Source page 210

“His speech, gait, laughter, and loving glances cannot fully be perceived even by affection alone; still, darling, the longing to meet him remains immense. Many men are called handsome and wise throughout the world, yet until one sees one’s own beloved, the heart cannot become cool.

“The fire of separation burns every moment in the one whose eyes have become attached to Raghunandana. She takes that burning as happiness; when tears pour down, she calls them fire. Day and night she finds joy in that heat, counting neither propriety nor impropriety. Only one who has been sold into love’s hands understands the way of love. The tears well up in her eyes and her body wastes away; only a lover can recognize a lover’s pain.

“Better to remain hopeless and forsake every pleasure of the world than for God to separate one from a sacred, loving friend. If the Creator hears my prayer and shows the least compassion, may I never be separated from my gallant, beloved darling. Becoming helpless in love, let me abandon everything and pass beyond bodily awareness; O Creator, do not separate me even in a dream from my own beloved friend.

“Let me endure every hell and remain an insect there for a lifetime, but, Creator, do not separate me from the beloved who meets me in love. Let me forsake karma and dharma and wander through the world intoxicated with love, but, Creator, do not separate me from the darling of my life. Let me dwell beneath the water for a lifetime, drying my body through austerity, but, Fate, do not separate me from my beloved even in a dream.