Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 8.80
The Incomparable Fortune of the Gopīs
“ ‘When Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was dancing with the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā, the gopīs were embraced around the neck by the Lord’s arms. This transcendental favor was never bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world. Nor was such a thing ever imagined by the most beautiful girls in the heavenly planets, girls whose bodily luster and aroma resemble the beauty and fragrance of lotus flowers. And what to speak of worldly women, who may be very, very beautiful according to material estimation?’
What the purport teaches
- During the rāsa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa embraced the gopīs around their necks with His arms. This transcendental favor was not bestowed upon the goddess of fortune or the other consorts in the spiritual world.
- Uddhava visited Śrī Vṛndāvana to deliver Kṛṣṇa’s message and remained to observe the gopīs. Seeing their ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in separation, he appreciated their supreme love.
- Uddhava admitted that the gopīs’ fortune could not be compared even to that of the goddess of fortune. The beauty of heavenly girls or worldly women could not compare with this favor.
Try this today
Write one sentence distinguishing the gopīs’ extraordinary fortune from beauty measured by material estimation.
Ask yourself
What can you learn from Uddhava’s appreciation of the gopīs’ supreme love?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.