ramya kacid upasana...

[Guest guest]

Lord Krsna's greatest devotee Uddhava admires the exalted status of the

gopis (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.58-63):

 

[uddhava sang:]

"Among all persons on earth, these cowherd women alone have actually

perfected their embodied lives, for they have achieved the perfection of

unalloyed love for Lord Govinda. Their pure love is hankered after by those

who fear material existence, by great sages, and by ourselves as well. For

one who has tasted the narrations of the infinite Lord, what is the use of

taking birth as a high-class brahmana, or even as Lord Brahma himself?

How amazing it is that these simple women who wander about the forest,

seemingly spoiled by improper behavior, have achieved the perfection of

unalloyed love for Krsna, the Supreme Soul! Still, it is true that the

Supreme Lord Himself awards His blessings even to an ignorant worshiper,

just as the best medicine works even when taken by a person ignorant of

its ingredients.

When Lord Sri Krsna was dancing with the gopis in the rasa-lila, the

gopis were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This transcendental favor was

never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the spiritual

world. Indeed, never was such a thing even imagined by the most beautiful

girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the

lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very beautiful

according to material estimation?

The gopis of Vrndavana have given up the association of their husbands,

sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they

have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of

Mukunda, Krsna, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me

be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vndvana,

because the gopis trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus

feet.

The goddess of fortune herself, along with Lord Brahma and all the

other demigods, who are masters of yogic perfection, can worship the lotus feet

of Krsna only within her mind. But during the rsa dance Lord Krsna placed

His feet upon these gopi's breasts, and by embracing those feet the gopis gave

up all distress.

I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women

of Nanda Maharaja's cowherd village. When these gopis loudly chant the

glories of Sri Krsna, the vibration purifies the three worlds."

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, M. Tandy wrote:

>(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.58-63):

This was from chapter 47.

 

 

> I repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women

> of Nanda Maharaja's cowherd village. When these gopis loudly chant the

> glories of Sri Krsna, the vibration purifies the three worlds."

 

This verse echoes an earlier one the Bhagavatam (10.46.46), in the

following verse, which many devotees recite upon awakening each morning:

 

udgayatinam aravinda-locanam

vrajangananam divam asprsad dhvanih |

dadhnas ca nirmanthana-sabda-misrito

nirasyate yena disam amagalam ||

 

"As the ladies of Vraja loudly sang the glories of lotus-eyed

Krsna, their songs blended with the sound of their churning, ascended to the

sky and dissipated all inauspiciousness in every direction."

 

The famous blind poet Srila Bilvamangala Thakura similarly sang

(Govinda-damodara-stotra, 16):

 

utthaya gopyo 'para-ratra-bhoge

smrtva yasoda-suta-bala-kelim |

gayanti proccair dadhi-manthayantyo

govinda damodara madhaveti ||

 

"Having risen early in the Brahma-muhurta, and remembering the

childish activities of the Son of mother Yasoda, the gopis loudly sing

while churning butter--'Govinda, Dmodara, Mdhava!'"

 

Uddhava witnessed the gopis' condition, also described by Srila

Bilvamangala Thakura in his Govinda-damodara-stotra (26), in the following

verse--which is itself also taken from yet another verse earlier in the

Bhagavatam (10.39.31):

 

evam bruvana virahatura bhrsam

vraja-striyah krsna-visikta-manasah |

visrjya lajjam ruruduh sma su-svaram

govinda damodara madhaveti ||

 

"After speaking these words, the ladies of Vraja, who were so

attached to Krsna, felt extremely agitated by their imminent separation

from Him. They forgot all worldly shame and loudly cried out,'O Govinda! O

Damodara! O Madhava!'"

 

This verse describes the gopis' reaction to Akrura's taking Krsna

and Balarama away from Vrndavana.