Śrī-Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhiḥ 51 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

 

महाप्रेमोन्मीलन्नवरससुधासिन्धुलहरी

परीवाहैर्विश्वं स्नपयदिव नेत्रान्तनटनैः ।

तडिन्मालागौरं किमपि नवकैशोरमधुरं

पुरन्ध्रीणां चूडाभरणनवरत्नं विजयते ॥ ५१ ॥

mahā-premonmīlan nava-rasa-sudhā-sindhu-laharī

parīvāhair viśvaṁ snapayad iva netrānta-naṭanaiḥ |

taḍin-mālā-gauraṁ kim api nava-kaiśora-madhuraṁ

purandhrīṇāṁ cūḍābharaṇa-nava-ratnaṁ vijayate || 51 ||

“Śrī Rādhā reigns supreme. She is the crown jewel of all young women. Golden like a streak of lightning, she embodies the sweetness of youth. Her dancing eyes bathe the world in the overflowing waves of the ocean of nectar, surging with the power of her great love.”

Śrī Rādhā’s Dancing Eyes

Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: Śrīpāda’s līlā-visions are manifesting one after another before his eyes, expanding their boundless charm. His heart and mind have been stolen by the sweetness of the divine couple. Śrī Rādhā is the embodiment of mahābhāva, the great love. She by nature causes Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the embodiment of condensed saccidānanda, to taste śṛṅgāra-rasa (the erotic sentiment). kṛṣṇake karāya śyāma-rasa madhu-pāna (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Madhya 8.180). During līlā, powerful waves of love for Kṛṣṇa sport in the layers of Mahābhāva Śrī Rādhā’s heart, their surges evident in her body. The sādhakas who are devoted to contemplation obtain a taste of the sweetness of this love through their thoughts. They get unobstructed mental association with their svāminī. “During intense smaraṇa, I feel so near to my deity that I forget I’m merely remembering.” After meditation, a powerful longing to directly experience the object of meditation arises. The sādhaka’s insatiability is a measure of his taste for the object. One does not usually feel satisfied after getting only a little taste. As much as one’s thirst and eagerness for something increases, that much closer he is to attaining his goal. He frequently has visions of his deity’s sweet pastimes. The experience of a sphūrti or vision is more intense than that of remembrance, meditation or a dream. In a vision, one’s perception is clear. You can relish it through your eyes. Meditation is experienced with the eyes closed. Through wholehearted bhajana, the sādhaka gradually enters the realm of sphūrti (revelation, manifestation). Through bhajana, a new life is created. The sādhaka is able to examine himself. Sādhana and bhajana are only for obtaining the sevā of one’s deity! A true sādhaka’s heart becomes anxious if he has no sevā. This anxiety awakens a wave of compassion in the deity’s heart. The deity then comes to such a sādhaka and accepts his sevā. 

The longing in Śrīpāda’s heart is at its highest. In a vision, he has obtained an unobstructed experience of the charm of a radiant and clever couple in Vṛndāvana. He has been blessed with a taste of Śrī Yugala’s beauty, sweetness and affection through observing their mutual skill in the art of love. In this way, his tasting of rasa has proceeded in a sequence. Śrīpāda’s heart and mind have been stolen by Śrī Yugala’s mādhurī. His vision of līlā has not ended. This verse describes the beauty of Śrī Rādhā’s dancing eyes. She is the youthful crest-jewel of the girls of Vraja. A previous verse described the charming sidelong glance that Śrīmatī cast toward Śyāmasundara during their love-play. This verse is a description of the power of that glance. Śrī Rādhā is made of mahābhāva; it pervades her every limb. The powerful love for Śyāmasundara in her heart has manifested in the borders of her eyes. By the slight movement of those eyes, she inundates the world with surging waves of her ocean of love.

In Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā 11.40, at the end of his darśana of the universal form, Śrī Arjuna said, sarvaṁ samāpnoṣi tato’si sarvaḥ. “You complete everything; therefore you are everything.” In his commentary on this part of the verse, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda wrote, sarvaṁ svakāryaṁ jagad āpnoṣi vyāpnoṣi svarṇam iva kaṭaka-kuṇḍalādikam atas tvam eva sarvaḥ. “Just as gold pervades the inside and outside of an earring or bracelet, in the same way, you pervade the entire world, which is your own creation. Therefore, one of your names is Sarva (everything).” Similarly, because he is the soul of the universe, one of his names is Viśva (the universe). By the movements of her eyes, she submerges Viśva Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the billowy waves of the great ocean of love. Countless waves of ecstasy! Countless waves of mādanākhya-rasa manifest from her eyes. These waves awaken a stirring of rasa in Rasarāja Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s heart. Śrīpāda Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmicaraṇa has said,  

