Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 60

Uddhava Meets the Gopīs: Bhramara-gītā and Kṛṣṇa’s Message of Separation

Devanagari script

नायं श्रियोऽङ्ग उ नितान्तरते: प्रसाद: स्वर्योषितां नलिनगन्धरुचां कुतोऽन्या: । रासोत्सवेऽस्य भुजदण्डगृहीतकण्ठ- लब्धाशिषां य उदगाद् व्रजवल्ल‍भीनाम् ॥ ६० ॥

Transliteration

nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ svar-yoṣitāṁ nalina-gandha-rucāṁ kuto ’nyāḥ rāsotsave ’sya bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha- labdhāśiṣāṁ ya udagād vraja-vallabhīnām

Translation

When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, the gopīs were embraced by the arms of the Lord. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or other consorts in the spiritual world. Indeed, never was such a thing even imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the lotus flower. And what to speak of worldly women who are very beautiful according to material estimation?

Synonyms

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle (निषेध-निपात)

• ayam: this
• ayam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; demonstrative pronoun

• śriyaḥ: of Śrī (fortune)
• śriyaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śrī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; 'of fortune/Śrī'

• aṅga: O dear (friend)
• aṅga: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aṅga (अव्यय)
• Form: Vocative particle (सम्बोधन-निपात)

• u: indeed
• u: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: u (अव्यय)
• Form: Emphatic particle (निपात)

• nitānta-rateḥ: of intense love
• nitānta-rateḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nitānta (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + rati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; 'of intense love/attachment'

• prasādaḥ: favor/grace
• prasādaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prasāda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• svar-yoṣitām: of celestial women
• svar-yoṣitām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svar (प्रातिपदिक) + yoṣit (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; 'of heavenly women'

• nalina-gandha-rucām: of lotus-scented, beautiful (ones)
• nalina-gandha-rucām: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nalina (प्रातिपदिक) + gandha (प्रातिपदिक) + ruc (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; adjective qualifying svar-yoṣitām: 'having lotus-fragrance and beauty'

• kutaḥ: how then? / whence?
• kutaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kutaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Interrogative adverb (प्रश्नाव्यय) 'whence/how then'

• anyāḥ: others
• anyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; 'others'

• rāsa-utsave: in the rāsa celebration
• rāsa-utsave: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāsa (प्रातिपदिक) + utsava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; 'in the rāsa festival'

• asya: of him (Kṛṣṇa)
• asya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; 'of him/this'

• bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha-labdha-āśiṣām: of those who gained blessings by his arm-embrace
• bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha-labdha-āśiṣām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhuja (प्रातिपदिक) + daṇḍa (प्रातिपदिक) + gṛhīta (कृदन्त) + kaṇṭha (प्रातिपदिक) + labdha (कृदन्त) + āśis (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; long determinative compound: 'of those who obtained blessings by having their necks embraced/held by (his) arm-staffs (arms)'

• yaḥ: which (grace)
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; relative pronoun referring to prasādaḥ

• udagāt: arose/appeared
• udagāt: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ud + gam (धातु)
• Form: Aorist (लुङ्), Parasmaipada, 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular

• vraja-vallabhīnām: of the Vraja maidens
• vraja-vallabhīnām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vraja (प्रातिपदिक) + vallabhī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; 'of the beloved women of Vraja (gopīs)'

Purport

The word meanings and translation for this verse are taken from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Madhya 8.80) .

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• Śrī (Lakṣmīdevī)
• Vraja-gopīs (Vraja-vallabhīs)
• Apsarās (heavenly women)

FAQs

What does the Srimad Bhagavatam say about the gopīs’ position compared to Lakṣmī and the apsarās?

This verse states that even Lakṣmī, eternally devoted to Kṛṣṇa, does not receive the particular intimate fortune that the Vraja gopīs received during the rāsa festival—what to speak of the heavenly maidens.

Why does Śukadeva Gosvāmī glorify the Vraja gopīs in Canto 10 Chapter 47?

In the context of Uddhava witnessing the gopīs’ unmatched love in separation, Śukadeva highlights that their prema is so exclusive and selfless that it grants them Kṛṣṇa’s most intimate favor, surpassing all other devotees’ forms of fortune.

Practical application of this teaching in modern life?

The verse encourages seekers to value wholehearted devotion over status, beauty, or prestige—cultivating sincere love and remembrance of Kṛṣṇa as the highest “fortune.”