Verse Text
govardhanaṁ mahā-mallaṁ vinānyeṣāṁ vrajaukasām |
sarveṣām eva govinde ratiḥ prauḍhā virājate ||7||
Translation
Except for the strong Govardhana (husband of Candrāvalī), all the inhabitants of Vraja possess the highest stage of rati for Govinda.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Why would an old woman become angry with Kṛṣṇa? By evidence of hundreds of descriptions in the Bhāgavatam, it is not possible that the inhabitants of Vraja, who were always engaged in serving Kṛṣṇa favorably, overcoming all obstacles and offering everything, had any selfishness.
aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām
yan-mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam
How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend. SB 10.14.32
This verse answers. Govardhana was only the apparent husband of Candrāvalī. He was somewhat notorious as a cowherd of Kaṁsa, who came to live in Vraja as a stranger. Therefore, he is excluded from being a devotee in this verse. Other than him, everyone else in Vraja had the highest level of prema. The old woman’s anger at Kṛṣṇa indicates that she put on this overt display, with the intention of bringing about auspiciousness for Kṛṣṇa. That anger is not without affection or rati for Kṛṣṇa. This has been explained before. Thus the other people do not listen (since they have love for Kṛṣṇa), and the old woman shouts (out of apparent anger). It is not that the others would hear her shouting in anger and take it seriously.