Shloka 16
Gopī-gīta: The Song of the Gopīs in Separation
Viraha-bhakti
पतिसुतान्वयभ्रातृबान्धवा- नतिविलङ्घ्य तेऽन्त्यच्युतागता: । गतिविदस्तवोद्गीतमोहिता: कितव योषित: कस्त्यजेन्निशि ॥ १६ ॥
pati-sutānvaya-bhrātṛ-bāndhavān ativilaṅghya te ’nty acyutāgatāḥ gati-vidas tavodgīta-mohitāḥ kitava yoṣitaḥ kas tyajen niśi
O Acyuta, You know well why we have come. Enchanted by the loud song of Your flute, we have cast aside husbands, children, ancestors, brothers, and kin to reach You. Who but a deceiver like You would abandon young women who come in the middle of the night just to see You?
FAQs
This verse shows the gopīs declaring that Kṛṣṇa’s divine call overrides even the strongest worldly ties—husband, children, and relatives—revealing the Bhagavata ideal of single-pointed love for Bhagavān.
In intimate devotion, the gopīs speak with loving reproach: His enchanting song draws them irresistibly, and His seeming absence feels like playful “deception,” intensifying their longing (viraha-bhakti).
It points to inner priority: keep duties outwardly, but let the heart be captivated by remembrance of Kṛṣṇa—through nāma-japa, kīrtana, and hearing—so devotion becomes the guiding center of life.