Text 47
evaṁ bhagavataḥ kṛṣṇāl
labdha-mānā mahātmanaḥ
ātmānaṁ menire strīṇāṁ
māninyo hy adhikaṁ bhuvi
evam — in this way; bhagavataḥ — from the Personality of Godhead; kṛṣṇāt — Lord Kṛṣṇa; labdha — receiving; mānāḥ — special respect; mahā-ātmanaḥ — from the Supreme Soul; ātmānam — themselves; menire — they considered; strīṇām — among all women; māninyaḥ — becoming proud; hi — indeed; adhikam — the best; bhuvi — on the earth.
The gopīs became proud of themselves for having received such special attention from Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each of them thought herself the best woman on earth.
The gopīs were proud because they had attained as their lover the greatest of all personalities. So in a sense they were proud of Kṛṣṇa. Also, the pride of the gopīs was a pretense created by Kṛṣṇa’s pastime potency in order to intensify their love for Him through separation. In this connection, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes Bharata Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra: na vinā vipralambhena sambhogaḥ puṣṭim aśnute. “Direct contact is not fully appreciated until separation has been experienced.”