Content
The Rāsa-Dance Begins
1. At the beginning of his description of the rāsa-dance, the author (Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī) speaks the following vow and prayer: In this my poem I have boldly revealed the conversation Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with His beloved gopīs in a secluded place, a conversation that is a great secret, a conversation that is a whirlpool of nectar. No other narration is more glorious and exalted. No other narration is better to be placed on the worthy devotees' ears.
2. Describing Lord Kṛṣṇa's nighttime pastimes, Madhukaṇṭha spoke to Snigdhakaṇṭha, whose voice was sweet with poetic words. Folding his palms, Madhukaṇṭha began by saying, "The rāsa dance pastime took its birth in the middle of the night. Now I will describe its cause, nature, and meaning."
3. Hearing these words, and looking at Madhukaṇṭha, everyone joyfully said, "Well spoken. Your words are glorious. These pastimes are a great flood of nectar. If you stop your description in the middle and do not carry it to the end, then the flood of nectar will be stopped, checked from reaching its highest point. Therefore, if you will, please describe the entire pastime. Do not stop until everything is described."
4. Madhukaṇṭha joyfully said: When the rāsa dance sought to take its birth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa's face made the bewilderment of love grow very strong within the moon-faced gopīs. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's eyes made restless movements manifest in the doe-eyed gopīs' eyes, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa's handsome form broke into pieces the peaceful composure that rested in the circle of slender and graceful gopīs.
5. When the rāsa dance sought to take its birth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa's face became more charming than the moon, Śrī Kṛṣṇa's eyes attracted the lotus-eyed gopīs, Śrī Kṛṣṇa's glorious handsomeness, which glistening dark monsoon clouds yearn to attain, brought the gopīs delight from the first moment they were able to touch it, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is more handsome and glorious even than Lakṣmī's lover Nārāyaṇa, became like an ornament gracing a great host of gopī-goddesses.
6. After, by Paurṇamāsī's arrangement, the pastime described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.21.17 (where some pulinda girls find Śrī Kṛṣṇa's footprints marked with kuṅkuma from a gopī's breasts) was concluded, Śrī Kṛṣṇa became completely attracted to Śrī Rādhā. Thirsting after Her company, He thought, "Ah! How can I meet Rādhā in a secluded place?"
7. By Śrī Rādhā's mercy one of the pulinda girls, wandering in the forest and anointed with Śrī Rādhā's kuṅkuma, spoke the following words to red-lotus-eyed Śrī Kṛṣṇa: "O Kṛṣṇa, You defeated even Kāmadeva, whose arrows bring so many sorrows. O Kṛṣṇa, I do not know how You create such melodies in Your flute, which is, after all, only a dry stick pierced with many holes."
8. Then the forest-goddesses spoke the following words from the sky: "Thinking Your flute, a flute born in a glorious family of bamboos, a flute that is a dry stick pierced in many places by a hot iron rod, is his dear friend, in order to please You, O Lord Kṛṣṇa, with his arrows Kāmadeva now grievously wounds a certain saintly gopī, a gopī whose body is withered (because of separation from You)."
9. Wildly wandering in the forest, forest-flower-garlanded Śrī Kṛṣṇa saw written in kuṅkuma on a dark tamāla tree the following words: "Tormented by Kāma's flames, my heart rapt in thinking of Kṛṣṇa's glorious handsome form, and rapt in the sweet fragrant of love that flows from Kṛṣṇa's flute, I see Kṛṣṇa's dark effulgence in every direction. Somehow I must have attained Kṛṣṇa. But then, I have not attained Him at all."
10. Seeing these words, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, "Perhaps Śrī Rādhā wrote these words. Born in a pious family, She carefully conceals the passionate love She feels for Me. Therefore I will now take shelter of My flute music, music that will kill Rādhā efforts to conceal Her love."
11. Tormented by the absence of the nectar that bears the name Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa could not be peaceful. Again and again He played His flute. Feeling a great thirst for the nectar Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa passed the monsoon season. His thirst grew and grew. In this way half the Śarat season passed.
12. Madhukaṇṭha continued: Kṛṣṇa's flute-music attracted Śrī Rādhā. She became very agitated. She trembled. She staggered as She walked. Rising from Her sitting place, She took two or three steps. Then She left the house. Then She walked far on the forest path.
13. Filling every direction, Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute music attracted Śrī Rādhā. I bow my shoulders. The hairs of my body stand erect with bliss. I always offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Rādhā and to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute, who again and again fulfill Śrī Kṛṣṇa's desire.
