Rātra-līlā - Prema-bhajana in Union

Let that libertine embrace me, who am devoted to His feet, or crush me; let Him break my heart by remaining unseen; let Him act in any way He pleases. He alone is the Lord of my life, and no one else.

Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja explains: I am the maidservant at Kṛṣṇa's feet, and He is the treasury of rasa and happiness. He may embrace me and make me His own, or He may refuse to show Himself without regard for my life and mind. Even so, He alone is the Lord of my life.

When a mortal abandons every separate activity, offers himself to Me, and desires to act only for Me, he attains immortality and becomes fit to share My own spiritual nature.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: One who renounces all independent work, offers the self to Me, and serves Me attains the nature of immortality, enters My līlā, and delights together with Me.

Steadfastness is taught here: O mind, do not independently pursue either religious or irreligious acts described by the Vedas. Here in Vraja, render abundant service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Always remember Śacī's son as Nanda's son Himself, and remember the excellent guru as Mukunda's dearest devotee.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Leave aside the Vedic divisions of dharma and adharma, injunction and prohibition, action and inaction, and worship Rādhā's and Kṛṣṇa's feet. Know Gaurāṅga to be Śrī Kṛṣṇa and regard the guru as Kṛṣṇa's beloved. Let this mood be your true wealth.

I have neither prema, devotion expressed through hearing and the other practices, Vaiṣṇava yoga, spiritual knowledge, auspicious deeds, nor even noble birth. Although I am thus destitute and You are the savior of the most fallen, O beloved of the gopīs, my hope in You has grown roots that cannot be cut, and alas, that very hope torments me.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prays: I lack devotion beginning with hearing, prema-bhakti-yoga, the paths of knowledge and work, and even a virtuous birth. Yet You are the Lord of the impoverished and the treasure of Rādhā's life. My mind is restless with firm hope at Your feet.

When shall I conceive of myself here as a delicate adolescent girl, wearing silk and a bodice across my breast lovingly bestowed by my Svāminī's own hand, always standing at Her side and expert only in Her many services?

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prays: In my perfected body I am a gopī, the maidservant of Śrī Rādhā, wearing the garments and bodice given as Rādhā's prasāda. Having left the household and husband behind, as an adolescent girl I serve Rādhā's feet in the kuñja by day and night.

Engaging the tongue and mind, in due sequence, in excellent chanting and remembrance of Kṛṣṇa's Name, form, qualities, and pastimes, one should reside in Vraja, follow the residents attached to Him, and spend all one's time in this way. This is the essence of instruction.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Join tongue and mind, in order, to beautiful chanting and remembrance of Kṛṣṇa's Name, form, qualities, and līlā. Dwell in the kuñja as a maidservant of those filled with anurāga and worship throughout all eight periods, immersed in His pastimes.

Remember Kṛṣṇa and the beloved resident of Vraja whom you personally aspire to follow. Remain absorbed in narrations of them and always make your dwelling in Vraja.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Remember Kṛṣṇa and your cherished resident of Vraja who is dear to Him. Stay devoted to Kṛṣṇa-kathā and dwell in Vraja at every moment.

Following this vow and chanting his beloved Lord's Name, the devotee develops anurāga and his heart melts. He laughs, cries, calls out, and sings; oblivious to society, he dances like one possessed.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: By chanting Kṛṣṇa's Name under this vow, rāga arises and the heart melts. Laughing, crying, calling aloud, singing, and abandoning awareness of the world, brother, worship Kṛṣṇa through prema in this way.

He who stole my heart in youth is now again my beloved. These are the same spring nights, the same fragrance of newly opened mālatī flowers, and the same full breezes from the kadamba trees. I too am the same. Yet even amid the same acts of love, my heart longs for the bank of the Revā beneath the vetasī tree.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: He whom I worshipped in youth is now again my lover. It is the same fragrant spring night, the same nīpa tree, the same I, and the same union. Even so, I do not find the happiness once tasted upon the Revā's bank.

O sakhī, this is My beloved Kṛṣṇa, met again at Kurukṣetra, and I am that same Rādhā; this reunion brings happiness to Us both. Yet My mind longs for the forest bowers along the Yamunā's bank, where the sweet fifth note of His flute plays within the heart.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: I have found that same Kṛṣṇa, Lord of My life, at Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhā and have gained that same meeting. Even so, My mind remains filled with the flute's song and deeply longs for the banks of the Kālindī. There is no līlā equal to Vṛndāvana's, nor is such līlā manifest in Vaikuṇṭha or elsewhere. In Vraja, separation and union are both present within that līlā; continually taste the supreme bliss of both.

