Text 8
taṁ kācin netra-randhreṇa
hṛdi kṛtvā nimīlya ca
pulakāṅgy upaguhyāste
yogīvānanda-samplutā
tam — Him; kācit — one of them; netra — of her eyes; randhreṇa — through the aperture; hṛdi — in her heart; kṛtvā — placing; nimīlya — closing; ca — and; pulaka-aṅgī — the hair on her limbs standing on end; upaguhya — embracing; āste — she remained; yogī — a yogī; iva — like; ānanda — in ecstasy; samplutā — drowned.
One gopī took the Lord through the aperture of her eyes and placed Him within her heart. Then, with her eyes closed and her bodily hairs standing on end, she continuously embraced Him within. Thus immersed in transcendental ecstasy, she resembled a yogī meditating upon the Lord.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura states that the seven gopīs mentioned so far in this chapter are the first seven of the eight principal gopīs, whose status allowed them to immediately approach Śrī Kṛṣṇa upon His reappearance. The ācārya quotes a verse from the Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī that gives the names of these seven as Candrāvalī, Śyāmalā, Śaibyā, Padmā, Śrī Rādhā, Lalitā and Viśākhā. The eighth is understood to be Bhadrā. Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī itself quotes a verse from the Skanda Purāṇa that declares these eight gopīs to be the principal among the three billion gopīs. Detailed information about the hierarchy of gopīs is available in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi.
The Padma Purāṇa confirms that Śrī Rādhā is the foremost of the gopīs:
yathā rādhā priyā viṣṇos
tasyāḥ kuṇḍaṁ priyaṁ tathā
sarva-gopīṣu saivaikā
viṣṇor atyanta-vallabhā
“Just as Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is most dear to Kṛṣṇa, Her bathing pond is similarly dear. Of all the gopīs, She is the most beloved of the Lord.”
The Bṛhad-gautamīya-tantra also names Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as Kṛṣṇa’s foremost consort:
devī kṛṣṇa-mayī proktā
rādhikā para-devatā
sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva
kāntiḥ sammohinī parā
“The transcendental goddess Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.” (This translation is Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.83.)
Additional information about Śrī Rādhā is given in the Ṛg-pariśiṣṭa (the supplement to the Ṛg Veda): rādhayā mādhavo devo mādhavenaiva rādhikā/ vibhrājante janeṣu. “Among all persons, it is Śrī Rādhā in whose company Lord Mādhava is especially glorious, as She is especially glorious in His.”