गोपी-गीत

Gopi-Gītā

The Gopis’ Song of Longing

Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.31 · all nineteen verses

The rāsa-dance has stopped. Krishna saw the gopis becoming proud and disappeared from the circle to humble them. They have been searching the forest. They cannot find him. They have come back together at the bank of the Yamuna in the night, and they begin to sing him out of hiding.

The Gopi-Gītā is nineteen verses. It moves through every register of viraha: praise, accusation, supplication, complaint, the painful precision of memory, and finally a love so complete that the lover is no longer worried about herself but only about the beloved’s tender feet on the forest pebbles. The chapter ends, and Krishna walks back into the gopis’ circle.

The Arc of the Nineteen Verses

Verses 1 through 4 establish the address: O beloved, our lives are kept only by you, you are our soul and the soul of everything. Verses 5 through 8 plead for his hand, his glance, his lips. Verses 9 through 12 turn outward to praise the kathāmṛta, the nectar of his story, and to confess how memory both sustains and wounds. Verses 13 through 18 are the long heart of the song, where the gopis name his lotus feet, his lips, and the broken vows of intimacy as the medicine, the meditation, the wound. Verse 19 is the closing turn: their grief has flipped to care for him.

All nineteen verses are presented below in order, with Devanagari, IAST transliteration, contemporary English translation, and a short reflection on each. Read straight through as a single song; the cadence is part of the meaning.

Bhāgavata 10.31.1

गोप्य ऊचुः जयति तेऽधिकं जन्मना व्रजः श्रयत इन्दिरा शश्वदत्र हि। दयित दृश्यतां दिक्षु तावका- स्त्वयि धृतासवस्त्वां विचिन्वते॥

gopya ūcuḥ jayati te 'dhikaṁ janmanā vrajaḥ śrayata indirā śaśvad atra hi dayita dṛśyatāṁ dikṣu tāvakās tvayi dhṛtāsavas tvāṁ vicinvate

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

The opening of the Gopi-Gītā. Krishna has vanished from the rāsa-dance. The gopis are searching the night forest. They begin to sing because they cannot find him by walking. They name what is true: Vraja itself is glorious because he was born here. Even Lakṣmī, the cosmic goddess of fortune, lives here for that reason. We, they say, only stay alive for you. Show yourself.

Bhāgavata 10.31.2

शरदुदाशये साधुजातसत्- सरसिजोदरश्रीमुषा दृशा। सुरतनाथ तेऽशुल्कदासिका वरद निघ्नतो नेह किं वधः॥

śarad-udāśaye sādhu-jāta-sat- sarasijodara-śrī-muṣā dṛśā surata-nātha te 'śulka-dāsikā vara-da nighnato neha kiṁ vadhaḥ

O lord of love, the beauty of your glance excels the whorl of the finest, most perfectly formed lotus within the autumn pond. O bestower of benedictions, you are killing the maidservants who have given themselves to you freely, without any price. Is this not murder?

Now they accuse him with affection. We are your aśulka-dāsikāḥ, your maidservants given to you without price, without dowry, without anything in return. We came on our own. And you are killing us by hiding. The verse turns the legal language of slave-purchase upside down: we gave ourselves freely, and you who pretend to be the lord of love are now causing our deaths. The grief is articulate.

Bhāgavata 10.31.3

विषजलाप्ययाद्व्यालराक्षसा- द्वर्षमारुताद्वैद्युतानलात्। वृषमयात्मजाद्विश्वतोभया- दृषभ ते वयं रक्षिता मुहुः॥

viṣa-jalāpyayād vyāla-rākṣasād varṣa-mārutād vaidyutānalāt vṛṣa-mayātmajād viśvato-bhayād ṛṣabha te vayaṁ rakṣitā muhuḥ

O greatest of beings, again and again you have rescued us: from poisoned water, from the python and the demon, from the storm and the lightning fire, from the bull and the son of Maya, from every kind of fear in every direction. We are kept alive by you.

Before pleading for his return, the gopis recite his rescues. Kāliya in the river. Aghāsura the python. The demon Vyoma. The fire in the forest. The cyclone of Tṛṇāvarta. Each crisis of childhood was a moment when he stood between them and death. The verse is memory used as argument: you have always saved us, do not stop now.

Bhāgavata 10.31.4

न खलु गोपिकानन्दनो भवा- नखिलदेहिनामन्तरात्मदृक्। विखनसार्थितो विश्वगुप्तये सख उदेयिवान्सात्वतां कुले॥

na khalu gopikā-nandano bhavān akhila-dehinām antarātma-dṛk vikhanasārthito viśva-guptaye sakha udeyivān sātvatāṃ kule

Truly, you are not the son of the gopi alone. You are the inner witness of every embodied being. Asked by Brahmā to protect the universe, dear friend, you have appeared in the Sātvata line.

The pivotal theological verse of the Gopi-Gītā, voiced in the middle of the gopis' own searching. They have been calling him their lover, their husband, their soul. In this verse they say what they also know: he is not only Yaśodā's child, he is the antarātma-dṛk, the witness within every body in every world. The verse joins the Vraja Krishna to the cosmic Krishna in a single breath. It refuses the false choice between intimate beloved and metaphysical absolute. The gopis name him as both, and their love does not need to choose.

Bhāgavata 10.31.5

विरचिताभयं वृष्णिधूर्य ते चरणमीयुषां संसृतेर्भयात्। करसरोरुहं कान्त कामदं शिरसि धेहि नः श्रीकरग्रहम्॥

viracitābhayaṁ vṛṣṇi-dhūrya te caraṇam īyuṣāṁ saṁsṛter bhayāt kara-saroruhaṁ kānta kāma-daṁ śirasi dhehi naḥ śrī-kara-graham

O foremost of the Vṛṣṇis, your hand grants fearlessness to all who approach your feet, fleeing the terror of birth and death. O beloved, that lotus hand fulfills every desire, and it is the same hand that took Lakṣmī's hand in marriage. Place it now upon our heads.

The gopis ask for his hand. Place it on our heads, they say, the lotus hand that married Lakṣmī, the hand that destroys fear. The verse moves the request from face to hand, from sight to touch. śrī-kara-graham, the hand that grasped Śrī. They are asking for the conjugal gesture in the only register a maidservant may ask for it: place it on my head.

Bhāgavata 10.31.6

व्रजजनार्तिहन्वीर योषितां निजजनस्मयध्वंसनस्मित। भज सखे भवत्किङ्करीः स्म नो जलरुहाननं चारु दर्शय॥

vraja-janārti-han vīra yoṣitāṁ nija-jana-smaya-dhvaṁsana-smita bhaja sakhe bhavat-kiṅkarīḥ sma no jalaruhānanaṁ cāru darśaya

O destroyer of the suffering of the people of Vraja, O hero of all women, your smile shatters the false pride of those who are your own. Dear friend, accept us. We are your servants. Show us your beautiful lotus face.

The plea now turns explicit. They name him vraja-jana-ārti-han, the one who removes the suffering of Vraja's people. They name his smile as the destroyer of pride, even of the pride of his own intimates. They say bhaja, accept us, take us, we are your kiṅkarīs, your handmaidens. And then the simple, devastating request: show us your lotus face. The whole song so far has been a path to this single line.

Bhāgavata 10.31.7

प्रणतदेहिनां पापकर्षणं तृणचरानुगं श्रीनिकेतनम्। फणिफणार्पितं ते पदाम्बुजं कृणु कुचेषु नः कृन्धि हृच्छयम्॥

praṇata-dehināṁ pāpa-karṣaṇaṁ tṛṇa-carānugaṁ śrī-niketanam phaṇi-phaṇārpitaṁ te padāmbujaṁ kṛṇu kuceṣu naḥ kṛndhi hṛc-chayam

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

The famous verse where the gopis ask him to place his feet on their breasts. The Goswāmīs read this carefully: the gopis are asking him to remove the kāma from their hearts, to tear it out by his presence. The same feet that walked on Kāliya can walk on this. The verse names the lotus feet as the universal medicine for everything from cosmic poison to the heart’s longing.

Bhāgavata 10.31.8

मधुरया गिरा वल्गुवाक्यया बुधमनोज्ञया पुष्करेक्षण। विधिकरीरिमा वीर मुह्यती- रधरसीधुनाप्याययस्व नः॥

madhurayā girā valgu-vākyayā budha-manojñayā puṣkarekṣaṇa vidhi-karīr imā vīra muhyatīr adhara-sīdhunāpyāyayasva naḥ

O lotus-eyed one, your sweet voice and charming words, captivating even to the wise, are bewildering us, your servants, more and more. O hero, revive us now with the nectar of your lips.

The plea moves to the mouth. The gopis name what his speech does: even those whose minds are settled, even the budha, the wise, lose themselves in the music of his words. We are your servants, they say, and we are fainting. Now revive us with adhara-sīdhu, the wine of your lips. The intimacy is gentle and exact. They are asking for a kiss.

Bhāgavata 10.31.9

तव कथामृतं तप्तजीवनं कविभिरीडितं कल्मषापहम्। श्रवणमङ्गलं श्रीमदाततं भुवि गृणन्ति ये भूरिदा जनाः॥

tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ śrīmad ātataṁ bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāḥ

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

tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanam. The nectar of your story is the life of those scorched. This verse is recited daily in Vaishnava temples worldwide. The gopis, in the middle of their own searching, name what hearing about him does for everyone else. They have stepped, in this verse, from their own grief into universal benediction. To tell the story of Krishna, they say, is the greatest act of generosity in the world.

Bhāgavata 10.31.10

प्रहसितं प्रिय प्रेमवीक्षणं विहरणं च ते ध्यानमङ्गलम्। रहसि संविदो या हृदिस्पृशः कुहक नो मनः क्षोभयन्ति हि॥

prahasitaṁ priya-prema-vīkṣaṇaṁ viharaṇaṁ ca te dhyāna-maṅgalam rahasi saṁvido yā hṛdi spṛśaḥ kuhaka no manaḥ kṣobhayanti hi

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

kuhaka, deceiver. The address is intimate and accusatory at once. They are remembering specific moments now: his smiles, his loving glances, his secret jokes in the kunja. Each memory is dhyāna-maṅgala, auspicious to meditate on, and yet each agitates the heart. This is the paradox of viraha. The very memories that sustain are the ones that wound.

Bhāgavata 10.31.11

चलसि यद्व्रजाच्चारयन्पशून् नलिनसुन्दरं नाथ ते पदम्। शिलतृणाङ्कुरैः सीदतीति नः कलिलतां मनः कान्त गच्छति॥

calasi yad vrajāc cārayan paśūn nalina-sundaraṁ nātha te padam śila-tṛṇāṅkuraiḥ sīdatīti naḥ kalilatāṁ manaḥ kānta gacchati

When you leave Vraja each day to herd the cows, our hearts are tortured by the thought that the soles of your feet, more lovely than any lotus, are being pierced by sharp grass and pebbles. O master, O beloved, our minds become unsettled.

The first appearance of the theme that will close the song. The gopis are not yet at the full reversal of verse 19, but already they cannot bear the picture of his soft feet on rough ground. They name him both nātha and kānta, master and lover, and confess that their minds become kalila, troubled, agitated, when they think of his daily walk to the pasture. Worry for the beloved is starting to displace worry for themselves.

Bhāgavata 10.31.12

दिनपरिक्षये नीलकुन्तलै- र्वनरुहाननं बिभ्रदावृतम्। घनरजस्वलं दर्शयन्मुहु- र्मनसि नः स्मरं वीर यच्छसि॥

dina-parikṣaye nīla-kuntalair vanaruhānanaṁ bibhrad āvṛtam ghana-rajasvalaṁ darśayan muhur manasi naḥ smaraṁ vīra yacchasi

At day's end you come back, your face like a lotus thick with the dust of the cows, half-veiled by your dark curls. O hero, by showing it to us again and again you plant the seed of love in our minds.

The evening return. He comes home from the pasture, his face powdered with go-rajas, the dust raised by the hooves of the herd. His curls fall over the dust. The gopis confess the simple truth: each evening, when you show this face, smara, the god of love, takes root in us. The verse names a daily image of Vrindavan: Krishna walking back at dusk, and the women of the village watching him.

Bhāgavata 10.31.13

प्रणतकामदं पद्मजार्चितं धरणिमण्डनं ध्येयमापदि। चरणपङ्कजं शन्तमं च ते रमण नः स्तनेष्वर्पयाधिहन्॥

praṇata-kāma-daṁ padmajārcitaṁ dharaṇi-maṇḍanaṁ dhyeyam āpadi caraṇa-paṅkajaṁ śantamaṁ ca te ramaṇa naḥ staneṣv arpayādhi-han

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

Again the request to place his feet on their breasts. The repetition is not accidental. The Bhāgavata is showing how viraha works: the same plea returns in different words, polished and reframed. He is praṇata-kāma-da, the giver of all desires to those who bow. The gopis bow now in their song. They are asking for the only thing that would dissolve the longing, which is contact.

Bhāgavata 10.31.14

सुरतवर्धनं शोकनाशनं स्वरितवेणुना सुष्ठु चुम्बितम्। इतररागविस्मारणं नृणां वितर वीर नस्तेऽधरामृतम्॥

surata-vardhanaṁ śoka-nāśanaṁ svarita-veṇunā suṣṭhu cumbitam itara-rāga-vismāraṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ vitara vīra nas te 'dharāmṛtam

It increases the joy of love, it destroys grief. Your flute has kissed it well. It makes anyone who tastes it forget every other attachment. O hero, share with us the nectar of your lips.

The verse on the adhara-amṛta, the nectar of his lips. The flute has tasted it first, the bamboo pressed against his mouth at every dusk. Now share it with us, the gopis say. The verse names what the kiss does: it ends sorrow, it makes everything else forgettable. itara-rāga-vismāraṇam, the eraser of all other attachments. This is the theological point in erotic dress.

Bhāgavata 10.31.15

अटति यद् भवानह्नि काननं त्रुटि युगायते त्वामपश्यताम्। कुटिलकुन्तलं श्रीमुखं च ते जड उदीक्षतां पक्ष्मकृद् दृशाम्॥

aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ truṭi yugāyate tvām apaśyatām kuṭila-kuntalaṁ śrī-mukhaṁ ca te jaḍa udīkṣatāṁ pakṣma-kṛd dṛśām

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

The verse Caitanya took into his Śikṣāṣṭakam (verse 7) almost word for word. yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa: a moment becomes a millennium. Even when he is finally back, even when they can finally see his face, they curse the creator for putting eyelids on the eyes, because each blink is a separation. Bhakti at this stage cannot bear even the blink.

Bhāgavata 10.31.16

पतिसुतान्वयभ्रातृबान्धवा- नतिविलङ्घ्य तेऽन्त्यच्युतागताः। गतिविदस्तवोद्गीतमोहिताः कितव योषितः कस्त्यजेन्निशि॥

pati-sutānvaya-bhrātṛ-bāndhavān ativilaṅghya te 'nty acyutāgatāḥ gati-vidas tavodgīta-mohitāḥ kitava yoṣitaḥ kas tyajen niśi

Husbands, sons, ancestors, brothers, kinsmen: we walked over them all to come to you, O Acyuta. We knew exactly what we were doing. We were drawn here by your flute. O cheat, what kind of man abandons women like us in the middle of the night?

The most piercing accusation in the song. They list every social bond they broke to come to him: husband, son, lineage, brother, friend. They underline that they came knowingly, not in delusion. They were called by the flute, and they answered. And now you have left us in the night. kitava, cheat, gambler, trickster. The same word the wronged wife uses to her unfaithful husband. The gopis use it to God.

Bhāgavata 10.31.17

रहसि संविदं हृच्छयोदयं प्रहसिताननं प्रेमवीक्षणम्। बृहदुरः श्रियो वीक्ष्य धाम ते मुहुरतिस्पृहा मुह्यते मनः॥

rahasi saṁvidaṁ hṛc-chayodayaṁ prahasitānanaṁ prema-vīkṣaṇam bṛhad-uraḥ śriyo vīkṣya dhāma te muhur ati-spṛhā muhyate manaḥ

Our intimate talks, the rising of love in the heart, your laughing face, your loving glance, the broad chest that is the home of the goddess of fortune. When we recall all this, our minds, again and again, drown in unbearable longing.

