taá¹ kÄcin netra-randhreṇa
há¹›di ká¹›tvÄ nimÄ«lya ca
pulakÄá¹…gy upaguhyÄste
yogÄ«vÄnanda-samplutÄ

 tam - Him; kÄcit - one of them; netra - of her eyes; randhreṇa - through the aperture; há¹›di - in her heart; ká¹›tvÄ - placing; nimÄ«lya - closing; ca - and; pulaka-aá¹…gÄ« - the hair on her limbs standing on end; upaguhya - embracing; Äste - she remained; yogÄ« - a yogÄ«; iva - like; Änanda - in ecstasy; samplutÄ - drowned.


Text

One gopī took the Lord through the aperture of her eyes and placed Him within her heart. Then, with her eyes closed and her bodily hairs standing on end, she continuously embraced Him within. Thus immersed in transcendental ecstasy, she resembled a yogī meditating upon the Lord.

Purport

ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura states that the seven gopÄ«s mentioned so far in this chapter are the first seven of the eight principal gopÄ«s, whose status allowed them to immediately approach ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa upon His reappearance. The ÄcÄrya quotes a verse from the ÅšrÄ« Vaiṣṇava-toá¹£aṇī that gives the names of these seven as CandrÄvalÄ«, ÅšyÄmalÄ, ÅšaibyÄ, PadmÄ, ÅšrÄ« RÄdhÄ, LalitÄ and ViÅ›ÄkhÄ. The eighth is understood to be BhadrÄ. ÅšrÄ« Vaiṣṇava-toá¹£aṇī itself quotes a verse from the Skanda PurÄṇa that declares these eight gopÄ«s to be the principal among the three billion gopÄ«s. Detailed information about the hierarchy of gopÄ«s is available in ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmī’s Ujjvala-nÄ«lamaṇi.

The Padma PurÄṇa confirms that ÅšrÄ« RÄdhÄ is the foremost of the gopÄ«s:

yathÄ rÄdhÄ priyÄ viṣṇos
 tasyÄḥ kuṇá¸aá¹ priyaá¹ tathÄ
sarva-gopīṣu saivaikÄ
 viṣṇor atyanta-vallabhÄ

“Just as ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī is most dear to Kṛṣṇa, Her bathing pond is similarly dear. Of all the gopÄ«s, She is the most beloved of the Lord.â€

The Bá¹›had-gautamÄ«ya-tantra also names ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī as Kṛṣṇa’s foremost consort:

devÄ« kṛṣṇa-mayÄ« proktÄ
 rÄdhikÄ para-devatÄ
sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva
 kÄntiḥ sammohinÄ« parÄ

“The transcendental goddess ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī is the direct counterpart of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.†(This translation is ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda’s English rendering of Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, Ä€di 4.83.)

Additional information about ÅšrÄ« RÄdhÄ is given in the Ṛg-pariÅ›iṣṭa (the supplement to the Ṛg Veda): rÄdhayÄ mÄdhavo devo mÄdhavenaiva rÄdhikÄ/ vibhrÄjante janeá¹£u. “Among all persons, it is ÅšrÄ« RÄdhÄ in whose company Lord MÄdhava is especially glorious, as She is especially glorious in His.â€