Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 12
Sādhu-saṅga, the Gopīs’ Prema, and the Veda’s Culmination in Exclusive Surrender
ता नाविदन् मय्यनुषङ्गबद्ध- धिय: स्वमात्मानमदस्तथेदम् । यथा समाधौ मुनयोऽब्धितोये नद्य: प्रविष्टा इव नामरूपे ॥ १२ ॥
tā nāvidan mayy anuṣaṅga-baddha- dhiyaḥ svam ātmānam adas tathedam yathā samādhau munayo ’bdhi-toye nadyaḥ praviṣṭā iva nāma-rūpe
ഹേ ഉദ്ധവാ! സമാധിയിൽ മുനികൾ നദികൾ സമുദ്രത്തിൽ ലയിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ നാമ‑രൂപബോധം നഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നതുപോലെ, വൃന്ദാവനത്തിലെ ഗോപികൾ മനസ്സിൽ എന്നിൽ പൂർണ്ണമായി ആസക്തരായി, സ്വന്തം ദേഹം, ഈ ലോകം, ഭാവിജന്മം എന്നിവയെക്കുറിച്ച് ചിന്തിക്കാനാകാതെ പോയി; അവരുടെ ചൈതന്യം മുഴുവൻ എന്നിലേയ്ക്ക് ബന്ധിതമായിരുന്നു।
The words svam ātmānam adas tathedam indicate that while for ordinary persons one’s personal body is the most near and dear thing, the gopīs considered their own bodies to be distant and remote, just as a yogī in samādhi trance considers ordinary things around his physical body or his physical body itself to be most remote. When Kṛṣṇa played on His flute late at night, the gopīs immediately forgot everything about their so-called husbands and children and went to dance with Lord Kṛṣṇa in the forest. These controversial points have been clearly explained in the book Kṛṣṇa, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The basic explanation is that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything, and the gopīs are the Lord’s own potency. Thus there is no discrepancy or immorality in the almighty Personality of Godhead’s loving affairs with His own manifest potency, the gopīs, who happen to be the most beautiful young girls in the creation of God.
FAQs
This verse says that when the mind is bound by loving attachment to Kṛṣṇa, one no longer perceives a separate self or dualistic distinctions of “this” and “that,” like rivers losing separate identity upon entering the ocean.
He uses it to illustrate how intense absorption—especially in devotion to the Lord—causes individual designations (name and form) to fade, just as rivers merge into the ocean and are no longer distinguished as separate streams.
Practice steady remembrance of Kṛṣṇa (japa, kīrtana, hearing) so the mind becomes attached to the divine; as attachment deepens, anxiety rooted in ego and constant “me vs. world” thinking naturally diminishes.