Devanagari
गोप्यस्तप: किमचरन् यदमुष्य रूपंलावण्यसारमसमोर्ध्वमनन्यसिद्धम्
दृग्भि: पिबन्त्यनुसवाभिनवं दुराप-मेकान्तधाम यशस: श्रिय ऐश्वरस्य ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ
lāvaṇya-sāram asamordhvam ananya-siddham
dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam
ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śriya aiśvarasya
Synonyms
gopyaḥ
—
the gopīs
;
tapaḥ
—
austerities
;
kim
—
what
;
acaran
—
performed
;
yat
—
from which
;
amuṣya
—
of such a one (Lord Kṛṣṇa)
;
rūpam
—
the form
;
lāvaṇya
—
sāram — the essence of loveliness
;
asama
—
ūrdhvam — not paralleled or surpassed
;
ananya
—
siddham — not perfected by any other ornament (self-perfect)
;
dṛgbhiḥ
—
by the eyes
;
pibanti
—
they drink
;
anusava
—
abhinavam — constantly new
;
durāpam
—
difficult to obtain
;
ekānta
—
dhāma — the only abode
;
yaśasaḥ
—
of fame
;
śriyaḥ
—
of beauty
;
aiśvarasya
—
of opulence .
Translation
What austerities must the gopīs have performed! With their eyes they always drink the nectar of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s form, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equaled or surpassed. That form is the only abode of beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh and extremely rare.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
What austerities must the gopīs have performed! With their eyes they always drink the nectar of Lord Kṛṣṇa's form, which is the essence of loveliness and is not to be equaled or surpassed. That loveliness is the only abode of beauty, fame and opulence. It is self-perfect, ever fresh and extremely rare.
KB 10.44.14
“We cannot estimate how many pious activities were executed by the damsels of Vrajabhūmi so that they were able to enjoy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by looking upon the unparalleled beauty of His transcendental body. The beauty of the Lord is beyond compare. No one is higher than or equal to Him in beauty of complexion or bodily luster. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are the reservoir of all kinds of opulence—namely wealth, strength, beauty, fame, knowledge and renunciation.
Purport
The word meanings and translation for this verse are from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
(
Ādi
4.156)
.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Those who have accrued heaps of pious activities are born in the land of Vraja! Among them, the gopis are the best." That is expressed in this verse. "What austerities did the gopis do? If anyone is omniscient, then please tell us what austerities they performed. We will perform the same austerities and be born as gopis in Vraja. They drink the nectar of his beauty while we at the arena drink the poison of his injury. We sit here, filled with fever from the tips of our nails to the tips of our hair."
By mentioning that as a result of austerities they could see the beauty of Krsna’s form, they also indicate that it resulted in being embraced by his arms, which could not be expressed in words on that occasion.
"One should not say that he was most excellent because of his superior beauty. Rather, the essence of all beauty was his svarupa (lavanya saram)."
"As the earth seems inferior to svara loka, when we see his form it just appears to be the best. But if we go to Mahavaikuntha, we will understand that the form of Narayana is much more sweet."
To answer this the women say, "This form of Krsna is unequalled (asamordham). There is no form beyond this."
"From who did Krsna receive this form?"
They answer, "From no one. This form is intrinsic to him (ananya siddha)."
"That may be so, but if these women constantly see this one form, it will no longer be so amazing after some time."
They answer, "His form becomes newer at every moment. It is forever increasingly amazing."
"Then other people can come to Vraja and see this form at leisure."
"But this form is also not available even to Laksmi. "
"Let that be. His beauty is his super excellent quality. But Narayana and others are more endowed having six opulences."
"Krsna is the shelter of all these opulences.(ekanta dhama) such as fame."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
How unfortunate we must be since we have not seen him (as described in the previous verse.) The following verse also refers to the gopīs. There is no avatāra equal to him, what to speak of being superior to him. The gopīs drink that form out of thirst as if it were nectar. That form is constantly fresh (anusavābhinavam). The form constantly increases in novelty with appearance of prema arising from the manifestation of the increasingly beautiful form. That form, the supreme ālambana, belonging to the Lord (īśvarasya is sometimes seen instead of amuṣya) endowed with all wealth, fame and beauty, is extremely rare for Lakṣmī and others. His beauty cannot even be described since when the writer begins to write, he becomes bewildered.
The previous verse could also indicate the good fortune of all the inhabitants of Vraja whereas this verse indicates the good fortune of the gopīs. Some women with the highest skills speak this pleasing statement in words pleasing even to Śukadeva. What worship of the Lord (tapaḥ) did the gopīs perform to get this result which is beyond words and minds? If you know, then we are also eager to perform this worship. What austerity did they perform? They did not perform austerity, since austerity alone cannot yield such results. He can appear in this way only for his eternal consorts. That is because this is the supreme form. They cannot have done austerities because with their eyes they drink the form of he who cannot be described even when present before him (amuṣya). That form has the highest beauty in each limb. Though they drink continually, the sweetness does not diminish. By hinting at their thirst, Śukadeva compares that form to an ocean of nectar. If seeing him gives such an experience, what will embracing him do? What is the beauty of that form? It is the best part of all shining beauty (lāvaṇya-sāram), or that form is most intense with beauty. “The Lord has unlimited appearances in this world. They are also like this.” This form is unequalled. “If this form does not exist elsewhere, how did he attain it?” He has this form by his nature, eternally (ananya-siddham). Fame, beauty and power indicate all six of his qualities as Bhagavān. He is the eternal shelter (ekānta-dhāma). “If the gopīs see this one form at all times, they will not feel astonishment at all times.” That form is increasingly fresh. “If that form is in Vraja, others can also see it.” It is rarely seen, since others do not have such prema. That form appears to the gopīs because of their fixed absorption. It will not manifest in any other condition.