सङ्केतकुञ्जनिलये मृदुपल्लवेन
कॢप्ते कदापि नवसङ्ग-भय-त्रपाढ्याम् ।
अत्याग्रहेण करवारिरुहे गृहीत्वा
नेष्ये विटेन्द्र-शयने वृषभानुपुत्रीम् ॥ ४३ ॥
saṅketa-kuñja-nilaye mṛdu-pallavena
kḷpte kadāpi nava-saṅga-bhaya-trapāḍhyām |
atyāgraheṇa kara-vāriruhe gṛhītvā
neṣye viṭendra-śayane vṛṣabhānu-putrīm || 43 ||
“Śrī Rādhikā is apprehensive and shy about her first meeting with the king of paramours. When will I eagerly take her by her lotus hand to the bed of tender sprouts that he made in the bower house?”
Charming Śrī Rādhā
Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: Śrīpāda was tasting unprecedented sevā-rasa while engrossed in his svarūpa. The ocean of prema had begun to churn and in a vision he experienced sevā-rasa mixed with mādhurya-rasa. As a result of that, he felt anxious and wept when the vision ended. Memories, dreams and visions can cause the desire for direct attainment to awaken in a powerful way. It is difficult for him to sustain his life without direct sevā to his cherished one. Weeping, he prayed,
jāno’yaṁ yācate duḥkhī rudann uccair idaṁ muhuḥ |
tat-padāmbhoja-yugmaika-gatiḥ kātaratāṁ gataḥ ||
kṛtvā nija-gaṇasyāntaḥ kāruṇyān nija-sevane |
niyojaya tu māṁ sākṣāt seyaṁ vṛndāvaneśvarī ||
“Tormented by separation from Śrī Rādhā, this miserable person repeatedly cries in a loud voice, asking that Śrī Vṛndāvaneśvarī please show compassion to her own followers and include me among them. Please engage me in her direct service because her lotus feet are my only refuge.” (Viśākhānandada-Stotram 129-130) Such intense yearning is the lifeblood of bhajana. parama nāgara kṛṣṇa, tāhe hao atitṛṣṇa, bhaja tāṅre braja-bhāba laiyā (Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 98). “O mind, long for the supreme lover Śrī Kṛṣṇa and worship him in the Vraja mood.” iṣṭe gāḍha-tṛṣṇā rāgera svarūpa-lakṣaṇa (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Madhya 22.151). “Deep longing for one’s desired object is the natural characteristic of rāga.” If the desire to attain one’s cherished deity is strong, an aversion to anything that is inimical to bhajana will arise. If something is unfavorable for bhajana, even though it may be charitable, it must be given up. Even if one’s iṣṭadeva speaks against bhajana, one should understand it as a test and not accept it. If one’s bhajana is ruined, everything will be ruined. Bhajana is the way, bhajana is the goal. There is no way to attain Śrī Kṛṣṇa without bhajana. Mahāprabhu is always submerged in bhajana-rasa in the company of his bhaktas.
caṇḍidāsa bidyāpati, rāyera nāṭaka-gīti, karṇāmṛta śrī-gīta-govinda |
svarūpa-rāmānanda-sane, mahāprabhu rātri-dine, gāya śune parama ānanda ||
“Along with Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya, Mahāprabhu would day and night joyfully hear and sing the songs of Caṇḍidāsa and Vidyāpati, Rāmānanda’s Jagannātha-Vallabha-Nāṭakam, Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam and Śrī-Gīta-Govindam.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Madhya 2.77) One must learn about the flow of bhajana from the ācāryas. They are immersed in bhajana-rasa throughout the day and night with no fatigue. A mahājana has written,
chāpānna-daṇḍa rātri-dine, rādhā-kṛṣṇa guṇa-gāne, smaraṇete sadāi goṁyāya |
cari-daṇḍa supti thāke, svapne rādhā-kṛṣṇe dekhe, eka-kṣaṇa byartha nāhi yāya ||
“They spend twenty-two hours and twenty-four minutes, day and night, singing about Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s qualities and meditating. They sleep for one hour and thirty-six minutes. They see Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in their dreams. Not a moment is wasted.” Śrīpāda Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī’s bhajana-niṣṭhā (devotion to bhajana) has been described in the sixth wave of Bhakti-Ratnākara:
yadyapi śuṣka-deha bātase hālaya |
tathāpi nirbandha-kriyā saba samādhaya ||
bhūme paḍi praṇami uṭhite nāhi pāre |
ithe ye niṣedhe kichu nā kahaye tāre ||
anukūla haile praśaṁsaye bāra bāra |
dekhiyā sādhanāgraha debeo camatkāra ||
“Even though his emaciated body trembled in the wind, he still performed all of his prescribed actions. Sometimes, when he fell to the ground to offer obeisance, he would be unable to rise. If someone opposed him, he said nothing; if someone was favorable, he would praise that person repeatedly. Even the gods were astonished to see such enthusiasm for sādhana.”
