Thirteenth Sarga: Delighting in the Wine-Drinking Pastime

Thirteenth Sarga: Delighting in the Wine-Drinking Pastime

Then the lotus-eyed Lord wandered through Vṛndāvana once more. Captivated for a moment, He entered a region especially pleasing in winter. Although the path was sheltered beneath the dense shade of many trees, He left it behind, and I think it then withered from separation from Him. (1)

The girls quickly drew in their bodies and spread out their splendid garments. Their broad hips trembled, horripilation covered them, and hissing breaths escaped their mouths. Overcome by stiffness, their closely joined knees abandoned all movement. For them, that season at once became like union with Hari. (2)

'Friend, in this season the rays of the frosty moon increase greatly at night, while the portion of daylight diminishes and even the lord of light grows faint. Your slender body has already begun to tremble like a streak of lightning raised aloft. Beloved, amid the majesty of winter, to what condition will it come?' (3)

'My heart is a house made warm by swarms of longing for you, a secluded dwelling suited to this very purpose. Enter it at once, playful girl, leaving the cold far behind.' Speaking thus, the giver of joy swiftly drew Her toward Him with both arms. (4)

Though His beloved cried, 'No, no, no!' the connoisseur's darling was forcibly bound against His chest by His firm arms. The flute fell to the ground from the loosened knot of His sash, displaced by the vigorous pressure upon His thighs, as though angered by the slight regard shown to it. (5)

'Hardhearted flute! Though you depend upon song, you are cold and filled with grave faults. Disturber of the whole world, now receive the punishment you deserve.' Saying this, Lalitā tied the flute to the tip of her braid and concealed it. Long afterward, its owner, intoxicated by the wine of Love, still did not remember it. (6)

Knowing the season, the joyful forest guardian Pālī came with her companions to the playful Lord and His beloved. Again and again she presented heaps of ripe winter fruits, smooth and richly filled with golden juice, some crimson, some tawny, and some dark. (7)

'Beloved, clusters of kurabaka, rows of jhiṇṭī, and circles of kuruṇṭaka flowers have assumed their beauty from the hearts of those whose bodies have grown thin from Love. Does this garland of fresh blossoms, resplendent in its own form and scented by the intoxicating fragrance of Your lip, not yearn for You ever more intensely?' (8)

'Proud girl, look! Even in your presence this vine called nāraṅga does not conceal its pair of fruits. If you reveal with your fingertips even a little of the beauty of your breasts beneath your bodice, this vine will sink into an ocean of shame.' (9)

Thus, through His own speech, Keśava bathed His eyes in the drops of Rādhā's smile and sidelong glance. He then entered another woodland, one that brought delight in the cold season. Approaching it, the sun of ever-fresh radiance delighted all the lotuslike women of Vraja. (10)

'The army of winter has overrun the fortress of the noble mountain, its father. Afraid for the defeat of the sun, it has gone toward the quarter of its own son. Now, strengthened for battle, this host advances northward. Therefore, gather an abundant store of your own valor at once.' (11)

Joking in this way, the restless companion of the young women reached the edge of the forest and was greatly delighted to see the kunda flowers. When the beloved Lord gathered them to adorn His dearest one, She partly covered Her face with Her hand and wrinkled Her nose. (12)

'Rādhā, why do You hold Your face like this, blending shyness with a smile? Though You conceal it, Your disgust is revealed by the glance You cast toward Your friend. Please tell Me today.' Even when the lifter of the mountain asked Her, She did not answer. Lalitā at once declared the reason plainly before Kundalatā. (13)

'You are celebrated among the people of the three worlds as a great and holy person, yet here You eagerly touch the flowering kundī vine. She too has long desired You, Lord, but You did not wish to restrain Yourself. Alas, exceedingly tender, she is exhausted by the sharp arrows of the bodiless god, shaped like bees.' (14)

'Lalitā, where in this world can pure women like you be found, women who have cast aside the dharma cherished by their own families as though it were a pain in the heart? These flowers will never attain equality with you anywhere. Alas, by searching among blossoms for your equal, one only labors in vain.' (15)

At these words all the girls laughed loudly at Kundī. 'Alas, why should this one intensify our own suspicion? If just one woman here becomes thoroughly angry, those of spotless understanding in this respectable assembly can readily infer the cause.' (16)

Hearing these many jokes, which brought the girls the highest joy, He proceeded onward, linking them together with His ears. Drenched by streams of nectar, by the fragrance of mango shoots, and by drops of honey heard falling, the forest floor seemed to perspire from excessive delight. (17)

The trees are householders whose heads are encircled by rows of vine-wives. During the honeyed days of spring they celebrate a great festival. Every day the twice-born cuckoos, earning their livelihood, travel joyfully through their courtyards and offer sweet songs of praise. (18)

