496
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 1, Ch. 9]
enough to have the fraternal service of the Lord as chariot driver, but the Lord did not award Arjuna with equal strength. The  gopīs , however, practically became one with the Lord by attainment of equal footing with the Lord. Bhīṣma's aspiration to remember the  gopīs  is to pray to have their mercy also at the last stage of his life. The Lord is satisfied more when His pure devotees are glorified, and therefore Bhīṣmadeva has not only glorified the acts of Arjuna, his immediate object of attraction, but also he has remembered the  gopīs  who were endowed with unrivalled opportunities by rendering loving service to the Lord. The  gopīs ' equality with the Lord should never be misunderstood to be like the  sāyujya  liberation of the impersonalist. The equality is one of perfect ecstasy where the differential conception is completely eradicated, for the interests of the lover and the beloved become identical.
TEXT 41
मुनिगणनृपवर्यसंकुलेऽन्तः-
सदसि युधिष्ठिरराजस्वय एषाम् ।
अर्हणमुपपेद ईक्षणीयो
मम दृशिगोचर एष आविरात्मा ॥४१॥
munigaṇa-nṛpavarya-saṅkule'ntaḥ- sadasi yudhiṣṭhira-rājasūya eṣām arhaṇam upapeda īkṣaṇīyo mama dṛśi-gocara eṣa āvir ātmā
muni-gaṇa —the great learned sages;  nṛpa-varya —the great ruling kings;  saṅkule —in the great assembly of;  antaḥsadasi —conference;  yudhiṣṭhira —Emperor Yudhiṣṭhira;  rāja-sūya —a royal performance of sacrifice;  eṣām —of all the great elites;  arhaṇam —respectful worship;  upapeda —received;  īkṣaṇīyaḥ —the object of attraction;  mama —my;  dṛśi —sight;  gocaraḥ —within the view of;  eṣaḥ āviḥ —personally present;  ātmā —the soul.
TRANSLATION
At the Rājasūya-yajña [sacrifice] performed by Mahārāja Yudiṣṭhira, there was the greatest assembly of all the elite men of the world, the royal and learned orders, and in that great assembly Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa was worshiped by one and all as the most exalted Personality of Godhead. This happened