Devanagari
स्मायावलोकलवदर्शितभावहारि-
भ्रूमण्डलप्रहितसौरतमन्त्रशौण्डै: ।
पत्न्यस्तु षोडशसहस्रमनङ्गबाणै-
र्यस्येन्द्रियं विमथितुं करणैर्न विभ्व्य: ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
smāyāvaloka-lava-darśita-bhāva-hāri-
bhrū-maṇḍala-prahita-saurata-mantra-śauṇḍaiḥ
patnyas tu ṣoḍaśa-sahasram anaṅga-bāṇair
yasyendriyaṁ vimathituṁ karaṇair na vibhvyaḥ
Synonyms
smāya
—
smiling
;
avaloka
—
of a glance
;
lava
—
by fractions
;
darśita
—
having shown
;
bhāva
—
their feelings
;
hāri
—
enchanting
;
bhrū
—
maṇḍala — by which arch of the eyebrows
;
prahita
—
launched
;
saurata
—
of conjugal love
;
mantra
—
messages
;
śauṇḍaiḥ
—
by the impudent advances
;
patnyaḥ
—
wives
;
tu
—
but
;
ṣoḍaśa
—
sahasram — sixteen thousand
;
anaṅga
—
of Cupid
;
bāṇaiḥ
—
by the arrows
;
yasya
—
whose
;
indriyam
—
senses
;
vimathitum
—
to agitate
;
karaṇaiḥ
—
with all their devices
;
na vibhvyaḥ
—
they were not able .
Translation
My Lord, You are living with sixteen thousand exquisitely beautiful, aristocratic wives. By their irresistible coy and smiling glances and by their lovely arching eyebrows, they send You messages of eager conjugal love. But they are completely unable to disturb the mind and senses of Your Lordship.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Sixteen thousand wives are unable to disturb your mind and senses by their lust, which is like the arrows of Cupid, by their bold messages of love sent by their eyebrows made attractive with their intentions, shown by their smiling glances.
You are also not disturbed by spiritual objects. Your sixteen thousand wives could not agitate you with portions of lust, similar to arrows of Cupid, bold messages of love sent by their eyebrows, attractive with their intentions shown by their smiling glances. Because they are functions of the Lord’s spiritual energy, his wives are not material representatives of lust, but are representatives of spiritual love. The Lord was not agitated by them since he wanted to show that he is not under the control of his energies. However, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi states that among the queens, some are filled with prema. This is shown when Kṛṣṇa falls under the control of his queen and steals the pārijātā tree from Svarga. Thus you are controlled by prema but not by lust, whether vulgar or extraordinary. Or the verse can mean that Kṛṣṇa is not disturbed by the queens to the extent that he is disturbed by the gopīs. The meaning in any case is that Kṛṣṇa is controlled by the queens to the extent that they have prema.
Purport
In the previous verse it was clearly stated that no material object can attract the senses of the Lord. Now in this verse it is demonstrated that the Lord has no desire to enjoy even spiritual sense gratification. Kṛṣṇa is complete in Himself. He is the reservoir of all pleasure, and He does not lust after anything material or spiritual. The argument may be given that Kṛṣṇa, in order to please His wife Satyabhāmā, stole a
pārijāta
flower from heaven and thus appeared to be a henpecked husband under the control of His loving wife. But although Kṛṣṇa is sometimes conquered by the love of His devotees, He is never influenced by the desire to enjoy like an ordinary, lusty materialistic person. The nondevotees cannot understand the overwhelming loving feelings exchanged between the Lord and His pure devotees. Kṛṣṇa may be conquered by our intense love for Him, and thus pure devotees can control the Lord. For example, the elderly
gopīs
in Vṛndāvana would clap their hands in different rhythms to make Kṛṣṇa dance, and in Dvārakā Satyabhāmā ordered Kṛṣṇa to bring her a flower as proof of His love for her. As stated in Śrīnivāsa Ācārya’s song to the Six Gosvāmīs,
gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhuḥ:
the love between the Lord and His pure devotee is an ocean of spiritual bliss. But at the same time, Kṛṣṇa remains completely self-satisfied. Kṛṣṇa indifferently gave up the company of the incomparable young damsels of Vraja-bhūmi, the
gopīs,
and went to Mathurā at the request of His uncle, Akrūra. Thus neither the
gopīs
of Vṛndāvana nor the queens of Dvārakā could arouse an enjoying spirit in Kṛṣṇa. When all is said and done, pleasure in this world means sex. But this mundane sexual attraction is simply a perverted reflection of the transcendental loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and His eternal associates in the spiritual world. The
gopīs
of Vṛndāvana are unsophisticated village girls, whereas the queens in Dvārakā are aristocratic young ladies. But both the
gopīs
and the queens are overwhelmed with love for Kṛṣṇa. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa displays the highest perfection of beauty, strength, wealth, fame, knowledge and renunciation and is thus completely satisfied by His own supreme position. He reciprocates spiritual loving affairs with the
gopīs
and queens simply for their sake. Only fools think that Lord Kṛṣṇa could be attracted by the perverted illusory pleasures to which we poor conditioned souls are so blindly attached. Therefore everyone should recognize the supreme transcendental position of the Personality of Godhead and surrender to Him. That is the clear implication of this statement by the demigods.