आधाय मूर्धनि यदापुरुदारगोप्यः
काम्यं पदं प्रियगुणैरपि पिच्छमौलेः ।
भावोत्सवेन भजतां रसकामधेनुं
तं राधिकाचरणरेणुमहं स्मरामि ॥ ५ ॥
ādhāya mūrdhani yad āpur udāra-gopyaḥ
kāmyaṁ padaṁ priya-guṇair api piccha-mauleḥ |
bhāvotsavena bhajatāṁ rasa-kāmadhenuṁ
taṁ rādhikā-caraṇa-reṇum ahaṁ smarāmi || 5 ||
“I meditate upon the dust from Śrī Rādhikā’s lotus feet. Like a wish-fulfilling cow, this dust grants the experience of rasa to those who worship with intense love. After the high-natured vraja-gopīs placed this dust upon their heads, they obtained their desired service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as well as charming qualities that are pleasing to him.”
A Cow Who Gives the Blessing of Rasa
Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: The two preceding verses have sung the praises of Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust, the glory of which has awakened within Śrīpāda’s mind. This verse also is a transcendental revelation of the power of the dust from her lotus feet. In the first half of the verse, he says, udāra-gopyaḥ yat mūrdhani ādhāya piccha-mauleḥ priya-guṇair api kāmyaṁ padam āpuḥ. “After the high-natured vraja-gopīs placed this dust upon their heads, they were blessed with not only their desired service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but also with charming qualities that are pleasing to him.” His description of the gopīs as udāra (high-natured) signifies their unselfish love, devoid of any desire for their own sense pleasure.
ātmendriya-sukha-bāñchā nāhi gopikāra |
kṛṣṇe sukha dite kare saṅgama-bihāra ||
kṛṣṇa lāgi āra saba kari parityāga |
kṛṣṇa sukha hetu kare śuddha anurāga ||
“The gopikās have no desire for their own sense enjoyment; they engage in romantic pastimes with Kṛṣṇa only to make him happy. Being attached to Kṛṣṇa, they let go of everything else and out of pure love devote themselves to his happiness.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 8.218, Ādi 4.175)
This generous, independent and unadulterated love, devoid of any self-interest, is most rare in this world. Those who completely abandon all dharmas through the powerful impulse of love for Kṛṣṇa become intoxicated by their deep absorption in sevā.
loka-dharma beda-dharma deha-dharma karma |
lajjā dhairya deha-sukha ātma-sukha-marma ||
dustyaja ārya-patha āra nija parijana |
svajane karaye yata tāḍana bhartsana ||
sarba-tyāga kari kare kṛṣṇera bhajana |
kṛṣṇa-sukha hetu kare prema-sebana ||
ihāke kahiye kṛṣṇe dṛḍha anurāga |
svaccha dhauta bastre yaiche nāhi kona dāga ||
“Giving up dearly held social duties, scriptural regulations, bodily duties, fruitive actions, shyness, patience, bodily pleasures, personal happiness, the varṇāśrama system and their own friends and family, who scold and oppress them so much, the gopīs engage in śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana. They give up everything and perform loving service only for Kṛṣṇa’s happiness. This is called firm attachment for Kṛṣṇa. It is spotlessly pure, like a freshly washed white cloth.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.167-170)
To reveal the greatness and purity of the gopīs’ love through their own words, Śrīpāda Śukamuni says in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.31.19,
yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṁ staneṣu
bhītāḥ śanaiḥ priya dadhīmahi karkaśeṣu |
tenāṭavīm aṭasi tad vyathate na kiṁ svit
kūrpādibhir bhramati dhīr bhavad-āyuṣāṁ naḥ ||
Distressed by separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa when he disappeared from the rāsa-līlā, the vraja-sundarīs said, “Dear one! Your feet are even softer and more beautiful than a beautiful species of lotus born in a beautiful season. When we place one of your feet upon our breasts, we hold it very gently, fearing that our firm breasts may hurt you. When we, whose lives depend on you, think of you roaming about in the dark of night on this hard ground of Vṛndāvana, covered with tiny stones and sharp thorns, our minds begin to reel.” It is worth noting here that when a woman holds her beloved to her chest, she is beside herself with joy. This is the natural way of love. But when the vraja-devīs hold Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet, which are more dear to them than millions of lives, to their chests, they are not beside themselves with their own joy. Instead, because Kṛṣṇa’s happiness is their goal, they are beside themselves with fear that they may hurt him, so they hold his feet ever so gently. This demonstrates that the rasika devotees reach a state wherein they have no desire for their own happiness. In the realm of prema, no one but the vraja-devīs speaks like this. They know better than anyone how, by pleasing Kṛṣṇa, one abandons the desire for personal satisfaction. Even simple pleasures like the cleansing of their own bodies and so on result in Kṛṣṇa’s happiness. Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda said the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.181-183:
tabe ye dekhiye gopīra nija-dehe prīta |
seho ta kṛṣṇera lāgi jāniha niścita ||
ei deha kaila āmi kṛṣṇe samarpaṇa |
tāra dhana tāra ei sambhoga-sādhana ||
e-deha-darśana-sparśe kṛṣṇa-santoṣaṇa |
ei lāgi kare dehera mārjana-bhūṣaṇa ||
“Know for certain that whatever one may see the gopīs doing for the satisfaction of their own bodies, they are doing it only for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure. ‘I have dedicated this body to Kṛṣṇa; it is his property and the instrument for his enjoyment. Kṛṣṇa is pleased by seeing and touching this body. It is for this reason that I cleanse and decorate it.’”
