So, this morning we are reading from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Chapter 25, "The Glories of Devotional Service", Text number 26. I find it a pity we don't have a board anymore, so we can chant together. But we will chant together, okay, fine. Please repeat after me:
bhaktyā pumāñ jāta-virāga-aindriyo
dṛṣṭa-śrutān mad-racanānucintayā
cittasya yāto grahaṇe yoga-yukto
yatiṣyatē ṛjubhir yoga-mārgaiḥ
bhaktyā — by devotional service. pumān — the person. jāta-virāga — having developed distaste. aindriya — for sense gratification. dṛṣṭa — seen in this world. śrutān — heard in the next world. mad-racanā — my activities of creation and so on. anucintayā — by constantly thinking about. cittasya — of the mind. yātaḥ — engaged. grahaṇe — in the control. yoga-yuktaḥ — situated in devotional service. yatiṣyate — will endeavor. ṛjubhiḥ — easy. yoga-mārgaiḥ — by the processes of mystic power.
Translation:
Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the Lord. This process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the easiest process of mystic power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he is able to control the mind. Purport:
In all scriptures, people are encouraged to act in a pious way so that they can enjoy sense gratification, not only in this life, but also in the next. For example, one is promised promotion to the heavenly kingdom of higher planets by pious fruitive activities. But a devotee, in the association of devotees, prefers to contemplate the activities of the Lord—how He has created this universe, how He is maintaining it, how the creation dissolves, and how in the spiritual kingdom the Lord's pastimes are going on. There are full literatures describing these activities of the Lord, especially Bhagavad-gītā, Brahma-saṁhitā, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The sincere devotee who associates with devotees gets the opportunity to hear and contemplate this subject of the pastimes of the Lord, and the result is that he feels distaste for so-called happiness in this or that world, in heaven or on other planets. The devotees are simply interested in being transferred to the personal association of the Lord; they have no more attraction for temporary, so-called happiness. That is the position of one who is yoga-yukta. One who is fixed in mystic power is not disturbed by the allurement of this world or that world; he is interested in the matters of spiritual understanding of the spiritual situation. This sublime situation is very easily attained by the easiest process, bhakti-yoga. Ṛjubhir yoga-mārgaiḥ: a very suitable word used here is ṛjubhiḥ, or very easy. There are different processes of yoga-mārga, attaining yoga perfection, but this process, devotional service to the Lord, is the easiest. Not only is it the easiest process, but the result is sublime. Everyone, therefore, should try to take to this process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and reach the highest perfection of life.
bhaktyā pumāñ jāta-virāga-aindriyo
dṛṣṭa-śrutān mad-racanānucintayā
cittasya yāto grahaṇe yoga-yukto
yatiṣyatē ṛjubhir yoga-mārgaiḥ
Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the Lord. This process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the easiest process of mystic power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he is able to control the mind. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda says here in the purport that the sincere devotee who associates with devotees gets the opportunity to hear and contemplate this subject of the pastimes of the Lord. So I thought we could today contemplate the pastimes of the Lord, since this is a very nice activity. And we just last Friday, we had Balarāma's appearance day, and in a few days, I believe the day after tomorrow, we will have Kṛṣṇa's appearance day, Janmāṣṭamī. So, I was thinking we could just read something about Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, since we are just in the middle between the appearance day of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa. And, I thought I would read something for us from a commentary from one of my favorite ācāryas, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. He has written a very wonderful commentary on the Tenth Canto, which is called Sārārtha-darśinī. And in this commentary, he is commenting on the activities of Kṛṣṇa in the Tenth Canto in a very wonderful way, and it's just fantastic to read and to hear and to get absorbed in these descriptions. Because Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is not only seeing or reading what's there in the Bhāgavatam, but he is looking a little deeper. He sees things which we may or may not see at first sight when we read these verses. And when we read this, we can understand, or when we listen to him, we can understand that actually there is so much more in these descriptions of the