Śrī-Rādhā-Rasa-Sudhā-Nidhiḥ 35 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

सान्द्रानुराग-रससार-सरःसरोजं

किंवा द्विधा मुकुलितं मुखचन्द्रभासा ।

तन्नूतनस्तनयुगं वृषभानुजायाः

स्वानन्दसीधु-मकरन्दघनं स्मरामि ॥ ३५ ॥

sāndrānurāga-rasa-sāra-saraḥ-sarojaṁ

kiṁvā dvidhā mukulitaṁ mukha-candra-bhāsā |

tan-nūtana-stana-yugaṁ vṛṣabhānu-jāyāḥ

svānanda-sīdhu-makaranda-ghanaṁ smarāmi || 35 ||

“I remember Śrī Rādhā’s budding breasts, which are filled with the nectar of personal joy. They are like lotus buds born in a lake of the highest rasa of love and nourished by the glow from her moonlike face.”

Lotuses in a Lake of Love

Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: Śrīpāda’s mind is absorbed in Śrī Rādhā’s mādhurya. In the previous verse, he relished the beauty of Śrīmatī’s breasts while serving Śrī Yugala in one end-of-night pastime. Śrī Rādhā is the embodiment of mahābhāva. Her form is shaped by mahābhāva. There is no experience of that form outside of bhāva (love), so it must be understood through bhāva. It is not like a woman’s body made of the seven elements of the material world. Śrī Rādhā is most beautiful when she is with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Her beauty is the essence of all beauty. One must experience her form with a pure heart. kṛṣṇera biśuddha-prema-ratnera ākara; nirupama-guṇa-gaṇa pūrṇa kalebara (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Madhya 8.181). “Rādhā is like a mine replete with jewels made of pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Her body abounds with incomparable qualities.” You must awaken your svarūpa and understand it. You must erase the mundane male-female concept from the heart and become a mañjarī.

sādhanao ekhāne siddhio ekhāne, bhābera gocara se |

ekhāne yadi tā, dekhite nā pāo, marile dekhibe ke || 

“Sādhana is for this world; siddhi is also for here. That is attainable by bhāva. If one cannot experience it here, how will he experience it just by dying?” (Sādhu-Vāṇī) Śrīpāda has submerged his mind in the beauty of Śrīmatī’s breasts without hesitation. There is not even a trace of bodily consciousness. Although his body is spiritual because he is one of Mahāprabhu’s companions, he has forgotten everything in the mood of a rādhā-dāsī. So much tenderness and sweetness are aroused in the sādhaka’s heart when he conceives of himself as one of Rādhā’s dāsīs. As the fortunate sādhaka continues to devote himself to Śrīpāda’s lofty teachings, an eagerness for tasting vraja-rasa will awaken in his heart. Śrīpāda’s words have great power. They will awaken a profound longing in the sādhaka’s heart and bless him with a taste of the subject matter’s sweetness. 

When Śrīpāda’s mystic vision ended, a cry of lamentation arose from within his heart. He felt an intense burning sensation. dīnā dāsīke ekabāra līlā-rājye laiyā yāo. dekhā diyā prāṇa rākha, maritechi ei dekha, karuṇā-kaṭākṣa kara dāna. “Just once take this poor dāsī to the kingdom of līlā. Show it to her and save her life. I’m dying; please look at me. Bless me with your compassionate glance.” He was crying in anguish. Like lightning, a vision of līlā suddenly appeared. Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma were roaming about on the banks of the Yamunā, which were illuminated by their beautiful lusters of blue and gold. They were engrossed in leisurely play. None of their sakhīs were present, so they enjoyed without hesitation. Śrīpāda was there in the form of a loyal maidservant. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa consider the kiṅkarī to be the embodiment of devotion to their amorous play. Therefore, they have no hesitation in their play; rather they immerse themselves more deeply. These girls are called mañjarīs (meaning sprigs, sprouts or shoots) and are also mañjarīs by nature. They increase the king of bees’ yearning for the fully blossomed flower. They express the beauty and sweetness of the flower. What a pleasant nature! This is the highest stage of disinterest in sensual pleasures.

