kiḿ nas tat-kathayā gopyaḥ
kathāḥ kathayatāparāḥ
yāty asmābhir vinā kālo
yadi tasya tathaiva naḥ
kim -- what (use); nah -- for us; tat -- about Him; kathaya -- with discussion; gopyah -- O gopis; kathah -- topics; kathayata -- please narrate; aparah -- other; yati -- it passes; asmabhih -- us; vina -- without; kalah -- time; yadi -- if; tasya -- His; tatha eva -- in the very same way; nah -- ours.
"Why bother talking about Him, dear gopi? Please talk of something else. If He passes His time without us, then we shall similarly pass ours [without Him]."
Srila Sridhara Svami points out that the gopis here subtly indicate that Lord Krishna spends His time happily without them whereas they are most unhappy without their Lord. This is the difference between Him and them. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti adds the following commentary: "Considering themselves different from other women, the gopis thought as follows: 'If other women are together with their lovers, they live, and if they are separated, they die. But we neither live nor die. This is the fate Providence has written on our foreheads. What remedy can we find?" '
