अटति यद्भवानह्नि काननं
त्रुटिर्युगायते त्वामपश्यताम् ।
कुटिलकुन्तलं श्रीमुखं च ते
जड उदीक्षतां पक्ष्मकृत्दृशाम् ॥
aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ
truṭir yugāyate tvām apaśyatām |
kuṭila-kuntalaṁ śrī-mukhaṁ ca te
jaḍa udīkṣatāṁ pakṣma-kṛt dṛśām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.15; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:
2.1.211; Prīti Sandarbha: 392; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.124)
“[The gopīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] ‘When you go out to the forest during the day, a truṭi [i.e., half a milisecond] seems like a yuga for we who do not see you [all day], and the creator of lids for the eyes of we who eagerly behold your wavy locks and beautiful face [when you return in the late afternoon] is [considered by us to be] a fool.”
Commentary
kiṁ ca, kṣaṇam api tvad-adarśane duḥkhaṁ darśane ca sukhaṁ dṛṣṭvā sarva-saṅga-parityāgena yataya iva vayaṁ tvām upāgatās tvan tu katham asmāṁś tyaktum utsahasa iti sakaruṇam ūcuḥ—aṭatīti dvayena | yad yadā bhavān kānanaṁ vṛndāvanaṁ pratyaṭati gacchati tadā tvām apaśyatām prāṇināṁ truṭiḥ kṣaṇārdham api yugavad bhavati | evam adarśane duḥkham uktam | punaś ca kathañcid dinānte sāyaṁ kāle te tava śrīman mukhaṁ kuṭilāḥ kuntalāḥ keśā yasmiṁs tādṛśam ud uccair īkṣamānānāṁ teṣāṁ dṛśāṁ pakṣma-kṛd brahmā jaḍo manda eva | nimeṣa-mātram apy antaram asahyam iti darśane sukham uktam |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“‘Furthermore, observing [our] suffering as a result of not seeing you for even a moment and [our] happiness as a result of seeing you [for even a moment], we have approached you completely relinquishing all attachments like ascetics. So, how are you able to reject us?’ In this way, they [i.e., the gopīs] speak piteously with two [verses]: aṭati … [i.e., they speak SB 10.31.15–16]. When (yad) you (bhavān) return (aṭati) to the forest (kānanam), that is, Vṛndāvana, then for the living beings who do not see you [during the day there, such as we who have to remain at home in the village] a truṭi, that is, even half a moment, becomes like an age (yuga). In this way, [their] suffering as a result of not seeing [Kṛṣṇa] is described. Moreover, Brahmā, the creator of lids for those eyes which excellently (ut) behold (īkṣatāṁ) your (te) beautiful face with [its] wavy locks (kuṭila-kuntalaṁ) at the end of the day in the evening time sometimes [when you return from the forest and we are able to catch a glimpse of you entering the village], is foolish (jaḍaḥ), that is, stupid. [That] The interruption of even a blink [of the eyes] is intolerable [is the sense]. Thus, happiness as a result of seeing [Kṛṣṇa] is described.”
