Twenty-first Sarga: Early-Night Pastimes

At dusk I remember Rādhā with Her circle of friends, dressed appropriately in dark or white clothing according to the moonless or moonlit night, proceeding at the messenger's call and Vṛndā's direction to a wish-fulfilling-tree bower on the Yamunā's bank. I remember Kṛṣṇa watching gifted performers display their arts in the cowherd assembly, then being carefully brought home and put to bed by His affectionate mother before secretly reaching the bower. (1)

Hari's father, the lord of Vraja, then came to the outer assembly together with his elder and younger brothers, immersed in a great ocean of joy. All the people of Vraja came with him, as did groups of accomplished performers, their pure hearts filled with the desire to behold Hari. (2)

The leaders of the guilds came in the company of townspeople, brāhmaṇas, and cowherds. Intensely eager to please the enemy of Agha through their respective skills, there arrived singers, musicians, comedians, and graceful dancers, together with heralds who praised the dynasty, performers of drama, vocalists, and panegyrists. (3)

The cowherd king received them each appropriately, honoring them with dignity, affection, and compassion. They stood filled with joy, their eyes and hearts yearning for the sight of Kṛṣṇa. (4)

The cowherd lord thought, 'My son has eaten and is sleeping under the weight of His fatigue, yet the people thirst to see Him. Alas, what should be done?' Just as he reflected in this way, Kṛṣṇa unexpectedly arrived of His own accord with His groups of friends. (5)

The moon of Hari rose over the eastern mountain of the assembly, making the oceans of the cowherds' hearts swell, nourishing the cakorā birds of their eyes and the herbs of their bodily hairs, and opening the night-lilies of their smiles. (6)

He greeted the brāhmaṇas and elders with folded hands and bows, His equals and friends with smiling glances, and all others under His protection with compassionate looks. Having addressed them, He entered the assembly with His companions. (7)

As Kṛṣṇa entered, the cowherd settlement resounded with Vedic recitation, cries of 'Victory! Victory!', accounts of the ancestral dynasty, panegyrics describing His different pastimes, a multitude of instruments, exclamations of joy, and the tumult of praise from the assembled people. It thereby demonstrated more fully the meaning of its own name, Ghoṣa, 'the resounding settlement.' (8)

At the king of Vraja's command, the chamberlain quieted the noisy crowd with authoritative gestures of his raised hand and seated everyone in the proper place. (9)

Once all were seated, the skilled artists responded to the king's signal. One after another they separately displayed their respective arts and delighted the eager members of the assembly. (10)

Some performed the chālikya and other dances, others graceful lāsya, and still others vigorous tāṇḍava. Some acted in dramas depicting the deeds of Nṛsiṁha and Rāma. (11)

Some displayed the art of the bamboo acrobat, others manipulated figures with strings, and other experts exhibited many feats of illusion. (12)

Other virtuous performers recited sacred narratives from the Purāṇas. Some offered various songs, while others described the royal lineage. (13)

Others presented ear-pleasing varieties of the four branches of learning, while some sang a series of praises filled with Kṛṣṇa's birth and other pastimes. (14)

The king of Vraja and the other members of the assembly gave the performers many kinds of garments, wealth, and ornaments. Their hearts fulfilled by seeing Kṛṣṇa, the artists accepted the gifts merely out of courtesy and not from material desire. (15)

The rows of cakorā birds formed by the assembly members' eyes drank deeply of the moonlight of the smile upon Kṛṣṇa's moonlike face. Though immersed in it, they remained unsatisfied and continued drinking through the pretext of their own tears. Ah, the movement of love is exceedingly difficult to fathom. (16)

Just then Raktaka, sent by the queen of Vraja, entered the assembly, bowed to the king, and said, 'O lord of Vraja, the queen's heart longs to see the beautiful son of her husband.' (17)

Repeatedly urged by the king of Vraja, Kṛṣṇa then departed for His mother's residence. As He left, He drenched the assembly members, who were distressed at losing His sight, with the nectar of tender smiling glances. (18)

When her two sons arrived with Madhumaṅgala and Their circle of friends, Mother Yaśodā seated Them upon a beautifully polished platform. Her garment drenched with breast milk and tears, she gave the two boys abundant slightly warm, thick milk flavored with camphor and sugar. (19)

