श्रीराधिके सुरतरङ्गिणि दिव्यकेलि-
कल्लोलमालिनि लसद्वदनारविन्दे ।
श्यामामृताम्बुनिधि-सङ्गमतीव्रवेगि-
न्यावर्तनाभिरुचिरे मम सन्निधेहि ॥ २१ ॥
śrī-rādhike surata-raṅgiṇi divya-keli-
kallola-mālini lasad-vadanāravinde |
śyāmāmṛtāmbu-nidhi-saṅgama-tīvra-vegi-
ny āvarta-nābhi-rucire mama sannidhehi || 21 ||
“O Śrī Rādhikā! O one who delights in making love! O one garlanded by the joy of her wonderful pastimes! O one with a radiant lotus face and a lovely navel! Like a powerful river you rush to join with the ocean of nectar that is Śyāmasundara. Please stay close to me.”
Śrī Rādhā Rushes to Her Rendezvous.
Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: Absorbed in his svarūpa, Śrīpāda is getting visions of Śrī Rādhā’s abhisāra-līlā one after the other. The enjoyment obtained from a vision is amazing. For those who are siddha, experience (anubhava) is everything. Their lives are a continuous flow of enjoyable feelings. A series of anubhavas comes even to those who are only a little advanced in bhajana. Otherwise, how can they continue to follow? Śrīpāda’s absorption in his svarūpa is natural; there is nothing artificial about it. First, the sādhaka must make some effort; after that, absorption in one’s svarūpa comes naturally. Absorption in the svarūpa (svarūpāveśa) is spontaneous for a bhakta whose love has evolved (jāta-rati). On the level of rati, the sādhaka’s self-concept is that he has taken shelter of his siddha-deha in such a way that he has, as it were, nearly abandoned his sādhaka body. How sweet it is to be near Śrī Rādhārāṇī while absorbed in spiritual consciousness! Śrīpāda always thinks he is near to his beloved Rādhā! In the previous verse, he encouraged Īśvarī to go on her abhisāra. The experience of sevā-rasa (the nectar of service) is given along with the enjoyment of Śrī Rādhā’s mādhurya. Service to Śrī Rādhā is amazing!
The sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which attracts the whole world, is today resonating to attract Śrī Rādhā’s heart. This indescribable magnetism has caused Śrīmatī to run like a rushing river to unite with the Śyāma ocean. A river swollen with rainfall floods both banks with her powerful waves, then, overwhelmed by her own nature, rushes out to sea with a roar. In the same way, Śrī Rādhā Mandākinī,(1) filled with passion for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is today flooding over both her banks (her father’s family and her father-in-law’s family), as the waves of her transcendental beauty rise higher and higher. Overwhelmed by Kṛṣṇa’s love, she runs swiftly to unite with the dark ocean. Śrīpāda is comparing abhisārikā Śrī Rādhā to the Gaṅgā (sura-taraṅgiṇī).(2) She moves so fast! This lover’s journey has such irrepressible power! All obstacles and dangers are trampled by the powerful urge of her love for Śyāma. She abandons all dharma and runs like a madwoman through the forest filled with gravels and thorns. The poet Vidyāpati has sung,
naba anurāginī rādhā | kichu nāhi mānaye bādhā ||
ekali karali payāna | pantha bipatha nāhi māna ||
tejala maṇimaya hāra | ucakuca mānaye bhāra ||
kara sañe kaṅkaṇa mudari | panthahi tejali sagari ||
maṇimaya mañjīra pāya | durahi teji cali yāya ||
yāminī ghora āndhiyāra | manamatha hiyā ujiyāra ||
bighini bithārala bāṭa | premaka āyudhe kāṭa ||
bidyāpati mati jāna | aiche nā heriye āna ||
“Young and in love, Rādhā yields to no impediments. She departs alone without knowing the way. She discards her jeweled necklace. She regards her lovely breasts to be a burden. She removes the bangles and rings from her hands and drops them on the path. She removes her anklets, throws them away and runs on. The night is dreadfully dark, but her heart glows with passion. She clears away all obstacles with her weapon of love. Vidyāpati realizes he has never seen anything like this.”
Śrīpāda has been following behind Śrīmatī in the form of a sakhī devoted to sevā. With sweet reminders, she is giving Śrīmatī, maddened with prema, a taste of śyāma-rasa, hoping to unite her with the Śyāma ocean. Within each appellation lies a rapturous intoxicating power. She says, “O Rādhikā! You are so expert in serving Kṛṣṇa! Because you perform sevā that fulfills all of Kṛṣṇa’s desires, your name is Rādhikā.” kṛṣṇa-bāñchā-pūrti-rūpa kare ārādhane, ataeba rādhikā nāma purāṇe bākhāne (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.87). The lovers’ tryst, or abhisāra, is one of the main components of her service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. At the stage of pūrva-rāga,(3) she must have regularly practiced this service to him with great effort. The mahājana Govinda Dāsa has said,
kaṇṭaka-gāḍi kamala sama pada-tala mañjīra cirahi jhāṅpi |
gāgari bāri ḍhāri kari pichala calatahi aṅguli cāpi ||
hari abhisāraka lāgi |
dūtara pantha gamana dhani sādhaye mandire yāminī jāgi ||
kara-yuge nayana mudi calu bhābinī timira payānaka āśe |
maṇi-kaṅkaṇa-paṇa phaṇi-mukha-bandhana śikhai bhujaga-guru pāśe ||
guru-jana-bacana badhira sama mānai āna śunai kaha āna |
parijana bacane mugadhi sama hāsai gobinda-dāsa paramāṇa ||
The meaning is that Śrī Rādhikā is going to meet with Śyāma, but to get to him, she must walk on a slippery path through a forest of thorns in the dark of night. Therefore, she prepares at home for the rendezvous. She plants thorns in her courtyard and practices walking on them. She wraps her ankle-bells in cloth and practices walking silently. After pouring water from a pitcher onto the courtyard, she practices walking on a slippery path, and waking up in the middle of the night, she goes for long walks to increase her stamina. She covers her eyes with her hands and walks around, preparing for her journey in the darkness. For protection against snakebites on a forest path infested with wild animals, she gave a jeweled bangle to a snake-charmer in exchange for a mantra that binds a snake’s mouth, and she repeatedly practices pronouncing it properly. When her elders speak to her, she hears one thing and then replies to something completely different, as though she were deaf. When her family members criticize or reprimand her, she just laughs like a simpleton. Even the boundless misery she experiences for the sake of Śyāmasundara becomes boundless happiness to her.
In his kiṅkarī form, Śrīpāda calls, “Hey Sura-Taraṅgiṇī! Like the Gaṅgā, you have been rushing to unite with the Śyāma ocean, surging with countless waves of attraction for his form. śyāma-rūpa jāgaye marame, kibā niśi kibā diśi śayane svapane (mahājana). The endless awareness of Śyāma’s form within your heart, day and night, is the root cause of the abhisāra. When, because of constant rains, the Gaṅgā swells and overflows both banks, she rushes toward the sea as though she has no other way. Similarly, what way is there for you other than to go on this impetuous journey to meet your lover? You are also properly called Surata-Raṅgiṇī. You delight most in your love sports with Śyāmasundara. The waves of your joy in making love play upon all your limbs.”
“Hey Divya-Keli-Kallola-Mālinī! There is no dearth of similarities between you and the Sura-Taraṅgiṇī Gaṅgā. Just as in the rainy season the Gaṅgā swells with surging waves, in the same way, you are garlanded with divine, surging waves of amorous play meant to make Śyāma happy.” These names used by the kiṅkarī to address Śrī Rādhā are all connected with sweet memories of her former pastimes with Kṛṣṇa. By awakening so many delightful memories within virahavatī Rādhā, she is exciting the power of the mūlā-śakti. These are the eternal kiṅkarīs. From them, the sādhaka learns the skills of sevā. priya sahacarī saṅge, sebana kariba raṅge. “She happily performs sevā alongside her dear friends.” (Prārthanā 33)
“Hey Lasad-Vadanāravindā! Full-blown lotuses illuminate the bosom of the Gaṅgā, attracting by their sweet fragrance the hearts and minds of the bees. In the same way, your lotus face upon your golden lotus-stalk body bewilders by its beauty and aroma the heart and mind of Madhusūdana!” In describing the sweetness of Śrī Rādhā’s face, Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has said, mukhollāsaḥ phullaṁ kamala-vanam ullaṅghayati. “The beauty and fragrance of her face surpass that of a forest of blooming lotuses.” “Moreover, just as there are whirlpools in the Gaṅgā, your navel is in the shape of a beautiful whorl: a whirlpool of rasa in a river of rasa. Having fallen into that whirlpool, Mādhava’s mind twirls continuously like a piece of straw. Also, just as the Gaṅgā rushes with a roar to unite with the ocean, you also rush to unite with the ocean of Śyāma-nectar.” Here, the suggestion is that just as the place where a river meets the sea is considered a pilgrimage site for Hindus, in the same way, for the bhaktas, Śrī Yugala’s meeting place is a great tīrtha that fulfills all desires. The sakhīs and mañjarīs feel transcendental bliss by always bathing in this mahātīrtha. The purport is that as the bhaktas always bathe their minds in the waters of this mahātīrtha, they also become sanctified and competent for serving Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
Attracted by the sound of Śyāmasundara’s flute, Śrīmatī ran like a madwoman at the speed of a howling gale, without knowing in which direction she was going. From behind, her kiṅkarī called, “O Rādhā! Wait for me! You shouldn’t run so fast on the abhisāra path. It’s very rough, strewn with gravels and thorns. Slow down or you’ll hurt your tender feet!”
rādhe! pathi muñca sambhramam abhisāre |
cāraya caraṇāmburuhaṁ dhīraṁ sukumāre ||
“O delicate young Rādhā! You are going so quickly to meet your lover. Please make your lotus feet move a little more slowly!” (Mahājana)
“If you injure your delicate feet, it will interfere with your abhisāra. Moreover, I’m falling behind; I can’t run fast like you. You should just walk along with me.” Saying mama sannidhehi (stay close to me), the distressed kiṅkarī is trying to get Śrīmatī to slow down, anxious that some harm may come to her. Because she knows that Śrīmatī is very affectionate to her dāsīs, the kiṅkarī hopes that by expressing her frustration at not being able to run so fast, Śrīmatī’s compassion will be aroused.
1. The heavenly Gaṅgā
2. Surataraṅginī can be divided as either surata-raṅginī, as in my translation of the verse, or sura-taraṅginī, as here in the commentary.
3. Amorous attraction felt even before acquaintance with the lover (Samsad)
