Seeing that the girls of Vraja had arrived, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the best of speakers, greeted them with charming words that bewildered their minds.

COMMENTARY

Śrī Rupa Gosvami describes in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi that there are two categories of gopīs: the eternally perfect (nitya-siddhas) and those who have become perfect by practicing bhakti-yoga (sādhana-siddhas). The sādhana-siddhas are of two categories: those who belong to special groups and those who do not. There are also two classes of the gopīs belonging to special groups: namely the śruti-cārīs, who come from the group of the personified Vedas, and the ṛṣi-cārīs, who come from the group of sages who saw Lord Rāmacandra in the Dandakāranya forest.

 

This same fourfold categorization of the gopīs is given in the Padma Purāṇa:

gopyas tu śrutayo jñeyā ṛṣi-jā gopa-kanyakāḥ

deva-kanyāś ca rājendra na mānuṣyāḥ kathañcana

 

“It is understood that some of the gopīs are personified Vedic literatures, while others are reborn sages, daughters of cowherds, or demigod maidens. But by no means, my dear King, are any of them ordinary humans.” Here we are informed that although the gopīs appeared to be human cowherd girls, they actually were not. Thus the contention that they are mortals is refuted. The daughters of cowherds, referred to here as gopa-kanyās, must be eternally perfect, since we never hear of them having executed any sādhana. Their apparent sādhana of worshiping goddess Kātyāyanī in the role of gopīs merely manifests their manner of playing like human beings. The Bhāgavatam narrates the account of this worship only to show how they had fully taken on the role of cowherd girls.

 

“That the gopa-kanyā gopīs are actually nitya-siddhas, eternally perfect devotees of the Lord, is established by a statement in brahma-saṁhitā (5.37): ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhiḥ, which proves that the gopīs are Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual pleasure potency. Similarly, we have the words of the Gautamīya-tantra, hlādinī yā mahā-śaktiḥ. Further corroboration of their eternal perfection is that these gopīs, being co-eternal with their beloved Lord Kṛṣṇa, are mentioned along with Him in the eighteen-syllable kṛṣṇa mantra, the ten-syllable mantra and others. Moreover, the worship of these mantras, and also the Śrutis that present them, has been in existence since time immemorial.”

 

The deva-kanyās, daughters of the demigods, who are mentioned in the verse beginning sambhavas tv amara-striyaḥ, are explained in Śrī Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi as partial expansions of the nitya-siddha gopīs. That the śruti-cārī gopīs, the personified Vedas, are sādhana-siddha is understood from the following words of theirs quoted in the Bṛhad-vāmana Purāṇa:

 

kandarpa-koṭi-lāvaṇye tvayi dṛṣṭe manāṁsi naḥ

kāminī-bhāvam āsādya smara-kṣubdhānya-saṁśayāḥ

yathā tval-loka-vāsinyaḥ kāma-tattvena gopīkāḥ

bhajanti ramaṇaṁ matvā cikīrṣājaninas tathā

 

“Since we have seen Your face, which possesses the beauty of millions of Cupids, our minds have become lusty after You like those of young girls, and we have forgotten all other allurements. We have developed the desire to act towards You as do the gopīs who dwell on Your transcendental planet and who manifest the nature of Cupid by worshiping You with the idea that You are their paramour.”

 

“The ṛṣi-cārī gopīs are also sādhana-siddha, as stated in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: gopālopāsakāḥ pūrvam aprāptābhīṣṭa-siddhayaḥ. Previously they were all mahārṣis living in the Daṇḍaka forest.” We find evidence for this in the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa:

 

dṛṣṭvā rāmaṁ hariṁ tatra bhoktum aicchan su-vigraham

te sarve strītvam āpannāḥ samudbhūtāś ca gokule

hariṁ samprāpya kāmena tato muktā bhavārṇavāt

 

This verse says that upon seeing Lord Rāmacandra, the sages in the Daṇḍaka forest desired to enjoy Lord Hari (Kṛṣṇa). In other words, the sight of Lord Rāma’s sweet beauty reminded them of Lord Hari, Gopāla, their personal object of worship, and they then wanted to enjoy with Him. But out of embarrassment they did not act on that desire, whereupon Lord Śrī Rāma, who is like a desire tree, gave His mercy to them, even though they had not voiced their request. Thus their desire was fulfilled, as stated by the words beginning te sarve. By means of their lusty attraction they became freed from the ocean of material existence, and coincidentally they got the association of Hari in conjugal love.

