Twenty-third Sarga: Night Pastimes

Kṛṣṇa and the accomplished gopīs then began to perform many kinds of composed songs in different rhythms, accompanied by dance. (1)

When moonlike Kṛṣṇa danced with Śrī Rādhā, Lalitā and others sang, Citrā and other friends kept the rhythm, and Vṛndā and her companions sat as the audience. (2)

When Kṛṣṇa danced alone, Rādhikā and the others sang in wondrous, intricate rhythms. When He joined the audience, Rādhikā and Her friends successively performed astonishing dances complete with aṅgas and hāras. (3)

They entered the arena in ordered rows: dancers serving as an inner screen, musicians holding vīṇās and other instruments, and singers performing many kinds of prabandha compositions. (4)

The streams of sound from stringed, solid, wind, covered, and vocal music attained unity despite their many gentle movements. Entering in succession with Kṛṣṇa, the women danced with foot-beats following that music and with movements of brows, hands, limbs, and eyes. (5)

Splendid Kṛṣṇa repeatedly entered their midst and moved His beautiful lotus feet according to the succession of many rhythms. Swaying His body, He danced and delighted them while reciting: 'tattā tatthe dṛgiti dṛgi thai dṛk tathai dṛk tathai thā.' (6)

Hari came forward and danced to the beautiful rhythmic composition: 'thodik dāṁ dāṁ kiṭa kiṭa kaṇajheṁ thokku tho dikku āre; jheṁ drāṁ jheṁ drāṁ kiṭi kiṭi kiṭidhāṁ jheṅkujheṁ jheṅkujheṁ jhem; thodik dāṁ dāṁ dṛmi dṛmi dṛmi dhāṁ kāṅkujheṁ kāṅkujheṁ drām.' (7)

Rādhā danced, moving Her two hands so that Her bracelets rang, while Her tinkling girdle, bangles, and anklets made lovely music. She flashed like restless lightning within the dark cloud of Kṛṣṇa's radiance and recited, 'tathathai thaitathai thaitathai thā.' (8)

The glorious sovereign Lady joyfully came forward and repeatedly danced to the rhythmic recitation: 'dhāṁ dhāṁ dṛk dṛk caṅ caṅ nināṅ ṇaṅ nināṁ ṇaṁ niṅāṁ nāṁ; tuttuk tuṅ tuṅ guḍu guḍu guḍu dhāṁ drāṁ guḍu drāṁ guḍu drām; dhek dhek dho dho kiriṭi kiriṭi drāṁ drimi drāṁ drimi drām.' (9)

Lalitā suddenly emerged from their midst, shaking her lotus hands so that her golden bangles sounded 'jhaṁ jhaṁ.' In the dark arena of Kṛṣṇa's luster she danced like lightning in a cloud while reciting, 'thai thai tho tho tigaḍa tigaḍa tho tathai tho tathai tā.' (10)

Viśākhā danced amid mṛdaṅga sounds of 'dṛmi dṛmi dṛmi dho dho' mingled with vīṇā tones of 'kaṇa kaṇa kaṇa.' Her many ornaments rang 'jhaṇaṇa jhaṁ jhat,' and she recited, 'dṛgiti drgiti dṛk thai tho tatho tho.' (11)

Another dancer came forward, her anklets and waist bells sounding, repeatedly moving her two hands so that her bracelets chimed, and danced while reciting, 'thaiyā tathaiyā tathathai tathaiyā.' (12)

Another danced with planted steps and movements of her beautiful hands, mingled with the sound of anklets. To establish the rhythm she recited, 'thai thai thai thai thai tathai thai tathai thāḥ.' (13)

Another then entered the arena and danced, reciting, 'thaiyā thaiyā tatha tatha thaiyā, thaiyā thaiyā tigaḍa tathaiyā.' (14)

Kṛṣṇa returned, slowly swaying His limbs and dancing as He vocalized musical syllables, then sang: 'Rādhike, look! The sandbank, its body bright with moonlight, seems to dance, and the forest dances as a gentle breeze moves it.' (15)

Rādhā danced to the vocalization 'ā-i-a-ā-i-a,' while the song praised Her supremely lovely smile: 'It moons, jasmines, and swans; it becomes milk, diamonds, and necklaces!' (16)

The excellent muraja drum sounded 'tā dhik tā dhik dhik' during the rāsa, as though, supremely pleased by their graceful dancing, it were saying 'Shame! Shame!' to all other celestial women. (17)

The female vīṇā and flute players sang while others kept rhythm, and the women playing muraja drums joyfully danced together with the dancers. (18)

