Verse Text
rāgavat, yathā –
tuṣārati tuṣānalo ’py upari tasya baddha-sthitir
bhavantam avalokate yadi mukunda goṣṭheśvarī |
sudhāmbudhir api sphuṭaṁ vikaṭa-kāla-kūṭaty alaṁ
sthitā yadi na tatra te vadana-padmam udvīkṣyate ||59||
Translation
Yaśodā’s appearing to manifest rāga (though she always has rāga): O Mukunda! If Yaśodā is placed on a fire made from grain chaff--but can see You--the fire becomes as cool as ice. If she is placed in an ocean of nectar--but cannot see You--the ocean of nectar becomes as sharp as Kālakūṭa poison. [Note: The quality of rāga is that the person is willing to give up life for the Lord.]
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
O Mukunda, if Yaśodā sees You, the fire from tuṣa becomes cold (tuṣārati). It acts as if it were ice. What is the condition in which she sees Kṛṣṇa? If she is bound on top of a fire made from burning chaff, and sees You, the fire becomes like ice.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
The same friend of Mother Yaśodā addressed Kṛṣṇa as follows: “My dear Mukunda, if Mother Yaśodā, the Queen of Gokula, is forced to stand on fire but is allowed to see Your lotus face, then this fire will appear to her like the Himalaya Mountains: full of ice. In the same way, if she is allowed to stay in the ocean of nectar but is not allowed to see the lotus face of Your Grace, then even this ocean of nectar will appear to her like an ocean of arsenic poison.”