After the friends had gone to their own homes, the deeply affectionate mother, accompanied by Rohiṇī, brought Madhumaṅgala, Balarāma, and Kṛṣṇa to their respective sleeping rooms and put each one separately to bed. (20)

After settling them to sleep and assigning the appropriate servants to attend each one, she withdrew to her own quarters so that they could sleep undisturbed. (21)

As she departed, her heart softened by affection, she told the servants, 'My dear children, my son is exhausted from His wanderings in the forest. Stand outside and stop anyone who comes wishing to see Him. You must ensure that He sleeps peacefully until dawn.' (22)

On a night illumined by the rays of the full moon, Śrī Rādhikā eagerly longed to attain Her lover. Hurrying with Her friends toward the appointed bower, the clever heroine arranged a white abhisāra suited to the moonlight. (23)

Rādhā wore garments white as a swan, anointed Her body with camphor and sandalwood, adorned Herself with pearls, and wore a garland of jasmine. Having carefully silenced Her beautiful anklets and waist bells, She went to the bower accompanied by friends dressed like Her. (24)

At other times, during a dark night, Rādhā wears black garments, anoints Her limbs with musk, marks Her forehead with dark aguru, and decorates Her ears with dark blue lotuses. Adorned with many varieties of dark gems, She proceeds unhindered with Her friends to meet Her beloved. (25)

Fearfully concealing Her destination beneath the shadows of trees along the path, She located it by the branch of the Vaṁśīvaṭa tree. Secretly carrying Kṛṣṇa within the lotus of Her heart, She was borne as if by the wondrous mechanism of Vraja's forest land and reached the bank of the dark Yamunā. (26)

Joyfully crossing a knee-deep channel of the Yamunā, She reached the island-like northern bank that had been selected as the meeting place. (27)

She beheld the pure bank called Śrī Govinda-sthala, the sacred seat of union with Kṛṣṇa and the crown of Vṛndāvana. Sloping gradually on every side, it resembled the back of a tortoise and also a thousand-petaled lotus: rows of bowers were its abundant petals, a splendid jeweled house its pericarp, and rows of golden plantain trees its filaments. (28)

The dark Yamunā flowed to its north, while two streams emerging on its eastern and western sides seemed to embrace the place with outstretched arms. (29)

It was filled with śāla, tāla, tamāla, bakula with trembling leaves, coconut, mango, kuddāla, priyāla, dadhiphala, sarala, śrīphala, ulūkhala, uddāla, kandarāla, lakuca, tilaka, jambhala, pītaśāla, plakṣa, tūla, palāśa, abalu, guḍaphala, gālava, and granthila trees; (30)

with golīḍha, thorn-fruited trees, madhuṣṭhīla, madhūlaka, kṛtamāla, drukilima, phalādhyakṣa, and halipriya; (31)

with beautiful vañjula, kola, vañjula of other kinds, drumotpala, karparāla, kulaka, and devavallabha; (32)

with wish-fulfilling trees expert in granting every desire, with pārijātas and trees even finer than pārijātas, with mandāras, rāṅkyadāras, santānakas, and trees that spread delight; (33)

and with sandalwood trees that perpetually soothe Hari's heart and body, with splendid hari-candana trees, and with other most generous trees whose limbs were beautified by rows of vines. (30-34 form one sentence.) (34)

It was adorned with masses of vines such as lovely vāsantī, saptalā, golden yūthikā, jātī, yūthī, mallikā, mudgara, viṣṇukrāntā, kṛṣṇalā, bhīru, bimbā, kubjā, and āsphotā; (35)

and with clove, aśoka, kunda, and mango vines, as well as occasional enclosures formed by grapevines and serpent-like creepers. (35-36 form one sentence.) (36)

Every vine there is a wish-fulfilling vine, and every tree belonging to Bakāsura's enemy is a wish-fulfilling tree. All can fulfill the gopīs' desires, yet each still retains the particular nature of its own species. (37)

How wonderful are the maiden-like vines here! Though bearing flowers, they are never soiled; though their pollen is plainly visible, they remain pure; though they have offspring in the form of blossoms, they are tender and innocent. (38)

Through constant association with Kṛṣṇa, some gopīs there assumed His dark complexion. Stunned into immobility, they remain in the guise of dark śyāmā vines. (39)

Rādhā's companions and maidservants became motionless with joy upon seeing Her, their bodies erupting in gooseflesh. Assuming different forms, they stand there in the guise of flowering shrubs. (39-40 form a thematic pair.) (40)