yat-prānta-deśa-lava-leśa-vighūrṇitena

baddhaḥ kṣaṇād bhavati kṛṣṇa-karīndra uccaiḥ |

tat-khañjarīṭa-jayi-netra-yugaṁ kadāyaṁ

sampūjayiṣyati janas tava kajjalena ||

“O Śrī Rādhā! By the slight movement of your eyes, you at once bring Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the king of elephants, firmly under your control. When shall this poor person worship those eyes, which defeat the dancing of wagtails, by applying collyrium around their borders?” (Vilāpa-Kusumāñjaliḥ 42)

Śrī Rādhā, anxious to see Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is in the candraśālikā (1) with her sakhīs, looking out toward the northern pasture. A sakhī says, “O lovely one! Look—Vanamālī (2) is coming.” Kṛṣṇa was not looking toward her at the time, so Svāminī gazed at him with full attention. When she saw the beauty of Śyāma’s form, her accumulated pain of separation was relieved. She drank in the nectar of his form through the chalices of her eyes. Her affection for him manifested fully. Now Śyāma was looking toward Śrī Rādhā. Feeling shy, she pulled up her veil and started to walk away. After having gone a step or two, she stopped and turned around. She hoped to see him once more before he left. She spoke respectfully to her shyness: “O Shyness! Please set free the corner of my left eye and bless me to drink just once the sweetness of Śyāma’s form through it.” She looked briefly toward Śyāma’s face through the corner of her eye, which had now been released by Shyness. Because of her modesty, her gaze was restless. What an amazing sight! How beautiful is a gaze filled with modesty! She smiled slightly in delight. Her eyes were beautiful, as though smeared with modesty and shyness. “I am unable to give you anything.” Hence, the modesty. “Once, at the end of the day, I got to see you.” Hence, the delight. So much has been said about the movements of her eyes. Svāminī’s playful eyes are the great elixir that sustains Śyāma’s life. They are the object of his contemplation throughout the night. The one who controls everything has himself been controlled by a sidelong glance. Countless beautiful gopīs are eager to get a brief, merciful glance from him. But he is bewildered and overwhelmed by Śrī Rādhā’s glance, which is imbued with the nectar of mahābhāva. Śyāmasundara kept the sweet image of that playful glance in his heart; it sustained him throughout the night. Thus, the kṛṣṇa-elephant was captured by the movements of Śrī Rādhā’s eyes. Śrīpāda Sarasvaticaraṇa has experienced this nectarous pastime from within his mystical vision. By the movements of Śrīmatī’s eyes, the currents of the great ocean of love renew themselves moment by moment. Floating on those currents, Rasarāja Śrī Kṛṣṇa drifts toward infinity.

Or, Śrī Rādhā is submerging the whole world in a stream of prema-rasa with the sweetness of her loving glance toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In the maṅgalācaraṇa verse of his book Dāna-Keli-Kaumudī, Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has expressed his desire that the jīvas of the world be blessed by Śrī Rādhā’s kilakiñcita glance. rādhāyāḥ kilakiñcita-stabakinī-dṛṣṭiḥ śriyaṁ vaḥ kriyāt. “May Śrī Rādhā’s loving glance at Śrī Kṛṣṇa, permeated by the bhāva known as kilakiñcita,(3) bestow supreme auspiciousness on you and bless you with the gift of prema.” The purport is that one who meditates on that glance is blessed with prema at Śrī Yugala’s lotus feet.

A question may arise here. It is said that the sweetness of her glance can transfer prema-rasa into the hearts and minds of the bhaktas, but what about bathing the universe in prema-rasa? In Śrī-Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇiḥ 14.186, Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has mentioned an anubhāva (4) of Śrī Rādhā’s mohana-bhāva known as brahmāṇḍa-kṣobha-kāritva (causing distress to the universe). Citing an example of this, he said, pūrṇānande’py uṣitvā bahir idam abahiś cārtam āsīd ajāṇḍam. “When the mist from Śrī Rādhā’s sigh of love had spread in all directions, the jīvas of the universe, though living in complete joy, became extremely distressed.” Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has commented, pūrṇānande’pīti tat-prema-jāter ānanda-svabhāvakatvāt. It is understood by the word pūrṇānande (in complete joy) that there has been an infusion of prema everywhere in the universe. Therefore, Śrī Rādhā’s sweet glance can also submerge the universe in prema-rasa. Regarding this, the topic of sarva-mukti or universal liberation cannot arise. In whichever universe Śrī Rādhā’s līlās are unfolding, the jīvas living there at the time may become submerged in prema-rasa. When the līlā disappears, countless subtle jīvas from other universes are roused into action in that universe. 

