নবদ্বীপে অবতার, রাধা-ভাব অঙ্গীকার,
তাঁর কান্তি অঙ্গের ভূষণ ।
তিন বাঞ্ছা অভিলাষী, শচী-গর্ভে পরকাশি,
সঙ্গে সব পারিষদ-গণ ॥ ১১৩ ॥
nabadvīpe abatāra, rādhā-bhāba aṅgīkāra,
tāṅra kānti aṅgera bhūṣaṇa |
tina-bāñchā-abhilāṣī, śacī-garbhe parakāśi,
saṅge saba pāriṣada-gaṇa || 113 ||
After accepting Śrī Rādhā’s mood and adorning his body with her golden luster, Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa from within Śacīdevī’s womb. He wished to fulfill three desires in the association of his dear companions.
Three Wishes
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya specifies the principal reason for Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s incarnation as Śrīman Mahāprabhu. First he says, nabadvīpe abatāra, rādhā-bhāba aṅgīkāra, tāṅra kānti aṅgera bhūṣaṇa. After accepting Śrī Rādhā’s mood and adorning his body with her golden luster, Śrī Rādhikā’s beloved Vrajendranandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa incarnated in Navadvīpa in the form of Śrī Gaurāṅga. Eager to taste Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s sweet bhāva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa adopted her unique moods like mādana, modana, mohana and so on. He covered his own dark complexion with Śrī Rādhā’s golden hue, as though it were an ornament for his body. He manifested himself as Kṛṣṇa within and Gaura without. No matter which color is mixed with black, it does not have the power to conceal the black. But Rādhārāṇī’s golden luster has such astonishing power that it can fully conceal even Kṛṣṇa’s darkness. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s dark complexion cannot mute Śrī Rādhā’s molten-gold complexion in the slightest. For this reason, it is said that Śrī Kṛṣṇa accepted Śrī Rādhā’s golden color as an ornament on his own body.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa tastes his own sweetness in the mood of Śrī Rādhā after being adorned with such ornaments as her tears, goosebumps and other sāttvika-bhāvas and amazing anubhāvas like dancing, rolling on the ground, taking the form of a tortoise, the dislocation of his limbs and so on. In his narration of Śrīman Mahāprabhu dancing before the cart in Nīlācala (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 13.101-108), Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda has described Mahāprabhu’s unprecedented ornaments of ecstatic emotion (bhāvālaṅkāra):
uddaṇḍa-nṛtye prabhura adbhuta bikāra |
aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhābodaya haya sama-kāla ||
māṁsa-braṇa saha roma-bṛnda pulakita |
śimulīra-bṛkṣa yena kaṇṭake beṣṭita ||
ekeka dantera kampa dekhi’ lāge bhaya |
loke jāne—danta saba khasiyā paḍaya ||
sarbāṅge prasveda chuṭe—tāte raktodgama |
jaja gaga jaja gaga-gadgada bacana ||
jala-yantra-dhārā yena bahe aśru-jala |
āśapāśa loka yata bhijila sakala ||
deha-kānti gaura kabhu dekhiye aruṇa |
kabhu kānti dekhi’ yena mallikā-puṣpa-sama ||
kabhu stabdha, kabhu prabhu bhūmite loṭāya |
śuṣka-kāṣṭha-sama hasta-pada nā calaya ||
kabhu bhūmi paḍe, kabhu haya śvāsa-hīna |
yāhā dekhi’ bhakta-gaṇera haya prāṇa-kṣīṇa ||
“Dancing with his hands lifted, Mahāprabhu experienced the astonishing eight sāttvika-bhāvas or transformations simultaneously. Goosebumps appeared on his body and his hairs stood on end like a silk-cotton tree covered with thorns. When people saw how his teeth chattered, they feared he would lose them. Perspiration mixed with blood poured from his body. He stammered jaja gaga jaja gaga and tears shot from his eyes as though from a syringe, soaking everyone nearby. Sometimes his complexion was seen to be golden, sometimes reddish and sometimes like a jasmine flower. Sometimes Mahāprabhu stood rigidly and sometimes he rolled on the ground. Sometimes his hands and feet would become like dry pieces of wood and he could not walk. Sometimes he fell on the ground; sometimes he was breathless. The bhaktas who saw this felt lifeless.”
Next Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya gives the reason for Kṛṣṇa’s descent in the form of Gaura, having accepted Rādhā’s mood and complexion: tina-bāñchā-abhilāṣī, śacī-garbhe parakāśi, saṅge saba pāriṣada-gaṇa. Śrīpāda Svarūpa-Dāmodara was Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s second form. In the context of describing in his chronicle the principal reason for Mahāprabhu’s descent, Svarūpa-Dāmodara mentioned three wishes, which are quoted in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.6:
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-
svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ |
saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ ||
“What is the greatness of Śrī Rādhā’s love? What is the amazing sweetness that she experiences in me through her love? What is the joy that she feels in tasting my sweetness? Out of eagerness for these three, Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra appeared from the ocean of Śacī’s womb fully in the mood of Śrī Rādhā.” These three desires regarding Śrī Rādhā’s prema caused a deep longing to awaken in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s heart. Even after much endeavor, he was unable to fulfill these three wishes in vraja-līlā. Therefore, he made a firm decision to accept Śrī Rādhā’s mood and complexion and descend in the form of Śrī Gaura. Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.264-272 :
rasa āsvādite āmi kaila abatāra | prema-rasa āsvādila bibidha prakāra ||
rāga-mārge bhakta bhakti kare ye prakāre | tāhā śikhāila līlā ācaraṇa dvāre ||
ei tina tṛṣṇā mora nahila pūraṇa | bijātīya-bhābe nahe tāhā āsvādana ||
rādhikāra bhāba-kānti aṅgīkāra bine | sei tina sukha kabhu nahe āsvādane ||
rādhā-bhāba aṅgīkari dhari tāra barṇa | tina sukha āsvādite haba abatīrṇa ||
sarba-bhābe kaila kṛṣṇa eita niścaya | hena-kāle āila yugābatāra-samaya ||
sei kāle śrī-advaita karena ārādhana | tāṅhāra huṅkāre kaila kṛṣṇa ākarṣaṇa ||
pitā mātā guru-gaṇa āge abatāri | rādhikāra bhāba-barṇa aṅgīkāra kari ||
nabadvīpe śacī-garbha-śuddha-dugdha-sindhu | tāhāte prakaṭa hailā kṛṣṇa pūrṇa indu ||
“‘I incarnated to taste rasa. I delighted in various kinds of prema-rasa. Through my pastimes and behavior, I taught the devotees how to perform bhakti on the rāga-mārga. But my three desires had not been fulfilled; I could not taste rasa in the contrasting moods. Without accepting Rādhikā’s mood and complexion, I could never experience those three kinds of happiness. To enjoy them I must accept Rādhā’s mood and complexion and incarnate on earth.’ Kṛṣṇa committed himself wholeheartedly to his decision. The time for his yugāvatāra then arrived. At that time, Śrī Advaita began to pray and his loud cries attracted Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s father, mother and elders all incarnated before him. Having adopted Rādhikā’s mood and complexion, the full moon Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa from the ocean of pure milk that is Śacī’s womb.”