Cupid became king, spring his minister, and the Malaya breeze the commander of his all-conquering army. The roaming bees were its soldiers and the councils of cuckoos received authority to impose punishment. The women of Vraja were made liable to fines, and the mountain caves became their prisons. (19)

'Beloved, behold Govardhana before us. Has he now become the king of all mountains after long ago driving away Indra, his enemy? Meru and the other mountains, each concealing its own body beneath the guise of tribute offered through the spread of its particular splendor, have gathered around him.' (20)

'In one place the Gaṅgā flows peacefully from a golden plateau. Elsewhere caves shine as dwellings fashioned from ice. In another place the peaks appear eager to block the sun's roadway, while in yet another silver rocks gleam like thrones for Us.' (21)

'Friend, recognize nearby that incomparable Rāsa ground, the unique stage for the art of Your sportive pastimes. Let Us rest for a moment upon this jeweled platform.' Speaking thus, Hari sat down, and the forest guardians brought varieties of honey-wine. (22)

A fine silver cup filled with excellent wine was placed before Her. Lowering Her face and fixing Her eyes upon it, She ostensibly lifted it from thirst while asking, 'What might this be?' Yet Rādhā drank more deeply the sweet nectar of Her beloved's face reflected within it, nectar more delicious even than the wine. (23)

Within Her heart She said, 'O Creator, when you fashioned shyness in the minds of the women of Vraja, whose fires of longing burn so fiercely, how many times did you not become an object of our curses? Yet because you created this innocent wine, I shall praise you with hundreds of blessings for a long time. Blessed are you!' (24)

'Friend, even now you openly drink the lotus of My face by force. After drinking this wine as well, I cannot imagine what you will do.' As Kṛṣṇa spoke, He turned Her face away from the cup. What sweetness of the wine could then have been left untasted at that moment? (25)

Again and again Kṛṣṇa urged, 'Drink, drink, drink!' and held the cup filled with potent wine beneath Her lip, while a smile played beneath the vine of Rādhā's raised eyebrow. Crying, 'No, no, no!' She turned aside Her lotus face, but the playful Lord of restless glances made Her drink by force. (26)

When Lalitā and the other companions had likewise been made to drink, their eyes grew deeply red and they became thoroughly intoxicated. Casting off modesty, they repeatedly made one another drink. Overwhelmed and bewildered by the wine, even the beloved Rādhā began to reel, Her understanding scattered. (27)

'The sun is fa-falling! The mountain is spi-spinning! The trees are da-dancing! We are frightened, Beloved! Pro-protect us!' Crying out together, the women, their upper garments fallen and their hair disheveled, suddenly clung heavily to His shoulders, arms, chest, and back. (28)

The reservoir of rasa was pressed upon every limb by their breasts. He enclosed them firmly within His own arms and kissed them forcefully, then kissed in every direction as their graceful, restless necks bent sweetly. How long could the maidservants hide their faces and suppress the laughter rising within them? (29)

'O restless-eyed girls, what strange training have your mistresses received today? Why do all of you seek to conquer Me alone at once? Alas, you attack Me by force. This is a grave injustice. Or are you not My rear guards? What an astonishing fate this is!' (30)

Then Madhumatī approached Him and repeatedly made Him smell a cup filled with wine. Taking it in His curved hand, He drank and, as she offered it to those around Him, playfully bit their lips between sips. By imitating their stammered cry, 'Dri-drink, dri-drink,' He made them drink. (31)

'Is it day here, or night? Are we women, or men? Are we dressed, or naked? What are we to do?' The girls knew nothing and spoke incoherently. He amused them by pointing out the maidservants who stood directly before them. (32)

When asked, 'Beloved, why do You not drink anything?' He replied, 'Tulasi, do you not see Me drinking without pause from the golden cups of their faces, filled with honey? Now attend to Us with gentle fans, for We are bathed in perspiration.' (33)

Seeing that the suspicious girls hesitated to approach Him again, He raised a row of cups to His mouth and acted as though He had drunk them. His eyes became red and rolled about, and He let His limbs grow slack. As soon as He appeared intoxicated, they came near Him laughing. (34)

Then clever Kundī closed the door. As restless Kṛṣṇa displayed His strength and repeatedly restrained the girls, He drank from their sweet, plaintive faces while their bodies uttered many kinds of sounds. I think embodied Cupid himself danced there, brandishing his bow. (35)

He too drank again and again and made them drink, yet He protected them from the bewilderment born of the threefold flow of intoxication. The maidens gently fanned the radiant beloved Couple, ornaments of the sky of Love's battle, until Their garlands of pearllike drops of perspiration began to fall. (36)

As the wine reached full maturity and the moon of awareness among the beloveds was gradually released from the dense darkness of intoxication, the companions marveled at the unprecedented abundance of joy born from the lovers' mutual exchange of the jewels of amorous skill. (37)

Thus ends the Thirteenth Sarga, entitled 'Delighting in the Wine-Drinking Pastime,' in the great poem Śrī Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta.