Devanagari
सुपर्णतालध्वजचिह्नितौ रथा-
वलक्षयन्त्यो हरिरामयोर्मृधे ।
स्त्रिय: पुराट्टालकहर्म्यगोपुरं
समाश्रिता: सम्मुमुहु: शुचार्दिता: ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
suparṇa-tāla-dhvaja-cihitnau rathāv
alakṣayantyo hari-rāmayor mṛdhe
striyaḥ purāṭṭālaka-harmya-gopuraṁ
samāśritāḥ sammumuhuḥ śucārditaḥ
Synonyms
suparṇa
—
with (the symbol of) Garuḍa (the bird who carries Lord Viṣṇu)
;
tāla
—
and the palm tree
;
dhvaja
—
by the banners
;
cihnitau
—
marked
;
rathau
—
the two chariots
;
alakṣayantyaḥ
—
not identifying
;
hari
—
rāmayoḥ — of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma
;
mṛdhe
—
in the battle
;
striyaḥ
—
women
;
pura
—
of the city
;
aṭṭālaka
—
in the watchtowers
;
harmya
—
palaces
;
gopuram
—
and in the gateways
;
samāśritāḥ
—
having taken positions
;
sammumuhuḥ
—
fainted
;
śucā
—
by grief
;
arditāḥ
—
tormented .
Translation
The women stood in the watchtowers, palaces and high gates of the city. When they could no longer see Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s chariots, identified by banners marked with the emblems of Garuḍa and a palm tree, they were struck with grief and fainted.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The women stood in the watchtowers, palaces and high gates of the city. When they could no longer see Kṛṣṇa's and Balarāma's chariots, identified by banners marked with the emblems of Garuḍa and a palm tree, they were struck with grief and fainted.
KB 10.50.21
Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s chariots were marked with pictures of Garuḍa and palm trees, respectively. The women of Mathurā all stood on the tops of the houses, palaces and gates to see the wonderful fight, but when Kṛṣṇa’s chariot was surrounded by Jarāsandha’s military force and was no longer visible to them, they were so frightened that some of them fainted.
Purport
The women are especially mentioned here because of their extraordinary attachment to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The women, being more attracted to Krsna than the men, were filled with intense grief (sucarpitah).
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The women could still see the flags on the chariots. Kṛṣṇa attracted their minds (hari) and Balarāma gave pleasure to their minds (rāmayoḥ). This shows that the women were very attached to them. They climbed to rooms on top of the fort, to rooms high in the palace and on to the gates but Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could not be seen by them in the battlefield. They thought they saw something of them however. They became overwhelmed with lamentation. Instead of arditāḥ (in pain) sometimes arpitāḥ is seen. Being in great pain, they fainted since they were women. It was their nature to have hearts soft with affection.