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Verse Three
tad vraja-striya äçrutya
veëu-gétaà smarodayam
käçcit parokñaà kåñëasya
sva-sakhébhyo ‘nvavarëayan
tad – that; vraja-striyaù – the young girls (kiçorés) of Vraja;
äçrutya – having heard; veëu-gétaà – the song of the flute
(veëu-näda); smara-udayam – bhäva of käma, arousing an
intense desire to meet with Kåñëa; käçcit – one of them;
parokñaà – privately (Hundreds and thousands of gopés
gathered together in a secluded place with no one else
present, not even Kåñëa, the gopés’ mothers-in-law or any
other family members.); kåñëasya – of Kåñëa (His beloved
gopés); sva-sakhébhyo – to their intimate companions; anuavarëayan
– continuously described (the tad-ätmika gopés
describing Çré Kåñëa as befits Him).
Translation
“When the vraja-kiçorés, the fresh young maidens of Vraja,
heard that sound of Çré Çyämasundara’s flute, feelings of love
and an intense desire to meet with Him were aroused in their
hearts. In a secluded place they described to their intimate
companions Çré Kåñëa’s beauty and qualities and the powerful
influence of His flute.”

Verse Four
tad varëayitum ärabdhäù
smarantyaù kåñëa-ceñöitam
näçakan smara-vegena
vikñipta-manaso nåpa
tad – that (the sweetness of Kåñëa’s flute); varëayitum –
to describe; ärabdhäù – beginning; smarantyaù – remembering
(Çyämasundara’s qualities churning within their minds); kåñëaceñöitam
– Kåñëa’s pastimes (which attract the hearts of all);
na açakan – they were incapable; smara-vegena – by the force
of käma came the ardent desire to meet with Kåñëa; vikñipta –
agitated; manasaù – whose minds; nåpa – O King Parékñit.
Translation
“O King Parékñit, the vraja-ramaëés, the beautiful young
damsels of Vraja, certainly wanted to discuss among themselves
the sweetness of the sound of Çré Kåñëa’s flute, but as
soon as they remembered the veëu, immediately the vision
of their beloved’s charming pastimes, His compelling glance
filled with love, His beckoning eyebrows, His sweet smiles
and His other attractive features manifested in their hearts.
Vrajendra-nandana Çyämasundara, who charms even Cupid,
churned their minds with His qualities, and their hearts were
set aflutter with an intense desire to meet with Him. They
completely lost control of their minds, which at once went
to join their beloved Çré Kåñëa. How could the cowherd girls
speak now? Thus they were unable to describe Him.”

commentary:-

In Våndävana, on the bank of the Yamunä embellished
with delightful trees and creepers, Kåñëa was standing in His
graceful tri-bhaìga-lalita pose. Leaning on one of the bent
branches of a blossoming kadamba tree, He struck a lovely
note on His flute. Immersed in supreme bliss, all the moving
and non-moving beings became oblivious to their bodies
and all bodily connections. The enchanting veëu-näda,
the mellifluous melody of the flute,6 was not able to confine
its sweetness to its place in the forest, but came dancing out
on the breeze, going from house to house in Vraja. It entered
the ears of all the Vrajaväsés, causing waves of emotions to
surge up in their hearts.
Våndävana is the natural fountainhead of all varieties
of transcendental loving sentiments (bhävas). From the
men and women to the birds, animals and insects, and even
the trees, creepers and unconscious entities such as the
hills, lakes and rivers – all are filled with loving emotions.
According to the level of their bhävas, they taste the nectar
of the unprecedented, condensed sweetness of Vrajendranandana
Çyämsundara, the son of the king of Vraja, who is
the embodiment of supreme pleasure. Just as the thundering
of clouds causes masses of water from the unlimited,
unfathomable ocean to inundate the shores, in the same way
the sweet veëu-näda of the cloud-like nava-kiçora naöavara
Çré Kåñëa, the ever-youthful expert dancer, churns up the
ocean of loving sentiments in the hearts of the Vrajaväsés.
