The Gopis Songs of Separation

In this chapter are presented the verses of gopis gita ,which are like a group of lotuses, with prema as their honey and graceful tones and rhythms as their frangraces. These lotuses attract the bee called Krsna. Paying respects to Sanatana Goswami, Sridhara Svami and the gurus of my line, whose remnants are the sustenance of my life, I will begin to explain the gopi gita.

“O beloved, because of your birth, Vraja has become glorious.” Not mentioning more glorious than what, the implication is that it is more glorious than all planets or places.

“But Vaikuntha is just as glorious.”

“But Vraja is more glorious (adhika). ThoughVaikuntha is most wonderful, of the most wonderful, Vraja is topmost, beyond which there is nothing.”

Other characteristics are then described. That maha laksmi (Indira) who is served by all in Vaikuntha, is serving Vraja constantly. Therefore Vraja is more prosperous than Vaikuntha. In this Vraja, filled with such topmost happiness because of Laksmi, only your dear gopis, are experiencing the most intolerable agony unheard of or unseen by anyone. We do not offer prayers to you to remove that suffering, but please, for certain, glance one time (drsyatam) towards this Vrndavana (atra) filled with happiness.”

“What will I see?”

“In this happy Vrndavana, those dedicated to you are dying, searching for you. What a remarkable scene! Why are you putting you people suffering so much into danger? You should not think, ‘How have I put you in difficulty?’ for we have offered to you all of our life airs (tvayi dhrta asavah). We would be happy if our life airs, maddened by you, staying within our bodies, had burned in the fire of separation, and we had died. But instead, these life airs are happy to reside in you their happy master. But if the life airs are happily situated, how could you leave our bodies in danger? Therefore, it seems that you simply derive happiness in seeing our great suffering.”

In this verse the second syllable of each line is the same (ya), and the first and seventh syllable of each line also. The following verses are similar for the most part. This has been described in the Mukta Phalita Tika of Vopadeva.

Krsna said, “How can you conclude that I desire to see your suffering?”

“Not only do you want to see us suffer, but you are killing us.” That is the intention of this verse.

“By the glance of your eyes you are calling us for love making (surata natha), and giving us happiness (varada). By your glances which are emanating the blazing fire of prema, you are killing servants who were purchased for free (asulla dasika). Is this not murder? Certainly, for murder does not need a weapon. Therefore Varada, who have destroyed (da from di to destroy) our of happiness in this world and the next (vara), if you actually owned us there would be no fault in either protecting us or burning us. But do you own us? You purchased us without payment, without bestowal of the marriage thread. We are just free maidservants, we became your slaves of our own will, foolishly.”

In describing the glance, the gopis indicate the cause of Krsna’s power to bewilder, to madden, and to expertly steal. “Your eye steals the beauty within the best blooming lotus (sat sarsi ja) growing in the clear lakes of the autumn in the saintly place , Vraja (sadhu jatam).”

In this way the gopis describe the extraordinary beauty , fragrance, coolness, and softness of Krnsa’s eyes, which are able to enter into the secluded inner chambers inaccessible to the common man, and steal the treasure.

“Those thieving eyes, sprinkling a powder of mohana and unmada, made us crazy, and thus freely made us give our treasure of conjugal pleasure and our life airs, which they then offered to you. (thus in the previous verse they gopis said our life airs are held by you (tvayi dhrta asavah). Having our treasures stolen, we are dying. And by doing this thievery, you are willingly accepting the sin of killing thousands of women. If you fear such sin, you should reveal yourself to us.”

If you want to kill us, then why did you repeatedly save us from danger? It is not proper to save us and then kill us. You saved us from the water of the lake filled with Kaliya’s poison. You saves us from the vicious man eater, Aghasura the snake (vyala raksasa). You saved us from the rain poured down by Indra (varsadi). You saved us from Trnavarata (marut), from Indra’s thunderbolt, from the bull demon Aristasura (vrsa), from Vyomasura (mayatmaja), from some many types of fear (visvato). O best of men (rsabha) by killing the demons, by your personal protection, we, who have only you as our life, were saved. Though you protected all of vraja from the rain and other calamities, you also protected us. Putting our faith in you as our protector, we come to you for relieving us of the pain of being pierced by the five arrows of cupid, otherwise we will die in the flames of separation from you which are thousands of times more intense. Do you not fear the sin of killing our faith?”

