कुञ्जान्तरे किमपि जातरसोत्सवायाः
श्रुत्वा तदालपित-शिञ्जित-मिश्रितानि ।
श्रीराधिके तव रहःपरिचारिकाहं
द्वारस्थिता रसह्रदे पतिता कदा स्याम् ॥ ४८ ॥
kuñjāntare kim api jāta-rasotsavāyāḥ
śrutvā tad-ālapita-śiñjita-miśritāni |
śrī-rādhike tava rahaḥ-paricārikāhaṁ
dvāra-sthitā rasa-hrade patitā kadā syām || 48 ||
“O Śrī Rādhikā! When will I be immersed in a lake of rasa as I perform confidential service for you? I will stand at the gate of the bower as you create an indescribable festival of rasa therein. I will hear your sweet conversations and the pleasant jingling of your ornaments.”
A Lake of Rasa
Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse, Śrīpāda got an extraordinary taste of Śyāmāmaṇi’s prema-vaicittya-rasa. The visions of līlā flowed one after another in a stream. There is truth even in visions, and within them a wonderful experience of rasa has been stored. One who has found the truth can never be deceived by lies. In his vision, Śrīpāda stays with Svāminī constantly like a shadow. Śyāmasundara was captivated when he saw Śrī Rādhā’s loving gestures while she was feeling prema-vaicittya. bhaktera prema-ceṣṭā dekhi kṛṣṇera camatkāra (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛtam). “Kṛṣṇa is amazed to see the loving efforts of his bhaktas.” Mādanākhya-prema is the highest state. Therefore, Śyāmasundara’s amazement is also unprecedented. Śrī Rādhā is the enchanter of the one who enchants the whole world. An experience of Śyāmasundara’s heart awakens in the heart of the kiṅkarī. The sādhaka must also to some degree get a taste of that rasa through meditation. The sādhaka’s mental conception regarding this is not refined. One must follow the ācāryas. Following them means hearing and reciting their wise teachings. The powerful teachings, like powerful mantras, will perfume the sādhaka’s heart and mind with the desire to serve Śrī Rādhā. Every syllable is full of bhajana-rasa. The sweet taste of a mahājana’s words is so desirable that Śrī Bhagavān longs for the company of his dear bhaktas. But Śrīman Mahāprabhu ultimately forbade the bhaktas to come to Nīlācala. In the Gambhīrā, along with Svarūpa and Rāmānanda, he relished the stream of nectar coming from the works of Caṇḍidāsa and Vidyāpati, Rāmānanda’s Jagannātha-Vallabha-Nāṭakam, Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam and Gīta-Govindam. In this current of enjoyment, where the undivided, non-dual knowledge of ultimate reality has drifted away, there is a domain forever beyond the comprehension of the world of jīvas. By relishing those great teachings, the sādhaka-bhaktas forget the world and are blessed with a taste of Śrī Yugala’s transcendental sweetness.
Śrīpāda, in his siddha-svarūpa, is giving praise to the goddess of the bower. Śyāmāmaṇi’s prema-vaicittya-bhāva gradually fades away and she can once again see Śyāmasundara. As she returned to her normal state, she lowered her head slightly in shyness. Her beloved’s state of ecstasy had not yet subsided. After experiencing Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s prema-vaicittya-bhāva, Śyāmasundara’s heart and mind became immersed in ānanda-rasa (joy). His eyes were closed. Śrī Rādhā became curious when she saw Śyāmasundara’s condition. Smiling gently, she then hid herself in a nearby bower. Seeing the fun, the kiṅkarī laughed and covered her mouth. With an eye gesture, Śrīmatī forbade the kiṅkarī to tell Śyāmasundara what she had said. (“O Mohana, where are you?”) Gradually, consciousness returned to Rasarāja’s mind, which had been immersed in rādhā-rasa. As he opened his eyes, he saw that Priyājī was nowhere to be found. Alarmed, he looked in every direction of the bower. “O Rādhā! Where are you? Let me see you!” Saying this repeatedly, he frantically began to search for Śrī Rādhā. In his kiṅkarī form, Śrīpāda was hiding among the creepers and relishing the sweetness of Śyāmasundara’s face as he longed for Śrī Rādhā. “O dear one! Where are you? Stop joking. In your absence, the merciless god of love gives me great pain.” dehi sundari darśanaṁ mama manmathena dunomi. “O dear one! How much longer will you tease me? Let me see you and thus cool my heart, which burns from viraha.” Kṛṣṇa began to see Rādhā everywhere. He mistakenly embraced a golden creeper, thinking it was Rādhā.
kanakalatā dhari āliṅgaye tuyā kalebara bhāne |
birahe bibaśa bhaigela mādhaba mūrache madana-bāṇe ||
“Mādhava embraced a golden creeper, thinking it to be your body. Pierced by Madana’s arrows, he swooned, overwhelmed by the pain of separation.” (Mahājana) This is the condition of a nāgara made helpless by viraha. He forgets his own body. He inquires from the does and peacocks about news of Śrī Rādhā. After seeing Śyāma’s condition, the kiṅkarī was beside herself with pride. She was proud of Śrī Rādhā’s glory. Whereas countless vraja-sundarīs yearn for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he yearns for Śrī Rādhā. When the kiṅkarī saw Śyāmasundara’s extreme anxiety, she revealed herself to him. Seeing Rādhā’s kiṅkarī, he felt reassured and with folded hands asked her about Priyājī. “O Sakhī! Tell me, where is your īśvarī? Is she hiding in some kuñja just to tease me? Please quickly tell me where to find her.”
