করিয়ে লোচন পান, রূপলীলা দুঁহ গান,
আনন্দে মগন সহচরী ।
বেদবিধি-অগোচর, রতন-বেদীর পর,
সেব নিতি কিশোর-কিশোরী ॥ ৯০ ॥
kariye locana pāna, rūpa-līlā duṅha gāna,
ānande magana sahacarī |
beda-bidhi-agocara, ratana-bedīra para,
seba niti kiśora-kiśorī || 90 ||
Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s girlfriends drink in the divine couple’s beauty and pastimes through their eyes and sing of them in great joy. Always offer service to Śrī Kiśorī-Kiśora as they sit upon a jeweled loveseat in Vraja. This is beyond the reach of Vedic injunctions.
टीका–आनन्दे इत्यादि–सख्य एवं कृत्वा आनन्दे मग्न भवन्ति ।
The Joy of the Sakhīs
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: After describing Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s prema-mādhurī (sweetness of love) and rūpa-mādhurī (sweetness of form), Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya now speaks of the sakhīs’ joyful experience of that sweetness. Filled with beauty and charm, Kiśorī-Kiśora Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma happily relax on a jeweled loveseat in a bower-cottage in delightful Śrī Vṛndāvana. Śrī Rādhā’s girlfriends, who surround them on all sides, are unique portraits of prema-rasa. They are unparalleled in beauty, sweetness and humor, and they sport everywhere, far and wide, as though the oceans of prema and rasa were overflowing. The sakhīs’ bee-like eyes drink with intense devotion the nectar flowing from Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s astonishing golden lotus and blue lotus forms, glowing with beauty and sweetness. The sakhīs sing in mellow voices about Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s charming pastimes in śṛṅgāra-rasa (the erotic sentiment). In this way, the sakhīs swim in the nectarous ocean of the divine couple’s forms, qualities and pastimes, immersed in the highest joy. Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants, her mañjarīs, are also sakhīs. Though they swim in the endless river of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness, the mañjarīs are always engaged in service to them and the other sakhīs. They never ignore their sevā and just absorb themselves in mādhurya. They bathe in Śrī Yugala’s mādhurī-rasa by engaging in acts of service. This is the difference between them and the other sakhīs. We can get a clear idea of this from some verses in Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s Prārthanā:
aruṇa-kamala-dale, seja bichāiba, basāiba kiśora-kiśorī |
alakā-āvṛta-mukha, paṅkaja manohara, marakata-śyāma hema-gaurī ||
prāṇeśvari! kabe more habe kṛpā-diṭhi |
ājñāya āniba kabe, bibidha phula-bara, śunaba bacana duṅha miṭhi ||
mṛga-mada tilaka, sindūra banāyaba, lepaba candana-gandhe |
gāṅthi mālatī-phula, hāra pahirāoba, dhāoyāba madhukara-bṛnde ||
lalitā kabe more, bījana deoyaba, bījaba māruta mande |
śrama-jala sakala, miṭaba duṅha kalebara, heraba parama ānande ||
narottama dāsa, āśa pada-paṅkaja, sebana mādhurī pāne |
haoyaba hena dina, nā dekhiye kona cina, duṅha jana heraba nayāne ||
“I will scatter red lotus petals upon their bed and invite Kiśorī-Kiśora to sit. Their captivating emerald* and golden lotus faces are surrounded by locks of dark hair. O goddess of my life! When will you give your merciful glance to me? When, with your permission, will I bring you a bouquet of beautiful flowers? When will I hear your sweet conversations? I will decorate you with musk tilaka and vermilion in the part of your hair. I will anoint you both with fragrant sandalwood paste. I will string garlands of jasmine flowers and place them round your necks. If too many bees come, attracted by the aroma, I will shoo them all away. When Lalitā gives a fan to me, I will dry your perspiration with a gentle breeze. I will behold all this in great joy. Narottama Dāsa’s only wish is to drink the sweet nectar of service to your lotus feet. Alas, I see no sign of the day when I will gaze upon you two with my own eyes.”
