SrI KrishNa KarNAmrutham : 2.3

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear SrI KrishNa BhathAs :

 

SlOkam 2.3 is a prayer for the protection of

the Lord , who stole the clothings of the Gopis

observing KaathyAyani vratham to gain Him as

their husband .This incident of the stealing of

the clothes of unsuspecting Gopis and the Lord

acting as " an eve-teaser" to teach them a lesson

about the bathing in the river without garments is

covered in chapter 22 of the 10th Canto of SrImath

BhAgavatham .

 

Lord KrishNa says to the Gopis perturbed over

the loss of their clothes :

 

" Oh Virtuous girls ! I have understood that the object

that you have in mind is to serve Me .It has My approval

and will fructify soon . Sexual passion directed towards

Me with complete absorption in Me will not end in sensual

enjoyment . Just as grain boiled or fried loses its

germinating capacity , association with Me destroys

the sensous nature of passion . ..The object with which

you observed this worship of the goddess will before

long be fulfilled . You will soon sport with Me on

moonlit autumnal nights . "

 

Sri KrishNa KarNAmrutha SlOkam 2.3

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Deva: PaayAth payasi vimalE YaamunE majjithAnAm

yAchantheenA-manunayapadhai: vanchithAnamsukAni

lajjA-lOlai: alasa-vilasai: unmishath-panchaBhANai:

gOpa-sthreeNAm nayana kusumai: architha: KesavO na:

 

The Prose Order

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YaamunE VimalE payasi majjathAnAm , vanchithAni

amsukAni anunaya padhai: yaachantheenAm gOpas-

threeNAm lajjA-lOlai: , alasa-vilasai: unmishath-pancha BhANai:

nayana kusumai: architha: , Deva: Kesava: na: PaayAth .

 

Meaning and commentary :

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The key passage here is : " GopasthreeNAm nayana

kusumai: architha Deva: Kesava: na: Paathu " ( May

Lord Kesavan worshipped by the eyes of the Gopikais

serving as the flowers protect us ).

 

The status of the Gopa Sthrees sporting in the pure waters

of YamunA river ( YaamunE VimalE payasi majjithAnAm ) is

described here . In the dim light of the dawn , our Lord

arrived on the banks of the Yamuna river, where the Gopis

were sporting without detecting His arrival . He collected

all the clothes of the Gopis stealthily and climbed up

a KadambhA tree with their clothes .As the Sun rose ,

the Gopis coming out of the water recognized that their

clothings are no longer there , where they left them and

saw their Lord had cheated them and was holding their

stolen vasthrams( vanchithAni amsukAni) .The ashamed

Gopis began to plead gently with the amused mischief maker

to return their clothes and spare them the shame of being

seen without clothes ( anunaya padhai: yaachantheenAm

Gopa sthreeNAm ) .

 

As the Gopis went ahead with their gentle pleadings

and prayerful appeals , they were looking at the Lord

with their bashful smiles and did not come out of

the water to recieve their clothes . Srimath Bhagavatham

describes their state as " prEma paripluthA: vreeDithA:"

( the Gopis immersed in love for their Lord looked

at each other and displayed bashful smiles ). LeelA

Sukhar elaborates on this passage of Srimath BhAgavatham:

" lajjaa lOlai: , alasa-vilasai: gOpasthreeNAm unmishatha

nayana kusumai: architha: na: Kesava: " .The eyes of

the gopis were filled with shyness and were sending at

the same time sending out arrows of love in the form

of the five flowers of ManmathA at Lord Kesava

holding all their vasthrams , while seated on

the branch of a KadambhA tree surveying

this delectable scene to His heart's content .

 

Leelaa Sukhar prays for the protection of this

blissful Moorthy ( Kesava: na: pAyAth) ;

The prayer is to that Lord who returned

the clothes of the Gopis and promised

to fulfil their heart's desires as observers of

KaathyAyini vratham to gain Him as

their husband after accepting their

total surrender .

 

GopikA VasthrAbhaharaNa SwaminE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan