Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

They shine in beauty upon a jewelled swing, while a parrot speaks above them.
Beholding their beauty, crowds of companions sing with love on every side.
Vīṇā, mucaṅga, upaṅga, and mṛdaṅga sound in a deeply measured rhythm.
Yugala-priya says: immense happiness rains down when they take up the solemn melody.

At dawn the two awaken—lover and beloved, the delicate Sita.
Filled with languor, they yawn against one another, their heart-stealing eyes scarcely open.
Nose-jewel and nose-ring sway above both pairs of nectar-filled lips,
as though Venus and Jupiter moved along the edge of a bower’s inner chamber.
She is poetry’s beauty, a newly accomplished lady; he the cultivated dark young lover.
Yugala-priya says: both are Awadh Bihari—whatever one might say remains too little.

Come today and behold, companion: Sri Rama, the rasika lover, has formed the bliss-giving rāsa.
Dark and lovely, dressed in the ornaments and garments of the rāsa, every limb is clothed in blue amid the lovely company of companions.
Vīṇā, mṛdaṅga, mucaṅga, kaṭatāra, and caṅga sound in a supremely beautiful īman rāga.
Yugala-priya says: Chandrakala sings, while darling and Beloved swell with exhilaration and their bodies thrill.

Friend, behold the beauty of dark Siyavar.
No awareness of body or mind remains, and the eyes cannot tolerate even a blink.
The two are mutually adorned, appearing with arms around one another’s necks.
Yugala-priya says: the lives of Chandrakala and the other companions are thereby fulfilled.

The cloud of rasa sways and spreads over our eyes.
Rain-clouds thunder within his speech of love—those who have seen dark-cloud Rama know it.
Fair limbs flash like lightning, and beautiful companions shine in every direction.
Yugala-priya says: the Lord dances within rasika hearts like a peacock crowned with outspread feathers.

The sovereign of rasikas plays at spring:
Raghunandana beside Sita amid the company of companions.
Every limb is fresh, arrayed in excellent garments,
while mṛdaṅgas and many other instruments sound.
The companions sing nectar-filled rāgas there,
awakening attachment in the hearts of those attuned to melody.
Chandrakala says, “Listen, Beloved:
in the Forest of Passion, the mango trees have flowered.
Let the two of you adorn yourselves and go to the colours of spring,
O paired enchantments of the mind—come together as one.”