SB 10.33.35

Thus though the fault of the gopīs being others’ wives is rejected (the Lord is excused), the fault of being loose and illicit does not disappear for the gopīs. Thus they end up being condemned. Śukadeva, unable to tolerate this, refutes the idea that they were married to someone else in this verse. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains the verse. The Lord is the witness of intelligence, or the Paramātmā. There is no one “other” than him since he is everywhere. Thus who can be wives of “others?” “But the śruti says that Paramātmā is without form. Kṛṣṇa has a form. Is he not similar to us?” The word ca should be added after saḥ. This is the meaning eva in Śrīdhara’s commentary. This word however is not found in all versions. He alone accepts a body by his will (krīḍanena), not by karma. He performs his actions in his required place in his suitable body by his choice. Since being the antaryāmī does not depend on a form, he is said to be without form, though this is not actually true. kecit sva-dehāntar-hṛdayāvakāśe prādeśa-mātraṁ puruṣaṁ vasantam | catur-bhujaṁ kañja-rathāṅga-śaṅkha- gadā-dharaṁ dhāraṇayā smaranti || Some yogīs meditate upon the Paramātmā measuring one pradeśa, who is residing in the heart within the body, and who holds the lotus, wheel, conch and club in his four hands. SB 2.2.8 The Lord is not like us, who are controlled by karma without relationship with others. Another version has krīḍana-deha-bhak. Or, the Paramātmā with size of one pradeśa moves within all beings including the gopīs. He is the controller. 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? SB 10.21.9 kātyāyani mahā-māye mahā-yoginy adhīśvari nanda-gopa-sutaṁ devi patiṁ me kuru te namaḥ iti mantraṁ japantyas tāḥ pūjāṁ cakruḥ kamārikāḥ Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship while chanting the following mantra. “O goddess Kātyāyanī, O great potency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power and mighty controller of all, please make the son of Nanda Mahārāja my husband. I offer my obeisances unto you.” SB 10.22.4 api bata madhu-puryām ārya-putro ’dhunāste smarati sa pitṛ-gehān saumya bandhūṁś ca gopān kvacid api sa kathā naḥ kiṅkarīṇāṁ gṛṇīte bhujam aguru-sugandhaṁ mūrdhny adhāsyat kadā nu O Uddhava! It is indeed regrettable that Kṛṣṇa resides in Mathurā. Does he remember his father’s household affairs and his friends, the cowherd boys? O great soul! Does he ever talk about us, his maidservants? When will he lay on our heads his aguru-scented hand? SB 10.47.21 Kṛṣṇa acts as the controller of husband of the gopīs who had great possessive love. “Why does he not perform his pastimes as Paramātmā? Why does he have to use that form?” He partakes of an extraordinary body, and external form, for his pastimes (kṛīḍana-deha-bhāk). He takes shelter of that body eternally, not as the internal Paramātmā. In the other version the meaning is “he partakes of that body by his will (krīḍaṇena) with an externally manifested form (iha).” As for Paramātmā, there is the danger of overextension of the analogy in accepting others as his wives. Does he accept all women as his wives? That idea should be rejected. tvak-śmaśru-roma-nakha-keśa-pinaddham antar māṁsāsthi-rakta-kṛmi-viṭ-kapha-pitta-vātam jīvac-chavaṁ bhajati kānta-matir vimūḍhā yā te padābja-makarandam ajighratī strī A woman who fails to relish the fragrance of the honey of your lotus feet becomes totally befooled, and thus she accepts as her husband or lover a living corpse covered with skin, whiskers, nails, head-hair and body-hair and filled with flesh, bones, blood, parasites, feces, mucus, bile and air. SB 1-0.60.45 For the Lord who has a body of śuddha-sattva, which is purely spiritual, such actions would be condemned. Those material bodies are not attractive. But those who hear about his activities however become absorbed in Kṛṣṇa (see next verse). Thus the gopīs who were locked in their houses and had imperfect bodies gave up those bodies. One also should also consider how he associated with Kubjā and others. sā