BRS 3.5.18

Kuvalaya in first line means the earth, but in the second line it means a blue lotus. Kṛṣṇa’s bodily complexion is here not compared to honey, which the bees (eyes of the gopīs) are made to taste, because the word lehayan cannot mean “causes to taste” in this verse. The line cannot mean that His blue effulgence causes them to taste and drink. The reason is as follows. For verbs, which have the meaning of eating, such as drinking or taking a meal, the subject becomes the object in the causative form. [Note: Pāṇini 1.4.52.] If lehayan refers to drinking (someone makes them drink), then the eyes of the gopīs which are like bees, should be in the accusative case. Since that is not the case (the bees are in the instrumental case), [Note: However some versions of the text have akṣi-bhṛṅgān in the accusative instead of the instrumental, in which case the meaning would be “make the bees taste.”] the word lehayan cannot refer to drinking or tasting. Instead the word lehayan can only refer to causing attraction. “The effulgence causes attraction for the eyes of the gopīs.” Kṣmādhara (holder of the earth) in this context means Govardhana Hill. Thus, the subject of the verse is clearly Kṛṣṇa. The word dhūrta (cheat, crafty person) is used in a joking sense, to produce special taste. A similar joking sense is also found in this verse from Bhāgavatam: pati-sutānvaya-bhrātṛ-bāndhavān ativilaṅghya te ’nty acyutāgatāḥ gati-vidas tavodgīta-mohitāḥ kitava yoṣitaḥ kas tyajen niśi Dear Acyuta, You know very well why we have come here. Who but a cheater like You would abandon young women who come to see Him in the middle of the night, enchanted by the loud song of His flute? Just to see You, we have completely rejected our husbands, children, ancestors, brothers and other relatives. SB 10.31.16 The word kitava in the above verse means cheater, but is uttered out of anger generated through affection.