Though the killing of Aristasura and Vyomasura were future events, these were written in Krsna’s horoscope, and the gopis had heard of these future events from Garga, Baguri and other munis.

“O gopis, you speak without thoroughly investigating. I, son of Nanda, am the source of all bliss. You accuse me of the sin of killing women and destroying faith. Therefore, I will leave this place and hide myself so that for many births you will not see me.”

Fearing such response from Krsna, the repentant gopis began to praise him in order to please him.

“You are not the son of a cowherd woman, but rather the soul within each jiva, the form of Vasudeva who inspires the heart, who witnesses everything (drk). We have heard this from Baguri and Paurnamasi. Thus we speak under inspiration from you. Therefore do not be angry with us, but be pleased with us. We have also heard about the cause for your appearance. Please hear that. Because Brahma (vikhanas) prayed for you to protect the universe (visva guptaye), you appeared in the womb of Yasoda.”

“If you know that, then by did you speak such harsh words to me?”

Fearing such comment by Krsna the gopis said, “ O friend, (sakhe), you have smothered us in the ocean of sakhya rasa. As you protect the whole universe as a friend, you should also protect us who reside within the universe.”

Another meaning : “One cannot find the such suffering of the gopis among all men, devatas, animals or birds, yet seeing our suffering you are blissful. Therefore we conclude, you did not appear in the womb of Yasoda, who is sensitive to a particle of suffering in others. We do not see any of her good qualities in you.”

“Then who am I?”

“We think you are the soul pervading all entities (antaryami). The antaryami, though seeing all the sufferings of the jivas, resides there in the heart very comfortably. We do not know the reason for your appearing in this world, as you are so indifferent. Brahma, desiring the increase in the creation, prayed “Stay hidden (visva guptaye), because if you revealed yourself, all the jivas will get liberated by devotion to you, and will leave the universe. Though you appear, remain hidden, so that no one understands that you are the supreme Lord. What to speak of ordinary men, who disregard you as the Lord in your human like pastimes, even those surrendered to you will take on the role of demons (lika Jarasandha). Thus I will be able to carry out the creation.” To fulfill this desire of Brahma, you accept actions contrary to dharma such as stealing wives and objects from others, showing envy, pride and violence, to hide your true nature. Giving up your true nature which is difficult to give up, your neutrality, you have appeared in Gokula. And in order to accept others wives, you became our friend (he sakhe).”

“O wonderful speakers, I disappeared in order to hear the nectar of words in anger and love. Now that that desire has been fulfilled, take any boon you wish from me.” Thinking of such merciful words from Krsna, the gopis, being relieved, began to voice their individual desires in four verses.

“O best of the Vrsnis, like the sun for the lotuses! Place your lotus hands on our heads.”

“Why?”

“ By this you destroy kama deva (kama dam), in fear of whose arrows we have surrendered to you, though that hand again ironically makes us lusty (another meaning of kama da). You cannot say that you cannot do this, because you give fearlessness to men who have surrendered to you when they fear samsara. For one who can give protection from fear of samsara, what effort would it take to protect a person from the danger of lust?”

“If that is so, may I then place my lotus hand on your breasts? My mind desires to put my hands there instead.”

“No, your hands are held by the hands of Laksmi ( sri kara graham) in order to prevent you from placing your hands on her breasts, so we must also prevent that.”

Other gopis said, “Take away the pain arising from the arrows of cupid in the women of Vraja by your smile, but not the pain of other women in svarga and elsewhere.” This is mentioned in bhagavatam : vyoma yana vinitah kasmalam…”The women of svarga riding on their planes in the sky fainted from the pain of lust and their belts loosened.”

“O one who is victorious in the struggle with cupid (vira), you do not tolerate the pride stemming from our good fortune and the anger stemming from that. Your smile destroys of pride of your devotee.”

“Quickly take your boon”

“Please honor us your servants.”

“If you are my servants, why are you giving me the order to serve you?”

“Serve us by showing us your attractive lotus face.”

Other gopis said, “Place your lotus feet upon our breasts.”

“Why?”

“In order to diminish the pain of our desire.”