 

“In the present verse of the Bhāgavatam we understand that it was the gopīs who had children who were kept forcibly at home. This fact is clear from verses yet to come: mātaraḥ pitaraḥ putrāḥ (SB 10.29.20), yat-paty-apatya-suhṛdām anuvṛttir aṅga (SB 10.29.32) and pati-sutānvaya-bhrātṛ-bāndhavān (SB 10.31.16).”

 

In his comments on the Tenth Canto, Śrīla Kavi-karṇapūra Gosvāmī also states that those gopīs who had children were prevented from going to meet Kṛṣṇa, as seen from later verses such as these: Kṛṣṇa said, “Your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands are searching for you.” The gopīs replied, “But You have advised us that the proper religious duty for women is to faithfully serve their husbands, children and other relatives. Giving up husbands and sons, we have come to You.” Without trying to repeat all his thoughts on this verse, we will give the gist of his purport:

 

Upon seeing the sweetness of Lord Rāma, the sages who were worshipers of Lord Gopāla immediately became elevated to the mature platform of spontaneous devotion, automatically reaching the stages of niṣṭā, ruci, āsakti and bhāva (firm faith, attraction, attachment and ecstatic devotion). However, they had not yet attained perfection and become completely freed of all material contamination. Nevertheless, Śrī Yogamāyā-devi arranged for them to take birth in Gokula from the wombs of gopīs and become cowherd girls. By associating with Śrī Rādhā and other eternally perfect (nitya-siddha) gopīs, some of these new gopīs fully manifested pūrva-raga loving attraction for Kṛṣṇa as soon as they reached puberty. (This kind of attraction develops even before one meets the beloved.) When these new gopīs attained the direct association of Kṛṣṇa, all their remaining contamination became burned up, and they achieved the advanced stages of prema, sneha and so on.

 

Even though they were in the company of their cowherd husbands, by the power of Yogamāyā the gopīs remained unsullied by sexual contact with them; rather, they were situated in purely spiritual bodies that Kṛṣṇa enjoyed. On the night they heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, their husbands tried to stop them, but by the merciful assistance of Yogamāyā the sādhana-siddha gopīs were able to go forth to their beloved together with the nitya-siddha gopīs.

 

Other gopīs, however, because of not getting the good fortune of associating with Rādhā and other nitya-siddha gopīs, had not achieved the stage of prema, and so their contamination was not completely burned away. They enjoyed intimately with their cowherd husbands and gave birth to children. But a short time later even these gopīs developed their purva-raga by hankering intensely for the intimate physical association of Kṛṣṇa—a hankering they acquired by associating with the advanced gopīs. Becoming worthy recipients of the mercy of the perfected gopīs, they assumed spiritual bodies fit to be enjoyed by Kṛṣṇa. When Yogamāyā failed to help them overcome their husbands’ attempts to keep them from going out, they felt themselves cast into the worst calamity. Viewing their husbands, brothers, fathers and other family members as enemies, they came close to dying. Just as other women might remember their mothers or other relatives at the time of death, these gopīs remembered the sole friend of their very life, Kṛṣṇa, as stated in the present verse of the Bhāgavatam, beginning with the word antar.

