śrī-parīkṣid uvāca
kṛṣṇaḿ viduḥ paraḿ kāntaḿ
na tu brahmatayā mune
guṇa-pravāhoparamas
tāsāḿ guṇa-dhiyāḿ katham
sri-parikshit uvaca -- Sri Parikshit said; krishnam -- Lord Krishna; viduh -- they knew; param -- only; kantam -- as their beloved; na -- not; tu -- but; brahmataya -- as the Absolute Truth; mune -- O sage, Sukadeva; guna -- of the three modes of material nature; pravaha -- of the mighty current; uparamah -- the cessation; tasam -- for them; guna-dhiyam -- whose mentality was caught up in those modes; katham -- how.
Sri Parikshit Maharaja said: O sage, the gopis knew Krishna only as their lover, not as the Supreme Absolute Truth. So how could these girls, their minds caught up in the waves of the modes of nature, free themselves from material attachment?
King Parikshit was sitting in an assembly of great sages and other important personalities, listening to the words of Sukadeva Gosvami. According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, as Sukadeva began speaking of the gopis' conjugal love for Krishna, the King noticed the expressions on the faces of some of the more materialistic persons present there and realized the doubt lurking in their hearts. Therefore, although the King thoroughly knew the purport of Sukadeva's words, he presented himself as experiencing personal doubt so that he could eradicate the doubt of others. That is why he asked this question.
