Text 22]
The Lord's Pastimes Out of Vṛndāvana
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ment, He nevertheless exhibited much attachment for His pure devotees on the earth, as well as for the demigods who engage in His service in the heavenly planets as powerful delegated directors in the management of all material activities. He displayed special attachment for His family members, the Yadus, as well as for His sixteen thousand wives, who had the opportunity to meet Him in the leisure hours of night. All these attachments of the Lord are manifestations of His internal potency, of which the external potency is only a shadow representation. In the  Skanda Purāṇa ,  Prabhāsa khaṇḍa  Chapter, in the topics between Lord Śiva and Gaurī, there is confirmation of His internal potential manifestations. There is mention of the Lord's meeting with sixteen thousand cowherd damsels although He is the Haṁsa (transcendental) Supersoul and maintainer of all living entities. The sixteen thousand cowherd damsels are a display of sixteen varieties of internal potencies. This will be more elaborately explained in the Tenth Canto. It is said there that Lord Kṛṣṇa is just like the moon and the internal potential damsels are like the stars around the moon.
TEXT 22
तस्यैवं रममाणस्य संवत्सरगणान् बहुन् । गृहमेधेषु योगेषु विरागः समजायत ॥२२॥
tasyaivaṁ ramamāṇasya saṁvatsara-gaṇān bahūn gṛhamedheṣu yogeṣu virāgaḥ samajāyata
tasya —His;  evam —thus;  ramamāṇasya —enjoying;  saṁvatsara —many years;  gaṇān —number;  bahūn —great many;  gṛhamedheṣu —in household life;  yogeṣu —in sex life;  virāgaḥ —detachment;  samajāyata —awakened.
TRANSLATION
The Lord was thus engaged in household life for many, many years, but at last His detachment from ephemeral sex life was fully manifested.
PURPORT
Even though the Lord is never attached to any kind of material sex life, as the universal teacher He remained a householder for many, many years, just to teach others how one should live in householder life. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākur explains that the word  samajāyata  means “fully exhibited.” In all His activities while present on the earth, the