Absorbed in song and dance, the women's forceful movements and heavy breathing loosened their waistcloths, braids, bodices, and other bindings. In the midst of the dance Kṛṣṇa Himself quickly tied each one again. (19)

Through diverse arrangements of sound, the singers continually created new rāgas from the notes called ṣa, ṛ, gā, mā, pa, dhai, and ni. (20)

They intoned pure and mixed notes in thousands of ways and sang many kinds of music belonging to the classical mārga and regional deśī traditions. (21)

Their music possessed solid percussion like a monsoon sky possessing clouds, wind instruments like the hollow eye of a needle, strings stretched like the heavens, and covered drums bound like a jewel in its setting. (22)

The great sound arising from the dancers' anklets, bangles, bracelets, and waist bells followed the wealth of foot rhythms and became, as it were, a fifth class added to the four kinds of instruments. (23)

The gopīs' faces carried song, their beautiful hands and lotus feet enacted its meaning and rhythm, their necks and waists swayed, and their eyes oscillated. Their pupils moved left and right and their sidelong glances rested upon Kṛṣṇa's lotus face, producing the happiness of love. (24)

With their voices they sang every jāti, microtone, mūrcchanā, and gamaka normally impossible to articulate without a vīṇā. (25)

One woman perfectly developed unmixed melodic jātis from the scale, beautiful with microtones and ornaments. Delighted, Hari honored her with the words 'Excellent!' Although the effort fatigued her, she completed the concluding dhruvābhoga and thereby received still greater honor from Him. (26)

Pleased by Rādhā's chālikya dance and finding no other suitable reward, Kṛṣṇa offered His very self to Her on the pretext of an embrace. (27)

At times Kṛṣṇa joyfully made His beloved dance to melodies on His flute and teasingly pointed out a supposed fault through His glance. She instantly corrected both His allegedly broken rhythm and Her own, and at other times made Him dance in the same way to music from Her vīṇā and other instruments. (28)

No circle of friends, however eager to assist, could equal the way Rādhā danced, sang, and played with Kṛṣṇa, or the way Hari performed with Her. (29)

At the end of a rhythmic cycle Hari placed His hand upon His beloved's breast. Though delighted, she pushed the Lord's hand away with her left hand as if angry. (30)

One golden-limbed dancer supported herself upon the ground with her knees, extended both arms, and spun as though flung by the swift wheel of Love. (31)

Another playfully advanced and retreated, extending and contracting her arms and touching limb with limb as she performed a dance impossible for others. (32)

Another touched the ground with one hand, repeatedly flipped her body through the air, and descended dancing upon the earth. At times she danced high in the air without even that support. (33)

One slender-waisted girl bent far backward while standing upright, her braid reaching her heels and her bells sounding across her arched back. She danced like a golden bow-vine drawn taut from her body. (34)

Another produced notes from the openings within her anklets according to the rhythm, sounding them successively in groups of one, two, and three. At moments she stopped every sound while moving her feet in an unprecedented way. All the experts honored her dancing with cries of 'Excellent!' (35)

In the rāsa Kṛṣṇa eagerly presented with these dancers every song, instrument, and dance devised by Brahmā and Śiva, performed in Vaikuṇṭha by the Lord of Lakṣmī and the goddesses of fortune, created by Himself, and newly fashioned by Vraja's finest women beyond the reach of all others. (36)

Moving throughout the dance, Hari looked at some, kissed others, and gazed meaningfully at still others. He drank some women's lips, grasped others' breasts, and unexpectedly placed His nails upon others' bosoms. Thus, using rāsa as a pretext to delight them, He sported within an ocean of rasa. (37)

Thus He sang and made His beloveds sing, danced wondrously and made them dance, and was Himself made to dance by them. Sung about and praised by them while praising them in turn, He sported with the highest delight like a child with his own reflections. (38)

One woman inhaled the fragrance of Hari's arm, richly anointed with sandalwood and resting upon her shoulder. Immersed in bliss, covered in horripilation, tears, and trembling, she kissed it and resembled lightning held motionless in a cloud. (39)

Fatigue born from dancing made the doe-eyed women rest from their many pastimes, while adorning their foreheads and cheeks with buds of perspiration like an affectionate friend. (40)

At the close of the rāsa dance, their clothes and hair were loosened, their breasts heaved with breath, perspiration covered their foreheads, and their limbs grew languid in action. Yet the beauty born from fatigue nourished still greater delight within their beloved's eyes. (41)

One supremely expert dancer placed her cheek against the circle of His cheek, where an earring swung and His eyes humbled clusters of blossoming white lotuses. She ate the betel leaf and areca nut He gave her. (42)

