Āryā-sapta-śatī Verse 51 — A Clever Pun

The famous poet named Sri Govardhana Acharya composed the magnum opus named ‘Āryā-saptaśatī’. The title literally means — ‘Seven hundred verses in the āryā-meter.’ The āryā is a difficult to sing meter having many variations. Many authors (Srila Rupa Goswami included) use āryā as a meter in the auspicious invocatory verses of their respective literature.

Verse 51 of the Āryā-sapta-śatī has a special play on words:

masṛṇa-pada-rīti-gatayaḥ sajjana-hṛdayābhisārikāḥ surasāḥ
madanādvayopaniṣado viśadā govardhanasyāryāḥ

—(Āryā-sapta-śatī, Verse 51)

External Meaning:
“Their words (pada) flow (gatayaḥ) in a soft manner (masṛṇa-rīti); they are the captivators (abhisārikā) of the hearts of gentlemen (sajjana-hṛdaya); they are full of suitable rasa (surasāḥ); they are like the great manual (upaniṣadaḥ) for the unparalleled god of love (madana-advaya). Indeed, the poetic āryās (verses in āryā meter) of the poet Govardhana (govardhanasya) are full of unfathomable qualities (viśadā).”

Internal Meaning:

“Their feet (pada) walk around (gatayaḥ) in a gentle manner (masṛṇa-rīti); they are the amorous lovers (abhisārikā) of the heart of the gentle soul Krishna (sajjana-hṛdaya); they are full of passionate conjugal love (surasāḥ); they are the ones who always sit near (upaniṣadaḥ) the unparalleled god of Love (madana-advaya) i.e. Krishna. Indeed, the chaste gopī ladies (āryās) belonging to the Govardhana Hill (govardhanasya) are full of unfathomable qualities (viśadā).”