Bhāgavatam than what we might think there is. And this is his mercy, like of the other ācāryas as well. And he is giving us the opportunity to really dive deep into these descriptions of the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. I believe without these descriptions of the ācāryas, we would have hardly any chance to understand what is actually there in the descriptions with the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa or Balarāma, or for that matter, any incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. And so, we are very grateful to have the opportunity to have access to these commentaries. And all glories to Bhānu Mahārāja, who kindly translated this commentary of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura to the Tenth Canto. And I thought today, I would like to read two short sections from the fifteenth chapter of the Tenth Canto, which is about the killing by Balarāma of Dhenukāsura, the ass demon. And in the beginning, I would like to start with reading about how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma enter the forest of Vṛndāvana, and how Kṛṣṇa is so much fascinated by His own creation. Is it not fantastic? How Kṛṣṇa is just as much excited about the beauty of Vṛndāvana as anyone would be who goes there and looks at it. Let's see, 396. And so, yes, it is very interesting to observe that Kṛṣṇa—Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, he will explain this—Kṛṣṇa is overwhelmed, we could say, by the beauty of Vṛndāvana. He just can't believe how beautiful Vṛndāvana is. But He doesn't want to give credit to Himself. Kṛṣṇa is so humble. "Yeah, yeah, I know I did that, but actually I have nothing to do with it." So, He is using this opportunity to glorify Balarāma. Now, on Friday and also on Sunday at the Sunday feast, we heard so many things about Balarāma, and we try to understand, who is this Balarāma? But actually, who could praise Balarāma better than Kṛṣṇa? We can try our little bit to say something nice about Balarāma, or try to explain or understand who He is. But when Kṛṣṇa praises Balarāma, that's a different dimension, that's a different category altogether. So, that's what Kṛṣṇa will do. Just be patient. In a while, I will read four verses where Kṛṣṇa is just so wonderfully describing and worshiping and praising Balarāma, completely spontaneously. They just entered the forest, Kṛṣṇa is overwhelmed by this beautiful scenery, and He is using the opportunity to praise Balarāma. But before I will read these four verses where Kṛṣṇa is praising Balarāma, we will set the scene so that we can understand better and appreciate better in what surroundings this all happens. So, I will start reading verse number 2 to 4, three verses, to get the idea of the atmosphere where we are at, what we are talking about. And then, the praise itself, Kṛṣṇa's praise of Balarāma, will be verses 5 to 8, four verses.
tan-mādhavo veṇum udīrayan vṛto
gopair gṛṇadbhiḥ sva-yaśo balān-vitaḥ
paśūn puraskṛtya paśavyam āviśad
vihar-tukāmaḥ kusumā-karaṁ vanam
Translation:
Thus, desiring to enjoy pastimes, Lord Mādhava, sounding His flute, surrounded by cowherd boys who were chanting His glories, and accompanied by Lord Baladeva, kept the cows before Him and entered the Vṛndāvana forest, which was full of flowers and rich with nourishment for the animals. Commentary:
Kṛṣṇa entered the Vṛndāvana forest, tad vanam, which was rich with nourishment for the cows, paśavyam. The prefix ā combined with viśat means that Kṛṣṇa completely entered the forest of Vṛndāvana, that is, with great absorption. By referring to Kṛṣṇa as Mādhava, which means the spring season, Śukadeva indicates that Kṛṣṇa, like spring, caused the forest to rejoice with fragrant flower blossoms.
tan mañju-ghoṣāli-mṛga-dvijākulaṁ
mahan-manaḥ-prakhyata-toya-sārasam
vatena juṣṭaṁ śatapatra-gandhinā
nirīkṣya rantuṁ bhagavān mano dadhe
Translation:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead looked over that forest, which resounded with the charming sounds of bees, animals, and birds, and which was enhanced by a lake whose clear water resembled the minds of great souls, and by a breeze carrying the fragrance of hundred-petaled lotuses. Seeing all this, Lord Kṛṣṇa decided to enjoy the auspicious atmosphere. Commentary:
Kṛṣṇa desired to play, rantuṁ, upon seeing the beauty of the forest, tat, which gave joy to the five senses. How did the forest satisfy the senses? The humming of bees and the melodious singing of deer and birds brought sweet pleasure to the ears. Vṛndāvana was served, juṣṭam, by gentle, lotus-scented breezes carrying the cool moisture of transcendental lakes filled to the brim with cool, sweet-tasting water, like the minds of great devotees, mahan-manaḥ. The cool winds thrilled the sense of touch, the sweet waters stimulated the sense of taste, the beauty and fragrance of lotus flowers brought spiritual bliss to the eyes and nose.