 

It is implied that those gopīs were not able to exit because they were held back by their husbands, who were standing before them with sticks in their hands, scolding them. Although these gopīs were perpetually absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa, at that particular time they meditated upon Him and cried out within: “Alas, alas, O only friend of our life! O ocean of artistic skills within the Vṛndāvana forest! Please let us become your girlfriends in some future life, because at this time we cannot see Your lotus-like face with our eyes. So be it; we shall look upon You with our minds.” Lamenting in this way, the gopīs shut their eyes and meditated deeply upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

 

|| 10.29.10-11 ||

duḥsaha-preṣṭha-viraha-tīvra-tāpa-dhutāśubhāḥ

dhyāna-prāptācyutāśleṣa-nirvṛtyā kṣīṇa-maṅgalāḥ

tam eva paramātmānaṁ jāra-buddhyāpi saṅgatāḥ

jahur guṇa-mayaṁ dehaṁ sadyaḥ prakṣīṇa-bandhanāḥ

TRANSLATION

For those gopīs who could not go to see Kṛṣṇa, intolerable separation from their beloved caused an intense agony that burned away all impious karma. By meditating upon Him they realized His embrace, and the ecstasy they then felt exhausted their material piety. Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Soul, these girls simply thought of Him as their male lover and associated with Him in that intimate mood. Thus their karmic bondage was nullified and they abandoned their gross material bodies.

COMMENTARY

In order to hide the intimate attainment of the gopīs from the gross materialists, Śukadeva Gosvāmī presents an external meaning in this verse. While at the same time he reveals the internal meaning to the confidential devotees well versed in the scientific conclusions of devotion.

 

From this verse the materialist can understand that Kṛṣṇa gave the gopīs liberation. All inauspicious things (dhutāśubhāḥ)were removed from the gopīs’ hearts by enduring the suffering of intense separation from Kṛṣṇa. And all their auspicious karmic reactions (kṣīṇa maṅgalā) were removed by their blissfully embracing Kṛṣṇa in meditation. Having thus destroyed all their prārabdha karmas (manifest acts caused by previous deeds), the gopīs thought of Kṛṣṇa as their paramour, attained the Paramātmā and gave up their bodies.

 

Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, however, understand the verse from the following internal perspective: By meditation on Kṛṣṇa the gopīs experienced both meeting and separation, unlimited happiness and distress, and at last attained their desire. The intense pain caused by intolerable separation from Kṛṣṇa removed all the inauspiciousness things (dhutāśubhāḥ) from within the gopīs. Seeing the intense agony the gopīs endured due to separation from Kṛṣṇa, thousands of inauspi-cious things—things even as fearsome as the subterranean fires of millions of universes or the powerful kālakūṭa poison swallowed by Lord Śiva, gave up their identity as tortuous elements, being defeated by the pain experienced by the gopīs, and began to tremble.

 

When the gopīs meditated on Kṛṣṇa, He manifested personally before them. Now endowed with the appropriate identity and mood, the gopīs experienced infinite bliss by embracing the astonishing transcendental body of Acyuta, which was full of transcendental love for them. That joy made all their good fortune (maṅgalāḥ), both material and spiritual, seem insignificant (kṣīṇa). In other words, seeing the extreme bliss generated in the gopīs by embracing Kṛṣṇa through meditation, all the sensual pleasures found in millions of universes and even the supersensory pleasure of spiritual bliss (brahmānanda) became withered, inferior and insignificant (kṣīṇa).

 

To say that because sin (pāpa:āsubhāḥ) and piety (punya:maṅgalāḥ) can only be destroyed by experiencing pain and pleasure, the gopīs’ pāpa and puṇya were destroyed by the distress and joy arising from their separation and union with Kṛṣṇa is not acceptable to the Vaisnavas, because separation from Kṛṣṇa is not caused by sin and meeting with Kṛṣṇa is not caused by piety. Thus the first meaning of the verse is rejected. According to authorities, the destruction of karmic reactions (prārabdha:āśubhāḥ, maṅgalāḥ) occurs during the stage of bhajana when a devotee reaches the level of anartha-nivrtti.

