Text 11
apy eṇa-patny upagataḥ priyayeha gātrais
tanvan dṛśāṁ sakhi su-nirvṛtim acyuto vaḥ
kāntāṅga-saṅga-kuca-kuṅkuma-rañjitāyāḥ
kunda-srajaḥ kula-pater iha vāti gandhaḥ
api — whether; eṇa — of the deer; patni — O wife; upagataḥ — has been encountered; priyayā — together with His beloved; iha — here; gātraiḥ — by His bodily limbs; tanvan — producing; dṛśām — of the eyes; sakhi — O friend; su-nirvṛtim — great pleasure; acyutaḥ — the infallible Lord Kṛṣṇa; vaḥ — your; kāntā — of His girlfriend; aṅga-saṅga — because of the physical contact; kuca — on the breast; kuṅkuma — by the vermilion powder; rañjitāyāḥ — colored; kunda — of jasmine flowers; srajaḥ — of the garland; kula — of the group (of gopīs); pateḥ — of the master; iha — around here; vāti — is blowing; gandhaḥ — the fragrance.
O friend, wife of the deer, has Lord Acyuta been here with His beloved, bringing great joy to your eyes? Indeed, blowing this way is the fragrance of His garland of kunda flowers, which was smeared with the kuṅkuma from the breasts of His girlfriend when He embraced Her.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī provides the following charming commentary on this verse:
“The gopīs spoke to a doe, ‘O friend, wife of the deer, from the bliss in your clear eyes we can tell that Śrī Kṛṣṇa has expanded your joy with the beauty of His limbs, His face and so forth. You are eager to realize the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa, and thus your eyes are following Him. In fact, He is never lost to you.’
“Then the gopīs, seeing the doe continue to walk in her natural way, exclaimed, ‘Oh, are you telling us that you have seen Kṛṣṇa? Look! As this deer walks she constantly turns her head back to us, as if to say, “I will show Him to you; just follow me and I will show you Kṛṣṇa.” In this merciless Vṛndāvana, she is the only merciful person.’
“As the gopīs follow the doe they happen to lose sight of her, and they cry out, ‘Oh, why can’t we see the deer who is showing us the way to Kṛṣṇa?’
“One gopī suggests that Kṛṣṇa must be somewhere in the vicinity and that the deer, being afraid of Him, must have hidden herself to avoid the possible mistake of revealing His presence. Conjecturing in this way, the gopīs detect a fragrance that has by chance blown their way, and they repeatedly declare with great joy, ‘Yes! Yes! This is it! By Kṛṣṇa’s physical contact with His girlfriend, His jasmine garland was smeared with the kuṅkuma powder on Her breasts, and the fragrances of all these things are reaching us.’ Thus the gopīs smelled the aroma of the two lovers’ bodies, of Kṛṣṇa’s jasmine garland, and of the cosmetic powder on the breasts of His lover.”