rÄsotsavaḥ sampravá¹›tto
gopÄ«-maṇá¸ala-maṇá¸itaḥ
yogeśvareṇa kṛṣṇena
tÄsÄá¹ madhye dvayor dvayoḥ
praviá¹£á¹ena gá¹›hÄ«tÄnÄá¹
kaṇá¹he sva-nikaá¹aá¹ striyaḥ
yaá¹ manyeran nabhas tÄvad
vimÄna-Å›ata-saá¹…kulam
divaukasÄá¹ sa-dÄrÄṇÄm
autsukyÄpahá¹›tÄtmanÄm
1 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: CC(1)
rÄsa - of the rÄsa dance; utsavaḥ - the festivity; sampravá¹›ttaḥ - commenced; gopÄ«-maṇá¸ala - by the circle of gopÄ«s; maṇá¸itaḥ - decorated; yoga - of mystic power; Ä«Å›vareṇa - by the supreme controller; kṛṣṇena - Lord Kṛṣṇa; tÄsÄm - of them; madhye - within the midst; dvayoḥ dvayoḥ - between each pair; praviá¹£á¹ena - present; gá¹›hÄ«á¹ÄnÄm - who were held; kaṇá¹he - by the necks; sva-nikaá¹am - next to themselves; striyaḥ - the women; yam - whom; manyeran - considered; nabhaḥ - the sky; tÄvat - at that time; vimÄna - of airplanes; Å›ata - with hundreds; saá¹…kulam - crowded; diva - of the heavenly planets; okasÄm - belonging to the inhabitants; sa - accompanied; dÄrÄṇÄm - by their wives; autsukya - by eagerness; apahá¹›ta - carried away; ÄtmanÄm - their minds.
The festive rÄsa dance commenced, with the gopÄ«s arrayed in a circle. Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself and entered between each pair of gopÄ«s, and as that master of mystic power placed His arms around their necks, each girl thought He was standing next to her alone. The demigods and their wives were overwhelmed with eagerness to witness the rÄsa dance, and they soon crowded the sky with their hundreds of celestial airplanes.
ÅšrÄ«la Bilvamaá¹…gala ṬhÄkura has written the following verse about the rÄsa dance:
aá¹…ganÄm aá¹…ganÄm antarÄ mÄdhavo
mÄdhavaá¹ mÄdhavaá¹ cÄntareṇÄá¹…ganÄḥ
ittham Äkalpite maṇá¸ale madhya-gaḥ
sañjagau veṇunÄ devakÄ«-nandanaḥ
“Lord MÄdhava was situated between each pair of gopÄ«s, and a gopÄ« was situated between each pair of His manifestations. And ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the son of DevakÄ«, also appeared in the middle of the circle, playing upon His flute and singing.â€
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura points out that the gopÄ«s, maddened by love, were unable to understand that ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa had expanded Himself so He could personally dance with each of them. Each gopÄ« saw one manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. The demigods and their wives, however, could see all His different manifestations as they watched the rÄsa dance from their airplanes, and thus they were completely astonished.
