Text 39
śrī-śuka uvāca
gopyaś ca kṛṣṇam upalabhya cirād abhīṣṭaṁ
yat-prekṣaṇe dṛśiṣu pakṣma-kṛtaṁ śapanti
dṛgbhir hṛdī-kṛtam alaṁ parirabhya sarvās
tad-bhāvam āpur api nitya-yujāṁ durāpam
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; gopyaḥ — the young cowherd women; ca — and; kṛṣṇam — Kṛṣṇa; upalabhya — sighting; cirāt — after a long time; abhīṣṭam — their object of desire; yat — whom; prekṣaṇe — while seeing; dṛśiṣu — on their eyes; pakṣma — of lids; kṛtam — the maker; śapanti — they would curse; dṛgbhiḥ — with their eyes; hṛdī-kṛtam — taken into their hearts; alam — to their satisfaction; parirabhya — embracing; sarvāḥ — all of them; tat — in Him; bhāvam — ecstatic absorption; āpuḥ — attained; api — even though; nitya — constantly; yujām — for those who engage in yogic discipline; durāpam — difficult to attain.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While gazing at their beloved Kṛṣṇa, the young gopīs used to condemn the creator of their eyelids, [which would momentarily block their vision of Him]. Now, seeing Kṛṣṇa again after such a long separation, with their eyes they took Him into their hearts, and there they embraced Him to their full satisfaction. In this way they became totally absorbed in ecstatic meditation on Him, although those who constantly practice mystic yoga find such absorption difficult to achieve.
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, just then Lord Balarāma saw the gopīs standing a short distance away. Seeing them trembling with eagerness to meet Kṛṣṇa, and apparently ready to give up their lives if they could not, He tactfully decided to get up and involve Himself elsewhere. Then the gopīs attained the state described in the current verse. In referring to the gopīs’ intolerant disrespect of Lord Brahmā, “the creator of eyelids,” Śukadeva Gosvāmī is giving vent to his own subtle jealousy of the gopīs’ favored position.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī offers an alternate understanding of the phrase nitya-yujām, which may mean “even of the Lord’s principal queens, who tend to be proud of their constant association with Him.”
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Because they had been separated from Kṛṣṇa for so many years, the gopīs, having come along with Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā, felt intense ecstasy in seeing Kṛṣṇa. No one can even imagine how anxious the gopīs were to see Kṛṣṇa again. As soon as Kṛṣṇa became visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their eyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were embracing Kṛṣṇa only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The ecstatic trance which they achieved simply by mentally embracing Kṛṣṇa is impossible to achieve even for great yogīs constantly engaged in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa could understand that the gopīs were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds, and therefore, since He is present in everyone’s heart, He also reciprocated the embracing from within.”