footprints of a young woman and spoke.

Śrīdhara's commentary

"Mingled" means intermixed.

Bhāgavata 10.30.27

Whose footprints are these beside the son of Nanda's? She must have walked with His arm resting upon her shoulder, like a female elephant beside her bull.

Śrīdhara's commentary

His forearm was placed upon her shoulder. Kareṇu means a female elephant.

Bhāgavata 10.30.28

Surely this particular gopī perfectly worshiped Bhagavān Hari, the sovereign Lord, for Govinda, pleased with her, abandoned us and led her alone to a secluded place.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Rahas means a solitary place.

Bhāgavata 10.30.29

Friends, how blessed is the dust of Govinda's lotus feet! Brahmā, Śiva, and the goddess Lakṣmī place it upon their heads to destroy sin.

Editorial note 30

"Sin" may mean an offense or the sorrow of separation.

Śrīdhara's commentary

O friends, the dust is exceedingly blessed. Brahmā, Śiva, and Lakṣmī bear it upon their heads. The gopīs imply that they too may attain Kṛṣṇa through bathing themselves in that dust.

Bhāgavata 10.30.30

Yet the footprints of that gopī greatly disturb us, for she alone stole Him away from all the gopīs and secretly enjoys Acyuta's lips.

Editorial notes 31-32

"Greatly" intensifies the gopīs' agitation and pain. An alternate reading speaks of enjoying the treasure.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Other gopīs spoke this verse. Kṛṣṇa is the gopīs' entire wealth. They imply that serving His foot-dust could indeed cause attainment of Him if her footprints were not mixed with His, but those very marks now cause them pain.

Editorial note 33

If her marks were absent, service to Kṛṣṇa's foot-dust could become their means of attaining Him. Mixed with hers, however, His dust causes sorrow.

Bhāgavata 10.30.31

Here her footprints are no longer visible. Surely the beloved lifted His dearest onto His shoulders because the tender soles of her finely formed feet were troubled by grass shoots.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Searching for unmixed dust from Kṛṣṇa's feet alone, they saw these signs and burned still more intensely. The next three verses describe them. Her delicate soles were pained, so He raised her upon His shoulder.

Bhāgavata 10.30.32

Here the beloved gathered flowers for His beloved. Look: these incomplete footprints show that He pressed only the front of His feet upon the earth.

Śrīdhara's commentary

He pressed the ground with His forefeet, so the prints are incomplete.

Bhāgavata 10.30.33

Here the lover surely sat down and arranged His beloved's hair, weaving into it the flowers He had gathered.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Seeing the sign that she had sat between Kṛṣṇa's knees, they spoke. He sat there and tied the flowers into a crown-like arrangement in His beloved's hair.

Bhāgavata 10.30.34

Though He delights within Himself, sports within Himself, and remains whole and unattached, He enjoyed with her, thus revealing the wretchedness of lustful men and the hard-heartedness of women.

Editorial note 34

An alternate reading emphasizes that He delights in His own Self.

Śrīdhara's commentary

The statement that He enjoyed is Śuka's. He is satisfied in Himself, plays within Himself, and remains unbroken, never attracted or conquered by feminine charms. Why, then, did He sport with her? To display the helplessness of lustful men and the hard-heartedness described next.

Bhāgavata 10.30.35, mūla-only supplement

Thus interpreting the signs, the gopīs, their minds bewildered, wandered through the forest seeking the one gopī whom Kṛṣṇa had led away after leaving all the others.

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.36

That gopī then considered herself the foremost of all women: "My beloved has abandoned the other gopīs, though driven by desire to meet Him, and serves me alone."

Śrīdhara's commentary

This and the following verse show the hard-hearted pride of a woman. The other gopīs possessed desire as the vehicle that brought them to Him, yet He left them and attended her. For this reason she judged herself the best.

Bhāgavata 10.30.37, mūla-only supplement

Entering another part of the forest, she became proud and told Keśava, "I can walk no farther. Carry me wherever You wish."

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.38

Addressed in this way, Kṛṣṇa told His beloved, "Climb upon My shoulder." But as she prepared to do so, He disappeared, and the young woman was overcome with regret.

Śrīdhara's commentary

The verse displays the helplessness of a desiring person. His remaining unconquered is shown by His disappearance precisely when she prepared to mount His shoulder.

Bhāgavata 10.30.39

"Alas, my Lord! My lover, my dearest! Where are You, where are You, mighty-armed one? Friend, please reveal Your presence to me, Your poor maidservant."

Śrīdhara's commentary

This verse expresses her remorse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.40

Following Bhagavān's trail, the gopīs found nearby their distressed friend, bewildered by separation from her beloved.

Śrīdhara's commentary

"Following" means searching; "nearby" means not far away.

Bhāgavata 10.30.41, mūla-only supplement

Hearing her account of the special honor she received from Mādhava and the humiliation caused by her pride, they were struck with supreme wonder.

The commentary TEI supplies no separate gloss on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.42

Then they entered the forest as far as the moonlight made it visible. Seeing that the path had entered darkness, the women turned back.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Together with that gopī, they entered the forest to seek Kṛṣṇa. When the trail entered darkness, they stopped their search and returned.

Bhāgavata 10.30.43

Their minds fixed on Him, their conversations about Him, their movements imitating His, and their very selves absorbed in Him, they sang only His qualities and did not remember their own homes.

Śrīdhara's commentary

Even without finding Him, they never thought of returning home. He alone had become their Self; they were wholly filled with Him.

Bhāgavata 10.30.44

Returning to the bank of the Kālindī, they assembled with their minds absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. Longing for His return, they sang only of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīdhara's commentary

They returned to the same bank of the Yamunā where they had earlier met Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Meditating upon Him, gathered together and yearning for His arrival, they sang of Him alone.

Colophon

Thus ends the commentary called Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on the thirtieth chapter in the first half of the Tenth Canto of the great Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa.