Questions:
Q #1) When Krsna liberated and then married all the princesses held captive by Narakasura, were there 16,000 or 16,100?
Q #2) Also, is there any relationship between these Queens and Radha and her gopis?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
See references below. They are very clear.
Response to Q #1:
There Lord Kåñëa saw sixteen thousand royal maidens, whom Bhauma had taken by force from various kings.
BBT PURPORT
Çréla Çrédhara Svämé provides evidence from the sage Paräçara, as quoted in the Viñëu Puräëa (5.29.31), to the effect that there were actually 16,100 royal maidens imprisoned in Bhauma’s palace:
kanyä-pure sa kanyänäà
ñoòaçätulya-vikramaù
çatädhikäni dadåçe
sahasräëi mahä-mate
“Within the maidens’ quarters, O wise one, that Lord of unequaled prowess found 16,100 princesses.”
Another relevant verse from the Viñëu Puräëa (5.29.9) is as follows:
deva-siddhāsurādīnāṁ
nṛpānāṁ ca janārdana
hṛtvā hi so ’suraḥ kanyā
rurodha nija-mandire
“The demon [Bhaumäsura] kidnapped the unmarried daughters of demigods, siddhas, asuras and kings, O Janärdana, and imprisoned them in his palace.”
~~~
VCT COMMENTARY
There were actually16,100 royal maidens imprisoned in Bhauma’s palace according to the Viñëu Puräëa (5.29.31):
kanyä-pure sa kanyänäà
ñoòaçätulya-vikramaù
çatädhikäni dadåçe
sahasräëi mahä-mate
Bhauma had stolen 16,100 women not only from kings (räjabhyaù), but he also kidnapped the unmarried daughters of demigods, sages, and demons as well.
Response to Q #2:
The beloved consorts of Lord Kṛṣṇa are of three kinds: the goddesses of fortune, the queens, and the milkmaids of Vraja, who are the foremost of all. These consorts all proceed from Rādhikā.
“Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté further quotes the Kärttika-mähätmya section of the Padma Puräëa: kaiçore gopa-kanyäs tä yauvane räja-kanyakäù. “Those who were the daughters of cowherds in their early youth became royal princesses in their maturity.” The äcärya adds, “Therefore just as the Lord of Dvärakä is a plenary expansion of the supremely complete Lord of Çré Våndävana, so His principal queens are full expansions of His supremely complete pleasure potencies, the gopés.”
Lalita Madhava –
Act 1, Scene 1, Verse 41
Gärgé: (aside) I have heard from my father’s mouth that although the (gopés,) headed by Candrabhänu’s daughter Candrävalé, and the (Dvärakä-queens), headed by Bhéñmaka’s daughter, Rukmiëé, are expansions of the same spiritual potency, nevertheless, their forms are separate and distinct. Now it is said that with the aid of the yogamäyä potency, each gopé is identical with a specific queen, and each pair of gopé and queen is a single person in a single form. It must be so. Later I shall perhaps understand it. What can I understand now about these confidential matters?
Act 1, Scene 1, Verse 41
Gärgé: You say the truth. More than 16,100 girls in Gokula are now (deeply in love with Lord Kåñëa.) Five gopés, headed by Candrävalé, regularly meet together and worship the goddess Durgä, chanting the mantra: “O Katyäyané (Durgä), O Mahä-mäyä (illusory potency), O mystic yoginé, O queen (of this world), O goddess, please make Nanda-gopa’s son, (Kåñëa) my husband. I offer my respectful obeisances to you.”
Act 4, Scene 1, Verse 36
Uddhava: (with tears) Their hearts burning with pain, 16,100 gopés offered prayers to the goddess Kämä (for Kåñëa’s return). As they were praying on the Yamunä’s shore, a very ferocious demon violently kidnapped them all.
Verse 39
Uddhava: Of the 16,108 gopés not a single one is still in Vraja.
Act 5, Verse 18
Närada: (reflecting for a moment, he says to himself) Are the girls of Dvärakä City and the girls of Vraja Village, not the same persons, although appearing in different forms? The girls of Vraja were overwhelmed with love for Kåñëa. To please them by reuniting them with their beloved, Yogamäyä transformed them into the women of Dvärakä. They now think their previous existence in Vraja to be like a long dream, and they think Uddhava’s visit and their own journey to Kurukñetra to be only stories. Aside from these 16,108, there are other gopés also. Why should I reveal this secret?
Act 9, Verses 9-13
Nava-våndä: On the pretext of an invented quarrel, Narakäsura, the powerful son of the earth goddess, Bhümi-devé, kidnapped 16,100 lotus-eyed girls from the village of Våndävana. Lord Kåñëa, the master of all transcendental pastimes, then killed that uncivilized demon, who had troubled the entire universe. In this way, the Lord rescued those girls, whose eyes were all filled with tears.
Çarat: (struck with wonder) Are these girls the gopés of Gokula?
Nava-våndä: How can there be any doubt? Even a small shrub of the faint reflection of devotion to Kåñëa is never without fruit. What then of the unprecedented festival of bliss that is the immortal tree of the gopés’ love?
Çarat: Then why did we hear that these girls are the daughter of various kings?
Nava-våndä: Narakäsura became enchanted by the charming beauty of these girls. To deceive the goddess named Kämä-devé, he spread a false rumor that these girls were all the daughters of kings, and they were going to be given in marriage to the eligible bachelors among the demons.
Sanatana Goswami – Brhat Bhagavatamrta 1.7.104-105
Some 16,100 gopés had with vows worshiped Kätyäyané to obtain Me. To bring My mind somewhat to peace by seeing a likeness of them, I married the same number of you queens here in Dvärakä. COMMENTARY
Of the young gopés in Vraja, sixteen thousand attained Kåñëa’s intimate association. The Mathurä-mähätmya states, gopyo gäyanti nåtyanti/ sahasräëi ca ñoòaça: “Sixteen thousand gopés were singing and dancing.” The present verse specifies the number of those most fortunate gopés as 16,100, although the word ca implies that there were actually more.
All the gopés were extremely attracted to Çré Kåñëa, but only some of them earned Kåñëa’s complete satisfaction by undergoing the Kätyäyané-vrata to obtain Him as their husband. These were the gopés who most zealously wanted Kåñëa as their own. Çrémad-Bhägavatam (10.22.4) records their prayer:
“Each of the young unmarried girls performed her worship while chanting the following mantra: ‘O goddess Kätyäyané, great potency of the Lord, O possessor of great mystic power, mighty controller of all, please make the son of Nanda Mahäräja my husband. I offer my obeisances unto you.’”
No one can match the gopés’ attractive sway over Kåñëa, but Kåñëa accepted His queens as substitutes in His pastimes at Dvärakä. The principal queens of Dvärakä are in fact direct expansions of the principal gopés
