Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.7

pāda-nyāsair bhuja-vidhutibhih sa-smitair bhrū-vilāsair

bhajyan madhyaiś cala-kuca-pataih kundalair ganda-lolaih

svidyan-mukhyah kavara-rasanāgranthayah krishna-vadhvo

gāyantyas tam tadita iva tā megha-cakre virejuh

SYNONYMS

pāda — of their feet; nyāsaih — by the placement; bhuja — of their hands; vidhutibhih — by the gestures; sa-smitaih — smiling; bhrū — of their eyebrows; vilāsaih — by the playful movements; bhajyan — bending; madhyaih — by their middles; cala — moving; kuca — covering their breasts; pataih — by the cloths; kundalaih — by their earrings; ganda — on their cheeks; lolaih — rolling; svidyan — perspiring; mukhyah — whose faces; kavara — the braids of their hair; rasanā — and their belts; āgranthayah — having tightly tied; krishna-vadhvah — the consorts of Lord Krishna; gāyantyah — singing; tam — about Him; taditah — bolts of lightning; iva — as if; tāh — they; megha-cakre — in a range of clouds; virejuh — shone.

TRANSLATION

As the gopīs sang in praise of Krishna, their feet danced, their hands gestured, and their eyebrows moved with playful smiles. With their braids and belts tied tight, their waists bending, their faces perspiring, the garments on their breasts moving this way and that, and their earrings swinging on their cheeks, Lord Krishna's young consorts shone like streaks of lightning in a mass of clouds.

PURPORT

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that according to the analogy of lightning flashing in clouds, the perspiration on the lovely faces of the gopīs resembled drops of mist, and their singing resembled thunder. The word āgranthayah may also be read agranthayah, meaning "loosened." This would indicate that although the gopīs began the dance with their hair and belts tightly drawn, these gradually slackened and loosened.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the gopīs were expert at exhibiting mudrās (precise hand gestures that express feelings or convey meanings associated with the theme of a performance). Thus sometimes Krishna and the gopīs would artistically move their interlocked arms together, and sometimes they would separate arms and exhibit mudrās to act out the meaning of the songs they were singing.

The word pāda-nyāsaih indicates that the gopīs artistically and gracefully placed the steps of their dancing feet in an enchanting way, and the words sa-smitair bhrū-vilāsair indicate that the romantic movements of their eyebrows, smiling with love, were most charming to behold.

<<< >>>

Copyright ©r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari