Text 1581]
Performance of the Vrndāvana Pastimes
297
TEXT 15B
এবং শব্দকাংশুরিরাজিতা নির্ণাঃ
স  সত্যকাম্যেই সম্ভবত বলাগণ: ।।
সিমেব আত্মগুরক্ক-সৌরত:
সর্বী:  শরৎকাব্যকথারসাম্রাঃ ॥ ১৫৮ ॥
evaṁ śaśaṅkāṁśu-virājitā niśāḥ 
    sa satya-kāmo ‘nuratābalā-gaṇaḥ 
    siṣeva ātmany avaruddha-saurataḥ 
    sarvāḥ śarat-kāvya-kathā-rasāśrayāḥ
SYNONYMS
evam —thus;  śaśaṅka-aṁśu —with rays of moonshine;  virājitāḥ —beautifully existing;  niśāḥ —nights;  saḥ —He;  satya-kāmaḥ —the Absolute Truth;  anurata —to whom are attracted;  abalā-gaṇaḥ —women;  siṣeva —performed;  ātmani —in His own self;  avaruddha-saurataḥ —His transcendental erotic love was checked;  sarvāḥ —all;  śarat —in autumn;  kāvya —poetic;  kathā —words;  rasa-āśrayāḥ —full of all transcendental mellows.
TRANSLATION
“ ‘Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is the Absolute Truth, enjoyed His rāsa dance every night during the autumn season. He performed this dance in the moonlight and with full transcendental mellows. He used poetic words and surrounded Himself with women who were very much attracted to Him.’
PURPORT
This verse is a quotation from  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  (10.33.26). The  gopīs  are all transcendental spirit souls. One should never think that the  gopīs  and Kṛṣṇa have material bodies. Vṛndāvana-dhāma is also a spiritual abode, and there the days and nights, the trees, flowers, water and everything else are spiritual. There is not even a trace of material contamination. Kṛṣṇa, who is the Supreme Brahman and Supersoul, is not at all interested in anything material. His activities with the  gopīs  are all spiritual and take place within the spiritual world. They have nothing to do with the material world. Lord Kṛṣṇa's lusty desires and all His dealings with the  gopīs  are on the spiritual platform. One has to be transcendentally realized before even considering relishing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa with the  gopīs . One who is on the mundane platform must first purify himself by following the regulative principles. Only then can he try to understand Kṛṣṇa and the  gopīs . Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī are here taiking about the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and the  gopīs : therefore the subject matter is neither mun-