Rasa-pancadhyayi V - The Rasa Dance

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.1

Śrī Śuka said: “Hearing these exquisitely gracious words from Bhagavān, the gopīs cast off the fever born of separation, and their desires grew full through contact with His limbs.”

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All glory to Śrī Rāsa-līlā, the unique enchanter of the entire universe. Through it the glory of the sacred cowherd women is revealed as greater even than that of Lakṣmī. (1)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.2

“There Govinda began the rāsa pastime, accompanied by those jewels among women, delighted, devoted wholly to His wish, and linking arms with one another.”

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Because their blessings had thus become full, He left His seat and began the rāsa. “Govinda” presents Him as the ruler of Gokula who manifested all His special majesty there and thus revealed Himself as the supreme Puruṣottama. “Jewels among women” declares the gopīs supreme among every class of women. These are the perfect ingredients of rāsa.

Would they not feel embarrassed to dance directly before Him? The word “there” introduces precisely that wonder. They were vowed to follow His desire alone and knew every art that suited and resembled His own. His words had delighted them, or they were filled with an exceptional abundance of love, and thus depended wholly upon Him.

They linked their hands with one another; “arms” here means hands, for otherwise the beauty of the dance could not unfold. The mutual linking occurred among the gopīs, not between each gopī and Kṛṣṇa, because with His two arms He embraced the necks of the gopī on either side. Rāsa is defined: “When dancers whose necks are held by male performers take one another's hands and dance in a circle, that is rāsa.”

The prefix in “firmly linked” contains their hidden thought: “Let Him remain here inside our circle and never leave it.” (2)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.3-4

“The festival of rāsa began in full, adorned by the gopīs' circle. Kṛṣṇa, the master of yoga, entered between every pair of women, embracing their necks, yet each thought Him beside herself alone. The sky became crowded with hundreds of celestial vehicles carrying gods and their wives, whose hearts had been stolen by eagerness to see.”

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Rāsa contains a play on words: it is filled with a cluster of supreme rasas. The rāsa itself is the festival, a unique pastime or the gathered essence of every means to a special happiness. It began perfectly because its cause was Kṛṣṇa, the condensed embodiment of supreme bliss. By making rāsa itself the grammatical agent and declaring its primacy, the verse means that although every divine pastime is eternal, this one is distinguished in every respect. Its perfection is shown by its being adorned with the gopīs' circle.

Parāśara gives further detail: “Though joined into the rāsa circle, no gopī failed to arise beside Kṛṣṇa or remained fixed in one place. Hari took each gopī by the hand, formed the rāsa circle, and touched their hands while their eyes closed. Then the lovely performance began, accompanied by the sound of moving bracelets and by song whose poetry followed the autumn season” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.32-34).

Bilvamaṅgala likewise says: “Between every woman stood Mādhava, and between every Mādhava stood a woman. When the circle was formed in this way, Devakī's son stood in the center and played His flute” (Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 2.35).

Accordingly, one Kṛṣṇa should also be understood as the central pivot among them all. Otherwise each multiplied form would use both arms to embrace the two neighboring gopīs and could not hold the flute, depriving the rāsa festival of its supremely auspicious, sweet, and enchanting music. The later phrase “among the jewels” also intends this central form.

Calling them “women” teaches that a true gentleman should act impartially in this way among women; favoritism would produce fault and shatter their happiness. The one Lord entered between them and simultaneously embraced every gopī's neck, yet each believed Him to be exclusively beside herself. Even though a Kṛṣṇa stood on both sides of her, she perceived Him as one. “Master of yoga” resolves every apparent impossibility: His yoga is a particular inconceivable and astonishing power.

The “dwellers in heaven” naturally travel in the sky. Suddenly seeing rāsa, they gathered there, and hundreds of celestial vehicles crowded the heavens. Or dyu means heaven itself, showing that no such festival exists even there and that the gods had gained the best possible opportunity for their respective services. Their eagerness excuses their arrival at an unusual time.

Alternatively, these are special celestial associates who form the aerial retinue of Bhagavān's pastimes. As instruments of His play they remain vigilant in the sky at all times. The same should be understood in other līlās. (3-4)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.5

“Then celestial drums resounded and auspicious showers fell. The foremost Gandharvas, together with their women, sang the spotless glory of the rāsa.”

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The drums may have been sounded by those heavenly beings, or they may have resounded of themselves because they were divine and the event was a supremely auspicious festival. The same alternatives apply to the events that follow.

The drums sounded first to inaugurate the auspicious celebration and summon each celestial company. The intensive prefix in “fell,” together with the plural “showers,” indicates such abundant flowers that they spread a carpet over the stage.

The singers were the lords, the very best, among the Gandharvas; lesser musicians could not produce song worthy of such a dance, and their status as the best would otherwise remain unfulfilled. They came with Apsarās or their own wives, showing that every one of them was exclusively devoted to this single event. Their song was “spotless,” from which no impurity could remain, and thus even their faults of desire and the like were removed. (5)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.6

“A tremendous sound arose within the rāsa circle from the bracelets, anklets, and waist bells of the women together with their beloved.”

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Having described the gods' celebration, the text now presents the instrumental music and song suited to rāsa, beginning with its instruments. The tiny bells were attached to waist ornaments and similar adornments.

Calling them simply “women” indicates that bracelets and the other ornaments naturally belonged to them as women; they had not deliberately collected ornaments for rāsa, since they left their homes earlier without waiting for such preparations.

“Together with their beloved” suggests that Bhagavān assumed as many forms as the gopīs for their pleasure and that an equal number of bracelet and ornament sounds came from Him as well. The rāsa-maṇḍala may mean the circular formation made by rāsa, the circle belonging to rasa, or a gathered mass of rasa itself. (6)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.7

“There Bhagavān, Devakī's son, shone exceedingly among the gopīs, like a great emerald amid golden jewels.”

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Although Bhagavān already possesses the complete abundance of every majesty and beauty, He shone with exceptional brilliance in the rāsa circle. As before, an analogy proves that the gopīs added still greater beauty even to Him who by nature had reached beauty's ultimate limit.

The golden jewels may be made of gold or simply possess its color. Even a great emerald becomes more beautiful by standing among golden gems. In the same way, Kṛṣṇa gains still greater beauty only through the embrace of His beloveds.

