Verse Text
yathā vā lalita-mādhave (5.18) –
bhītā rudraṁ tyajati girijā śyāmam aprekṣya kaṇṭhaṁ
śubhraṁ dṛṣṭvā kṣipati vasanaṁ vismito nīla-vāsāḥ |
kṣīraṁ matvā śrapayati yamī-nīram ābhīrikotkā
gīte dāmodara-yaśasi te vīṇayā nāradena ||160||
Translation
Another example, from Lalita-mādhava: O Dāmodara Kṛṣṇa! When Nārada, playing his vīṇā, began to sing Your glories, Pārvatī, not seeing the blue color on his throat, left Śiva’s abode; Balarāma seeing his blue cloth turn white, gave it up in astonishment; and the excited cowherd women, seeing the blue water of the Yamunā turn white, began to churn it, thinking it was milk.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This is a playful image according to poetic usage, rather than a description of actual events. However, on hearing the glories of Kṛṣṇa, Pārvatī does lose interest in Śiva, Balarāma loses interest in his cloth, and the cowherd women begin churning the Yamunā in ecstasy. Instead of ābhīrikotkā (excited cowherd women) there is an alternate version abhīra-rāmā (cowherd women).
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
When the great sage Nārada was chanting the glories of the Lord, the bluish line on the neck of Lord Śiva disappeared. Upon seeing this, Gaurī, the wife of Lord Śiva, suspected Lord Śiva of being someone else disguised as her husband, and out of fear she immediately left his company. Upon hearing the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s name, Lord Balarāma saw that His dress had become white, although He was generally accustomed to a bluish dress. And the cowherd girls saw all of the water of the Yamunā River turn into milk, so they began to churn it into butter. In other words, by the spreading of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or the glories of Kṛṣṇa, everything became white and pure.