Bhagavatapurana 10.32: atha dvātriṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

10.32.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
iti gopyaḥ pragāyantyaḥ pralapantyaś ca citradhā /
ruruduḥ su-svaraṃ rājan kṛṣṇa-darśana-lālasāḥ //

Śrī Śuka said:
Thus singing aloud and lamenting in manifold ways, / the gopīs wept loudly, O king, longing for the sight of Kṛṣṇa.

1. Sri Suka said:— Thus loudly singing and wildly uttering their complaints, O king, the Gopa women yearned to see their Krishna and poured forth their wailings in notes of true music.

10.32.2

tāsām āvirabhūc chauriḥ smayamāna-mukhāmbujaḥ /
pītāmbara-dharaḥ sragvī sākṣān manmatha-manmathaḥ //

Before them appeared the descendant of Śūra, his lotus face smiling, / wearing yellow garments, wearing a garland, the bewilderer of the god of love himself.

2. There unto them appeared Sauri (Krishna), the Manmatha of Manmathas, with smiles on His lotus face, clad in pitambara and adorned with wreaths of flowers.

10.32.3

taṃ vilokyāgataṃ preṣṭhaṃ prīty-utphulla-dṛśo 'balāḥ /
uttasthur yugapat sarvās tanvaḥ prāṇam ivāgatam //

Beholding him, their dearest, arrive, the women, their eyes blooming with joy, / all rose at once, just as limbs rise when life returns.

3. The moment they saw Him return all those weak women stood up in a body with their eyes wide open in joy, like the members of the body on the return of Prana (life) to them.

10.32.4

kācit karāmbujaṃ śaurer jagṛhe 'ñjalinā mudā /
kācid dadhāra tad-bāhum aṃse candana-bhūṣitam //

One joyfully seized the lotus hand of the descendant of Śūra with her folded palms; / another placed his arm, adorned with sandalwood paste, upon her shoulder.

4. One in great joy took Sauri's lotus hand with both her palms; another placed on her shoulder His arm smeared with Chandana (sandal pigment).

10.32.5

kācid añjalināgṛhṇāt tanvī tāmbūla-carvitam /
ekā tad-aṅghri-kamalaṃ santaptā stanayor adhāt //

A slender girl caught in her folded hands the chewed betel nut [he gave]; / another, burning [with separation], placed his lotus feet upon her breasts.

5. One received with both her hands the betel chewed by Krishna; another set His lotus feet on her bosom that was sorely aching.

10.32.6

ekā bhru-kuṭim ābadhya prema-saṃrambha-vihvalā /
ghnantīvaikṣat kaṭākṣepaiḥ sandaṣṭa-daśana-cchadā //

One, knitting her eyebrows, distraught with the impetuousness of love, / bit her lip and looked at him with side-glances as if striking him.

6. Another knit her brows and bit her lips not knowing what to do in her bewildering rush of passion and so looked at Him as if she struck Him with her glances.

10.32.7

aparānimiṣad-dṛgbhyāṃ juṣāṇā tan-mukhāmbujam /
āpītam api nātṛpyat santas tac-caraṇaṃ yathā //

Another, drinking in his lotus face with unblinking eyes, / was not satiated even after drinking it, just as virtuous devotees are never sated with his feet.

7. Another looked on His lotus face with unwinking eyes, drank of it sufficiently and incessantly, but she was not satiated like the wise that worship His feet.

10.32.8

taṃ kācin netra-randhreṇa hṛdi kṛtvā nimīlya ca /
pulakāṅgy upaguhyāste yogīvānanda-samplutā //

Taking him into her heart through the aperture of her eyes and closing them, / one woman embraced him, her body thrilled with horripilation, and remained flooded with bliss like a yogin.

8. Another looked at Him with half open eyes and then having set Him up at her heart, shut her eyes and with her hair standing on end, remained embracing Him like a yogin immersed in bliss.

10.32.9

sarvās tāḥ keśavāloka- paramotsava-nirvṛtāḥ /
jahur viraha-jaṃ tāpaṃ prājñaṃ prāpya yathā janāḥ //

All of them, attaining supreme delight from the sight of Keśava, / cast off the torment born of separation, just as people do on reaching a wise sage.