Another rested briefly with her arm upon Kṛṣṇa's shoulder. His shoulder was covered in horripilation from her touch, while her arm was adorned with horripilation from His. (43)

Another, fatigued from dancing, placed her lover's hand, cool as hundreds of moons, upon the crest of her breast and dispelled her weariness. Both were covered in horripilation from mutual touch, and her perspiring body met His perspiring hand. (44)

Immersed in an ocean of compassion, Kṛṣṇa repeatedly wiped perspiration from their faces with His lotus hand. Yet He could not remove it, for the happiness of His touch made it double. (45)

One friend, her mind anointed with nectar, used the edge of her beloved's outer cloth to wipe perspiration from her own face, and with the same cloth wiped His face as well. (46)

Submerged beneath waves in the ocean of bliss from embracing Kṛṣṇa's body and other pastimes, the doe-eyed women were unable to restrain their slipping garlands, garments, and locks of hair. (47)

Thus Kṛṣṇa completed with them the flavorful rāsa dance, with its many limbs unattainable by anyone else. Vṛndā then understood that awakened desire had made Him intensely eager to perform the dance of amorous play. (48)

On a pure sandbank whose fine sand was cool as snow, Vṛndā seated Acyuta with Rādhā. She and her attendants sat with the circle of friends before Them. (49)

Before Hari and His beloveds she placed excellent honeyed drinks held in jeweled cups, distinguished by special sweetness and prepared from many kinds of flower and fruit juices, together with savory morsels of assorted fruits. (50)

Through His power Kṛṣṇa manifested between every pair of women. He drank the honeyed beverages perfumed by the nectar of their lips and made them drink, while their laughter served as savory morsels along with the fruit accompaniments. (51)

Rādhā's limbs were overwhelmed by intoxication from Love's honey wine. When Hari, governed by the same intoxication, took Her into a bower upon the sandbank where a bed had been prepared, (52)

Vṛndā led away the friends, whose rolling eyes were filled with the agitation of Love's intoxication, and laid them down separately in different bowers. (53)

After bringing Rādhikā to the condition of a heroine whose lover is wholly under Her control, Kṛṣṇa emerged with Her, smiling and fully satisfied. (54)

At Rādhā's urging, He entered the bowers simultaneously in separate forms and brought each friend to the condition of a heroine whose lover is under her control. (55)

Unseen by them, Kṛṣṇa emerged from the many bowers, became one again, and returned to Rādhikā, who smiled gently at the sight of Him. (56)

The friends then emerged from the bowers with loosened clothing. Seeing Rādhā laughing before them, they carefully covered their limbs, lowered their faces, and cast restless glances. Vṛndā spoke to them. (57)

'The hero stood here in the arena with me and did not leave even for a moment. Who then made you dance the dance of love, and how have your bodies come to such a condition?' (58)

Hari laughed and said, 'In the bower arena these dancers were made to dance the dance called love by embodied Ujjvala-rasa, the hero of rasa. That is why they bear its evident marks.' (59)

Jealous when Kṛṣṇa showed affection toward their friend, they replied, 'In this dance of love, She who constantly makes You dance is Your teacher, and through You she wants to make us Her junior pupils.' (60)

'Scripture recognizes discipleship only when one approaches a teacher by one's own desire. It cannot be imposed by force. We are therefore not disciples, nor are You our teacher, and both Your efforts are fruitless.' (61)

They told Rādhā, 'Serpent girl, do You not know the utterly pure nature of us mongoose women? Why exhaust Yourself trying to make us like You by vainly sending this snake after us?' (62)

After performing abundant joking, play, and dancing with them like an intoxicated elephant among she-elephants, Kṛṣṇa began the dance of water play in the Yamunā to dispel their fatigue. (63)

Where the water reached Their thighs, navels, or necks, playful Kṛṣṇa laughingly pulled the beloved women near and splashed them as they drenched Him in return. (64)

Hari held splashing contests with them in many playful wagers, competing separately with one woman, with groups of five or six, and with all of them together. (65)

When He won, they refused to surrender the stake; when He lost, they refused to accept it. Thus He quarreled with them over both outcomes. (66)

Hari said, 'At night a bee drinks the blossoming lotuses accompanied by pairs of cakravāka birds.' Suspecting His double meaning, the beloveds at once crossed their arms over their breasts and covered their faces with the edges of their garments. (67)

Startled when a fish, defeated by the beauty of Her own eyes, darted forward and brushed against Her, Rādhā embraced Hari. He took this as an expression of Her affection. (68)

From afar Hari watched the wonderful battle among lotus-like friends, lotus ponds, and their rival swarms, with water, poison, and nectar all contending through layers of wordplay. His mind was conquered by the spectacle. (69)