The cause is suggested by “Devakī's son.” His tender affection for His devotees made Him take birth from Devakī, and expanding His abundant prema toward His beloved people fills Him with abundant beauty. It was already explained that “Devakī” here may refer to Yaśodā. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, the singular “great emerald” indicates that Bhagavān remains truly one, or refers to the one central form who plays the flute. Some say that although His natural color is that of a dark sapphire, His skilled dance movement makes Him seem to embrace every gopī's neck simultaneously and whirl throughout the circle. Contact with the radiant complexions of those beautiful golden women makes Him appear less deeply dark, like a great emerald. On this reading the verse describes a special power of dance, not an actual multiplication of Bhagavān's forms. (7)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.8

“With rhythmic foot placements, sweeping arms, smiling movements of their brows, bending waists, shifting bodices, and earrings swinging upon their cheeks, Kṛṣṇa's brides sang of Him. Their faces perspired and the knots of their hair and waist garments loosened; amid the circle of cloud-dark Kṛṣṇas they shone like lightning.”

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Not only did the gopīs make Him more beautiful; in His company they too became resplendent. Their foot placements were the varied ways their dancing steps struck the earth. The sweeping of their arms consisted of distinct hand gestures.

Since their hands were linked, free arm movements might seem impossible. They may have moved their two joined arms together, or at times released their linked hands for such gestures. Alternatively, even linked arms moved through the graceful patterns of the dance. Everything that follows should be understood in harmony with the dance in the same way.

Their smiling brow movements were dancing skills that expressed each particular rasa. Their naturally slender waists seemed to bend or break, especially from whirling in the dance. Their breast cloths may mean their bodices, or the upper garments they repeatedly put on again when Bhagavān rose from His seat.

They are “Kṛṣṇa's brides”: fair-limbed women embraced by Śyāmasundara and sheltered exclusively in Him, as the lightning-and-cloud comparison suggests. Or “brides” means beloveds who possess clever arts like His own and who enchant Him through their prema. Therefore they sang only of Him. Parāśara says: “Kṛṣṇa sang of the autumn moon, its moonlight, and the lake of night-blooming lilies, while the gopīs repeatedly sang the one name ‘Kṛṣṇa’” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.35).

They shone with extraordinary beauty because the innocence born of abundant prema and their expertise in dance and other arts blended together, as though divine opulence and human intimacy had become one. Comparing them to lightning implies that their beauty also enhanced His. “Circle of clouds” suggests that through skilled motion or His special power He appeared as many; it may also mean a mass of clouds, necessary for the beautiful contrast with lightning.

After describing His exceptional beauty, the text describes theirs. Even though both He and they had already reached the absolute limit of beauty, rāsa bestowed a further, astonishing radiance upon them. (8)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.9

“As they danced, their voices colored by love, the beloveds of intimate rati sang loudly. Delighted by Kṛṣṇa's touch, they filled the entire world with their song.”

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Their overflowing joy made both dance and song expand. Or, after presenting dance as primary, the text now describes their singing. To sing in this way while dancing demonstrates extraordinary skill.

The purpose of their music was rati, meaning intimate play, prema, or specifically prema for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which alone was dear to them. One should not imagine that loud singing exhausted them: they were delighted by touching Kṛṣṇa, the attractor of the mind and condensed embodiment of supreme bliss. Their powerful singing filled and enveloped the world.

Alternatively, the songs and narratives composed by the people of the world became covered by their song and transformed into one rasa with it. This expresses the song's greatness. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Another interpretation takes “dancing” as the honor Kṛṣṇa gave them. Or they possessed māna in the dance, a proud awareness that their ability surpassed even Kṛṣṇa's. Their voices were “colored,” made tender by prema, and thus their singing was filled with love's rasa and supremely sweet. Their rati and Kṛṣṇa Himself caused them to sing loudly.

Or “loudly” means higher even than Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Parāśara says: “As Kṛṣṇa sang the rāsa melody in a higher and still higher pitch, the gopīs cried ‘Excellent, Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!’ and sang twice as high” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.56).

The three descriptions beginning with their love-colored voices form a sequence of causes and effects. Kṛṣṇa too could sing loudly from the joy of touching them. Yet overwhelmed by prema, or eager to hear their elevated singing, He did not display the same superiority even in rāsa song. (9)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.10

“One gopī raised pure melodic modes in perfect unison with Mukunda. Delighted, He honored her by crying, ‘Excellent! Excellent!’ Another raised the same fixed refrain, and He bestowed still greater honor upon her.”

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As before, the next five and a half verses separately describe the loving actions of the principal gopīs. One sang together with Mukunda, the giver of supreme bliss, which explains how she could raise such melodies. Her singing with Him also reveals that she gave supreme bliss to the world.

She developed the melodic modes, or conceived entirely unprecedented ones. Mukunda honored her because, even while singing beside Him, she presented them without mixture. He did so by repeatedly exclaiming “Excellent!” either from joy or to firmly confirm her excellence. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, “unmixed” means pure. Saṅgīta-sāgara says: “Eighteen melodic types are described. Seven are pure and are named after the notes beginning with ṣaḍja; those same types, when modified, are called altered.” It further lists Ṣāḍjī, Ārṣabhī, Gāndhārī, Madhyamā, Pāñcamī, Dhaivatī, and Naiṣādī as the seven pure types.

The word “one” carries forward to the singer of the fixed refrain. Kṛṣṇa gave her abundant honor, more than the first, which indicates her still greater musical skill. (10)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.11

“One gopī, tired by rāsa, placed her arm upon the shoulder of the mace-bearing Lord beside her as her bracelets and jasmine garland loosened.”

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Because He stood beside her, she could obtain delight immediately; otherwise absorption in rāsa might have made her stumble. His position at her side also shows His own attentiveness toward her and a greater emotion in her than before. Her fatigue and similar symptoms should therefore be understood merely as pretexts for approaching Him.

During the exertion of rāsa He may playfully have supported Himself upon a staff as though it were a mace, making Him “the mace-bearer.” Or gadā is the flute, because it speaks and clearly expresses music. Leaving her friend's hand, she grasped the shoulder of Him who held that flute.

Her loosening ornaments show her weariness. Parāśara likewise says: “Exhausted by turning, one gopī placed her vine-like arm, with its jingling moving bracelets, upon the shoulder of Madhu's destroyer.” The jasmine flowers loosened from her hair. (11)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.12

“There one gopī inhaled the fragrance of Kṛṣṇa's arm resting upon her shoulder, naturally more fragrant than a blue lotus and thoroughly anointed with sandalwood. Her hairs thrilled, and she kissed it.”

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Kṛṣṇa placed His arm upon one gopī's shoulder. Its natural fragrance exceeded even that of the blue lotus, and it was especially well anointed with sandal paste in beautiful devotional streaks and other designs. These qualities became stimuli for love.

The emphatic particle makes her action unmistakable. Her horripilation explains why she kissed His arm: prema had taken away her independence. By a play on words even the hairs themselves became joyful, so what can be said of her delight? Footnote 150 records the occasional reading “having smelled the row of sandal marks.” (12)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.13

“Another gopī's cheek was adorned by the radiance of earrings tossed by the dance. As she placed her cheek against Kṛṣṇa's, He gave her His chewed betel.”

