yat paty-apatya-suhṛdām anuvṛttir ańga
strīṇāḿ sva-dharma iti dharma-vidā tvayoktam
astv evam etad upadeśa-pade tvayīśe
preṣṭho bhavāḿs tanu-bhṛtāḿ kila bandhur ātmā
yat -- which; pati -- of husbands; apatya -- children; suhridam -- and well-wishing relatives and friends; anuvrittih -- the following; anga -- our dear Krishna; strinam -- of women; sva-dharmah -- the proper religious duty; iti -- thus; dharma-vida -- by the knower of religion; tvaya -- You; uktam -- spoken; astu -- let it be; evam -- like that; etat -- this; upadesa -- of this instruction; pade -- to the real object; tvayi -- You; ise -- O Lord; preshthah -- the dearmost; bhavan -- You; tanu-bhritam -- for all embodied living beings; kila -- certainly; bandhuh -- the close relative; atma -- the very Self.
Our dear Krishna, as an expert in religion You have advised us that the proper religious duty for women is to faithfully serve their husbands, children and other relatives. We agree that this principle is valid, but actually this service should be rendered to You. After all, O Lord, You are the dearmost friend of all embodied souls. You are their most intimate relative and indeed their very Self.
Sri Krishna is the Soul of all souls, their dearmost friend and well-wisher. As stated in the Eleventh Canto of the Bhagavatam (11.5.41):
devarshi-bhutapta-nrinam pitrinam
na kinkaro nayam rini ca rajan
sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam
gato mukundam parihritya kartam
"O King, one who has given up all material duties and has taken full shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who offers shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even one's forefathers who have passed away. Since all such classes of living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, one who has surrendered to the Lord's service has no need to serve such persons separately." Authority descends from the author of all existence, the Supreme Lord. Natural figures of authority such as husbands, mothers, government leaders and sages gain their power and authority from the Supreme Lord and should thus represent the Absolute Truth to those who follow them. If one wholeheartedly engages in loving service to the original, Supreme Truth, one need not indirectly serve the Absolute Truth through the above-mentioned secondary authorities.
Even a soul surrendered to God, however, continues to serve the spiritual master, who is a direct, not an indirect, representative of the Supreme Lord. A bona fide acarya, or spiritual master, is the transparent medium leading the disciple to the lotus feet of Krishna. All indirect authorities become obsolete when one is directly in touch with the Absolute Truth. The gopis wanted to explain this basic point to Krishna, and some of the bolder young girls among them attempted to defeat Sri Krishna with His own statements, as exemplified in this verse.