Now, in this particular kali-yuga, the time has come for the worldly jīvas to realize the truth of this tattva. After accepting the mood and complexion of Śrī Rādhā, Śrīman Mahāprabhu flooded the universe with the sweet prema-rasa of his loving glance.

bāhu tuli ‘hari’ bali prema-dṛṣṭe cāya |

kariyā kalmaṣa-nāśa premete bhāsāya ||

“With raised arms, he chants the name ‘Hari’ and looks upon all with love. He destroys their sins and floods them with prema.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Ādi 3.62)

Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda described the pervasiveness of this flood of prema in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Ādi 7.25-27:

uthalila prema-banyā,—caudike beḍāya |

strī bṛddha bālaka yubā sabāre ḍubāya ||

sajjana durjana paṅgu jaḍa andha-gaṇa |

prema-banyāya ḍubāila jagatera jana ||

jagata ḍubila, jībera haila bīja-nāśa | ityādi

“This flood of prema swelled in all directions, submerging old men, young men, women and children; good people, bad people, the crippled, the simple-minded and the blind—everyone! All the people of the world were submerged in the flood of prema. The world itself was submerged and the jīvas’ seed of material affinity was destroyed.”

Having accepted the sweet mood and complexion of Premamayī Śrī Rādhā, Śrī Gaurāṅga Sundara manifested the power to flood the whole world with prema. Śrīmatī Rādhāraṇī has therefore, by the dancing of her eyes, immersed the Prince of Gokula Śrī Śyāmasundara in a flood of śṛṅgāra-rasa. The rising waves of this flood have crossed the shores of Śrī Vṛndāvana and inundated the universe with prema-rasa.

Śrīpāda’s mystic vision has ended. His heart and mind have been illuminated by Śrī Rādhāraṇī’s splendor. In sādhaka-consciousness, Śrīpāda has declared victory for his most beloved Śrī Rādhā, the movements of whose eyes have submerged the entire universe in prema-rasa: taḍin-mālā-gauraṁ kim api nava-kaiśora-madhuraṁ, purandhrīṇāṁ cūḍābharaṇa-nava-ratnaṁ vijayate. That jewel among adolescent girls has a golden complexion like a streak of lightning. Lightning, a transformation of the radiant principle of the universe, dazzles the eyes with a display of intensely bright light. But the Rādhā streak of lightning is very sweet due to her fresh adolescence. kim api nava-kaiśora-madhuram. When Śrī Govinda, the embodiment of sweetness, sees her youthful lightning-like golden complexion, he also becomes immersed in paramānanda-rasa, the nectar of the highest joy. In Śrī-Ujjvala-Nīlamaṇiḥ 10.14, Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda said,

āśās te patituṁ kaṭākṣa-madhupo mandaṁ dṛg-indīvare

kiñcid vrīḍa-bisāṅkuraṁ mṛgayate ceto-marālārbhakaḥ |

narmālāpa-madhu-cchaṭādya vadanāmbhoje tavodīyate

śaṅke sundari! mādhavotsava-karī kāñcid daśām añcasi ||

Upon seeing the signs of adolescence on Śrī Rādhā’s body, Viśākhā teased her by saying, “O lovely one! The honeybee of your sidelong glance is trying to gently settle on your blue-lotus eyes today. The young swan of your mind is investigating the lotus-stalk fibers of your shyness. A stream of honey is flowing from your lotus mouth in the form of playful banter. Therefore, I suspect that you have attained some indescribable state that creates a festival for Mādhava.” Śrī Rādhā is the crown-jewel of the gopīs, the beautiful girls of Vraja. Among ornaments, those meant for the head are best. Moreover, if they are adorned with extraordinary jewels, their beauty increases even more. In the same way, Śrī Rādhā is preeminent among the vraja-gopikās in terms of beauty, sweetness and influence. Or, the body of Śrī Rādhā, the crown-jewel of the vraja-sundarīs, is adorned with nine jewels. For this reason, she is called nava-ratna, as in the following verse:

māṇikyaṁ pārṣṇideśe vadana-jalaruhe mauktikaṁ syāt

pravālauṣṭha-prānte manasi haritaṁ puṣkaraṁ deha-varṇe |

vajraṁ danteṣu netre sura-pati-maṇir gomedakaṁ meda-madhye 

hy asthau gārutmakaṁ… || (5)