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The genitive “of one” is used in the sense of a dative. She placed her own cheek against Śrī Kṛṣṇa's cheek, using fatigue from the dance as her pretext. Though she was not fully face-to-face with Him, He skillfully placed the chewed betel into her mouth. (13)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.14

“One danced and another sang, their anklets and waist bells ringing. Weary, one placed the auspicious lotus hand of infallible Kṛṣṇa, who stood beside her, upon her breasts.”

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The feminine forms may describe two gopīs: one dancing and another singing. The ringing ornaments show their supreme absorption in both dance and song. Acyuta certainly remained directly beside the gopī. His hand is a lotus because it removes burning pain and possesses related qualities. She appeared weary and placed it upon her breasts as though to dispel fatigue, a meaning already discussed. The hand is auspicious because it is happiness itself.

Seven principal gopīs have now been described. The eighth should be supplied from Parāśara: “One skillful gopī, her arms shining, embraced and kissed Madhusūdana under the pretext of praising Him in song” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.54). Footnote 153 records the source reading “with especially shining arms.”

Alternatively, dancing and singing may describe one gopī, giving six here. As before, each later gopī should be understood as superior in the relevant quality. Two are not named because Śrī Rādhā and Lalitā stand on the two sides of the central Kṛṣṇa, while the present passage chiefly describes the surrounding circle. Or the earlier interpretation gives seven, with Śrī Rādhā alone unmentioned because She stands at the left side of the central Lord. (14)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.15

“Having attained Acyuta as their lover, He who is the exclusive beloved of Śrī, the gopīs sang of Him and sported while His two arms embraced their necks.”

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They attained Acyuta, who never falls from the greatness of His form, qualities, or any other excellence, and who remains perfectly steady, as their intimate lover. The verse shows how rare He is: He is exclusively and single-mindedly the beloved of Śrī alone, not of ordinary people.

Alternatively, He is Śrī's lover but the gopīs' own sole beloved. Their attainment of this supremely dear Lord implies a greatness beyond even Lakṣmī's. His embracing their necks proves it.

Śrī Uddhava will sing: “Even Śrī, though attached to His chest with the utmost love, did not receive this favor; what then of celestial women fragrant and radiant like lotuses, and still less other women? In the rāsa festival the gopīs received the blessing of having their necks embraced by His mighty arms” (10.47.60). (15)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.16

“Their faces beautiful with lotus ear ornaments, locks hanging beside their cheeks, and drops of perspiration, the gopīs danced together with Bhagavān in the rāsa assembly. Their bracelets and anklets supplied music, while bees sang around the flower garlands fallen from their own hair.”

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This verse likewise reveals the gopīs' greatness. It may describe the supreme beauty rāsa gave them, or suggest their exhaustion. Yet it explains why they continued dancing: they danced together with Bhagavān as He manifested the complete treasure and essence of all His majesty, and His companionship was supremely enchanting. They are gopīs, governed by love for Him alone.

“Together with Him” also suggests that they possessed clever arts like His own. The lotus ear ornaments, locks, perspiration, and all the other features described for them should likewise be understood in Him. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Some interpret the musicians as celestial kettledrums and Kinnaras included among the heavenly beings of verse 4. Alternatively, the verse reveals a greatness beyond even the beauty already stated.

Or the text previously mentioned the Gandharva chiefs' song and the gopīs' own bracelets as instruments, but now says they danced even without those supports. By joining a negative prefix, “with bracelet and anklet music” can mean “without such music,” because prolonged absorption in rāsa had caused ornaments to slip away. Similarly, not even a bee remained as singer in that rāsa assembly. The flowers had fallen from their hair, and their loosened hair itself worshiped their feet. The earlier commentators have explained this also. (16)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.17

“Thus the Lord of Ramā sported with the beauties of Vraja through embraces, touches of hands, tender glances, unrestrained amorous play, and laughter, like a child delighting in the movements of his own reflections.”

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The embraces were the gopīs' embraces of Kṛṣṇa. The hand contact may mean His holding their hands, or His touching their bodies, including their breasts. Tender glances were His relishable gazes upon their faces and other features. Unrestrained play included loosening the knots of their waist garments, and His laughter was a smile manifest from surging emotion.

Although He is the Lord of Ramā, He sported only with the beauties of Vraja, not with Lakṣmī. Or, precisely because He is Lakṣmī's lord and master, she is unfit for this kind of equal amorous play, while “beauties of Vraja” declares that the gopīs alone are qualified. Their emotions, cleverness, and other qualities surpass even Lakṣmī's.

The reflection analogy shows complete mutual equality between Bhagavān and the gopīs. A child and its reflection never differ: whatever movement the child makes with its hands, the reflection makes; and when the reflection seems to act, the innocent child imitates it again. As Bhagavān sported, the gopīs sported in the same way; and as they sported, He reciprocated identically. This equality gives beauty even to Bhagavān's rati, which could not be complete in an unequal exchange. The same transformations of prema arose in Him as in them.

Parāśara says: “When Hari's arms reached the embrace of a gopī's cheek, they became dense with drops of perspiration, watering a crop of rising horripilation” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.55). The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, like a child whose play consists entirely in its reflection and who knows nothing else, Kṛṣṇa remained exclusively absorbed in the gopīs.

Or all the embraces and other acts belonged first to the Vraja beauties, and He sported with those very acts and those very women by performing matching embraces in return. His delight arose from their embraces, and He Himself imitated them. The verse thus declares their greatness even beyond His. (17)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.18

“O best of the Kurus, the women of Vraja were so overwhelmed with joy from contact with His limbs that, their garlands and ornaments loosened, they could not easily arrange their hair, silk garments, or breast cloths.”

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The verse declares their extreme bliss. “Contact with His limbs” means union through embraces and other forms of bodily meeting. Their inability to arrange their hair and clothing displays how their senses were overwhelmed. Dukūla is the silk garment worn around the lower body; the breast cloth may mean an upper wrap, a bodice, or both.

They are “women of Vraja,” for such a condition is entirely fitting in women endowed with their exceptional abundance of prema. Thus the superiority of their bliss is established, as the intensive prefix also suggests. Śuka addresses Parīkṣit as the best of the Kurus so that he will comprehend it. Or, seeing the gopīs' complete fulfillment and the corresponding emotion in Parīkṣit, he declares the supreme fortune of the Kuru dynasty. Footnote 157 records the reading “their senses agitated by delight.” (18)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.19

“Seeing Kṛṣṇa's extraordinary play, the celestial women became bewildered and afflicted with desire for Him. The moon too, together with his retinue, was struck with wonder.”