Though being a nitya-parikara, Śrīpāda Sarasvaticaraṇa desired to practice the smaraṇa limb of bhajana while in sādhaka-consciousness. śrī-rādhikā-vadana-candram ahaṁ smarāmi. “I remember the moonlike face of Śrī Rādhikā.” His heart was filled with anguish. Before long, a vision appeared. An image of the līlā of Śrī Yugala’s first meeting manifested before him. Today, Śrī Rādhā, the jewel among eternally youthful girls, is mugdhā: innocent, charming and beautiful.
mugdhā nava-vayaḥ-kāmā ratau vāmā sakhī-vaśā |
rati-ceṣṭāsu savrīḍa-cāru-gūḍha-prayatna-bhāk ||
“A young woman who is beginning to feel passion, is contrary regarding love, is submissive to her friends, who is shy but agreeable during love-play, and who is secretly diligent about that is called mugdhā.” (Śrī-Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇi 5.13) Śrīmatī longs to see Kṛṣṇa, but when a girl first meets with her boyfriend, she is apprehensive and shy. This is the mādhurya of the sequential or manifest pastimes. Their eternally perfect sweet love (madhura-rati) gradually blossoms in the succession of līlās, beginning with pūrva-rāga. From the time of their acquaintance with Kṛṣṇa, these mugdhā girls had dedicated themselves to him. But at that time, the desire for love-play had not yet appeared, so there was none, even though their love for him was complete. At the rise of adolescence, Kandarpa appears in the heart as the thirst for sexual union. That longing unites with rati, causing every action of the girls’ bodies, minds and words to become a meditation on making Kṛṣṇa happy.
Śrīmatī was eager to meet with Kṛṣṇa and please him, but she was inexperienced, apprehensive about their first meeting and shy. The sakhīs had previously sent Śyāmasundara to the trysting bower. In the bower house, the impassioned lover created a bed and pillows made of fresh, tender sprouts with his own trembling hands. The bed was soaked with his tears of love. The sakhīs started walking in a particular direction under the pretense of collecting flowers for sūrya-pūjā. They slowly and carefully led Śrīmatī toward the bower. Svāminī was thinking that her sakhīs must have some mysterious reason for bringing her so far to pick flowers today. Suddenly, she saw Śyāmasundara at the bower gate and felt bashful, contrary, anxious and agitated. With quick steps, she turned and headed for home. Kṛṣṇa was captivated by Śrīmatī’s mood and movements. Śrīmatī is socially equal to her sakhīs, so the sakhīs gestured to the kiṅkarīs, who are devoted to sevā, to assemble. The sakhīs then walked a little out of view under the guise of picking flowers. Even though the kiṅkarīs are also sakhīs, Śrīmatī feels less shy and hesitant with them. Śrīpāda, in dāsī form, is trying to persuade Svāminī to enter the kuñja. Śrīmatī says,
e sakhi e sakhi! lai jani yāha | muñi ati bālika, abanata nāha ||
pāśa yāite aba jiu mora kāṁpe | kāṁcā kamala bhramara karu jhāṁpe ||
dubara deha mora jhāṁpala cīra | yanu ḍagamaga kare nalinīko nīra ||
“O friend! O friend! If you go, I will follow. I am a chaste young girl. If he simply walks by me, I begin to tremble. He is like a bumblebee rushing toward a lotus bud. Cover my delicate body with a cloth, like a lotus immersed in a pond.” (Vidyāpati)