The question may arise that if the gopīs have no desire for their own happiness, they will get no happiness. And if they get no happiness, how can gopī-prema be beneficial, because happiness is the object of life? Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda has given a beautiful solution to this puzzle in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.187-189, 199-200:
gopikā karena yabe kṛṣṇa-daraśana |
sukha-bāñchā nāhi sukha haya koṭī-guṇa ||
tāhā sabāra nāhi nija-sukha-anurodha |
tathāpi bāḍaye sukha paḍila birodha ||
e birodhera ekamātra dekhi samādhāna |
gopikāra sukha kṛṣṇa-sukhe paryabasāna ||
prīti-biṣayānande tad-āśrayānanda |
tāṅhā nāhi nija-sukha-bāñchāra sambandha ||
nirupādhi prema yāṅhā tāṅhā ei rīti |
prīti-biṣaya-sukhe āśrayera prīti ||
“Although a gopikā has no desire for her own happiness, when she sees Kṛṣṇa, her happiness is boundless. None of the gopīs prays for her own happiness, and yet it increases. I see only one explanation for this contradiction: That which makes Kṛṣṇa happy makes the gopikā happy. The lover’s happiness lies in the happiness of the beloved. It is not a relationship based on the desire for one’s own happiness. The nature of pure love is such that the lover’s satisfaction lies in the satisfaction of the beloved.”
By worshiping the foot-dust of the high-natured gopikās, who are devoid of any desire for their own sense-satisfaction, one will be blessed with one’s longed-for service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as well as with qualities that are pleasing to him. By using the metaphor “worshiping Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust,” it is implied that her mood is to be followed. Without following the mood of the nitya-siddhā-gopīs, one cannot attain gopī-bhāva.
gopī-anugati binā aiśvarya-jñāne |
bhajileha nāhi pāya brajendranandane ||
tāhāte dṛṣṭānta lakṣmī karilā bhajana |
tathāpi nā pāila braje brajendranandana ||
“If one worships in the aiśvarya mood instead of following the gopīs, he will not get Vrajendranandana. For example, even though Śrī Lakṣmī performed bhajana, she was unable to obtain Vrajendranandana in Vraja.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 8.230-231)
Among the gopīs, Śrī Rādhā is the greatest of all. Therefore, by worshiping the dust from her lotus feet, one reaches the highest level of gopī-bhāva. By worshiping Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust, one attains gopī-prema as well as develops qualities similar to Śrī Rādhā’s. Even though for serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa these qualities are not as important as love, still, because they are suitable for sevā in this mood, they spontaneously take shelter in the bhakta.* This is the meaning applied here to the words priya-guṇair api.