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Kṛṣṇa is the condensed embodiment of supreme bliss and the attractor of every heart. His play was exceptional beyond each preceding pastime, especially through direct service and intimate interaction. The celestial women lovingly watched it. The name Kṛṣṇa indicates that His play possessed His same all-attractive nature.

All the wives of the sky-moving gods were afflicted by desire directed toward Bhagavān. Forgetting everything, they became bewildered and lost all consideration of whether they were fit to attain Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or entered a special transformed state. The moon, marked with the hare, was astonished because he had never seen anything like it. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

The reference elsewhere to very long nights intends a long period of abundant, unrestricted, joyful play; the many līlās described could not fit within an ordinary brief night. Some therefore interpret the later “night of Brahmā” (10.33.38) literally as a night lasting a thousand cycles of four yugas. Bhagavān's power can reconcile every apparent impossibility, so this too is possible. The plural “nights” accords with later references to those nights.

Alternatively, the verse describes bewilderment among every male and female traveler of the sky. “Retinue” includes the moon's wives and other stars, and “and” implies that the moon himself was afflicted with desire and bewildered. Since all were overwhelmed, the gopīs had no reason to contract from shame during the intimate play that follows.

The moon's desire may be only longing for Bhagavān, or the same special emotion once held by the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya. Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended in the moon's own dynasty, the moon's longing is not truly a fault. Calling him “hare-marked” suggests that his apparent stain is merely association with a hare and is in truth a great virtue.

Rāsa is supremely enchanting because it intensifies a special emotion toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and is therefore greater than every class of pastime. Dance and music naturally increase feeling for Bhagavān; here Bhagavān Himself performs them, with the gopīs, in this unique manner. Lakṣmī and other divine consorts, despite reverential devotion, are unfit for these embraces and kisses. This distinctive rati can be perfected only with the gopīs, who possess a special, completely pure prema and are supremely qualified for it. In the uniquely suitable land of Vraja, the adolescent son of Vraja's king accomplished a rasa available to no other enjoyer. Hence the chapter began, “Govinda began rāsa with the jewels among women” (10.33.2). Footnotes 159 and 160 record variant readings. (19)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.20

“Bhagavān made Himself into as many forms as there were cowherd women and sported with them in līlā, although He delights within Himself.”

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This and the next verse state the supreme fruit within rāsa itself. The explicit statement that He “made” Himself many proves the real plurality produced by a special power. “Cowherd women” means the gopīs: some married and some unmarried girls. Or it means wives of cowherd men. Some were literally married to them; others had performed the Kātyāyanī vow, were exclusively devoted to Bhagavān, and had never married, yet by Bhagavān's māyā everyone somehow regarded them as wives. Śrī Rūpa makes this clear in Lalita-mādhava and other dramas.

Through līlā, the play of amorous rasa and varied acts of intimate love, He delighted with them. “Bhagavān” means that this very act revealed the complete essence and treasure of Bhagavānhood, since it consists of the special play of fully ripened prema-rasa. Yet Kṛṣṇa, the attractor of every heart, also spontaneously expanded a distinctive prema within Himself. This will become clear later and is explained in Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta.

“Although self-delighting” has the sense already explained. He sported separately with each gopī in nearby bowers, or on the rāsa ground itself while remaining unseen by the others. As before, this displays divine majesty and human sweetness together. Footnote 161 records that Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī follows the reading rarāma. (20)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.21

“Beloved, when the gopīs grew tired from the play of intimate love, compassionate Kṛṣṇa tenderly wiped their faces with His supremely soothing hand.”

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Rati means intimate union, which itself became their play, suggesting freedom from all inhibition. Or “play within rati” means their varied, artful acts of love.

Kṛṣṇa, the crown jewel of the clever and Himself supremely delighted, used His hand, whose nature is supreme happiness, to wipe their faces thoroughly. He removed drops of perspiration, arranged their loosened curls, and made their faces radiant. He did this because He is compassionate, but not merely with the mercy He gives ordinary people: the word “with prema” shows that they were supremely dear and that this was a unique compassion.

“With His soothing hand” indicates that its slightest touch naturally gives the highest happiness; wiping with it gives still more, and wiping with prema brings supreme satisfaction. Alternatively, prema made Him compassion-rasa embodied, because each loving act between them could at once make the whole universe weep.

Śuka addresses Parīkṣit lovingly as “beloved.” The one Kṛṣṇa simultaneously wiped every gopī's face with a single hand. As before, this manifests the sweet essence of Bhagavānhood through divine opulence united with human intimacy. The same principle applies elsewhere. Footnote 163 records the reading “from their excessive play.” (21)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.22

“The gopīs' cheeks shone with the radiance of glittering golden earrings and curling locks. Bearing honor for the foremost of men through their nectar-sweet smiles and glances, and exulting in the touch of His fingernails, they sang of His auspicious deeds.”

Sanātana Gosvāmī's Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Delighted, the gopīs produced delight in Him in three ways: through the beauty indicated by “glittering,” through the emotion of their nectar-sweet smiles and glances, and through congregational song. Calling Him the foremost man declares His supreme cleverness and other excellences, while establishing the same qualities in them. They thus honored Him by all three means.

Alternatively, they inspired His proud thought, “How fortunate I am to have beloveds such as these!” Because He is supreme, His deeds are likewise supreme. They sang of those deeds as forms of sacred merit itself or as embodiments of happiness.

They sang because His fingernails touched them then, or had touched them earlier, or because He touched their cheeks while wiping their faces. The phrase may also mean that they were filled with extraordinary exhilaration. Though tired from love play, they experienced neither fatigue in singing nor any loss of rasa. Footnote 165 records “qualities” as a variant for “cheeks.” (22)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.23

“Accompanied by the gopīs, the weary Lord entered the water to remove their fatigue and His own. His garland, rubbed by contact with their limbs, was colored by their breast kumkuma, and He was followed by rows of singing bees, like a lordly elephant entering water with his cow-elephants after breaking every boundary.”

Sanātana Gosvāmī's Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This and the next two verses describe loving actions of the supremely delighted Bhagavān Himself. He entered the water to remove both the gopīs' fatigue and His own. Although His form is condensed eternity, consciousness, and bliss, apparent fatigue is entirely possible within absorption in play because it reveals supreme cleverness and creates special beauty through beads of perspiration and similar signs.

Contact with the gopīs' limbs transferred their naturally supreme fragrance to His garland; their feet are worshiped even by the finest lotus-like women. The mention of their breasts adds the kumkuma that colored it. The garland should be understood as jasmine, since verse 10.30.11 previously called Him the lord wearing a jasmine garland. Its pure whiteness made the kumkuma color visible, and its fragrance allowed bees to remain upon it. Their rows resembled Gandharva chiefs and supplied their song, providing every stimulus of love for the water play.