 

The word paramātmānaṁ here means He who possesses the highest (parama) prema. The gopīs directly achieved (samyak gatah) the supreme goal of prema (paramātmā) by thinking of Kṛṣṇa as their illicit lover (jāra buddhyā). The gopīs realized Kṛṣṇa in an even fuller sense than did Rukminī and His other queens, who thought of Him most respectfully as their husband. An unpredictable excellence of prema is manifest by thinking of Kṛṣṇa as a paramour instead of a husband. This is shown in words of Uddhava: yā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā, “Though the gopīs abandoned their families and the path of proper conduct, which is very difficult to do, they worshiped Kṛṣṇa who is sought by the Vedas” (SB 10.47.61)

 

In Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes on earth He often turns the most lowly things into the most elevated. As Bhīṣma stated, Kṛṣṇa’s pastime of acting as Arjuna’s chariot driver was even more elevated than the pastimes in which He acted as a mighty King of kings: vijaya-ratha-kuṭumba ātta-totre/ dhṛta-haya-raśmini tac-chriyeskṣaṇīye, “I concentrate upon the chariot driver of Arjuna, who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, and who very carefully protected Arjuna’s chariot by all means” (SB 1.9.39).

 

Similarly, in Kṛṣṇa’s vraja-līlā we see that the normally inferior śṛṅgāra-rasa (conjugal love) becomes better than the normally superior mood śānta-rasa (passive adoration); and in śṛṅgāra-rasa the socially unacceptable attitude of loving a paramour becomes superior to the loving exchange between legitimate spouses. In the same way, Kṛṣṇa’s decorations of lowly guñjā berry necklaces, red oxide paste and peacock feathers are superior to the most valuable jeweled ornaments.

 

The word saṅgatāh (directly meeting Kṛṣṇa) implies that some of those gopīs who were restrained by their husbands or fathers eventually escaped and met Kṛṣṇa on the night of the rāsa dance, or that some of them were able to meet Kṛṣṇa on another night. It may be objected, however, that it is not proper for the Supreme Lord to sport with women whose bodies have already been enjoyed by other men. This objection is replied to by the words beginning jahuḥ (gave up). The word deham (body) is used here in the singular form to indicate unity of category, even though the gopīs are many. Some authorities say that by the power of Yogamāyā the gopīs’ bodies disappeared in a way no one noticed. Others say that the ‘body’ referred to in this context is the inferior body composed of the modes of material nature. Thus by the prominence of the adjective guṇa-mayam, it is understood that before the gopīs heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute their bodies had been twofold, material and spiritual, and upon hearing the flute they gave up the material bodies, which their husbands had enjoyed.

 

In this regard the following should be considered. When devotees practice devotional service under the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, they engage their ears and other senses in acts of pure devotion by hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa, remembering Him, offering obeisances and personally serving His Deity form. Thus the devotees make the Lord’s transcendental qualities the objects of their senses, as stated by the Lord Himself: nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ, “The devotees who take shelter of Kṛṣṇa transcend the material modes.” (SB 11.25.26) Yet sometimes the devotees may take as their sense objects mundane sounds and tastes and that is material. Thus a devotee’s body can have two aspects, transcen-dental (nirgūna) and material (guṇa-mayaṁ).

 

According to one’s level of devotional service, to that degree the transcendental aspects of one’s body become prominent and the material aspects diminish. This transformation is described in the following verse from the Bhāgavatam (11.2.42):

 

bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir

anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ

prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus

tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo ’nu-ghāsam

 

“With each bite of food that a person takes, three effects occur simultaneously: he obtains satisfaction, nourishment, and cessation of hunger. Similarly, surrendered souls engaged in bhajana simultaneously experience three effects: the awakening of bhakti aiming at prema, direct manifestation of the Lord’s beloved form, and detachment from material objects.”

