Verse 51

Translation

My innermost mind is immersed in That God Whose eyes are like the lotus that have bloomed slightly in the new rays of sunshine, and Whose face looks very sweet since it is shining with pride, having won the battle of love-making against the damsels of Vraja. 51.

rila Kavirâj Goswâmipâd has written in the beginning of his purport to this verse – hereafter Sri Râdhâ’s heart and senses were so engrossed in Sri Krishna’s sweetness that She bade Her sakhis farewell – O sakhis! This is the last time we see each other, for now I shall die – and She fell down unconscious. She spoke in delirium and Sri Lilâshuk has echoed Her feelings in three verses. In this verse, Srimati was overcome by a bhâv called ‘kuttumita’. She was absorbed in the sweet pastimes of Krishna – when He tugged at Her bodice, forcibly folded Her in His arms and joked with Her.

What is ‘kuttumita’ bhâv?

“Although Sri Râdhâ is pleased when Sri Krishna touches Her breasts and lips, to maintain Her dignity, She expresses hurt and anger. Wise men call this bhâv as ‘kuttumita’. – [U.N. 11.49]                           

“When Krishna covetously tugs at Her bodice, Sri Râdhâ stops Him, although She is ecstatic within. Externally She displays anger, although She is happy in her heart. We call this adornment (bhâv) as ‘kuttumita’.

She locks His hand and His aim is fulfilled (since this is what He wanted). Râdhâ is pleased inside although She expresses anger outside. She pretends as if She is hurt and cries, although there are no tears. Then she chastises Him with a slight smile.”  - [Sri Chaitanya-Charitâmrita.Madhya.14.184-187]

“pani-rodham-avirodita-vanchhang,

bhartsanashcha madhura-smita-garbhah,

mâdhavsyua kurute karabhoruh,

hari shushka-ruditancha mukhe’pi”

Meaning – “Sri Râdhâ, Whose thighs are as shapely as the elephant’s trunk, obstructs Sri Krishna’s hands (when He tries to touch Her breasts and lips) in a manner as if She wishes He would never stop, conceals Her sweet and soft smile and chastises Him. She also cries without shedding any tears, and Sri Krishna finds this highly attractive.”

Sri Krishna finds kuttumita bhâv as very captivating.

“Once when They were sitting in a lonely place, Sri Krishna put His arms around Srimati. She expressed kuttumita bhâv. Seeing this Sri Krishna told Her, ‘Darling! Why are You raising Your eyebrows at me? And why are You casting aside my hands? O Beautiful One! Don’t cover Your face while Your cheeks are giving away that You are thrilled with joy! Make Madhusudan happy by allowing Him to drink madhu (honey) from Your madhur (sweet) lips.”  

- [U.N.11.51]

Sri Râdhâ is telling Her sakhis – ‘O sakhis! My mind is immersed in That attractive and supremely sweet Sri Krishna with Divine pastimes.’ The point to be noted is that, Sri Râdhâ’s mind is immersed in the ocean of Sri Krishna’s sweetness! How is the sweetness of Sri Krishna? She is saying, ‘vraja-yuvati-rati-kalaha-vijayi-nija-lila-madam-udita-vadana-shashi-madhuri-mahi’, meaning, ‘Sri Krishna fights a battle of love-making with Sri Râdhâ and the other damsels of Vraja such as, forcibly putting His arms around them, tugging at their bodice and touching their breasts and lips while the Gopis thwart His actions. Now He has won this battle, hence His beautiful moon like face is sparkling with pride and joy. His face is looking incredibly sweet!’ Sri Râdhâ is absorbed in the glorious sweetness of Sri Krishna. Also, His face is ‘ahima-kara-nikara-mridu-mudita-laxmi-saras-tara-sarasi-ruha-sadrisha-drishi’, meaning, “Sri Krishna’s eyes are as beautiful as a lotus that has bloomed slightly in the new rays of sunshine. His eyes are beautiful, cool, fragrant and have all other qualities that the blooming lotus possesses. Sri Râdhâ’s mind is absorbed in Sri Krishna Who has such beautiful eyes. Srimati’s mind is enchanted by Sri Krishna’s beauty. The mind controls the senses. Hence, each of Her senses wants to merge with Sri Krishna. Srimati says –

“There is something about His beauty that fills my eyes with tears when I behold Him. He has such wonderful qualities that my mind is lost in them. Each part of my being aches for each part of His being. My heart cries for the touch of His heart. My soul is restless; I am so much in love.

My friend, what shall I say? I shall fulfil my vow at any cost. I cannot express the happiness that arises in my heart when I see Him, and how I am eager to see Him and touch Him.

When He laughs, cascades of honey seem to tumble down, and when my darling smiles, it seems to be the essence of love. The elders are highly protective of me. So out of fear I remain surrounded with friends and my body is full of goose bumps whenever someone mentions His name. I try my level best to hide the goose bumps, while my eyes shed tears endlessly. Everyone in my house is whispering amongst themselves, poet Gyâna dâs says, ‘She has burnt up all Her shame’.”

Only if we meditate on our siddha-swarup in sadhana, we can achieve it in the transcendental realm.

In the siddha-swarup Lilâshuk said, “I am absorbed in Sri Krishna’s sweetness while He is sporting with Sri Râdhâ.”

Let us relish Sri Krishna-Vallabhâ purport. Sri Lilâshuk is saying that, Sri Krishna’s playfulness and all other activities are sweeter than sweet. So the poet has described Him as ‘madhurima’. Sri Bhagavân is full of Divine ras. Although He is the embodiment of ras, some incarnations manifest some of the ras. None of the incarnations contains all the ras. But Sri Krishna is the very embodiment of the nectarine ras. All the ras are fully manifested in Him. He has certain qualities that bring forth these ras. We do not find this in any other Divine form. These qualities are His personal treasure. Our Goswâmis have named these qualities as ‘mâdhuri’. Sri Krishna is sweetness personified. Hence, each and every part of His body is sweet! The devotee who has realizes this has sung –

“adharam madhuram vadanam mahuram

nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram,

hridayam madhuram gamanam madhuram

madhurâdhipateh-akhilam madhuram.”

Sri Lilâshuk is a worshipper in the sweet mood. So he is saying, ‘I want to remain absorbed in that sweetness’. He is praying eagerly in three verses. In this verse he is saying – “I will remain absorbed in that supremely effulgent ‘dev’. ‘Dev’ is defined as‘divyati dyotate iti deva’, meaning, ‘Dev is One Who has effulgence’. Here we may ask, ‘Does Sri Lilâshuk want to merge into Sri Krishna’s effulgence as the gyânis want?’ No, he does not. He wants that Sri Krishna, absorbed in ras, will perform Leelâwith rapt attention. He wants to lose himself in that Leelâ.

How does the poet describe Sri Krishna? ‘ahimakara-kara-nikara-mridu-mudita-laxmi-sarastara-sarasiruha-sadrisha-drishi’. ‘ahimakara’ means ‘one whose rays are not cool, that is, the sun.’ ‘ahimakara’ also means ‘those sunrays that are neither hot nor cold. These rays have touched the lotus and made it look serene. ‘mudita’ means ‘exultant’ or ‘bloomed’. ‘laxmi-sarasrata-sarasiruha’ means ‘the lotus (sarasiruha) that is full of ras (sarasa-tara) and hence is beautiful (laxmi)’. Sri Lilâshuk has lost his heart to such beautiful lotus like eyes. Here we should note that when subjected to the midday sun, the lotus, in spite of containing honey, appears dried and rough. On the other hand, very early in the morning, the lotus is not bloomed at all. Hence, the lotus is at its best when touched by the sunrays that are not too hot or cold. Then it is bloomed as well as soft and serene. The poet has compared Sri Krishna’s beautiful eyes to such lotus.

The poet has also described Sri Krishna as ‘vraja-yuvati-rati-kalaha-vijayi-hija-lila-mada-mudita-vadana-shashi-madhurimani’. Meaning – “Sri Krishna fights a battle of love with the Gopânganâs. He tries to hold them in tight embrace, which breaks their necklace, and He attempts to kiss and strike them playfully with lotuses. Sri Krishna has won victory in this battle. Hence His moon-like face is sparkling with pride and joy.” The kohl from the Gopis’ eyes has tainted His face during the rati-kalaha (battle of love). So His face is moon-like (since the moon too has dark marks on it). As He embraces the soft Vrajabâlâs, He becomes more and more full of ras.When the devotee meditates on those Leelâs with the Vrajabâlâs, His heart too softens and becomes full of Divine ras.

This is a very special Kaliyug, for in this age Sri Sri Gourânga Mahâprabhu has opened up the casket containing a very deep secret that is the mode of worshipping Sri Sri Râdhâ-Krishna. He has brought this good news for humanity that was hitherto unavailable even for men with pure consciousness, having long life and performing very difficult austerities in the other yugas. He has brought with Him the practise (sâdhanâ) of Vraja-ras for the sinful and trouble-ridden humankind of Kaliyug. Sriman-Mahâprabhu has spread this priceless treasure (this message) through Sri Rupa, Sanâtan and the other Goswâmis who are His eternal and loving associates. This treasure is ‘Râgânugâ bhakti’. Srila Rupa Goswâmipâd has written in Bhaktirasmrita-sindhu about the process of Râgânugâ bhakti –

                     “sevâ sâdhak-rupena siddha-rupena-cha-atra-hi,

tad-bhâv-lipsuna karyâ vraja-loka-anusarata:”

Meaning – “Those who wish to gain rati (passionate love) for Sri Krishna in Vrajadhâm, must perform sevâ in this body, as a sâdhak and in siddha-swarup through meditation (since only the siddha-swarup is qualified to serve the Divine), following in the footsteps and under the authority of the Vraja lokas.”

-          [B.R.S. 1.2.294]

Here ‘Vraja lokas’ means the residents of Vraja such as Sri Râdhâ, Vishâkhâ, Rupa manjari and the Goswâmis, such as Sri Rupa and Sanâtan. In siddha-swarup, we must do sevâ under the domination of Sri Rupa manjari etc. while in sâdhak deha we must serve under the command of Sri Rupa, Sanâtan and other Goswâmis. Sriman-Mahâprabhu Himself has said –

 “bahye antare ihar duito sadhan,

bahya-sâdhak-dehe kore shraban kirtan.

mane nija siddha-deha koriya bhaban,

rarti dine kore braje krishnera seban.

nija-abhishta krishna-preshtha pacche to lagiya,

nirantar seba kore antarmana hoiya.”

Meaning – “In this body the sâdhak must perform all external sevâ such as hearing, taking the Holy Name, worshipping and glorifying while he must meditate on hissiddha-swarup that is given to him by his Sri Gurudev and must serve Sri Sri Râdhâ-Krishna all day and night in his mind. As the sâdhak meditates on the Divine pastimes in this manner, his innermost mind gradually becomes absorbed in the lotus-feet of his worshipped Lordships.”

When he attains success in his sâdhanâ, the sâdhak leaves this body and actually gainssevâ of Sri Sri Yugalkishor in the realm of Leelâs, in his siddha-swarup on which he had been meditating all along. Then he feels blessed. Srila Narottam dâs Thâkur Mahâshay has written –

“Sri Rupa manjari (Sri Rupa Goswâmi) is our leader. The siddha-swarup of the other Goswâmis are as followers – Sri Rati manjari (Srila Raghunâth dâs Goswâmi), Lavanga manjari (Srila Sanâtan dâs Goswâmi), Manjulâli (Srila Lokanâth Goswâmi), Sri Rasa manjari (Srila Raghunâth Bhatta Goswâmi) and Kasturikâ (Srila Krishna dâs Kavirâj Goswâmi). They all get together and perform loving sevâ eagerly and with great joy. Under their guidance, I too shall pray for loving sevâ. They will merely gesture and I will understand what to do. I will bounce with beauty and talents, and always be full of deep love. In this manner, I shall live amongst the sakhis.

In Vrindâvan both of Them (Râdhâ and Krishna) are sitting with the sakhis surrounding Them. It is the time for ras-celebration. O when will the sakhi gesture to me and I will sway the fly-brush? And lift tâmbul to Their beautiful moon like faces?

All day and night, I shall meditate on the sevâ unto the lotus feet of the Divine Couple, with deep love in my heart. Whatever I shall meditate upon now, in sâdhanâ, I shall get in siddha-deha, for this is the process of Râgânugâ Bhakti.

If I covet that treasure (sevâ unto the lotus feet of the Divine Couple) now during devotional practice (sâdhanâ), then alone I shall get it in siddha-deha. It is only a matter of practice and perfection. When we have become perfect in the meditation ofsiddha-deha, we attain a stage called ‘prem-bhakti’. Until then we are in the process of practicing and it is called ‘sâdhanâ’. This, in essence, is true bhakti.”

                                                                  - [P.B.C.]

The living being is Sri Krishna’s ‘tatasthâ-shakti’. Sri Râdhâ- Krishna’s sevâ in Vrajadhâm is the highest goal that the living being can attain and this is possible only through Râgânugâ Bhakti. There is nothing higher than this.