Śrī-Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhiḥ 12 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

 

उज्जृम्भमाणरसवारिनिधेस्तरङ्गै-

रङ्गैरिव प्रणयलोलविलोचनायाः ।

तस्याः कदा नु भविता मयि पुण्यदृष्टि-

र्वृन्दाटवी-नवनिकुञ्जगृहाधिदेव्याः ॥ १२ ॥

ujjṛmbhamāṇa-rasa-vāri-nidhes taraṅgair

aṅgair iva praṇaya-lola-vilocanāyāḥ |

tasyāḥ kadā nu bhavitā mayi puṇya-dṛṣṭir

vṛndāṭavī-nava-nikuñja-gṛhādhidevyāḥ || 12 ||

“When will the auspicious glance of Śrī Rādhā, the goddess of Vṛndāvana’s new bower cottage, fall upon me? Her restless, thirsty eyes fill with love at the sight of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s smiles, sidelong glances and so on that rise like waves in the billowing ocean of rasa.”

Śrī Rādhā, Ocean of Love

Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse, a deep longing for Śrīmatī’s mercy awoke in Śrīpāda’s mind when his vision of līlā faded and he returned to sādhaka consciousness. The sādhaka advances on the path toward his objective according to the amount of longing in his heart. Specifically, this eager desire or longing is the life of rāga-bhakti. In the heart of a jīva like me, desires for so many things constantly arise, but not even a scent of longing for the divine beloved appears. Longing will arise in the sādhaka’s heart if he continuously hears about the loving affairs of the divine couple. This is the way to obtain strong desire for the beloved.

tat-tat-bhāvādi-mādhurye śrute dhīr yad apekṣate |

nātra śāstraṁ na yuktiṁ ca tal-lobhotpatti-lakṣaṇam ||

“The indication of the appearance of lobha, or strong desire, is that upon hearing about Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweet loving affairs from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and other līlā-granthas written by rasika-bhaktas, one gains a slight experience of that bhāva. Then, without regard for scriptural injunctions or logic, a desire to obtain it arises in one’s mind.” (Śrī-Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 1.2.292)

This intense desire for tasting mādhurya is the primary support for rāga-bhajana. Śrīpāda longs for Śrīmatī’s merciful glance. Woven within her compassionate glance is the attainment of sevā to the beloved. In his Prārthanā, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has written the following:

prāṇeśvari! kabe more habe kṛpā-diṭhi |

ājñāya āniyā kabe, bibidha phulabara, bacana śunaba duṅhu miṭhi ||

mṛga-mada tilaka, sindura banāoba, lepaba candana gandhe ||

gāṅthi mālatī-phula, hāra pahirāoba, dhāoyāba madhukara-bṛnde |

lalitā kabe more, bījana deoyaba, bījaba māruta mande ||

śrama-jala sakala, miṭaba duṅhu kalebara, heraba parama ānande ||

“Goddess of my life! When shall I get your merciful glance? When, by your order, shall I bring varieties of beautiful flowers and hear your sweet conversations with Kṛṣṇa? I shall prepare tilaka of musk and vermilion for the two of you, and anoint your bodies with fragrant sandal-paste. I shall string garlands of mālatī flowers, replace your necklaces and chase away the bees. When will Lalitā give me the opportunity to fan you, removing the perspiration from your bodies with a gentle breeze. I shall behold all this in great joy!”

By Śrīmatī’s mercy, a vision of līlā has appeared before Śrīpāda’s eyes. Śrī Rādhā, filled with profound love, has departed for the kuñja today to meet her lover. Śrī Rādhā’s mood during the journey is truly amazing: on the one hand, she is eager, while on the other, she is apprehensive. Then there is the difficulty of the path itself. People say that love is tender, but they will be astonished if they consider that such tenderness is the source (or vessel) of infinite power.

māthahi tapana, tapata patha bāluka, ātapa dahana bithāra |

nanika putali tanu, caraṇa kamala janu, dinahi kayala abhisāra ||

hari hari! premaka gati anibāra |

kānu paraśa rase, parabaśa rasabatī, bichurala sakala bicāra ||

“On the day of Rādhā’s journey to see her lover, the sun overhead was hot and the sand on the road even hotter. Her body was like a doll made of butter and her lotus feet like glowing coals. Hari Hari! The movement of one with divine love is unstoppable. Overcome by Kṛṣṇa’s charm, Rādhā forgot all caution.” (Govinda Dāsa)