14. When the monsoon season came, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thirsted to test the power of His flute music. He waited for the right opportunity. When He saw the beautiful glory of the Śarat season had come, He thought, "If saintly Rādhā joins My associates in My pastimes, then I will also attain a host of many beautiful gopīs. At the appropriate time Rādhā will bring Me, who control all, under Her control. Then I will gaze at Her, and She will gaze at Me. Thus I will bring Rādhā under My control. I will have the power to remove the anguish of separation She feels. I will remove the obstacles that stand between Śrī Rādhā and Me.
15. Thinking in this way, and suddenly seeing an auspicious omen, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, "Ah! Now something auspicious will come. Fate has placed before My eyes the sight of two khaṣjana birds playing on a lotus flower. This means that the face of beautiful-eyed Rādhā will soon come before Me.
16. After seeing that auspicious omen, the flutist Kṛṣṇa played His flute again and again for an entire month, beginning with the full-moon day.
17. The sweet sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute made the jasmine flowers burst into bloom in the Śarat season. Again and again gazing at the beautiful glistening nights, Balarāma's brother, Kṛṣṇa, decided to enjoy amorous pastimes with the gopīs.
18. The playful full moon suddenly arrived to bring pleasure to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Taking His cows with Him, forest-flower-garlanded Kṛṣṇa, who enjoys pastimes in the forest, returned to Vraja. At sunset He ascended the rooftop balcony and watched the sun set and the effulgent full moon rise. Embraced by feelings of ecstatic spiritual love, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought:
19. "Is that the rising circle of the moon, or is it a great circle of red kuṅkuma, or is it Kāmadeva's face red with passionate anger?
20. "Is that the moon anointed with red kuṅkuma nectar, or is it the face of Śrī Rādhā rising in the sky, Śrī Rādhā who has just come from the Yamunā's forests?
21. Looking at the moon, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thinks, "Come from afar, and now rising in the east, the full moon, its face always anointed with red kuṅkuma, on some pretext teaches Me, a playful teenage boy, how to enjoy amorous pastimes. This glistening moon now makes everything auspicious.
22. Śrī Kṛṣṇa then imagined the moon spoke to Him, saying, "I am the moon. I delight the goddesses of the directions, who are my beloved consorts. I bring auspiciousness to the people." Śrī Kṛṣṇa then addressed the moon, "O moon, why do you now make obstacles for Me, the lover of the supreme goddess of fortune?"
23. Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, "Now destiny is favorable. Auspicious moonlight fills the directions. By going southeast, I will attain auspiciousness.
24. "I see in direction after direction the moon fill the forest with delightful reddish light. This is an auspicious omen for Me. Destiny will bring auspiciousness to Me.
25. "However, if this reddish moon is actually the angry face of Kāmadeva, whose arrows are very powerful, then that is also an auspicious omen, an omen that will destroy all My fears.
26. ""If the glorious effulgence that fills this forest actually comes from Śrī Rādhā, then I will walk in the direction of that effulgence. In that way auspicious bliss will enter My heart.
27. "Ah! As My heart thinks of going in that direction, My right eye begins to tremble and seems almost to dance. From that auspicious omen I know that I will soon dance with My gopī beloveds."
28. After thinking in this way, intelligent Śrī Kṛṣṇa placed four cowherd boys headed by Dāma, and other cowherd boys also, boys blissful with a great wealth of spiritual love, boys whose kinsmen thought were sleeping in their homes, as guards at the entrances to the forest. Taking His flute with Him, Śrī Kṛṣṇa playfully walked to a secluded place by the Yamunā's banks.
29. While going there, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, "That (moon) cannot be the face of angry Kāmadeva. It shines too brightly. Neither can it be the race of Rādhā pining for Me, for it is marked with dark spots and other flaws."
30. Śrī Kṛṣṇa again thought of the moon, "To dispel the darkness of night, the moon has come. Rising over the eastern mountain, the moon fills the whole world with a festival of joy.
31. "Imitating Śrī Rādhā's face, the moon shines very brightly. Still, if the moon only pretends to be Śrī Rādhā's face, then why is My heart so overcome when I see it?"
32. In His thoughts, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to the moon, "My lord, O moon with nectar rays of light, do not be proud, thinking, 'My glorious light has no peer in all the worlds.' After all, your moonlight is not in any way equal to the glorious effulgence of Śrī Rādhā's ten toenails."
