Text 11
gopyaḥ sumṛṣṭa-maṇi-kuṇḍala-niṣka-kaṇṭhyaś
citrāmbarāḥ pathi śikhā-cyuta-mālya-varṣāḥ
nandālayaṁ sa-valayā vrajatīr virejur
vyālola-kuṇḍala-payodhara-hāra-śobhāḥ
gopyaḥ — the gopīs; su-mṛṣṭa — very dazzling; maṇi — made of jewels; kuṇḍala — wearing earrings; niṣka-kaṇṭhyaḥ — and having little keys and lockets hanging from their necks; citra-ambarāḥ — dressed with varieties of colored embroidery; pathi — on their way to Yaśodāmayī’s house; śikhā-cyuta — fell from their hair; mālya-varṣāḥ — a shower of flower garlands; nanda-ālayam — to the house of Mahārāja Nanda; sa-valayāḥ — with bangles on their hands; vrajatīḥ — while going (in that costume); virejuḥ — they looked very, very beautiful; vyālola — moving; kuṇḍala — with earrings; payodhara — with breasts; hāra — with flower garlands; śobhāḥ — who appeared so beautiful.
In the ears of the gopīs were brilliantly polished jeweled earrings, and from their necks hung metal lockets. Their hands were decorated with bangles, their dresses were of varied colors, and from their hair, flowers fell onto the street like showers. Thus while going to the house of Mahārāja Nanda, the gopīs, their earrings, breasts and garlands moving, were brilliantly beautiful.
The description of the gopīs, who were going to the house of Mahārāja Nanda to welcome Kṛṣṇa, is especially significant. The gopīs were not ordinary women, but expansions of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency, as described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37,29):
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(5.37)
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(5.29)
Kṛṣṇa is always worshiped by the gopīs wherever He goes. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is so vividly described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also described Kṛṣṇa in this way: ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā. All these gopīs were going to offer Kṛṣṇa their presentations because the gopīs are eternal associates of the Lord. Now the gopīs were more jubilant because of the news of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance in Vṛndāvana.