Longing intensely to serve Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī prevailed over all obstacles and hazards and has now arrived at the meeting place. When her eager lover, waiting in the bower, saw his devoted Śrī Rādhā’s moonlike face, he was filled with joy. Because Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the incomparable ocean of mādhurya-rasa, when he saw Śrī Rādhā’s moonlike face, waves of beauty began to surge in him. Waves of smiles, sidelong glances and so on rose within that expanding ocean of rasa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is an ocean full of nectarous rasa. Śruti has said, raso vai saḥ, ānandaṁ brahma. Śrī Bhagavān is full of rasa or joy; but all rasas are not fully manifested in all avatāras. After Nṛsiṁhadeva killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, the gods sent Śrī Lakṣmīdevī to allay his anger, but she could not find any madhura-rasa in him. Śrī Prahlāda Mahāśaya found vātsalya-rasa(1) within him. In no other incarnation of Śrī Bhagavān are all the rasas displayed at once. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the full embodiment of rasa; all rasas are completely manifested in him. He has so many qualities that nourish rasa and those qualities are called his mādhurya (sweetness). Śrī Kṛṣṇa's rūpa-mādhurya (bodily sweetness) is one of them. With the support of pure love, the devotee perceives Kṛṣṇa's sweetness, and in the presence of that devotee's love, Kṛṣṇa's sweetness is seen to surge. In the invocation to his Durgama-Saṅgamanī commentary on Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu, Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, tatrāpi rasa-viśeṣa-viśiṣṭa-parikara-vaiśiṣṭyenāvirbhāva-vaiśiṣṭyaṁ dṛśyate; ataevādi-rasa-viśeṣa-viśiṣṭa-sambandhena nitarām. The meaning is that Kṛṣṇa's sweetness surges in response to the degree of the devotee's love. Therefore, in the presence of the damsels of Vraja, whose pure love in madhura-rasa surpasses all others, the bodily sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the king of the erotic sentiment, surges in abundance. In the presence of Śrī Rādhārāṇī, who possesses mādanākhya-mahābhāva, the highest of all, endless waves of mādhurya surge in that ocean of śṛṅgāra-rasa.(2)

In his kiṅkarī form, Śrīpāda observes that when the delighted nāgara (lover boy) sees Śrī Rādhā's face, his own boundless beauty is displayed. His sweetly smiling face is very attractive, and upon that face his captivating eyebrows play. When Śrīmatī sees the face of her beloved, her eyes become restless with love. The jewel of lovers reveals boundless sweetness in her sidelong glances. Śrī Rādhā's eyes swim like fish in the waves of the ocean of the lover king's beauty. Śrī Rādhā is a transformation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's love. rādhikā hayena kṛṣṇera praṇaya-bikāra (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.59). The love in Śrīmatī’s heart emerges through her eyes and paints countless pictures of rasa on the canvas of Kṛṣṇa’s heart.(3) The reason for saying praṇaya-lola-vilocanā rather than prema-lola-vilocanā is that where there is an abundance of love, one considers one's own body, mind and soul to be one with his or her lover's.(4) Today, the jewel of lovers Śrī Rādhā is very open-hearted, so by means of his beauty and sweetness the lover king drives away her naturally contrary nature and enchants her. Her loving, sidelong glances are restless. This restlessness reveals her countless erotic moods. Through her eyes she makes love-offerings to her beloved. The ornament named vilāsa, or flirtatious behavior, is expressed by her beautiful limbs.

gati-sthānāsanādīnāṁ mukha-netrādi-karmaṇām |

tātkālikaṁ tu vaiśiṣṭyaṁ vilāsaḥ priya-saṅga-jam ||

“The particular manner of the girl's walking, standing, sitting and so on, as well as the movements of her mouth and eyes that manifest when she meets with her lover is called vilāsa.” (Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi 11.31)

When he saw the sweetness of Śrīmatī's mouth, eyes and limbs, Kṛṣṇa was enticed by her beauty and became eager for romance. The kiṅkarī left the bower, knowing that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa were going to make love. Such sweet union! The fortunate kiṅkarī was blessed with a taste of that sweetness by peeking through an opening in the bower. After the lovemaking, the kiṅkarī knew there would be an opportunity for sevā, so she reentered the bower, where Śrīmatī was sitting on the bed. It seemed as though a cascade of mādhurī was falling from her beautiful form. Kṛṣṇa was spellbound.

līlā-ante sukhe ihāra ye aṅga mādhurī |

tāhā dekhi sukhe āmi āpanā pāsari ||

“Seeing the beauty of her body after our love play, I forget myself in ecstasy.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.256)

By observing Śyāmasundara, the kiṅkarī understood that Śrīmatī is the presiding deity of the new bower cottage and she illuminates it with her beauty.

debī kahi dyotamānā paramā-sundarī |

kimbā kṛṣṇa-krīḍā-pūjāra basati nagarī ||

“The word devī means luminous and most beautiful, or the abode of the worship of Kṛṣṇa and his pastimes.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.84)

The enchanted nāgara relishes insatiably the beauty of Śrīmatī's form. The kiṅkarī engages in sevā. Suddenly the vision came to an end. In sādhaka consciousness he prayed with deep anguish, “When will Śrī Rādhā’s auspicious glance fall upon me?” Here, the word puṇya-dṛṣṭi (auspicious glance) means “charming or pleasant glance.” He hopes to relish Śrīmatī's sweet glance as she, with longing eyes, savors the sight of Śyāmasundara. Or the word puṇya can mean “conferring happiness.” In his sādhaka state, he humbly said, “Śrī Rādhā’s glance confers the greatest happiness. When will that sweet glance deliver me from this wretched condition and lead me to the most auspicious kingdom of līlā?”