33. As Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought in this way, the four cowherd-boy guards walked on the pathways to their stations. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself went to an elevated courtyard in the eastern part of Vraja. He placed the flute to His mouth. As He was about to play, He thought, "First We should bring Rādhā here. I see that without Her all is useless. When Śrī Rādhā comes, the many other beautiful gopīs will also come. This I know in My heart. How shall I make certain that this auspicious event will occur?
34. "Yes. Yes. As some are archers expert at firing arrows, so I am expert at playing the flute. My flute music will enter Śrī Rādhā and attract Her. There is no other way. Thinking of this goal, I will play on My flute." In that way Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought. Imagining that He saw the gopīs illumined by the bright moonlight, Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, "O moon, O master of the plants, you only torment troubled persons like Me. You will not cure Us of Our troubles."
35. At that moment, seeing the moon in a slightly different way, Vṛndā-devī thought, "Ah! Ah! Covered by the smoke rising from the flames of the gopīs' tears, gopīs tormented by separation from Kṛṣṇa, the blind moon is now dark, dark like a smoke-darkened mirror."
36. The moon was soon overcome by the presence of a host of doe-eyed gopīs. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa, glorious like a sun with hundreds of rays of light, was manifest in the east.
37. The gopīs were very eager to see Kṛṣṇa. The autumn moon cleared the beautiful-eyebrowed gopīs' path to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī; Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute-music at once attracted the gopīs to Him.
38. With great love creating a great sweetness of many rāgas and melodies, Śrī Kṛṣṇa played glorious music on His flute.
39. The great love Śrī Kṛṣṇa felt manifested in Him the ecstatic symptoms described in these words: Tears streaming from His eyes down His neck, the hairs of His body erect, and His body trembling, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, overcome with feelings of separation from Śrī Rādhā, played beautiful, sweet, auspicious melodies on His flute.
40. The rāga Śrī Kṛṣṇa played is described in these words: Entering the gopīs' hearts, the rāga Śrī Kṛṣṇa played was like passionate spiritual love personified. No one had ever tasted anything so sweet. Even nectar could not be compared to it.
41. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute music became letters and words, words that said, "O Rādhā, O girl whose face is like nectar from the nectar-effulgent moon, O girl like a springtime mādhavī-vine blossoming with a flood of sweetness, I love You eternally, and You eternally love Me. The thought of Your glorious virtues makes My heart burst with bliss."
42. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is expert at playing flute melodies like flying arrows, and who is the best of the wise, aware that He had, with the arrow of His flute melody, perfectly wounded Śrī Rādhā's heart, proceeded to send flute-messages to the other gopīs.
43. He played a flute melody that became the following words: "O gopīs, please accept the sugar-candy of My flute songs, candy that is very difficult to attain. O dear gopīs, that you have conquered Me is very embarrassing to Me. Therefore I request that you please be kind to Me."
44. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa, arrayed in yellow garments, played melodies on His flute, the melodies at once entered the gopīs' ears. Rapt in thinking of those melodies, the gopīs were very strongly attracted. They were overcome. Overcoming all obstacles, the gopīs, ran and met Kṛṣṇa. They stood before Him, face to face. It was not otherwise.
45. With glistening eyes listening to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute-music, the gopīs forgot their household duties. Surging rivers of tears flowing from their eyes. they ran to glorious and effulgent Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the master of their lives.
46. The glistening moon gave hundreds of sublime happinesses to the lotus flowers, lotus lakes, and lotus-eyed girls of Gokula.
47. Some saintly gopīs were forcibly stopped by their husbands. Those gopīs also attained Śrī Kṛṣṇa's association. That is confirmed by the words of the sage Śukadeva.
48. In his heart Snigdhakaṇṭha thought: In the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, it is said some sages engaged in sādhana-bhakti desired to become like the supreme goddesses of fortune who are Śrī Kṛṣṇa's wives and beloveds, goddesses who have Śrī Rādhā as their leader. Attaining forms like those goddesses, the sages attained Śrī Kṛṣṇa's association. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.29.11) it is said: "The gopīs did not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They accepted Him as a beautiful boy and considered Him to be their paramour. So how was it possible for them to get freed from the material condition just by thinking of a paramour?"*
49. Now we will consider the answer to this question. In Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa, it is said: "Those sages took birth as girls in Gokula. According to their desire, they attained the association of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By associating with Him, they attained liberation from the ocean of repeated birth and death."
50. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.38) it is said: "The gopīs' husbands felt no jealousy or hatred for Kṛṣṇa." Here we may note that these husbands were not at all aware of Kṛṣṇa's activities. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.6.35) it is said: "In spite of being envious of Kṛṣṇa, Pūtanā attained salvation because she gave her milk to Him to drink."* In this way the question raised in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.29.11 is answered. Thus it is seen that attracted to Kṛṣṇa brings the greatest benefit.
51. The gopīs did not know that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-pervading Supersoul. Although at first they thought of Him as their paramour, in the end they thought of Him as their husband, just as Pūtanā at first thought to kill Kṛṣṇa, but at the end had the thoughts of Kṛṣṇa's affectionate nurse.
52. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.29.13) it is said: "Śiśupāla was always envious of Kṛṣṇa, and because of his envy, Kṛṣṇa killed him. Since Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śiśupāla gained salvation simply by seeing Him. If an envious person can get salvation simply by concentrating his mind on Kṛṣṇa, then what to speak of the gopīs, who are so dear to Kṛṣṇa and always thinking of Him in love?"*
53. Because they are eternal associates of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and because their love for Him is very great, the gopīs are very glorious and exalted. Still, no one can say that the eternally dear gopīs' conception of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their paramour in Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes manifest (prakaṭa) on this earth is a praiseworthy conception.
54. Śrī Rādhā and the other gopīs are the eternal wives of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Their conception of Him as their paramour is not at all praiseworthy. However, their eternal love for Him broke apart the impediment that was their conception of Him as their paramour. Thus they quickly understood that He is their eternal husband. Thus other forms, forms as Śrī Kṛṣṇa's wives, waited for them in the future.
55. After thinking these thoughts, Snigdhakaṇṭha said aloud, "Then? Then?"
56. Madhukaṇṭha said: When they heard Śrī Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute-music call their names, the girls of Vraja, their eyebrows gracefully curved, became joyful. Their bodies blossomed with joy. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute music had the power to arouse their amorous desires, why would that flute-music not have the power to make the gopīs blossom with joy?
57. The gopīs are described in the following song:
sa-tvara-prasāra-vat tv asattva-dhāma-hāyinī
sarva-gurv-ahārya-kūṭa-varaṇāti-yāyinī
When the gopīs heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, they quickly left their lifeless homes. When their elders blocked the door, they left anyway.
nātham ekam anv aneka-dāra-sampad-arpiṇī
ogha-mogham anv ananta-bhakta-loka-tarpiṇī
Thinking Kṛṣṇa her only husband, each gopī offered Him opulence and happiness as if she were not one, but a host of wives. Each gopī pleased Him as if she were a limitless multitude of devotee-servants that eclipsed the ocean.
lola-keśaśaivalāṣci-karṇa-pūra-cakriṇī
puṣpa-jāta-niṣprapāta-śubhra-phena-cakriṇī
In that ocean of gopīs, the seaweed was curling locks of hair, the whirlpools were graceful earrings, and the white foam was flower-ornaments.
ucchalan-navīna-mīna-netra-nīra-gātriṇī
agrimādhva-mātra-pātra-sammukhānuyātriṇī
As they ran on the path to meet Kṛṣṇa, their limbs were currents of water and their eyes were swimming young fishes.
manda-tāla-bāhu-nāla-pāṇi-padma-śālinī
accha-bāla-kacchapāṅga-vatsa-janma-jālinī
The lotus flowers there were the gopīs' hands and the lotus stems were their graceful arms. The beautiful young turtles were their breasts.
jūti-dūti-kṛt-kaṭīra-tīra-dhīra-gāminī
uru-bhūruhāli-pāṭa-samprapāta-kāminī
With quickly moving hips they ran to the Yamunā's banks. They wished to enter the great forest.
kāṣci-kāṣci-kaṅkaṇādi-śiṣja-dambha-saṣjinī
prāyasas tu haṁsa-saṅgha-śabditānu-raṣjinī
Their tinkling bracelets, bells, and other ornaments sounded like the warbling of swans.
tūrṇa-tūrṇa-ghūrṇanādi-saṅkulāṅga-nartinī
pūrṇa-pūrṇa-bhāva-gūrṇa-jāḍya-jāta-vartinī
Their frantic running was dancing. Their limbs were stunned with ecstatic love.
veśa-vastra-sanniveśa-caṣcalatva-bhaṅginī
tat-tad-artha-vaiparītya-kāri-vega-saṅginī
In haste they put their garments and ornaments in the wrong places.
yan-nimittam ātma-sarva-saṅga-bhaṅga-bhāvinī
yatra sarva-nāma-rūpa-vismṛtiś ca bhāvinī
They broke all ties to their relatives at home. In the ecstasy of love for Kṛṣṇa, they forgot the names and forms of their relatives.
