Devanagari
गोप्य: कामाद्भयात्कंसो द्वेषाच्चैद्यादयो नृपा: ।
सम्बन्धाद् वृष्णय: स्नेहाद्यूयं भक्त्या वयं विभो ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
gopyaḥ kāmād bhayāt kaṁso
dveṣāc caidyādayo nṛpāḥ
sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād
yūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho
Synonyms
gopyaḥ
—
the gopīs
;
kāmāt
—
out of lusty desires
;
bhayāt
—
out of fear
;
kaṁsaḥ
—
King Kaṁsa
;
dveṣāt
—
out of envy
;
caidya
—
ādayaḥ — Śiśupāla and others
;
nṛpāḥ
—
kings
;
sambandhāt
—
out of kinship
;
vṛṣṇayaḥ
—
the Vṛṣṇis or the Yādavas
;
snehāt
—
out of affection
;
yūyam
—
you (the Pāṇḍavas)
;
bhaktyā
—
by devotional service
;
vayam
—
we
;
vibho
—
O great King .
Translation
My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, the gopīs by their lusty desires, Kaṁsa by his fear, Śiśupāla and other kings by envy, the Yadus by their familial relationship with Kṛṣṇa, you Pāṇḍavas by your great affection for Kṛṣṇa, and we, the general devotees, by our devotional service, have obtained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira! The gopīs by their conjugal desires, Kaṁsa by his fear, Śiśupāla and other kings by envy, and the Yadus and you Pāṇḍavas by your affectionate family relationships with Kṛṣṇa, and we, by our vaidhi-bhakti, have obtained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.
The different persons holding these emotions are listed in this verse. As was previously explained the lust mentioned here is love arising from intense spiritual affection, rather than ordinary conjugal love like Kubjā’s. Fear means fear arising from a person’s knowledge that Kṛṣṇa will kill that person. The Yādavas (vṛṣṇayaḥ)--you, the Pāṇḍavas--achieved me by sambandhāt, by relationships of seeing me as a son, a brother, or cousin, which are full of affection. This excludes Satrājit, Prasena, Śatadhanva, Karṇa, Duryodhana and others, who did not have affection, though they may have had a family relationship. Sneha should not be taken as a separate type of sādhana, since later only five types of moods are mentioned. Vayam refers to Nārada. The verb is in the previous verse. Nārada and others achieved the goal by bhakti. The gopīs achieved the position of lovers of Kṛṣṇa filled with prema. Kāmsa achieved sāyujya. Śiśupāla, Dantavakra, and Pauṇḍraka achieved sārūpya. Other enemies achieved sāyujya, sālokya or other goals suitable to them. The Yādavas and Pāṇḍavas attained the position of associates of the Lord in friendship and other moods. Nārada and others (who performed vaidhi-bhakti) attains the position of associates with aiśvarya-jṣāna (reverence). According to the sādhana, they achieved goals which can be understood by seeing the different statements concerning these persons.
Hari-vaṁśa says yādavānāṁ hitārthāya dhṛto girivaro māyā: I held up Govardhana for the benefit of the Yādavas. Thus Nanda and others of Vṛndāvana can be considered Vṛṣṇis also. However they had extreme affection unmixed with aiśvarya-jṣāna. Thus their relationships of seeing Kṛṣṇa as their son or friend were even more intense than those of the Yādavas. Thus the Vṛṣṇis mentioned in the verse refers mainly to the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
Purport
Different persons achieve different types of
mukti
—
sāyujya, sālokya, sārūpya, sāmīpya
and
sārṣṭi
— according to their own intense desire, which is called
bhāva.
Thus it is described here that the
gopīs,
by their lusty desires, which were based upon their intense love for Kṛṣṇa, became the most beloved devotees of the Lord. Although the
gopīs
at Vṛndāvana expressed their lusty desires in relationship with a paramour (
parakīya-rasa
), they actually had no lusty desires. This is significant of spiritual advancement. Their desires appeared lusty, but actually they were not the lusty desires of the material world.
Caitanya-caritāmṛta
compares the desires of the spiritual and material world to gold and iron. Both gold and iron are metal, but there is a vast difference in their value. The lusty desires of the
gopīs
for Kṛṣṇa are compared to gold, and material lusty desires are compared to iron.
Kaṁsa and other enemies of Kṛṣṇa merged into the existence of Brahman, but why should Kṛṣṇa’s friends and devotees have the same position? Kṛṣṇa’s devotees attain the association of the Lord as His constant companions, either in Vṛndāvana or in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Similarly, although Nārada Muni wanders in the three worlds, he has exalted devotion for Nārāyaṇa (
aiśvaryamān
). The Vṛṣṇis and Yadus and the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana all have familial relationships with Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa’s foster father and mother in Vṛndāvana, however, are more exalted than Vasudeva and Devakī.