sa tatra tatra-ru-palāśa-śālibhiḥ
phala-prasūnoru-bhareṇa pādapaiḥ
bhaumān-namadbhir vanaspatīn mudā
smayann ivāha graja-mādi-puruṣam
Translation:
The Supreme Lord saw that the stately trees, with their beautiful reddish buds and their heavy burden of fruits and flowers, were bending down to touch His feet with the tips of their branches. Thus, He smiled gently and addressed His elder brother. Kṛṣṇa could see that the branches were bending down to pay obeisances to Him, but He didn't want to take the credit, so He uses the opportunity to praise Balarāma. Commentary:
Kṛṣṇa smiled to see all the trees, with their reddish leaf buds, fruits, and flowers, bending down to touch His feet. Kṛṣṇa knew that the trees were actually bowing down to worship Him, but since it was improper to glorify Himself, He smiled in great bliss and praised His elder brother, Balarāma. Thus, He addresses Balarāma as Ādi-puruṣa in verse 6. Kṛṣṇa began to laugh, or almost laugh, smayann iva, in order to hide His intentions from Balarāma. This is explained in the Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta. When the sweetness of Vṛndāvana and its inhabitants became prominent in Kṛṣṇa's mind, He began glorifying them by making Balarāma the object of praise. However, Kṛṣṇa was actually praising Himself, because the verses do not depict Balarāma's glories. Out of sakhya-bhāva, Kṛṣṇa speaks His own glories in a joking way in the name of Balarāma. Though Kṛṣṇa is the younger brother of Balarāma, in this verse Kṛṣṇa is addressed as Ādi-puruṣa to denote His position as svayaṁ bhagavān, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
*aho amī deva-varāmarārcitaṁ
pādāmbujaṁ te sumanaḥ-phalārhaṇam
namanty upādāya śikhābhir ātmanas
tamo-pahatyai taru-janma yat-kṛtam*
Translation:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O greatest of Lords, just see how these trees are bowing their heads at Your lotus feet, which are worshipable by the immortal demigods. The trees are offering You their fruits and flowers to eradicate the dark ignorance that has caused their birth as trees. Commentary:
Knowing the minds of the trees, who wanted to worship His lotus feet, Kṛṣṇa glanced at the trees and then spoke to Balarāma about their glories as great devotees. The trees holding gifts of fruits and flowers on their heads are bowing down to Your lotus feet with devotion. Why? They bow to purify themselves of their offenses which caused them to take birth as trees. They are thinking, "Because we have committed such great offenses, we have become trees and cannot accompany the Lord in His wanderings throughout Vṛndāvana."
This is just wonderful how Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is revealing the mind of the trees. If you hear, or you imagine you see, you are present in this wonderful atmosphere of Vṛndāvana, and you see Kṛṣṇa is walking around there enjoying the beautiful sight, the beautiful places, who would not want to go with Kṛṣṇa? Who would not want to accompany Kṛṣṇa and participate in His pastimes, which are described in great detail? Who would not? But the trees can't. They are standing there at one spot, they cannot go with Kṛṣṇa. They would like to, but they can't. So they are meditating, "Why are we so unfortunate? Here we are in Vṛndāvana and still we cannot go with Kṛṣṇa. We must have been so offensive, we must have been cursed, that even though we are here, we are not allowed to play with Kṛṣṇa. How unfortunate we are." So, that's what they are thinking. So, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is revealing this so nicely. In this way, Kṛṣṇa interprets the trees' movements, standing from their attraction to Kṛṣṇa. However, since Brahmā prayed to be born as a tree in Vraja, the trees could not have been born there as a result of offenses. So try to figure this out. They are thinking, "We must be so offensive." But Brahmā is praying, "My dear Lord, please let me take birth in Vṛndāvana, even as a speck of dust, anything, just in Vṛndāvana." So, it's a great pleasure, it's a great reward, it's the answer of prayers to be born, to be allowed to be born in Vṛndāvana. So these trees are there in Vṛndāvana, so it couldn't be any offense to be there. It's a great blessing. So, it's both. In their mind, they think it's a great offense, but everyone else who looks at this objectively thinks, "Well, what a great blessing to be allowed to take birth in Vṛndāvana."
ete 'linas tava yaśo 'khila-loka-tīrthaṁ
gāyanta ādi-puruṣānupathaṁ bhajante
prāyo 'mī muni-gaṇā bhavadīya-mukhya
gūḍhaṁ vane na tu jahaty anagha-prasādam
Translation:
O original personality, these bees must all be great sages and most elevated devotees of Yours, for they are worshiping You by following You along the path and chanting Your glories, which are themselves a holy place for the entire world. Though You have disguised Yourself within this forest, O sinless one, they refuse to abandon You, their worshipable Lord. Commentary:
In two verses, Kṛṣṇa glorifies the birds and bees of the forest. These bees are following You here and there because they are attracted to the fragrance of Your body. When You go to sacred places, for Your intimate pastimes, where even Your confidential associates cannot go, these bees cannot give You up, but keep following You. Although they follow You to secluded places, You do not become offended by them. For this reason, Kṛṣṇa addresses Balarāma as anagha, sinless one. So, this is also very interesting. When Kṛṣṇa or Balarāma leave the company of the cowherd boys, because they want to enjoy intimate pastimes with the gopīs, with their sets of gopīs, the cowherd boys cannot go. They would be a disturbance. They don't fit into this rasa. So they have to stay behind. But the bees, they go along. They are not kept out. They are allowed to come, they can join, they can be there, they are not a disturbance. In fact, they are enhancing the enjoyment of the pastime. So, Kṛṣṇa is saying, "They are so attached to You, they follow You wherever You go. You cannot keep them out. Wherever You go, whatever You do, they will be there with You. How blessed they are." Therefore, they must be intimate devotees, bhavadīya-mukhya. Those who concentrate, muni-gaṇā, on Your intimate pastimes, have become these bees.
nṛtyanty amī śikhina īḍya mudā harinyaḥ
kurvanti gopyo iva te priyam īkṣaṇena
sūktaiś ca kokila-gaṇā gṛham āgatāya
dhanyā vanaukasayaṁ hi satāṁ nisargaḥ
Translation:
O worshipable one, these peacocks are dancing before You out of joy, these doe are pleasing You with affectionate glances, just as the gopīs do, and these cuckoos are honoring You with Vedic prayers. All these residents of the forest are most fortunate, and their behavior toward You certainly befits great souls receiving another great soul at home. So wonderful to hear how Kṛṣṇa is praising Balarāma. How much fantasy He has. He sees all of these animals in the forest of Vṛndāvana, and He understands they must be great souls, they must be great sages, they must be very fortunate to be there and to associate with Kṛṣṇa. So, these ācāryas, like Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, or Kṛṣṇa Himself, they see so much more in these pastimes than we see at first sight. Commentary:
Kṛṣṇa said: "As You enter the forest, the cuckoos welcome You with sweet sounds, sūktaiḥ. The peacocks dance and the deer glance affectionately and intend to please You, priyam kurvanti. It is the nature, nisargaḥ, of the cultured person to receive a sacred person with dance, affectionate glances, and sweet words."
And this is the last verse Kṛṣṇa is speaking in praise of Balarāma.
dhanyēyam adya dharaṇī tṛṇa-vīrudhas tvat-
pāda-spṛśo druma-latāḥ karajābhimṛṣṭāḥ
nadyo 'drayaḥ khaga-mṛgāḥ sadayāvalokair
gopyo 'ntareṇa bhujayor api yat-spṛhā śrīḥ
Translation:
This earth has now become most fortunate because You have touched her grass and bushes with Your feet, and her trees and creepers with Your fingernails, and because You have graced her rivers, mountains, birds, and animals with Your merciful glances. But above all, You have embraced the young cowherd women between Your two arms, a favor hankered after by the goddess of fortune herself. Commentary:
After glorifying Balarāma by describing the service of the trees and animals, Kṛṣṇa praised Him by showing how others are attracted to Him for showing them mercy. The phrase, "Today the earth has become fortunate" means in material time, there is a succession of avatāras such as Varāha, but nothing can equal the blessings of Kṛṣṇa and His plenary expansion, Balarāma. The earth has now become most fortunate because You have touched her grass with Your feet, and plucked her flowers with Your fingernails. The rivers and mountains have become fortunate by Your merciful glances, sadayāvalokaiḥ, or by Your glances which bring about auspiciousness, sadayāvalokanāt. But the creepers, gopyaḥ, which beauty itself beautifies, yat-spṛhā śrīḥ, are fortunate because they are touching Your chest. The word gopyaḥ can also mean gopīs. Thus, the meaning can be: the gopīs are fortunate because You directly embrace them to Your chest, which is desired even by the goddess of fortune, Śrī. The Purāṇas explain that although Lakṣmī is situated on the chest of Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, she once desired to be embraced on the chest of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and thus she performs severe austerities to achieve this blessing. Śrī Kṛṣṇa informed Lakṣmī that her actual place was Vaikuṇṭha, and that it was impossible for