nÄsÅ«yan khalu kṛṣṇÄya
mohitÄs tasya mÄyayÄ
manyamÄnÄḥ sva-pÄrÅ›va-sthÄn
svÄn svÄn dÄrÄn vrajaukasaḥ
na asÅ«yan - were not jealous; khalu - even; kṛṣṇÄya - against Kṛṣṇa; mohitÄḥ - bewildered; tasya - His; mÄyayÄ - by the spiritual potency of illusion; manyamÄnÄḥ - thinking; sva-pÄrÅ›va - at their own sides; sthÄn - standing; svÄn svÄn - each their own; dÄrÄn - wives; vraja-okasaḥ - the cowherd men of Vraja.
The cowherd men, bewildered by Kṛṣṇa’s illusory potency, thought their wives had remained home at their sides. Thus they did not harbor any jealous feelings against Him.
Because the gopÄ«s loved Kṛṣṇa exclusively, Yoga-mÄyÄ protected their relationship with the Lord at all times, even though they were married. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« quotes from the Ujjvala-nÄ«lamaṇi as follows:
mÄyÄ-kalpita-tÄdá¹›k-strÄ«
śīlanenÄnusÅ«yubhiḥ
na jÄtu vrajadevÄ«nÄá¹
patibhiḥ saha saṅgamaḥ
“The gopÄ«s’ jealous husbands consorted not with their wives but with doubles manufactured by MÄyÄ. Thus these men never actually had any intimate contact with the divine ladies of Vraja.†The gopÄ«s are the internal energy of the Lord and can never belong to any other living being. Kṛṣṇa arranged their apparent marriage to other men simply to create the excitement of parakÄ«ya-rasa, the love between a married woman and her paramour. These activities are absolutely pure because they are the Lord’s pastimes, and saintly persons since time immemorial have relished these supreme spiritual events.
