Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

Āndola-rahasya-dīpikā

Composed by Sri Rasik Ali

This supremely sweet and rasa-filled composition is by Sri Janakrajkishori Sharan, known as Sri Rasik Ali. It was printed by the Jain Press in Lucknow in 1907. It contains sixteen pages and forty-three stanzas.

Subject

In highly emotive and poetic language, the work describes the rasa of the mystery of the swing festival. Its language is vivid, graceful, and powerful. The mutual teasing and playful contention of lover and beloved are portrayed with great charm. The ornaments of adornment arranged by the companions are themselves a spectacle. Equally distinctive is the beauty of the drops of perspiration that appear upon the faces of lover and beloved as they swing.

At the end, this poet-lover and practitioner of amorous devotion declares that the Beloved’s graceful līlā belongs to a reality beyond Maya constituted of the three guṇas. A male cannot enter there; eligibility belongs only to an alī, a female companion.

Examples:

The swinging grows ever more intense in rasa, friend, and all the companions are intoxicated embodiments of delight.
Garments slip, bodice-fastenings loosen, and incomparable necklaces come undone and break.
Pearls scatter across the covering and kiss the tender feet;
frightened, the maidservants gather them all and carry them away in the water.

Lover and beloved lovingly wipe the drops of perspiration from one another’s faces, giving happiness;
it is as though the serpent king were worshipping the beautiful moon with the waters of Savan.

When the darling’s waist bends, twists, and inclines toward her lover,
I sacrifice myself again and again upon her movement—the moon turning toward its cakora bird.

When the breeze touches her breasts and lifts the edge of Sita’s veil, she grows shy.
Then, seeing her lover’s body, she lowers her restless eyes and bites her tongue between her teeth.

Beholding her gesture, her lover’s heart fills with emotion and desire swells within his mind.
Seeing the Couple’s sweet happiness, the companion rejoices and her body thrills.

The necklaces upon both hearts become entangled as the companions drive the swing.
The lurching does not let them come free; the fresh young lover leaps forward and embraces his darling, drinking rasa.

Seeing that they have tired of swinging, the lover takes his beloved fully into his arms.
With her seated upon his lap, he continues to swing, their moon-faces rising, bending, and meeting.

The companions’ bodices and veils are drenched, dripping with colour.
Fine wet garments cling to their bodies and reveal the companions’ limbs.