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
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