yugāyate duḥkha-samayasya duratikramatveneti parama-duḥkham ataś ciram adarśana-duḥkham asahyam iti satvaraṁ darśanaṁ dehīti bhāvaḥ | apaśyatāṁ sarveṣām api vraja-janānāṁ kim utāsmākam | kuṭilāḥ kuntalāś cūrṇa-kuntalā upari bhāge yasmin tat, svata eva śrī-yuktaṁ mukham udīkṣatāṁ ceti ca-kārānvayaḥ | bhavatv anyeṣāṁ pakṣma-kṛt udīkṣamāṇānām apīty ākṣepārthaḥ | anyat taiḥ | yad vā, durvitarkya-prakṛte, kadāpi tvatto’smākaṁ na kiñcit sukhaṁ jātaṁ, pratyutādarśana-kāle darśana-kāle’pi duḥkham evety āhuḥ—aṭatīti | pūrvārdhenādarśana-kāle duḥkham uktam | darśana-kāle’pi duḥkham āhuḥ—kuṭileti | jaḍaḥ anabhijñaḥ | animiṣatvākāraṇāt śapaṇīya iti śeṣaḥ | yad vā, udīkṣamāṇānāṁ satāṁ pakṣma-kṛt, kṛtī chedane, yaḥ pakṣmāṇi kṛntati sa eva ajaḍaḥ rasajño vidvān vā | yad vā, sva-dṛśāṁ pakṣmī-cched evājaḍaḥ sa eva ca udīkṣatām uccaiḥ paśyatu | vayaṁ tu pakṣma-channa-dṛśo jaḍāḥ sākṣād api kiṁ paśyāmeti bhāvaḥ |
(Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā)
“[Even a moment] Seems like an age (yuga) because of a period of suffering’s being difficult to overcome. It [i.e., a moment in which we cannot see you] is thus severe suffering [for we who become deprived of the sight of you]. So, a long period of the suffering of not seeing [you] is unbearable [for us]. Therefore, please quickly give [us] sight [of you]. This is the purport. ‘For we who do not see [you]’ (apaśyatāṁ) refers even to all of the people of Vraja, and all the more to ourselves. And (ca) ‘of we who eagerly behold’ (udīkṣatāṁ) your face—that [face of yours] above the upper portion of which there are ‘wavy locks’ (kuṭila-kuntalaṁ) and thus which of its own accord is filled with beauty—is the syntactic connection with the word ‘and’ (ca) [i.e., the word ‘and’ (ca) is used in the sentence to join two independent clauses]. Let there be a creator of lids [for the eyes] of others, [but why] also even [for the eyes] of we who eagerly behold [your face]? This is the sense of lamentation [expressed in the verse]. The rest is as in his [commentary, i.e., the meaning of the rest of the verse is as Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda has explained it in his commentary]. Alternately, [the meaning can be construed as follows,] ‘O you of difficult to conceive character! On your account, we never experience any happiness at all. Rather, at the time of not seeing [you] and even at the time of seeing [you], we experience only suffering.’ Thus, they say aṭati … [i.e., they speak this verse]. With the first half [of the verse], [their] suffering at the time of not seeing [Kṛṣṇa] is described. [In the second half of the verse,] They describe [their] suffering even at the time of seeing [Kṛṣṇa]: kuṭila … [i.e., they speak the second half of the verse]. ‘Fool’ (jaḍaḥ) means ignorant. ‘Fit to be cursed because of [his] non-creating an absence of blinking [i.e., Brahmā the creator is fit to be cursed because of not giving us unblinking eyes]’ is the remainder. Alternately, [the root] kṛt [in the word pakṣma-kṛt] is in the sense of cutting [rather than in the sense of making as it was construed above in the rendering of pakṣma-kṛt as the ‘creator of lids’], and [the sense is] a cutter of the lids (pakṣma-kṛt) [off the eyes] of the sat who are eagerly beholding [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face], meaning, only one who cuts off the lids [from the eyes of those who are eagerly beholding Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face] is not foolish (ajaḍaḥ), that is, cognizant of rasa, or, wise [when te jaḍaḥ as the text is commonly read is instead construed as te ajaḍaḥ]. Alternately, only a cutter of the lids (pakṣma-kṛt) of one’s own eyes (dṛśāṁ) [i.e., only someone who cuts off one’s own eyelids] is not foolish (ajaḍaḥ), and only he can excellently behold (udīkṣatām) [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face]. We, however, who have eyes covered by lids, are foolish (jaḍāḥ). How can we see [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face] even in person [i.e., how can we amply behold Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face even when he is right in front of us when we have lids that periodically cover our eyes]?”
kiṁ cāsmākaṁ duradṛṣṭam eva duḥkha-pradaṁ tatra tvaṁ kiṁ kuryā ity āhuḥ—aṭatīti | yat yadā bhavān kānanaṁ vṛndāvanam aṭati gacchati, tadā tvām apaśyatām asmākaṁ gopī-janānāṁ truṭiḥ kṣaṇasya sapta-viṁśati-śatatamo bhāgaḥ so’pi yuga-tulyo bhavati | klībatvam ārṣam | divase traimāsikam eva tvad-viraha-duḥkhaṁ sarveṣāṁ vraja-janānām asmākaṁ tu tata eva trayo yāmāḥ śata-koṭi-yuga-pramāṇā yad bhavanty atra duradṛṣṭaṁ vinā kim anyat kāraṇaṁ bhaved iti bhāvaḥ | punaś ca kathañcid dinānte śrīman-mukhaṁ tava udīkṣitām utkaṇṭhayā īkṣamāṇānāṁ teṣām eva gopī-janānāṁ dṛśāṁ pakṣma-kṛt pakṣma-sraṣṭā vidhātā jaḍo nirviveko duḥkhaṁ karotīti śeṣaḥ | evaṁ ca tvad-adarśane duṣpāra eva duḥkha-sindhuḥ, darśane tu pakṣmodbhavo nimeṣa eva yo darśana-virodhī so’pi nava-śata-truṭi-pramāṇo bhavan-nava-śata-yugāyate ity ubhayathāpi duḥkhaṁ duradṛṣṭa-vaśād eveti bhāvaḥ | ‘trasareṇu-trikaṁ bhuṅkte yaḥ kālaḥ sa truṭiḥ smṛtaḥ | śata-bhāgas tu vedhaḥ syāt tais tribhis tu lavaḥ smṛtaḥ | nimeṣas tri-lavo jñeya āmnātas te trayaḥ kṣaṇaḥ ||’ iti maitreyaḥ | yad vā, kṛtī chedane | dṛśāṁ sva-cakṣuṣāṁ pakṣma-kṛt pakṣma-cchettā ajaḍaś caturo janas te śrī-mukham udīkṣatām utkarṣeṇa paśyatu, na tu vayam acaturā iti bhāvaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“‘Furthermore, only our misfortune is the cause of [our] suffering. In that regard, what can you do?’ In this way, they say aṭati … [i.e., they speak this verse]. ‘When (yad) you (bhavān) go (aṭati) to the forest (kānanam), that is, Vṛndāvana, then, for we gopīs who do not see you [during the day there], a truṭi, that is, even a twenty-seven hundredth part of a moment, becomes like an age (yuga). The neutrality [of the declension] is ṛṣis’ usage. During the day, all the people of Vraja experience the suffering of three months of separation from you [i.e., for them, the three yāmas, that is, the three periods of about three hours each, that you are away in the forest feel like three months], but for us those three yāmas are [experienced to be] a span of a billion ages (yugas). What else could be the cause of this apart from [our] misfortune?’ This is the purport.
“Furthermore, the creator of lids (pakṣma-kṛt) for the eyes of those particular gopīs who eagerly behold (udīkṣitām), that is, behold with longing, your beautiful face, somehow at the end of the day is a fool (jaḍaḥ), that is, he is devoid of discernment and causes suffering. This is the remainder. In this way, furthermore, when not seeing you, there is verily an unsurmountable ocean of suffering [for us], and when seeing [you], even just the covering of the eyes caused by the lids [of the eyes while blinking] that is obstructing of seeing [you], the span of which is nine hundred truṭis, seems like nine hundred ages (yugas). Thus, even in both states [i.e., while not seeing you and while seeing you], there is only suffering [for us] verily as a result of [our] misfortune. This is the purport.
“According to Maitreya [in SB 3.11.6–7], ‘The time which consumes three trasareṇus [i.e., the length of time required for the sun to pass over a distance of six paramāṇus] is known as a truṭi. A vedha shall be [considered] a hundred [such] parts [i.e., a hundred truṭis make one vedha]. A lava is known as three of these [i.e., three vedas make one lava]. Three lavas are to be known as a nimeṣa [i.e., the blink of an eye]. Three of these are considered a kṣaṇa [i.e., a moment].’
“Alternately, [the root] kṛt [in the word pakṣma-kṛt] is in the sense of cutting [rather than in the sense of making as it was construed above in the rendering of pakṣma-kṛt as the ‘creator of lids’]. A cutter of the lids (pakṣma-kṛt) of one’s own eyes (dṛśāṁ) [i.e., one who cuts off one’s own eyelids] is not foolish (ajaḍaḥ), that is, [he is] a clever person. He can excellently behold (udīkṣatām) your beautiful face, and not, rather, we who are devoid of cleverness. This is the purport [when te jaḍaḥ as the text is commonly read is instead construed as te ajaḍaḥ].”