Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 16
Kṛṣṇa Swallows the Forest Fire (Dāvāgni-līlā) and Restores the Herd
गोपीनां परमानन्द आसीद् गोविन्ददर्शने । क्षणं युगशतमिव यासां येन विनाभवत् ॥ १६ ॥
gopīnāṁ paramānanda āsīd govinda-darśane kṣaṇaṁ yuga-śatam iva yāsāṁ yena vinābhavat
少女牧女们见到戈文达归来，心中得大欢喜；因为对她们而言，离开祂哪怕一瞬，也如同百个劫期般漫长。
After saving the cowherd boys from the blazing forest fire, Kṛṣṇa saved the cowherd girls from the blazing fire of separation from Him. The gopīs, headed by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, have the greatest love for Kṛṣṇa, and even a single moment’s separation from Him seems like millions of years to them. The gopīs are the greatest devotees of God, and their specific pastimes with Kṛṣṇa will be described later in this work.
FAQs
This verse explains that the gopīs’ love is so intense that seeing Govinda is their supreme happiness, and even a brief separation from Him feels unbearably long—like hundreds of ages.
Śukadeva highlights the depth of the gopīs’ prema-bhakti: in divine love, time is not measured by clocks but by closeness to Kṛṣṇa—absence expands time into suffering, and presence becomes the highest bliss.
Let longing for God increase steadiness: when distracted or feeling “far,” turn that ache into sincere remembrance—japa, kīrtana, prayer, and hearing Kṛṣṇa-kathā—so separation becomes fuel for devotion rather than despair.