śyāma-dhāma-suṣṭhu-rāmam etam atra sad-dhavam
sindhu-tulyam uttaraṅgad-aṅgam āśu mādhavam
There was their eternal husband, Kṛṣṇa, who was like a splendid dark ocean with cresting waves.
pūrva-pūrva-bhinna-yātir uttarāpta-saṅgatiḥ
āpagāli-sammitāpa seyam āli-saṁhatiḥ
The gopīs were like many rivers meeting the ocean of Kṛṣṇa.
58 and 59. In a beautiful forest where the glorious Yamunā flows, a forest splendid with hosts of blossoming flowers, glorious with bees and cuckoos, pleasant with fragrant breezes, glistening in the moonlight, and filled with all spiritual virtues, the gopīs assembled in a jewel-mosaic-paved courtyard. When they gazed on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who was playing many wonderful, colorful, and sweet melodies on His flute, His form glorious like a dark monsoon cloud, His garments beautiful like lightning, His form glistening like a great jewel, His form like that of a splendid transcendental Kāmadeva.
60. The gopīs surrounded Kṛṣṇa on every side. Their hearts yearned to embrace Him. They looked like golden flower-vines entwined around a dark tamāla tree.
61. Accompanied by her friend the flood of sweet fragrance, the girl-messenger of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's flute-music respectfully invited the beautiful-eyebrowed gopīs to meet with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Traveling on a long path, the gopīs were brought to Kṛṣṇa. Again and again they devotedly tasted the sweet nectar of His handsomeness. Although they tasted it repeatedly, they never felt satiated. They never wished to stop tasting that nectar.
62. Splendid like many glistening moons garlanded with stars, the wide-eyed teen-age gopīs stood before Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who was like a thirsty cakora-bird gazing at them.
63. Thirsty Kṛṣṇa then thought, "Paying the price of My youthful handsomeness, I will purchase the crown jewels that are these girls, the most beautiful girls in the world. These girls are the medicine Kāmadeva offers to sure My troubles.. They are glistening beams of moonlight glorious before the two cakora-birds of My eyes."
64. Each gopī then thought, "The arrow of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's glance has struck the arrow of my glance and broken it into pieces. That arrow now flies into my heart to break apart the chariot of my desires that drive there."
65. In truth the two black bees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's eyes dallied for two or three moments amongst the flowering-vines of the gopīs. Then those bees flew into the lotus forest of Śrī Rādhā. There they stayed.
66. Śrī Kṛṣṇa then thought, "This girl is the beautiful glorious splendor of beautiful glorious splendor. Śrī Rādhā's beautiful eyes now stand before My eyes."
67. Her eyes touched by the sight of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Rādhā trembled. The sweet nectar of ecstatic spiritual love arose within Her. She was tossed to and fro. She glistened with the intense longing to attain Kṛṣṇa.
68. The following verse consists of a question and a reply: Please tell me like the tears now flowing from the two rising moons of Śrī Rādhā's eyes? The floods of nectar flowing from the lotus-flowers in autumn is perhaps a little like them.
69. Standing before Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and wild with delight by hearing His eloquent flute-music, the gopīs abandoned all shyness. Still, because they were born in saintly families, they bowed their heads and became silent. They were like sages following a vow not to speak.
70. Śrī Kṛṣṇa stood amidst the gopīs. Intoxicated by Śrī Kṛṣṇa's sweet fragrance and the sweet nectar of His flute-music, the gopīs approached Him. Playfully smiling, Śrī Kṛṣṇa stood on the pathway of their eyes. As were ordinary girls with impure thoughts, the gopīs stood before Him. Eager to taste the nectar words that might come from the blossoming flowers of the eager gopīs, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, speaking an appeal to them, agitated them greatly.
71. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to the gopīs, "O fortunate and glorious girls, Our meeting here is certainly auspicious. Still, I am curious to ask why you have come here. You must have endured many troubles to come to this place. Therefore I place this question before you: What may I do to please you?"
72. The gopīs did not understand Śrī Kṛṣṇa's purpose in speaking these words. Again speaking joking words that did not reveal His true intent, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said:
73. "Although I ask questions, you, like silent sages, give no reply. Why would you householder ladies do anything that would not bring auspiciousness to your homes and families in Vraja?"