Because they have the greatest knowledge of love, the gopis endowed with the greatest prema, without desire to remove their pain or attain happiness, who serve with body, words and mind only for Krsna’s happiness, who display the pain of love, youth and beautiful form for increasing Krsna’s conjugal joy, never weaken prema with their clever words, but rather weaken only lust.

When one person sees his glutton friend wants to eat, wanting to feed him from affection, endeavors to obtain four types of sweets, they friend may ask, “Where are you going?” the other will answer, “I am going for my own purpose, not for you.” Affection for a friend becomes more attractive through the clever use of words. If he says, “This is for your satisfaction, not mine, since I have no desires,.” then the prema is diminished. In the prema samput it is said, “As long as the light of prema does not show itself explicitly, it keeps the hearts of the two lovers lit constantly. But when it goes out through the door of the mouth, quickly it gets extinguished or becomes feeble.”

That the gopis have no interest in their own pleasure is indicated by the Lords’ words “na paraye’ham”( I cannot repay the debt to you.), which also show the Lord’s being under their control. That Krsna is controlled by prema, not lust, is seen in all scriptures.

“If I place my feet on your breasts, I fear that I will commit sin.”

Fearing such a comment from Krsna, the gopis therefore say, “If you destroy the sins of those surrendered to you, what is the question of your fearing sin?”

“If I place my tender feet on your hard breasts, I will get pain.”

“You feet follow the cows, who go to very rough places to eat grass. If your feet tolerate that, then you cannot say that our breasts are too hard.”

“It is inappropriate to place my feet on your breasts which are decorated with many ornaments.”

“Your lotus feet, the abode of opulence (sri niketana), will be the best ornament for our breats.”

“I am afraid of your husbands.”

“If you were not afraid when you placed your feet on the hoods of Kaliya, then why should you be afraid of our weak husbands?”

“ O women more dear to me than my life, dear gems, you are my very life. I am not indifferent to you. Why do you not have faith in this servant bound by golden chains and golden prema? Have faith in me. You know me like the bangles on your auspicious hands.”

Hearing such words from Krsna, other gopis said, “We have become overcome with bliss on tasting the sweetness of your words, which are composed of sweet syllables (madhuraya), with various meanings in each beautiful phrase, which reveal the mind of an intelligent person. Please rejuvenate us bewitched women by letting us again (punah) drink the nectar of your lips.” Another meaning is, “ Please let us bewildered women drink the nectar of your lips, and again (punah) put us into bewilderment.”

“Who can describe the sweetness of the words coming from your mouth? It is indescribable. Even words about your name and form coming from the mouths of other people are also more relishable than the amrta of svarga or liberation.” This is the import of this verse.

“Your speech is nectar.”

“What kind of nectar?”

“It gives life to people who burned by samsara and the greatest diseases (tapta jivanam).

Your name and form are glorified by devotees like Dhruva and Prahlada (kavibhir iditam), in such verses as sb. 4.9.10 ya nirvtti tanubhrtam (The bliss attained through hearing topics about you cannot be attained even through the bliss of Brahman), where the two other types of happiness or amrta are stated to be unattractive. : sa brahami sva mahimanyapi natha,,,,,

My Lord, the transcendental bliss derived from meditating upon Your lotus feet or hearing about Your glories from pure devotees is so unlimited that it is far beyond the stage of brahmananda, wherein one thinks himself merged in the impersonal Brahman as one with the Supreme. Since brahmananda is also defeated by the transcendental bliss derived from devotional service, then what to speak of the temporary blissfulness of elevating oneself to the heavenly planets, which is ended by the separating sword of time? Although one may be elevated to the heavenly planets, he falls down in due course of time.

“The nectar of your topis destroys the effects of all sin (kalmasa apaharanam) , up to prarabdha karmas (aprarabdha, kuta, bija prarabhda). The nectar of svarga does not destroy sin, but rather it increases desire, which is a cause for sin. The nectar of liberation does not destroy the prarabdha papa though it destroys the apraradha, kuta and bija papa. The nectar of your topics are most auspicious to hear (sravana mangalam) because just by hearing the ultimate goal becomes attractive and achieved. This is not so with the nectar of svarga and moksa. The nectar of your topics being preached by the speaker, bestows all wealth up to prema ( srimad atatam). The other two nectars do not do this. Those who accept this nectar, or glorify you in kirtana, are bestowing the greatest treasure. Though one may give that person everything, that cannot repay the debt due to him.”