“Rubies shine from her heels, pearls from her lotus face, corals from her lips, haritmaṇis (a green gem) from her mind, padmarāgas (a slightly reddish gem) from her complexion, diamonds from her teeth, blue sapphires from her eyes, honey-hued hessonites from her marrow and emeralds from her bones.” In this way, Śrī Rādhā reigns supreme in the bowers of Śrī Vṛndāvana.

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1. A small apartment atop a house meant for viewing the surroundings

2. One who wears a garland of forest flowers

3. Kilakiñcita means the combination of several emotions experienced simultaneously by a woman in the company of her lover. The word stabakinī is used to show that these emotions are like clusters of flowers.

4. An external indication of a feeling

5. The remainder of this verse seemed to be corrupted, and I couldn’t find the original, so I didn’t translate it.

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Śrī-Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhiḥ 50 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

अन्योन्य-हास-परिहास-विलास-केली-

वैचित्र्य-जृम्भित-महारस-वैभवेन ।

वृन्दावने विलसतापहृतं विदग्ध-

द्वन्द्वेन केनचिदहो हृदयं मदीयम् ॥ ५० ॥

anyonya-hāsa-parihāsa-vilāsa-kelī-

vaicitrya-jṛmbhita-mahārasa-vaibhavena |

vṛndāvane vilasatāpahṛtaṁ vidagdha-

dvandvena kenacid aho hṛdayaṁ madīyam || 50 ||

“Alas, my heart has been stolen by some clever couple in Śrī Vṛndāvana who are adorned with the power of the great rasa, expanded by the varieties of mutual laughing, joking, love-play and games.”

The Power of the Great Rasa

Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: Śrīpāda’s stream of visions has not ended. In kiṅkarī form, she has gone to search for Śyāmasundara, bearing the viraha-stricken Śrī Rādhā in her heart. Śrīpāda’s love for his cherished deity is being expressed in every verse. All of his devotion is centered upon Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet. In his intense vision, he is getting a taste of līlā-rasa as though directly. There is some similarity between prema-bhakti and sādhana-bhakti. Through the experience of sādhana-bhakti, one’s absorption in the outer world fades away. This is the teaching of our ācāryas. The sādhaka begins to feel the absence of the deity to some extent and gradually all of his efforts become centered around the deity’s feet. Longing for the deity is the essence of bhakti-sādhana. Those who have a thirst for prema-bhakti in their hearts will pray for it and adopt the means to attain it. Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has said that if authentic faith based on śāstra has appeared in the sādhaka’s heart, a beautiful perseverance will manifest and he will naturally become indifferent to matters contrary to bhakti. jātāyāṁ (śāstrīya) śraddhāyāṁ siddhāv asiddhau ca svarṇa-siddhi-lipsor iva sadā tad-anuvṛtti-ceṣṭaiva syāt….tasyāṁ svārtha sādhanānupravṛttau ca dambha-pratiṣṭhādi-lipsādi-maya-ceṣṭā-leśo’pi na bhavati. na teṣāṁ sutarāṁ jñāna-pūrvakaṁ mahad-avajñādayo’parādhāś cāpatanti, virodhād eva (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 175 Anuḥ). The meaning is that if a faith based on śāstra has arisen in the heart of a sādhaka, whether he has been successful in bhajana or not, he always exhibits a beautiful determination, like one who longs to obtain gold. Therefore, we never see pride, endeavors for profit, adoration or fame in such a sādhaka, or offenses such as knowingly showing disrespect to saintly people. Jīvas like me are so anxious to obtain sense-objects that we even try to enjoy them in our dreams! For those who practice genuine bhajana, that state arises in regard to their deity. There is never a lack of love in a life of true sādhana. A pure-hearted bhakta can never forget his deity’s lotus feet.

dhautātmā puruṣaḥ kṛṣṇa-pāda-mūlaṁ na muñcati |

mukta-sarva-parikleśaḥ pānthaḥ svaśaraṇaṁ yathā ||

“Just as a traveler, having returned from a foreign land, does not want to leave his own happy home, in the same way, a pure-hearted bhakta, having been freed from all miseries, never wants to leave the lotus feet of Śrī Govinda.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.8.6) The nectar of remembering Śrī Rādhāraṇī is even sweeter. The glow of Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet remains awake in the hearts and minds of those who are dedicated to her, while awake, dreaming and in deep sleep.

