Chapter Eight: Literature of the Rasika Tradition in Hindi

Fragrant breezes are powdered with pollen and seem drunk upon nectar.
Bodies are beautifully coloured in blue, green, yellow, white, and brilliant hues.
Blossoms speak through glittering splendour, each grace laid upon another grace.
Ramsakhe says sweet, motionless figures stand at the threshold of Rati’s silence.

In the moon chamber, upon a couch above the unbroken bower,
The bride and bridegroom, Janaki and Rama, lie with eyes filled by gentle sleep.
Their free company of companions sleeps nearby, every mañjarī holding Rama within her heart.
Ramsakhe performs the prescribed service of Sri Rama, attending both the beloved Rama and his Lady’s body.

Fragrant water, perfumed flowers, excellent offerings, and betel—
Ramsakhe serves the Couple daily within the heart’s bower.

With words of play and every other form of recreation, he worships them in every manner and pays his debt.
Ramsakhe and the whole assembly perform nīrājana and wash their feet within the palace.

One woman cannot turn Rama from her heart or abandon him, for he is dearer than life.
Fully possessing her beloved beneath love’s control, she finds Hari himself washing her feet.

Bower after bower she searches for Rama along the Sarayu’s bank.
This woman is an abhisārikā and cannot maintain even a little patience.

Raghunath eternally presides over the circle of rāsa, granting fulfilment to every woman.
He satisfies each according to her own disposition, for compassion is Raghunath’s nature.
In one place the intimate companions adorn Rama, then behold his form with their own eyes.
Elsewhere he has himself adorned and displays Rama’s radiance to those intimate companions.

They perform these and many other imaginative plays, eternally gathering around Rama of Raghu’s line.
The excellent practitioner fixes this contemplation within the heart and abandons all other doctrines.

Characteristics of a Rasika

Contentment of heart is the great treasure they possess; they remain profoundly immersed in Raghubar’s līlās.
If they meet an exclusive rasika, they abandon greed and wash that devotee’s feet, holding the water within the mind.
Knowing the devotee as their own intimate relation, they repeatedly offer the same honour they would offer Rama.
They maintain the disposition of friend or female companion and speak of Rama’s sweet deeds.

Abandoning all ritual acts of injunction and prohibition, they remain forever absorbed in Raghupati’s beauty.
They do not worship ancestors or numerous gods; within the heart they serve Rama alone with devotion.
They place their single trust in Rama and nurture no second hope anywhere in the three worlds.