Tenth Sarga: Relishing Dexterity in Kuñja Pastimes

Tenth Sarga, entitled 'Relishing Dexterity in Kuñja Pastimes.'

Nandīmukhī and Kundalatā arrived with Vṛndā at the assembly of sakhīs beneath a great mango tree, where after a long time they found the entire collection of their hearts' desires. They shone as they approached from every side. (1)

The personified splendors of the six seasons came there and stood, eager to learn the occasion for each one's service. Seeing them, Vṛndā quickly ordered, 'Adorn your respective forests with your own radiance.' (2)

'Splendor of Spring, remain at the rāsa ground beside Govardhana Hill. Let the land of wish-fulfilling trees upon the daughter of the sun's bank be occupied freely by Autumn. (3)

'All of you, serve the woodland around Rādhā's lake by offering your entire selves. Today become blessed through immeasurable merit by producing wonder and delight for your Lord and Lady. (4)

'Let the Rainy Season and the others occupy the eastern and remaining directions among the trees lining its banks. To perfect the water pastimes, let the greatness of Spring prevail in the middle of the lake, together with the preeminence of Summer.' (5)

The seasons bowed to Vṛndā, expert in Acyuta's pastimes, and received her command, incomparable in knowledgeable skill. Each departed to perform her own delightful task. Who would not desire an honorable appointment suited to one's nature? (6)

Kṛṣṇa colored Rādhā's limbs with musk and aguru-scented cosmetic liquids that created Cupid's pleasure arena. Then He dressed Her in His own garments and ornaments and even placed His flute at Her lips. (7)

He seated Her facing north upon a raised seat, where shame made Her naturally silent. Wearing the adornment She had placed upon His body, the yellow-clad Kṛṣṇa sat at Her side. (8)

Hearing from afar the anklets and girdles of the approaching sakhīs, Hari quickly brought certain maidservants standing before Him under His control with a mere signal of His brows. (9)

They arrived, looked at the pair, and voiced many astonished thoughts to one another: 'Alas, what land have we reached today, where two Kṛṣṇas shine with such surpassing brilliance?' (10)

'Both possess the radiance of dark tamāla, both wear crowns of peacock feathers, both are adorned with splendid forest garlands, and both wear yellow cloth. Do they assume equal beauty merely to bewilder our minds?' (11)

Asked, 'Which of the two is our friend?' the maidservants replied, 'We do not know. Alas, we ourselves have only just arrived here like this, and we are afraid to question the two powerful figures.' (12)

Vṛndā quietly said, 'Lalitā, I can infer that the one seated upon the raised seat, shining with a rosary in His hand as He chants a mantra, is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. (13)

'By the power of the mantra He has today displayed Rādhā as possessing a form identical to His own. Wishing to sport with Her anywhere in the world without apprehension, He will now move about fearlessly. (14)

Viśākhā said, 'Friend, that exalted lady has indeed brought complete disaster upon us. This lustful boy is again chanting a mantra here. What other girl does He now intend to make identical in form to Himself?' (15)

Citrā said, 'Sakhīs, listen. When we reach home today and approach the old woman, she will ask us, “Where is my daughter-in-law?” What shall we tell her about this form? This is our predicament.' (16)

Nandīmukhī said, 'Citrā, why harbor doubt within your heart? To restore Jaṭilā's confidence, He will use the mantra again and make Rādhā a woman once more. (17)

'Yet it is not proper for Her to remain beside Him while He chants the mantra here. Who knows what may exist within a magician's mind? Therefore take your friend somewhere else.' (18)

'Ho there, two powerful persons shining with your own splendor! You have now been identified. Enough of this illusion! Rādhā, it is You. Come out of the bower. Kṛṣṇa is the one seated upon the raised platform.' (19)

'Let Him chant His mantra. We shall go home, for this watch has been wasted uselessly. Alas, innocent girls, why did we leave the house and come here at this unfavorable moment?' (20)

While Lalitā was speaking, the disguised Rādhā practiced Her beloved's tone of voice. After a moment She portrayed supreme shyness and addressed them. (21)

'What happened to me today is painful and not fit to be known. Yet if I can find a secluded place, I shall speak it into your ear alone, Lalitā, for I have no refuge other than you.' (22)

Their doubt swept away by the sound arising from Her throat, the companions concluded, 'This is indeed Rādhā.' Casting off their shame, they said so openly and, as a matter of prudent policy, properly touched Her other limbs as well. (23)

