माथुरोत्तम तत्रत्यं महाश्चर्यमिदं शृणु ।
कथ्यमानं मया किञ्चित्श्रीकृष्णस्य प्रभावतः ॥
बालकास्तरुणा वृद्धा गोपास्ते
कोटिकोटिशः ।
सर्वे विदुर्महाप्रेयानहं कृष्णस्य नेतरः ॥
तथैव व्यवहारोऽपि तेषां कृष्णे सदेक्ष्यते ।
प्रत्येकं तेषु तस्यापि विशुद्धस्तादृगेव सः ॥
māthurottama tatratyaṁ mahāścaryam idaṁ śṛṇu |
kathyamānaṁ mayā kiñcit śrī-kṛṣṇasya prabhāvataḥ ||
bālakās taruṇā vṛddhā gopās te koṭi-koṭiśaḥ |
sarve vidur mahāpreyān ahaṁ kṛṣṇasya netaraḥ ||
tathaiva vyavahāro’pi teṣāṁ kṛṣṇe sadekṣyate |
pratyekaṁ teṣu tasyāpi viśuddhas tādṛg eva saḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.210–212)
“O best among those from Mathurā, hear of this great wonder found there. Something [of it] can be related by me by the power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The children, the youth, and the elderly—all of those crores and crores of cowherds—feel, ‘I am most dear to Kṛṣṇa; not anyone else.’ Their behavior too with Kṛṣṇa is always observable to be exactly so, and that of his as well with every one of them is pure and exactly such.”
Commentary
tatratyānāṁ puṁsāṁ bhagavati śrī-kṛṣṇe bhāva-viśeṣaṁ darśayati—bālakā iti tribhiḥ | te śrī-goloka-vāsinaḥ | aham eva kṛṣṇasya preyān parama-priyaḥ na tu itaro’nya iti sarve pratyekaṁ viduḥ |na caitan manana-mātraṁ, kintu vyavahāro’pi tena saha teṣāṁ nirantaram anyo’nyaṁ tad-anurūpa evety āha—tathaiveti | tādṛśa eva teṣāṁ gopa-vargāṇāṁ vyavahāro bhojanādiḥ | teṣu gopa-vargeṣu tasya śrī-kṛṣṇasya api sa vyavahāras tādṛk teṣāṁ vyavahārānurūpa eva | yad vā, parama-priyatama-viṣayaka-kṛtyānurūpa eva | na ca tatra kathañcid api kiñcit kāpaṭyam astīty āha—viśuddha iti | ata ekasminn eva tāttvikī parama-priyatā, anyeṣu ca vyavahāra-kauśalenaiveti nirastam |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“He shows the special bhāva of the people situated there [i.e., in Goloka] in relation to Bhagavān Śri Kṛṣṇa with three [verses]: bālakāḥ … [i.e., he speaks BB 2.6.211–213]. ‘Those’ (te) refers to the residents of Śrī Goloka. All of them feel, ‘I alone am most dear (preyān) to Kṛṣṇa, and no one else rather is [so].’ And this is not just a reflection [in their minds]. Rather, their behavior [i.e., manner of eating and so on] too with him is always reciprocally exactly in accord with that. Thus, he says tathaiva … [i.e., he speaks BB 2.6.212]. Their—the gopas’—behavior, that is, [manner of] eating and so on, is exactly so, and that—the behavior—of his, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as well with those gopas is exactly such, meaning, is [exactly] in accord with their behavior, or, is exactly in accord with what is to be done in relation to one who is supremely dearmost. And it is not that there is any deceit therein whatsoever. Thus, he says [that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s behavior with them is] ‘pure’ (viśuddham). Therefore, that actual supreme dearness is only in one [i.e., that Śrī Kṛṣṇa actually only considers one among all his companions to be his dearmost companion of all], and with others that [appearance of his considering those others dearmost] is [accomplished] only by means of cleverness in behavior [i.e., by means of behavior that creates that impression without it actually being true] is refuted [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s behavior whereby he reciprocates the behavior of every cowherd in Goloka such that he treats each and every one of them as the dearmost companion is genuine on his part and not just a show of affected behavior].”