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
Pour les gopīs qui ne purent aller voir Kṛṣṇa, la séparation insupportable d’avec le bien-aimé devint une brûlure ardente qui consuma tout karma impie. Par la méditation, elles atteignirent l’étreinte d’Acyuta, et l’extase épuisa même leur piété matérielle. Bien qu’Il soit le Paramātmā, elles Le conçurent comme leur amant et s’unirent à Lui dans cette intimité; ainsi leurs liens karmiques furent annulés et elles abandonnèrent aussitôt le corps grossier fait 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.