The supremely playful Lord entered the Yamunā's waters eagerly. The comparison with an elephant king expresses His absorption in water play with many female elephants. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, gandharva-pā means foremost singers, since gandharva can mean an animal, music, or a celestial musician. These excellent singers together with the bees produced music perfectly suited for water play.

Or the feminine pronouns describe the gopīs whose garlands had been rubbed by contact with Bhagavān's limbs and whose entire bodies had become smeared with their own breast kumkuma through absorption in love. He entered to remove their fatigue, and “weary” states that He did so to remove His own as well. Footnote 166 records the reading “His own garland.” (23)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.24

“Beloved, in the water the laughing young women splashed Him abundantly from every side and gazed upon Him with prema. Praised by celestials showering flowers, He freely sported there in His own unique delight, like a lordly elephant.”

Sanātana Gosvāmī's Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The verse describes the water play. The supremely playful Lord stood in the midst of the water while the young women splashed every limb from every direction. He sported freely and independently in the water, or He splashed them in the same way.

Calling them young women indicates the presence of amorous rasa and their power to conduct such vigorous play. They laughed loudly, either from shared delight or because they imagined they had defeated Him. Yet this only increased His prema: He was soaked in the rasa of their love. A variant reads that they saw Him with prema. Śuka's address “beloved” expresses overflowing joy.

The inhabitants of celestial vehicles showered flowers and praised Him with cries of “Excellent!” Or, thinking He was being defeated, they cried “Victory! Victory!” as though strengthening Him. On this reading the celestial spectators are male, since the women were unable to watch from modesty or bewilderment, or because they favored the gopīs and therefore declined to shower flowers. “Himself” then means that the one Lord alone was praised. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, “His own delight” means that His love rests only in His own people. The gopīs' victory pleased Him more than His own, so He allowed them to act in this way.

If one asks Śuka to describe the water play in detail, “His own delight” means it was utterly unique. With no adequate analogy, it cannot be fully narrated. It surpasses even the Dvārakā water play described later here and in Harivaṁśa. “Playing like an elephant king” carries the sense already explained, or simply expresses His abundance of happiness even while being drenched. (24)

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.25

“Afterward He wandered through Kṛṣṇa's riverside grove, where breezes carrying the fragrance of water and land flowers delighted every shore and direction. Surrounded by swarms of bees and joyful women, He moved like a rutting lordly elephant among his cow-elephants.”

Sanātana Gosvāmī's Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This occurred after the water play. Their flower garlands and other ornaments had faded in the water, so they went to gather fresh blossoms. “And then” begins a distinct phase. Water flowers include night lotuses; land flowers include jasmine and kunda. Contact with all their fragrances made the wind cool and sweet, while “delighted” suggests that it was gentle.

He wandered here and there in varied games: collecting flowers, hiding within bowers, and more. Bees surrounded Him because they arrived with the gathered flowers, because the water had washed away cosmetic scents and revealed the bodies' natural sweet fragrance, because bees naturally stimulate loving emotion and were therefore always welcomed, or because the fragrance of His face and forest garland perpetually attracted them. This explains why they are repeatedly mentioned.

The elephant dripping ichor explains why bees followed and marks him as the foremost elephant, intoxicated by desire. Contact with him similarly intoxicates the female elephants. The comparison applies throughout: just as an elephant king is always surrounded by his herd and abundant with amorous excitement, the gopīs were intoxicated by prema. Hence they are called pramadā, joyful and impassioned women. (25)

Thus the Lord of true desire, surrounded by the devoted young women, enjoyed all those autumn nights, which shone with the moon's rays and were repositories of the rasa celebrated in poetry and story, while His generative potency remained restrained within Himself.

Having described the rāsa play performed on that particular night, the text concludes by gathering within this statement other sports that were not explicitly described on that night and by indicating that the rāsa was also performed over many nights. “Thus” means “in the manner already described.” It suggests that still further play of this kind took place that night. Because it was exceedingly extensive, it could not all be narrated. By using the plural “nights,” and then “all” to convey totality, the verse teaches that the rāsa play occurred on every night throughout the Lord's entire adolescence. Śrī Parāśara states the same: “He too was of adolescent age” (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.60). And it is said:

“Childhood lasts through the end of the fifth year, boyhood through the tenth; adolescence extends until the sixteenth, and thereafter comes youth” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.1.309).

According to this and similar statements, the play should be understood to have taken place continually here in Gokula from the beginning of His eleventh year through the end of His fifteenth. Śrī Uddhava says in the Third Canto, “The hidden flame dwelt there with Baladeva for eleven years” (Bhāgavata 3.2.26). This refers to His majesty remaining concealed, since during childhood and boyhood, which were unsuitable times for the rāsa play, that play had not yet arisen and no special manifestation of His divinity had appeared. Hence the phrase “hidden flame.” For this same reason the Lord Himself will say to His parents in the wrestling arena, “Dear parents, you did not receive from Us...” (Bhāgavata 10.45.3), and this also accords with the mature sports that will be described after His entrance into Mathurā. Some, following such statements as “with smiling glances,” hold that the Lord continued His Gokula sports even in youth, but this is not especially coherent. His distinctive cleverness made mature sports possible even in adolescence. Otherwise it would contradict Akrūra's vision, “the two adolescents, dark and fair” (Bhāgavata 10.38.29), and the women of the city saying, “the two adolescents, not yet having attained youth” (Bhāgavata 10.44.8). This indicates the direction of the argument.

Moreover, “thus” suggests that the play on other nights was just like the play on that night. At the beginning of each rāsa play, therefore, the Lord and the gopīs could again exchange words, and questions and answers could again occur in its midst. Immersed in the rasa of supreme love, they had no awareness of repetition; everything proceeded as ever new and could therefore happen again and again. This has already been explained.

The king said: “The Supreme Lord, ruler of the universe, descended together with His plenary portion to establish dharma and to bring its opposite to rest.”

After hearing Śrī Bādarāyaṇa describe the sacred rāsa play with such extraordinary affection, the king considered the intention of certain dry logicians who counted themselves Vaiṣṇavas and who, exchanging sidelong glances and crooked looks, smiled faintly at the account. Out of compassion and solely for their welfare, he gives voice to their objection and asks three verses under the pretense that the doubt is his own. “To establish” means to institute fully: to restore what had disappeared and to protect what remained from obstruction. Nor was the descent for that alone, but also for the complete pacification of the opposite, adharma, uprooting it together with its latent tendency. Otherwise dharma itself could not be established. “Indeed” indicates that this is well known from statements such as “for the protection of dharma.” “The Supreme Lord” implies that His divine nature was thereby to be manifested. “With His portion” means together with Śrī Baladeva; the insistence on this is shown in various passages. Since He is the ruler and protector of the worlds, failure to act would lead to the destruction of the world.

There is also a second, deliberately double meaning. He established “dharma,” namely every duty that opposes devotion, in order to pacify it, that is, to destroy it completely. Only by the absence of such conventional dharma and adharma can the great līlās such as the rāsa play be accomplished and the chief purpose of His descent fulfilled.

One might object that He would then transgress the Vedas and other prescriptions authored by Himself. The king therefore says that He is ruler even of Brahmā and the other governors of the worlds and is supremely independent. For the sake of a particular rasa He may sometimes act in that way. Who could possibly regulate Him?

Alternatively, by the principle stated in “That which produces devotion to Me is called dharma” (Bhāgavata 11.19.27), dharma here means devotion, while “the other” comprises everything apart from it, even liberation, which He came to bring to a complete end. As protector of the world, He can truly preserve it only by destroying impediments and firmly establishing devotion, through which all beings naturally obtain happiness and the fulfillment of every purpose. (27)

“How, O brāhmaṇa, could He who proclaims, establishes, and fully protects the embankments of dharma act contrary to them by touching the wives of others?”

Dharma itself is the embankment, the boundary that protects the world; or the “embankments of dharma” are the Vedic ordinances concerning dharma. Because He proclaims them, He is also their author. Otherwise, if His words and conduct conflicted, people would reject them. Furthermore, He protects them on every side: He maintains them by killing their opponents and fostering them in many ways. Touching others' wives would be contrary to those very embankments and to His purpose of establishing dharma. “O brāhmaṇa” means, “O embodiment of the Veda itself!” If the one whom the Veda teaches were to transgress it by His conduct, He would also transgress the lineage of brāhmaṇas such as yourself. That would certainly be improper for the Lord who cherishes brāhmaṇas.

Alternatively, anticipating the reply, “Dear king, how could I know His reason, since this is the conduct of the Supreme Ruler?” the king addresses Śuka as the form of Parabrahman, meaning that he is omniscient.

In another reading, “He acted contrary” states that adharma was proclaimed, created, and protected. It was proclaimed in the words “I disappeared while secretly reciprocating with you” (Bhāgavata 10.32.21) and similar statements; it was created by His directly sporting with them; and it was protected by His repeated conduct, which could cause such behavior to spread in the world. In other words, dharma was thoroughly destroyed and adharma firmly established.

Under the verse's double meaning, however, “How did He act contrary?” means “He did not act contrary in any way.” Why? Because He proclaims, establishes, and protects the embankments of dharma understood as devotion. To expand the special devotion that is the principal purpose of His descent, His disregard for ordinary dharma and adharma is entirely proper. The same principle is evident among His servants from statements such as “One should perform prescribed acts only so long as...” (Bhāgavata 11.20.9).

Alternatively, why would the proclaimer and guardian of the well-known boundaries of dharma act against them? He did so to make even that conventional dharma successful in its sole ultimate purpose, by inaugurating supreme devotion through the rāsa play. Moreover, those women were “of others” in the sense that, through their exclusive devotion to Him, they were exalted above all others; they were His own wives. Since He descended for devotion, it was proper above all else that He fulfill the desires of His devotees by touching them. The word “other” further suggests that fault would lie only in touching women who truly belonged to someone else. These gopīs were His own, and were “other” only in the sense of being especially transcendent and supreme in every respect. (28)

“The lord of the Yadus is self-fulfilled, yet He certainly performed what appears reprehensible. With what intention did He do this? O keeper of excellent vows, cut away this doubt of ours.”

“Lord of the Yadus” suggests that, having descended in the Yadu dynasty, which was devoted to dharma, He ought not to act in such a way. “Certainly” indicates common acknowledgment. “This doubt” means that there is no other doubt anywhere. The plural “our” embraces the whole class of doubts. There can be no suspicion of fault in Him, the crest jewel of all self-fulfilled beings; rather, because the act appears contrary to scripture and because our conviction about it is not firm, the mind may waver. “O keeper of excellent vows! O one firmly established in celibacy!” The act is reprehensible because it opposes the conduct of persons such as you. Alternatively, “O one steadfast in good conduct!” Otherwise the good conduct approved by you and others would disappear.

Under the double meaning, calling Him “lord of the Yadus” implies His own sovereignty, for the Yadus were connected with the Pāṇḍavas, and thus hints that no fault exists. Or, because He is lord of the Yadus, who are devotees, His affection for devotees entitles Him to transcend ordinary dharma. What reprehensible thing did He perform? None at all. He did only what the community of devotees approves. Why? He is “one whose desire was attained”: through the rāsa play and related līlās He achieved His desire to expand devotion endowed with His own love. By inaugurating prema-bhakti, the highest of all attainable ends, He did not commit a condemned act; on the contrary, He delighted the saintly community. Even so, “our doubt” means the doubt of people in general, for those who know the truth of scripture, are devoted to bhakti, and are anointed with genuine rasa have no doubt about His rāsa play, which consists of the rasa of prema-bhakti.

Alternatively, “at this time of fasting unto death” indicates how unsuitable it is for such a doubt to remain now; it should therefore be cut away quickly. By saying “our,” the king includes even the opponents among his own people, whether from his natural humility or from rhetorical skill intended to expose their extreme opposition. His meaning is: “I ask only for the welfare of those present who have poor understanding, not because I myself doubt.” Therefore Śuka should cut their chain of doubts fearlessly, without being intimidated by them. “O keeper of excellent vows” can then mean “O one exclusively steadfast in devotion.” (29)

Śrī Śuka said: “Transgression of dharma and bold, fearless conduct are observed among powerful rulers. Such conduct does not bring fault upon those endowed with superior potency, just as fire, which consumes everything, is not polluted.”

Out of his natural compassion, or out of affection for his disciple, Śuka first removes the appearance of objection in the king's words, and then answers by establishing the very conclusion shown through the king's double meanings. He does so in seven verses beginning here. “Rulers” means those who are free from dependence upon karma and other controlling forces. Transgressions of dharma are seen among them, as when Brahmā and others felt desire toward their daughters; fearless boldness is likewise seen, as when Bṛhaspati approached the wife of Utathya. Such acts do not become faults or sources of adverse consequence for beings of exceptional potency. The example is fire, the consumer of everything: consuming all things neither faults nor contaminates it. (30)

“One who is not a sovereign ruler must never imitate such conduct, not even in the mind. A fool who does so is destroyed, just as anyone other than Rudra would be destroyed by drinking the poison born from the ocean.”

