250
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 9, Ch. 24]
Vṛndāvana is especially to be noted. That relationship is described in this verse by the words  nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyaḥ . The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana especially, such as the cowherd boys, the cows, the calves, the  gopīs  and Kṛṣṇa's father and mother, were never fully satisfied, although they saw Kṛṣṇa's beautiful features constantly. Seeing Kṛṣṇa is described here as  nitya-utsava , a daily festival. The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana saw Kṛṣṇa almost every moment, but when Kṛṣṇa left the village for the pasturing grounds, where He tended the cows and calves, the  gopīs  were very much afflicted because they saw Kṛṣṇa walking on the sand and thought that Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, which they dared not place on their breasts because they thought their breasts not soft enough, were being pierced by broken chips of stone. By even thinking of this, the  gopīs  were affected, and they cried at home. These  gopīs , who were therefore the exalted friends of Kṛṣṇa, saw Kṛṣṇa constantly, but because their eyelids disturbed their vision of Kṛṣṇa, the  gopīs  condemned the creator, Lord Brahmā. Therefore the beauty of Kṛṣṇa, especially the beauty of His face, is described here. At the end of the Ninth Canto, in the Twenty-fourth Chapter, we find a hint of Kṛṣṇa's beauty. Now we are proceeding to the Tenth Canto, which is considered Kṛṣṇa's head. The entire  Śrīmad-Bhāgavata Purāṇa  is the embodiment of Kṛṣṇa's form, and the Tenth Canto is His face. This verse gives a hint of how beautiful His face is. Kṛṣṇa's smiling face, with His cheeks, His lips, the ornaments in His ears, His chewing of betel nuts—all this was minutely observed by the  gopīs , who thus enjoyed transcendental bliss, so much so that they were never fully satisfied to see Kṛṣṇa's face, but instead condemned the creator of the body for making eyelids that obstructed their vision. The beauty of Kṛṣṇa's face was therefore much more appreciated by the  gopīs  than by His friends the cowherd boys or even by Yaśodā Mātā, who was also interested in decorating the face of Kṛṣṇa.
TEXT 66
जातो गतः पितृगृहाद् व्रजमेधितार्थो
हत्वा रिषून् सुतशतानि कृतोरुदारः ।
उत्पाद्य तेषु पुरुषः क्रतुमिः समीजे
आत्मानमात्मनिगमं प्रथयञ्जनेषु ॥६६॥