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Śrī-Śrī-Gaura-Govinda-Līlāmṛta Guṭikā 20

Meanwhile, Hiraṇyāṅgī Sakhī arrived and Śrī Rādhā affectionately inquired, “Sakhī! From where have you come?” Hiraṇyāṅgī replied, “From Nanda’s home.” Hearing that, Śrīmatī became impatient and said, “So tell us how Nanda’s family is doing.” Then Hiraṇyāṅgī began to speak, “O Rādhā! When Kṛṣṇa left to milk the cows, Mother Yaśomatī was overwhelmed by the nectar of love for her son. Anxious about the preparation of Kṛṣṇa’s foods, she instructed the dāsīs to bring all the ingredients for cooking to the kitchen. She then spoke lovingly to Rohiṇī, ‘Rohiṇī, my friend, even though there are many dāsas present, Rāma and Kṛṣṇa always go to graze the cows. They get tired from roaming about the austere forest, so by evening they do not feel like eating anything. Because of this, they have become extremely weak and thin. Early this morning I saw that their bellies were touching their backs! Therefore, O lovely one, please go quickly to the kitchen and prepare some delicious food for them.’ After saying this to Rohiṇī, Mother Yaśomatī instructed Payoda, Vārida and other dāsas to arrange scented bathwater suitable for the time, fragrant oil, massage oil, clothes, ornaments and so on in the proper places for Kṛṣṇa and Baladeva’s bathing and dressing. After the dāsas were engaged in their respective duties, Yaśodā went to the outer gate and watched the path for Rāma and Kṛṣṇa to arrive. Finally, seeing that the boys were late, she sent a servant named Raktaka to retrieve them. At the other end, Nanda Mahārāja insisted that Kṛṣṇa leave the pasturing grounds and go home. When Mother Yaśodā saw Kṛṣṇa arrive, her dress became moist with tears of joy and breastmilk. She said to him, ‘My darling, come quickly! Though hungry, why are you so late coming home?’ While massaging Kṛṣṇa’s limbs, Yaśomatī said to his friends, ‘My sons! I know you are all hungry, so go to your respective homes, take a bath and get dressed and decorated. Then come here without delay to enjoy your meal.’ After sending the boys away, Mother Yaśodā entered the house with Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Madhumaṅgala. She sent Kṛṣṇa to the bathing platform where a servant named Sāraṅga removed his ornaments and dressed him in a bathing garment. Then he sat comfortably on an elevated seat on the platform where a servant named Patrī washed his lotus feet with scented water from a golden pot and dried them with a soft cloth. After that, a barber’s son named Subandha gently massaged Kṛṣṇa’s limbs with fragrant nārāyaṇa oil. Then a servant named Sugandha rubbed his body with an aromatic yellow oil even smoother and cooler than butter. Two servants named Snigdha and Karpūra dressed his locks of hair with smooth, cool and sweet-smelling āmalakī paste. Two servants named Raktaka and Payoda washed his body with cool water and then rubbed it with a soft cloth. After this, other servants bathed him with small pots of scented water. Then the servant named Patrī dried Kṛṣṇa’s body and hair with soft towels and then dressed him in upper and lower garments the color of lightning. After that, Kṛṣṇa sat on the dressing platform and a servant named Kumuda dried and perfumed his hair with the smoke of aloeswood and incense. He then arranged his hair with a jeweled comb and tied it in a knot. A servant named Makaranda painted tilaka on Kṛṣṇa’s forehead with gorocanā and then anointed his entire body with a mixture of musk, camphor, aloeswood and vermilion. Then a servant named Premakanda adorned his arms with golden bangles, his ears with makara(1)-shaped earrings, his lotus feet with jeweled anklets and his chest with a lustrous jeweled necklace.

“Meanwhile, Śrī Baladeva, Madhumaṅgala and the other sakhās arrived after being bathed, anointed with fragrant oils and adorned with various ornaments. At that time, Śrī Yaśomatī and Rohiṇī Mātā waved a camphor lamp before Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Ambā, Kilimbā and others sang their praises and the sakhās shouted jaya jaya. Then Śrī Bhāgurī Muni arrived and gave his blessings to Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, after which Yaśodā Mā had Kṛṣṇa give him a cow and calf decorated with yellow cloth and jewels. Then Yaśodā brought Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and the sakhās to the dining room and fed them butter and rock candy along with various kinds of sweets and cooked foods. After eating, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and the sakhās all rinsed their hands and mouths, chewed tāmbūla and went to an outer room to play games. Filled with affection, Yaśodā Mā then gave me some sweets to bring to you. Dhaniṣṭhā has mixed Kṛṣṇa’s lip nectar with those sweets. I gave them to Rati Mañjarī in your dining room, so you and your sakhīs go eat them now.” So Śrī Rādhā and her sakhīs went there in great delight. After eating the sweets sent with love by Yaśomatī and mixed with the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, they rinsed their hands and mouths, then sat in a parlor and enjoyed tāmbūla. After the mañjarīs, guru-mañjarīs and the sādhaka-dāsī consumed the remaining sweets, they cleaned the room, the pots and so on and began to fan and perform other services for Śrī Rādhā.

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1. A makara is a kind of sea-monster sometimes confounded with the crocodile, shark or dolphin. Monier-Williams 

Śrī-Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhiḥ 14 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

राधाकरावचित-पल्लव-वल्लरीके 

राधापदाङ्कविलसन्मधुरस्थलीके ।

राधा-यशोमुखरमत्त-खगावलीके 

राधा-विहार-विपिने रमतां मनो मे ॥ १४ ॥

rādhā-karāvacita-pallava-vallarīke 

rādhā-padāṅka-vilasan-madhura-sthalīke |

rādhā-yaśo-mukhara-matta-khagāvalīke 

rādhā-vihāra-vipine ramatāṁ mano me || 14 ||

“Let my mind sport in the forest of Śrī Rādhā’s pastimes, where she gently gathers the creeper blossoms with her lotus hands. It is a charming place where her footprints sparkle, and where the birds joyfully sing of her glory.”

Śrī Rādhā’s Forest Playground

Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: After Śrīpāda’s vision ended, deep humility and sorrow arose in his mind. His heart melted with longing, but due to his humility, Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet seemed very difficult for him to attain. In Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary on the first verse of Utkalikā-Vallarī (Stava-Mālā), he has written, alabdhābhīṣṭasyābhīṣṭotkaṇṭhayā vigalita-cittasya tal-lābhe svāyogyatva sphūrtyābhyudita-dainyasya bhaktasya sakrando’śru-nirjharaḥ patatīti… iyam avasthā khalu bhakta-janasya puruṣārtha-dātrī. On the one hand, a virahī-bhakta’s(1) heart melts with intense longing because he has not attained his beloved. On the other, because of his deep humility, he weeps day and night lamenting his lack of qualification for attaining his goal. This condition is most desirable for a bhakta and bestows upon him the goal of his life. Filled with humility, Śrīpāda thinks, “Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet are very difficult to attain. Where and how can I find them?” Suddenly, a ray of hope appeared in Śrīpāda’s dejected heart. He remembered stories about the mercy of Śrī Vṛndāvana. Śrīpāda was a recipient of the highest mercy from Śrī Rādhā’s playground, Śrī Vṛndāvana. Those who have studied his book Śrī-Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛta can easily understand how Śrī Vṛndāvana’s mercy has rained upon him. To induce the people of the world to accept the sweet shelter of Śrī Rādhā’s forest playground, he said in a simple way,

