Rasa-pancadhyayi II - The Search for Krsna

Bhāgavata 10.30.1

Śrī Śuka said: When Bhagavān suddenly disappeared, the women of Vraja, no longer seeing Him, burned in anguish like she-elephants separated from the leader of their herd. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī [Introductory Sanskrit verse]

In the thirtieth chapter, the women, maddened by separation, ask the trees about Kṛṣṇa. They reenact His pastimes; He enjoys with Her and then abandons Her.

Bhāgavata 10.30.2

Their minds carried away by the Lord of Ramā's gait, affection, smiles, playful glances, charming speech, amorous pastimes, and graceful gestures, the impassioned women became absorbed in Him and assumed His many characteristic actions. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs searched for Him from bower to bower, but could not find Him. The pain of separation increased at every moment until the transitory state of divine madness arose in them. This and the following verse describe how that madness became more and more openly manifest. First they remembered the natural placement of the feet in the gait of Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Ramā and possessor of every wealth of beauty; then His affectionate smiles and His glances, in which the pupils of His eyes wandered in an extraordinary way.

They remembered His captivating conversation: "O lotus growing on dry land! Will you give your nectar to this bee who suffers from terrible thirst?" The lotus might answer, "O bee, the husband of a lotus is the sun, not a bee. Why should she make you drink her honey?" Kṛṣṇa replies, "O lotus, this is simply the nature of all you lotuses: you make not your husband, the sun, but your paramour, the bee, drink your honey." Defeated by His speech, she laughed, and He enjoyed drinking the honey of her lips.

Or He might say: "O lotus-stemmed girl, a greatly proud serpent bit you while you were walking to the base of the kadamba tree near Me. Its poison has risen as far as your breast. Because you are a respectable married woman, you do not ask Me to cure it. But out of compassion I shall come near of My own accord, recite a poison-removing mantra, and rub your body with both palms." She answers, "O jungle healer, no snake has bitten me. Rub with your hands the body of the woman who was bitten." He replies, "O virtuous lady, your faltering voice itself reveals that the flames of poison torment you. If, knowing this, I neglect you, I shall incur the sin of killing a woman. I must therefore counteract the poison." With these words He placed His nails upon her breast and performed other playful acts.

Thereafter came intimate union, followed by vibhrama, the bewilderment of passionate intoxication. As the definition says, "Vibhrama is the instability of the mind's functions produced by amorous love." These remembered pastimes became intensely established within the gopīs during separation and seized them. Their minds rebuked their bodies, "Why do you remain here? Go outside and search for the beloved of our lives," and departed from those bodies. The women were pramadāḥ, those intoxicated to an extraordinary degree. Reaching divine madness, they became constituted of Kṛṣṇa: their minds, intelligence, and other faculties became like His. Consequently they adopted and knowingly reenacted His many different activities.

Bhāgavata 10.30.3

Their bodies taking on the form of their beloved in His gait, smile, glance, speech, and other acts, those beloved women, wholly absorbed in Him and bewildered by Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, displayed His manner of play and declared to one another, “I am He!” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī When that madness fully matured, their condition was as follows. Their bodies became counter-images in which the beloved's gait, smiles, glances, and the other features just described were firmly installed. At first His gait and smiles ascended into the embodied structure of each gopī's mind and senses; then each gopī's own form became installed within those movements and smiles.

Madness thus produced a state of oneness. They left behind even determinate thoughts such as "He is Kṛṣṇa and I am His" or "I myself am Kṛṣṇa." In the full maturity of relishing rasa, they simply arrived at the state "He, I, Kṛṣṇa, I," and became identified with Him in loving emotion. This should not be confused with the contemplative practice of identifying the ego with God, for the verse speaks of "the beloved" and "their beloved." They announced His presence to one another, having not even the faintest awareness that they were women of Vraja. The cause was the bewilderment of madness produced by remembering Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Textual note 62: Some witnesses read nv. Textual note 63: Some witnesses read vyavediṣuḥ.

Bhāgavata 10.30.4

Gathering together and singing loudly of Him alone, they searched from forest to forest like madwomen. They questioned the trees about the Person who, like space, dwells both within and without all beings. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī When their madness relinquished its full intensity and became milder, the gopīs regained partial outward awareness and behaved as this verse describes. They understood, "We are women of Vraja suffering because we have been separated from our beloved, and we are searching for Him." Gathering together, they went from forest to forest. They were "like madwomen," the diminutive suffix indicating that their madness had somewhat lessened. Yet they still displayed madness by asking the lordly trees about Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person.

They knew that Kṛṣṇa was at that very moment happily enjoying with the supreme mistress of Vṛndāvana. But did He know the crazed questions and actions of the gopīs who were mad in separation from Him? The verse therefore describes Him as pervading all beings, within and without, like space. Although Kṛṣṇa's own form is unlimited, it is all-pervading; remaining unseen in each place, He was certainly hearing all their questions.

Bhāgavata 10.30.5

O sacred fig, plakṣa, and banyan trees, have you seen Nanda's son, who stole our minds with His loving, smiling glances and then departed? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Their questioning is elaborated over nine verses. They first addressed the tallest trees, thinking that such trees must see Kṛṣṇa even when He was far away: "Did you see Him?" The plakṣa is the tree known as pīlukhanvu, and the nyagrodha is the banyan. Anticipating that the trees might ask why they sought Him, the gopīs explain: "Though He is the son of saintly Nanda, He entered through the gateway of our eyes, stole our minds, and went away. He sent His smiling glances as servants, each carrying love, a special and overwhelmingly enchanting herb that drives the whole world mad. Those servants entered the inner chamber of our hearts through our eyes, stole the jewel of the mind, and fled."