The forms of loving union include meeting and seeing one another, intimate conversation, touch, blocking the path, the rāsa dance, sports in Vṛndāvana and the waters of the Yamunā, boat play, playful theft, the toll pastime, hiding in bowers, drinking honey, adopting a bride's dress, feigning sleep, gambling, tugging at garments, kissing and embracing, scratching with nails, drinking the nectar of bimba-red lips, full union, and other pastimes.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura lists: meeting, conversation, touch, obstructing the path, rāsa, Vṛndāvana games, water play in the Yamunā, boat pastimes, stealing flowers, toll collection, hiding, honey drinking, bridal disguise, pretended sleep, dice play, pulling clothes, amorous exchanges, drinking the nectar of bimba-like lips, and the many forms of union.

May joyful Indulekhā train me in the art of fashioning necklaces from gleaming pearls, guñjā berries, jewels, and flowers, so that with ornaments thus prepared this servant may clearly adorn Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Their pavilion at the center of Their beloved lake.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prays: By earnest effort I will receive the grace of guru Indulekhā in making necklaces of pearls, guñjā berries, jewels, and flowers. In the jeweled temple at Rādhā-kuṇḍa, I will adorn the Divine Couple with graceful garlands.

The nectar of Your words revives those scorched by suffering. Celebrated by the wise, it destroys sin, brings auspiciousness when heard, and is filled with spiritual beauty. Those who spread it throughout the world are the most generous benefactors.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: O Kṛṣṇa, the nectar of Your words is the happiness of life. The sages sing it, and sin and sorrow depart. Auspicious to hear and filled with beauty, it is sung without cease from the mouths of the virtuous.

O Nātha, when You leave Vraja by day to herd the animals, we fear that Your feet, more beautiful than lotuses, suffer from stones, grass, and tender shoots. O beloved, our minds become deeply disturbed.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: When You take the cows from Vraja into the forest, we imagine Your lotus feet, lovely as lotuses, being hurt by stones and sharp shoots. O thief of our hearts, we suffer profoundly.

When You wander the forest during the day, a fraction of a second becomes an age for those who cannot see You. And when we gaze upon Your beautiful face framed by curling locks, the creator of eyelids makes our eyes dull and obstructed.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: In the forenoon You go to the forest to graze the cows, and in Your absence one instant becomes an age. When we behold Your moonlike face beneath curling hair, we condemn providence for creating the blink that interrupts our sight.

Beloved, Your tender lotus feet are so delicate that we fearfully place them very gently upon our hard breasts. You roam the forest with those same feet; are they not pained by sharp grass, stones, and other rough things? Our minds wander in anxiety, for You are our very life.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Friend, we carefully hold Your lotus feet upon these hard breasts, afraid they may suffer. Thinking those same feet may be hurt in the forest by sharp grass and stones, we remain anxious and find no peace.

May Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet carry an indescribable festival into my heart. They are the eternal playground of all the beauty in every world, destroy the pride of paths through lotus forests, and are profoundly honored for their mighty power to grant fearlessness to those who bow before them.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Śrī Rādhikā is the beauty of all worlds, and Kṛṣṇa's feet are the eternal place of Her pastimes and the summit of sweetness. They crush the pride of forests of lotuses and possess sovereign power to grant fearlessness to the surrendered. May those lotus feet carry a wondrous festival of love within my mind.

May the nectar of His sweet lips play within my intoxicated heart: His youth is rosy and fresh, His nature a jewel of compassion, and His broad eyes shine beautifully. Bearing the weight of Kamalā's breasts, His body erupts in abundant horripilation; the sound of His flute makes the lotus minds of sages tremble.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: He is fresh and ruddy with youth, the jewel-like embodiment of mercy, with splendid, wide eyes. Under the weight of Rādhā's breasts His body quivers in prema and displays wonderful horripilation. Accompanied by His sweet flute, He continually stirs the lotus forest of the sages' minds. May Kṛṣṇa's sweet lips, a moon of supreme nectar, dance within my heart.

The duties of a sakhī are to praise Rādhā's and Kṛṣṇa's prema and qualities to each other and thus increase Their attachment; arrange both of Their secret meetings; offer Rādhā to Kṛṣṇa; provide jokes, reassurance, and adornment; skillfully reveal the heart; conceal faults; deceive husbands and other guardians; give instruction; unite the Couple at the proper time; serve with fans and other articles; reproach either of Them when needed; carry messages; and labor above all to preserve the heroine's life.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Glorifying Rādhā's and Kṛṣṇa's qualities and increasing Their attachment, arranging Their meetings and offering Rādhā to Kṛṣṇa, joking and consolation, dressing and reconciling Their hearts, concealing flaws and deceiving household guardians, teaching, serving with water and fans, bringing Them together and conveying messages, and especially striving to protect the heroine's life: learn the sakhīs' service and perform it properly.

