Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.29.29

kṛtvā mukhāny ava śucaḥ śvasanena śuṣyad

bimbādharāṇi caraṇena bhuvaḥ likhantyaḥ

asrair upātta-masibhiḥ kuca-kuńkumāni

tasthur mṛjantya uru-duḥkha-bharāḥ sma tūṣṇīm

SYNONYMS

kṛtvā — placing; mukhāni — their faces; ava — downward; śucaḥ — out of sorrow; śvasanena — by sighing; śuṣyat — drying up; bimba — (appearing like) red bimba fruits; adharāṇi — their lips; caraṇena — with their toes; bhuvaḥ — the ground; likhantyaḥ — scratching; asraiḥ — with their tears; upātta — which carried; masibhiḥ — the kajjala from their eyes; kuca — on the breasts; kuńkumāni — the vermilion powder; tasthuḥ — they stood still; mṛjantyaḥ — washing away; uru — excessive; duḥkha — of unhappiness; bharāḥ — feeling the burden; sma — indeed; tūṣṇīm — silently.

TRANSLATION

Their heads hanging down and their heavy, sorrowful breathing drying up their reddened lips, the gopīs scratched the ground with their toes. Tears flowed from their eyes, carrying their kajjala and washing away the vermilion smeared on their breasts. Thus they stood, silently bearing the burden of their unhappiness.

PURPORT

The gopīs felt, "If Kṛṣṇa has not been conquered by our love, then our love must not be genuine. And if we cannot properly love Kṛṣṇa, what is the use of our lives?" Their reddish lips were drying up because of the hot breathing that arose from their unhappiness. When the hot sun dries ripe red bimba fruits, dark spots appear on them and they grow soft. The beautiful lips of the gopīs similarly changed in appearance. They stood silently before Kṛṣṇa, unable to speak.

<<< >>>

Copyright © 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