After waiting a moment, the gopīs thought, "These trees look down upon us as insignificant and stand stiffly without answering. Enough of these trees with their petty fruits, ignorant of the duty of helping others, unblossoming and impure at heart!" Abandoning them, they went elsewhere.

Bhāgavata 10.30.6

O kurabaka, aśoka, nāga, punnāga, and campaka trees, has Rāma's younger brother passed this way, He whose smile robs proud women of their pride? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Entering a flower garden, the gopīs thought, "These flowering trees truly have pure hearts and deserve to be questioned, for they serve visiting bees with their nectar." Approaching them, they asked whether Kṛṣṇa had gone that way. The kuruvaka is a red amaranth-like flowering tree, and the nāga is the nāgakeśara. Their question also implies, "Has He perhaps concealed Himself and remained right here?"

Anticipating the trees' question about why they sought Him, the gopīs explain that His smile steals the pride that is the sole wealth of proud young women like themselves, leaving them destitute. At that moment a sudden wind moved the tips of the branches. The gopīs interpreted the motion as the trees shaking their heads and saying, "We do not know." Thinking, "Enough of these hardhearted male beings," they went somewhere else. Textual note 68: Most witnesses read "has gone"; Śrīdhara Svāmī accepts "this way."

Bhāgavata 10.30.7

O auspicious Tulasī, beloved of Govinda's feet, have you seen your most beloved infallible Lord wearing you among swarms of bees? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs next thought, "These plants are female beings on our side. They understand the pain of desire in women's hearts and will be compassionate. Let us ask them." Approaching, they questioned Tulasī, the foremost among them: "O auspicious one! We are made inauspicious by separation from Kṛṣṇa, but you alone remain blessed because you are dear to Govinda's feet." Alternatively, "feet" is merely a term of reverence, as in the expression "the revered feet of the ācārya say."

One might say that the gopīs too were dear to His feet. True, they reply, yet Tulasī's superior virtue makes her more fortunate because she never suffers separation. "He went away while still wearing you." They suggest that the reason is her exceptional fragrance. He bears her despite the agitation caused by thousands of bees surrounding her. "We conclude that He, the lover of fragrance, did not take us because we possess no aroma equal to yours."

Bhāgavata 10.30.8

O mālatī, mallikā, jāti, and yūthikā vines, did you see Mādhava pass this way, awakening your delight with the touch of His hand? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs thought, "Tulasī is so intoxicated by pride in her fortune that she does not even see us. Let us ask these other flowers, her rivals, who resemble us in lacking such extraordinary good fortune." They went elsewhere and addressed the mālatī and other flowering vines. The touch of Kṛṣṇa's hand while gathering their blossoms made them bloom with a profusion surpassing even that of the rainy season and autumn; this sign distinguishes the several varieties of mālatī.

Bhāgavata 10.30.9

O cūta, priyāla, jackfruit, asana, kovidāra, rose-apple, arka, bilva, bakula, mango, kadamba, nīpa, and all other trees along the Yamunā's bank whose lives exist for the sake of others, please reveal Kṛṣṇa's path to us, who have lost our very selves. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs thought, "These flowering vines know what happened, but fear both their rival Tulasī and Kṛṣṇa, and therefore will not tell us. Enough of these dependent creatures." Going elsewhere, they trusted the trees standing at the Yamunā's sacred ford: "Their stillness reveals their absorption in remembering Viṣṇu, so they will not speak falsely." They therefore addressed the mango and the other trees.

Bhāgavata 10.30.10

O Earth, what austerity did you perform? You shine with bodily hairs standing erect in festival at the touch of Keśava's feet. Did this ecstasy arise when the expansive Lord strode upon you, or when He embraced you in the form of the Boar? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs wondered: "Do these trees fail to hear our question because they are absorbed in Viṣṇu? Or, though dwelling at a holy place, are they also hardhearted, since they answer nothing? But who knows Him and who does not? We have no certainty; why uselessly criticize residents of a sacred place? We should ask someone who has certainly seen and knows Him." One gopī said this, and all the others asked, "Dear friend, who is that person? Do you know?" She pointed to the earth with her forefinger. They agreed: "You speak truly. Wherever He may be, the earth is there. She is never separated from Him. Unlike Kṛṣṇa's parents, friends, beloveds, and servants, she knows no pain of separation. The earth alone is fortunate. We should not question her as we did the others; we should ask what austerity she formerly performed, so that we too might become wholly free from separation from Kṛṣṇa."

They ask: "O Earth, what austerity did you perform that you shine in a festival of delight from the touch of Keśava's feet? The blades of grass rising from your body are exalted horripilation. Wherever He stands, He touches you with His feet; thus the joy of contact with Kṛṣṇa's body pervades your days and nights. Please tell us your austerity. We are unfortunate women suffering separation; even hearing of it would fulfill us."