One must not fully imitate such bold conduct performed by a divine ruler. The force of the prohibition falls on “fully imitate.” Never means not at any time; one must not do it even mentally, what then to speak of doing so by speech or deed. “Indeed” supplies the reason or conveys certainty. Such a person would be destroyed in a special and complete way, suffering in both this world and the next. “Through folly” means failing to understand the sovereign power of the rulers and one's own incapacity. Folly alone is thus named as the cause of attempting to drink the poison; otherwise one would never undertake it. “Born from the ocean” means the Kālakūṭa poison. Its extreme virulence implies immediate destruction. A true ruler, however, is not destroyed at all. Rather, he becomes splendid through the manifestation of extraordinary sovereignty, as Śrī Mahādeva became glorious through his blue throat. (31)

“The words of divine rulers are true, and on certain occasions so too is their conduct. An intelligent person should follow that conduct of theirs which accords with their own instructions.”

The phrase “accords with their own instructions,” particularly the word “own,” excludes a statement that a ruler may sometimes utter like a madman when overcome by love if that statement conflicts with proper conduct. “An intelligent person” means one who considers each case carefully. Anyone who fails to do so is unintelligent. (32)

“O capable king, these egoless rulers gain no personal benefit here by performing meritorious acts, nor do they suffer harm by doing the opposite.”

“Meritorious” means pious, and the verse speaks of these rulers performing such acts. The conjunction implies that they gain no result in the next world either. “Benefit” means fruit. “The opposite” means sinful action, and “nor” has the force of adding the second point: no harm comes to them either. Why? They are without ego, distinct from ego-bound beings, and because ego is absent they remain untouched by karma. “O capable one” means, “O you who are able to understand! You certainly comprehend this correctly.” Alternatively, Śuka addresses Parīkṣit as “O ruler,” intending to acknowledge that he too possesses sovereign authority. (33)

“How much less, then, could merit or demerit adhere to the ruler of all beings, whether animals, mortals, or residents of heaven, and of all who are subject to rule?”

If even those subordinate rulers incur no harm simply because they are free from ego, how could one even suspect harm in the Supreme Ruler, who descended for the welfare of every living being? Śuka confirms the point through this argument from the lesser to the greater. “All beings” means every living being. Animals, mortals, and celestial residents represent respectively those dominated by tamas, rajas, and sattva. “Those subject to rule” means beings who by nature must be governed, suggesting that even liberated souls remain dependent upon Him. “Merit and demerit” mean piety and sin, and “adherence” means contact with them. Since He governs everyone, has no governor above Him, and is supremely independent, neither can touch Him. This is precisely what it means to be the Supreme Ruler. The rest has been explained by the previous commentators. Alternatively, “how much less” also applies to those under His rule who are His devotees. (34)

“Even sages, satisfied by serving the pollen of His lotus feet, have shaken off every bond of karma through the power of yoga. Unbound, they move freely. How, then, could there be any bondage for Him, whose body is assumed by His own will?”

“Pollen” shows a special devotion expressed through profoundly humble service. The prefix ni in “serve deeply” suggests that they are naturally attached to service. Alternatively, pollen implies service offered from a distance, and the prefix may indicate only a very small amount of service. Yet by its greatness they become “proud,” endowed with the confidence of fearlessness and similar qualities. They therefore move freely, acting according to their own will without regard for injunction and prohibition, because they remain unattached and are not bound by those acts. If the reading is “satisfied,” it means they are content in Him and require nothing else.

“Yoga” may mean eightfold yoga, samādhi, or knowledge. Through its power, the bond composed of karma accumulated over countless millions of births is especially shaken off and severed. This is true “even of sages”; “even” places sages below devotees. With the same intent to show excellence, the alternative reading calls them proud. The Lord “assumed His body by His own will”: He manifested it entirely through sovereign freedom. Or, He assumed by His will the many bodies of Matsya, Kūrma, and His other forms; this proclaims His supreme majesty as the source of all avatāras. How, therefore, could He possibly be bound? He could not be bound in any way. The rest has been explained by the previous commentators.

Alternatively, “yoga” is bhakti-yoga, and “even sages” means: how much more those who are devotees from the outset? Or three classes may be understood: what need be said of devotees, if even yogīs are freed; and what need be said of yogīs, if even those devoted to ritual acts may be freed? The sages here were generally householders engaged in ritual acts, yet they moved freely because they possessed knowledge. Thus the knowers are of two kinds, some devoted to yoga and others to works, each successive group in this account being lower. The remaining explanation is the same. A conjunction may carry the sense of “even.” What need be said of those men and women who are dear to Him? The emphatic “indeed” removes every doubt about all of them. (35)

Footnote 168: The author of Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī reads “proud.”

“He who moves within the gopīs, their husbands, and indeed all embodied beings is the overseeing witness. That very Lord has manifested a body for His play.”

The pronoun “He” connects with the later “that very Lord”: He is this directly manifest person. As “overseer,” He is their indwelling governor because they are His parts or are impelled by Him, and ultimate analysis therefore concludes that He alone is the enjoyer. Or, even on the nondual interpretation offered by the Māyāvādīs concerning the indwelling Self, no one is truly another's wife; thus the charge of consorting with others' wives is removed. For that reason “all” is used to establish that He is the Supreme Self. “This” is the beloved of the gopīs. “Through play” means by līlā, or it gives the cause: He manifested His own beautiful form for the sake of play. The rest has been explained by the earlier commentators.

Alternatively, “overseer” means that He presides in every heart and activates all the senses. Therefore He “moves within.” Although as indwelling ruler He impels everyone in every action, the qualities and faults of those acts do not touch Him. Or, just as others who act in all affairs while seeing the indwelling Lord are not touched by those deeds, so it is here. The indwelling Lord manifests in differing degrees among the gopīs, their husbands, and all embodied beings, each successive class being lower. His supreme sovereignty thus supplies the reason that the bondage previously discussed cannot affect Him. More specifically, “He manifested a body” means that solely for the rāsa play He revealed His beautiful adolescent cowherd form suitable for that play. Since He descended to expand the rasa of prema, conduct corresponding to that purpose is entirely proper. This is the established theological conclusion. (36)

Footnote 169: Variant reading, “also.”

Footnote 170: Variant reading, “Here He has manifested a body through play.”

“For the sake of bestowing grace upon His devotees, He assumed a human form and lovingly performs such līlās that one who hears them becomes wholly devoted to Him.”