her to dwell upon His chest in Vṛndāvana. However, Kṛṣṇa favored Lakṣmī by allowing her to remain on His chest in the form of a golden line. So, this is the last verse Kṛṣṇa is speaking in praise of Balarāma. And as you have noticed, in the first three verses, He is praising the animals and the trees and the other living entities in the forest of Vṛndāvana. And in the fourth verse, He is praising the gopīs. He is especially praising them for their service to Balarāma. And so, in the second part, I think we still have time, I would like to jump a little bit in the same chapter, to the end of the chapter, really, because there, this is the topic here now, that Kṛṣṇa... Now, in the beginning, what we just read, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are entering the forest. And then they perform their pastimes there, they imitate the different animals, and they do all kinds of funny things, and they have a good time. And at the end of the day, as we all know, they go back to Vṛndāvana, they go back to their homes. And then of course, all the gopīs, they are standing there in Vṛndāvana, they are coming out of the houses, because they have been suffering so much, this separation. Kṛṣṇa was the whole day away. Why is He only now coming back? So, they are standing there, and they are looking at Kṛṣṇa. Oh, at last we can see Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. So nicely they came back. So nicely we can see Them. And now, I will read to you, I hope you are sitting okay. This is just really, it is just so amazing. I mean, I don't even know if I should read this. It is just so far out. It just really blows your mind. These verses are describing how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are coming back and the gopīs see Them, and they embrace Them with their glances. And all this exchange which is going on there between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, it is just, it is really flabbergasting, it is really amazing. We are... I mean, we can just hear this and we can, to some extent, appreciate that. But I don't think there is much hope of us understanding this or even a little bit. We can just appreciate the beauty of the description of the verses themselves, but then, the commentary of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, it's such, such a wonderful poetry. We can understand that the devotees are kavi, they are great poets. I mean, when you read this, you just, you can hardly believe it. It's just so far out, it's just so wonderful. Okay, let's see. It starts off with verse number 42. Let's see where we are here. Okay, here we go.
tan-mukha-raja-s-churi-ta-kunta-la-bha-dha-bharha
vanya-prasūna-rucirekṣaṇa-cāru-hāsam
veṇuṁ kvaṇantam anugair upagīta-kīrtiṁ
gopyo dīdṛkṣita-dṛśo 'bhyagayan sametāḥ
Translation:
Lord Kṛṣṇa's hair, powdered with the dust raised by the cows, was decorated with a peacock feather and forest flowers. His glance charmed, and He smiled beautifully as He played upon His flute, while His companions sang His glories. The gopīs, all together, came forward to meet Him, their eyes very eager to see Him. Commentary:
In this verse, the Vraja gopīs are described in particular. The young gopīs came forward to meet Kṛṣṇa, whose locks of hair were powdered with the dust raised by the cows, paśu-raja, and decorated with forest flowers and a peacock feather, and who glanced charmingly and smiled attractively. In another meaning, Kṛṣṇa's glance emitted a beautiful smile. The gopīs' eyes had a strong desire to see Kṛṣṇa, dīdṛkṣita-dṛśaḥ, so they could not follow the order of their minds to give up watching Kṛṣṇa because of shyness. They don't want to look at Kṛṣṇa because after all they are married. They are shy, they are chaste ladies, they are not supposed to look at a boy who is not their husband. But they can't help it. They just can't stop because Kṛṣṇa is so beautiful, He is just so attractive, and they just can't stop looking. So, they are in a crazy situation. They are not supposed to, but they have to. They just can't help it. Kṛṣṇa's glance emitted a beautiful smile. The gopīs' eyes had a strong desire to see Kṛṣṇa, but they could not follow the order of their minds to give up watching Kṛṣṇa because of shyness. Becoming independent and jealous of the ears hearing Kṛṣṇa's flute and the nostrils smelling His fragrance, the eyes gave up the shelter of the gopīs and went to Kṛṣṇa by themselves in order to gain the treasure of Kṛṣṇa's charming glances. While leaving their houses to go forward to Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs said to their husbands, "Are you going to stop me or kill me?" They knew that their husbands are watching them. They knew that they would not approve. And they knew that, by social custom, really, their husbands should kill their wives because they are unchaste, they are not following custom, they are not following social custom. But the gopīs just challenged them openly and said, "Well, we don't care. You can kill me or not, it doesn't matter. I will anyway look at Kṛṣṇa." This is how intense their attraction is, their love for Kṛṣṇa is.