The goddesses Śrī, Bhū, and Līlā, greedy to serve Nanda's son, attained stationary forms through abundant merit. Manifesting as the jātī vine, dhātrī tree, and sacred tulasī, they dwell there eternally performing that service. (41)

Thirsting to behold Kṛṣṇa, Brāhmī and the daughter of the Himalayas likewise assumed stationary forms there under the guise of the soma vine and the harītakī tree. (42)

To give delight to Kṛṣṇa, lotus maidens shine there both in the water and upon the land, some moving and some stationary; similarly, rows of lotus flowers dwell within the water. (43)

How wonderful! The flowering rajanī, 'night,' stands fixed there even during the day, while jyotsnī, 'moonlight,' has assumed a stationary form even by day and during the dark fortnight. (44)

There a moving flock of śarāli waterbirds shines upon the water, while a stationary row of śara reeds shines upon the land. In the same way, fish appear in moving forms in the water and in stationary ornamental forms upon the land. (45)

Moving śāla fish shine in the water there, while stationary śāla trees shine upon the land. A moving rohita fish swims in the water, while upon the bank appear both moving and stationary forms named rohita. (46)

For Kṛṣṇa's delight, Kamalās, lotus maidens like goddesses of fortune, shine in the bowers. Kamalā trees sport upon the bank, and lotuses flourish in the lotus pools. (47)

Though that place is always free from fierce red-eyed creatures, it is perpetually filled on every side with the harmless plants, birds, and other beings that share the name raktākṣa. The verse playfully repeats the same word in its different senses. (48)

It is devoid of makers of quarrel, yet filled with kalikāra buds and trees. It is free from terrifying creatures, yet always adorned with stationary plants named bhīma. (49)

Though free from the harmful beings denoted by kharjūra, ariṣṭa, and palāśaka, it is always filled with date palms, ariṣṭa trees, and palāśa trees bearing those same names. (50)

Its ground was inlaid with gold and surrounded by the many trees, flowers, birds, and ornaments called kanaka in their several meanings. It likewise shone, thickly planted and adorned with the several kinds and senses of kramuka. (51)

It was filled with moving animals named priyaka and with stationary priyaka trees and plants; similarly, with moving peacocks and stationary plants bearing the name mayūra. (52)

Its wondrous land, rich in trees and coral-like beauty, was surrounded by bakulas in fresh clusters, tamālas, and bending mālaka trees. (53)

It was filled both with black antelope called kṛṣṇasāra and with plants that embody Kṛṣṇa's essence, with living ruru deer and stationary plants named ruru, with animals and trees named śambara, and with rohiṣa deer and the plants they love. (54)

Its ear-enchanting calls from hārīta birds, bharadvājas, and parrots made it seem like an assembly of sages attended by Hārīta, Bharadvāja, Śuka, Vatsa, Gālava, and Śāṇḍilya. (55)

Some circular tree basins had four, six, eight, or angular divisions and were wonderfully fashioned from diverse jewels, with steps on their sides. Their depths reached variously to the neck, heart, belly, navel, hips, knees, or thighs, and their graceful bases were encircled by jeweled paving. (56)

Some had floors set with blue and red gems and surrounding lattices of moonstone, while others had lattices of blue and red gems and floors laid with moonstone. (57)

Golden trees were embraced by flowering vines of emerald, golden vines by trees of sapphire, cat's-eye-hued trees by crystal vines, crystal trees by ruby vines, and trees with lustrous bodies by emerald vines. Other trees and vines of many contrasting gems likewise shone there, their branches clasped by blossoming creepers. (56-58 form a linked description.) (58)

Upon emerald ground stood golden and coral trees; upon crystal ground, trees of crystal; upon golden earth, ruby trees; upon ruby ground, trees of sapphire; and upon emerald-bearing soil, trees of padmarāga shone. (59)

Some trees had golden trunks, great branches and twigs of dark and white gems, emerald leaves, ruby shoots, crystal flowers, and clusters of large pearl fruits. Others shone with these jewel formations arranged in contrasting combinations. (60)

The fruits of those trees granted every desire and shone like broad jeweled caskets. They contained garments, ornaments, fragrances, aromatic powders, and other articles suitable for Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the company of His beloved women. (61)

