SB 10.47.22 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच अथोद्धवो निशम्यैवं कृष्णदर्शनलालसा: । सान्‍त्‍वयन् प्रियसन्देशैर्गोपीरिदमभाषत ॥ २२ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca athoddhavo niśamyaivaṁ kṛṣṇa-darśana-lālasāḥ sāntvayan priya-sandeśair gopīr idam abhāṣata

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; atha — then ; uddhavaḥ — Uddhava ; niśamya — having heard ; evam — thus ; kṛṣṇa — darśana — after the sight of Kṛṣṇa ; lālasāḥ — who were hankering ; sāntvayan — pacifying ; priya — of their beloved ; sandeśaiḥ — with the messages ; gopīḥ — to the cowherd girls ; idam — this ; abhāṣata — he said .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Having heard this, Uddhava then tried to pacify the gopīs, who were most eager to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. He thus began relating to them the message of their beloved.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Having heard this, Uddhava then tried to pacify the gopīs, who were most eager to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. He thus began relating to them the message of their beloved. KB 10.47.22 Uddhava was standing near, and he heard Rādhārāṇī talking in this way, as if She had become almost mad for Kṛṣṇa. He was exceedingly surprised at how the gopīs were accustomed to thinking of Kṛṣṇa constantly in that topmost ecstasy of mahā-bhāva love. He had brought a message in writing from Kṛṣṇa, and now he wanted to present it before the gopīs, just to pacify them.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Hearing the words of prema directly as the gopīs spoke, Uddhava, after their transformations arising from prema decreased, he spoke to pacify them. He spoke to inform them of Kṛṣṇa’s powers and the greatness of his prema (idam) in order to stop the transformations arising from their prema and to praise them in order to relieve their feelings of wretchedness. Out of respect Uddhava did not speak to Rādhā directly. She heard through others.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Atha indicates the beginning of the message. Since it was unsuitable to begin the message immediately, when they were so disturbed by prema, he began speaking later. Hearing about the gopīs’ previous love and lamenation (evam), he consoled them with the message from their lover. The messages themselves were also dear. The messages were dear since they were related to Kṛṣṇa. Or priya can mean “O dear Parīkṣit!” When the disturbance caused by prema lessened, it would be proper to hear the message. By starting with statements expressing the good fortune of the gopīs, he could counteract their misery, and make them give up their disturbance. In this way Uddhava begins speaking.