evaḿ bhagavataḥ kṛṣṇāl
labdha-mānā mahātmanaḥ
ātmānaḿ menire strīṇāḿ
māninyo hy adhikaḿ bhuvi
evam -- in this way; bhagavatah -- from the Personality of Godhead; krishnat -- Lord Krishna; labdha -- receiving; manah -- special respect; maha-atmanah -- from the Supreme Soul; atmanam -- themselves; menire -- they considered; strinam -- among all women; maninyah -- becoming proud; hi -- indeed; adhikam -- the best; bhuvi -- on the earth.
The gopis became proud of themselves for having received such special attention from Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and each of them thought herself the best woman on earth.
The gopis were proud because they had attained as their lover the greatest of all personalities. So in a sense they were proud of Krishna. Also, the pride of the gopis was a pretense created by Krishna's pastime potency in order to intensify their love for Him through separation. In this connection, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti quotes Bharata Muni's Natyasastra: na vina vipralambhena sambhogah pushtim asnute. "Direct contact is not fully appreciated until separation has been experienced."