Acyuta formed circles with groups of two or three, five or six, and seven or eight women and performed the water-frog percussion game. (70)

As the women submerged in the dense rasa, their breasts became 'unattached' when their ointments washed away, their eyes became 'stainless' without collyrium, their girdles, garlands, and necklaces became 'qualityless,' and their tongues and hair attained 'release.' (71)

Water play washed away their cosmetics and ornaments. Their natural bodily beauty arose through their clinging wet garments and awakened greed within Kṛṣṇa's eyes. (72)

The dark Yamunā's water became white with sandalwood washed from their breasts and thus equaled the Gaṅgā. Yet by gaining the good fortune of Śauri's many pastimes with those women, she forever surpassed Gaṅgā completely. (73)

After performing this dance of water play with His beloveds, their lover reached the bank. The friends dried His hair and body, and He put on the fresh clothes brought to meet Him. (74)

Vṛndā brought Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs to the golden pavilion and seated Him upon a flower-covered terrace on its eastern side. (75)

Vṛndā and her attendants then brought caskets formed from the fruits of wish-fulfilling trees and vines, filled with wondrous garments, ornaments, ointments, collyrium, and mineral pigments. (76)

The friends took the caskets labeled with each person's name and separately adorned Kṛṣṇa, Rādhā, and every companion. (77)

Hari is the embodiment of radiant amorous rasa, while Rādhā and the others are embodiments of its fully ripened love. He is the moon and they His phases: though one in essence, they possess distinct bodies. (78)

They were beautiful from the oil massage of mutual affection, radiant from the cleansing powder of friendship, thoroughly bathed in the nectar of youth, and brilliant with the cosmetic rasa of grace. (79)

Each bore the other's good fortune as tilaka and was adorned with painted designs of beauty. Their limbs were colored by the eight ecstatic symptoms beginning with stunned stillness. (80)

Their forms were exquisitely ornamented by many emotions and expressive ornaments, including kilakiñcita, vivvoka, divine madness, and intense longing. (81)

Though the supremely dear lovers were thus adorned inwardly, their beloved friends also decorated them outwardly with ornaments. (82)

Rūpa Mañjarī brought Anaṅga-guṭikā, Sīdhu-vilāsa, milk laḍḍus, and the other foods, while Vṛndā brought fruits from the forest. (83)

Those fruits were embodiments of rasa and possessed juice equal to honey. After eating them and rinsing Their mouths, Kṛṣṇa entered the pastime palace with the gopīs. (84)

Its four doors stood open, breezes from the Yamunā cooled it, and rays from hosts of excellent jewels made it more brilliant than ten million suns. (85)

The residence for Love's play was exceedingly fragrant with aguru incense. Within it stood a jeweled bed furnished with swan-down cushions; (86)

upon its covering of choice stemless flowers draped in fine cloth and decorated with many pillows, Kṛṣṇa lay down with His beloved. (85-87 form one description.) (87)

Lalitā and Viśākhā sat comfortably upon two small couches beside the bed, their mouths flavored by betel chewed by Kṛṣṇa, while their Lord and Lady savored betel. (88)

Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and Rati Mañjarī massaged Their feet, while other fortunate maidservants fanned Them. (89)

After serving Them in this way for a while, the friends left the pastime palace and slept in their respective residences formed from wish-fulfilling trees and vines. (90)

Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and the other friends wholly devoted to service rested happily upon the terrace outside the pastime palace. (91)

This fruit of Kṛṣṇa's nectarean rasa is protected by His father and elders, nourished by the rasas of His pastimes, served by His groups of friends, continually tasted by devotees, harvested by the sakhīs, and offered by Śrī Rādhā. (92)

Kṛṣṇa's sweet pastimes with Rādhā in Vṛndāvana are infinite, auspicious, and ever new at every moment. I have shown only the slightest indication of them here. (93)

Following the direction shown by Śrī Rūpa, I have written this succession of the eight daily periods of pastime belonging to Śrī Rādhā and Her Lord. Practitioners upon the path of rāga should mentally perform uninterrupted service within these pastimes in a body suitable for that service. (94)

This Govinda-līlāmṛta was composed by Kṛṣṇa Dāsa, a bee at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha. (95)

May Vraja's moonlike Lord, the friend of the lily-like maidens sporting in Vṛndāvana, mercifully and very soon grant the dearest desire of those who repeatedly drink within their hearts, with ever-increasing thirst, this nectar of His pastimes with Rādhā, which is difficult even for Brahmā and the other gods to attain. (96)

Thus the Twenty-third Sarga, filled with the nighttime pastimes, is complete 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.

Thus ends the great poem Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta, composed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. (Final colophon)