Verse Text
ity uddhavādayo ’py etaṁ vāṣchati bhagavat-priyāḥ ||286||
Translation
And, because it is a form of exalted prema, persons such as Uddhava, dear to the Lord, desire that aspect of it.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The word iti indicates the reason why kāma-rūpa-bhakti is well known as prema. Uddhava, by expressing his desire in the following verse, makes that kāma-rūpa- bhakti famous as prema.
etāḥ paraṁ tanu-bhṛto bhuvi gopa-vadhvo
govinda eva nikhilātmani rūḍha-bhāvāḥ
vāṣchanti yad bhava-bhiyo munayo vayaṁ ca
kiṁ brahma-janmabhir ananta-kathā-rasasya
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 brāhmaṇa, or even as Lord Brahmā himself? SB 10.47.58
The word etam indicates prema similar to theirs (etādṛśa), similar to their intense prema (rūḍha-bhāvāḥ), characterized by emotions, by which they identify themselves as conjugal lovers of Govinda. However, it should be understood that he actually did not desire the gopīs’ particular type of prema, because such a desire would suggest that he is forcing conformity to the goal of kāma-rūpa-bhakti on the desirers of liberation (bhava-bhiyāḥ), the liberated (munayaḥ) and the devotees (vayam). Thus, there would no existence of other sthāyi-bhāvas such as sakhya or dāsya. Uddhava desired the intensity of their prema but not their kāma-rūpa-bhāva, which causes the intensity. Thus, when Uddhava says, he desires their prema, he does not desire the kāma-rūpa-bhāva.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Great devotees up to the standard of Uddhava are very dear friends of the Lord, and they desire to follow in the footsteps of the gopīs. So the gopīs’ love for Kṛṣṇa is certainly not material lusty desire. Otherwise, how could Uddhava aspire to follow in their footsteps? Another instance is Lord Caitanya Himself. After accepting the sannyāsa order of life, He was very, very strict about avoiding association with women, but still He taught that there is no better method of worshiping Kṛṣṇa than that conceived by the gopīs. Thus the gopīs’ method of worshiping the Lord as if impelled by lusty desire was praised very highly even by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This very fact means that although the attraction of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa appears to be lusty, it is not in the least bit material. Unless one is fully situated in the transcendental position, the relationship of the gopīs with Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to understand. But because it appears to be just like ordinary dealings of young boys and girls, it is sometimes misinterpreted to be like the ordinary sex of this material world. Unfortunately, persons who cannot understand the transcendental nature of the loving affairs of the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa take it for granted that Kṛṣṇa’s loving affairs with the gopīs are mundane transactions, and therefore they sometimes indulge in painting licentious pictures in some modernistic style.