Or they could refer to Śrī Rādhā’s high-natured kiṅkarīs (maidservants), who, after taking her foot-dust upon their heads, have attained not only the qualities suitable for her service, but that service as well, something desired even by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. When Rasika-Śiromaṇi Śrī Kṛṣṇa sees the kiṅkarīs’ devotion and skill in their delightful sevās, the desire for such sevā awakens in his own mind. Śrī Rādhā is a svādhīna-bhartṛkā, a woman whose lover is under her control. She freely gives orders to Śrī Kṛṣṇa: “You must dress and decorate me. If my sakhīs see me like this, they will tease me.” Kṛṣṇa is eager to follow Śrīmatī’s order to dress her. Understanding her intention, the kiṅkarīs bring all the articles he will need. Śrīmatī says, “Paint lac-dye on the soles of my feet.” Kṛṣṇa takes Rādhikā’s lotus feet upon his lap so he can apply the lac-dye. A kiṅkarī brings a bowl of the paint and a brush; she places the brush in Śyāmasundara’s hand and holds the bowl in her own. Kṛṣṇa becomes overwhelmed by the beauty of Śrīmatī’s lotus feet. At one moment, he holds her feet to his chest, and the next, he kisses them! Glistening tears of love flow from his eyes. Śrīmatī says, “What are you doing? Paint them quickly!” Because of sāttvika-vikāras,** his hands tremble so much he cannot do his sevā! Seeing his condition, Svāminī smiles slightly and says to her kiṅkarīs, “Lover Boy can’t do it, so you’ll have to dress me.” Accepting Śrīmatī’s order, the kiṅkarīs give Kṛṣṇa a gentle push and say, “Move! You’ll not be doing this.” Nāgara Kṛṣṇa thinks, “Alas! When will I be blessed with sevā like the kiṅkarīs? How will such qualities arise in me?” A vision of one charming pastime has been described. Even Śrī Kṛṣṇa wants to serve Śrī Rādhā as well as acquire the appropriate qualities for doing so. Śrīmatī’s high-minded dāsīs, whose lives are devoted to śrī-yugala-sevā, attain this spontaneously when they take the dust from her lotus feet upon their heads.
Moreover, Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust is like a kāmadhenu who gives rasa to those who worship in the festival of bhāva. If one knows what bhāva is, then the phrase “festival of bhāva” will be understood. The particular state of one’s mind is called bhāva. The propensity of the mind to become absorbed in the contact of the senses with their objects is generally called bhāva. The mind is solid like lac. Just as lac melts by the heat of fire, the mind melts by association with sense-objects. Then, if the sense-object is established within the melted mind, the mind assumes the shape of the object. The faculty of the mind that allows it to assume the shape of an object without having any perceivable contact with it is called bhāva. When the mind is introduced to Śrī Bhagavān’s name, form, qualities, pastimes and so on and subsequently assumes a similar shape, meaning when it becomes engrossed in those topics, that is known as bhagavad-bhāva. This bhāva can be of two types: one is favorable toward the object (Śrī Bhagavān), while the other is hostile toward the object. Kaṁsa, Śiśupāla and others were always engrossed in thoughts of Śrī Kṛṣṇa with fear and malice, but that antagonistic type of bhāva has not been called bhakti. One cannot experience Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurya in such a hostile mood; it can only be tasted by one who is favorable. The word favorable (ānukūlyātmaka) means that one has an eager desire for Śrī Bhagavān’s favor or longs to please him by service. According to how pure or spiritual the desire is, to that degree the bhāva is joyful. The attitude of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs toward Śrī Yugala is so pure and selfless that it does not contain even the subtlest of mundane attributes. (We shall discuss this in due course.) Therefore, the bhajana of Rādhā’s dāsīs is one of joyful love. For her kiṅkarīs, Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust is like a kāmadhenu that provides rasa in the form of yugala-sevā. The mythical cow of plenty that rose from the ocean of milk is called a kāmadhenu. Just as the kāmadhenu can fulfill anyone’s wishes, the dust from Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s lotus feet can bestow the realization of all rasas upon her kiṅkarīs. Although being her friends, they are also her maidservants, so they experience sakhya-rasa within the dāsya-rasa. According to even those who compose rasa-śāstras, madhura-rasa is incompatible with vātsalya-rasa. But for the dāsīs, in Śrī Rādhā’s storehouse there is no lack of even vātsalya-rasa. So Śrī Rādhā’s foot-dust is like a kāmadhenu who bestows upon her kiṅkarīs the ultimate gift of tasting dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura-rasas all at the same time.
* yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ |
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ ||
“All good qualities as well as all the gods reside in one who has exclusive devotion to Śrī Bhagavān. But if a person has no devotion, where are his good qualities? He runs always on an illusory path following his desires for temporary material happiness.” (Bhāg. 5.18.12)
** An external indication of an (internal) feeling or emotion (Apte)
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