Shloka 22
Gopī-gīta Aftermath: Kṛṣṇa Returns and Explains Divine Non-Reciprocation
Rāsa-līlā Dialogue
न पारयेऽहं निरवद्यसंयुजां स्वसाधुकृत्यं विबुधायुषापि व: । या माभजन् दुर्जरगेहशृङ्खला: संवृश्च्य तद् व: प्रतियातु साधुना ॥ २२ ॥
na pāraye ’haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ yā mābhajan durjara-geha-śṛṅkhalāḥ saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā
你们无瑕的奉事之恩，我纵使以梵天一生之寿也难以偿还。你们斩断难断的家室羁绊而来敬奉我。故愿你们自身的光辉善行，成为你们的回报。
The translation and word meanings for this verse are taken from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s English rendering of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Ādi 4.180) .
FAQs
In 10.32.22, Kṛṣṇa says He cannot repay the gopīs’ pure, faultless devotion even with a divine lifespan, and that their own saintly virtue should be their reward.
Because the gopīs abandoned even the “hard-to-break chains” of household attachment solely to serve Him; Kṛṣṇa acknowledges that such selfless prema exceeds any material or even celestial compensation.
Serve with sincerity rather than bargaining for results, and measure “reward” as inner purification and steadfast devotion—letting bhakti itself become the fruit.