The flowers of those vines naturally took the form of garlands. Their fruits, resembling pumpkins and gourds, shone while containing every object appropriate for Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. (62)

The jeweled interiors of the bowers were wonderfully furnished with flower-made beds, canopies, ornaments, and pillows; vessels containing honeyed drinks, betel, water, fragrances, and other necessities; and fans, mirrors, vermilion, collyrium, and cosmetic boxes. (63)

Circles of many flowering vines formed their walls, while interlaced branches made rooflike coverings overhead. Hidden by the dense leaves and fruits of the trees, the bowers shone like houses made of jewels. (64)

There, upon the branches of excellent wish-fulfilling trees, hung swings beloved by Śrī Hari and Rādhikā, draped in wonderfully patterned cloth, decorated with flowers, and beautifully inlaid with many jewels. (65)

The place was filled with pigeons and doves, cuckoos, hārītas, kāpiñjalas, ṭiṭṭibhas, peacocks, cakorās, cātakas, blue jays, quails, and vartaka birds; (66)

and with rows of parrots, śārīs, sparrows, kāliṅgas, fighting cocks, partridges, vyāghrāṭas, bhāṣās, and kaukkubhas. Their calls enchanted the ears and their play enchanted the eyes. (66-67 form one sentence.) (67)

Within that region lay a broad golden terrace bordered with variegated jewels and surrounded by circles of bowers formed from wish-fulfilling trees. (68)

At its center stood a palace of many-colored jewels, marked by a wish-fulfilling tree and radiant with jeweled floors in the four directions. Rows of steps beautified it, and in the intermediate directions it was encircled by four other trees beginning with the santānaka. (69)

With long, restless wings formed from networks of their own radiance, forepaws gradually raised and curled upward, and bodies resting upon their other pairs of feet stretched slightly downward and behind; (70)

with ruby eyes, bodies of sunstone, raised tails and ears, and tawny manes, jeweled lions appearing ready to leap upward bore the palace in every direction as though carrying it through the sky. (71)

Within it stood Kṛṣṇa's golden throne, resembling an eight-petaled lotus. Its golden pericarp was furnished with fine cloth and soft cushions and formed a couch, while rays from its jewels appeared like filaments. (70-72 form a linked description.) (72)

Outside the palace, the eight directions were beautified by eight wish-fulfilling-tree bowers wrapped in wish-fulfilling vines, each containing its own small jeweled residence. (73)

Beyond each successive circle of bowers stood further rings of wish-fulfilling trees entwined with vines, their number doubling in every outward circle. (74)

Beyond them lay an open golden terrace bordered by radiant jeweled pairs of deer, birds, and other creatures. (75)

Outside that terrace stood groves of many varieties of fruit-laden plantain trees, their leaves cool and their bark a reservoir of camphor. (76)

Beyond them it was encircled by an exceedingly extensive flower garden, surrounded on every side by separate beds devoted to each kind of blossom. (77)

Outside the flower garden it was surrounded by ring after ring of orchards whose many varieties of fruit trees bent low beneath their heavy crops. (78)

Between the flower gardens and orchards stood rows of storehouses for service articles, attended by the forest goddess and hundreds of bower maidservants. (79)

Beyond these, one after another, stood separate rows of tree circles entwined with their respective vines and divided by open spaces. (80)

Outside them rose circles of slender areca palms whose clusters of green, yellow, red, and translucent fruits hung within easy reach of the hand. (81)

Beyond these stood rings of coconut trees. Fine clusters of fruit rested above the foreheads of their circular basins and marked their trunks like rows of ornaments. (82)

Further outward, the Yamunā's bank was lined with bowers of campaka, aśoka, nīpa, mango, punnāga, bakula, and other trees. (83)

Beautiful vañjula bowers surrounded it, their branches bending toward the bank and water and covered with blossoming vāsantī vines. (84)

Four jeweled roads shone in the cardinal directions, extending from the central palace to the bathing places of the Yamunā and shaded on both sides by lovely rows of bakula trees. (85)

In the northeast lies Brahma-kuṇḍa with its jeweled bank. Northeast of that stands Śiva eternally in the form called Gopīśvara. North of him, upon the riverbank, stands the tree called Vaṁśīvaṭa; standing upon its terrace, Kṛṣṇa calls the beautiful women with His flute. (68-86 form a nineteen-verse description.) (86)

