Text 38
tan naḥ prasīda vṛjinārdana te ’nghri-mūlaṁ
prāptā visṛjya vasatīs tvad-upāsanāśāḥ
tvat-sundara-smita-nirīkṣaṇa-tīvra-kāma
taptātmanāṁ puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa dehi dāsyam
tat — therefore; naḥ — to us; prasīda — please show Your mercy; vṛjina — of all distress; ardana — O vanquisher; te — Your; aṅghri-mūlam — feet; prāptāḥ — we have approached; visṛjya — renouncing; vasatīḥ — our homes; tvat-upāsanā — the worship of You; āśāḥ — hoping for; tvat — Your; sundara — beautiful; smita — smiling; nirīkṣaṇa — because of the glances; tīvra — intense; kāma — by the lust; tapta — burned; ātmanām — whose hearts; puruṣa — of all men; bhūṣaṇa — O ornament; dehi — please grant; dāsyam — servitude.
Therefore, O vanquisher of all distress, please show us mercy. To approach Your lotus feet we abandoned our families and homes, and we have no desire other than to serve You. Our hearts are burning with intense desires generated by Your beautiful smiling glances. O jewel among men, please make us Your maidservants.
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa was born, the sage Garga predicted that He would manifest all the opulences of the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa. The gopīs now appeal to the Lord to fulfill this prediction by being merciful and granting them direct service, just as Lord Nārāyaṇa awards direct service to His loving devotees. The gopīs emphasize that they did not give up their families and homes with the hope of securing a higher pleasure from Kṛṣṇa. They are simply begging for service, revealing their pure-hearted devotion. The gopīs think, “If in the course of Your pursuing Your happiness we somehow or other become happy by seeing Your face, what is the harm in that?”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on the words puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa, “O jewel among men.” The Ṭhākura states that the gopīs meant to say, “O jewel of all males, please decorate our golden bodies with the dark blue gems of Your limbs.”