evaá¹ bhagavataḥ kṛṣṇÄl
labdha-mÄnÄ mahÄtmanaḥ
ÄtmÄnaá¹ menire strīṇÄá¹
mÄninyo hy adhikaá¹ bhuvi
evam - in this way; bhagavataḥ - from the Personality of Godhead; kṛṣṇÄt - Lord Kṛṣṇa; labdha - receiving; mÄnÄḥ - special respect; mahÄ-Ätmanaḥ - from the Supreme Soul; ÄtmÄnam - themselves; menire - they considered; strīṇÄm - among all women; mÄninyaḥ - becoming proud; hi - indeed; adhikam - the best; bhuvi - on the earth.
The gopīs became proud of themselves for having received such special attention from Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each of them thought herself the best woman on earth.
The gopÄ«s were proud because they had attained as their lover the greatest of all personalities. So in a sense they were proud of Kṛṣṇa. Also, the pride of the gopÄ«s was a pretense created by Kṛṣṇa’s pastime potency in order to intensify their love for Him through separation. In this connection, ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« quotes Bharata Muni’s NÄá¹yaÅ›Ästra: na vinÄ vipralambhena sambhogaḥ puá¹£á¹im aÅ›nute. “Direct contact is not fully appreciated until separation has been experienced.â€