The verse of remembered intimacy. Each thing is named: the secret conversations, the rise of desire in the chest, the laughing face, the look of love, and finally the broad chest itself, śrīyo dhāma, the dwelling place of Lakṣmī. Memory at this register stops being narrative and becomes a body. ati-spṛhā, unbearable longing. The mind muhyate, faints, and faints again.

Bhāgavata 10.31.18

व्रजवनौकसां व्यक्तिरङ्ग ते वृजिनहन्त्र्यलं विश्वमङ्गलम्। त्यज मनाक्च नस्त्वत्स्पृहात्मनां स्वजनहृद्रुजां यन्निषूदनम्॥

vraja-vanaukasāṁ vyaktir aṅga te vṛjina-hantry alaṁ viśva-maṅgalam tyaja manāk ca nas tvat-spṛhātmanāṁ sva-jana-hṛd-rujāṁ yan niṣūdanam

O dear one, your appearance for the people of Vraja's forests destroys all suffering and is utterly auspicious for the world. Give us, who long for you alone, just a small portion of that medicine which destroys the heart-disease of those who are your own.

The closing plea of the long pleading section, just before the final reversal of verse 19. The gopis name his appearance as viśva-maṅgalam, the auspiciousness of the whole world, and they ask only for a fraction. Give us a little, they say, of the medicine that heals the heart-disease of your own people. They are asking for just enough to live. After this verse the song will pivot for the last time, and the grief will become care for him.

Bhāgavata 10.31.19

यत्ते सुजातचरणाम्बुरुहं स्तनेषु भीताः शनैः प्रिय दधीमहि कर्कशेषु। तेनाटवीमटसि तद् व्यथते न किं स्वित्कूर्पादिभिर्भ्रमति धीर्भवदायुषां नः॥

yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṁ staneṣu bhītāḥ śanaiḥ priya dadhīmahi karkaśeṣu tenāṭavīm aṭasi tad vyathate na kiṁ svit kūrpādibhir bhramati dhīr bhavad-āyuṣāṁ naḥ

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

The closing verse of the Gopi-Gītā. The gopis say: we put your feet on our breasts gently, afraid of hurting them, because they are so soft. And then with that gentleness as the standard, we cannot bear the thought of your walking on forest pebbles. Our minds, the gopis say, become disturbed with worry for you. The verse names the absolute reversal of bhakti: the lover is now worried not about her own pain but about her beloved’s. The grief has flipped to care. This is mahābhāva.

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Veṇu-Gītā

वेणु-गीत

The Gopis' Song to Krishna's Flute

Bhramara-Gītā

भ्रमर-गीत

The Gopi's Song to the Bee

All Eleven Texts

Veṇu-Gītā·Gopi-Gītā·Bhramara-Gītā·Sūrdās's Bhramar Gīt·Brahma Saṃhitā·Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad·Rādhopaniṣad·Nārada Pañcarātra·Skanda Purāṇa·Hāla's Gāhā Sattasaī·Daśaślokī·Śikṣāṣṭakam·Caitanya Caritāmṛta·Gīta Govinda·Hit Caurāsī·Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhi·Premavāṭikā and Sujān Rasakhān·Padma Purāṇa·Govinda-Līlāmṛta·Yugala-Śataka·Kelimāla·Narottama Dāsa's Prārthanā·Radha in the Sources·Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa·Garga Saṃhitā·Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa·Rādhā-Sahasranāma·Krishna-Karṇāmṛta·Stava-Mālā·The Rādhāṣṭakams·Vidagdha-Mādhava and Lalita-Mādhava·Vilāpa-Kusumāñjali·Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta·The Five Sampradāyas·The Aṣṭa-Sakhīs·The Eight Watches·Mañjarī-Bhāva·Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu·Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi·Sat-Sandarbhas·Hari-Bhakti-Vilāsa·Bhaiji·Theological Threads·Vidyāpati and Caṇḍīdāsa

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At the end of the song Krishna returns. The gopis see him standing among them, smiling. The whole grief was a teaching, the way longing always is. To love him is to feel his absence; to feel his absence is to sing him; to sing him is to find him already there.

जय जय श्री गोपी जन वल्लभ