When the earth did not answer, the gopīs themselves conjectured by remembering ancient events. "Was your austerity the endurance of the enormous weight of Trivikrama's foot when His stride reached and filled the earth? Or was it the pain produced by the firm embrace of the Lord's great boar form?" The particle vai indicates certainty or simply fills the meter. The austerity that gave the earth a festival unattainable by other women was itself blissful, for she too is a woman and it consisted of union with a male. No one is more fortunate than she.

Bhāgavata 10.30.11

O wife of the blackbuck, dear friend, did infallible Kṛṣṇa come here with His beloved, expanding the supreme delight of your eyes through the beauty of Their limbs? The fragrance of the jasmine garland worn by the chief of our clan, reddened by the kuṅkuma from His beloved's breasts as He embraced Her body, is carried here upon the breeze. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī They went on, thinking: "Blinded by the immense pride of being a wife who wholly controls her beloved, the earth displays a body decorated by her lover with the marks of flag, thunderbolt, goad, and the rest. Why would she tell us about Him?" Seeing a doe ahead, they addressed her.

"Dear friend, wife of the blackbuck, did Acyuta come near you with His beloved?" The pronoun "you" is supplied by the address itself. Although married to a buck, the doe is like the gopīs: she loves Kṛṣṇa alone and regards only Him as beloved. He expands supreme delight in her eyes through His face, arms, and other limbs. The plural "your eyes" conveys respect. The name Acyuta suggests, "Greedy for the happiness of seeing Him, you followed Him, and therefore He has not left you."

The doe naturally continued forward, repeatedly turning her neck to look back at them. They imagined that she was saying, "Why should I merely tell you that I saw Him? I shall show Him to you. Follow me." When some asked why He was not visible, others reasoned, "Then Kṛṣṇa must be here. Another doe revealed His presence, but fearing Him because she had betrayed His hiding place, she has concealed herself somewhere." At that moment a fragrance arrived by providence, and the gopīs joyfully repeated, "Yes, yes, this is certainly the truth! The scent of His beloved's body, of the kuṅkuma from her breasts that colored the jasmine garland, is carried on the wind." With their noses they distinguished the fragrances of the two lovers' bodies, the breasts and their kuṅkuma, and the jasmine blossoms. By calling Kṛṣṇa "lord of the clan," they mean the lover of the whole community of gopīs, and thus accuse Him of injustice for abandoning the unwanted many and now enjoying with just one beloved. Textual note 69: The form "wife of the blackbuck" playfully praises the doe. A grammatical rule concerning a wife at her husband's sacrifice allows the deer to be imagined as officiants of sacrifices in another birth and the doe as a sacrificial wife.

Bhāgavata 10.30.12

O trees, does Rāma's younger brother, wandering here with His arm resting upon His beloved's shoulder and a lotus in His hand, followed by swarms of bees blinded by intoxication with the Tulasī fragrance, acknowledge your bows with loving glances? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Thinking that Kṛṣṇa must still be nearby, the gopīs pointed out another sign to one another. They took the trees, bent beneath their loads of fruit and flowers, to be offering obeisance and asked with jealous speculation: "O trees, as Kṛṣṇa wanders here, does He lovingly acknowledge the bows of you, His subjects who offer fruits and flowers in tribute, or not? Alas! When would He have leisure to glance affectionately upon saintly and pure beings like you?"

They picture the younger brother of Rāma weakened and relaxed by the fatigue of amorous union, resting His left arm upon the shoulder of His beloved as a soft pillow. In His right hand He holds a blue lotus, merely to drive away bees rising toward the fragrance of her face. His mind wholly absorbed in serving her, He cannot cast His glance anywhere else. Swarms of bees follow Him from the tender grove of Tulasī plants. "Having left the Tulasī plants, they are searching for Him here. He must be sporting somewhere close by in concealment."

Someone might propose that they simply follow the bees. The gopīs refuse because the bees are blinded by intoxication, and respectable people should not follow the intoxicated. Textual note 70: His arm rests upon the shoulder of His beloved, who is tenderly affectionate toward Him.

Bhāgavata 10.30.13

Ask these vines! Though they embrace the arms of their husband, the tree, they bear shoots standing high like hairs of ecstasy. Ah, surely Kṛṣṇa touched them with His fingernails. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Another gopī points out one more sign: "Friends, question these vines themselves, for they bear the marks of union with Kṛṣṇa. Do not object that union with Him would be impossible while they embrace their own husband, the tree. Though their arms completely clasp the forest lord, what an upsurge of desire! Surely His nails have touched them, for they bear intense horripilation. Union with their own husband could not produce such a response. Since we can see the sign of His touch, they cannot falsely claim, like those questioned before them, that they did not see Him."

Bhāgavata 10.30.14

Speaking such words like madwomen, the gopīs became helpless in their search for Kṛṣṇa. Wholly absorbed in Him, they reenacted His many divine pastimes. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The vines said nothing because bliss had made them motionless. The gopīs' desire to question even insentient beings, and their other actions, made their speech the speech of madwomen. Some among them became desperately anxious even while searching. Each thought, "I shall imitate Kṛṣṇa's form and activities and make myself appear as Him, thereby granting these terribly distressed friends, and myself as well, at least a moment's relief." Remembering all His pastimes in sequence and wholly fixing their minds upon Him, they began by reenacting the killing of Pūtanā. Yogamāyā herself assumed the form of gopīs among them and imitated the hostile characters needed to complete each pastime, while the gopīs imitated Kṛṣṇa and His favorable associates.