74. As the gopīs looked at each other with smiling eyes, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to them, "I am not able to understand your purpose in coming here. Please cast away all shyness and tell it to Me."
75. Seeing the gopīs were still too shy to speak, Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke the following words, words with a double meaning:
76. "Please tell Me why you have abandoned your household duties. I do not understand that. With eager hearts please return to Vraja Village. This forest is very fearsome. This night is very fearsome. You are surrounded by many fearsome wild creatures."
77. Here the sentence "Please return to Vraja Village" may also be interpreted "Please do not (na) return to Vraja Village". In this way these words have a double meaning. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa again spoke these words, which also have a double meaning: "Pious girls like you should not be so independent, independent like prostitutes. After you, you certainly have mothers, fathers, brothers, husbands, and many other kinsmen." Then, with a joking smile, Śrī Kṛṣṇa also said:
78. "I have heard that you have many children."
79. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa thought, "The proper understanding of these pastimes is found in the conversation of Vṛndā and Paurṇamāsī, where it is said (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.33.26): 'Kṛṣṇa recited various kinds of poetry. He thus enjoyed the company of the gopīs in the soothing moonlight of autumn. Sex desire is especially excited in the autumn season, but the wonderful thing about Kṛṣṇa's association with the gopīs is that there was no question of sex desire. The sex impulse was completely controlled.'* Speaking of the obstacles that stood before the gopīs, I will now speak clever and playful joking words."
80. These were Śrī Kṛṣṇa's thoughts. In order to enjoy pastimes with the gopīs, Śrī Kṛṣṇa played His flute. Now Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the crest-jewel of rasikas, stood before the gopīs. The gopīs were convinced that Śrī Kṛṣṇa was their husband. Only in the talk of other people was any other idea manifested. The gopīs desired Śrī Kṛṣṇa's association, and the association of no one else. They considered the association of any other male an abomination. In this way it is proved that the gopīs were completely pure. They thought of Śrī Kṛṣṇa their husband. They did not think of Him as their paramour.
81. The gopīs had no children of their own. However, out of affection, they considered the children of their brothers-in-law to be like their own children. The idea that the gopīs had children existed only externally. When it was spoken of, it was spoken only as a joke.
82. Although their kinsmen were blind to the gopīs' actions, the gopīs feared their kinsmen would be at that moment searching to find them. In this connection, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to them, "Why do you fear?" In this sentence the compound-word "tat-tad-bhayam" may be interpreted as either a ṣaṣṭhī or a paṣcamī tatpuruṣa-samāsa.
83. Texts 77 and 78 may be considered in two ways: as divided (khaṇḍam) or as undivided (akhaṇḍam). This passage may be divided into two parts. The first part presents the conception of the gopīs as unmarried girls. This is seen in the passage ending with the word "sahajāḥ" (brothers). In the second part the faint conception of the gopīs as married women is seen in the passage ending with the words "ṣrūyante tanūjāḥ" (I heard that you have children). This passage may also be considered as not broken (akhaṇḍam) into two parts. This conception is supported by the words "sarvāḥ prati" (to all the gopīs).
84. Then, playing with the meanings of words, Śrī Kṛṣṇa made the gopīs' hearts and minds sway to and fro, as if they were riding on a swing. He said to them, "As you can see this forest is worshiped by the glistening autumn season and by wonderful hosts of flowers. The moon anoints this forest with splendid moonlight. The Yamunā makes this forest dance with the pleasant breezes that flow over its waters. The demigods have placed here all the ingredients needed for Our pastimes. Still, if you do not join these pastimes, none of these arrangements will be glorious. Then none of them will be worthy of praise.
85. "Whether destiny brings auspiciousness or troubles, you should always perform your family duties. You should devotedly serve your husbands and you should also protect and maintain your children, calves, and other dependents. This the scriptures teach.
86. "Continue performing your prescribed duties, even in difficult situations. Then, when you attain the final fruit of all your pious deeds, you may enter the realm of My blissful pastimes. If you do not wish to enter that realm, then you should still enter this forest place glistening in the moonlight. In this place you may perform austerities and pray to attain whatever it is that you desire."
87. Then, as if thinking for a moment, Śrī Kṛṣṇa paused and said, "Ah! I did not understand. Please understand My situation and forgive all My senseless talking. Overcome by the desire to attain amorous pastimes, you all have come to this place. Under these circumstance your great affection for Me is certainly proper.