idha mukunda-mukha-sārada-mandirākṣi-bhṛṅgais
tapaṁ jahur vana-caraṁ vraja-yoṣito 'hnā
tat-sat-kṛtiṁ samadhigamya viśeṣa-toṣaṁ
sa-vrīḍha-hāsa-vinayaṁ yad upāgatam-okṣam
Translation:
With their bee-like eyes, the women of Vṛndāvana drank the honey of the beautiful face of Lord Mukunda, and thus they gave up the distress they had felt during the day because of separation from Him. The young Vṛndāvana ladies cast sidelong glances at the Lord, glances filled with bashfulness, laughter, and submission, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, completely accepting these glances as a proper offering of respect, entered the cowherd village. Commentary:
What did the gopīs do when they approached Kṛṣṇa? This verse answers the question. With their bee-like eyes, the Vraja gopīs drank the honey, sāradam, of Mukunda's beautiful sweet face. The gopīs, who were not seen by Kṛṣṇa, did not just glance upon Him, but they stared at Kṛṣṇa with wide open eyes when no one was looking. Then, upon catching Kṛṣṇa's attention, those gopīs broke into smiles out of joy. But due to bashfulness, they stopped their open eyes and smiles by covering their mouth with their left hands and pulling their veils over their eyes. This showed the gopīs' sense of submission, vinayam. Thus, the gopīs displayed all the moods of chaste girls who look upon their beloved with shyness, jubilation, and submission. Taking their gazing as an offering, tat-sat-kṛtiṁ, from their hearts, Kṛṣṇa became aware of the great sweetness of the gopīs' love. Fully accepting, samadhigamya, those glances with complete relish, that Supreme Master of romantic arts entered the village of Vraja. There is a meeting in the two actions of offering and accepting the bashful smiling. The gopīs' offering of respect was their bashful laughing, submission, and sidelong glances, upāgata-mokṣam. Kṛṣṇa accepted their offering by responding with enchanting glances. One can elaborate on the scene as follows: Taking the flower of their glances offered by their servants called the sañcāri-bhāva of enthusiasm in the hands of their eyes, and taking the flower of their smiles offered by the servants called the sañcāri-bhāva of joy in their hands, made of their delicate lips, the Vraja gopīs approached Kṛṣṇa saying, "Please accept these offerings, which are all that we have in our house." When Kṛṣṇa engaged His servant in the form of His glance to accept the gifts, His crafty glance became eager to steal the gifts, which were previously kept within the gopīs' houses. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa withdrew His glance to Himself. When the gopīs offered these gifts again, Kṛṣṇa's glance freed itself, and quickly approached the gopīs to steal the two gifts with the vigor of a warrior. When His sakhī in the form of bashfulness, who has the power to cover things, suddenly appeared and hid the two gifts. Then, another sakhī named vinayā, submission, arrived, and a fight broke out between them. Kṛṣṇa's servant in the form of His glance, however, forcibly took the gift of the gopīs' glances, along with their bashfulness and submission, and offered them to Kṛṣṇa. Receiving these three like a precious jewel, Kṛṣṇa carefully placed them upon the altar in the temple of His heart. This is the implication of the word sat-kṛtiṁ, offering. Although bashfulness and other words have their own power of implication, because sat-kṛtiṁ and mokṣa have such deep meanings, they have been explained here in detail. Another meaning is as follows: As Kṛṣṇa respectfully, sat-kṛtiṁ, accepted the gopīs' shy glances, upāgata-mokṣam, which were like bashfully controlled smiles, and entered the village, the young women of Vraja gave up the pain of separation, viraha-jam, they had felt from Him during the day. Yes, this is just so wonderful to read. Such wonderful poetry. How Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura is explaining how Kṛṣṇa takes the glances of the gopīs, and places them as an offering on the altar in His heart. He compares His heart to an altar, and He takes the glances and offers them on the altar of His heart. I mean, we can just try to understand a little bit, anyway. What is going on when Kṛṣṇa is coming back from the forest, and the gopīs stand there, come out of the house. They look at Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, they exchange glances. What is going on there, really? It may sound so: "Yeah, well, He is coming and they look at Him." It may sound so kind of ordinary, so everyday this happens, big deal. But no, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, He is explaining to us what actually goes on. On one hand they are shy, they are bashful, they don't want to look at Him, but they just have to. And then there is a fight. The eyes are envious of the ears and of the nose, because the ears, they are allowed to hear the beautiful play Kṛṣṇa is doing on His flute, and the nose is smelling the beautiful fragrance from His lotus feet