Shloka 39
गोवर्धनोत्तरविस्मयः, रासलीलाप्रसङ्गः, तथा सर्वव्याप्तिवेदान्तोपदेशः
नूनम् उक्ता त्वरामीति पुनर् एष्यामि ते ऽन्तिकम् तेन कृष्णेन येनैषा त्वरिता पदपद्धतिः
nūnam uktā tvarāmīti punar eṣyāmi te 'ntikam tena kṛṣṇena yenaiṣā tvaritā padapaddhatiḥ
“Surely,” he thought, “I have said, ‘I am hurrying’—and so I shall return again to your presence.” Thus, by that Kṛṣṇa through whom this swift course of footsteps has been set in motion, the path itself is made rapid.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Kṛṣṇa’s deliberate pacing of the gopīs’ pursuit and his own movements.
Teaching: Devotional
Quality: authoritative
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Kṛṣṇa orchestrates the rhythms of meeting and separation to awaken single-pointed longing that culminates in unwavering bhakti.
Leela: Madhurya
Dharma Restored: The dharma of steadfast love—hope that returns to the Lord again and again despite concealment.
Concept: The Lord can ‘set the pace’ of the devotee’s journey—accelerating longing and return through his own inscrutable play.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Accept fluctuations in spiritual intensity as part of divine pedagogy; keep returning through disciplined sādhana and trust.
Vishishtadvaita: Divine initiative (anugraha) cooperates with the soul’s effort; the Lord actively draws the devotee without erasing agency.
Vishnu Form: Krishna
Bhakti Type: Madhurya
FAQs
This verse frames speed and success not merely as personal effort but as divinely enabled—Kṛṣṇa (as Viṣṇu’s sovereign power) is the unseen cause that makes a journey and its outcome possible.
By showing that even when a person resolves “I will hurry and return,” the effectiveness of that resolve is fulfilled through the Lord’s sustaining and directing power operating within the world.
Viṣṇu (named here as Kṛṣṇa) is presented as the Supreme Reality whose governance pervades ordinary events—human motion, timing, and accomplishment—supporting a theistic vision central to Vaiṣṇava philosophy.