Gopī-bhāva

aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ

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)

“[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.”

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yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa

yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa-
bhrājat-kapola-subhagaṁ savilāsa-hāsam |
nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyo
nāryo narāś ca muditāḥ kupitā nimeś ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.24.65; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 82, 111; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.123)

“Drinking with their eyes whose [i.e., his, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] face, which is a constant festival, filled with a charming smile, and lovely with shining cheeks and adorable ears [decorated] with makara earrings, delighted women and men were not satiated and became angry at Nimi.”

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gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ

gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ
lāvaṇya-sāram asamorddhvam ananya-siddham |
dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam
ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śriya aiśvarasya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.44.14; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.135; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 101, 183; Prīti Sandarbha: 99, 111; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.112)

“What austerity did the gopīs perform as a result of which they drink through their eyes his form which is the essence of loveliness, unequalled and unsurpassed, not accomplished otherwise, new at every moment, difficult to attain, and the ultimate reservoir of fame, splendor, and mastery?”

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kandarpa-koṭi-lāvaṇye tvayi dṛṣṭe manāṁsi naḥ

śrutaya ūcuḥ—
kandarpa-koṭi-lāvaṇye tvayi dṛṣṭe manāṁsi naḥ |
kāminī-bhāvam āsādya smara-kṣubdhāny asaṁśayam |
yathā tval-loka-vāsinyaḥ kāma-tattvena gopikāḥ |
bhajanti ramaṇaṁ matvā cikīrṣājani nas tathā ||
śrī-bhagavān uvāca—
durlabho durghaṭaś caiva yuṣmākaṁ sumanorathaḥ |
mayānumoditaḥ samyak so’pi bhavitum arhati ||
āgāmini viriñcau tu jāte sṛṣṭy-artham udyate |
kalpaṁ sārasvataṁ prāpya vraje gopyā bhaviṣyatha ||
pṛthivyāṁ bhārate kṣetre māthure mama maṇḍale |
vṛndāvane bhaviṣyāmi preyān vo rāsa-maṇḍale ||
jāra-dharmeṇa susnehaṁ sudṛḍhaṁ sarvato’dhikam |
mayi samprāpya sarve’pi kṛtakṛtyā bhaviṣyatha ||
(Bṛhad Vāmana Purāṇa; cited in the Locana-rocanī-ṭīkā and Ānanda-candrikā-ṭīkā on Ujjvala-nīlamāṇi: 3.47)

“The Śrutis say, ‘Upon seeing you possessed of the loveliness of a crore of Kandarpas, our minds take on the bhāva of a ladylove (kāminī) and are undoubtedly agitated by passion. As the gopikās residing in your abode worship you with the essence of kāma, having accepted you as their lover, so [too] our desire has arisen to do so.’ Śrī Bhagavān says, ‘This excellent desire of you all is difficult to attain and difficult to accomplish. [When] Approved by me in full [however], it too can come to be. When a future Brahmā is born and arises for the purpose of emanation [of the universe], you all will arrive in the Sārasvata-kalpa and become gopīs in Vraja. In the rāsa circle in Vṛndāvana within my district of Mathurā in the land of Bhārata on Earth, I will become the beloved of you all. Attaining in full profound affection for me that is profoundly firm and all-surpassing, you all too will become successful.”

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yā prītir vidurārpite mura-ripo kunty-arpite yādṛśī

yā prītir vidurārpite mura-ripo kunty-arpite yādṛśī
yā govardhana-mūrdhni yā ca pṛthuke stanye yaśodārpite |
bhāradvāja-samarpite śabarikā-datte’dhare yoṣitāṁ
yā vā te muni-bhāminī-vinihite’nne’trāpi tām arpaya ||
(Unknown author; cited in Padyāvalī: 117)

“O Enemy of Mura,
The pleasure which you took
In the offering of Vidura,
The offering of Kuntī,
[The fruits, roots, and so forth offered by] The peak of Govardhana,
The abundant breastmilk offered by Yaśodā,
The grand offering of Bhāradvāja,
The offering of the Śabara’s daughter,
The lips of the women [of Vraja],
And the offering of the wives of the sages [i.e., the Vedic brāhmaṇas of Vraja]—
May you take that [type of pleasure] in the food [being offered] here too.”

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hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ

hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ |
kevalenaiva sa tadā gopikātvam iyād vraje ||
(Attributed to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda in Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smaraṇa-paddhati (148) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (151))

“An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga [i.e., the path of rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana] alone then attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”

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Uddhava-gītā

Uddhava-gītā

Six verses in praise of the Vraja-gopīs expressed by Śrī Uddhava after delivering Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s messages from Mathurā.

Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.58–63.

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ka utsaheta santyaktum uttamaḥśloka-saṁvidam

ka utsaheta santyaktum uttamaḥśloka-saṁvidam |
anicchato’pi yasya śrīr aṅgān na cyavate kvacit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.48)

“[The gopīs to Uddhava:] Who could completely give up perception of [alt., private conversations with] he of highest praise, from whose chest Śrī never strays even when he is nonchalant?”

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aho yūyaṁ sma pūrṇārthā bhavatyo loka-pūjitāḥ

aho yūyaṁ sma pūrṇārthā bhavatyo loka-pūjitāḥ |
vāsudeve bhagavati yāsām ity arpitaṁ manaḥ ||
dāna-vrāta-tapo-homa-japa-svādhyāya-saṁyamaiḥ |
śreyobhir vividhaiś cānyaiḥ kṛṣṇe bhaktir hi sādhyate ||
bhagavaty uttamaḥ-śloke bhavatībhir anuttamā |
bhaktiḥ pravartitā diṣṭyā munīnām api durlabhā ||
diṣṭyā putrān patīn dehān svajanān bhavanāni ca |
hitvāvṛṇīta yūyaṁ yat kṛṣṇākhyaṁ puruṣaṁ param ||
sarvātma-bhāvo’dhikṛto bhavatīnām adhokṣaje |
viraheṇa mahābhāgā mahān me’nugrahaḥ kṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.23–27)

“[Uddhava to the gopīs:] Aho! You all, whose minds are offered to Bhagavān Vāsudeva in this way, are verily successful and worshipable to the world. Bhakti to Kṛṣṇa is certainly accomplished by means of charity, rites, austerities, sacrifices, japa, study, and sense control, as well as by various other meritorious acts. Unexcelled bhakti to Bhagavān, he of highest praise (Uttamaḥśloka), that is rare to attain even for the sages, [however,] has been performed [alt., will be propagated] by you all by great fortune. That you all have forsaken [your] sons, husbands, bodies, relatives, and homes and accepted the Supreme Puruṣa [alt., ‘another man’] known as Kṛṣṇa is by great fortune. Bhāva in full form for he who is transcendent (Adhokṣaja) has been attained by [alt., conferred upon] you all, and by separation [i.e., by your experience of separation from Kṛṣṇa with that most complete form of bhāva], O you all of great fortune, tremendous favor has been shown to me.”

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