 

Thus those who eat only a little food will derive a little satisfaction, a little nourishment and slight relief from hunger. Similarly, those who perform only a little hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa will attain a little bhakti, some realization of the Lord and a little detachment. However, when one achieves unalloyed kṛṣṇa-prema, the material portions of the body disappear and the body becomes completely spiritualized. Nonetheless, so as not to disturb the false opinions of atheists and to protect the confidentiality of devotional service, Śrī Kṛṣṇa usually has His illusory energy exhibit the demise of the gross body. An example of this is the disappearance of the Yādavas during the Mauṣala-lilā.

 

Sometimes, however, to proclaim the superiority of bhakti there is no death as in the case of a devotee like Dhruva Mahārāja, who Kṛṣṇa allowed to go to the spiritual world in his selfsame body. We can cite evidence for this point from the twenty-fifth chapter of the Eleventh Canto (Text 32):

 

yeneme nirjitāḥ saumya guṇā jīvena citta-jāḥ

bhakti-yogena man-niṣṭho mad-bhāvāya prapadyate

 

“By practicing bhakti-yoga a devotee conquers over the gunas in the heart, and being My (Kṛṣṇa) nirguna-bhakta (unalloyed devotee) He attains a form or mood like Mine.”

 

Kapiladeva also speaks of the transcendental nature of bhakti. As bhakti is transcendental, the ingredients of worship such as flowers, incense and ghee also become transcendental by the touch of the limbs of bhakti. Thus the defeat and destruction of that which is composed of the modes of material nature can be brought about only by the process of devotional service.

 

The word dhutāśubhāḥ can also mean: by the pain caused by intolerable separation from Kṛṣṇa the gopīs cast off (vidhuta) their guna-mayaṁ dehaṁ, inauspicious (āśubhāḥ) material bodies. By the ecstasy the gopīs felt by embracing Kṛṣṇa in meditation their auspicious (maṅgalāh) spiritual bodies, far from being destroyed, simply increased (ākṣīṇa) and became more prominent because of bliss. Yogamāyā helped the gopīs get free from the restraints of their husbands and from the bondage of ignorance because all their karma was completely destroyed (prakṣīṇa-bandhanāḥ). However, we should not make the mistake of thinking that the gopīs died. As the Lord Himself states:

yā mayā krīḍatā rātryāṁ vane ’smin vraja āsthitāḥ

alabdha-rāsāḥ kalyāṇyo māpur mad-vīrya-cintayā

 

“All those auspicious gopīs, who were locked in their houses by their husbands and could not attend the rāsa-līla on the full moon night of autumn, attained Me by remembering My potent pastimes.” (SB 10.47.37)

 

By using the word kalyāṇyah in this verse, Kṛṣṇa implies, “Even though these gopīs wanted to give up their bodies because of their husbands’ prohibitions and the torment of separation from Me, for them to die at the very beginning of the most auspicious festival of the rāsa dance would have been displeasing to Me and thus inauspicious (ākalyāṇyaḥ). Therefore, they did not die, rather they became fortunate (kalyāṇyaḥ).”

 

More evidence that the gopīs who were prevented from going to see Kṛṣṇa did not physically die is provided Śrī Śukadeva’s later in this Canto (10.47.38): tā ūcur uddhavaṁ prītās tat-sandeśāgata-smṛtīḥ, “Then the gopīs replied to Uddhava, feeling satisfied because His message had reminded them of Kṛṣṇa.” The word tā here refers to those gopīs restrained from the rāsa-līla by their husbands. Yet they remained alive, and were now present speaking with Uddhava while Kṛṣṇa was living in Mathurā. In other words, the gopīs gave up their material (gunamaya) bodies without dying. Parched by the intense heat of separation, the gopīs gave up the gunamaya nature of their bodies and attained pure spiritual bodies, just like the bodies of such great devotees as Dhruva Mahārāja. This is the meaning of the gopīs’ “giving up their bodies.”