This verse expands the preceding conclusion. Alternatively, the overseer became directly visible and assumed an avatāra body for play. He lovingly serves and delights the gopīs, or all the residents of Vraja, for whom He had assumed that body. Since He moves both within and without them and they are instruments of His play, His līlā can bring no fault upon anyone. This indicates the direction of the argument; excessive elaboration is unnecessary. He acts “to bestow grace upon His devotees,” in accordance with the Lord's own statement, “For the delight of My devotees I perform many kinds of acts.” He assumed, that is, manifested, a human-shaped form.

Alternatively, the sentence ends with “He manifested it.” The intention is that His play exists to bless the devotees. “Devotees” includes the gopīs, all the people of Vraja, and other Vaiṣṇavas connected with past, present, and future.

Or “devotees” refers in one word to the gopīs, the foremost devotees. By favoring those principal devotees, however, He certainly bestows grace upon everyone else. Thus “He performs the līlās” means that He lovingly brings them about. Through a double meaning, “performs” may mean that He follows or manifests them, indicating that the līlās are eternally perfect. Every fault is thereby removed automatically. “Such” means indescribable and attractive to every heart. The double meaning further suggests that even hearing a līlā resembling the rāsa makes one wholly devoted to Him, what then of hearing the rāsa itself? “Him” may refer to the Lord, His devotees, or His play, and every person may become wholly dedicated to that object.

Alternatively, every living being who has assumed a human body may become wholly devoted to Him. Because the Lord descends in the mortal world, because human beings possess the means suitable for devotion, and because they hold the primary place in worship, they alone possess the good fortune of accomplishing such hearing and related practices.

Or the word “even” may be supplied: even one who has assumed a human body may attain this, what then of sages and gods? This itself is the Lord's grace upon devotees. If the variant “living beings” is read, it means every class of person: materialists, seekers of liberation, liberated souls, and devotees. His supreme compassion is thereby proclaimed.

Thus the first question, “How could He act contrary to the embankments of dharma?” (Bhāgavata 10.33.27), is answered by the verses beginning “Transgression of dharma” (10.33.29 in the cited numbering). The second question, posed by “He is self-fulfilled” (10.33.28), asks what desire a complete being could have for such play; it is answered by “for the sake of grace.” This distinction should be understood. (37)

Footnote 176: Variant reading, “living beings.”

Footnote 177: Variant reading, “adopted.”

“The residents of Vraja, bewildered by His divine power and thinking that their own wives stood beside them, certainly felt no envy toward Kṛṣṇa.”

Although the gopīs had disregarded their efforts to stop them and had gone to Kṛṣṇa, the men felt no envy toward Him. Why? Bewildered by His special potency, they thought instead that everything was entirely proper. They were residents of Vraja, meaning that they had offered their selves, bodies, and all that belonged to their bodies exclusively to Him. Therefore, although the wives had departed, each man thought his own wife remained beside him. Alternatively, they felt no jealousy toward their wives either, because they thought them still at their sides. The earlier statement “although being restrained” (Bhāgavata 10.29.8) shows that some gopīs had directly gone to Him after disobeying their husbands' words. Their husbands' later belief that those women stood beside them should be understood as the thought that they had turned back and returned. The previous commentators have suggested the rest.

Alternatively, the text has said that He acted “to bestow grace upon His devotees” (Bhāgavata 10.33.36). One might object that by attracting the cowherd men's wives He would provoke their envy, so how could He bestow grace on them? This verse answers that objection while continuing the present subject. Its meaning remains as stated. (37)

“When Brahmā's night came to an end, the gopīs, dear to the Supreme Lord, returned to their own homes with Vāsudeva's approval, although they did not wish to leave.”

Vāsudeva, the indwelling presider of their minds, approved and inwardly inspired them. Alternatively, Vasudeva is one who shines among the eight Vasus: Śrī Nanda, the foremost Vasu, had appeared as Droṇa, and Vāsudeva is his son. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, intent on manifesting His divinity, gave them leave for the welfare of Vraja. Or anumoditāḥ may mean that He continuously delighted and gladdened them. For that very reason they did not wish to go. Nevertheless, they returned to their respective homes. Why? They were dear to the Lord, and therefore considered what would please Him. Otherwise there could be no delight for their fathers, mothers, friends, the cowherd community, and others, nor could the joy of the rāsa play recur as before. Without all those forms of fulfillment, the Lord's distinctive sweetness could not be perfected. This indicates the direction of the explanation. (38)

“A sober person who faithfully and continually hears or narrates this exceptional play of Viṣṇu with the young women of Vraja attains supreme devotion to the Lord and then very quickly casts off lust, the disease of the heart.”

The “young women of Vraja” are the ever-youthful gopīs, like newly married brides. Alternatively, through the rāsa play they attained the condition of being His wives directly, as it were. “This play” is the exceptional līlā characterized as the rāsa. The conjunction includes other līlās of this kind as well; or it has the force of “but,” distinguishing this play from all others. “Of Viṣṇu” indicates His all-pervasiveness, described in statements such as “between each pair of gopīs” (Bhāgavata 10.33.3). The hearer must be “endowed with faith,” for without faith rasa does not arise and supreme devotion is not attained. Precisely because one has faith, one should hear continually. This is indeed so. Alternatively, the particle means “certainly.” Then, after hearing, one should narrate with faith. Or “hear or narrate” may express a choice. The prefix may instead join the previously mentioned practices and include worship as well, since each of these individually is a means to supreme devotion. Nevertheless, among the three practices of hearing, narrating, and worshiping, each successive one should be understood as more excellent in this context. No restrictive qualification is intended by “one who.”

Having attained supreme devotion, characterized by prema and ever new at every moment, the sober person removes lust, which is a disease of the heart. This excludes desire directed toward the Lord, for that is supreme nectar and the very opposite of the heart's disease. “Sober” means one who knows the truth of every purpose, though such a person's mind may previously have been agitated by lust and other passions. The abandonment of the heart's disease and similar effects should be understood as secondary fruits of supreme devotion; devotion itself is the principal fruit. Even merely hearing and narrating this play produces that result. What more need be said? In light of the context, one must understand that His play is not like the blameworthy lustful sports of this world. His desire and the gopīs' desire are manifestations of a special play arising from the full ripening of prema, never material desire. This has already been stated and is explained more fully in Śrī Bhāgavatāmṛta. The earlier commentators explain the rest.

Alternatively, “sober” means one who hears while reflecting. Or the construction may be read: having quickly attained devotion to one's heart's content, the hearer soon removes the heart's affliction caused by not attaining Śrī Kṛṣṇa and related causes, because Kṛṣṇa is then attained. The remaining explanation is the same. (39)

May this work be for the pleasure of that Supreme Lord, the embodiment of consciousness, who sports both without and within and by whom all these people are made to dance.