[Sanskrit verse]

"Do not speak our story in public assemblies," the gopīs had forbidden him. Yet the sage, overcome by bliss, resolved in his mind: "Here I have spoken only what was pleasing to them. I shall indeed make their names known, but not in this place."

Bhāgavata 10.30.15

One gopī, acting as Kṛṣṇa, drank from the breast of another who acted as Pūtanā. Another became an infant, cried, and struck with her foot a companion imitating the cart demon. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Four verses describe their imitations. One gopī behaved like Pūtanā, while another acted like Kṛṣṇa and drank from her breast after making herself into an infant.

Bhāgavata 10.30.16-17

One gopī acted as a demon and carried away another who held the conception of Kṛṣṇa as a child. Another crawled, dragging her feet as her anklets rang. Two became Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, while several acted as cowherd boys. One struck a companion imitating the calf demon, and another struck one acting as the crane demon. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī One gopī behaved like the demon Tṛṇāvarta, while another, imagining Kṛṣṇa's infancy, became the child whom she carried away. Textual note 72: The "ringing sounds" are the voices of the small bells. She crawled while dragging feet accompanied by their sound; the causative force of the verb is not intended.

Bhāgavata 10.30.18

One gopī imitated Kṛṣṇa calling cows that had strayed far away, while another followed her, playing upon a flute. The others praised her, saying, “Well done!” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī One gopī called out to distant cows in exactly the manner Kṛṣṇa uses, and another followed her as though following Him. A variant reads that she imitated Him. Textual note 73: Śrīdhara records the variant "imitating her."

Bhāgavata 10.30.19

Another gopī, her mind fixed upon Him, placed her arm upon a companion and walked about, declaring, “I am Kṛṣṇa! Just behold My graceful movement.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The next four verses describe identification with Kṛṣṇa among other gopīs who wished to imitate His pastimes. Their intense meditation and the dominance of the transitory state of madness erased self-awareness. One placed her arm upon another's shoulder as Kṛṣṇa places His arm upon Subala and said, "I am the famous Kṛṣṇa. Behold My exceedingly graceful gait."

Bhāgavata 10.30.20

“Do not fear the wind and rain. I have arranged your protection.” Speaking thus, one gopī tried to raise the edge of her garment with one hand. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Striving to imitate Kṛṣṇa, one gopī raised her upper garment overhead as though lifting Govardhana.

Bhāgavata 10.30.21

O King, one gopī climbed upon another after placing her foot upon that companion's head and declared, “Go away, wicked serpent! I have surely appeared as the wielder of punishment against the evil.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī One gopī climbed upon another and cried, "O wicked serpent, O Kāliya!" Textual note 74: Some witnesses read "one climbed upon another." Textual note 75: Some witnesses, including the reading accepted by Sanātana Prabhu, have nanv rather than "O King."

Bhāgavata 10.30.22

There one gopī said, “O cowherd boys, behold the terrible forest fire! Quickly close your eyes, and I shall easily secure your safety.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī No separate commentary is given on this verse.

Bhāgavata 10.30.23

There one slender, beautiful-eyed gopī was bound with a flower garland by another to a companion acting as the mortar. Frightened, she covered her face and assumed an imitation of Kṛṣṇa's fear. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The sudden force of madness then subsided, and their identification with Kṛṣṇa also became less complete. One gopī regained awareness of herself as a gopī and prepared to imitate His breaking of the yogurt pot and stealing of fresh butter. Yogamāyā assumed the role of Śrī Yaśodā and performed the corresponding action. Declaring, "I shall bind you, thief of fresh butter," one gopī tied another with a flower garland. The beautiful-eyed gopī covered her face and mimicked fear.

Bhāgavata 10.30.24

While thus questioning Vṛndāvana's vines and trees about Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs saw in one part of the forest the footprints of the Supreme Self. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The phrase "in this way" introduces the different degrees of their divine madness. When the madness of separation in kind reached full maturity and self-awareness disappeared, a gopī became identified with her beloved, as already described: "The beloved's movements took form in them; 'He is I'" (10.30.3), and "I am Kṛṣṇa; behold My gait" (10.30.19). At an intermediate degree, with a little self-awareness remaining, they imitated Him. Prahlāda's history describes a similar state: "Sometimes, filled with absorption in Him, he became permeated by Him and imitated Him" (Bhāgavata 7.4.40). The present chapter likewise says that a gopī acting as Kṛṣṇa drank another's breast (10.30.15). When the madness grew still milder and self-awareness became predominant, they asked even insentient trees and shrubs about Him.

Bhāgavata 10.30.25

These are plainly the footprints of magnanimous Nanda's son, for they are distinguished by the well-known marks of the banner, lotus, thunderbolt, goad, barleycorn, and others. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Having described these three degrees of divine madness, the text tells how the gopīs suddenly saw Kṛṣṇa's footprints. Joyfully reasoning about them, they exclaimed, "These are His footprints." The Skanda Purāṇa explains the locations and purposes of the flag and the other signs:

[Sanskrit verses]

At the base of the big toe of His right foot, the unborn Lord bears a discus, which cuts down the six enemies of those who bow before Him. At the base of the middle toe Acyuta bears an exceedingly beautiful lotus, which entices the bee-like minds of those who meditate. Beneath the lotus He bears a flag, the banner of victory over every misfortune. At the base of the little toe is a thunderbolt, which splits the mountains of His devotees' sins. In the middle of the heel is a goad, by which He subdues the elephant-like minds of devotees. Upon the joint of the big toe He bears a barleycorn composed of prosperity and enjoyment. The thunderbolt is on the right side, with the goad before it.

