Text 7
śrī-gopya ūcuḥ
akṣaṇvatāṁ phalam idaṁ na paraṁ vidāmaḥ
sakhyaḥ paśūn anuviveśayator vayasyaiḥ
vaktraṁ vrajeśa-sutayor anaveṇu-juṣṭaṁ
yair vā nipītam anurakta-kaṭākṣa-mokṣam
śrī-gopyaḥ ūcuḥ — the gopīs said; akṣaṇvatām — of those who have eyes; phalam — the fruit; idam — this; na — not; param — other; vidāmaḥ — we know; sakhyaḥ — O friends; paśūn — the cows; anuviveśayatoḥ — causing to enter one forest after another; vayasyaiḥ — with Their friends of the same age; vaktram — the faces; vraja-īśa — of Mahārāja Nanda; sutayoḥ — of the two sons; anu-veṇu-juṣṭam — possessed of flutes; yaiḥ — by which; vā — or; nipītam — imbibed; anurakta — loving; kaṭa-akṣa — glances; mokṣam — giving off.
The cowherd girls said: O friends, those eyes that see the beautiful faces of the sons of Mahārāja Nanda are certainly fortunate. As these two sons enter the forest, surrounded by Their friends, driving the cows before Them, They hold Their flutes to Their mouths and glance lovingly upon the residents of Vṛndāvana. For those who have eyes, we think there is no greater object of vision.
This translation is quoted from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 4.155).
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has commented as follows: “The gopīs meant to say, ‘O friends, if you simply remain in the shackles of family life in this material world, what will you ever get to see? The creator has granted us these eyes, so let us see the most wonderful thing there is to see, Kṛṣṇa.’”
The gopīs were aware that their mothers or other elder persons might hear their romantic words and disapprove, and thus they said, akṣaṇvatāṁ phalam: “To see Kṛṣṇa is the goal for all persons and not simply ourselves.” In other words, the gopīs indicated that since Kṛṣṇa is the supreme object of love for everyone, why couldn’t they also love Him in spiritual ecstasy?
According to the ācāryas, a different gopī spoke this and each of the following verses (through text 19).