Shloka 53

गोवर्धनोत्तरविस्मयः, रासलीलाप्रसङ्गः, तथा सर्वव्याप्तिवेदान्तोपदेशः

Devanagari script

काचित् प्रविलसद्बाहुं परिरभ्य चुचुम्ब तम् गोपी गीतस्तुतिव्याजनिपुणा मधुसूदनम्

Transliteration

kācit pravilasadbāhuṃ parirabhya cucumba tam gopī gītastutivyājanipuṇā madhusūdanam

Translation

One gopī—skilled at veiling her praise as song—embraced Madhusūdana, whose arms played with graceful motion, and kissed Him.

Word by Word

• काचित्: a certain (gopī)
• काचित्: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; अनिश्चित-प्रत्यय ‘चित्’: “a certain (one)”

• प्रविलसत्: playfully moving
• प्रविलसत्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि+लस् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ), नपुंसकलिङ्ग/अव्ययवत् पूर्वपद; “sportively moving/gleaming” (as compound-member)

• बाहुम्: arm
• बाहुम्: कर्म (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; “arm”

• प्रविलसद्बाहुम्: (him) with playfully moving arms
• प्रविलसद्बाहुम्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रविलसत्-बाहु (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः: “the (one) whose arm is playfully moving / the playfully moving arm” (qualifying ‘तम्’)

• परिरभ्य: having embraced
• परिरभ्य: पूर्वकाल (Prior action)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परि+रभ् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Gerund/Absolutive), अव्यय; “having embraced”

• चुचुम्ब: kissed
• चुचुम्ब: क्रिया (Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: चुम्ब् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; “kissed”

• तम्: him
• तम्: कर्म (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; Pronoun: “him”

• गोपी: the gopī
• गोपी: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गोपी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; apposition to ‘काचित्’

• गीत: song
• गीत: सम्बन्ध (Relation within compound)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गीत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक (compound-member); “song”

• स्तुति: praise
• स्तुति: सम्बन्ध (Relation within compound)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्तुति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक (compound-member); “praise”

• व्याज: pretext
• व्याज: सम्बन्ध (Relation within compound)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रातिपदिक (compound-member); “pretext, guise”

• निपुणा: skilled in the guise of song and praise
• निपुणा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निपुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘गीत-स्तुति-व्याजे निपुणा’ इति सप्तमी/तत्पुरुषार्थः (locative-sense determinative): “skilled in the pretext of song and praise”

• मधुसूदनम्: Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)
• मधुसूदनम्: कर्म (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु-सूदन (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘मधुं सूदयति’ इति उपपद-तत्पुरुषः; “Madhu-slayer”

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: The intimacy and devotional artistry of the gopīs in rāsa

Teaching: Devotional

Quality: revealing

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: To draw the gopīs into exclusive loving absorption (prema) that culminates in liberation through intimate communion.

Leela: Moksha-dana

Dharma Restored: Elevation of love into God-centered devotion, demonstrating bhakti’s supremacy over mere ritual or status

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Devotional praise can be expressed through aesthetic forms—song, gesture, and intimate attention—when the object is Bhagavān himself.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Offer your best art—music, poetry, craft—as veiled or overt stuti, making beauty a vehicle of remembrance.

Vishishtadvaita: Bhagavān accepts embodied, affective offerings without diminishing his lordship, showing the compatibility of transcendence with personal reciprocity.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Bhakti Type: Madhurya

Characters & Entities

• Madhusudana
• Krishna
• Gopi

FAQs

What is the significance of the gopīs’ songful praise in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents gīta-stuti as a refined devotional mode where praise becomes intimate worship, showing bhakti as a direct means of approaching the Supreme Lord.

How does Sage Parāśara frame devotion in this rasa-līlā context?

Parāśara narrates the gopīs’ spontaneous, affectionate acts as devotional expression—love that simultaneously honors Vishnu’s supremacy and delights in Krishna’s accessible presence.

What is the theological importance of calling Krishna “Madhusūdana” here?

The epithet links the playful beloved of Vrindavana with Vishnu’s cosmic identity as the slayer of Madhu, affirming that the Supreme Reality is the very one approached through loving devotion.