1. Parental sentiment

2. Śṛṅgāra is the erotic mood.

3. Could this mean that when Kṛṣṇa sees the love in Rādhā’s eyes, the possibility of countless rasika pastimes with her appears in his heart?

4. Prema and praṇaya both generally mean love or affection, but praṇaya seems to specifically indicate intimacy.

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Śrī-Śrī-Gaura-Govinda-Līlāmṛta Guṭikā 18

 Navadvīpa: Mahāprabhu’s Bathing, Dressing and Ecstasy

Śrī Gaurasundara was in his bedroom absorbed in rādhā-bhāva, surrounded by his associates. Experiencing Śrī Rādhā’s joy, Prabhu was overcome by prema and began to roar. The bhaktas heard the loud noise and returned to external consciousness. Svarūpa Gosvāmī finished singing. Then Mahāprabhu also returned to external consciousness, greeting and embracing the two prabhus and the bhaktas as was appropriate. After that, he sat on his toothbrushing platform. At Śrī Gurudeva’s signal, the sādhaka-dāsa brought water in a golden pot, fragrant powder in a mango-leaf cup and a golden tongue-scraper. After Mahāprabhu finished brushing his teeth, they were more lustrous than a string of pearls. Prabhu then went to the toilet. When he returned, the sādhaka-dāsa washed his lotus hands and feet with fragrant clay and scented water and then dried them with a fine cloth. In the same way, the sādhaka-dāsa assisted Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Advaita Prabhu in their toothbrushing and other morning duties. After that, the three prabhus and their associates went to bathe in the Gaṅgā. The sādhaka-dāsa gathered fragrant oils, massage oils, clothing and other sevā ingredients along with the articles for gaṅgā-pūjā and followed behind. After arriving at the banks of the Gaṅgā, Mahāprabhu and his companions offered praṇāma to the river and placed her water on their heads. Then they sat in a courtyard on the terrace of his bathing ghāṭa made of jeweled stairs. After the dāsas dressed the three prabhus in their bathing garments, they massaged them with fragrant nārāyaṇa oil and anointed them with scented powder. The three prabhus and the bhaktas then completed their water sports and baths and were dried off by the dāsas. After that, they dressed Śrīman Mahāprabhu in a yellow cloth, Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu in blue and Śrī Advaita Prabhu in white. Then the three prabhus adorned themselves with tilaka made from Gaṅgā clay and performed gaṅgā-pūjā, finishing with daṇḍavat-praṇāma. After that they engaged in saṅkīrtana with the bhaktas as they returned home. The dāsas followed behind, carrying the prabhus’ wet clothing and pots of water. After the dāsas washed the feet of the three prabhus, they sat them in separate pavilions to be dressed and decorated. Then they dried and scented the prabhus’ hair with aguru incense smoke and groomed them with golden combs. After that, they tied their hair in beautiful clusters with strings of pearls and bakula flower chaplets. They painted upward tilaka made of saffron on their foreheads, leaves on each cheek and a dot of musk on their chins. They spread an unguent made of sandalwood, aloeswood, saffron and musk on all the prabhus’ limbs. Then they adorned them with necklaces and garlands, bracelets and bangles on their arms, jeweled rings on their fingers and anklets on their feet. Then they put upper garments on them and showed each one a mirror. The dressing and decorating of the three prabhus was the same except for the yellow, blue and white clothing. Mahāprabhu and Advaita Prabhu both wore an earring on each ear, while Nityānanda Prabhu wore an earring on his left ear and a kadamba flower on his right. Mahāprabhu’s nose was adorned with a pearl. All the bhaktas were dressed in white cloth.

When the three prabhus were finished being dressed and decorated, Śrī Gurudeva had the sādhaka-dāsa place an ornate ghee and camphor lamp for ārati in Śrī Svarūpa Gosvāmī’s hand. Svarūpa then offered ārati to the three prabhus. After that, Mahāprabhu directed Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita to perform śrī-nārāyaṇa-sevā and then became absorbed in vraja-bhāva. Understanding Mahāprabhu’s mind, Svarūpa began to sweetly sing verses about Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s bathing, dressing and decorating, eating and so on. Govinda Ghoṣa, Vāsudeva Ghoṣa and others played mṛdaṅgas and karatālas. When Mahāprabhu heard this, he was overcome by tears, goosebumps and other sāttvika-vikāras and then sank into rādhā-bhāva. The bhaktas also intently engaged in singing and became immersed in vraja-līlā in their respective siddha-svarūpas.

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