Text 20
so ’haṁ nṛpendra rahitaḥ puruṣottamena
sakhyā priyeṇa suhṛdā hṛdayena śūnyaḥ
adhvany urukrama-parigraham aṅga rakṣan
gopair asadbhir abaleva vinirjito ’smi
saḥ — that; aham — myself; nṛpa-indra — O Emperor; rahitaḥ — bereft of; puruṣa-uttamena — by the Supreme Lord; sakhyā — by my friend; priyeṇa — by my dearmost; suhṛdā — by the well-wisher; hṛdayena — by the heart and soul; śūnyaḥ — vacant; adhvani — recently; urukrama-parigraham — the wives of the all-powerful; aṅga — bodies; rakṣan — while protecting; gopaiḥ — by the cowherds; asadbhiḥ — by the infidels; abalā iva — like a weak woman; vinirjitaḥ asmi — I have been defeated.
おお、皇帝よ。今私は私の友人で最も親愛なる支持者、至上神格権現から離れている。それなので、私の心はすべてが空っぽのように感じられる。主のいないところでは、私がクリシュナのすべての妻たちの身を守っている間に、私は多くの無宗教の牛飼いに打ち負かされてしまった。
The important point in this verse is how it was possible that Arjuna could be defeated by a gang of ignoble cowherd men and how such mundane cowherd men could touch the bodies of the wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who were under the protection of Arjuna. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has justified the contradiction by research in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Brahma Purāṇa. In these Purāṇas it is said that once the fair denizens of heaven pleased Aṣṭāvakra Muni by their service and were blessed by the muni to have the Supreme Lord as their husband. Aṣṭāvakra Muni was curved in eight joints of his body, and thus he used to move in a peculiar curved manner. The daughters of the demigods could not check their laughter upon seeing the movements of the muni, and the muni, being angry at them, cursed them that they would be kidnapped by rogues, even if they would get the Lord as their husband. Later on, the girls again satisfied the muni by their prayers, and the muni blessed them that they would regain their husband even after being robbed by the rogues. So, in order to keep the words of the great muni, the Lord Himself kidnapped His wives from the protection of Arjuna, otherwise they would have at once vanished from the scene as soon as they were touched by the rogues. Besides that, some of the gopīs who prayed to become wives of the Lord returned to their respective positions after their desire was fulfilled. After the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa, He wanted all His entourage back to Godhead, and they were called back under different conditions only.