Text 57
dṛṣṭvaivam-ādi gopīnāṁ
kṛṣṇāveśātma-viklavam
uddhavaḥ parama-prītas
tā namasyann idaṁ jagau
dṛṣṭvā — seeing; evam — such; ādi — and more; gopīnām — of the gopīs; kṛṣṇa-āveśa — their total absorption in thought of Kṛṣṇa; ātma — consisting of; viklavam — the mental agitation; uddhavaḥ — Uddhava; parama — supremely; prītaḥ — pleased; tāḥ — to them; namasyan — offering all respect; idam — this; jagau — sang.
Thus seeing how the gopīs were always disturbed because of their total absorption in Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava was supremely pleased. Desiring to offer them all respect, he sang as follows.
Viklava, “mental disturbance,” should not be confused here with ordinary material distress. It is clearly stated that Uddhava was supremely pleased, and he felt this way because he saw that the gopīs had attained the highest state of loving ecstasy. Uddhava was an exalted member of the court in Dvārakā, an important minister in world political affairs, and yet he felt the spiritual urge to offer his obeisances to the glorious gopīs, although externally they were mere cowherd girls in an insignificant village called Vṛndāvana. Thus, to explain his feelings he sang the following verses. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī states that Uddhava sang these verses daily while he was in Vṛndāvana.