Because this passage of the Skanda Purāṇa specifically concerns Kṛṣṇa, teachers in the tradition say that the goad is at the base of His little toe and the thunderbolt beneath it. The goad upon the heel should be understood as belonging to Nārāyaṇa and other forms. Thus Kṛṣṇa's right foot bears these six signs: discus, flag, waterpot, thunderbolt, goad, and barleycorn. Consulting the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, the other signs are now listed. An upward line begins at the junction of the big and second toes and extends to the middle of the foot. Beneath the discus is an umbrella. Below the middle of the foot are four svastikas facing the four directions; at the four junctions of those svastikas are four rose-apple fruits, and at their center is an octagon. Counting these grouped designs produces eleven signs.

On the left foot, at the base of the big toe, Bhagavān bears a conch whose mouth turns outward, revealing all knowledge. At the base of the middle toe is a sky-sign composed of an inner and outer circle. Beneath it is an unstrung bow, then a cow's hoofprint, and below that a triangle. Around the triangle are four waterpots, though in some depictions three are seen. Beneath it is a crescent moon whose two tips touch two corners of the triangle, and below the crescent is a fish. These eight, together with the eleven on the right foot, make nineteen signs.

Bhāgavata 10.30.26

Following those many footprints as they searched for His path, the women came farther on and saw them closely mingled with the footprints of a young woman. Afflicted, they spoke. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The word means that the footprints were closely mingled together.

Bhāgavata 10.30.27

“To what woman do these footprints belong? She went with Nanda's son, resting His forearm upon Her shoulder, like a she-elephant walking beside her bull elephant.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The phrase means that Nanda's son had placed His left forearm upon her shoulder.

Bhāgavata 10.30.28

“Surely this gopī perfectly worshiped Bhagavān Hari, the sovereign Lord, for Govinda was pleased with Her and, abandoning us, led Her alone to a secluded place.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī From the footprints alone, the gopīs recognized the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu and were inwardly reassured. Yet within the large crowd of different gopī groups, her friends outwardly acted as if they did not recognize her. Through an explanation of her name, they joyfully proclaimed her good fortune: "Surely she has worshiped Him." Hari is the remover of His devotees' suffering; Bhagavān is Nārāyaṇa Himself; the Lord is able to grant whatever His devotees desire. "He was worshiped by her, but not by us, because Govinda abandoned us." The name Rādhā thus becomes manifest from the verbal root meaning "to please" or "to worship." With great effort the sage placed her name in the verse, yet it emerged spontaneously from the moon of his mouth, as though compassion wished to beat the kettledrum of her good fortune.

Alternatively, the opening may be read as an address: "O unjust women! You arrogantly and uselessly imagine yourselves equal to that supremely exalted gopī. Surely this Hari has been rādhitaḥ: from this place He has obtained Rādhā." The grammatical transformation follows the Śakandhu class. He is Bhagavān because He is beautiful, overwhelmed by desire, or eager to proclaim His own fame; the lexicon includes beauty, desire, greatness, power, effort, the sun, and fame among the meanings of bhaga. He is Īśvara, capable of deceiving them. Govinda abandoned "us," all the other beautiful women, because He finds and delights the senses, called go, of that one beloved for amorous enjoyment.

Her footprint marks, described from the annotations on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, are as follows. On the left foot is a barleycorn at the base of the big toe, with a discus below it, then an umbrella, and below that a bracelet. An upward line begins at the junction of the big and second toes and curves to the middle of the foot. Beneath the middle toe is a lotus, below it a flag with its banner, and above that a vine and flower. Beneath the little toe is a goad, and upon the heel a crescent moon: eleven marks. On the right foot is a conch at the base of the big toe, a club below it, an altar beneath the little toe, then an earring and a spear. Beneath the toes beginning with the second is a mountain, below the mountain a chariot, and on the heel a fish: eight marks. Together they make nineteen.

Bhāgavata 10.30.29

“Ah, friends, blessed are these particles of dust from Govinda's lotus feet. Brahmā, Śiva, and goddess Ramā have placed them upon their heads to dispel sin and sorrow.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The neutral gopīs paid no attention to the identity of Kṛṣṇa's companion and spoke only of His footprints: "Blessed is the dust of these feet. Brahmā and the other gods place it upon their heads to remove sin, which here also means the sorrow of separation. Every afternoon when Kṛṣṇa returns to the cowherd settlement, the boys accompanying Him see those gods descend from heaven to gather the dust of His feet. The Bhāgavata will say, 'His feet are honored on the road by the elders' (10.35.22) and 'the groups of minor gods who praise Him' (10.35.21). We are unable to take that dust only because of modesty, and by that very failure we incur suffering and sin."

