Chapter Seven: Literature of the Rasika Tradition

—and the work again closes by praising the mantra Śrī Rāmaḥ śaraṇaṃ mama.

We now briefly describe those saṃhitās cited by saints of sweet worship in the Ramavat tradition to establish doctrine in their commentaries upon foundational sectarian texts.

7. Śrī Śuka Saṃhitā

This work is quoted on pp. 122–43 of Upāsanā-traya-siddhānta. It begins with the Goloka play of Krishna and Radharani and their rāsa. It then explains the secret of līlā: Radha and Krishna both enter the body of Rama, the supreme God of gods. Rama is not merely the Supreme Person; he is the eternal transcendent Brahman.¹

Once, while Rama was sporting upon Mount Chitrakuta, Janaki saw him tired and perspiring from the hunt and said, “You are drenched in sweat and the sun is hot; rest a little.” The beloved pair entered a divine Grove of Sweetness inside a cave of Kamadagiri.

What can be said of that grove’s beauty and fragrance? After seeing and touching lovely flowers, conversing, and enjoying one another’s company, Sita proposed: “We have found great happiness in this Grove of Sweetness. What if our playful līlā were also to continue in the forms of Radha and Krishna?”²

Rama lovingly replied: “Beloved, Radharani, Queen of Vrindavana, is your own portion; Krishna, Nandanandana and son of the cowherd king, is my own portion.”³

Rama then revealed divine Vrindavana: the eternal Yamuna, eternal Govardhana, its many forests, groves, and places of play, and Krishna intoxicated by the nectar of the rāsa with Radhika. Showing Sita the dance of the Divine Couple, Rama said, “Beloved, these two lovers, Radha and Krishna, are the līlā-filled forms of you and me and are dear to the entire universe.” At once the two forms, Radha and Krishna, bowed and dissolved into Sita-Rama—