Shloka 41
Uddhava Sent to Vraja: Consolation to Nanda-Yaśodā and the Gopīs’ Separation
यथा भ्रमरिकादृष्ट्या भ्राम्यतीव महीयते । चित्ते कर्तरि तत्रात्मा कर्तेवाहंधिया स्मृत: ॥ ४१ ॥
yathā bhramarikā-dṛṣṭyā bhrāmyatīva mahīyate citte kartari tatrātmā kartevāhaṁ-dhiyā smṛtaḥ
ചുറ്റിത്തിരിയുന്നവന് ഭൂമി തിരിയുന്നതായി തോന്നുന്നതുപോലെ, അഹങ്കാരത്തിൽ ബാധിതനായ ജീവൻ—വാസ്തവത്തിൽ ചിത്തം മാത്രമേ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുകയുള്ളൂ—തന്നെയാണു കർത്താവെന്ന് കരുതുന്നു.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives a parallel idea: Although our happiness and distress are caused by our own interaction with the material qualities, we perceive the Lord to be their cause.
FAQs
This verse explains that doership is superimposed on the self when the mind takes the role of agent; through the ego-sense (“I”), the ātmā is mistakenly remembered as the doer.
Uddhava conveyed Kṛṣṇa’s consoling and instructive message: to help the gopīs endure separation by grounding their love in spiritual understanding—distinguishing the pure self from the mind’s ego-driven perceptions.
When anxiety arises from “I must control everything,” remember that the mind’s ego creates the feeling of doership; practice offering actions to Kṛṣṇa and observe the mind without identifying as its restless agent.