Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 33: The Rāsa Dance

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.37

nāsūyan khalu krishnāya

mohitās tasya māyayā

manyamānāh sva-pārśva-sthān

svān svān dārān vrajaukasah

SYNONYMS

na asūyan — were not jealous; khalu — even; krishnāya — against Krishna; mohitāh — bewildered; tasya — His; māyayā — by the spiritual potency of illusion; manyamānāh — thinking; sva-pārśva — at their own sides; sthān — standing; svān svān — each their own; dārān — wives; vraja-okasah — the cowherd men of Vraja.

TRANSLATION

The cowherd men, bewildered by Krishna's illusory potency, thought their wives had remained home at their sides. Thus they did not harbor any jealous feelings against Him.

PURPORT

Because the gopīs loved Krishna exclusively, Yogamāyā protected their relationship with the Lord at all times, even though they were married. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes from the Ujjvala-nīlamani as follows:

māyā-kalpita-tādrik-strī

śīlanenānusūyubhih

na jātu vraja-devīnām

patibhih saha sańgamah

"The gopīs' jealous husbands consorted not with their wives but with doubles manufactured by Māyā. Thus these men never actually had any intimate contact with the divine ladies of Vraja." The gopīs are the internal energy of the Lord and can never belong to any other living being. Krishna arranged their apparent marriage to other men simply to create the excitement of parakīya-rasa, the love between a married woman and her paramour. These activities are absolutely pure because they are the Lord's pastimes, and saintly persons since time immemorial have relished these supreme spiritual events.

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