9. They all became happy like those who attain to Prajna [(1) Iswara (2) the wise man (3) Prajna the Lord directing the state of sleep.] at the grand feast of seeing Kesava and were rid of their fever caused by separation, like those who attain to Iswara (2) those who meet one that has reached Brahma, (3) those who attain to Prajna, that is, in deep sleep).

10.32.10

tābhir vidhūta-śokābhir bhagavān acyuto vṛtaḥ /
vyarocatādhikaṃ tāta puruṣaḥ śaktibhir yathā //

Surrounded by them, whose sorrow was dispelled, the Lord, Acyuta, / shone exceedingly bright, dear king, like the Supreme Person with his potencies.

10. Surrounded by those damsels free from all anxieties, the glorious Achyuta exceedingly shone like the Purusha in the midst of His Saktis.

10.32.11

tāḥ samādāya kālindyā nirviśya pulinaṃ vibhuḥ /
vikasat-kunda-mandāra surabhy-anila-ṣaṭpadam //

Taking them with him, the almighty Lord entered the sandbank of the Yamunā, / where bees were drawn by the breeze fragrant with blooming kunda and mandāra flowers,

11. With them the Lord repaired to the sands of Yamuna where played breezes perfumed with blowing *Kundas* and *Mandaras* attended on by the bees.

10.32.12

śarac-candrāṃśu-sandoha- dhvasta-doṣā-tamaḥ śivam /
kṛṣṇāyā hasta-taralā cita-komala-vālukam //

auspicious with the darkness of the night dispelled by the cluster of autumn moonbeams, / and covered with soft sand swept up by the hand-like waves of the Yamunā.

12. There the darkness of the night was dispelled by the flood of rays of the autumnal moon and the scene was most happy and the soft sands levelled by the hand-like waves of the Yamuna.

10.32.13

tad-darśanāhlāda-vidhūta-hṛd-rujo manorathāntaṃ śrutayo yathā yayuḥ /
svair uttarīyaiḥ kuca-kuṅkumāṅkitair acīkḷpann āsanam ātma-bandhave //

With the sorrow of their hearts dispelled by the joy of beholding him, having reached the end of their desires as do the Vedic scriptures, / they arranged a seat for their self-chosen friend with their upper garments marked with the saffron of their breasts.

13. The distress at their heart having been dissipated by the joy of seeing Him they achieved their wishes to the utmost extent like *Srutis* that lead to realisation and leave nothing to be wished for;

they prepared a seat for their spiritual friend with their upper garments dyed in the saffron on their bosom.

10.32.14

tatropaviṣṭo bhagavān sa īśvaro yogeśvarāntar-hṛdi kalpitāsanaḥ /
cakāsa gopī-pariṣad-gato 'rcitas trailokya-lakṣmy-eka-padaṃ vapur dadhat //

Sitting there, the Lord, the Ruler whose seat is prepared within the hearts of the masters of yoga, / shone in the assembly of the gopīs, worshipped by them, / bearing a form that is the sole abode of all beauty in the three worlds.

14. Seated on it the Almighty Ruler, who is enthroned in the inmost heart of great yogins, shone in that company of Gopis, the object of their worship with a personality, in which met all the gracefulness of the three worlds.

10.32.15

sabhājayitvā tam anaṅga-dīpanaṃ sahāsa-līlekṣaṇa-vibhrama-bhruvā /
saṃsparśanenāṅka-kṛtāṅghri-hastayoḥ saṃstutya īṣat kupitā babhāṣire //

Having honoured him who kindles the god of love with smiling, playful glances and graceful movements of their eyebrows, / and with the touch of their hands placing his feet upon their laps, and having praised him, they spoke, slightly piqued:

15. To the Lord that roused the love in their heart, they gave, with their sportful brows, smiles and playful glances, a reverential welcome, pressing His hands and feet on their lap, and, having offered their praises, they spoke as if somewhat offended.

10.32.16

/0 śrī-gopya ūcuḥ
bhajato 'nubhajanty eka eka etad-viparyayam /
nobhayāṃś ca bhajanty eka etan no brūhi sādhu bhoḥ //

The gopīs said:
Some reciprocate only to those who love them; some do the opposite; / and some reciprocate to neither. Explain this properly to us, sir!

16. Gopis said:— Some favour those that resort to them and some do the contrary even to those that do not wait upon them, i.e., favour them and some others again favour neither, O Krishna; be pleased to tell us clearly about this.

10.32.17

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
mitho bhajanti ye sakhyaḥ svārthaikāntodyamā hi te /
na tatra sauhṛdaṃ dharmaḥ svārthārthaṃ tad dhi nānyathā //

The Lord said:
Friends, those who love one another only in mutual exchange are striving solely for their own interest; / there is neither friendship nor dharma in that, for it is strictly for self-interest and nothing else.

17. The Lord said:— Friends, those that are attached to one another endeavour indeed after their own purposes; there neither good will nor righteousness has a place; for it is only for the purpose of self; nothing else.

10.32.18

bhajanty abhajato ye vai karuṇāḥ pitarau yathā /
dharmo nirapavādo 'tra sauhṛdaṃ ca su-madhyamāḥ //

Those who, full of compassion, love even those who do not love them, as parents do, / possess irreproachable dharma and true affection, O slender-waisted women!

18. Those indeed are merciful like parents who help those that do not resort to them. In this case both righteousness and good will are seen, O charming ladies.

10.32.19

bhajato 'pi na vai kecid bhajanty abhajataḥ kutaḥ /
ātmārāmā hy āpta-kāmā akṛta-jñā guru-druhaḥ //

Some do not love even those who love them, so how could they love those who do not? / They are either those delighting in the self, those whose desires are fulfilled, the ungrateful, or those who betray their elders.

Indeed some pay no regard even to those that worship them. Then how could they be expected to favour those that do not seek them at all?

I. These are of four classes:— 1. Those that find delight only in Atman and know nothing of the external world. 2. Those that are accomplished of their purpose and, though conscious of external objects, have no longing for their enjoyment; 3 those that are too dull to understand the kindness done to them and 4. Those who wilfully do an evil turn to their benefactors (here ‘benefactors’ being considered ‘gurus’).

ures and (3) Those that are ungrateful, who go even to the extent of doing evil even to their benefactors.

10.32.20

nāhaṃ tu sakhyo bhajato 'pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye /
yathādhano labdha-dhane vinaṣṭe tac-cintayānyan nibhṛto na veda //

However, friends, I do not reciprocate even with living beings who worship me, in order to foster their constant devotion, / just as a poor man who has obtained wealth and then lost it, absorbed in thoughts of it, knows nothing else.

[Just as a poor man who has lost the wealth he had earned is drowned in sorrow and cannot be alive even to anything taken hold of or firmly stationed before him, so have you resigned unto Me all your interests in the world in the Vedas and in yourselves. Your devotional acts cannot be fruitless; however it is My nature to be beyond the range of your senses and I disappeared; so it is not proper that you regard Me as one having done wrong as I am beloved of you.]

10.32.21

evaṃ mad-arthojjhita-loka-veda svānām hi vo mayy anuvṛttaye 'balāḥ /
mayāparokṣaṃ bhajatā tirohitaṃ māsūyituṃ mārhatha tat priyaṃ priyāḥ //

Thus, O women, so that your devotion might continually flow to me, since for my sake you abandoned the world, the Vedas, and your kinsmen, / I, while remaining within your reach, concealed myself; therefore, O beloved ones, you ought not to hold a grudge against me, your beloved!

10.32.22

na pāraye 'haṃ niravadya-saṃyujāṃ sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṃ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ /
yā mābhajan durjara-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ saṃvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā //

I am not able to repay my debt to you, of blameless union, even throughout a lifetime of the gods— / you who have broken the hard-to-sever shackles of domestic life to love me; let that deed be repaid by your own goodness!

22. I cannot sufficiently reward your devout service even through the long life of a celestial to you that have resorted to, and worshipped, Me, conceiving a pure and faultless relation to Me and having completely cut asunder the very hard ties of domestic life. May your own righteousness for that reason bring its fullest reward!