Vraja-bhümi is full with four kinds of moods – däsya
(servitorship), sakhya (friendship), vätsalya (parental affection)
and madhurya (amorous love) – with sakhya, vätsalya
and madhurya predominating among the majority of its
residents. Çrédämä, Subala and the other cowherd boys in
sakhya-bhäva regard Kåñëa as their friend, and by this bhäva
taste His sweetness. Nanda Bäbä and Yaçodä Mä lovingly
look after Kåñëa with vätsalya-bhäva, and in the same mood
the other elder gopas and gopés also think of Çré Kåñëa as
their own son. In this way they taste the charm of Kåñëa’s
childhood.Çré Rädhä, Candrävalé and all the other young
wives of the gopas think of Kåñëa as the love of their life, and
relish the beauty of the youthful kiçora Kåñëa in madhuryabhäva.
Whenever the people of Vraja come in contact with
Çré Kåñëa in any way, either by seeing His beauty and pastimes,
touching Him, hearing His sweet voice or listening to Him
play on the flute, loving sentiments are stirred up in their
hearts like waves in the sea. Both internally and externally
they become emotionally flooded.
All the cows of Vraja have vätsalya-bhäva, motherly
affection, for Kåñëa. That is why touching Kåñëa, seeing
Him or hearing the veëu-näda causes their hearts, which are
an ocean of vätsalya-rasa, to swell with many rising waves.
Streams of milk flow from the cows’ udders, flooding the
forest lands. In addition, the trees, animals, rivers and
hills, although they may not have a special relationship like
vätsalya or sakhya-bhäva, also nurture deep feelings for Kåñëa.
On hearing His veëu-näda or by having even the slightest
connection with Him in any way, they immediately become
thrilled with joy and their hairs stand on end.
In autumn, Nanda-nandana (Kåñëa, the son of Nanda
Mahäräja), desiring to roam in the incomparably beautiful
lush forest of Çré Våndävana, plays the flute so enchantingly
that it makes the hearts of the Vrajaväsés fill with a joy never
experienced before. Surpassing even this, indescribable new
waves of blissful emotions rise within the hearts of the vrajavadhüs,
the young brides of Vraja. At the time of the veëunäda,
new bhävas are surely stimulated in Nanda-nandana’s
own heart as well, since He is naturally the superlative crown
jewel of enjoyers of rasa (transcendental loving exchanges).
This is true especially now, when Våndävana is extremely
picturesque in the radiantly beautiful autumn, with Kåñëa
manifesting the sweet juncture of two ages – paugaëòa
(childhood) just giving way to nava-kiçora (early adolescence).
When He comes from His father’s palace, Nanda Bhavan,
to roam in the forest, the vraja-vadhüs peep from their windows
and from behind the trees and creepers, their eyes thirsty for
a glimpse of Kåñëa. Who can claim that the convergence
of all these elements and sweet memories does not arouse
in the heart of Çré Nanda-nandana an intense longing to
meet with the young brides? When Kåñëa starts playing the
veëu, everyone experiences supreme bliss in the heart, but in
the vraja-vadhüs the bhäva ocean of their hearts leaps in a
special way. They begin singing to each other, glorifying the
sweetness of that veëu-näda. Tad vraja-striyaù äçrutya veëugétaà
smarodayam – When the vraja-kiçorés hear the sound
of Çré Çyämasundara’s flute, feelings of love and an intense
desire to meet with Him are aroused in their hearts.
Çrématé Rädhikä, Candrävalé and the other vraja-ramaëés
are the same age as Çré Kåñëa. They have frolicked with Him
throughout their tender years without any hesitation or
discrimination. Therefore, a deep affection exists between
them. Indeed, the gopés cannot live without Kåñëa. In their
childhood, they did not distinguish between male and
female. But as they grew up, they developed shyness, selfrestraint
and other such qualities in their meetings with Him.
Then they got married – they became the wives of other
men and Kåñëa became their paramour. Now in their youth,
despite their intense love for each other, their meeting freely
became rare. Despite being the wives of others, they were ever
eager to meet with Kåñëa and ready to abandon their family
obligations, modesty and fears. When Çré Kåñëa, surrounded
by the cowherd boys, used to go with Däü Bhaiyä to tend the
cows, some gopés would hide behind the trees and others would
anxiously peep from their windows to get a glimpse of His
sweet lotus face. Hearing the veëu-näda made them restless.
Their desperation to meet with their beloved grew to such
gigantic proportions that they finally threw off their selfcontrol,
shyness, family obligations, chastity, moral conduct
and other forms of etiquette, to meet Him.