The kiṅkarī smiled sweetly and said, “O crest-jewel of rasikas! You don’t know where the nāyikā in your lap went? Look; a little while ago Svāminī was sitting in your lap, but feeling separation from you, she began to weep. Now, though you’ve lost her, you don’t cry even a little? She has gone with her sakhīs to Yāvaṭa. You can abandon any hope of being with her today.” Śyāmasundara could understand by seeing the kiṅkarī’s face that she was joking. Śrī Rādhārāṇī was undoubtedly hiding in some nearby kuñja. He expressed his anguish to the kiṅkarī so he could be with Rādhārāṇī. Seeing Śyāma’s intense suffering, the kiṅkarī directed him to the kuñja with a gesture. He entered the kuñja and when he and Rādhā saw each other, they both became overwhelmed by prema. The kiṅkarī felt blessed upon seeing Śrī Yugala’s sweet forms, filled with intense yearning and the nectar of love.
doṁhe doṁhā kore āgori | sahacarī heri bibhorī ||
adabhuta prema ki carita | heraite camakita cita |
puna doṁhe nibiḍa bilāsa | dūre geo biraha hutāśa ||
“The sakhī is overwhelmed by seeing them in close embrace. How wondrous is their affection! Her heart and mind are amazed to see their pastimes. They are again deeply immersed in the play of love. The fire of viraha has gone far away.” (Pada-Kalpa-Taru)
kuñjāntare kim api jāta-rasotsavāyāḥ. After their pain of separation had ended, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa celebrated their reunion in the bower. Śrī Rādhā showered streams of nectar into her beloved’s ears with her sweet and gentle words. She said,
rati biśārada tuhuṁ rākha māna |
bāḍile yaubana tāhe diba dāna ||
ebe se alapa-rase nā pūrabe āśa |
thori-salile tuyā nā yābe piyāsa ||
alape alape yadi cāha niti niti |
pratipada cāṁda kalā sama rīti ||
“O expert in the art of love, maintain your honor. When my youth has fully blossomed, I will offer it to you as a gift. Right now, a little nectar will not fulfill your longing. A few drops of water will not satisfy your thirst. But if you seek me little by little, day by day, our love will grow like the phases of the moon.” (Vidyāpati)
Premānanda-rasa overflowed from the dulcet tones of their anklets, waist-bells and other ornaments mixed with soft and sweet conversations, with voices choked by emotion. Śrīpāda is their maidservant in this secluded place. She has obtained the good fortune of performing confidential service to the Divine Couple, even when they are making love. She remains at the gate and relishes the sweetness of their nectarous conversations and the delightful sounds of their ornaments. It is as though she has fallen into a lake of rasa and obtained complete happiness. Just as a lake is a confined body of water, this lake of rasa is confined within the secluded bowers of Śrī Vṛndāvana. This lake of rasa does not appear in any of Śrī Bhagavān’s other pastimes, forms or abodes. This is the treasure of Vṛndāvana’s bowers. Therefore, information about this lake of rasa is forever difficult to access and obtain for even Brahmā, Maheśvara, Śrī Uddhava and others. In this particular kali-yuga, Śrīman Mahāprabhu and the ācāryas sheltered at his lotus feet have introduced confidential information about this lake of rasa to the worldly jīvas who are afflicted by the miseries of kali. These kali-jīvas have been given the great blessing of swimming in this lake of rasa.
Śrīpāda is a recipient of Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s profound mercy. He has been fortunate enough to swim in a lake of rasa as he performs intimate service to Śrī Yugala. Suddenly, his mystical vision ends. Weeping, he prays, “O Śrī Rādhikā! When will I be immersed in a lake of rasa as I perform confidential service for you? I will stand at the gate of the bower as you create an indescribable festival of rasa therein. I will hear your sweet conversations and the pleasant jingling of your ornaments.” Those who are disinterested in other kinds of sādhana and want only the service of Śrī Rādhikā, the most beloved of Śrīman Madana-Gopāladeva, think “I am Śrī Rādhikā’s dāsī.” They nourish only this sentiment and consider its attainment the fulfillment of all their desires. They reside in the unfathomable Śrī Vṛndāvana, the land of Śrī Rādhā’s pastimes. (If it is not possible to live there physically, live there mentally.) They engage in the internal prema-sādhanas of hearing, chanting, remembering and so on in the association of rasika-bhaktas. They soon discover this mysterious lake of rasa and are blessed. This is the essential teaching for the sādhaka-bhaktas.
