स्थानं गोपीगणकुचतटीकुङ्कुमश्रीभरार्द्र-
श्रीमत्पदाम्बुजयुगसदाप्रीतिसङ्गप्रादायि ।
जिज्ञासोस्ते जननि कथितोऽशेषसन्देहघाटी
गोलोकोऽयं मधुरगहनप्रश्नभावानुसारात् ॥
वैकुण्ठस्याप्युपरि नितरां राजते यो नितान्त-
श्रीमद्गोपीरमणचरणप्रेमपूरैकलभ्यः ।
वाञ्छावाञ्छोपरिगुरुफलप्राप्तिभूमिर्यदीया
लोका ध्याता दधति परमां प्रेमसम्पत्तिनिष्ठाम् ॥
sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra-
śrīmat-padāmbuja-yuga-sadā-prīti-saṅga-prādāyi |
jijñāsos te janani kathito’śeṣa-sandeha-ghāṭī
goloko’yaṁ madhura-gahana-praśna-bhāvānusārāt ||
vaikuṇṭhasyāpy upari nitarāṁ rājate yo nitānta-
śrīmad-gopī-ramaṇa-caraṇa-prema-pūraika-labhyaḥ |
vāñchā-vāñchopari-guru-phala-prāpti-bhūmir yadīyā
lokā dhyātā dadhati paramāṁ prema-sampatti-niṣṭhām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.77–78)
“O Mother,
In accord with the sweet and deep mood (bhāva)
Of the inquiry of you who are desirous to know
The place which is a bestower
Of eternal loving connection
With the two blessed lotus feet [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Moistened by a beautiful mass of kumkum
From the slopes of the gopīs’ breasts,
And which is a destroyer of all doubts,
This [place, known as] Goloka—
Which shines profoundly beyond even Vaikuṇṭha,
Which is attainable
Only by means of an extraordinary abundance of prema
For the feet of blessed gopīs’ Beloved,
Which is the land of the attainment
Of the great aim
Of our desires and [that is] beyond our desires,
And the people belonging to which,
As they are meditated upon,
Grant paramount fixity in the wealth of prema—
Has been described [by me to you].”
Commentary
aśeṣa-sandehasya ghātī nāśakaḥ saparikara-tan-māhātmyopākhyāna-śravaṇenaiva sarva-saṁśaya-lopāpatteḥ | … tal-loka-prāpti-sādhanaṁ tu kevalaṁ śrī-gopīnātha-pāda-padma-viṣayaka-prema-viśeṣa eva, tasya ca tatratyeṣu bhaktir eveti draḍhayann upasaṁharati—vaikuṇṭhasyeti |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[This Goloka is] A destroyer (ghāṭī) of all doubts because of the occurrence of the disappearance of all doubts just by hearing narrations of the greatness of that [place] along with its inhabitants. … Affirming that the means (sādhana) to the attainment of that plane is indeed only specifically a special form of prema fixed on the lotus feet of Śrī Gopīnātha, and specifically one’s bhakti to those situated there [i.e., to the residents of Goloka], he [viz., Parīkṣit Mahāraja] concludes [his explanation]: Vaikuṇṭhasya … [i.e., he speaks BB 2.7.78].”