Another meaning of the verse is as follows. “If you show yourself, then your words become sweet. Otherwise your words have no meaning. Your words (discussion of your name and form and pastimes ) become a cause of death (katha mrtam).”

“How?”

“By those descriptions, life becomes full of pain in separation (tapta jivanam).” Another meaning of jivana is water. “By those descriptions we become like water sprinkled in hot oil (tapta).”

“If that is so, then why are these descriptions praised in the scriptures?”

“Poets alone praise you and no one else (kavibhir iditam). They describe you by habit and nothing else. By hearing about you, one develop pain in separation. By experiencing this pain, one burns up previous sins (kalmasa apaham). Though by hearing about you , the vedic rites become indestructible, when intelligent persons see that hearing about you brings suffering, they will no longer hear. Blind men, mad after wealth (sri mat), hoping that everyone will die through hearing, spend money and establish speakers of the Puranas in various places to spread topics about you (atatam). Therefore that person on earth who sings your glories destroys (da) many people (bhuri). Thus, by spreading the poison of these topis through recitation, while sitting peacefully, they are actually greater killers than murderers. Thus intelligent persons avoid these reciters”

This is explained in the verse yad anucarita lila (sb 10.47.18)

There are many in this world whose lives have been ruined simply by once tasting the drops of nectar, sifted through their ears, of the pastimes enacted by Krsna. Relishing them even one time, these wretched souls are immediately deprived of all conception of duality. Thus at once they give up their equally wretched family life and, just like birds, take to the profession of wandering beggars.

Actually however, on the pretext of criticizing, there is praise of the speaker and the topics of Krsna

.

“When we do not see you, all objects related to you also become a cause of suffering for us.”

“Though we try to forget your sweet smile filled with love (prahistam), your intimate exchanges with us (viharam), and all your conversations (samvidah), since they give sorrow, we cannot do so, as they have affected our hearts. (hrdi sprsah). Meditation gives the highest bliss, but thinking of these things (your smile, your glance, your exchanges and your conversations), disturbs our minds. When these things enter the mind, they first give bliss (dhyana mangalam) , but then after a few seconds, they give the most intense sorrow. Therefore, you are the greatest cheater (kuhaka). When the rogue feeds you cakes, at first they seem tasty, but after some time, they give intense pain, and then kill you.”

“Not only do you give us sorrow now, but by making yourself unhappy, you try to make us unhappy.”

When you feet, more delicate than a lotus (nalina sundaram), are injured by the hard spikes (sila), grass and shoots, our minds become more pained (kalilatam).” Another meaning of kali lata is accepting (lati) quarrel (kali).

“Thus our minds quarrel with us as follows:.

“ O mind, why are you uselessly lamenting. If Krsna gets pain in walking in the forests, then why does he daily go into the forest from Vraja?”

“O unintelligent cowherd women! The soles of his feet are more tender than the sthala padma. As the forest is spread with cut crops, thorns and grass sprouts, will he not get pain?”

“O foolish mind! He is walking on the very soft sandy pathways.”

“O undiscerning cowherd women! The cows are wandering on those paths eating the grass.”

“O mind, blind with prema! Why should one with eyes step on the sharp grass and sprouts?”

“O gopis cheated of even a touch of prema! What will happen if by mistake or because of haste, he steps on those sharp things?”

“O mind, our brother, you have said correctly. We live, just to experience such pain. We have been created for that purpose.”

“O distressed gopis! You should remain alive. But I will now leave, departing from your body with your life airs.”

“Even during meeting us, you do not make us happy.”

“In the evening (dina pariksaye), showing us your lotus like face, decorated with pollen from swaying garlands, with bluish locks swaying in the gentle breeze, covered with dust raised by the cows (dhana (cow) rajasvalam), you give us unhappiness. Knowing that seeing you generates the highest bliss, you become visible to us as you herd the cows or look here and there for the cowherd boys. You consider, “I will drown them in an ocean of sorrow” and then enflame our desires (smaram yaccasi), but you do not give association. Making us think of convention as a flaming poison, making us mad, leading us into the forest, you make us cry. O hero (vira), you shoot us with arrows of cupid in order to destroy the religious principles of us women of Vraja.”

“If you are always thinking that I give your sorrow, then what use am I to you?”

Fearing such a response from Krsna, the gopis then became repentant.

“Blinded by the suffering inflicted by our karma, we are finding fault with our beloved.”

In order to please him, they then begin to praise him as the person who gives all happiness. After affirming that he is necessary for them, they then pray that he relieve them of their suffering in two verses.

“Though Kaliya was an offender you gave him and his wives, when he surrendered (pranata) you gave the most desired thing (your feet) (kama dam). Brahma to get relief from his offense, worshiped your lotus feet and attained forgiveness (padmaja arcitam). Therefore we pray that you also forgive our offense. As your feet decorate the earth (dharini mandanam), so your feet should decorate our breasts. Garga has said, ‘This boy will easily protect you from all dangers.’ Accordingly we pray that you deliver us from this misfortune (dhyeya apadi: to be meditated on in danger). For all these reasons, you are most auspicious, the very form of happiness (santamam). O one who destroys the sorrow of the mind (adhi han), by putting your feet on our breasts, you will not become tired, but rather get joy (ramana). By placing your feet on our breasts, your lusty desires will be fulfilled.”

“O best of doctors, equal to Dhanvantari, please give a medicine to us, for we are fainting due to the sickness of love.”

“The medicine of your nectar lips nourish erotic enjoyment (surata vardhanam), and remove the pain of separation (soka nasanam). You should not say, ‘How can I give such valuable medicine for free.’ You can give without price for you are the hero of charity (vira). Without charging, you bring back to life the lowest entities. Those lips are kissed and tasted (susthu cumbitam) by the flute, just a piece of bamboo, which then breathes melody (svarita venuna).”

“But attachment to family and wealth is a very unhealthy diet. I will not give to those people.”

“This medicine, the nectar of your lips, makes one forget all attachments to other things (itara raga vismaranam). This is a remarkable medicine, which revives any person from a bad condition. We have experience of this. Therefore you should give that nectar to us women (nrnam), O vira, heroic in charity or mercy.”

“Our bad destiny alone is the cause of our grief. So what can you do about it?”

“When you go to Vrndavana, not seeing your, a truti (1/2700 of a ksana) seems like a yuga for us. The pain of separation from you makes three praharas seem like three months for the other inhabitants of Vraja, but those three praharas become like millions of yugas for us gopis. There is no cause for this except our bad fortune. And even when we get the opportunity to see your face, the creator makes us suffer by giving us eye lids to interrupt our vision of you. Thus even in seeing you we are thrown into an insurmountable ocean of suffering. The fraction of a second that an eyelid blinks is an interruption to our sight of you. Nine hundred trutis, the time it takes to blink the eye (nimesa), becomes nine hundred yugas to us. We are so unfortunate that whether seeing you nor not seeing you, we suffer.

According to Maitreya,

The time duration needed for the integration of three trasarenus is called a truti, and one hundred trutis makeone vedha. Three vedhas make one lava. The duration of three lavas is equal to one nimesa, and the combination of three nimesas makes one ksana.

There is another meaning of the phrase plaksma krt. The first meaning refers to brahma as the maker (krt) of the eyelid (plaksma). Another meaning of plasma krt is “cutting off the eyelid.”

“Those who are intelligent (ajada) would cut off their eyelids so they could see Krsna continuously. Being unintelligent, we gopis cannot do that.”

Those who on hearing the flute, were locked in the inner rooms of their houses by their husbands, but overcame the obstacles and came to Krsna, then spoke with impatience.

“Knowing the highest, tenth state, we have come to you (gati vidah anti agatah). Though we are in this exalted state, you failed to let us see you, so your name acyuta has the opposite meaning.”

“Why did you come?”

“Hearing your flute, and being without discrimination, (udgita mohitah) we came.”

“If that is so, foolish women, then tolerate the pain.”

Fearing such a statement, the gopis said, “O cheater, who, except a merciless person, would reject young frightened women who of their own will come to you at night. No one would do such a thing.”

Another meaning “O mad man! What young man would reject young women who came here at night? Though you are a cheater, you have been cheated (of enjoyment).”

According to Medini, kaitava can mean cheater or mad man.

“What can be done? Your five illusions elements, like the five arrows of cupid, have entered through our eyes and pierced our hearts. These five things are : 1. your requests for enjoyment in private 2. the rise of passion in us caused by your looking at us 3. your smiling face 4. your loving glances, and 5. your broad chest endowed with all splendor. Considering all of this again and again intently, our greed increases, and our minds become completely bewildered. Out of great eagerness, we faint.

“Bewildering us innocent, respectable women, you have brought us to the forest in the night. Your intention is not just to burn our life airs with the fire of expectation, but to protect our life by giving your association.”

The gopis now speak of the reason for this. “Your appearance is auspicious for all of the inhabitants of Vraja who have discrimination, and it removes all sorrow. Therefore, with minds hankering to fulfill that desire which arose in you on seeing us, without being miserly, release a little of that something to us.”

“What thing is that?”

“It is medicine, the lotus of your feet, which pacifies (nisudanam) the disease in the breasts of your devotees (sva jana hrd rujam). If we get that medicine for placing on our breasts, your desire will be fulfilled, and thus we can maintain our five life airs.”

“O women experienced in love, those feet for which you have prayed are at present engrossed in wandering happily in the forest. Therefore there is no chance that they can be placed on your breasts.”

Hearing that, the gopis began to weep. “Those tender feet which we are afraid to place upon our breasts for fear of injuring them, are wandering in the forest.” With pitiful words, they express this feeling. “How improper, how unfair, that you boldly do this.”

“Why are you afraid?”

They explain, “Our reason for fear is the hardness of our breasts.”

“Then why do you hold them?”

“We hold them because we see that you gain satisfaction when those feet are held on our breasts (he priya). Seeing that you derive pleasure from pressing your feet on our breasts, we accept that, but we experience grief seeing that your feet will be pained as they are so tender. Therefore, we will hold them very carefully (sanaihr dadhimahi).Though we are friends with you, we are troubled because of fear of hurting you. (This is a symptom of mahabhava.) In other words, even in meeting with you, we have the misfortune of suffering. What is to be done now? Should we pray to the creator to make our breasts soft while doing austerities? That also will not make you happy. And yet, when our breasts are hard, it gives pain to your feet. Either way, we are in difficulty. Both in union and separation we are in difficulty. Though you are independent, how do you tolerate such difficulties? What is the purpose in wandering in the forest? Are your feet equipped for wandering from forest to forest? ” In this way they scold him.

“I will do whatever is on my mind. What can you say to that?”

“Do your feet not hurt? Certainly they must, but just as you are merciless to us, so you are merciless to your own body. Do you endure the pain with the intention to make us suffer, knowing that if you suffer we suffer? Or do you regard your pain as bliss, since you get bliss from seeing us suffer? Or according to the principle that association breeds either good or bad qualities, just as your soft heart, by contact with our hard breasts, has become hard, so by contact with our hard breasts have your feet also become hard, not feeling pain from the rocks? Or have all the rocks and other hard objects become soft by contact with your glorious feet? Or is the earth, being merciful, or greedy to taste your sweetness, holding her tongue out as a resting place wherever your feet fall? Or have you, with an ocean of prema greater ours, attained a state of unmada due to separation from us, and therefore cannot feel the pain? Thinking of so many causes, our intelligence has become confused and we cannot conclude anything.”

“That suffering which you display is suffering in name only. I don’t consider that suffering real suffering, since you still remain alive.”

“ Our life is in you, you are our life (bhavad ayusam). If you remain comfortable, though it is difficult, we will remain alive. But here is the real meaning: the creator, like you, intending to make us suffer, considered in this way: ‘If I leave their life spans with themselves, their live spans will burn up due to the fire of love given by me, and they will immediately die. Then who could I give suffering to? Therefore I will place their life spans in the care of my like minded friend Krsna, so they will remain alive and experience great suffering, in spite of its intensity’ Because of this arrangement, we do not die.”

There is another way of understanding the phrase bhavad ayusam.

“Our intelligence cannot determine anything and is becoming bewildered, for it is certain that our life airs are now leaving our bodies, while you stand and watch.”

“ But how can you die when your life span is intact?”

“Our life has been offered to you (bhavad ayusam). Taking those durations, you can remain enjoying for a long time in Vraja.”