Then Yaśodā Mā offered Śrīmatī and her sakhīs comfortable seats and some soft, delicious sweet-balls to eat. Śrī Rādhā bowed her head slightly in shyness, so Mā gave Dhaniṣṭhā the responsibility of feeding them and left. Then Dhaniṣṭhā gave Śrīmatī and her sakhīs the sweets touched by Kṛṣṇa’s lip-nectar and they ate them. When they finished, a kiṅkarī removed Śrīmatī’s blue silk cloth and dressed her in white, which is suitable for cooking. Then Mā Yaśodā took them respectfully to the kitchen and said, “O lotus-faced one! O one who brings fame to Kīrtidā! Brahmā has created you with great skill in the art of cooking. You and your sakhīs prepare food meticulously. O Rādhā! You are the embodiment of Śrī Lakṣmīdevī. Because of your auspicious glance, my home is constantly filled with multiple kinds of inexhaustible wealth. There is no lack of anything. Feel free to ask Dhaniṣṭhā for all the ingredients you need for cooking. O Rādhā! You are the best cook in the world, so join with Rohiṇī and prepare two of Kṛṣṇa’s favorite pastries, amṛtakeli and karpūrakeli. O child, my son also loves pīyūṣa-granthi. After making the pīyūṣa-granthi, please carefully bring the drink named pañcāmṛta, which is made with camphor and cardamom. O motherly Lalitā! You prepare rasālā.(1) O Viśākhā! You quickly make some fruit drinks. O Śaśilekhā! You make śikhariṇī.(2) O Campakalatā! You make butter. O my daughter Tuṅgavidyā! After preparing curds, you make various kinds of sweets. O Citrā! You make a drink with rock candy. O Raṅgadevī! You make some pastries. O Sudevī! You make condensed milk. O Vāsantī! You make soft, white drops of molasses called phenikā. O Maṅgalā! You make jilepis.”(3) In this way, Mā Yaśodā affectionately instructed Rādhārāṇī and her sakhīs to prepare various kinds of sweets, cooked foods and so on. The beautiful and modest Śrī Rādhā bowed to Yaśodā and then went to Rohiṇī Mātā and bowed to her. Rohiṇī Mā at once lifted Śrīmatī on her lap and caressed her like a daughter. She said, “O child! You are the most expert cook, so cook whatever you like. Since I knew that you were coming, I have been cooking for a while to lighten your heavy load a bit.” Then Rohiṇī Mā had Śrīmatī sit on a white-cloth-covered bench near to a stove.
The stoves had been kindled with fragrant woods like aguru, pine and deodar. Vessels with various kinds of ingredients for cooking were attractively arrayed in front of and to the sides of each stove. After sitting down to cook, Śrīmatī sometimes looked in a stove to check the fire. Sometimes she placed a cooking pot on a stove, or sometimes lifted one up. Sometimes she stirred with a ladle or singed some spices in ghee. Sometimes she removed a pot from the stove when the cooking was finished. Because of these actions, Śrīmatī’s arms, breasts and shoulders shook repeatedly and her clothing waved about. The kitchen was brightened by the incomparable beauty of her limbs. Unable to restrain his thirst to taste that rūpa-mādhurī, clever rasika-śekhara Śrī Kṛṣṇa peeped through a hole in the kitchen window to see her faultless beauty. Her head was uncovered and her smooth and delicate young face had become reddened by the heat of the fires. A dāsī was tenderly wiping Śrīmatī’s face. Seeing her beauty, Kṛṣṇa became enchanted and his feet refused to move. He thought, “Alas! This lovely girl is working so hard to cook for me.” Suddenly, Śrīmatī saw him and bowed her head in shyness. She was unable to pull her veil on because both hands were busy with cooking work, so she gestured to a dāsī to do it for her. With another eye gesture, she said to Kṛṣṇa, “Don’t be immature. Go away!” Kṛṣṇa asked with his own gesture, “Will I get to see you again?” With a side-glance, Śrīmatī replied, “Yes.” The knowledgeable kiṅkarīs understood everything. One name for a kitchen is rasavatī (possessing rasa), and the kiṅkarīs truly experience it for themselves.
-------------------------
1. Curds mixed with sugar and spices (Monier-Williams)
2. A dish of curds and sugar with spices (Monier-Williams)
3. Also known as jalebis
No comments:
Post a Comment