Devanagari
तं मेनिरेऽबला मूढा: स्त्रैणं चानुव्रतं रह: ।
अप्रमाणविदो भर्तुरीश्वरं मतयो यथा ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
taṁ menire ’balā mūḍhāḥ
straiṇaṁ cānuvrataṁ rahaḥ
apramāṇa-vido bhartur
īśvaraṁ matayo yathā
Synonyms
tam
—
unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa
;
menire
—
took it for granted
;
abalāḥ
—
delicate
;
mūḍhāḥ
—
because of simplicity
;
straiṇam
—
one who is dominated by his wife
;
ca
—
also
;
anuvratam
—
follower
;
rahaḥ
—
lonely place
;
apramāṇa
—
vidaḥ — unaware of the extent of glories
;
bhartuḥ
—
of their husband
;
īśvaram
—
the supreme controller
;
matayaḥ
—
thesis
;
yathā
—
as it is .
Translation
The simple and delicate women truly thought that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, their beloved husband, followed them and was dominated by them. They were unaware of the extent of the glories of their husband, as the atheists are unaware of Him as the supreme controller.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This is the power of the Lord: though he is situated in prakṛti, his is not affected by the guṇas which are situated in him, just as the intelligence of the devotee remembering the Lord is not affected by the guṇas.
Purport
Even the transcendental wives of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa did not know completely the unfathomable glories of the Lord. This ignorance is not mundane because there is some action of the internal potency of the Lord in the exchange of feelings between Him and His eternal associates. The Lord exchanges transcendental relations in five ways, as proprietor, master, friend, son and lover, and in each of these pastimes He plays fully by the potency of
yogamāyā,
the internal potency. He plays exactly like an equal friend with the cowherd boys or even with friends like Arjuna. He plays exactly like a son in the presence of Yaśodāmātā, He plays exactly like a lover in the presence of the cowherd damsels, and He plays exactly like a husband in the presence of the queens of Dvārakā. Such devotees of the Lord never think of the Lord as the Supreme, but think of Him exactly as a common friend, a pet son, or a lover or husband very much dear to heart and soul. That is the relation between the Lord and His transcendental devotees, who act as His associates in the spiritual sky, where there are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets. When the Lord descends, He does so along with His entourage to display a complete picture of the transcendental world, where pure love and devotion for the Lord prevail without any mundane tinge of lording it over the creation of the Lord. Such devotees of the Lord are all liberated souls, perfect representations of the marginal or internal potency in complete negation of the influence of the external potency. The wives of Lord Kṛṣṇa were made to forget the immeasurable glories of the Lord by the internal potency so that there might not be any flaw of exchange, and they took it for granted that the Lord was a henpecked husband, always following them in lonely places. In other words, even the personal associates of the Lord do not know Him perfectly well, so what do the thesis writers or mental speculators know about the transcendental glories of the Lord? The mental speculators present different theses as to His becoming the cause of the creation, the ingredients of the creation, or the material and efficient causes of the creation, etc., but all this is but partial knowledge about the Lord. Factually they are as ignorant as the common man. The Lord can be known by the mercy of the Lord only, and by no other means. But since the dealings of the Lord with His wives are based on pure transcendental love and devotion, the wives are all on the transcendental plane without material contamination.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the First Canto, Eleventh Chapter, of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
entitled “Lord Kṛṣṇa’s Entrance into Dvārakā.”
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“Well, let us agree that the Lord’s pastimes with women are non-material because the women belong to the cit-śakti. But he appeared in the material Yadu family in the material world and perceived with his senses material objects such as form and sound belonging to demons like Jarāsandha who are material. Therefore it cannot be denied that he is associated with the guṇas.” This verse answers.
The power (īśanam) of the Lord is this: though situated in prakṛti he has no contact with the guṇas of prakṛti. What are these guṇas? They are situated in him (ātma-sthaiḥ). He is situated in the guṇas, and the guṇas are also situated in him. But he has no contact with the guṇas. The Lord is said to be without guṇas though he is the basis of the whole material realm and the controller of it. Sākṣī cetā kevalo nirguṇaś ca: the Lord is the witness, the consciousness, and completely without guṇas. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.11) Sattvādayo na santīśe yatra ca prākṛtā guṇāḥ: the material guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas do not exist in the Lord. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.9.44) Harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ: the Lord is devoid of the guṇas, completely beyond prakṛti. (SB 10.88.5) It is just like the intelligence of the greatest devotees, which has as its object the Lord (tad-āśrayā buddhiḥ), and always remembers him. Though the intelligence is situated in prakṛti, and is situated in the guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas while being contented, praising or criticizing, while being full or afflicted with hunger and thirst, and while waking, sleeping and in deep sleep, it is not connected to the guṇas because of its indifference to the guṇas. In the same way, though the Lord accepts the material objects of the senses, he is not affected by them at all because he is devoid of attachment to them