api bata madhu-puryÄm Ärya-putro 'dhunÄste
smarati sa pitá¹›-gehÄn saumya bandhÅ«mÅ› ca gopÄn
kvacid api sa kathÄ naḥ kiá¹…karīṇÄá¹ gṛṇīte
bhujam aguru-sugandhaá¹ mÅ«rdhny adhÄsyat kadÄ nu
api - certainly; bata - regrettable; madhu-puryÄm - in the city of MathurÄ; Ärya-putraḥ - the son of Nanda MahÄrÄja; adhunÄ - now; Äste - resides; smarati - remembers; saḥ - He; pitá¹›-gehÄn - the household affairs of His father; saumya - O great soul (Uddhava); bandhÅ«n - His friends; ca - and; gopÄn - the cowherd boys; kvacit - sometimes; api - or; saḥ - He; kathÄḥ - talks; naḥ - of us; kiá¹…karīṇÄm - of the maidservants; gṛṇīte - relates; bhujam - hand; aguru-su-gandham - having the fragrance of aguru; mÅ«rdhni - on the head; adhÄsyat - will keep; kadÄ - when; nu - maybe.
The translation and word meanings for this verse are taken from ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda’s Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta (Ä€di 6.68).
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« writes very poetically, with deep spiritual insight, about the emotions expressed in this and the previous nine verses. He interprets RÄdhÄrÄṇī’s feelings as follows:
ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī thought, “Since Kṛṣṇa was once satisfied in Vraja but left for MathurÄ City, won’t He also develop a desire to leave that place and go somewhere else? MathurÄ is so close to Vá¹›ndÄvana that it’s possible He may even come back here.
“Kṛṣṇa is the son of a respectable gentleman, Nanda MahÄrÄja, so He must be staying in MathurÄ because of His sense of obligation to His father, who authorized His going there. On the other hand, while Nanda’s whole life is dedicated exclusively to Kṛṣṇa, Nanda is so innocent that he allowed himself to be tricked by the Yadus, who brought Kṛṣṇa to MathurÄ. Kṛṣṇa must be thinking, ‘Alas, alas! Since even My father could not bring Me back to Vraja, what can I do to return there?’ Thus Kṛṣṇa must be impatient to come back here, and so He has sent you, a messenger.
“It is only because Nanda is so innocent that he allowed his son to leave. If Nanda had allowed Kṛṣṇa’s mother, the queen of Vraja, to do so, she would have climbed onto AkrÅ«ra’s chariot and, holding her son by the neck, gone off to MathurÄ with Him, followed by all the gopÄ«s. But this was not possible.
“Ever since Kṛṣṇa left, Nanda has been stunned by separation from Him, and Nanda’s treasury rooms, storehouses, kitchens, sleeping quarters, opulent houses and so on are now vacant. Unswept and uncleansed, they are littered with grass, dust, leaves and cobwebs. Does Kṛṣṇa ever remember His father’s houses? And does He sometimes remember Subala and His other friends, who are now lying stunned in other neglected houses?
“The women in MathurÄ who now associate with Kṛṣṇa cannot know how to serve Him in the way that pleases Him most. When they see He is not satisfied and ask how they can make Him happy, does He tell them about us gopÄ«s?
“Kṛṣṇa must tell them, ‘You city ladies cannot please Me as much as the gopÄ«s of Vraja. They are most expert in stringing flower garlands, perfuming their bodies with ointments, playing various rhythms and melodies on stringed instruments, dancing and singing in the rÄsa performance, displaying their beauty, charm and cleverness, and skillfully playing at questions and answers. They are especially expert in the pastimes of meeting one’s lover and showing jealous anger and other signs of pure love and affection.’ Surely Kṛṣṇa must know this. Therefore He’ll probably tell the women of MathurÄ, ‘My dear women of the Yadu clan, please go back to your families. I no longer desire to associate with you. In fact, I’m going back to Vraja early tomorrow morning.’
“When will Kṛṣṇa speak like this and come back here to place His hand, fragrant with aguru, on our heads? Then He will console us, saying, ‘O beloveds of My heart, I swear to you that I will never abandon you again and go elsewhere. Indeed, I have not been able to find anyone in all the three worlds with even a trace of your good qualities.’â€
Thus ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« interprets the feelings of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī. The ÄcÄrya further explains that the present text displays the speech called sujalpa, as described by RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«:
yatrÄrjavÄt sa-gÄmbhÄ«ryaá¹
sa-dainyaá¹ saha-cÄpalam
sotkaṇá¹haá¹ ca hariḥ pṛṣá¹aḥ
sa sujalpo nigadyate
“When, out of honest sincerity, a lover questions Śrī Hari with gravity, humility, unsteadiness and eagerness, such speech is known as sujalpa.†(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 14.200)
Concluding this section of Chapter Forty-seven, ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« explains that there are ten divisions of divine madness (divyonmÄda), which are expressed by the ten divisions of citra-jalpa, or variegated speech. Such divine madness is shown in the special pastime of bewilderment, which is itself part of the supreme bliss, mahÄ-bhÄva, of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī. The ÄcÄrya quotes the following verses from RÅ«pa GosvÄmī’s Ujjvala-nÄ«lamaṇi (14.174, 178-80) to explain these ecstasies:
prÄyo vá¹›ndÄvaneÅ›varyÄá¹
mohano ’yam udañcati
etasya mohanÄkhyasya
gatiá¹ kÄm apy upeyuá¹£aḥ
bhramÄbhÄ kÄpi vaicitrÄ«
divyonmÄda itÄ«ryate
udghÅ«rá¹‡Ä citra-jalpÄdyÄs
tad-bhedÄ bahavo matÄḥ
preá¹£á¹hasya suhá¹›d-Äloke
gÅ«á¸ha-roá¹£Äbhijá¹›mbhitaḥ
bhÅ«ri-bhÄva-mayo jalpo
yas tÄ«vrotkaṇá¹hitÄntimaḥ
citra-jalpo daÅ›Äá¹…go ’yaá¹
prajalpaḥ parijalpitaḥ
vijalpo ’jjalpa-sañjalpaḥ
avajalpo ’bhijalpitam
Äjalpaḥ pratijalpaÅ› ca
sujalpaś ceti kīrtitaḥ
“It is virtually only within the princess of Vá¹›ndÄvana [ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī] that the ecstasy of bewilderment arises. She has attained to a special stage of this bewilderment, a wonderful state that resembles delusion. Known as divyonmÄda, it has many aspects, which come and go unsteadily, and one of these manifestations is citra-jalpa. This talk, induced by Her seeing Her beloved’s friend, is filled with covered anger and comprises many different ecstasies. It culminates in Her intense, anxious eagerness.
“This citra-jalpa has ten divisions, known as prajalpa, parijalpa, vijalpa, ujjalpa, sañjalpa, avajalpa, abhijalpa, Äjalpa, pratijalpa and sujalpa.â€
Finally, some authorities say that Kṛṣṇa Himself, eager to drink the sweetness of His beloved’s speech, assumed the form of the messenger bee.