Shloka 11
Veṇu-gīta-āhvāna and the Gopīs’ Appeal: The Opening of Rāsa-līlā
दु:सहप्रेष्ठविरहतीव्रतापधुताशुभा: । ध्यानप्राप्ताच्युताश्लेषनिर्वृत्या क्षीणमङ्गला: ॥ १० ॥ तमेव परमात्मानं जारबुद्ध्यापि सङ्गता: । जहुर्गुणमयं देहं सद्य: प्रक्षीणबन्धना: ॥ ११ ॥
duḥsaha-preṣṭha-viraha- tīvra-tāpa-dhutāśubhāḥ dhyāna-prāptācyutāśleṣa- nirvṛtyā kṣīṇa-maṅgalāḥ
Para las gopīs que no pudieron ir a ver a Kṛṣṇa, la separación insoportable del amado se volvió un ardor intenso que quemó todo karma impío. Meditando, alcanzaron el abrazo de Acyuta, y el éxtasis consumió incluso su piedad material. Aunque Él es el Paramātmā, ellas lo pensaron como su amante y se unieron a Él en ese ánimo íntimo; así se anularon sus ataduras kármicas y abandonaron de inmediato el cuerpo burdo hecho de guṇas.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments upon this verse as follows: “Here Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks in a peculiar way: he presents the intimate object the gopīs attained as if it were an external idea, thus keeping its true nature secret from outsiders, while at the same time he reveals to the confidential devotees well versed in the scientific conclusions of devotional service the internal meaning that is his real purport. Thus to outsiders Śukadeva says that Kṛṣṇa gave the gopīs liberation, but to the confidential hearers Śukadeva reveals that when the gopīs experienced separation from their beloved there arose in them both immeasurable unhappiness and immeasurable happiness, and that they gradually achieved their desired goal.
FAQs
This verse teaches that the gopīs’ intense pain of separation burned away inauspiciousness, showing that viraha-bhakti can powerfully purify the heart when centered on Kṛṣṇa.
Śukadeva explains that their absorption in Kṛṣṇa was so complete that, even in separation, they experienced His presence internally—an indication of their unmatched devotional trance.
When feeling distance from the Divine, one can intensify sincere remembrance—japa, kīrtana, and contemplation of Kṛṣṇa’s qualities—turning longing into steady purification and devotion.