Śrīpāda is at the highest level of love for Śrī Rādhāraṇī. In a vision in kiṅkarī-form, she has gone in search of Kṛṣṇa, carrying Śrīmatī in her heart. She saw him walking on the path to the saṅketa-kuñja (trysting bower) to meet with Śrī Rādhā. Kṛṣṇa’s slight delay in his journey was meant solely to cause Śrī Rādhā’s emotional sweetness to surge. When Kṛṣṇa saw the kiṅkarī’s lovely face, he began to long for Śrī Rādhā. The kiṅkarī carried Śrī Rādhāraṇī in her heart and the beauty of her face painted a picture in Kṛṣṇa’s mind of a girl suffering the pain of separation. Through this, she has performed a wonderful service. Fortunate is Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarī, praiseworthy is her sevā. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa saw the kiṅkarī, he became agitated by his separation from Śrī Rādhā. With folded hands, he begged forgiveness from the kiṅkarī, citing various reasons for his delay. The kiṅkarī reassured Kṛṣṇa that she had arranged for him to meet with Śrī Rādhā. As Śrīmatī is a little contrary by nature, Kṛṣṇa’s delayed arrival was causing her fire of wounded pride to smolder. On Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s behalf, the kiṅkarī had infused rasa into Śrī Rādhā’s heart through various stories. The ocean of prema was surging in Śrī Rādhā’s heart like the surging of the sea at moonrise. The memory of the pain of separation was also awake in her heart. Therefore, with a mixture of mild anger and joking, Śrīmatī said,

tuhuṁ yadi mādhaba! cāhasi leha |

madana sākhi kari khata lekhi deha ||

choḍabi kelī-kadamba-bilāsa |

dūra karabi nija gurujana-āśa ||

mo binu svapane nā herabi āna |

hāmāri bacane karabi jalapāna ||

rajanī dibasa guṇa gāobi mora |

āna yubatī koi, nā karabi kora ||

aichana kabaca dharaba yaba hāta |

tabahuṁ tuyā sañe marama ki bāta ||

“Mādhava! If you truly want my affection, put it in writing, with the god of love as your witness. You will give up your love-games under the kadamba tree and cast away the expectations of your elders. You will not see anyone but me in your dreams. You will drink water only with my permission. You will sing of my virtues throughout the day and night. You will not hold any other girl in your lap. Only when I hold such an amulet (your vow) in my hand will I share with you the secrets of my heart.” (Vidyāpati)(1)

Accordingly, Śyāmasundara signed the pledge to amplify the humor. The glory of the mahā-rasa revealed through Śrī Yugala’s astonishing pastimes of love gradually increased. Śyāma was overwhelmed by the surging growth of mādana-rasa. Śrī Yugala were immersed in waves of nectar. The kiṅkarī witnessed the couple’s sweet love-play through an opening in the vines. For Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇavas, this is both the goal and the means to attain it. Through his own siddha-deha, the sādhaka must convey the experience of this rasa to his soul. If the śrī-rādhā creeper is showered with śrī-kṛṣṇa-rasa, the power of that mahā-rasa is infused into the sakhīs and mañjarīs in a wonderful way.

rādhāra svarūpa—kṛṣṇa-prema-kalpa-latā |

sakhī-gaṇa haya tāra pallaba puṣpa pātā ||

kṛṣṇa-līlāmṛte yadi latāke siñcaya |

nija-sukha haite pallabādyera koṭi-sukha haya ||

“Śrī Rādhā is by nature a wish-fulfilling creeper of śrī-kṛṣṇa-prema. Her sakhīs are her twigs, flowers and leaves. If that creeper is showered with the nectar of kṛṣṇa-līlā, the happiness of the twigs, flowers and leaves becomes ten million times more than that of the creeper.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Madhya 8.209-210)

After ascertaining the measure of happiness of Śrī Rādhā’s sakhīs and mañjarīs, Śrīpāda said the following in Śrī-Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛtam 1.54:

rādhā-nāgara-keli-sāgara-nimagnālīdṛśāṁ yat sukham |

no tal-leśa-lavāyate bhagavataḥ sarvo’pi saukhyotsavaḥ ||

“The eyes of the sakhīs and mañjarīs are submerged in the ocean of Śrī Rādhā’s play with her lover. The complete joy of God’s kingdom cannot compare to even a speck of such happiness.” The descriptions of joy (ānanda-śruti) seen in the Taittirīya-Upaniṣad have their roots in the Ṛg-Veda as well. In the Ānanda-Mimāṁsā (philosophical inquiry into the nature of bliss) of Taittirīya-Upaniṣad, brahmānanda has been given a position above all others. The infinitude of brahmānanda has been ascertained in the words yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha and so on. “Speech and the mind seek brahma, but must return in failure.” However, in the madhu-vātā ṛtāyate verse in Ṛg-Veda, the endless varieties of joy in the sweet worship of Śrī Govinda have been shown. The highest stage of joy is found in govinda-bhakti, and within that, the bhāva of the sakhīs and mañjarīs is the zenith.

spṛśati yadi mukundo rādhikāṁ tat-sakhīnāṁ

bhavati vapuṣi kampa-sveda-romāñca-bāṣpam |

adhara-madhu mudāsyāś cet pibaty eṣa yatnād

bhavati bata tadāsāṁ mattatā citram etat ||

“If Śrī Kṛṣṇa touches Śrī Rādhā, then trembling, perspiration, goosebumps, tears and other sāttvika-bhāvas appear on the sakhīs’ bodies. If Śrī Kṛṣṇa joyously drinks the nectar of Śrī Rādhā’s lips, her sakhīs become intoxicated. This is astonishing!” (Śrī-Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 11.137) When Śrīpāda, in kiṅkarī-form, saw Śrī Yugala’s pastimes, he obtained a taste of this unprecedented rasa. Because he relished this rasa, a sense of astonishment awakened in his citta (heart, mind). To express this, he said, “My heart and mind have been stolen by a clever couple who sport in Śrī Vṛndāvana.” At the end of Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Sandarbhaḥ, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda said, rādhā-mādhava-mādhurībhir abhitaś cittaṁ mamākramyatām. “May my heart and mind be invaded by Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s sweetness.” It is not that the sādhaka will be able to relish the self-manifesting sweetness of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava at will. The mādhurī of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava personally appears and steals the citta of the fortunate sādhaka who has been purified by sādhana-bhakti. Then, an experience of that mādhurya remains constantly in the citta. No other vibration endures. All of the sādhaka’s desires are fulfilled when he or she experiences the sweetness of Mādhava united with Śrī Rādhā, the possessor of mādanākhya-mahābhāva. Śrīpāda’s heart and mind have been stolen by this indescribable mādhurī.

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1. Vaiṣṇava-Padāvalī attributes this poem to Ghanaśyāma Dāsa Kavirāja.

Śrī-Śrī-Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgrahaḥ, Madhyāhna-Līlā 1-10

Śrī-Śrī-Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgrahaḥ 

Chapter Four: Madhyāhna-Līlā

Śrī Gauracandra

सहालि-श्रीराधासहित-हरिलीलां बहुविधां

स्मरन् मध्याह्नीयां पुलकिततनुर्गद्गदवचाः ।

ब्रुवन् व्यक्तं तां च स्वजनगणमध्येऽनुकुरुते

शचीसूनुर्यस्तं भज मम मनस्त्वं बत सदा ॥ १ ॥

sahāli-śrī-rādhā-sahita-hari-līlāṁ bahu-vidhāṁ

smaran madhyāhnīyāṁ pulakita-tanur gadgada-vacāḥ |

bruvan vyaktaṁ tāṁ ca svajana-gaṇa-madhye’nukurute

śacī-sūnur yas taṁ bhaja mama manas tvaṁ bata sadā || 1 ||

O mind, always worship the son of Mother Śacī. As Śrī Caitanya remembers the midday pastimes of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and their friends, his bodily hairs bristle and his voice falters as he reenacts the līlās amongst his bhaktas.

