Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
gopyaÅ› ca kṛṣṇam upalabhya cirÄd abhīṣá¹aá¹
yat-prekṣaṇe dṛśiṣu pakṣma-kṛtaṠśapanti
dá¹›gbhir há¹›dÄ«-ká¹›tam alaá¹ parirabhya sarvÄs
tad-bhÄvam Äpur api nitya-yujÄá¹ durÄpam
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; gopyaḥ - the young cowherd women; ca - and; kṛṣṇam - Kṛṣṇa; upalabhya - sighting; cirÄt - after a long time; abhīṣá¹am - their object of desire; yat - whom; preká¹£aṇe - while seeing; dṛśiá¹£u - on their eyes; paká¹£ma - of lids; ká¹›tam - the maker; Å›apanti - they would curse; dá¹›gbhiḥ - with their eyes; há¹›dÄ«-ká¹›tam - taken into their hearts; alam - to their satisfaction; parirabhya - embracing; sarvÄḥ - all of them; tat - in Him; bhÄvam - ecstatic absorption; Äpuḥ - attained; api - even though; nitya - constantly; yujÄm - for those who engage in yogic discipline; durÄpam - difficult to attain.
According to ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ«, just then Lord BalarÄma saw the gopÄ«s standing a short distance away. Seeing them trembling with eagerness to meet Kṛṣṇa, and apparently ready to give up their lives if they could not, He tactfully decided to get up and involve Himself elsewhere. Then the gopÄ«s attained the state described in the current verse. In referring to the gopÄ«s’ intolerant disrespect of Lord BrahmÄ, “the creator of eyelids,†Śukadeva GosvÄmÄ« is giving vent to his own subtle jealousy of the gopÄ«s’ favored position.
ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« offers an alternate understanding of the phrase nitya-yujÄm, which may mean “even of the Lord’s principal queens, who tend to be proud of their constant association with Him.â€
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda writes: “Because they had been separated from Kṛṣṇa for so many years, the gopÄ«s, having come along with Nanda MahÄrÄja and mother YaÅ›odÄ, felt intense ecstasy in seeing Kṛṣṇa. No one can even imagine how anxious the gopÄ«s were to see Kṛṣṇa again. As soon as Kṛṣṇa became visible to them, they took Him inside their hearts through their eyes and embraced Him to their full satisfaction. Even though they were embracing Kṛṣṇa only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves. The ecstatic trance which they achieved simply by mentally embracing Kṛṣṇa is impossible to achieve even for great yogÄ«s constantly engaged in meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa could understand that the gopÄ«s were rapt in ecstasy by embracing Him in their minds, and therefore, since He is present in everyone’s heart, He also reciprocated the embracing from within.â€