 

Verse ten and several others in the Bhāgavatam indicate that the gopīs remained home without dying and only attained Kṛṣṇa’s association in meditation: dhyāna-prāptā-acyuta-āśleṣa, by meditation the gopīs obtained the embrace of Acyuta Kṛṣṇa (10.29.10); alabdha-vinirgamāh, not obtaining any exit (10.29.9); vraje-āsthitāḥ, remaining in the village of Vraja (10.47.37); and mā-āpuḥ mat-vīrya-cintayā, the gopīs achieved Me by meditation upon My valorous pastimes (10.47.37).

 

However, here verse eleven says saṅgatāḥ, “The gopīs got Kṛṣṇa’s direct association.” Whereas Bhāgavatam 10.47.37 says alabdha-rāsāḥ, “The gopīs did not attain the rāsa dance.” Therefore it should be understood that among the gopīs who were locked in their houses there were two types.

 

The following analogy illustrates the statuses of the various gopīs: By observing seven or eight ripe mangoes on a tree, a wise servant can ascertain that all the fruits on the tree are ripe. Then he will pick them also and bring them home, where in due course the sun’s rays and other agents will make them fine-looking, fragrant and delicious—fit to be offered to the king for his enjoyment. When the time comes for the king to take his meal, a discriminating servant can choose those fruits ready to offer him. From the appearance of the fruits the servant can tell which are ripe in the middle but still raw on the outside and thus not yet fit for the king. After two or three days the remaining fruits will become ripe, and then they too will be ready to offer to the king.

 

Similarly, among the muni-cārī gopīs who took birth in Gokula, those who had completely given up their guna-maya bodies and very early in life achieved purely spiritual bodies were able to remain untouched by any other man; thus Yogamāyā allowed them to join the nitya-siddha and other advanced gopīs when they went to meet Kṛṣṇa. Other muni-cārī gopīs still retained some connection with the external material body, but even they, after experiencing the pain of separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, gave up their conception of their material (guṇa maya) bodies and assumed perfectly transcendental bodies, purified of all taint of contact with other men. On the night of the rāsa dance, Yogamāyā sent some of these gopīs out behind those who had already gone out; others, who Yogamāyā saw still had a slight amount of contamination, she kept back to further purify with the heat of separation, and then she sent them out on some other night.

 

After enjoying the pleasures of the rāsa dance and other pastimes with Kṛṣṇa, the muni-cārī gopīs who had participated went back to their homes when the night was over, as did the nitya-siddha and other advanced gopīs. Now Yogamāyā protected these muni-cārī gopīs from the material association of their husbands. In other words, these gopīs became detached from their husbands, sons and daughters, and their love for Kṛṣṇa increased more and more. Since these gopīs were thoroughly immersed in the great ocean of love for Kṛṣṇa, their breasts dried up so that they could not feed their infants. Becoming disinterested in raising their children, their family members thought they were possessed by ghosts. In conclusion, it is not unseemly that the gopīs who were previously in material association joined in the rāsa dance.

 

Some ācāryas conclude that the gopīs locked in their homes did not have children. According to them whenever such words as apatya “children” are used in verses yet to come, these words refer to the children of co-wives, to adopted children or to nephews and nieces.

 

|| 10.29.12 ||

śrī-parīkṣid uvāca

kṛṣṇaṁ viduḥ paraṁ kāntaṁ na tu brahmatayā mune

guṇa-pravāhoparamas tāsāṁ guṇa-dhiyāṁ katham

TRANSLATION

Śrī Parīkṣit Mahārāja said: O sage, the gopīs knew Kṛṣṇa only as their lover, not as the Supreme Absolute Truth. So how could these girls, their minds caught up in the waves of the modes of nature, free themselves from material attachment?

COMMENTARY

Though Parīkṣit Mahārāja understood the meaning of Śukadeva Gosvāmī’s words, he noticed the expressions on the faces of some of the more materialistic persons present there and realized the doubt lurking in their hearts. To remove their doubts he asked this question: “O sage, O knower of everything! Although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality (parama), the gopīs knew Kṛṣṇa only as their lover (kāntam). How did the gopīs become free from the modes of nature by thinking, ‘Let us enjoy with Kṛṣṇa.’”

 

Śukadeva Gosvāmī answered, “The sastras explain that only knowledge of the Supersoul can award liberation: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti, nānyah panthā vidyate ’yanāya, ‘One can attain the perfect stage of liberation from birth and death simply by knowing the Supreme Lord, and there is no other way to achieve this perfec-tion.’ (Svetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8) Also svātmānam ātmātmatayā vicakṣate, ‘The individual soul can only realize the Supreme Soul when he recognizes His transcendental position.’” (SB 10.14.24)

 

|| 10.29.13 ||

śrī-śuka uvāca

uktaṁ purastād etat te caidyaḥ siddhiṁ yathā gataḥ

dviṣann api hṛṣīkeśaṁ kim utādhokṣaja-priyāḥ

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: This point was explained to you previously. Since even Śiśupāla, who hated Kṛṣṇa, achieved perfection, then what to speak of the Lord’s dear devotees.

COMMENTARY

Though the king of sages knew this was not Parīkṣit’s question, he made a pretense of scolding him in order to chastise others for their foolishness. Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “You must have no intelligence at all to be asking such a question. Previously in the Seventh Canto, I told you that Śiśupāla attained liberation though he hated the Lord. If he could attain sāyujya-mukti with that unfavorable attitude, what can we say of the gopīs’ favorable attitude characterized by conjugal desire?”

 

The word hṛṣīkeśaṁ indicates that Kṛṣṇa personally descends to this world by His unconditional, causeless mercy. Even though Kṛṣṇa is inaccessible to the senses (hṛṣīka) of such persons as Brahmā, nevertheless He makes Himself visible by His inconceivable divine potency, and allows Himself to be seen by the senses of even the lowest of men. Kṛṣṇa does this to deliver them, and thus exhibit the power of His compassion. These gopīs, on the other hand, are the objects and subjects of affection for adhokṣaja Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental Lord who lies beyond the purview of ordinary senses.

 

Why did Śukadeva reject the recent example of Aghāsura achieving perfection in Vṛndāvana, and instead cite an example from Kṛṣṇa’s mathurā-līlā concerning the most degraded Caidya? By citing Śiśupāla (Cediraja), Śukadeva Gosvāmī reveals a confidential truth to King Parīkṣit. Just as the gopīs who were kept in their houses eventually attained spiritual bodies, similarly, Śiśupāla assumed his eternal spiritual body as an associate of the Lord, at the removal of his guna-maya (material) body attained by a sage’s curse because of his extreme materialistic illusion.

 

In reality, Śiśupāla’s spiritual body as a personal associate of the Lord was always present hidden within. It is stated in the Bhāgavatam (7.1.46): kṛṣṇa-cakra-hata-aṁhasau, “By the cakra of Kṛṣṇa the sins of Dantavakra and Śiśupāla were removed.” In other words, the cakra removed their sins rather than killing them, and then they attained the perfection (siddim gataḥ) of returning to their positions as attendants of the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha. This is also stated in reference to Jaya and Vijaya, who appeared as Śiśupāla and Dantavakra in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes.

vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām

nītau punar hareḥ pārśvaṁ jagmatur viṣṇu-pārṣadau

 

“These two associates of Lord Viṣṇu—Jaya and Vijaya—maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Kṛṣṇa in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord, having returned home, back to Godhead.” (SB 7.1.47)

 

|| 10.29.14 ||

nṛṇāṁ niḥśreyasārthāya vyaktir bhagavato nṛpa

avyayasyāprameyasya nirguṇasya guṇātmanaḥ

TRANSLATION

O King, the Supreme Lord is inexhaustible and immeasurable, and He is untouched by the material modes because He is their controller. His personal appearance in this world is meant for bestowing the highest benefit on humanity.