The waters there vary in depth, reaching to the knees, thighs, waist, navel, heart, throat, or twice the height of a person, while in some places they are bottomless. Thus they provide the enemy of Agha with every delight of water play. (87)

The enchanting lakes bloom with kahlāra, red kokanada, night-blooming kairava, white puṇḍarīka, blue indīvara, amburuha, hallaka, and golden lotuses. Bees hover over the blossoms, and the waters are fragrant with their pollen and nectar. (88)

Their banks and waters abound in the calls and play of cakrāṅgas, diving madgus, plavas, cakravākas, sarāris, koṣaṣṭikas, cranes, kādambas, kāraṇḍavas, and wagtails. (89)

The forests along the banks are filled with gokarṇa, rohiṣika, śambara, and black antelope; nyaṅku, eṇa, raṅku, and spotted deer; wild oxen, hares, and deer called gandharva, rohita, samūru, camūru, cīna, and many others. (90)

Some delightful lakes, round as full moons, are surrounded by waterfalls; others have hundreds of lovely atimukta bowers along their edges; and still others are encircled in every direction by flower gardens. (91)

The Yamunā's sandbanks shine twice as brightly as a full flood of nectar, and their sand humbles the pride of powdered camphor. They bear the auspicious marks of the rāsa dance performed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd brides. (92)

To the north, the Yamunā herself shines as she encircles the rāsa ground with forested banks, splendid sandbars, and her many streams flowing between them. (87-93 form one description.) (93)

Those versed in sacred revelation call the jeweled palace beneath the wish-fulfilling tree the yoga-pīṭha of Gopāla's throne, while Hari's beloved companions call it the pastime bower. (94)

Rādhā beheld that crown jewel of places, a perpetual pavilion for the happiness of love's pastimes, whose every quality awakened remembrance of Govinda. Together with Her circle of friends, She attained great joy. (95)

Vṛndā and her attendants were decorating the bowers there with many ingenious arrangements and articles of service. Keeping her eyes upon the path of her Lord and Lady, she suddenly saw her mistress arrive. (96)

Vṛndā joyfully came forward, reported the arrangements for Keśava's flower ornaments in the hallaka bower, and showed Rādhā the loveliness of the forest bowers as she led Her toward the king of bowers. (97)

Rādhā beheld the forest's beauty colored by moonbeams, which naturally inflamed the full range of loving emotions, and saw the multitude of bowers decorated by Vṛndā. She became intensely restless to attain Hari's company. (98)

The gale of Her blazing emotions swept away Her mind like a tuft of cotton and cast it into the whirlpool of yearning within the river of hope for attaining Kṛṣṇa. (99)

Again and again the eager Rādhā entered a bower, looked at its wonders, came out, and walked along Her beloved's path. Whenever a leaf stirred, She thought He had arrived and asked Vṛndā when He would come. (100)

She repeatedly imagined attaining a multitude of pastimes with Hari, then entertained doubts about Him, and conversed with Him as He appeared before Her mind. She adjusted Her bodily ornaments and rearranged the beautiful bed. Eager to attain Her beloved, She regarded even a brief moment as countless long ages. (101)

Meanwhile, after the cowherd queen had put the lord of the settlement's son to bed and gone to her own quarters, He rested briefly, sent His servants outside the room, and rose from His couch. (102)

He bolted the front door and stationed the servants beyond it. Eager to reach the bower, He slipped out through a side door. (103)

He considered, 'I shall avoid the settlement's uncovered front gate, exposed to moonlight and likely to be visited by many people. I can comfortably enter the forest by the rear path screened by trees.' With this thought, He placed His two feet forward to depart. (104)

At that very moment the land of Vraja unexpectedly placed Him within the lotus of her heart, which was swift as the vehicle of a magical mechanism, and rapidly carried Him together with His mind to the bower residence. (104-105 form one sentence.) (105)

Carefully and swiftly crossing moonlit spaces and keeping to paths covered by the trees' shadows, Kṛṣṇa wondered eagerly, 'I have arrived, but has My beloved come here or not?' (106)

Rādhā then saw nearby a tamāla tree illumined by moonlight, its leaves stirred by the wind and a golden vine embracing it. Delighted, She mistook it for Her approaching beloved and, playfully wishing to tease Him, hid inside the bower at Her friends' suggestion. (107)

