মৃগমদ-চন্দন, কুঙ্কুম বিলেপন,
মোহন-মূরতি-তিরিভঙ্গ ।
নবীন কুসুমাবলী, শ্রীঅঙ্গে শোভয়ে ভালি,
মধুলোভে ফিরে মত্তভৃঙ্গ ॥ ৬৩ ॥
mṛgamada-candana, kuṅkuma bilepana,
mohana-mūrati-tiribhaṅga |
nabīna-kusumābalī, śrī-aṅge śobhaye bhāli,
madhu-lobhe phire matta-bhṛṅga || 63 ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s charming threefold-bending form is anointed with musk, sandalwood paste and saffron. He is always beautifully adorned with fully blossomed fresh flowers. Intoxicated by the flowers’ sweet aroma, the bees fly all about him in search of nectar.
टीका–नवीन-कुसुमावल्या मधुलोभेन मत्तभृङ्गो यस्य समीपे भ्रमतीत्यर्थः ॥
Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Charming Threefold-Bending Form
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya describes the anointing of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s body, the threefold manner in which it curves, and the beauty of his flower garlands and so on. mṛgamada-candana, kuṅkuma bilepana. The tilaka or ointment made of musk, sandalwood and saffron on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s raincloud body is very beautiful. Just as when something falls into an ocean of nectar, it becomes filled with nectar, in the same way, whatever falls upon the beautiful body of Śrī Govinda, the ocean of sweetness, is filled with sweetness. In his narration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s bālya-līlā (childhood pastimes), Śrīpāda Śukamuni has described the mud smeared on Gopāla’s body as he crawled around Nanda’s courtyard. In kaiśora-līlā (adolescence), he described the vraja-sundarīs’ enchantment when in the northern pasture they saw the beauty of Śrī Govinda’s body and hair, coated with dust from the cows’ hooves. How can anyone truly describe the charm of the musk, saffron and sandalwood paste that are painted on his sweeter-than-sweet body? This reveals the unprecedented mādhurya that graces those substances. The poet Jayadeva has thus sung,
candana-carcita-nīla-kalevara-pīta-vasana-vanamālī |
keli-calan-maṇi-kuṇḍala-maṇḍita gaṇḍa-yuga-smita-śālī ||
“His dark-blue body is adorned with a yellow garment, sandalwood paste and a garland of forest flowers. He wears beautiful jeweled earrings that swing as he plays; his cheeks bear a gentle smile.”
During pūrva-rāga (amorous attraction felt even before acquaintance with the lover), Śrī Rādhārāṇī became infatuated by seeing merely one drop of sandalwood paste on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s forehead. She then said to her sakhīs,
ki heriluṅ kadamba-talāte |
bini paricaye mora, parāṇa kemana kare, jite ki pāriye pāsarite ||
kapāle candana cāṅda, kāminī mohana phāṅda, āndhāre kariyāche ālā |
meghera upare cāṅda, sadāi udaya kare, niśi-diśī śaśī ṣola-kalā ||
“Friend! Whom have I seen beneath the kadamba trees? I know not who he is, though he makes my heart anxious. I must forget him to sustain my life, but how? Friend! On his forehead is a moon made of sandalwood paste, as though a snare for luring the beautiful girls. This drop of candana upon his broad, emerald forehead resembles the full moon risen above a raincloud. It shines even in the darkness. Usually, if the moon is above a cloud, the moon is veiled by the cloud; but this moon of candana is always visible. Moreover, this moon is equally bright during day or night.” (Ananta Dāsa) We also see this in a verse by Jñāna Dāsa: candanera cānda mājhe mṛgamada dhāndā, tāra mājhe parāṇa putalī raila bāndhā. “My eyes were dazzled by the drop of musk within that candana moon; now it controls my heart like a puppet.”
Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya describes the sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s threefold-bending form: mohana-mūrati-tiribhaṅga. Tribhaṅga means that his form is curved at the knees, waist and neck. Why does it curve in three places? The vrajadevīs think that his body is unable to bear the weight of his mādhurya, so it assumes this form. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas who are devoted to the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā think that Śrī Kṛṣṇa possesses such a charming tribhaṅga form because he was touched by the border of love-filled Śrī Rādhā’s dress. The eyes of one who sees that playful threefold-bending form are completely infatuated. Not only the premikas, but every creature with eyes, from highest to lowest, is enchanted by Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurya. Then they desire a little mercy from the great souls.
It is said that Śrī Rāmānuja Svāmī mercifully arranged for a wrestler named Dhanur Dāsa to see the deity form of Śrī Raṅganātha. Dhanur Dāsa arrived for darśana accompanied by a beautiful woman on horseback, above whom he held an umbrella to block the sun. After being criticized for his behavior, he explained that he serves this woman because beauty like hers is very rare in this world. Hearing this, Śrīpāda Rāmānuja Svāmī felt compassionate and said to him, “Dhanur Dāsa! If you just once behold the beauty of Śrī Raṅganātha, you will never again look at the face of that unattractive woman.” Surprised at Svāmijī’s words, Dhanur Dāsa replied, “Svāmin! I have seen Śrī Raṅganātha, but I cannot understand the meaning of your words.” Then Svāmijī took Dhanur Dāsa’s hand and brought him before Śrī Raṅganātha, saying,
ayaṁ dhanur-dāsa ramādhinātha
śrī-raṅganātho jagatām adhīśaḥ |
asyākṣi-vaipulyam idaṁ tvayādya
dṛṣṭaṁ kilaivāpratimaṁ hi samyak ||
“My dear Dhanur Dāsa, please take darśana of Śrī Raṅganātha now. Just look; the Lord of the three worlds and husband of Ramā (Lakṣmī) is present before you. Gaze to your heart’s content at the large eyes of Śrī Raṅganātha, the abode of incomparable beauty and sweetness.” When, by the mercy of Śrīpāda Rāmānuja Svāmī, Dhanur Dāsa beheld the world-enchanting form of Śrī Raṅganātha, he swooned in ecstasy and remained submerged in the nectarous ocean of the Lord’s beauty for a long time. After this, he renounced everything and spent the rest of his life in the service of Śrī Raṅganātha under Svāmijī’s shelter.
But there is no comparison to the mādhurya of the charming threefold-bending form of Śrī Govinda, the direct embodiment of sweetness. Those whose eyes and minds become absorbed in seeing him are no longer attracted to even other forms of Bhagavān. We see the following in Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala’s Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam 22:
vicitra-patrāṅkura-śāli bālā-
stanāntaraṁ yāma vanāntaraṁ vā |
apāsya vṛndāvana-pāda-lāsyam
upāsyam anyaṁ na vilokayāmaḥ ||
“Shall we search for him on the gopīs’ breasts, which are painted with colorful leaves and sprouts? Or shall we enter the forest, which is adorned in the same way? Other than Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose footprints beautify the Vṛndāvana paths, we see no other object of worship.”
The external meaning of this verse is written in Śrīmat Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda’s Sāraṅga-raṅgadā commentary, the essence of which is this: When Śrī Līlāśuka arrived in Śrī Vṛndāvana from South India intoxicated by love, he fainted and fell on the path. Seeing this, the Vaiṣṇavas he was with revived him and said, “Svāmin! Your beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa is present everywhere; here (in South India) he has also remained in the forms of Śrī Viṭṭhalanātha and Śrī Raṅganātha. Therefore, please envision and contemplate his form; your heart, afflicted by feelings of separation, will then find peace.”* To his fellow travelers who had consoled him he replied, “I have no other object of worship than Śrī Kṛṣṇa surrounded by the most beautiful Śrī Rādhā and the other young girls of Vraja. This is my conviction. Therefore, I shall go to Śrī Vṛndāvana.”
Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, nabīna-kusumābalī, śrī-aṅge śobhaye bhāli, madhu-lobhe phire matta-bhṛṅga. His charming threefold-bending form is always adorned with a garland of fully blossomed fresh flowers, and there are fresh flowers on his head and ears. Intoxicated by the flowers’ sweet aroma, the bees fly all about him in search of nectar. The flowers on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful form are perpetually fresh because whatever Śrī Kṛṣṇa wears with great love on his neck or limbs is impossible to cut, to wet, to burn or to dry. The vraja-sundarīs see this:
mālatī-phulera, mālāṭi gale, hiyāra mājhāre dole |
uṭhiyā paḍiyā, mātala bhramarā, ghuriyā ghuriyā bule ||
“Rising and falling, the drunken bees caress him by flying round the garland of jasmine flowers dangling from his neck.”
Or when someone sees his garland, he or she is overwhelmed with joy and thinks this:
binoda gale, binoda mālā, binoda binoda dule |
kon binodinī, gāṅthila mālā, binoda binoda phule? ||
“Has some beautiful girl strung with beautiful flowers this beautiful garland that hangs beautifully from his beautiful neck?”
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*His fellow travelers were trying to console him by implying he was still in South India and reminding him of the deities he had worshipped there.