Gopés with mädhurya-bhäva are of four types: svapakña –
gopés who take the side of Çrématé Rädhikä or are in Her
group; vipakña – gopés in the rival group of Candrävalé;
taöastha – neutral gopés like Bhadrä, who are inclined toward
Candrävalé; and suhåd – those who favor Çrématé Rädhikä,
like Çyämalä. All kinds of gopés, married and unmarried,
are included in these groups, called yüthas, which are further
subdivided many times. Every yütha has a group-leader called
a yütheçvaré. Çrématé Rädhikä is the group-leader of svapakña
gopés, Candrävalé of vipakña, Çyämalä of suhåd, and Bhadrä
of taöastha. Sakhés like Lalitä and Viçäkhä are also qualified
to be group-leaders, having sufficient beauty, qualities and
other attributes, but being completely charmed by the beauty,
qualities and emotions of Çrématé Rädhikä, they never wish to
be known as independent yütheçvarés.
The yüthas are subdivided into smaller groups called gaëas,
which are again further broken into smaller numbers called a
samäja. Ten to twelve affectionate gopés with similar bhävas
comprise a samäja. They reveal their hearts to each other
without reserve.
These gopés are of three types: Çrématé Rädhikä’s käyavyüha,
the nitya-siddha and the sädhana-siddha gopés. Those
who directly appear from Çrématé Rädhikä are called käyavyüha.
Çrématé Rädhikä expands Herself in many forms to
enrich the flavors of Kåñëa’s pastimes. Nitya-siddha (eternally
perfect) gopés are jéva-tattva.7 They appear from Baladeva
Prabhu and are never bound by mäyä.
The sädhana-siddha gopés are of two types: yauthiké and
ayauthiké. Practicing devotees who are completely enchanted
by the loving moods of the gopés perform sädhana-bhajana8
following the path of spontaneous devotion (rägänugä). Those
who practice in groups and eventually take birth in Vraja,
where they again come together, are called yauthiké, and those
who take birth in Vraja, having practiced solitary rägänugäbhajana
or with one or two others, are called ayauthiké.
The yauthiké gopés are also of two types: (1) çruticarés
(the personified Vedas) and (2) municarés, or åñicarés (the
Daëòakäraëya sages). Seeing the fortune of the gopés performing
räsa-lélä and other pastimes with Kåñëa, the çruticarés were
struck with wonder. By engaging in severe austerities with
great faith, they achieved birth in the homes of gopés in Vraja.
Then, by the influence of the association of nitya-siddha and
käya-vyüha gopés, they easily entered the rasa dance and other
pastimes.
There is mention of municaré/åñicaré gopés in the Båhadvämana
Puräëa, wherein it is told that they hankered to meet
with Çré Kåñëa and were doing bhajana under the guidance of
the gopés. Previous to this, in Tretä-yuga, when as sages they
saw the supremely enchanting beauty of Çré Rämacandra in
the Daëòakäraëya forest, the desire in their hearts to join
Kåñëa became even stronger. Understanding their ardent
desire, the most magnanimous Çré Rämacandra awarded
them the boon of birth as cowherd girls in Vraja, which they
obtained in the next Dväpara-yuga. Some of them received
the association of nitya-siddha gopés and easily entered the
räsa dance. Those who did not get the association of nityasiddha
gopés were stopped by their husbands in their homes by
the power of Yogamäyä, the Lord’s pastime potency who gives
the purified living beings entrance into His léläs.
When Çré Nanda-nandana was seven years old, Çrématé
Rädhikä and the other vraja-gopés were six years old.
Although by worldly standards they looked and acted like
small children, the Supreme Godhead Çré Kåñëa and His
eternal beloveds actually exhibited kiçora-like (young teenage)
emotions even at that time, and were greatly eager to meet
with each other. Despite being the Lord of the entire material
cosmos, the all-pervading spirit, the omniscient supreme
controller, and the reservoir of all potencies, Çré Kåñëa is
controlled by the parental love of Yaçodä, Nanda and the other
mature gopas and gopés, as well as by sakhya-prema, the love of
His friends, like Çrédämä and Subala. Under the influence
of this sakhya-prema, Kåñëa enjoys cow-herding, playing
games, joking, dancing and other boyhood activities. In the
same way, governed by the amorous love of Çrématé Rädhikä
and other vraja-gopés, Kåñëa assumes His form as an attractive
lover to taste the nectar of the räsa dance and various other
pastimes He performed as a youth. In this madhurya-rasa,
the Lord of lords, the supreme controller, Svayaà Bhagavän
Çré Kåñëa is the näyaka, the hero; and His own internal energy,
the gopés, who are the embodiment of His hlädiné (pleasure)
potency and who taste the highest expressions of love, are the
näyikäs, or heroines.
