Text 4
niśamya gītāṁ tad anaṅga-vardhanaṁ
vraja-striyaḥ kṛṣṇa-gṛhīta-mānasāḥ
ājagmur anyonyam alakṣitodyamāḥ
sa yatra kānto java-lola-kuṇḍalāḥ
niśamya — hearing; gītam — the music; tat — that; anaṅga — Cupid; vardhanam — which fortifies; vraja-striyaḥ — the young women of Vraja; kṛṣṇa — by Kṛṣṇa; gṛhīta — seized; mānasāḥ — whose minds; ājagmuḥ — they went; anyonyam — to one another; alakṣita — unnoticed; udyamāḥ — their going forward; saḥ — He; yatra — where; kāntaḥ — their boyfriend; java — because of their haste; lola — swinging; kuṇḍalāḥ — whose earrings.
When the young women of Vṛndāvana heard Kṛṣṇa’s flute-song, which arouses romantic feelings, their minds were captivated by the Lord. They went to where their lover waited, each unknown to the others, moving so quickly that their earrings swung back and forth.
Apparently each gopī went secretly, hoping to avoid advertising to her rivals the fact that young Kṛṣṇa was in the mood for romantic affairs. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī poetically describes the situation as follows:
“Kṛṣṇa instigated a terrible act of thievery in Vṛndāvana when He played on His flute. The song of His flute entered through the ears of the gopīs, into the inner treasure-chamber of their hearts. That wonderful music stole all their most valuable possessions — their sobriety, shyness, fear and discrimination, along with their very minds — and in a split second this music delivered all these goods to Kṛṣṇa. Now each gopī went to beg the Lord to return her personal property. Each beautiful young girl was thinking, ‘I have to capture that great thief,’ and thus they went forward, each unknown to the others.”