कृष्णाङ्घ्रिपद्ममकरन्दनिपानलुब्धो
जानाति तद्रसलिहां परमं महत्त्वम् ।
ब्रह्मैव गोकुलभुवामयमुद्धवोऽपि
गोपीगणस्य यदिमौ लसतः स्म तत्तत् ॥
येषां हि यद्वस्तुनि भाति लोभ-
स्ते तद्वतां भाग्यबलं विदन्ति ।
गोप्यो मुकुन्दाधरपानलुब्धा
गायन्ति सौभाग्यभरं मुरल्याः ॥
kṛṣṇāṅghri-padma-makaranda-nipāna-lubdho
jānāti tad-rasa-lihāṁ paramaṁ mahattvam |
brahmaiva gokula-bhuvām ayam uddhavo’pi
gopī-gaṇasya yad imau lasataḥ sma tat tat ||
yeṣāṁ hi yad vastuni bhāti lobhas
te tadvatāṁ bhāgya-balaṁ vidanti |
gopyo mukundādhara-pāna-lubdhā
gāyanti saubhāgya-bharaṁ muralyāḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.157)
“One intensely desirous of drinking the nectar of the lotus of Kṛṣṇa’s feet knows the paramount greatness of those who taste that rasa; Brahmā certainly [knows that] of those born in Gokula and he, Uddhava, [knows that] of the gopīs, since they both long for those two [i.e., since Brahmā longs for the rasa relished by those born in Gokula and Uddhava longs for the rasa relished by the gopīs]. Those who have intense desire for an object speak of the strength of the fortune of those possessed of that [object]. Intensely desirous of drinking from the lips of Mukunda, the gopīs sing of the abundance of good fortune of the flute.”
Commentary
evaṁ śrī-māthura-gokula-māhātmya-varṇanenaiva siddham api tatratyānāṁ lokānāṁ māhātmya-bharaṁ vistāreṇa sākṣād abhivyañjayiṣyann ādau tat-tattvānabhijñānāṁ tatra sandeham āśaṅkya yuktyā nirākurvann āha—kṛṣṇeti | kṛṣṇasyāṅghri-padmayor makarando bhakti-rasaḥ, tasya nipāne lubdho jana eva taṁ rasaṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇāravinda-makarandaṁ lihantīti tathā teṣāṁ parama-sarvotkṛṣṭataraṁ mahattvaṁ māhātmyaṁ jānāti | atra dṛṣṭāntayati—gokula-bhuvāṁ gokula-jātānāṁ janānāṁ parama-mahattvaṁ brahmaiva jānāti | api ca samuccaye | ayaṁ sākṣād-vartamāna uddhava eva gopī-gaṇasya paramaṁ mahattvaṁ jānāti | yad yasmāt imau brahmoddhavau tat tad anirvācyaṁ suprasiddhaṁ vā kim api laṣataḥ sma aicchatām | tatra ca śrī-bhagavat-stutyā tad-dāsye tatrāpi vraja-vāsi-jana-saubhāgyāvakalanena tādṛśa-saubhāgye brahmaṇo lobhaḥ śrīmad-uddhavasya ca śrī-gopikā-prema-bharāvalokanena tādṛśa-premṇy ajāyata ity ūhyam | tathā ca brahmaṇā prārthitam—‘tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ yad gokule’pi katamāṅghri-rajo’bhiṣekam’ iti | uddhavena ca—‘āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁ vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām |’ iti |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Clarifying directly with elaboration the abundance of the greatness of the people situated there [in Gokula] although it has already been established by the description of the greatness of Gokula in [the district of] Śrī Mathurā [given thus far by Śrī Nārada] and first expecting a doubt in regard to that [greatness of the residents of Gokula] on the part of those who are unaware of their essential nature, he refutes it with reasoning, that is, he says Kṛṣṇa … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Only a person who is intensely desirous of drinking the nectar of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is, [Kṛṣṇa-] bhakti-rasa, knows the greatness (mahattvam), that is, the paramount excellence above all, of they who relish that rasa, the nectar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. He presents an illustration in this regard: Brahmā certainly knows the paramount greatness of those born in Gokula, that is, of persons born in Gokula. [The word] Api is also in the sense of aggregation [i.e., it means ‘and’]. He (ayam), who is personally present [where Śrī Nārada is speaking], Uddhava, certainly knows the paramount greatness of the gopīs, since both Brahmā and Uddhava long for, that is, desire, those two [objects], that is, [those two objects that are] ineffable and highly renowned. In this regard, furthermore, it is to inferred even in regard to service to Śrī Bhagavān with reference to the praise of him [made by Brahmā throughout SB 10.14] that Brahmā’s intense desire for the fortune of the people residing in Vraja arose by observing such fortune [on their part], and blessed Uddhava’s [intense desire arose] for the prema of the blessed gopikās by observing the abundance of such prema [on their part]. That object prayed for by Brahmā is also [stated in SB 10.14.34], ‘May I have that great fortune whereby a birth of any sort here in the forest in Gokula shall occur wherein I may also receive an ablution in the dust of the feet of anyone [there],’ and [that object prayed for] by Uddhava [is stated in SB 10.47.16], ‘Aho! May I become any of the shrubs, creepers, or herbs in Vṛndāvana carrying their [i.e., the gopīs] footdust.’”