Bhāgavata 10.30.30

“Her footprints greatly agitate us, for She alone stole Kṛṣṇa away from all the gopīs and now privately enjoys the nectar of infallible Kṛṣṇa's lips.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The companions of the rival group said: "The sight of her footprints makes our hearts burn intensely. She alone has secretly stolen and enjoyed Acyuta's lips, which belong to all of us gopīs. By some deed that passionate woman has brought Him under her control, made Him abandon us though we love Him, and led Kṛṣṇa this great distance away." Textual note 77: Some witnesses read "wealth."

Bhāgavata 10.30.31

“Her footprints are no longer visible here. Surely the beloved lifted His dearest, whose tender soles were pained by the shoots of grass.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Her dear friends replied: "O women consumed by the terrible disease of envy, do not grieve. Her footprints are not present here." Other friends, casting delighted sidelong glances toward them, quietly reasoned: "Surely He lifted His beloved with both arms and placed her upon His chest. Because she is supremely dear to Him, He could not bear the pain that the soles of her feet would suffer." Her companions enjoy two kinds of happiness here: the happiness born from seeing her extraordinary fortune and the happiness born from seeing the distress of their rivals.

Bhāgavata 10.30.32

“Gopīs, look at these more deeply sunken footprints of Kṛṣṇa as He carried the young woman, burdened by Her weight and enslaved by desire.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The rival gopīs answer: "O thoughtless speakers, how can you tell us not to grieve? The disappearance of her footprints immediately after we saw them produces even greater pain and makes us fear the disappearance of our very lives." By calling her His bride, they suggest that Kṛṣṇa, though not formally invested for marriage, made her His own bride there in the forest. He is burdened by carrying her, just as householders wander under the burden of wife and family. They call Him lustful rather than loving because He abandoned the other gopīs who also possess love. Only desire could make Him carry her; otherwise, why would the extremely delicate prince of Vraja become the vehicle of a cowherd girl? Textual note 80: The author of Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī notes that this verse is absent from many manuscripts.

Bhāgavata 10.30.33

“Here the magnanimous Lord set His beloved down to gather flowers. Here the loving Kṛṣṇa plucked blossoms for His beloved. Look at these partial footprints, made as He stood upon the fronts of His feet.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Her friends spoke again: "Here the great-souled Kṛṣṇa set her down." Great-souled may mean the crown jewel of clever lovers, or one whose entire mind was absorbed in the great festival of adorning her. He set her down to obtain flowers. "This is an aśoka tree. Receiving the touch of her feet, it immediately blossomed, for He thought, 'I shall decorate her with these flowers.'" Thus, as one of great intelligence, He plucked the blossoms from this aśoka branch, which explains why no flowers remain here. To reach flowers on a slightly distant branch beyond her hands, she pressed the tips of her toes into the earth. Consequently the impressions of her feet are incomplete rather than fully marked upon the ground. Textual note 81: The author of Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī notes that this verse and a half is absent from some witnesses and therefore assigns it no number.

Bhāgavata 10.30.34

“Here the lover arranged the amorous woman's hair. Surely He sat here while adorning His beloved's crown with those flowers.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Seeing the sign that she had sat between Kṛṣṇa's knees, the rival gopīs spoke again: "He must have arranged her hair here with a comb supplied by the local forest deity." They call her a lustful woman rather than a loving one because she deceived even her own friends, led her lover away, and went with Him to a secluded place. They likewise call Him lustful rather than loving because He gave no thought to the pain of separation suffered by the other gopīs who love Him. "Surely He sat here while making His beloved into a woman with a crown, either by crowning her with those flowers or arranging her hair, and thereby jokingly displaying His masculine skill." The implication is that intimate play also occurred there. Textual note 82: Some witnesses read "as a crown."

Bhāgavata 10.30.35

Though self-delighting, complete, and rejoicing in His own Self, He sported with Her, thereby revealing the wretchedness of lust-driven men and the corrupt-heartedness of ordinary women. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī After revealing the unsurpassed extent of her good fortune through the gopīs' own statements, Śuka establishes it directly. Though Kṛṣṇa delights in His own Self, He enjoyed with her. The reason is that He is svātma-rata: His enjoyment of His own Self shines most beautifully when He enjoys with her. He does not experience as much happiness in self-delight alone as He does in enjoyment with her. If the variant reads "and delighting in His Self," it must be understood so as to avoid merely repeating the expression "self-delighted": with her alone He invested His whole self, meaning His effort, composure, and intelligence, in amorous enjoyment. He exerted such effort precisely because self-delight alone did not give Him happiness of that kind.

Would this make her the source of His completeness? The verse answers that He remained undivided and complete. She is His pleasure potency and therefore belongs to His essential nature. Moreover, within the pleasure potency she is the form of mahābhāva, the supreme limit of prema, which is the condensed essence of all delight. Consequently, although Bhagavān as self-delighted enjoys delight itself, His enjoyment with her, the supreme essence of delight, is necessarily greater. Tantra states:

[Sanskrit verses]

The pleasure potency is the great potency, supreme among all potencies. This Rādhā is its very essence. She is the embodiment of mahābhāva and surpasses all others in qualities.

Thus, although self-delighted, He invested His whole self in enjoyment with her and still remained undivided and complete. By displaying the misery of those under the control of desire and women, He benefited materialistic moralists who do not know the truth of Bhagavān and concealed from them the truth of His own divine play. He teaches people not to become controlled by lust or by women: when men are ruled by desire they become pitiable, and when men become pitiable, women become hardhearted. The ordinary people who talk this way thus become instruments for concealing the truth of brilliant prema-rasa. The words may be explained to mean both that He displayed this worldly lesson and that, by doing so, He concealed the truth of prema-rasa.

Alternatively, when the verse says that He showed the wretchedness of lustful men, those men judged Him by the maxim that one regards the world as resembling oneself and therefore saw Him as pitiable. Lustful women similarly saw Rādhā as hardhearted and imagined that she had caused His humiliation. Or the verse may teach connoisseurs that in amorous rasa the lover should sometimes become humble through entreaties for union and the beloved should sometimes become hardhearted by withholding consent. Only in this way is rasa nourished. Textual note 84: Rasikāhlādinī records the reading "and delighting in His Self."

Bhāgavata 10.30.36

Thus showing one another these signs, the bewildered gopīs wandered onward, following the gopī whom Kṛṣṇa had led away in the forest after abandoning all the other women. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Having described the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu's supreme experience of the union aspect of brilliant amorous rasa, the narrative now raises the seed from which the separation aspect will be described.

Bhāgavata 10.30.37

She then considered Herself superior to every woman: “My beloved abandoned all the gopīs who desire Him and now attends upon Me alone.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Previously all the gopīs had possessed pride in their good fortune; now she too became proud. The cause is stated in the phrase "having left the others." The other gopīs were longing for Kṛṣṇa. Alternatively, desire itself was the vehicle that brought them. Thus Rādhā's earlier loving resentment, born from the other gopīs' good fortune, became completely pacified.

Bhāgavata 10.30.38

Going still farther with Him into a particular part of the forest, She became proud and said to Keśava, “I cannot walk any farther. Carry Me wherever Your heart desires.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī She and Keśava reached an especially beautiful region of the forest. He was weaving her hair into an intricate braid after she loosened the crown-like arrangement that signaled ordinary joking play. For a heroine who has brought her lover completely under control, pride itself nourishes rasa; she therefore said, "I cannot walk farther," meaning that she had become tired from roaming through so much forest. Kṛṣṇa might answer, "O innocent girl, we must go still farther from the others to another delightful place." She therefore says, "Carry me as You did before." Should He take her to a secluded flower bed within a bower that others could not enter, or to a flower garden so that He might fashion floral ornaments? She answers, "Wherever Your mind desires."

Bhāgavata 10.30.39

Addressed in this way, Kṛṣṇa told His beloved, “Climb upon My shoulder.” Then He disappeared, and the young woman burned in anguish. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Kṛṣṇa then reflected: "She has abandoned the natural duty of a proper heroine. Such a heroine does not verbally consent when her lover proposes taking her to a flower bed. If she has abandoned her own duty of contrary resistance, I too, as a proper hero, must abandon My duty of tender compliance toward a beloved I have enjoyed. Rasa is not relishable if both heroine and hero are compliant or both resistant. Connoisseurs cannot fault Me, for rasa is sound only when it follows the course initiated by the heroine."

He considered another purpose: "For a long time I have directly desired to see the extraordinary state produced in this woman of great love by separation from Me. This opportunity will fulfill that desire. The others have already experienced the superiority of her fortune produced by union with Me. When they see the incomparable condition produced by separation, which reveals the highest summit and fullest surge of prema, they will plunge into an ocean of supreme astonishment. Beside the submarine fire of her separation from Me, their own separation will seem like the flame of a lamp. Through the fullest union and separation found in her, amorous rasa will today attain its fullest completeness. When separation from Me is produced in her, the others' separation will subside and unanimity among all of them will become possible; the rāsa dance I desire today will then succeed. Otherwise, because I have enjoyed her company, their loving resentment would be impossible to pacify." Considering these and many other purposes, He suddenly decided to disappear. When He told her to climb upon His shoulder, He remained on that very spot and continued seeing her, but withdrew Himself from the range of her sight.

When the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu said, "Carry me wherever Your mind desires" (10.30.38), she had thought: "I am exhausted by amorous play and roaming through the forest and wish to sleep for a moment. It would be inauspicious and end painfully if He too passed the entire night without sleep. If He takes me to a flower bed, let Him; we shall sleep there together." For this reason she did not withhold consent. In order to accomplish the pastime, the līlā potency composed of prema concealed Bhagavān's knowledge of her inner heart. After He vanished, she lamented again and again.

Bhāgavata 10.30.40

“Alas, my Lord! My lover, my dearest, where are You? Where are You, mighty-armed one? O friend, reveal Your presence to Me, Your poor maidservant.” Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Her lament begins with "O Lord!" The great fire of separation from Kṛṣṇa was burning her body, and her life airs had nearly departed. She could not hold them back even with great effort. "You alone are their Lord. Give me Your sight and quickly save them." She does not ask that her life be preserved for her own sake, but for His, and therefore calls Him her lover: "You abandoned all the other gopīs and brought me this great distance into solitude for a special happiness of love. If I die, You will find such delight nowhere else. Remembering me, You too will suffer and lament."

He might reply, "Let Me suffer. What is that to you?" She therefore calls Him her dearest: "Because You are dearest to me, Your pain will return upon me multiplied millions of times. Even after death I could not bear sorrow touching even one corner of the nail of Your lotus foot, before which I would wave millions of my lives in offering. Therefore come near in mercy and remove that very sorrow."

