SB 10.42.14 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तद्दर्शनस्मरक्षोभादात्मानं नाविदन् स्त्रिय: विस्रस्तवास:कवरवलया लेख्यमूर्तय: ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

tad-darśana-smara-kṣobhād ātmānaṁ nāvidan striyaḥ visrasta-vāsaḥ-kavara valayā lekhya-mūrtayaḥ

Synonyms

tat — Him ; darśana — because of seeing ; smara — due to the effects of Cupid ; kṣobhāt — by their agitation ; ātmānam — themselves ; na avidan — could not recognize ; striyaḥ — the women ; visrasta — disheveled ; vāsaḥ — their clothes ; kavara — the locks of their hair ; valayāḥ — and their bangles ; lekhya — (as if) drawn in a picture ; mūrtayaḥ — their forms .

Translation

The sight of Kṛṣṇa aroused Cupid in the hearts of the city women. Thus agitated, they forgot themselves. Their clothes, braids and bangles became disheveled, and they stood as still as figures in a painting.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sight of Kṛṣṇa aroused Cupid in the hearts of the city women. Thus agitated, they forgot themselves. Their clothes, braids and bangles became disheveled, and they stood as still as figures in a painting. KB 10.42.14 When Kṛṣṇa was passing through the street, all the women in the surrounding houses came to see Him, and some of the younger ones almost fainted, being captivated by His beauty. Their hair and tight clothing loosened, and they forgot where they were standing.

Purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī states that since the women of Mathurā immediately experienced symptoms of conjugal attraction when they saw Kṛṣṇa, they were the most advanced devotees in the city. The ten effects of Cupid are described as follows: cakṣū-rāgaḥ prathamaṁ cittāsaṅgas tato ’tha saṅkalpaḥ nidrā-cchedas tanutā viṣaya-nivṛttis trapā-nasaḥ / unmādo mūrcchā mṛtir ity etāḥ smara-daśā daśaiva syuḥ. “First comes attraction expressed through the eyes, then intense attachment in the mind, then determination, loss of sleep, becoming emaciated, disinterest in external things, shamelessness, madness, becoming stunned and death. These are the ten stages of Cupid’s effects.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī also points out that devotees who possess pure love of Godhead generally do not exhibit the symptom of death, since this is inauspicious in relation to Kṛṣṇa. They do, however, manifest the other nine symptoms, culminating in becoming stunned in ecstasy.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The wives of the merchants were the best of devotees. There are ten stages of kama: attraction by sight, attraction by the heart, determination, sleeplessness, wasting away, loss of interest in other objects, absence of shame, madness, loss of consciousness and death. Though these symptoms manifest in stages, at this time they manifested all at once by seeing Krsna. "Who are we? Where are we? What are we doing?" they were unable to properly understand this. In this way they manifested symptoms of loss of shame. Because of the impulse of kama they became thin, and thus the bangles and clothing fell from their bodies (wasting away). Loosening of their hair was due to rolling on the ground, trembling and stretching the limbs, which are all signs of madness (unmada). Standing like painted pictures indicates the ninth state of loss of consciousness. Because the tenth state, death is inauspicious, it does not usually manifest in those expressing prema.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

The women of the merchant class on the merchants’ streets developed love because of their natural soft natures. Because of fainting or loss of control (kṣobha), a symptom of prema, simply by remembering seeing Kṛṣṇa, they forgot their bodies. They were not able to understand where they were at that moment. Their clothing and other times became completely loose. Their clothing and bracelets became loose because their bodies suddenly became thin from the agitation of love. Their hair became loose because their bodies quivered and stretched. They became like painted figures.