Shloka 43
Paugaṇḍa Cowherding, Tālavana, the Slaying of Dhenukāsura, and Revival from Poisoned Yamunā Water
पीत्वा मुकुन्दमुखसारघमक्षिभृङ्गै- स्तापं जहुर्विरहजं व्रजयोषितोऽह्नि । तत्सत्कृतिं समधिगम्य विवेश गोष्ठं सव्रीडहासविनयं यदपाङ्गमोक्षम् ॥ ४३ ॥
pītvā mukunda-mukha-sāragham akṣi-bhṛṅgais tāpaṁ jahur viraha-jaṁ vraja-yoṣito ’hni tat sat-kṛtiṁ samadhigamya viveśa goṣṭhaṁ savrīḍa-hāsa-vinayaṁ yad apāṅga-mokṣam
Mit bienengleichen Augen tranken die Frauen von Vraja den Honig vom schönen Antlitz Mukundas und ließen so die tagsüber aus der Trennung entstandene Glut des Kummers fahren. Ihre Seitenblicke, erfüllt von Scham, Lachen und Demut, nahm Śrī Kṛṣṇa als angemessene Ehrengabe an und trat in das Dorf der Kuhhirten ein.
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda describes this incident as follows: “All the gopīs in Vṛndāvana remained very morose on account of Kṛṣṇa’s absence. All day they were thinking of Kṛṣṇa in the forest or of Him herding cows in the pasture. When they saw Kṛṣṇa returning, all their anxieties were immediately relieved, and they began to look at His face the way drones hover over the honey of the lotus flower. When Kṛṣṇa entered the village, the young gopīs smiled and laughed. Kṛṣṇa, while playing the flute, enjoyed the beautiful smiling faces of the gopīs.”
FAQs
This verse states that Kṛṣṇa’s apāṅga—His sidelong, mercy-filled glance—carries the power to grant mokṣa, because His personal presence and favor dissolve bondage and awaken pure devotion.
While Kṛṣṇa was away herding cows and roaming the forest with His friends, the gopīs felt intense separation; when He returned and they beheld His face, that distress was relieved like heat cooled by nectar.
By steady darśana through śravaṇa and kīrtana—hearing and chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names and līlās—one can absorb the mind in Him, reducing worldly anxiety and deepening bhakti.