Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 11.12.11

tas tah kshapah preshthatamena nita

mayaiva vrindavana-gocarena

kshanardha-vat tah punar anga tasam

hina maya kalpa-sama babhuvuh

SYNONYMS

tah tah -- all those; kshapah -- nights; preshtha-tamena -- with the most dearly beloved; nitah -- spent; maya -- with Me; eva -- indeed; vrindavana -- in Vrindavana; go-carena -- who can be known; kshana -- a moment; ardha-vat -- like half; tah -- those very nights; punah -- again; anga -- dear Uddhava; tasam -- for the gopis; hinah -- bereft; maya -- of Me; kalpa -- a day of Brahma (4,320,000,000 years); samah -- equal to; babhuvuh -- became.

TRANSLATION

Dear Uddhava, all of those nights that the gopis spent with Me, their most dearly beloved, in the land of Vrindavana seemed to them to pass in less than a moment. Bereft of My association, however, the gopis felt that those same nights dragged on forever, as if each night were equal to a day of Brahma.

PURPORT

Srila Sridhara Svami comments as follows. "The gopis suffered extreme anxiety in the absence of Lord Krishna, and though outwardly appearing bewildered, they actually achieved the highest perfectional stage of samadhi. Their consciousness was intensely and intimately attached to Lord Krishna, and by such Krishna consciousness their own bodies seemed very far away from them, even though people normally consider their body to be their closest possession. In fact, the gopis did not think about their own existence. Although a young woman normally considers her husband and children to be her dearmost possessions, the gopis did not even consider the existence of their so-called families. Nor could they think of this world or life after death. Indeed, they were not at all aware of these things. Just like great sages who become detached from the names and forms of the material world, the gopis could not think of anything, because they were rapt in loving remembrance of Lord Krishna. Just as rivers enter the ocean, similarly, the gopis completely merged into consciousness of Lord Krishna through intense love."

Thus a day of Brahma seemed like a single moment for the gopis when Lord Krishna was present with them, and a single moment seemed like a day of Brahma when Lord Krishna was absent. The Krishna consciousness of the gopis is the perfection of spiritual life, and the symptoms of such perfection are described here.

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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