यस्याननं मकरकुण्डलचारुकर्ण-
भ्राजत्कपोलसुभगं सविलासहासम् ।
नित्योत्सवं न ततृपुर्दृशिभिः पिबन्त्यो
नार्यो नराश्च मुदिताः कुपिता निमेश्च ॥
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.”
Commentary
Note that the statement in this verse is part of sentence that spans across more than one verse. The relative pronoun “whose” stated in this verse is thus understood to refer to Śrī Kṛṣṇa based on the context and the remainder of the sentence.
tat-pradarśanārthaṁ mukha-śobhām āha | yasyānanaṁ dṛśibhir netraiḥ pibantyo nāryo narāś ca na tatṛpur na tṛptāḥ | nimeṣonmeṣa-mātra-vyavadhānam apy asahamānās tat-kartur nimeḥ kupitāś ca babhūvuḥ | kathaṁbhūtam ānanam | makara-kuṇḍalābhyāṁ cārū karṇau bhrājantau kapolau ca taiḥ subhagam | savilāso hāso yasmin | nityam utsavo yasmin|
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“For the purpose of showing that [i.e., how Śrī Kṛṣṇa pleases human society with his most pleasurable figure], he [i.e., Śrī Śukadeva] describes the beauty of [his, i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s,] face. Drinking with their eyes (dṛśibhiḥ) whose [i.e., his, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s,] face, women and men were not satiated (na tatṛpuḥ). Being unable to tolerate even the interruption of just the opening and shutting of the eyes [i.e., the interruption created by blinking], they became angry at Nimi, the creator of that [i.e., of human beings’ having the tendency to blink]. Of what nature was his face? Lovely with shining cheeks and adorable ears [decorated] with makara earrings. [Moreover, his face was that] In which a playful smile was present, and in which there is a festival constantly.”
nṛ-loka-ramaṇam eva sarvata utkarṣeṇa darśayati—yasyeti | tad-darśane’pi nimeṣa-kartṛtvena nimer niyame kupitā babhūvuḥ | iyaṁ khalu mahābhāvasya gatiḥ | sā ca tat-svabhāvataḥ siddhā … |
(Excerpt from Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā; Prīti Sandarbha: 82)
“He [i.e., Śrī Śukadeva] shows specifically [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] pleasing of human society with excellence in comparison to all: yasyānanaṁ … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Even while beholding that [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s face], [women and men] became angry at the restraint of Nimi [i.e., at their tendency to blink] because of [its] being the cause of [the] shutting [of their eyes, and thus, the cause of interrupting their beholding Śrī Kṛṣna’s face]. This [i.e., such intolerance for even an instantaneous interruption in beholding Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s face] is verily a state of mahābhāva, and that, furthermore, is accomplished because of his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] particular nature (svabhāva).”
teṣv api vraja-vāsinas teṣv api gopyas tat-priya-narma-sakhāyaś ca tan-mādhurya-pāna-pravarāḥ parama-dhanyatamā ity āha—yasyeti | sarvāṅgeṣv api madhye parama-madhuram ānanam | tad-ānanam apy ūrdhvādho-bhāgābhyāṁ dvidhā vibhaktaṁ mahāmādhuryaṁ bhavati | tatrāpi sarva-mahāmādhuryāṇāṁ cakravartī hāso’mṛta-mahāmadhurimā tad-adhara-bhāga-madhye nivasatīty adhara-bhāgaṁ varṇayati | makara-kuṇḍalābhyāṁ cārū dedīpyamānau yau karṇau tābhyāṁ bhrājantau yau kapolau tābhyāṁ subhagaṁ draṣṭṛ-jana-manoharam | vilāsair harṣautsukya-cāpalyādibhir dyotamānaiḥ sahito hāso yatra tat | yad vā makara-kuṇḍalābhyāṁ sakāśād api cārū karṇau bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam ity uktes tayor api śobhā-vardhakatvāt arthāt makara-kuṇḍalābhyāṁ tābhyāṁ sakāśād api bhrājantau kapolau | antarvarti-carvyamāṇa-tāmbūlasya pārśvasthayor hāsa-kuṇḍalayoś ca chavimattvāt tāmbula-hetuka-darottuṅgimavad ekataratvād atisvacchatvād atisukumāratvāc ca, arthān makara-kuṇḍalābhyāṁ tābhyāṁ sakāśād api savilāso hāsaḥ, bimbādhara-daśana-sṛkvaṇī-śobhānurañjitatvāt sarva-mādhurya-mahārāja-cakravartitvāt sva-jyotsnā-pravāha-nirvāpita-sarva-santāpa-śreṇīkatvāt sarva-bhakta-cetaś cakorātilobhanīyatvād yuvati-jana-kāmāmbudhi-varddhakatvāt vraja-kula-bālā-kula-jāti-dharma-dhairya-dhvaṁsaka-mahonmāda-pravartaka-kārmaṇa-dharmavattvāt yatra tat, dṛśibhir netrāñjalibhiḥ pibantyo’pi na tatṛpuḥ | nimeṣonmeṣa-mātra-vyavadhānam apy asahamānās tat-kartur nimeḥ kupitā babhūvur iti nimeṣāsahatvena rūḍha-mahābhāva-lakṣaṇenātra striyo gopya eva nānyā narāh kṛṣṇa-priya-narma-sakhāḥ subalādayo nānye jñeyāḥ, gopīḥ priya-narma-sakhāś ca vinā rūḍha-bhāvasyānyatrodaya-sambhavābhāvāt, yad uktam ujjvala-nīlamaṇau—‘ādyā premāntikāṁ tatrānurāgāntāṁ samañjasā | ratir bhāvāntimāṁ sīmāṁ samarthaiva prapadyante || ratir narma-vayasyānām anurāgāntimāṁ sthitim | teṣv eva subalādīnāṁ bhāvāntām eva gacchati ||’ iti |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“The residents of Vraja even among them [i.e., among all the various associates (parikaras) in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās]—and the gopīs and his priya-narma-sakhas even among them [i.e., even among the residents of Vraja]—are the very best at drinking his mādhurya and superlatively most fortunate. Thus, he [i.e., Śrī Śukadeva] says yasyānanaṁ … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. Even among all [of his] bodily features, [his] face is paramountly sweet (madhura), and even his face is possessed of great mādhurya that is divided into two portions by its upper and lower areas. [And] Even therein, the emperor (cakravartī) of all great mādhuryas, [his] smile, dwells in the area of his lips with the great sweetness (mādhurī) of [their] nectar. Thus, he describes the lip area [of the lower area of his face]: lovely (subhagam), that is, captivating of the mind of observing persons, with cheeks (kapola) which shine (bhajāt) beside ears (karṇa) which are adorable (cāru), that is, sparkling, with makara earrings. [Moreover, his face is] That in which there is a smile (hāsam) with charms (savilāsa), that is, with vivid delight (harṣa), eagerness (autsukya), rashness (cāpalya), and so forth [i.e., and various other vyabhicāri-bhāvas]. Alternately, [his] ears are adorable more so than even [his] makara earrings, and [his] cheeks shine more so than even [his] makara earrings and the two [of his ears] because of even their both [i.e., his cheeks’] being increasers of the beauty [of his makara earrings and his ears] as per the statement [in SB 3.2.12], ‘His form in which the limbs are the ornaments of the ornaments [upon them].’ Because of the brightness of the tāmbūla being chewed inside [his mouth] and [the brightness] of the earrings situated on both sides of his smile, and because of being comparatively very lustrous and very tender as a result of being just slightly swollen because of the tāmbūla [being chewed within], [his] smile was charming even more so than the makara earrings and the two [of his cheeks]. Although drinking with [their] eyes (dṛśibhiḥ), meaning, with the cupped palms of their eyes, that [face of his] in which [such a charming smile is present] they were not satiated (1) because of [their] being delighted by the beauty of [his] teeth and the corners of his bimba [red] lips, (2) because of [its, i.e., his smile’s] being the emperor among the great kings of all [types of] mādhuryas, (3) because of all types of affliction being extinguished by the continuous flow of its own light, (4) because of [its] being intensely desirable to the cakoras of all bhaktas’ hearts, (5) because of [its] being a sweller of the ocean of the desire (kāma) of young women, and (6) because of [its] being possessed of the magic of conjuring up madness (unmāda) that is destructive of the family, dharma, caste, and composure of the girls of the Vraja community. Not tolerating even the interruption of just opening and shutting [of the eyes, i.e., feeling unable to tolerate even the interruption created by blinking], they became angry at Nimi, the creator of that [i.e., of human beings having the tendency to blink]. In this regard, because of the characteristic of heightened (rūḍha) mahābhāva [being indicated in this verse] on account of [those mentioned in the verse] being unable to tolerate the shutting [of the eyes], the women [mentioned in the verse] are to be known to be none other than the gopīs alone, and the men [mentioned in the verse are to be known to be] none other than Kṛṣṇa’s priya-narma-sakhās, such as Subala, because of the non-existence of the possibility of the appearance elsewhere of heightened (rūḍha) mahābhāva other than in the gopīs and the priya-narma-sakhās since it is said in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (14.232–233), ‘The first [type, i.e., those possessed of sādhāraṇi-rati] reach up to final stage of prema, in that regard those possessed of samañjasā-rati [reach up] to the final stage of anurāga, and only those possessed of samarthā-rati [reach up] to the final stage of bhāva [i.e., the final stage of mahābhāva]. The rati of the narma-vasyasyas goes to the final stage of anurāga, and among them, [the rati] of Subala and others goes verily up to the final stage of bhāva [i.e., the final stage of mahābhāva].”