gaura-śyāma-sunāgara-divya-kiśora-dvayaṁ sadā yatra |

nava-nava-keli-vilāsair viharati vṛndāvanaṁ tad eva bhaja ||

“Worship Śrī Vṛndāvana, where the two divine youthful lovers Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa always sport in ever-fresh pastimes. By the mercy of Śrī Vṛndāvana, you will obtain their lotus feet.” (Śrī-Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛtam 3.94) In the verse we are discussing, he instructs his mind by saying, rādhā-vihāra-vipine ramatāṁ mano me. “O mind, just enjoy yourself in Śrī Rādhā’s forest playground!” yathā hari-rase manaḥ svayam anaṅkuśe dhāvati. (Śrī-Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛtam 3.51) The purport is that by the power of Vṛndāvana, the mind of one who takes shelter of Vraja becomes engaged without restraint in hari-rasa, meaning in the beautiful, sweet and captivating lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā-Govinda. What misery for a jīva like me! I have no experience whatsoever of residing in Śrī Rādhā’s forest playground. My attachment for this body and all that goes with it is nothing but delirium. In the last half of the above-mentioned verse, Śrīpāda has written, paraṁ tu yadi tad-gata-sthira-careṣu no kāya-vāṅ-manobhir aparādhitā bhavati bādhitā tattva-dhīḥ. The meaning is that everything in Vṛndāvana, mobile or immobile, is cinmaya or conscious. If you live in Vraja in this state of mind, you will receive the fruit of living in Vraja. If, however, you ignorantly commit an offense with your body, mind or speech toward a vrajavāsī, mobile or immobile, your realization of vraja-rasa will be obstructed. Even if a jīva like me resides permanently in Rādhā’s forest playground, because of such an offense there will be no realization.

By the mercy of Śrī Vṛndāvana, a vision of one sweet pastime has appeared before Śrīpāda. He is witnessing one of Śrī Yugala-Kiśora’s madhura-līlās in the forest around Śrī Rādhā-Kuṇḍa. Along with their girlfriends, the divine couple is enjoying the springtime beauty of the forest. Śrīpāda is engaged in serving them in his kiṅkarī form. The forest is replete with various kinds of flowers, and the buzzing bees sport in one after the other. The sweet songs of the cuckoos ignite their desire for love, so the transcendental young Madana(2) and his devoted sweetheart, surrounded by their sakhīs and mañjarīs, begin to playfully sing songs of amour. With each holding the other’s neck, the two lovers absorb themselves in sweet forest pastimes, like the king of elephants and his mate. The honey-voiced sakhīs sing of the sweetness of their romantic play to further inflame their passion. Sometimes, Priyājī personally collects flowers for decorating her lover. Under the guise of opening in full bloom, the creeper flowers smile when touched by Svāminī’s hand. Under the guise of sprouting, goosebumps appear, and under the guise of showering honey, they shower tears of joy. When she collects flowers along with her sakhīs, they enjoy much joking and laughing. Viśākhā says, “My dear friend Rādhā, do not take the flower from this creeper because it is kṛṣṇa-pakṣa-sarasā. It even clashes with your dress.” (The joke is that on the one hand she says that this creeper becomes fully blossomed in the dark fortnight [kṛṣṇa-pakṣa] and therefore its flower is no good. On the other hand she says that this creeper is no good because it is biased toward Kṛṣṇa [kṛṣṇa-pakṣa]. Therefore, after quarreling with Rādhā’s dress, the creeper does not want Śrīmatī to meet with Kṛṣṇa.) Rādhā replies, “But Viśākhā, this creeper bears flowers in the bright fortnight (śukla-pakṣa); why are you saying it blooms in kṛṣṇa-pakṣa? It conflicts with my dress because it cannot bear to be apart from me.” In Svāminī’s opinion, the creeper is on her side. Viśākhā sometimes says, “Sakhī Rādhā, look! A restless bee has flown here to drink honey from your lotus face. Be careful!” (She is hinting that Kṛṣṇa has arrived.) Śrīmatī replies, “Friend, why should a bee give up drinking honey from the fragrant lotus faces of beautiful girls like you and come to me? You girls keep saying that my face is like the moon. A bee has no attraction for the scentless moon.” Submerged in countless such rasika discussions they continue to gather flowers. In his kiṅkarī form Śrīpāda sees rādhā-karāvacita-pallava-vallarīke, the beautiful creeper blossoms in Śrī Rādhā’s forest playground of Vṛndāvana are delighted by the touch of  her hand. Through the līlā-rasa he has gotten a taste of Vṛndāvana’s natural beauty.

