| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 22: Krishna Steals the Garments of the Unmarried Gopis |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.22.4
SYNONYMS
katyayani -- O goddess Katyayani; maha-maye -- O great potency; maha-yogini -- O possessor of great mystic power; adhisvari -- O mighty controller; nanda-gopa-sutam -- the son of Maharaja Nanda; devi -- O goddess; patim -- the husband; me -- my; kuru -- please make; te -- unto you; namah -- my obeisances; iti -- with these words; mantram -- the hymn; japantyah -- chanting; tah -- they; pujam -- worship; cakruh -- performed; kumarikah -- the unmarried girls.
TRANSLATION
Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship while chanting the following mantra. "O goddess Katyayani, O great potency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power and mighty controller of all, please make the son of Nanda Maharaja my husband. I offer my obeisances unto you."
PURPORT
According to various acaryas, the goddess Durga mentioned in this verse is not the illusory energy of Krishna called Maya but rather the internal potency of the Lord known as Yoga-maya. The distinction between the internal and external, or illusory, potency of the Lord is described in the Narada-pancaratra, in the conversation between Sruti and Vidya:
janaty ekapara kantam
praptir bhavati nanyatha
svabhava gokulesvari
adi-devo 'khilesvarah
asya avarika-saktir
maha-mayakhilesvari
sarve dehabhimaninah
"The Lord's inferior potency, known as Durga, is dedicated to His loving service. Being the Lord's potency, this inferior energy is nondifferent from Him. There is another, superior potency, whose form is on the same spiritual level as that of God Himself. Simply by scientifically understanding this supreme potency, one can immediately achieve the Supreme Soul of all souls, who is the Lord of all lords. There is no other process to achieve Him. That supreme potency of the Lord is known as Gokulesvari, the goddess of Gokula. Her nature is to be completely absorbed in love of God, and through Her one can easily obtain the primeval God, the Lord of all that be. This internal potency of the Lord has a covering potency, known as Maha-maya, who rules the material world. In fact she bewilders the entire universe, and thus everyone within the universe falsely identifies himself with the material body."
From the above we can understand that the internal and external, or superior and inferior, potencies of the Supreme Lord are personified as Yoga-maya and Maha-maya, respectively. The name Durga is sometimes used to refer to the internal, superior potency, as stated in the Pancaratra: "In all mantras used to worship Krishna, the presiding deity is known as Durga." Thus in the transcendental sound vibrations glorifying and worshiping the Absolute Truth, Krishna, the presiding deity of the particular mantra or hymn is called Durga. The name Durga therefore refers also to that personality who functions as the internal potency of the Lord and who is thus on the platform of suddha-sattva, pure transcendental existence. This internal potency is understood to be Krishna's sister, known also as Ekanamsa or Subhadra. This is the Durga who was worshiped by the gopis in Vrindavana. Several acaryas have pointed out that ordinary people are sometimes bewildered and think that the names Maha-maya and Durga refer exclusively to the external potency of the Lord.
Even if we accept hypothetically that the gopis were worshiping the external Maya, there is no fault on their part, since in their pastimes of loving Krishna they were acting as ordinary members of society. Srila Prabhupada comments in this regard: "The Vaishnavas generally do not worship any demigods. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has strictly forbidden all worship of the demigods for anyone who wants to advance in pure devotional service. Yet the gopis, who are beyond compare in their affection for Krishna, were seen to worship Durga. The worshipers of demigods also sometimes mention that the gopis also worshiped goddess Durga, but we must understand the purpose of the gopis. Generally, people worship goddess Durga for some material benediction. Here, the gopis could adopt any means to satisfy or serve Krishna. That was the superexcellent characteristic of the gopis. They worshiped goddess Durga completely for one month in order to have Krishna as their husband. Every day they prayed for Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, to become their husband."
The conclusion is that a sincere devotee of Krishna will never imagine any material quality to exist in the transcendental gopis, who are the most exalted devotees of the Lord. The only motivation in all their activities was simply to love and satisfy Krishna, and if we foolishly consider their activities to be mundane in any way, it will be impossible for us to understand Krishna consciousness.
Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari