THE LADIES OF MATHURA DID NOT SEE THAT BEAUTIFUL FORM OF KRSNA

And what about the Pandavas? Four of them were infuriated, but Yudhisthira Maharaja remained silent. Being a jnani-bhakta also, he knew that Krsna would protect Draupadi appropriately, but Bhima and Arjuna, who had less awareness of Krsna’s divinity and saw Him more as a common friend in sakhya-bhava, they were furious.

At the wrestling arena, the ladies of Mathura saw how those fearful wrestlers, whose massive bodies were like mountains, and as if made of iron, wanted to kill soft and tender Krsna. They saw how Baladeva’s face was red with anger, and how Krsna was smiling even though He was also angry. Considering that an injustice was about to take place, they felt that it would be shameful if they remained there. There was no one present who could prevent it: Ugrasena had been imprisoned, and other elders like Akrura remained hidden.

The meaning of this verse is, “What austerities did the gopis perform by which they could see such a beautiful and sweet form of Sri Krsna as He freely wandered in the forests and kunjas of Vraja with a happy heart?” There the gopis received the darsana of lovely, rasika Krsna playing the flute and wearing a peacock feather in His crown. But in the wrestling arena, the ladies of Mathura did not see that beautiful form of Krsna; instead they saw Him in a fighting mood, after He had broken the tusks of an elephant and was decorated with drops of blood.

Bhakti Rasayana page 95 – 96
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