88. "The love you feel for Me is My presence is not as great as the love You feel when you pine for Me in My absence. Therefore, to feel this greatest love you should now all return to your homes. That is the right thing for you to do.
89. "If you think staying far away from Me would not increase your love for Me, then perhaps many obstacles standing in the way of Our meeting would increase your love, for then you would always pray to attain My company."
90. For a long time the gopī had yearned to attain Kṛṣṇa. Then they were called by Kṛṣṇa's flute. Now they felt as if they were suddenly broken into pieces. When they heard these teasing words from their beloved, the gopīs could not decide, "Is Kṛṣṇa teasing us, or not?"
91. At that moment the jangling ornaments decorating the motionless gopīs' waists became suddenly silent.
92. Tormented by the feverish heat of their beloved Kṛṣṇa's words of rejection, the lotus flowers of the gopīs' hearts began to melt. From those lotus flowers again and again streamed a flood of lotus nectar that, I think, only pretended to be a torrent of tears.
93. The gopīs then thought, "Perhaps we should give up our lives, or perhaps we should fall to the ground before dear Kṛṣṇa's feet, or perhaps we should be angry with Him, or perhaps we should reject Him and return to our homes, or perhaps we should drown ourselves in the Yamunā's dark waters. Then again, perhaps we should not do any of these things. Perhaps we should only seek vengeance by beating on the forehead of harsh and cruel Kṛṣṇa."
94. The gopīs were tormented by headaches. Tears flowed down their necks. Their hearts greatly trembled. Every part of their bodies was overcome with the symptoms of ecstatic love. As if to attack and chase away their cruel beloved, they surrounded Him. Kindness manifest in words from Śrī Kṛṣṇa's mouth was the only thing that could protect them now.
95. A night of dark-colored tears flowed from the gopīs' mascara-anointed eyes and onto the sunset of the gopīs' red-kuṅkuma-anointed breasts. Śrī Kṛṣṇa then became like a glistening full-moon surrounded by a dark-night of gopīs, their shy faces downcast.
96. Sighs breaking though their charming lips, the petal toes of their lotus feet scratching the ground, and the archer's bows of their eyebrows now bent, the gopīs wounded Śrī Kṛṣṇa with the arrow-glances that flew from their eyes.
97. As from a broken-open pomegranate many red seeds are manifest, so from the gopīs' hearts were now manifest the perfection of their ecstasy of love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. With affectionate words anointed with graceful eloquence, the gopīs expressed their doubts. Even today is sung the song the gopīs then sang.
98. A Song:
imam iva mā kuru punar ativādam
bhakta-janān bhaja, muhur itarāṁs tyaja, vibhur iva rahita-vivādam
(Refrain) O Kṛṣṇa, don't speak harsh words. Honor Your devotees. Turn away from the nondevotees. As the all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead does, please shun harsh words.
pati-putrādika,-bhajanam ihādhikam, iti yam vadasi vicāram
sa tvayeva hi, tiṣṭhatu na tu bahir, iti vimṛśāmaḥ sāram
You express Your opinion that service to husband and children and others like them is the highest duty for us. We think the highest duty is this: A person who stays always rapt in thinking of You does not reside in this external material world.
99. In this way, the both of them speaking words with double meanings, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs praised each other.
100. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, "If you found happiness in your husbands, children, and others like them, then the saintly devotees would be pleased. Still, somehow you girls do not place your desires in your husbands and children."
101. Here Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks words with a double meaning, The words not (na hi) may refer to the gopīs' absence of desire, or it may also refer to Śrī Kṛṣṇa's forbidding the gopīs to desire other things.
102. The gopīs said, "O king of the eternals, O king of the philanthropists, please fulfill Your desire. Please give happiness to us beautiful girls. Please don't throw obstacles in the way of our enjoying amorous pastimes with You."
103. In this stanza the upasarga "anu" in the word "anuvardhaya" may be understood either in the sense of "fulfilling" or "cutting into pieces." (Translator's note: Thus the sentence may be either "Please fulfill our desire" or "Please cut into pieces our desire for anything but You".)
104. The gopīs said, "Our hearts find happiness in our household duties. Still, our hearts do not become rapt in thinking of those duties. Now that we have approached Your feet, we cannot return to our homes."
105. In this stanza the word "sukha-tanu" may be an adjective modifying either "bhavatā" or "cittam". The words "api naddham" may mean either "bound" or "unbound", the word "na" may be used in the sense of "not" or it may be used as a prohibition, and the word "kila" may be used to mean "certainly" or "not in truth".
106. The gopīs said, "O master of Your gopa friends, if You do not, with the running streams of nectar flowing from Your nectar lips, extinguish the flames of passionate love that burn burn within us, then those flames will certainly leap out and touch You, and then You will also burn with those flames."
107. In this stanza the word "sva-bhava" may mean either "amorous desire" or "self-manifest". The word "mādṛśam" may mean either "people like us" or "for Your own sake".
108. The gopīs said, "Ah! Your feet delight Lakṣmī-devī and bring auspiciousness to the Pulindī girls. Still, when we see or touch Your feet, the whole world becomes our enemy."
109. In this stanza the word "apasavya" means "pratukūla". Here either of the two meanings of pratikūla may be accepted. In the statement about the Pulindī girls, the gopīs manifest their humbleness.
110. The gopīs said, "Goddess Lakṣmī, who came to see You, was seen in a Tulasī forest in Vraja. Even though her heart is dedicated to her husband, she still yearns, O Kṛṣṇa, to bathe in the dust of Your footprints."
111. The gopīs said, "Goddess Lakṣmī and her companions may have been seen, but in our hearts we do not desire to see either her or her entourage."
112. Here the word "api", as before, may be understood either as a plaintive appeal or as a word of prohibition.
113. The gopīs said, "O Kṛṣṇa, O destroyer of sufferings, please be merciful to us that we may become passionately attached to Your feet. Please make us become devoted to You. Please make our hearts become filled with wonder at the sight of Your smiling glance."
114. This stanza has no double meanings.
115. The gopīs said, "O Kṛṣṇa, whose face is surrounded by curly locks of hair, whose earrings are glorious, whose eyes are decorated with smiles, and whose glorious chest and arms bring fearlessness, we are Your maidservants."
116. Here the word "api" has two meanings, as before.
117. The gopīs said, "O Kṛṣṇa, hearing Your beautiful flute-music, the trees, their new sprouts standing erect, manifest symptoms of ecstasy. O Lord, if even the trees manifest these symptoms of ecstasy, how much more will the girls of Vraja feel the ecstasy of love as they listen to the music of Your flute?"
118. In this stanza the word "kā" is used either in the sense of "how much more?" or in the sense of prohibition.
119. The gopīs said, "O Kṛṣṇa whose pastimes remove Vraja's fears, You must be some glorious demigod. Please, even if only by accident, place Your hand on the heads of us, Your maidservants."
120. In this stanza the word ""no" may be interpreted to mean "no" or "of us". Interpreted in the second way, it stands in apposition to "maidservants".
121. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was unmoved by the gopīs' sorrowful laments. Then Rādhā fired at Him an arrow-glance from the bending bows of Her eyebrows.
122. Now Śrī Kṛṣṇa was agitated. Kindly He smiled. His face was cheerful. Now He revealed His secret. It shone with glistening light. Now, to begin His pastimes, Balarāma's powerful but soft-hearted younger brother, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, forcibly drew each one of His gopī beloveds to His side.
123. As a poverty-stricken man remains unsatisfied even after attaining great wealth, so Śrī Kṛṣṇa remained unsatisfied even after touching the gopīs' fingers, hands, forearms, and arms.
124. Although Rādhā was hidden, surrounded by many thousands of gopīs, Śrī Kṛṣṇa clearly saw Her. She was like a crescent moon surrounded by a host of stars.
125. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa touched Her, Śrī Rādhā, splendid like a crescent moon, became filled with wonder.
126. The gopīs embraced Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa embraced Śrī Rādhā. They playfully joked and smiled. They were filled with bliss. As the various bhāvas (ecstasies) culminate in sthāyi-bhāva, so the gopīs' past pious activities and fervent desires in their previous births now brought them to meet Śrī Kṛṣṇa in His pastimes.
127. Shyly glancing at Kṛṣṇa, the forest-flower-garlanded gopīs joked amongst themselves, saying, "Timid girls become afraid when glistening lightning plays with a dark monsoon cloud. O gopī friends, why do you smile and joke? Do you not see the great wonder of monsoon cloud and lightning that stands before us?"
128. The impersonalist ātmārāma sages renounced the bliss of Brahman realization when they smelled the sublime fragrance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Glorious Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is always filled with bliss, now enjoyed blissful pastimes with the gopīs.
129. ` Bringing his description to its conclusion, Madhukaṇṭha said: O Rādhā, at that moment Your gopī friends glanced at Your face. With their own eyes they saw the exalted nectar pastimes You enjoyed at that moment.