One day Śrīmatī was diligently trying to pick flowers from a high branch and her underarms were exposed. Attracted by this, Śyāmasundara quickly arrived. Śrīmatī cannot reach the flowers on the high branch, so Śyāmasundara bends it down for her. Just as Śrīmatī is preparing to pick the flowers, Śyāma releases the branch. Up goes delicate Rādhā along with the branch and she is left hanging in the air! Frightened, she calls out, “Lalitā, Lalitā!” Śyāma claps his hands and laughs loudly. Lalitā pulls the branch down again and Svāminī gets back on the ground. In his kiṅkarī form, Śrīpāda sees that Rādhā’s captivating footprints have spread wondrous beauty across Vṛndāvana’s bosom. rādhā-padāṅka-vilasan-madhura-sthalīke. He experiences this within the līlā.

The flower picking is complete. While sitting on a jeweled bench, Śrīmatī makes various kinds of flower ornaments and decorates Śyāmasundara with her own hands. The birds are loudly singing songs of Śrīmatī’s glory, and when Śyāmasundara and the sakhīs hear this, they are overcome with joy. In some grove, a parrot couple sits upon a tree branch and argues, one taking Rādhā’s side and one Kṛṣṇa’s, sinking Yugala-Kiśora and the sakhīs into an ocean of bliss.(3) In his dāsī form, Śrīpāda is experiencing rādhā-yaśo-mukhara-matta-khagāvalīke.

A devoted sādhaka is blessed with a taste of this rasa in meditation. These sweet pastimes of the divine couple cause extreme eagerness to awaken in the sādhaka and make him impatient to obtain direct sevā. Then his heart and mind become constantly afflicted with viraha. When a continuous state of longing awakens in him, he will then be blessed with direct sevā.

kabe hena daśā habe sakhī saṅga pāba | 

bṛndābane phula gāṅthi doṅhāke parāba ||

sammukhe rahiyā kabe cāmara ḍhulāba | 

aguru candana gandha doṅhā aṅge diba ||

sakhīra ājñāya kabe tāmbūla yogāba | 

sindūra tilaka kabe doṅhāke parāba ||

bilāsa kautuka-keli heriba nayane | 

candra-mukha nirakhiba basāye siṁhāsane ||

sadā se mādhurī dekhi manera lālase | 

kata-dine habe dayā narottama dāse ||

“When, along with the sakhīs in Vṛndāvana, shall I get to string garlands of flowers and place them on the divine couple? When shall I stand before them and fan them with a cāmara, or anoint their bodies with fragrant aloeswood and sandalwood pastes? When, by the sakhīs’ order, shall I provide them with tāmbūla and adorn them with vermilion tilaka? When shall I witness their joyous pastimes with my own eyes? When shall I see their moonlike faces as I seat them on a throne? My mind always yearns to see such sweetness! How long before Narottama Dāsa gets such mercy?” (Prārthanā 45)

After entering a flowering kuñja, the divine couple submerged themselves in amorous pastimes. The kiṅkarī was blessed with a taste of those sweet līlās by gazing through an opening in the kuñja. Then suddenly his mystic vision ended. In external consciousness, he humbly prayed, rādhā-vihāra-vipine ramatāṁ mano me. “O mind! Though you may not be so fortunate as to see those nectarous pastimes directly, become joyful by always contemplating them as you roam about in Śrī Rādhā’s forest playground of Vṛndāvana.”

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1. A virahī-bhakta is a devotee who feels pangs of separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

2. God of love

3. This quarrel is described in Śrī Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 13.13-42.

My books are 15% off through February 10.

My translations of Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā and Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgrahaḥ are both 15% off through February 10. Use the code FEBRUARY15. Click on the book images on the right of the blog page. Applies to print copies only.