SB 10.22.1

After describing the pūrva-rāga of married gopīs who had come from Vraja, in relation to the autumn season, now Śukadeva describes the pūrva-rāga of unmarried gopīs in relation to the winter season. This continues for the whole chapter. Hari-vaṁśa describes the two types of gopīs with the words yuvatī-gopa-kanyāś ca ratrau saṅkālya kālavit: also unmarried gopīs assembled for the rāsa dance. tata ārabhya nandasya vrajaḥ sarva-samṛddhimān harer nivāsātma-guṇai ramākrīḍam abhūn nṛpa O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the home of Nanda Mahārāja is eternally the abode of the Supreme Lord and his transcendental qualities and is therefore always naturally endowed with the opulence of all wealth. Yet beginning from Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance there, it became the place for the pastimes of the goddess of fortune. SB 10.5.18 This verse establishes that Rādhā and other gopīs became Kṛṣṇa’s supreme consorts. yad-vāñchayā śrīr lalanācarat tapo vihāya kāmān su-ciraṁ dhṛta-vratā For this end, the goddess of fortune performed austerities for centuries, giving up all other desires and taking austere vows. SB 10.16.36 This verse establishes that the gopīs were dearest to Kṛṣṇa. The same is shown in the following verse. nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ svar-yoṣitāṁ nalina-gandha-rucāṁ kuto ’nyāḥ rāsotsave ’sya bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha- labdhāśiṣāṁ ya udagād vraja-vallabhīnām When Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, the gopīs were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the spiritual world. Never was such a thing even imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very beautiful according to material estimation? SB 10.47.60 This is further confirmed in the following words: gopyaḥ kim ācarad ayaṁ kuśalaṁ sma veṇur dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām My dear gopīs! What auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Dāmodara’s lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant! SB 10.21.9 In the rāsa dance the gopīs are called kṛṣṇa-vadhvaḥ: wives of Kṛṣṇa. The āgama scriptures prescribe worship of Kṛṣṇa with eternal gopīs untouched by other men. In explaining Kṛṣṇa’s name in the ten syllable mantra in Gautamīya-tantra, Nārada calls Kṛṣṇa the husband of the gopīs. This is confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā with śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāṇtāḥ parama-puruṣah: in Goloka reside the beautiful young women and their lover, the supreme male. In Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad it is said sa vo hi svāmī bhavati: he is your husband. Therefore it cannot be believed that these gopīs who were meant for him alone would be given to anyone else except Kṛṣṇa. If they were given to anyone else then they would have given up their lives since they depended solely on him. Rukmiṇī expresses this: yarhy ambujākṣa na labheya bhavat-prasādaṁ jahyām asūn vrata-kṛśān śata-janmabhiḥ syāt If I cannot obtain your mercy, I shall simply give up my vital force, which will have become weak from the severe penances I will perform. Then, after hundreds of lifetimes of endeavor, I may obtain your mercy. SB 10.52.43 Therefore how can it be said that some were married, with a relationship with some other man? Here is the solution. Using inference by circumstance as proof, because of the contradiction with scripture, it is explained that marriage was accomplished as an illusion by the līlā-śakti. Thus their parents, the gopīs and all the people of Vraja were fooled. With their hearts dedicated only to Kṛṣṇa because of their natural desires, they maintained their lives. Relationships with other men were prevented by māyā who made forms similar to theirs for their “husbands.” Thus it will be noted later: nāsūyan khalu kṛṣṇāya mohitās tasya māyayā manyamānāḥ sva-pārśva-sthān svān svān dārān vrajaukasaḥ The cowherd men, bewildered by Kṛṣṇa’s illusory potency, thought their wives had remained home at their sides. Thus they did not harbor any jealous feelings against him. SB 10.33.37 This was done to increase their longing for Kṛṣṇa: nāhaṁ tu sakhyo bhajato ’pi jantūn bhajāmy amīṣām anuvṛtti-vṛttaye yathādhano labdha-dhane vinaṣṭe tac-cintayānyan nibhṛto na veda But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship me, O gopīs, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else. SB 10.32.20 There were two types of gopīs, married and unmarried in order to increase the variety of love. This will be established in detail in discussing the rāsa dance. Now let us return to the topic. In making the neutral statement “the unmarried girls in Nanda’s Vraja” it is indicated that the girls were not of his gotra or piṇḍa. Another version has “the young daughters of Nanda’s cowherds.” Hari-vaṁśa also says the young daughters of the cowherds.” Kumarikāḥ indicates they were very young. They made a vow of worshipping Kātyāyanī, Vaiṣṇavī-śakti.