These verses from Prārthanā give us a very clear notion of how the mañjarīs relish the sweetness of the divine couple through service. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas perform yugala-bhajana following the path of Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants. Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda wrote the following in his reflections on the nature of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs in Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛta 2.86:
śrī-rādhā-pāda-padma-cchavi-madhuratara-prema-cij-jyotir-ekām-
bhodher udbhūta-phena-stabakamaya-tanūḥ sarva-vaidagdhya-pūrṇāḥ |
kaiśora-vyañjitās tad-ghana-rug-apaghana-śrī-camatkāra-bhājo
divyālaṅkāra-vastrā anusarata sakhe rādhikā-kiṅkarīs tāḥ ||
“The luster from Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet is a sea of light born of sweet spiritual love. From that sea the forms of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs have risen like clusters of foam. They are adolescent in age and expert in all skills. They are vessels of extraordinary beauty; they glow with the freshness of youth and are adorned with elegant clothing and ornaments. O friend! Follow them.” Śrīpāda has also described their divine forms in Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛta 2.58-59:
kiśora-vayasaḥ sphurat-puraṭa-rociṣo mohinīḥ
sucāru-kṛśa-madhyamāḥ pṛthu-nitamba-vakṣoruhāḥ |
suratna-kanakāñcita-sphurita-nāsika-mauktikāḥ
suveṇi-paṭa-bhūṣaṇāḥ smarata rādhikā-kiṅkarīḥ ||
suramyā dor-vallī-valaya-gaṇa-keyūra-rucirāḥ
kvaṇat-kāñcī-mañjīraka-maṇi-sutāṭaṅka-lalitāḥ |
lasad-veṇī vakṣoruha-mukula-hārāvali-rucaḥ
smarānanya-snigdhāḥ kanaka-ruci-rādhāṅghry-anucarīḥ ||
“Meditate upon Śrī Rādhikā’s youthful handmaids, who have radiant, golden complexions and are the embodiments of charm. Their waists are lovely and slender; their hips and breasts well-formed. From their noses dangle lustrous pearls set in gold and fine jewels. Their hair is tied in elegant braids and they dress in silken cloth.
“Meditate upon Śrī Rādhā’s delightful, golden-hued handmaids, who are devoted to none but her. Their delicate creeper-like arms are adorned with exquisite bracelets and armlets. They are decorated with jingling waist-bells, anklets, jeweled earrings and glistening plaits. Their beauty is enhanced by the luster of the necklaces resting on their budding breasts.”
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying that the confidential bhajana of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava in the mood of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs in Vraja, the abode of sweetness, is beyond the reach of Vedic injunctions. beda-bidhi-agocara, ratana-bedīra para, seba niti kiśora-kiśorī. The Vedas discuss karma, jñāna and upāsanā. In the chapter on upāsanā, or worship, the topics mostly relate to vidhi-bhakti or the worship of Bhagavān’s majestic forms. In this particular kali-yuga, Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu’s compassionate contribution, never before offered, is Vraja’s sweet mañjarī-bhāva-upāsanā. Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda has written the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Candrāmṛtam 111:
śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramaṁ tātparyam uṭṭaṅkitaṁ
śrī-vaiyāsakinā duranvayatayā rāsa-prasaṅge’pi yat |
yad-rādhā-rati-keli-nāgara-rasāsvādaika-sad-bhājanaṁ
tad-vastu-prathanāya gaura-vapuṣā loke’vatīrṇo hariḥ ||
“Because the highest meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the cream of all vedānta, is very confidential and difficult to comprehend, Śrī Vyāsa’s son Śrīpāda Śukadeva Muni has only given a hint of it in his discourse on rāsa-līlā. To relish the erotic pastimes of Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s lover Śrī Kṛṣṇa and to propagate in the world the madhura-rasa type of prema, which is the cause of such enjoyment, Śrī Hari descended in the form of Gaurāṅga.”
Therefore, this confidential worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa sitting on a jeweled loveseat under a desire tree in Śrī Vṛndāvana, which is beyond the reach of Vedic injunctions, is the extraordinary good fortune of the jīvas of kali-yuga. The people of kali-yuga should take shelter at Śrī Gaura’s lotus feet and perform the transcendental bhajana or sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. Hence, Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda has written the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Candrāmṛtam 34:
are mūḍhā gūḍhāṁ vicinuta harer bhakti-padavīṁ
davīyasyā dṛṣṭyāpy aparicita-pūrvāṁ muni-varaiḥ |
na viśrambhaś citte yadi yadi ca daurlabhyam iva tat
parityajyāśeṣaṁ vrajata śaraṇaṁ gaura-caraṇam ||
“O deluded ones! Search out the confidential service of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s lotus feet. In previous times, even the wisest of sages were unable to obtain this knowledge. (Because of this, there is nothing said about it in the Vedas.) If you have no faith in this or if you think it is very difficult to attain (even for sages), then just give up everything and take shelter of Śrī Gaurāṅga’s lotus feet.” The implication is that by doing this, one will no doubt be blessed with the qualification for this esoteric bhajana.
*“Śrī Kṛṣṇa is said to possess the hue of the sapphire. Here he has been likened to an emerald apparently due to his color being blended with the golden hue of the gopīs and thus appearing green rather than cerulean.” From a comment on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.7 (Gītā Press Edition)