tadarju-samānāṅgī bṛhac-chroṇi-payodharā mukunda-sparśanāt sadyo babhūva pramadottamā Simply by Mukunda’s touch, Trivakrā was suddenly transformed into an exquisitely beautiful woman with straight, evenly proportioned limbs and large hips and breasts. SB 10.42.8 Just as Dhruva was transformed by the Lord’s, touch, or the touchstone changes iron to gold, Kubjā attained a body of the best women, suitable for the Lord. She became qualified for pastimes. But one should not consider the gopīs to be in this category. Kṛṣṇa became more beautiful because of these gopīs: tābhir vidhūta-śokābhir bhagavān acyuto vṛtaḥ vyarocatādhikaṁ tāta puruṣaḥ śaktibhir yathā Encircled by the gopīs, who were now relieved of all distress, Kṛṣṇa, perfect in himself, without fault, shone forth more splendidly than previously. My dear King, Kṛṣṇa thus appeared like the Lord encircled by his spiritual potencies. SB 10.32.10 The gopīs were superior to Lakṣmī, to the women of Svarga and to all other women. nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ svar-yoṣitāṁ nalina-gandha-rucāṁ kuto ’nyāḥ rāsotsave ’sya bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha- labdhāśiṣāṁ ya udagād vraja-sundarīṇām The gopīs received benedictions from the Lord that neither Lakṣmīdevī nor the most beautiful dancers in the heavenly planets could attain. In the rāsa dance, the Lord showed his favor to the most fortunate gopīs by placing his arms on their shoulders and dancing with each of them individually. No one can compare with the gopīs, who received the causeless mercy of the Lord. SB 10.47.60 Kuto ’nyāḥ indicates criticism of all others. Since the gopīs are most outstanding, one must explain the present verse in another manner. He who moves among those who were gopīs, among those who thought they were their husbands, among all the cowherds, cows and others with bodies, who plays eternally through his sweet pastimes, who is visible in this world (adhyakṣaḥ), enjoys in a suitable manner (carati). The cause of his playing is explained. He reveals a body of a cowherd (deha-bhāk) who is inclined to play. jayati jana-nivāso devakī-janma-vādo yadu-vara-pariṣat svair dorbhir asyann adharmam sthira-cara-vṛjina-ghnaḥ su-smita-śrī-mukhena vraja-pura-vanitānāṁ vardhayan kāma-devam Kṛṣṇa lives eternally among the cowherd men and the Yādavas, and is conclusively both the son of Devakī and Yaśodā. He is the guide of the Yadu dynasty and the cowherd men, and with His mighty arms he kills everything inauspicious, in Vraja, Mathurā and Dvārakā. By His presence He destroys all things inauspicious for all living entities, moving and inert, and the suffering of separation of the inhabitants of Vraja and Dvārakā. His blissful smiling face always increases the desires of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana and women of Mathurā and Dvārakā. He remains eternally in this situation. SB 10.90.48 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 Kṛṣṇa gave them prema, which is the highest bliss, eternal and complete. SB 10.14.32 yo’sau goṣu tiṣṭhati yo ‘sau gāḥ pālayati Kṛṣṇa dwells among the cows and protects the cows. Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad Or, though visible in this world, he accepts the bodies of gopīs and others meant for his pastimes (deha-bhāk) and then plays. In the other version he accepts those bodies valued for play (krīḍaṇena). Because his pastimes are eternal, the gopīs are his eternal consorts. They have similar bodies to his. Out of joy Śukadeva clearly reveals their true forms, though in the pastimes in this world doubts arise by descriptions of relationships with other men by words like adhokṣaja-priyāh, bhagavat-riyāḥ and kṛṣṇa-vadhvaḥ. In Gopāla-tapanī Upaniṣad, Durvasā speaks to the gopīs. Ya ‘asau goṣu tiṣṭhati sa vo hi svāmī bhavati: he who dwells among the cows is your husband. In the aprakaṭa pastimes, there is no doubt that they are related only with the Lord. This is established by kaimutya. ānanda cinmaya rasa pratibhāvitābhis tābhir ya eva nija rūpatayā kalābhiḥ | goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma bhūto govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi || I worship the Supreme Lord Govinda who, though regarding all the inhabitants as his very self, resides in Goloka exclusively with the young gopīs, who are embodiments of madhura-rasa. He accepts them as his wives, while they respond to his conjugal affection reciprocally. Brahma-saṁhitā 5.37 In order to remove the doubts about parakīya in the prakaṭa pastimes, the verse says nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ (his expansions which he accepts as his own forms). At the beginning and the end the gopīs are said to have the position of Lakṣmī in relation to Kṛṣnā the supreme person. At the beginning it is said: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam | lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi || I worship the Supreme Lord Govinda who affectionately tends the cows in stables whose walls are made of cintāmaṇi, surrounded by desire trees. He is eagerly served by countless gopīs. 5.29 At the end it is said śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ: there are unlimited gopīs similar to Lākṣmī and their beloved Kṛṣṇa, the supreme form of God. (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.56) This is also stated in other places. The word gopī is predominant in the main eighteen syllable mantra as well. The gopīs are understood to be eternal as well in the explanation of the mantra given in the Gautamīya-tantra. The revealer of the mantra is Nārada. For encouraging materialistic people he rejects the conventional meaning of the Lord’s name, he gives two meanings to show the lord’s power according to his māyā-śakti and his svarūpa-śakti and then, for encourageing the devotees of his confidential gopis absorbed in meditation, he concludes that Kṛṣṇa is the husband of the gopīs. Thus he refutes the belief that Kṛṣṇa acted as an upapati or illicit lover in the prakaṭa pastimes. gopīti prakṛtiṁ vidyāj janas tattva-samūhakaḥ | anayor āśrayo vyāptyā kāraṇatvena ceśvaraḥ | sāndrānandaṁ paraṁ jyotir vallabhatvena kathyate || athavā gopī prakṛtir janas tad-aṁśa-maṇḍalam | anayor vallabhaḥ proktaḥ svāmī kṛṣṇākhya īśvaraḥ || kārya-kāraṇayor īśaḥ śrutibhis tena gīyate || aneka-janma-siddhānāṁ gopīnāṁ patir eva vā | nanda-nandana ity uktas trailokyānanda-vardhanaḥ || Those persons possessing truth know that gopī means prakṛti. Jana means the assembly of all the material elements. The shelter of prakṛti and its elements is the Lord, since he is the final cause and pervades everything. Or, gopī can mean the spiritual prakṛti, and jana can mean the assembly of secondary forms of the Lord. The Lord (īśvara) known as Kṛṣṇa is called vallabha, the master of Lakṣmī and the other forms of God. Vallabha means the supreme light, condensed bliss. The word gopī means prakṛti, the energy of the Lord called māyā which is the material cause of the universe. The word jana means tattva-samūhaka, the elements starting with mahat-tattva. The shelter of both is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Light composed of condensed bliss. This is the meaning of vallabha. The Lord of cause (prakṛti) and effect (elements) is thus glorified by the śrutis in this mantra. Another meaning is that Kṛṣṇa is the master of many cowherd women who achieved perfection after many births. He who is the son of Nanda, Nanda-nandana, increases the bliss of the three worlds. Aneka-janma-siddhānām literally means “after endless births in the material world.” This does not mean that the gopīs are all sādhana-siddhas, but that they, like Kṛṣṇa, appear countless times to perform pastimes with him in the material world. Thus the Gītā says bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava cārjuna: O Arjuna, you and I have passed many births in this world. (BG 4.5) thus it has been shown that these gopīs who were eternally related to the Lord appeared in this world with him according to statements of the śruti and Purāṇas. In truth they were not others’ wives, since that would be most unsuitable.