'Ah, Your hands and fingers, Your two feet, eyes, rows of cheeks, ears, and every limb have become exactly like Hari's. Only the sound of Your throat has not changed.' (24)

'Friend, tell us what caused this.' Thus the young women questioned Her. Each experienced within herself a succession of Cupid's transformations born from touching Her, though this was not the cause they had asked about. (25)

They resolved within their own hearts that Kṛṣṇa's form possesses a certain manifest and inherent power: even when assumed by another, it agitates one in precisely this way. (26)

The disguised Rādhā said, 'Friends, He bewildered me, and I did not understand at all what He had done. After a long time I regained consciousness and saw what I shall now describe to you. Listen. (27)

'He performed ācamana, quickly took a mouthful of water into His hand, and chanted His mantra. Pursing His lips like flower buds, He blew upon the water three times with the wind from His mouth. (28)

'With that same water He anointed my limbs, though I repeatedly forbade Him. Fortunately I kept my mouth closed, so the water did not enter my throat. (29)

'At that very moment, to my astonishment, these limbs of mine assumed His form. He then seated me again upon the raised platform and began to chant His mantra. (30)

'Alas, something else also occurred, but I am able neither to tell it nor to leave it untold. I shall say just one thing to you, yet shame restrains me. What am I to do?' (31)

Though they urged, 'Why be ashamed? Tell us, Your own friends,' She still did not speak. Lalitā alone remained there, while all the other innocent girls withdrew outside. (32)

Trusting that they would nevertheless learn everything from Lalitā's own mouth, the others remained outside. Kṛṣṇa, still in disguise, entered the inner chamber with Lalitā. (33)

When He became intent upon embracing her, drinking her bimba-red lips, and pulling at her bodice, waistcloth, and breasts, she cried, 'Friend! What is this?' He replied, 'Noble girl, this alone is the great secret between us.' (34)

When He adopted Rādhā's own tone of voice and delighted in intimate conversation with Lalitā, astonishment itself became astonished. Did pure wonder then attain sovereign dominion over the two of them? (35)

Two or three moments later, independent Lalitā, having received the mantra, joyfully called aloud, 'Viśākhā, come, come to us quickly! If you wish to know, approach and learn the truth.' (36)

When Viśākhā arrived, Lalitā swiftly used the pretext to make her attain the same form as herself. In the same way, through Madhusūdana, she brought Campakavallikā and the other girls into the same condition. (37)

When they met one another, they turned to look and conceal the marks of love upon their respective limbs. Though they became embarrassed, they did not truly feel shame, for their complete sameness of form admitted no dispute. (38)

Rādhā, wearing Mukunda's dress, sat where Vṛndā and the others had been seated beside Her. As Lalitā and the other companions approached, wishing to identify Her, Kundalatā addressed them. (39)

'Come, come, noble sakhīs! Why has such delay arisen among you chaste girls? And where today did you fully acquire upon your limbs these marks that announce Cupid's awakening?' (40)

'Your fickle eyes shine without collyrium, while even their young pupils have been released from restraint. Your lip, afflicted by teeth, bears pronounced dispassion, and your two breasts stand rigid, wounded after attaining renewed birth. (41)

'Surely this Mādhava grants you sāyujya, for He sat here upon His seat in meditation. Who else could have brought you to such a state of complete identification? You have attained fulfillment, and this is a great wonder.' (42)

Nandīmukhī said, 'Lalitā, quickly tell us what happened to your friend. Enough of other matters. Where is She? Alas, does She still possess Kṛṣṇa's form, or not?' (43)

'Our friend remains shyly within the inner chamber of the vine cottage, still bearing Kṛṣṇa's form. After reflecting for a long time, the wise girl perceived one remedy and spoke to us in private. (44)

'“Nandīmukhī and Kundalatā, if in succession you embrace me in a loving meeting, this shameful deformity will dissolve at once. Even collections of medicines could not remove it.” (45)

'In one of you dwells the highest intensity of austerity, while in the other abides the unsurpassed summit of chastity. Through both, the defect born from the mantra that made Her assume the libertine's dress will disappear. (46)

Nandīmukhī replied, 'Among the hundreds of millions of friends beginning with you, has She become so poor in embraces that She must summon the two of us? What you say is certainly false.' (47)

Vṛndā said, 'These innocent, well-born young women possess no austerity at all, and their chastity is only slight and incomparable. Kṛṣṇa has simply transformed that chastity into His own flower.' (48)

'Vṛndā, because you govern the forest, countless mystic powers must reside in you, as must many medicinal herbs. Go, then. You alone are able to cure Her affliction.' (49)

While their conversation unfolded amid Kundalatā's words and everyone's smiles, Lalitā declared, 'Why continue your debates? Why not ask Hari Himself, although He maintains silence? What is there to fear?' (50)

With slight smiles sprouting inwardly, the companions suddenly approached Him. Foremost among them, Lalitā lowered the corner of her eye in a performance of modesty and spoke. (51)

'Sir, what are You planning, crown jewel of magicians, now that You have achieved Your purpose? Abandon silence and give us an answer to what we wish to ask.' (52)

Thus addressed, the disguised Rādhā appeared startled, as if Her sleep had suddenly been broken. Opening Her eyes in agitation, She said, 'Sakhīs, when did you arrive here?' (53)

Casting Her glances rapidly in every direction, She asked, 'Where is that rogue, your friend?' With Her left hand She swiftly threw the peacock-feather crown far from Her head. (54)

'Are You not clearly our companion Rādhā? Why, then, should we feel ashamed before You? The false enchantress who fled and hid in the bower is the one wearing Hari's dress.' (55)

'We came here only after abandoning Her because we did not trust Her. By providence we have been protected. Our own hearts were the evidence that refused to abandon doubt about Her.' (56)

As the companions displayed astonishment, the smiling guardian of the forest said, 'Sakhīs, look with your own eyes and take this charming person with you. This friend of ours appears in the form of your sakhī.' (57)

Nandīmukhī said, 'Earlier we saw two Mādhavas, and now we see two Rādhikās. We suffer no loss at all, but I am deeply distressed because the predicament belongs entirely to you.' (58)

Viśākhā replied, 'Nandīmukhī, this Dvāpara age of duality has brought us pain. Ascetic girl, since you desire its end, the fruit born from your own dharma will continue to increase greatly.' (59)

The companions removed Rādhikā's borrowed color and ornaments and dressed Her again in Her own fashion. Kṛṣṇa then quickly arrived before Her, once more using Her own tone of voice. (60)

Displaying a little simulated crookedness, modesty, and fear, He created immense astonishment. Covering half the disc of His face, the bee of His sidelong eye drank His beloved's radiance, and He spoke. (61)

'He produced this deformity in my limbs, and so be it. But now I see something even more astonishing: to bewilder my companions He has assumed my own natural form, beauty, and dress. (62)

'Sakhīs, why have you come near this master of a hundred illusions? Do not be so exceedingly innocent that you all become objects of ridicule today. Are you blind?' (63)

'Take me away from here at once. Flee and hide with me in some mountain cave. If you remain concealed, you will attain good fortune. Otherwise your condition will become exactly like mine.' (64)

Vṛndā and the others said, 'Ah, how astonishing and exalted is the illusion spread by Giridhārī! The companions have led away that Rādhā, while this other one who has arrived is directly Rādhā Herself.' (65)

'Sakhīs, do what She tells you. Go with Her, alas, and abandon that enchantress.' Hearing this, the wish-fulfilling vine of Vṛndāvana smiled, having at last attained the desire of her heart. (66)

Kundalatā said, 'Lalitā, there is one strategy. Apart from it I see no other remedy. Let Nandīmukhī bring Sāndīpani's mother, Paurṇamāsī, here.' (67)

'Alas, friend, that very woman is the root of this disaster. What further truth will she tell us? Instead she will create yet another mockery of us sakhīs. Let us bow down to her!' (68)

This speech of the circle of sakhīs made Hari, Rādhā, Vṛndā, and all the cultivated members of the assembly laugh. 'Goddess Sarasvatī, we praise You, for here You have manifested as truth itself!' (69)

Kṛṣṇa drank the verbal nectar born from churning the ocean of their mutual love and thereby increased the thirst of His ears. The women too became incomparably intoxicated with joy when Rādhā's lotus face showered the flowing honey of the finest humorous nectar. (70)

Thus ends the Tenth Sarga, entitled 'Relishing Dexterity in Kuñja Pastimes,' in the great poem Śrī Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta.