Rasa-pancadhyayi V - The Rasa Dance

Bhāgavata 10.33.1

Śrī Śukadeva said: Hearing these exquisitely gracious words from Bhagavān, the gopīs abandoned the fever born of separation. Their desires became fulfilled through the touch of His limbs.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

All glory to this rāsa pastime, the one enchantment of the entire universe, in which the majesty of the goddesses of Vraja becomes manifest as surpassing even that of Śrī Lakṣmī.

Bhāgavata 10.33.2

There Govinda began the rāsa pastime. He was accompanied by the jewels among women, delighted and wholly devoted to Him, their arms linked with one another.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

"There" means that Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs had now reached complete agreement. He began the rāsa pastime: having attained those women who desired Him supremely, He set out to perform the great festival that He had wished to perform from the beginning.

The name "Govinda" proclaims Him the supreme Puruṣottama. As the Lord of Gokula, He reveals all His sovereignty and sweetness without remainder. Calling the gopīs "jewels among women" proclaims them the finest of the entire class of women, for the lexicon gives "jewel" in the sense of the finest of its kind. The verse thus displays the supreme ingredients of the rāsa pastime.

They were delighted because each possessed a special abundance of love for Him. They were therefore wholly devoted to Him alone and linked their arms with one another. Here "arms" means hands, and "one another" refers to the gopīs themselves. It does not refer to their linking arms with Kṛṣṇa, because in each manifestation He would embrace the necks of the two gopīs standing on either side of Him. This is the definition of the rāsa dance:

Sanskrit quotation

When dancers form a circle, each woman's neck held by a male dancer and her graceful hands joined with those of the women beside her, their circular dance is called rāsa.

The prefix in "firmly linked" reveals their secret intention: "Let Him remain right here within our circle and not escape from it."

Bhāgavata 10.33.3-4

The festival of rāsa began in full, beautified by the circle of gopīs. Kṛṣṇa, master of yoga, entered between every pair and embraced each woman around the neck, yet each thought He stood beside her alone. The sky became crowded with hundreds of celestial aircraft bearing gods and their wives, whose intense eagerness had stolen their minds.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

By derivation, rāsa is that which consists of a multitude of supreme rasas. It became a festival, a special pastime filled with happiness, and was set fully in motion by Kṛṣṇa, the concentrated embodiment of supreme bliss. Its completeness is shown by saying that it was adorned by the circle of gopīs, further establishing that they were its principal source of beauty. Śrī Parāśara describes a special feature of its commencement:

Sanskrit quotation, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.32-34

Though joined in the rāsa circle, the gopīs did not move away from Kṛṣṇa's side, nor did their hearts remain fixed in only one position. Hari took each gopī by the hand and formed the rāsa circle; at His touch they closed their eyes. Then the beautiful dance began, filled with the sound of moving bangles, as song followed song in sequence and the poetry of autumn accompanied them.

If the text merely said that Kṛṣṇa stood "between two of them," it could imply only one position. The repeated distributive expression "between every two" prevents that conclusion. Thus the later comparison "among jewels" uses "among" in a general, distributive sense. Kṛṣṇa stood on both sides of each gopī and embraced her neck with His arms. Śrī Bilvamaṅgala says:

Sanskrit quotation, Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 2.35

Between each woman stood Mādhava, and between each Mādhava stood a woman. When the circle had been arranged in this way, Devakī's son stood in its center and played His flute.

The Krama-dīpikā makes this explicit with the phrase "separately entering between every two beautiful women" (5.56). Therefore worship is prescribed there for each pair, Kṛṣṇa and a gopī, not for groups of three.

The word "women" indicates that when women of supreme attachment simultaneously desire a noble man's company, his proper action is to accompany all of them in precisely this way. Otherwise partiality would create fault and break their happiness.

The statement that each woman thought Him exclusively beside her requires careful consideration. Kṛṣṇa began the rāsa festival for their mutual happiness. Every gopī therefore needed to behold all the dance's beauty. Their fitting awareness was: "By some art of dance He appears in many places, yet I alone have actually taken hold of Him." Otherwise the text would have said simply that each saw Him beside herself. Each believed that her beloved stood exclusively beside her, even though He was simultaneously present on both her sides. Her intelligence was swallowed by incomparable bliss and could not discriminate. Bewilderment born of bliss is therefore the fundamental cause both here and in the preceding descriptions.

The verse resolves how the one Kṛṣṇa entered so many places by calling Him "master of yoga." Yoga here is Yogamāyā, His inconceivable and wondrous special potency. Because that potency is natural to Him, each manifestation arose merely from His wish, without any separate prompting.

"Celestial dwellers" literally means those whose homes are in the sky. Normally moving through the heavens, they suddenly saw the rāsa pastime and gathered together, making the sky crowded with hundreds of aircraft. They may be understood as leaving the moon's direction clear or assembling above the moon itself. These celestial residents are Brahmā, Rudra, and the other gods. Their eagerness shows that no such festival exists even in heaven. Yet their eagerness concerned only the dance, not its confidential amorous play, because as servants they were unqualified for that intimacy and had only just arrived. Yogamāyā therefore covered their vision so that they could not gain access to its secret.

Bhāgavata 10.33.5

Then celestial kettledrums resounded and auspicious showers of flowers fell. The foremost Gandharvas, accompanied by their wives, sang Kṛṣṇa's stainless glory.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The drums sounded from among those celestial residents. Or immediately after the dance began, they resounded by themselves because they were divine and because a supremely auspicious festival naturally produces such signs. Here and later, the kettledrums sound first both to proclaim auspiciousness and to summon each celestial group.

The prefix in "fell" indicates that the flowers descended intensely, while the plural "showers" indicates their abundance. The performance ground must therefore have become carpeted with flowers. The Gandharvas were accompanied both by Apsarās and by their own wives, showing that everyone was devoted exclusively to this one event. Kṛṣṇa's fame is "stainless," that from which no impurity remains. At that moment, even every corrupt tendency within the celestial spectators was cast away.

Bhāgavata 10.33.6

Within the circular rāsa formation, a tremendous sound arose from the women's bangles, anklets, and waist bells as they danced with their beloved.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Having described the festival produced by the gods, Śukadeva next describes the instruments, song, and other elements suited to rāsa, beginning with the instruments: the bangles. The small bells were attached to girdles and other ornaments. Calling them "women" implies that bangles and such adornments naturally belonged to them.

They were "with their beloved." To delight each gopī, the Supreme Lord manifested beside her, and the sound of bangles and other ornaments should be understood as arising from each of those manifestations as well. "The rāsa circle" is the circular formation created by the dance.

Bhāgavata 10.33.7

There Bhagavān, the son of Devakī, shone most splendidly among the gopīs, like a great emerald set among golden jewels.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

You know Him as Devakī's son. Although Bhagavān is filled with all sovereignty and every abundance of beauty, within the rāsa circle He shone most splendidly through the gopīs. Or the meaning is that He shone most splendidly there as Yaśodā's son, and even in that identity He shone most splendidly through them.

The comparison establishes that even such a Lord gained extraordinary beauty from the gopīs. The singular "among" is generic and means "in every position between them." One manifestation should also be understood in the center of the entire circle. With Śrī Rādhikā beside Him, that central Kṛṣṇa wandered while playing the flute and adorned the whole rāsa circle beyond measure. This should be understood in accordance with descriptions of another rāsa dance in the Krama-dīpikā:

Sanskrit quotation, Krama-dīpikā 5.55-56

In the rāsa pastime formed by the circle of young women whose hands were joined with one another, He stood also at the jeweled central pillar, while multiplying His divine form many times. He entered separately between each pair of beautiful women, His two arms linked with the company of beloveds.

After describing Him at the jeweled central pillar, the text elaborates upon that same manifestation: "He stood within a broad red lotus shining upon the jeweled pillar at the center," and later says:

Sanskrit quotation, Krama-dīpikā 5.61

His chest was reddened with saffron received from embracing the breasts of the young women, and His gait was that of a lordly bull.

It is likewise said that He stood in the center of the circle and played His flute. "Golden jewels" means jewels made from gold. Because the setting is Goloka, they may also be golden objects fashioned like jewels. The singular "great emerald" is similarly generic. The later comparison with a circle of clouds shows the sense: just as a great emerald gains greater beauty specifically by standing among golden jewels, Kṛṣṇa gains greater beauty specifically by the embrace of His beloveds. The remaining details follow earlier commentators. Here "great emerald" should be understood as a sapphire or blue jewel.

Alternatively, contact with the rays of the fair gopīs, whose complexions resemble fine gold, made Kṛṣṇa appear less deeply dark and gave Him the color of a great emerald. On this reading the verse describes a special power of the dance, not some distinct manifestation of His divinity.

Bhāgavata 10.33.8

Kṛṣṇa's brides shone as they sang of Him, like lightning within a circle of clouds. They placed their feet in dance steps and swept their arms through expressive gestures; smiles accompanied the play of their brows. Their slender waists bent, breast cloths moved, and earrings swung against their cheeks. Their faces perspired, and the knots of their hair and girdles loosened.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Kṛṣṇa did not merely shine more beautifully through them; through Him they too shone more beautifully. "Placing their feet" means the graceful striking of the ground according to the dance and song. "Sweeping their arms" means especially moving their hands through different dance gestures. Because their arms were linked with one another, such gestures would normally be impossible, but at times they released that linked formation specifically to perform them.

Their smiling eyebrows displayed the skill of dance that manifested each particular rasa. Their waists, naturally slender and further transformed by the dance, seemed to break. Or "bending" means crooked movement: their midsections curved in dance. "Repeatedly" should be supplied with every gesture. Their breast cloths were the same upper garments they had repeatedly gathered again when Bhagavān rose. The other details follow earlier commentators. The proper division of the compound is "knots," not "without knots."

The phrase beginning "Kṛṣṇa's brides" should be explained as follows. Singing of Kṛṣṇa, they shone among the circular array of His many manifestations. Like what, and where? Like lightning within a circle of clouds. One might object that the preceding comparison to a great emerald among golden jewels cannot apply because the gopīs were not married to Kṛṣṇa and their relationship would therefore be incidental rather than natural. Anticipating this objection, Śukadeva reveals the confidential truth through the varied wonder of their bliss by calling them "Kṛṣṇa's brides." Their relationship here is indeed conjugal because it is inherent and natural, just as the comparison requires. For that same reason, without any special training, they possessed the highest excellence in every artistic quality.

Bhāgavata 10.33.9

Their voices warm with love, Kṛṣṇa's pleasure their dearest aim, the gopīs sang loudly while dancing. Delighted by Kṛṣṇa's touch, they filled the entire world with their song.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

After describing the predominance of their dancing amid an upsurge of supreme joy, Śukadeva now describes their singing. The fact that they sang in this manner while dancing displays extraordinary skill. Why did they sing and dance? Rati here is the love produced by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and that love alone was dear to them. One should not imagine that singing loudly caused them fatigue, for Kṛṣṇa's touch filled them with joy; this too was a cause of their singing. Its volume is shown by saying that their song covered and pervaded the world.

Alternatively, the gopīs themselves conceived a multitude of rāgas, and their song filled the world in the sense that the world's music came to follow those rāgas. Musicology holds that the sixteen thousand rāgas created by them were distributed throughout the world. The Saṅgīta-sāra says:

Sanskrit quotation

There are as many rāgas as there are species of living beings; among them, the finest sixteen thousand were created long ago by the gopīs.

The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

Or "dancing" may be read as "honored": Śrī Kṛṣṇa honored them through the dance. "Warm-voiced" means that their voices were softened by love, indicating supreme sweetness. Their attachment and Kṛṣṇa's touch were reasons for singing loudly. Or they sang on a level higher even than Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own singing. The three adjectives beginning with "warm-voiced" explain why. Their causal relationships may be arranged in any fitting sequence. Thus the earlier statement that Bhagavān shone most splendidly through them implies not only their supreme beauty but also the supreme excellence of their singing and other qualities. The verses that follow will state this explicitly.

Bhāgavata 10.33.10

One gopī sang pure musical modes in perfect unison with Mukunda. Delighted, He honored her, exclaiming, "Excellent! Excellent!" Another developed that very melody into a fixed composition, and He bestowed still greater honor upon her.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

As before, Śukadeva now describes separately the loving gestures of the principal gopīs in the next five and a half verses. One sang "together with Mukunda." The construction implies that even Mukunda followed her lead, for grammar teaches that the person joined by "with" is secondary. She raised the unmixed tonal modes to excellence. Although sung together, they were individually discernible because each retained its distinct character. Mukunda therefore honored her. How? In delight He repeatedly exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent!" either from joy or to confirm firmly how excellent it was.

The following half verse describes another gopī. She took that same song, which may have been pure rāga without a fixed rhythm, or which may already have been in the primordial rhythm because it came first, and immediately made it into a dhruva. She composed and sang a special song containing only the two sections called dhruva and bhoga, set in either of the two rhythms called yati and niḥsāra. Śrī Mukunda honored her too, but much more than the first. The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

Alternatively, the seven svaras are tonal sounds such as ṣaḍja, corresponding to the voices of peacock and other creatures. It is said:

Sanskrit quotation on the seven notes

The seven notes that delight the hearer's heart are held to be ṣaḍja, ṛṣabha, gāndhāra, madhyama, pañcama, dhaivata, and niṣāda, all born from microtones. The peacock, cātaka bird, goat, curlew, cuckoo, frog, and elephant are respectively said to utter these notes, which are exceedingly difficult to master.

The jātis are causes from which rāgas arise:

Sanskrit quotation on musical modes

That from which a rāga arises is called a jāti. It is proclaimed to be of two kinds, pure and modified. The seven pure modes differ according to ṣaḍja and the other notes; the other class is elevenfold, beginning with ṣaḍja-kaiśikī.

The word "beginning" includes the six headed by ārṣabhī, while ten others beginning with ṣaḍja-divyā should also be understood. These modes were unmixed, untouched by any other tonal mode, because through supreme mastery she knew each one in its purity. She raised each to the highest excellence, meaning that she took it up and sang it.

Bhāgavata 10.33.11

One gopī grew tired from the rāsa dance. Her bangles loosened and the jasmine flowers slipped from her hair as she placed her arm upon the shoulder of the mace-bearing Lord beside her.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Having described the love of some gopīs through the predominance and gradation of their artistic excellence in singing and related expressive acts, Śukadeva now describes others through the predominance of intimate union. Among them, this verse especially describes one gopī's amorous good fortune.

Because Kṛṣṇa stood beside her, she could quickly take hold of delight and support; otherwise absorption in the rāsa dance might have made her stumble. "Bearer of the mace" may mean that He carried a staff shaped like a mace, appropriate for the leader of a troupe of dancers. Or gadā may derive from "to speak articulated sound" and mean His flute. He carried that instrument because it suited His role. Thus even His central manifestation appeared in the position of leader of the dancers.

Her loosened ornaments revealed her fatigue. Her limbs trembled like newly opened jasmine. Her bangles loosened, separated, and struck against one another, while jasmine flowers in her hair loosened and fell. Śrī Parāśara similarly says:

Sanskrit quotation

Tired from turning in the dance, one gopī placed her vine-like arm, its moving bangles speaking aloud, upon the shoulder of Madhu's destroyer.

The jasmine flowers should also be understood as loosened. Among the ten conditions beginning with beauty, this expression is called mādhurya, sweetness: "The charm of one's gestures in every condition is called sweetness" (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 11.19).

The verse shows that this gopī has her beloved completely under her control and that she occupies the central position. She is therefore Śrī Rādhikā. The two gopīs mentioned immediately before, who brought happiness to the Divine Couple through their musical skill, must be Her companions Śrī Lalitā and Viśākhā. Describing the first through this independent gesture reveals her status as a sovereign heroine; describing the other two through their singing and artistic qualities reveals their assisting role.

Bhāgavata 10.33.12

There one gopī inhaled the fragrance of Kṛṣṇa's arm, which rested upon her shoulder, smelled sweeter than a blue lotus, and was anointed with sandalwood. Her body thrilled with horripilation, and she kissed it.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Because the action resembles one described earlier, this is surely the pastime of Śrī Śyāmalā. Kṛṣṇa's arm rested upon the shoulder of this one gopī. By nature its fragrance surpassed even that of a blue lotus, and it was especially and thoroughly anointed with sandalwood in an elegant pattern of decorative lines and divisions. The particle ha emphasizes that this truly occurred.

Why did she kiss it? Her hair stood erect because love had overwhelmed her. There is a play on words: even her individual hairs were "delighted," so what need is there to describe her own joy? This is an expressive action born from boldness. It is said, "The wise call freedom from hesitation in amorous acts pragalbhatā, boldness" (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 11.21).

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.13

One gopī placed her cheek, beautified by the radiance of earrings tossed by the dance, against Kṛṣṇa's cheek, and He gave her the chewed betel from His mouth.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Because receiving His chewed betel resembles her earlier action, this is surely the pastime of Śrī Śaivyā. She placed her own cheek against Śrī Kṛṣṇa's, under the pretext of extreme fatigue from dancing. Turning her face directly toward His own, He gave her the betel with special intensity. The genitive construction used with the act of giving either carries a concealed implication or is an archaic usage.

Bhāgavata 10.33.14

One gopī danced and sang while her anklets and girdle chimed. Growing tired, she placed the auspicious lotus hand of Acyuta, who stood beside her, upon her breasts.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Because she takes His hand as described earlier, this is surely the pastime of Śrī Candrāvalī. "Dancing" and "singing" are present participles, while the chiming of her anklets and girdle should be understood as keeping rhythm with her song. Acyuta stood beside her with certainty and did not move from her side. His very hand was a lotus because it removed her burning pain. Tired, she placed it upon her breasts as if to dispel her fatigue. It was auspicious, being happiness itself.

Six principal gopīs have thus been described. A seventh, Padmā, should be understood in the same way. Bhadrā, marked by straightforwardness and previously described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, would clearly be the eighth:

Sanskrit quotation, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.54

One skillful gopī, her arms shining, embraced and kissed Madhusūdana under the pretext of praising Him in song.

Śrī Jayadeva specifically identifies this same rasa-filled action:

Sanskrit quotation, Gīta-govinda 1.49

Amid the overflowing joy of rāsa, among the graceful cowherd women, love-blinded Rādhā drew near and tightly embraced His chest. Saying, "Excellent! Your face is filled with nectar," under the pretext of praising His song, She boldly kissed Him. May smiling, captivating Hari protect you.

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.15

The gopīs attained Acyuta as their lover, He who is the exclusive beloved even of Śrī. Their necks held by His arms, they sang of Him and sported with Him.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

He is Acyuta because no greatness of form, quality, or any other excellence ever falls away from Him. The verse shows how difficult He is to attain. He is the utterly exclusive beloved even of Śrī, surpassing the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha and every other form. In accordance with the statement that Lakṣmī "abandoned every desire and performed austerity in longing for Him" (Bhāgavatam 10.16.36), He became the object of her love but was not attained by her in this way. Yet the gopīs attained that very lover.

Alternatively, they attained Him who is desired by Śrī as a lover and who is their own exclusively devoted dearest beloved. They did not merely attain Him. Unable to tolerate even the slightest separation, He held each of their necks within His two arms. Overwhelmed by the bliss of intense love, they sang of Him alone and sported with Him. Their greatness beyond even Śrī is thus manifest. Uddhava will sing the same conclusion:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhāgavatam 10.47.60

Not even Śrī, though intensely devoted to His chest, received the grace that arose for the beautiful women of Vraja in the rāsa festival, when His mighty arms embraced their necks. How then could the fragrant, lotus-radiant women of heaven, or any other women, attain it?

Bhāgavata 10.33.16

The gopīs danced together with Bhagavān in the assembly of rāsa. Lotuses at their ears and curls ornamented their cheeks, perspiration beautified their faces, and bangles and anklets supplied the music. Garlands slipped from their loosened hair, and bees became their singers.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This verse and the next likewise reveal the gopīs' greatness. The description beginning with the lotuses at their ears shows their supreme beauty even while fatigued by the rāsa dance. Yet the verse also explains why they continued dancing: they danced "together with Bhagavān," who revealed the complete essence and entire treasure of His limitless sweetness. His company produced the highest exhilaration.

They are called gopīs because they are renowned as being governed exclusively by love for Him. "Together with Him" also implies that they possessed cleverness and artistry equal to His. Every feature described for them, beginning with lotuses at the ears, should likewise be understood as present in Him. The gopīs themselves must have placed the lotus ornament upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa at that time.

Bhāgavata 10.33.17

In this way the Lord of Ramā sported with the beautiful women of Vraja through embraces, the touch of hands, affectionate glances, unrestrained amorous gestures, and laughter, just as a child plays with the movements of his own reflections.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Earlier commentators have explained "in this way." The introduction to their explanation is established by the force of the comparison, and their concluding explanation beginning with "just as a child" follows the same principle. In both cases the gopīs, who occupy the place of reflections, and the Supreme Lord, who occupies the place of the child, repeatedly imitate one another. Like a child, the Lord Himself initiates the play, sets the reflections in motion, and manifests His special gestures. The suggestion that the comparison merely shows Him remaining unaffected by their gestures while enjoying appears secondary. The stronger explanation is that the gopīs themselves reveal His qualities. Just as a child experiences the sweetness of his own face only through a mirror and not directly, the Supreme Lord experiences His sweetness only through such beloveds. It does not arise without the manifestation of their love.

Alternatively, although He is the Lord of Ramā, He sported exclusively with the beautiful women of Vraja. Their love, qualities, and beauty are therefore implied to exceed even hers. Or He is merely Ramā's Lord, not her amorous lover, whereas He truly sported as lover with the women of Vraja. This conveys the same superiority. "In this way" marvels at the extraordinary nature of that play: their embraces, His taking their hands, His affectionate and rasa-filled gazing upon their faces, His unrestrained gestures such as touching their breasts, and His smiles blossoming from surging emotion.

The comparison expresses their mutual equality and attraction, because the highest qualities move in both Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. A young child is naturally absorbed in play and sports with his own reflections, which are forms equal to himself. In the same way, Kṛṣṇa's nature is to be governed by love. Absorbed in play made entirely of that love, He sported with the gopīs, who occupy the place of His reflections because they are manifestations of His own intrinsic potency. For this reason the earlier verse deliberately called them "Kṛṣṇa's brides," not merely "the cowherds' wives." The Brahma-saṁhitā says:

Sanskrit quotation, Brahma-saṁhitā 5.37

I worship Govinda, the original person, the soul of all, who resides in Goloka with those expansions of His own form, the gopīs, who are imbued with the rasa of blissful spiritual consciousness.

Whatever movements of face and limbs the child makes, his reflected forms make as well. Delighting in this playful wonder, he repeats their movements. Likewise Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, mutually attracted, imitated one another. The word "affectionate" shows that He too, like them, underwent transformations of love. Śrī Parāśara describes even their involuntary physical signs:

Sanskrit quotation, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.13.55

As Hari's arms reached to meet the gopīs' cheeks, they grew dense with drops of perspiration, like a field sprouting a crop of horripilation.

Bhāgavata 10.33.18

O best of the Kurus, the women of Vraja became overwhelmed in every sense by the ever-increasing joy of contact with His limbs. Their garlands and ornaments loosened, yet they could not readily rearrange their hair, fine garments, or breast cloths.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This verse explains that the rāsa dance paused only because the gopīs were helpless with overwhelming bliss. Contact with Kṛṣṇa's limbs gradually brought their joy to its highest intensity and threw all their senses into disarray. The description beginning with their hair shows what that disarray meant. Dukūla is the fine linen garment worn around the body, while the breast cloth is an upper garment serving in place of a bodice.

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.19

Seeing Kṛṣṇa's extraordinary play, the women who traveled through the sky became bewildered and afflicted by desire for Him. The moon and his entire retinue were struck with wonder.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Kṛṣṇa is Svayaṁ Bhagavān, supremely complete in sweetness and every other excellence. Seeing His play become more extraordinary at every moment, yet lacking the gopīs' distinctive love expressed through direct service, all the wives of the gods and other sky travelers were tormented by desire directed toward the Supreme Lord and fell into bewilderment. At first they reflected upon their unfitness to attain Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Later their bewilderment became so complete that they forgot even their bodies. The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

The relevant nights should be understood as exceedingly long; otherwise the many freely unfolding pastimes of abundant happiness could not be established. Some therefore explain the later phrase "Brahmā's night" to mean that a night lasting one thousand cycles of four yugas passed. This too is possible, because the Lord's potency can reconcile every apparent contradiction.

The proposal that wonder simply stopped the motion of the heavenly bodies is only a poetic supposition. Their movement depends upon the celestial wheel; their own motion is slight and runs in the opposite direction. In truth, the sweetness of this pastime stopped the entire wheel of stars as it might stop the current of a river. The plural "nights" agrees with the earlier and later descriptions of that one night in expanded form.

The rāsa pastime is thus shown to be supremely enchanting because it intensifies distinctive emotions directed toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This is fitting. By its nature, every dance and song connected with Him greatly increases its corresponding emotion. Here Kṛṣṇa Himself directly performs them. Moreover, He performs them with women who possess a good fortune unattainable even by Lakṣmī, and the entire sequence is arranged in this unparalleled manner.

The commentators do not accept the singular reading "the moon was afflicted by desire," because the phrase "even the goddesses" explicitly attributes that desire to the celestial women. Moreover, "and the moon" begins a separate sentence.

Textual notes

Bhāgavata 10.33.20

Bhagavān expanded Himself into as many forms as there were cowherd women and sported with each of them in play, although He is self-delighting.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This verse and the next describe a special pastime performed after the rāsa dance, once they had rested. "Himself" means a manifestation of His own person. Although He appeared between the gopīs, His sacred form is all-pervading, by the principle that "He has neither inside nor outside" (Bhāgavatam 10.9.13). He also manifests as He wishes:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhāgavatam 10.69.2

How astonishing! With one body, the one Lord simultaneously and separately married sixteen thousand women in their individual homes.

The multiplication is described again because the manifestations had reunited into one while everyone rested. "Cowherd women" means females of the cowherd community. Some were married and some unmarried. This follows from the distinct descriptions of prior love for married women and maidens in verses 21 and 22 of the earlier account, and from the Harivaṁśa's statement: "Knowing the proper time, He gathered the young cowherd women and maidens at night" (2.22.18). Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi and other works describe this explicitly.

He "sported in play," meaning He delighted in the play of amorous rasa. The word Bhagavān indicates that precisely this displays the complete treasure of sweetness, the essence of His divinity, because it is a special playful manifestation of fully ripened prema-rasa. By that world-enchanting sweetness He spontaneously expanded their distinctive love. The verses ahead will make this clear. Śrī Bhāgavatāmṛta 1.1.22 also explains the force of "although self-delighting." He sported separately with each gopī in nearby bowers and similar places.

Textual notes

Bhāgavata 10.33.21

Beloved Parīkṣit, the compassionate Lord lovingly wiped the faces of the gopīs, who were tired from amorous play, with His supremely soothing hand.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Rati is the mutual attachment of husband and wife; vihāra is the variety of clever gestures formed from that attachment. The alternate reading "from excessive play" conveys the same meaning. When they became tired, He carefully wiped their faces with His supremely soothing hand, removing drops of perspiration, arranging their curls, and making their faces radiant.

He did so because He is compassionate, unable to tolerate another's distress. Yet His compassion was not general: He wiped their faces, revealing an utterly distinctive intimacy. Prema arises through contemplation of the beloved's virtues and through either "I am His" or "He is mine." It is a tenderness of heart filled with precisely such emotion and is therefore supremely distinctive, including compassion and all other virtues within itself.

"With His supremely soothing hand" means that even its mere touch naturally gave the highest happiness. He wiped their faces; He did so with love; and He did so with that supremely soothing hand. Each successive detail expresses a still greater satisfaction. "Beloved" is Śukadeva's affectionate address to Parīkṣit.

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.22

The gopīs' cheeks shone with the flashing radiance of golden earrings and curls. Honored by the bull among men through His smiles and glances, and thrilled by the touch of His fingernails, they honored Him in return by singing of His beautiful, sanctifying deeds.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Now overjoyed, the gopīs delighted Kṛṣṇa in three ways: through their bodies, emotions, and glorification. "Flashing" describes their bodily beauty, "honored by His smiles and glances" their emotional exchange, and "they sang" their praise. Earlier commentators explain "the bull among men." Here it means their husband, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śukadeva, the greatest sage, has himself openly called them "Kṛṣṇa's brides" (10.33.8); how could we conceal it? Even the words "beloved," "lover," and others that we have left unexplained cannot reasonably be understood otherwise. Their exclusive mutual feeling manifested conjugal awareness, and by the methods just described they honored Him.

Alternatively, they caused Him to think proudly, "Ah, how blessed I am to possess such brides." They sang His puṇya deeds, meaning both deeds that purify and deeds that are beautiful, for the lexicon also gives "lovely" as a meaning of puṇya. Because He alone remained as their sole object, this was their reason for singing.

His fingernails touched them as He wiped their faces. Although richly endowed with artistic qualities, some had fallen silent in affectionate pique. To make them sing again, He gave a slight delight that became intense joy. The verse thus shows the surge of rasa that enabled even those fatigued by amorous play to sing.

This verse and the preceding one display the expressive state called helā:

Sanskrit quotations on expressive states

When a cause of transformation is present, the mind's remaining unchanged is called sattva. Its first visible transformation resembles the first change in a seed.

When emotion slightly manifests through graceful movement of the neck and the opening of eyebrows, eyes, and other features, it is called hāva.

When that very hāva becomes clear and indicates amorous rasa, it is called helā.

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.23

Accompanied by the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa entered the Yamunā to remove their fatigue. His garland had been crushed by contact with their limbs and reddened by the kuṅkuma from their breasts. Followed by rows of singing bees, He appeared like an elephant king, tired after breaking the embankment, entering the water with his cow elephants.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This verse and the next two describe the loving gestures of the supremely delighted Lord Himself. He entered the water to remove the gopīs' fatigue, and because He was absorbed in a sweet human-like pastime made entirely of love, to remove His own as well. Contact with their limbs transferred to His garland the naturally supreme fragrance of those women whose feet are worshiped even by Padminī-type heroines.

The reading "reddened by the kuṅkuma from His own breasts" uses "own" in the sense of what belongs uniquely to Him, namely the gopīs. His garland should be understood as made of white jasmine, for its brilliant whiteness made its staining with kuṅkuma especially striking. The verse thus displays all the ingredients that stimulate love in a water pastime. He entered the Yamunā's water eagerly. The comparison to the elephant king follows his eager water sport with many cow elephants. The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

Alternatively, gandharva-pā means the finest singers, since the lexicon gives gandharva as a kind of deer, a singer, and a celestial being. Those singers, who were also His companions, followed Him, providing excellent music suited to water play.

Or the gopīs themselves had garlands crushed by contact with the Supreme Lord's limbs and bodies covered everywhere with the kuṅkuma from their own breasts through absorption in amorous love. He entered the water to remove not only their fatigue but His own, as the word "tired" states. Even in the comparison, "having broken the embankment" explains the elephant king's fatigue and means that Kṛṣṇa had acted with the unrestrained boldness of play. The reading without "own" is preferable, because the subject is Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the earlier explanation leaves "own" unexplained.

Textual note

Bhāgavata 10.33.24

Beloved Parīkṣit, the laughing young women stood on every side and drenched Him thoroughly in the water while gazing upon Him with love. Praised by celestial travelers who showered flowers, the self-delighting Lord sported there like an elephant king.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

This verse describes the water pastime. Kṛṣṇa was supremely playful, while the young women were intoxicated by the rasa of this kind of sport and expert in it. Standing in every direction around Him in the water, they naturally splashed Him with that very water. The text can also be read "sprinkled with love." They did not merely wet Him externally with water; internally they drenched Him with love. His absorption in the pastime was thus both internal and external.

They laughed heartily from the rasa of joking. In that same state He too delighted inwardly and outwardly, splashing them both with water and with love. Although He delights in Himself, He possessed a play as powerfully absorbing as an elephant king's. Although celestial travelers praised Him while showering flowers, revealing His supreme glory to be proclaimed always and everywhere, those spectators were unqualified to serve as participants in such intimate play. The verse should not be explained otherwise. "Beloved" is Śukadeva's joyful address to Parīkṣit. The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

Alternatively, "His own love" means that His attachment rested in His own people, specifically in these gopīs. Their victory therefore pleased Him more than His own. Or if one asks for a mercifully expanded description of that water play, the verse answers that it was His own unique delight. Because no adequate comparison or verbal means exists, it cannot be described at length.

Bhāgavata 10.33.25

Afterward Kṛṣṇa wandered through a nearby grove whose riverbank and every direction were filled with breezes carrying the fragrance of flowers growing on land and water. Surrounded by swarms of bees and the company of young women, He resembled a lordly elephant streaming ichor among his cow elephants.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

"Afterward" means after the water pastime. Their previous adornments had washed away, and forest ornaments were now especially attractive, so Kṛṣṇa desired abundant new varieties of play using them. "And then" begins a new sequence.

He wandered here and there, playing in varied ways by gathering flowers, hiding within bowers, and performing similar pastimes. The bees surrounded them because they accompanied the flower gathering. Moreover, when the water play washed their limbs, their naturally sweet fragrance became exceptionally manifest. The repeated mention of bees follows from this.

The phrase "streaming ichor" explains why swarms of bees encircled the elephant in the comparison. It also conveys Kṛṣṇa's lordliness among elephants and His complete absorption in His beloveds.

Bhāgavata 10.33.26

Thus the Lord, whose desires are eternally fulfilled, enjoyed every night illumined by the moon's rays in the company of the women who loved Him. Holding all amorous feeling fully contained within Himself, He passed those nights as the abode of every rasa celebrated in autumnal poetry and song.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

With this verse and the next, Śukadeva concludes the rāsa performed on the autumn full-moon night. At the same time he teaches that the same form of play occurred elsewhere and indicates many other pastimes as well. "Thus" means that in the manner of the rāsa already described, the Lord attended with supreme care all the moonlit nights of every autumn. At other seasons too He enjoyed moonlit or dark nights: secretly entering their homes, meeting them at appointed places, resting with them in bowers, and sometimes performing rāsa.

The verse further distinguishes the later nights. It says that He passed nights that were the setting for the rasas of autumnal poems and stories, meaning the innumerable pastimes performed by the Lord throughout those nights. Alternatively, He enacted every autumnal poem and story that poets of every land and age could ever describe, but only those grounded in rasa, not works composed without flavor. This also indicates His other pastimes. Or the moon-bright nights may belong even to spring and the other seasons: He enjoyed them through this same form of rāsa, and He likewise enacted all the endless poetic narratives belonging to the six-season cycle called autumn, provided they rested upon rasa.

In what condition did He enjoy them? He had "held amorous feeling within Himself": He had established everywhere in His inner mind the gopīs' emotions, gestures, and other states connected with love-play. Thus He was unable to abandon them. By naming the principal state, the verse includes all their emotions and manifestations. The Bhāgavata similarly says:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhāgavata 10.60.58

Through such intimate conversations, the Supreme Lord, Devakī's son, delighting in Himself, enjoyed with the goddess of fortune while imitating the ways of human society.

There the word "conversations" merely singles out one particular expression. The reason He contained their loving states within Himself is that the whole company of women was continuously attached to Him. Their love-play arose from the passionate depth of prema, not from the lust found in worldly lovers. He is therefore "true in desire": His longing of this kind is entirely free from infidelity. Parāśara and Vaiśampāyana likewise say:

Sanskrit quotation, Harivaṁśa 2.20.35

Thus Kṛṣṇa, adorned by circles of gopīs, rejoiced in happiness through the autumn nights bright with the moon.

Earlier commentators offered another, otherwise uncommon explanation of the word for amorous play only to establish that He was never overpowered by mundane desire.

Bhāgavata 10.33.27

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

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The venerable rāsa-līlā comprises the flute's summons, the dialogue, Manu's delight, Rādhā's disappearance-play, the Lord's reappearance and seat upon the upper cloth, the knot of questions and answers, the joyous dance, renewed secluded play, water sport, and Kṛṣṇa's wandering in the forest. The great sage described all this at length as an experience of exceptional joy. Hearing it awakened corresponding joy in the king at every point, not fault-finding, which would have introduced distaste. But Parīkṣit anticipated the doubts of some listeners. For their welfare he raised those doubts under the pretext that they were his own and asked this question in three verses.

The first two verses form a single syntactic unit. "To establish" means to set in motion dharma that has been lost and to protect dharma already practiced. The Lord came not only for this but also to quiet its opposite, adharma, by uprooting every inclination toward it. Otherwise even the establishment of dharma could not succeed. This is well known from statements such as, "For the establishment of dharma I appear age after age" in Bhagavad-gītā 4.7. The word "Bhagavān" implies that His divine nature would also be manifested for that very reason.

"Together with His portion" means together with Śrī Baladeva, whose presence is repeatedly emphasized, for the Lord maintains the worlds. Without Him their destruction would follow. Alternatively, according to the principle, "Supporting this entire universe with one portion of Myself, I remain," He is the ruler of the world through a single portion while He Himself possesses complete sovereignty. No unfulfilled personal desire can therefore exist in Him.

Bhāgavata 10.33.28

How then could He, who teaches, practices, and protects the boundaries of dharma, act contrary to them by touching the wives of others, O brāhmaṇa?

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The word "He" connects with the relative implied in the preceding verse. The dharmas themselves are protective embankments: the boundaries safeguarding society, or the Vedic ordinances governing religious life. Because He teaches them, He must also practice them; otherwise people would reject Him when His speech and conduct disagreed. Moreover, He protects them on every side by killing their opponents and fostering them in many ways. Touching others' wives would oppose those very boundaries and would contradict His purposes of establishing dharma and restraining adharma. "O brāhmaṇa" means "O embodiment of the Veda itself!" By transgressing the Veda He would also transgress the brāhmaṇa lineage represented by you, which would be altogether improper for the Lord who cherishes the brāhmaṇas.

Alternatively, anticipating the thought, "How could I know the purpose of an act performed by the Lord?" the king addresses Śukadeva as the embodiment of all the Vedas, hence omniscient. The remaining details follow earlier commentators.

Or "acted contrary" can mean that He spoke adharma, performed it, and protected it. He spoke it by saying, "Although I worshiped you invisibly, I disappeared," thereby admitting that in secret He consorts even with others' wives. He performed it through direct enjoyment, and protected it by repeating it and thus possibly encouraging its practice in the world. On that reading He would incur an even greater bond of fault than ordinary perpetrators of adharma.

Yet by a play on the wording the king also states the true conclusion. Ordinarily sthāpana means establishing dharma; saṁsthāpana here means establishing pure bhakti-yoga in that very sphere as transcending every other rule. Scripture says:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.9, citing Padma Purāṇa

Viṣṇu must always be remembered and never forgotten. All injunctions and prohibitions are servants of these two commands.

In the First Canto Kuntīdevī states that this is the chief purpose of His descent: "You have descended to institute bhakti-yoga; how then can women like us behold You?" Bhāgavata 1.8.20. The commentary too explains, "You have descended for the institution of bhakti-yoga." This occurs there by His power alone even without explicit instruction, and its opposite naturally disappears. How then could such a Lord truly have acted against dharma by touching others' wives? He did not. He is the teacher, practitioner, and protector of bhakti-yoga, the shelter of every dharma. To expand the special prema that is the fruit of the distinctive bhakti central to His descent, it was entirely fitting that the gopīs abandon duties such as service to husbands and disregard other dharmas. The statement "One should perform prescribed action only so long as..." in Bhāgavata 11.20.9 shows that this is fitting even at the stage of practice, how much more for the perfected gopīs.

Or His being Bhagavān and Lord of the universe itself explains why there is no contradiction: He is the source of all portions and the indwelling ruler of every being. Or the "wives of another" are the beloveds who are forms of His own supreme intrinsic potency. How could His touching His own lovers be contrary to dharma? It could not, for Śukadeva himself has already called them "Kṛṣṇa's brides" in Bhāgavata 10.33.8.

Bhāgavata 10.33.29

The Lord of the Yadus is self-fulfilled, yet He certainly performed what appears blameworthy. With what intention did He do this? O observer of noble vows, please sever our doubt.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

If He had performed such a forbidden act, He could not remain lord of the supremely righteous Yadus. "This doubt" means there is no other doubt anywhere. The plural "our" speaks on behalf of the class of doubters. Doubt is the mind's wavering because the act was performed by the crown jewel of all beings yet appears contrary to scripture. "O observer of noble vows" means, "You are fixed in celibacy and the other disciplines; conduct opposed to that of people like you must indeed be blameworthy." Or it means, "You are fixed in good conduct; otherwise the standards approved by you and other saints would be lost."

On the reading that conveys the hidden conclusion, He is lord of the Yadus, His devotees, and by mercy to devotees may sometimes transcend ordinary dharma. Did He do anything blameworthy? He did not. He did only what the community of devotees approves. How so? He is āpta-kāma: through rāsa and the other pastimes He attained His desire to spread loving devotion to Himself. By inaugurating prema-bhakti, the highest attainable goal, He did not perform a condemned act. On the contrary, He delighted the saints.

Even so, Parīkṣit asks with folded hands on behalf of those present who still doubted, generally out of humility. Those learned in the essence of scripture, devoted to bhakti, and bathed in genuine rasa have no further doubt regarding His rāsa-līlā, which consists entirely of the rasa of loving devotion. His intent is: "I ask solely for the benefit of inattentive listeners, not from doubt of my own. Without making them afraid, please fearlessly cut the chain of their uncertainty." "O observer of noble vows" can therefore mean, "O one exclusively fixed in devotion!"

Bhāgavata 10.33.30

Śrī Śukadeva said: Powerful rulers are sometimes seen to cross the boundaries of dharma and act with exceptional boldness. Such acts do not stain those endowed with fiery power, just as fire, which consumes everything, is not stained.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Out of innate compassion, or affection for his disciple, Śukadeva removes the doubt in seven verses. "Powerful rulers" are persons strong in knowledge and devotion who, by worship of the Lord and similar means, are no longer dependent upon ritual action. "Transgression of dharma" means crossing a specific restriction, as when Brahmā and others desired their own daughters. "Boldness" means fearlessness, as in acts of Indra and others. Fire consumes or burns everything, yet although it burns all things it incurs no fault such as killing. The same principle applies here. Earlier commentators explain the remaining details. Alternatively, the transgression itself is the bold act, with "and" used in the sense of "but." The words distinguish such sovereign beings from those who possess no such power.

Bhāgavata 10.33.31

A person who lacks such sovereign power must never imitate this conduct, not even mentally. One who foolishly does so is destroyed, just as anyone other than Rudra would be destroyed by drinking the poison born from the ocean.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

What, then, of ordinary people? This verse answers. One must not completely imitate conduct of powerful rulers that involves crossing ordinary dharma. The force lies in the prohibition of "completely": one must not imitate even a single portion of it. Never, at any time, and not even with the mind, much less in speech or action. Such a person is thoroughly ruined, suffering in both worlds together with the very roots of well-being. His foolishness is failure to understand the ruler's power and his own incapacity. Foolishness is therefore the cause of drinking the poison; without it no one would attempt such an act. The ocean-born poison is Kālakūṭa, so fierce that destruction would be immediate. A true sovereign being is not destroyed. Rather, his special power becomes more beautiful and manifest, as Śiva's glory appeared through his blue throat.

Bhāgavata 10.33.32

The command of powerful rulers is true and authoritative, though their conduct is so only in certain instances. An intelligent person should practice whatever in their conduct accords with their own instruction.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Their "word" means their command, which is to be accepted as authoritative. One should imitate conduct that does not contradict what they themselves teach. The word "their own" shows that their command has greater force after one has thus examined their actions. "An intelligent person" means one who considers each case in this way. Anyone who fails to do so is simply without intelligence.

Bhāgavata 10.33.33

O master, selfless rulers gain no personal advantage in this world by acting well, nor do they incur harm by acting otherwise, for they are free from ego.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The word "and" includes the next world as well, and "or" joins the two alternatives: no harm comes to them either. Why? Because they are free from ego, distinct from egoistic persons, and therefore are not touched by action. "O master" means, "O one capable of understanding, you can grasp this correctly." Alternatively, Parīkṣit is addressed with regard to his own sovereignty: "O ruler!"

Bhāgavata 10.33.34

How, then, could good or evil ever attach itself to the Lord of all beings, whether animals, human beings, or celestial dwellers, and of all who are ruled by Him?

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

If even those powerful persons incur no harm merely because they are free from ego, how could the Supreme Lord, who descended for their welfare as well, be suspected of harm? Śukadeva strengthens the point by an argument from the lesser to the greater. All beings are listed as animals, mortals, and celestial residents, corresponding respectively to the modes of darkness, passion, and goodness. "Those who are ruled" means beings who by nature remain under His governance, which also indicates that even liberated souls depend upon Him. The word "and" has the sense of "but." The construction continues the preceding verse: if contact with auspicious and inauspicious action, with merit and sin, applies to those governed beings, how much more certainly does it not apply to their Lord. Since He controls everyone, there is no controller over Him. This is precisely what it means to be the Supreme Lord. The lexicon explains the emphatic expression as meaning strongly, excellently, exceedingly, and absolutely.

Bhāgavata 10.33.35

Even sages who are satisfied by devoted service to the pollen of His lotus feet, and whose every bond of karma has been cast away by the power of yoga, wander freely without becoming bound. How then could bondage touch Him, who assumes a body solely by His own will?

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Śukadeva makes the same conclusion explicit through another argument from the lesser to the greater. By correlation of the relative and demonstrative pronouns, the phrase beginning "by the power of yoga" also belongs within the relative clause, and yat therefore means "of Him whose." The elision of the case ending is Vedic usage. Sages are fully satisfied by deeply serving the pollen of His two lotus feet, the minute particles of their radiance, through the contemplative cultivation called meditation. They regard everything else as sufficient and are filled with love for Him. By the power of His yoga, the brilliance of the discipline called bhakti-yoga, every bond of their karma has been shaken off. They therefore move freely, doing what is prescribed or even what is not prescribed, yet are not bound. How then could there be bondage for Him? There can be none.

After demonstrating this by the greater-and-lesser reasoning, the verse also denies His bondage through a particular qualification: He accepted a body by will alone, not through subjection to karma as a jīva does. Because that body is connected with devotion to Him, He brought it even into the manifested world. Thus, for the sake of showing special favor to a devotee, as in His humbling of Durvāsā, He sometimes crosses an ordinary boundary.

Textual note

The author of the Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī reads "proud" in place of "satisfied."

Bhāgavata 10.33.36

He who moves within the gopīs, their husbands, and indeed every embodied being is the overseeing Lord. This very Kṛṣṇa assumes His body for divine play.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

The preceding argument removed fault even while provisionally accepting that the gopīs were others' wives. Yet that position still leaves the insulting labels of unchaste women and paramour. Unable to tolerate even that residue, Śukadeva now refutes the premise that they were truly the wives of others. Earlier commentators explain "within the gopīs" to mean that the Supersoul witnesses intellect and all other inner functions. No one is "other" than Him; how then can anyone's wife be another's in relation to Him?

One may object that the Supersoul is heard to be formless, while Kṛṣṇa has form and would therefore seem like us. The answer is "that very one." The emphatic particle is carried over from a variant reading with "and indeed"; some manuscripts omit "and." He possesses the causal agency of play by His own free will, never under the control of karma, and sets His own suitable body in motion in the suitable place. The Supersoul is called formless only because indwelling rulership requires no bodily form, not because He is actually without form. The Second Canto says:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhāgavata 2.2.8

Some contemplate within the space of their own heart the Person who dwells there, measuring one span.

The force of "not" is that He is never like embodied jīvas such as us, mutually subject to alien karma. Other readings are "This one possesses a body for play" and "He assumes a body here through play."

Alternatively, He who moves within the gopīs and all others as the Supersoul, granting each being its proper capacity, is their overseer and presiding Lord. For the gopīs whose possessive love is disclosed in statements such as "What have the gopīs done?" in Bhāgavata 10.21.9, "O Kātyāyanī, great Māyā" in 10.22.4, and "Ah, in Mathurā" in 10.47.21, His overseership means specifically that He is their husband.

How can He sport as the Supersoul, and how does He sport in that form? "This one" means the outwardly manifest form. That same Śrī Kṛṣṇa eternally possesses the body that serves as the instrument of such play, not the inward Supersoul form. The variant is to be construed in the same manner, with "here" referring to the externally manifest form. The same applies below.

To prevent the indwelling-Supersoul argument from proving too much about every woman being His wife, that explanation has imported a further qualification. Even so, according to Rukmiṇī's words concerning bodies filled with excrement and urine, skin, beard, nails, hair, and so on in Bhāgavata 10.60.45, action by His supremely luminous body, a unique manifestation of pure goodness, toward such bodies would only make the act repellent. It could not make it attractive in the sense of the next verse, which says that hearing such pastimes makes one devoted to Him. For this reason the text states that some gopīs confined at home abandoned bodies that were not yet perfected.

One should not infer otherwise from His later approach to Sairindhrī and others. The statement "By Mukunda's touch she immediately became the finest of women" in Bhāgavata 10.42.8 shows that, like iron touched by a philosopher's stone, or like Dhruva's transformed body, she attained the excellent body suitable for His play. Nor should the gopīs be placed in that same category, for Bhāgavata 10.32.10 says that, far from their needing transformation, the Lord became still more radiant through them.

Moreover, the statement beginning "Not even the goddess of fortune, dear one" in Bhāgavata 10.47.58 establishes that these gopīs are more worthy than Lakṣmī, celestial women, the supreme goddesses, and every other woman. It emphatically asks, "What then of others?" Their extraordinary nature therefore requires an extraordinary interpretation.

These particular gopīs, the men presently regarded as their husbands, and all embodied residents of Vraja, including cowherds and cows, live within the sphere where Kṛṣṇa eternally moves and plays appropriate pastimes. This is taught by "All glory to the shelter of all beings" in Bhāgavata 10.90.48, "How greatly fortunate!" in 10.14.32, and the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 2.23: "He who dwells among the cows, He who protects the cows." That Śrī Kṛṣṇa is their overseer. Though manifest before worldly eyes, He moves and plays with each according to that being's proper relationship. In both senses, play is the purpose. This Kṛṣṇa delights eternally in play and continually manifests His cowherd form.

Alternatively, even while visible to worldly eyes He sports by accepting the gopīs and others as "bodies of play," forms that serve His own pastimes. The variant reading similarly refers to their forms as characterized by His play. Because He eternally enjoys with them in this way, they are His eternal beloveds. The verse is not describing merely bodies fashioned in their likeness.

Even in the manifest līlā, where description of their supreme relationship may awaken apparent doubt, Śukadeva, absorbed in bliss, clearly calls them "beloved of Adhokṣaja," "beloved of Bhagavān," and "Kṛṣṇa's brides" in Bhāgavata 10.33.7. In the unmanifest līlā, where no such doubt exists, Durvāsā decides the matter even more strongly. After the Gopāla-tāpanī says, "He who dwells among the cows," he tells the gopīs, "He alone becomes your husband." Brahmā likewise says in his Saṁhitā:

Sanskrit quotation, Brahma-saṁhitā 5.48

I worship Govinda, the primeval Person, the Self of all, who dwells in Goloka with those expansions of His own form, the gopīs, who are permeated by the condensed rasa of conscious and spiritual bliss.

Although calling them His expansions already establishes that they belong to His own form, the words "as His own form" specifically dispel doubt produced by their apparent paramour relationship in the manifest līlā. The same conclusion is fixed by the beginning and end of that section: the gopīs are identified as Lakṣmīs and He as the Supreme Person. It begins with "served with reverent haste by hundreds of thousands of Lakṣmīs" in Brahma-saṁhitā 5.29 and concludes, "The goddesses of fortune are the beloveds, and their lover is the Supreme Person; the trees are wish-fulfilling trees" in 5.56.

The same teaching appears there and elsewhere. The principal eighteen-syllable mantra and other mantras centered directly upon the word gopī speak in precisely this way. So too does the Gautamīya-tantra in explaining those mantras. The divine sage who saw the mantras set aside even the conventional derivation of the Lord's name so that externally oriented persons might also approach Him. He first derives it in two ways through the distinct manifestations of His universal lordship, māyā, and intrinsic potency. Then, to guide devotees who meditate upon His intimate beloveds, he concludes with the preferred second explanation: the cowherd-form Lord is the husband of the cowherd women. The emphatic "alone" there rejects the apparent paramour status famous in the manifest līlā:

Sanskrit quotation, Gautamīya-tantra

Know "gopī" as primordial nature and "jana" as the aggregate of principles. The Lord is the shelter of both, pervading them and being their cause. The dense supreme light of bliss is called their beloved.

Or, "gopī" is primordial nature and "jana" the circle of her portions. Their beloved, their master, is the Lord named Kṛṣṇa. The śrutis therefore sing Him as ruler of both cause and effect.

Or Nanda's son, who increases the bliss of the three worlds, is alone the husband of the gopīs perfected through many births.

"Perfected through many births" is like Kṛṣṇa's words to Arjuna, "Many births of Mine and yours have passed" in Bhagavad-gītā 4.5. It reveals their beginningless succession of appearances, celebrated in śruti, Purāṇa, Tantra, and other scriptures. Thus in reality they are not the wives of another at all, and there can be no question of their being unfit for Him.

Textual notes

One reading adds "indeed" after "all." Another reads, "He assumes a body here through play."

Bhāgavata 10.33.37

To bestow grace upon His devotees, He assumes a humanlike form and enjoys such pastimes that whoever hears them becomes devoted exclusively to Him.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Why would one whose every desire is fulfilled engage in play at all, much less in play that appears blameworthy to outward vision? The answer is: for the grace of His devotees. The Lord says in Padma Purāṇa, "For the delight of My devotees I perform many kinds of acts." He assumes a humanlike, person-shaped form. Though as Brahman He is the shelter of everything, He Himself makes that form His shelter. This also displays the supreme shelterhood of His nature as Parabrahman. Bhāvārtha-dīpikā 10.1.1 therefore says that the Tenth Canto's subject is "the form that is both shelter and sheltered," and the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā 14.27, "I am the foundation of Brahman." The variant "He abides in" carries the same sense: He makes the humanlike form the honored object of His presence.

It is untenable to explain that He only now fashioned a human body by His own will and entered it. In the transcendent realm the cowherds experience the person-shaped Parabrahman named Kṛṣṇa as their presiding Lord. His play is therefore for the grace of devotees. Although He is self-fulfilled, such grace is fitting because it is the nature of pure goodness, and the same trait appears in those whose hearts are molded by Him. Examples are Jaḍa Bharata's history, where he favored Rahūgaṇa, and Śukadeva's own favor toward Parīkṣit.

"Devotees" includes the goddesses of Vraja, all the people of Vraja, Vaiṣṇavas of past, present, and future, and others. The unprecedented wonder of His līlā shines for the Vraja goddesses through prior love and its later stages, for Vraja's people through His birth and other events, and for everyone else through seeing and hearing those events. In the company of such devotees He therefore performs pastimes that attract every heart. Even an ordinary person who hears any such pastime becomes absorbed in Him; how much more one who hears this rāsa-līlā. The text will conclude, "This play of Viṣṇu with the brides of Vraja" in Bhāgavata 10.33.40.

Alternatively, every living being who has assumed a human body can become devoted to Him. The Lord descends in the mortal realm, worship is chiefly possible there, and human beings can easily perfect themselves through hearing and related practices. The variant "for the grace of beings" includes everyone connected with the devotees who cause His descent: seekers of pleasure, seekers of liberation, and the liberated. Supreme compassion alone is stated as the cause, though grace for all should still be understood in relation to devotional practice. Earlier commentators' reference to the outwardly turned means even people at that furthest limit. Śukadeva's own extraordinary eagerness to describe the līlā arises because it embodies the highest summit of prema. On the alternative interpretation of "the gopīs," the verse can also be explained as follows.

One may ask why He did not keep such play hidden and eternal. Why reveal it to the material world? For the grace of devotees within the cosmos, He "assumed a human body," meaning that He entered the mortal world, which is a limb of His universal body, and became manifest there. The Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.7.3 says, "The earth is His body." Thus scripture applies the word "body" to that world, and "human" indicates the human realm. The rest is as before.

Finally, because "devotees" or "beings" is plural, it is grammatically difficult to change them into the singular agent of "becomes devoted," and other explanations require awkward supplied words. "Bhagavān" is already understood from the context. The most direct sense is therefore that He performs such pastimes that even He Himself, whenever He hears them, becomes absorbed in them. Each time He hears, He becomes attached anew.

Bhāgavata 10.33.38

The residents of Vraja, bewildered by His Yogamāyā, did not feel envy toward Kṛṣṇa, for each believed his own wife to be standing beside him.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Suppose the gopīs' status as others' wives is rejected either because Kṛṣṇa is the Supersoul or because He eternally sports with them as His beloveds. The first view can be maintained somehow only by supplying qualifications. But if the second is accepted, why does scripture still speak of their apparent marriage to others? If those marriages were genuine, they would make the women those men's wives, even if the gopīs were destined to marry Kṛṣṇa in another birth.

If one then says that Kṛṣṇa attracted their wives in order to produce absorption in Himself, under the principle that He performs such pastimes to favor devotees, the men would naturally envy Him. How could this favor those men, who were residents of Vraja and supreme devotees? How could hearing of such distress for His eternal beloveds and for those exalted devotees make later devotees absorbed in Him? Because the sequence of syntactic connection is stronger than mere order of recitation, Śukadeva now gives the conclusion in its proper sequence: the residents of Vraja certainly did not envy Kṛṣṇa.

Bhāgavata 10.33.39

When the night of Brahmā came to its close, the gopīs, though unwilling to leave, returned to their homes with Vāsudeva's approval. They were the beloveds of Bhagavān.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Having ended the incidental discussion, Śukadeva concludes the narrative and describes the gopīs' dissatisfaction even after they had plunged into an ocean of the nectar of supreme bliss. Though unwilling, they returned to their homes. After coming near Vraja while still enjoying together with Kṛṣṇa, each took the path to her own home. The reason was that the night of Brahmā had ended, making that time suitable only for returning home.

Why should they, who had abandoned everything for Him, care about that? Here "Vāsudeva" can mean the lord of Vraja, who in a former birth shone among the Vasus. Because he stood close to Kṛṣṇa in the Gokula-līlā, the patronymic derived from him can refer to Kṛṣṇa. At dawn, when memory of parental expectations arose, Kṛṣṇa gave His approval: He praised them, accepted that He would quickly grant His company again, and in these and other ways induced their consent. By a further play on the word, He who eternally stays and plays close to each of them individually pleased and conciliated them. If "Vāsudeva" is taken in its majestic sense, His own conciliating them displays their greatness.

Alternatively, vasu refers to their pure inner nature. Śiva says, "Pure goodness is called Vāsudeva." Because love presides there, the word denotes that pure consciousness.

How could their leaving His rarely attained company, even at His urging, be called the fruit of love? And how could meditation on Him make them submissive to His wish? They are those for whom Bhagavān alone is dear, or they are Bhagavān's own beloveds. They will endure even pain rather than cause Him the slightest constraint. For His part, even though a man is ruled by his beloved, modesty, propriety, graciousness, and similar considerations sometimes require him to relinquish her exclusive company. That is the sense.

Textual note

The source commentary closes this verse with the number 38.

Bhāgavata 10.33.40

A sober person who faithfully and repeatedly hears, and then recounts, this divine play of Viṣṇu with the brides of Vraja obtains supreme devotion to Bhagavān. He swiftly casts away lust, the disease of the heart, without delay.

Jīva Gosvāmī's Laghu-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī

Hearing and recounting this līlā oppose mundane lust and bestow love for the Lord. By an argument from the lesser to the greater, this shows that the līlā itself is the fruit of supreme devotion. At the close of the narration, Śukadeva heightens the conclusion already established and, absorbed in bliss, speaks the natural fruit almost as a blessing upon all future hearers and speakers.

"This special play," with "and" including other pastimes of the same kind, belongs to Viṣṇu. The name indicates His all-pervading manifestation described earlier, when He stood between every two gopīs in Bhāgavata 10.33.3. One must be endowed with śraddhā, confident trust. This removes the offense of contempt, which is its opposite, and also implies uninterrupted practice; both make the fruit exceptional. Such a person should repeatedly and continuously hear, and afterward personally recount. These practices also imply remembrance.

He obtains devotion defined as prema, "supreme" because it is of the highest kind and follows the love of the gopīs. He obtains it afresh at every moment. "Lust, the disease of the heart" specifically excludes desire directed toward Bhagavān, because that special desire is supreme prema and therefore the opposite of worldly lust. Lust also stands for all other diseases of the heart. Elsewhere Bhagavad-gītā 18.54 says:

Sanskrit quotation, Bhagavad-gītā 18.54

Established in Brahman, serene in self, neither lamenting nor desiring, equal toward all beings, one then obtains supreme devotion to Me.

Here, by contrast, supreme devotion is attained before the heart's disease is removed. This practice is therefore extraordinarily powerful. The hearer becomes dhīra, sober and steadfast, meaning that he also obtains spiritual composure.

Alternatively, kāmam can mean "abundantly" or "as desired": swiftly obtaining devotion in full measure, he soon removes the heart's affliction caused by not attaining Śrī Kṛṣṇa, because he then attains Him. The remaining explanation is the same.

Concluding dedication

May this work be for the pleasure of Bhagavān, the embodiment of consciousness, by whom all people are made to dance as He sports both without and within.