Mūla-Sūtra

मध्याह्नेऽन्योन्यसङ्गोदित-विविधविकारादि-भूषाप्रमुग्धौ

वाम्योत्कण्ठातिलोलौ स्मरमख-ललिताद्यालि-नर्माप्तशातौ ।

दोलारण्याम्बुवंशीहृति-रति-मधुपानार्कपूजादिलीलौ

राधाकृष्णौ सुतृप्तौ परिजन-घटया सेव्यमानौ स्मरामि ॥ २ ॥

madhyāhne’nyonya-saṅgodita-vividha-vikārādi-bhūṣā-pramugdhau

vāmyotkaṇṭhātilolau smara-makha-lalitādyāli-narmāpta-śātau |

dolāraṇyāmbu-vaṁśī-hṛti-rati-madhupānārka-pūjādi-līlau

rādhā-kṛṣṇau sutṛptau parijana-ghaṭayā sevyamānau smarāmi || 2 ||

I meditate upon the captivating Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, who are constantly being served by their companions. During midday, they are ornamented by ecstatic transformations born of their mutual touch. Rādhā is coy, Kṛṣṇa is eager; both are restless and yearning. They are delighted by the joking words of Lalitā and the other sakhīs about their sacrifices to the god of love. They thoroughly enjoy swinging, sporting in the forest, playing in the water, stealing Kṛṣṇa’s flute, making love, drinking honey wine, worshiping the sun god and other pastimes. (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.1)

Rādhā’s Senses are Attracted to Kṛṣṇa

अथात्र घोषेश्वर-नन्दनप्रिया

पृथक्पृथक् सा युगपन्निजेन्द्रियैः ।

आकृष्टचित्ता प्रियसङ्गमोत्सुकैः

स्वं सान्त्वयन्तीमवदद्विशाखिकाम् ॥ ३ ॥

सौन्दर्यामृतसिन्धुभङ्गललनाचित्ताद्रिसम्प्लावकः

कर्णानन्दिसनर्मरम्यवचनः कोटीन्दुशीताङ्गकः ।

सौरभ्यामृतसम्प्लवावृतजगत्पीयूषरम्याधरः

श्रीगोपेन्द्रसुतः स कर्षति बलात् पञ्चेन्द्रियाण्यालि मे ॥ ४ ॥

athātra ghoṣeśvara-nandana-priyā

pṛthak pṛthak sā yugapan nijendriyaiḥ |

ākṛṣṭa-cittā priya-saṅgamotsukaiḥ

svaṁ sāntvayantīm avadad viśākhikām || 3 ||

saundaryāmṛta-sindhu-bhaṅga-lalanā-cittādri-samplāvakaḥ

karṇānandi-sanarma-ramya-vacanaḥ koṭīndu-śītāṅgakaḥ |

saurabhyāmṛta-samplavāvṛta-jagat-pīyūṣa-ramyādharaḥ

śrī-gopendra-sutaḥ sa karṣati balāt pañcendriyāṇy āli me || 4 || 

Here in her home, Vrajendranandana’s beloved Śrī Rādhā longed to be with him. She felt her mind and each of her senses being simultaneously drawn to him. To console herself, she said to Viśākhā, “O friend! That son of the king of Vraja is attracting all of my senses by force. He inundates the mountains of young girls’ hearts with the waves of his nectarous ocean of beauty. His playful, joking manner of speech pleases the ears, and his body is cooler than millions of moons. His lips are sweeter than nectar; his delicious aroma floods the whole world.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.2-3)

नवाम्बुद-लसद्द्युतिर्नवतडिन्मनोज्ञाम्बरः

त्रिभङ्गमधुराकृतिर्मधुरवन्यवेशोज्ज्वलः ।

सुधांशुमधुराननः कमलकान्तिजिल्लोचनः

स मे मदनमोहनः सखि तनोति नेत्रस्पृहाम् ॥ ५ ॥

navāmbuda-lasad-dyutir nava-taḍin-manojñāmbaraḥ

tribhaṅga-madhurākṛtir madhura-vanya-veśojjvalaḥ |

sudhāṁśu-madhurānanaḥ kamala-kāntijil-locanaḥ

sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti netra-spṛhām || 5 ||

“O friend! That Madana-Mohana increases the longing of my eyes. His complexion is radiant like a fresh raincloud and his captivating garments resemble bolts of lightning. His attractive, threefold bending form is adorned with splendid ornaments made from things of the forest. He has a sweet, moonlike face and his eyes are more beautiful than lotuses.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.4)

नदज्जलदनिःस्वनः श्रवणकर्षि-सत्सिञ्जितः

सनर्मरससूचकाक्षर-पदार्थभङ्ग्युक्तिकः ।

रमादिक-वराङ्गना-हृदयहारि-वंशीकलः

स मे मदनमोहनः सखि तनोति कर्णस्पृहाम् ॥ ६ ॥

nadaj-jalada-niḥsvanaḥ śravaṇa-karṣi-satsiñjitaḥ

sanarma-rasa-sūcakākṣara-padārtha-bhaṅgy-uktikaḥ |

ramādika-varāṅganā-hṛdaya-hāri-vaṁśī-kalaḥ

sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti karṇa-spṛhām || 6 ||

“O friend! That Madana-Mohana increases the longing of my ears. His voice is like a rumbling raincloud. His ornaments attract my ears with their pleasant tinkling sound, and his speech is funny and clever. The hearts of Śrī Lakṣmī and other beautiful women have been stolen by the soft tones of his flute.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.5)

कुरङ्गमदजिद्वपुःपरिमलोर्मिकृष्टाङ्गनः

स्वकाङ्गनलिनाष्टके शशियुताब्ज-गन्धप्रथः ।

मदेन्दुवरचन्दनागुरुसुगन्धचर्चार्चितः

स मे मदन-मोहनः सखि तनोति नासास्पृहाम् ॥ ७ ॥

kuraṅga-mada-jid-vapuḥ-parimalormi-kṛṣṭāṅganaḥ

svakāṅga-nalināṣṭake śaśi-yutābja-gandha-prathaḥ |

madendu-vara-candanāguru-sugandha-carcārcitaḥ

sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti nāsā-spṛhām || 7 ||

“O friend! That Madana-Mohana increases the longing of my nose. The best of women are drawn to his bodily aroma, more pleasant than musk. The fragrance of lotus mixed with camphor spreads from the eight lotuses of his body(1) and he is worshiped with a sweet-scented ointment made of sandal and aloeswood.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.6)

हरिन्मणिकवाटिकाप्रततहारि-वक्षःस्थलः

स्मरार्त्त-तरुणीमनःकलुषहन्तृदोरर्गलः ।

सुधांशुहरिचन्दनोत्पल-सिताभ्रशीताङ्गकः

स मे मदनमोहनः सखि तनोति वक्षःस्पृहाम् ॥ ८ ॥

harinmaṇi-kavāṭikā-pratata-hāri-vakṣaḥ-sthalaḥ

smarārtta-taruṇī-manaḥ-kaluṣa-hantṛ-dor-argalaḥ |

sudhāṁśu-haricandanotpala-sitābhra-śītāṅgakaḥ

sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti vakṣaḥ-spṛhām || 8 ||

“O friend! That Madana-Mohana increases the longing of my breasts. His beautiful chest is broad like a door made of sapphires. His arms are like long door-bolts that destroy the mental anguish of love-sick girls. His limbs are cooled by sandalwood paste, blue lotus blossoms, camphor and the rays of the moon.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.7)

व्रजातुलकुलाङ्गनेतर-रसालितृष्णाहरः

प्रदीव्यदधरामृतः सुकृतिलभ्यफेलालवः ।

सुधाजिदहिवल्लिका-सुदलवीटिकाचर्वितः

स मे मदनमोहनः सखि तनोति जिह्वास्पृहाम् ॥ ९ ॥

vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-haraḥ

pradīvyad adharāmṛtaḥ sukṛti-labhya-phelā-lavaḥ |

sudhā-jid-ahivallikā-sudala-vīṭikā-carvitaḥ

sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti jihvā-spṛhām || 9 ||

“O friend! That Madana-Mohana increases the longing of my tongue. For the incomparable young women of Vraja, the sweet nectar of his lips removes the desire for any other taste. Only those with great virtue can attain even a drop of such nectar. The tāmbūla he has chewed, made with fresh betel leaves, is more delicious than ambrosia.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 8.8)

एवं गदन्त्यां स्वमनोभिलाषं

स्वेदाश्रुकम्पादिकरं महान्तम् ।

कृष्णे गताया हि तथा तुलस्या

वीथीं च तस्यामवलोकयन्त्याम् ॥ १० ॥

evaṁ gadantyāṁ svamanobhilāṣaṁ

svedāśru-kampādi-karaṁ mahāntam |

kṛṣṇe gatāyā hi tathā tulasyā

vīthīṁ ca tasyām avalokayantyām || 10 ||

Thus, Śrī Rādhā perspired, wept and trembled as she expressed her powerful heart’s desire and watched the path for Tulasī to return with Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

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1. The eight lotuses are his two feet, two hands, two eyes, his navel and his mouth.