śrī-gopya ūcuḥ
akṣaṇvatāḿ phalam idaḿ na paraḿ vidāmaḥ
sakhyaḥ paśūn anaviveśayator vayasyaiḥ
vaktraḿ vrajeśa-sutayor anaveṇu-juṣṭaḿ
yair vā nipītam anurakta-kaṭākṣa-mokṣam
sri-gopyah ucuh -- the gopis said; akshanvatam -- of those who have eyes; phalam -- the fruit; idam -- this; na -- not; param -- other; vidamah -- we know; sakhyah -- O friends; pasun -- the cows; anuvivesayatoh -- causing to enter one forest after another; vayasyaih -- with Their friends of the same age; vaktram -- the faces; vraja-isa -- of Maharaja Nanda; sutayoh -- of the two sons; anu-venu-jushtam -- possessed of flutes; yaih -- by which; va -- or; nipitam -- imbibed; anurakta -- loving; kata-aksha -- glances; moksham -- giving off.
The cowherd girls said: O friends, those eyes that see the beautiful faces of the sons of Maharaja Nanda are certainly fortunate. As these two sons enter the forest, surrounded by Their friends, driving the cows before Them, They hold Their flutes to Their mouths and glance lovingly upon the residents of Vrindavana. For those who have eyes, we think there is no greater object of vision.
This translation is quoted from Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi-lila 4.155).
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has commented as follows: "The gopis meant to say, 'O friends, if you simply remain in the shackles of family life in this material world, what will you ever get to see? The creator has granted us these eyes, so let us see the most wonderful thing there is to see, Krishna.' "
The gopis were aware that their mothers or other elder persons might hear their romantic words and disapprove, and thus they said, akshanvatam phalam: "To see Krishna is the goal for all persons and not simply ourselves." In other words, the gopis indicated that since Krishna is the supreme object of love for everyone, why couldn't they also love Him in spiritual ecstasy?
According to the acaryas, a different gopi spoke this and each of the following verses (through Text 19).
