Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.33.7
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Gopīs’ Art Expresses Their Love
“As the gopīs sang in praise of Kṛṣṇa, 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 Kṛṣṇa’s young consorts shone like streaks of lightning in a mass of clouds.”
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs sang in praise of Kṛṣṇa and placed their dancing steps artistically and gracefully. Their smiling expressions and movements of their eyebrows were charming with love.
- They expertly used mudrās, precise hand gestures expressing feelings and meanings. Sometimes they moved their interlocked arms with Kṛṣṇa, and sometimes they separated their arms to act out their songs.
- The gopīs shone like lightning in clouds; their perspiration resembled mist and their singing resembled thunder. The purport also explains that their tightly tied hair and belts gradually loosened.
Try this today
Read aloud one phrase praising Kṛṣṇa, giving attention to its meaning rather than merely its sound.
Ask yourself
How did the gopīs make their artistic skill an expression of love for Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.