Text 17
bho bhoḥ sadā niṣṭanase udanvann
alabdha-nidro ’dhigata-prajāgaraḥ
kim vā mukundāpahṛtātma-lāñchanaḥ
prāptāṁ daśāṁ tvaṁ ca gato duratyayām
bhoḥ — dear; bhoḥ — dear; sadā — always; niṣṭanase — you are making a loud sound; udanvan — O ocean; alabdha — not obtaining; nidraḥ — sleep; adhigata — experiencing; prajāgaraḥ — insomnia; kim vā — or else, perhaps; mukunda — by Kṛṣṇa; apahṛta — taken away; ātma — personal; lāñchanaḥ — marks; prāptām — obtained (by us); daśām — the condition; tvam — you; ca — also; gataḥ — have reached; duratyayām — impossible to become freed from.
Dear ocean, you are always roaring, not sleeping at night. Are you suffering insomnia? Or is it that, as with us, Mukunda has taken your insignias and you are hopeless of retrieving them?
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī states that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s queens here confuse the sea surrounding Dvārakā with the celestial Ocean of Milk, from which Lakṣmī and the Kaustubha gem arose long ago. These were taken (apahṛta) by Lord Viṣṇu, and they now reside on His chest. The queens presume that the ocean is anxious to see once again the mark of Lakṣmī’s residence and the Kaustubha jewel on the Lord’s chest, and they express their sympathy by saying that they also want to see these marks. But the queens desire even more to see the kuṅkuma marks on the Lord’s chest, which He “took” from their breasts when they last embraced Him.