I take shelter of the maidservants headed by Rūpa Mañjarī, whose field of service in the places of loving play is unrestricted even beyond that of the most beloved sakhīs. Through offerings of betel, massaging the feet, bringing milk, arranging meetings, and other services, they lovingly satisfy the sovereign Goddess of Vṛndāvana.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Offering betel, massaging the Divine Couple's feet, bringing milk, arranging Their meeting, and similar acts form the treasure of the maidservants' service.

O sakhī, when will Gāndharvā, at elegant Lalitā's loving insistence, shyly and repeatedly teach me in seclusion, with affectionate delight, Her own incomparable new poems and dramas, riddles with hidden meanings, and the graceful movements and melodies of the vīṇā?

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura prays: At Lalitā's request and filled with affectionate joy, shy Gāndharvā will privately teach me Her own dramas, lines of new poetry, riddles with secret meanings, and the divine melodies and movements of the vīṇā.

May lotus-throated Viśākhā, whose voice surpasses the cuckoo's, lovingly teach me the beautiful art of song. With it I shall delight the youthful Couple and Their companions during the rāsa dance and repeatedly receive from Them jeweled medallions and necklaces.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Beautiful Viśākhā, who silences even the cuckoo, will mercifully teach me the art of music. With that song I will bring joy to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance and receive jeweled medallions and other rewards.

O sakhī, delighting everyone in the universe and awakening a festival of desire with limbs soft and dark like rows of blue lotuses, freely embraced on every side by the women of Vraja, enchanting Hari plays in spring like romantic love embodied.

Śrī Vidyāpati Ṭhākura sings: Sweet is the spring, with lines of honeybees; sweet are the blossoms, intoxicated by nectar. Sweet is the heart of Vṛndāvana, and sweet, ever sweet, is the king of rasa. Sweet is the company of dancing girls; sweet, ever sweet, the play of rasa. Exceedingly sweet are the melodious instruments; sweet, ever sweet, the rhythm of cymbals. Sweet are the dancer's motions and graceful turns; sweet the color of the dancers and the Lord of dancers. Sweet, ever sweet, is the song of rasa; sweet is Vidyāpati's utterance.

When by providence that enemy of Madhu enters the path of my eyes, the wretched god of love at once steals away our hearts. If Kṛṣṇa ever comes before our eyes again even for a moment, we shall adorn every hour, minute, and second of that time with jewels.

Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja explains: Whether awake or in a dream, when I saw the flute upon His lips, two enemies immediately arrived. Joy and Madana stole away my mind, and I could not look to my eyes' full satisfaction. If Kṛṣṇa grants His sight again for even one moment, I will ornament every hour, minute, and second with garlands, sandal paste, and many jewels.

At night I remember eager Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa united and worshipped by Vṛndā through many services, shining among Their dearest sakhīs, delighting in forest wandering, song, rāsa, dancing, and innumerable other pastimes, served by the circle of loving companions, and finally falling asleep upon a beautiful flower bed.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains: Served by Vṛndā and accompanied by the dearest sakhīs, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa perform the rāsa and many other līlās. They sing and dance, while all the sakhīs render service, and then the Divine Couple lie upon a bed of flowers. In the late night They fall asleep; everyone becomes joyful and the sakhīs float in supreme bliss. O mind, remember this happy rest and worship Rādhā and Hari, hoping to enter Their līlā. The eightfold daily līlā is the treasure accompanying sādhana; by contemplating it, the perfected devotional identity gradually arises. With realization of one's true nature comes manifest residence in Vraja and the unfolding of līlā within a gopī body formed through spiritual qualities. By Kṛṣṇa's mercy one leaves the quality-bound body and in unmanifest Vraja attains residence and the other forms of proximity in a gopī form. In a pure body one eternally serves Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa; who then remains aware of connection with the gross and subtle bodies? By continually singing the Hare Kṛṣṇa Name in the mood of one eternally liberated, one readily obtains the fullness of prema's bliss. See, brother: the mood is one and the same in practice and perfection. Never abandon the Name's own power. Therefore sing the Name and make the Name your essence; do not search for any independent discipline.

Thus ends the practice for the eighth period in Śrī Bhajana-rahasya.

Thus ends this book.