मातर्गोपकिशोरं तं त्वञ्च रासरसाम्बुधिम् ।
तत्प्रेममोहिताभिः श्रीगोपीभिरभितो वृतम् ॥
अमूषां दास्यमिच्छन्ती तादृशप्रेमभङ्गिभिः ।
नित्यं भजस्व तन्नामसङ्कीर्तनपरायणा ॥
mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ tvañ ca rāsa-rasāmbudhim |
tat-prema-mohitābhiḥ śrī-gopībhir abhito vṛtam ||
amūṣāṁ dāsyam icchantī tādṛśa-prema-bhaṅgibhiḥ |
nityaṁ bhajasva tan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-parāyaṇā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.154–5)
“The Adolescent Cowherd,
The Ocean of the rasa of rāsa,
Surrounded on all sides by beautiful gopīs
Enchanted by prema for him—
O Mother,
You too should always worship him
With means of prema akin to theirs,
Being desirous servitude to them
And being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his names.”
Commentary
evam upākhyānaṁ samāpya sva-mātaraṁ prati phalitam upadiśati—mātar iti | he mātaḥ! tam ukta-māhātmyaṁ gopa-kiśoraṁ śrī-kṛṣṇaṁ tvam api tādṛśānāṁ gopī-prema-sadṛśānāṁ premṇāṁ bhaṅgibhiḥ paramparābhiḥ paripāṭībhir vā bhajasva iti dvābhyām anvayaḥ | kathaṁbhūtam? rāsa eva rasaḥ krīḍā, yad vā rāse rāsa-krīḍāyāṁ raso rāgaḥ, yad vā tad-rūpo rasaḥ paramānanda-viśeṣaḥ, tasya abdhim anavacchinna-sthirāśrayam, atas tasmin gopa-kiśore yat premā tenaiva mohitābhiḥ, ata eva abhitaḥ rāse maṇḍalī-bhāvena sarvataḥ sthitatvād āvṛtam | nanu tadīya-bhāgineya-vadhvā mama gopī-sadṛśa-bhāvena bhajanaṁ loke viruddham iti cet, tatrāha—amūṣāṁ gopīnāṁ dāsyaṁ dāsītvam icchantī satī | tasya kiṁ mukhyaṁ lakṣaṇam? ity apekṣāyām āha—tasya gopa-kiśorasya yāni nāmāni teṣām, yad vā tat prasiddhaṁ yat kṛṣṇeti nāma tasya, saṅkīrtanam uccaiḥ susvara-madhura-gāthayā kīrtanaṁ tat-parāyaṇā satī | tad eva tādṛśa-prema-bhajana-prakāra-lakṣaṇaṁ tādṛśa-prema-sampatti-lakṣaṇaṁ ceti bhāvaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Concluding the narration in this way, he teaches his mother that which has resulted [i.e., the resultant conclusion of the narration throughout this first portion of Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta]: mātaḥ … [i.e., Śrī Parīkṣit Mahārāja speaks this verse]. O Mother, you too should worship him, he of [the afore] stated greatness, the Adolescent Cowherd, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, with means—successions or methods—of prema akin to theirs [viz., the gopīs]. This is the syntactic connection of the two [verses]. Of what nature [is he]? An Ocean (abdhim), that is, an unbounded, steady Reservoir, of the rāsa that itself is rasa—play, or, alternately, [he is an Ocean of] the rasa—loving attachment (rāga)—in rāsa, that is, in the play of rāsa, or, alternately, [he is an Ocean of] the rasa—the special form of paramount bliss—the form which is that [i.e., the form of which is rāsa]. Thus, [the gopīs are described as] ‘enchanted’ (mohitābhiḥ) specifically by prema for him, the Adolescent Cowherd. Therefore, [he is further described as] ‘surrounded’ (āvṛtam) ‘on all sides’ (abhitaḥ) because of [the gopīs’] being situated on all sides [around him] in a circle during rāsa.
“[An objection is raised by Uttarā, Śrī Parīkṣit Mahārāja’s mother:] ‘Worship [of him] with a bhāva akin to the gopīs is improper in society for I who am the wife of his sister’s son [i.e., his niece-in-law].’ If this [is said], to that he says, ‘Being desirous of servitude (dāsyam) to them (amūṣāṁ),’ that is, [being desirous] of being a maidservant of the gopīs [i.e., because you are a niece-in-law of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, you should perform worship of Śrī Kṛṣṇa with methods of prema akin to those of the gopīs and the desire to serve the gopīs without taking on a mentality or manner of behavior exactly equivalent to theirs].
“[Another query is raised:] ‘What is the primary characteristic of that [i.e., of the worship you are advising me to perform]?’ In anticipation of this [question], he says, ‘Being absorbed (parāyaṇā) in saṅkīrtana, that is, in resonant kīrtana with fine tunes and sweet verses, of the names of him, the Adolescent Cowherd, or, alternately, [in saṅkīrtana] of his well-known name “Kṛṣṇa.”’ This itself is a characteristic of the manner of such worship with prema [i.e., a characteristic of the gopīs’ worship with prema of Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and a characteristic of the attainment of such prema [i.e., of attainment of prema the gopīs have for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, meaning, being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s names is both a primary feature of the means of accomplishment (sādhana) that is being prescribed and a primary feature of the object of accomplishment (sādhya) realized thereby]. This is the purport.”