COMMENTARY

Śrī Kṛṣṇa descends to the material world to show mercy to the devotees and demons alike. Kṛṣṇa appears here with this idea in His mind, “I shall deliver all those persons who have even a little personal connection with Me, even though they have not embarked on any path of spiritual advancement. This point is explained in verses 14-15.

 

Kṛṣṇa comes to bestow “the highest benefit” (niḥśreyasa), which for some means merging into God’s existence (sāyujya-mukti), or liberation to Vaikuṇṭha (sālokya-mukti), or pure love of God (prema-bhakti). Kṛṣṇa does not have to personally appear to kill an insignificant demon like Kaṁsa, since by the mere movement of His eyebrows He can destroy millions of universes.

 

Kṛṣṇa is called avyayasya (inexhaustible) because though He gives Himself to each and every devotee, He is never depleted. “But in what way is Kṛṣṇa so?” someone may ask. The answer is given beginning with the word aprameyasya, which means immeasurable. Kṛṣṇa is immeasurable because He is untouched by material qualities (nirguṇasya) and filled with unlimited transcendental qualities (guṇa-ātmanaḥ).

 

|| 10.29.15 ||

kāmaṁ krodhaṁ bhayaṁ sneham aikyaṁ sauhṛdam eva ca

nityaṁ harau vidadhato yānti tan-mayatāṁ hi te

TRANSLATION

Persons who constantly direct their lust, anger, fear, protective affection, feeling of impersonal oneness or friendship toward Lord Hari are sure to become absorbed in thought of Him.

COMMENTARY

In this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī says, “Therefore Parīkṣit, you should understand the conclusion clearly. The Vraja-gopīs and others worshiped Kṛṣṇa with a mood of lust (kāma); Śiśupāla worshiped Kṛṣṇa with a mood of anger (krodha); Kaṁsa, a mood of fear (bhayam); Nanda Mahārāja, a mood of parental love (sneha); the self-satisfied sages, a mood of oneness (aikya); the Vṛṣṇis, Pāṇḍavas and others, a mood of friendship (sauhṛdam). In whichever mood they worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa; they realized the respective eternal pastimes (tan-mayatāṁ) of the Lord. This tells us that the various pastimes of all these persons are eternal. Even today anyone who maintains any of these individual moods toward Kṛṣṇa will achieve Him. Just as one attached to women is called strī-mayā, the gopīs are called tan-maya, which means “totally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa.” For the others tan-mayatāṁ means sāyujya, merging in the brahmajyoti.

 

|| 10.29.16 ||

na caivaṁ vismāyāḥ kāryo bhavatā bhagavaty aje

yogeśvareśvare kṛṣṇe yata etad vimucyate

TRANSLATION

You should not be so astonished by Kṛṣṇa, the unborn master of all masters of mystic power, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After all, it is the Lord who liberates this world.

COMMENTARY

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “Though others may be amazed, it should not be astonishing for you, who have been well aware of Kṛṣṇa’s glories from within your mother’s womb.” Though Kṛṣṇa appears as a cowherd boy, He is Bhagavān. Though Kṛṣṇa is the son of Devakī, He is unborn (aje). Though Kṛṣṇa flirts with the damsels of Vraja, He is the ultimate master of all masters of mystic yoga (yogeśvareśvare), and the original source of all incarnations.

 

It is not astonishing that Kṛṣṇa liberates (yata etad vimucyate) all the moving and nonmoving creatures in the entire universe, as explained in Śrīdhara Swāmi’s commentary. Etad vimucyate can also mean that although this universe is distinct from the transcendental paraphernalia of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, still by remembering the moods of kāma and sneha of Kṛṣṇa’s various devotees, even today anyone in the universe can become freed from the flux of the modes of nature.

 

|| 10.29.17 ||

tā dṛṣṭvāntikam āyātā bhagavān vraja-yoṣitaḥ

avadad vadatāṁ śreṣṭho vācaḥ peśair vimohayan

TRANSLATION