Exhausted from their love-play, Śrī Yugala sat on the jeweled steps of a Yamunā ghat. To please them, the Yamunā’s banks and water have arrayed a collection of incomparably beautiful things. Countless flowers like red and blue lotuses and white water-lilies have bloomed in the blue waters of the Yamunā. Joyful ganders sport freely with their geese. A cooling and fragrant breeze bearing droplets of Yamunā water has been blessed with yugala-sevā. Various kinds of trees and creepers on the riverbank were blossoming with abundant flowers. The area resounded with the chirping of birds. The cuckoos sang and the peacocks danced. The buzzing bees enjoyed the nectar of various flowers. The couple engaged in so many juicy conversations. Through sevā-rasa, the kiṅkarī succeeded in tasting Śrī Yugala’s unique beauty and sweetness. Śrī Rādhā looked at Śyāma’s face and saw that the tilaka on his forehead had been slightly smeared by the drops of perspiration from their love-play. Śrīmatī decided that she wanted to restore those tilaka lines. Understanding her svāminī’s mind, the kiṅkarī brought her a jeweled tray bearing a paintbrush and paint made from yellow orpiment (haritāla). With deep concentration, Śrīmatī recreated the tilaka on Śyāma’s forehead. She placed drops of paint, one by one, above his eyebrows. This concentration took shape in Śrīmatī’s face and eyes. The sādhaka should meditate on her painting: “I want to experience this form, this mood, this attentiveness in my heart and mind.” A gentle smile appeared on Śyāma’s face when he saw Śrīmatī’s absorption. The kiṅkarī got a taste of hāsya-rasa (the rasa of smiling or laughing). Suddenly, Śyāma threw the bowl of haritāla into the deep waters of the Yamunā. Surprised, Svāminī said, “Oh! What have you done? There are still two or four dots left to replace on your tilaka.” The kiṅkarī said, “Rādhā! There is no more haritāla paint here.” Then, Śrīmatī carefully removed some of the haritāla used to paint dolphins on her breasts and created the remaining dots on Śyāma’s tilaka. It seemed to the kiṅkarī at that time that profound love in the form of Rādhā’s breasts had appeared as a pair of golden lotus buds in a lake of the highest rasa, nourished by the glow from her moonlike face. When they saw the beauty of Śrīmatī’s breasts, both Śyāmasundara and the kiṅkarī felt they had attained success. Mahābhāva is the condensed nectar of love. The essence or most delightful part of that is mādana. Śrī Rādhā’s heart-lake is full of mādana-rasa. In the lake of mādana-rasa, the golden lotus buds are Śrī Rādhā’s budding breasts. It is as though the essence of rasa in her heart has manifested externally. It is experienced through līlā (pastimes). Svāminī and Śyāmasundara abound in līlā. Without līlā, one gets no experience of their forms, qualities and so on. Every experience of such things comes from tasting līlā-rasa.

There is no possibility of nectar in a budding lotus, but these amazing golden lotus buds are filled with the nectar of svānanda, personal joy. That nectar is cooling, delicious and intoxicating. The gopīs do not seek their own happiness; therefore, it goes without saying that Śrī Rādhā, the crown jewel of gopikās, does not seek personal happiness. The glow of Śyāma’s happiness is reflected in Śrīmatī. gopikāra sukha kṛṣṇa-sukhe paryavasāna. “The gopikās are happy when Kṛṣṇa is happy.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam, Ādi 4.189) Or, the word sva can also mean a person’s loved ones. Her breasts are the embodiment of condensed rasa meant to bring joy to Śyāmasundara, who is a million times dearer to her than her own life. Or, the word ghana can mean cloud. Like a group of clouds, Rādhā’s breasts shower her beloved Śyāmasundara with a stream of nectar, cooling his viraha-burned heart and giving him supreme joy. The rasa of Śrīpāda’s vision has manifested in verse form. Suddenly, his vision ended. In external consciousness he prayed, “I remember Śrī Rādhā’s golden lotus-bud breasts.” Praying focuses the mind. In the sweetness of prayer, there is no connection with the external world. In order to taste this sweetness, the sādhaka also must be silent about external matters.

yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī |

yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ||

“Where a worldly person is asleep to self-realization or the kingdom of līlā, a contemplative sādhaka remains awake. Where the world is awake to external matters, the contemplative sādhaka ever sleeps.” (Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 2.69)