She stood among the golden statues attached to the wall and holding jeweled lamps and other articles. Seeing Her beloved appear before Her, She repeatedly concealed Herself, thinking, 'He has seen Me!' (108)

Just then Kṛṣṇa arrived by a path hidden beneath the trees. Vṛndā came forward and gave Him two karṇikāra flowers to wear upon His ears. (109)

When beloved Mādhava arose before them, the rows of Rādhā's friends became like flowering mādhavī vines: networks of horripilation were their buds, streams of tears their nectar, transformations of love the Malaya breeze that made them tremble, smiles the white blossoms covering their limbs, and choked voices the humming of bees. (This completes the linked description begun in the preceding packet.) (110)

The sight of the friends filled Kṛṣṇa with joy, and the emotions born from that joy adorned His limbs. His eyes and mind restless to behold His beloved, He failed to see Her and addressed Her companions. (111)

'Friends, where is your companion? Is She at home without you? How have you come here to gather flowers for worshiping the sun? Then why does Her fragrance spread from your bodies, which must have touched Hers? Your story is false, entirely false!' (112)

'It is impossible that you would ever enter the forest without Her. Moonbeams are never seen in the sky without the embodied moon.' (113)

They replied, 'She is not the moon's body. She is the radiant daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, who remains in one place yet pervades us and You alike with Her splendor.' (114)

Continuing such playful exchanges with the friends, Kṛṣṇa received a signal from Vṛndā's eyes. Yearning to behold His beloved, He entered the golden palace. (115)

Rādhā's radiance intensified the golden palace's brilliance until its entire interior became one undifferentiated expanse of yellow. Hari saw everything as made of gold. (116)

At the same moment, as Kṛṣṇa's own luster met and increased the palace light, Rādhā saw everything there pervaded by the glow of emerald. (117)

Searching among the golden statues, Her beloved repeatedly looked directly at Rādhā. Yet because joy and fear at seeing Him had made Her motionless, He mistook Her for one of the statues. (118)

Longing pulled Her forward to unite with Her beloved, while contrariness drew Her backward to evade His glance. Meanwhile the stupor born of joy checked both impulses, and contrariness, like an obstinate friend, held Her fast before Hari. (119)

Eagerness impelled Kṛṣṇa to approach and touch Her, but the immobility born of joy forcibly checked Him on the way. Fierce contrariness then resisted longing, yet brought His hand to His beloved and abruptly held it there. (120)

At His touch She became covered in horripilation, trembling, and tears; Her complexion changed, perspiration appeared, and Her long eyes grew restless. Looking at Him from the hidden corner of Her eye beneath the crooked vines of Her brows, She pulled Her hand from Her beloved's grasp. (121)

Hari attained immeasurable joy as He beheld His beloved's face: Her playful, restless eyes gleamed beneath lashes curved and jeweled with tiny tears, their corners reddish with a smile; Her expression was moist with suppressed laughter; and a choked hum accompanied the scolding words struggling through Her throat. (122)

Their noses, tongues, ears, eyes, and bodies were greedy for their respective objects. Thus the two lovers openly and forcibly plundered one another's bodily realms, although their intimacy remained veiled by loving pretexts. (123)

Hari's thieving hand, expert in the coded science of desire, crept within Her bodice to steal the two hidden golden pitchers. She stopped it with Her own hand, outwardly resisting the very act secretly desired. (124)

Thus the lovers sank into an ocean of bliss from exceedingly sweet play, Their bodies and minds relaxed. Then the beloved, surrounded by joyful contrariness, emerged from the palace onto the jeweled terrace as Her friends arrived to behold Her pastimes with Her lover. (125)

The interruption of rasa brought Hari near the friends, and Rādhā, fearing they would see what had occurred, hid among them. Searching for Her there, He used that search as a pretext to touch the friends while casting crooked glances of affection, and attained great delight. (126)

Although the beloved's overwhelmingly powerful contrariness checked a certain desire that had grown within Their hearts, the two nevertheless attained an exalted abundance of happiness. Indeed, even contrariness expands oceans of delight for loving women. (127)

Thus ends the Twenty-first Sarga, filled with the early-night pastimes, in the poem Govinda-līlāmṛta, which shines through Śrī Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, arose from the association of Śrī Jīva, was composed by Śrī Raghunātha Dāsa, was bestowed as the fruit of serving Śrī Rūpa, and belongs to the honeybee at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya. (Colophon)