Prior to meeting, the näyaka and the näyikä feel a deep
attachment for each other and experience an overwhelming
eagerness to meet. This condition is described in the scriptures
as pürva-räga:
ratir yä saìgamät pürva-darçana-çravaëädi-jä
tayor unmélati-präjïaiù pürva-rägaù sa ucyate
Ujjvala-nélamaëi (15.5)
When every atom of their bodies is filled with loving
emotions for each other, the näyaka and näyikäs are
overwhelmed by intense longing to meet. Even before meeting,
on hearing glorification of each other’s beauty, qualities and
other attractive features, they experience different types of
bhävas welling up in their hearts. These bhävas give rise to
wonderfully indescribable feelings of desperation, called
pürva-räga by sages well versed in the rasa-çästras (scriptures
describing the nectar of loving exchanges). In the state of
pürva-räga, various types of saïcäré-bhävas (exhibitions
of transitory ecstasies) are generated, such as ardent desire
(lälasä), anxiety (udvega) and sleeplessness (jägaraëa).
In this worldly realm, it is the näyaka who first experiences
the desire to meet. But in the case of the transcendental
näyaka-näyikäs, Çré Kåñëa and the gopés, it is the gopés who
experience these feelings first. Çrémad-Bhägavatam describes
Çrématé Rädhikä’s and the other gopés’ feelings of pürva-räga.
It is important to note here that the meeting of the vrajagopés
with Gopénätha is not petty or degrading as in ordinary
lusty affairs. Externally, the loving affairs in both realms
appear similar, but the love and the meetings of worldly
näyaka-näyikäs are ignoble, worthless and demeaning.
The Vraja damsels’ pürva-räga and their loving, playful
activities, on the other hand, are transcendentally pure and
faultless, and they bestow affection for Kåñëa. Prema for Him
arises in the heart of that enthusiast who hears about them,
and the fever of material lust vanishes.
Therefore, the crest jewel of swan-like devotees, Çré
Çukadeva Gosvämé, first described how profound longing to
meet with Kåñëa appeared in the hearts of the kåñëänuräginé
vraja-vadhüs on hearing the exquisite veëu-näda. Upon
entering Våndävana, akhila-rasämåta-mürti (the embodiment
of the full nectar of all rasas) Vrajendra-nandana Çré Kåñëa
immediately transmitted through the flute His desire to meet
with the gopés. When the gopés heard that sound in their own
homes, they were rendered helpless. Smara, their love and
desire for Kåñëa, awakened in the sleeping chambers of their
hearts. Many kinds of vyabhicäré-bhävas (temporary symptoms
of rapture) started arising in every part of their bodies,
and they could not control their intense emotions. To pacify
the turmoil in their hearts, Çré Kåñëa’s beloved gopés met in
a secluded place and discussed the powerful influence of His
flute with their intimate sakhés – käçcit parokñaà kåñëasya
sva-sakhébhy ‘nvavarëayan.
The vraja-gopés are extremely reserved and chaste, and their
high level of self-control is also exemplary. They nurture deep
attachment for their paramour, para-puruña Nanda-nandana
(the divine Supreme Male), but they do not want to disclose
this confidential matter to anyone under any circumstances.
Their hearts start quivering even at the thought of this
secret. But indifferent to everything else, kåñëänuräga starts
manifesting by its own vigorous power in their hearts more
and more, day after day. Eventually the vraja-ramaëés’ selfcontrol,
shyness, respect, fear, family obligations, chastity and
other powerful restrictions begins to weaken.
Kåñëa’s veëu-näda is an eternal associate of anuräga,
startlingly fresh and compelling feelings of love. The beautiful
music of the veëu enters the heart through the ears of anyone
who has even a drop of affection for Kåñëa. One’s dormant,
hidden anuräga then awakens and is revealed in the heart.
That is why the gopés, in the state of pürva-räga, become
frantic upon hearing the enchantingly sweet song of the flute.
The vraja-ramaëés’ acute love for Kåñëa, natural and ever
perfect, is kept secretly tucked away in the temple of their
hearts. As Kåñëa’s childhood playmates, their anuräga
manifests only to a small degree; but when they enter the
threshold of youth, marry, and go to the homes of their
husbands, their prema is kept safely hidden in their hearts
in such a way that no one will suspect it. It is impossible for
others to detect even a slight scent of it. And what to speak of
others, it is suspected that the gopés themselves are unable to
open the treasure chest of their hearts and see the symptoms
of their kåñëänuräga buried deep under the layers of their
self-control, shyness, family duties and other barriers.
However, the very instant the sweet song of Kåñëa’s flute
enters their ears, the symptoms of their love surface straight
away – smarodayam. The veëu-näda’s peculiar nature is
such that it immediately arouses one’s smara, the amorous
love for Kåñëa hidden in one’s heart. The gopés’ feelings
are like a latent spark of fire within wood and other fuels.
Igniting upon contact with the wind, that spark assumes
the form of a fearsome conflagration which reduces the fuel
to ashes and illuminates everything all around. In just the
same way the gopés hide their kåñëänuräga within, covered
up by their self-control, shyness and other such restraints.
These obstacles are burned up with great force by the sweet
veëu-näda, causing their deep attachment to Kåñëa to blaze
forth. Hence, the vraja-ramaëés, overwhelmed with love,
lose all sense of external consciousness the moment they hear
the enchantingly sweet sound of the flute.
To get relief from the burning in their hearts, they are
compelled to reveal some of their inner feelings to their
intimate peers – käçcit parokñaà kåñëasya sva-sakhébhyo
‘nvavarëayan. The word parokña has a hidden purport. It means
avahitthä, not revealing clearly but expressing one’s feelings in
a concealed manner, through hints and gestures. Because of
the extraordinary power of the captivating sound of the flute,
kåñëänuräga manifests the kåñëa-prema hidden in their hearts,
but the young Vraja gopés, whose self-restraint is like a deep,
vast ocean‚ try to hide their love and thus express their feelings
in such a way that even their closest friends will not get a
glimpse of their hidden emotions. They praise the flute song
with ambiguous words in order to conceal their kåñëa-prema –
tad varëayitum ärabdhäù smarantyaù kåñëa-ceñöitam.
Filled with profound love for Kåñëa, the gopés begin to
describe the beauty of the veëu-näda to their priya-narma
sakhés (intimate girlfriends), but they express themselves with
extreme caution so that not even a whiff of their kåñëänuräga
will blow in the direction of their friends. The vraja-ramaëés’
endeavor to keep the moods in their hearts secret is itself a
special flow of kåñëa-prema. Rasa-çästra calls this avahitthä.
There are thirty-three types of saïcäré-bhävas, including
nirveda (self-disparagement) and viñäda (despondency),
as well as avahitthä (concealment of one’s emotions). Just as
waves rise in the ocean and again merge in it, in the same
way in the ocean-like hearts of the moonstruck damsels
of Vraja, waves of nirveda, viñäda, dainya (humility),
avahitthä and so on rise and fall. The saïcäré-bhäva of
concealment arises due to deceit, shyness, fear and honor.
Out of shyness, the gopés express their concern that
“our family elders and others should not come to know about
our illicit love.” The endeavors of the vraja-ramaëés to try to
keep their attachment to Kåñëa a secret out of this fear are
also extremely wonderful and delightful.
Every gopé is a boundless, unlimited store of kåñëaprema.
Just as Agastya Åñi drank the entire vast ocean from
his hallowed palms, in the same way the vraja-ramaëés have
contained the entire, immeasurable ocean of kåñëa-prema
within their hearts. It is difficult to estimate when and which
wave will arise next in the ocean of their love. Moment by
moment, newer and newer waves that never come to rest,
dance in the ocean of their bhävas.
Concealing their feelings even from themselves, the gopés
describe the sweetness of the attractive veëu-näda, but due
to the surge of their emotions, they are not able to hide their
overwhelming attachment to Kåñëa. Instead, on the screen of
their hearts appears the enchanting love-filled form of Madanamohana
playing His flute. In the waves of their emotions,
all their self-control, shyness, social pressures, honor, fears and
other obstacles float away. Näçakan smara-vegena vikñiptamanaso
– They become so helpless in love that their hidden
kåñëa-prema starts exposing itself by its own volition.