Seeing that Śrīmatī was distressed due to her shyness and apprehension about her first meeting with Kṛṣṇa, the kiṅkarī held her lotus hand and reassured her by saying, “Svāminī! Don’t worry; just go into the kuñja. Glance at the son of the king of Vraja, whom you are always anxious to see, and start a little conversation with him. Don’t miss this opportunity. kāhe ḍarasi dhani calu hāma saṅga, mādhaba nahi paraśiba tuyā aṅga. O fortunate one! What is there to fear? I’m going with you. Mādhava will not touch your body.” (Harivallabha) After comforting her like this, the kiṅkarī carefully held Śrīmatī’s hand and led her to the bed of fresh sprouts. Their first meeting! What a sweet experience! This solitary meeting came about by the many efforts of countless energetic and eager sakhīs. This intense eagerness of Parabrahma for Śrī Rādhā, and the passionate love of the embodiment of mahābhāva for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, can only be known in the heart of a premika-bhakta. They also know how this impossible event becomes possible. The karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs are far from this. Devotees of aiśvarya-jñāna are also far from this. Even the bhaktas of other vraja-rasas, like dāsya, vātsalya and so on find it difficult to comprehend. Only through devotion to Śrī Rādhā’s sakhīs and mañjarīs, who have taken shelter of madhura-rasa, can one appreciate the sweetness of this truth. For tasting the varieties of rasa, Parabrahma and his hlādinī-śakti Śrī Rādhā have manifested as two, though being eternally one. Each is the abode of the object of love and the source of love.
The kiṅkarī has taken the young and beautiful Svāminī to the pleasure-bed of the king of paramours and then left the bower. How sweet Svāminī’s graceful form is when her moods of shyness, respect, apprehension, desire, contrariness and so on converge! A brief meeting, therefore a brief delight.
kānu badana heri, uchalita antara, lāje basane mukha jhāṁpa |
īṣad avalokane, chala chala locane, keli-samāgame kāṁpa ||
dekha sakhi rāika ḍhaṅga |
kānuka adaraśe, aiche beyākula, daraśane iha cita-raṅga ||
rāi-badana heri, lubadhala mādhaba, kore baiṭhāyali gorī |
kuca kara paraśane, camaki uṭhaye dhanī, cumbane raha mukha moḍi ||
bhuje bhuje bandhana, dṛḍha-parirambhaṇa, adhare adhara rasa nela |
gobinda dāsa pahuṁ, pūrala manoratha, naba naba saṅgama bhela ||
“Rādhikā’s heart swelled when she saw Kṛṣṇa’s face; she shyly covered her own face with her veil. She briefly looked at him with restless eyes. She began to tremble as the love-play began. Look, O friend, Rādhikā is flirting! When she could not see him, she was anxious; when she could, she was delighted. Kṛṣṇa was enchanted by seeing Rādhikā’s face, so he sat her on his lap. She was startled when Kṛṣṇa touched her breasts. When he tried to kiss her, she turned her face away. He embraced her and drank the nectar of her lips. Govinda Dāsa says, ‘Prabhu fulfilled his heart’s desire with ever-fresh trysts.’” (Pada-Kalpa-Taru)
The word viṭendra in this verse should be understood to mean “he who is the king of the paramours.” Having accepted this definition, one should not think that there is more than one such paramour in the world. In fact, braja binā ihāra anyatra nāhi bāsa (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Ādi 4.47). “This love exists nowhere but Vraja.” In Vraja, the Supreme Lord has adopted the mood of a paramour to enjoy the essence of rasa. No one but Vrajendranandana can be such a paramour. In this mood, he is tasting some extraordinary rasa-mādhurī. Because of this, the word indra (king) has been used after the word viṭa (paramour) for this unimaginable transcendental manifestation. Śrīpāda’s mystical vision has ended. He wept as he cried out, “O Rādhā! You are apprehensive and shy about your first meeting with the king of paramours. When will I eagerly take you by your lotus hand to the bed of tender sprouts that he made in the bower?”
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