Text 37
nāsūyan khalu kṛṣṇāya
mohitās tasya māyayā
manyamānāḥ sva-pārśva-sthān
svān svān dārān vrajaukasaḥ
na asūyan — were not jealous; khalu — even; kṛṣṇāya — against Kṛṣṇa; mohitāḥ — bewildered; tasya — His; māyayā — by the spiritual potency of illusion; manyamānāḥ — thinking; sva-pārśva — at their own sides; sthān — standing; svān svān — each their own; dārān — wives; vraja-okasaḥ — the cowherd men of Vraja.
The cowherd men, bewildered by Kṛṣṇa’s illusory potency, thought their wives had remained home at their sides. Thus they did not harbor any jealous feelings against Him.
Because the gopīs loved Kṛṣṇa exclusively, Yoga-māyā protected their relationship with the Lord at all times, even though they were married. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes from the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi as follows:
māyā-kalpita-tādṛk-strī
śīlanenānusūyubhiḥ
na jātu vrajadevīnāṁ
patibhiḥ saha saṅgamaḥ
“The gopīs’ jealous husbands consorted not with their wives but with doubles manufactured by Māyā. Thus these men never actually had any intimate contact with the divine ladies of Vraja.” The gopīs are the internal energy of the Lord and can never belong to any other living being. Kṛṣṇa arranged their apparent marriage to other men simply to create the excitement of parakīya-rasa, the love between a married woman and her paramour. These activities are absolutely pure because they are the Lord’s pastimes, and saintly persons since time immemorial have relished these supreme spiritual events.