Text 7

By nature, the living entity is the object to be enjoyed (bhogya-vastu) and Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer (bhoktā ). By performing bhajana in the association of rasika-bhaktas, the desire to serve Śrī Rādhā, who is permeated with transcendental bliss, becomes strong, and the loving sentiments of the gopīs (gopī-bhāva ) awaken.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.29.38) states:

तन् नः प्रसीद वृजिनार्दन ते’ङ्घ्रि-मूलं प्राप्ता विसृज्य वसतीस् त्वद्-उपासनाशाः
त्वत्-सुन्दर-स्मित-निरीक्षण-तीव्र-कामतप्तात्मनां पुरुष-भूषण देहि दास्यम्

tan naḥ prasīda vṛjinārdana te’ṅghri-mūlaṃ prāptā visṛjya vasatīs tvad-upāsanāśāḥ
tvat-sundara-smita-nirīkṣaṇa-tīvra-kāmataptātmanāṃ puruṣa-bhūṣaṇa dehi dāsyam

[Attracted by the sound of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute, the gopīs approached Him and said:] O You who remove suffering, we have given up our homes, family members and relatives, and we have come to Your lotus feet only because we desire to serve You. O jewel among men, be pleased with us. O best among men, Your sweet smile and attractive glances have set our hearts ablaze with a burning desire for intimate meeting with You. Every pore of our bodies burns with this desire. Please accept us as Your maidservants.

तव दास्य-आशे छाडियाछि घर-द्वार
दया करि’ देह कृष्ण, चरण तोमार

tava dāsya-āśe chāḍiyāchi ghara-dvāra
dayā kari’ deha kṛṣṇa, caraṇa tomāra

तव हास्य-मुख-निरीक्षण-कामि-जने
तोमार कैङ्कर्य देह प्रफुल्ल-वदने

tava hāsya-mukha-nirīkṣaṇa-kāmi-jane
tomāra kaiṅkarya deha praphulla-vadane

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

Immersed in the mood of the gopīs, Śukadeva Gosvāmī uttered this verse. Hearing the sound of the flute, the vraja-gopīs go to the place of rāsa, where they come face to face with Kṛṣṇa. Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, the ocean of all nectarean mellows, then begins to joke with them, in order to taste the sentiments hidden within their hearts. The gopīs’ retorts are full of sarcastic humour.

The general meaning of this verse is that the gopīs are praying to become the maidservants of Kṛṣṇa–dehi dāsyam. Kṛṣṇa begins by saying, “O you who are intoxicated with your fresh youth, it is extremely rare to attain service to Me.”

The gopīs reply, “O Śyāmasundara, You fulfil the desires of those who are surrendered unto You. Your beautiful smiling glances have set intense lust ablaze in our hearts, and this is tormenting us. Nevertheless, we want no kind of compensation for our suffering. Please, just give us service to Your lotus feet.”

Or the gopīs say, “O Śyāmasundara, we are young women and want to give You happiness by means of our bodily limbs. Your gentle, smiling glance, the nectar of Your lips and so on are the paraphernalia we wish to employ in Your service. O ornament amongst men, we are fair-complexioned, and You are like a sapphire, so You are the natural ornament for our bodily limbs.”

Or the gopīs say sarcastically, “We are not praying to obtain the dust of Your lotus feet. You are making us suffer from moral guilt and unhappiness–You are certainly living up to Your name Vṛjinaardana (vanquisher of distress)! We have heard from Paurṇamāsī that even Lakṣmī, who enjoys pastimes on the chest of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, comes to take shelter of Your lotus feet–te’ṅghri-mūlam–but we are not Lakṣmī. We have just come here out of curiosity to view the natural beauty of Vṛndāvana on a moonlit night. So give Your shelter to Lakṣmī of Vaikuṇṭha, not to us! You should remember, though, that not even Lakṣmī and others would completely accept servitude to You. O best amongst men, You so eagerly desire to attain the young brides of Gokula that You even adorn the sakhās–Subala and others–in gopī dress. O jewel among men, the male gender has been defamed by Your doing this. Do not think we are suffering from lust. And we are not Your beloveds. This is only Your imagination.”