If her life had almost departed, how could even He bring it back? She calls Him mighty-armed: "The mere touch of Your arm, an herb that revives the dead, will make this body healthy and cool. My life airs will return of themselves and remain in it."

He might ask, "If you know what becomes of you without Me, why did you anger Me, the supremely delicate and venerable prince, by ordering, 'Carry me wherever Your mind desires'?" In piteous urgency she calls herself His poor maidservant: "I spoke that way only because fatigue from love play, sleepiness, and languor overwhelmed this wretched woman. Forgive me; do not be angry."

Moreover, it was He who formed such firm friendship even with unworthy her, and therefore she called Him friend. If He now said, "Beloved, I am pleased; come near Me," she would answer, "Remorse and sorrow have blinded me. Where are You? I cannot see You. Show me Your presence." After this lament, reeling in separation, she fainted and fell to the earth, as indicated by the later statement that they found her unconscious (10.30.41).

Bhāgavata 10.30.41

Searching along Bhagavān's path, the gopīs saw not far away their companion, anguished and unconscious from separation from her beloved. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The searching gopīs saw their companion even from far away because her radiance resembled lightning. They call her their friend because, on seeing her condition, even the rival groups felt affection arise for her. This is the very nature of brilliant amorous rasa: once the beloveds know that their common lover has left every single beloved, jealousy and hatred disappear among them and mutual affection appears. As the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi says, "For that very reason, their exceptional affection for one another becomes manifest" (9.43).

Bhāgavata 10.30.42

Hearing Her account of the extraordinary honor She had received from Mādhava and of the dishonor that followed from Her own supposed fault, the gopīs were filled with supreme wonder. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Her friends wept loudly and carefully revived her by fanning and rendering other services. They asked, "Dear friend, please tell us what happened to you." She answered: "In my innocence and dependence I did not understand how I became separated from you, my dear friends. But I am certain that both the honor I received and this humiliation arose from wickedness. He slighted you thousands of loving gopīs, set you ablaze in the fire of separation, and bestowed good fortune upon me alone; this was His wickedness. Yet I too, a helpless and foolish woman, told that prince, the sovereign of cruel play, 'I cannot walk; carry me' (10.30.38). That was my wickedness, and it brought me this great humiliation. In both respects my mind suffers terribly." Toward her beloved and toward the gopīs she successively revealed jealousy, humility, and utter lowliness.

The lordly sage uses the word "wickedness" only because he is repeating her own statement. Its true meaning is hidden in its Sanskrit derivation: one whose self is far away, or whose very Self, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is far away, is dūrātmā. Daurātmya therefore means the state of separation from Him.

Bhāgavata 10.30.43

Then the women entered the forest as far as the moonlight remained visible. Perceiving that He had entered the darkness, they turned back from there. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Having become detached from pride, she took the hand offered by a friend and searched for Kṛṣṇa together with all the gopīs. Even on a full-moon night, the dense shadows of the trees produced darkness beyond the reach of the moonlight. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: "Kṛṣṇa has entered the dense forest; His footprint is no longer visible here. Turn back, for this place is beyond the moon's rays" (5.13.41).

Their deeper reflection was: "Friends submerged in an ocean of grief, in this dense darkness, Kṛṣṇa's dark-cloud-colored body has merged into the gloom itself from fear that we might see Him. Do not continue. Wherever you go, He will flee somewhere else. Enough of this effort that merely causes fatigue to His exceedingly tender body." Thinking in this way, they turned back. Textual note 87: Some witnesses read "of Hari" in place of "the women."

Bhāgavata 10.30.44

Their minds fixed upon Him, their conversation about Him, their actions directed toward Him, and their very selves absorbed in Him, they sang only His virtues and remembered neither themselves nor their homes. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī Their minds remained fixed upon Him. When divine madness was mild, they addressed Him indirectly through questions such as "O aśvattha tree, did you see Him?" (10.30.5). When it reached the middle degree, they imitated His activities, as when a gopī acting as Kṛṣṇa drank another's breast (10.30.15). When it became fully mature, they forgot themselves and became constituted of Him, as in the declaration "I am Kṛṣṇa; behold My gait" (10.30.19). Impelled by earlier impressions, they loudly sang only His qualities, just as the text had said that they were singing loudly of Him (10.30.4).

Bhāgavata 10.30.45

Returning to the bank of the Yamunā, their hearts filled with Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs assembled and sang of Him, longing for His return. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's Sārārtha-darśinī The gopīs reached a conclusion: "Alas, wherever we go to search for Him, He will flee somewhere else. Why make Him suffer by wandering through the forest? He cannot be attained without His own choice, as scripture says, 'He is attained by the one whom He Himself chooses' (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23). His compassion alone causes His vision, and congregational singing of Him alone draws forth that compassion." Revealing this conclusion, they returned to the very place where they had previously met Him and sang only of Him. This is the meaning of the word "again."

[Closing Sanskrit verse]

Thus, in the Sārārtha-darśinī, which delights the hearts of devotees, the thirtieth chapter of the Tenth Canto has been properly joined for the saintly.

Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, entitled "The Search for Kṛṣṇa," within the rāsa pastime in the Tenth Canto of the glorious Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, the commentary upon the Brahma-sūtra, the supreme swan's collection transmitted through Vyāsa. Textual note 89: A variant reads "longing."