and His whole body. And so, the eyes are envious. "We cannot go and see, the other senses are allowed, but we cannot because of bashfulness, because of shyness." But anyway, they don't care, they do it anyway, and they leave the body and go to Kṛṣṇa. Just try to figure this out. We are so limited here in the material world, with our material body. But in the spiritual world, there is, everything is possible. And then, Kṛṣṇa is taking these glances from the gopīs. And then, there is some kind of battle going on there, and then, He takes the glances, and He places them in His heart as an offering from the gopīs. This is, this is what the gopīs say. "That's all we have in our house. We have nothing we can offer You, no yogurt, no ghee, no nothing. All we have is our attraction, is our glances. So please, accept this as an offering." And Kṛṣṇa does, and He places them in His heart, because it's such a great treasure. It gives Him so much joy, these glances of the gopīs. He is... just like they wait for Kṛṣṇa to come back, He is also waiting to come back, because He knows He will see the gopīs, He will meet the gopīs, they will glance at Him, they will look at Him. And this exchange is so pleasurable, is so sweet, that Kṛṣṇa can't wait until He meets the gopīs, just like they can't wait until they meet Him. So, what is going on there between the two, this exchange of love, we can maybe get a little idea, a little glimpse, when great ācāryas like Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explain this to us, when they kind of take away the curtain a little bit and say, "Well, look, this is what is actually going on there."
So, this is very wonderful, wonderful descriptions, wonderful commentaries of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. And, if I may, I would like to invite you all, encourage you all to read this for yourself, this wonderful Sārārtha-darśinī commentary of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura to the Tenth Canto. Of course, it is very nice. Śrīla Prabhupāda was unfortunately not able to comment on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam after the thirteenth chapter, because the body wouldn't allow any longer. So, he didn't, he wrote comments up to the thirteenth chapter of the Brahma-vimohana-līlā. And after this, there's fourteenth to ninetieth, there's quite a few chapters left. So, since Śrīla Prabhupāda was not able to comment on these verses, we can take the comments of Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, because he did comment on these verses, on these chapters. And it's wonderful to read, and it gives us a little idea what is waiting when we finally go back to Kṛṣṇa, when we are able to be part of this all. Now we can just read about it and relish and try to understand, try to get a little glimpse, but we can meditate upon how nice it will be or would be if we could be part of this also, if we could participate, and even if we cannot participate for whatever reason, at least that we could watch this all, and be in that way part of it, just to be there as some living entity in Vṛndāvana, in the spiritual world, and just see, just watch this whole scene, watch this all, Kṛṣṇa coming back and the gopīs glancing at Him, so that we have something nice to meditate upon. Of course, we can also meditate upon we are not the body, we are a spiritual soul. That's also nice, that's also true, that's also a spiritual fact. But if we want to meditate about something else, for ever so often, we can also meditate upon these beautiful scenes in Vṛndāvana, and increase our longing to go there, to want to go there. This is a great inspiration, this is a great encouragement to keep on performing devotional service like was described in today's verse, in the association of devotees, so that we remember, "Why are we doing this? What are we doing this for?" There must be some goal, there must be something to look forward to, something to, worthwhile to accomplish. That's how we we function in the material world. We always do something and we want the result, we are not so selfless, we are not so detached. So, we can meditate upon, "This is our goal. This is where we want to go. We want to enter these pastimes," or at least we want to, we can start with trying to understand them, try to, what is actually in there in these pastimes, in these loving exchanges. And then, something will be accomplished already. And from there, we can then move on if we are allowed, and we try to qualify for that. So, thank you very much for being so patient, and listen to all of this. And I think, after all of this, there's not much, nothing more to say. What can we say after Viśvanātha Cakravartī has explained all of this? There's nothing more for us to add, I think. So let us just leave it at that. Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam kī jaya! Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura kī jaya! Lord Balarāma kī jaya! Śrī Kṛṣṇa kī jaya!